#didn’t finish anything this week so here’s some old stuff

[wolfpup026]

Lokius wallpapers from my ig highlights 💚🧡

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for sleeping with a 20 year old?

tw: mentions of potential grooming, age gap relationships, nsft/nsfw, vague discussions of sex

So, me (38m) and my wife (39f) are in an open relationship. Basically, we’re both bisexual and not quite ready to limit our sex lives to one person yet. So, we decided to allow friends with benefits situations outside of our relationship. No romantic stuff, no dating, just sex.

In January, my wife went to stay at her best friend’s (28f) house and have some fun together. I don’t mind at all, I was kind of glad to have our apartment to myself for a week. Now, there’s this queer bar that me and my wife frequent and it’s a good mix of all age demographics and identities.

There’s this one trans guy, I’ll call him M, that most people in the local community know because he’s very attractive. He reminds me of a very short Eric Draven mixed with Eddie Vedder. (Oddly specific, I know) Like, he has long-ish curly brown hair, big brown eyes, the sweetest smile ever and he dresses very well. A little grunge here, a little rockstar there. Good jewelry. You get it.

I always catch people staring at him when he’s at the bar with his friends. (We live in Europe btw, legal drinking age is 18.) In short, I find him very cute. He’s basically a micro celebrity among the community and he doesn’t even know it.

So, while my wife was away I went down to the bar and his friend group invited me to come sit with them. We started talking, he’s super funny and we began talking about Pearl Jam because of the shirt I was wearing. Found out he’s obsessed with the music scene of the 90s, specifically rock and grunge, and I happen to have a collection of merchandise of the big 4. I invited him to come check it out and he eagerly accepted. None of his friends wanted to come, so it was just us two. Showed him the stuff, he got super excited about it and I even let him keep one of my Soundgarden shirts and some CDs.

I offered to cook dinner, we ate and then had some weed brownies for dessert. We got posted on the couch, talked for a good while and he began confiding in me. I’m not gonna go into detail because that’s shitty, but he basically told me he’d never had a positive sexual experience up to that point. Apparently all of his exes were switches leaning submissive and he’s purely submissive, so things never really worked out and he never finished with any of them.

I told him about me and my wife’s arrangements and some other stuff about our sex life. (Don’t worry, my wife is 100% okay with this. Even in this context.)

Here’s where I might be the asshole, if not the creep:

Now, I was pretty high at that point and I joked about how I could give him a positive experience. To my surprise, he actually eagerly accepted. I was a bit hesitant because we were both buzzed, but he kept reiterating that he’s consenting and that he’s sure he wants this. So, I made sure he had a good night and he actually ended up sleeping over and we cuddled. It was super nice and he seemed genuinely ecstatic about it the next morning, it was adorable. I was honestly just happy that I was able to give him a positive sexual encounter.

We exchanged numbers, kept texting for two days and he ended up coming over again. Had some more fun together and he went to go sleep over at a friend’s place. At that point, I sort of realized that I may be catching feelings for him. Which is against me and my wife’s rules and also just a horrible idea, especially considering the age gap. So, I let him know that I need some distance and he was super understanding. He was understandably a bit disappointed but didn’t complain or anything.

Once my wife came back, I told her about everything. This is just a thing we do because it helps avoid speculation and unnecessary jealousy. We always tell each other about what happens with our other sexual partners, but only if they consent to it. Which most of them do because they’re our friends. She seemed a bit unnerved by it, not because of the fact that I had feelings for him, but because of the age difference. She said it’s weird and predatory and told me she needed some time to think.

Apparently, she went to go check in on M and asked him if I pressured him into anything. He said it was a 100% mutual thing and he’s very much into older guys, so he enjoyed it quite a lot.

This put her mind at ease but I’m still quite shaken by it. I never stopped to consider the fact that the age difference is quite concerning. I can’t help but feel like a nasty creep that bribed some poor 20 year with old band shirts to come sleep with him. I don’t like that I didn’t even think about it. Talking with M came so easy and we share a lot of interests. I’m not about to go and say he’s 'mature for his age' because he isn’t, he acts like any other 20 year old.

I was just so focused on how attractive and interesting he is to me, I fear I might’ve acted extremely selfish and should’ve stopped to take his lack of experience and his naivety into account. Of course he’d sleep with me, he’s 20 and doesn’t know any better. It should’ve been my job, as the older adult, to put a stop to it. Please don’t hesitate to give it to me straight.

AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[envysparkler]

Jason might’ve mentioned a passing interest in meeting Robin—the old Robin, because he was going to be the new Robin, only judging from the low, furious conversation and the death glares, Bruce hadn’t exactly mentioned that to Nightwing—but he wasn’t expecting Bruce to leave him alone with the guy.

“Justice League emergency,” Bruce had interrupted, cutting off Dick’s half-hearted tour of the parts of the Cave Jason hadn’t explored, and disappeared through a zeta tube with a simple behave for Jason and a growled watch over him for Dick.  Leaving Jason with the guy that spent the entire visit seething in unconcealed distaste.

Alfred wasn’t home, he had left on one of his rare days off, or perhaps he was aware of the cloud of tension that formed whenever Dick and Bruce got too close to each other, and Jason understood that heroes and emergencies were a part of life, but he didn’t enjoy that that meant that Jason and Dick were left alone in the abruptly resoundingly empty Cave.

“Right,” Dick muttered, not quite under his breath, “I don’t know why I ever expect anything different.”  The bitterness was palpable.  “Two and half goddamn hours, and he leaves to space.”

Jason shrunk back slightly.  It had been clear from the start that this visit was not for him, and his desire to meeting the original Robin had fast dwindled in favor of getting out of ground zero before Bruce and Dick actually started yelling.

Dick blew out a sharp breath and turned on his heel, suddenly enough that Jason flinched.  Dick froze, staring at him like he’d forgotten that Jason existed.  Jason couldn’t read the expression on his face, and didn’t think he wanted to.

“Jason,” Dick said, carefully pronouncing his name.  His blue eyes were sharp and cold.  “So.  New Robin, huh.”  His face stretched into a smile that looked warm for all that it was plastic.

“Yup,” Jason said, inching back another step.  “Uh, it was nice to meet you.  I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Where are you going?”  Perfectly level, calm and even, but it still forced a chill down his spine.

Jason had been terrified of Batman, but terrified in the way he was of shadows and ghosts.  Abstract.  Not real.  Once Batman had proved himself to be human, all that was left was a man—large and trained and dangerous, but who got scolded by his butler and forgot to put on matching socks and bought Jason a stepstool to reach the books on the tallest shelves.

Bruce wasn’t scary.

Not the way that Richard Grayson seemed to be.  Quicksilver manipulation of his expressions, smiling when he didn’t mean it, and cold, cold eyes—Jason wasn’t reminded of monsters or demons.  He was reminded of the gang members that watched him ducking into alleys with just a little too much intent, the narrowed eyes of his mother’s dealer, the bright, fake smiles that marked the cops he had to run from.

And Jason was here with him, all alone.  Robin—Nightwing—trained and dangerous and currently looking at Jason like he wanted to leave him in pieces for Bruce to find.

Jason had read a book with facts about robins just last week.  Robins are territorial birds, and disputes can get physical.  Fights to the death often occur.

“Upstairs?”  Jason hated the way it turned into a question.  “I was reading a book, and—um, I wanted to finish it?”

“We haven’t finished our tour,” Dick said, and Jason had preferred the low-voiced hiss to the casual neutrality.  “Come on, there’s lots of cool stuff here I bet Bruce hasn’t shown you yet.”

Jason dithered in place, casting a glance at the stairs—Dick was already walking away, heading for the back of the Cave—but as much as common sense was shrieking at him to stay away, go upstairs, don’t stay down in the dimly lit cave with the guy that hates you, Jason was still the kid that looked at the Batmobile and decided to steal some tires.

“Fine,” Jason said, hurrying up to match Dick’s pace.  “But I don’t know what you can show me that Bruce hasn’t already.”

“Oh,” Dick’s expression twitched, something flashing for a second, “You’d be surprised.”

~#~

Jason, mouth agape and neck protesting as he stared up at the acrobatics equipment, was speechless.  Dick was breathless and flushed and grinning widely, and fuck, this was what Jason had wanted to see.  Not Bruce’s sulky other son, or the cold, dangerous Nightwing, but Robin.

“Bruce showed you that yet?” Dick teased, calling down to him from where he was swinging upside down from the ring.

“How do you do that?” Jason breathed out, too amazed to feign at disinterest.  Dick had moved like he was an actual fucking bird, like gravity was for lesser things.

“Practice,” Dick laughed, flipping off from the ring and flopping down on the safety net.  Even across the rope, he was all fluidity and grace, flipping once more before he reached the ground.

“Bullshit,” Jason rebutted, looking up at the silks and the ropes and the swings, the scaffolding, the way Dick flew—“Tell me the truth. You’re a meta, aren’t you.”

Dick laughed again, bright and twinkling.  He looked much happier than the sullen teenager that had met Bruce’s hesitant hope with a scowl.  “Nope, just practice.  Grew up in the circus.  I could fly before I could run.”

“That’s so cool,” Jason said, looking back up at the scaffolding.  “Can you teach me how to do that?”  Flying through the air, spinning and flipping without a care in the world, unbound by physical constraints…it sounded like the best thing in the world.  It sounded like freedom.

It took him too long to realize that Dick hadn’t responded.  He turned towards the older boy and saw Dick stock still, expression frozen in a pinched grimace.  When he saw Jason staring at him, he turned away.  “Sure,” Dick said, in a voice that wasn’t even remotely believable, and Jason flushed at the reminder that Dick didn’t want him here.  “Maybe later.  You need a lot of training first.  How about you show me what Bruce is teaching you so far?”

There was a bite to the words, and Jason had too much of Gotham in him to not respond to the challenge.  “Was that an offer to kick your ass?” Jason retorted, stalking past Dick and towards the sparring area.  Need a lot of training first.  Well, while perfect Richard Grayson had been growing up in the goddamn circus, Jason had been living on the streets.  He knew how to fight.  “I’m ready when you are, Dick.”

That cold smile was back, like Dick was trying to figure out just where he wanted to stick the knife, and Jason thrummed impatiently on the balls of his feet as Dick slowly made his way to the sparring area.

[luvrxbunny]

sundress

Pairing: Steve Harrington x F!Reader

Prompt: Sundress

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, piv, unprotected sex, some praise (lmk if I forgot anything)

WC: 1.9k

A/N: couldn’t figure out how to end this *crying in the distance*

Steve opens the front door with a sigh, his hand running through his hair as he walks in. His day was more stressful than it needed to be. There was an early summer rush and Robin had left him high and dry to hang out with Nancy so he didn’t even have time to find someone to cover her shift. The only thing that got him through the day was the thought that you were at his home. 

His parents are away for a month and after one week of you going back and forth between your house and his, he offered you to move in with him. You’ve been with him since, the little light at the end of his tunnel. He likes having you around, having you here when he gets home, it makes him feel like an old-timey married couple. You’re usually working at his desk, in his shirt and sometimes his jacket. Today’s sight is awakening something inside him though. 

You’re in a sundress, and an apron, cooking at the stove. He can smell something sweet in the air, like you’ve been baking and humming a song in the kitchen. It’s a scene out of a movie from the '60s; you’re dancing around the kitchen with that pretty, soft smile on your face. You light up when you see him. “Steve!” You put down the bowl you were mixing and wipe your hands on your apron before rushing over to him. “I wanted to have a picnic or something? We can stay inside if you want- I’m not sure what the weather’s like but-” 

He wraps his arms around you and drops some of his weight on you, earning a giggle at his name. He stays silent, breathing you in and imagining how peaceful life would be with you. He’d come home to this, almost every day, you in your frilly little apron, baking for him and greeting him with that beaming smile of yours. If he’s lucky you’ll let him get you pregnant, and you’d have a little one on your hip while stirring whatever you’re cooking for dinner. Maybe some he’d come home early to you dusting around the house, sweeping, or mopping. His housewife. Steve wants you to be his housewife. “Steve?”

You question softly, he’s silently inhaling your scent, his hands slowly tightening around you. He groans low against the top of your head and sighs again. “Missed you.” You squeeze him tighter and snuggle your head into his chest. “I missed you too, baby.” You slowly lift your head and he moves his to let you. You stare into his eyes for a bit before leaning up to kiss him, all the tension leaving both of your bodies. He slides his hands to your shoulder and pulls you closer, towering over you as you try and pull away with a giggle. 

“My stuff’s gonna burn, Stevie!” You slip out of his arms and head back into the kitchen, muttering about how your muffins are going to be crunchier than you wanted. He feels like he’s in a dream as he watches you turn off the oven, inspecting your muffins before pulling them out. He takes his shoes off as you finally finish your meals and desserts. You’re setting everything up on a blanket you put down in the middle of his living room. He’s moving sluggishly as he takes off his vest. 

You notice his heaviness, how down he seems and it wipes the smile off your face. “Do you want to? We don’t have to- I know you’re probably- you might be tired. We can-” He smiles to himself at your rambling before walking over to you and placing a grounding kiss on your forehead. He shakes his head and puts on a smile for you. “I’m alright, baby.”

He’s silent for most of the night, listening to the drama of your life and your new obsessions, he’s attentive while listening but doesn’t speak up often. You’re now washing the dishes as he packs up the rest of the picnic. He’s bringing you abandoned dishware, dropping the occasional spoon or cup into the sink with an apologetic face you meet with a smile. You’re almost finished when you hear his footsteps come up behind you, you’re waiting for him to put another dish in the sink but instead, he just stops behind you. You feel like you can see the broad shadow he’s casting over the sink area as he stands. You try to stay calm, ignoring the way you buzz under his gaze until you finish the dishes. 

You take your gloves off and turn to him with a smile. He already has a desperate look in his eye, one you had expected to see when he walked in earlier, it was the whole reason you whipped out your apron. You’d seen the way he’s been looking at you since you’ve been living with him so you wanted to test something out. But poor Steve came home too tired to give you any reaction. Now that he’s fed and energized though, the sundress that’s been hiding beneath your apron looks really good. He’s staring right down your cleavage, not even trying to hide his gaze and you don’t hide the obvious step forward you take to press his bulge against your lower stomach. His eyes flutter shut and he gives you a shaky exhale, his cool breath fanning over your face. 

“But my muffins…” You trail off, a soft pout resting on your face. He chuckles at you, a smile splitting his soft lips as he brings his hands to your cheeks and leans down. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He kisses you with everything he has and his hands immediately leave your face to reach your thighs, tapping them twice for you to jump. He lifts you, holding you with your legs wrapped around his waist tightly. He walks over to the island in his kitchen and sits you there with a groan as you bite into his lip softly. “I need you.”

He says it differently than he normally does, less frantic and urgent, more pleading, more needy. You caress his face gently and your heart warms at the way his eyes flutter shut.  “I know, Stevie.” He whimpers and leans into you, pressing you against the cold granite of the counter and draping you in his warmth. His hand is bunching in your dress, pulling them up to your hips, and moans, happily surprised to find you wearing nothing underneath. His eyes shoot open and lock with yours, painfully aroused by the shy smirk on your face. 

You giggle at him and push your hips up, prompting him to keep moving, he shakes his head at you, feigning disappointment as he turns his attention back to your leaking pussy. His rough jean material digs into your sensitive thighs and lips as he presses himself against you. Your hands fly to his belt desperately, pulling at any leather you can get your hands on and hoping you pull the right thing at some point. Steve lets you struggle, he watches your hands fumble on his belt, frantic for his cock. He tries not to let his smirk get on his face but your frustrated whine at his uncooperative belt forces the smile onto his face. He brings his hands down to gently pull yours away from his belt. 

You pout below him, upset that his belt wasn't working with you. He takes it off himself and wiggles his jeans down with his briefs, leaving just enough room for his cock and throbbing balls. He wraps his hand around his cock with a sigh, bringing your attention away from your little tantrum and back to him. He watches you look him over and your gaze locks on his red, throbbing cock. He waits for you to look back up at him but you don’t your eyes stay on his dick as he slowly pumps it. He’s trying to stay calm but your gaze is turning him on so much he’s started to leak onto you, a small string of precum dripping down from his tip and rolling down your mound, getting lost between your lips. 

You shiver and finally look up at him with begging eyes. He holds your contact, bringing one hand up to your face to keep it turned toward him as his other hand guides his dick into you. His breathing stutters at your overwhelming warmth, at the way he’s instantly coated in your slick. He takes a deep breath and leans down to you, pressing his chest against yours before pushing the rest of his cock into you. You scream out his name and your hands bury in his hair, his favorite feeling. “Just like that, Stevie. Right there, my love.”

His eyes roll back at your praise and his hands come to your hips, pulling you onto him while he thrusts into you with all the energy he has left. His head is resting on your chest, his ear on your heart, and listening to the way it’s pounding. His eyes are clenched shut, trying to focus on your pleasure instead of the way you’re sucking him in. He’s already pulsing inside you and you’re fluttering around him. Your hips keep twitching in his grip, trying to fuck yourself on his dick faster than he wanted to fuck you. Even though his hands are stopping your hips from moving, your pussy still chokes him every time you try, uncontrollably tightening on him and forcing groan after groan from his lips. 

He grinds his hips into you slowly, nudging his tip into your cervix and his patch of curls into your clit; the perfect combination, Steve knows it too. He already has a smirk on his face when your moans kick up, pitching into something ethereal. His hips snap into you more desperately as he feels his balls tense. He lifts his head off of your chest and your hands are pulling his face to yours instantly. You moan into his lips, your lips wet and bitten against his, he can’t help the whines that fall into you. His hands leave your hips to hold your face to his as his hips take on a mind of their own, fucking into you with a pace that’ll have both of you exploding in a matter of minutes. 

Your face is stuck in a shocked, silent moan as you stare at him, little whimpers resembling his name are the only noises he’s able to get out of you until your eyes roll back and you go limp against him. Ragged moans shoot out of you as you suffocate him, your hands almost ripping his hair from his head as he thrusts into you, chasing his orgasm as he watches your eyes cross. His cock throbs again, a warning before it explodes inside you. 

You can feel his warmth burst and spread throughout you and he grunts your name against your lips. His eyes shut tight, every muscle pulled tense as he shakes against you. The only sounds coming from him are gruff curses and your name. His hands are shaking as he cradles your face, keeping it close to his as his hips jerk into you, thrusting with the aftershocks of his orgasm before collapsing against you. You stroke his hair with a soft sigh as you try to even your breathing. He’s just resting against you, so loose you feel like he could slide onto the floor. 

All the stress from his day is gone. He thinks he could do this, deal with the stress of his job, whatever stress his outside life throws at him. He'll be okay as long as he's coming home to you.

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, here's the rest of my Kinktober Works and be sure to check out my Main Masterlist!!

[ramblingoak]

Hello! I apologize if you don’t take requests btw but if you do , do you think you can write head cannons of what the papas would do for their s/o with Covid when you can? <3(I totally didn’t js find out that I had Covid 😀) again super sorry if u don’t take requests!🖤

Hey! I hope you are feeling much much better. Apologies this took a bit to finish. I ended up getting Covid last week myself so clearly karma got me for taking too long xD. This did end up being more for readers that are just kind of sick in general but I hope you still enjoy the little drabble I did for each Papa 💙

Warnings: short and sweet, pretty fluffy and fairly silly, there are some suggestive comments but these are mostly sfw, readers are all gender neutral, not beta read so pls ignore any mistakes

Mayo Rub ~ Primo x GN!Reader

“Are you going to be grumpy about this the whole time I’m sick?”  Primo scoffed and continued to aggressively turn the pages in his gardening magazine.  “Well?”

“You are mistaken, I’m not grumpy about anything.”

“Then why are you pouting over pictures of tulips?”

“They’re not tuli–”  Primo stopped abruptly, roughly closing his magazine and getting up from the couch.  When he glanced over your way you raised an eyebrow at him.  “They’re lilies.”

“Fine, lilies.”  You took a moment to cough into your elbow, knowing that he was now frowning because it had been getting progressively worse as the day had worn on.  “But you admit that you’re pouting.”

“Why must you be so difficult?”  When you couldn’t answer right away due to another coughing fit he wandered over to the bed, wringing his hands with worry.  “Fogliolina, I’m only trying to help.”

He was ready with your bottle of water when you were able to look up, meeting his concerned gaze sheepishly.  With a shrug you took the bottle from him, taking a deep drink to try and soothe your throat before attempting to answer.

“The store bought stuff is working fine.”  You ignored his muttered ‘clearly’ and pressed on,  “Look I just don’t buy into the…you know.”  Primo raised his eyebrow as you wiggled the fingers of one hand in his direction.  “Plant magic.”

“It’s not magic, my little leaf.”  The unspoken ‘idiota’ hung between you but you decided to be gracious and ignore it.  “They are natural remedies that have been used for hundreds, no, thousands of years!”

“Fine.  If I let you work some of your plant magic will you stop pouting?”

“It’s not–”  He took a deep breath, blowing it slowly out through his nose before continuing.  “SÍ, I will stop pouting.”

“Alright then, have at it.”  Primo gave you a pleased smile before leaning in to press a quick kiss to your forehead.  He was frowning when he pulled away, bringing his hand up to press against the warm skin his lips just touched.  When he muttered something under his breath in Italian and turned away you grabbed at the sleeve of his sweater and tugged him back.  “Fogliolina?”

“Just promise not to rub mayonnaise or whatever on my chest.”

“Che cazzo?  Why wou–nevermind.”  

You had to bite your lip to stop from laughing at the impressively annoyed look on his face.  He took a deep breath before shooting you a look that usually either predicated a lecture or him demanding you remove your clothes.  Unfortunately you knew that right now it meant the former.  You decided to go easy on the man that was about to work his…whatever on you.

“I love you Primo.”

“As you should.”  The both of you shared a smile before he clapped his hands together and turned back to head out the bedroom door.  “Sit tight fogliolina, I’ll be back with the mayonnaise in just a few moments.”

Your laughter quickly brought on another coughing fit but you waved him away when he looked back at you.  

“Go!  Get your potions old man, I’ll still be here.”

“I’m going to make sure of it, my little leaf, don’t you worry.”

Secret Ingredient ~ Secondo x GN!Reader

“Is it salt?”

You hid your face in the neck of the sweater you had borrowed.  The fabric was soft and warm, with the bonus of smelling like the man it belonged to.  Secondo let out an aggrieved sigh from where he was standing over the stove before turning around with an eyebrow raised.

“Salt?  Really?” 

“Fancy salt?”

“SÌ, the secret ingredient of the chicken noodle soup recipe passed down through my mother’s family for generations is fancy salt.”  He gave you a little smile when he caught you pouting.  “Would you like a taste, dolcezza?”

“Yes, please.” 

Secondo got a spoonful and blew on it as he walked over to the kitchen table.  He held it to your lips with great care, watching the expression on your face change as you tasted it.  When you gave him a pleased smile he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“You feel a little warm again, would you like to lay down?”

“No, no I’m fine.  I want to stay out here with you.”  That earned you another kiss before he turned and went back to the stove.  You licked the taste of the soup off your lips before taking another guess.  “Rosemary?”

“That’s not much of a secret, dolcezza.”

“Parsley?”

“Parsley is a necessity, certainly not l’ingrediente segreto.”  

“Ok fine, how about Primo’s parsley?”

Secondo chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled two bowls from a cupboard and started to fill them with the soup he’d labored over almost all afternoon.  You had been stuck between desperately wanting him close because you felt bad but also not wanting him to get sick.  When you’d tried to explain this he had gone on about some nonsense of the Emeritus line having strong constitutions and rarely becoming ill.  Whatever.  You’d remember his speech the next time he was whining over a cold.

“All of the ingredients are from Primo’s gardens, as you know.”  

He set your bowl down in front of you before taking a seat himself.  You let yourself get distracted for a bit looking at his exposed forearms.  It was one of the reasons you enjoyed watching him cook.  He’d roll up his sleeves and you’d get to daydream about his arms while he worked.  Your eyes finally looked up from staring at the dark hair covering his skin to find him smirking at you.  

“Get over yourself.”  He knocked his foot against yours under the table and you flashed him a smile before bringing a spoonful to your lips.  Like most everything he made it tasted amazing.  You let out a delighted little hum before taking another guess.  “Basil?”

“Again, not a secret.”

You frowned down at your bowl as you tried to think of what was so damn secret about his soup.  He had even refused to tell Copia earlier when he’d come by asking for the recipe.  It had to be something extremely uncommon for him to be so weird about it.  But he always got a little weird when he was making you something special, especially if it was an old recipe of his mother’s.  Secondo always took such great care when he recreated them, like he was pouring his love for his mother into them as he worked…oh.  You reached across the table and laid a hand on his arm, squeezing it gently when he looked at you.

“I love you too, Secondo.”

“What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?”  When he didn’t elaborate you pulled your hand away and crossed your arms over your chest.  “The secret ingredient.  It’s love.”

“Love isn’t an ingredient.”

“Yes it is.”

“No dolcezza, it isn’t.”

“I bet your mother would agree with me.”

Secondo snorted, rolling his eyes as he moved his chair closer to yours.  It was close enough he could wrap an arm around your shoulders and tuck you close to his side.  After placing a few kisses into your hair he pulled away and cupped your cheek.

“I have no doubt that if my mother was still here you and her would run circles around me.”

“Just admit it.  I promise I won’t tell anyone.”  When he didn’t say anything you grinned, his silence was all the confirmation you needed.  “It’s love.”

“It’s paprika.”

Satan Magic ~ Terzo x GN!Reader

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Terzo groaned, muttering under his breath as he pulled you closer to his chest.

“This is my church I can be wherever I want.”

“Oh your church, huh?”  You dug an elbow into his gut, grinning when he swore in Italian.  “Besides, you know what I mean.”

“SÌ, sÌ.  I know.”  He shoved a leg in between yours and rubbed his cold foot along your skin, holding you tighter when you tried to wiggle away.  “Ai!  Quit it, I'm trying to help.”

“How are your freakishly cold feet supposed to help me?”

“You have to warm them up first.”

“Satan’s dick, Terzo.”  A fit of coughing came over you then and you tried to ignore how nice it was to have Terzo’s hand rubbing your back as your body shook.  It took you a moment to catch your breath and you sniffled as you shamelessly pressed back against his warm chest.  “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“How many times must I say this?  I don’t get sick.”  

“I seem to remember a few days last year that you were definitely sick and whining in this bed just like me.”

“Those were allergies and completely different.”

“Whatever you say Papa.”

His chest vibrated against your back when he groaned.

“Don’t talk like that right now, it’s not fair.”  You giggled as you pushed back against him, trying to get as close as possible.  He was so warm, it was exactly what you needed right now.  Terzo tightened his arms around your waist for a moment before pressing his lips against your ear.  “Would you like to hear a secret?”

“Always.”  

“It’s because I’m a Papa that I don’t get sick.”

You frowned, turning your head to the side to look at him as best you could.

“What?”

“My family line has been blessed by Lucifer himself.  It is not often that an Emeritus falls ill.”

“But he’ll let you suffer through allerg–hey!”  

He got another elbow in the gut after he pinched your hip and you both wrestled a bit under the blankets.  Terzo managed to turn you so that your chests were pressed together and you took advantage of the new position to tuck your face into his neck.  Your nose was severely stuffed up but you could still smell his cologne and it was so good you let your body go limp in his arms.

“Don’t worry about me, eh?  I want to be close to you, to take care of you.”

“Alright, fine.  I just hope your Satan magic protects you from this.”

Terzo snorted and started to card his fingers through your hair.  It didn’t take long before the soothing movement helped you begin to drift off.  You felt his lips against your temple and you smiled, opening your eyes to meet his gaze.

It was unfortunate that it was the exact moment he sneezed into your face.

Stolen Soup ~ Copia x GN!Reader

Copia always got a little anxious when you were sick. 

It was part hating that you felt bad at all and also part him not wanting to catch what you had.  He hated getting sick and was always the worst patient.  In contrast you generally preferred to be left alone.  All you wanted to do was sleep and unfortunately you just found yourself getting irritated when Copia kept bugging you. 

“Copia I’m fine!  I just want to sleep.”  Oh here we go, the pout.  You groaned, rolling your eyes as you fell back onto the pillows.  “You’ve got better things to do anyway.”

“The only thing I need to do right now is take care of you.”  He had that stubborn look on his face, the one he gave Imperator when it was time to ask for a bigger costume budget.  “Amore, please?  Let me make sure you’re going to be alright.  Would you do this for your Papa?”

You could never win in a battle against that dopey look on his face so you just huffed and nodded your head.  His dazzling smile would be worth listening to him gloat later when he claimed it was only through his care you survived at all.  Copia began to hum to himself as he grabbed the big tote bag he came in with, quickly pulling things out and setting them at the foot of the bed. 

“What’s all this?”

“Ah, well I stopped by Primo’s for some salve to rub on your chest,”  You snorted when he wiggled his eyebrows at you.  “He also gave me some tea that will help your throat.  Secondo had some of his homemade soup in his fridge so I brought that as well.”

“Does Secondo know you took his soup?”  

“I left a note, he’ll get over it.”  

There was definitely no way Secondo would get over it but you decided to let it go.  When Copia started pulling some books out you sat up again and reached out for one. 

“I don’t think I have the energy to read right now.”  You ran your fingers over the worn cover of the book, flipping it open and seeing a short passage written in Italian on the first page.  “What does this say?”

“It’s a note to Terzo.”  Copia walked around the bed and gently took the book from you.  “From his mother.”

“Oh, Copia, maybe you should take it back.  I don't want anything to happen to it.”

“No no, this is what the book is for.  Sick days.”  He gave you a warm smile, leaning forward and kissing your forehead.  He was frowning when he pulled away, muttering something about taking your temperature.  “Terzo’s mother read this to him when he was a child and then Terzo used to read this to me.”

“So now it’s my turn?”

He looked over at you with a fond smile, his hands full of remedies and stolen soup. 

“Si amore, now it’s your turn.”

My Masterlist

My Archive of Our Own

Thank you to @gothdaddyissues for the dividers and @foxybouquet with the Italian help 💙

[chknbzkt]

He’s been done for two weeks but I was holding him ransom for me to finish Roxy 😭 but here ya go!

I literally just based him off a more dexterous Kaprosuchus if that means anything 💀 those guys are dragons in their own right

I like the one on the bottom left the most <3

Stuff and things under the cut!

Tucked away from the cold up north in the Icerun, Scrimshaw Marsh gets its name from the abundance of ancient dead things (their skeletons specifically) peppered throughout and overgrown with rich plant life. These hallmarks of ages past make perfect hiding spots for big toothy things like our boy here to get the drop on the unwary.

Montgomery lives a life of rugged solitude, as while he’s certainly nothing to scoff at he is far from the only varmint prowling these muddy waters. As such, plenty of folks tend to steer clear of the far south of Scrimshaw altogether, as he and the rest of the bitey things frequent those waters more often than not.

Monty himself has amassed a reputation (knowing or otherwise) as an indiscriminate sinker of boats and a terror of villages who depend on the marsh for food and resources. That said, no one has ever truly laid eyes on him, as those he targets at what seems to be random never actually live to tell about it.

As such, more and more unrest and discontent among the locals is on the rise, as these attacks didn’t start until fairly recently and the rest of the wildlife was fairly well-behaved in comparison until this outlier started making a mess.

Which is to say, whether he’s aware of it, Monty here has a bounty on his head, he’s been labeled a “problem dragon” and all sorts of monster hunters can come forward and deal with him as they please, just so long as he doesn’t cause trouble for the locals any further.

Some are far less gracious than others.

That all said, I did say these attacks occurred at seemingly random… though some quieter folks whisper to those who will listen that they’ve seen eyes unlike the foreboding dim yellow of the shades, peering at them from the marshes on their way home with their haul in the evening hours, watching them, judging them…

They’d been caught out and away from the safety of their homes past sunset, and the shades that dwell in the muggy wetness of the mangroves and bones eagerly descended upon them.

For sure they would have vanished and their children left wondering what happened to them.

Instead the marshes, gone eerily, knowingly silent in anticipation of the harrowing fate of the unfortunate fishing couple, exploded with raucous splashes and uproarious thrashing.

Almost as soon as the fiercesome ruckus started, it was over. Another, more intense pair of eyes that seemed to glow with not malice but something else less antagonistic, continued to ogle them from the privacy of the reeds.

…and they made it home safe and sound as the piercing red lights sunk quietly into the marsh.

Call them old and foolish, perhaps there’s more to this mess than meets the eye.

[thejujvtsupost]

Smitten: The First Date

It’s been way too long since I’ve updated this series and I have so many ideas for them coming up. Lmk if you wanna be added to the series taglist!

Notes: F!reader, first official date, anxiety and jitters, fluff. Just really fluffy.

“Satoru you’re already running late, I’ll be okay here.”

“The kids will understand. Do you want another blanket?” Gojo’s class started three minutes ago and he refused to leave his office until he was sure you were set.

You’d been taking up the couch in his office during the day for the last few weeks, it soothed some of Gojo’s anxiety about leaving you alone now that his energy was rubbing off on you.

You nodded your head and Gojo draped another throw over your body. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer before your leg healed so you could freely walk; maybe then your boyfriend would relax. (Unlikely) “The kids rely on their teacher to be on time, but thank you. We should bring in a space heater tomorrow, how did you get by without having one in here so far?”

“You’re always cold, and it’s not that bad usually but I don’t spend much time in here; too lonely. You know I’m not far and text me if you need anything at all. I’ll see you for lunch?”

“Go be a teacher before Yaga decides to hire someone with better attendance please.”

“Kiss first!” He exclaimed and kissed your lips before pulling away with a ‘mwah!’ sound, leaving you laughing at his cartoonish display.

You just shook your head at him while reigning yourself in, “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Are you sure about this, Kugisake? It looks like a lot with the flowers on the table too.”

“Girls love surprises, Sensei. Last time Fushiguro poked his head in she was asleep, this is literally the perfect time.” Nobara was putting the finishing touches on the makeshift dining table, while Yuuji and Megumi plated the food- something they took surprisingly seriously. Really they just wanted to impress you. “You should go get her before the food gets cold.”

Gojo followed the directions given to him by the 15 year old girl and took the short trip down the hall.

You were still sound asleep, and he heavily debated on postponing but the kids were indiscreetly spying on him. He couldn’t back out on it.

“Hey, baby, it’s time for lunch.” He knelt down to your level and rubbed your shoulder until you stirred- he hated waking you up. He hated it a little less when you gave him your half asleep smile.

“Lunch?” The coffee table was empty, usually he brought lunch with him.

“We’re actually going on a little mission, you and I. So up you go!”

“‘Toru! Crutches!” He had you in his arms and out of the room before you could even reach for them.

“Nope!” What did he mean no? How long was he going to carry you?

“Ta-da!” Apparently not long. Your boyfriend sat you in a chair and did jazz hands at the display in front of you- you put together then that it was a date. Your first date.

It was all arranged carefully and the food made your stomach grumble. “‘Toru this is wonderful! You didn’t have to do all this!”

“The kids helped, they’d kill me if I didn’t give partial credit.”

“I kinda figured since there’s three mysteriously floating heads spying on us in the doorway behind you.”

Gojo turned around, shooed them away with only some complaints, before closing the door and returned to your lunch date. “I know our relationship hasn’t evolved in the most traditional ways but I still wanted you to know that I care about the normal stuff too. A lot has been going on but I hadn’t even taken you out yet.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything-”

“I know,” Gojo sighed. “But I pulled you into a world you never knew existed and now you’re stuck with my baggage too. I think you’re doing great by the way, you haven’t even tried escaping.”

“Tried escaping- you’re ridiculous sometimes Satoru. Your world isn’t baggage, I know it can be cruel at times but it’s not all bad. It’s just a different experience, but I feel like I found my place with you all; I’ve never had that before…”

“You always have a place where I am, always.” His tone was serious enough to make your heart feel warm. Sometimes Gojo catches you off guard with how much he cares. His silliness is only one piece of the puzzle that is your boyfriend.

“Well I guess it’s good that I wanna be where you are, always.”

You both smiled at each other, and if you chose to ignore the sets of peeping eyes through the classroom window; then that was between you and the first years.

Prev <- Index -> Next

Thinking about making a request? Check my bio and see if they’re open!

[ribbons111]

Track 5: You’re On Your Own Kid

Jess Mariano

Summary. Jess falls in love just to leave everything behind for New York.

Warning. heartbreak. fluff. angst.

A whole town could fit in one room.

A room of over two thousand people yet I’m unamused by not one.

I swirled the cup in hand, some random red cherry drink that tastes like tart lemon.

I felt my seat shift as some guy, around my age, sat himself down.

I have seen him around town the past couple of weeks.

I have grown to learn not to interact with him, a trouble maker, he’s the new town gossip.

“Didn’t take you for one to party,” I sarcastically pointed to what seemed like anything but a party.

The room held a solid cold feel to it, a boring crowd.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he answered “Luke grounded me, feels like I’m on a tight leash.” 

“What did you do?” I asked, sure am one for gossip.

“If I told you, you would probably police me like this whole shit town does” he refused, his eyes wandering around the room.

“I,” before I could reject his deception I was interrupted by Luke.

“Well, that’s my call, I’ll see you around”

The hot summer night air stilled around, too late for anyone to be out.

I lost track of time reading a new book I bought last night in the town square.

A door could be heard, slowly closing.

Jess, the boy from the party, slowly tip towed out of doose’s market with the open-closed sign in hand.

“Didn’t know doose’s closed up so late,” I said, surveying his figure.

He didn’t say anything, just kept walking.

I gasped “you were grounded for stealing, yet you do it again!”

It bothered me, the stoic unbothered feel he possessed so proudly.

“You read?” He asked, changing the subject to the book I had in hand.

“Yeah, I just finished this one,” I raised the book to my chest, “not that great, I mean the writing is moving, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t like what I was reading. I didn’t like the story line.” I walked a few steps ahead, “What about you? What do you do in this life of yours? You know, other than stealing towns.” 

“And so I get policed on” he mumbled, stuffing the sign into his armpit. 

I don’t say anything, I just walk to Luke’s diner to drop Jess off, assuming that’s his next destination.

“Well,” I gestured to Luke’s door, bidding him farewell “bye, Jess” I waved off.

“You know my name…” he said, slightly shocked, “what’s yours? only seems fair for the name thing to go both ways.”  

He didn’t walk in, he stood by the door waiting for a reply.

His eyes bore holes into my skin, I felt myself burn.

“Good night Jess” I smiled, walking off.

“Good night,” he chuckled, waiting for me to walk away.

“New sign?” I asked Luke, sipping my coffee.

“New what?” Luke came back to my seat looking around to what I pointed to, not having heard me.

Jess appeared behind Luke’s back gesturing me to stop.

I smiled shaking my head “sign” 

“New wha- oh my god, Jess!” He screamed, noticing the changed sign on the door.

“Yes uncle Luke?” Jess answered, putting down his notepad.

“When we open tomorrow that better be back to its place, and I better have my old sign!” He scolded, taking off his cap angrily walking towards the stairs, Jess following.

“If he grounds me again, your meat.” Jess seethed at me, turning his head to walk up the stairs.

“We’ll see,” I mumbled, taking long sips of my drink.

“Where is it?!” I can hear Luke’s voice upstairs rummaging through Jess’s belongings.

Jess could be heard lightly, the thick walls not conducting his voice that well.

It’s good that not a lot of people are in today, or this would’ve been very embarrassing.

“This, this, all of this! I thought we talked about this already! Return everything back, and pack your stuff, you're not staying here for long!” Luke screamed, running down the stairs and into the diner then out the door.

I felt bad, terrible actually.

I didn’t know that what Jess did was such a big deal, and I didn’t know what I said would impact him that much.

I pulled myself up and to the second floor where I could hear things being thrown here and there.

“Jess?” I whispered nervously knocking the door.

The sun was pouring out of the window behind him as he walked around the room pulling little trinkets and chucking them into his bag.

I felt my chest tighten, maybe it’s because I’m nervous he’s going to scream at me, maybe it’s because he looks so good right now, maybe because it’s the first time I see into his personal life.

Jess caught me staring, rolling his eyes as he stomped his way to me, but before he could put any word in I started rambling him out with apologies “I’m sorry Jess, I didn’t mean to. If I had known it was that big of a deal I wouldn’t have, I’m really sorry Jess, please forgive me.”

“It’s fine” Jess huffed, going back to pushing his belongings into a small duffel bag “it’s my fault, I’m the one who switched the sign and stole all these things”

“You can stay overnight if you want, I don’t mind really, my way of saying sorry,” I tried to fix what I did “and for all this, you should really put it back, I’ll help you”

“Thank you,” he sighed, stopping his movements “but I’m fine, I don’t need your help”

“Please Jess, we can eat pizza and watch a movie after,” I tried to persuade him “your pick.”

Jess swung his bag on his shoulders as he carried two trash bags of all the things he stole for the past couple of months.

He stepped out into the hallway with me “lead the way.”

The sun was near down and after such a long day we were both exusted, some more than others.

“Come on Jess, last stop.” I urged him on kocking on babettes door to return her gnome.

“No, I’m not knocking the door of some old woman’s house, that's how horror books start” he huffed, turning a corner.

“Babette is the sweetest, here I’ll knock” I pulled the statue from his hands as we walked up babettes patio.

I knocked the door three times as babettes ruffling could be heard from the other side, “wait, I’ll be there in a moment!”

“Oh hi dear, come in, come in” she paused in shock realizing why I’m here and what I’m holding “Pierpont, oh honey!” She exclaimed, pulling the gnome from my hand.

“Oh, thank you darling!” She pulled me in for a hug, pausing as she noticed Jess behind me.

She knew that he stole her gnome as she was fighting Luke the other day for him to return it.

“Your welcome” I smiled.

“Come in, I’ve made muffins!” She gushed, ushering me into her home.

“Oh no need to bother, we were just making a stop, maybe next time” I said, backing into the patio.

The sun had set and the town fell into a quietness again, just how I like it.

Jess and I walked side to side, the sound of our tapping feet on the pavement was the only thing to be heard.

“These are really good” Jess spoke up after a long silence.

“Yeah, Babettes muffins are the best! I visit her every two weeks and she always sends me home with a batch, maybe next time you can visit her with me.”

He hummed in response, opening the small gate for me to walk through.

“My parents are still home and if they knew I’m having a boy over they would probably skin me alive” I said, walking him to the side of the house, where my window could be seen.

“Climb up this tree, that’s my room right there” I said, pointing to my window as he nodded.

I pulled away his duffle bag to carry it inside “don’t fall!”

“You have boys here often?” Jess asked, chewing a piece of pizza.

The movie could be heard in the background but it was some horrible romcom and we both had gotten bored 15 minutes in.

“Nope, what made you think that?” I asked, sipping my soda.

“You just seem experienced with the escape route.” 

“Oh..it’s nothing like that, I just don’t like staying home that much, I use that tree to get out myself.”

“To read?” He asked.

“Mostly, yes, to read.” I got off the floor while I gathered the pizza box to throw out.

Jess sat in the middle of the floor, so out of place, in a room that was a filled with pastel pinks and ruffles and lace.

His leather jacket was thrown on my pink comforter and I felt my chest tighten.

He looked so out of place yet so perfect like he belonged here.

“You didn’t answer me last time, what do you enjoy doing?” I asked.

“I like music, and reading as well,” he answered.

“What do you like reading?”

“I like the classics, Hemingway,” he started rambling on about movies and books and music but couldn’t hear anything.

I felt like I was flouting between what’s real and what’s fake.

“I have wanted to read that book.” I say as soon as I hear him saying the name of a random book.

I never wanted to read that book.

But now that he has read it I wanted to read it too.

This feels like a dream.

Jess inside my room feels like a dream.

He stopped talking as he stared at me like I did him, it felt like being caught.

“Where did you live before stars hollow?” I asked again.

“New York, with my mom.” he mumbled.

I get the feeling that he doesn’t talk about this normally.

The sun poured into my room in soft rays.

“Jess?” I lazily mumbled, looking around the room for him.

His jacket is gone and so is his bag.

He probably left before I could wake up.

I screamed, stuffing my face into my pillow.

I haven’t seen Jess for a while now.

I wait patently, it’s okay we were the best of friends.

I dropped by the diner regularly for the past week looking for him but he is never there.

I even asked Luke a couple of times and I always earn a: why would I know where that kid ever is!?

Although three days ago I found the book he was talking about on my desk, annotated.

That book is the only thing holding me back from running around town looking for the trouble maker.

I’ve finished the book Jess gave me but I still haven’t seen him to thank him for it or even talk about anything else.

I can’t forget about his scent or his leather jacket.

I can’t forget about the way he talks or his laugh.

My every thought is consumed by his being.

A few months passed and I found myself standing in the corner of another lame town party.

I swirl my drink in hand, a sweet lime juice this time.

A room of over two thousand people yet I’m on the tip of my toes looking for one in particular.

I search the part of better bodies just to learn that he would never care, just to learn that my dreams aren’t there, aren’t here with me.

“Didn’t take you for one to party” his voice sounds like a godsend.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m only here for this boy” I smiled, “5’9, brown hair, leather jacket, looks like he could bite you.” 

Jess didn’t say anything.

He just stood a foot away from me, staring at my face.

“I missed you” I said softly.

“Missed you more” he smiled, wrinkling the corner of his eyes.

I hugged him tightly, inhaling the smell of cigarettes, cheap cologne, and rain.

The leather jacket I’ve dreamed oh so much of crinkled between my fingers.

“Where have you been!” I pushed him away to look into his eyes.

“I went back to New York. Did you like the book?” He asked.

“Yeah I did, piece of art.” I noticed Patty and Babette whispering while pointing at us, once they caught my eye they pretended that the ceiling was more interesting " Do you wanna walk outside?” I asked searching his face for any indication that he knows where I’m leading him to.

“Sure, let’s go.”

We talked about the weather and the music, his trip to New York and where he’s staying, his school and reading patterns, new town gossip and Babettes muffins, my new cat and his uncle, the stars and aliens, literature and artificial intelligence.

I returned to the same spot I saw him.

I sat on the same bench, in the same room I had met Jess six months ago.

I stared into his eyes as he breathed out knowingly.

He knew.

He knew why I missed him.

He knew why my cheeks were always pink.

He knew that my heart felt heavy.

He knew that I fell in love with him.

For the first time, I took a leap of faith, I kissed him.

He pulled away, stilling the air around us.

I looked into his eyes, panicking, looking for any indication that he isn’t interested, he doesn’t want this, he is disgusted by me, I had ruined what we had.

And for the first time, Jess Mariano kissed me like the whole world depended on it.

Jess kissed me like all of the books I read.

Jess kissed me like I never thought anyone ever would.

Jess kissed me and I felt the way one feels looking at a great painting, complete.

We were forced to push away, breathing for air.

“You better not leave again” I gasped as he went back in for more.

I felt light headed like I could fly.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” he breathed against my lips. “maybe you can come with me.”

“Jess, don’t leave, not yet, please” I pleaded.

I can’t have my heart ache for him again, not again.

“I have to, I have work” he sighed, playing with my fingers.

“Jess please” I muttered looking at our intertwined fingers.

“I’ll take you out on a date, I’ll call you every day at 8 PM and I’ll visit whenever I can.” He assured me.

“I’ll miss you,” I snuggled up to him gloomily.

“Hey, don’t be like that” he groaned, pulling me closer.

And so I filled my nights in a parking lot, planning on running away every single time.

I read books I know he likes and I listen to songs I know he listens to.

I sleep every night waiting for him, wishing one day I could join him in such a big city like New York.

It’s 8 PM again, I touch my phone as it fits his face.

The rain was pouring heavily, as the heavy raindrops could be heard tapping on the window.

And the sound of heavy knocking and door bells.

I was left home alone, studying.

The knocking and ringing didn't stop, only proceeding to be more frantic as I started walking down the stairs.

I contemplated opening the door.

It is a small town anyways who would want to murder me.

I pulled open the door as a very rain soaked, heavily breathing, flushed Jess stood in front of me.

The last time I saw him was the night of our first kiss.

I wasn't prepared to sit face to face with him again.

I wasn't prepared to talk with him again.

Everytime I rang him up the other line would go dead.

Everytime I stood in front of the bus contemplating on whether to get a ticket or not I feel unfulfilled in doing so.

I return home, sit in my bed, and read his annotations.

I would think of him, trying to put together the way he used to talk, how his voice sounds, how he looks.

But here he is, Jess in all his glory.

His hair stuck to his forehead.

His clothes hung to his body, dark and heavy.

His face was flushed with color and feelings and emotions.

I frown, my heart breaking as I went to close the door “I tried,” he sighed out.

“I tried,” he said again, pushing the door open with the palm of his hand, “to forget about you, about this.” He breathed out.

“I was scared every time you called.” He spoke without breaking eye contact, not even for a split second.

“I’m terrible at this type of stuff. I get terrified at the thought of you, of what we could have.” He said in a fast pace, fitting everything in one breath “but I want this, as much as I tried to refrain myself. I always go back to you, like the water I drink, like the air I breathe” and he says he’s not a romantic.

This time around it was his turn, his leap of faith.

He pushed forwards, placing his lips on mine.

Suddenly pulling away, he searched for approval in my eyes.

I kissed him back just as passionate as he just did, maybe even more.

I pushed him on to the shoe rack as he tripped, laughing while he did.

“Bout’ time you let me into your front door.” He smiled.

“Jess, do you want to go upstairs?” I asked as he looked at me in surprise.

“Oh come on, don't get too excited '' I laughed, pulling him upward onto his feet again.

I breathed in the autumn New York City breeze.

I called a taxi to take me there.

After giving the location of Jesse’s apartment, I looked out the window.

I wonder why Jess loves this town so much.

My knees were bouncing, I felt nervous.

The clock read 7:48 PM, nearly 8.

I stepped out of the taxi into New York. 

Into the place in Jess’s heart.

I walked up the stairs rather than the elevator, I had time to kill.

Finding his door was easy, but waiting till it hit 8 wasn’t.

When this time came, I rang the doorbell, the feeling of excitement building up in my chest.

But Jess wasn’t the one to open the door.

Rory, the girl I know oh so well, stood in front of me, shocked to see me here.

“Jess, someone’s out to see you,” my dreams are not rare.

“No, that’s um- that’s fine, I’ll be on my way.” I left the hallway in disbelief.

And in the loud city of New York, I could hear Jess’s voice aloud calling out for me.

[clonemando]

@blackat-t7t Here is your Fox/Thorn H/C with a cuddle pile at the end. Enjoy.

There was a ringing snap as the old rusted barrier along the walkway gave out under the weight of a fully armored trooper crashing into it and Thorn watched as Fox’s gaze met his own wide with fear before he was falling backward over the edge. Thorn dove for him with a scream but his fingers barely brushed over Fox’s chestplate before his partner was gone swallowed up by the dark depths of Coruscant’s seemingly endless levels the same way many cadets ended up swallowed by Kamino’s waves.

For a moment he just stared feeling a void echoing the one he was staring at being torn open in his chest. Then Rex’s voice broke him from his daze.

“I didn’t mean- I didn’t- Thorn I- Fox-” He struggled to get anything out, horror replacing the rage that had been on his expression just minutes earlier as he corned them on their patrol to yell at Fox for avoiding him.

“You didn’t mean to kill him? Like he meant to kill Fives you mean? Well, you did. Guess you’re the brother killer now, Rex. Congratulations on your revenge.” Thorn said, voice level and empty as he watched Rex flinch and step back.

“What- What do we do now? Do we call-” Rex started eyes flickering around as if looking for some sort of help.

“Call who Rex? The Guard? I am the Guard and there’s nothing I can do now. He’s gone. He’s not a person, there won’t be an investigation. He’s not the first we lost over an edge and he won’t be the last and there’s never anything to do. You just… finish your patrol. Report the lost republic property to the Chancellor and put a few troopers on double shifts until we can get a replacement from Kamino.” He said starting to walk again. He had to finish his patrol. He was already late now and Fox would be upset if Thorn got himself punished for being late.

“You can’t just… just keep working! Shouldn’t you call Thire or something? There’s bereavement leave. The Kaminoans even approved it to keep their products at their most effective. The Jedi-” Rex started as he followed Thorn and finally he snapped.

“If you have forgotten, the Guard doesn’t have a Jedi. We had Fox. That’s it! We had Fox and he could only get us so much because he’s not considered a person either! Now we don’t even have him and we will all need to take triple shifts to cover all the stuff he has been shouldering on our behalf! I don’t have anyone available to cover this patrol. That’s why Fox and I were doing it. We just lost three shinies to senators and a full team was wiped out in a gang raid the week before. We don’t get things like leave or whatever the kriff bereavement is. The Guard belongs to the Senate, the Jedi abandoned us, just like you GAR bucketheads. So kriff off and go cry to your jedi for your extra days off and let me take care of my family. You’ve done enough Rex.” He spat darkly before turning on his heel and continuing his patrol. Rex didn’t follow him this time.

He raised his wrist to access his coms after another ten minutes.

“This is Commander Thorn reporting a 9-12 slash D. Commander Fox was lost to faulty railing in Sector 12-A. We will discuss promotions and schedule changes at the dawn shift change. As his second the Marshal position falls to me now. Carry on with your duties.” He murmured numbly before letting his arm fall and continuing to move on autopilot almost hoping the Separatists would chose to attack now so he’d have an excuse to shoot something. But the rest of the patrol was quiet.

~

Fox was exhausted. He had spent the last two days slogging through filth and fighting off the weird pollution corrupted creatures that prowled the lowest levels just to make his way to the closest working lift. Then he had to sit on the floor listening to the worst possible sort of music as he slowly ascended out of the dark toward his family and home. His arm was definitely broken and Shark was going to shoot him up with every hypo they had with complaints about the bite wounds he had getting infected but Fox was pretty sure he had gotten off easy.

He couldn’t explain how he was alive. The concussion made it hard to think straight but even with that he knew he had to have fallen at least 100 levels if not more. But at the last minute something had caught him and slowed his fall enough the injuries were survivable. He didn’t really take stock in the Jedi’s fancy force shit but maybe there was something out there looking out for him.

Once he was above the com-cut line where they lost signal to their coms he immediately reached out. “This is Commander Fox. I am injured and will need a medic and pick up from the lift in Sector 12-D, could someone also bring me some caff? I’m kriffing tired.” He grumbled into the line and smiled when it immediately started blowing up, resting his head against the side of the lift and letting his family’s furies and delighted voices wash over him like a warm blanket.

“Cut the chatter! Fox, Shark and I will be waiting for you once you reach the top. I… It’s good to hear from you but you have a lot of explaining on how you’re alive.” Thorn’s voice finally cut in and Fox’s smile grew.

“You’re going to be waiting until the Senate turns for that answer my rose, I have no kriffing clue. Woke up at the bottom with a concussion, broken arm and some jostled ribs but I was able to drag myself up and start walking to the lift not too long after the fall.” He sighed not even realizing he had used his pet name for Thorn until the line filled with cooing from the rest of the guard.

Fox passed out not long after that and only woke up again when Thorn was lifting him out of the elevator and onto a hover-cot and Shark started cursing him out. He squeezed Thorn’s hand then passed out again.

He flickered in and out of consciousness a few more times before finally waking up feeling better than he had felt in years. Blinking open his arms he was unsurprised to find Thorn plastered to his side and Hound using his stomach as a pillow. Shark must have allowed them to take him to the barracks at some point because he was laid out in the middle of the three mattresses they had shoved together at the beginning of the war so they could all sleep together and he was buried under his Guard.

“I thought… I thought you were gone for good. I thought I lost you.” Thorn’s voice was soft with fear and sleep and Fox ran his fingers through the long blond curls.

“Told you I was too stubborn to die. Can’t get rid of me that easily. I still have to scare the Senate into giving us rights so I can marry you one day.” He said with a small smile and Thorn sighed.

“While you were gone I shot the Chancellor. We’ve been dressing up in his robes and pretending he’s got the cornellian flu until we figure out what else to do but now you’re back it’s your problem. I’m taking a thing Rex told me was called bereavement.” Thorn said and Fox’s eyes opened fully from where he had started drifting off again.

“YOU DID WHAT?! THORN! I was gone two days!” He shrieked.

“He implied you were better off dead and I was in mourning. There’s scientific data proving making people work through grief lowers productivity. It’s not my fault!” Thorn whined and nuzzled his face in Fox’s neck while Fox tried to wiggle free but he couldn’t move from how he was buried under so many siblings.

“I’m going to kill you once I’m free. I’m going to kill all of you!” He growled but they all ignored him in favor of continuing their nap.

[skyward-floored]

Febuwhump Collab Day 10 — killing in self defense

Nobody asked for more of Sky and Warriors when they’re teenagers but I’m delivering more anyway lol. If you ever wondered how the events of skyward sword fit in with the Incredibles au, here’s your explanation.

Aka: I’m unnecessarily mean to Sky again.

Warnings for mentions of blood/injuries, some stuff about killing, and vomiting (though it isn’t too graphic)

Today’s lovely art

Ao3 link

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They’d decided not to say anything.

Sure they wouldn’t be able to keep it quiet forever— parts of it were still all over the news (spun as them causing needless destruction of course, despite the fact that they’d saved everyone) and a good block of the city had been totally destroyed— but Time and Malon had just gotten back from their honeymoon.

Their honeymoon that they’d already had to postpone for way too long and thought they might not even get to take because of all those stupid lawsuits.

At first Warriors and Sky had expected to have to explain everything once Time and Malon returned. They’d prepared for it, even. But when they had come back looking so happy, and Time more relaxed then Warriors had ever seen him... he’d made eye contact with Sky, and they’d decided it could wait.

Warriors didn’t want to burst their bubble with the news that he and Sky had stopped a plot to destroy the world and nearly been killed in the process.

(Besides, they’d handled it, right? There wasn’t really that much to tell.)

So they both agreed to just keep it quiet, and hide the pages of the newspaper with articles about the event. They only changed their bandages from the injuries they’d gotten while Time and Malon were busy, and Sky made sure to hide the limp he was still dealing with.

And Warriors was just starting to feel confident that their plan would work and maybe they wouldn’t ever have to bother Time with what had happened...

...when Sky suddenly cracked.

It was the evening two days after Time and Malon had gotten back, and Warriors was trying to find clean pajamas, digging through a pile of clothes that he was pretty sure were clean. Most of them smelled clean anyway, and aside from the shirt with the bloodstains (oops) and the socks that had been festering for at least a week (double oops), they all looked mostly clean too.

...Laundry hadn’t exactly been at the top of his priorities lately.

Warriors pulled out a shoe that had somehow been buried in the pile, and huffed at the teeth marks on the heel. He’d thought this pair had been safe from Twilight’s wolf teething, but apparently not.

Warriors rolled his eyes and set the shoe aside, then let out a noise of triumph as he finally unburied some pajamas that appeared unworn. He tossed them on, wincing as the movement pulled at an injury on his side, and then flopped on his bed, listening to Malon try and get Twilight to go back to sleep in the other room with a sigh.

He had to admit he’d missed having Twilight underfoot. He’d been left with his grandpa while Time and Malon were away, and while Warriors was a little offended they didn’t trust him and Sky to watch him for more then an afternoon, he was rather relieved his tiny nephew had been far away from everything that had happened.

It had been stressful enough without a barely one year-old to watch as well.

He could hear Malon singing a lullaby through the wall, steps creaking as she walked up and down the length of the room. The song was soothing, and Warriors bit back a yawn, closing his eyes for a second.

Mm, maybe I’ll just go to bed now...

A gagging sound interrupted his dozing, and Warriors startled, shooting up from the bed. It hadn’t come from the room Malon was in, and he poked his head out the door, quickly following the noise down the hallway to where he thought Sky had just been brushing his teeth.

And found Sky throwing up rather violently into the toilet, face pale and eyes wide and horrified.

Warriors ran to his side as he finished, Sky’s breathing little more than gasps, and his brother stared up at him, gaze haunted.

“Sky, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Warriors asked frantically, and Sky seemed to pale further.

“W-Wars I...” he wheezed, his face panicked, “Wars I killed him, I killed s-some—”

He gagged again and almost missed the toilet, and Warriors put his hands on his shoulders, holding him steady until he was finished.

“Sky, calm down,” he tried as Sky continued to choke on air, and when that didn’t work, he grabbed his hands, squeezing them tight. “Sky, please, you’re gonna hurt yourself, you have to breathe.”

Sky only wheezed, and Warriors watched him with a growing panic, unsure of what to do.

“Sky. You have to breathe,” Warriors repeated, giving his hands a harder squeeze and ignoring his own shaking fingers. “Don’t think about anything else, just take some deep breaths.”

Sky dragged in a breath that might’ve been slightly deeper than the ones before, but he still wasn’t breathing the way he should be. At the rate he was going, he would likely pass out.

But what could he do? Sky was completely freaking out, and Warriors was beginning to as well.

Sky gagged on a cough, and Warriors shot a panicked glance out into the hallway as quick footsteps came down it. Time appeared in the doorway, and immediately got to a knee beside Sky, his face creased with concern as he gently stepped past where Sky’s wings were splayed.

“Sky, what’s wrong?” he asked, putting his hands on his shoulders.

“I-I, I ki...” Sky wheezed, shaking like a leaf, “T-Time I was...”

He couldn’t get enough words out for Time to understand, and Time looked over at Warriors, confusion and worry on his face. Warriors made a helpless gesture, and Sky wheezed again and brought Time’s attention back to himself.

Time focused on getting Sky to properly breathe, and Warriors watched anxiously, kicking himself for not expecting this sooner.

He should’ve known it would all crash down on Sky at some point— he’d barely even reacted after everything had happened. He had shed a few tears when they’d gotten Sun back and everyone turned out to be okay, but he hadn’t fallen into an utter panic like he was now.

Warriors should have expected it. Sky’s best friend had been kidnapped, and he’d nearly been killed by the same man who’d murdered his parents, and then he’d turned around and had to—

Sky coughed, and Warriors squeezed that hand that was in his again, ignoring how the motion made his arm ache.

So much for keeping things quiet for a while.

“Sky, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Time asked again after he’d managed to get Sky to breathe a little.

“I’m—” Sky stuttered, then looked at his hands with a panicked expression. “I didn’t know I would— Sun was hurt, she almost died a-and he said he was— I just wanted it to end, and I-I—”

His voice died, and he closed his eyes, lip trembling.

“...Warriors?” Time asked quietly, and Warriors fiddled with the hem of his shirt, wishing he hadn’t taken his scarf off. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

Warriors swallowed, but before he could speak, Sky choked out a few more words.

“Demise was back.”

Time froze, and looked between the two of them, his gaze suddenly sharp. Warriors didn’t meet his eye, and the heavy silence that fell over them was only broken when Malon came down the hall and peered inside the doorway, drawn by the noise after having finally gotten Twilight back to sleep.

“Oh Sky, my goodness,” she breathed worriedly, looking at his pale face and T-shirt speckled with vomit. “How long have you been sick, honey?”

“I’m not sick,” he whispered, and Time breathed out, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

“Some things happened while we were gone, it seems,” he said in a quiet voice. “I believe a full explanation is in order.”

Malon’s face gained some suspicion along with the worry. “What kinds of things?”

Sky shivered, and they all looked over at him. He had finally gotten his breathing under control, but was still pale, and shaking in Time’s hold on his shoulders. Malon came forward and cupped his cheek with a sigh, worry bright in her eyes as she looked at him.

“Do you think you’re going to be sick any more hon?” she asked, and Sky softly shook his head. “Okay. Why don’t you get cleaned up and changed, and then we can sit down and discuss this somewhere that isn’t the cold bathroom floor, huh?”

Sky and Warriors nodded.

Ten minutes later found them all in the living room, Sky in fresh clothes and wrapped in a blanket with Warriors next to him. The top of Sky’s wings poked out from the blanket, and he looked a little less overwhelmed then he did earlier.

Malon had warmed up some milk, but she was the only one who had touched her cup, steam gently wafting from the other mugs on the tray. Warriors looked down at the milk in front of him, but the sight of it just made his stomach roll.

Time leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

“So. What happened?”

Warriors exhaled, and Sky looked down at his lap.

“...Sun got kidnapped the day after you left,” Warriors admitted, his voice quiet.

Malon let out a soft gasp, and Sky’s wings ruffled a little, but nobody spoke as Warriors continued.

“Sky was there when it happened, but he couldn’t do anything in time and she was... taken. We started out looking for her, but we met this weird guy, and it turned out he was the one who’d kidnapped her for his boss, and he kept fighting Sky, but... there was a lot more going on then we thought...”

“Sun was.... Why didn’t you call us?” Malon asked in dismay, and Sky and Warriors both fidgeted.

“We didn’t want to bother you,” Sky admitted quietly. “And we didn’t realize how big a deal everything was going to be... and Mr. Gaepora agreed with us.”

“Gaepora should have known better,” Time said darkly. “We could have come back and helped, why—”

“Because you were finally taking a vacation!” Warriors burst out, and met Time’s eye when he looked at him. “You never take vacations, Time! And this was your honeymoon, we weren’t about to take that away from you.”

“And we did handle it,” Sky added quietly. “Obviously.”

Time sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second before replying. “I still maintain that you two should have called, and I will be talking about this with Gaepora, but it’s too late now and I assume there’s more to the story.”

Sky nodded, and Time motioned for Warriors to continue.

“Right,” Warriors said, then sighed. “So Fi was helping us because it turned out she knew a little of what was going on, and Ghirahim— he was the guy that kidnapped Sun— actually knew Fi somehow, I think. He was talking like it anyway. But anyway, it turned out he was... working for Demise.”

Malon sucked in a sharp breath, and Time had that oddly blank look settle on his face again.

“How... but Sky’s parents defeated him, everyone thought he was dead,” Malon breathed, her face pale. “You boys fought him?”

“I killed him,” Sky choked out.

The silence that fell over the room was even heavier then the earlier one had been, and Warriors risked a glance at his older brother. Time’s face was impossible to read though, and he leaned closer to Sky, meeting his eyes when he looked up.

“You killed him?” he asked in a voice Warriors couldn’t gauge, and Sky nodded.

“I did,” he whispered. “He’s dead. For certain.”

Sky’s wings began to tremble, and Warriors felt the sick feeling roll in his stomach again. I should’ve done it, I should’ve fought him.

“Was he trying to kill you?” Time continued in the same emotionless voice.

“Yes,” Sky whispered.

“He was trying to resume that crazy plan of his Sky’s parents stopped,” Warriors quietly filled in for Sky’s sake. “And for some reason Sun’s powers were a part of it. I still don’t know how. But that’s why he kidnapped her.“

“But you stopped him,” Time asked, and Warriors nodded.

“Sky did. Ethereal and me were there too, but somehow Demise summoned these... monster things, and kept us busy with those while he fought Sky. I think we would’ve died if Fi hadn’t gotten Ghirahim to help us out at the end. Apparently Demise was only using him.”

Warriors closed his eyes again. “There’s more to it then that obviously, but... but that’s the basics. Sun’s okay now. We stopped Demise.”

“I killed him,” Sky said in a wretched voice, his wings tightly wrapped around himself. “I... I barely even thought about it at the time, but he’s— he’s dead.”

Malon’s face was distraught, and Time leaned closer as Sky shook in his seat.

“Sky. It was self defense,” Time said firmly, grief in his voice. “He was trying to kill you, and Warriors and Sun and countless other people. No court would convict you.”

“But he was still a person!” Sky stressed in a shrill, watery voice. “A horrible one, probably the w-worst one I’ve ever met, but he’s dead now, and I’m the one that did it!”

“Sky, honey you had no choice,” Malon said softly, placing her hand over his. “It’s like Time said, it was self defense. If you hadn’t killed him, he... he would’ve killed you. And so many others.”

“He still could’ve gone to jail or something!” Sky said more frantically, his breathing beginning to speed up again. “I didn’t even give him th-that choice, I was so intent on stopping him I— I felt proud when I killed him! I was happy he’s gone, I still am happy because he killed Mom and Dad but I shouldn’t be and I— I keep finding his blood in my feathers!” he choked out, and Warriors was almost afraid he would throw up again.

“Sky, listen to me,” Time said firmly, looking him dead in the eye. “You did what you had to do. Demise was a supervillain, and a terrorist. The list of people he killed over the years is long, and he would have gladly added you and Warriors to their number, without remorse or hesitation. Killing him was the only option available to you. And if you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now, and most of this city would be dead.”

“But I— I’m a murderer,” Sky whispered, and Time put his hands on his shoulders.

“No you’re not. Demise was. You did the only thing you could do, Sky. That never should have been a choice you had to make, but you made it anyway, and you saved so many lives by doing so,” Time murmured, voice heavy. He looked directly into Sky’s eyes. “And I know your parents would be proud.”

Sky crumpled, and Time put his arms around him, murmuring something Warriors didn’t catch when a soft sob came from his hold.

Sky’s blanket slipped as Time held him, and revealed the angry lines from Demise’s lightning that were still on his arms, red and painful-looking. Malon’s face turned a little red with anger at the sight, but Time merely pulled the blanket back to where it was supposed to be, and said nothing. Warriors could see the look on his face though, and he was sure that if Demise hadn’t already been dead, then the look in Time’s eye alone would have done it.

They all sat quietly as Time continued to calm Sky’s trembling, Warriors staring blankly down at his cup. He didn’t realize his own hands were shaking until Malon took one in hers.

“Warriors, are you alright?” she asked softly.

He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t... kill anyone,” he said weakly.

Did you though? his mind whispered, thinking back to the blood he’d been covered in by the time he’d gotten back to Sky. Those monsters you killed had to come from somewhere, who’s to say they hadn’t once been hu—

Malon put her arms around him, and Warriors swallowed back the lump in his throat, letting her hug him.

“Goodness I’m glad you two are okay,” she said softly, holding him tight. “No wonder you’ve been so quiet since we got back, we...”

She trailed off with a sigh, and set a hand on his head.

“Call us next time, I don’t care what we’re doing,” she said, her grip tightening. “I mean it. You two are so strong, but you shouldn’t have to save the world by yourselves.”

“It was mostly Sky,” Warriors replied softly, thinking back to the look on his face while he’d been fighting Demise. Sky wasn’t normally a very imposing figure, but the look in his eyes as he’d dodged lightning, his wings outstretched, his sword raised, and eyes nearly glowing with a cold rage...

It wasn’t a sight he would ever forget.

Malon sighed again, but didn’t say anything further for the moment, leaning against Time while she continued to hold Warriors. All four of them ended up resting against one another, and Warriors closed his eyes as he suddenly felt very keenly every half-healed scratch and bruise on his person.

He hadn’t realized until now just how truly bone-deep exhausted he was.

“I’m so glad you’re alright. Both of you,” Malon said softly, and Warriors sighed, Sky’s head coming to rest on his shoulder, a wing settling around them all.

“Yeah. Me too,” he whispered.

Sky and Time said nothing at all.

[fiveraccoonsinatrenchcoat]

Quiet My Fears (With The Touch Of Your Hand) Ch. 3

Steve Harrington x f!reader

Description: Dramatic reveals are revealed, dramatically (or, you and Steve tell the gang about Baby Harrington and it does not go well).

Warnings: language, food mentions, everyone is angry all of the time

Word Count: 7965

Previous Chapter! - Next Chapter!

My Masterlist! - Series Masterlist!

Notes: I'm so sorry this took as long as it did! I've been going through it lately but through the power of boygenius I was actually able to finish this bit the other day! Please enjoy and also no one is allowed to be mad at me lol

Steve Harrington was going to be a dad.

The funny thing that came along with that was that Steve was actually going to have to tell people.

He imagined that there were many couples who would be very excited about this prospect. There were lots of young men out there who had mothers begging them for grandchildren. His hadn’t quite gotten there yet.

You had told him that you wanted to put off telling people for as long as you could. He entirely understood why; times had changed quite a bit since his mother’s day, but still, being an unwed mother in Smalltown, USA was relatively frowned upon. Honestly, considering just how gossipy the population of Hawkins tended to be, Steve was surprised the front desk ladies at your doctor’s office hadn’t already spread the news like wildfire, HIPAA be damned; golden boy Steve Harrington and his childhood best friend, having a baby out of wedlock? That was some front page stuff, right there. 

Married or not, though, it was going to have to happen sooner rather than later. In a few weeks time, it was going to start getting very difficult to hide. You were going to begin showing any moment now, and as Spring started to settle in, it brought its warmer temperatures with it. You could only hide behind your winter coat and thick sweaters for so long. 

And not just your bump; your friends were beginning to pick up on the fact that there was something going on.

“Steve!” Robin barked before tossing a wadded up ball of old receipts at him. It hit him square between the eyebrows. “Stop moping and do your job, please?”

“I’m not moping,” Steve defended (he absolutely was), before turning back to the pile of returns he was supposed to be sorting through.

“Fuck off, yeah you are,” Eddie very helpfully added.

“See, this is why I don’t like it when you hang around here,” Steve said, pointing a pen toward Eddie. “You two always gang up on me!”

“Why do you think I’m here at all?” Eddie quipped back with a smirk. 

“Because you don’t have anywhere better to go?” Robin supplied.

“That, too.”

“Either way, I’m not moping,” Steve assured. “I’m fine.”

“That’s a fucking lie if I’ve ever heard one,” Eddie said over the click of the markdown gun, as he emptied its bright orange stickers down that back of his arm. Steve couldn’t help but notice that he had set the price to ‘WAS $4.20, NOW $0.69’.

“Stop that,” Robin huffed as she whipped the tool out of Eddie’s hands. “Steve, I can practically see the rain cloud floating over your head.”

“Oh, my god!” Steve didn’t really want to snap at his friends, but he did it anyway. “Nothing is wrong! I am fine, everything is fine!”

Eddie and Robin just stared at Steve like a pair of deer in headlights from across the counter. They both knew how easily frustrated Steve could become, and they’d be the first to admit that sometimes they can poke at him a bit too hard, but an outburst this quickly had been unexpected. Neither said anything, and Steve just sighed.

After a moment of awkward silence, Eddie spoke up once again. 

“Lady problems?”

“Get out!” both Steve and Robin exclaimed, in unison.

“I thought you guys liked me.” Eddie feigned offense.

“You do not work here!” Robin said as she grabbed onto his shoulders and shoved him toward the door. “And Keith’ll get pissed if he finds out you were here and didn’t spend any money, so go home.”

“Fine,” Eddie relented from the entryway. “Hey, I’ll see you guys on Saturday, right?”

“Of course!”

“Probably not.”

“You claim nothing is wrong,” Eddie said, pointing to Steve. “And yet, in the same breath, turn down free beer?”

“Leave!”

“I love you both!”

The bell above the door rang as Eddie walked out, and Steve was left in Robin’s concerned gaze. 

“Y’know, Eddie does kind of have a point,” Robin said after a moment. Nine times out of ten, Robin was able to coax Steve out of his quiet and get him to talk about whatever it was that was eating at him, a fact that Steve was highly aware of. 

“No, he doesn’t,” Steve barked back. If this conversation didn’t end in the next two minutes, he would jump off the roof. 

“You haven’t hung out with any of us in weeks!” Robin exclaimed “Weeks, Steve!”

“I’ve been busy,” Steve lied.

“Busy with what?” she inquired. “Do you have another job I don’t know about, or something?”

“I’m allowed to do things without you around. You know that, right?” It was meaner than he needed to be.

“Oh, god, this isn’t about your lover, is it?” Robin drawled with a scowl.

“You know her name, and you don’t have to say it like that,” Steve responded.

“You two got back together, didn’t you?”

She hadn’t quite gotten it head on, but it was probably as close as she was going to get.

“I knew it!” Robin looked like she was going to explode. “I fucking knew it!”

“Please don’t turn this into a thing,” Steve pleaded.

“Me turn it into a thing?!” She was mad now. “You two are the ones turning it into a thing! You cannot keep sneaking around like this, it cannot possibly be healthy!”

“We’re-” Steve huffed out a breath. This tightrope he was walking across seemed to be growing more and more thin. “Working on it.”

“Can you work on it a little bit faster, please?” Robin asked as she punched out. “You two are so fucking weird about each other. Split, or make it official, just do something, because I hate having to keep this secret for you, it’s exhausting!”

“We sort of already did. I think,” Steve confided. Partial truth is better than no truth, right?

“Split?”

“Make it official.”

“Oh, thank god,” Robin sighed, tossing herself across the counter, all dramatics. “I can finally quit having to cover for you.”

“Don’t say anything yet.” Steve was quick with his damage control. “We, uh, we wanna do it. Ourselves. Figure it’ll probably go over a little bit smoother that way, y’know?”

“Fine, but if you don’t tell everyone soon, I’m going to,” Robin said. “Don’t think I’m the only one who’s noticed something off with you lately.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“Everyone is worried about you, Steve,  it’s not just me,” she explained. “Dustin was about two seconds away from showing up at your house after you bailed on us last week.”

Steve didn’t know that. It sent a lightning bolt of regret through his chest.

“The faster you two can get your shit together, the better. I’ve been happily cleaning up this mess for you, but I’m starting to get fucking tired of it, Steve.” Robin looked at her watch. “I was off ten minutes ago.”

She was out the door before Steve could even think up an apology.

Steve and Robin didn’t get into fights often, but he absolutely hated it every time they did. Even silly little arguments left him wracked with guilt sometimes, but proper, go-for-the-throat type fights made feel sick. 

Pair that with the fact that he was making Dustin worry, and Steve felt about ready to hurl. 

God, this was difficult. Stupidly difficult. Maybe, if he asked nicely, you’d agree to just run away with him so he didn’t have to deal with any of it. 

If he could just pluck up the courage to tell his parents, that would at least be a start. They were the difficult ones, the conversation he was dreading more than any of them, and the wild anxiety ate away at him for the rest of his shift. By the time seven o’clock rolled around and he was finally able to go home, it was entirely all-encompassing.

Fuck it. It had to get done either way, right?

The drive from Family Video to his parents house, no longer than ten minutes, felt as though it stretched across half an eternity. The vicious anxiety ate away at his stomach as he drove, and with each turn, each mile crossed, it only increased. Maybe he should just turn around. Maybe he should go home to you, and his parents could just figure it out on their own. He was sure his dad would love that.

Steve pulled into the driveway and was very close to losing what little nerve he had. He turned off the ignition, this is a bad idea. He got out of the car, this is a bad idea. He walked up to the front door and let himself in, this is a bad idea.  

He could hear the commotion of his mother making dinner in the kitchen. Something was sizzling; popping and crackling with the smell of onions and garlic, of bell peppers and roasting meat. 

Steve had lots of reasons to be jealous of other peoples’ parents, but at least his knew how to cook.

“Steve!” his mother exclaimed once he walked into her view. One hand was occupied by a wooden spoon stirring a pan of vegetables, the other holding a frosty glass of white wine. “I didn’t know whether or not to expect you.”

“You barely even live here anymore,” his father chided from where he was sitting at the counter. His suit coat was off and he had a matching wine glass sitting on the table in front of him. Nine times out of ten, Steve’s parents were able to be amicable with one another. At this point, they acted more like roommates than husband and wife, but at least they were roommates that were able to stand being in the same room as one another. Usually. “Didn’t think I’d get to see you before I left.”

“Sit down! Have a drink,” his mother insisted. She pulled another wine glass out of the cabinet and the bottle out of the fridge. 

“Oh, no, I’m alright,” Steve said as he sat down. His mother poured him the glass anyway.

He was about to ruin a perfectly good dinner, Steve thought to himself. His mother probably poured over it all day. The roast that just got pulled out of the oven was probably expensive. 

“So, what’s been going on with Steve these days?” his father asked him. 

Now or never.

“I actually wanted to, uh,” Steve stuttered out. “I wanted to talk to you guys.”

“You didn’t crash your car, did you?” his father said, only half joking.

“No, the car’s fine.”

“Is this about that girl?” his mother asked as she turned the stove down to low, mischief painting her voice.

“Girl? What girl?” His father pointed his gaze over to Meredith. 

“He met a girl,” she responded. She seemed almost giddy with excitement.

“Finally,” his father said. He said it like it was a joke, though it didn’t feel all that well meaning to Steve. 

“Oh, tell me it’s Giada’s daughter from down the street,” his mother said. “Have you seen their kitchen? I’d never have to host another Thanksgiving ever again.”

“No, it’s not- no.” Steve wasn’t even sure he knew who Giada was, let alone her daughter. 

“Well, at least give us a name, Steve,” his mother said. “Is she cute?”

When Steve said your name, he felt almost like he was condemning you. Like just uttering it strapped you to him, so now you’d both be falling from grace. 

“The one who grew up across the street?” his father asked, as if you hadn’t known him your whole life.

“Oh, that’s just too sweet!,” his mother exclaimed. “It’s like a movie, ugh! I’ll have to give her mother a call, she’s going to be thrilled!”

Good luck with that, Steve thought to himself. She won’t even answer the calls from her own daughter.  

“Took you long enough,” his father said, leaning back in his barstool, lackadaisical. 

“What?” Steve responded. He was wildly unimpressed by his father’s haughty attitude.

“You two have been making googly eyes at each other since you were eight,” he explained. “Frankly, I didn’t think you had the balls to do anything about it.”

“Ron,” his mother chastised at the choice of words.

“What? Obviously, I was wrong.” Ron pointed his gaze back to his son. “Y’know, I think she could be a good influence on you. Steady job, good work ethic. She’s a bit of an oddball, though, but I guess with a father like her’s, could you really blame her?”

Leave it to Ronald Harrington to judge other peoples’ parenting skills while simultaneously insulting his son’s girlfriend. 

“Don’t be rude,” Meredith said. Her back was now turned to the two men, arms elbow deep in the sink. “Such a shame her parents moved away, though. I couldn’t imagine going that far without bringing your daughter with you. Is she still living on the south side?”

“Yep.”

“That’s not the safest area in town,” she commented. “Did you hear about that house fire down that way? The woman on the news said that it might have been arson. Arson!” 

“It’s alright,” he placated. “Not as bad as it used to be, at least.” 

“I still don’t know if I like the idea of a girl like her living all by herself in an area like that,” she said. 

“You’ll have to invite her over for dinner once I get back,” his father said, entirely oblivious to the topic of conversation between his wife and son.

There was a moment of silence between the three of them. His mom took a sip of her wine and stuck the meat with a cooking thermometer, his dad refilled his own glass, and Steve felt his stomach do a backflip. This was going poorly.

“If there’s something else you have to tell us, you might as well just rip the bandaid off quick.” His father hit the nail on the head, that was for sure. He paused for a moment before making the kind of poorly timed, borderline insulting joke only someone like his father could. 

“God, she’s not pregnant, is she?”

Steve went rigid, and he kept his gaze trained on the swirls in the marble countertop. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t bring himself to, so he just left his parents to piece his silence together on their own.

“Steve,” his mother demanded. She had a carving fork gripped tight in her white knuckled fist, planted hard against the edge of the countertop. Steve was pretty sure she was about to stab him with it. He couldn’t look either of them in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to squeak out. He could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes. 

“Goddamn it, Steven!” his father exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the counter. It made the glasses rattle. “This has to be some kind of joke!”

“I’m sorry!” Steve said, louder this time. “Fuck, I didn’t-”

“Didn’t what?” his father asked. “You didn’t mean to? You didn’t think it would actually happen?”

“I don’t know,” Steve responded. He suddenly felt very small, confronted by his father’s booming voice.

His mother stood silent in her spot on the opposite side of the kitchen island, but there were definitely tears running down her cheeks, and anger radiating off of her in horrible waves that Steve wasn’t used to. 

“No, you don’t, because you weren’t thinking at all, were you?” His father fumed. He was standing now, towering over Steve despite the fact that the two of them were almost the same in height. “For Christ’s sake, Steven!”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ll have to marry her-”

“We already talked about that. She said she wants to wait,” Steve explained quickly.

“No. No, this is not a question of want, Steven. I don’t care about what you want, you’ve forfeited that right! You both have!” his father spat back. 

“I’m not gonna force her to marry me against her will, dad, I’m not evil!” He shouldn’t have said it that way, he knew that. But god, he was mad, and a low blow like that was just as satisfying as he thought it would be. 

At least this hadn’t happened when he was 16. He would have been well and truly fucked if this had happened when he was 16. 

“You know what? Maybe this is just the thing you need,” his father snapped.

“What?” Steve asked, confused.

“A big mistake for you to finally learn a thing or two.”

Steve wasn’t particularly fond of his father’s use of the word ‘mistake’.

“I leave for Santa Monica tomorrow morning. I’ll be back in a week,” his father stated. “I want you out of my house before then.”

“Ronald,” Meredith broke her silence, exclaiming from behind the tears. Steve knew she wouldn’t explode the way his father was doing, but she really looked like she wanted to.

“No! We have been defending him and making excuses for years, Meredith. Years! If he wants to go play house with his little girlfriend, that’s fine by me, but he’s not gonna do it under my roof.” He doubled down and turned his gaze back to where Steve was sitting. “I think it's a damn good time for him to learn that his actions come with consequences.”

The older man turned away at that and pulled his keys off of the hook on the wall.

“Where are you going?” Meredith called after him. He didn’t bother with an answer, only walked out and slammed the door behind him. 

Steve was left alone with his mother, which was simultaneously much better and far worse. 

“We were already planning for me to move in with her,” Steve said. If his father had stuck around for a minute longer, he would have been able to explain that to him, too. “She needed a roommate anyway.”

His mother scoffed and shook her head.

“Look, I know that-”

“You make it incredibly difficult for me to be on your side sometimes, Steven,” his mother interrupted.

“I know,” Steve agreed. He did know. 

“I wish I could say that I thought your father was being irrational, but I don’t know if I can,” she sighed. “For once, I think he and I might be on the same page.”

“You are?” Steve asked. His father’s vitriolic anger hadn’t come as a surprise, he’d been expecting it, but he thought his mother would be at least a little bit understanding. She always had been before. Steve guessed that this was different, though. 

“You’re not going to be able to live in that apartment forever, Steven,” she said.

“I know that.”

“And you’ll definitely need a better job. I highly doubt your father’s previous offer still stands, by the way.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” she asked him. Her voice had a bite to it that he had never been on the receiving end of before. “You’ve been saying ‘I know’ for years now, Steve. You know you need to grow up, you know you’ll have to move out someday, you know you have to do something with your life, yet you have never made any actual effort to do anything about it!”

“Mom, that’s not true-”

“If you want to start making big, adult choices like this, you’re going to have to start acting like one. Clearly, you’re not a child anymore.” 

His mother untied her apron and tossed it onto the counter before leaving the kitchen, heels clicking on the tile.

Steve’s whole family had been waiting for that thing; that final, fatal event that would break the Hawkins Harringtons for good. Aunts, uncles, cousins, all piecing together whatever bits of gossip they could, knew that the string that tied Steve to his parents was being pulled thinner and thinner and thinner. His mother could only do so much mending for him, and everyone had spent the last few years waiting with bated breath for that string to snap, for Steve to lose his footing. Once it did, he would plummet.

Steve was now standing alone in his childhood home, scissors in hand. 

Steve didn’t know what to do, so he stood up and turned off the stove. He pulled out a tupperware container and boxed up the vegetables. He wrapped the meat in foil and left it out on the counter, because it needed to cool before it could be put away, or else it would screw with the temperature inside the refrigerator. He found a stopper and closed the bottle of wine, placing it in the fridge before gathering the three glasses. His was still full, and he wanted to chug it, but thought better of it and poured it down the drain. He cleaned all of the dishes, dried them, and put them away. He turned off the oven, and wiped down all of the countertops, and neatly hung the towel to dry. He turned off the lights, making sure to leave the one above the stove on as a nightlight. 

Truly, there wasn’t much left of his personal belongings that he really cared about that he hadn’t already taken to your apartment. Most of what he needed was already there. He could grab the rest of it when his mother wasn’t home; the rest of his clothes, important documents, that kind of thing. What all do you even need to bring with you when you're being forced out of your childhood home, anyway? 

Later. This was something he could deal with later.

So he left. Unsurprisingly, his father’s car was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to keep talking to his mom, to explain himself, to apologize, to say anything, but he knew it would just make it worse than it already was, so he just got into his car and pulled away instead.

He did need a better job. He’d been needing a better job for a while now, actually, but he definitely needed a better job now. And his mother was right, there was no way he would be able to work for his dad after that. 

He wished he was able to explain to his parents that hey, funny story, due to atrocities he won’t be explaining right now, the government actually gave him a frankly absurd amount of money a few years ago, and he’d be alright for a while. It wouldn’t last forever, but it was enough to keep the pair of you afloat, especially with yours, too. You had used a bit of it on rent right after your parents had left, but Steve’s money sat mostly untouched in a bank account his family didn’t know he had. 

See, the thing about government hush money is that you can’t just go out and spend it on something wild, because then people are going to ask where it came from. Believe him, if he had been able to go out and buy some fancy sports car or a bunch of designer clothes, he would have. His father would have told him to buy a nice watch and invest the rest of it (Steve wasn’t entirely sure what that actually meant, or how to even go about doing it). He was just grateful to have it right now.

He could put a down payment on a house for you and him. That seemed like something a responsible adult would do with it, right?

Steve pulled up to your building and was shocked with how well he’d held it together up until this point, because he felt like he was going to explode. When he got to your floor and walked into your apartment, you were sitting on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table, textbooks and paper spread before you. The sound of him walking in pulled you away from your schoolwork and when you turned to look at Steve, you were clearly upset.

“You told me you were off more than an hour ago!” you said as you wiggled out from behind the table and stood up. “I was starting to get really worried, Steve, where were you?”

“I, uhm,” Steve started. He felt his voice crack, the sting of tears beginning to well in his eyes. He had to keep his shit together, for your sake.

“Did something happen?” you asked him. You brought your hands up to the sides of his face, and there went any chance of him keeping it together. 

“I told my parents,” he confessed. He was not going to cry in front of you. He wasn’t.

“What?” you questioned. You sounded a little bit hurt that he did it without asking you, but mostly just horribly concerned. “I thought we agreed to wait.”

“We did, but it was eating away at me, and I just couldn’t sit on it anymore, and-” The floodgates broke and Steve’s words were cut off by a strained sob. 

“Oh, Stevie.” You pulled him into a hug and Steve wanted nothing more than for these stupid tears to just dry up, but it felt like weeks and weeks of pent up worry and fear were being pulled to the surface, and he didn’t have it in him to try and stop any of it. He was supposed to be the strong one for you, but Jesus Christ, that was difficult. “It was bad?”

“Well, they kicked me out,” Steve said.

“What?”

“Which, I mean, my dad’s right. I barely even live there anymore, so I guess it doesn’t really even matter,” he rambled out, wiping his nose on his sleeve like a child.

“Yes, it does,” you assured him.

“And I’m pretty sure that this is my mother's worst nightmare, so I don’t know why I didn’t expect her to be pissed.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. You pulled Steve towards the couch and carefully lowered onto the cushions, your grasp on his wrists bringing him down to your side. 

“And Robin and I got into a fight, too.”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?” you questioned.

“No, but I think if I don’t do it soon, she might disown me,” he admits. 

“She’s not going to disown you,” you protested. “She’d never do that.”

“My parents just did,” Steve lamented. “My mother just did. Who’s to say Robin isn’t next, huh?”

Steve would never, ever be able to make his father proud, because his father would never, ever let him even get close. He had known that for a long time, and maybe there was a part of him that was relieved by that. He knew that it was an entirely unattainable goal, so he never really bothered to reach for it. His mother, oh so cruelly, always made sure Steve knew that he could do great things. Why did she have to go and do that? Steve knew his mother held him to a high bar, he just hadn’t ever considered the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to jump high enough.

So maybe that’s why it hurt so badly when you curled into him that night when he finally crawled into bed. Maybe that’s why he called into work the next day, even though he knew it would probably make Robin totally freak out. Maybe that’s why he waited until he saw his mother’s car leave the driveway before going into his - what used to be his- house to box up the last of his things.

Maybe that’s why he missed the Hawkins Police Department truck parked outside of your apartment building when he was bringing groceries inside a handful of days later. 

“I’m back!” he called into your apartment after releasing the wildly heavy grocery bags onto the kitchen counter. Making more than one trip is for suckers. “They didn’t have any pineapple juice, so I just got a pineapple, figured it can’t be too hard to just-”

Steve cut himself off when he looked up from the paper bags to see more than just you sitting in the living room; Joyce was sitting on your left with an arm wrapped protectively over your shoulders, Robin on your right with her legs pulled up underneath her and a tissue box in her lap, and Hopper was propped up on the arm of the couch. You were in the middle of the array, in tears. 

“Hello,” Steve nervously greeted, eyes wide as frisbees and blood running cold.

There was absolutely no universe in which this went well.

Robin’s expression, which had clearly been soft and sympathetic before Steve had interrupted them, quickly changed into anger. She shot up from the couch, earning her a disapproving tut from Joyce and making you wince away from her. It took her three wide stomps to cross the small space and grab onto Steve’s wrist with more strength than he knew she had in her.

“Ow, Robin!” Steve complained as she dragged him out into the hallway. She slammed the door hard behind her and it made Steve jump.

“What the fuck, Steve!” she demanded.

“Robin-”

“I mean, seriously, what the fuck!” Steve could already hear the noise complaints from the neighbors as she chastised him. “You lied to me!”

“I-” didn’t, is what he wanted to say, but he knew better than that. “I’m sorry.”

“How long have you two been back together then?” she questioned. Steve really didn’t want to admit it. “How long?”

“Six months,” he replied, sheepishly.

“Six months?!” Robin shrieked in disbelief. “Jesus Christ, you really did lie to me!”

“Robin,” Steve said, hushed and ashamed and really fucking mad at himself.

“For half a year! You lied to me for half a year!”

“I’m sorry!”

“She had to turn down her job offer from the school,” Robin barked. 

“I know that.”

“The job that she’s been talking about for, oh I don’t know, six months? Probably more than that, actually!”

“I know, Robin, alright?” Steve assured her and crossed his arms across his chest. “You think I don’t? I am highly aware of that!”

“And, I’m sorry, but you’re far from the King of Responsibility!” Robin said. 

“What does that mean?!” Steve questioned, a tint of frustration layered over his words. 

“I’m just saying, you aren’t exactly known for your maturity,” she spat.

“You think we wouldn’t be able to take care of-”

“She can. I know she can.  She’s more than capable of doing whatever the hell she puts her mind to, but you?” Anger and resentment dripped from her mouth with each word. “You, I’m honestly not sure. If you were more willing to lie to my face for six months than you were to just tell me the fucking truth, I’m sorry, but that’s really winning you any responsible adult points, is it?”

Tears pricked behind Steve’s eyes. He wanted to yell, to scream at the top of his lungs that, no, Robin, you’re wrong, I can do this!, but he really wasn’t sure if it was true. If his closest friend, one of the people he trusted most in the whole world, really thought that he wouldn’t be able to do this, then maybe she’s right, right?

The apartment door next to Steve slowly creeped open.

“Everything alright out here?” Hopper asked, carefully planting himself just slightly between Steve and Robin. 

Robin lost her vitriol like a tea kettle after the burner got turned off, leaving her with no more steam to fuel what she needed to say. 

“I’m waiting out in the car,” she muttered as she whizzed past Steve and turned down the stairwell. The two men in the hall listened to her descending footsteps. Once they heard the front door open and slam back shut, Jim broke through the quiet.

“Robin wanted me to check up on you after you called out,” Jim explained. “She was worried you were mad at her, after your fight.”

“Right,” Steve said.

“So, imagine my surprise when your mom answers the door, only to tell me that you don’t live there anymore,” the older man said. “She wouldn’t tell me why, just gave me an address and shut the door.”

“Look, if you’re here to give me another angry dad talk, then you don’t have to bother. Mine did a pretty damn good job all on his own,” Steve asserted. 

“I’m not here to be angry.” Steve could tell that Hopper was choosing his words very, very carefully.

“Oh, that’s unlike you,” Steve commented, arms still crossed and eyes on the floor.

“Don’t be shitty!” Jim snapped. Steve withered.

“Sorry,” he muttered, still not able to look the man in the eyes. Jim just sighed.

“Do you have a plan, Steve?” he asked. 

“Yes. No,” Steve replied. “I don’t know. She seems to have one.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“I’m just not sure if I fit in it,” Steve confessed.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Jim huffed. “Maybe you do need another angry dad talk!”

“What do you want me to say?” Steve interrogated. “That everything is under control and totally normal? I have no idea what’s going to happen! None! And, honestly? I’m fucking terrified, Hopper!” 

“Steve-”

“I have to be good at this. I have to! Because I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I’m not, but I am so terrified that I won’t be able to, and I’m going to let her down, and I can’t do that!” It all came out as some sort of paranoia fueled stream of consciousness. “I’d rather die than be anything like my dad, but what if it’s just in my blood? Like, I’m just predestined to turn out just as shitty as him!”

“You definitely won’t,” Jim said, as if it were just a simple fact. “I can assure you, there are very few people on this earth as shitty as your father, and you are not one of them.”

Jim wasn’t overly fond of Ronald Harrington; he was an all-around asshole to most people he met.

“Look, as much as I hate to admit it, you two aren’t kids anymore,” Hop said. “You’re grownups, you two are smart. You can make your own choices. If this is the choice you two wanna make, then make it.”

“You’re making it sound so simple,” Steve snarked.  

“It kind of is,” the chief replied. 

“Really? Because this feels like the least simple thing that’s ever happened to me,” Steve said. “You’re really not mad?”

“Well, I’m not thrilled,” Hopper grumbled. “But, like I said. You two are grownups. You can do whatever the hell you want.”

The pair stood in silence for a moment. Steve knew that Hop was more than likely lying about how mad he was, though he had been preparing himself for Jim to completely lose it on him. He probably would have deserved it. 

“Does it ever get less terrifying?” Steve asked, genuinely wanting to know.

“Nope.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“And it’s not just the fun parts,” Jim added.

“I know,” Steve responded.

“It’s more than just tiny socks and decorating the nursery.”

“I know that.” 

“Just makin’ sure.” Jim was far from happy, but he gave Steve a nod and a pat on the back, which was as close to congratulations as he was going to get. “I know the kids give you a hard time, but you’re smart, and so is she. You two know what you’re doing.”

“Thank you.”

“She’s really, really scared, Steve,” Hopper said. There was something in his voice; a silent question of  ‘do you really know what it is you’re getting yourself into?’

“I know,” Steve replied.

“You don’t get to panic now, alright?” Jim told him. “And you don’t get to change your mind.”

“I won’t. I promise,” Steve said; ‘I do know, and I want all of it.’ “I would never do that to her. Never.”

The pair went back inside, and you seemed to be in slightly better spirits now, even if you still had a sea of tears in your eyes. Both you and Joyce turned to face the two men with questions in your eyes, and Jim’s small nod seemed to be enough of an answer for Joyce to shoot off of the couch to envelop Steve in a tight hug. 

“I have lots of baby things I can bring by for you two,” she gushed after pulling away.

“You don’t have to do that,” you said to her, but she was having none of it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Joyce assured. “It’s all just collecting dust anyway.”

Which left Dustin, who in a lot of ways, Steve was the most worried about. He could take the anger from the grownups. Hell, he could take it from Robin, but Dustin, he was less sure about. 

In true Henderson fashion, he found out about Baby Harrington a few days later, entirely by mistake.

“I still don’t understand why they kicked you out in the first place,” Dustin stated from his spot on the living room floor of your (Steve’s!) apartment. He was digging through a pile of old clothes Steve decided he no longer needed. He had a lot of things, he’d realized while moving in, and he really only wanted a few of them, needed even less. He would donate whatever went unclaimed, but Dustin wanted first dibs for himself. 

“Because they’re assholes,” Steve responded. 

“Okay, yeah, fair, but hasn’t Robin been begging you to get a place with her for, like, a year?” 

“It’s not like I was able to really take my time apartment hunting.”

“I still feel like crashing on Robin’s couch for a while would’ve made more sense than moving in here,” Dustin supplied. Steve rolled his eyes.

“I needed an apartment, she needed a roommate, that’s it. Alright?” Steve loved Dustin like a little brother, but good lord, he could be obnoxious sometimes. “Now pick out what you want so I can clean this shit up.”

Dustin finished his haul, though he grumbled about how Steve was rushing him the whole time, and gathered the previously neatly folded clothes into a messy pile.

“I didn’t think of how I was gonna get any of this stuff out to the car.” Dustin, at not- quite- eighteen years old, had finally gotten his drivers license. ‘Thank god,’ Steve had remarked, ‘that I don’t have to be your fucking chauffeur anymore.’ That sentiment only lasted a little while, though, as it quickly became clear that a drivers license meant that Dustin could come and bother Steve whenever he wanted to. And he wanted to all the time. “Will you help me carry it all out?”

“No, I won’t, because there are more trash bags in the cabinet under the sink.” Steve pointed towards the small kitchen. Dustin got up off the floor, going into the kitchen and checking in seemingly every cupboard you had.

“I said under the sink, dude!” Steve heard the squeaky cabinet hinges open and shut, the rustle of the plastic trash bag.

“Steve?” Dustin called after a moment. The apartment was small, and the only real thing separating the kitchen and living room was a few feet of counter and the floor switching from tile to carpet.

“What?” Steve responded, not bothering to look up from the clothes he was shoveling back into their own trash bag. 

“What’s this?” Dustin asked him. When Steve finally looked up at him, he was pointing towards something on the fridge, and it took Steve a second to realize that what Dustin was referring to was the ultrasound pictures that he’d forgotten to take down.

Well, shit.

Steve rocketed towards the fridge to put them away, but Dustin was faster and grabbed them before he could. The damage was already done.

“Dustin, please give me that,” Steve asked. 

“This has her last name on it,” the younger boy observed. 

“Put it down, alright? You weren’t supposed to see it in the first place, so just-”

“Is she fucking pregnant?” Dustin demanded. 

“Dustin, please.” 

“I didn’t think she was dating anyone, though?” the boy thought out loud. “Oh, my god, I wonder if it’s someone we know!”

Oh, it definitely is.

“Dude, c’mon, please just give me the picture.” Remember what Steve said about Dustin being obnoxious?

“Wait, why are you moving in with her if she’s pregnant?” Dustin inquired. “I’m pretty sure that extra bedroom is gonna be pretty occupied in nine months.”

“It’s closer to six, actually,” Steve clarified, and Dustin’s eyes widened. “But that isn’t the point, can you please just-”

“Steve?” the boy asked, tone shifting away from curiosity into something Steve found much more concerning.

“Yeah?” Steve sighed.

“Why did you move in with her?” he asked again, although the way he spoke the words made Steve think Dustin probably already had it figured out. 

“Why do you think?” was all Steve could come up with to say.

“Oh, my god.”

“Dustin-”

“Oh, my god!”

“You cannot tell anyone, okay? This is totally top secret,” Steve begged.

“Did you-? You two-!” Dustin stuttered out. “Oh, my god!”

Dustin was about to start hyperventilating and Steve was doing his best to keep that from happening, pulling the glossy image out of Dustin’s hand as if it were made of precious porcelain, when the sound of keys jingling in the door distracted them. Both boys fell into bitter silence as you opened the door and took in the sight in front of you; a very frazzled Steve and a very distressed Dustin.

“Hi?” you greeted. “What’s going-”

“You’re fucking pregant?” Dustin exclaimed.

“What?” you spat out in response. Steve could tell that your mind was working a mile a minute to come up with a way to cover for yourself. “I-I don’t, uhm-”

“I left the sonogram on the fridge by mistake,” Steve confessed. He felt awful. “I’m sorry, it didn’t even cross my mind.”

“Oh,” you replied. You hadn’t moved from your spot in the entryway, hadn’t put down your bag or taken off your coat. You just stayed frozen.

“Oh, I have so many feelings!” Dustin wheezed, leaning forward. “Oh, my god!”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned him.”

“You’re having a fucking baby?” Dustin asked you.

“Yes,” you timidly responded, slowly placing your work bag onto the side of the couch.

“With Steve?!”

“Yes,” you said again.

“That Steve?” Dustin pointed a thumb over his shoulder to where Steve was hovering behind him. “Steve Harrington? Our Steve?”

You nodded. “That Steve.”

“Holy shit,” the boy breathed out.

“Please don’t be mad,” Steve requested.

“What? Mad, why would I be mad?” he asked. “Who’s mad?”

“Well, so far, everyone,” Steve explained.

“Wait, is this why Robin’s not talking to you?” Dustin asked.

“Robin’s not talking to you?” you piped up, concern dripping from your words. 

Steve hadn’t mentioned that part to you yet. 

Robin had been giving Steve total radio silence ever since she had found out. Even at work, she was refusing to say a single word to him. She went and hid in the bathroom anytime Steve tried to say anything at all, and she had even recruited Keith to be her disinterested, detached middle man and relay VHS-related messages if she really needed to. 

To say the least, she really hadn’t taken it all that well.

“Later?” he said to you, silently begging you to table this conversation for a time when you didn’t have a very upset teenager in your kitchen.

Sticky silence fell over the three of you, sealing to Steve’s skin and filling his lungs up in a way he hated. Dustin was the one who peeled through it first. 

“Are you actually having a baby?” The question was directed to Steve this time. Dustin was wildly expressive, he always had been, and he looked very, very overwhelmed. Steve felt about the same. He just nodded, and it took a second for Dustin to properly process the news.

“Gimme the picture again!” Dustin insisted. 

“No, dude! We only have a few and-”

“Excuse me, it’s my nephew, I think I get to see the picture if I want to!”

The tension dissolved as soon as the words came out of Dustin’s mouth. Steve had been so, so worried that he’d be mad, madder than Robin was. 

“Hah! See, Dustin thinks it’s a boy, too!” Steve exclaimed to you. Reservation made way for excitement. Like Dustin said, it’s his nephew.

“Oh, god, please don’t start with this again,” you said, smiling despite the faux exasperation in your voice.

“You think it’s a girl?” Dustin asked.

“I think,” you say as you shuck off your coat and lean against the counter, across from the boys, “that Steve is going to get his hopes up about it being a boy, and then be disappointed if it isn’t.”

“Not possible,” Steve clarified with a smile. “Besides, you don’t have to worry about it because I’m right, and it’s gonna be a boy.”

Dustin didn’t end up leaving until a good few hours later, when Steve noticed how your eyes kept fluttering shut as you leaned against his shoulder. He had to manhandle the boy out the door; he had a seemingly unending vault of questions (“you guys have been sleeping together this whole time?!”), but you were totally wiped. 

You really just wanted to just go to bed, but Steve insisted you ate something first, and a mug of soup later, you were practically dead on your feet. He cleaned up any dinner mess (canned soup doesn’t really result in any mess, but he’d be damned if you had to put your own dishes into the dishwasher), and sent you off to get ready for an early turn in. 

He’d just put the pot away when you summoned him into the bathroom.

“You alright?” Steve asked, leaning against the doorframe. You were standing in front of the sink in your pajamas. He could smell your mouthwash.

“Come look.”

Steve took a step into the bathroom to sidle up next to you as you pulled the bottom edge of your too-big t-shirt up. Your fingers ever so gently ghosted over your stomach.

“That wasn’t there before,” you asked, tilting your head back against the crook of Steve’s arm to look up at him. “Was it?”

Steve was entranced by your reflection in the mirror, by the way the swell of your tummy absolutely gave you away. 

“I don’t know.” Steve spoke just barely above a whisper, the way he would have if he was standing in a church. You felt like an angel beneath his arm. “I don’t think so.”

“I feel like I would have noticed it if it was,” you said, eyes glued to the mirror just as Steve’s were. 

“Definitely would’ve noticed,” Steve quietly gushed. “You officially have a baby bump.”

Realistically, you still had a couple more weeks before anyone else would actually be able to see it. Still small enough to hide behind your clothes, but absolutely, undoubtedly there. 

You hummed, and Steve noticed the way you were trying to hide your smile.

“You’re allowed to be happy about it, you know,” Steve reminded you. Your eyes caught his again, and your small, shy smile grew just a little bit bigger as you pulled his hand away from your hip and placed it firmly against the slope of your tummy. He felt his breath hitch, like the action of touching you was breaking some sort of cardinal law, but he stroked his thumb up and down, up and down across your skin, and you flattened yourself as deeply into his chest as you possibly could. He pressed a kiss to your temple, lingering in the scent of you for as long as he could allow himself to.

His hand stayed glued to you for the remainder of the evening.

Tiny Little Taglist: @sheisjoeschateau @hazydespair @damon-loves-pie @pariahsparadise @anislabonis-love @e509 @alexa4040 @starsforviolet @hoesbloated @luvlexi-darling

[mrsspringerslover]

Shit talker

Summary I’m which todo catches you talking ‘bout him to your friends, telling them lies so he plots against you.

Warning: Todo being mean to reader, rough sex, hair pulling, Mean!but dumb! Reader, selfish!todo, dumbifacation, writer DOES NOT know how to spell, broken bed, strong!todo, mentions of yuji

It was a Saturday and you were bored and there was nothing to do, and you didn’t want to go outside because it was way to fucking hot. Nun of your friends had anything good to do so you were on the phone with them, “gurl it ain’t nun to do! And todo working out as if he ain’t baking in that hot funky ass gym.” You complained, “gurl why don’t you just go get ice cream with him! Sum of us wish we had a man.” Maki rolls her eyes and the other girls agree.

“Gurl you saying that as if you weren’t fucking that 30 year old man last week!” This gurl is so dramatic I swear, “ I hate to say this but when todo is working out and training his trainee’s he acts like there bitches!” Before your friend could say something you heard the front door slam. That’s when you knew you fucked up. “Y’all I think todo heard me” “ girl no he didn’t you just hearing stuff” you weren’t just hearing stuff. A front door doesn’t just open and close its self, “anyways gurls I gotta go bye” you hung up before they could even finish.

You walked into the kitchen because you heard clanking of metal, but when you turned around you didn’t see any body there but you turned the corner to go back and your room your neck got snatched up. “AHHHH! Nigga don’t scare me like that! Why is you playing, bitch!” Now this was out of reflex you didn’t mean to call him a bitch, “wanna repeat that pretty?”

“A-ahhhh! Pa I’m sorry p-pleaseee!” This was the fifth round and your legs were shaking and he was still going, “ Nah I thought I was a bitch, crazy girl.” So he had heard you conversation and I didn’t help the fact that you called him a bitch for scaring you. “D-Didn’t mean it! Slow down daddy!” Now you were trying to run? He wasn’t having nun of that. He grabbed both your hands and pushed them down your back while holding you hips. “You like when this “bitch” fuck the shit out of you huh pretty?” “Yes daddy mhmm!” As he kept his steady pace deep inside of you, you arch raised a bit. “ fix yo arch for I pop you!” Even tho he said that he had already pop the fuck out of your ass, “c-cum! Imgonnacumimgonnacum! Can I please cum daddy!?” “ go ahead but don’t ever let me here that shit your mouth! Ya heard?” Finally you were almost free! “ I said do you here me lil girl?” “ yes daddy I promise!” You said ass you released. You felt you body collapse, and your vision was blurred going in and out. Todo walked out of the room and came back with cold water and a hot rag and whipped you down slowly with gentle pressure. “ I’m sorry daddy didn’t mean to hurt your feelings…” “ ‘so kay pretty but don’t let me hear that shit again, now lay yo ass down before I give you some thing to cry about, again.”

AYYEEE @dilfl0v3rss READ THIS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK THIS SHIT IS NOT PROOF READ THO🌚🫶🏾😩

Damn that shit was a roller coaster ian never wrote like this before

[short-honey-badger]

Peppermint Tea 17 - Lavender 2

Okay. So this is part 2 of Shanks and his visit to your island. Mihawk's reaction will be out when I finish up with some editing! Peppermint Tea has become waayyyyy bigger than I ever thought it could be. Very proud honestly since this is definitely my biggest work so far.

Anyway! I hope you enjoy! Plot stuff happens and Shanks is a big flirt.

Warnings! Some drinking and Shanks is a flirt.

Masterlist

Shanks and his crew stay on your island for an entire week. You are properly introduced to his entire crew and find that while far more rowdy than what you are used to, the Red-Haired Pirates were good people. They welcomed you with open arms, telling you all sorts of stories as booze and food flowed freely around. You avoided any foul-smelling liquid and declined Shanks’ offer of his sweeter drink called sake. You just didn’t feel comfortable drinking without Dracule with you.

Thankfully, the crew and their captain accepted your rejection with ease and supplied you with sweet juices that stained your lips a dark red. Shanks couldn’t keep his eyes away from you, gaze stuck on the way you licked your overly red lips of any leftover pomegranate juice. He watches you across the large bonfire that sits in the center of the circle, admiring the way the flames make your eyes glow in the night.

The captain drinks from his shallow bowl, enjoying the way the warm sake burns his throat. Hank whines beside him, and Shanks smirks down at the shaggy dog. The mutt had not left his side for almost his entire stay here, and it made him wonder if Hawkeye had a soft spot for the pup, too.

He frowns when he thinks of Dracule, and a curl of guilt throbs in his chest for half a second before he shoves it away. Shanks already knew that you would tell the warlord about his sudden visitation the moment Mihawk stepped on your island. He wasn't doing anything he wasn't supposed to do, only enjoying the company of a lovely, lonely young woman, but he remembered the way that his old friend had spoken about you.

Shanks certainly agreed with everything Mihawk said, but mostly, he remembered how his friend's voice had turned soft and affectionate for this mysterious woman. And then the fierce anger when Shanks poked fun at him. Mihawk cared about you unlike anything else in this wretched world, but Shanks was a greedy man, and he could tell that you had more than enough room in your heart for the both of them.

The Emperor shifts in the sand, reaching for his bottle of sake and pouring himself another cupful. He would never do anything to take you away from Dracule. He wasn't that kind of man. Especially when he heard you speak of his old friend earlier, carefully omitting his name in worry of getting Dracule in trouble with someone, but the way your cheeks lit up, and your expression turned to one of wonder spoke of how much you adored the older man.

“Whatcha thinking about, Captain. I can see the gears turning from here,” Beckman questions from where he sits on an empty crate near the redhead. The sharpshooter has been watching his Captain make eyes at you all night, and he wondered when Shanks was going to make his move. It wasn't like the other man to lollygag on something he wanted.

Shanks huffs at his friend, raising his occupied hand guilty, though he breaks and snickers, “You caught me, Benn.”

He finishes his sake and shakes any remaining liquid from it before setting it on top of the bottle, done with it for now.

“Remember when we ran into Hawkeye? About a year ago now?” Shanks asks and waits for Benn to nod before he continues, “He told me about a woman he met, said that she was something special. That's her.”

Beckman huffs to himself and then rolls his eyes, “Of course we'd somehow run into her. Not planning anything dumb are you, Shanks?”

The redhead glares at his first mate, pouting at the condescending way his name is spoken, “Hey. I'm not that much of a jerk,” he grumbles and then softens, calculating gaze landing back on you.

“But this place. You can't deny that it isn't peaceful, Benn. Different, almost out of a story book its so far removed from the rest of the world. I want to come back, I want to get to know her.”

His first mate raises a brow and drinks deeply from his bottle of rum. His captain was certainly a menace, but he also had a good point. There was something about this place that relaxed even his old bones, “What about Hawkeye?”

Shanks shrugs, “He can get over it. I'm not trying to steal her away, but _ seems lonely. I want to be her friend.”

Benn scoffs. Yeah, right. He knew how his Captain was. He fell hard and fast, and you obviously had his attention, “Sure, Captain. Just don't do anything stupid.”

Shanks stands and shoves at Benn's shoulder good-natured, “Yee of little faith, my friend. Now excuse me, the crew is singing my favorite song, and I want to dance with our host.”

The Emperor doesn't wait for his friend to respond. Instead, he is already sliding his way across the beach to stop beside you. You look up at him when his shadow eclipsed the roaring fire, a big grin on your face as you sway back and forth to the pirate shanty the crew slurred.

“Dance with me?” Shanks offers, and you take his hand with ease, laughing when the redhead pulls you to your feet so quickly that you collide with his chest. He basks in the coolness of your body for half a second, and then Shanks is pulling you away from your spot to follow the rest of his crew in the manic dance they had going around the fire.

Gather up all of the crew

It's time to ship out Bink's brew

Sea wind blows, to where, who knows

The waves will be out guide

Shanks twirls you around, easily keeping pace with you and the rest of the men as the song continues. You look radiant as you dance around, loose shouldered and free in a way you hadn't been when Sanks had first shown up. You laugh when Shanks loses his footing in the sand, grabbing him by the wrist to keep him from falling.

He takes this as an opportunity to pull you close to him, pressing you under his arm as his hand settles along the curve of your waist. He watches your face explode in a blush, but you aren't fighting him away, so Shanks counts that as a win.

O'er across the the oceans tide

Rays of sunshine far and wide

Birds they sing, of cheerful things

In circles passing by

A guilty look flashes over your face when the song comes to an end, and you are quick to pull away from Shanks. You remind yourself that while this man is nice and has been cheerful his entire stay, you didn't know him. He is still a stranger to you, but you wouldn't mind seeing him again. You have caught the redhead watching you, and the look in his chocolate eyes reminded you of your warlord early on in your relationship with him. It makes you nervous.

Mihawk flashes through your mind, and the guilt intensifies. Was it wrong to want to get to know Shanks when you already had Mihawk? Or was wanting more too selfish? You didn't know, and it ate you up inside at the thought.

“Everything okay, Doll?” Shanks asks when he sees you draw into yourself. Frost has crusted over on your exposed shoulders, and he follows after you when you escape from the crew and start back up the path to your home.

“I'm fine! Just going to the bathroom,” your voice is too high pitched for it to be truthful, so Shanks steps up his pace and reaches out to carefully curl his hand around your arm, stopping you in place.

“Hey, no. We were just having fun. What's going on?” The Emperor presses and walks around so that he can face you. Your eyes are teary, and the sight sends a shock of panic through his body, “Woah, what's wrong, Babygirl? Why ya crying?”

His concern just makes you feel worse about it all, and snow begins to fall, making it hard for you to see the man in front of you. His hand is warm on your arm, though, and you reluctantly lean into the hold.

“I don't know if it's a good idea for you to be my friend,” you blurt suddenly, and then quickly bite your lip from embarrassing yourself further.

Shanks cocks a brow at you, confusion evident on his face, “What do you mean?”

You shuffle in place. You have kept quiet about Dracule. You weren't sure why. Maybe you wanted to try and keep your warlord safe, but you couldn't lie anymore.

“You are a very nice man, Shanks, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. The man I keep talking about, his name is Dracule Mihawk, and we are…a thing. He's told me about you, warned me about you really, called you a menace, but I could still hear how fond he was of you.” You are ranting, but Shanks is patient and waits it out. He could tell that you weren't done yet.

“I don't know your past, but I know that the two of you know each other, and I can't risk the happiness I have with Dracule. I know that the two of you haven't seen eye to eye in a long time, and I don't want to be another reason for any more tension.”

Shanks is silent for half a second before he bursts out laughing, doubling over and clutching his stomach in his glee. Oh, you sweet thing! You were worried about ruining the friendship he and Hawkeye shared. How precious you were!

“You are adorable, Babygirl,” Shanks crows and draws your shocked form close to him, shivering when his exposed chest meets your frozen nose, “Mihawk will huff and puff like a rooster, but in the end? He'll forgive you. I'll even go track him down myself and tell him what happened if you want me to?”

“What? No, no, you don't need to do all that,” you quickly deny and shove away from his chest to look up at him in panic. You needed to be the one to tell Mihawk, for you can imagine the ensuing fight that would most likely happen, “And how would you know Dracule won't be mad at me?”

Shanks gives you a smug grin and sniffs pretentiously, “Trust me, Sweetheart. I've known Hawkeye for a long time and heard the way he spoke about you. I can promise that he won't be too upset with you. Me? I'm a different story, but it's going to take a lot more than just getting to know you for the respect we have for one another to go away.”

You find yourself somewhat appeased by that. It was true that the two men have known one another far longer than you have, so it makes sense to you to take Shanks' word. You sigh heavily and nod, conceding.

“Alright, ugh. If you are sure, Shanks,” you grumble, but you feel much better about this than you did just a moment ago, and give the redhead a grateful smile.

“See, that's the spirit, Doll!” Shanks matches your grin, “Stop worrying that pretty head of yours and come back to the party, yeah?”

You roll your eyes at the redhead, but nod anyway, “Okay, just a little longer, and then I'm going to bed. You and your crew party too much for me.”

Shanks snickers at you and tugs you back down the footpath and back to the beach and his crew. He sits back near his sake, and you sit with him, content to watch the others have fun for now.

It's hours later that Shanks feels a weight thunk into his side. He looks over and sees that you have passed out, and the sight makes his heart only grow even more fond of you. He stands and then bends to scoop you up, difficult with one arm, but not impossible. He balances the now empty sake bottle and cup on your sleeping form and shuffles back up the path.

Hank follows after him, leading the way up to the cottage, and shoves the door open with a heavy paw. Shanks snickers and steps inside your home, following the shaggy dog to your bedroom. He stops short when he meets a pair of glaring golden eyes.

A big fluffy orange cat sits in the middle of the bed, the only occupant of the house that Shanks had yet to meet. He is careful of any wayward claws as he lays you down in the bed, sitting his empty sake bottle on the end table, then sitting down with a huff and a small smile when you groan in your sleep and roll to your side.

Shanks gazes at you with soft eyes, reaching forward to tuck a fallen strand of hair from your face with a sigh. You look lovely even in sleep, and the redhead aches to stay here with you, but then he would be bad, and you probably wouldn't want him around anymore.

The captain stands with a sigh, and pulls the blankets up to your chin, “Sleep well, Babygirl,” he murmurs and then he is gone, shutting the door of your home with a soft click. Shanks would make sure to come see you in the morning before he and his crew left.

@writingmysanity @kenkenmaaa @foggyturtleknightangel @browneyedhufflepuff @goth-mami-writer @myradiaz @fluffybunnyu @bookandstar

[sourholland]

teardrops on my guitar || jack hughes

making the bold choice of writing a fic for every song on debut by taylor swift, i’ll do it sporadically and for different people as well!! once i finish debut, we will see if i’m feeling fearless tv ☺️ ambitious, believe me I KNOW. anyways send requests

this is dedicated to @folklorelvr333 —tomg is her fave song on debut and jack is her fave guy (appreciate this bc i had to learn jack hughes LORE for this)

debut masterlist

Jack had moved to Michigan during his last years of high school to further his career in hockey and to try to secure his spot as a draft pick. When he started playing for the U.S. NTDP, he attended Plymouth-Canton Educational Park when he wasn’t on the rink. There, he met you.

Jack hadn’t ever claimed to be good with girls, not really. He liked you, though. He liked you a lot. He remembered being paired up with you in lab during his first week. He thought he’d made his interest incredibly obvious. That was, if his pink cheeks and clammy hands weren’t a telltale sign of his trying to flirt with you. Mistakenly, he’d realized he’d done just about the exact opposite. He’d made himself out to be a best friend to you, a shoulder to lean on.

It wasn’t like the NTPD staff had really given him the choice of having a girlfriend, they’d actually discouraged it more than anything. He was on an extremely strict schedule, right down to the time he should be in bed every night.

“So you’ve pretty much got it all laid out for you then?” You’d asked him at lunch one day, sitting across from each other and picking at your food.

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?” He laughed, confused.

“I just mean—I don’t know, you’re seventeen years old, Jack. You’re always here or at the rink. I get it and everything, like you’re going to go pro and stuff. I just wonder sometimes if you ever do anything for you, you know?”

Jack’s lips formed a thin line, inhaling deeply as he thought about your words. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand where you were coming from, it was just all he’d ever really known. His parents had him on the ice before he was two years old. He’s eat, slept, and breathed hockey his entire life.

“I do all this for me,” he finally said. “I want this.”

“Come on,” you huffed, teasingly. “You’re telling me you never think about going out and partying? Or like, I don’t know, having a girlfriend?”

His face flushed almost instantaneously, trying to avert his gaze to anything but you. Of course he though about having a girlfriend. He thought about it every time you’d call him after practice to talk about homework. He thought about it each morning when he pulled up in front of your house and you climbed into his passenger seat, laying your hands on his forearm to tell him whatever girl drama you’d found out the night before.

“No, I guess I don’t really think about it much.”

“Bullshit,” you chided. “If that’s true, do you think you have erectile dysfunction or something? Like a hormonal imbalance?”

“What the fuck?” He laughed, nearly spitting out his Gatorade. “No, I definitely don’t have—”

“You’re blushing!” You cut him off, smiling ear-to-ear.

Jack cherished your time together in school; he rarely had a free moment outside of classes that he wasn’t playing hockey. He always felt horrible declining your offers to hang out, but he genuinely couldn’t find a free moment.

A part of him feels this is to blame for your relationship never progressing further. He thought you’d maybe felt something more than platonic feelings for him at one point, but who wants some guy who is too cool for any school functions and can’t see you on weekends because of practice or tournaments. Although, he’d never been honest with you about his feelings either.

It was only a matter of time before you moved forward with your life, leaving him to wonder what could’ve been.

Jack wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t sting every time you’d bring a new guy up, what might’ve taken the cake was when you’d brought one to a hockey game of his. It was like one of those movie moments, Jack thought at practice the next day. He’d seen you in the stands, face lighting up, only to notice the guy beside you with his arm around you.

He wanted to hate the kid, too. Only then did he realize how jealous he truly was. He was heartbroken over a girl he’d never even dated. How was that even possible, Jack would wonder as he stared up at the ceiling in bed.

He could’ve told you, could’ve been honest about how he felt about you. Who knows what would’ve happened, but at least you’d have known. It was too late, he saw how happy you were and had to match your expression with fake smiles and words of encouragement laced with frustration and envy.

Jack tried not to hate himself for how he’d let the situation play out, but he truly couldn’t.

You’d fall in love, and he’d watch. And there was nothing he could do about it.

[gentaro-kinniecom]

Yes, My Lady?; Pt.2

Characters: Ada Tennant/fem!reader

Cw: a bit of angst, pinning, secrets to be spilled and more.. (just wrote this at 12am..so if there’s some spelling mistakes i apologize in advance :P)

A/n: I love my wife. Real.

The sudden question by Tennant made Y/n’s breath hitch. ‘move in together? It’s nearly been a few weeks since we met!’; she thought as Tennant smiled, looking around the apartment.

“I know its so sudden but, I could use the company my lady”

Sighing, Y/n didn’t know what to say, it was too sudden, yet something was telling her to accept.

“Well, in all honesty..I had thought about it for sometime, are you sure it’s okay?”

Tennant nodded, kissing her hand as Y/n felt her heart melt at the soft gesture. Of course, the move would take several days but Ada didn’t mind, as long as you’d join her

The following days felt endless, boxing stuff and making sure her things were all ready to go. Tennant was outside of what would be Y/n’s old apartment, being received with a hug on her behalf

“You’re here! Sorry I didn’t text you..I was busy gathering the last boxes”

Her lips found Y/n’s cheek, embracing her tightly while the last people finished up with Y/n’s boxes

“It’s alright darling, I’ve got a surprise for you. I’m certain you’ll love it”

After exiting the apartment complex, Ada had her arm linked with Y/n’s, opening the door of her car as they made their way towards Tennant’s home. During the car ride, her free hand found comfort in the soft, plush feeling of Y/n’s upper thigh

“I hope it’s not a trouble that my home is far away from the city”

Ada commented, making the tension between them lessen. As the pathway narrowed, a two story house could be seen from the distance

“I don’t mind, your home is lovely”

Y/n spoke, arriving to the driveway as they entered Ada’s home. A few hours of settling in and making her room cozy, Y/n went downstairs, staring at Tennant as she cooked. Her eyes looking all over the kitchen as Tennant smiled

“Are you hungry? I just finished making dinner, you’re welcome to join me”

Without hesitating, Y/n began taking out some silverware and plates for both her and Tennant; Dinner could’ve gone better, they both sat on opposite sides of the table, and the tension between them returned again. There was something she wasn’t telling Y/n, after finishing dinner, Tennant excused herself, quickly rushing towards the basement.

She decided to explore around the house, there were many pictures of Tennant and who, presumably, was her father. However, turning the frame to its backside, her full name was displayed..”Ada Tennant”. A sudden wave of panic hit her, she’s the missing daughter of Laurence Tennant! Suddenly, Y/n felt a hand on her shoulder

“Oh, it seems you’ve found some of my old photos..”- Tennant paused, looking at it while smiling -“I was rather a rebel as a kid back then.”

Holding Y/n’s wrist slightly, Ada came closer, staring into her e/c orbs

“You aren’t anymore? I’d be surprised, really”

She laughed, pressing Y/n against the table, a few pictures and books tossed onto the ground

“You don’t know what I’m capable of, sweetheart, you’re tempting me..I might not be able to resist no longer…”

Almost disappointingly, the bell rang, she let Y/n go back to her room, sighing and answering the door

Days, weeks, months..had passed and little by little, Y/n was discovering Ada’s secret. She would be gone almost everyday, and during the night, Ada would come home with a bag. Y/n noticed she was an arcanist, always doing anything rather than spending time with her. One night, curiosity got the best of her, and as she was following the steps to the basement, Y/n remembered.

Ada was her childhood friend, after the big crisis occurred, she went missing, along either some valuable gems. She was right, it looked like a museum full of precious diamonds and jewelry, some crafted by hand, others mined and the rest, stolen.

“Seems curiosity lives within you..”

Crap. Tennant smiled, taking her hand and tossing her onto the couch of the basement. She turned on the dim light of the room, letting Y/n see clearly what she had been hiding all this time. However, at the very end of the room, was a board with newspaper articles about her disappearance and..herself?

“Wait, you knew all this time that we met as kids? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She inquired, a bit offended as Ada came closer, taking a good look at the necklace she wore, holding it between her fingers as Tennant smiled

“You still wear the necklace I gifted you a few years ago..it seems you never forgot me either”

As she inched even closer, Y/n placed her hands on her shoulder softly, almost gasping as Ada’s hands traveled south

“All these diamonds yet..you stand out brighter than the rest..”

[sexy-adjacent]

Flirting With Your Sister

You’re back in Hawkins visiting your little brother, Dustin Henderson. You’ve been away at college, and haven’t been home for a couple years. However, you decided to move back home for a year before starting your master’s program. Your mom practically begged you to since she’ll be traveling a lot for her job the next several months, and wanted someone to be able to watch Dustin. You think Dustin is old enough not to need a babysitter, so you plan on just being the cool older sister.

One night, you’re home making dinner. Dustin is out with some of his friends and said he would probably be staying the night at Mike’s, so you’re looking forward to a relaxing night at home by yourself. However, as you’re wrapping up dinner, there’s a knock on the door. You open the door and you’re a little taken back by the handsome stranger at your door. His chocolate brown eyes gazed directly into yours. He has shoulder-length, brown curls, rings adorning most of his fingers, and a leather jacket with a denim vest over top. He’s not usually the kind of guy you’d find attractive, but there’s something about him that you find just delicious. 

Apparently you’ve been staring at him for a while because he awkwardly clears his throat and lets out a soft “hello?”

“Sorry! Hi! I’m Y/N." You say it so fast it almost sounds like one word. 

“Y/N, the older sister. It’s nice to meet you. Dustin’s told me lots about you.” 

“You know Dustin?” You ask, somewhat confused as to how this full grown (hot) man knows your teenage brother.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I’m Eddie. We’re friends from school. He’s also in my DnD club, Hellfire.”

“So you’re the famous Eddie? I’ve actually heard a lot about you, too. Dustin looks up to you a lot, which means he bores me with stories of you all the time.” You say, playfully. He smiles at this remark and you notice yourself getting a little weak at the knees. “So, anyway… Dustin’s not home and he told me he would likely be staying over at a friend’s house.” 

“That’s fine. I just lost some of my dice, and I wanted to ask if he’d seen them or maybe accidentally took them.”

“Well, you’re more than welcome to come in and look around. His backpack is on the chair in the living room. Maybe he tossed them in there with his own stuff.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother you.”

“I’m not doing anything at the moment, and it’s just me here. I wouldn’t mind a little company,” you say with a smile. Truth is, you do mind. You were looking forward to a quiet night alone, but it’s not every day that such a good-looking guy shows up at your door, so you decide to take advantage of the situation. 

You lead Eddie to the living room and show him Dustin’s backpack. You then excuse yourself to go finish your dinner that you had momentarily forgotten about. You take a couple bites and then you’re interrupted again by a knock at the door. You go and look through the peephole. Your heart stops. It’s Jason Carver. He was a sophomore when you were a senior at Hawkins High a few years ago, but that didn’t stop him from asking you out. You obliged and went on one date with him. It was awful. Jason has the biggest ego out of anyone you’ve ever met. He talked about himself and about basketball the whole date. When he dropped you off, he went in for a kiss and you rejected him. This made him furious. He wasn’t used to not getting his way. The next week at school, he told everyone that he’d gotten to third base with you. You spent the rest of your senior year trying to dispel the rumors while Jason spent the rest of the year trying to get another date with you. Not only that, but Dustin’s told you that he’s been an asshole to him and his friends since Dustin started high school this year.

You’re guessing that he heard you’re back in town, and wants that second date he never got. You don’t really want to spend the next year dodging his advances, so you quickly conjure up a plan that hopefully gets Jason off your back for good. 

“Hey Eddie,” you whisper as you walk back to the living room. Eddie looks up from Dustin’s bag with a confused look. 

“Why are we whispering?” He whispers back.

“I need you to do me a favor.” 

“Umm… sure?” he says. It’s more of a question, but you’ll take it. There’s another knock at the door. Jason must be getting impatient. 

“I don’t really have time to explain, but I might need you to pretend to be my boyfriend. I’ll give you the signal if I need you to come over.” You walk away before Eddie really has a chance to answer. 

You answer the door and Jason is standing there in his letterman jacket over a polo shirt. He’s smiling wide. Too bad he’s such a jerk, because he really is kind of good-looking. “Y/N! You are back!” It looks like he’s going in for a hug, but you take a step back, so he awkwardly lowers his arms back to his sides. You stand in awkward silence for what feels like several minutes before Jason finally speaks again. 

“I heard you were back in town, and I wanted to come and welcome you home.”

“Thanks,” you say flatly. Jason hardly notices that you are less than thrilled to see him. Classic narcissist. 

“I was also kind of wondering if maybe you’d want to go out on that second date we never got.”

“I don’t think so. I’m not really interested.”

“Why not?” Jason asks. You can tell that even this simple rejection has begun to anger him.

“I mean, I shouldn’t have to give you a reason. No means no. I know you’re not used to hearing no, but that’s no excuse to throw a tantrum.”

This really seemed to piss him off. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t get to talk to me that way. And I demand that you give a reason why you keep rejecting me. I don’t think you really have a reason, you just want to be a bitch.” 

“Reason #1: You just called me a bitch. Reason #2: You spread a rumor about me because you got pissed off that I wouldn’t kiss you. Reason #3: You’re a conceited jerk. Reason #4: You’re a bully to my brother and his friends. And reason #5…” You quickly glance at Eddie who is watching this unfold out of Jason’s view. You motion for him to come stand next to you. “Reason #5: I have a boyfriend.” As soon as you say it, Eddie comes into view and puts his arm around your shoulder. You feel a few butterflies in your stomach at this action. 

“This is your boyfriend?! You’re joking! How would you guys even get together?”

Eddie chimes in. “I’m friends with her brother who introduced us over the phone. After we were introduced we talked almost every single day, and then when she got back to town we decided to make it official.” You look at Eddie, impressed that he was able to come up with that on the spot. 

“Y/N, please tell me this is a joke. You cannot be dating Eddie “the freak” Munson!”

“Nope, not a joke. Eddie’s my boyfriend. The best boyfriend I’ve ever had, in fact.” Eddie is grinning at the fact that Jason is fuming at the two of you. “And might I add…” you lean closer to Eddie and whisper in his ear loud enough for Jason to hear, “that they don’t call him a freak for nothing. Isn’t that right, big boy?” You give his ear a quick little nibble and you can feel Eddie’s arm tense up around you.

Eddie turns to look at you. “Oh, baby. You are filthy!” There’s a hint of mischief in his eye that nearly makes you swoon. 

“Sick! You guys are sick!” Jason yelled as he backed away from the doorway. He then turned around and headed back to his car. You watched him drive away before closing the door, kind of in shock that your plan actually worked. 

Eddie was the first to speak after Jason stormed off. "So, you gonna tell me what that was all about?" 

You let out a little chuckle. "Uh, sure. I feel like I owe you that for coming to my rescue like you did." You see Eddie smile at this comment. You continue, "In a nutshell, I went on a date with Jason a few years ago, it went terribly, he tried to kiss me, I dodged the kiss, he got pissed, and then he told the whole school that we got to third base. I could never really escape the rumor, either. It affected what other people thought of me for the rest of the year, which is why I took off after graduation and haven't been back until now." 

“I’ve always known Carver was an asshole, but wow. This might take the cake.” Eddie says with a sympathetic look. 

“I’m mostly over the whole thing, but my skin still crawls every time I see him, so thanks again for helping me out. Hopefully he’ll leave me alone once and for all.”

“Yeah, hopefully. If not though… I’d be happy to be your boyfriend again.” Eddie says with a cheeky grin that makes you feel a little weak in the knees. “‘Cause I’m not gonna lie, your last line during our little roleplay was pretty hot.” 

You did your best to suppress a goofy grin, but you couldn’t help it. Feeling a little rush of confidence you reply. “Well I’m not gonna lie, I think you’re pretty hot.” 

Eddie’s grin grew even wider, if that was even possible. He didn’t say anything, but you caught his eyes starting to wander down your body. You started to get a little uncomfortable, so you quickly changed the subject. “Did you find your dice?”

“No, but that’s okay. I’ll check in with Dustin when I see him next and keep looking around my place, too.” There was a beat of awkward silence before Eddie continued. “Well, I better get going…”

You were eager to spend more time with him, though. You quickly interjected. “No!... I mean, I just finished making dinner. Are you hungry?”

“Oh, I could always eat. I don’t want to impose though.” 

“You wouldn’t be, honestly. In fact, you’d be doing me a favor. I don’t like being alone and I made a ridiculous amount of food.”

“Well, in that case, I’m at your service fair maiden,” Eddie says with a little bow. It was so goofy, so why did it make your heart skip a beat? 

Eddie follows you into the kitchen where you dish him a plate of spaghetti. You hand it to him and make your way over to the table where you already had a plate you were eating from. Eddie sits down next you and takes a bite of his food. 

“This is delicious!Are you, like, a chef, or something?” He asks with his mouth full of food as he wipes his bottom lip with the back of his hand.

You couldn’t help but giggle. “No, it’s just spaghetti and one of the only things I know how to make, so don’t get your hopes up for future meals.” 

“First of all, I don’t eat this fancy very often so I’m sure I’ll think anything you make is delicious. Second of all, you think we’ll continue to share meals?” You could tell by the glint in his eye that he was amused by the statement you’d made, which flusters you.

“Ummm… I mean, definitely not if you don’t want to, being as we just met and you don’t know me and I don’t know you but I guess you do hang out with my brother so we may or may not cross paths again. I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to the idea, but again, no pressure. Anyway, I’m rambling now and it’s getting awkward and you’re looking at me like I’m crazy or something so I’m just doing to stop talking right about now!” You say all of this in one breath, mortified that you couldn’t put together a coherent answer to Eddie’s simple albeit flirty question. 

He laughs. It’s gorgeous and yet you feel mortified that you embarrassed yourself. That is, until he speaks. 

“I don’t think you're crazy, and I would like to share more meals with you. Don’t feel pressured to cook for me though, I’m really good at ordering pizza. Or, we don’t have to have food. I’d hang out with you either way.” 

Eddie starts leaning closer. Your eyes dart down to his lips for a quick second. When you glance back up to meet his gaze, you notice that he’s even closer to you and he’s now stealing glances to your lips. 

Suddenly, you hear the front door swing open. “Y/N! I’m home!” 

You and Eddie fly apart, almost sitting at complete opposite ends of the table. Dustin calls for you again. 

“In here, Dusty!” You yell back.

Dustin rounds the corner and enters the kitchen. “Eddie? What are you doing here?” 

“Oh, he was just-” Eddie cuts you off. 

“I was just flirting with your sister.” 

You roll your eyes while trying to hide a smile creeping up on your lips. 

“No, he was looking for some dice.” 

“Oh right, that is what I was doing here. You haven’t seen them, have you, Dusty?”

Dustin cringes at Eddie’s use of the nickname. “No, I haven’t seen them. However, I do feel slightly uncomfortable hearing that you were flirting with my sister, even if it was just a joke.” 

“It was not at all a joke. Sorry, dude. Your sister’s cute and I think she likes me.” Eddie turns back to you and gives you a wink. He then stands up from the table and walks closer to Dustin. “Don’t worry, Dusty. Nothing happened… this time.” Dustin goes beat red. You can’t tell whether it’s from embarrassment or outrage. “Anyway, I better get going. It was nice meeting you, Y/N. I hope to see more of you.” Then he quickly headed out the front door. 

“I don’t like this, Y/N.” Dustin says once Eddie closes the door behind him. 

“Well that’s too damn bad, little brother. Stop having adorable friends and maybe I’ll stop flirting with them.” You say, then stick your tongue out at him.