#and then we moved towns when i was 10 and i've just. never had enough friends to bother throwing a party since then | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hbyrde36 · 3 months

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No Vacancy

Chapter 11: Private Party

WC: 6366 | R: Explicit | CH: 11/12 | AO3 | Now Complete!

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*EDDIE*

“Huh,” Eddie huffed, flopping down onto Chrissy’s neatly made bed. It jostled the carefully arranged mountain of pillows that were stacked up against the headboard, sending several of them tumbling to the floor. Why did girls always have so many goddamn pillows?

“So that’s why you never let me come in here before. You do live in a two bedroom!”

Chrissy bent to retrieve her fallen children and put them back in their proper place, except for the last, a bright pink fuzzy number with a cross-stitched peace sign on its front that she wacked him in the back of the head with. “I thought we’d moved past this. Haven't I apologized enough for the whole setup thing?”

He stuck out his bottom lip, arms crossed over his chest. “Will the lies never cease, Christine? I feel robbed! You and Robin were never sharing a bed?!”

“We are now and that’s what matters, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie waved a hand through the air. “But where’s the pining for the person lying right next to you night after night?! Where’s the lovesick staring at the other person’s face while they sleep and wishing you could just tell them how you feel?! Where’s the drama?!”

“I think we've had more than enough of that around here—for life. Maybe now it’s time for us all to just be happy.”

“Happy…” Eddie repeated with a sigh.

He hadn’t meant for it to come off so melancholy. He was happy—really and truly.

It’d been a month of pure bliss since he and Steve returned from Hawkins together hand-in-hand. Since all four of them had come back together with apologies, and made up.

The weeks had been full of passionate nights, and sometimes mornings when he and Steve were both too tired to do much more than cuddle once he came home from the bar—punctuated by lazy afternoons by the motel pool, and double dinner dates with the girls whenever Eddie’s work schedule would allow for it.

But just there, in the background, in the dark corner of Eddie’s mind was this great big looming thing.

“Uh oh. Is the honeymoon phase over already? Did Steve finally realize all your flaws are actually annoying, and not cute quirks?”

“No! Of course not. And I resent the implication that my many eccentricities are anything less than adorable.”

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Something’s bothering you. What’s wrong?”

Eddie hesitated. He was pretty sure it wasn’t a secret or anything, but it didn’t escape his notice that Steve hadn’t brought up the subject of his impending new job placement even once since their little talk.

“Nothing is wrong, exactly. It’s just… did you know Steve is staying here—or like, moving here—permanently, when the summer is over?”

“Robin mentioned he was thinking about taking a job at the elementary school, but I didn't know he’d decided.”

“Well, he has, and he wants me to think about staying too.”

Chrissy, who had turned away to rifle through the cosmetics bag sitting open on her dresser, froze, the tip of her mascara wand hovering just above her lashes.

“And are you?” She asked after a beat, resuming her makeup routine. “Uh… thinking about it, I mean?”

“Am I—” Eddie grunted, slapping his hand down on the bed. “It's literally the only thing I've been able to think about for weeks!”

“Weeks!” She screeched. “Wait, when did this happen?”

“The day we drove back.”

She gaped at him through the small mirror of her blush compact. “And you’re just telling me this now?!”

He shrugged. “I’ve been a little busy.”

“Eddie,” She sighed, snapping the compact shut and spinning on her heel to face him.

“So, what are your thoughts?”

While he knew she asked out of curiosity and concern for him and Steve and the implications for their future together, she was asking for herself too.

She’d often made comments over the years, during their all too brief phone calls and in letters, about them living near each other again one day, either in the same town like they did as kids growing up in Hawkins, or better yet, in side-by-side homes or at the end of the same cul-de-sac.

But those kinds of picket fence dreams were never Eddie’s style, or so he’d always told himself.

“I think…” Eddie stared down at his own hands now resting in his lap, nervously spinning his chunky rings around and around.

“Me and Steve, I think we’ve done this whole thing out of order. We’ve been living together essentially, since before we were a couple—before we were even friends really. Then we both said I love you within the first few weeks, and now considering permanent for-real moving? Moving towns, moving in together—on purpose this time? That’s huge! I mean, all that’s left after that is to get married, and grow old together, and die, and—”

Suddenly Eddie felt like he couldn’t get a full breath, what little air he did manage to take into his lungs doing nothing to ease the burning in his chest. His heart raced wildly, and he swallowed hard, tilting wide terrified eyes up to look at Chrissy.

“Oh god, do you think he wants to get married someday? I don’t know if I’m built for—“

“Ooookay, babe. Let’s just calm down for a second here.” Chrissy sank down onto the bed beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into her side—resting her cheek on the top of his head.

“For one—honey, gay marriage isn’t even legal.”

Oh right.

Her words should have filled him with relief, and they did, but to his surprise, just as equal was the feeling of disappointment brought on by the reminder.

“And for two—” Chrissy went on. “It doesn’t have to be all that. You can always have your own rooms, if say, you decide you want to stay here but you need to slow things down with Steve, or just want some space.”

“No—” He was shaking his head before she’d even finished. “No, I don't want to go backwards. I–I love having him right there. I love his face being the last thing I see before I go to sleep, and the first I see in the morning even though that means waking up at an ungodly hour. It’s totally worth it for his goodbye kiss. I love his sweetness, his gentleness, and the sound of his voice. The soft little smile he gives me when he’s half asleep and I crawl into bed at the end of the night, like I'm his favorite thing in the whole fucking world.”

Eddie took a big breath, he could wax poetic on everything he loved about Steve for hours if she’d let him, but what it really boiled down to was one simple fact.

“I just love him, Chris.”

Chrissy sniffled, leaning away from him to wipe carefully at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. “Sorry. I just never thought I'd hear you talk about someone that way.”

Eddie sat up too, shaking his head at himself. “Yeah, me either.”

“So, what's holding you back?”

“Honestly? I wanted to say yes right then and there, the second he told me. The second I recovered from the shock, anyway. But he looked so nervous about it, and scared, and we’d just put things back together again, and—and so I’ve been doing what he asked.”

Eddie leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“I really don’t want to mess this up, and I know I don’t have a lot of experience with this stuff, but I can't help feeling like it’s too soon, like we’re going too fast. What if it fizzles out, and a year from now we can’t stand the sight of each other?”

She snorted. “Highly unlikely.”

“How do you figure?”

“I think at this point you can admit that you’ve had a crush on Steve since high school, maybe even middle school. That’s a long time to carry a torch for someone. If it’s lasted this long, I’d say those feelings are here to stay.”

Eddie pushed himself to his feet, resisting the urge to stomp like a petulant child. “Jesus H. Christ. First Uncle Wayne, and now you?! I’m never gonna live that down.”

“Who’s had a crush on who since high school?” Robin's voice filtered in from the other room, just before she appeared in Chrissy's doorway.

“You didn’t tell me she was here.” Eddie scowled at Chrissy before swinging his gaze back around to settle on Robin.

They may have made nice since he fixed things with Steve, and Eddie did love the shit out of her, but he and Robin’s relationship was akin to that of a slightly antagonistic brother and sister, and he lived for the bit. “Don’t you have a job you should be doing, Buckley?”

Robin cocked her hip, leaning it against the door frame as she crossed her arms, giving him very pointed eye contact. “Don’t you, Munson?”

Frowning, Eddie glanced at his watch. He had a decent amount of time left before he had to be at the bar to start setting up for Chrissy’s surprise party later, but he still needed to go back upstairs to change, and to get a different little surprise ready for the other love of his life.

“So, you’ve had it bad for Steve since high school too?” Robin said when he didn't hit her with a comeback. “Jeez you two really are perfect for each other.”

Eddie began to roll his eyes but stopped mid-motion as he processed all of what she’d just said. “Wait… too?”

“Oh,” Robin’s eyebrows flew up. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Eddie took a slow step towards her with narrowed eyes.

“Right!” Robin straightened abruptly, hooking a thumb over her shoulder as she started slowly backing away. “So, I’d better get back to the desk. I was just stopping in to say hi and, uh, grab my lunch… I left it on the counter.”

“Robin,” Eddie growled after her, “get back here and explain yourself!”

“I'll see you tonight!” She shouted back, followed immediately by the slamming of a door.

Coward.

Eddie sighed, looking back to see Chrissy with both hands covering her mouth, practically in tears with silent laughter.

“I guess I'd better go too, don’t want to be late for work.” Eddie grumbled.

“Sure, Eds,” Chrissy said, eyes still sparkling. “I’ll see you later.”

As far as she knew it was going to be a night like any other. Steve was off the next day, so once the motel office closed for the night, he, Robin, and Chrissy would come to Tide’s to hang out where Eddie could join in from behind the bar whenever he wasn’t busy with customers.

It being a week out from her actual birthday, she didn't suspect a thing.

Eddie had talked to his boss, and Dan agreed to close the bar to the public from ten p.m. on for a private event so they could celebrate his best friend with the fanfare she deserved. The older man also offered to handle the guest list, aware that Eddie and his friends didn��t know many of the locals yet, and promised to keep it to those he knew to be allies or members of the queer community themselves, so everyone could feel comfortable being themselves for the night without fear of judgment.

As the clock ticked down to party time, Eddie couldn’t stop watching the door, his eyes searching for Chrissy’s blonde ponytail, or Steve’s familiar swoop of chestnut hair, any sign that his three best friends had arrived. They’d put up the private party sign an hour ago, and slowly began to clear the bar of any straggling tourists while the weekend bouncer, Manny, sat out front on a stool, ensuring no one uninvited got inside.

At ten o’clock on the dot they finally arrived, and for a moment all Eddie could do was stare.

Weather due to the heat, which had hit another level as July turned to August, or as a personal assault on Eddie’s sanity, Steve had forgone his usual polo shirts and button ups in favor of an old Madonna tour t-shirt that he’d cut into a crop top, showing off even more tanned skin to its best advantage against the crisp white of the fabric.

It was an effort, but Eddie forced himself to look away and jump into action, ducking under the bar to rush over and greet his people.

He pressed a quick kiss hello to Steve’s cheek but didn’t let himself linger, going right for his best girl straight after, scooping her up into a tight hug and spinning her around.

Chrissy threw her head back, squealing with delight as her feet lifted off the ground.

“Happy Birthday, Chris,” Eddie said as he finally set her down, pressing lips to the top of her head.

Her eyes darted all around the bar, taking in the small crowd, the rotating lights, the decorations, balloons, and finally the big hand painted banner strung up above the bar.

“This is all for me?” She asked.

Eddie grinned, throwing an arm over her shoulder as he turned to address their fellow revelers.

“Excuse me everyone!” He shouted, waiting for the music to be turned down before continuing. “I want to thank you all for being here, and Dan especially for helping put this all together. I’d like to introduce you all to the birthday girl!”

Hearty applause broke out across the room, as well as shouts of, “Happy Birthday!” And even a few good natured wolf whistles when Chrissy leaned away from Eddie to steal a kiss from her girlfriend.

“Were you in on this too?” Chrissy shouted to Robin over the cacophony.

Robin nodded, “I take no credit though. I might have known about it, but Eddie did all the work.”

Before Eddie could correct the record and explain again that he really owed it all to Dan, the man himself was striding up to them.

“Evening, girls, Steve.” Dan greeted them warmly.

Steve, and the girls to a lesser extent, had been spending more and more time at the bar lately, and had all quickly become friendly with Eddie’s boss.

“And a very happy birthday to you,” the older man continued, inclining his head at Chrissy. “If you’d like, I thought I could take you and Robin around and introduce you to some of your guests?”

The girls agreed, promising to meet back up with Steve and Eddie a little later, before rushing off to mingle.

With a palm pressed to his lower back, Eddie led Steve over to the bar. Not that he actually needed the guiding hand, but Eddie was gonna go nuts if he didn’t get to touch Steve soon, and it was one of the few ways he could do that while still maintaining some semblance of decorum.

Steve slid into his usual barstool down the end by the corner, furthest from the speakers so they could actually carry on a conversation, pouting when Eddie let him go to sneak back behind the bar.

“I thought you’d be on this side of the bar tonight.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, with you dressed like that?” Eddie drummed his fingers along the bartop. “Keeping this wood between us is the only way I'll be able to keep my hands to myself.”

“Who said you had to keep your hands to yourself?”

“Steven,” Eddie warned.

“I thought this was a safe space tonight.”

“Yes love, but I don’t think Dan would appreciate it if I dropped to my knees for you in the middle of the dance floor.”

Steve sagged in his seat, letting out an over dramatic sigh. “Okay, fine.”

Eddie chuckled. Sometimes he wasn’t sure who was rubbing off on who more.

They chatted a little about Steve’s day on the beach while Eddie put together their drinks. The usual for Steve, Jack and Coke with lime, no ice, and a tequila on the rocks for himself. Apparently, the jellyfish were out in full force and it sounded like Steve had spent half his day treating burns with vinegar.

“So, Robin said something interesting earlier today,” Eddie said after a while, when Steve was finished with his stories, and he was pouring out their second round of drinks for the night.

“Oh yeah?”

Eddie opened his mouth to elaborate but quickly snapped it shut as his boss appeared at Steve’s side—alone.

“Abandoning our girls already, Dan?” Steve asked.

The older man huffed a laugh. “I was just getting in the way anyhow. Introduced them to Tracey and her partner Pat, and the four of them seem to be hitting it off. Figured I’d leave them to make friends. Tracey’s the manager over at Ocean First bank y’know.”

Eddie smiled widely as he met Steve’s eyes, and he knew they had to be thinking the same thing. Not to get ahead of themselves, but if Chrissy and Robin got in good with someone from the bank, it could make all the difference in the motel’s future.

“That’s, uh, a good friend to have,” Steve commented.

“You aint kiddin’!” Dan clapped Steve on the shoulder, his eyes scanning the room.

Suddenly he perked up, saying to himself “Oh, there he is,” and began to wave someone over.

Eddie followed his line of sight to the door and nearly choked on his own spit.

Motherfucker.

He felt all the blood drain from his face as another man approached, a younger man who looked to be about their age—a very attractive man who looked eerily similar to the one Eddie had seen from his hiding spot, kissing Steve goodbye on the fateful night that had changed the course of his life forever.

Eddie reached over, curling a possessive hand over Steve's where it rested on the bar. He held his breath, waiting for Steve’s reaction, but he was oblivious, looking down and taking a sip of his drink.

“Boys, this is my son, Danny.”

Steve's head snapped up at the name, looking horrified as his eyes landed directly on the newcomer.

“This is Eddie,” Dan continued his introductions, completely unaware of the sudden tension in the air. “My best bartender—though if you let slip to Brenda I said that I’ll deny everything. And this is—

Danny smiled, flashing a set of perfectly straight white teeth. “Lifeguard Steve.”

Eddie hated him.

“Oh! I see you two already know each other.” Dan chuckled, giving a little shake of his head. “Well, that’s a small town for ya! Anyway, I gotta go check on a few things so I'll leave you three to chat.”

Eddie watched the man walk away, wondering if it would be weird to ask him to stay, and when he turned back found that Steve wasn’t looking at Danny anymore, his wide worried eyes were now trained squarely on Eddie's face, hand tensing under his hold.

And whatever feelings of jealousy Eddie might have felt were gone in an instant, replaced with the need to prove to Steve, as well as himself, that he could handle this without doing any number of stupid things to ruin what they had.

He squeezed Steve's hand once firmly before letting go, leaning out to offer it to Danny, who took it with a raised eyebrow.

“Good to meet you, your dad tells me nothing but good things,” Eddie said, keeping his voice calm and even as they shook.

Danny tilted his head. “Ditto.”

Eddie cleared his throat, resisting the urge to wipe his hand on his pants when they separated. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Sure. Just a coke though, I’m driving tonight.”

As he poured the soda Eddie could feel the man’s heavy gaze lingering on his face, scrutinizing him. He set the full cup down but Danny didn’t take it, instead resting his chin in his hand as he looked thoughtfully between the two of them.

Eddie topped off his tequila, and braced himself.

“So, Steve,” Danny said, addressing Steve directly for the first time. “Is this the guy?”

Steve's face, which had already been flushed and radiating discomfort, burned a bright cherry red at the question, but he didn’t shy away. He shot off a soft shy smile at Eddie as he answered. “Yeah.”

Eddie’s mouth fell open, and he nearly dropped the glass he was holding. “You told him about me?!”

“Good,” Danny said, ignoring Eddie’s outburst, holding back a laugh as he finally took a sip of his coke. “I’m really happy for you, Steve.”

It sounded sincere enough that Eddie might have relaxed, but then the man’s gaze was swinging his way.

“And you—I hope you know how lucky you are.”

Eddie swallowed hard, nodding absently, too stunned and confused to form any kind of verbal response.

“Well,” Danny stood abruptly, leaving his barely touched soda to sweat on the lacquered wood top. “It was nice to finally meet you, Eddie, but I think I'll get out of your hair. I should probably go see if my dad needs help with anything anyway. And it was good to see you again, Steve. I’m glad things worked out.”

There was a beat of tense silence between them as Danny left, but as soon as he was out of earshot, Steve was falling all over himself to apologize.

“Oh my god, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I had no idea he was–”

Eddie couldn’t help cutting him off, saying again, “You told him about me? On your date?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you! I… Eddie, you have to know. You have to know the only reason I even agreed to the date with him was to get over you, and he could tell I was distracted.”

“Oh.”

“I know we never really talked about that night, um–”

Eddie reached out, once again covering Steve’s hand with his own. “Listen, baby, I'm not upset at you, okay? I’m not gonna freak out, or run away again, or any of that, I promise you. But I don’t think I need to hear the details.”

“No, Eddie. It’s not—” Steve shook his head. “That's what I'm trying to tell you. Nothing happened. Well, um, very little happened.”

“It’s fine, Steve. I was being an idiot then, and we weren’t—us. Whatever you did before we were together is none of my business.”

“But I couldn’t do it!” Steve blurted out.

“What?”

“We were—” Steve dropped his voice down so low that Eddie had to lean in close. “We were about to, and—”

“No, stop. I don't need to hear–” Eddie pulled back suddenly, waving his hands, only to immediately lean right back in, his chin practically resting on the bar, eyes level with Steve’s. “Okay, no. I mean, yes—no. Fine! Just tell me. It can’t be worse than whatever I'm imagining.”

“Oh my god, '' Steve groaned, burying his head in his hands for a second before looking up again, peeking at Eddie between the gaps of his fingers. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but he was two fingers deep in my ass and all I could think about was how much I wanted it to be you. So I told him I needed to stop.”

“Baby,” Eddie breathed. So many emotions coloring the single word.

It was so—sweet. And yes, admittedly, relieving in a way, though he’d had no claim to Steve at the time.

Okay, so Eddie was a fucking caveman, a jealous animal—so sue him!

But somehow, above all the rest, it was so incredibly fucking hot to learn that his baby, his needy boy had wanted him—and only him—so badly that he’d stopped practically mid-fuck with someone else.

Eddie’s breath picked up, and he knew his eyes had gone dark and heavy lidded, his hands balled into fists so tight his knuckles were turning white.

“Fuck,” Steve cursed, drawn out and breathy, his tongue darting out to lick across his bottom lip, leaving it wet and shining in the party lights. “Eddie, you can’t look at me like that, not when there’s hours till we’ll be home where we can do something about it.”

Eddie’s eyes remained fixed on Steve as he shouted from the corner of his mouth to his coworker. “Hey Dawn, I’m gonna step out for a smoke, you good?”

He wasn’t even technically on the clock right now, they could manage without him for a while.

“Yep!” The girl replied without even turning around.

Eddie untied his apron, only breaking eye contact to duck under the bar. He took Steve’s hand, lacing their fingers together as he pulled him along towards the kitchen.

“Where are we going?” Steve whisper-shouted from behind, barely audible over the music.

Eddie stopped just short of the swinging double doors, pulling Steve in by a belt loop to speak in his ear. “Somewhere we can do something about it.”

This late into the evening the kitchen was closed and empty of staff. The big overhead fluorescents had been shut off and every surface scrubbed to within an inch of its life, clean and gleaming in the soft glow of the emergency lights and the red exit sign on the back door.

Eddie continued to lead the way, past the prep tables and behind the line, all the way to the very back and through a heavy insulated door.

He tried to feel bad about how unhygienic it was to do what he hoped they were about to do in here, but in his defense the food was all wrapped up or in air-tight secure containers. Also bleach existed, and Eddie was more than happy to clean up after himself.

Besides, It wouldn't be the worst thing to ever happen in a restaurant walk-in.

It was a frenzy from the moment the door banged shut behind them. Eddie twisted his hand into the front of Steve’s shirt, pulling him in for a kiss. Their mouths connected, all tongues and teeth and hot steamy breath mingling in the frigid air. Steve’s fingers pushed into Eddie's curls, scratching at his scalp, tugging at the root, while Eddie's hands found their way to that slutty little bare strip of tummy that his boyfriend had insisted on teasing him with tonight, gripping hard on either side of Steve’s waist as he moved them further in towards the rear of the walk-in.

Steve hissed as his back hit the chilled metal of the wall, his skin breaking out in goosebumps under palms hands.

“Sorry, baby,” Eddie cooed in sympathy, grinding his own hardness against Steve’s as he nipped at his lower lip. “It was this or the bathroom, and I didn’t particularly want an audience.”

Steve pushed off the wall, grinning as he grabbed Eddie hard by the shoulders to spin them around, switching their positions and pressing him into the wall instead.

Eddie went willingly, delighted as Steve unknowingly played right into the dynamic he was hoping for tonight, and waited for Steve’s lips to find his again, even reached out to pull the other man in again, but Steve slipped from his grip to drop straight to the floor, a desperate and hungry look in his eyes.

With well practiced fingers Steve quickly undid Eddie's jeans, yanking them down to his thighs so roughly he might have stumbled without the wall to lean against. He had a second to feel the cold air hit his most sensitive bits of bare skin before Steve swallowed him down, taking him right to the back of his throat.

Eddie could do nothing but moan, letting his head fall back against the wall for a breath, waiting for his brain to catch up with the rest of him, so lost in the sensation of Steve's mouth, scorching where it engulfed him, that he almost forgot his surprise.

Winding one hand through Steve's hair in encouragement, Eddie used the other to take Steve’s hand from where it rested on his thigh to guide it around to his ass. Steve only hesitated for a moment before kneading at the soft plump flesh, still bobbing his head up and down the length of Eddie’s cock, but faltered and froze as his fingers bumped up against the base of the silicone plug that had been nestled in Eddie’s hole for the last several hours.

Steve pulled off with a soft gasp, letting the tip of Eddie's cock rest on his tongue as he looked up, watching Eddie’s face with something like awe as he pushed on the plug.

From the tips of his toes to the top of his head Eddie felt his entire body flush with a new heat, it prickled along his neck and chest, and he had to fight to keep his eyes on Steve and not let them fall shut at the sudden intensity of his need.

“Where did you get this?” Steve asked, sounding wrecked in a way that Eddie suspected had less to do with the brief blowjob, and more to do with his little stunt.

Eddie whined as Steve tugged on the toy, pulling it out about an inch before pushing it back in again, punching the air from his lungs.

“Would you believe there’s a little mom and pop sex shop not far from here?” Eddie forced out between panted breaths.

Steve hummed, grazing his lips over the skin of Eddie’s inner thigh as he released the plug, leaving it in place for now. “I guess this town really does have it all.”

Eddie chuckled softly and reached down to pull Steve to his feet, cupping his cheek as he pressed a soft kiss to his mouth.

“Fuck me?” He asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

Steve made a pained noise, tucking his face into Eddie’s neck, peppering kisses along the underside of his jaw. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, fuck—want it.” Eddie tilted his head back to give Steve better access to his throat. “Been thinking about you bending me over—dreaming about it.”

The words were barely out of Eddie’s mouth before Steve was growling, gripping him up again and moving him—manhandling him in a way he never had before as he gave Eddie exactly what he wanted—bending him over a low, blessedly empty shelving unit.

Steve pushed at Eddie’s shirt, dragging it roughly up and over his head before tossing it to the floor somewhere behind them. He leaned over Eddie’s back, pressing kiss after kiss down the entire length of his spine, pausing at the base of it, resting those big hands on Eddie’s ass again, spreading him wide and taking hold of the plug to gently pull it out, placing it on another nearby shelf.

Eddie swallowed back a whimper, his body clenching around nothing, suddenly empty after so many hours of being filled, but he knew what was coming would be even better, and the sound of Steve’s zipper coming undone only made him clench harder.

Eddie flushed again, another rush of warmth as beads of sweat beginning to form on his brow in anticipation. There was a brush of rough denim against the back of his thigh, and then velvet heat as Steve pressed in close, rubbing his hard length between Eddie’s cheeks, teasing over his hole.

“Condom?” Steve asked, sounding like it was a struggle just to get the word out.

They hadn’t been using them at all since both their test results had come back clear. And Eddie could appreciate Steve wanting to make the cleanup easier on him since they were out in public for the night, but it couldn’t have been further from what he wanted.

“No,” Eddie pressed himself back, his body shuddering as the tip of Steve's cock caught on his rim. “No, wanna feel it when you come inside me for the first time.”

“Fuck, okay.” Steve sucked air in harshly through his teeth. “Lube?”

“In my back right pocket.”

Eddie glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see Steve raise the packet to his mouth, tearing it with his teeth before pouring it over himself. Some of the cool wetness dripped down onto Eddie as well, and Steve spread it around with two fingers, pushing just the tip of one inside at first. When he was met with no resistance Steve plunged them both in at once, reaching and curling until he found that sweet spot inside Eddie that sent his eyes rolling back, and had him writhing and bucking his hips against the hard metal of the shelf.

“Please, Steve, I’m ready,” Eddie begged.

Mercifully, Steve didn’t make him ask twice, easing his fingers free before lining himself up, and inch by gentle inch began to push his way inside.

It felt like an eternity before Steve finally bottomed out, and Eddie wanted to cry with how good it felt to be full, really full, for the first time in he didn’t even know how long. It wasn’t something he let himself have very often. He really did prefer to top as a rule, but sometimes—sometimes he just needed it, wanted it, and tonight he also wanted to give Steve the last part of himself that he’d been holding back.

With shallow careful thrusts Steve began to move, draping himself over Eddie’s back, pressing lips to whatever swaths of skin he could reach.

Tears streamed from the corners of Eddie’s eyes, overcome with the feeling of being had in this new way by someone he loved, who loved him back. It felt incredible but he soon needed more. Eddie tried to rock back on instinct, but found Steve hands already on his hips, stilling him before he could move an inch.

“Steve,” Eddie whined.

Steve shushed him, rubbing small soothing circles into Eddie’s lower back with his thumbs. “You always make me feel so good, just let me return the favor.”

“I thought you were cold?” Eddie grunted, trying again to fuck himself back on Steve’s length, but the other man’s grip was like a vice.

“Not anymore,” Steve said, and Eddie could practically hear the smirk in his voice, though he did sink a little deeper, still keeping his pace frustratingly slow and even, like he was trying to drive Eddie insane. “Seeing you fall apart like this? We could be standing in the middle of a snowstorm right now and I'd still be sweating.”

And oh he’d definitely be paying Steve back for this later.

“Baby, please,” Eddie whined again, a high-pitched, desperate sound he could hardly believe had come from his own mouth.

“How soundproof do you think this thing is?” Steve asked.

“How should I fucking know?!” Eddie growled in frustration. “Why?!”

Without warning Steve snapped his hips, slamming into him so hard that for a second Eddie couldn’t even make a sound. He threw his head back, mouth wide open in a silent scream of pleasure—followed by an actual scream. Steve surged forward, slapping a hand over Eddie’s mouth, pulling his head back to hiss into his ear, hot breath ghosting over Eddie’s skin as he rammed into him again and again, hard enough to shake the shelving unit that was bolted to the floor.

“No reason.”

There was nothing slow or gentle about Steve after that.

For a while Eddie lost himself to the pounding rhythm and the loud slapping of flesh as Steve fucked into him impossibly harder and faster.

He’d never last at this rate, it was just too fucking good, and he wasn’t alone. Before long Steve was reaching for him, stroking Eddie’s cock as his own breaths became ragged and he began to lose his rhythm.

With one last powerful thrust Steve came, cock pulsing violently as he buried himself deep inside, and Eddie’s last coherent thought as he followed him over that edge, losing control as he felt himself being filled up with Steve’s release, was that they really ought to switch things up more often.

Steve laid across Eddie’s back for a long minute as they both came down and caught their breath, neither really wanting to move at all, but inevitably Steve grew soft and slipped out, leaving a trickle of cum slowly leaking from Eddie’s hole in his wake.

“Eds, honey, do you have your bandana or anything on you?” Steve asked softly.

Eddie looked back, biting his lip, suddenly shy about what he wanted as the afterglow began to fade. “No, uh, but I was hoping you would plug me back up instead?”

“Jesus, Eddie. Yeah—yeah, okay,” Steve stuttered, his dick giving a valiant twitch against Eddie’s leg.

Eddie was loose enough, and slick enough with the combined mess of cooling fluids that the plug sank home easily, and he was grateful he’d worn black jeans tonight to help mask any residual mess.

When their pants were back in place and he’d retrieved Eddie’s shirt from the floor, Steve took him in his arms and lowered them both to the floor, cradling Eddie in his lap as he kissed his forehead.

Eddie knew the rest of the summer would go by in a flash.

Before long the season would be over, tourism would slow as vacationers traveled home for the year, and the beaches would start to empty.

The new school year would begin.

Though they hadn’t talked about it, Eddie had seen the note on their dresser. He knew Steve’s final interview was in two short days, and he’d be expecting an answer soon.

And for once, the idea of it didn’t fill Eddie with panic.

He'd done his thinking.

He’d weighed the risks and pondered the worries, done the calculations in his head and realized there had only ever been one answer to this equation.

For now he let himself bask in the moment, so safe and comfortable in the circle of Steve’s arms, the brush of soft lips pressed to his brow.

He knew what he wanted—had known it all along.

Now he just had to find the perfect way to tell Steve.

Chapter 12

All my thanks and love to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend, and cheerleader.

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multiversefanfics · 1 year

Text

You Make My Heart Skip.

Summary: You just moved into the Avengers' compound, you've been going on missions with them since you joined the team but today was the day you finally moved in. Everyone has been super helpful with moving your stuff in except one person... Bucky. This is part 2 of "Moving Day"

It's been a week or so since you heard Bucky confess his feelings for you to Sam, you told yourself to keep your distance no matter how much it hurt because Bucky was around Sam almost all the time. You decided not to move out but you also decided to throw yourself into your work, when you weren't out doing missions you took a couple shifts as a bartender at the bar across town. You've had a crush on Bucky for a while but it slowly faded when he started to become an asshole to you for no reason, he said he was in love with you but you don't treat someone you love that way. You were pulled from your thoughts by a light yet rhythmic knocking at your door, you knew it was Sam. You slowly got up from your desk where you had been studying drink recipes and practicing your fake smile for when the men flirt with you.

You opened the door a little just to make sure it was Sam, you looked up at the glaring man hoping he wasn't too upset with how distant you'd been. You smiled slightly and opened the door allowing him to come in. You carefully shut the door behind you watching Sam walk over to your bed sitting on the edge of it he looks up at you and claps his hands together "What's going on?" You could tell he was hurt but he tried his best to hide it. You sighed and walked back to your desk sitting backwards on your chair. "Y/N, I miss you I have barely seen you all week and when I do see you, you're running out the door to go to work." You looked up at Sam biting the inside of your cheek "I've been busy" He tilts his head to the side giving you the "yeah right" look. "Y/N, there's something I need to tell you." He rubbed the back of his neck trying to avoid eye contact with you, which he never did. "Bucky-" Just as he was talking someone else knocked on the door you groaned and got up "What is this, grand central station" You hissed opening the door, and to your surprise, it was Bucky. You slammed the door and walked back over to where you were sitting "You were saying, Sam?" He was in shock but soon shook his head "Bucky wanted us to go out tonight and I wanted to see if you wanted to go" You could tell he was lying but you also don't want him to know you were eavesdropping even though they were loud enough for the whole world to hear. You nodded your head and pulled a fake smile "I'd love to, when are we leaving?" Sam smiled and rubbed his knees as he stood up "10pm, don't be late" He shot you a wink and walked out of your room, as soon as the door shut you relaxed and leaned back against your desk. This is gonna be a long night.

It was 9:55pm, and you just finished putting your mascara on, you gave yourself one final look in the mirror. You wanted to be happy going out with your friends but you couldn't help but feel like you don't belong here, especially with the way Bucky has been treating you. So what he told Sam he's in love with you, is that supposed to make up for all the harsh words, and mean stares you got from him? No, it doesn't you could choose to be mean back but that's not the type of person you are. It was now 10:01pm and Sam is yelling for you to come downstairs so you all can leave. You straighten your skirt and walked down the stairs "I'm here, I'm here." Sam looked over and threw his hands in the air "About damn time." You rolled your eyes catching up to him, but you couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes staring a hole into the back of your head, you chose to ignore it and go have fun with your friends. You and Natasha have multiple guys buying the two of you shots, the one was confused about why we needed 7 shots. You two giggled and took the shots back to your group. You decided to start dancing, you didn't care who with you just wanted to have fun and forget everything. Natasha was in front of you dancing along with Steve, and you bumped into someone not even turning around to find out who it was you just kept dancing. The person behind you placed their hands on your hips as you were grinding on them when suddenly you felt the cold feel of metal on your left hip, your brain was telling you to walk away but your drunk body was telling you to stay and continue dancing. The rest of the night was a blur, you do remember being carried to your room and gently kissed on your forehead.

It was the next morning, you and Sam are out on the balcony having your usual morning coffee. "You had a blast last night, I haven't seen you have that much fun in a while." Sam exclaimed while a big smile spread across his face you smiled and looked back at him "Thank you for carrying me to bed by the way." Sam raised his eyebrow shaking his head "I didn't carry you to your room." He took one more sip from his coffee staring at your face for your expression. "Steve or Tony must've carried me then." You nodded hoping that you were correct, Sam shook his head. "No, it was me." An all too familiar voice appeared from behind you. You turned to look and there he was leaning against the door frame, smiling. His eyes are a bright blue staring deep into your soul and you admit his eyes and smile were your favorite thing about him, especially when he clenched his jaw and stares deep at you. You were pulled from your thoughts when Sam elbowed you. "Thank you. Bucky I appreciate it." You gave him a half smile and went back to looking at the horizon "Y/N, can I please talk to you?" You gave Sam a look he put his hands up in defense and patted your back "If you need me, I'm right inside" You nodded and watched him walk away. Bucky sat down beside you pulling your chair to face him he gently took the coffee mug from you so he has your full attention. You sighed and looked Bucky in the eyes "Listen, Y/N I am so sorry for the way I've been treating you, there's something I need to confess and I don't know how you will take it and I don't know how to really say this." He took a deep breath and stared at you, taking both of your hands in his, and rubbing his thumbs over the top of your hands.

"I am in love with you, you make my heart skip."

Part 3

#avengers #bucky barnes #chris evans #the avengers #tony stark #bruce banner #natasha romanoff #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x reader

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acermp100 · 6 months

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IT'S WAWA WEEK

And I've been working on shorts for over 10 days now! Excited to share~

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25/3 – Friends: ZOO

Based on my many fun but fraught visits.

Seri learns the power of FRANDSHIP Shou tries to pet a crocodile Ritsu experiences churros They are at a zoo with American food don't question it ANTS

General Audience. No trigger warnings. Depictions of disassociation and anxiety/sensory issues. Some minor Seri/Rei. Capybara.

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Serizawa stood in the middle of the walkway. Throngs of people flowed past- left, right, strollers, backpacks, balloons- all moving with their own purpose. That was the problem of a crowd. Being surrounded by so many yet still left completely alone, even if one’s anxieties preyed on that ever present fear that everyone is watching, everyone is judging. His fingers tensed at his sides before balling into fists. Just focus on one thing. That tree looks nice. It didn’t work. Bits of conversations bled into one another until all he could hear was chaotic noise as he took a slow, strained inhale.

“Oi, Katsuya.”

Everything snapped back into place. What was once churning and bleating returned to laughter and normal voices. A little kid ran past him asking an older sibling for ice cream. Serizawa blinked a few times until his eyes focused on a hand waving in front of his face.

Reigen gestured to the gate past the courtyard. “You’re holding on to all their tickets, buddy.”

Purpose swelled in to replace nervousness. Serizawa looked up to see the four middle schoolers gathered at the large, glassed off map near the entrance. Teru was pointing to one of the exhibits as Mob laughed, with Ritsu and Shou hanging back to avoid looking too excited. It had all started with wanting to take the Kageyama brothers out to the zoo for a small trip while their parents were out of town. Shou found out and invited himself and of course Mob was going to ask Teru to come as well.

“You alright?” Reigen tilted his head. “Kinda went a bit-“ He widened his eyes. “Starey back there.”

“S-sorry. I’m fine.”

Serizawa steadied his fingers and unzipped the small pack at his waist before starting to rummage for the pre bought tickets. Got to save money so Reigen set them up as a school trip, among other things. He didn’t even know there were discounts for the son of a wife of a veteran.

The fanny pack had been picked out by Teru when the group went shopping together last week. Serizawa made sure to pack only the essentials. Inside the bright, green, reflective, and waterproof fabric were a mini first aid kit, some hard candies, nylon rope, a small utility knife, compact flair gun, translation book, and a magnesium fire starter with two pens and a pad of paper. And of course the tickets.

“Here they are!”

His voice came out a bit too loud but Reigen didn’t seem to notice, or maybe didn’t care. He could never tell. The tickets were held at arm’s length as Reigen took and inspected them.

“You know, I’m glad you decided to come, Serizawa” A flick of his wrist, Reigen gesturing even with tickets in hand. “You’ve really improved these last few months. Taking night classes and handling society and all it throws at you. I mean the train we took here was wall to wall people.” He paused, meeting Serizawa’s eyes. “But I know one can’t just magically be fine with all of that. So let me know if you need a break, alright?”

“Of course, Reigen-san!”

Reigen blinked back, leaning into his raised hand.

“Oh, right. Casual outing, not work.”

“Right. Just like going to class!” Reigen turned. “Let’s catch up with the kids.”

No, it wasn’t just like going to class. There he took the same train, walked down the same road, saw the same people, smelled the same smells. He had built that up all on his own: forcing himself to go until every detail was memorized. Predictable. Safe. Even the shopping trip had been short enough for him to handle at a small store that lay on his normal rout to work. Serizawa could feel his heart beat ever faster.

A small pack of kids ran by screaming. Music played from various speakers. The smell of fried food mixed with a musky, earthly scent. New sounds from every side conflicted with the various signs, decorations, and posters his eyes tried to read all of them at the same time. Even his clothing, though comfortable and casual for the day, left him feeling itchy.

“Serizawa-san.”

He suddenly found himself at an exhibit in front of a glass wall looking over a recreated wetland. On land a few reptiles were lounging on broad leafed plants with fish under the water line. Mob was at his side glancing up at him without a hint of judgment in his eyes.

“Shishou says he wants to gather everyone up for a snack before we head into the rainforest building.”

“Oh.” Gears turned then started to grind. “Oh! Where- where is everyone?” Serizawa started to pull at his own hair, looking back and forth. “I was supposed to be watching and- Reigne-san- I should have-”

“It’s fine.” Mob turned his head to peer down the little trail to another section. “My brother and the others are feeding the crocodiles.”

Serizawa’s heart skipped a beat as he frantically stared ahead. “WHAT.”

Mob’s voice remained steady, but he punctuated his words with a short laugh. “Don’t worry. I don’t think a crocodile could take them on. Plus there’s zoo keepers monitoring the entire thing.”

Lowering his arms, Serizawa tried to catch his breath. A few of the fish swam by, their forms distorted from both the surface of the water and thick glass window. Four conversations, no five. Parents talking over kids. Loud footsteps on the wooden planks that lined the ground. All that with the constant, wet smell of algae.

“The first time I went to the zoo, Ritsu had just mastered walking.” Mob looked out over the water continuing in his monotone. “My parents had the stroller for him, but he still wanted to do it all himself. I barely got to see any animals because I was so worried about him.”

Serizawa looked into the enclosure as well. It’s fine. Everyone is fine. You’re fine. His fingers were still clenched, tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth.

“After when we were heading back, my mom took me aside and said she was proud of me for watching over my little brother so well. But-” A glance up at Serizawa. “She said there’s no need to do everything all by myself. We are a family, we have friends.”

A long exhale. Everything melted away accept for Mob’s voice. Serizawa could now feel the auras of all the others: Shou, Teru, even Reigen, and senses their emotions. Calm, happy. It’s fine.

“Do you mind getting your brother and your friend?” Serizawa cracked a smile. “I’ll wrangle up Shou.”

A bit later they now all sat around the classic outdoor table made of rubber covered metal that formed a crude mesh so the employees didn’t have to worry too much about weather or cleaning. Serizawa recalled sitting at one when he was little with his mom as they waited for some fast food. That one had an umbrella though. Don’t need one now: not with the clear weather and good company.

“Hey, I was only gonna touch one.” Shou pointed a ketchup dipped fry at the others. “When else will I have a chance to pet a crocodile?”

Teru looked up from his burger. “Maybe try when the zoo keepers are not right there?”

“Not my fault you were too chicken.” Shou grinned back.

A scoff. Teru leaned back and crossed his arms. “What about Ritsu? He was standing back with the all the rest.”

“I was trying to get a good angle for a photo.” Ritsu didn’t look up from his food as he answered.

Reigen and Mob had gone back in line for more food. They returned triumphant with more fried, unhealthy goodness.

“Alight, got some desert. Mob said he’s never had a churro so here we are.”

Reigen set a cardboard tray in the middle and sat down; eagerly eyeing the double decker burger he had been forced to leave behind.

A smile from Serizawa, lost in thought as he listened to the kids talk about their day so far.

“So Serizawa.” Reigen was speaking from a half full mouth, pointing with his burger in hand. “You enjoying your order?”

“Oh! Yes!” Serizawa stiffened before grinning back. “Though I thought a corndog was going to be something different.”

“Right? I remember getting one as a kid when some American fair came to town.” Another bite, some of the sauce dribbling down Reigen’s chin. “Still tasty. I swear they make this stuff to be addicting.”

The burger was nearly gone now. Still so many sounds and smells. Serizawa took some breaths and focused on the conversation happening in the moment.

“Do they have wolves here?” Teru was gazing out down the path toward other habitats. They were mainly small mammals and birds. “I hope they don’t keep them in little enclosures.”

“No, it’s a big area in the back with trees and little dens they put into the walls.” Mob took a bite of his churro and suddenly forgot what he was saying.

“Yeah, this place is kinda famous for it.” Shou chimed in. “That and the lions.”

“Lions?” Teru’s face lit up.

“Wait.” Setting down his soft drink, Shou raised an eyebrow at Teru. “Have you never been here before?”

“Um.” Teru started to tug at his shirt, looking away. “No? I mean it’s not like my parents took me. And um- I guess-“

“The schools never have field trips here anymore.” Mob met Teru’s eyes and gave a nod of his head. “They claim it’s too expensive. But you’re here now.”

“Yeah.” Teru’s face softened. “It was worth the wait.”

Serizawa had kept back, not wanting to interrupt, but now invasive thoughts were flooding in. School, his failure, the bullies, just wanting to hide in his room forever. He closed his eyes for a moment before letting the toxic memories into the light.

“I’ve never been here either.” The kids all looked over at him. He had to glance over at Reigen to get enough strength to continue “Th-the schools back then took trips here all the time. I was pretty excited to go. Wouldn’t be stuck in some stuffy classroom or hallway for once. But well-“ He was gripping the stick of his corn dog so hard it broke in his hand. “There was an incident with some bullies the week before and- um- and-“

“Ugh they always do that.” Reigen gave Serizawa a pat on the back. “Even my teachers did: punish both the bullies and the victim. As if taking away fun activities and privileges would help.”

“Hey, kids are cruel man. Spesh with anything different.” Shou nodded at Serizawa. “Sorry you weren’t able to find a good bunch until now. The night class people seem pretty chill.”

Serizawa’s muscles relaxed. “Yeah, it’s nice to not always have to worry.”

“Being your true self is hard around the wrong people.” Added Teru. “But bullying has gotten a bit better, what with the student councils and all that. They get more power and police each other.”

“Oh yeah my brother was doing something with that.” Mob stole one of Teru’s onion rings with no resistance. “What do you think, niisan?”

Ritsu had said very little, and even less now. It was not due to the current subject, however.

“Pfff.” Shou nudged Ritsu with an elbow. “You here in the same reality with us, dude?”

He was looking down at his food, hands holding up his head with a distant stare. Serizawa grew worried.

“Um, are you alright?”

A sigh. “This is the most unhealthy, horrible thing I have ever eaten.” Ritsu spoke in a low, serious tone. “I’m probably going to get sick after we get home.” His head sunk lower. “But I can’t stop eating it. Why is it so good?”

“Ah.” Shou held up one of the churros. “The existential crisis of fried dough covered in sugar.” He playfully dangled in front of Ristu. “Truly a conundrum.”

Everyone gave a friendly laugh, even Serizawa. His experience with food had been quite limited until recently, relating easily to the bliss of trying something delicious even if it was bad for you.

The noise was still getting to him even after they ate. So many random and chaotic ones mixing together. Serizawa would calm down for a moment before a small kid would scream right next to him. In between there was the music and smells. He followed the kids along into the building hoping that would be better. Nope. Now all the noise was contained in an enclosed space leaving him feeling claustrophobic. He focused on his friends enjoying the animals.

Mob had lagged behind, what with the last area being dedicated to frogs. Not wanting to get separated, Serizawa hung back as well. A group of adults pushing strollers went by. Each were loudly complaining about the cleanliness of the place, and in their own little bubble, they nearly ran over Mob’s foot. One of them turned and gave a cruel sneer. Mob shrank back, holding his arm and looking at the floor. The same group almost bumped into Serizawa as well.

He wanted to help but one of the babies starting crying, causing the others to join in. His limbs froze, muscles knotting. The room spun for a moment and he looked up to check on Mob. He was having the same reaction, backing away and breathing harder, his shoulders tense.

“Hey, there’s a cool ant display ahead!” Teru had walked up and taken Mob’s hand. “Wanna watch them carry little leaves and stuff? They have all these clear pipes you can see them travel through.”

Serizawa smiled as they walked by, Mob now calm. Maybe he could get the same relief. The babies continued to cry while he stared at his footsteps, ignoring the mini crowds in front of every glassed enclosed snake, lizard, and spider they passed.

“What’s on your mind, Serizawa?”

Another sudden jolt as he was forced out of his head. They had made it out of the building but that just meant even more differences to deal with. Serizawa blinked before turning to see Reigen at his side. He found himself standing in front of a ground enclosure where the animals wandered around in an open air pit behind a fence.

“You seem really focused. Never seen one before?”

He wanted to say something but failed to conjure up anything concrete, instead turning his head toward the enclosure. Inside sat a few large, furry mammals. Their fur was brown with big eyes and snouts

“It’s a capybara.” Reigen brought up a hand. “They are the largest of the rat family and in some areas are actually classified as fish to avoid religious traditions of food consumption.”

Serizawa leaned a bit to the side as Reigen gestured, looking past to see an information sign with the same words his boss was stating at this very moment. He couldn’t help but grin.

“They seem very calm.” Serizawa shifted his gaze to meet Reigen’s eyes. “And rather cute.”

“Ha ha. Yeah.” A blush formed on Reigen’s cheeks. “I guess they are.”

A large crowd wandered past them, some breaking off to yell and point at the capybaras. Why can’t he just be in the moment? Why does he tense up every single time? It’s not like he was doing it on purpose. Serizawa let out a grumbling exhale while wrapping his arms around himself. But one of his hands was stopped.

“Hey, you need anything?” Reigen gave a light squeeze to Serizawa’s hand. “I did say you could ask if you needed.”

Serizawa inhaled, no longer hearing the random noises, immune now to attempting to read every sign, only smelling the cheap body spray Reigen used every day. Tears welled in his eyes but he forced them back.

“I- I can’t do this. It’s too much.” The first words came out shaky but he managed to keep them calmer and low now. “The kids are enjoying this so much, so I can’t just go home when they need me. But- but I can’t- there’s so much here and I can’t seem to focus and-“

During the desperate rambling, little pebbles started to rise and float around Serizawa, as well as Reigen’s ball cap.

“Hey.” Reigen had a hand on Serizawa’s shoulder now, looking straight at him, face serious but kind. “I used to work here you know.”

Breathing fast, Serizawa concentrated on his boss’s words.

“I thought I was going to get to play with animals and stuff. Nope!” Fingers up, gesturing out toward the other half of the zoo. “It was all shit. Picking up shit. All day.”

Serizawa had stopped crying and was lost in a state of confusion and admiration.

“Still, I had to finish my summer out so I just tried to push through.” Reigen continued. “That definitely did not work. But I did learn one thing: there’s this café that barely anyone goes to. Families all want fried food and animal toys and stuff, but this place just has tea.” He stopped flinging his hands around and held one out for Serizawa to take. “Wanna take a break and go there? The kids will be fine on their own for a bit.”

Instead of taking the offered hand, Serizawa wrapped his arms around Reigen and pulled him into a hug.

“Yes! I’d like that.” Serizawa mumbled into his boss’s shoulder until he realized what he was doing and released his hold, stepping back and fumbling his arms in front of him. “I mean, if that’s ok with you, Reigen-san.”

His boss nodded back, still recovering with his hair messily sticking out from his ball cap. “Sure thing, big guy.”

#serizawaweek2024 #wawaweek2024 #serizawa #my writing #fan fic #mp100 fan fic #serirei #ritsu kageyama #shou suzuki #teru hanazawa #mob kageyama #reigen arataka #zoo #i hope this wasn't to projectingy #i feel seri would still have issues #takes a long time to get over all that #HUGS OK

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agent-barnes40 · 9 months

Text

Tiny

13th Doctor x AFAB!Reader x Dhawan!Master (romantic between 13 and Reader and Romantic between Master and Reader.)

Reader is shorter than The Doctor and The Master in this fic, will mention height quite a bit, also making up some planets, Reader uses he/they pronouns, possesive Time Lords

Fluff, suggestive, tiny bit of angst

You glanced up at the two Time Lords in front of you, an amused smile on your face. The two had started to fight again over who was going to take you. You looked down at your watch. "Don't want to interrupt but I've only got seven hours to roam around until I have to take this off."

The Doctor looked at you, her head tilting somewhat down to look at you. Her arms crossed. "I told you that you could wear the one we snagged. It lets you compress for hours and you wont damage anything."

The Master groaned and rested an elbow on your shoulder, his shoulder looking like it was being held uncomfortably but you didn't mention anything. "Let him wear the earth one. The one from Yorg doesn't do well in the heat!"

You groaned and pushed your head onto his elbow, looking up at The Master. "Can we just go?"

The two looked at you. The doctor smiling softly and and reached down to grab your hand. "Let them pick, Master. Its their trip after all."

You looked between the two again and smiled. "Lets go dancing, ballroom dancing."

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed as her eyes scanned you. "Dancing isn't good wearing a binder and you know that."

You huffed, looking at The Master. "Come on, we went to that intergalactic cruise ship and danced. I was wearing a binder that whole time."

You had never seen The Masters eyes darken so quickly or his head move so quickly to look at you. "What do you mean you were wearing a binder for 10 hours?"

The Doctor's eyes widened and looked down at you. "What do you mean 10 hours, Master?"

"He wore a binder for ten hours in a tux and looking insanely gorgeous while crushing his lungs." The Master said, his voice taut and you realized you had made a mistake.

"How about this, to make you two feel better, why don't I take today off from wearing the binder?" You asked and the two nodded in sync causing The Doctor to groan while The Master cheered.

You wormed out from their arms and moved to go to the bathroom to remove the binder when a hand grabbed the back of your shirt. A soft tug had you turning to face the man in front of you, his eyes scanning you. "You can just take it off here, we both have seen your body."

The Doctor snorted and rolled her eyes. "Come on, we all know that's just an excuse so you can see his body."

The Master shrugged and his hands settled on your hips, grabbing at the edge of your shirt. You shook your head, and pulled away, you didn't want to speak. The Master only nodded and let go, letting you run off to the bathroom.

You had worn the most masculine clothes you had without wearing a suit. The two Time Lords had chosen a planet that looked good enough and had a festival with dancing, perfect enough to appease all three of you. You had immediately dragged the two to the food, wanting to try something new. The three of you just enjoying the festivities before something inevitable happened, like a cyberman attack or Dalek's finding the three of you.

Of course, as usual trouble finds The Doctor and the three of you are forced to figure out how to repair this town's water recycler. You were arms deep in machinery when your brain thought of something. "Hey, Doc?"

"Yes love?" You rolled your eyes and pulled your arms out.

"You guys know how I told you two i wasnt gonna wear the binder?"

The Master let out a sigh. "I already clocked that you were still wearing it when you came back out."

The Doctor's head looked between you and The Master, a brown eyebrow raised. "You lied to me?"

You shook your head. "Master, its a sports bra. Would still have a somewhat compressed chest then nothing."

The Master snorted. "Look at you, I'm finally rubbing off on you."

Your face scrunched, and shook your head. "Never say that again, Master."

His face lit up and a grin emerged. "Ooh, did i make you think of something?"

You shook your head again. "Are you done with that?"

The Master went to speak until The Doctor stopped him. "What was your original question?"

"Its getting kinda hard to breath."

Your words stopped the Time Lords in an instant. Their eyes scanning you as you worked on pulling your shirt off and The Master quickly grabbed your wrist, stopping you. "We should check you out in the TARDIS."

"Is.. Is that another innuendo?" You asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head, sliding his hand up your shirt so it rested at your stomach, feeling how it moved with each breath. "Its not an issue with his lungs."

The Doctor started to hold her sonic out toward you, the whirring sound filling the air. You looked over at her and just watched. You loved seeing that concentrated look on her face and her eyebrows scrunching together while she read whatever the sonic screwdriver was telling her. The Master lightly tapped your nose, making you refocus on him, his eyebrows raised and then wiggled making you laugh.

The Doctor started to sonic the air and you tilted your head somewhat, The Master's hand on your stomach was warm and he had slid a hand onto your cheek, letting you rest your head on it and you yawned. "The air is 99.99% like Earth's so i dont see the problem."

"Theres still that 00.01% that isnt like oxygen." You mumbled, feeling sleepy.

The Master nodded, like he was answering a question that wasnt audibly asked, and moved to pick you up. "I'm gonna take him back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor nodded as she went quiet and moved so re-scan the machine the three of you were working on.

You woke up in warm purple sheets, a warm arm had been wrapped around your waist while a leg had trapped yours on the bed, your eyes trying to adjust to the new location and you turned your head to spot The Doctor sitting on the floor, her head tilted back onto the bed, and just staring at you.

"What happened?" You whispered, and she smiled.

"The air was making you tired, something about nano particles in the air." She mumbled.

You smiled and shifted back into The Master, you wormed an arm out and held it toward her. "Come Cuddle?"

"I dunno if i should get in a bed with him, love."

There was a puff of air on your hair as The Master snorted. "You werent saying that the other night."

"Oh hush!"

#13th Doctor x reader #Dhawan!Master x reader #Cade's Writing for Doctor Who

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lolabelinda · 1 year

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Analysis of scene: AYITL Fall "Rande Gerber hot"

Okay, so I just have to talk about this scene after rewatching it recently.

Jess is sitting (quite comfortably) in the Gilmore's house. Now to me this feels like he's been there before, I mean after he left Stars Hollow to live elsewhere.

He says to Rory he hasn't seen her in 4 years, but presumably he's been back to the Hollow a fair few times to visit Luke, his mum and sister Doula and likely just missed Rory those times because she was in NY or travelling.

During this time I'm guessing he spent some time at Lorelai's house and even spent time with both Luke and Lorelei.

We can tell this because even though Lorelei makes several negative comments about Jess throughout the revival ("throw a ball with, not at") I think a lot of that is just habitual banter, kind of a joke that they've never gotten along.

When Lorelei comes in to ask about ordering pizza she points (I think???) at Jess and says "extra cheese?" implying she is familiar enough to know his pizza preferences.

She could be pointing at and asking Luke, but being how much of a health freak he is, it's unlikely he would want extra cheese.

Then she protests when he goes to leave and blows him a kiss (!!!)

I mean I do think she is extra happy at this point in her life, so maybe she doesn't want to be annoyed by him. But all these things are very friendly and familiar and I believe were written into the scene to show the audience how their relationship has evolved (especially if they are trying to set up the whole Rory/Jess relationship that's implied for the future).

I wonder how he feels being there, with his history with Rory (although we rarely see them spend time there when they are together) and sitting there surrounded by pictures of her.

Also, why is he there?

I am guessing he has been asked to be Best Man to Luke (which is so cute to think of Rory being Maid of Honour also) and is there to try on his suit.

We see that Miss Celine was there on an earlier day with all the clothes and I would say maybe if Jess had a specific suit it would've been kept there until the wedding.

Jess may have already tried it on and then is waiting to see Luke's. He still has his bag, so presumably he's just arrived in town.

Although when Rory enters (and you'll notice he looks up from his book at this point) she doesn't seem surprised to see him so I'm guessing she already knew he was there.

Although Lorelei doesn't seem surprised either, so maybe they'd seen a bit of him in the lead up to the wedding (or it just didn't work for the flow of the scene for either of them to acknowledge his arrival).

Also when Jess leaves he says "back at 10?" Implying he is coming back the next morning, I'm guessing to get changed for the wedding.

I recently saw an interview where Milo talks about that last look he gives Rory through the window. He was basically saying you know, he didn't know what it meant, read into it what you want, but that Amy just asked him to look lovingly at Rory.

It's funny though because to me that is not a loving look. Like it is, but to me it's a longing look.

There is love there too, but if it was just "oh we shared something special and I'm remembering that but I've moved on" sort of look (which is what Milo implies) it would probably be more warm, smiling, satisfied type of look.

But no way... He looks sad, longing and loving. Almost even regretful.

The whole scene is the best ❤️

#jess mariano #rory gilmore #literati #rory and jess #jess and rory #gilmore girls #ayitl #gilmore girls ayitl #milo ventimiglia #alexis bledel

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chiimeramanticore · 2 months

Text

Part of the Band - Chapter 9 - The Tunnel of Love

Chapter summary: Dook and Beach Bear go to the fair.

A/N:

GUH. HELLO. IM NOT DEAD has it been like.... 2 months since i updated this? whoops. a lot happened irl, some good some bad! my cat sadly passed since last updating, but I also got to go to BBWL since last updating! so... y'know, looking on the bright side of stuff lol i got really creatively blocked after all that stuff, so despite knowing what the next chapters would be, i had no idea how to actually get them out on paper. BUT! I'm back now, and i understand everything so well that these next like. 5 chapters are gonna knock your damn socks off. it's all coming together but yeah uh! tldr thank u for ur patience! thank u for the continued support! i love u and i hope ur having a good day! here's the chapter ✌️

Chapter word count: 1,439

<- Chapter 8 - Chapter 10 ->

Read it on AO3!

The fair only comes to town once a year, during mid-May. Despite its arrival date, many in the area colloquially mark it as the start of summer. Children and their families, teenagers, and adults alike all make their way to the fairgrounds, lured by the sights and sounds of fun. It's the same reason that Dook and Beach Bear find themselves at the fair as well.

It was Beach Bear's idea, obviously. They'd seen a flyer promoting it earlier that week and he'd insisted they go. Dook isn't opposed to it, but he finds himself slightly resigned to the excited whims of his friend as they bounce between the various attractions.

"Haha, hey, check it out," Beach Bear points to Dook's right. He turns to look.

"...The Tunnel of Love?" Dook says skeptically.

"Yeah," Beach Bear says. "I thought those were only in movies! We gotta ride it." He grabs Dook's hand, pulling him toward the ride.

"W- wait, Beach Bear–! What if people think we're..."

"No one's gonna think that!" Beach Bear insists. "Anyone can get on this ride. It's not a big deal."

As he's dragged toward the front of the ride, Dook spots a familiar figure standing on line. A pair of mouse ears.

"B- B– M–" He stutters, unsure if he should call Beach Bear's name or Mitzi. "H– Hey!" He says finally, pointing at her.

He's apparently loud enough when he does, because Mitzi turns to see him. At the sight of the two approaching her, her eyes widen, and she turns back around, attempting to blend into the crowd. She moves behind someone– another mouse.

"Hey!" Beach Bear says now, rushing even more now toward her. "Mitzi? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" She says back, poking her head out from behind the other mouse.

"We came to enjoy the carnival," Dook says.

"No, why are y'all on line for the Tunnel of Love?" She says.

"I told you," Dook says to Beach Bear.

"Yeah, yeah," Beach Bear says, waving his hand dismissively. "I could ask you the same thing, Mitzi. Who's this, your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he is," Mitzi says matter-of-factly. She gestures to the other mouse she's with. "This is Mick."

"Breaking hearts already, huh?" Beach Bear says. "Aren't you like, ten?"

"I'm twelve," she says. "Everyone who's anyone's got a boyfriend by now."

"You hear that, Dook?" Beach Bear says. "We're falling behind the curve."

"I'm not even supposed to be talking to you," Mitzi continues.

"What?" Dook asks. "Why not?"

" 'Cause," she says. "...'cause Mini's mad at you. And if she finds out I've been talking with you, she'll be mad at me, too."

"Well, why don't you just... not tell her?" He asks.

Mitzi looks at him blankly. "I didn't... think about that," she says.

It's a little weird, speaking to her like this. Dook's never seen Mitzi outside of band practice– never seen her away from Queenie. When she's alone, he finds her a lot more outgoing.

"Mitzi, we've been thinking," Beach Bear says. "You should be in the band with us."

"Wh- what?" She says. "I couldn't do that!"

"Why not?" Dook says.

"Because!" She insists. "How's Mini supposed to not find out I'm talkin' to y'all if I'm in a band with you?"

"What about Mick here?" Beach Bear says, gesturing at him. "Say you're going out with him every week or something."

"But that's lying!"

"It's only lying if someone gets hurt," Beach Bear tells her. "Otherwise, it's just not telling the truth."

"That's still bad," Dook says.

"What, you've never done something like that before?" Beach Bear says. "Just... not telling someone something? That's not lying, technically."

Dook feels like he's being tested. "Th... that's not the same thing," he says. "You don't want her to just not say something, you want her to tell Queenie something that's not true. That's lying."

"Maybe I don't even wanna be in a band with y'all anyway," Mitzi chimes in.

They both look at her.

"You don't?" Beach Bear says.

Mitzi watches them for a moment, serious, before breaking into a reluctant smile. "No," she says, "I do. But I don't wanna lie to do it."

"Well, you're just gonna have to think of something else, then," Beach Bear tells her.

"You can't just talk to Queenie?" Dook asks.

"No," Mitzi and Beach Bear say simultaneously.

"Alright," Dook says.

"Oh, it's our turn!" Mitzi says. She takes Mick's hand and the two hop onto the ride.

Dook frowns. "What do we do?" He asks.

Beach Bear only shrugs in response. "It's our turn," he adds, gesturing to the next open cart.

Beach Bear sits down in the ride cart and Dook follows. The ride continues moving and they enter a dark tunnel, whimsical scenes beginning to pass them by.

"This is dumb," Dook mutters.

"It is," Beach Bear says, "That's the point. Y'know nobody ever rides these to admire the scenery."

"They don't?"

"Nah," he smirks at him. "They do it to get handsy."

"Gross," Dook says. Then, "Are you sure people aren't gonna think we're a couple from us bein' on here?"

"Does it matter if they do?" Beach Bear asks.

Dook says nothing. The rest of the ride passes in silence.

·–—–·

"...Hey, y'know," Beach Bear says in between licks of ice cream, "I'm having a good time here."

"I am too," Dook admits. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"Pshh. I should be thanking you. I've never come to one of these before."

"What, a carnival?"

"Well, like, a fair." Beach Bear takes another lick off his cone. "My parents always told me as a kid they weren't safe, or whatever."

"Well, did ya see how that one ride was shaking?" Dook smiles. "I wouldn't get on that either."

Beach Bear laughs. "But that's part of the excitement! It's a thrill ride!"

Dook laughs, having some more of his own ice cream. "You haven't seen Mitzi again yet, have you?"

"Nah," Beach Bear says. "You don't think she left yet, right?"

Dook shrugs. "You think she's gonna join the band?"

"I dunno. She's a good kid."

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning she probably won't lie to her sister about it. Even if she wants to be part of the band."

"You think... you think she's our singer?"

Beach Bear looks at him. "You ever heard her sing?"

Dook shakes his head.

Beach Bear takes a lick of his ice cream. "She's good. She's real good."

"Better than one of us?" Dook asks.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno, I just... Like, can't one of us sing? If we need a singer so bad. She just seems like a lotta work to get her on board with it."

"What, you wanna be our singer?" Beach Bear says.

"I could if I needed to," he replies. "I guess. Can't you?"

"If I asked you to sing right now, you would?" Beach Bear says.

"I guess!" Dook says. "Would you?"

"Would you?"

"I already said yes. You're bein' cagey."

"I'm not!"

"Then sing," Dook says.

Beach Bear looks at him, then looks away, then back at Dook. "Uh... I, uh... I can't," he admits finally.

"Oh," Dook says. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine," Beach Bear replies, quickly bouncing back. "We egged each other on."

"Yeah." Dook turns his attention back to the scenery. The sun has fully sunk over the horizon by now, leaving the fairgrounds illuminated by the string lights hanging from posts and the bright signs above rides, games, and vendors, beckoning fair goers toward them. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy wafts through the air, and the air is filled with the sounds of guests on rides and games' bells ringing.

Beach Bear stands closest to the vendor they got their ice creams from, illuminated from behind by it. His height has never fully worn off on Dook– he near eclipses the cart on a vertical level. He's leaned forward, forearms resting on the table between them. His body's turned toward Dook, but his head watches the fair, not noticing the way Dook looks at him. It's almost dangerous, looking at him like this. He could simply turn his head back to look at him and Dook would be caught, with a lack of explanation, no less.

Why is he watching him anyway? Dook pries his gaze away and returns it to the fair.

"Aw man," Beach Bear says, pointing towards the fair's exit. There, Mitzi and Mick are walking through it. "There they go."

"Man," Dook concurs. "What now?"

Beach Bear chuckles. "You're gonna have to warm up those vocals, man."

#juno.pdf #part of the band #potb #rockafire explosion #rock afire explosion #showbiz pizza #rae #dook larue #beach bear #mitzi mozzarella #fanfic #fanfiction #these a/ns are copypasted from ao3 so theyre all old lol #this was originally posted over a year ago i do not need condolences for my cat im ok i promise lol

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510amy5 · 6 months

Text

On April 8 I got to experience something absolutely incredible: a total solar eclipse. Its hard to express just how exciting this was for me but here goes.

I have always loved space, ever since I was a kid. I played the Magic School Bus planets game, I read about how the moon affects our tides, I learned how to make a pin hole projector for watching a partial solar eclipse at 5 years old. I started learning constellations (my fav has always been Cassiopeia) and could find north using the stars by the time I was 8. When I was 10, our family Christmas gift was a very large and fancy telescope. Suddenly I was no longer limited to my naked eyes. We spent a couple nights a week all summer looking at anything interesting we could find in the night sky. I learned to use a star chart, locate the planets on the ecliptic and of course operate our telescope (which was powerful enough that the rotation of earth was noticeable over the course of a couple mins). This is when I came up with my space bucket list.

Some items were ones I saw before the list was created, but they were amazing and helped inform my items yet to be experienced.

Space things I've seen:

Rocks on the moon

Craters on mars

Rings of Saturn

Jupiter's spot

Binary star system

Total lunar eclipse

The international space station (through telescope)

Moons around Mars, Jupiter and Saturn

Venus transit of the sun

Total solar eclipse

Space things I want to see:

Shuttle launch

Aurora borealis

Rings of Neptune

An asteroid

A comet

I was over the moon (pun intended) when I found out that I was near the path of totality for this eclipse. 20 mins drive to move an item from the bottom list to the top one. That's what this started as for me, a box to check and an opportunity to say "that was cool".

So I drove with my parents and my baby and we setup our lawn chairs at the community centre in the town south of us. Its a tiny, middle of nowhere town where everything closes on Sundays and they only have 1 traffic light. Suddenly it was on the map as people traveled in to experience the eclipse. It felt like a big picnic with people chatting and sitting out with their families, pulling out their special glasses every few moments to look up.

I watched as the moon sliced away at the sun. Bit by bit the light got darker and weirder and the temperature dropped. It was exciting but there was also something viscerally unsettling about it. My mind knew this was fun but my body knew something was WRONG. The sun is such an easy thing to take for granted. Its always there, shining away just the same. But when something so fundamental changes, your body notices. This was a duality of experience I never expected.

Then we finally reached the point of totality. This was the moment I had been waiting for, my check box experience. But it was way more than just cool. The world went dark, street lights coming on and birds breaking out in sudden confused song. The people around me cheered and hugged. And I, as I so often have before, I looked up. Understanding the mechanics of an eclipse and having it described couldn't come close to what I was now looking at. I expected a hole in the sky but you could still see the outline of the moon. Not like a "ring of fire" eclipse, but just because the sun puts out that much light and power. The tendrils of the corona reached as far into space as the sun was wide, waved and curled into lines way more organic than the sun beams I always imagined. I had heard the corona was going to make a good show due to this year being the solar maximum but that was an understatement. It was like being on an alien planet orbiting a weird star. I took a quick video for a friend and then just soaked up the moment. Totality only lasts a couple mins and too soon a diamond spark appeared on the edge. No longer safe to look at. We donned our glasses and just stared in awe. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Other groups started to pack up around us. We waited though, watching as the sun slowly regained purchase in the sky. The birds stopped singing, the light normalized. I changed my baby's diaper before we hopped in the car to drive home.

In history and media, a total eclipse is often seen as the beginning of the apocalypse or an omen of some kind and I can see why. It is an experience so alien and rare that it must have some deeper meaning right? I agree. In my case however, what I see is the beauty of God's creation. I see all the factors that lined up to give me the gift of this experience and I see His hand. Now I sit and work to find the words to convey an indescribable event, hoping I can share some of this experience. I can only hope I live to see this sight again.

#personal #eclipse #solar eclipse #space

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amysubmits · 4 months

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Loving your podcast (except the amount of “ums” used in every sentence ;) )! I shared it with my husband as we venture into our dd/ds journey. It’s very refreshing to hear a real couple and their real perspectives from fetish/kink POV’s. I know you’ve talked a lot about your DD and spanking fetish; but how did you actually start/come out to CD about these things? What was his initial reaction?

Sorry for the late reply, I was a bit triggered by your 'joke' about my overuse of "ums". I believe in at least one podcast episode I addressed how I am self-conscious about how I am not a graceful speaker and how it makes editing difficult because I am not a linear speaker or thinker. I lose my train of thought frequently, struggle to find words, etc. So, I do say 'um' excessively, it's way worse IRL than on the podcast as we edited the vast majority of them out. Not all can be removed as it would break the flow of conversation or whatever else. We tried to edit to make things a little more cohesive and easier to listen to. So, yeah, what I basically got from your message was 'this person finds you annoying even when your way of speaking is cleaned up more than 50%' and that's painful even though it's true, I wish you hadn't told me that as I can't really do anything about it, it's just part of how my ADHD or other neurodivergence works. I felt like I should respond to that portion as I'm working on using my voice to defending myself, being less of a people pleaser, accepting myself and having more self-compassion/respect, etc. But I don't want to dwell so, moving on to the far more enjoyable part of your ask!

I think I've shared how I 'came out' to CD at some point in the past but I don't recall what blog post(s) that would have been in. If I come across them later I'll try to reblog for you. It's now been about 10 years since I asked for DD, and I had told CD about my interest in spanking prior to that, though I don't really recall when that was. So, my memory is not super detailed at this point but I'll try to give a general idea.

As wild as this is, he playfully spanked me before we were officially dating. About a week before he'd ask me to be his girlfriend, we went to the grocery store to hang out because that's all that is open in our town after like 7pm so we'd just go walk around the store sometimes when we were friends. And this day I had attended a funeral and I was still wearing a dress but I had switched into some flip-flops so my feet would be more comfortable. And as we're walking around I decided to buy some chips, but the ones I wanted were on a higher shelf and I am short, so I stepped on one of the lower shelves to get myself high enough to reach the chips I wanted, but one of my flip-flops fell off and he grabbed it while I was still up on the shelf and used it to swat my butt. I think basically in response to seeing that he was open to that sort of play (literally meaning play, no sexual connotation) I started leaning into that sort of play fighting, play wrestling kinda rough housing stuff with him and I'd slap his ass to get him to retaliate. He'd always do this harder, so I'd fight back harder, and I think it was after we were officially dating, but it eventually advanced to him using my belt on me over my pants! But it was all very giggly and playful. In hindsight, this sort of play probably should have made it clear to both of us that we were playing with spanking as a kink but it was never overtly sexual so I had compartmentalized it as just, innocent play. Haha.

I'm REALLY guessing here, but I think we had probably been dating at least six months before I actually told him I was into spanking. He's always had an easier time being open and direct with conversations in general, but especially sexual ones, than I have been. So pretty early on he would try to ask me questions to get a better understanding of my sexual interests and what I liked, basically. I had a lot of shame and anxiety around my sexuality and my kinks and had no experience with being open about anything like that, I found myself sort of just getting awkward when he tried to get me to talk about things like that, and so he never pushed too hard. I knew that spanking was a meaningful part of my sexuality but I was so young and naive still that I thought this was like a one in a million type of kink to have. So for a while I thought it was so weird that I would just never be able to tell him or anyone as it was so 'freakish' in my mind. But as our relationship progressed and I felt safer and safer, it just felt less possible to keep it from him. So eventually I did. I don't remember exactly what I said, sorry. I know that when I spilled the beans, I said something like 'I hope you don't think I'm weird' or gross or a freak or something like that, idk exactly. But I know his response to me was essentially "What? no….that's hot!" which was SUCH a relief because I was so in love with him and it would have been devastating if he was judgemental of it. I believe he also said something to make me think that being into it wasn't nearly as weird (I guess what I really mean is rare) as I had believed it to be. At this time, I had not yet come across the idea of DD, so really all I shared was I was into spanking as that's basically all I knew.

After finding that out, he'd smack my butt while we were doing sexual things but I didn't really enjoy that much so that didn't last. A few years later I came across the idea of DD online and shared that with CD. He was curious but also had some concerns and a lot of questions. He didn't feel like I 'needed' rules and worried that giving me a rule would cause me to break that rule to get spanked which was a dynamic he didn't want to create. I didn't really have good answers to his questions, and I also was still deeply ashamed of these desires so it made it hard for me to have conversations about any of this. I'd even try to avoid saying the word 'spanking' out loud which was really confusing. In hindsight, I just clearly was not ready to engage with any of this stuff because I couldn't talk about it clearly enough to keep things safe. And I didn't realize that, but thankfully, he did. So for a while we'd occasionally talk about it but he'd raise the same questions that I didn't have good answers to and so I'd get awkward and embarrassed and end the conversation and it wouldn't be brought up again for a while. But over time we worked through some of the questions and concerns enough to feel comfortable giving it a try, except we couldn't think of any good rules at first. But then one day I lost my debit card again, which was a recurring problem for me, and it occurred to CD that it might make a good rule so he suggested it as our first rule and that's how we started.

And since then it's been a whole lot of communication and learning as we go, adapting regularly to insight we gain into ourselves and each other along the way. :)

#asks #d/s #vanilla to d/s

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fireinmywoods · 1 year

Note

I’ve been reading Kirk/McCoy on and off for like 10 years now, and you - through your fic and this here blog - are like single handedly responsible for dragging me back into it this time around. I wondered about any head canons you had around Leonard’s childhood and teenage years. We at least get a glimpse of young Kirk and young Spock in the movies, but nothing for McCoy, and I’m very curious about your take.

Oh, I have plenty of thoughts around Leonard's youth, though I'm afraid it's hard to recall what's already made it into posted works and what's still buried in WIP drafts, so forgive me if I get a little slip-slidey. Some of this is semi-canonical, some I've just made up for Reasons, but I think it's all plausible enough!

1. Leonard grew up as the only son of a prominent family in the (fictional) small town of Marysville, GA.

Extended universe canon has it that his paternal grandfather was Chief of Medicine at Emory in Atlanta, which I think we can reasonably assume is still the top hospital in Georgia as of the 23rd century. And of course his father was a doctor as well. So he comes from a solid line of highly educated and successful professionals.

Leonard is semi-canonically from Atlanta himself, but I've gone ahead and rejected that, because no fucking way was that folksy-ass motherfucker (who is after all "just an old country doctor") born and raised in Atlanta proper. (Though it is also extremely funny to me to imagine him as some city asshole cosplaying as a hayseed for some mysterious reason, knowing damn well that no one else on the Enterprise knows enough about Georgia to catch him out.)

To reconcile this, I've decided that his mother's family was originally from [vague hand wave] some ways outside Savannah and that Eleanora didn't much care for city living, so after getting married, she and David moved to Marysville, where they were initially viewed with some suspicion as outsiders (and high-and-mighty city slickers, at that) but in time came to be accepted and respected as pillars of the community.

2. He was the only grandchild on his maternal side and spoiled rotten by his granny and granddaddy.

The family alternated holidays between David's parents in Atlanta and Eleanora's parents near Savannah, and while Leonard loved both sets of grandparents, he preferred being at his granddaddy and granny's place and often accompanied his mama on extended summer visits. The McCoys were kind but a bit more serious and reserved, with a beautiful home filled with lots of things little boys weren't allowed to touch. Much more fun to run around orchards sticking worms in his pockets and getting into mild mischief. It didn't hurt that Granny was a superb baker (and also known for her eggnog, as noted in pentimento).

Fun fact: it's his granny and granddaddy's home outside Savannah (which tends to get a lot of there-and-gone afternoon thunderstorms in the summer) where his childhood memories take place in sforzando.

3. He was a mama's boy.

He looked a lot more like his father and of course went on to follow in David's footsteps as a doctor, but personality-wise, he's much more like his mother, who shared a similar blend of fussing over her brood and low tolerance for bullshit.

4. He was raised up right. Theoretically.

Look, an attempt was made, okay? Someone - many someones - for sure gave that boy all the right home training. He's from two long lines of born and bred Georgians, and there is absolutely no way he wasn't rigorously trained in appropriate manners, decorum, and housekeeping. He even did cotillion classes, remember! (Jim definitely remembers. Jim will never, ever forget, nor let slip an opportunity to bring it up.)

So his elders tried. And as noted in pentimento, his parents did their best to work with him on his temper when he hit his teen years and started blossoming into the mouthy hothead we know and love. It's not his their fault he grew up into such an irascible old cuss who's apparently determined that the genteel passive aggression he grew up steeped in must sometimes be supplemented with full-on aggressive aggression.

I guess what I'm saying is, you can't blame his raising for why he's so Like That. That's sheer force of personality, baby. (I mean, aside from the part where he enjoys swanning in to inquire about his frenemy's troubles and drop a "helpful" and vaguely insulting pearl of wisdom before swanning back off to gossip about it with his bestie. That there's a Southern specialty.)

5. He was fairly popular growing up.

I recognize I may encounter some skepticism on this point, given the, uh, everything about the grown-up Leonard we know and love, but let's look at the facts.

He was from a good family, which goes pretty far in a town like Marysville.

He's exceptionally smart and hard-working as an adult, and given where he ended up career-wise, one can imagine he must have done well in school. I've even gone so far as to decide he skipped a couple grades at some point, though admittedly that was partly an effort to make sense of his timeline so that he could be a fully trained doctor by the time we meet him on the shuttle at 28.

So anyway, he was smart and a good student - but as Jim intuited in pas de deux, it wasn't the sort of disquieting freaky-smart that made baby Jimmy something of an outcast in his own small town. Leonard's was a more...palatable intelligence, let's say. And it helped that he was also a jock.

Yeah, you heard me. The extended universe indicates that baby Leonard dreamed of being a pro basketball player, and as an adult he is in suspiciously good shape for a man of science, so I went ahead and had him play basketball in middle and high school until a knee injury took him off the court for good.

So in summary: smart, good family, an athlete, well-mannered, and looks like young Karl Urban? Yeah, I'm pretty sure my guy did just fine among his peers, introversion/short fuse/social awkwardness be damned.

In fact, I'm looking forward to introducing you to some of those peers in the high school reunion fic! Assuming I can manage to finish it before the heat death of the universe!

That's all I've got off the top of my head. I'd love to hear anyone else's ideas too!!

#also ANON you are so sweet!!! i can't tell you what an amazingly rewarding thing that is to hear 💙💛#ask #anon #fic related #mccoy #star trek #aos

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tcfkag · 9 months

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2024 and the Return of the To-Done List

So, after a year during which (a) our daughter ran full-speed (literally) into the trying two's, (b) I had multi-focal pneumonia that resulted in a week or two in the hospital (including a brief sojourn in the ICU), (c) I had bizarre, seemingly inexplicable seizures for the first time ever [which meant I couldn't drive for six months...right after we moved to a semi-"rural" town...for the northeast that is], (d) had an acute kidney injury, (e) had several bouts of unexplained pitting edema in my legs, (f) started a new job that I actually really like, even if there is a steep learning curve, and (g) lost my Mom after a long battle with mild to moderate dementia/Alzheimer's that then dropped off a cliff into end-stage dementia in less than six months (depending on how you count it), and (h) just generally felt like I was never managing my physical or mental health as well as I could or should be, I'm going to try to make some changes. These aren't resolutions because I truly think that New Year's resolutions just set you up to fail. Instead, I'd call them goals. Or, at least, hope that I want to support with action as much as I can. While still giving myself grace knowing that I can and probably will mess up along the way. But, the first step is that I'm going to try to bring back a kind of journaling-like activity (since I suck at journaling) that my old therapist recommended when I was feeling like this before. Each day I make a list, generally on Tumblr for at least a tiny modicum of peer pressure, and I just make a list of everything I've done that day. No matter how big or how small. As she put it "make it your base assumption that each day, you will do absolutely nothing, so you get credit for everything, even things as simple as showering. I frequently restart these lists when my depression and anxiety have gotten bad enough that I know I'm not taking care of myself, mentally and physically, so a big part of my goals are (a) to move more [in whatever form that takes], (b) eating healthier, and (c) to take care of several medical/dental appointments that I've been putting off for way too long. The beauty of the list is that, a lot of the time, I ended up doing stuff BECAUSE of the list. So that I won't be staring at an empty page as I try to make my list each year.

Things I'm proud of today...so far:

when we took Peanut to the trampoline park to burn off some of her "no daycare today suckers" energy and this time, I bought a jump pass for myself. I only made it ~30 minutes but it was a great work-out. 10/10 would recommend.

I took the dogs for the "long" trail walk out to the back of our property,

I did a core and flexibility routine this morning,

I decided to take one for the team and point out to my Uncle that the nostalgia he feels about Aunt Jemimah as a syrup mascot isn't as important as the company making money off the likeness of a woman who died 100 years ago who was used as a stand in for the generic idea of what an enslaved (or recently freed) Black woman did or should do, and (finally)

this one is a few days late, but not only did we drive 12+ hours to visit my in-laws for Christmas, but we also stopped in NJ in both directions to pick up Monotasker's Aunt who is 80-years-old, hard of hearing, and in the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer's and I didn't even lose my shit at a single person...even the ones who deserved it.

Happy New Years everyone!

"May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows." (Jason Mraz) And even if the worst of your todays are the best of your tomorrows, I hope you can still find your way out and through by the light of the moon to guide you.

#TCFKAG #Things I'm Proud Of Today #depression #spoonies #To-Done List #chronic illness #chronic pain #just generally an exhausted 40-year-old mother to a quite lovely but at times trying two year old #who - i might add - might have sprained her ankle at the trampoline park #oh dear #i miss my mommy #2024 #Hopefully not a second verse that's same as the first

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chardbones · 1 year

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Summer morning (Ana Amari x Fem! Reader)

A/N so it's been a really long time since I've written any fanfics at all and I thought I'd jump back into the ring for fun. I've had this fic idea for the better part of two years now but for some unknown reason I decided to write it just now. I might make a second part to this but I'm not sure, like breakfast and maybe a bit and what the reader would do with Ana all day. I also saw that there isn't many fanfics of my girl Ana and she deserves it so I might post a fic or two more about her.I hope you blokes enjoy what I wrote

Y/N Pov:

I woke up to the light shining in my eyes, I slowly got up and looked over to left where I could see my wife peacefully sleeping. Ana and I decided a while ago that we both deserved a holiday together after going on countless missions. A few years ago, the both of us decided to buy a small house in Iilios, somewhere close to the beach and not too far from the town square where the market could be found. The light was thankfully poring slightly and only on my side so Ana wouldn't be woken up by it.

I slowly got up and made my way to the window, looking out I saw the clear blue sky and the vast never ending sea, in the distance I could see sail boats. Even though it was just the morning, looking at the sun, it was already quite hot but thankfully there was a cool breeze. After a bit I quietly opened the door and carefully made my way down stairs. My body isn't what it was 20 years ago, I'm still pretty physically well off but I can feel my body slowly but surely having enough of all the running around, carrying heavy ammo and making sharp moves.

As I walk down the stairs I look to my left and see the photos of me and Ana, most of them were of us during the glory days of overwatch. Boy, that was a long time ago. A lot of them were of the both of us and Fareeha, especially when she was just a kid. As I got downstairs and made my way to the kitchen, I stopped to look at a group of photos hanging over a dresser. One of them was of the three of us when we went Trick or Treating, Fareeha was just 10 years old then. Another was of Fareeha on her first day of school and another of her standing all happy with a trophy she won. One of my favourites was the wedding photo, that was taken year's ago, now the both us are old women.

Fareeha always saw me as her second mum and always treated me like one. And I always treated her like my own daughter, the best years of my life have been spent with them, seeing Fareeha grow and become stronger. Experiencing new things with Ana and loving her more and more.

Finally after a few minutes of remember wonderful memories I finally got to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove, the house still had an old fashion stove oven that used fire, you almost never come across those in households over anywhere. I opened up a cabinet and took out a jar full of the best black tea and put it in two cup. As I waited for the water to boil I put in 1 and a half teaspoons of brown sugar and got out a desk to put the tea on. I placed the tea cups filled with hot and cold water on the tray and just incase the sugar if Ana wanted more.

I made my way back up the stairs and place the tray on my nightstand, I crawled back into bed and pulled Ana a bit closer to me so I could spoon her. The second I placed my wrinkly hand into hers, I could feel Ana stir in her sleep and see her eye flutter open.

"Good morning my love" I spoke quietly as Ana rolled over to look at me

"Good morning alsaqr" Ana said with a smile.

Alsaqr is a nickname she gave you because of how similarly you acted as a falcon in combat and how you armour resembled one.

"I made us some tea, drink some" I passed her a cup as Ana pushed herself up to sit.

"You're up quite early Y/N. Any reason why?" Ana asked as she put the cup to her mouth.

"Not really, I just did... I can believe that we're old women now. Looking at the photos it seems like it was just yesterday that I carried Fareeha on my back and ran around with her pretending that she was flying and I was her suit of armour" I spoke in a slight sad but glad tone.

"It has been, the time really does fly quickly, our little Fareeha has grown up really quickly and subsequently we have gotten older."

"I'm happy that you are the one I'm growing old with Ana. You're the only one I'd ever want to grow old with and have experience all the things we have gone through. I love you Ana."

"I love you too Y/N and I'm as every bit as happy as you are alsaqr"

The both of us put our cups away and kisses one another. It was a long and sweet kiss. As we parted we just looked into eachother worn eyes (well, I was looking into just one of her eyes). Even though we both look different then we did 20 or even 30 years ago, Ana still looks at me with the same passion and love that she did all those years ago. The same goes to me. We have said it many times before and shoe shown it to eachother on multiple occasions, and it's not going to stop.

The both of us just layed back down in bed and cuddle, the white sheets being partially draped over us. I held Ana in my arms while we gave eachother kisses. We could feel the breeze coming in every now and the through the open windows cooling us down.

And we just stayed like that until the sun started to shine on our faces and we knew we'd have to get up and start the day.

#Overwatch #Ana Amari #Overwatch x reader #lesbian #Ana Amari x Reader #Fanfic #Overwatch fanfic #Ana Amari x Fem reader #I also took inspiration of me and my sheila #lesbian fanfic #bisexual #saphic

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museywrites · 1 year

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Xiantober 2023 - Day 4: Ghost!Xian

Word Count: 5,064 Pairing: Wangxian Tags: Ghost Wei Ying, Major character death (kinda? He's a ghost), altered characters ages, murder, death

"Wei Ying is dead."

The news devastated the town. Another life gone, and far too soon. His parents wept and the town mourned the loss of such a charismatic young boy.

Wei Ying died at the age of 10, murdered by the hands of some cruel person and left in the middle of the park to be found. He was the latest of a string of murders in the town, the youngest by far, since most victims had been young women in their 20s.

Wei Ying was also the last of the victims in the town.

It was a weird experience, attending your own funeral.

Wei Ying stood beside the grave, watching as the casket was lowered into the ground. He glanced around at his friends and family, saw their tears and their grief. Anger bubbled inside of his transparent chest.

Then, by chance, he made eye contact. The young Lan boy from down the street who Wei Ying had desperately tried to befriend, but he was always too shy and ran away, always avoiding A-Ying.

Yet right here, right now, surrounded by the people he loved most who couldn't see him,

this young boy was looking directly at him with wide eyes.

Wei Ying lifted his hand hesitantly and waved.

Lan Zhan's gaze flicked to his hand, then back to him, and just as hesitantly, he gave a little wave back.

And that was the start of Wei Ying's new life.

Or rather, life in death.

He attached himself to Lan Zhan, following him around constantly.

At first, Wei Ying didn't have enough energy to talk to Lan Zhan, or to touch the living world, he was just there.

And truth be told, it drove Wei Ying up a wall.

He wanted to talk to Lan Zhan so badly, but for once in his life, he had to shut his mouth and all he could do was listen. So he did.

He followed Lan Zhan around constantly, sitting with him as he did his school work, rolling around in the air as the Lans sat silently for meals. Occasionally, Lan Zhan would write questions down in his notebook and let Wei Ying point to letters to spell out answers. It wasn't the most efficient, but it kept Wei Ying from going crazy.

Then, one night, almost a year after Wei Ying's passing, a massive thunderstorm hit.

With each roaring crack of thunder, the house shook, and Lan Zhan huddled under his covers, terrified.

Wei Ying felt powerless, he wanted nothing more than to help his new friend. Without thinking, he reached out and touched Lan Zhan's hand, both boys startled when they felt contact.

That;s when they learned that the electricity from the storm helped give Wei Ying more corporeal form. He stayed beside Lan Zhan all night, holding his hand until he fell asleep.

For years, their friendship went on like this.

Lan Zhan remained the only one who could see Wei Ying and he never told anyone about him.

As Lan Zhan began to grow, so did Wei Ying.

By the time both boys were fifteen, Wei Ying had learned enough about his life after death to alter himself, aging right beside Lan Zhan, but he also learned how to manipulate his surroundings. He could touch Lan Zhan whenever he liked now, not just during storms, he could pick up light objects and move them short distances.

His favorite thing to touch was Lan Zhan's ribbon he always had braided into his hair.

By the time the boys turned 18, Wei Ying hand, unknowingly, learned to project his voice just enough for Lan Zhan to hear him.

To keep himself from going insane, Wei Ying often would prattle on about everything and nothing just to get things off his chest.

Today was one of those days.

"Lan Zhan, I'm so bored."

"Mn."

"I mean I'm glad you can see me but I miss talking! I can't remember the last time I've had a conversation that wasn't through pen and paper!" He whined, laying back in the air with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Mn, even when we were little, Wei Ying loved to talk." Lan Zhan answered nonchalantly.

"Exactly! I'm a social butterfly! I'm meant to talk and interact! And I mean, I'm totally cool with the fact you're the only one who can see me, but I wanna talk to you too!" He huffed "How am I supposed to tell you how handsome you look! Or that I don't like that Su She guy who keeps flirting with you at school! I'm so glad you graduated, but I doubt that's the last we'll see of him."

"I believe he is going to the same college as us."

He chose 'us' since Wei Ying always attended classes with Wei Ying and Wei Ying had helped pick out the college.

Wei Ying sat up abruptly. "See!! He's definitely stalking you! How can you... be so..." He paused, his gaze meeting the warm honey of Lan Zhan's.

"Lan Zhan...?"

"Mn?"

"Can... Can you hear me?"

"Mn."

Wei Ying's eyes widened before he darted around the room excitedly, knocking over several things in the process.

Lan Zhan didn't get a moment of silence for almost two weeks.

Then the boys turned 20.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan had an... interesting relationship to say the least. Wei Ying was dead and Lan Zhan was the only one who could see and hear him. They were best friends.

It should have been the end of it.

But Wei Ying couldn't deny the jealousy he felt every time someone flirted with his Lan Zhan. When their touches would linger too long or when they would put themselves in Lan Zhan's path so he couldn't move on.

One such person was Su She. He had a weird obsession with Lan Zhan and Wei Ying hated it. He talked badly about him behind his back, but would always be extra touchy.

Today was one of his touchy days. His hands had gone to Lan Zhan's arms five times too many, and Wei Ying had enough. Without thinking, he kicked Su She in the back of the leg, making his legs buckle and he stumbled to the ground.

"Who--" He whipped around to see no one there and paled slightly, but quickly cleaned up his fallen books and hurried off.

Wei Ying took to doing this often. He'd pull his hair, push him, knock his things out of his hands, until Lan Zhan scolded him.

"Enough."

"What?" Wei Ying reeled back a little, he had never heard Lan Zhan talk so firmly to him.

"Stop harassing Su She."

Wei Ying tensed, his eyes narrowing. "No! He keeps harassing you."

"Just ignore him."

"Why? Do you like him or something?" He snapped.

"Wei Ying." He said firmly, not liking being accused of such a blasphemous thing.

Wei Ying's eyes widened before he glared at Lan Zhan. "Fine." He turned and took off down the hall, disappearing into one of the walls.

Lan Zhan sighed before he headed to his next class. The last thing he wanted Wei Ying to be classified as was a poltergeist. He wouldn't put it past Su She to try and have Wei Ying exorcized.

Unfortunately, this little misunderstanding led to their first fight.

For the first time in ten years, Wei Ying refused to go near Lan Zhan. He knew he was being childish, he knew he was blowing this up from nothing, but Wei Ying was hurt.

He knew the day would come when Lan Zhan found interest in someone... But did it have to be now? Did it have to be him?

Wei Ying wasn't sure what to do with himself, so he left.

He wandered aimlessly until he found himself at his own home.

His parents had long since moved, the memory of their son's murder weighed heavy on them. Wei Ying couldn't blame them, but he did miss them.

With a sigh, he flew off to the cemetery, settling down against his tombstone.

For almost two weeks, this went on.

Wei Ying avoided Lan Zhan constantly, refusing to return to Lan Zhan's home, refusing to go to the school. And when Lan Zhan came looking for him, he hid.

He realized if Lan Zhan was finally interested in dating, then he couldn't be around him anymore. It would hurt too much.

It was on the fifteenth day of avoiding Lan Zhan that Wei Ying was wandering the town when he felt a cold chill run down his spine, as if every part of his body wanted to dissipate into the ether.

He glanced around in confusion until his eyes landed on a man.

Wei Ying wasn't sure where he had seen him before, just just being near him made his ghostly body feel uneasy. He didn't want to be near him, he didn't want to see him.

He needed to find Lan Zhan.

Without hesitating, he turned and hurried back to Lan Zhan's apartment.

When Wei Ying first got there, Lan Zhan was nowhere to be found, but he didn't want to risk missing him by going out to find him, so he waited.

It wasn't until well after midnight when Lan Zhan returned. He was exhausted, and Wei Ying could see how unwell he looked.

"Lan Zhan! You're home! I'm so sorry abou-- Lan Zhan are you okay?"

Lan Zhan heaved a sigh and moved further into his apartment before he sat on his couch, head in his hands.

"Hey! Lan Zhan, I said I'm sorry, don't ignore me, okay?"

But he got no response.

Panic filled the ghost and he tried to grab onto Lan Zhan's arm, but his hand phased through him.

No.

No! No! No!"

"Lan Zhan?! Lan Zhan, why can't I touch you anymore?!"

"Wei Ying..."

"Yes! You can still see me, right?!"

"Where did you run off too? It's been two weeks."

Wei Ying stilled, looking at his best friend, at the only person who could see him... used to see him, he was suddenly hit with the realization that if Lan Zhan couldn't see or hear him, then Wei Ying would truly be alone.

"...Is... is this my fault?"

Wei Ying sank onto the couch beside Lan Zhan, his heart and his mind heavy.

"Lan Zhan... I'm not ready to be alone yet." He said quietly, knowing that no reply would come.

"This is all my fault. If I had just listened to you.... if I had just stopped messing with him..."

Wei Ying's thoughts were cut off when Lan Zhan's cell phone rang, and he sighed, pulling it from his pocket.

"Yes?" Lan Zhan frowned. "Tomorrow? Ge, I really don't want to have a family dinner right now... a guest?"

Wei Ying watched Lan Zhan, a frown on his lips. Then, as if by some divine intervention, Wei Ying had an idea. He recalled the fight night he was able to touch Lan Zhan, and without thinking, he reached out and touched Lan Zhan's phone.

He felt the small zap of electricity, before Lan Zhan frowned.

"Ge, my phone is dying, I'll call you back tomorrow. Yes, I'll be at the dinner." He assured before hanging up and looking at his phone oddly. "I haven't used it all day."

Then he jumped when he felt a brush against his skin, looking over, half expecting Wei Ying, but saw nothing.

But it gave Wei Ying the information he needed. In an instant, he was running around the house, draining the power from all of Lan Zhan's electronics, not caring that he was causing the lights to flicker or the microwave to go off. He needed Lan Zhan to see him!

Lan Zhan, however, was mildly freaked out by the sudden happenings in his home. That is, until he caught sight of Wei Ying standing in front of the TV.

He was more faded than usual, but he was there!

"Wei Ying?"

The ghost paused, he looked over in shock before his eyes widened then promptly filled with tears. He hurried forward and crashed into Lan Zhan's chest, hugging him tightly. "L-lan Zhan!!!"

"Wei Ying?! Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you. Do you know how scared I was?"

Yet he wasted no time in hugging the other back. "Why are you so hard to see?"

"I don't know! I was so scared you'd never see me again!"

Lan Zhan frowned and hugged him close, glancing around at the electronics going haywire. "It's okay, Wei Ying. You are here. I am here."

The two stayed in their embrace for several long, needed minutes before Lan Zhan finally pulled back and cupped his face. "Wei Ying, I've been worried sick about you. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Lan Zhan." He whined, "For leaving, for messing with Su She, for being such a brat! I'm so sorry!"

Lan Zhan frowned, he had never seen the other breakdown like this, not even when he told him his parents moved away.

With a sigh, he pulled him close and hugged him once more.

"Everything's okay now. I'm not mad, so don't cry anymore, okay?"

Wei Ying only nuzzled into his shoulder and sniffled. "You came home and couldn't see me... or hear me... I thought... I thought that--"

"Shh.. it's okay... I can see you just fine now..." He assured.

"Is that why you were messing with my electronics?"

"Mhm."

"You did a good job, Wei Ying... maybe you were just out of energy." He supplied, carefully coaxing him to sit with him.

It took another hour for them to both truly calm down, and by then, Lan Zhan was exhausted.

It was already well past his bedtime, and he was so relieved for Wei Ying to be home that he passed out on the couch.

Wei Ying stayed pressed to his chest the whole night.

The next morning, Wei Ying told Lan Zhan about his week. About how he stayed at the cemetery, but most importantly, he told him about the man. About the feeling he got when he saw him.

Lan Zhan frowned, and for the first time since they met, he decided to ask Wei Ying a very personal question.

"Wei Ying... how did you die?"

"I-" He frowned. "I don't really remember?"

"You don't remember?"

"No... I remember going out to play," he glanced down at his hands. "I was exploring a part of the city I've never been to before. It was old and rundown. I--" He frowned, his body flickering lightly. "I remember hearing something weird... and then pain."

"There was so much pain." He shook his head and touched his throat. "I remember... crying... and... then I woke up and no one could see me or hear me. I found out that I was killed... and then at the funeral you saw me... but that's it."

Lan Zhan frowned.

"The news said you were murdered. It was a closed casket funeral. Your murderer was never found."

"Could... could the guy I saw be the guy who killed me?"

"...I am not sure. If you wish to look into it, we can pull up the articles on your death later."

Wei Ying nodded.

For now, they needed to go to Lan Zhan's uncle's home for dinner. Or at least, Lan Zhan did. But Wei Ying had no intention of leaving Lan Zhan's side again.

So once he got cleaned up, they headed off to Lan Qiren's home.

When they arrived, Xichen greeted Lan Zhan warmly and led him inside.

"So, who is the guest you mentioned?"

"It is a few guests, actually. Do you remember the Wei family who lived down the street?"

Lan Zhan stopped. "...I do."

He nodded. "They've come to town to visit their son's grave."

He explained lightly. "Uncle invited them over. And an old acquaintance of theirs and uncles is here as well."

Lan Zhan nodded lightly and glanced at Wei Ying, wanting to make sure he was okay, but instead, he saw the ghost still standing in the entryway.

His eyes were wide, his body stiff. He refused to take a step.

Lan Zhan frowned and glanced at his brother. "Ge, I'll join you in the sitting room in a moment. I forgot something in the car."

"Of course."

He waited for his brother to leave before he went to Wei Ying.

"Wei Ying? Are you alright?" He asked softly, "If... if seeing your parents is--"

"It's not them." He shook his head. "He's here. The man I told you about. I can feel it. I... Lan Zhan, my whole body feels like static."

Lan Zhan frowned and gently took his hand. "Wei Ying, it is okay. I am here, he cannot hurt you again..."

"But he can hurt you. he can hurt your family... my parents. I... Lan Zhan if he... if he is the one who killed me--"

"Wangji!"

Lan Zhan glanced towards the living room and sighed. "Stay with me. Don't let go of me, okay?"

Wei Ying nodded.

"If it becomes too much, we'll leave." Family be damned. If this man really was the one who murdered Wei Ying like Lan Zhan suspected, then he wanted to find out who it was, find a way to prove he was guilty.

So into the room they went.

There, sitting at the table, was Lan Zhan's uncle and brother, Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren, and then a man that Lan Zhan did not know.

"Wangji, you remember the Wei’s, right?"

"Mn. It's a pleasure to see you both." He bowed politely to them and Cangse Sanren smiled warmly.

"Oh, you've grown so much since we last saw you." She spoke warmly, but Lan Zhan could see a tiredness in her eyes.

Lan Zhan gave her a faint smile before his uncle introduced their other guest. "I don't believe you've ever met before, Wangji, this is Wen Ruohan. He used to be a business partner of mine and the Wei's."

Wei Ying's gaze landed on the man in question, his hold on Lan Zhan tightened.

For a moment, flickers of forgotten memories came rushing back. The sound of someone screaming. The sound of something unnatural cracking. The sound of something wet hitting the ground.

Wei Ying was certain if he was alive he would be hyperventilating right now.

He remembered tripping and making a lot of noise. He remembered trying to run.

He remembered being grabbed.

Wei Ying did not die quickly.

The anxiety and fear in his body began to grow, and without warning, Wei Ying fell forward, his ghostly form falling into Lan Zhan before dissipating.

A cold child traveled down Lan Zhan's spine before his whole body shivered violently.

"Wangji? Are you alright?" Xichen stood, but 'Lan Zhan' held a hand out to ease him.

"Sorry, I'm okay." He bowed in greeting to Ruohan before taking his seat.

All dinner, 'Lan Zhan' kept his mouth shut and his eyes downcast. He listened as Wei Changze told them that the 10 year anniversary was approaching and they wanted to do something special.

He learned that every year on the day of his death and on Wei Ying's birthday, his parents come to visit him. This year, however, they wanted to hold a memorial service in honor of their son.

"It truly was a tragedy." Ruohan nodded. "They never did catch his killer, did they?"

"No." Sanren hung her head. "The authorities said that the murder was in line with the others that had happened, but after A-Ying, the trail went cold. They had nothing to go on."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I just hope his soul is at peace."

Lan Qiren nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure he is." 'Lan Zhan' said lightly, surprising the family since it was the first he spoke. 'What happened to Wei Ying was awful.. and... I didn't know him well, but he was always happy. I'm sure he's found a way to be happy now." He met Ruohan's gaze. "And I'm certain they'll find who hurt him one day."

Cangse Sanren smiled warmly and nodded. "You're right. He was such a lively little boy. He tried so hard to be your friend, you know. But you were so shy."

He nodded a little, glancing down at his food again.

It had been a long time since he's tasted anything... he almost forgot how good food was. Even if this was bland.

The rest of the meal went on in silence, complying with the Lan eating habits.

As soon as they finished eating, however, 'Lan Zhan' stood and bowed to everyone.

"I apologize. I should get going. I have a test in the morning I need to study for."

"Of course, I'm glad you could come, Wangji." Qiren nodded to him.

"I should get going as well. I have a business meeting in the morning."

"Of course, thank you for coming, Wen Ruohan."

'Lan Zhan's' lips tipped into a frown. But he bowed to everyone and headed out. He thought he was in the clear as he reached his car, but he felt eyes on him and glanced up.

Ruohan was approaching him, a frown on his lips.

"Have a good evening, sir." 'Lan Zhan' said politely before getting in his car and locking the doors.

He let out a long, slow breath, and with a light mist leaving him, Wei Ying suddenly sat beside him in the passenger seat.

Lan Zhan coughed a little and glanced at Wei Ying. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I." Wei Ying glanced out the window and saw Ruohan getting in his own car.

"Lan Zhan... be careful driving home."

"Mn." He nodded and started his engine before heading off.

Wei Ying kept his eyes on the car following them, an uneasy feeling in his chest. "Lan Zhan,"

"Im sorry for taking over your body..."

"It's alright. I never should have made you go in there with the way you were feeling. Are you feeling any better?"

"Mhm."

"Good. Let's go home."

The car stopped following them.

Thankfully, the next two days went by smoothly, Wei Ying stayed attached to Lan Zhan's

side, refusing to leave him.

A few times, he got the same spine chilling feeling and he knew Ruohan was nearby. He was always careful, guiding Lan Zhan towards more crowded areas and away from the lingering threat.

However, the night before the memorial service was to be held, Wei Ying felt the chilling feeling once more while he and Lan Zhan were at home.

He frowned and moved to slip through the wall briefly before he returned quickly.

"Lan Zhan," he hurried to his side, trying to stay calm.

"Yes?"

"I want you to text your brother and tell him to call the cops. Tell him someone is trying to break into your apartment."

"What?"

"Please... just do it.. and get something to protect yourself. Ruohan is here."

Lan Zhan frowned, but complied.

As soon as the message was sent, Lan Zhan heard his door rattle slightly and he quickly and quietly got up to find an object he could use to defend himself.

When the door finally swung open, Lan Zhan had turned all of the lights off and was staying out of sight.

Wei Ying directed him where to move to avoid the intruder.

"Oh come now, A-Zhan." Ruohan's voice was dripping with malice. "I know you're here. Come out, I just want to talk."

Wei Ying knocked something over in the opposite direction and Ruohan lunged.

Unfortunately, when Lan Zhan tried to use this as a chance to escape he knocked over some decor he had, catching the other's attention.

Wei Ying's eyes widened as the man whirled around with such determination that he was on top of Lan Zhan in a heartbeat.

The glint of the knife in his hand caught Wei Ying's attention, and without thinking, he picked up the closest object, a small potted plant, and chucked it at him, hitting Ruohan right in the head.

He whipped around to see who threw it, but that gave Lan Zhan the chance to throw a hard punch to his jaw, knocking him off of him.

The two tussled on the floor for several minutes, each time they switched and Wei Ying wasn't able to get another throw in.

However, all movements stopped when a rather… muffled sound echoed in the room. Ruohan was leaning over Lan Zhan, panting hard from wrestling with him. He jerked his arm back and Wei Ying heard the unmistakably familiar sound of flesh ripping.

"...Lan Zhan?"

"That's what you get, you damned brat." Ruohan stood, kicking the poor man while he was down.

Lan Zhan coughed up blood, rolling onto his side as his hands tried to put pressure on his wound.

"Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan no!! No, no, no!"

Ruohan scoffed. "I don't know how you figured out I did it, but this is the end for you." He readied the knife in his hand, preparing to strike again when the sound of sirens blared in the distance. Ruohan glanced over, his eyes widening before he scoffed.

He glanced down at Lan Zhan, who was trying to crawl away and slammed his foot against him,

knocking him back to the ground.

Lan Zhan collapsed with a pained grunt, and Wei Ying couldn't handle it anymore, he surged forward, his body colliding with Ruohans.

There was a bit of resistance, but Wei Ying took control.

"Help is on the way, Lan Zhan." He said softly.

He felt sick, every ounce of energy he had went into making sure Ruohan didn't move. He could feel the anger, the hate, the greed, the darkness that was Ruohan's mind. He couldn't understand how anyone could live this way.

The sirens were outside now, and 'Ruohan' rose the bloodied knife into the air as if he was going to stab Lan Zhan.

"Freeze!"

"Drop your weapon!"

'Ruohan' stood up straight and dropped the weapon away from Lan Zhan before he kicked it towards the cops.

As soon as the cops rushed forward, Wei Ying exited Ruohan's body. The man instantly began to struggle, but Wei Ying didn't care. He hurried to Lan Zhan's side, desperately trying to help put pressure on the wound, but his hands were going through him.

"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, it's going to be okay!" Wei Ying wasn't sure if he was comforting himself or the other, but he was trying.

The paramedics rushed in shortly after, quickly taking Lan Zhan into their care.

Wei Ying had to back away when he realized he was sapping energy from their equipment.

He watched in a panicked state as Lan Zhan was moved onto a gurney and rushed from the apartment.

For three days Wei Ying sat on the couch, waiting, feeling himself fading in and out. He didn't care. All he wanted was to know that Lan Zhan was safe.

When the door finally opened, Wei Ying looked over in a panic, finally standing from the couch.

He watched as Xichen carefully helped Lan Zhan into the home. He stepped away from the couch as Lan Zhan was carefully lowered to the soft cushions.

"Wangji, you really should stay with me or uncle."

"No, I am fine." He assured him, carefully adjusting himself to be more comfortable. "You should go home and rest."

"..." He sighed, but nodded. "Call me if you need anything."

"Of course."

Xichen squeezed his hand before leaving.

Wei Ying stayed back, afraid to hurt him anymore. Not that he had much energy to begin with, but the fear was still there.

"Won't even come sit with me?" Lan Zhan teased and Wei Ying whined.

"I-- you're safe." Was all he could say.

"I am." He opened his arm and Wei Ying carefully took the spot, hugging him while being mindful of the wound.

Wei Ying did everything he could to help him the next few days, doting on him as much as a ghost could.

The pair was snuggled up on the couch when they saw the news.

"Suspect Wen Ruohan is currently being transported to Gusu maximum security prison following the attempted murder of Lan Wangji. Police took Ruohan into custody this past weekend after receiving a call about an alleged break-in."

"When police arrived, Ruohan had already stabbed his victim once in the abdomen. Police apprehended him and an official investigation was opened."

"Police found several artifacts in Ruohan's home linking him to the string of murders ten years ago.vA red ribbon covered in blood that was identified as belonging to 10 year old Wei Ying. Engraved acupuncture needles belonging to the late Wen Qing, a silken money pouch belonging to the late Luo Qingyang, a citrine necklace belonging to the late Qin Su..."

The list went on.

Trophies he collected from each of his victims. Ruohan was expected to receive maximum punishment.

Wei Ying slumped against Lan Zhan, a soft sigh leaving him. "I'm glad... glad he's finally gone."

"As am I."

Wei Ying nuzzled him lightly before he closed his eyes.

"Wei Ying?"

"Mhm?"

"I want you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"Stay with me. Stay here beside me until I die. And when I die, I want you to move on. I want you to let go so we can have a chance at reincarnation. So we can be together."

Wei Ying's eyes snapped open and he looked at him in shock. He saw the determined expression, could feel how serious he was. If he had a heartbeat, he was sure it would be fluttering.

"I promise. I promise, Lan Zhan. From now until the end of time, I am yours and only yours."

"Mn." He nodded, pleased with the response, and without thinking, he leaned forward and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. There was a cold pressure against his lips, just like when they hugged. It was everything he had hoped for.

"...Lan Zhan?"

"Mn?"

"...if you can kiss me... what else do you think we can do?"

Lan Zhan's ears burned a deep red and he coughed lightly, drawing a playful grin from his ghost companion.

#xiantober2023 #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mdzs #ghost wei ying #museywrites

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