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total-drama-takes-takes-2 · 10 months

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tti episode 22

“Last time, on Total Takes Island: we took you around the Playa de Losers, a luxury resort in which the losers from the past season have been chumming it up against a backdrop of gourmet food, waterslides and massage tables. We learned that Austin and Kelly are still together and happy, Kitty and Patrick are still radioactive, and Mal is still… um, Mal. In a shocking twist of events, the losers accidentally voted off Bonnie, sending them to the docks and leaving Michael behind on an island of people she hates. Who will be walking the dock next? Find out now, on Total! Takes! Island!”

Chris’ weather machine sputters to life, sending out a few dark clouds over the island in the early morning. The rain follows, an extremely heavy downpour that wakes almost everyone with flashes and lightning and cracks of thunder.

“Oh, great,” Julia sighs. “I didn’t pack a coat.”

“Not even one?” Michael asks, pulling up the hood on her parka and fastening her boots a little tighter.

“It’s summer. It’s not supposed to rain until, like, October or something!” Julia snips, hopping off of her bunk and walking to her suitcase to dig through it.

“Where are you from?”

Ass hums pleasantly as they walk back inside the cabin, decked out in a yellow raincoat and dripping all over the hardwood floors. They flip off their hood and smile. “Lovely weather, huh? Rain is so stimulating,” they take off their coat and set it by the door, their matching boots following. “Of course, I packed extra carefully. Brought at least three coats.”

Julia starts. “Can I-”

“When you earn it,” Ass says, shaking their finger at her.

Chris’ voice blares over the intercom as Julia glares. “Lovely morning today, huh, campers? Welcome to the dreaded rain day- any and all fun activities are canceled, except for the craft tent, where I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow!”

Julia sighs and steps out onto the porch, watching the rain pour. “Yeah, I am so not going out in that. Michael, can you-?”

“Get it yourself,” Michael says, walking to the mess hall with her hands in her pockets.

“Whatever! I’ll just starve, then!” she stands, clenching her fists.

“Have fun!”

“Wow, dramatic much?” Ass asks, walking by while rolling their eyes.

Julia sighs and grumpily sits down, cradling her face in her palms.

---

JULIA: “Okay, I get it, alright! Thank you, universe, for teaching me my lesson! I should’ve never dropped Michael for Scruffy and I shouldn’t have dumped Scruffy for Ass! I get it now!”

---

Julia stands, walking back inside the cabin and slamming the door behind her.

---

The rain continues to pour, beating down on the camp. Michael and Ass eventually return from the mess hall and decide there’s nothing else to do but sleep the rest of the day off, since no one in the girl’s and such cabin is exactly thrilled to braid each other’s hair and tell secrets.

Morning comes, the sky now a beautiful shade of blue and the sun beaming down. Julia is up first, yawning and stretching. She notices the sunlight sifting into the room first and smiles sleepily. “Thank God!”

She hops off the top bunk and her feet go cold. Julia looks down and sees water up to her ankles. “Oh, awesome! Flash flood, anyone?”

Michael yawns, stretching. “What’re you talking ab- oh, geez,”

The three remaining campers look down at the soaked floor and grumble, shifting around the cabin to pick up their now-soaked belongings left on the floor the previous night. As Ass picks up a sock by the window, they stop. “Um...”

“Hm?” Michael asks, looking out the window with them. “Oh, crap.”

The three throw open the door and walk out onto the unfamiliar sandy beaches of an unknown island, where the flood had lifted the cabin and drifted it to the night prior.

“Okay, this blows,” Ass comments, crossing their arms. “This must be another one of Chris’ dumb challenges.”

“Don’t you think he would’ve at least explained it first?” Michael says. “You know how much he enjoys watching the terror on our faces.”

“We just drifted downstream,” Julia walks a bit down the beach. “Someone has to come get us eventually.”

Ass and Michael follow her, walking down the sands until they reach the end of the beach, a large cliff soaring upwards. They all have a collective feeling of being walled in.

Ass turns around, back to the cabins. “Hey, where’s McLovin?”

---

The boy’s and such cabin and its only remaining member float down the lake, completely isolated from the distant, foggy islands surrounding it. McLovin yawns, waking up the latest out of everyone (again) and stepping outside the cabin without looking, plopping straight into the water.

“What the hell, man?” he asks, rubbing his eyes as the cold water instantly wakes him. He looks around the abandoned lake for a moment. “Hey… where is everyone?”

---

Julia sharpens a stick with a rock, wiping the sweat off her brow. Michael scales a tree in the forest to look out over the island.

“Okay, here are the rules,” Ass says, pacing the beach. “No one is to leave without telling us. No hogging resources. No trying to escape on your own. Michael, you’re on adhesives. Julia, get started on logging.”

“Um,” Michael drops from the tree. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re building a raft, duh. I’ve read a million survival books, I know what to do in this situation,”

---

MICHAEL: “Okay, not to rain on their parade, but reading isn’t exactly the same as doing. I can’t count how many times Joner got us lost in the woods, at amusement parks, on beaches, rivers, museums… he just gets excited and runs off,”

---

“If you’re sooo smart, shouldn’t you know we’re supposed to look for water first?” Julia asks, swiping her stick with the sharpened stone again.

“We’re surrounded by water, genius,” Ass jabs their thumb in the direction of the lake.

Michael sighs. “I’m going to start a fire and try to find something to boil the lake water in,”

“It’s fresh, Einstein,”

“It’s lake water. Did your survival books encourage you to die of bacterial infections, too?” she says as she walks into the cabins in search of a vessel.

---

McLovin sits in the cabins, rocking back and forth. His stomach grumbles and he whimpers.

“They left me here to die! They left me here to die!” he mutters, pulling out a crayon portrait of Sha-Mod. “You’d never leave me, Sha-Mod, would you?”

He giggles nervously and his pupils dilate.

---

“These plants are potted,” Julia says, kicking a clay pot holding a triassic-looking plant. “Chris is so corny.”

---

CHRIS: “Nuh-uh!”

---

“Yeah, I’m not exactly buying this whole “freak accident carried us downstream” thing,” Ass says, huffing as they drag another log to the beach. “This is clearly a challenge!”

“No duh,” Julia rolls her eyes. “Hey, what’s that?”

Ass looks to a distant human-made structure peaking out of the treeline where Julia points and their eyes widen. “A treehouse?”

The two drop what they’re doing and sprint over to the structure, fighting over who climbs the ladder first with slight slaps and scratches. Michael follows shortly, watching the two fight with her hands on her hips. Eventually, they roll into the bushes and pause their slapping to scream.

Michael runs through to see what the fuss is about, and comes face to face with a giant, shiny white T-Rex skeleton. Julia and Ass hug each other and shake in terror, scooting away from the colossal skull.

“Seriously? This is so not real,” Michael says. “If it were an actual skeleton, it’d be buried under layers of dirt and stone, and no natural bones are white and flawless. They’d be yellowed, with some signs of wear- bite marks, scratches, missing parts- this thing is plastic. And corny.” she kicks it.

---

CHRIS: “Nuh-uh!”

---

MICHAEL: “Okay, so I'm aware it's totally useless information, but I… know a lot about dinosaurs. Not because of Joner or anything, just… cause, you know?”

---

Julia and Ass stand, slightly embarrassed as Michael knocks on the thin plastic skeleton. A strong breeze carries it away seconds later.

While everyone is distracted watching the hollow bones float off in the wind, Ass turns and runs to the treehouse ladder first, climbing it while laughing at the two below. They open the door and a prop skeleton swings out, knocking them off the platform.

Julia and Michael laugh as they stand from the ground, dusting themselves off. They glare. “Whatever!” and they climb the ladder again, pushing past the prop. The two other campers follow, still chuckling.

The inside of the cabin is dark and dirty, a few stray bunk beds and chests lining the walls. A massive spider crawls away as the light from the door hits it.

“Ew,” Julia says, stepping away. “I’m not staying in here.”

A distant howling from outside makes everyone turn to the lake, and then promptly run inside.

---

McLovin sits on the porch steps as his cabin remains floating in the lake, crying and howling while rocking back and forth. The crayon drawing of Sha-Mod is taped to the front of a book now, propped up beside him.

“I’m going to die out here, Sha-Mod. I’m going to die without ever having the chance to prove myself,” he mutters to the paper. “Without having seen my friends one last time… without completing my Fast and Furious VHS tape collection… I’m going to die with Michael still hating my guts!”

The Sha-Mod drawing says nothing as McLovin sniffles.

“What was that?” He asks, turning to the paper. “You think I need to keep going?”

The Sha-Mod drawing says nothing.

“You think I need to survive to make amends and prove my worth?”

The Sha-Mod drawing says nothing.

McLovin stands. “You’re right! I’ve been living in fear for far too long!”

He runs inside the cabin, breaking something with a loud snap and a screech and then running back out with one of the bunk bed legs, using it to weakly paddle the cabin.

---

“I cannot believe this is how I’m going to die,” Julia sighs, sitting on one of the dusty bunks inside. “Surrounded by losers.”

Ass scoffs. “I could say the same!”

“Whatever,” she murmurs, rolling her eyes. “I’m not a loser.”

“I’m not either,”

They both turn to Michael, who’s sitting on the floor, studying one of the remaining fake dinosaur bones. She looks up.

A loud crashing noise from outside grabs everyone’s attention and they run to the platform. The boy’s and such cabin is washed up on shore, and McLovin is lying face-down in the sand, clutching the now-crinkled drawing of Sha-Mod.

“Oh, come on!” Julia shouts. “How is he still alive?”

“I told you, he has a lot of determination hidden in that thin body,” Ass says. “You owe me three chocolate bars.”

“If I don’t kill him first,” she murmurs, climbing down the ladder with the others to go retrieve him from the sand.

---

The four campers sit inside the treehouse together in silence. McLovin is cradling the picture of Sha-Mod, which everyone is refusing to acknowledge outside of giving each other confused glances.

Michael coughs. Julia scratches a bug bite on her ankle. Ass picks at their fingernails.

“So…” Michael says, everyone glaring at her for breaking the silence. “How do you think the other campers would cope with this? If they were here, I mean?”

“Bonnie would be a machine, they’d find a way out in ten minutes, tops,” McLovin says. “Don’t you agree, Sha-Mod?”

Ass rolls their eyes. “Courtney would probably start getting us to ‘work together’ as ‘a team’ to 'survive',”

“Scruffy would probably tell us about an episode where this happened, so we’d know exactly what to do!” Julia chimes in.

“Max would’ve gotten us organized right away. No fighting about what to do,” Michael says, smiling. “He’d have a plan the second we washed up here.”

Ass leans forward, now smiling slightly as they rest their chin on their fist. “Staci would be telling us about how her great-uncle Femur built the first raft,”

“And then she’d build an even better one,”

“Patrick would be all like, “oh no, the bees! I’m allergic!” and then run into a bear trap,”

They all laugh at that, shaking their heads. The mood is slightly less tense now and the treehouse seems a little brighter.

“Frollo would probably get us to confess our sins,” Michael says, pulling her knees to her chest. “It’d probably make us feel better, if anything.”

“Yeah, no way would that hoot get anything out of me,” Ass says, smirking. “He’d probably try to save me from damnation or something.”

“Yeah, but it’d be nice to have a clear conscience before we die on this island, you know?”

The four look at each other.

---

“Jesus, that actually happened?” Julia asks, sitting up in the bunk she was lying on.

Ass shakes their head and sighs. “Yeah, I know. I guess I kinda used to be a bit of a pushover. I just figured that’s the way things are, no use in fighting for myself,”

“I guess Mal really messed you up, considering what happened before you came here,” Michael says.

“Yeah. That was really the cherry on top of everything. But at least it wasn’t half as sad as Julia’s parents,”

“My home life isn’t depressing, just disappointing,” Julia snaps. “And at least it’s not as bad as Michael’s!”

Michael grimaces. “Yeah, well, at least I didn’t have a Mal!”

The three girls grumble and then fall silent. Ass turns to McLovin. “Okay, MC, your turn to confess. Let’s hear ‘em,”

McLovin opens his mouth, but just before he can speak Julia stands. “Do you guys smell that?”

The four run out to the platform outside and see smoke rising over the hills in the distance.

“People!” Michael gasps. “We’re not alone!”

The four climb down the ladder and run in the direction of the rising smoke, not bothering to wait to form a plan. They all shout, stumbling and falling into a clearing where Chris is waiting, snacking on a kebab and sitting in a director’s chair.

“And cut!” he laughs, swallowing a bite. “Great job, everyone, you all survived!”

“What. Is. This,” Ass asks, pointing at the site. A luxury trailer sits beside a gourmet buffet and a few tents. Chef is grilling something delicious-smelling nearby, hence the smoke.

“This is our crew site. We were just waiting for you to get back,” he chuckles, finishing his snack and tossing the skewer away. “Feel free to help yourself to the buffet, you all must be starving!”

The four glare at Chris. He laughs again. “See you all at the campfire ceremony tonight- oh, and by the way, all of that was on camera,”

They blink, suddenly looking horrified. Chris walks away as the rain downpour starts up again, soling all the buffet food.

---

“Aw, you all look so tired!” Chris says, looking over the exhausted campers. McLovin cradles his Sha-Mod as the rest of the contestants stare blankly. “Michael, Ass, Julia, you’re all safe.”

“Um, you have a marshmallow left on that plate,” Ass says, pointing.

“Very observant, Natalie. McLovin!” he tosses the last treat to McLovin, who looks on in terror.

“No- you don’t mean-”

“That’s right! Sha-Mod is once again walking the dock of shame!”

McLovin cries in anguish as Chef walks over, grabbing the barely intact drawing from him and walking away with it. He falls to the ground and beats the dirt with his fists, sobbing as everyone watches on in a mix of concern and genuine fascination.

Julia chooses to ignore the display. "So... we never talk about what we said in that treehouse again. Deal?"

Michael and Ass nod.

Chris pops up. “Who will be torn from our campers next time? And who will get one step closer to winning the million? Find out tomorrow, on Total! Takes! Island!”

#tti #total takes island

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deny-the-issue · 1 year

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The Kraken of Bilgewater Bay

Part Three: Calm Before the Storm

Summary: Through your grief, you make a plan and prepare to leave the island.

Thank you to the wonderful @juniper-sunny for beta reading <3

Part One, Part Two, Part Four

AO3 Link

Ko-fi Link

[Silco x Fem!reader] [Kraken!Silco] [Tentacles] [plot] [emotional hurt] [Fluff]

“What would mmmmake you fffeeeel better?” Silco asked, keeping his voice low.

That’s a good question. What would make you feel better? A cruel smile curled your lips before speaking, fists shaking with rage, pouring your tortured soul into his mismatched gaze.

“I want to kill every last asshole in the Temple of Mother Serpent. I want to obliterate all who thought it was a good idea to sacrifice me. I want vengeance for the life they stole from me !” you shout, releasing your anger.

And, to your surprise, the beast smiles wide, admiring your blood-hungry soul.

“Annnything for the fire-heart.”

Chest heaving, your mind goes to work.

“I’ll need a boat; can you get me one?” you ask, anger shielding you from grief.

Silco hums his agreement, but before he can leave, you grasp his arm, pulling him closer. Tucking an errant lock of his hair behind his ear, you plant a swift kiss on his marred cheek.

“Thank you, Silco.”

His gaze lingers, eyes shining with something mysterious you cannot hope to comprehend.

“I’ll return sssssoooooonnn,” Silco promised, slithering over the pool edge.

He needn’t show off as much of his form this time as the tide rolls in, and you quickly rise to your feet before the rapidly rising water ruins your dress, holding the tattered panties in one hand. What should you do with them? Surely, they do not have a surplus. Could you mend them somehow?

Why are you worried about panties? Silco obviously doesn’t care for them. Why should you? You toss them into the ocean and begin to strut back to camp. You’ll need the weapons in the cave, but what else? Would you need food and water? Extra clothing? Bedding? The voyage isn’t very far and is most likely a one-way ticket anyway.

A voice hummed a lovely melody, snapping you out of your thoughts. What of the others? They may want to join you. Something else nags at you, though. Why didn’t they tell you about Evie? They’re hiding something.

You stomp toward the voice, finding Jo storing some of the hanging, dried meat. She turns, your eyes lock, and she backs away in fear.

“You knew Evie built a raft, and you knew she left! Why didn’t you tell me? What are you hiding!” you shout, stopping your advance a foot in front of her, angrily breathing down on her.

“I’m sorry! Y-you sounded like you knew her, and we didn’t want to speak badly of her!”

“What do you mean?” you growl, adrenaline making your hands shake.

“S-she went nuts, ok?! She lost her mind! We kicked her out of our camp after she attacked Anna,” Jo sobs, “I-I went over there once, to where she made camp and saw the raft. I tried to talk her out of it - I tried to convince her to speak to the beast, but she wouldn’t listen! She kept screaming about going back to her sister!”

Crazy? Your sister? She was the most level-headed person you knew. How can this be? Hyperventilating, you take a few staggering steps away.

“Who was she to you?” Jo asked softly, touching your shoulder cautiously.

“My s-sister,” you stutter, tears falling down your reddened cheeks.

In a flash, Jo’s arms envelop you in a tight embrace, and you sink into her, accepting the comfort. She holds you until your eyes dry, soothingly rubbing your back as the embarrassment of your outburst settles in. You could stay there forever, and you might have if not for the sound of footsteps approaching. Lazily lifting your head, you see Anna walk into camp.

“My sister attacked you? Why?” you ask, voice haggard.

Recognition flashes behind her eyes, and her face sours as she speaks, “Yeah, in my fucking sleep! Just for disagreeing with her about going home.”

“I had to knock her out,” Emily added, stepping out of the cave entrance.

They had no reason to lie. What happened to Evie? Why did she lose her mind? You thought about your mental state after you lost her, and it dawned on you. Grief was almost your undoing, and it must have been hers.

“I’m sorry. I believe you,” you sit on a crate near the fire, emotionally exhausted. “I’m leaving the Island.”

“Oh, here we go again!” Anna hisses.

“I’m not crazy,” you bite, “Silco - the beast, I mean, is going to get me a boat.”

“He talked to you?!” Jo gasps, plopping down on the seat next to you.

“How do you know his name?” Emily joins in.

“Helena carved their names into a tree that I found, and yes, he talked with me,” you answer, amused by their curiosity.

“Where are you going?” Anna asks, voice cold.

“I want to end the madness in Bilgewater, even if it means bloodshed.”

Anna sits opposite you, fire reflecting in her eyes as she speaks, “Now that’s something I can get behind.”

Emily and Jo were harder to convince but agreed to come. They still had family on the island and worried for their safety, something you heartily understood. You compromised by strategizing a battle plan to keep the fighting away from the city as much as possible. Of course, this would only work if Silco agreed to take down Bilgewater’s navy, and it was up to you to convince him.

You walk out to the beach several times a day to check if your beast has returned, taking breaks from packing the supplies in hand-weaved containers. It was hard work, but sustainability was everything; if you were to survive living on the water for approximately a week, you needed to keep your supplies dry and your water stored. Time went by fast, bonding with the others through hard work and determination. You even began feeling especially fond of Anna and her enthusiasm for revenge.

The preparations make the days fly by, busying your mind and hands. Before you know it, a week has passed before your sea monster returns. A beautiful, small sailboat one person could easily handle sits in the small island bay, just waiting for you. It was perfect for such a small voyage and could easily hide among the serpent isles.

Every kid of the Bilgewater knows the tales of the isles, and now you get to find out which are true. It’s said to be crawling with monsters and ghouls, but what harm can they do with Silco beside you? Even if the dangers persist, he will protect you; or at least you think he will - feel he will? Gods, you don’t know anymore. Is it possible for you to catch feelings this fast? And for a… whatever Silco is? God? Monster? Fuck-topus?

Shaking the thought from your head, you try to focus on the task at hand. You can’t see Silco as you scan the water with a hand shading your eyes, so you run back to camp to tell the others.

“It’s here! The boat is here!!!” you shout excitedly, coming to a skidding halt outside the cave entrance.

Anna is the first one out, hair still wild from sleep. She blows past you, opting to see for herself rather than talk about it. You grab the floatable sled you built and start piling supplies evenly across the surface. Emily and Jo are ready to start their day just before you’re prepared to leave.

“You want some help with that?” Jo smiles, grasping the reins before you can answer.

Sharing a matching grin, you grab the other side and share the weight. The excitement coursing through your veins makes the trip fast and easy, barely exuding any effort as you stop just out of the water’s reach. For the next part, you already have a plan; one person stays on the boat, pulling supplies from the sled/raft combo, while the other three bring the supplies out.

Jo enters the cold water first, whining as she slowly dunks her body in, prolonging her suffering. Rolling your eyes, a mischievous smile tugs at the corners of your lips as you back away from the water’s edge. You run full force, jumping into the shallow water with a gigantic splash. Jo shrieks and, as you come up for air, pushes you back down again to save herself the view of your shit-eating grin.

“Asshole!” Jo calls back, swimming for the boat without you.

Breathing out the last of your laughter, you wipe the hair out of your face and start to swim. You climb onto the ship after handing the last of the supplies to Jo, not waiting your turn to explore the boat. It was in fantastic condition, save for a bloodstain on one of the sides. There will be more where that came from after all this is over. Ducking your head into the small cabin, you doubt all four of you could sleep comfortably in the space after the supplies.

“Let’s hope for fair weather!” Jo quips from behind you, happily gazing into the cabin.

“Yeah, or we’ll have to get real close to each other!” you retort, feigning disgust.

Jo laughs and starts to load the dry goods into the cabin. Taking the cue to leave, you take a moment to stretch before diving off into the water. The other features of the boat do not interest you anyway. Having no experience sailing, you were thankful that Emily and Anna come from fishing families. And even better, you didn’t have to beg them to come!

If you had to, you would have ridden driftwood back to bilgewater, but you were grateful for the help. With your new companions by your side, you feel like you stand a chance at changing things on that god-forsaken island.

You completed two more solo trips to and from the camp before Jo switched with you. Organizing the supplies immediately, you peer out to the beach, not seeing anyone. What now?

Sighing, you sink to the deck, mast at your back, and rest. It’s not long before the bright sun sets your skin afire. Walking down into the cabin, you find the temperature even worse. Well, you never were one to sit idly by.

You engineer a small tent with some rope and cloth with the end of the fabric tucked under the pulpit. Before you get a chance to cool under it, Anna is calling to you from the water.

“Oh hey! Sorry about that; you’ll thank me later,” you explain while you pull the first supplies onto the boat.

It was back-breaking work but with plenty of rest in between. In the slow moments, you stare into the ocean periodically, wondering where Silco is like a love-sick maiden. Thoughts swarm your head, clouding your mind in your time off. You think about the dangers of battle and the likelihood that you’ll die, but you also question whether a creature such as Silco could love. By the time you’re relieved, you’re tense from frayed nerves and eagerly swim back to shore.

The others most likely felt the same after their time aboard, you gather, from their equally silent and diminished composure while they traded shifts. The shifts rotated, and as the last on the ship, you tell Emily you’ll be right behind her.

You look over everything one last time by the light of the moon, leaning against the railing with a long sigh when you finish. Seeing something glowing red bobbing in the water, you squint at it, trying to decipher its origin. You take a few steps to the right and gasp as it follows you.

“...Silco?” you ask timidly, clutching the railing with white knuckles.

He lifts himself further out of the water, bathing his face in the moonlight.

“You scared me, Silco. See, humans have this custom where we announce ourselves to unsuspecting people as a courtesy,” you rattle on, muscles relaxing as you try to distract yourself from the day ahead.

Silco floats closer, and when you lean over, you see the tips of his tentacles attached to the side of the boat.

“Is tomorrow a good time to leave?”

“Yesssss,” his ethereal voice dulls every other sound until it’s the only thing you hear.

His presence made the heat swell in your core, but you also felt relief. You didn’t like seeing him go, though you would never admit it. Too afraid it’ll be the last time, you decide right then and there not to hold anything back. Tentacles creep closer, and you reach out, gently touching him. Silco looks surprised at the contact, and you begin to pull away, thinking you offended him.

He grabs you softly by the wrist, his wet appendage wrapping delicately around it. Smiling as warmth floods your chest, your hand returns to him, rubbing gentle circles into his flesh.

“I have a favor to ask - another one, I mean,” you begin, losing confidence by the second. “We’re going to try to overthrow the Temple of Mother Serpent with as few casualties as possible. I know what I said before about killing everyone - I’m not typically that murderous.”

Silco listens silently, eyes never leaving your face while you stammer.

“So - what I’m trying to get to and failing is: can you take out one of their warships so we can send a message back with a handful of survivors? It’s what started the sacrifices, and we think it may be the key to ending the barbaric practice. We’re going to demand they stop and, if they do not comply, hold Bilgewater’s economy hostage. Please help us; I don’t know how we can do it without you.” you plea, taking a deep breath as you anxiously wait for his answer.

“You haaave to promisssse,” he replies, to your confusion.

“P-promise what?” you ask, brows furrowed.

“You must sssstay alive.”

Did you hear him right? A smile slowly spreads across your face at the implicated emotions. He tugs on your arm insistently, letting out a low growl, and you giggle at his impatience.

“Fine, fine! I promise not to die. I’m not sure I can keep it, but I will try my best,” you cave easily, hesitating before you add, “For you .”

The boat tilts just a little as Silco pulls himself further out of the water. It knocks you off your balance, and you fall forward. Before you can steady yourself, his lips are on yours, tentacles steadying you in their gentle embrace around your waist. The kiss is rough and unpracticed but passionate, leaving your head reeling as he breaks it off to gaze longingly into your eyes. You cradle his face with one hand, resting your other on his bare chest, and lean in for another. This time soft, running the tip of your tongue along his bottom lip and tasting him.

A salty sweetness lingers in your mouth as you lean your forehead against his, nose pressing into his cheek as you take in his scent in long, deep breaths. You shouldn’t feel so safe surrounded by a beast that could easily kill you, but here you are, completely intoxicated by his presence.

A shout from the shore interrupts the moment, pulling your attention away. Before you can protest, Silco retreats into the water with a splash, and you let out a frustrated whine. Wishing you could go back and live in that moment forever, you think about calling his name, but you doubt he would return.

You reluctantly dive into the water, taking your time to swim back to shore on the off-chance your monster surprises you. He didn’t, and whoever called to you was also nowhere to be found. A tension twists inside of you, equal parts anxiety and lust. No, not lust; want. You will do everything in your power to stay alive, if only for him to hold you again.

Does that make you desperate or lonely? You can’t help feeling Silco is a kindred soul. A tether exists between you, pulling you ever closer, making you wonder if he is your fate.

One could hope.

The others babbled excitedly over the fire, and you played along, eating your dinner. Only Jo seemed to notice the weight of your emotions, giving your arm an affirming squeeze when you head off to bed before everyone else.

Your internal compass is all over the place, mourning for Evie but still warm from blossoming love. You have something to fight for once again! Originally planning to die in the assault, you find the familiar fear settle in your soul. It makes you feel weak, and if there’s anything you hate more than the Temple of Mother Serpent, it’s this feeling. And just like that, you find your fire again. You deserve to be happy - to love and be loved.

You’re going to survive this. You have to.

Heart steeled for the adventure ahead, your body relaxes, wrapped in soft blankets. Sweet dreams of gentle caresses and honeyed words soothe your internal strife, blessing you with a restful night’s sleep.

#silco #arcane #silco arcane #fanfic #fanfiction #arcane fanfic #silco x you #silco x reader #silco x female reader #kraken!silco

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drylan · 2 years

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Kaitlyn ships rylan

She watches them from across the camp, where they're tucked away in the treehouse on the island. Not to creep, but...just to supervise. Make sure they're okay.

Kaitlyn stands on the lakehouse dock, her hands sweaty as if she's the one professing her undying love, and not the two dorks she's come to love as dear friends over the summer.

She can see through the binoculars Dylan's pacing form, the uneasy shake and wiggle of his body that the rest of the counselors have become all too familiar with. But then, in a moment, she sees Ryan's hand extend towards Dylan's face.

A gentle caress, a soft meeting of their faces. A kiss, no less. Shared between them in a sweet meeting of bodies and hearts. She looks away, not wanting to pry. They deserve their privacy after all. Her viewing was just...added insurance in case Dylan made a fool of himself or Ryan botched accepting his feelings.

If there's an extra skip to her step as she makes her way back the cabins, it's no one's business but her own.

She will just have to ask Dylan for all the juicy details in the morning.

#my stuff #fanfic #ficlet #the quarry #kaitlyn ka #dylan lenivy #ryan erzahler #drylan #rylan #radioheads

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papermoonloveslucy · 1 year

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

Part 1 ~ The Ricardos & Mertzes Commune with Nature

“I Love Lucy” generally took place indoors - at their East 68th Street apartment or Ricky’s nightclub. As residents of New York City, they had little opportunity to commune with nature - but there were exceptions. In nearly all cases, these outdoorsy moments were staged indoors - in a Hollywood studio.

“The Marriage License” (1952) ~ To correct an error on their original marriage license, Lucy and Ricky travel to Greenwhich, Connecticut to renew their vows. While there, Lucy makes Ricky renact his proposal at the tree bench where it first happened.

LUCY: “Gee. I don’t remember this seat being so small, do you? I guess the tree grew in a little from each side.” RICKY: “Let’s face it, we’ve grown out a little from each side!”

This brush with nature came during the 26th episode filmed and is the very first time Lucy and Ricky have been seen outdoors. The Desilu set designers finally had a chance to use foliage!

“Lucy’s Last Birthday” (1953) ~ Depressed that no one has remembered her birthday, Lucy wanders the city at night, eventually arriving at Central Park - Manhattan’s equivalent of The Great Outdoors.

While sitting alone, the Friends of the Friendless come marching through the trees, stopping to console her. Not used to negotiating the outdoors, FOF extra Barbara Pepper (the only Friendless female) loses her hat on a low-hanging branch!

“The Camping Trip” (1953) ~ Lucy wants to do everything Ricky does - including going on a camping trip to go fishing and duck hunting.

This is by far the most exensive use of greenery in the series. Assessing Lucy’s camping attire, Ethel is typically blunt.

LUCY: “Well, do I look like I stepped out of ‘Field & Stream’?” ETHEL: “You look more like you fell in.”

Although the campsite is located in the woods near a stream, the exact location is never stated. It is must be within driving distance, so likely upstate New York.

“The Fox Hunt” (1956) ~ At an English country manor Lucy goes on a fox hunt, despite never having ridden a horse.

Lucy really gets back to nature by becoming ensared in a bush. Unbeknownst to her, the fox does too!

“Lucy in the Swiss Alps” (1956) ~ After a mistake in booking during their trek through Europe, the Ricardos and Mertzes go mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps.

This establishing shot tells the audience the enivronment that the gang will be dealing with: snow-capped mountains.

The “I Love Lucy” set designers were charged with creating a realistic mountain top, then making it snow!

The Great Outdoors weren’t always green! This sequence was later integrated into the promotion of Paramount+ streaming service, showing various CBS / Paramount characters scaling ‘Mount Paramount’.

“Lucy’s Bicycle Trip” (1956) ~ When leaving Italy for France, Lucy has her heart set on biking along the coast and across the border - until she can’t find her passport!

In the middle of nowhere, she tries everything she can think of to get past the border officials. Before the border, the gang gets in touch with nature by sleeping in a barn!

“Off to Florida” (1956) ~ When Lucy misplaces their train tickets to Miami Beach, she and Ethel must share a car ride to Florida with Edna Grundy (Elsa Lanchester), a woman they suspect might be a hatchet murderess.

Mrs. Grundy insists on driving the backroads from New York City to Florida. Instead of stopping at a roadside cafe, Mrs. Grundy has packed watercress sandwiches, which Lucy calls ‘buttered grass’.

Instead of stopping at a hotel, they simply pull off the road and try to sleep in the car. The ominpresent chirp of crickets keeps them awake.

LUCY: “Who can sleep with all that noise? Sounds like feeding time in a pet shop.”

“Deep Sea Fishing” & “Desert Island” (1956) ~ While visiting Miami Beach, Lucy and Ethel make a bet with Ricky and Fred that they can catch the bigger fish. Not all nature is green or white - sometimes it is blue, too! The scenes on the ocean were filmed in a water tank in Hollywood, while actor doubles were also filmed off the coast of Miami. The two films were then edited together.

When their boat runs out of gas, the gang is stranded on a lush (what they believe to be) deserted island. The island seen in the second unit footage (above) is not nearly as large or verdant as the one built in the studio.

RICKY: “Hey! They have caca-nuts here!” LUCY: “Caca-nuts? (she looks around) Oh, yeah. A lot of caca-nuts.”

Palm trees and whie sands are usually an idyllic way to commune with nature - except when a giant native (Claude Akins) shows up!

“Lucy Raises Tulips” (1957) ~ In Connecticut, Lucy turns gardener. When she takes charge of the rider mower, the landscape changes for the worse - including the garden! For city folks, nothing says Back to Nature more than gardening.

“Lucy Hunts Uranium” (1958) ~ The third of the hour-long episodes later called “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” takes the gang to Las Vegas, where they hunt for uranium with Fred MacMurray. As with previous episodes, this was a combination of studio shooting and second unit location footage.

Location filming took place in California’s Mojave Desert. This is the first time Lucy and Desi have gone on location as the Ricardos.

During the exterior prospecting scene, the actors actually ‘fall asleep’ on a Hollywood sound stage and ‘wake up’ on location in the desert! Movie magic!

Although the actors went on location, the car chase sequences were filmed using stunt doubles intercut with studio-filmed process shots.

“Lucy Goes To Sun Valley” (1958) ~ The gang travels to Sun Valley, Idaho, where they meet Fernando Lamas.

Sun Valley is a resort city where tourists can enjoy ice skating, golfing, hiking, trail riding, cycling, tennis and (of course) skiing on Bald (“Mount Baldy”) Mountain and Dollar Mountain. It was a favorite vacation spot for the Arnaz family. They spent part of their 1952 summer hiatus from “I Love Lucy” at the resort and later returned in 1959, after Lucy and Desi had separated, staying at Ann Sothern’s home.

As usual, the episode was a combination of studio shooting and location footage of the actors at the resort. This episode, however, featured far more location footage than any previous episode.

Lucille Ball was called upon to really get back to nature by skiing, skating, and even frolicking in the snow with animals!

“Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (1958) ~ Danny Williams (Danny Thomas) and his family sublet the Ricardo home during the winter. Building snowmen and throwing snoballs were part of the show’s plot. Unlike their visit to Sun Valley, this snow was a studio creation. The episode was a clever way to tell viewers that “Make Room for Daddy” (aka “The Danny Thomas Show”) would be taking over “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” time slot!

“Lucy Goes To Alaska” (1959) ~ The gang travel to the nation’s newest state to buy some discount land - but end up out in the cold - literally! Red Skelton guest stars.

Although the action is set in and around Nome, the second unit footage was filmed in Lake Arrowhead, California, about 100 miles from Hollywood.

The exteriors were done with doubles and none of the regular cast left the newly-purchased Desilu (formerly RKO) Studios.

“Lucy’s Summer Vacation” (1959) ~ Lucy and Ricky go on vacation to Vermont and end up sharing their cabin with Howard Duff and Ida Lupino.

In the story, Lucy and Ricky have been invited to spend a week at a cabin on (fictional) Lake Wotchasokapoo, Vermont.

The show took the Ricardos out of their Connecticut home, but the scenes were not filmed on location in Vermont, but inside Desilu Studios. There is one brief establishing shot of a lake.

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thaliasharpe · 1 year

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location — a few hundred meters from the aa78 basecamp. date + time — january 1st, 2000. mid-afternoon. closed starter for henry stafford.

❛ Happy — motherfuckin’ — New Year, ❜ Tired, hot, and already famished, Thalia struggles to put together a small hut of scrap metal, extra blankets and random peices of wood she scrounged up. It didn’t help that the baby started kicking early in the morning and hasn't stopped. Upon the sunny beach, the woman wanted nothing more than a little bit of privacy. With strangers walking up and down the beach at most hours, scrambling to find their loved ones or luggage they had lost, Thalia could only think about resting and some people kept getting in the way of that.

Despite surviving the first night, the new habitants of the island now needed to make it through the first full day if rescue was unable to find them. Thalia had a sickly feeling that it was going to be awhile before help ever showed up. Absentmindedly, a hand is placed on her protruding belly and subconsciously, she fights off the fear that they'll be stuck here for longer than a couple of weeks.

Putting down one last blanket, Thalia gives her makeshift hut a once over ; it's rickety and not very well put together, but it'll have to do for now. Standing to her full height, Thalia arches her back to stretch out tense muscles. Thinking about getting some fresh water, Thalia begins to take a few steps and as she looks up to set her eyes on the main camp, it takes a moment for it to click that she’s making direct eye contact with Henry. The pregnant woman gives a humourless laugh while shaking her head and placed swelling hands heavily on her hips. Perhaps Thalia is still in shock or maybe she’s genuinely not surprised that Henry is here, because how could this possibly get any worse? ❛ I’m sorry, but do I know you from somewhere? ❜ Sardonically, dark hues squint toward the man she hasn't seen or contacted since being paid off by the Stafford family which was several months ago. ❛ You look like an asshole I knew back home ... Maybe you just have one of those faces. ❜

#v. ─ conversation.#henry stafford: 001.#let's goooooooo !

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domaintern · 2 years

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this morning it’s amelda backstory hour bc i’m revolving him in my mind again. many thoughts, including

a) i know it’s not shown but... dartz definitely appeared to him and then vanished with his best prince dios impression a ~come find me someday~ imperative like he did with rafael. it’s a smart move imo? he doesn’t just want the Swordsmen emotionally vulnerable/shaken by one loss, he wants them nihilistically depressed, hence him leaving valon in prison for a couple years before picking him up and letting rafael have a shit time with his surviving relatives/the media/life in general after coming back from the island before calling to him again. if you want soldiers who’ll gladly burn down the world for you, they have to completely hate the world first, and a prison or a war zone is a more effective teacher of misanthropy than putting in the work yourself.

b) except when you have to put in a little bit of work, and listen: dartz nudging amelda toward blaming KC seems... kind of unnecessary, he was clearly already noticing the war machines sold to both sides and etc, but I do love dartz fucking with the swordsmens’ backstories, so I’ve currently decided that what he actually did was intervene a few times to keep amelda alive. only amelda. like!! just the incident where his brother died, i know it’s likely just Anime Physics but the locket snaps and flies off Mirko’s neck, far enough away that Amelda doesn’t get caught in the blast when he steps away to pick it up. and then the entire camp around him is bombed and he lives through that too. not to mention the memory he shows seto. which, speaking of

c) the memory he shows seto is tbh half the basis for both those headcanons and i get extra insane every time i think about it. because it makes so much sense for it to take place after mirko’s death, i.e the ‘he totally spent at least a year or two more in the warzone’, and???? thinking about tiny amelda, still at the back of his mind going ‘who tf was that glowy guy who told me to comprehend the darkness of the world, did i hallucinate? why does he think i don’t comprehend it already’ trying to cope with his brother’s death by finding other kids to look after, and they just keep dying. seto accuses him of emotional manipulation and amelda just flatly tells him ‘that child died from a tank missile, that was not uncommon’ and i just. *lies on floor* how many people, specifically children, do you think amelda watched die while he, incomprehensibly, didn’t, before his heart actually ‘died’. fun things to think about at 9am

#god i hope you're all here for bullet pointed insanity bc this is how my brain works #amelda #also it's extremely black comedy but i'm picturing dartz being SO annoyed that amelda keeps trying #to attach himself to new younger brother substitutes for a while #dartz magically nudging a missile so it hits the church where the kids are staying instead of near the area where amelda is:#for the love of snake god child just give up already i'm getting tired of saving your life

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saturniiinae · 2 months

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how to feel real in a few easy steps:

lay on the golf-course as the freezing dew drops of mist kiss your lips at 4 a.m. let yourself shiver, tremble, this is what being in love feels like.

watch home-movies & vhs tapes documenting a four year old already floating away into the ceiling, she stirs melting chocolate on the stove, she cries when it bubbles up & burns her finger tips.

dream of bon fires & sleep away camp, hot marshmallows & tinned spaghetti, strawberry mountain, & the blue glacier lake where you were baptized as a child. the spark the jumped & found a home on the sole of your foot. the scar is still a perfect crescent dot-on-the-center.

flick the lighter, breathe in deep, the pain in your lungs & cherry tobacco smoke will remind you of home.

eat a spoonful of molasses & burn incense- sometimes, i miss having grandparents.

fill the bathtub with hot water & lavender & salty tears. sit in there for hours until you feel whole again.

listen to your dad's favorite song.

let someone hug you, truly, fully, for the first time. you are held. you are safe. nothing will harm you here.

make a cup of hot chocolate with extra whip cream & sprinkles, maybe some pancakes at 3 a.m., just like sitting at your old favorite diner. the one where you sat eating marrionberry pie & felt high in a good way for the first time.

sit on the edge of the cliff in rhode island, watch the ships in the sea, have a picnic of water bottles & granola bars, we shared a joint here.

hold your friends hands as they cry off a heart break. make them playlists & paintings. watch the same movies over & over. call them. check-in with them.

kiss until your lips bruise & bleed. grasp fingers until your hands go numb.

make that special place in your old neighborhood, the one that became rotten, home again. the deer nuzzling apples & the herons dipping in the water & the seals barking, you can be here alone again. it won't make you feel like choking anymore.

make a hot cup of tea for someone you love. write them a letter. draw them a picture.

go to the farmer's market, try every food you swore you would never touch again.

trace the constellations of freckles & scars & heart shaped birthmark, you are a world unexplored.

sleep on the floor.

smile in the mirror until it looks right.

play checkers & share some coffee, let them win. say thank you.

repeat the following.

#dreamjournal.txt

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thorhaugeirwin95 · 5 months

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5 Of South Africas Finest Safari Lodges

She is an professional in journey, budgeting, and discovering unique experiences. She loves to be outdoors, hiking within the mountains, enjoying in the snow on her snowboard, and biking. She has been traveling for over 10 years, throughout 7 continents, experiencing unique cultures, new food, and meeting fantastic individuals. Her recommendation about international journey, outside sports, and African safari has been featured on Lonely Planet, Business Insider, and Reader’s Digest. Walking into the principle space transports you into a varying array of time zones and areas. The interior was embellished in chic white and grey décor and stark shapes. With the right recommendation and careful planning, you'll find a way to enjoy a great safari experience at any variety of luxury safari lodges and get excellent value for cash at the identical time. 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kauairooftopcampers · 1 year

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Campers

Best Campers in Kauai

Make your Kauai camping experience unforgettable by choosing the right type of camper rental that best suits your needs!

Kauai is an island known for its stunning natural beauty that attracts millions of tourists each year. While there are plenty of accommodations to choose from, a unique way to experience the Garden island is through Campers. There are several different types of camper rentals available in Kauai, including camper vans, trailers, and rooftop camping vehicles. Each option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but after careful consideration,rooftop campers stand out as the winner.

Campers more and more sought-after in Kauai

Rooftop campers are vehicles with a tent that can be set up on the roof and they are becoming increasingly popular in Kauai for good reason. They provide a unique camping experience that allows you to camp under the open sky while still being protected from the elements. With a rooftop camper, you can easily navigate the winding roads of Kauai and explore some of the island’s most beautiful and remote locations. Additionally, rooftop campers are typically more affordable than other types of camper rentals.

One of the biggest advantages of renting a rooftop camper in Kauai is the ability to be closer to nature. Listening to the soothing sounds of nature is an experience unlike any other. With a rooftop camper, you can park in designated secluded locations and enjoy the serenity of the island. Another pro of renting a rooftop camper is the freedom it provides. You can explore Kauai at your own pace, without worrying about hotel reservations or check-in times.

There are a few disadvantages to consider when renting a rooftop camper in Kauai. For example, some people may find it challenging to climb up and down the ladder to get in and out of the camper. Additionally, rooftop camper rentals typically have less storage space than other types of camper rentals, so you’ll need to pack light.

Best campsites in Kauai

In terms of camping experiences in Kauai, there are plenty of options to choose from. Some of the most popular campsites to take your rented camper to include Koke’e State Park, Polihale State Park, and Anini Beach Park. Each location offers its own distinctive features and attractions, so be sure to research each site before making a reservation. Overall, cruising around with insert:camper-rentals-plu is an excellent way to experience Kauai’s amazing landscapes and vibrant culture. With the freedom and flexibility to explore the island at your own pace, you’re sure to have a truly unforgettable trip. Reserve a rooftop camping truck now!

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TESTIMONIALS

Our Happy Clients!

Exploring Kauai with a rooftop camper is a fun and unique way to explore this beautiful island! Our family of 4 spent 12 fabulous days exploring and camping. The extra tent with the rooftop provided plenty of space for us…we had an amazing time! All communication with Jonathan and Jamie was smooth and easy. They are lovely people who genuinely want to provide a great experience.

Katherine

Minneapolis, MN

Jamie and Jonathan were excellent hosts! Even though they were on vacation, Jonathan made all accommodations very easy and helped us with every step. Note: if you are under 25, make sure to let them know to make sure you are covered by insurance! Jonathan helped us work it out and we had a great time

Duncan

Los Angeles, CA

Jamie and Jonathan are by far the very best experience with Airbnb we have ever had. Truly generous human beings with big hearts. They provided wonderful suggestions, amenities, and a wonderful 5 star experience. We will certainly rent again. For our first experience in Hawaii, they made sure it was second to none. If you’re coming to Hawaii to truly experience nature and looking for a ‘no nonsense’ and easy process to explore the island the way it was meant to be, you could not attain better hosts.

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Seymour, TN

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Caitlin

Fairfield, IA

The BEST way to experience the beautiful garden island! Not only a great service–transportation doubling as your lodging–but wonderful and warm hosts. Jonathan and Jamie were so kind and helpful. An absolutely wonderful trip to Kauai–thank you both!

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Portland, OR

DARE TO LIVE OFF THE BEATEN PATH

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source https://kauairooftopcampers.com/campers/

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argylemikewheeler · 3 years

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July 1st, 1985

what the first ep of (my) s3 would look like if the main concept was: both Steve and Will are gay in 1985’s Summer of Love and the town’s enemy is a little more human; loving friendships, very confused adults, and Will Byers Actually Getting Help

“Harrington!”

“Yes, sir.” Steve looked up from his desk. He dropped his crossword and looked to be at attention; the police station’s phone wasn’t ringing, though, so there wasn’t really anything he should have been doing. Hopper stepped out of his office, angling himself toward the door rather than Steve’s desk island.

“Do you think you’ll be able to-- Harrington, what are you doing?” Hopper caught sight of the pocket thesaurus sitting on his desk (the last name written on the inside cover not belonging to Steve, of course). Hopper fixed his sunglasses on the edge of his nose, looking over them and down at Steve.

“I’m just, uh, working on my vocabulary.” Steve said. Hopper blinked twice, waiting. Steve wasn’t going to say the truth: he was dating-- well seeing someone-- way smarter than him. This wasn’t for joy or boredom. He was studying to impress. “It’s college prep, sir.”

“The crossword?” The chief evened his stare. “This your old man’s suggestion?” Of all the things Steve’s father was telling him to do with himself, he wished some of it was simply pecking at a crossword over a twelve hour shift. Fucking off and being a better piece of shit son just wasn’t feasible to accomplish in one summer.

“He swears by it.”

“Okay, well. Uh, moving on from that,” Hopper grabbed his hat from the coat rack. The topic of Steve’s father always made Hopper stiffen up; it was definitely the main reason Hopper gave Steve his job at the station, but it still created more questions. Steve knew Hopper and his father went to high school together, but he never asked his father about those years-- beyond his baseball glory stories. “I’ve got plans tonight and I need to head out early. Can you handle things on your own for a while. At least until the night shift comes in?”

“I’ll be fine.” Steve made sure not to acknowledge the crossword on his desk as he nodded. He was really good at his job, he was. He was also just, unfortunately, still a pretty shitty boyfriend and needed all the vocab help he could get. “What’s the pressing story?”

“I have dinner.” Hopper was already trying to walk out the door. “So don’t call me. For the love of God.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Chief. I--” Steve was sure it was the cool July wind that slammed the door on the last half of his sentence. Not Hopper. “won’t... Have a good time, I guess.”

The police station was empty: it was another boring and wonderfully quiet Monday in Hawkins. There’d been some calls to break up disturbances at city hall in the past few days, but somehow everyone just seemed to agree that Mondays-- the longest shift of Steve's whole week-- was the day everyone went about their quietest day.

There were a few officers milling in and out of the back lounge and front door, casting a quick glance to Steve as he muttered and threatened fourteen down and six across. Nancy had been helping close the gaps of his post-high school education-- without knowing just what for-- but had been picking up most hours at the Post to try and elbow her way into their good graces; it put his tutoring on hold. So here he was, groaning at some clues about classical artists he’d never heard of.

There were other reasons Steve was sure the other officers thought he was odd-- things he was sure his father had passed along in spitting rants-- but Steve didn’t mind. No one said anything to his face.

“Hey Flo! Is, uh, is Steve here?” The question was asked with the answer already in mind.

Steve sat up in his chair, twisting around to see down the hall to the back entrance to the station. There weren’t many parking spots to fill, but he knew a certain someone who preferred it to street parking.

“Jonathan?”

“Oh, I hear him. Thanks-- hey!” Jonathan hurried out from the hall, his camera bumping against his stomach and bag slapping against his leg in the same rhythm. He’d gotten a new haircut recently: semi-wonky bangs and a closer cut in the back. All thanks to Steve’s peer pressure and Mrs. Byers’s kitchen shears.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sorry to stop by your work like this--” he lowered his voice as he stopped at the corner of Steve’s desk. “I know we said we wouldn’t do that, but we got an extra muffin in the lunch order and I know you’re always starving after a Monday shift so.” Jonathan produced a folded brown paper bag from his satchel. “Here.”

“Oh, thanks.” Steve wanted to say so much more, but had to settle. No more. None of what they’d decided they wouldn’t say. Not until the summer had ended. They wanted to see if they lasted longer than the convenience of loose summer schedules.

“Won’t I see you, uh, later, though?” At eight, when Steve got sent home he always drove straight to Jonathan’s. Jonathan started late on Tuesdays and Steve had off; they had the time to waste. “Or is this your way of telling me to stay home?”

“No! No we’re still... hanging out.” Jonathan had gotten really good at cooking and treated Steve to weekly dinner. It was a nice gesture at first, but Steve started growing fond of the company. They both did around mid-June. “But, I think Mike’s going to be over so. Be cool , alright? Keep it cool.”

“Cool, got it.” Steve leaned back in his chair. He moved his papers to leave a corner of his desk for Jonathan to sit on. No one was in the main office; it was a harmless invitation.

“I have to get going...” It sounded like an excuse, a dive for safety. “And I’m sure you have, um, puzzles to do?” Jonathan pretended not to be endeared. He tried, he really did. He failed , but Steve pretended he didn’t notice.

“Don’t want to sit and help me figure out the title of Mozart’s last opera?” He patted the desk, daring to be more direct.

“I really have to go.” Jonathan was genuine, looking at his watch. “The Post only let me out early today because I have to go pick up Will from his doctor’s appointment.”

“Wait.” Steve put the cap back on his pen. “Isn’t Will’s therapy on Wednesday?”

“Yeah, but with Mom’s schedule and the store being all weird-- we had to move it to today. And you know we typically have a family night after-- so he feels okay, you know-- but we can’t . So, that’s why Mike’s coming over. Hopefully they’ll be idiots and tire Will out and he’ll sleep okay.” Tension rose in Jonathan’s voice quickly, explaining his day as if going over a laundry list; never rehearsing it but having it memorized.

“I can stay home if you need time, Jonathan.”

“No, really. I want you to come over.” Jonathan sighed and placed his hand on the emptied spot on Steve’s desk. “Besides, you can’t break tradition after a little over one month , then it was just a weird habit.”

Steve Harrington did not consider his summer fling a w eird habit . If anything, it was the most sensical thing he’d done in a very long time. Even after getting rejected from all his colleges, and never hearing the end of his father’s lectures, 1985 had been very kind to him. And that was mostly due to Jonathan’s inherent nature to be the same.

“I’ll see you after eight.” Steve smiled and reached for his hand-- but averted to grab a piece of memo paper by the phone.

“I’m sorry to leave in a rush.” Jonathan hitched his bag up, checking his watch again. “I just, I really need to get going.”

“Don’t worry. The muffin is more than enough.” Steve said. “And seeing you wasn’t too bad either.”

“Slow day, huh?” Jonathan said. The corner of his mouth quirked with a flattered, embarrassed smile. Steve tried to act nonchalant, like he wasn’t so goddamn relieved to see a familiar and happy face. Especially his familiar and happy face. “Well, good thing I have another surprise for you.”

“You can barely fit your camera in that bag, what could you possibly-- hey!” Steve missed grabbing Jonathan’s arm as he walked away, heading for the front door. “Where are you going?” Jonathan kept walking, checking his watch the whole way. “Hello?”

“Delivered right on time.” Jonathan pushed the front door open to the station-- but was nearly knocked over as a green dash barreled through it.

"Steve! Steve! Steve!” The dash was suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders. “You got the job!”

“Henderson! Oh my god! You’re back!” In an unlikely impulse, Steve grabbed Dustin in a hug, taking advantage of the change of height. “Holy shit, I nearly forgot! First of the month!”

“See you, Steve.” Jonathan walked across the room to the back entrance again. His hand braced the back of Steve’s chair, brushing across his shoulders.

“O-Okay! Yeah, see you!” Steve sputtered, losing his reminded cool in an instant. “Bye.”

Dustin pulled away slowly. “What was that?” It looked like everyone was too smart for Steve.

“Nothing. He brought me a surprise lunch-- which was an obvious decoy to the main event! You! How are you, buddy? How was camp?”

“Oh, it was fantastic. Steve, I have to show you all my inventions! Camp was the best four weeks of my life .” Dustin hopped up onto the corner of his desk. His heels tapped against the empty metal drawers. He was jittery, nearly uncontainable, but still so composed-- if only to be focused all on Steve.

Steve held his hands out, letting him start. “Lay it on me, Henderson! I want to hear everything. I missed you like crazy.”

“Well, first, obviously. I have to tell you about my girlfriend--”

“Whoa! Whoa! Girlfriend ? That fast?” Steve hadn’t been expecting any of his dating advice to work. It had been coming from such a poor and confused part of himself, Steve figured it was destined to fail. Apparently, it was just Steve that was-- when flirting with women at least. “Damn, there’s something in you after all!”

“She’s super smart, Steve. I’ve never met any girl like her. She’s a genius and she’s so pretty. God, I miss her already-- and I just saw her.”

Steve looked over his shoulder. He knew the feeling. “That’s great, man. I mean, I’m super happy for you. Like, that’s crazy . That’s freaking awesome.”

“So what about you? How are the ladies? I mean, you work for the Chief now. All the ladies you could need and more, am I right?”

Steve used to be really good at this part of the lie, but with Dustin it felt cheap. He didn’t need to lie to him, but that was the deal; no matter how much that person was Steve’s best and most beloved friend, their secret was a dead-bolt, vaulted secret.

“Eh, not too great. Only girl my own age I see-- besides Nancy, really-- is the night-shift girl, Robin. But she’s not really-- we’re just friends. She’s alright. Leaves me weird drawings in the memo pad.”

“Ooo, she sounds cool.” Dustin raised his eyebrows. “Do you know her from school?”

“Yeah, we didn’t really run in the same crowds but-- it’s not like that, man. It’s really not.” Steve started unwrapping his lunch. “It’s so not like that with Robin.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m not... looking at the moment.”

Steve had originally decided to not go looking for trouble. After he and Nancy split in the beginning of his senior year, he didn’t start looking for an immediate replacement. The illusion of thinking he was in love with Nancy-- capable of being in love with Nancy-- was a hard thing to have come crumbling down. Steve needed time to get his own bearings, to put his feet firmly on the ground, and have them lifted off when his father grabbed him by the lapels and--

Steve hadn’t gone looking for trouble. Hadn’t gone looking for love either. But somehow, both seemed to find him.

Jonathan was late. He usually wasn’t but Will was trying not to be worried. It was a different day than usual and he knew how awful Jonathan’s boss and co-workers were. Will tried not to be worried-- he wasn't. It was just that he had spent an hour talking about the night his father left their family; standing outside the doctor’s office was a bit nerve-wracking. It felt too familiar, even with all the talking and note-scribbling.

Finally, Jonathan’s car pulled into the lot. He was speeding, as much as his car could speed: he knew he was late, which made Will feel a little bit better. No one had forgotten him. It was just traffic or his bosses or maybe just hitting all the red lights. As Jonathan stopped in front of the curb and waved Will in, Will could see he was jittery-- he was upset that he was late. Will felt bad for counting the minutes.

Not that he did it out of impatience or anything. Will just formed the habit after getting his new watch. It matched Mike’s. Completely on accident, of course.

“Hey, buddy! Sorry I’m late. I was-- I had to run an errand really fast. How long were you waiting.” He moved his bag and threw it onto the backseat. Will would’ve held it on his lap.

“I wasn’t keeping track.” Will said, climbing into the passenger seat. Will wanted to ask if his bag had Jonathan’s camera in it. If everything was okay. He didn’t. It seemed like Jonathan had been in his therapy with Will, just as shaken up. “It’s okay. Thanks for getting me.”

Jonathan waited until Will put on his seat belt. “Of course. We’re always here to pick you up. Therapy is important; you have to go.”

Will laughed before he could stop himself. “You sound like Mom.” Why?

“Because she’s right.” Therapy was still kind of weird to Will-- since no one else in his grade had to do it-- but he humored his family. It was helping, if he had to admit it. But it was still embarrassing sometimes.

His therapist, Dr. Bright-- Rose Marie, as she insisted on being called-- was a send-out from the Lab, but disguised within a private practice just outside of town. She was able to listen to Will talk about what he saw and felt during his time with the Mind Flayer without trying to commit him. Almost nothing was off limits. Almost nothing.

Will checked his watch again.

“Are you excited to see Mike tonight?” The question was pointed, but Will wasn’t sure why it made him nervous. “I mean, I feel like I haven’t seen him in a bit.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s always with El.”

Will was sure they weren’t dating. El was just on a year-long stint of self-discovery and, besides Max, Mike was the person she trusted the most to help make as many helpful mistakes as possible. He bought her books to read and new music to try. It was really sweet, seeing Mike take such big strides toward helping their friend. But there was also a part of Will that felt dejected: his sort of help had to be prescribed and couldn’t be replaced with a warm laugh from one Mike Wheeler.

Will was sick while his friends were growing.

“Is there something wrong?” Jonathan used to ask the question like Will was one trembling lip away from crying-- but this time, he asked it like Will had his hand on the door, seconds from jumping out. “Will, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “I’m fine. Just-- I talked a lot today and I’m tired.”

“Do you want to cancel with Mike--”

“No.” Will had been looking forward to having time with Mike-- just Mike-- for a whole week. He wanted to sit on his floor with his best friend and be a kid again. Just for the night-- maybe draw some of Mike’s old campaigns or sketch out an idea for his own. He just wanted to remember something good about the past four years. After his hour with Dr. Bright, it all felt painful. Like his childhood naivety had been broken and every conversation he overheard in his house dripped with venom and disdain.

Will didn’t like picturing his house that way. It was a place that loved and raised him, a place he felt safe. He didn’t like thinking the conversations he heard being screamed through the walls were trapped in the drywall.

His arms felt heavy and his chest felt like it was made of metal-- he kept tasting it in his mouth. Will leaned back against the seat and reached for the radio. Jonathan turned it down before Will had even changed the station.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I just want to see Mike.” Will said, his mouth too honest and his mind shrouded in guilt. “I just want to see my friend.”

“Okay. Okay.” Jonathan nodded somewhat somberly. “I understand. Let’s go pick him up. He’s at his house right? Not El’s-- o-or The Sinclair’s or anything?”

“No. He’s at his.” Will crossed his arms and tried to find the loose string-- the thing that could uncoil Jonathan’s still-tightening anxiety. “Are you still dating Nancy?”

Jonathan turned to look at Will, nearly crashing the car. That was the wrong string. “What?”

“Nancy? Are you still dating her?”

“I was never dating Nancy.” Jonathan laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not dating Mike’s sister, don’t worry.” The clarification was strange and felt off-topic. Like Jonathan was trying to talk about something else.

“I thought you were. You guys hung out a lot during school.” Will heard her voice through the walls too. Always gentle, never yelling. Except when she was losing at playing cards. Then she shouted.

“She was helping me pass chemistry. That’s all.” Jonathan turned the radio up a little. Will checked his watch. “And then she helped me apply to the Post internship-- she’s great at writing papers, did you know that? A real wordsmith. Is Mike a writer too?”

He was, he really was. Grammatically, Will ran out of red pens trying to help, but creatively? Will envied Mike’s ability. “I don’t know. We don’t really talk about that kind of stuff like you two do… Since you two are dating.”

“We’re not .” Jonathan laughed. Will took advantage of an upcoming stop sign to lean forward and look at his brother’s crimson face. “We’re not, Will, okay? We’re really not. I’d tell you.”

“You’d tell me?”

“Of course! I’d tell you if I… I had a girlfriend. Which I don’t!” He stayed at the stop sign for a bit too long. “Do you?”

There was an option to play dumb, to make Jonathan ask more directly: do you have a girlfriend, Will ? but it sounded far more painful than being honest, than being as lonely as he was.

“No. I don’t.”

“And you’d tell me. If you were dating someone?” Jonathan looked at Will, hopeful but scarcely so. “You’ll tell me if anything big happens in your life?”

“Yeah.” There wouldn’t be anything happening at all that summer, that was for damn sure . “Absolutely.”

Steve had about seventy percent of his puzzle done-- fifty of which was because Dustin was an unstoppable genius with no tolerance for Steve’s careful pace. It was just about quarter past seven, and Steve’s back was getting sore from sitting in his chair all day. He only liked sitting when it was in his car, on his way to the Byers's House, careful, of course, to obey all traffic laws.

Steve was packing his crosswords and pens up in the top drawer of his desk when something clattered the back door open. Steve grabbed a pen and whipped around in his seat, as if to wield it like a weapon.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hey dingus.” Luckily, Steve couldn’t even see Robin yet-- or rather, she couldn’t see him or his emphasized eye roll. She could hear him groan though. “Hey, shut up and quit whining. I’m sending you home early.”

Her head popped out from the hallway. Robin’s ponytail was high on her head, the hair flopping over and getting caught in her stringy bangs. She flung her backpack out from behind her and tossed it toward Steve. She wasn’t in her uniform yet, only wearing the buttoned up shirt-- unbuttoned and showing her torn and dyed shirt underneath. She was wearing jogging shorts, her knees torn up and covered with Band-Aids. They reminded Steve of the ones taped to his face after getting a plate smashed into his forehead. Deceivingly cheerful.

“What are you doing here early?” Steve stood and followed her, holding her backpack awkwardly in his hands. “You’re never early.” Eight on the dot. Every time.

“I figure you want to get out of here tonight.” She didn’t even stop to look at Steve as they walked into the back room. “Probably want to see your boyfriend.”

Her words weren’t sharp, but Steve still recoiled. He let his arms, and her bag, hang by his sides.

“Who? Jonathan?” The only way Jonathan and Robin had ever met was in the hallways of Hawkins High. She definitely never saw them interact at the station-- or on any of their nights together: they were always indoors. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“First off, I didn't even say a name." Shit. "Second, he came in the other day looking for you.” Robin started buttoning her shirt up, fixing the collar as she finally turned to see Steve. “He was really upset-- didn’t even know what time it was to know you weren’t working.”

“Upset?” Technically, it wasn’t Steve’s problem. It was the deal; they didn’t have to care about each other’s lives. It was just summer. It was just like any other summer.

“Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.” Robin sounded extremely sympathetic despite beginning to change her pants. Steve whipped around, covering his face. “You should go see him. Make sure he’s okay. Be a good boyfriend... shithead.”

“He’s not--”

“Steve, I’m the last person you should be arguing with.” Robin laughed-- and it was only momentarily threatening. Until, of course, Steve realized what she meant.

Like all good secrets kept at Hawkins PD, Steve kept his mouth shut and nodded even if she wasn’t looking.

“Yes, sir--ma'am-- Robin.”

“So, are you going to go or what, dingus?” She tapped him on the shoulder. “Get out of here-- and tell me all about it Wednesday.”

Steve blinked at her, holding out her bag. As if it was enough thanks to give her back her own property. “Are we… friends, or something?”

“No, of course not.” She winked, slapping his arm. “Just looking out for one of my own.”

After picking Mike up from his house, they drove home in uncharacteristic chatter. Jonathan was the only one speaking, humming along to the radio. Will was exhausted beyond performative small talk; the type that had to be done between two best friends when a third party was present. Mike was great at just sitting with Will in silence, but Jonathan didn’t know that. Instead, the three of them passed around quiet jokes and laughter, answering questions about their friends for Jonathan’s upkeep of information.

Once they got in the house, Jonathan let them wander off into Will’s room as he started pulling pots out of the kitchen cabinets. He wouldn’t bother or pester them about any summer work, either. They would be left alone in their own coupled silence.

Mike was sitting cross-legged on Will’s floor, twisting one of Will's crayons between his fingers. Will needed new ones but he felt funny asking for them as a near-freshman in high school. He liked the glide of wax on paper compared to the scrape of colored pencils. Well, that and the fact he ruined half of his crayons the year prior making a full map of Hawkins in a fugue state and only had two crayons able to be used normally.

“You had doctor stuff today, right?”

Will was digging under his bed for his emptier sketch book. “Yeah. Therapy. Doctor doctor stuff was two weeks ago.”

“How was it?” Mike let his hand still and rest in his lap. “Like, what do you do in therapy? Just start talking?”

“Yeah, but it’s more than that. You have to think about stuff too. Doctors ask you questions, sometimes.” Will pulled back and drug his old drawing supplies along the carpet. He sat back on his heels and was able to see Mike over the top of the bed. He didn’t know Will was looking. “You have to have answers.”

“What do they ask about?” Mike kept looking at his hands, unaware of Will. “Upside down stuff?”

“Sometimes.” Will shuffled back around to Mike's side of the bed. He could feel the tiniest bit of rug burn starting. “She asked me about my dad today.”

Mike looked up, almost immediately. “Can she do that?”

“Why can’t she?” Will popped the lid on the retired Tupperware, now his art bin. “I talked about it.”

“I thought you didn’t like to.” Will had never said those words which meant Mike had gathered it from just observing him. “Did you… like talking about it?”

“Not really.” Will laughed. He found a few extra crayons, but of all the wrong colors. “She had this big speech afterward about learned helplessness that I… really didn’t like.” Will tried to keep laughing.

Mike put the crayon back in the bin. “Are you okay, Will?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the same old stuff.” Will shrugged. “Sometimes it just bothers me more than other days.”

Mike bit the inside of his cheek, picking at his words carefully. “You never talk about your dad, Will.”

“Why would I?”

“Because it bothers you. You can talk about anything you want-- I… I would listen.”

“You don’t have to listen to it just because it happened to me, you know. My therapist says you don’t have to experience things with me for them to be real.”

“But I want to know.” Mike looked insulted, almost crushed and collapsed as he sat back on his hands. “That’s your dad,” he said. “And you’re my friend.”

They sat in silence for a while. Mike went back to studying a new crayon, picking at the wrapper. Will felt something forming in his throat. A bubble that was hot, thick and sticky. Not vomit, but not impending tears either.

“I don’t get why he left.” Will said. “I don’t know what happened to our family.”

“Nothing happened. Maybe he just… wasn’t good at being your dad anymore.”

“But then why? What did I do?” Will didn’t want to ask Mike, make him feel responsible for answering, but Will was desperate to ask the universe again.

“Nothing.” Mike said. “I just think he…”

“He what? My dad got tired of me? Didn’t want to raise me?”

“Maybe he actually learned how to take a hint and knew he wasn’t good enough for you and Jonathan-- or your mom.” Mike wanted to be hopeful, to be positive, so badly. He ached, his smile tight and weak. He didn't have the answers, and who was Will to put him in the position to come up with them.

“So he gave up.” Will said.

“That’s not what I meant--”

“I know. I know… That’s just how it feels.” Will shrugged. He smiled at Mike, accepting his help and his warmth. It hurt knowing that Mike was wrong, but still. Will could always pretend a little longer. Anything for Mike.

“Hey! You monsters hungry?” Steve clapped his hands together before gently tapping the door. “Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

The door was open. Steve didn’t have to knock. He wanted to, just to prove he wasn’t too comfortable, but he also knew Mike was over. And knocking would announce his entrance rather than letting it just be something that just was . Rather than being cool .

Awkwardly and with a lot of weird, throat-clearing fanfare, Steve opened the Byers’s front door and poked his head inside. Jonathan called him in from the kitchen without even needing to say hello, or being surprised by his walking in: In here, Steve! Dinner’s almost done .

Steve walked through the living room carefully, as if he’d disturb it. There was a tape playing softly-- some band Steve’s never heard of, but didn’t hate. He’d grown to like the way that every song played in the Byers house was always moody and melancholy. The music was always the opposite of how he felt stepping into the kitchen.

Jonathan was at the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious. He had what looked to be tomato sauce stains on the front of his shirt-- where he wrapped his hand up to open the sauce jar. Steve was able to hide his smile as he shouldered off his uniform jacket and toed off his shoes, claiming a chair at the kitchen table.

“How was work?” Jonathan didn’t stop stirring. He moved like the stove was turned all the way up and he was afraid of burning the food. He spoke that way too.

“It was fine. Not a whole lot.” Steve didn’t want to have anything seem bigger than whatever upset Jonathan-- and seemed to still be upsetting him now. “How was your day?”

“Fine. Will and Mike are in the other room.” He was checking things off his list. Steve stepped up to Jonathan and stood even with him at the stove. He was making one-pot pasta. It really did smell fantastic. Steve was so hungry, even after his lunch.

“How was… the other things in your day? Develop any good pictures?” Steve covered how stupid he sounded by placing his hand on Jonathan’s lower back.

Jonathan stopped stirring and looked at him. Steve tried to keep cool, tried not to show his motives-- his attempt to calm something he couldn’t believe he’d missed spinning out of control, even if he didn’t know what it was. “Nancy walked into the dark room today-- she’s actually the one who gave me the muffin-- and she exposed the photos to light too early. So no, actually.”

Steve really was a bad boyfriend. Even when he wasn’t one yet-- or at all.

“Okay… how was. Everything else?”

“You don’t have to ask about my day, Steve. It’s okay.” Jonathan sighed and spoke evenly. “I’m just a little tired. Really. We don’t have to do the whole… thing .”

The whole thing where Steve was explicit about how much he really cared about Jonathan and admitted he was sincerely and terrifyingly in love with Jonathan.

“I was asking because I was curious. Not out of obligation.” Steve clarified. His hand slid to rest on Jonathan’s hip. He moved closer, lips aiming to place a commitment-less kiss on his cheek.

“Steve! I said to keep it cool .” Jonathan ducked back, placing a hand on Steve’s chest. “I don’t want Will to see us.”

“Your brother?” Steve was surprised; of all people Jonathan explicitly wanted to hide from Will seemed kind and forgiving-- not that there was anything to forgive, but it was something Steve often checked for. Steve was sure that one of Dustin’s friends would be… like Steve. Or like Jonathan-- maybe. All of them seemed prepared to deal with any of their friends suddenly being different. Far more prepared than Steve ever was.

“Yes. My brother.” Jonathan snapped, banging the spoon against the edge of the pot. “I don’t want him to learn I’m not dating Nancy but instead seeing her ex-boyfriend in the same day.” he whispered.

“Wait, what? He thinks you’re with Nancy?” Steve wasn’t sure where they went wrong. They were trying to obscure the truth, not lead everyone to a different reality. “D-Do you think Mike does too?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t want to ask and seem weird.” Jonathan sighed again. He sounded tense again. “I told Will I’d tell him if I was seeing anyone… And he promised me the same.”

Steve knew not to press the obvious question-- well are you seeing someone, Jonathan? -- but also didn’t want to touch the obvious implication that Will needed to share a secret with Jonathan. Instead, he placed his hands into his pockets and turned to lean against the counter.

“Dinner smells really good, Byers.” There was another name that began with “B” that Steve wasn’t allowed to use, but always wanted to. Byers Byers Byers. Baby baby baby. “Thank you, again, for cooking for me-- for us.”

“You think I’m going to let you starve?” His stirring slowed; the stove cooled down. He nudged Steve’s arm with the spoon. “You coming home late and trying to cook? You mean half-drinking a beer and falling asleep face down on your bed in your uniform, half unbuttoned.”

“You picture that often, Byers?” Steve lifted an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Jonathan’s lips quirked into a smile again. “But, if you’d like a beer, I think there’s one in the fridge. No one in the house is going to touch it.”

“I can go ask Will if he wants it.”

“Shut up-- do you want it or not?”

“No.” Steve didn’t like drinking when they were together. He’d never really heard the full story about where Mr. Byers went, but he had a father of his own to make those blank spaces fill pretty fast. “But thanks. Don’t want the habit of needing a beer to forget how boring my job is.”

“I thought you liked your job?” Jonathan took a piece of pasta out of the pot and held it out for Steve to test.

He chewed and answered. “I do! It’s nice to have normal hours-- and I’m happy to help have replacements as Flo gets ready to retire but… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels boring .”

“Would you rather be chasing down a four-legged monster without a face?” Jonathan let out a bubble of genuine laughter, playfully glaring at Steve.

“Frankly, yes! At least we’d all have something to do. I feel like I don’t see everyone anymore.”

“Then throw a party. Don’t wish for anything bad to happen.” Jonathan said firmly. “Let the record show my brother is a very strange magnet for all this… weird shit.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Steve said solemnly. He put his hand on Jonathan’s forearm. “I wish we were all safely doing something exciting. It felt nice to be needed, even if no one knew it was us.”

Jonathan put the spoon down on the counter and pivoted to be looking only at Steve. There was something resting just on the tip of his tongue, just under the surface of their conversation. It would’ve been a digression-- Steve could tell by Jonathan’s tense and furrowed brow-- but he would’ve listened.

“Jonathan?” Steve squeezed his arm, lifting his eyebrows. “What is it?”

“I--” He clenched his jaw, trying to swallow his words. “I think--” Steve knew there was no end to Jonathan’s sentence; merely starting it meant there was trust between them. A careful admission through omission. Steve knew Jonathan was looking at his shoes and wouldn’t be seen as he took in the secret flinches of Jonathan’s face. The crinkle by his left eye, the twitch of his mouth, double blinking--

They both jumped apart as the phone started ringing, practically shaking on the wall. Jonathan stepped away from Steve and left everything unsaid. Again.

Jonathan tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder as he turned to lean against the wall.

“Hello? This is--” His face changed sharply, his eyebrows furrowing. “I told you to stop bothering us. You’re lucky she’s not here to pick up the phone-- I don’t care !” Jonathan cleared his throat and looked at Steve in a flash of uncertainty and anxiety. “I have the police here right now and if you don’t stop calling me I will send them to your house-- it’s not a threat if you’re the one bothering us. Stop. Calling.” He slammed the phone down and braced his weight against the wall with his other hand.

“Am I considered ‘the police’ now?” Steve said lightly. It was his way of letting Jonathan know he was listening, but not asking direct questions. “I’m not even allowed to have a badge.”

“It counts.” Jonathan said, letting his arms fall down by his sides. Steve stepped over and kept stirring dinner.

“Who was that?”

“No one. Can you go get the boys in the other room? Dinner’s ready.” Jonathan pushed Steve aside to hunch over the stove again.

“Sure.” Steve nodded, knowing he wasn’t seen. “Hey! You monsters hungry? Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

Dinner felt weird.

Will couldn’t help but feel like he and Mike had gotten into a fight. Talking about his dad made anything feel sticky, feel like it was violent or volatile. A second from snapping or tearing off, bouncing around the walls and echoing in Will's body. A small conversation between friends-- actually a little understanding between best friends-- felt like it had been a screaming match, all because it was cut off. There was no apology from Will. He didn't have the chance to tie it all up with an I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, forget I said anything.

His plea sat heavy on his tongue as he talked to Steve-- who had arrived without notice-- and let Mike make him laugh so hard he nearly shot water out his nose. Will let it all happen under the tremor, the ache, of an apology. And maybe, if he was the best brother and friend he should’ve been, no problems or therapy, it would be enough of an apology.

He wasn't hungry and only ate half his serving of pasta, even though it was usually his favorite of Jonathan's recipes. He did apologize for that though, and it felt right to say aloud. Even if it was misdirected and no one heard it.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm so so sorry. Please come back--

Mike wasn’t tired, Will knew, but he still wanted to go to bed right after their horror movie ended. It was clear Mike hadn't been paying attention to the movie; the entire plot was that dreams were a new horror-scape for monsters to get teenagers. It wasn't too scary to Will; it just felt familiar. The villain looked different, more human, but Will knew what it felt like to dream while wide awake. To watch and be unable to do anything but scratch at the surface--

Convincing Will to get ready for bed, Mike said they’d have all day in the morning. He said that maybe he could convince his mom to let him stay over again if they don’t get all their fun in. Will knew Mike's mom probably would, if only because she felt bad for Will. But he would take the pity. A sleepover wasn't the worst thing to get from pity.

Will could still hear Mike fidgeting in his sleeping bag. He was rubbing his feet together like a cricket and twisting his wristwatch. The plastic scratched the sheer material of his sleeping bag rhythmically: back and forth. back and forth. backandforthbackandforth. It was like Mike was counting the ticks of his silent digital watch. Will began to play with his own watch, keeping it on in bed only because he'd noticed Mike hadn't removed it when they were brushing their teeth that night; apparently the watch was too good to part with.

Time though, was something Will wished he could separate himself from. He could hear the seconds scraping by now. Every moment he kept his friend awake and bored because Will was too weak or (rather and) too everything to stay up late again.

Therapy hadn’t even been that bad. Not really. Maybe it could be exhausting but it didn’t count because Will sat in the same spot for an hour. It wasn’t real work. It shouldn’t have counted. Will should’ve been able to hang out with his friend until sunrise, getting in trouble with his mom for being up so late. He should’ve still been a stupid, carefree kid, not a by-gone troubled teenager.

Maybe his dad had seen that from the beginning. Will's dad was always gambling, betting on baseball games he had these incredible "feelings" on. Sometimes he was wrong, but when he was right it was an amazing prediction; having the foresight no one else had. And maybe that was what it was, leaving them when he did. Maybe he saw Will wouldn’t be the second son he wanted after all. Maybe he knew of all the damage that would be done to him, the damage he would cause. Probably saw it from miles-- years-- away. And he left without a single warning to any of it.

What if his father had known? Could've known where he was when he came back into town two years ago? Not gone forever just in the lights. Just out of reach, just through the wall, Dad. What if he had known, been able to see, able to know, but wanted to leave Will Down there being possessed and enveloped and consumed and--

Will felt a chill scurry down his back. The feeling almost had legs. Too many. He felt ice cold, his body going blank-- not numb, but blank -- for a second. He couldn’t feel his fingers, but could still feel every inch of his body, suddenly pulsing and seizing.

"Will?" Mike asked, sitting up. He gripped the end of the bed and pulled his face closer to Will's. He squinted in the darkness, feeling for Will’s hand. Will couldn’t answer, his jaw tense and breath rattling out of him. "Will, what’s wrong?"

After a (thankfully) non-awkward dinner, Steve and Jonathan washed all the dishes and let the boys watch whatever movie they wanted. Steve didn’t pay attention to what tape he put in the VRC. He was too busy thinking about the hands hidden in the warm soapy water in the kitchen sink. Neither Mike nor Will seemed too bothered by the disgusting amount of blood or the scary blade man on the TV. He felt no regret letting them go to bed right after the credits rolled. Jonathan had looked exhausted after putting the last dish away, and dozed off during the climax of the movie-- even slept through the high-pitched screaming.

They waited for the sound of Will’s door closing over before they got into bed.

Jonathan flopped onto his back, a pillow resting between his chest and crossed arms. Steve laid on his side, bracing his weight on his elbow. He poked at Jonathan's furrowed eyebrow lightly.

"What's the problem, Byers?"

"Nothing."

"You are not a really great liar, you do know that right?" That and Steve could still hear Robin's blasé recounting of Jonathan's distress. Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.

Jonathan sighed and turned to look at Steve. He hated being called out. "It's about Will."

"What's wrong with Will? He seemed alright at dinner."

"Yeah, but," Another sigh. "Steve, I think my brother’s gay."

Steve's first response was swallowed and he nodded. "Okay. Okay. And, um, what's the issue with that?" He adjusted himself on the bed, hoping there was more subtlety in that.

"I can't talk to him about it. I mean," Jonathan smiled and reached to touch his face. "This is a very different thing than being fourteen and confused."

"Who says he's confused?"

"I don't mean with himself-- the rest of the world is so confusing, Steve. You see the news... I can't talk to him. I didn't grow up like that. And being with you is... Different. We dated girls before. Will... I don't know. I think he knows already."

"You think he's got feelings for--"

"Oh absolutely." Jonathan nodded, closing his eyes. "Oh, I'm so glad it's not just me who sees it."

"Hopefully Wheeler does too."

"Hey, keep your voice down, he's only a few rooms over ."

"Sorry. Sorry. Me and my big mouth " Steve rested his head on Jonathan's shoulder. "Shut me up, maybe."

"Not until my mom gets back." Jonathan said, rolling up onto his side too. "If I catch her when she comes in the door, she won't come into my room to say good night. I can't have you distracting me until then."

"Your mom is on a date. She's an adult and so are you." Steve kissed Jonathan's shoulder. "You are a working man who just finished a long day at work-- I think you can cuddle up with your boyf--" Steve choked on his own stupidity, feeling his face go red and charisma die on impact. "With me."

"I will. Once my mom is back." Jonathan kissed Steve, as if a parting promise. Only to backtrack on his words immediately. He tucked Steve’s hair back behind his ear, his hands trying not to hold his face. “No-- no . Steve, not until my mom gets back.”

“I can keep an ear out--” As Steve spoke, the power in his bedside lamp dimmed. The power hummed quietly before flickering back up. Jonathan tensed and pushed himself up in bed.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah, it was just the light, Byers. It’s windy out tonight, maybe a tree brushed a powerline.” Steve pushed Jonathan back down to his pillow-- and back into his own skin again. “It’s nothing . What if I turn out the light? Your mom won’t even see us in here.”

“No. No, I have to wait for her.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

“What!” Jonathan jerked upright again.

“I meant what if she’s at Hopper’s or something?” Steve shrugged. “She’s an adult.”

“Steve, that’s my mom .” Jonathan hissed, swatting at the hand resting on his shoulder.

“I meant because she drove there on her own. If she had some wine, maybe she stayed somewhere and is being a smart, responsible parent.” Steve soothed. “Something you don’t have to be right now. You’re not Will’s parent and you aren’t your own. Lay down, will you?”

Jonathan was reluctant, but let Steve ease him back down again. He pulled the pillow tighter to his chest and sighed, his crossed arms sinking deeper. Steve laid down beside him, nose gently touching the end of his shoulder. As he breathed, his short exhales tickled Jonathan’s skin and got him giggling. It was Steve’s secret trick; something that always worked because Jonathan didn’t know it was a pattern-- didn’t know he was ticklish.

“Sorry I was weird today.” Jonathan said suddenly. He wasn’t even grinning.

“What?” They didn’t apologize. There was no need. “You’re worried about stuff-- it’s okay.”

“No, I like our dinners. And I was so uptight. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” Steve didn’t know what to do with the sentiment. “Apology accepted?”

Jonathan sighed again, blowing it out slowly between his pressed lips. “Lonnie called today.”

“L- your dad ? Is that who was on the phone?” Steve wasn’t sure what came over him-- or his body-- as he placed an arm over Jonathan’s waist and pulled them together. There was something unspokenly intimate talking about abusive fathers while being nearly sutured together in bed, but Steve pretended he was just having problems hearing Jonathan correctly.

“Yeah.” Jonathan turned, his nose brushing Steve’s. “Said he wants custody of Will. He doesn’t trust Mom, he said.”

“How is he-- He can’t do that.”

“He’s going to try. I don't know where it came from. He still thinks he can win a case because the news says Will just disappeared into the woods . Like he ran away from us or something.”

“Everyone knows that’s not true.”

“A court might not.” Jonathan sighed, ducking his head down. Steve resisted lifting his chin to hook it over Jonathan’s head, nestling him into his neck. He laid still, listening to his breathing and the gentle creaking of the house--

Jonathan's door was thrown open, both men sitting up quickly, ready to defend themselves and their actions. It was Mike, in his pajamas with his hair sticking out in wild curls. Will stood just behind him in the hallway looking far more awake. Stilted and untousled.

"Mike?"

"Jonathan, quick!"

"What is it?" Jonathan swung his legs around and motioned both boys to come in. "Will?" Mike pushed him into the center of the door frame, although he remained in the hallway, in the light. Will’s hand grabbed at the back of his neck. His face was blank and his eyes were distant.

"Something's wrong." Will said slowly, blinking to focus. "I feel him."

"Feel who?" Jonathan kneeled in front of Will, holding his shoulders. "Feel who, Will?"

"Dad."

#stonathan #jonathan byers x steve harrington #byeler #will byers x mike wheeler #byler #finally reposting in a way that isn't a random post with a link alksdja #prompts #my fics

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btxtreads · 3 years

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run away | extra

RUN AWAY: EXTRA

It is so much easier to get people to hate something than to believe. Part of the Grimoire Series

➴ Pairing: Choi Soobin x Reader ➴ Rating: R-16 ➴ Word Count: 2.7k ➴ Genre: Twisted Fairytales, Yandere, Smut ➴ Trigger Warning: Graphic murder, Y/N AND SOOBIN ARE DOING THE DIDDLY DO 😭😭😭, Kai is very babie but will also kill u, Taehyun is just bored, Y/N is psychotic part 4

man idk it was just stuck in the brain rip. not much romance in this part other than some kisses and a very detailed :)))) smut scene between Y/N and Soobin, but this is only in Sungho’s POV. Mostly focused on Kai and Tae rather than Soobin and Y/N whoops. Kinda badly written i just wanted to write murder im sorry.

Sungho never thought he’d see the day where he’d sit on a log on the floor on front of a campfire—eyes locked onto his older sister as she walked around in a beautiful pink dress with a smile on her face. But, here he was.

He sighed, spoon digging into the bowl in his hands silently as he chewed on his food. It was in this moment when a boy sat next to him.

“Hey, I’m Hangyeol. I wasn’t able to introduce myself to you last night!” The cheery boy grinned as he waved over to the king. “I’m kind of the oldest kid here right now.”

“Hi,” the king introduced himself softly with a nod. “I’m Sungho. I’m Y/N’s little brother.”

At this, Hangyeol laughed and shook his head.

“No, you’re not.”

Sungho furrowed his eyebrows as he set his bowl down, tilting his head at the boy.

“Yes, I am?”

“Where did you sleep last night?”

Sungho blinked, wondering why the question was important. Immediately, his eyes flew over to the direction of the Lost Boy camp—remembering the hammock he slept in the night before, and where he’ll sleep again tonight.

“Hammocks? Yeah, you’re not her brother.” Hangyeol snorted, patting Sungho’s back. “it’s okay, though! We’re lost boys, Soobin and Y/N-ie is there not to take care of us, but to lead us to our best selves—our free selves.”

“Wait, wait,” Sungho shook his head, turning to the older boy. “What does the hammocks have to do with whether I’m Y/N’s brother or not?”

Before Hangyeol can reply, a boy with wide eyes and a bright grin plopped down next to them. He wore a thin white shirt that was almost loose on his frame, his blonde hair tousled as if he was somewhere windy—perfect, clean and completely different from the lost boys who almost seemed as if they wore rags.

“Oh, hi Tae.” Hangyeol greeted. “Where were you?”

“I had a race with Kai.” the boy, Tae, snorted as he raised a cup to his lips. “As usual, I was faster.”

“No, you weren’t!” came a loud voice.

Sungho jumped as another body plopped down next to Tae. This time, it was a tall boy with dark brown hair and chubby cheeks. His lips were in a small pout as he clutched a chicken leg in his hands. He wore a fluffy blue sweater that was perfectly clean and spotless—which was also a stark difference from the lost boys’ dirty, patched, dark-colored clothes.

“If I didn’t trip over that rock you put in the middle of the field, I would have won.”

“This is Taehyun and Kai,” Hyangyeol introduced. “Guys, this is Sungho. I’ll leave you guys be.”

As the older left, Taehyun’s gaze flew over to the boy with raised eyebrows, eyes raking him up and down apprehensively.

“So, you’re Sungho?” Taehyun asked slowly, as Hueningkai tilted his head.

“Ah, we were told this morning you were here.” Kai nodded.

Sungho furrowed his eyebrows.

“I didn’t see you two yesterday at the hammocks, though.” Sungho explained, making Taehyun laugh.

“Well, we don’t live there.”

Sungho furrowed his eyebrows, but before he can respond, Y/N arrived—hands on both Kai and Taehyun’s shoulders.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Y/N greeted placing a soft kiss on the crown of Hueningkai’s head. “Where have you two been?”

Kai’s eyes sparkled as he turned over to the girl, almost shaking in excitement as he gasped.

“Tae taught me how to fly today!”

“He barely floated.” Taehyun snorted.

Sungho saw his sister’s eyes light up in curiosity as he reached out to the other boy and running her hands affectionately through his hair.

“That’s still progress, Kai. I’m so proud of you, sweetheart!” Y/N cheered before her eyes fell on Taehyun. “Your hair’s not red anymore. You’re blonde.”

“Do you like it?” Taehyun asked, a smile on his face as he gasped excitedly. “Soobin-hyung helped me with it earlier!”

“I love it, you look really good.” Y/N chuckled as she leaned down to fix his hair properly. “My little prince.”

“You two can fly by yourselves?” Sungho gasped in surprise as he regarded the two teens and his sister. “When can I learn how to fly by myself, sis?”

Y/N’s eyes danced with amusement as he turned to Sungho.

“You… want to fly by yourself?” Hueningkai asked, eyes turning confused as he turned to Taehyun. “He’s not allowed to do magic, though?”

Y/N’s lips tilted to a grin as Soobin approached them.

“Did you see my gifts to you two?” Soobin asked the two as he came, ruffling both of their hairs. “I got them earlier.”

“No, we have gifts? Where?” Kai asked.

“I left it on your beds.” Y/N explained.

“Bed?” Sungho asked his sister. “How come they get a bed? I have to sleep in a hammock.”

“Well, they’re my—“

“I’m your little brother!” Sungho complained, making Taehyun turn to him with an irritated sigh.

“No, you’re not.”

Sungho turned over to him with a glare.

“Yes, I am. You aren’t!”

At Sungho’s raised voice, Kai looked shocked. Taehyun only pursed his lips as he gave Sungho a once-over before turning to Y/N with a sigh.

“Kai, Tae,” Y/N said, a forced smile on her lips. “Maybe we should get back to the house, okay?”

“House?” Sungho asked incredulously. “You guys have a house?”

“Sungho,” Y/N sighed as she turned to the young king with an annoyed tone. “Drop it.”

Sungho watched as she whispered to the two boys, who looked at each other with bright smiles before excitedly running towards the forest hand-in-hand. Then, his sister gave him one last annoyed glance before turning her back to him, following the two young boys into the forest. It was only then when Sungho noticed the tall boy—Soobin, Peter Pan, whoever he was—smirk and pat his back.

“In here, you aren’t her brother—that would be Taehyun and Kai. They’re the princes of this island, and we’re the king and queen. Your status means nothing here.” Soobin instructed. “A little tip to help you, since you really don’t want to see her angry: don’t be rude to Taehyun or Kai at all. She doesn’t like that.”

“Who are they?” Sungho asked angrily, turning to his sister’s husband. “I’m her brother—I’m her only brother! Me and Junseo!”

Soobin tilted his head, mirth in his eyes as he stood up, crossing his arms with a smirk.

“Not anymore.”

Before he can reply, Soobin flicked his wrist and the campfire died suddenly. The tall boy turned back to the lost boys, calling out.

“Go to your hammocks. Call it a night.”

Sungho frowned as Soobin patted his shoulder.

“Get some rest.”

The young king glared at the tall boy’s back as he walked in the direction where his sister and the two boys disappeared.

That same night, Sungho found himself walking the path where his sister, Soobin and the two boys went to. He couldn’t believe his eyes when the muddy path he was walking turned into concrete, beautiful patterns etched onto the path and lights draped on the trees leading up to a gigantic white house.

The area in front was littered with purple and pink pansies, and he can see the door into the house slightly ajar. Sungho made his way in, mouth dropping open at the marble steps leading up to the many levels above. To his left, he can see a big kitchen area—fruits and pastries set in a basket, plates and utensils neatly stacked in a shelf.

Sungho made his way up, furrowing his eyebrows at the portrait hung at the top of the stairs. It was a portrait of his sister and Soobin, with the two boys from earlier—only Tae had red hair and Kai had longer hair. Sungho frowned as he saw expensive looking decor on the table in front of it.

He made his way down the hallway, fingers brushing books from shelves lining the corridors. he finally ended up in front of a door that’s slightly open.

He peeked in to see Y/N’s shaking figure on the bed, supporting herself on her hands and knees as Soobin’s tall figure loomed over her, a hand covering her breast and the other pulling on her hair. His head was head buried on her neck as his hips moved against hers, the headboard slamming against the wall rapidly as Y/N cries started to get louder and louder—sobs falling from her lips.

“Soobin, keep going, fuck.” Y/N groaned. “Fucking ruin me, please. God.”

Soobin suddenly stopped his thrusts and lifted his head from Y/N’s neck, smirking as he turned his head over to the door with raised eyebrows. Y/N whimpered as she clutched the sheets underneath her tighter, pleading falling out of her mouth as she begged Soobin to continue.

Sungho gasped silently as he pressed his back against the wall next to the door—hiding himself out of plain view. Sweat pooled on his forehead as he waited. He was expecting Soobin to call him out for walking into their house without permission and walking in while the elder was being intimate with his sister.

However, he only heard soft shuffles as Soobin’s husky voice spoke up.

“Get on top of me, princess.”

Sungho almost gagged when he heard his sister whimper once more just a few seconds later, the bed’s headboard hitting the wall again. At this, Sungho declared himself in the clear and padded back down the stairs—going towards another hallway opposite the kitchen.

He saw another door, silently pushing it open to see two large beds and two forms sleeping peacefully on them.

On one bed was a sleeping figure—Tae, the blonde he met earlier. The one his sister called “little prince.” On the desk next to the boy was a thick novel and a half-eaten bar of milk chocolate. There was also a box of twin daggers with patterned hilts made of gold and silver, a note reading “from Binnie and Y/N-ie” stuck to the package.

With a frown on his face, Sungho’s eyes trailed over to the other sleeping boy in the other bed. This time, it was the other boy—Kai. The boy wore a loose white shirt, hands clutching a soft pillow tightly in his arms.The boy’s table laid a beautiful crossbow with patterns engraved on the wood—a tag still tied to the item with a ribbon, reading “from Binnie and Y/N-ie” on it.

Sungho scoffed as he turned back to the giant door connected to the room—entering a big room full of a variety of clothes and shoes, even more than what he had at home—and he was a king. The items were designed with various different styles and colors, the room divided into sections labelled “Tyunie” and “Ningie.” Sungho made his way further into the room, finding his way onto a big shelf of weapons—knives, arrows, swords, and axes. Sungho frowned, his hands closing in on a dagger—beautifully made with a wooden hilt, engraved with “Kai” on the blade. He pulled it out of the container, feet making his way back to the two boys sleeping on the beds.

Sungho padded his way over to Taehyun—the little prince and held the dagger over the blonde’s chest. The king pursed his lips angrily, glaring at the young boy’s peaceful face.

Him and this other kid, Kai—they’re the reason why his sister would barely acknowledge him now. “Little princes”—they’re frauds with no title. They aren’t princes at all. Yet his sister, who he hasn’t seen in two years, still chose these strangers over him. It was ridiculous. They had to go.

With red in his gaze, Sungho lifted his hands up—clutch tight on the dagger as he prepared to stab the blonde. However, his eyes flicked over to the blonde boy’s face at the last minute, shocked to see his amused eyes set on him.

Sungho gasped, body stumbling back as he dropped the dagger. Taehyun only reached his hand out, hands catching the dagger and flipping it in his hands expertly.

“What are you doing?” an angry voice asked, making him turn to see Kai sitting up on his bed—sharp eyes trained on Sungho’s form on the floor. “Why do you have my dagger? You’re going to hurt Tae, aren’t you?”

Sungho opened his mouth to try to explain, but nothing came out due to nervousness as Kai pushed his blanket off of him and pulled himself out of bed.

“You were, were you?” Kai asked. “You’re so ungrateful. Y/N and Soobin brought you here to be free, to never grow up—but you try to destroy our family?”

“I-I’m her real brother.” Sungho managed to respod under Kai’s angry glare. “You’re nothing to her—you’re not bound by blood.”

“How stupid of you to say that, especially in our house.” Taehyun drawled lazily, sitting up and propping his head in his palm. “We’re her brothers.”

“And you tried to hurt Tae, my best friend, my brother.” Kai said angrily. “I can’t forgive that.”

Immediately, Sungho felt his body freeze—his limbs stuck in place and he couldn’t move. Tae only flipped the dagger in his hands, nonchalantly hilding it up and offering the hilt to Hueningkai, who snatched the dagger from his hands.

“Can you do it?” Tae asked lazily, yawning—as if waiting for it to finish so he can collapse back to bed.

“I can.” Hueningkai said angrily.

“Then do it.”

Hueningkai didn’t answer or move, only glowering at Sungho.

Sungho didn’t know what to do, or what they were talking about exactly. However, Hueningkai’s grip on the dagger made him nervous. He didn’t know what to plead for.

“I don’t tolerate people trying to hurt my family.” Hueningkai said gruffly. “They’re the only thing that matters.”

The door opened, showing Y/N decked in a loose white shirt and a shirtless Soobin entering with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, what’s happening?” Soobin asked, hands encircling Y/N’s waist, chin resting on her shoulder as he allowed his amused eyes to fall onto Sungho. “You’re still here?”

“He’s about to go.” Hueningkai said angrily before his hands lifted up, swiping a clean, deep line on Sunghoon’s neck.

Sunghoon’s eyes widened as he choked on blood, eyes darting over to Taehyun who yawned and climbed out of his bed—whining about bloodstains on his sheets. Kai only scoffed, setting the dagger on his bedside table, padding over to Y/N’s open arms. Y/N and Soobin had proud smiles on their faces as Hueningkai grinned at them.

“Did you know he was going to come?”

“No, but I knew he came here,” Soobin snorted. “I knew you could handle it.”

“I’ll make some food, then, since we’re all awake. Tae, Kai, can you guys boil some water?” Y/N hummed, pulling the door open as Taehyun and Kai left the room to do as they were told—followed by Soobin who kissed Y/N’s neck happily before he left. “I’ll be right out.”

Sungho laid on the floor, choking and dying slowly as Y/N walked over to him.

“Well,” Y/N sighed, tracing the slit on his throat. “this is interesting. I thought you’d last longer.”

Sungho tried his hardest to reply, but his vision was turning dark.

“You should’ve known your entitled attitude won’t pass here, you’re not the prince here—Soobin already told you it’s Kai and Tae’s turf here. Still, you didn’t listen.” Y/N shrugged. “So, I guess you got just what was coming for you.”

Y/N stood back up, waving her hand and Sungho found himself on Taehyun’s bed.

“There’s the bed you were so desperate for. Try to die faster, though. Taehyun gets cranky when he doesn’t get enough sleep.” Y/N snorted as she checked the clock. “We still have to clean the bed up after you die. Thank God for magic, I guess.”

Tears pooled in his eyes as Sungho felt his body start to fail on him.

“Thanks for helping us train Kai. He was so scared to kill people back then, but he did it so easily now. I’m really proud of him. ” Y/N said with a lilting tone, a smirk in her face as she turned and closed the door. “Sweet dreams, Sungho. I have to go to my husband and my brothers.”

Sungho closed his eyes, and the king was no more.

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total-drama-takes-takes-2 · 10 months

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tti episode 23

“Last time, on Total Takes Island: those lazy, ungrateful maggots got swept up in a flash flood caused by Chris’ weather-making machine and were left on a deserted island to die. The skinny one got lost at sea until he paddled back, accompanied by a crayon drawing with the same IQ as him. The other three ended up together in a treehouse after glasses and sarcasm central got themselves spooked by a fake dinosaur skeleton, even though the green one knew it wasn’t real. Eventually, they all found production camp and the drawing took the walk of shame. Yeah, it’s me doing the recap again. Got a problem with that?!” Chef shouts. “Chris is off on his paid vacation so I’m hosting today’s episode… again.”

The rain has finally cleared (or Chris’ machine just ran out of oil) and the sun is finally shining again over Wawanakwa. It’s a bright and sunny morning, the day before the next challenge, though no one seems exactly enthused about it.

McLovin is hidden away in the craft tent, making macrame owls (which he’s been producing in droves, filling his cabin with), Ass locked everyone else out of the communal bathrooms so they could take a long shower, and Michael and Julia are glaring daggers at each other across the mess hall.

The breakfast today was left out on the counters- a cold, chili-like substance with just enough spices to completely cancel out the flavor altogether- and Chef is nowhere to be seen. Julia mixes the reddish-brown slop with her spoon before forcing herself to take another hesitant bite. The silence hangs heavy over the room.

Finally, Michael speaks. “Where’s your boss at?”

“They are not-” Julia pauses, seething. She takes a deep breath and calms down. “Showers.”

“And you’re not there to wash their feet like a good disciple?” she asks, smiling at her own joke. Julia glares.

“Absolutely not. I’m not their employee, we’re allies,”

Michael rolls her eyes. “Oh, right, just like how I was your friend?”

A deep silence falls once more. Julia stands and scrapes the rest of her plate into the garbage before sitting next to Michael.

She sighs. “I really am sorry, you know. I didn’t think you’d get so upset. I guess I didn’t start thinking about other people until-”

“Scruffy?” Michael raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Julia says, balancing her chin in her palm. “It’s so stupid. They’re totally smart enough to know that they were being played, and they helped me anyway.”

“Have you considered the idea that they actually liked you?”

Julia bites her lip. “Maybe. But that… and what happened with Ass made me realize how bad I screwed things up between us, even though we were never really friends,”

“Well,” Michael pauses and then smiles. “We could always start.”

Julia smiles back, and the two shake hands before the intercom screeches to life.

“Attention, campers! Report outside your cabins at 0900 hours- and that means now!”

---

McLovin is already out, sitting on the grass and making a macrame owl as Chef watches and shakes his head sadly. There’s a large, boxy TV set on a cart sitting out on the grass besides the two.

Ass fluffs their newly shampooed and dried hair as Julia stands next to them. She takes a breath for a second before turning to them. “Is that my shampoo?”

They shrug. “I ran out,”

“I only had enough left for-”

Ass holds a finger to her lips to shush her as Chef begins speaking. Michael rolls her eyes from nearby.

“As you may have heard, I am in charge of tomorrow’s challenge. But before that, Chris left these instructions for me,” Chef says, holding up a piece of paper. “He wanted to give you all some… extra motivation.”

McLovin stands, holding his owl. The remaining campers glance at each other nervously.

“So, here’s a few encouraging words from your fellow campers,” he steps back, turning the TV on. Footage from the confessionals begins to play.

---

BONNIE: “What do I think of Julia? Well, besides the fact that she’s a backstabbing little witch who loves to insert herself in everyone else’s business, she’s rude, scheming, passive-aggressive, and downright annoying. But at least she’s not Ass,”

---

COURTNEY: McLovin and I have been best friends since the very beginning. I’m not surprised this dumb drama show is trying to tear us apart,”

---

MICHAEL: “Julia’s not exactly the nicest person on the island, but at least with Ass here, she isn’t the meanest,”

---

ASS: “McLovin? Please. He’s the exact opposite of a threat,”

---

SCRUFFY: “Listen, I know Julia’s sucking up to me extra hard to get my vote when it comes to the next few elimination ceremonies, but, I’ll admit: I kinda like the attention,” they pause to smile. “Plus, when we’re not in the game, she can be pretty cool to hang out with.”

---

The screen goes static and everyone turns to Julia, who’s just beaming. Chef rolls his eyes and thwacks the top of the TV to get it working again.

---

SHA-MOD: “McLovin?! McLovin is my best homie on the island, possibly in the whole world! I hope one of us wins so we can move in together in a massive dream mansion and open an oil rig or whatever rich people do!”

---

The screen goes static once more. McLovin wipes a tear from his eye. Chef sighs. “Most of the confessionals people gave about you, we can’t air due to profanity,” he says, squinting at Ass. “But we still got some left.”

---

MAX: “Don’t air this, but… I think Michael might like me. And, honestly, I… don’t hate that. I can’t take any chances, but maybe when I win I’ll have the guts to ask her out. She’s just so… you know?”

---

Michael smiles, her face tinted pink as the screen goes static again before turning to Julia.

---

JULIA: “Do I really believe that? No. But I need an ally and, well, to be frank, Michael has always come off as kinda desperate.”

---

JULIA: “Okay, how is that little twig still here? I totally miscalculated, I should’ve picked his pathetic ass off way earlier!”

---

JULIA: “I guess I should keep her on my side for the merge, but still… all that drama for what? A chick who can’t do anything but whine and argue? Um, yeah, I’ll take my chances with the egghead.”

---

JULIA: “Natalie- and yes, I’m not using that stupid name for her- is easily one of the most contrived, self-absorbed players we have. I cannot believe they’re still here.”

---

JULIA: “Me? Scared of Michael? Can you imagine?”

---

Chef turns off the television set. “That one had a lot to say,” he grumbles, wheeling away the cart. “I’ll see you all tomorrow for your next challenge!”

Everyone turns and glares at Julia, who smiles nervously. Ass flips their hair over their shoulder and walks off as McLovin hangs his head and holds his macrame owl close.

Michael just glares. “So much for new friends, huh?”

----

The sound of birds chirping and squirrels chittering seems louder this morning. That’s the first thought Julia has as she wakes up, sitting on the furthest bunk from everyone else (where she’d been banished to last night).

She rubs her eyes, scanning her surroundings. As her eyes adjust, she gasps.

“We’re in the woods!”

“Genius observation. We’re at summer camp, Einstein,” Ass grumbles, pulling their pillow around their ears.

“No, I mean we’re outside! We’re literally in the woods!��

Ass sighs and sits up, taking off their sleeping mask and scanning the clearing they’d been dropped into.

“Oh. I guess we are,”

They hop out of bed and put their hands on their hips, looking for some kind of instruction for their next challenge. When nothing happens, they sigh and walk over to Michael, shaking her awake.

“Hey, what the hell!” she says, sitting up suddenly and bumping her head on the upper bunk.

“Get up,” Ass snaps, looking off to where McLovin’s bunk is across the clearing. “Can someone wake that noodle up? We’re obviously starting our next challenge!”

“That is correct!” Chef yells through Chris’ megaphone as a helicopter hovers over the clearing. He hops off the drop-down ladder as it approaches. “Your challenge is to find your way out of the forest without starving, freezing, or otherwise dying!”

“You cannot be serious!” Ass yells. “We just did this!”

“Not quite. That time, you didn’t have teams,” Chef chuckles. “Each of you will get a partner- first ones back to camp win immunity. Now choose, and fast!”

Julia looks at the three other players, who glare at her sharply.

Michael steps next to Ass. “Yeah, I’ll take my chances with the pretentious one,”

“Hey, you can’t do that! Natalie is my ally!” she snaps. “Tell her!”

Ass rolls their eyes. “Um, maybe you would’ve been useful if this was a computer-nerd challenge, but this is wilderness survival. I’ll take my chances with the circus freak,”

“Thank you,”

Julia glares. “You can not just double cross me like that! That’s so unfair!”

“Don’t like the taste of your own medicine, huh?” Michael says as Chef tosses them a duffel bag of supplies. “Choose a side.”

Julia scoffs as the two get the go-ahead to start off from Chef. McLovin catches the next duffel bag and its weight immediately pulls him to the ground. She groans.

“Better hope you get back before sundown!” Chef yells as the helicopter swings back around and lowers the ladder. “It gets real dark out here!”

---

McLovin and Julia step through the woods as she digs through the pack. He’s been plucking long grass as they walk and using it to craft yet another small macramé owl.

“Compass, good. Water, some granola bars…” Julia says before looking up to see the creation he’s holding up to her with a big smile. “What is that?”

“It’s macramé!”

“Oh, God,” she sighs. “If we get attacked by bears, you’re going first.”

---

“Okay, so, what’s the plan?” Ass asks, slinging the bag over their shoulder as the two walk down the river.

“Well, camp is north, right? The sun is just risen over those hills, so that’s east, so camp is that way,” Michael says, pointing ahead. “As long as we don’t get turned astray, we should be there before night.”

“Good!” Ass says merrily before suddenly shoving Michael into the river current. “See you!”

“Hey!” she yells as she’s swept down south. “That’s so not cool!”

“Deal with it!” they shout back, chuckling to themselves as they begin walking north, supplies in hand.

---

Julia looks up at the sun and sighs. “It’s almost noon, and I still have no idea where we are,”

McLovin is busy with yet another miniature owl. He’s humming to himself as Julia grumbles about not the compass being cheap and crappy, weaving in and out.

She turns to him, getting slightly more annoyed with every passing second. “Could you please do something useful for once?” she snaps. “I am carrying this entire team on my back right now!”

“Well, you’re not doing a very good job,” McLovin says. “We’ve passed that tree three times now.”

“What?! How would you know?!”

He looks up and points- hanging from a branch is a grass-woven macrame owl. Julia blinks, then begins looking around the trail- various owls are hanging from the trees they already passed. “Oh, my God. You’re making a trail!”

He shrugs. “Lots of weaving material out here,”

“Okay, so, if we already tried this path,” Julia thinks to herself, looking up ahead to where a fork in the trail leads to another, owl-less road. “Let’s go this way!”

---

Michael pulls herself onto the muddy bank of a downstream beach. She coughs up some water and steps onto dry land, caked in mud and river weeds.

She pulls off her parka and wrings it out, frowning angrily.

---

MICHAEL: “Is there anyone on this island who isn’t a completely selfish whack-job?”

---

Michael walks through the woods, carrying her parka over her shoulder. The sun indicates that it’s a little after noon, meaning she only has a few hours left to run upriver, completely without supplies or any help.

---

Ass walks merrily through the woods, humming. They stop to enjoy the entire supply of granola bars and half of the water, not concerned about having to share, and then continue on their way.

After a few more hours of walking, they get hungry again. They check the bag and find it empty.

“Great! Just great! Thanks for the provisions, Chef!” they shout at a nearby camera.

Ass sighs, putting their hands on their hips and looking around before spotting a blueberry bush just off to the side of the river. They smile and begin collecting berries in the bag from that bush, then the next, then the one after that.

“There! That should be enough to last me the rest of the walk,” they smile triumphantly, popping a berry in their mouth. “Now back to… wait… where’d the river go?”

They look around and notice they’re completely isolated in the woods.

---

“So, what’s the deal?” Julia asks, munching on a bag of chips from the supplies. “You some kind of artist?”

McLovin looks around. “Who, me?”

“Um. Yes. Who else would I be talking to?”

They stare at each other for a moment. Julia sighs. “I mean, you’re always drawing and making stuff. That’s like, art things, right?”

“Um… maybe. I just like crafts,” he says, holding up another owl. “And baking. And gardening. Back home, I make lots of stuff for my friends, and my classmates, my teachers, my mom, my dentist…”

Julia looks at him. “How do you manage to do anything for yourself?”

He blinks. “For… myself?”

---

JULIA: “I’ve been asking myself for a while how McLovin keeps evading the vote, and I think I finally found out. He’s a doormat. He’s like clay, he’s easily impressionable and bends whichever way you want him to. Not a great player, but a great pawn,”

---

“Yeah, I mean, don’t you ever do things just for you?”

“Um… not really. You do?”

Julia laughs. “Everything I do is for myself!”

There’s a brief pause as McLovin finishes up his latest macramé piece and looks down at it. “That’s kind of sad,”

---

The sun begins the set in the distance as Michael trudges along the river, now mostly dry. She’s made good progress, but it’s becoming apparent she’s not getting any closer to camp before dark.

She sighs, sitting on a nearby rock.

---

MICHAEL: “Maybe this is it. Maybe this is where the road ends for me. I had a good run, right?”

---

Michael closes her eyes for a moment, letting the spirit of giving up compel her to relax. She eventually stretches, and then sits back, casually waiting for someone to come get her.

“I give up!” she yells into the treeline, looking for cameras. “You can come get me now, I quit!”

Nothing happens. She waits for a bit longer, and still no one comes to get her. Michael sighs and kicks a rock at her feet before picking up a long stick nearby and doodling in the mud.

She draws a heart, scribbling M + M in the center, and then stares at it for a few minutes, thinking to herself. She rises to her feet and holding up the stick, a new look of determination on her face.

She shouts back into the treeline. “Never mind!” and then takes off along the river again, mumbling to herself. “I want to win! I want to win!”

---

Ass grumbles as they attempt to make a fire for the eighth time, hands all scratched up and sore from the half-hour of rubbing against a very uncomfortable stick.

To their delight, a small spark lights up a tiny section of wood before being blown out in the breeze. They groan, standing and throwing their sticks to the side and crossing their arms.

---

ASS: “Okay, maybe I didn’t think getting rid of Michael all the way through,”

---

They scale a tree (only slipping a few times) and sit on a branch, leaning against the trunk before closing their eyes and forcing themselves to sleep.

---

McLovin and Julia sit around a hastily-made fire from a matchbox included in their supplies. McLovin is sketching a portrait of Julia in the dirt while she holds still.

“Okay, just one more… and done!” he says, stepping back. Julia comes over to his side of the fire to look.

“Ooh, it’s good!” she comments, studying the realistic sketch. “You’ve got some talent hidden in there after all.”

“Um… thank you, I think?” he says, tossing the stick he used as a tool into the fire. “Wish I had some paper, though. Then you could take the drawing with you.”

“Eh, that’s okay. I’m kind of sick of looking at myself anyway,”

Julia takes her seat back on the other side of the fire and uses it to warm her hands. “How far do you think we are from camp?”

“Um… maybe a few hours, I’m not sure. But I stopped seeing my owls a while ago, so-”

A sudden violent rustling from within the dark of the woods catches their attention and they fall silent, looking at each other. The two stand and begin backing away, just for Michael to stumble out of the forest.

“What the-” Julia starts, squinting at the mud-covered camper. “Michael?”

She groans, sitting up and coughing. “Oh. I thought you were Ass,” she says, looking between the two.

“You got separated?” McLovin asks.

“Against my will, yes,” Michael mutters, holding up a sharpened spear she made. She looks at the ground, seeing the Julia portrait and raises an eyebrow. “I was going to attack and steal my supplies back, but obviously you two have your own thing going on.”

Julia rolls her eyes. “Um… yeah. Wouldn’t expect you to stick around anyway, since I’m such a backstabbing traitor,”

“You and Ass really are a match made in heaven,” Michael grumbles, pushing between McLovin and Julia and walking back into the dark of the woods.

---

The sun rises over the island. Ass snores as they sit on their branch, breathing heavily as a spider crawls from the canopy onto their nose. Their eyes slowly open and they blink before screaming, slapping their own face and falling out of the tree.

“God damnit!” they shout, standing and groaning. “Stupid forest!”

---

McLovin and Julia continue down the trail at an even pace, chatting merrily while taking turns holding the duffel bag.

----

MCLOVIN: “You know, I used to think Julia was kind of scary, but she’s actually pretty okay once she doesn’t see you as a threat or an expendable team member!”

---

JULIA: “I don't know why McLovin even needs the money. He could make millions hosting seminars on how to make friends”

---

Ass runs down the path to camp, catching sight of the end of the treeline they shout in victory as they reach the cabins, cheering while Chef rolls his eyes.

“I win! I win invincibility, suckers!”

Julia and McLovin walk out of the woods, casually strolling down to camp. They sigh as they see Ass cheer.

“Not so fast,” Chef says. “You need both members of your team to be present to win, and I don't see no green haired girl. Blondie and string bean the winners.”

“Oh, what, Michael? I’m pretty sure she got eaten by bears,” Ass rolls their eyes. “A shame, really. So I win by default!”

“In your dreams, you freak!” Michael says, bounding out of the woods with her spear. “You tried to kill me!”

“No, I tried to drown you. Whether or not you died was on you, I'm the winner!” Ass snaps. “Julia, tell them!”

Julia glares. “Um, no,”

Ass turns, a look of pure malice on their face. “If your sorry ass wants to keep your cushy ride to the finale with me, you better-”

“Oh, please!” Julia yells, dropping the bag to throw her arms out. “All you’ve done is whine and complain and carry around those big books, which, by the way, I know you only pretend to read because you can’t admit you find them boring! I have been carrying you from the second you got here because I was gullible enough to believe you were somehow a competent player! All you know how to do is read and then pretend you have any stakes in this game just because you’re mean! I voted out the only person on this island that actually cared about me because of you! And all you’ve done is treated me and everyone else like garbage even though, let’s be honest, without us you would’ve been dead in the woods by now! So you can get someone else to be your slave, because I’m done! Enjoy your boat ride home, you airheaded bimbo!”

Julia storms off, McLovin and Michael watching with wide eyes before turning back to Ass, who looks mortified.

---

“Well, you all survived,” Chef rolls his eyes. “Now one of you is going home. You two are safe,” he says, chucking the marshmallows at Julia and McLovin (who have to duck to avoid the high speeds they’re flying at).

Michael and Ass look at each other, both frowning deeply.

“Green one- no one likes you. And mean one- no one likes you even more!” Chef shouts. “But, and thank God, you maggots finally came to your senses and voted someone worthwhile off!” He throws the final marshmallow to Michael.

Julia smirks as Ass gasps, then glares, standing and kicking their log. “Fine! I hate all of you anyway! This island doesn’t deserve me!”

“Damn right,” Michael grins.

Ass groans and storms off.

“Whatever!” Chef shouts, walking off. “Congratulations to the final three! Chris will be seeing you all shortly for your next challenge!”

McLovin, Julia, and Michael look between each other.

#tti #total takes island

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