#HE WANTED TO BE A CLOCKMAKER

[alexis-royce]

So the live action Jigen film was REALLY FUN?!

They understood that it needed to be really stylized and popping, but didn’t stumble into garish, fake-cartoon style. The ancillary cast is strong and fun, the villain is rad as hell, Jigen is failing to be stoic all over the place, the script feels better than your average Lupin special, and the firefights are creative and a wild delight!

I’m biased as hell but if this year has taught me anything, being a huge fan of something does not mean I will enjoy it any more than otherwise.

[ctommyisnt]

Also the transgender subtext in the clockmakers daughter is insane. Her fear of people finding out who she is on the inside even if she feels human. Her father hiding her and her secret because he thinks people will hurt her. Wanting to keep her locked away for her own safety and selfishness. People fearing her and hunting her down upon finding out- completely forgetting their love for her and her never ending love for them.

WILL. BEING LEGALLY FEMALE. AND HAVING A ONE OFF LINE WHERE PEOPLE STILL MOCK HIM FOR IT WHAT THE FUCK

[epsilonnot]

don’t look now, i’m crying over percy’s clocktower again

[hybbart]

The hosts of the games (minus Grian, who hosted 3rd life himself) Each one was hosted by a watcher inspired by the original game to host their own.

lore below

The Boogieman (he/she) loves bloodsports and the drama of betrayal, so she created a game in which curses were bestowed upon players (some more permanent than others) and gave them the ability to gain and lose more hearts in order to encourage violence. He hosted Last Life after seeing how Grian's game ended and wanted more red life drama.

The Spinner (they/them) loves the relationship drama and tragedy of the games, so made a mechanic to pair up the players. Their favourite biome is the Ancient City because of its horror movie (the true romantic genre supposedly) like atmosphere, so they built the arena atop one. They cursed golden apples to break bonds and put them in the game hoping at least one of the pairs would participate int he drama of consuming them, but the planned failed to their annoyance.

The Clockmaker (any) is a control freak who interfered the most forwardly with their games. They wanted the most chances possible for stories and gaming, so created a mechanic to allow for more deaths and strategies. They ended up breaking Limited Life more often than not with their strange mechanics. They wanted a centrepiece to their arena similar in danger to the pillager outpost Double Life incidentally had, but broke it while attempting to make resources more plentiful to minimize time resource gathering.

The Secret Keeper (it/its) wanted to create a more relaxed game with more ridiculous and silly situations, so inserted itself into the game to hand out tasks to do instead of mull around until the players kill each other and mechanics to discourage hurting each other directly. It doesn't care for the drama the others before it loved so much, and didn't both maintaining the curses Boogieman placed leading to some of them breaking.

[fairykazu]

hello! can i have a bouquet with carnations, daisies, and petunias with aventurine? thank you! (yes, they are connected as one fic :))

𓍢ִ໋love blooms with aventurine prompts: walking in the park - carnation, collecting flowers on their way home - daisies and realizing their feelings - petunias notes: modern au, pining & soft aventurine! i did hit a writing block while writing yours so i didn't fulfill your request as you like but i hope you like this event masterlist  𝜗𝜚 hsr masterlist

the sun dipped below the horizon casting an ethereal glow across the sky as if aeon themself had painted the sky with a masterpiece of soft pinks, oranges, and purples. it was a perfect evening for a stroll through the park, well, afterall, it was tradition for you and aventurine. you knew him ever since you were little, growing up side by side, the lives of aventurine and name were forever inexorably intertwined.  

aventurine plucked a peony from a bush from a neighor’s bush on the way to the park. “y’know, i read these represent luck, i mean, i have all the luck i need but you need this for sure.” 

“just because you won six games of monopoly, doesn’t mean-”

as he held the flower to you, you realized something. aventurine laughed, imagining a lightbulb above your head. you pushed him playfully; he stumbled a little from the sidewalk. you gasped, “did you really picked a flower from the oak family’s bush? don’t you know sunday-” 

he quickly interjected, “what he doesn’t know doesn't hurt him. c’mon, you know that pink isn’t his color, it’s better off being on you.” he picked off the excessive leaves on the flower before putting it above your ear. 

“aven, we should run.” he noticed your eyes flickering to the corner of the gated manor. was it worth being here and risky? yes. is he scared? kind of, hoping you don’t call his buff and kept his right hand behind. 

he blew air in your face as you rolled your eyes, “why?” 

“sunday has cameras.”

you shook your head to your right, the direction where the park is. he nodded,  

“... lets go.” 

the two ran from the gated house, he only stopped on the way to the clockmaker’s park, a national park in penacony, to celebrate whatever with whatever. it doesn’t really matter. what matters is that the peony is losing petals and what if you’re losing the luck he gave with it.

“wait, stop.” 

“what? i thought you were scared of sunday’s hounds after us.. err, you.” you replied, but you stopped away. aventurine’s hand brushed against your face, he adjusted the flower, making sure it looked full. 

“didn’t want you losing the petals…”  he murmured as he abruptly turned away from you, grabbing your hand. if you squinted, you could see a hint of pink reaching to the tips of his ears. he’s cute… in a totally platonic way!  

“uh-huh, so what? don’t need a flower when i have you, right?” 

he coughed loudly, his pace getting faster and it was hard to catch up. but you managed, taking longer strides to keep up. his mind raced between a response between “you don’t mean that.”, which exposes his feelings about you or he could play along, pretending everything is fine and he doesn’t think about being yours. aeons, he could only hope he doesn’t look flustered. 

did he even reply? 

“aventurine? we’re at our spot, you okay?” you asked, he could see the concern in your eyes.

“of course, i am. why?” 

“just wondering! do you think the flowers we planted are still there or did the organiziton or whatever pluck them out?” 

“personally, i think they gave up but they probably did. stupid bloodhounds.” 

aventurine clicked his tongue as the both of you tucked your heads under a hedge. it took a while to get to the place, hidden under the bushes of the park. he replied, “personally, i think they gave up but they probably did. stupid bloodhounds.” 

you gently pushed him away, “don’t say that outloud, i think they have spies.” 

he laughed, “c’mon, the only one i’m afraid of is gallagher but other than him, i’m basically fearless.” 

“yeah right.” 

[sayornispress]

My most recent project, and most intensive project in a long time!! Halo Effect and Soldier's Heart by @alex51324. Five books in all, totaling over 1700 pages. Details, story spoilers, and more photos under the cut - there are quite a few!

In WWI, English soldiers wrapped their pants and boots with "puttees", and the spines mimic that look. Rather than actually wrapping, or cutting the spine cloth into pieces (which I worried would fray over time, especially with the opening and closing of reading), I pleated it and sewed it to the cover cloth (which is light canvas-y green but otherwise rather plain, so I'm not including photos here). The titling is flat gold heat transfer vinyl.

The bookmark charms relate to the story, of course.

Halo Effect - I felt that Thomas was defined by his status as a footman and this sets up his massive character change throughout the series, so the first bookmark charm is a footman's button, though not a Downton-specific one.

Soldier's Heart, vol. I - This fountain pen nib is from the early twentieth century. I found in the first volume that Thomas's social network, and communication both to and from define this part of the work.

Soldier's Heart, vol. II - My dad collects WWI memorabilia, including bullets (it's in this volume that Thomas is shot). He cut a bullet down for me to use for this binding. This particular bullet is English, rather than from any of the opposing nations, since he doesn't collect those (and I was rather lucky he had even an English one) but tbh I don't have the slightest idea what the difference is.

Soldier's Heart, vol. III - Y'all this is a genuine RAMC WWI coat button. I couldn't not use it. Wholly unmodified, to be clear, so if the book ever needs rebound or anything changes, it can be removed and reused as necessary. I chose this volume for the button because I felt Thomas really come into his own as a member of the RAMC, away from the war - and because I wanted to use the bullet for the last one, and this is the only volume this button would fit on, other than the last, but that's a whole other deal.

Soldier's Heart, vol. IV - Thomas, whose father was a clockmaker, becomes a chauffeur at the end of Soldier's Heart. My first idea was to use some sort of gear that resembled a car part as a charm. I come from a long line of magpies/dragons/Gollum-like creatures, and my grandfather had, in his garage, an alarm clock that belonged to my great-great-grandfather, gathering dust, because my grandpa had been meaning to fix it and just hadn't gotten around to it yet (he'd been saying this since the mid-seventies, at least - my aunt wanted to use it, since it would have matched her quilt). Anyway, we all gathered around the dinner table to take this clock apart, which turned out to be a rather violent act involving pliers, several screwdrivers, an orbital sander, a drill press, and a hammer. I got a few gears out of the deal, and my cousin (a mechanic) selected the one that looked the most like a car part, scaled down. So. Double connection.

It's a bit difficult to tell in the photo, but the speckled edges each have two different colors, and there's, again, a reason for each choice! Each color represents something specific:

Blue - clear skies/relative calm Green - naivety/he's got things to learn Brown - the muck of war Red - blood (Thomas's and others')

Halo Effect: Green and blue Soldier's Heart, vol. I - green and brown Soldier's Heart, vol. II - brown and red Soldier's Heart, vol. III - green and red Soldier's Heart, vol. IV - red and blue

The speckling is also more intense in the middle three books.

My signature throw, as well as a close-up of the hand-sewn endbands (each volume's endbands match the speckled edges of that particular book) and a bit better look at the RAMC button, though a bit blurry.

And next to it, my metadata page and the gratitude from Halo Effect. I'm very much enjoying this metadata layout, and here's as good a place as any to give some general typesetting info:

I used IM Fell Great Primer for the body text, 11pt, 15pt leading.

Next up, the details in the letters--each character has their own handwriting, and a few are showcased here:

Syl drew a face in the margins of one of the letters with Theo, and I mimicked it for the binding. (Yes I was in fact crying as I did it)

Don't be afraid to ask if you'd like to know the names of any of the fonts - all from Google Fonts, since I do my typesetting in GDocs. I love the first one, in particular (Joey's) because I so rarely use it. I'm very happy with how they all turned out, they feel like they match the personalities well, in my opinion, though I should have made a couple a touch bigger.

---

I think that's all of my photos! I'm so so proud of how this binding turned out. It had quite a long turn-around - it's not unusual for me to have less than two weeks between reading a fic for the first time and having a bound copy on my shelf, and I read this fic for the first time over the course of nine days all the way back in March. (Which. okay. Not that long actually.)

I had a really lovely time with the binding, as well, because I got so much input from my family and friends - my dad was integral in the whole process, not only in the donation of the bullet, but also in the design of the covers in general and in answering my WWI questions, and my mom helped me pick colors for the endbands and edges. My grandpa donated a clock, and my boss helped me figure out how to get the charms attached to the ribbons, and her sister helped me with sewing, so all in all this whole experience has been so wonderful, so special. I'm so grateful for it.

[artofshinga]

A bit ago I did a whole-ass set of warlocks based on D&D 5e subclasses - mostly for fun and also because my RP group was planning a warlock game. I didn't HAVE to draw one of each but doing so DID help me decide which one I wanted to play (this is, to note, why the characters are all pretty fem-coded - because that's my favorite to RP) Anyway, after I drew them all, folks asked if I'd do other classes too. And I was like, maybe? But, sorcerer did sound fun to do this with so over the last few months I've been working on them kinda on the side while I put most my energy in, like, the commissions I need to finish lol. But here, a bunch of theoretical sorcerers I'd personally play in a game:

Let's start us off with Iris, a half-elf who'd be living a pretty normal life in a normal job (I was thinking she was probably a waitress or somethin) until she finds something weird - a piece of a meteor or something, you know how it goes. Suddenly she has powers, and that's where her adventure would begin More sorcerers under the cut!

Tally I struggled with because, as it turns out, little mechanical fairy wings are complicated to draw. BUT also fun - I liked the idea of a fairy who's lost her wings and while she's trapped in the material plane she befriends a clockmaker who builds her little wings for her and eventually her magic ends up kind of syncing up with the mechanical way he teaches her about the world

Elysia was actually the last one I drew, since I have a DIFFERENT Divine Soul sorcerer I've already designed and want to play as a priority, but then I happened to see something about Greek gods while watching TV one day and thought, oh hey, that'd be a fun way to play with a divinity-themed sorcerer - maybe a musician that caught the affections of a god who blessed her with magic

Cherish is a cheerful tiefling working at an inn with her former-adventurer mother. We can guess what sort of things her mother got up to in her adventure since she ended up raising a child with some mysteriously draconic features

NGL Aine was just a way for me to play with some of the inspirations I used to cling to as a kid. Sailor Moon and other various bits of anime and JRPGs and such that I loved in my youth and used a LOT to inspire art. I wanted to remember that - and a catgirl wearing too many belts sounded perfect for that

Leila is probably my weirdest - she's SPECIFIC, like if there's a campaign set in the Shadowfell or something, I imagined a maid working in a mansion that gets magicked away to this realm and her gaining that shadow power when it happens

One of my first 5e characters was a storm sorcerer - more focused on rain and lightning and thunder. I used the same hair color and close to the same skin color to make this new storm sorcerer as a bit of a nod to that character, and wanted this one more focused on winter storms (including making her a winter eladrin elf)

and last but certainly not least, Gemma the halfling cursed with wild magic. I think she started off her adventuring life with a thieves' group before they found the wrong magic artifact. You know how it goes

[lovequartz]

the woods of summer.

¤ pairing: town-doctor!wonwoo x reader

¤ genre: fluff! first encounters

¤ warnings: none

¤ word count: 366

¤ here comes the birds with spring and i fall in love

¤ notes: a few responses i've gotten on uwb (under wisteria blossoms) are to blame for this! thank you to everyone who read and also left feedback on that piece it's much much appreciated <3

the very first time jeon wonwoo saw you was in summer.

the sun, high in the sky, had been beating down all morning. his office was hot and stuffy, nevermind the fact that all the windows were open. he had abandoned his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, contemplating on removing his vest as well. he’d let seungkwan know that he was stepping out for a bit, hoping to find even an inch of shade to protect from the heat.

his search takes him to the fountain, and he revels in the small breeze generated by the spouting water, but just before he can slide his glasses off and tuck them into his vest pocket he sees something rather curious. just beyond the clockmaker’s building in a small wooded area, someone is crouching, half-hidden by the summer grass. it takes the young doctor a handful of steps to get a closer look, standing just at the area’s edge, peering from behind one of the trees. 

there, he can hear the individual cooing softly as a few small kittens lick at their fingers as well as the orange fleshy fruit in their hands. 

someone is feeding the stray cats persimmons. 

however, their face is obscured by the silk headscarf knotted securely under their chin. wonwoo realizes that he’s been watching this stranger for a few moments too long and takes a tentative step forward to announce his presence or comment on the kittens but his foot lands right on a wayward twig and the snap of it startles the individual and the kittens. the kittens scatter into the grass while the person stands and dusts off their dress, reaching down to grab the handle of the basket of persimmons that wonwoo hadn’t even noticed next to them. he steps back, just so that the tree hides him once more as he sees the individual’s head turn to glance in his direction. they linger for a moment, a moment that is all wonwoo needs to see their face, before they turn and hurry off in the opposite direction. 

the encounter leaves wonwoo dizzy with thoughts of kittens, persimmons, and lips the color of peach.

¤ notes: just a short one! almost too short but i wanted to show a little of wonwoo's pov and how he comes to want to court the reader! i will most likely post a few more of these blurbs so stay tuned

[headcanonsandmore]

Thasmin Fanfic Recommendations, a master post

Hi all! A fandom is at its healthiest when we share things, so I thought it'd be a good idea to share a list of all my favourite Thasmin (Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan) fanfics that I've read over the past few years. I'd highly recommend all of these. And, if you have any to add, please reblog with the links!

I Think You Might Like Me by Holie47. The Doctor asks Yaz to try and help her figure out what's going on and ends up coming to a realisation. Rated G for General Audiences. Cute Thasmin first kiss.

In This World Of Strangers I Belong To Someone by timetravelbypen. Autumn, 1904, London. Yasmin Khan is newly arrived in the city, eager to start the law degree she's spent so much time working towards. Determined to prove her worth to sceptical classmates and professors, she throws herself into her work. But a chance encounter with eccentric clockmaker Johanna Smith - and a mystery surrounding a progressive pamphlet written by someone called the Doctor - might just remind her she's worth more than her doubters could ever imagine. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Edwardian!AU with human!Thirteenth Doctor. One of the best Thasmin fics I’ve ever read (if not THE best!). There’s also a series of short sequels which you can find here.

to know how it ends and still begin to sing it again (as if it might turn out this time) by  Eriadu (@eriadu-in-the-wildwood) and timetravelbypen (@timetravelbypen). They’ve been here before. The Doctor always sidestepping, always avoiding; Yaz always following, always hoping. But in a museum simulation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, confronted by an all-too familiar tragedy, the cracks begin to show. If they’re going to get out alive, something has to change. They’ve been here before… this time, can they make it through? Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Thasmin fic, set inbetween ‘Legend Of The Sea Devils’ and ‘The Power Of The Doctor’; some really interesting and in-depth characterisation for both Yaz and the Thirteenth Doctor, with some awesome sci-fi elements too.

Flying Lessons by timetravelbypen. A series of vignettes set between Ryan and Graham's departure in Revolution of the Daleks and the end of The Power of the Doctor. In which Yaz learns to fly the TARDIS, and learns just how capable - and how loved - she is in the process. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Just a word of warning, to quote the author; “there is a reference to an attempted suicide/self-harm in line with its depiction in Can You Hear Me as Yaz and the Doctor encounter someone else in a similar situation and Yaz deals with some flashbacks. If you would prefer not to read that, you can skip Lesson Five: Controlled Fall.”.

falling down the stairs (of your love) by timetravelbypen. The gravitational pull Yaz has over the Doctor is unavoidable, inescapable. The Doctor is falling for Yaz... and the Doctor is also falling. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Thasmin sweetness set after ‘Legend Of The Sea Devils’. Fluffy with a bit of angst; very sweet.

Two Idiots In A Box by timetravelbypen. Dan realizes quickly that, if left to their own devices, Yaz and the Doctor are never going to just talk to each other like functional adults. So he and the TARDIS hatch a plan. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. So funny and so sweet!

In fact, just read anything by timetravelbypen; they’re an amazing writer and understand these characters and Doctor Who so well! Their Tumblr blog is here; @timetravelbypen; send them some love!

Miniature #13 - The World Will Wait For Us by vaelerius. Yaz and the Doctor go on a totally-not-an-actual-D.A.T.E in Sheffield to Yaz's favourite restaurant. What could possibly go wrong? Rated G for General Audiences. Easily one of the funniest Thasmin fics out there; this is a good one to read when you want cheering-up.

You Have A Wife??? By LonelySpaceAce. Yaz asks the Doctor about something that she's been wondering about since they fought the Sea Devils. Rated G for General Audiences. This is written by one of my awesome Tumblr friends, so please check it out.

You Have Kids??? by LonelySpaceAce. Yaz learns that not all the Doctor's companions have been in love with them A sort of sequel to "you have a wife???”. Rated G for General Audiences. It also scratches my particular itch for having Thasmin with a side helping of Tegan/Nyssa.

(Un)familiar by EvvieJo. Yaz is trying to settle into her post-Doctor, UNIT life. Rated G for General Audiences. Less of a Thasmin fic per-say as opposed to a bit of closure for Yaz after leaving the Doctor, although it does have a lot of Thasmin elements to it.

The year of the cat by zurau. post-lotsd. thirteen disappears, again. a cat appears. it's some consolation. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Funny fic about a mysterious cat that appears whilst the Thirteen Doctor has disappeared; you can probably guess where this is going…

Candy Floss And A Carousel by 13beautifulghostmonument. Team TARDIS make a festive stop over in Cardiff. Yaz and the Doctor finally admit to their feelings. Rated G for General Audiences. Very cute and sweet.

Courage & Stupidity by seaunicorn. Yaz was his best friend and, much like the Doctor, Dan would do anything for her. Four years marooned in the past can forge quite the friendship, and he would go to great lengths to protect her from anything, or anyone, that hurt her. Including the Doctor herself. After Dan learns what happened on the beach, he confronts the Doctor. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Set after ‘Legend Of The Sea Devils’ and with some excellent character work.

giving up and giving in by seaunicorn. It takes Yaz almost dying for the Doctor to actually confront her feelings. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Really sweet fluff and first kiss stuff.

All The Time In The World by Metal_Gear_Steve. Yasmin has developed feelings for the Doctor, but she isn't sure how to bring this up with anyone. Ryan and Graham have settled after their first few crazy adventures, so it's not like she can rely on the "adrenaline and whimsy" excuse to explain her standoffish behavior forever - sooner or later, she has to bite the bullet and confess her feelings to the Doctor. But there's so much that she doesn't know about the Doctor, and any number of factors could get in the way of a potential relationship. Will Yasmin's confession be successful? Is there room in The Doctor's heart for a new love after a multitude of relationships, most ending in disaster? Will Graham get to try that alien ice cream again, with what's-its-name seeds in it? I guess we'll find out - we've got All the Time in the World. Rated G for General Audiences. Some really wonderful fluff; super sweet.

Our Moment on the Beach by docwhovians. When Yaz and the Doctor find themselves held prisoner a hostile pirate ship, there's not a whole lot they can do except talk. Feelings that have been brewing come to a head. When the moment is interrupted by an order to walk the plank, things get interesting. Rated G for General Audiences. Really cute fluff with some pirate stuff.

A Home For The Holidays by mag_lex. In which Yaz and the Doctor visit Yaz’s family for Christmas after the events of the Flux, and Najia decides to intervene when she realises something is going on between them… Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Sweet domestic fluff and a little bit of angst thrown in (since it is related to series 13 of the modern series).

i will always hold you close but i will learn to let you go by jodieoswald. Yaz listens to Dan's advice, and takes the leap, hoping that the Doctor will listen. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Angst with some fluff and a happy ending. Very sweet and tender.

The One With The Hen Do by isabrella. Yaz takes the Doctor to a friend's hen party to cheer her up. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Angst with a happy ending; very tender. 

Confessions by SimpleSapphic. Set directly after Eve of the Daleks (and directly after thasmin becoming canon may I add akshakdhsksh), Dan does what Dan does best: he plays wingman to get those two to *finally* confess their feelings and actually do something about it. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. A fair bit of angst but with some really sweet fluff at the end. Gotta love wingman Dan!

The Lodger by bells_n_roses. The Doctor moves in with Yaz to investigate the mysterious upstairs lodger. As they spend more time together, however, feelings start to build. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Very cute and sweet, but with some mild angst mixed in.

I Still Burn For You by timelostdoctor. Yazmin Khan and the Doctor's relationship has been over for ten months. Ten months in which they haven't seen or spoken to each other. With Sonya and Ryan getting married, they are both part of the wedding party. How can they find happiness for their friends when they both wish it was their wedding instead. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Oooh, mate; this is one of the tenderest Thasmin fics I’ve ever read (complete with a human!Thirteenth Doctor); sweet with just the right mix of angst, and a good bit of humour as well! Always worth a read when you want something to get lost it (and, yes, I hope that Mandip Gill has read this one since she asked for fanfic recs).

Love is a lottery, and I’m betting on you by riptheh. The Doctor knows how it is with the female companions. Lived it dozens of times before. And this time, she's determined to make sure it doesn't happen. Or, five times the Doctor was so busy making sure Yasmin Khan didn't fall in love with her, she failed to realize that the opposite was happening. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Tons of fluff, mistaken-for-a-couple, bed sharing, this fic has it all!

February by softestbutch. The Doctor stepped a little closer, still partially obscured from view, still animated in the quiet orange glow. ‘Oh, it’s a little silly,’ she said. Yaz raised an eyebrow for her to continue. ‘I can go,’ she said, and Yaz breathed an endeared laugh.‘What is it, Doctor?’ she asked. A pause. ‘It’s snowing,’ the Doctor said. In short: the doctor is incredibly excited about the snow, and yaz is incredibly in love with her. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. A cute fluffy fic about Yaz and the Thirteenth Doctor having fun on a snowy day.

Live inside my mind forever by timelxrd. Yaz fell asleep precisely ten minutes and thirty-two seconds ago. The Doctor knows, because it’s been ten minutes and thirty seconds since she’d had to consciously regulate her breathing and the rise and fall of her chest against Yaz’s soft cheek so not to jostle her. Rated G for General Audiences. Cute fluff about cuddling and hair-plaiting.

A trusted place to rest by multifanwho. After she manages a prison break, the Doctor finds herself exhausted with her feet carrying her to the one place on Earth she feels most safe. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Fluff with a side ordering of angst.

Cuppa? by softly-penned-valkyrie (softly_speaking_valkyrie). The Doctor's slipping and she knows it. Everything's getting too much for the first time in thousands of years and she's finally having trouble coping with it mentally. How often does that happen? Following a double adventure involving the Judoon, incredible revelations and alien birds, it all becomes too much to handle, and when the TARDIS itself nudges at Yaz to go help the Doctor alone, it becomes a little too much for the copper too. But when the Doctor lands in Yaz's kitchen desperate for help, how can she refuse the woman she loves.... Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Fluff, hurt/comfort and some mild angst.

not-so-fake-feelings (and their very real consequences) by ActuallyMe. Yaz needs someone to pretend to be her partner whilst some really annoying family friends are in town. Turns out, the Thirteenth Doctor is happy to play along… Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Fake dating scenario, with some hilarious fluff.

astronomy in reverse (it was me who was discovered) by transboytwelve. Fake dating, bed-sharing, camping fic; Thirteen has to pretend to be Yaz’s partner for a family get-together. Hijinks and definitely-not-just-platonic confusion ensues. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences.

Around The Rink by sheregenerated. The Doctor and Yaz get a bit competitive, Graham has some cocoa, and Ryan rides a reindeer (sort of). Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Cute fluffy goodness.

The Changing of the Seasons by rubyofkukundu. The Doctor gets her first period. Thankfully, Yaz is on hand to help. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Fluff with a bit of hurt/comfort and humour.

Hooked on all these feelings by Moonlightkitten (orphan_account). In which Thirteen wants a set of earrings to match Yasmin's and won't take no for an answer. The only problem? She doesn't have pierced ears. Yet. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Very sweet and very funny. The person who wrote this has since orphaned their account.

Erlebnisse by Val_Creative. The Doctor surprises a very ill Yasmin with a visit. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Very cute and sweet.

I Met Her On The Beach by C1ashi1dr. While Graham and Ryan are taking a break from traveling, the Doctor and Yaz head for a relaxing day on the beach. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Some really lovely fluffy goodness.

Trick or Treat by HalfBakedPoet. What do the court of King Louis XIV, a futuristic pumpkin-based religion, a secret pumpkin carving society, and a two-person horse costume have in common? The Doctor and Yaz celebrate Halloween in a variety of ways. Apple bobbing ensues. Leads up to (presumably, hopefully) the beginning of Flux. Rated T for Teen and Up Audiences. Some fun Halloween fluff.

Hope you all enjoy these fics; I know I certainly did! Remember, if you enjoy a fic, please leave a comment; authors love it when we recieve comments and it inspires us to create more!

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 6 Season 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Back to Hawkins for spring break. Y/n believed it would just be a quiet time to cherish with her loved ones, but one day in and another mess had already began.

Warnings: cursing, blood

Notes: A little late with the chapter today, sorry I was watching the Olympics 😅. The action has begun! Really liked writing this chapter and I also wanted to say a big thank you for the likes and reblogs I've been getting. Please enjoy the chapter and stay safe! 💕

Oh, P.S., this one is a biggie.

Chapter 5 << Masterlist >> Chapter 7

“Yeah, that’s not creepy.” Steve said as he looked up at the house before you.

After waking everyone up, you took Nancy’s car and headed over to the house you had seen in one of the many newspapers you had read when searching for information about Vecna.

“What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” Steve asked you as the two of you made your way to the nailed-down front door.

“We’re not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna.” you explained him, your palm settling over one of the wooden plates on the door.

“Because Max saw it in Vecna’s red soup mind world?”

“Basically.” you answered your boyfriends, who nodded his head.

“Great.”

“Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he’s back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max.” Dustin tried to keep the mood positive.

“We don’t think he’s in here, do we?” Lucas’ voice sounded, his eyes searching for some confirmation from all of you that nothing bad would happen here.

“Guess we’ll find out.” Max simply said, making all of you turn back to the front door.

“Ready?” you nodded at Steve and started removing the nails from the wood with the hammers in your hand. After clearing the door from the plates, Steve’s hand falls to the doorknob. He tries his best to open it but to no avail.

“It’s locked. Should I knock, see if anybody’s home?” he makes a weak attempt at a joke, earning a slight chuckle only from you.

“No need. I found a key.” Robin said while holding a big brick in her hand. As your eyes shot open, you took Steve’s hand in yours and left the porch to give Robin the clear.

The brick easily broke the stained window giving Steve the chance to open the door from the inside. He was the first one to enter the house, you second and the rest following behind, each of your eyes roaming around the abandoned house.

“Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill.” Lucas joked after his failed attempt to open a lamp.

You felt Dustin stand next to you handing you one of the flashlights he had in his bag. You both light them up, Steve’s eyes landing on you two.

“Where’d everyone get those?” he questioned.

“Do you need to be told everything? You’re not a child.” Dustin’s tone got too rude for your liking.

“You both are. Here.” you searched Dustin’s backpack and handed Steve one of the remaining flashlights. You had no idea how he fit everything in there.

“Thank you.” he said to you with a smile, when Max called out for you.

“Hey guys? You all see that, right?” he flashlight was pointing at the old grandfather clock.

“Yeah.” you told her.

“Is this what you saw? In your visions?” Nancy asked.

“I mean, it’s just a clock, right?” Robin wipes some of the dust covering the glass of the clock “Like a normal old clock.”

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he’s, like, a clockmaker or something?” you bit your lip as you listened to Steve try and figure out what was happening. On the other hand, Dustin couldn’t help his sharp tongue.

“Think you cracked the case, Steve.”

“Can you dial down the sarcasm?” you asked your brother who took a defensive stance.

“He’s starting it.” he pointed at Steve, who looked offended.

“How?”

“All I know is…” Nancy spoke up, ending your conversation “The answers are here. Somewhere. Okay, everyone stay in groups. Robin, upstairs.” the two girls disappeared upstairs. Next, Max and Lucas left to explore the floor you were on, leaving you with your brother and boyfriend.

“Come on, boys. Together once again.” you motioned for them to follow you up the stairs.

Behind you, Dustin smiled up at Steve, making the taller boy sigh and go after you. The action left Dustin offended.

“Was that a sigh?”

“No, I did not sigh.” Steve defended himself, but Dustin wasn’t buying it.

“Why did you sigh?”

“I didn’t sigh. Just come on, dude.”

“I heard you.”

“W-we’re just always partners, okay?”

“You don’t like being in the same group?” you asked him, joining on their bickering.

“No, no, not with you. With him.”

“I heard that too.” Dustin whined.

“Good for you.”

“What? Am I boring you? Is that it?”

“Exactly- No, the opposite.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’m forming my own group.” you told them, finally getting them to stop and follow you.

You ended up in a big, dusty room, looking around for anything that could help you. The three of you remained silent until Steve’s voice echoed through the room.

“Hey, uh, Hendersons?”

“Yeah?” you and Dustin answered.

“Could you maybe, uh… clarify what sort of clues we’re supposed to be looking for here?”

“ ‘The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes’.” Dustin said in a British accent, not really helping Steve at all “Sherlock Holmes.” you just stood still, observing their interaction.

“That’s great. Thanks, that’s great, really helpful. Sherlock…” Steve scoffed and walked towards you “You were right. He is entering his teenage years. Strongly.” you made an ‘I told you’ face.

“Just look for anything that stands out. Anything that says Upside Downey.”

“Yeah, I- I can do that.” he nodded at your words, walking away to explore another part of the house.

After a few minutes, you realized that Steve was no longer in your eyesight, so you decided to go look for him. You were making your way down a hallway when a startled Steve appeared before you, quickly closing the door he had walked out from

“Don’t go in there. Spiders, too many, many spiders.” he pointed at the room, the scared expression on his face making you giggle.

“Steve, what happened?”

“Don’t laugh at me. Take it out. Take it out.” he lowered his head to you so you could remove the spiderwebs that were stuck in his hair.

“I’m not laughing at you. Come on, sit still so I can take it out.” you held his head and began taking out the webs carefully.

“If there’s a spider nesting in there, you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.” Robin joked, when she and Nancy walked next to you as they headed over the other side of the hallway.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve told her, making Robin chuckle before walking away “Robin, seriously. She’s got problems.” he said to you under his breath.

“Yeah, but we love her.” you had a small smile on your face, for just a moment forgetting where you were as you picked out the remaining webs in hair.

“Strong words.” he waited a second before agreeing with you, acting reluctant “But you’re not wrong.”

“There, done.” you told him and wiped your hands, removing all the stickiness, not entirely sure if it was from the spiderwebs or his gel.

“Hey.” his voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it pulled you in easily. Your eyes stared into his “How you feeling?”

“I mean, this place gives me endless goosebumps, but I guess I’m alright-” you joked, wanting to add a little light to the situation.

“No, I mean… in general. Are you okay?” the look in his eyes told you this wasn’t just about the fact that you were breaking and entering a house, searching for clues that could lead you to an interdimensional demon, but about everything that could be burdening your heart.

“Are you?” you asked back, making Steve nod his head. You wanted so badly to sit down and understand what had led him to say no to your idea, but now wasn’t the time, which made it so much worse, because there were times when you weren’t sure if you could be as touchy as you usually are, feeling the small tension between you.

“Yeah, I get your point.” you felt his hand hold your own, his fingers caressing the back of your palm softly. He had lowered his head to look at your intertwined hands. When his eyes returned to look into yours, it felt intense. His gaze fell to your lips, your breath catching in your throat “Can I?”

You found it sweet that he was asking you for permission, even though you could never tell him no, no matter what had happened between the two of you. But just like you felt awkward at times, he did too. He didn’t want to step over the boundaries you have built for yourself, give you yet another reason to yell at him when this is all over and you can face reality. It was weird pausing the state of your relationship to figure out how to stop the Upside Down once again, but you had to if you actually wanted to have a relationship to turn to at the end of this, with both of you alive.

So, you softly nodded your head, closed your eyes, and leaned in, waiting for his lips to land on yours, but a loud voice interrupted you. It was Max.

Steve groaned just inches away from your face, and you giggled at his impatience.

“Come on, duty awaits us.” you boldly pecked his lips, tugged his hand, and headed to where Max was standing next to Lucas. After a couple of seconds, Nancy, Robin, and Dustin appeared as well. She pointed towards the chandelier before you, saying that she saw the lights flickering. You stood there, silent, waiting for it to happen.

“It’s like the Christmas lights.” Nancy said in thought when the chandelier flickered.

“The Christmas lights?” Robin’s eyebrows scrunched.

“When Will was in the Upside Down, Joyce had put Christmas lights all over the house and… it was like they came to life whenever Will or the Demogorgon were near.” you explained, memories coming to you from three years ago.

“Vecna’s here. In this house. Just on the other side.” Lucas said just when the lights above them went out.

“I think he just left the room.” Robin said.

“Did he hear us?” Max asked something you couldn’t answer, but Steve decided to make it worse with another unexplainable question.

“Can he see us?”

“Headphones.” Lucas told Max, and she quickly obliged.

“Wait, wait. Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out.” Nancy told you and you turned off the flashlight in your hand without any questions, understanding what Nancy was hinting.

“But then we’re not gonna be able to see if we turned off our flash…” you heard Steve’s confused voice that stopped when he realized that everyone had already gone in different directions. He shook his head and went after you, scared to be left alone.

“I got him! Got him!” it wasn’t long before Robin was screaming for you to get here “I got him! I… I had him.” however it didn’t last long.

You continued holding up your flashlight, waiting for Vecna to appear, when Steve’s voice interrupted the silence from beside you.

“Oh whoa. Oh, I think he’s moving.” you watch his lit-up flashlight with determination, feeling as if you remove your gaze from it, the light will disappear “He’s moving. He’s moving.” you follow after him as he tries to guess Vecna’s next movement “Shit. I lost him.”

“No, you didn’t.” Max’s flashlight was the next one to light up, making you all follow her. She heads towards a small staircase. You were next to Max, so you were able to easily see where it was leading to and announce it to the rest.

“It’s an attic.”

“Of course, it’s an attic.” Robin said with her usual load of sarcasm.

“Hold up, guys. What if he’s leading us into a trap?” Dustin tried to voice his concerns but stopped when he realized that all of you ignored him and just headed up the stairs entering the attic.

You couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just an empty, dusty attic filled with unused furniture. However, something odd did catch your eye. A single light bulb was in the center of the room, already flickering.

You circle around it, completely missing your own flashlights coming to life too, until Dustin points it out. You lifted them up, the light becoming brighter than ever.

“Okay, what’s happening?” Steve asked and you answered under your breath.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, as the lights got brighter and brighter, the glass from the torches started exploding one by one. You covered your heads to protect yourselves from the sharp glass shards. The last one to explode was the single lightbulb, darkness surrounding you. You lift your head back up, looking around the room, sharing the same thought.

You have found his hideout.

“Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit? Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck.” Robin voiced her concern from the front of the car.

It was the next day and you were heading back to Eddie’s hiding spot, finally bringing him the food and beer he had requested. With the whole realization you had yesterday, you kind of forgot that you also had a fugitive to take care of.

“It won’t be that bad.” you said from the back of Nancy’s car, trying to believe it yourself. It wasn’t just his fury at you about being late that concerned you, it was also the fact that everything you suspected had happened, had actually happened.

“I just can’t stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie’s break again. I really, really can’t”

“At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” Steve consoled Robin, holding up the six-pack of beers.

“That’s what my mom does.” Max confessed like it was no big deal.

“Why don’t we just give it a trial run? ‘Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he’s in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about, and the gate’s closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He’s entirely shut off to us, so basically, you’re screwed. And, no, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you’re like doubly, triply screwed.” Robin’s words made you realize just how horrible this whole thing was going to be, so you let your head fall down on your hands.

“Okay, wait, wait. Maybe we don’t put it like that.” Lucas requested and Nancy stepped up.

“We’re one step closer to finding Vecna. That’s what we say. That’s what’s important.”

“See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference.” Robin hummed at your boyfriend’s words, muffled as he was chewing on some Pringles, but before you could continue, Nancy’s words interrupted your previous conversation.

“Oh, shit.” Nancy said and parked the car.

The whole town was at Eddie’s hideout, leaving you no choice but to think that you were too late and the police had caught an innocent man. You all got out of the car and made your way carefully behind a van close enough to the Chief of the police, Powell, so you could easily hear him talk about what had happened.

Another student had been killed, his name was Patrick McKinney and the main suspect for the murder was Eddie, who was now, also, a public suspect. The good thing was Eddie was not caught, but the bad things are piling up so much, you’re not sure when they’re gonna tumble.

“Oh, man. This is not good. This is really not good.” Steve said under his breath, after you gathered enough information to catch up.

“Where the heck is Eddie?” as if he could hear your question, Dustin’s radio came to life, Eddie’s voice calling out for you.

“Dustin, can you hear me? Y/n?”

“Eddie, holy shit. Are you okay?” Dustin quickly answered Eddie’s call of distress.

“Nah, man. Pretty- pretty goddamn far from okay.” you could hear the strain in his voice, clearly stress over what was happening.

“Where is he?” Robin asked and Dustin repeated the question to the fugitive.

“Skull Rock. Do you know it?” oh you were quite familiar with Skull Rock, your eyes landing on Steve out of pure instinct.

“Uh, yeah. That’s near Cornwallis and-” Dustin tried to recall the location, but Steve already knew exactly how to get there.

“Garret, yeah. I know- we know where that is.” he pointed to you and smirked when he saw the redness forming on your cheeks. However, his gaze then fell on Nancy, who was standing next to you, and let out a slight cough when he remembered he didn’t go there only with you.

He shook his head to forget the memories and jogged to the car, ready to drive you to where Skull Rock was.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming.” Dustin tells Eddie, and he gets into the car after you.

Steve is at the front with Dustin, following him as they were trying to understand where they were supposed to be heading. Steve knew they were heading in the wrong direction, but Dustin was certain it was this way since his compass was saying so.

“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re taking us the wrong way.” Steve complained.

“It’s north. I’m positive. I checked the map.” he had the map in his left hand and the compass in his right, constantly checking the direction and huffing when he always saw it pointing at a different one.

“You do realize Skull Rock, it’s like a super popular make-out spot?” Steve told him, Dustin not getting where he was heading at.

“Yeah. So?”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t popular until I made it popular.” he pointed to himself “All right? I practically invented it. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” Steve did a sharp turn and went off the trail into the woods to get them to the spot he knew like the back of his hand.

“Steve. Where are you going? Steve!”

“Stop whining. Let’s go. Come on, trust me, man.” he waved his hand for him to follow, and after an exaggerated groan, Dustin did as he was told “Like I said, I’ve been there plenty of times. It was one of the things I was known for back in high school.”

“Wait.” Dustin paused for a moment in his spot, while in thought “Have you been with my sister here?”

“Worse.” Steve answered.

“Have you not been with my sister here?”

“How is that worse to you?”

“I want my sister to get the best treatment you could possibly offer her.” Steve shook his head at his words but cleared his throat to explain himself.

“Let’s just say that out of the 3 legal of age women in the group, I’ve come here with 2 of them.”

“Oh. Oh! Come on man!” Dustin finally understood what Steve was saying, but after thinking about it for a moment, he couldn’t help but chuckle “You’re even more screwed if my sister remembers that.”

A little further behind, you were walking beside Nancy, Robin just a little ahead of you, trying to hear what Max and Lucas were talking about.

You were quiet, enjoying the familiar walk to Skull Rock, when Nancy cleared her throat, bringing your attention to her.

“So, have you ever come to Skull Rock?”

“Oh, yeah, I have.” you nodded, memories of you and Steve coming into your mind “You?”

“Yeah.” her voice was a bit strained.

“Have we come here with the same guy?”

“I think so, yeah.” you stole a look at Nancy. Her face was full of concern, worried that you would think this is weird, you two talking about your present and past relationships, but you just let out a big chuckle. Your reaction made her feel more relaxed, seeing that it wasn’t as big of a deal as she was building it up in her head it would be.

“Why were you so nervous? It’s not like I wasn’t there when you dated him for a year. I encouraged you.”

“Well, encouragement isn’t the word I would use, but yeah I know.”

“Hey, can you blame me? He wasn’t the best back then.” thinking of King Steve and your Steve was like thinking of two completely different people.

“I know. You’ve made him better.” Nancy smiled at you, and you quickly returned the gesture.

“We both did.” you didn’t feel weird at all talking about Steve with each other. First and foremost, you were friends, and you did find this whole situation hilarious. Suddenly, Robin interrupted your small moment after getting back from ‘spying’ on the other troubled couple of the group.

“Oh my God, they’re so adorable. I just want to squeeze ‘em, you know?” she told you, making your gaze fall on Max and Lucas walking ahead of you. It was nice seeing them spend some time with each other, even under these circumstances “If I’m permitted to see a silver lining in this end-of-the-world doom and gloom, it would be two souls coming together and forgetting all their previous faults out of love. I didn’t mean that as a hint or anything.”

“Right.” you nodded your head, not believing her for a second.

“But if I did mean it as a hint, would that be so terrible? I mean, to wish happiness for all of my friends?” you scoffed at her words, Nancy deciding to get to the bottom of what was happening.

“What actually happened between you guys?”

“Robin is overexaggerating. We really are fine. Just a small fight, just like all other couples have.” you told her, but by the look on your friend’s face, she needed a better explanation than that, so you gave in “Basically, I asked him to move in with me and he ignored me.” Nancy’s eyebrows shot up while Robin defended both sides.

“He didn’t ignore you.”

“He did. He didn’t want to talk about it which to me says everything I need to know. He’s not ready and it’s fine. It just annoyed me how he handled it.” you confessed to your friends, your gaze staying on the ground.

“I didn’t know you guys were that serious, but I do believe you. I bet it’s nothing. Steve has always been too anxious for his own good. But with the way he looks at you, you have nothing to be worried about.”

“Thank you.” you looked at her, wanting to sent her another smile, but you stopped when you noticed she was the gloomy one right now. You turned to look at Robin, who had also noticed but just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to do. After a moment she cleared her throat and looked over at Nancy.

“Do you have something you wanna share to the group, Nancy?”

“I’m having a similar situation with Jonathan…” she confessed.

“Really?” you asked, letting her go on.

“It’s just… He was supposed to be here for the break, and then he backed out the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason. And, to be honest, I’m not even that surprised, because I’ve been feeling him pulling away. A- and I don’t know if it’s because we’re 2,000 miles away or if he met someone new or what. And now I can’t find out why because apparently, he’s blown up his family’s house or something.”

“You’ve been holding that in for a while now, huh?”

“Yeah.” she nodded at her question, glad to have finally expressed her frustration.

“Nancy, I know how it can be but I can promise you, you don’t need to start creating all these crazy scenarios in your mind. Jonathan is scared, but he’s definitely not cheating on you.” you explained as you picked up the pace when you saw Steve enter a big bush, entering Skull Rock.

“Is scared? What do you mean ‘is scared’? Have you talked to him?” Nancy called out for you. You realized you had let out more information than Jonathan would have liked, so you just pushed past the bush in front of you to avoid the conversation.

“Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.” he took a look at the scowl on your face, his hands going up defensively “He started it.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Dustin looked down at his compass in confusion. You patted his shoulder as you passed by him, your eyes scanning the area for Eddie.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. Can’t admit that you’re wrong, you little butthead.” just when Steve ended his sentence a sudden thud made you turn around, scaring the shit out of you. However, relief replaced the feeling when you realized it was just Eddie making a theatrical entrance.

“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a… total butthead.”

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” your brother let out a sigh and went to hug his friend.

“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” his eyes settled on you and Steve as they hugged. You sent him a small smile, glad to see he was okay.

After the rest appeared out of the bush, Eddie began explaining what had happened while you were gone.

“When I got to the shore, I tried calling for you guys, but, uh…” he opened a flash, drinking what you guessed, no hoped, was water in there “My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran.” he chuckled humorlessly.

He was squatting in front of Skull Rock, the rest of you standing before him, listening closely.

“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy asked him.

“Yeah, no, I… I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.” he took off his watch tossing it over to Nancy, who caught it and looked at it, to confirm her suspicions.

“9:27.”

“Same time our flashlights went kablooey.” Robin said.

“Which means what exactly?” Steve asked from beside you.

“It means that the surge of energy we experienced was Vecna attacking Patrick.” you explained.

“Well, we’re one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks.” Robin said and Lucas continued her train of thought.

“And where he attacks from.”

“So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and Drive a stake through his heart.” you looked at Max. The rest went on with the conversation, but your attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. Your gaze was fixed on Dustin who was walking up and down staring at his compass.

You were only able to join the conversation again when Eddie addressed the question you also had in your mind.

“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not, uh, cursed, is he?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” you told him and moved towards your brother.

“Oh, come on, he’s fine. Cursed? No. Mental? Absolutely.” Steve answered for you, always ready to comment on Dustin’s antics.

You were just a couple meters away from your brother, when his loud exclamation stopped your movements.

“Boom!” all your eyes widen in shock, while Dustin turns around and points at Steve “Bada… Bada… Boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north.” Steve rolled his eyes at him

“Seriously? You’re serious?” Dustin nodded and hummed with a huge grin on his face “This is Skull Rock. Okay? You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now!”

“Yes. And no.”

“Oh my God…” Steve groaned. You moved forward landing on your brother’s side as he handed you the compass to check it out.

“This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. It was correct when we got in the car on Kerley, but it started to slip the further east we went. Now, it’s way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong. The compass was.” you looked down at your hands to see the compass’s needle not pointing correctly, just like Dustin was saying.

“So, you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong.” Steve tried to reason with Dustin, but your brother was still not giving in.

“Except it isn’t faulty.”

Suddenly, as if a lightbulb lit up in your mind, you finally understood what Dustin was talking about.

“Wait- Are you saying…”

“Yep.” your brother turned to look at you with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Is that even possible? How?” you questioned him, the rest looking at the two of you as if you had each grown two heads.

“I don’t know but it could explain a lot of blanks in our theory.”

“What is happening?” Eddie asked the group.

“Oh right, you’re new. This is a Henderson thing, you’ll get used to it.” Steve answered him.

“Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?” Dustin pointed to Lucas.

“An electromagnetic field.” the other kid answered, realization hitting him aswell.

“Yep.”

“I’m sorry. I must’ve skipped that class.” Robin looked very confused, not understanding what you were talking about.

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” You pointed to the direction the needle was pointing at right now.

“So, either there’s some super big magnet around here, or…” Dustin stopped talking, wanting someone else to finish his thought.

“There’s a gate.” Lucas was the one to finish it.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy asked you.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate? A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller. Way less powerful.” Dustin suggested.

“Snack-size gate.” Robin commented and you nodded.

“It is possible. Nancy, remember when you, me, and Jonathan were searching for Will? You went into the Upside Down through a small gate in the woods. It’s plausible Vecna’s doing the same.” you explained to her, and she nodded her head.

“How? Why?” Steve was the next one to question your crazy theory.

“No idea. All we know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.” Dustin looked at Max, hope once again rising through all of you.

He turned to give you a look and without a word, you nodded, gave him the compass, and followed after him as he began walking towards the direction the needle was pointing to.

“Where are you going?” Steve called out for the two of you, his voice making you stop, and grab Dustin from his backpack when you realized he had no intentions of stopping and listening to him “Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin turned to Eddie and you all turned to stare at him, waiting to see what he would say.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire… the Shire is burning.” you smiled after hearing his words and seeing your brother jump up and down when he realized Eddie was into this whole thing. They were a weird duo but they worked “So Mordor it is.” Eddie got up and followed Dustin, the rest quickly accepting the plan and going after them. You stood in your spot waiting for Steve, who still looked confused.

“What is Mordor?” he said under his breath making you chuckle.

“I’ve told you a hundred times to read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ but you never listen to me.” you grabbed his hand and tagged him along, when Eddie ran back towards you and went to Skull Rock, picking up some of the stuff he had left there.

“Get your stuff, dude. Let’s go.”

“ ’Let them a journey new begin.’ ” you reference the book with a smile, making Eddie stop in his tracks and look at you pleased.

“I’m liking you more and more, older Henderson.”

It honestly felt like you were walking forever. The sky was now dark blue, any sight of the sun gone. You were, as always, at the back of the group following Dustin. Suddenly you saw the rest pick up their paces, so with a quick look at Steve, you started chasing after them.

“I think we’re getting close.” Dustin announced, looking back to the rest of you, missing the fact that right in front of him was a lake. Luckily, Eddie was there to stop him before he fell in.

“Watch your step, big guy.”

You finally catch up to them, seeing the very familiar lake in front of you.

“Oh man. You gotta be shitting me.” Steve was breathless from all the running, glad to just stand still for a moment.

“Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar.” Eddie said, and you nodded.

“Lover’s Lake.” Robin pointed out.

“This is confounding.” Dustin was the only one who didn’t sound exhausted or confused, just entertained.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asked.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Nancy answered and you bit your lip.

“So, yesterday’s attack left an opening at Lover’s Lake. How convenient for us.”

“Yeah, only one way to find out.” Steve pointed at the covered little boat beside you. Eddie uncovered it and the two of them pushed it to the water.

The first one to get on was Robin, who completely ignored Steve’s offer to help her with his hand, and just balanced herself by grabbing their hands. You shook your head with a small smile and headed to them, waiting your turn.

Steve turned to see you next and you gladly accepted his help, your hand easily landing on his. You thanked him and sat down opposite Robin, who had made herself comfortable at the front of the boat. Next was Eddie, and then Nancy. The boat already felt too crowded, so when Dustin placed his bag in and tried to get on as well, Eddie smacked him in the head, sending his whole body back.

“Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?” Dustin looked confused, so you leaned forward to ease his wound.

“It can only hold four people okay, buddy? We’ll carry on the quest.” you told him and Nancy joined in.

“It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble.” she was right. You didn’t like leaving them here alone, but you also didn’t want them anywhere near the gate, so sacrifices must happen.

“You keep an eye out.” Dustin sassed, his tone shocking you “It’s my goddamn theory.” he complained and Robin rolled her eyes next to you.

“You heard Nance.”

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin asked pointing at Nancy in front of him.

“I did.” Robin replied with a proud smile on her face.

“Compass.” Nancy demanded, the palm of her hand in the air, right in front of Dustin, commanding the compass. After a frown, Dustin complied and handed it to her. You sent him a grateful smile, which made him mock you in return.

“Hey, there you go.” Steve said and threw Dustin his bag back right before pushing the boat to the water and quickly getting in as well.

“You said four!” Dustin yelled and Steve mumbled a not so heartfelt apology back.

“Stay safe!” you yelled at them and gave Steve your hand, helping him get situated inside the boat.

“Bedtime at nine, kiddos. Miss you already!” Robin joked, as she stood up and waved at the kids, making Dustin give her the middle finger.

You were kind of pushing it by having five people in the small boat, but you were determined to make it work. So here you were, squished between Steve and Nancy while Robin and Eddie paddled. Nancy had given you the compass when she sat down, so you were now guiding them to where the needle was pointing, while Nancy and Steve looked around for anything that could give away where the gate was located.

Suddenly the needle goes crazy and you tell them to stop moving the boat. They huddle close to you, staring at the compass.

“Guys, what’s going on?” your brother’s voice sounded from the radio “Come on, guys, talk to me, what’s going on?” he must have seen you stopped, eager to find out what caused it.

Robin picks it up and answers “Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘ahh’!”

Before you could give your brother an actual answer, the boat started swaying more and you realized, when you turned to your left, Steve’s movement was what made you all move. You looked at him confused as he took off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” you asked him.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then… it’s gotta be me.”

“What?” you asked shocked.

“No complaints, all right?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. I do not wanna go down there.” Eddie said, but you paid no attention to him or the fact that he was throwing stuff all over the boat, too focused on your boyfriend who was now standing up, and taking off his sweater. You panicked and rose, holding his arms to stop him from jumping in.

“Steve, you can’t just-” he swiftly removed himself from your hand, letting his hands hold both sides of your face, looking deeply into your eyes.

“I’ll be fine, okay? It’s just a swim. I’ll be right back.” he pecked your lips and without another word guided you to sit back down. Everything happened so quickly that you didn’t know if you should allow your body to blush at his kiss or stand up again and tell him to stop being so reckless.

“Hey.” Eddie pulled you out of your trance, and you looked over to see he had created a good enough waterproof solution for the flashlight using a plastic bag he had in his pockets. Steve turns and takes it when Eddie hands it over “Good luck.” he wishes him and Steve in return thanks him and throws him his sweater.

You watch as Steve takes a deep breath, ready to dive, but you call out for him before he can disappear into the water. His head turns to look at you “Be careful.” he smiles and nods. Before you can blink, Steve throws his body into the water. You move yourself to the side of the boat, looking at the spot he had descended from.

You thought you were standing there for an hour, but according to the rest, Steve was closing in on just a minute under there. The silence was deafening, as you waited. You didn’t even realize you were holding your breath as well, until Steve appeared with a big splash, sending water inside the boat and scaring all of you at once.

“I found it.” he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

“You found it?” Nancy asked again shocked.

“I found it. Yeah. I found it.” he takes the hand you were offering him, helping him grab onto the boat. You smiled, happy to see he was okay.

“Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate.” Robin spoke on the radio to inform the kids what was happening.

“It’s pretty wild. It’s more a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.” you didn’t have the time to chuckle at his comment, because for a moment his whole body went underwater again. Luckily his reflexes were quick, so he was able to hold himself upwards, never letting go of the boat.

He looked back up at you, confusion taking control of his face. Then he is gone.

You yell and call out for him, not understanding what had just happened. You’re once again standing still, frozen in your spot, not registering any of the words the rest are saying. Suddenly, your body decides your next move before your mind can.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not going in there, are you?” Eddie asks you when he sees you shrugging off the jacket you were wearing, leaving you with your top on.

“Don’t follow.”

It was the only thing you told them, before diving after Steve. A little voice inside of you was screaming at you, telling you what a terrible idea this was, but a bigger one was repeating only one word, Steve. And you could only listen to the latter.

You swam as fast as you could. You weren’t good at holding your breath but you were not gonna let anything stop you. Your eyes search the dark water for some sign of Steve or the gate, finally landing on something that irked your attention.

A soft red glow was calling for you at the bottom of the lake. As you got closer, the brighter it got and you quickly realized it was what you were looking for. All around the gate were veins, similar to the ones you had come across so many times when dealing with Upside Down. However, you had never seen a gate like that before. You let your hand touch the red wall separating you from the other dimension and it only took a small push for the gate to let you in.

The moment you landed on the other side, you were coughing up, gladly letting in air on your lungs, poisonous or not. With deep breaths, you looked up and saw you were still at the lake, but here there was no water. Everything looked frozen, a gray fog surrounding everything in the Upside Down making goosebumps cover your body as red thunder echoed around you.

Noises interrupted your thoughts, and you turned around to see Nancy, Robin, and Eddie appearing from the gate. You sighed and stood up, watching them as they caught their breath.

“What did I tell you?”

“Something stupid.” Robin answered you. You scoffed, but not without a smile creeping into your mouth as you helped them get back on their feet.

A scream sounding from your right. Your head whipped around, immediately recognizing Steve’s voice. Weird creatures were over him, holding him by his neck and bruising his sides with their teeth. They were small, smaller than the monsters you were used to from the Upside Down, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t do the same amount of damage. They looked like bats that had escaped from a radioactive lab. You wanted to tear them apart, but you knew that wouldn’t help your situation, so your eyes searched around for anything that could help you. Besides Steve, you saw a boat covered in veins, but the oar that was sticking out was what caught your eye. The second one was on the ground.

You signaled for the others to grab the one by the boat, while you hurried to hold the one nearest to Steve. The moment you had it, you swung it forward and hit one of the creatures, sending it away from Steve. You saw his eyes moving to watch you and a stern look on your face, almost being able to feel the adrenaline off you.

“Hey there.” you say and kick the other thing off his torso. You call out for Robin to step on the one choking Steve so you can easily hit it with the back of the oar. You can hear Eddie encourage you, before spotting another one of the creatures nearing you from the air. He calls out for Nancy who was holding the other oar, so she can have a heads up and prepare. She starts swinging at it and he looks around for a rock to grab and hit it with.

Meanwhile, you and Robin are still trying to remove the creature from Steve’s neck, but it is extremely stubborn. Robin is now also beating the hell out of it with one of the flashlights. Eddie and Nancy are still trying to sway off the creature and they succeed, only to realize it wasn’t actually leaving, just changing targets. Nancy calls out for you to look out as more come her way, but you weren’t able to hear her correctly, so in your moment of confusion over what was happening you completely miss the creature crashing into you from behind and sending you to the ground, the oar falling from your grasp.

You try to reach for it, but you’re unable to. Robin rushes to help you get it off. Just then Steve regains some of his strength and manages to yank the beast from his neck, taking it by its tail. You let out a scream, feeling the things nails scratching and making your back bleed. Finally, Robin succeeds, removing the creature from your back and yanking it to the ground. You stood back to your feet, a groan leaving your lips, but you swallowed the pain down, grabbing the oar once again and giving the creature one more big, final blow to its head.

You finally feel like you’re able to breath, turning around to see if anyone else needed help. You watched everyone staring at Steve who was still holding the monster by its tail, yanking it back and forth, letting it hit the ground with force each time. After he felt like it was enough, he stepped on it with one foot, giving him the support he needed to tear the thing in half. In the end, he’s breathing heavily, letting the half he was holding fall to the ground and spitting out blood that had collected in his mouth from the fight.

You let out a relieved sigh and immediately go up to him. You say his name softly and wrap your arms around him. His own settle at your waist, his face falling on your shoulder. After hugging him for a few moments, you pull back to take a good look at his face. He was covered in dirt and blood.

You brought your hand up to wipe some of it off, Steve leaning into your touch “Are you okay?”

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh. But other than that, yeah, never better.” his tone was sarcastic, trying to hide how much the bites and claw marks were hurting him. You looked down, your hands touching his wounds gently to inspect the damage, however, he wasn’t focused on any of that “You’re insane for following me down here.”

You couldn’t help but agree with him, but then again, you’ve always been insane “And let you have all the fun? I don’t think so.” he scoffed with an exhausted smile tugging at his lips. You leaned in when he rested his forehead against yours, breathing each other in, glad you were both okay.

“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?”

“What?” Steve’s brows frowned, turning to stare at Robin, annoyed that your small moment was over.

“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor, like, really soon because once the symptoms set it, it’s too late. You’re already, like, dead.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Robin.” you said when shrieking erupted around you. It startled you, making you all huddle together, you and Steve at the front.

You turn to look at the bats who were forming a guard around the gate, making it quite hard to get past and leave the Upside Down.

“All right. There’s not that many.” Steve says, his body guarding you. The bats shriek at you “We can take them. Right?” he sounded less sure at the end, making you concerned.

All your hopes disappeared when you saw more of them heading your way.

“You were saying?” Robin asked full of sarcasm.

“The woods. Come on.” Nancy said and you followed her, running for your life. You carefully avoided any veins, as you remembered what these veins meant here, and entered the woods.

You ended up hiding under Upside Down’s Skull Rock, waiting for the bats to lose your tracks. The moment the coast was clear, you all stood up, leaving your hiding spot.

“That was close.” Eddie agreed with Robin. You were looking upwards, watching the bats fly away when a noise from your left made you turn your head.

Your heart dropped in fear when you saw Steve gripping his wounds, his whole body leaning on the rock, dizziness taking over his senses.

“Steve?” he hated how scared you sounded.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” his sentence ended in a groan, his eyes squishing from the pain. You rushed forward to guide him to the ground carefully.

“You’re not fine, Steve. You’re losing a lot of blood. God…” you exclaimed when you saw his bloody hands. You placed yours on top of them, gently removing them from his torso, all of you gasping when you saw the amount of blood that had left his wounds.

“We need something to cover them…” you searched your body, feeling your clothes to find something that could help. The fabric was too thin and small for a job like this, and also incredibly torn in the back after all the scratching from the creatures. Luckily Nancy came to the rescue and started tearing a part of her blouse to give you.

“Okay. So, the good news here is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive, like- like you wanna punch me or something, you should totally let me know.”

“Robin?” Steve said.

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna punch you.” his breathing was heavy, trying to not pass out from the dizziness.

“Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.” she laughed. You thanked Nancy after she handed the fabric to you, and Robin took it as her sign to leave you alone following after Nancy, certain she could not bear to see that.

“Okay… It might hurt.” you eyed his face, your own full of worry.

Steve nodded “Do it.” he grunts and does his best to hold himself up to give you better access to the wound.

You start wrapping his waist with the fabric, gently but firmly so it can hold any more blood that would want to get out. You hear him groan in pain, his stomach flexing at the touch. You apologized but he just told you he was fine.

“Is it too tight?” you were almost done, just waiting for the clear to tie the knot and secure its place.

“No, it’s- it’s good.” you nodded at his words and finished the knot at the front. You hoped it would be enough.

You looked back at him, hating how in pain he looked. He leaned back against the stone, his eyes falling on you with a sigh.

“Thank you, baby.” you let a small smile out at the nickname and kissed his forehead.

“So, uh…” Eddie starts talking, bringing your focus on him “This place is like Hawkins but with monsters and nasty shit?” he was standing on top of a fallen tree.

“Pretty much.” Nancy answered.

You placed your arms around Steve’s waist, careful to not touch his wound, his arm around your shoulders, and helped him stand right back up. You looked back at Eddie, seeing him ready to jump off the trunk, back to the ground, but a warning from you made him stop.

“Wait, watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.” you tried to explain, but from the look on Eddie’s face it obviously wasn’t enough.

“It’s all a what?”

“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude.” you helped Steve lean to the stone once again, never leaving his side to make sure you’d be there if he needed help “They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” you nodded at his words. Eddie looked spooked as he carefully let himself back into the ground slowly, his feet never touching the veins.

“But everything from our world is still here, right?” Robin questioned.

“As far as I understand it, yeah.” Nancy answered her.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station, and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.” she suggested.

“I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But, uh, guns? Yeah, sure.” Steve said, his hand never leaving his bandaged wound.

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom.” Nancy told you.

“You.” Eddie had finally landed back on the ground “Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin said rhetorically, a smile on her face.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” the other girl explained, and Steve scoffed at the memory.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.”

“It was in the heat of the moment.” you defended Nancy, also remembering your adventure at the Byer’s house. A glimpse of blue coming towards you caught your attention, realizing it was Eddie's sleeveless, jean jacket that he had taken off and thrown at Steve.

“For your modesty, dude.” he explained and your boyfriend nodded.

All of a sudden, the earth started shaking, surprising all of you and making you lose your balance. You hang onto Steve, who puts his arms around you without a second thought. You grabbed Nancy’s hand and pulled her under the rock with you, while Eddie held Robin on the ground. The earthquake wasn’t long, but its strength did scare you. When the shaking stopped, you heard a creature baying in the distance and echoing through the woods. It was one of the scariest sounds you had ever heard.

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.”

“Yeah, me too.” Eddie and Robin said, still on the ground.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve said, swiftly putting on the jacket in his arms and getting the torch from his back pocket, turning it on and leading the way. You were the first one to follow after him, your eyes always scanning the ground for the veins.

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[simplifiedemotions]

Meet Me At Night

For @sumbul <3

Dissolution started with a strangled heart and a bruised jaw. 

Tender and unsorted, Hermione curled into Draco’s armchair. The only place that guarded his scent since he’d left. Indigo curtains shifted in the night breeze, and she snuggled closer, seeking the vetiver warmth. She was too tired to shut the window, too sad for anything but sleep.

The next morning, she awoke in her bed.

—

The first few times, she assumed that she’d woken up and lumbered off to bed groggily. But after a month, she concluded that someone had moved her whilst she was sleeping.

Not many people could access her Floo network.

At half-past three one morning, she forced herself to stay up, watching through half-lidded eyes as he approached her. She tried her best to be still even though a ravenous part of her wanted to reach out to him like a caged beast.

Draco stood in front of her, his vetiver scent a comfort to her tired bones. She found it difficult to keep still under the weight of his scrutiny. Even while they’d dated she’d always found his grey gaze heavy and unrelenting, and it was worse now because she didn’t know what he was thinking. 

Why was he here when he was the one who’d broken her heart?

A sigh. Then she felt the press of his warm fingers trailing across her cheek. A gentle touch stolen in the darkness of night.

Before she knew it, he was bending over, and she fooled herself into thinking he’d steal a kiss. But his arm merely curled around her shoulders as he lifted her up into his arms and carried her into their—her—room. Balancing Hermione with one arm whilst he peeled back the comforter, Draco laid her down like she was the most precious cargo. 

Tears burned behind her eyelids.

He left before she could think of something to say.

—

He did this every night, always coming around at the same time. A clockmaker diligently closing his shop at night.

Then one night he came through the Floo and Hermione wasn’t in his chair. She’d decided to challenge the cogs he set in place and set the pendulum in the direction she wanted.

—

She stared at him with open eyes as he looked back at her in alarm.

“How long have you known?” he asked, turning his face so he was half in shadow.

She narrowed her eyes. “How long have you been coming at night?”

“I asked you first.”

“You have no right to demand anything of me after you left.” She hated how she choked on the last word.

His face became an icy mask. “I won’t bother you again.”

She snatched her wand and cast a shield on her Floo, making it impenetrable as Draco tried to exit. He grunted, taking out his wand to disassemble the spell. When that didn’t work, he rammed his shoulder into the shield, which knocked him so far back he banged his hip on a side table and cursed.

“I assume you’ve done the same to the door,” he gritted out.

Hermione just raised her eyebrows in challenge.

“The windows are still an option,” he muttered.

“Oh, come off it, Draco. You’ve always been a coward, but this is low even for you.”

“Let me out,” he barked, and oh, she should’ve been afraid of his shaking hands and storming eyes, but it thrilled her to know she still had an effect on him. He was still the arrogant boy who’d cornered her in an alcove all those years ago and proved with his fingers and tongue that he was the only one for her.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you,” she admitted delicately, afraid she would shatter if he rejected her again.

“Don’t,” he snarled.

“You’re so arrogant, you know that? You call me a know-it-all, but you don’t realise that you’re exactly the same. You… you assume that you know what I want. You assume that someone else could make me happy, that you’re not good enough to be with me. But what you don’t understand is that loving you was never about variables. It’s not an equation or a Potion's recipe. Why can’t it just be that I love you because you’re the only person who’s made me feel this way?”

“Damn your love, Hermione!” He was trembling, glowering at her like he wanted to hurt her. To love her. They were one and the same. 

She didn’t hesitate as she strode forward. “I know you still love me. Stop making excuses because you’re afraid.”

“Stop,” he ordered. Begged. 

She didn’t.

His composure crumbled and he looked at her with an electric intensity that made her shiver. His gaze shifted to her healed jaw, agonised. “They hurt you because of me.”

“Draco,” she said calmly, close enough to take in his shuddered breath. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He shook his head. “I promised myself you would never be hurt in my presence again after what happened to you in the manor. And it was my fault again—”

“I was only hurt because I got in the way,” she said fiercely. The men who had attacked him in broad daylight had to go through Hermione first. And they did. But it wasn’t his fault. 

He didn’t make it two steps before she reached him. The soft intake of breath was all the permission she needed as she stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him, imprinting her want, her love, so deeply into his bones he’d never get rid of her.

He neither deepened the kiss nor did he pull away, but Hermione knew she had him when their eyes locked and she saw the devouring want swallowing his irises.

“You slept in my chair every night,” he mused, palming her cheek. 

Hermione leaned into his touch, inhaling deeply. “I missed your scent.”

He buried his face in her neck and lifted her by the backs of her thighs. “You’re not the only one, Granger,” he said, resigned, carrying her towards her—their—room.

—

The next morning, she didn’t question why she wasn’t in Draco’s armchair. She only burrowed deeper in the arms of her clockmaker, the gears of her heart whirring in a pleasant rhythm at his affixing touch.

[lt-sparrow]

ok hold on per my last post i will now explain;

WHY THOMAS BARROW FULLY DESERVED HIS REDEMPTION ARC AND MORE:

i’ll start off with the not-so-obvious: thomas offhandedly remarks to ms. baxter that his father was never kind to him. his tone and eagerness to avoid the subject imply to me that he was abused, or at the very least, has a bad relationship with his family. that could give us some insight into why he is so horrid to others during the series (it’s not an excuse by any means, but it is a reason) [also this is kinda a stretch but i’ll say it anyway: he has, in my opinion, a scouse accent, which would mean he’s from manchester or liverpool, somewhere in the west of england. that is also where rjc is from, but i feel like if thomas were from yorkshire, rjc would have put on a yorkshire accent. given the show’s timeline, previous casting errors, and wiki, thomas probably would’ve been about 15-16 when he started at downton, so that suggests to me that he left his home at a young age to travel across the country for work. his father was a clockmaker, so shouldn’t he have had a relatively secure position at his fathers shop? this is, unless his father kicked him out….sorry that’s practically incomprehensible 💀]

he had an affair with the duke of crowborough, which, to me, felt very manipulative, more so from the duke—> thomas in my opinion. it also kinda struck me as though that was thomas’ first serious relationship. he’s clearly never really been loved before, or had affection directed towards him, obviously from his response to baxter’s later treatment of him

he clearly has a substantial amount of self hatred for both his general personality and his sexuality. most, if not all of his behavior can be classified as self destructive and sabotaging, so i believe that is the reason behind much of his ‘villainous’ behavior

as well as that, most (if not all) of his schemes were due to o’briens instruction, and i wouldn’t put it past her to be blackmailing him into doing some of the things

finally, he’s clearly mentally ill. as someone with diagnosed depression, anxiety and ocd, he fits the bill (to me) of depression and anxiety perfectly. many of his actions were probably driven by an unnecessary panic and fear that he felt due to anxiety. His self destructive tendencies can be attributed to depression (end of season six??? hello?? someone help him)

that’s all i just really love my little guy and i want everyone else to understand why. i see myself in him a lot (which is kinda pathetic). I just think he deserves a happy ending with a hot, loving boyfriend (*cough* Richard Ellis *cough*) and to own a cute little tailors shop or a clock shop or something.

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 1, Poll 13

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

Jedidiah A.A. Martin-Camp Here and There

Qualifications:

refuses to label his sexuality but BOY does he like men (looking at Mr Sargent for this one :3) also has ADHD! but its not known how attention deficient or hyperactive he is

also is a stupid cringefail loser who I want to push down a slide that's been fermenting in the sun all day during summer <3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Propaganda:

Raised in a religious yet wealthy household, Jedidiah Abraham Adonias Martin--also known as "Jed", "Jeddie", "The archivist", "The clockmaker", or various misspellings and mispronunciations of his name--refuses to label his sexuality, but BOY does he like men (looking at Mr Sargent for this one), and also has ADHD! He may have dropped out of medical school and is "too repressed to write poetry", but he's still one of the camp nurses, alongside Sydney October Sargent! After talking to a bunch of birds, we found out that Jedididididiah will die on a Thursday (not a spoiler as of writing this). It has also been confirmed that he has a photo of Sydney on his desk (aww) and he plays D&D. Oh, and he's terrified of all things shelled. Would you like a snail as you think about voting for this loser? (affectionate)

Submitted by @spud-the-stupid

Ballister Boldheart-Nimona (Film)

Qualifications:

He has a boyfriend (and then they have a sort-of-breakup but they're back together by the end) and he has a prosthetic arm.

He’s gay and missing an arm.

He’s explicitly gay, in love with a man. He loses his arm then builds himself a prosthetic while on the run like a badass.

His boyfriend cut his arm off :( he uses a prosthetic now. His arm got chopped off after being falsely accused of killing the queen, he spends the rest of the movie with a prosthetic metal arm. His arm was also chopped off by his lover, Ambrosius Goldenloin, during said false assassination.

Canonically has a boyfriend and built his own prosthetic

Qualifies by both being canonically disabled (amputee) + canonically gay

Propaganda:

Please plz plz vote for him

His boyfriend cut off his arm. He made himself a prosthetic. He used his arm to block someone’s sword. He kissed his boyfriend. He has sad wet cat eyes, which isn’t relevant but still. He has them.

He’s so GOOD even though he’s having like the worst day ever (specifically talking about movie but webcomic also applies). He has the biggest wettest eyes how can you not root for him????

People love him! He kinda looks like a sad, poor little cat. A real soggy wet kitten man.

Let's see. He and Ambrosius are lovers, or at least boyfriends, from the moment they're introduced. Ballister gets his arm chopped off by Ambrosius during the false assassination. Ballister spends the rest of the movie trying to convince Ambrosius and the kingdom of his innocence, with a metal arm replacing his missing one. It originated the phrase "Arm Chopping is not a love language!" Did I mention he's a main character too?

Is a science nerd, built his own prosthetic arm with his non-dominant hand, accidentally adopted a trans chaos demon of a 1000yo being

A knight, Nimona's best friend and father figure of sorts, but the plot mostly revolves around him- Ballister is framed for murder and has to hide while trying to figure out who framed him and how to prove he's innocent. Nimona becomes his sidekick (he didn't want one, she just showed up at his place one day like a very chaotic stray cat) and together they form a great duo against the corrupt government. This is complicated by Ballister's ex Ambrosius, who accidentally cut off Ballister's arm and is a bit brainwashed by government propaganda. Oops. You should watch Nimona it's great 💞🦈

Submitted by @foulfirerebel (fifth person) and at least 7 others.

[mystiquedrops]

DRDT SWAP AU TIME !!

(I had to go back and fourth on the roles multiple times. Istg-)

Here's who swapped with who;

Teruko>< Nico

Teruko Tawaki

Despite having the Ultimate title of “Lucky Student,” it seems like the only luck Teruko has is bad luck. Accidents and misfortunes constantly plague Teruko and those around her. Due to this, She is quite nervous around others and sometimes struggle to word things correctly.

Nico Hakobyan

The protagonist. As the Ultimate Pet Therapist, Nico Hakobyan possesses an incredible synergy with animals and works with owners to address behavioral issues in their pets. Yet by spending so much time around animals, Nico may have forgotten how to act around humans. Despite this, they remain courageous and confident in their own abilities. They have a natural inclination to be a bit distrustful of their peers.

Rose><Xander

Rose Lacroix

As the Ultimate Art Forger, Rose Lacroix paints copies of famous masterpieces that are so realistic that they’re often mistaken for the real thing. She owes her forgery talent to her photographic memory. Rose has a strong sense of morals, and is constantly trying to right her own wrongs. Don’t accuse her of being just a "rule breaking criminal", though. She gets worked up very easily.

Xander Matthews

Quiet in voice and yet loud in personality, Alexander “Xander” Matthews earned the title of Ultimate Rebel through his consistent tendency to go against the status quo and break the rules. Despite this, Xander is very absent-minded and rarely pays attention to things. He'll often zone out in the middle of a conversation, or worse, forget what you were talking about at all.

Arei>< Charles

Arei Nageishi

Arei Nageishi made her debut in the bowling world as a teenager by winning multiple bowling championships. Even then, She has no problem on using her strength to look down upon others, and especially, she looks down upon those she views as less stronger than her. On the flipside, Arei is easy to tease and often loses her cool if made fun of.

Charles Cuevas

While there’s no doubt that the Ultimate Chemist is very educated and talented in the field of chemistry, He has a habit of acting like a goody-two shoes, but don’t let that fool you—he can be very brutish. Ultimately, he just wants to ingratiate herself with others, although the methods he takes to accomplish that goal are…questionable.

Hu>< Min

Hu Jing

Hu Jing is an incredibly talented musician who specializes as the Ultimate Zither Player. It’s said that even a listening to a few minutes of one of her performances will bring tears to even the hardest of hearts. She is almost always seen quietly playing her zither, never wasting a single opportunity to practice her zither playing skills, and gets annoyed if she is distracted from this task.

Min Jeung

Min Jeung is one of the top school performers in the nation, and as thus has rightfully earned the title of Ultimate Student. Her talents lie in her diligence at studying and her excellent memory. Min possesses a very motherly personality, and does her best to maintain order in the group. At times, her nagging nature shows.

Eden>< Whit

Eden Tobisa

Peppy, diligent, and always punctual, Eden Tobisa is the cheerful Clockmaker. She has a bit of a tendency to overwork herself as she gets absorbed into her work sometimes. However, Eden is also seemingly unable to take any situation seriously. She's always cracking jokes and making light of things.

Whit Young

It’s said that if you get the Ultimate Matchmaker to find you a romantic partner, you’re guaranteed to have a happy and stable relationship for life. Unfortunately for Whit Young, he seems to lack all luck when it comes to finding a relationship himself. While it may seem that Whit is a tad on the emotional or naive side, don't underestimate him.

Despite all these factors, he seems to have really *good intuition*. Though, In the end he's still a regular guy who likes hanging out.

Veronika>< Levi

Veronika Grebenshchikova

Veronika Grebenshchikova is in constant curiosity about the the thrill of being scared, leading to an interest in horror fiction. Her intense consumption and studies of the horror genre have earned her the title of Ultimate Horror Fanatic. Despite this, She has a serious nature and rarely displays strong emotions, but she takes care of her classmates and does her best to help them.

Levi Fontana

His appearance may be intimidating, but Levi Fontana has the innocuous talent of Personal Stylist. Levi is used to analyzing others' appearences and what that says about their personality. Though, he gets easily embarrassed about his tendency to get carried away when analyzing about appearences. Levi also seems to have a dangerous past that he’s unwilling to talk about.

Arturo>< Ace

Arturo Giles

Arturo Giles is a Plastic Surgeon who specializes in cosmetic surgery. He shuns those who are “ugly,” an adjective that he applies to just about everyone. Arturo is rude, condescending, and yet is constantly lashing out at others, and yet at the same time is a massive coward. He’s all bark, no bite.

Ace Markey

Ace Markey is an incredible Jockey, having won dozens of awards for his jockeying abilities…and yet he completely detests the sport. He looks up to those who are strong physically and mentally, and looks down on those whom he views weak-minded. He has little value for others, unless you happen to be a strong minded individual, in which case he’ll suck up to you.

David>< J

David Chiem

David Chiem is a renowned Inspirational Speaker who has motivated many people through his uplifting speeches. Though, Unlike one would expect, David secretly loathes public speakees, believing that they all are fake, egotistical, spotlight-hogs. While he tries to act tough, in truth he's quite vulnerable on the inside.

J Rosales

Julia “J” Rosales specializes in theatrical special effects, and has worked on many famous plays and musicals throughout her life. As one would expect, J is a constantly optimistic personality who encourages those around her to keep on moving.

Her true personality may be more pessimistic and brutish than she lets on, according to some (unreliable) sources.

(Ok I admit, I just copypasted their personalities and alterted it a bit to match with their respective roleswaps-)

I saw fatherfigurefusion do a Swap AU once, sooo- I got an idea and thought why not make my own? :3

Will probably work on it after the next Episodes start releasing because currently Idrk what to do with it-

Meanwhile, here's a link to their roleswap AU if you wanna check it out !

[hybbart]

:OOOOOO THE HOSTS OF THE GAME LOOK SO COOL!!!! I want to know more about them! Can the players talk to them? Do they have chosen disciples that they help (or harm)? Do they deside who wins each game? Does Grian interact with them?

Grian hates their guts, and most of the evo crew are at least wary of all of them except Secret Keeper (it mostly just wants everyone to have fun which is why it brought in so many players).

They all play favourites in private but they don't influence who wins. The Boogieman is very fond of Grian and he's the one who hates Scott alongside the Spinner. The Spinner loved the Ranchers and Boat Boys for playing along with their mechanic but their actual favourite player is Pearl which is why they brought Tilly back to life and granted her 3 lives.

The Clockmaker unsurprisingly loves Bdubs and Martyn, and exuded the most influence in their game and was the one whispering terrible things to Martyn all season. They picked him to be game monitor when they forced Grian into time out. They're a busy body who would have controlled the games much more if they weren't busy constantly fixing their own broken mechanics. Theyre the one watcher who despises Grian and is bored by Jimmy's curse, pushing the both to their deaths to get them out of the way.

The Secret Keeper liked Gem so much from the other game it made her a proper part of the game. It has a soft spot for the sillier players, and it couldn't stand even one not participating so it convinced Tango to ceate torchie and let Ren control his body while Tango followed him, and brought Jimmy back. Tango was one of its favourites for his silly games and "its not about winning" mentality.

The Secret Keeper's the only one who directly put itself in the game out in the open. Its a bit unconventional as far as watchers go which is why it wanted to host a game so badly.

Most of the time only Grian can talk to them directly, although Martyn, Jimmy, Pearl, and Bigb can hear them.

[fandombead]

The Dancer

Hello!! This is my submission for Prinxiety Shipweek's prompt: Music.

Summary: Virgil is the small (like– 5'' tall) 16-year-old son of a woodcarver who crafts him a little dancer friend out of special wood he got from one of their regular clients. Imagine Virgil’s shock when the figure, his size, comes to life in the nighttime. (note: Fairy Tale-ish AU!)

WC: ~4.8k || It's on AO3!

@prinxietyweek !

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Music

Virgil stepped down and wandered out of his space in the walls onto his dad’s desk, trying to get a peek at the man’s latest project. 

Patton was extremely skilled at his craft, to the point he was renowned in all the land for his detailed, “impossible” works. He had learned from a great teacher and put in the work to always remember the lessons. It wasn't a miraculous talent he was born with, but a skill he cultivated. He liked to say he gave a piece of something he loved to all his precious creations. 

Virgil didn’t think much of it, but he was lucky. His dad often made everything he needed from scratch or tinkered out of something he thought would be useful, and it always surprised him how crafty and resourceful his dad was even when he wasn’t carving oak and cedar. 

Right now, Patton was bent in a way that surely would hurt when he finally got up, intently focused on his latest secret project that had captured Virgil’s nosey attentions entirely. It wasn’t near his birthday; that had passed a few months ago and he had gotten a new Violin (and it was incredible how good it managed to sound. Even better than the first model Virgil had learned to play with).

But Patton had been hiding this from him for weeks, and it was driving Virgil crazy. As it was, Patton knew where all his perches for looking out at the shop and people watching were, and had been very good at keeping the new…whatever it was out of sight.

Virgil had caught glimpses: Patton had chosen a rather expensive-looking hardwood that Virgil didn’t even recognize as any used before, which meant it either was for a top-paying commissioner or one of Patton’s major passion projects that would require a lot of detailing. He’d also ordered an odd mechanical base from Logan: the clockmaker several shops over who he often collaborated with. Having a custom part or apparatus from him wasn’t unusual, but the secrecy had Virgil more invested than he’d otherwise be. 

He tried to interrogate Logan from the counter when he’d dropped the boxed mystery device off a few days ago, but the man had simply smiled and told him to be patient and he’d surely get to see it soon. Virgil did not like that answer. It only kept him awake at night and more curious.

Virgil peeked out from Patton’s old design books on the desk, trying to see what his dad’s arm was blocking. There were interesting scraps of sparkly and sheer fabric littering the table and he could at least see that Patton was holding a paintbrush in his left hand, tongue out in concentration.

As Virgil tried to see, however, Patton cracked a knowing smile. “Heya, kiddo. Can’t help but want to peek, hmm?” Virgil ducked back behind the books guiltily before shuffling out at being caught. Patton set the brush down. “Well, it’s alright. I was actually just finishing the detail on this, he’s nearly done. I was going to introduce you at breakfast, but I think now is much more interesting.”

Virgil gave his dad a confused look. “‘He’?” 

Patton just grinned and told him to turn around for a moment which Virgil complied and did. Whatever just to get to finally see this…whatever it was Patton had created.

Virgil heard Patton shuffling and setting things down, then the light tap tap tap of his small mallet.

Something was set down again, closer behind Virgil and Patton finally let him turn to see.

Patton held an ornate little red box in the moonlight coming in from the window behind them. On top, poised gracefully on one pointed foot  was a figure of a beautiful dancer, with chestnut brown hair in waves that looked more soft than carved and a just as soft smile on a kind face. He looked similar to the dancer in the ballet Patton had taken him to last winter, in a shimmering long-sleeved shirt and embroidered gold vest. 

The figure in his hand was posed in a dance, as if captured right as he reached out his hand to a partner, waiting. His other leg was carefully positioned behind him, pointed rigidly. If not for his base, he’d probably be close to Virgil’s height. Virgil looked at the creation as he circled it in awe. Patton sat back and wiped the polish and paint from his hands, chuckling proudly. “So, whatcha think, Virgie? He’s pretty nice, yeah?” Virgil’s eyes were wide as he looked back at Patton, near sparkling. “How did you even make this?? It’s so– I’ve never seen you make anything this elaborate before.”

“Well, I was gifted a very rare and simply elegant block of wood from one of our regular clients, Sir Fraus. He says he got it during his travels but didn’t say what kind it was. Only that it was in thanks and that he thought I’d know what to make with something this rare. So, I figured that I should make something just as special. I'm excited to show him the next time he stops by. He’s got joints to be posable and everything– and just wait until you see this.” Patton reached into his apron pocket and pulled out a small gold key. Virgil watched, walking around to see as Patton stuck the small key into the back of the box and it clicked in. He turned it a few times, winding it up and then let go. The dancer began to slowly spin on his toe, the metal base he was attached to rotating.  

Virgil watched as the shimmery sleeves of his outfit caught the moonlight, unable to look away. Patton smiled, also admiring the dancer spun, dancing to an unheard tune as his arm that wasn’t poised moved up and down as he spun. 

“I’m only a bit disappointed I couldn’t add music to the box, but Logan didn’t have a comb the right size or the cylinder for the song I was hoping for anyway. Perhaps one day I can get one custom-made.” Virgil tilted his head as he watched, sitting next to Patton to watch as the figure slowed to a stop, arm down in rest again. 

“Did you…name him?” Virgil asked as Patton reached around his son to wind it up again.

“You know, it’s funny you mention that. I went to the nice woman who sells fabrics from her home in The Den– you know, that little shop district across town? She made the costumes for the play we saw. Anyway, I was explaining to her what I needed and asked for any outfit suggestions and somehow we got onto the topic of names being important for creations like this. She gave me a few, but I ended up liking one the most: ‘Roman’. What do you think?”

Virgil had to admit that was very fitting for the regal dancer. He liked it. “Roman,” he repeated, nodding in approval with a tiny smile he hid in his arm as they watched him spin again. “Suits him.” “I’d say his clothing suits him too.” Patton grinned and Virgil groaned, laying his head in his arms. “Baaad, that one was awful.”

Patton laughed, ruffling Virgil’s hair with a fingertip and a wide smile. 

“Hahaha, I bet Roman likes my puns!”

Virgil made a noise of doubt as Patton turned and looked at his colorful clock on the wall. “Ah, I stayed up far later than I meant to. You’re welcome to stay out here if you want, but I gotta get to bed. Early day tomorrow, as usual.” he hummed, standing. Virgil watched him and gave Patton’s hand a brief hug when it swept up to ‘hug’ him goodnight. “Don’t stay up too late, Virge.”

Virgil gave Patton a vague wave of his hand in acknowledgment, not taking his eyes off the dancer.

Patton made sure the shop was locked up and then left to his room in their home above the shop.

Virgil sat alone, going back to wind the box when it stopped. He really did think it’d be nice to see Roman dance to music. And then he realized that it was something he could provide.

Virgil got up and ran off to his room in the walls. There was his little workshop space Patton had carved out and covered for his privacy, with a little balcony, but he ended up having to go all the way back up to his bedroom adjacent to Patton’s. He could see Patton brushing his teeth out of his balcony but didn’t stop to chat as he grabbed his black violin case from the corner by his shelf bed. Then he was immediately headed back down. He jogged out onto the worktable again, his instrument case already open as he set it down.

Virgil spun the key as far as he could, which was admittedly difficult after 5 turns, but he used all his strength to get the coil as tight as he could. Then he picked up the violet violin and started to play the first song that his hands picked: one that he’d learned by ear from the record Patton liked to play in the shop the most. 

They’d heard this one at the ballet and it felt fitting for the dancer still diligently posed on one foot. 

The pretty tune filled the air around him and Virgil smiled as it looked like the dancer was moving to it with the one arm that shifted as he spun. He could almost imagine he really was playing musician for this dancer, Roman. His vest twinkled in the gentle moonlight, and it was mesmerizing as it created a shimmer around him. Virgil was so lost in the music and gazing at the stunning figure that he did not notice the soft click of the key stopping.

He finished the song out, the lilting drawn-out end fading gradually, and the dancer stopped turning with his arm down in rest. Virgil was smiling, proud, and a bit sheepish that he’d even done it. But it was nice.

And then the carve dancer blinked, and Virgil gasped, nearly dropping his violin. He froze, staring as the dancer’s pretty dark eyes seemed to focus on him. Then it moved again, head tilted curiously. Virgil dove behind the toolkit holding Patton’s chisels, the nearest thing. 

Virgil stared in awe as the figure twisted around curiously, gazing around the shop and tentatively looking over to where Virgil hid. He tried to get down, stumbling as he pulled his foot free and nearly fell off the box entirely, much to Virgil’s anxiety spike as he gasped. Thankfully he caught himself on the edge with his hands and was able to carefully sit and hop down.

The figure was alive…alive?! Enchanted?? He didn’t think Patton knew that, surely! He would have shown him– or at least mentioned it so that his anxious son wouldn’t freak out. Was he even awake right now? The wooden man danced a little about the table, wobbly for a few steps before getting used to moving rather quickly and happy about it. 

That was a wooden person smiling over at him. Virgil scrambled back, startled. “How—how are you moving right now?! My dad carved you out of a hunk of wood!!”

The possibly possessed wooden figure blinked at him— despite Patton having never created eyelids with which to do so— hands clasping in front of himself as he stood and appeared to be listening, and even just standing there he looked like he was posed perfectly to begin dancing.

Virgil was a little unnerved that he just kept staring but his eyes were curious rather than judging or belittling like a lot of people’s tended to be when meeting him. Though their being nearly the same tiny height probably made that observation moot.

And he was the first person Roman(?) had properly met. 

Virgil didn’t know what he was waiting for but the other suddenly spared him from needing to figure it out by hurrying off to some unknown goal.

Virgil jolted at the sudden movement, scrambling up to see where the man—figure— Roman was going.

Roman popped out from behind the bookend, nearly giving Virgil a heart attack. Though before Virgil could properly decide if he was running for the wall door, Roman held up what he’d retrieved, out to Virgil with an eager look.

He had Virgil’s violin and bow, carefully held out in offering. Virgil blinked dumbly as he slowly took it.

Roman bounced on the balls of his feet a little before splaying his arms out, standing on the tips of his toes again. He was looking expectantly at Virgil and the nervous teen clutched the instrument as he realized. 

Virgil lifted the violin to tuck under his chin, mind reeling for what to play. He watched Roman stand straighter still and send a dashing smile his way, and suddenly Virgil found it easier just to let the melody that felt right flow. They both anticipated the start of the music as Virgil played the first clear note. His hands did the rest on their own, skillfully guiding the bow along the strings.

And Roman…Virgil had no idea how he knew to dance in such a way. He danced like a man finally free of rigid demands, and it was more enchanting than the beautifully poised expectation of the dancer frozen in place on a spinning point. Despite the freedom to move, Roman seemed to enjoy the little fast turns and twirls, and he spotted Virgil to keep from growing dizzy. It was impressive and alluring, the thin ruffly tule at the bottom of his shirt waving around his waist even as he stopped, catching himself gracefully with a flourish.

This was a man unrestricted, flowing in sync to the timeless music like he’d practiced it a hundred times and now had his opening night performance. His vest glittered stunningly as he moved with more grace and freedom than a person made of wood should have been able to. But it was natural for him. Roman moved across the table elegantly, the resonating sounds working with him as he reached toward the streaming moonlight like it was where their unseen audience might be. Then he was stretching into a near bow as he stepped back, going into tight spins as he twirled away, arms tucked in.

Virgil was in awe, turning to keep the dancer in sight as he played his violin for him. Roman beamed in his exuberance for just a moment before tamping the pure joy to focus again. The smile never fully left.

The dance and song sped up in tandem, and Roman swept around Virgil close enough to reach out and take his hand. Virgil was captivated and almost stuttered to a stop as Roman used his shoulder as a support, hand barely applying weight as Roman leaned in with dazzling bright eyes. It was a long gaze and yet just as quickly as he’d appeared at Virgil’s side, Roman was flitting away as if carried off by the drifting tune as the song peaked. 

As the song finished, both Roman and Virgil stepped into their final poses, Roman’s not dissimilar to the one he took on the stand, with pointed feet and one arm curved high above his head. Both seemed breathless in their own way, watching one another as they stood still, just taking it in. Virgil moved first, lowering his arms and letting a little grin spread on his face despite himself. “That was amazing!! How do you know how to dance??? It’s like you just knew??” Roman let himself down from the pose, the bright smile back as he padded over to Virgil. He laid his hands over Virgil’s bow hand and bounced happily, trying to convey his own excitement. Up close, Virgil could definitely still see the wooden body that made up the dancer, and the little joints that allowed him to pose freely were visible through his sheer long sleeves. Virgil held his violin to his chest, looking at him in wonder. “Incredible…so..you’re Roman, right? Is that actually your name?” Roman tilted his head and then nodded happily. 

“Really? Because I doubt my dad’s just guessed that out of the thousands of names, right?”

Roman pointed to the stairs that led up to the living area of their home then back at himself. Virgil looked a little confused. “I’m guessing you can’t talk, since…no voice box?” 

Roman stilled a bit but nodded once more, unbothered by this but acknowledging it. 

“Oh…well, it’s nice to meet you, Roman. You’re an incredible dancer,” he stated, looking away sheepishly and couldn’t believe he was embarrassed right now to be talking to a magical doll person. 

Roman perked up at that though and insistently tapped Virgil’s hand, nodding hard as he pointed at Virgil. He clapped happily and Virgil’s face flushed. “I-I’m still learning, but thank–thank you– do you– uh, need to rest? Sit down?”

Roman shrugged but tugged Virgil’s hand as he walked to sit down by the red box he belonged to. Virgil went willingly, sitting beside Roman who tucked his legs to the side, probably limited in how he could move this way.

They were able to see the moon and stars through the window across the room. 

“Are you cursed?” Virgil suddenly asked without thinking and winced as soon as it left his mouth. 

He glanced at Roman, who very much seemed to be chuckling at him, even as no sound came out. Ro shook his head. Virgil relaxed a little. 

“Oh, good– so just a magical creation? Are you…aware…of things? Like when you were frozen earlier?”

Roman looked thoughtful, then reached around Virgil to point at the key in the box.

Virgil tried very hard not to blush at the closeness as Roman peered at him and then the key insistently. 

“T-The key? Okay, you–you know about the key??”

Roman frowned, then mimed turning it and dramatically opening his eyes. He pointed to his ears and the violin. Virgil’s tired mind raced.

“...you– you’re aware when your key is turned? The music does it? O-Or, like– you can see and hear and things…?” he tried.

Roman smiled and pulled away, nodding. Virgil wasn’t sure exactly what he got right, but he was pretty sure Roman could see and hear whenever the key was turned. He started to worry. “And when the key isn’t turned?? You aren’t–aware of that too, right?” Roman put out his hands and shook his head gently. He seemed to search for the right thing to attempt to communicate before he mimicked sleeping.

Virgil relaxed as he seemed to finally understand. “Oh. Okay, it’s like you’re not awake, then? …How do you even know what sleeping is.”

Roman just smiled and shrugged, but the look he was giving him led Virgil to think that was not all.

Virgil talked for what became hours with Roman. He ended up showing him around the shop using his bridges and walkways along the walls, holding his hand as they went. Roman seemed perfectly happy to listen, and he’d point and get Virgil’s attention when he wanted to know what something was. 

Virgil played him another song when Roman silently requested such. He had no idea how the night was over so soon. They were back on Patton’s worktable and Roman was standing by his box, trying to convey to Virgil that he had to go back. 

Virgil was disheartened as he watched. “Can I see you again soon? I’m sure Dad would love to meet you, and maybe then you won’t have to go back on that thing.”

Roman turned back to Virgil, interest peaked. He gave Virgil a soft look and hugged him, gentle and earnest as he tried to convey what he felt. Virgil was very still as he cautiously settled his arms around Roman’s back. 

Roman pulled away too soon, and Virgil let him go. Virgil watched as he settled his foot back on the support, and posed as he had been, confident and with a professional ease. Virgil didn’t know for certain when, but between one blink and the next, Roman was once again just a figure on the musicless box.

He would figure out what he had to do to see him again.

—-

The next morning, Virgil tried to show Patton when he woke up. He played part of a song from Swan Lake and watched, but Roman did not shift from his spot, much to Virgil’s confusion. Patton enjoyed his son playing, though seemed a little confused about what he was supposed to see. “That was lovely, kiddo! It really is lovely to watch him spin to music.”

But Virgil just sighed, shaking his head. “No, he– last night– he was dancing! To my music, and smiling, and…and…” his face grew hotter as Patton was smiling at him, hands clasped and Virgil quickly looked away. 

“I’m really happy you like him, Virgie! Maybe it’s a good thing we never found the music for his box. You playing whatever you want is a wonderful idea.” 

Virgil was dejected. Did it only happen once? Had he truly dreamed it? No, he had seen it, felt Roman’s cool hand in his. Was he shy to come out in front of his dad? But Roman had seemed genuinely eager to say hello when Virgil mentioned them meeting. Maybe it was just conditional? Roman wouldn’t likely know– he’d just been just as surprised as Virgil when it had happened the first time.

He brainstormed about this in his room most of the day, coming out occasionally to help Patton around the shop– he was very good at moving small things about and getting them for his dad, as well as ringing up customers– and to eat.

That night, Virgil went down to the shop after dinner. Violin in hand, he turned the key fewer times than before and started to play a pretty, upbeat tune. The wooden dancer spun stiffly, but as the song neared its end, the arm became less rigid as it lifted with more grace. The smile etched in place became wider still and Roman shifted, lifting his foot higher then back down as he bowed. 

Virgil grinned, stopping as Roman found him on the table nearby and waved. Virgil quickly pulls himself up onto the base. “Roman! You’re still here,” he breathed, and Roman gave him a bright look and eager nod.

Virgil offered his hands. “Here, let me help this time.” Roman gratefully took the help, holding Virgil’s shoulders as he carefully lifted his foot free of the metal stand. Virgil helped and was shocked at how easy it was to lift him for support. He wasn’t as dense as a flesh and blood being, and Virgil didn’t know what to do with the fact that he could easily hold Roman over his head if he wanted to. He let go of his waist before he got any more silly thoughts and hopped down from the box. He offered Roman his hands and Roman took them to get down easily as well, hopping with a grace he apparently always possessed.

It was another night of strolling around the shop and performing for one another as music filled the air. They ended up on the railed windowsill beside the door. Roman somehow made him feel like he was a part of the dance despite Virgil being his musician, dancing captivatingly around him. Even as the song ended, Roman danced in the silence, and the music was in his head as he enticed Virgil to join him. Virgil nervously set his violin down and couldn’t refuse that beautiful smile as Roman took his hands and danced with him. 

Virgil honestly felt like it was only Roman’s skill that kept them from tripping over each other. He certainly didn’t know how he’d become the lead in this soundless song that they both knew the steps for. But he twirled Roman easily and guided him into dips that he’d seen dance partners do on the stage. It was relaxed and free of any real form, but they were miraculously in sync together.

He got bolder and confident with the trust Roman put in him, and how had he ever earned that?? He settled his hands at Roman’s waist as the other guided them there and he lifted Roman with little trouble. Roman settled a hand on Virgil’s shoulder as he posed and Virgil turned with him, then let go to raise his arms high, trusting the person supporting him. 

When Virgil set Roman back down, Roman was giddy, hands waving at his sides as he jumped and did a little happy dance in place. He threw his arms around Virgil, and that time he really almost did knock him over from the force of the hug. Virgil laughed, letting himself go to the ground as one arm wrapped around Roman. “Yeah–yes, it was fun–”

Roman’s smile couldn’t get much bigger as he tucked against Virgil, happily nudging him and content.

Virgil had never danced with someone in his life; not like this, where their hand wasn’t his platform or partner. Not in a way where he was on equal footing, able to hold them close. They sat there together, catching their breath and gazing out at both the sleeping town and the stars above. Virgil must have nodded off because suddenly the sky was lighter and Roman was shifting next to him.

Virgil sat up straighter as Roman stood, looking back across the shop to the table. To his stand. He looked down at Virgil and offered him a hand, gesturing. Virgil’s at-ease expression changed to one of concern. “You want to go back?”

Roman looked off to the side with a small, sad shrug. 

“If you don’t want to, just stay, you don’t have to go back.” Virgil insisted, taking one of Roman’s hands in both of his own.

Roman gave him a gentle smile, free hand held to Virgil’s cheek. He stood on his toes and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s forehead, hoping it said all he needed for him. Virgil held his hand there for as long as he could before Roman began to pull away. Virgil squeezed his hand imploringly.

“W-Wait! What if you just don’t go back onto the box? Then you won’t turn back again, you could stay! I-I’d love if–if you could stay?” he practically pleaded.

Roman turned back slowly to him, holding his hand reassuringly but his expression was apologetic. He looked down at his foot: a simple cloth slipper that covered the wood and the hole to anchor him to his place.   

Virgil shook his head. “You don’t have to get back up there! Dad will absolutely understand once he meets you— please. Let’s just try it?”

Roman looked hesitant as he looked over at the growing dawn light filtering through the window. But he nodded obligingly and settled beside Virgil, resting his head lightly against Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil tiredly held his hand and they sat there against the window frame to wait together, though really it was just an excuse to not say goodbye again. 

Virgil was not truly surprised when Roman went still and rigid against his side, his hand losing its grip even as Virgil continued to hold it, gently stroking with his thumb. He felt disappointed tears brim for a moment, but he didn’t let them fall. Roman wasn’t gone. Virgil could bring him back in the evening. But it wasn’t fair that he would not get to see a sunrise.

As Patton found him and fretted about whether Virgil had been out here all night (and he didn’t ask why was Roman off the box), Virgil was devising a way to change that. As his dad gently scooped him up and took him upstairs to deposit him into his little bed in the wall, Virgil lay there vowing that he’d find a way to break the spell keeping Roman trapped to the night. He deserved to bask and dance freely in the sheer unreflected light of day. 

Virgil would show him all of life he could, beyond the shop and all the music he could dance to to his heart’s content. Virgil wanted to play all his favorite songs for him and to dance with him again. Roman would get to really live, and Virgil was determined to be by his side through it all.