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jordyn14 · 1 month

Note

would you write a story where Y/n and Joe are arguing because Joe is making some bad friends and she doesn't want to be around because she's pregnant or something... But in the end everything ends well

You’re going down a dark path | Joe Burrow

Pairing: Joe burrow x fem first person

Words: 4113

Notes: I kind of changed this around slightly to make this a little more emotional and heartfelt, but I tried to stay on track with the request. I hope you enjoy! <3

Taglist: @wickedfun9

I got into my car after working out for the millionth time this week. Normally I would go once, maybe twice a week depending on how my pregnant body felt, but lately, I’ve been going every single day. Why have I been going every single day? To get out of my house. Ever since Joe’s season ending wrist injury, he’s been hanging out with the wrong people. I get why he’s needed an outlet and a group of friends that can take his mind off of it. I do. I get that the injury took a toll on him physically and especially mentally, but right now, I can’t stand to be anywhere his friends are, and they’ve been coming over the house so often, even just to pick Joe up and take him somewhere.

Most of the time they come home drunk and high, and I don’t need nor want that, especially since Joe and I are expecting a baby in a few months. When I told Joe that I was glad that his new friends were helping him take his mind off of it all, I meant it because I thought it would be good for him in the long run, but I was very, very wrong. I found that out when they first got in trouble with the law for the first time. Joe swore it would be the last time, but then it happened again. The last thing I wanted was for Joe to end up in jail or suspended for a few games.

While I headed home, I was hopeful that his friends wouldn’t be over the house and that I would get to spend some quality time with Joe, because right now, that’s all I wanted. This first pregnancy is currently kicking my butt and all I want to do is be with my husband since he’s been in Arizona with his friends this past weekend, which means I haven’t seen him in a few days.

As I merged onto the freeway, I got a call from Joe. With a smile, I grabbed my phone so the music could still play and excitedly answered it. “Hey Joey, I should be home soon. Did you just get home?” I asked him with a big smile on my face. “Hey baby. I can’t wait to see you, it feels like it’s been forever.” Joe said. Hmm, maybe because it has been forever. For the last two weekends he’s been in another state. “We just got home and immediately jumped into the pool. Granted, it’s a lot colder here than in Arizona so we’re kinda cold.” Joe chuckled. We? You’ve got to be kidding me. I pulled the phone away from my ear and started laughing a little bit, unable to hide how annoyed I was. “They’re all at the house? Haven’t you spend enough time with them?” I asked Joe.

Even though my voice was filled with annoyance, he still was oblivious to just how much I hated them. “Probably, but they wanted to swim some more, so I invited them over.” Joe said. In the background, I could hear beer cans getting crushed and shook my head. “Are you drinking beer already? It’s 11am.” I asked Joe. In the background, I not only could hear beer cans being crush, but I also could hear a lot of commotion and water splashing.

“I’m not, but the guys are. They’re fucking hilarious.” Joe said and laughed at something one of them did on the other end of the phone. I rolled my eyes and said, “I’m about to get off of the freeway, I’ll be home in like 5 minutes.” I said and hung up before he could say anything else. More than anything, I wanted to come home to my husband without them being there. I wanted Joe to wrap me in his arms like he does after a long game or a long weekend away from me and hear him repeat the words ‘I love you,’ over and over again as he kisses me. I just wanted some alone time, and on top of that, I wanted to know my husband was being safe.

I pulled into our driveway and pulled into the only spot that was left since there were 3 other cars that weren’t supposed to be here. As soon as I opened the door, I could hear them in the backyard yelling and having what they thought was a great time. This may seem like fun for some people, hell, it would’ve been fun to me…about 4 years ago. But with where we are at in our lives, and with the image that Joe has to uphold at all times, he can’t be doing this. He can’t be going out with people that are constantly doing things that can trash his name, because when he comes to terms with just how lousy he’s been acting, it may be too late.

When I walked inside, I headed for the back door and tried to put on my best fake smile. The last thing I wanted was to get into a fight right here and now about it, but that day would definitely come. It had to come. I just didn’t know when. Putting my hand on the door handle, I hesitated for a few seconds before slowly opening it up. Right when Joe heard the door open from in the deep end of the pool, he immediately jumped out and began to run over to me. “Finally! I missed you both!” Joe yelled as he ran, looking to me and to my stomach where his little boy was.

When he reached me, he picked me up and spun me around a little bit. I couldn’t contain the giggles as I clung onto his wet and muscular body. “We missed you too, Joey.” I said with a laugh as he set me down on the ground. Once on the ground, I couldn’t help but stare at him, in awe of how he looked. Not only was he only in swim trunks which revealed the most perfect amount of leg, ab, back, and arm muscles, but his hair looked amazing. Like most off seasons, he was growing out his hair, so his wet curls were hanging on his forehead and the hair in the back was wild from getting wet. Instinctively, I reached up and ran my fingers through his curls and then let my hand run down his arm.

All joe did was look me up and down before he cupped the side of my face with one hand and the other was wrapped around my waist, pulling me in closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips connected and arched my back with the faintest moan as he kissed me hard. From the noise I made, Joe smiled into the kiss before we were interrupted by all three of the guys screaming, “get a room!” The both of us pulled away from each other and laughed at the guys reaction. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. “Oh shut up.” I laughed while rolling my eyes at them.

Two out of the three of them got out of the pool and started to dry off slightly before plopping themselves down into the chairs my best friend and I tan in during the summer. “How was your workout? Let’s see those muscles.” Joe joked and gave my arm a little squeeze. “Well, it was going good until the very end when our little crazy pants in here decided it would be a good idea to keep jabbing me in the rib cage.” I said and looked down at my stomach. Joe chuckled and put both of his hands on my stomach so he could try and feel our little boy kick. I studied Joes face, waiting for him to feel the kicks, and after a few seconds, his face lit up and he looked at me with the most amazing smile. “Oh wow, he’s kicking. Our little man is so strong,” Joe said, looking at me and then my stomach in awe, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

I smiled up at Joe and let him feel his son kick in my stomach for a little while longer. Ever since Joe felt him kick for the first time, he’s been obsessed with feeling him kick. Before he leaves to go anywhere, or even go to sleep, he wants to feel his little boy kick first and talk to him so he knows what his voice sounds like. It’s adorable watching Joe transform into a dad, and I can’t wait until the day comes when he can hold his baby boy for the first time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of Joe’s friends lighting a joint when I specifically told all of them not to a million times. Edibles was one thing, but I really did not want the yard and our clothes smelling like weed. It’s not like I mind them getting high, especially Joe since I know it helps him calm down, but they go completely overboard with it. Almost every time I see them they are faded and despite me telling them not do, the house still smells like weed when I come home sometimes. It’s just gotten out of hand.

Although I was annoyed and wanted nothing more than to never see them again, I tried to shake it off and act like everything was fine for Joe’s sake. As long as they didn’t take it inside. “Do you want to sit down? Your back probably hurts.” Joe said. “That sounds amazing. Your son is being a pain today.” I sighed out and was immediately escorted to another chair by Joe who kept his hand on my lower back the whole time. When I sat down, Joe made sure I didn’t need anything else and then sat down in the chair next to me. “So, did Joe tell you what happened this weekend?” One of Joes friends asked who was laying out on one of the sun tanning chairs while smoking a joint. With a skeptical look, I shook my head and then looked at Joe. I swear to god if he did anything illegal. “No, what did you do?” I asked Joe who looked like he wanted to keep it a secret. “Joey B decided to get drunk and pass out right in front of a police officer.” The other friend said who grabbed the other one’s joint and started to smoke it. I looked over at Joe with a glare on my face and tried my best not to get angry until they left. “How fun. At least you didn’t get thrown in jail.” I said with a fake laugh and then continued to glare at his friends.

While two of them were getting high, the other one was floating on a raft in the pool with some sunglasses on, probably already drunk, knowing them. “You seem uptight, take a hit. It’ll be good for you.” The friend said that was currently holding the joint said. I rolled my eyes with a small smile, thinking he was joking, but he obviously wasn’t since his hand stayed outstretched towards me. While I looked at him, thinking it was a joke, he shrugged a little bit. With a scoff, I shook my head and said, “excuse me? You know I’m pregnant, right?” From next to me, Joe put his hand by his mouth and was about to intervene when I glared at him. No way he was letting this one go. I was so sick and tired of them always being around Joe and me, and making Joe do stupid and illegal things.

“What? My baby mama did it when she was pregnant. Granted, that little bitch of a son is practically a 13 year old drug dealer at his school.” He laughed. With another scoff, I stood up and started to quickly walk over to him. All he did was stare up at me with a confused look on his face as I stormed over to him. As soon as I got to him, I snatched the joint right out of his hand and tossed it on the concrete and smashed it into the ground with my shoe. “Get off of my fucking property. All of you.” I said and looked between the both of them who just stared up at me in shock, then over to Joe. “Don’t look at him, look at me, I’m the one talking. And if you didn’t hear me the first time, I said get off of my property!” I raised my voice at them.

This time, they got the hint and stood up from the chairs. “Your wife is fucking crazy dude. She ain’t any fun.” One of them said as they made their way to the gate which led to the front yard. “Don’t talk about her that way.” Joe stood up for me while he stood up from his chair, though I could tell he was angry with me that I kicked them out. After they left for the front yard, I walked over to the in ground pool where the last one was swimming. “It’s time to go!” I yelled at him. Just as I said this, Joe came over and put his hand on my arm to try and stop me, but I yanked my hand away from him. “What are you doing?” Joe asked me. I looked up at him with a glare on my face and he looked down at me like I was the one in the wrong. I looked him up and down with a scoff and then angrily looked back over to his friend that was fast asleep on the raft.

Not wanting to wait for him to wake up, I leaned down and picked up an empty beer can that one of them smashed and threw it at the guy and hit him in the face with it. Right when it hit him, he leaned forwards with a small scream, not expecting to be hit by anything, and fell off of the raft into the cold water. “What the fuck?” He asked and yanked his sunglasses off of his face which how had a broken lens. “It’s time to go.” I said and started to gather up all of the beer cans from the ground that they left. “I’m drunk, what am I supposed to do?” He asked as he started to walk up the stairs. “Do you have a phone?” I asked him while stopping to look at him for a second. After he nodded, I said, “great, then call an Uber or walk home for all I care. Do anything but stay here.” While he got out of the pool, he scoffed at me, so I flipped him off before I bent down and started to pick up some of the beer cans they left on the ground.

While I picked up the beer cans and tried to make the yard look like it did before they came over, Joe just stood there with his hands on his hips, looking at me with a confused and angry look on his face. After I picked up the last can and threw it in the outside trash bin, I turned to look at him. “What was that? Why did you do that?” Joe asked me. I widened my eyes at him and scoffed while shaking my head. “You aren’t serious, right? Tell me you’re joking.” I said. Joe just shrugged, waiting for me to tell him why. “He offered you a joint, all you had to say was no, not freak out like you did and kick them all out.” Joe said, trying his best to give them the benefit of the doubt. That’s all he’s been doing these past few months. Always giving them excuse after excuse so he doesn’t look like a complete dick for hanging around them.

I guess we’re doing this now. “This wasn’t just from him offering me weed, this is from everything. Every single thing that they’ve done that I’ve ignored for your sake.” I said. “Oh so we’re doing this? We’re making this a thing? No way.” Joe said with a scoff and started to storm towards the door. As he passed me, he looked me up and down with a pissed look on his face. “We are so doing this, Joe, because it’s been a thing, for months now. You’re just too blind to see it apparently.” I said and followed after him as he walked inside, trying to get away from me since he didn’t want that confrontation.

Even though I followed Joe inside and wanted to have this conversation with him, he was still in denial, and pretended like I wasn’t even there. I watched as he went into the kitchen and started to rummage around the cupboards. “Excuse me? Now you’re ignoring me?” I asked him and walked over to him. When I said this, he closed the cupboard he was looking inside of and turned around to face me. “I don’t know what you are getting at right now? This hasn’t been a thing!” Joe said, raising his voice slightly. “Yes it has Joe. It’s been a thing since you started hanging around them after your wrist injury!” I said, raising my voice right back at him.

All joe did was scoff and walk away from me. “Come back here right now. We are having this conversation, whether you like it or not.” I said and turned around. Joe stopped right in his tracks and then slowly turned around to face me. I took a step closer to him while saying, “ever since your wrist injury, you have been hanging around them, and it isn’t good. They aren’t good people and it kills me that you are so blind to that.” I said. As soon as I said this, it looked like something clicked in him, like he was finally waking up to something, but he still shook his head, somewhat in denial, or at least that’s what it looked like. “They aren’t bad people just because they don’t like or don’t do the same things you do!” Joe raised his voice at me. “Two out of three of them have been to jail, the other has had multiple DUI’s and something that should’ve been a felony. But yeah, they totally aren’t bad people.” I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice at the last part.

Joe started to bite on the inside of his cheek as he listened to what I had to say. Then, he looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. “If you don’t want to be around them, I won’t have them over the house anymore.” Was all he said as he continued to look at the ground. “I don’t want to be around them, but I also don’t want them around you.” I said. Joe looked up at me and said quietly, “they help.” My heart ached for him. I know how hard it was for him to have his second season ending injury in just two years. I did. I get that he was exhausting. But this has to stop before it’s too late. “They aren’t good people, Joe. I don’t want to see you turn into them.” I said.

“I would never turn into them and you know that. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean I have to stop hanging out with them.” Joe said, fighting back. “Really? Because before you started hanging out with them, you never got in trouble for anything. But right after you met them, boom, you started to have run ins with the police.” I said. “They were over stupid things! That doesn’t count!” Joe yelled slightly. “Those things aren’t stupid Joe! You would’ve never, ever done those things a year ago.” I told him. “What? So now you wish I would change and go back to the way I was? Am I not good enough now?” Joe asked me. I took another step towards him and let out a sigh. I had no clue what to do.

“You will always be good enough, Joe, but you’re going down a dark path, and I’m scared that when you do finally wake up and realize the kind of people you’ve been hanging around, it may already be too late.” I said. Joe looked at the ground as he furrowed his brows. “I know that they aren’t the best people, but they really did help.” Joe said. My heart skipped a beat in my chest and I sucked in a breath. This was the first time in months that he’s actually accepted that they were bad people and didn’t make excuses for them. Now all I needed to do was push a little bit more. “I get that your injury was hard on you physically and mentally. I get that maybe I wasn’t enough for you and only they could help, but they aren’t good people Joe, and I’m honestly scared to raise a child around them…and you if you keep going down this path, although it’s not likely, you may end up in jail or suspended from the league.” I said, telling Joe the truth.

Joe looked up at me and shook his head repeatedly. “You were always enough. You helped me when nobody else could. I needed you, and will always need you.” Joe said. “Then why did you lean on them?” I asked, feeling my eyes prick with tears. Joe sighed, his shoulders hanging low. He looked so defeated. All I wanted to do was wrap him in my arms and tell him everything was going to be alright. “Would you believe me if I said I don’t know? Because I don’t know. I don’t know why I started using them as an outlet, I just did, and it felt good because I didn’t have to think about the possibility of never being able to throw a football again. All I know right now is that I love you and our baby with all of my heart and I am so incredibly sorry for everything.” Joe said, looking at me with those bright and tear filled blue eyes. Sucking in my lips slightly, I nodded and closed to distance between us, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You don’t have to be sorry, Joey, I know how hard this has been for you, I just want you to realize that you’re going down a dark path and that you need to turn around before it’s too late.” I said. Joe wrapped his arms around my waist and held me against him tightly while sniffling into my hair. “I promise you, I’m never seeing them again. You and this baby are all I need and I’m sorry if I may have forgotten that with everything that’s been going on.” Joe said. “It’s okay, Joey. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. But please, talk to me if you need to. Don’t keep things bottled up, and don’t fall into the wrong crowd when you need an escape.” I said. “I promise you, baby. I know I’ve been such an asshole lately and haven’t been home that much, but please forgive me if you can, because I am so sorry.” Joe said. “Of course I forgive you. No matter what happens, you’re still my husband and I will always love you. Even if you passed out in front of a cop.” I laughed and pulled away from Joe to look into his eyes.

Joe put both of his hands on the sides of my face and swiped his thumbs under my eyes to catch my tears while chuckling at what I said. “Good, because I would be lost without you.” Joe said. As we looked into each other’s eyes, I couldn’t help but let out a small sob. It took everything in me not to have this conversation with him sooner, but I think it was good that I waited until he could realize for himself just how extensive it was getting. I know the injury was hard on him and that he needed an escape from reality sometimes, but he was finally back. My husband was finally back. “I missed you.” I whispered to him. “I missed me too.” Joe sighed and rested his head on mine.

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simp4pedropascal75 · 10 months

Text

bad guy (Joel Miller x Reader)

summary: since joel came to jackson, you only had eyes for him. but he didn't had eyes for you.... well, he did. but he hid behind a facade of a cold, mean asshole.

trigger warnings: 18+, minors dni, mature content included, some angst, fluff, explicit language, mention of guns, smut (f!nger!ng, p in v, mention of daddy k!mk, praising, degrading), age gap (reader in his 20s, joel in his 50s)

words: 2k

a/n: hey guys, so, this is my first post after a long break now. this was my first time writing smut, i'm still learning yk, but I hope you like it! Please keep in my mind that english isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for spelling mistakes and stuff.

Also I wrote this while driving to Croatia and I'm still sitting in the car, so yeah. There'll be a part 2 of this ff:) now, I wish y'all a fun time reading<3

-------------------♡❀˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹❀♡--------------------

Why do girls always love the bad guy? Why can’t I just find normal people attractive? And especially men in my age, you think.

Obviously I can’t, because I love Joel fucking Miller.

Since he came with this girl Ellie to Jackson, you couldn’t get him out of your mind. You tried, you really tried. But no, Joel stayed in your mind. Every fucking time he walked past you, butterflies flew in your stomach like crazy. When he looked at you, your heartbeat speeded up. And god, when he talked to you, even for just 10 seconds, you needed to squeeze your legs together, because you couldn’t bear the ache between your legs.

But sadly, he didn’t talked to you often, he didn’t look at you, he just always walked past you. Sometimes you two had to go on patrol, but to be honest, he was an asshole. He didn’t talk much, and when he did, he was mean. He was so cold towards you. The only person where he softened up, was Ellie. You and her got along well, she is a smart girl, with a big mouth, but still smart.

But, what did you expect? He’s like doubled your age. But you always found men, who could be your dad, more attractive than boys in your age. Older men are more mature and… they have experience.

With every boy you slept in your age, has never made you cum, never.

Not to mention your daddy issues.

Actually, you’re on patrol with him right now. It was quiet, very quiet, while you walk through a abounded building with him. You’ve met some clickers on your way, but they were easy to kill. “So, was it already so quiet when Tommy was out on patrol?”, you ask him while you reload your gun. “‘haven’t talked to him”, he answers cold. You look at him confused, because they usually always exchange about their patrols.

“Why didn’t you?”, you ask curiously.

“Why would you care?”, he scoffs and doesn’t even look at you. He stands up and continues to walk.

Asshole.

“We have to move, come on”, he adds. You just roll your eyes at him, get up and follow him. “Well I care, because we have to know what we have to expect.”, you mumble pissed.

He turns around to look at you with a stern look. “If you would shut your fucking mouth, maybe we could hear what we have to expect”

Yeah, that’s it.

“You know what, I don’t fucking care. I understand that we’re definitely not friends, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like the arrogant bastard you are.”, you speak upset. “Guess what, I don’t like you either, but at least I try to be nice to you!”

“Shut up.”, he whispers harshly.

“You want me to shut up?! Did I hurt your ego because someone finally said how you really are, Joel Miller?! I swear I’ll soon kick you in your non-exciting balls-“ He suddenly slams you against the wall and covers your mouth with his hand. “I said, be. quiet.”, he growls quietly. You try to move and push him away, but he’s too strong.

As you give up and stare into his eyes, you hear it too, stalkers.

You feel how the speed of your heartbeat increases and feel the big ache between your legs again, but even stronger as the last time’s. His chest was pressed onto yours and you sense his hot breath on your neck. While Joel’s concentrated on the sound of the stalkers, you get a chance to admire his face closely. His hazel eyes, his lips… and his nose.

Fuck.

As the stalker noises get quiet and disappear, you gulp as he stares into your eyes. He releases your mouth from his hand and you take a deep breath. “s-so.. where was I-?”, he cuts you off.

“You really can’t shut up, can you?”, he raises an eyebrow at you as he asks.

“You fucking basta-“, suddenly he smashes his lips on yours. That’s when you get quiet. Your heart was beating out of your chest while you were melting under his touch. You can’t resist and wrap your arms around his neck while kissing him back.

Joel’s hands run up your curves while he’s pulling you even closer to his body. You feel how his dick begins to harden under the fabric of his jeans. He stops kissing your lips and continues to place kisses on your neck to leave you with his marks. You whimper softly as you feel how his hand glides down your stomach. As Joel slides his hand under your pants, he touches your already wet panties. “god, were you so desperate to be touched? you dirty little girl.”, he whispers in your ear and nibbles on it. “Fuck, Joel-“, you breathe. He pushes your panties aside and his thumb starts to rub your clit slightly.

“you need to be quiet, darling.”, he whispers again as you feel his hot breath on your neck again. As you nod and give him your permission he slides two of his fingers into your core. “Joel- I-“, you begin to breath heavy. You really tried to keep quiet, but as he starts to pump his fingers into you… “Joel, I can’t-“, you moan, that’s when he puts his hand over your mouth again.

“keep fucking quiet, you’re gonna’ get us killed..”, he growls as he stares into your eyes.

While he continues shoving his fingers inside you, your hands make your way to his belt. As you start to unbuckle it, he slaps your hands away. “not here.”, he whispers harshly.

“Please Joel-, I need you.”, you whine.

“No.”, he says with his deep voice, which even more aroused you. You start to feel your climax coming nearer, so does Joel as your inner walls squeeze his fingers gently. “Joel, I’m gonna-“, you cry out and he immediately covers your mouth again. “thats it, baby.. cum all over my fingers, darling…”, he whispers right into your ear and that’s when you reach your climax. He presses his hand onto your mouth to quiet down your moan and a slight smirk appears on his face. As your legs are still shaking, your hands try to unbuckle his belt again, but this time, he lets you do it.

“Fuck, y/n… you really want to get us killed, don’t you”, Joel groans quietly.

“Please Joel-, just-“, he cuts you off while slamming his lips onto yours again. He flicks his younger against yours and gasps as your hand touches his clothed dick. “Goddammit, y/n!”, he growls.

“Please Joel, I need you inside of me-“, that’s when he can’t resist your begging and he turns you around the wall and pushes you against it. “‘risking to get killed, just to be fucked by daddy’s cock”, he whispers and you hear how he pushes his pants down, which leaves a smile on your face. He takes his dick into his hand and rubs the tip at your wet pussy. His other hand glides to your mouth again, because he knows you definitely can’t keep quiet.

And he’s right.

You cry out loud as he pushes his shaft into your throbbing core.

God, he’s big.

“Fuck.”, he exhales. He begins to thrust into you while your moans get louder, he presses his hand harder on your mouth. “Such a good girl, taking my dick so fucking good”, Joel praises which makes you squirm under his grip. His other hand rests on your waist and his breath starts to get heavier. As he increases the speed, you feel how your legs begin to shake again. “how long have you been waiting for this, hm…?”, he breathes into your ear and wraps his arm around you to pull you closer. Joel begins to hit your g-spot and as your breath becomes heavier, your moans do too.

“Use your words, princess”, he groans into your ear.

“S-since you came here-“, you try to answer while he’s trying to muffle your moans again. You hear him chuckle. “‘never thought that you’re such a dirty girl”, he whispers. “‘squeezing my dick real good- you’re gonna’ cum?”. You nod.

“Words.”, he growls. “Y-yes, I’m gonna cum!”, you whine and you rech your climax. As your pussy tightens around his cock, you hear his groan and feel how he fills you up with his cum, leaving you two breathless.

As we walked back to Jackson, he was quiet, too quiet. “‘you’re okay?”, you ask concerned and also confused while he’s walking in front of you. “This was a mistake”, he growls and keeps walking. “What- I don’t understand-“, you mumble confused and grab after his hand so he stops walking. “What don’t you understand?”, he speaks louder and pulls his hand away. “This, was a mistake”, he points with his finger at you and himself. “A fucking big one.”, he growls and turns around to walk. “So, after you just fucked the shit out of me in a building full of zombies, you tell me that this was a mistake?!”, you almost shout and walk after him.

I can’t believe him, you think.

“yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”, he points out and it seems like he really doesn’t care. “Are you kidding me right now?! Don’t you notice how fucked up this is?! You fuck me and now tell me it was a mistake, and you don’t even feel bad!”, you shout after him upset and try not to tear up. “Exactly”, he just answers coldly.

“And now what huh?!”, you try to grab his hand again and finally get him stop walking. He turns around and just looks at you, his eyes were pitch black now. You don’t see any emotions in his face.

“Now, we’re going our separate ways”, he grumbles coldly.

Why do girls always love the bad guy?, you think.

It’s already been two months since it happens with Joel. And like he said, we’re going our separate ways. He didn’t look at you, he didn’t talked to you and he didn’t even went on patrols with you anymore. And you really tried to hate him, and did because of what he did, but you couldn’t get this night with him out of your mind anymore. Every time you close your eyes, you feel his lips on yours and his dick thrusting deep into you.

So, since he really didn’t felt bad and ignored you like you don’t exist, you tried to keep on with your life and tried dating again. You’ve met a really nice boy, Jack. He was two years older than you and he really was a gentleman. He was nice, kind and lovely. He made you laugh and feel safe. Since Joel didn’t go on patrols with you again, he did. And it was fun. Today you’ve had your third date already and as you walk into the bar, you see Joel sitting there.

Fuck.

And that’s when it hits your memory again. His hand pressed on your mouth, his hot breath on your neck and his dick pounding into you. You got pulled out of your mind, as you feel Jack’s hand on your waist. “Hey there, beautiful”, he says with his sweet smile. “Hey”, you smile back and go with him to your table. You thought Joel didn’t notice you, but he did. He saw you with this guy before, and god it has made him jealous. But Joel’s good at hiding his feelings, always hiding how he looks at you in secret.

You and Jack had a good time. Sometimes you took a glance at Joel, but his back was turned towards you. As you two finished eating, you stood up and wanted to look after Joel, but he wasn’t sitting there anymore. “I’ll pay real quick, you can wait outside”, Jack says and places a kiss on your cheek.

You nod and go outside. It’s already dark outside. A breeze of cold air flies against your body and you get goosebumps. That’s when you let your keys fall. “Fuck…”, you swear and try to see them in the dark. As you spot them, you bend down but suddenly someone else picks them up.

As you look up, you freeze:

“Joel.”

-> part 2

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saigethearies · 10 months

Text

LOVE LANGUAGES

how he shows you that he loves you :) while rearranging your insides <3 <3

multifandom x fem!reader starring kiba, eren, jean, megumi, and kuroo (this is so self-indulgent it’s literally just a collection of my favs)

all characters mentioned are in their twenties in this piece || MINORS DNI 18+

cw: sub!reader, overstimulation, oral (f!receiving) and mention of (m!receiving), blindfolding, bondage, praise, cockwarming, lingerie, daddy kink, use of pet names

___

KIBA inuzuka may seem like a selfish man at first glance. cocky and egotistical, it’s easy to imagine he would only care about himself.

that couldn’t be further from the truth.

despite how selfish he may seem, kiba always prioritized your pleasure above his own in the bedroom. the acts of service you witnessed from him during this time stemmed from just how devoted he was to you, ignoring his own hardening want to ensure you felt amazing.

“kiba!” you cried out, tears streaming down your face as you tried to recover from your third orgasm of the night.

the brunette smirked from his place between your thighs, white fangs glistening in the moonlight peeking into the room.

“yes, pretty girl?”

“too much! t-too much, please slow down!”

the brunette chuckled. “oh, i would baby, but you just sound so sexy when you’re cumming on my tongue. you can give me on more, yeah?”

you didn’t answer right away, leading kiba to circle his lips around your clit once more. bucking your hips into his face, you answered him. “y-yes, kiba! i’ll give you one more, fuck.”

he smirked. “that’s my good girl.”

EREN always had to have a hand on you; whether it was placed on the small of your back, wrapped around your shoulders, or holding one of your own. regardless of the manner, eren found a way, because physical touch was important to him.

that’s how you found yourself in the position you were currently in, hands cuffed to the headboard and a blindfold over your eyes.

“i want all of my touches to feel even more intense on your skin,” eren had said.

you jumped when you felt your boyfriend’s fingertips dancing along your torso. not knowing where he was heading, you held your breath before gasping at the feel of eren’s hand cupping your breast.

“so responsive,” he said with a smirk while watching you push your chest further into his hands.

“maybe i should blindfold you more often if it means you’ll be this sensitive, baby.”

JEAN never hid how much he loved you. sweet praises always falling from his lips, the words of affirmation he gave you always left your head feeling light.

“what a pretty girl,” your husband breathed into your ear. “so wet for me, you’ve been waiting for this all day, haven’t you, doll?”

you hiccuped, pressing yourself back into his chest as jean had you spread open in his lap. “yes, daddy, missed you so much.”

he bummed. “i know you did, honey.”

you felt his fingers slip into the waistband of your panties. “this sweet cunt has been so neglected, hasn’t it?”

“yeah, daddy, it has. please make it feel better.”

jean chuckled. “don’t worry, daddy’s gonna take good care of his pretty girl and her pretty pussy.”

MEGUMI couldn’t always count on words, being the quiet person that he is. therefore, spending quality time with you was the best way to ensure that you knew he was still head over heels for you.

especially when your activities together walked the narrow line between intimate and wholesome.

“just wanna be as close to you as possible, gumi,” you had said while sinking your soaked pussy down onto his hard cock.

this wasn’t the first time you had cockwarmed him, nor would it be the last. whenever you and megumi needed an easy way to be together, this was the first thing the two of you tried out.

your boyfriend groaned out, fingernails digging crescent shapes into your hips as you settled into his lap. placing a kiss on the top of your, the sorcerer wrapped his arms around your waist.

“the feeling of your cunt around me is never going to get old, my love.”

KUROO never hesitated to spoil you. his precious little princess, he ensured you always had something beautiful to wear for him. thus, gift giving was like a second nature to the sports promoter once the two of you became official.

“let me see you, kitten,” the brunette called out to you after you finished fastening the garter strap.

exiting the bathroom, you stood still so your fiancé could see the intricate, red lace patterns adorning your skin.

kuroo let out a low whistle from his place on your bed. “you look absolutely gorgeous, angel.”

you watched as he stood up, coming to meet you as he placed a hand under your chin.

“my sweetheart is going to show me how lovely this set looks on her while she’s on her knees for me, right, kitten?”

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toastermoth · 5 months

Note

Hello! I saw your requests are open! I’m actually a fem reader, but I don’t mind a gender neutral one! I’d like to know your headcanons on Solomon when he becomes romantically interested with the mc. Like if he’ll do anything for them or does he get jealous whenever mc spends so much time with the demon brothers. Anything that you think about, it’s up to you. 😊 It’s been a very long time that I haven’t played Obey Me and I just miss them. Thanks!

Hell yeah!! I got OM after almost a year of not playing so ik what you mean when you say you miss them! (I missed Satan </3) one batch of Solomon hcs coming right up! APOLOGIES FOR THIS BEING LONG I HAD FUN WRITING THING

SOLOMON X GN! READER HCS

This man, he's old. Old man. So obviously he knows a few things about love.

Usually it's other people swooning for him but when he met you this man was DOWN MFING BAD.

He started to come up to talk to you inbetween classes more and more often. In a way he seemed awkward?

Hm, maybe he's just trying to be kind? Until he started walking you home everyday which always made you happy because unlike the brothers, he wouldn't abandon you on your walks.

Casually helping you carry books to eventually racing you playfully, to holding your hand and making you run with him all the way to the house of Lamination.

You found yourself falling for the white haired wizard and went to Asmo for advice.

"Sweetie, just say your feelings! I'm more than sure his feelings are intertwined with yours! And if you're too scared work up to it! Spend more time with him and only him!"

Taking Asmo's advice over timeyou found yourself at the purgatory hall. Everyday it seemed like a routine, get up, go to school, go home with Solomon and do whatever two oblivious people who have a crush on each other do!

The lust demon however thought you two were still taking too long and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Next thing you knew, Asmodeus was suddenly all over you, asking to shop, asking to try on some new makeup with him and then soon all the brothers caught on and had their own requests.

"Y/n I require you assistance for this paperwork. Surely you won't disappoint me."

"YO! Y/N! I need ya to help me with some uh.. uh.. LISTEN I JUST NEED YOUR HELP ALRIGHT?!"

"Hey normie, get on Mononoke Land! There's a new event going on!"

"Y/n I need you for helping me find this human book, it's about this boy-"

"Y/n dear! I found this color changing nail polish and it's to DIE FOR! Cmon I need to test it on you!"

"Y/n I'm hungry.. can you make me something? We can share if you want too if I don't eat it all."

"Mnn.. y/n come nap with me... m cold and you're nice and warm.."

Once Solomon noticed you were canceling your plans with him, he started to get suspicious and a little insecure. (He'd never say that out loud however.)

Finally after some debating, he decided to personally take you home with him and find ways to keep you both busy.

The demons take notice (especially Lucifer after you didn't answer his texts after 5 minutes) and sneaked around (Simeon let them in) and noticed you and Solomon laughing together?

"HEY WHAT TH-" "SHHHHH Love is happening."

You hear the demon brothers' bickering but pay no attention as you resume your tickle fight with Solomon.

"You're the person I'd let tickle me and that's saying something, you're the only person I'd let do a lot of things." he said inbetween laughs.

You look at him so full of love as he grabs both your hands and starts tickling you!

"Let the lovebirds be, cmon out out!" Asmo yelled, you both stopped and started laughing at his antics.

God he was in love.

#obey me x reader #obey me x mc #obey me x gender neutral reader #obey me solomon #obey me solomon x reader #x gn reader #solomon x mc #obey me x male reader #ob! solomon x gn reader #obey me x y/n

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thewayuarent · 8 months

Text

About choices

And about Sand’s choices mostly

(there are spoilers to the next episode in here if you try to avoid them)

I found myself using the word pathetic to describe literally any character in this show by that point and while I do it ironically I think it doesn’t fit for me anymore. I’m also way far to be the only one using it especially when discussion is about Sand.

And the thing is - I don’t think he’s pathetic about Ray. I also think after this episode that I’m actually really proud of him. And while I have that very uneasy feeling every time I watch Sand yielding to Ray - I work hard to find my peace with it and be fine with that.

Because he’s making his choice and it’s not my place to judge him for that. Because I don’t want to do with Sand the same exact thing Top and Cheum do with Mew - questioning his life choices and blame them on Ray. Because Sand is an adult and he has a right to make his own decisions.

This episode is actually the first time I see Sand being honest about his feelings with Ray. This scene right here - is about Sand admitting his feelings.

Maybe he doesn’t say it as it is, he still uses sarcasm cause of course he would - but he also clearly hurt and he doesn’t hide it away as usual. This is also the moment I believe Ray realizes for the first time that he means something for Sand.

And after that conversation, after him not responding to messages and staying his ground, the next thing is he’s being smitten with Ray again.

And it’s so fucking understandable. He’s not pathetic. He’s just in love. And he allows himself that moment of weakness just because he wants to spend this time or more time with Ray. Simple as that.

And after that absolutely gross terrible shit Ray has an audacity to tell in his face - Sand is still here.

And it’s not only about him helping Ray with cops. Cause this one understandable as hell at least for me. Police brutality is not a fun thing to experience at all (I experienced it ones after anti-war protest and I live in Russia so I know that shit). And no matter how angry I am at someone I won’t let them get through it alone, I will help them in situation like this absolutely. And I would definitely not let an addict with severe mental illness get to a fucking jail, are you kidding me? Even Top was like nope and he hates Ray.

Even if we all know that this is way more dangerous for Sand, cause Ray has money while Sand doesn't. Even if I think the right choice for Sand would be thinking about himself not Ray here just for a reason of being save - I would do the same thing. I spend one night in jail as a queer person and I still have a PTSD 1,5 year later. I know it was an impulse from Sand I know it's fucking dangerous and he's risking everything. I know it's stupid thing to do - and still I do not judge him for that.

But this is also about the next week preview. This is about Sand forgiving Ray once more. Giving him another chance. And the answer to the question “How will they end up like this after that disaster of a party?” - well, it’s because that what Sand wants. (And Ray also wants it obviously but we’re not asking him here, he’s sitting in a corner thinking about his behavior)

And the important thing here is - Ray is not the only one Sand gives this chance to. He gives it to himself also. And this is about him as much as about Ray. Because Sand was hurt before. And he closed up after that. And he only now allows himself to be honest with Ray for the first time. It not even as much in this conversation

- cause he’s probably doesn’t have the best control of his emotions so it can be unintentionally.

It’s this one we haven’t seen yet.

He lets himself be honest. And that means he gets himself an opportunity to feel and maybe to be happy but also to be hurt again. And this is a good thing, actually.

Because this is how life works. You can either choose to guard yourself or risk it without knowing for sure where it brings you.

And maybe it won’t last long. Maybe it’s only for a brief moment when they physically move themselves away from the reality - but it does count. And those moments? They matter as much as bad ones.

I personally do believe they are eventually doomed by narrative - and not because of love triangle or Ray's addiction, but because of the clear power imbalance this relationship build on. But while it's my personal belief, it's clearly not Sand's, at least in the moment. And it's his right to allow himself this chance - himself, not Ray.

Sand does deserve better. Yes, absolutely. He deserves to be loved and respected (you hear me Ray? I said respected) and not played around. People say it all over again and I’m definitely one of them. But the reality is, love is not only about what we deserve. And it’s not even only about what we feel. It’s about what we choose. And why it’s not for everyone to understand why Sand chooses Ray, it’s not our place to judge. It’s his choice. So if that what he wants I will support him.

The only boundary Sand semi-successfully holds is not being the second choice. He doesn’t let Ray do that to him - and it seems like he won’t in a future. And this is important cause it shows that Sand doesn’t completely betray who he is for Ray.

For all the other things - Ray saying (every time while being wasted as hell) things that probably for many people unforgivable - and I do respect that - well, Sand forgives him. And it doesn’t make him weak or stupid. It makes him who he is.

I was there before more than I would like to. My father is an alcoholic and sometimes when he’s drunk he says terrible things. It’s complicated cause he never allows himself this when he’s sober. And I know that alcohol doesn’t makes him different person, it’s still him. But I also know that condition brings worst in him. Things he actively fights all the time but that are still there. And when he’s sober - sometimes he apologizes. Sometimes he doesn’t remember. I choose to forgive him every time - not only for him but for myself. Does it makes me weak? I don’t think so.

Ray’s addiction is not his whole personality, but it’s a big part of who he is and it explains - not excuses - a lot about how he behaves. And being with addicted person is hard and exhausting and it’s not for everyone. It’s a personal choice - there’s no right or wrong here. Sand makes his.

Love is always about choice. And it’s not only about Sand, actually. It’s about all of them.

Mew doesn’t deserve being cheated on but it’s his choice to forgive Top or not, not ours. And my bet he will.

Top and Boston don’t deserve their sex being recorded and released but it’s up to them if they forgive anyones involved. And my bet they will. Top already running after Mew and Boston continues to add himself in this friend group, so they are already partially there.

Ray doesn’t deserve being dragged around by Mew to be his revenge supply, but it’s his choice to play along. And yes, he’s not that stupid, he clearly knows Mew’s reasoning.

Nick doesn’t deserve being betrayed by Sand, but he made a choice to forgive him and stay friends with him and trust him again anyway.

And this list is endless, this is just some examples. They all do messed up stuff to each other, hurt each other and then move on. They could honestly stop any relationship any character has with others but they all are still here. They won't be forever, probably, but for now, yes, and it's their rigth. This is how we’re growing up.

Sand knows exactly how Ray is. He’s not deceived about it. He sees Ray for what Ray is - all good and bad and charming and struggling parts of his personality. He actually always knew and he falls for Ray being himself not some pretty image of him. He knows Ray is far from perfect. He knows Ray doesn't respect him - he was there being called a whore and again with this stupid possesive rant. He was hurt by Ray way more than once.

And he perfectly rigth saying they have nothing in common - they are from different worlds and they always will.

But he's wrong about it at the same time. Cause it’s music, and also parental issues, and the ability to have fun with each other. It’s also Ray saying he’s in his happiest with Sand

which is absolutely mutual in their good moments. It’s about freedom they find in each other - Ray from his pain and Sand from his exhausting daily routine. It’s also about their shared need to be needed. It's not enough for stable relationship cause their differences are way bigger, but that's enough for him to be willing to give it a try.

Their bond is not healthy or romantic but it still deserves a chance to be. And I love how this show never tries to romanticize any of it. It’s always a complex mix of feelings because they are in wrongs so many times and every time you feel like it’s enough but this moment is still not here. And one minute they are broken but the next they are happy and then broken again and this is how life works.

They are so, so young and it’s not only about age (cause I’m not that much older than them but honestly I remember myself in 22 and I was a whole different person) but also about the amount of experience they have in their lives. About the dynamics they have and patterns they are stuck in. And this is always about getting this new experience and it’s not pleasant all the time but there are still moments when it is.

As for Sand - he’ll be alright. He is alright honestly. He’s not fooling himself into believing that his love will “fix” Ray. He’s just there both for Ray and for himself. And about what Sand deserves? He deserves exactly that, because that is what he wants. He deserves it for the sake of learning and feeling and growing up thanks to that experience.

He doesn’t need to be saved from Ray simply because he made his choice. Because it's not about Sand patheticly falling for Ray's needs.

It's about Sand meeting his own.

And while it not necessary to agree with him, or understand him, it's at least worth an acceptence.

#only friends meta #ofts #only friends the series #only friends #sandray #only friends sand

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stranger-fanfiction-n-things · 2 months

Text

CHAPTER 5: THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

This is an Original Character fanfiction. All Stranger Things characters and content are owned by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers.

a/n: This is a long one and based off certain scenes in Lucas on the Line. As a black person, I never realized I was other until it was pointed out to me and once I internalized it, I had questions I couldn't ask my parent(s) because it's not something discussed at length in the black community because trying to survive is hard enough. I honestly urge y'all to read Lucas on the Line because it's such a well written story about the Black Experience and how nuanced and difficult it is to navigate especially black kids who grew up in white neighbourhoods.

I hope y'all enjoy. Let me know what you guys think and if you'd like to be added to the tag list, let me know too! 🤎

Warnings: Swearing.

Word Count: 4587

Masterlist

PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV

THE WOODS

I squeal dropping the mallet on the ground at the sound of a gunshot. Nancy giggles waiting for me as I pick up my weapon in the shrubbery. I never thought I would be on my way to meet up with Jonathan Byers on the opposite side of town to learn how to shoot a gun. But then again, a lot more bizarre things have happened this week so I shouldn’t be surprised. Nancy and I trek up the small hill as Jonathan shoots repeatedly at the target of empty tin cans or at least attempts to.

“You’re supposed to hit the cans, right?”

Jonathan looks over his shoulder smiling sheepishly. “No, actually you see the spaces in between the cans? I’m aiming for those.”

“Sure.” Nancy answers, titling her head in amusement. She drops her backpack and baseball bat on the ground ready for practice.

I don’t take off my backpack right away, taking in my surroundings. The wide-open space of dry leaves, weeds and shrubs. The tall pine trees encircling the space. The winter chill started to come in and I wish I wore a hat today to cover my ears, maybe even a heavier coat instead of a denim jacket. Jonathan opens the revolver to check how many bullets are in the cylinder before reaching in his pockets for more.

“You ever shot a gun before?”

“Absolutely not.” I answer.

“Didn’t your dad fight in the Vietnam War?” I nod my head, shifting from side to side on my feet. My Dad would never let any of us touch a gun. There was no reason for us to. Jonathan shrugs. “I’m surprised he hasn’t taught you how to shoot a gun,” he commented, directing his gaze to Nancy. “You?”

Nancy scoffs. “Have you met my parents?”

“Yeah, I haven’t shot one since I was nine. My dad took me hunting on my birthday.” I see the spark in his eyes dwindle to a low flame. “He made me kill a rabbit.”

“A rabbit?” Nancy and I say at the same time.

“Yeah. I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something.”

“Yes, because the world needs more men shooting guns.” I deadpan.

Jonathan smirks, adding bullets to the cylinder. “I cried for a week.”

“Jesus.” Nancy whispers.

“I’m sorry.” I say to him.

Jonathan didn’t say anything as he tried to drag emotion back under where he didn’t need to feel it. He snaps the revolver in place, the corners of his lips rise to a smirk again. “What? I’m a fan of Thumper.”

“I meant your dad.” Nancy says.

The detachment in his tone makes me uncomfortable. In seeing Jonathan’s dad for the first time today, the way he dressed and carried himself. There was something arrogant and insincere about him. When Will first went missing, I never heard Jonathan mention his dad, when Nancy and I found Jonathan at the funeral home, he was by himself picking caskets. Ms. Byers was at home grieving, but the whole town knew how adamant she was on finding Will, but where was his dad? The audacity to show up to the funeral of his youngest son, he did nothing to plan, to shake hands with the people who did care to find Will. Now with this story, it completed the picture. He was never in Jonathan and Will’s life and didn’t care to be. Only wanted to insert his toxic male dominance and masculinity onto the boys.

“I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point...but I wasn’t around for that part.”

Nancy gestures for the gun and Jonathan hands it to her. “Just point and shoot.”

I walk behind Nancy to stand beside Jonathan, refusing to be anywhere near that sound. Nancy takes a deep breath aiming the gun at the can a few yards in front of her.

“I don’t think my parents ever loved each other.”

My eyebrows raise at the bold statement. “Nancy, you shouldn’t say that.”

“I mean it.” she answers.

“They must’ve married for some reason.” Jonathan states.

“My mom was young. My dad was older but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So, they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family.”

“Screw that.” Jonathan says.

“Yeah. Screw that.”

Nancy closes one eye aiming for the beer can. I put my fingers in in ears just as Nancy pulls the trigger hitting the beer can. I chuckle in disbelief. From shot gunning to shooting them, anything involving beer cans, Nancy is a natural. I shrug off my backpack, placing the mallet on top. Despite the awe, I am uncomfortable with what Nancy said about her parents. Sure, Mr. Wheeler was a bit…impartial. I was around the family many times to know that, but to say her parents never loved each other? I don’t know.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try, Diana?” Jonathan asks, offering me the gun. I don’t move contemplating. “It’s not gonna bite.” He jokes. I make a face at Jonathan and he laughs as I cautiously take it from him with my gloved hand.

“Just point and shoot?”

“Just point and shoot.”

I standing in front of a can, widening my stance so I don’t fall over. “There’s nothing wrong with starting a nuclear family.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Nancy voices. “Your family is perfect.”

I narrow my eyes at her, shaking my head. The contempt in her tone is shocking. “That’s not true.”

“Diana,” Nancy chides, shoving her hands in her pockets. “You never argue with your parents and your parents never argue with each other. You are perfect. Your siblings are perfect. Everyone in your family is perfect.”

I don’t miss Jonathan’s eyes darting back and forth between us. Having never seen us go back and forth with each other, I can tell he is surprised by this. What he doesn’t know is this topic of conversation isn’t new. Throughout our years of friendship, Nancy and Barb always made fun of me for being “perfect”; how I never make mistakes; I am always put together. I need at least eight-hours of “beauty” sleep. From the nickname “Lady Diana”, to my mom making me lunches because I refuse to each cafeteria food. At first it used to bother me, but I moved passed it until Tommy H and Carol picked up on it and started calling me “Anal Princess”.

This may not be a new conversation, but the undertone certainly is and it’s why I am thrown off by it. It doesn’t sound like a joke anymore and there’s something deeper going on. I never thought Nancy envied me. I know I certainly envied Nancy for being strong enough to stand up for herself and say no. For being able to be defiant without feeling like its wrong. I lift my head high lifting the gun eye level.

“I’m not perfect and my parents do argue, just not in front of us and there’s nothing wrong with that.” I begin. “You want to know why my dad never taught me how to fire a gun?” I refer to Jonathan’s comment earlier. “Because he never talks about the War unless it’s to teach us a lesson. I don’t know any stories of his time there. My family is seemingly perfect because we don’t talk about things, we don’t have difficult conversations. We just keep our heads down and try to live without feeling more of an outsider than we already are.” I pull the trigger and the bullet hits the can knocking it off the tree stub.

None of us react. The heaviness of what I said laying on thick. My family isn’t perfect. We are far from it. We are compliant and conforming because it’s the only way to not be seen as more of an outsider than we already are. I understand it to a certain extent, but sometimes I wish my parents would talk more about it. About being black in an all-white religious town. About their past and how they came to Hawkins. I know nothing and it’s something I push down to be the “perfect” daughter when deep down it bothers me. This is not something I can discuss with Lucas and Erica because they are happy in their bubble and I want to keep it that way for them.

“What do you mean?” Nancy asks with a frown. “You’re not an outsider, Di.”

“Never mind.” I say, handing Jonathan the gun, feeling more uncomfortable than before.

Nancy didn’t question me again and after shooting practice we decided to head through the forest looking for the mysterious animal. Dried leaves crunch under my boots as we all walked in silence. Jonathan and Nancy walked together giving me space to be alone for a while which I am grateful for because I didn’t feel like talking. My mind feels like it’s been jostled back and forth, buzzing with many thoughts. I can’t believe I said that out loud. I’ve never talked about it because who do I talk about this with? Uncle Jack only comes to Hawkins once a year and when he does the environment is uncomfortable and stuffy because Dad doesn’t like Uncle Jack and doesn’t hide it. Long distance calls are expensive and I have no money to pay for it and if Dad finds out I’ve been talking to Uncle Jack he’d be furious. Maybe I should start journaling or writing letters I’ll never send.

“You never said what I was saying?” Nancy speaks after a long period of silence.

“What?” Jonathan says.

The conversation about the photos began in the darkroom yesterday, but I interrupted when I saw the final development of the photo of the thing that took Will and Barb. It’s definitely been the great elephant in the room between the three of us and though the conversation in the darkroom was light in nature, it is a serious situation.

“Yesterday, you said, I was saying something and that’s why you took my picture.” I glance around not focusing on anything, while keeping my ears perked.

“Oh, I don’t know. My guess…I saw this girl; you know trying to be someone else. But for that moment…it was like you were alone or you thought you were,” I cautiously peer at Nancy. She looks like she’s about to explode. “And, you know you could just be yourself.”

I ground my teeth. Jonathan just opened up a huge can of worms. A few days ago, I would’ve agreed but after talking to Nancy, I don’t think she is trying to be someone else. She’s a young woman exploring and there’s nothing wrong with that. Also, Jonathan isn’t close to Nancy to know who she is and who she isn’t. Nancy doesn’t respond right away, processing the soft insult. She stops clenching her hands into fists.

“That is such bullshit.” Nancy fumes, glaring at Jonathan. “I am not trying to be someone else. Just because I’m dating Steve and you don’t like him—”

“You know what? Forget it. I just thought it was a good picture.”

My head retracts back. “So, you were intentional in taking those photos.”

Jonathan’s head whips back. His brows shoot up in disbelief. “What?”

“You said you thought it was a good picture which means you were intentional about taking it.” My voice hardens. “Taking all of it.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Diana.” Jonathan mutters furiously under his breath, walking away. I march behind him trying to keep up with his long legs and quick strides.

“I’m not putting words in your mouth! Nancy asked you a question and your answer quite frankly, was bullshit. Because really? That’s what you were thinking when she was taking off her shirt?” It’s a cop out. A poor excuse to deflect from what he did. Jonathan scoffs. “Unbelievable.” I hiss, catching myself before I trip over a branch. “What about how Steve feels?”

“Oh my god!” Jonathan throws his hands up in exasperation and I am filled with so much adrenaline I’m starting to shake.

“I told you his privacy was violated too!” I snap. “As was mine, Tommy, Carol, and Barb!”

Jonathan spins around, eyes bulging out of his sockets. “And I said I was sorry for taking the photos!” He shouts. I blink repeatedly taken aback by this attitude. No one has ever yelled at me like that and Jonathan was the last person I thought would. Nancy steps in scowling at him.

“Don’t yell at her!” she shouts, pointing at him. Jonathan glares at her and keeps his mouth shut. I look down at my boots, done with the conversation. “Steve is actually a good guy. The whole camera situation. He’s not like that at all. He was just being protective.”

“Yeah.” Jonathan scoffs, walking away. “That’s one word for it.”

“And what you did was okay?” Nancy barks, following after him. I stalk behind her keeping my distance.

“I never said that.”

“He had every right to be pissed—”

“Okay, all right.” Jonathan says, rolling his eyes, coming to a halt. “Does that mean I have to like him?”

“No.”

“Listen, don’t take it so personally, okay? I don’t like most people. He’s in the vast majority.”

This is why he’s being like this. Because he doesn’t like Steve and has some sort of animosity towards him. I never thought I would stick up for Steve, but after my encounter with him in my garage, I think he’s a good person and deserves a chance to be seen and heard outside his bubble.

“You know, I was actually starting to think that you were okay.” Nancy rages.

“Yeah?” Jonathan challenges, eyes glowing with savage fire.

“Yeah, I was thinking, ‘Jonathan Byers, maybe he’s not the pretentious creep everyone says he is.’”

“Well, I was just starting to think you were okay. I was thinking, ‘Nancy Wheeler, she’s not just another suburban girl who thinks she’s rebelling by doing exactly what every other suburban girl does, until that phase passes and they marry some boring one-time jock who now works sales, and they live out a perfectly boring little life at the end of a cul-de-sac.’” His voice was stern with no vestige of sympathy in its hardness. “’Exactly like their parents, who they thought were so depressing, but now, hey, they get it.’”

Nancy and I watch Jonathan march away. We look at each other absolutely gobsmacked at what just happened. Nancy’s face is so red, the veins in her neck pulsates with pent-up fury as she clenches her fists. I wrap my arm around her shoulders guiding her along the path.

I admire the colours of the sky as we trek through the forest. Shades of pink, orange, and yellow blending and oozing together. The sun was setting and we would soon need to use our flashlights to navigate through the forest. My back aches from carrying my backpack for so long and I want to tell Jonathan to stop so we can take a break but he was far ahead keeping his distance. All of us have been quiet since the argument though Nancy walked beside me, we haven’t spoken focusing on our surroundings, deep in thought.

A lot of truth has been said today and it felt like it was shoved down all our throats. I’m not mad at Jonathan for yelling at me and I hope he’s not mad at me for calling him out. What he did was stupid and I know he knows that, but picking a fight with Nancy was something completely different. It felt more personal and I can’t quite put my finger on why it would be since Jonathan and Nancy aren’t close. If anything, they may be farther apart now after what he said to her. I doubt Jonathan wants that especially because of how far we’ve come.

“Are you okay?” Nancy asks quietly enough so Jonathan doesn’t hear.

“Yes.” I respond automatically. Nancy looks at me and I drop the act. “No.”

“Me neither.” she agrees, glaring at the back of Jonathan’s head. “I’m so sick of him and his holier than thou attitude.”

“I can’t believe he yelled at me.”

“I can’t believe that either!” she whispers hastily. “I didn’t like that.”

“I know. Thank you for sticking up for me.”

“Thank you for sticking up for me and Steve.”

“You’re welcome.”

I debate on whether I should tell her he came to my house today, but decide it doesn’t matter and she probably already knew about it since he was in his way to see her anyways.

“I can’t believe Princess Diana swore.” she teases, touching her chest in shock.

“Oh, shut up.” I giggle, pushing her away.

“Ou, again!” I roll my eyes.

“I was just trying to understand why he took the photos.”

“I honestly don’t even think he knows.” she says, looking at Jonathan again. There was no anger in her eyes, just curiosity.

“After that conversation, I think so too.”

Nancy hums in response, tucking a stray wisp of hair behind her ears. “I was going to bring it up later but, what you did earlier today about being an outsider. What did you mean?”

A ripple of anxiety went up my back while my stomach fell to my feet. I shrug my shoulders shaking me head. “I don’t know.” I deflect.

“Diana, we’ve been friends for so long, you can talk to me about anything. You know that right?”

I do know that, but this conversation was not about a boy or anything menial like that. It was much deeper and something I’ve been pushing down for years. I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but when Nancy went on about my perfect day family, I snapped. This past week I feel like I’ve gone through the most significant changes which in turn has brought up subconscious thoughts, emotions and insecurities. I feel like I’m being pulled in every direction, perfect daughter, perfect friend, Juilliard, Blackness, otherness. But who am I? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to be?

“Diana.” Worry etched Nancy’s features. My silence makes her more anxious. I sigh, stepping over a branch.

“Have you ever noticed there is no one who looks like me in our neighbourhood?” I mumble, uncomfortably.

“No? What do you mean?” An expected answer. I close my eyes counting down from five. How do I go about this?

“I mean, black.” I say, pushing down the lump forming in my throat. “My family…” I clear my throat. “My family is the only black family in the neighbourhood.” When Nancy doesn’t say anything, I continue. “I don’t remember when I noticed, but once I did, it’s hard not to. Even at school, I can count how many black people are there and majority are on the basketball team. Did you know that?” Nancy shakes her head. “I am the only black person in our classes, at dance. No matter where I go or what I do, who I am. I will always be the black one. Even in our friendship. That’s what I mean by outsider.”

“My mom and dad don’t talk about our blackness and I’m left to figure it out on my own. I don’t have anyone to talk to about it. That’s what I mean when I said we don’t have difficult conversations. We just keep our heads down and conform, but sometimes I don’t want to conform. Sometimes…” I sigh feeling exhausted. Mentally. “Sometimes, I want to ask those questions but then I’ll feel like I’m not…”

“The perfect daughter.” Nancy finishes.

“Yeah.” I twirl the mallet in my hand. There’s so much to say but this conversation is exhausting enough. Nancy looks at the ground, kicking a rock.

“I-I don’t know what to say…” she says lowly. “I’m sorry for not paying attention.”

“You know now and that’s the first step.”

“Of course, but please don’t be afraid to tell me these things. You’re my best friend and I don’t want you to feel like an outsider when you’re with me. What you said is something I need to know in order to change.”

I nod my head and Nancy visibly relaxes, reaching to squeeze my hand. I rest my head on her shoulder feeling more relaxed than I did before the beginning of the conversation. It’s a conversation that could’ve easily gone south and I wouldn’t be prepared to handle it, especially after what happened hours before. Darkness quickly engulfs the sky and I am instantly aware of all the sounds in the forest. The wind slipping through leaves, the cracking undergrowth with each step Nancy and I make, the bugs crawling on trees. We all take out our flashlights to see and I notice Jonathan slows down to remain close, though still keeping his distance. I jerk at every unfamiliar sound making Nancy laugh again.

“Do you remember Mei Wong?” I mutter, swatting away a fly.

“Yes. She auditioned for Juilliard!”

“Well on Sunday at rehearsals, she told me…” I swallow to soothe the dryness in my throat. “She told me I should think about auditioning for Juilliard.”

“Really? Wow!”

I scrunch my nose. “I know.”

“You definitely should. I meant what I said at Steve’s house. You’re such a beautiful dancer and you’re gonna go pro. I feel it.” I shake my head. Somehow Nancy sees it.

“You are. I need you to be more confident in yourself.”

“I know, I know. It’s just…what if I audition and I don’t get in—”

“We’re only in 10th grade, you have time to worry about the auditions.” Nancy assures me. “Maybe Juilliard has a summer intensive you can take beforehand to give you an extra boost.”

“My dad will never allow that.”

“Have you talked to your mom about it?”

I shake my head. “Not yet.”

“I say after all this is done and we find Barb, we will both help you research and come up with a plan for you to go to Juilliard. Because you’re going to Juilliard.”

We find Barb. That’s the most important thing. It’s why we’re here now. The sound of her laughter echoed through my mind. The last time I saw her; felt her at Steve’s house. I don’t want to believe that was the last time I saw her. I shiver, crossing my arms above my chest. It’s so cold I can barely feel my ears and nose. Jonathan keeps pace with Nancy and I. There is still tension between the three of us, but now is not the time to dwell on it, not when we were outside in the forest on our own looking for God knows what. At random, Nancy slows down looking back and forth, her expression tight with strain. I keep myself composed despite the fact my heart is racing. Did she see something? Hear anything? Was it here? I tighten my grip on the mallet, my eyes darting from tree to tree.

“What are you tired?” Jonathan asks.

“Shut up.” Nancy hisses, looking around. “I heard something.”

I follow closely beside Jonathan as we follow Nancy through the forest. I don’t know what we’re looking for or what she’s heard until I hear something faint…a whining sound. I gasp at the sight of a deer whimpering in front of underbrush. We all rush to the deer dropping to our knees. My stomach is in knots at the blood dampening its fawn-coloured coat. It looked like it’s been punctured multiple times. It’s ragged breathing and slow movements indicated it was in pain and about to die. I’ve never seen a deer this close before and I’m sad it has to be like this. Images of Bambi flash through my mind and I cover my mouth muffling my sobs.

“Oh, God. It’s been hit by a car.” Nancy whimpers, tears brimming her eyes. She looks at the gun in her hand and holds it up. “We can’t just leave it.”

“Wait!” I exclaim, grabbing her arm. “There must be something else we can do!”

“It’s in too much pain. We have to.”

“I’ll do it.” Jonathan says, taking the gun. Nancy and I look at him with wide eyes. “I’m not nine anymore.” Jonathan assures us.

I stagger up on my feet grabbing Nancy’s hand. Jonathan points the gun at the deer. Time slows down and I feel like the forest is closing in on me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up just as Jonathan is about to pull the trigger when suddenly, the deer disappears into the underbrush. I jump back startled, mouth opening in a silent scream.

“What was that? What was that?” Nancy shouts.

I wring my hands jumping up and down. “Oh, my god. Oh my, god. I can’t. I can’t.” Panic shoots up my spine and I hold my chest struggling to catch my breath.

“There’s so much blood.”

“Where did it go?”

“I don’t know.”

I quickly pick up the flashlight and mallet I dropped in my state of panic. My skin tingles and I shake my head trying to focus, aiming the light on the ground. Blood smears all over leaves and twigs. I proceed around with caution, shining my light on anything and everything in the forest, being cautious of not stepping on any gore. From the far distance I notice something dripping from a hollow tree stump. It looked like…sap. No, it’s too thick for it to be sap. I am vigilant taking calculated steps and kneel in front of the tree inspecting the foliage. It looked like the tree was creating mucus. Thick, slimy, runny mucus. There was no smell to it, but it was weird. I paid attention in biology last semester to know that this wasn’t right.

“Nancy.” I whisper. “This tree…there’s weird stuff falling.”

Nancy joins me on my knees shining her light. She touches the tree stump, looking up. “Jonathan?” she shouts, looking around. I search as well thinking he was with us, but he’s nowhere to be seen. It would be unwise to leave Nancy here alone to look for him. We were better sticking together. When I turn back however, Nancy is taking off her backpack placing it beside her bat. My eyes widen. “You’re not seriously going in there!”

“Watch my stuff.”

“Are you crazy?” I snap.

That mucus could be toxic or worse. There was no need to go inside the clearly rotting tree. Nancy ignores me crawling inside. I am lost for words because not only can she fit inside; her body completely disappears as if there was an opening on the other side. I blink, shaking my head, feeling disembodied.

“Nancy?”

Adrenaline bursts through my veins to prepare myself to fight or flee. I feel like I am back in Steve’s backyard keeping watch while Nancy does something completely foolish like walk into the forest on her own or like now, crawling into a slime coated hollow stump. I curse colourful words under my breath that would shock my Dad. I can’t leave her alone. So, I take off my backpack and put the mallet on top; count down from five in my head and crawl through the hole holding my breath hopefully awaiting Nancy on the other side.

CHAPTER 6: THE MONSTER

Taglist 🤍: @tinydramatist

#stranger things rewrite #black fem reader #stranger things fic #stranger things #dianasinclair #sinclair!reader #eddie munson x black!reader #steve harrington x black!reader #eddie munson x female reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x reader #eddie munson x reader

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cocogrrrl · 11 months

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it's a temporary peace

your boyfriend's out late, probably drinking, and you find yourself reflecting on the state of your relationship. what else is new about that, though?

stan marsh x gn!reader cw: angst, implied alcoholism, self-destructive thoughts, neglectful relationships wc: 614

“Hey, Kyle? Is Stan with you?”

It’s 1:37 AM. The rain is falling, and you’re all alone on your bed. It’s always like this. He’s always like this. Empty promises and meaningless kisses; that’s what you get when you’re with Stan.

“No… Sorry, YN.” You could hear the disappointment from his best friend’s side. He’s the one you always turn to whenever you found Stan to be difficult.

That’s not to say you don’t like him. It’s just that he can be a lot. He’s just a handful sometimes. He’s distant and secretive, but he’s also thoughtful and caring. The contrast between his two selves makes you wish it was easier to be with him, but it’s something you can’t control, of course. You have to learn how to love him whole.

“Oh, I see,” you sighed. “Thanks, Kyle.”

“I’ll try to check where he is, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“That’s alright. Thank you so much.” You already had false hopes up, building up to an answer you already knew so well.

“It’s no problem, YN.” Kyle hangs up, leaving you alone to your own thoughts.

Why do you put up with Stan anyway? Especially recently, he’s been nothing but trouble for you. He’d be out all night, and he’ll be back in the morning when you’ve already left for work. It feels like you’re waiting for someone that doesn’t even exist sometimes.

Maybe you don’t exist to him as well. Whenever you two talked, which was few and far between, it’d be “How was work?” conversations. Nothing seemed like the life you wanted with him a year ago. At least he wasn’t cheating on you, right?

You can’t even confirm that, as well, though. Recently he’s been getting close to Wendy. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but you were worried. What if all his late nights out were to visit her? That’s not it. You’re just jealous. Who wouldn’t be? Wendy’s such an intelligent, pretty, and hard-working woman. No wonder everyone likes her.

Despite everything, you still like Stan. Do you love him? You weren’t sure at this point, but you did feel a lot more comfortable drowning in something exhausting like this than breaking up with him. Part of you wants to believe you haven’t broken up with him because he’d be devastated, but another part of you thinks he wouldn’t care.

I mean, if you did break up with him, not much would change. You’ll just be cooking for one person than cooking for two—cooking for you and another person you’re not so sure is real. You’ll have half the clothes you have now. You’ll pay twice the rent you do now. In the end, the affection you get now compared to if you broke up would be the same.

You wondered what would make him pay attention to you. Tears don’t work. God knows you tried. What if you ended up in the hospital? Would he finally give you the attention you wanted, no, needed? You wanted to say yes, but your mind was cruel enough to believe no.

Soon enough, you found yourself slowly drifting from your current state of mind. It’s the only time you’re not worried sick about Stan and your relationship with him. It’s a temporary peace.

You’re in deep sleep, yet you hear faint, heavy footsteps approach the door. You feel guilt for every single thought you’ve ever conjured up, voluntary or not. The bed dips beside you, and the smell of alcohol is potent. As you feel his arms wrap around you, you find yourself snuggling up to him. This isn’t good for you, but it’s the only thing you know.

#south park x reader #south park fanfiction #stan marsh x you #stan x reader #stan marsh x reader #stan marsh x y/n #cocogrrrl's writing

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incorrectnevermoor · 1 year

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Hey there! I've seen some really negative comments on Jupiter as a parent figure, and I thought I'd get your feedback. Someone said he's doing poorly because he doesn't have enough time for Morrigan and he should realize this and find her a proper adoptive family. Their thoughts are that he is repeatedly hurting her by keeping her in her current situation and trying so hard to get her into a school that doesn't treat her right.

I don't know, I have a hard time seeing him that negatively. I think he is doing his best in the best way he knows how, and nobody is so perfect that they don't learn things by trial and error. I think Mog would be sad if she had to go live with somebody else. Maybe Jupiter isn't always around, but the rest of the Deucalion family is there for her, so she does have a good family. Idk, I just can't bring myself to think that terribly about Jupiter.

Thoughts?

First thing’s first: I know I have a couple asks I haven’t answered in my inbox right now but this one had to take precedence because I am a Jupiter defender first and a person second, really these are extenuating circumstances.

SECONDLY: my friend. My buddy. Mate. I agree with you wholeheartedly, you are 100% right.

From the first time we meet him in nevermoor to the last time we’ve seen him in hollowpox, the man has been doing his damnest to help Mog in any way he can. Does he keep secrets? Yes, but as I see it, that’s just another way he’s trying to protect her, some information isn��t exactly good for one’s self esteem or comfortable for people (especially children) to know. Is it the best choice? Probably not, considering Mog’s a very curious child, but Jupiter isn’t a dad, from what we know his whole experience having kids under his wing has been Jack for who knows how long and idk if anyone noticed but he is, in fact, very different from Morrigan, so Jupiter is kind of going in blind here!

The fact is, actually, that he’s defended Morrigan more times than we probably know of, and he’ll keep doing so because he loves her to bits. Has he been busy? Yes, he’s a helping soul with a lot of titles and a knack that’s probably very useful in knowing who’s lying and who might know something. Did he force Mog into wunsoc? Not really, if anyone here remembers, Mog was actually really excited to join, albeit also very anxious because trauma. The school doesn’t treat her right? This is something even miss Cheery couldn’t fix, and she was in charge of Morrigan’s education from the beginning! Matter of fact, as soon as he found out how Mog was being treated, he went out of his way to show her not all wundersmiths are bad, that Onstald was biased, AND he made the headmistress change her schedule! I bet you he raised hell for that last one, don’t you think?

I will keep typing because I am properly incensed right now, does anyone think that Morrigan would realistically prefer to live with someone else at the moment? Truly? Or would she feel like she was being pawned off because she did something wrong again and feel abandoned, AGAIN? She’s finally got people who care for her, who defend her, who she sees as family, and that’s because of Jupiter.

Being a parent is, in part, knowing when to push your kid towards what’s best for them and when to let them choose to give up, that’s what Jupiter Amantius North did with the Trials and anyone who says differently can meet me at the Denny’s parking lot so we can fight about it.

#i am not afraid to fight a minor #especially for my MAN #i wrote this in a fit of incandescent rage #I genuinely believe that I was possessed for a moment there #nevermoor #wundersmith #hollowpox #morrigan crow #jupiter north #not a quote

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spectorbear · 6 months

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— strangers (soulmates) part 2

pairing: erwin smith x f!reader

summary: erwin smith was the embodiment of intimation, money, and power. and you were his personal assistant.

genre: office au; slow burn, smut, angst

word count: 1.4k

warnings/notes: swearing, no real warnings for this part; purely part of the slow burn of it all!

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masterlist

THE SUN HAD LONG PASSED THE SKY, leaving the blues of the moon to dance along the place. You were still in the office, finishing up last minute details before the weekend.

Work has been intense the past week. With several new (huge) business deals, new hires, and events planned… you haven’t had time to breathe. Erwin was at the peak of all things, which meant you managed both him and you. Usually, you and Moblit go out on Saturdays to relax and talk about literally anything other than work. But with everything going on in both of your departments, you thought about just having a relaxing weekend without leaving the apartment.

You went into Erwin’s office briefly to place a folder on his desk. It was always extremely clean and organized, with big windows overlooking the neon city. His desk was meticulously organized, paperwork stacked in specific piles and pens placed perfectly. Bookshelves lined the walls, full of thick books and sorted by author. He even had a few potted plants around the room.

You were just about to leave when you heard ringing. You checked your pockets; it wasn’t your cell or work phone. Twisting back around, you found Erwin’s work cell ringing on the edge of his desk.

Maybe you should leave it. But you were his personal assistant… you could just answer it and say that he was out of the office and leave a message for him. It must have been important if they were calling this late.

Deciding against better judgment, “Mr. Smith’s phone, this is his assistant.” You answered, placing the work phone to your ear and prepping a pen and sticky note. “Mr. Smith is not in the office right now, but I can leave a message for him.”

“I told you she’d answer!” Hange giggled on the other end. The music was loud, conversations of strangers muffled, and clanging of glasses echoed. They must be at a bar.

“What’s going on, Hange?” You asked, dropping your customer service voice and prepared pen. You were worried at first, thinking it was a work emergency. But, with them still being at the bar, you were more worried about a personal or medical emergency. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine!” Hange giggled. “Kind of! Levi is here! Say hi, Levi!” There was a pause with no reply. “Oh, he’s being annoying! Anyway, I think you should come here!”

You sighed. “I’m about to leave the office and go home, Hang. I’ll see you on Monday.”

As you were moving the phone back to hang up, Erwin’s voice made you pull it back. He must have been away, leaving Hange and their friend behind. “Who are you calling?”

“No one!” Hange giggled, their voice in a sing-song tone.

There was movement on the other side, a pause, mumbled arguing, and then Erwin Smith was speaking to you. “I apologize for them. I realize that I should not have left them unattended. Please enjoy your night.” He paused. “You are still at the office?”

“Yes. I was just leaving, but your work phone rang.” You answered, slipping into your polite voice that you always had with him. He was your superior after all.

“That was my fault. I must have left it when I returned earlier.” He replied. Another pause. Someone was saying something to him. “I do not want to bother you as you are leaving the office, especially after I had already told you to go home, but is there a chance you could bring me that phone? We are at Scouts and I might need that phone over the weekend. I apologize for this.”

You sucked in a breath as if you were just waterboarded and they released the cloth. Something about the tone in his voice automatically coursed through you. Like your body adjusts to being in the office and on the clock just by his presence alone.

“Yes, sir. I can be there in fifteen.”

“I appreciate it. I shall see you soon.”

You hung up.

And immediately called Moblit.

YOU WERE SHAKING AS YOU DROVE. Moblit had talked to you briefly, laughing hysterically at the thought of Erwin and Hange getting drunk with a college friend. He was doing something with his roommates, so he didn’t stay on the phone for long, and told you to catch him up on the “state of them” when you go out for drinks the next day.

You arrived at the Scouts bar and parked to the side. It was a Friday night, so there were plenty of people that littered the bar and the parking lot outside. It was common for office workers or college students to prowl the bar; it was even the usual spot you and Moblit went to on Saturdays.

Locking the car, you entered the bar. Scanning the crowd, you found your boss instantly.

He was a sunflower in a lavender field. Tall, bright, and commanding attention. He stood against a booth, leaning against the ledge meant for hanging coats. He was deep in a conversation with someone whose back was toward you. It was almost strange, seeing him talk casually and intoxicated. He was full of smiles, which brought a warmth to him that you’d never witnessed, and his arms crossed across his chest showed an array of muscles that you never noticed.

Erwin’s eyes looked up briefly and caught yours. He didn’t motion, didn’t drop his smile. He simply watched you as you navigated through the crowded bar towards him.

“Here’s your phone, Sir.” You said when you reached his side. You had to speak a little loud over the music, but he seemed to hear you just fine. He grabbed the phone without looking at it. His eyes were focused on you.

“Levi,” Erwin turned his attention away from you to the person he was talking to in the booth. “This is my assistant.”

You turned around to finally see the Levi person that was the topic of the day. He was nursing a Scotch, leaning back against the cushion of the booth. He was the opposite of Erwin: dark, glooming. But they both had a similar aura of authority. Something commanding in a presence that you couldn’t quite place.

“I see.” Was all Levi said while looking at you.

Your name echoed behind you just as Erwin was starting to say something. For a split moment, you thought that you might see someone you went to university with and mentally prepared for the “oh my God, how are you, what are you up to now?” conversation that seems to always follow post-grad. But instead, you were nearly tackled by Hange Zoe.

“I forgot you were coming!”

“Hang, I was on the phone with you less than fifteen minutes ago.” You couldn’t help giggling. You weren’t used to seeing them like this.

“You should stay!” They put their arm around your shoulder as you looked to your boss, who seemed to find the interaction fascinating. He still had his arms crossed, shirt sleeves rolled up just past his elbows, and he looked at you and Hange with a look in his eye that you couldn’t quite place. Interest? Confusion? “Have a few drinks with us!”

“It’s late and I am just getting out of the office.” You were so close to Hange’s face that you could smell the vodka in their breath. “I was only stopping by on my way home. Maybe some other time, okay?”

“Awh,” They pouted. Only for a moment, however, because they quickly found solace in plopping in the booth next to Levi and rambled to him about something you couldn't make out over the music.

“I should go.” You said to Erwin.

He finally stopped leaning against the booth and stood straight in front of you, revealing his full height. “Let me walk you out.”

You nodded, unable to answer. He nodded to Levi and Hange before leading you back to the door. You followed without a single thought, easily slipping into your position a few paces behind him. It was common for you to follow him like this. It was unspoken. Natural.

The brisk midnight air hit your face as he walked you to your car. The parking lot had a lot less people, but you could still see the stragglers and a few groups waiting on Ubers.

“Thank you, but you didn’t have to walk me out.” You told him, opening your car door but not getting in. He stood in front of your door near your headlight, placing his hands in his pant pockets. “I hope you have a good weekend, Sir.”

“You do not have to refer to me by that outside of work.” Erwin said. You froze. “Sir, I mean. You can call me Erwin. We are both off of the clock. You are not my subordinate or assistant right now.”

You blinked. You didn’t know what to say. There was something different about him tonight. You had always felt breathless around him, but now you were speechless too. You had never talked to him this much outside of work-related topics or at work until tonight. You’ve had brief conversations before, sure, but never anything that goes beyond something you’d have in your resume.

But tonight he told you to go home early. He worried about the amount of work he’d been giving you. He asked you to bring him something outside of work hours. He said the words “I apologize for this” to you. And now… now he was telling you that outside of work, you can drop the honorific you gave him.

Maybe he was drunk and you couldn’t tell.

“Okay.” Was all you could say.

He nodded as a confirmation that he heard you. He took a step back from your car, and gave a simple, “Thank you for bringing my phone. I’ll see you Monday.” before heading back into the bar.

please do not interact if you are under the age of 18. do not repost any of my works on any site.

#—posted by bear #aot #erwin smith #erwin smith x reader #erwin smith angst #levi #commander erwin #aot erwin #erwin smith x you #erwin smith au #aot au #erwin smith slow burn #attack on titan

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anangelwhodidntfall · 2 years

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Standing In Rain: Eddie Munson

Stranger Things Masterlist

word count:1.1K

Request: Hey! Would i maybe be able to request an eddie x reader where the reader is newish in town, moved into trailer park and needed a new weed dealer so robin/steve sent her to eddie. After meeting a few times they realize they have a lot in common and there's obvious sexual and romantic tension. So when the reader gets locked out of her trailer in the pouring rain she ends up at eddies and spicyness or fluff ensues

You were still kinda new in town having only been in Hawkins for about a month now due to your mom getting a job offer. You weren't happy about moving to the middle of nowhere and having to leave your friends behind that was until you met some new ones and you realized that one of your neighbors was pretty cute which made living in the trailer park worth it now if only you get the courage to talk to him.

Right now you were hanging out with Robin and Steve at the record store since it was a slow day at the store. You three became best friends after you literally crashed into Robin on your first day at Hawkins High, and she was nice and then you met Steve.

"Hey guys, do you know where I can buy some weed around here?" You asked them, it had been a whole week since you ran out of your joints that your dealer back home gave you as a moving away present.

"Uh yeah our friend Eddie, he sells. You could go to him." Robin said.

"Wait Eddie as in the one who's always making a scene at lunch?" You asked her confused.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you two haven't met before considering he's like your neighbor and all." Robin said as you shrugged your shoulders as you hadn't been interested in talking to anyone when you got here.

The next day while at school while you two made your way to Robin, told you to meet Eddie at the picnic table away from the woods which you nodded and thanked her for as you two got to first period. Lunch finally came and you made your way out to the woods where you walked for a bit until you saw Eddie aka your cute neighbor pacing around.

"I'm guessing your Robin's friend the one her and Steve shut up about." He said making you laugh.

"That's me, I'm Y/N, I believe we're neighbors." You said making him laugh as he took a seat at the table across from you.

"Eddie and we are, I wanted to introduce myself before now but you didn't seem like you were interested in that." He said making you laugh.

"No I hated that we moved here at first but now it's grown on me." You says playing with your bracelet.

You and Eddie spent the majority of lunch talking and getting to know each other and making plans to hang out more since it was so obvious that you had a lot in common. And that's how it went for the next few weeks, you and Eddie becoming fast friends, and the flirting between you two was next level, that it made your friends wonder when you two were gonna get together. There was no lie that you found Eddie attractive as if his personality wasn't enough, his looks made you weak in the knees and luckily Eddie felt the same, he thought you were too gorgeous to be in Hawkins and was determined to make you his girl.

With your car being in the shop, Robin offered to drive you home from school and pick you up and you were grateful for it, especially on a rainy day like this. Once she dropped you off, you searched your bag for your keys only to realize that you didn't have them and it hit you that you must have forgotten them this morning and your mom wouldn't be back until the morning. The rain continued to downpour and that's when you saw Eddie's van and figured that maybe he would let you crash with him. Once you reached his trailer you knocked on the door, praying he would answer.

"Sweetheart? Sweetheart, what are you doing? Get in here." He said opening the screen door and letting you inside.

"I'm sorry I left my keys this morning and my mom won't be home until tomorrow morning, so I was hoping that maybe I could crash with you or at least call Robin to come to get me?" You asked him shivering.

"No need. Your more welcomed to stay here with me. Let me get you a change of clothes before you get sick." He said leading you to his room.

"Whoa, that's a beauty." You said referring to his guitar making him turn and look at you in shock.

"You play?" He asked you.

"No, but I wanna learn one day." You said as he handed you some clothes and showed you the bathroom.

You thanked him closing the door, stripping out of your wet clothes, and changing into the clothes that he gave you as you realized how good he smelted. Eddie was lightly strumming his guitar when you walked into his room and he swore you looked ten times more attractive in his clothes.

"What are you working on?" You asked him taking a seat on his bed.

"Nothing really, I was thinking that I could give you a guitar lesson now if you want." He said looking at you as you nodded your head excitedly.

He shuffled a bit so that you were between his legs not realizing how dangerous this was for the both of you, you could hardly focus on what he teaching but instead the heat of his breath on your neck when he spoke or how his hands felt on yours.

"Can I kiss you?" You blurted out before you realized what you were saying as Eddie chuckled and placed his lips on yours.

"I like you a lot sweetheart, is there any way you would be interested in going out with me?" He asked you making you smile.

"I would love to Eddie." You said kissing him again.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x yn #eddie munson fluff #stranger things 4 #stranger things x reader

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mechaknight-98 · 8 months

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Gathering paradise mantle

After Connor's fated Gathering with Giselle of Aespa or as she liked to be called by him Aeri. their relationship blossomed significantly. Both Professionally and Personally, which is why Connor found himself sitting with her in the general room of SM Entertainment. They had recruited Connor to do some filming with them after a very strong recommendation from Karina. Which is why Connor is in South Korea instead of New York right now. Connor was discussing various scenes for an upcoming music video for the group with the leader who had taken an interest in Connor. While Connor sits with Karina discussing various aspects of filming she broke the flow of conversation to talk detour into something more personal.

“Okay Infinite sounds good, but I have something to ask” Karina says to Connor, when she uses Connor's discord tag Connor knew it was serious/ or personal.

“ Karina we have been through this you can call me Connor in real life, but yeah what’s up?” Connor says and asks in return.

“It’s about Giselle. She has been in distress recently due to some comments on social media.” Connor scratched his head. Mean comments were par the course for any person in the public eye. Seeing his skepticism, and with Karina being the great leader she was handed him a phone with some of the comments. he read them and watched in terror as they went from a little nippy to down right vile. he winced

“See. Someone who isn’t a part of this or her leader needs to talk to her. Maybe a close friend” Karina suggested confidently

he sighs, “I am not good at these types of things. I am much better suited to hyping her up.” is his follow up. Karina holds firm

“Sorry, but you are the oldest you have to take responsibility. Also hyping her up is probably what she needs right now.” Karina says with a sly smile. So he sucks it up.

Later in the day after completing his shoot for Le Sserafim he heads back to the SM building. On his way out Yunjin the Le Sserafim vocalist approaches him. Her bright hair billowing as she saunters over, “Hey Jen. Connor says to her.”

“Hey Connor! how’s my fellow American?” Yunjin aka Jenifer asked

“Oh you know getting busy living before I get busy dying.” Connor responds

“Good, good. Oh by the way we should like totally hang out. You seem cool enough and I need someone who isn’t a part of all this (She gestures around herself.) .Plus I don’t often get the chance to interact with Americans out here so it’s great to see more.” Jen says. Connor laughs

“Jennifer, I am Korean to… you remember that right? Also are you asking me out? Because it sounds like it.” Connor teases while raising an eyebrow.

Jen laughs and says, “who knows maybe.” He responds in kind and goes on his way. He arrives in time just before Aespa leaves for the end of the day. The girls look exhausted, especially Giselle who looks miserable. When Giselle sees Connor her eyes brighten.

“Friday night Magic?” Giselle asks hopeful

Connor nods and Winter sighs relieved. “Ugh you have no idea how annoying she’s been about it. Please take her. Maybe beat her again.” laughs ring out from all present.

“I don’t know she’s gotten a lot better.” Connor quips

“Only because you throw the most insane things at me.” Giselle said.

“You’re lucky you’re playing against me and not my friend Dexter.” Connor chides. Aeri looks at Connor with surprise.

“Oh and what does he play, and why haven’t I?” Aeri inquired

“Some really evil and powerful stuff( Mostly in Temur Connor doesn't mention this but I am because it will be relevant later). Also to answer your second question…he doesn’t really like coming out of his zone, but we may be able coax him out later as he also likes K-pop as well.” Connor explains and replies.

Connor laugh as the duo gets into his car. He is careful to appear extra staff like today because one of the comments read “who is that Dumb looking redhead? Is that her boyfriend.” (Connor has vibrant red hair…again will be relevant later). When they get into the car Connor is silent for a moment as the comments he saw earlier rush through his head along with Karina’s charge to him. He could see Giselle fidget with various parts of her bag while she got in.

“Yo Aeri. Are you okay? I saw some comments the other day that were less than on your recent comeback and wanted to check in make sure you are doing alright.” Connor asks casually

Giselle sighed. “Can we not talk about it?” She asked. Connor nods. he knows from experience that this can’t end well but he let’s it go for the time being. He wanted Aeri to be comfortable. He knows what it was like to have a well-meaning friend pry into your life. He sends a reassuring smile at Aeri and drive to the shop.

When They arrive Aeri smiles weakly, the Talk about her, Her weight her personality finally cracks her and she breaks. before entering Aeri looks at Connor with a serious face. “I can’t do this Connor. Can we do something else tonight?” He nods giving a thumbs up to his friend. She smiles sincerely this time. He takes her to a K-BBQ place that He wants to try. She is elated (I totally get it food is the easiest way to ease the soul.) to get into said Korean BBQ place. Surprise, surprise guess who’s waiting there is Jen and her unnie Sakura. Sakura is the first to notice Connor. Her eyes are always scanning and when she sees him, she squints and then her eyes go wide and she smiles. “Oh Oppa come on over,” Sakura says giddily. Connor smiles and walks over with Aeri. Sakura shakes Yunjin who still hadn’t noticed Connor yet Letting her know their table is ready.

“Hey, Jen. Hey Kkura.” Connor says pleasantly. Jen turns around and her eyes go wide

“Ah whae?” she yells excited. Connor waves and Aeri smiles.

“Ah you just couldn’t stay away from me.” Jen teases. Connor goes to introduce Aeri but Jen says “Dude we totally already know Aeri.” he nods and sits with them.

“you guys came just in time. It was originally supposed to be all five of us but Eunchae, Kazuha, and Chaewon unnie bailed on us.” Jen said as Aeri and Connor nodded and sat with them. Jen looked at Connor with just the happiest smile and brightest eyes, she turned to Aeri and said to her, “Hey Giselle Unnie. You look great today, but if I remember correctly I thought you were supposed to be hanging out with Connor tonight..alone.” Connor notices that Jen is not giving him his proper honorific which is weird since she is doing it for everyone else. he wonders if that’s personal like he has done something to upset her.

“Oh well it’s just a lot going on you know?” before Aeri could continue the waitres came to the table with menus. While Aeri and Jen talk Connor chats to Sakura, and informs her of what’s going on discretely.

She looks at him and then Aeri with wide eyes full of concern. After he finishes she says to him, “Oh don’t worry about it I’ll talk to her.

Connor nods his head and says “Now don’t mention anything directly just try to make her feel comfortable like.” Sakura puts her index finger to his lips.

“Allow me to work my magic.” Sakura says politely. Connor shrugs.

“Ah what are you two whispering about?” Jen says suspicious of the two.

“Oh Oppa and I were just discussing how amazing Giselle’s performances have been. She has been improving so much.” he nods excitedly eager to get the heat off himself. Both Aeri and Jen look at Connor confused. When the waitress rearrives at the table they order. Connor orders with Jen and Aeri with Sakura. He moves after ordering in his seat as he sits across from Sakura who looks around his neck area. “Hey oppa what’s that.” he noticed she was pointing toward his Gingaman tattoo on the right side of his collar that was slightly sticking out. he moves your shirt collar to show Sakura. Sakura looks at it for a moment… Aeri begins to chuckle.

“is that the starbeast sword?”she says between chuckles. Connor nods, and her chuckles grow to full laughs

“I knew I recognized it.” Sakura says with a smile. The two Japanese ladies begin to converse in the original tongue while Connor and Jen look at each other. they both roll their eyes when they hear the word American come from the two of them. Connor turns to Jen but she is watching the two girls talk with interest. so He sat “alone”, waiting for the opportunity to speak again. After about ten minutes order Aeri speaks to you, “Hey Connor why didn’t you make a Korvold paper deck?”

Connor looks at Aeri confused and answers, “I do have a paper Korvold deck.”

Now Aeri looked confused him asking, “then how come I have never seen you play it?”

he claps your hands together, and respond “Well It’s has a lot more bite then Narset Enlightened Exile.” Aeri looks at him confused still.

“What do you mean by more bite?” She asked. This makes Connor realize even for all of her excellent English skills there is some things that don’t translate. Connor tried to figure out how to translate until Jen came to your rescue.

“He means it’s stronger than his other one (she turns to Connor) that is right?” she answers and asks.

Connor’s reply is a simple nod. “in this context I mean it’s less fun to play against, and more geared towards stronger player’s play.” He fully clarifies. Everyone nods to his point, except Sakura who looks at Connor with interest.

Sakura turns to Aeri and asks“Korvold that name sounds familiar. What’s that from?” Aeri explains to her how they both play magic the gathering, and as soon as she says mtg her eyes go wide, and she turns to him. “Oh, Oh, I play that… I played (Sakura snaps her fingers twice for recollection)…

“Arena?” Connor Suggests. Sakura nods

On the phone… yeah I taught Yujin, and Chaewon. She’s really good, and still plays. She would always complain about someone playing Korvold. I stopped playing but I guess she never did.” You look at Sakura confused, and point to Yunjin (Jen) who also looks at her confused. “OH Yujin-ah, not Yunjin-ah.” Sakura clarifies and this brings alacrity to everyone present except Connor who forgot about Izone for a moment.

“Wait how do you know Yujin?” Everyone looks at you for a moment. It still doesn’t click. A few minutes pass and then you remember. “Oh right you used to be in a group together. I completely forgot. Hm that’s weird considering how much my roommate loves Izone. He is actually the one who got me into Magic the Gathering actually. I got him into K-pop.” Connor says. Everyone present begins to laugh.

Sakura looks at Connor intrigued, “Oh what’s your roommate’s name?”

“Oh Dexter but I call him Dex for short” Connor answers. Aeri snaps her fingers in recognition of the name. After that the food arrives and The group eats and converses about various boring topics I won’t go through the tedium of repeating here. (I am trying to keep this somewhat engaging after alll). Afterwards they finish up Connor pays for the meal. (Like a boss)

“Thanks Oppa” Sakura says to Connor and he give her a thumbs up as he leaves with Aeri.

When they arrive at Aespa’s dorm she smiles, and says “thank you Connor. I really appreciate it.”

He says “No worries“ as his going to leave before though can Aeri grabs him.

“Hey Oppa what do you do when you think you’re not good enough?” Aeri asks Connor pleading.

Connor considers her words, he didn’t often falter for confidence (Like the previously mentioned boss he is). So he has to think for a moment then responds. “As much as I want to say just be yourself I can’t bring myself to. When someone tells me I am not enough or that I am not good enough I look at what and where they’re directing it at. If it is something that’s legitimate I work on it. If it’s something not legitimate, or something I don’t care for. I discard the opinion, because for my mental health I have to, otherwise a bunch of people with no stakes in my life will have an unearned say and dictate it.” Aeri looks at Him and smiles.

“Okay I will keep that in mind.” She says as sh smiles and leaves. He drives his little blue rental back to his hotel to get ready to fly back home.

Two weeks later Connor’s back to work filming with Le Sserafim for promotions in the States. The staff and the girls for the most part are kind and gentle people. Connor enjoy working with them. As he is finishing up for day 1 Jen corners him along with Sakura. “Hey you’re pretty good at Magic right?” Jen asks. Connor nod. “Good then can you teach us. Giselle has been trying to get us to learn, because she wants people she can play with besides Yujin, and Sakura doesn’t really remember how to play.” Connor strokes his chin.

“That’s a lot of work. Like a lot of work.” He explains.

The girls smile at him and Jen says, “Well then it’s good we are going to be together for a few weeks.” Connor sighs.

“Okay then, but if we do this… we are doing it my way. Do you understand?” Connor asserts.

Both Kkura and Jen nod.

“Okay well then first things first set aside 250$ each. I want you both to be able to build both fun and functional decks so I need you to do that. I also want you both, if you haven’t already download mtg arena and just play with what they give you. This will be the easiest way to teach the basics, and give you both a net of general play styles you enjoy. Please for the love of God Almighty do not spend any money on the app. You are both too inexperienced to know what’s worth purchasing, and will not have fun in the long haul. please don’t be like me. Dexter tried to warn me but I didn’t listen. Also also I feel like I should mention this check out Dice Try’s youtube channel and watch the videos on shards and wedges it will give you all a very clear view of what each one is about, and potentially what you align with.” Both nodded and left for the day. After that Connor finished packing up all of his cameras, and other film gear and went home.

When he got home you get a discord call from Scorpion-love-00. “Hey Connor I need your help. We need a third for our commander game.” Connor (who hates 3-player games) sighs and respond

“Skippy you know how I feel about three player games.”

Scorpion responds, “I know but we just need a third to change up gameplay, at least for tonight.” this turns out to be untrue as for the next two weeks you are playing arch enemy against Scorpion and her new friend Ujinnie… Sometimes there’s a random 4th that joins. Who’s really good but also kinda of non-verbal (It’s me…I am that person, but I haven’t officially met them yet, but spoilers it’s me… the narrator.) Connor tries not to be annoyed as his off time is becoming dominated by mtg. Eventually, he ropes his roommate; Dexter, an assistant director and cameraman whom he has worked with in the past and who also was a magic savant in his eyes.

this makes the experience more fun for everyone involved. Your friend actually really hit it off with Giselle, and Sakura when she can play as well. Which was funny because were at each other’s throats at first. This would lead to one of the later “game nights” when Connor invites Dex to Help with filming. As he helped you set up the two usual fimmies approached you surprised. “Oh Connor Oppa who is this?” Sakura asked as she approached.

“Oh this is Dexter. My friend who is a director and also a camera guy. He is really good at mtg. We were playing together against Aeri and this girl named Ujinnie Yesterday and it was late so i figured he could help me today.” Connor clarified

Dexter woke up when he heard his name called and very quickly went back to work.

“Wait is he the one who goes by Stealth Dragon Danzo?” Sakura asked

Connor shakes his head

“ah darn. Yunjin-ah it’s not him it’s Dexter.. You should ask him your question.” Connor feels a pang of Jealousy as he watches Jen smile as she goes up to Dexter. Dexter on the other hand is focused on setting up.

“Oh so your Dexter. I have heard a lot about you.”Jen exclaims

Dexter nods and responds skeptically “yeah that’s me. How can I help you?”

“So I love tribal decks and Aeri says you’re scary good at building them”

Dexter looks at Yunjin hesitantly, then looks at Connor for guidance. Connor gives him the thumbs up, and he responds “What tribe were you thinking and how do you want to play it?”

“I want an aggressive angel deck in white red black,” Yunjin responds. Everyone sees Dexter sigh and die a little on the inside before he responds. Connor knew what he’s about to recommend and he knew how much he hated to do so.

“Then you’re probably going to want to run Kaalia of the Vast,” he says dejected. Connor knows that was hard for him because he hated Kaalia so to see him suggest that for Jen mad Connor laugh uncontrollably Envy fading into the back of his mind.

Jen was confused “What’s wrong with Kaalia?” She asked noticing the shift in atmosphere between her friend and his buddy.

“Nothing I just have a personal vendetta since my friend whom, i first played a lot against played her a lot, and well I was not a fan. she is wildly powerful but also super obnoxious.” Dexter responded

Sakura the eldest out of the members of the Korean girl group looked at Dexter and replied “You have a weird idea of obnoxious. Aeri complained so much about your Omnath (locus of the Roil. Sakura doesn’t explain this but for those who are curious it’s The Temur one, and his signature deck) deck.” Connor watches as Dexter laughs, as he finishes setting up he get up to face Kkura.

“Well to be fair her i did beat up on her because she was playing yuriko, but the reason she is probably upset is that she may be an enfranchised player, but she isn't entrenched.” Dexter responds. Connor looks at Dexter disappointed knowing the ensuing conversation that would followed.

“Listen just because you run free mana spells lotuses and og duals does not make you a better player.” Connor say to Dexter

“No what makes me a better player is that I no life this game.” Dexter responded which caused a laugh from all present Except Jen. Jen looked at him with surprise.

“No life the game?” she said with her near trademarked confused face.

“Oh Yunjin-ah he just means that mtg is the only game he really plays.” Sakura responded

“That and Hunt Showdown.” Dexter clarifies. He lifts his sleeve up to show his tattoo from the mentioned game.

“Oh that’s actually really cool.” Jen responds.

Connor smiles as he looks at his friends getting along so well together. after finishing up chatting with the fimmies Connor and Decter went to finish getting ready for the shoot. the shoot proceeds smoothly, and after the shoot you, Dexter , Jen, and Kkura go to hang out.

“So we saved or 250$ Connor.” Jen says Connor after the shoot. Dexter begins to laugh in his seat while Connor is driving. He sighs knowing the two of them are going to have to help them learn the game in earnest.

“Hey before you do this. have you two thought of turning this in content? like youtube videos. I know Sakura has her youtube channel and this could be a funny episode.” Dexter suggested absent-minded Sakura looked at the Native Alaskan and her eyes widened.

A few days later Jen, Aeri, you Dexter, and Sakura were all on the set of Sakura’s youtube (Fearless Kkura, which will become the interchangeable name for her now) channel which for today happened to be a Studio found by Dexter and Connor. Dexter is acting as an assistant director for the episode, but also helping Kkura learn her deck. Kkura is a bit distracted looking at Dexter’s shirt. It was Godzilla Vs. Great Ape Vegeta. “Okay so after you get a good mill chain going you’re going to want to start reanimating your big threats.” he said with a relaxed smile. Connor knows that Dexter loves Le Sserafim (Sakura was his Izone biass) so he is really trying his best here to not fan boy. Despite his worries Connor sees he’s doing well. He’s relaxed. Jen and Aeri sneak up behind him.

“they have really good chemistry, Just like us.” Aeri says. Connor turns around surprised to see his two friends leaning against each other as they watch Dexter and Sakura discus plans.

“Yeah Kkura unnie really likes his vibe.” Jen said with a bit of a laugh.

“Yeah Dexter is a good guy.” Connor say.

“oh that reminds me. How’d you meet him Oppa?” Aeri asks. Connor notices Jen’s confused look at Aeri as she walks back to the table. Again he wonders if you did something to annoy Jen causing her issue with the honoriffics.

“Oh that’s easy we are roommates in college and now kinda permanently. He also helped me get through some really bad times by being like an older brother to me, which is hilarious since he’s younger.” he responded

“Oh how old is he?” Aeri asks.

“he’s Jihoy’s age.” Connor replied

“Oh wow I guess he is an Oppa to. It’s so weird him and Kkura unnie feel younger.” Giselle states

“Well I don’t know Kkura that well but I do know Dexter, and that stems from his immense sincerity. Out of all of the players I know who play mtg I have only seen two that embodies a tri color set up and he is one of them. He plays a lot of simic x color decks but he is Temur through and through in terms of mentality and temperament.” Connor explains

Aeri laughs, “You know I see that. He is so focused and meticulous but also extremely kind hearted and empathetic.”

“Also and you didn’t hear this from me, but his best deck is not Omnath but Maelstrom Wanderer. That deck is nasty to play against.” You add

“Oh really that’s surprising I would have figured it would have been Omnath based off of Yujin’s complaints.” Aeri jokes

“No remember Chulane.. and now I guess Galadriel was that Dragon guy.” Connor responds

“Oh yeah your right. Dexter likes Omnath and Kkura unnie as well. Look at how flustered he’s getting.” Aeri teases Connor’s friend.

Connor and Giselle laugh as you watch your friends interact.

“So I hear you are a Wizone. Who was your bias?” Kkura asked Dexter intently

“Eunbi-noona” Dexter says flatly trying again not to Fanboy too hard

Sakura groans, “Really? Ugh”

“Wait wait wait. Aren’t you going to ask my Le Sserafim Bias?” Dexter responded realizing he made a mistake.

“Oh let me guess Chaewon?”

“While I do think she is cute, nope. It’s Sakura Miyawaki. Maybe you’ve heard of her.” Dexter said teasingly. Sakura began to blush and then lightly hit Dexter’s shoulder.

“We’ll talk after filming” she said with a glare.

Before the episode started Dexter gave everyone super nice alter/proxies made by the online artist “Atomic Ashes” (Author’s note: He is on Instagram and if you need proxies done. They do excellent work) after that he began helping film. Throughout the episode the girls picked Connor’s brain about cards and deck strategies that eventually culminated in them playing a full game with the decks they brought. The decks were Kaalia of the Vast (Jen) Anikthea, hand of Erebos (Aeri), Sidisi, brood tyrant (Kkura) and Connor playing slivers (specifically the first sliver) Connor was borrowing one of Dexter’s decks. They all sat so after the lesson part the game began.

Aeri won the dice roll so she went first. “Okay I will start out with a Plains and pass.” next came Kkura who did forest into sol ring. After that Jen. Jen started with Mountain into sol ring into Rakdos signet. After that Connor played a command tower and suspended a Lotus Bloom and passed the turn. The next turn for everyone was unsubstantial as they mostly played more ramp. Except Connor. You played his first sliver (not his commander called the first sliver but the first numerical sliver of the deck). Oppaline Connor could hear the maniacal laughter from the sideline.

Kkura turned to Dexter and said “Hey? Hey? why the evil laugh.” the cameras turned to Dexter who was working on framing the picture just right. Everyone began to stare at the man until he said

“Has anyone here played against slivers before, or with slivers before?” Dexter asked. When everyone shook their heads he could only laugh more. Eventually the girls ignored him and kept playing the game. On the third turn he was able to play Cloud Shredder sliver and Manaweft. After that Connor passed. Jen suspicious of him due to Dexter’s laughing swung at you with kaalia and brought out Avacyn. he sighed but looked at his hand surprised to see an interesting name that stood out to you on your next turn you would cast that and maybe your commander next. Regardless she finishes her turn and Kkura on her turn makes 3 zombies and gives them flying. Aeri is falling behind but can always be brought back in the game with the proper cards in hand. She does something non-threatening by playing a smothering tithe and passing the turn.

The next turn Connor played wilderness reclamation and sliver hive lord.

“Hey what does that card do?” Kkura asked. You handed it to her “Slivers you control are indestructible.” She turned to her friends and the cameras to show off the card. Dexter now extremely dialed in stayed focus on getting great shots and was dead quiet. He gave you a look nod and a wicked smile. “Hey Dexter, what does Indestructible mean?” Kkura asked. Dexter came from the side lines as Kkura dragged him on screen. Connor sighed knowing that Dexter enjoyed being behind the camera because he didn’t like how he looked.

“Oh so….It means that creature destroying effects like combat, and effects that would destroy creatures don’t” he explained.

“and all of his creatures have it?” Jen asked. Dexter nodded as he went back out of frame.

“Only Slivers…so yes.” Dexter explained

After that the game became more tense for Connor as the girls began to target him extremely hard… well they tried. It was fine though because all they could do was hit the non creatures. The tipping point came when Yunjin played Merciless Eviction. She wished to wrath the board but Connor had tricks up his sleeve, he cast Teferi’s protection which got groans out of a few present but not everyone.(Those who didn’t groan hadn’t seen the card before.) After that the game was pretty much over. Connor was able to beat down Jen and Aeri but Kkura came in with a clutch play of toxic deluge ending his army faster than she could rebuild. Jen won after this using an insane top deck of Primeval’s glorious rebirth. (which I am not sure to this day was scripted or not) After the game Kkura the rest of the group said their goodbyes before wrapping for the day. Jen and Aeri approached Connor after filming.

“that was fun.” Aeri said to Connor. Connor nods as she cuddles up to him. Jen tenses up a bit which Aeri, and Connor notice. Before that can be addressed Kkura and Dexter arrive. He begins by loading up the van they were all in. when he’s done he hops in.

“Okay we’re all packed up and ready to go Connor.” Connor nods at Dexter, and starts the van. Aeri sits next to Connor in the front row while taking selfies, getting you in a couple when the car stops. Dexter reclines his seat exhausted from filming.

Jen excited went “woo Let’s party” , and everyone laughed. It was then that the girls noticed Dexter’s Ogher Calibur tattoo. They look at it in surprise.

“It’s just like yours Connor.” Aeri squealed

“Oh yeah Connor and I got them a while back to be matching.” Dexter explained, and as he did Connor watched the girls eyes go wide in the rear-view mirror. They turn Connor and Dexter who already know what they’re going to ask.

“We should all get matching tattoos.” Jen says jubilant.

“Yeah and they should be wedge themed” Aeri said

They looked at Connor and Dexter before determining wedges.

Jen was the first to plan it. “Mardu for me obviously. Kkura gets Sultai, and Abzan for Aeri, but what of our two architects. They helped us build and streamline our decks so well.” They all looked at you Except Kkura who was looking at Dexter he was trying to go back to sleep.

“Jeskai for Connor” she said. Aeri nodded as she snapped her fingers.

“Definitely.” Aeri and Kkura agreed.

“So that leaves the ferocious temur to our ferocious Dexter.” Jen said. The girls agree and started looking for tattoo parlors. There was one right next to a karaoke hall. So they figured got from tattoos to Karaoke. all arrived at the tattoo parlor Dexter was roused awake by Jen. He looked and was confused.

“Wait why are we at Mason’s spot?” Connor gave him a surprised look. Mason did his other that was on the other side of his collarbone across from the Ogher calibur. Mason chuckled when he saw everyone.

“I should have known it was Connor and Dexter.” Mason said with a smile

“I have no idea what’s going on.” Dexter responded

“I see that you look tired. Get some good shots today?” Mason asked

Dexter nodded.

“So who’s first?” Mason asked The girls pushed Dexter to the front. “where do you want it Boss?”

“What is it?” Dexter asked Mason to show him the image. Dexter sighed and turned to them all. He pointed at Connor, and scowled. “You put them up to this didn’t you?” Connor shook your head and Dexter shrugged. “Well then just on the back of my neck right at the collar line.”

Mason nodded and got his stuff ready. when he was done the girls saved Yunjin who was tall enough to see it had him sit down. The girls marveled at it. At one point as everyone watched Connor swears he saw it move. Yunjin, Giselle and Connor all look at each other and in that Kkura goes next. She solidifies the placement of the tattoos by getting hers in the same place. Jen groans, “Ah Wae Kkura unnie why did you get yours there?”

“They’re supposed to match right?” Kkura questioned. when she finished. After that she went to sit down in Dexter’s lap. She looked incredibly comfortable and small there Connor observed. Connor was next as he goes up Kkura spoke up. “thanks again Connor Oppa, and Dexter Oppa for helping us.” Dexter has spaced out as usual, leaving Connor to be the only present one.

“you’re welcome Kkura.” hey says smiling

#kpop fanfic #male reader #edh #aespa giselle #mtg commander #aespa kpop #le sserafim yunjin #miyawaki sakura #yunjin #le sserafim

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olympeline · 4 months

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FrUK FACE family Parent Trap AU, part 4! Part 1

Alfred and Matthew have finally realised they’re long lost twin brothers. How do you cope with that kind of bombshell? In their case: by being very, very excited. Alfred especially just wants every possible detail about Francis and Quebec and machine guns Mattie with questions. Matthew juggles answering and trying to get his share of detail from Alfred about Arthur and New York. Neither of them get any sleep that night, not that they care lol.

The next day, they agree to keep their new found secret just that for fear of the adults finding out and making things difficult. Then more talking about their dads, every time they have a free moment. Neither of them can get enough. Eventually the conversation turns to the break up. Matthew says Francis never talks about Arthur, but he’s sure he still misses him a lot. Alfred agrees the same about Arthur missing Francis. Then wonders why they ever broke up if they were so happy and still haven’t gotten over each other ten years later. Mattie doesn’t get it either. The talk turns to their dads’ love lives and it’s here that Alfred casually brings up Uncle Tony, because - being Alfred - of course he’d take that long to remember him. Matthew is aghast, especially when he hears Arthur may actually marry this Antonio. He only just found his lost dad and now he may be getting a stepdad?!

Mattie asks what Antonio is like. Alfred shrugs and tells him Tony is…fine? He’s a good guy and his paella is great! Good at soccer too, maybe even better than Arthur. Yeah, Tony is a good guy, says Alfred.

Matthew can tell there’s a “but” coming. And he’s right. Alfred, with a little prodding, says that while Tony is fun to have around, he doesn’t think Arthur loves him. Not really. He likes Tony, likes him a lot, but…

Mattie understands. He knows Francis is lonely too.

There’s quiet for the first time since the big revelation as both twins think this over. Then Matthew shyly says he wishes he could meet Arthur. Now, before everything changes when he gets married again. Alfred agrees and says he wishes he could meet Francis too. Their eyes meet. It’s not sure who has the idea first - maybe they have it together? - but either way, they know what they have to do:

“We should trade places!”

“We should go live with each other’s dads!”

“Yeah! They’d never know!”

“We’re twins! It’s perfect!”

Once they’ve decided, it takes a lot of planning. The boys have to learn everything about each other in just a few weeks. Enough to fool the person who knows and loves them best. They drill each other on names, places, friends, family history and stories, etc. That stuff isn’t so bad, but a major stumbling block is how bilingual the Bonnefoy household is. Luckily they’re not starting from nothing as Alfred does French in school and his dad has always been extra on his ass about his French grades. Even more than usual. Alfred gets why now. More drilling, this time in French grammar and vocabulary. Matthew isn’t too confident by the time they’re done but Alfred tells him to take it easy. He can pull this off! Mattie isn’t so sure, but he’s willing to try anyway. He wants to meet Arthur very badly.

The last touch and big test is tweaking their appearances and seeing if they can fool their friends and the camp staff. They practice the other’s body language and way of speaking. Then it’s mirror test time. Alfred has shorter hair and a pieced ear (the latter done 100% without his dad’s permission lol) so it’s poor Mattie who gets the impromptu makeover. Alfred Kirkland coming at you while brandishing scissors and a sewing needle is not a comforting sight, but they manage to get it done with no major incidents. (It’s fine, it’s fine! Mattie only bled for a few hours, tops). They try out the switch at breakfast, breaths held, and…!

Success. Noone challenges them. As far as anyone else is concerned, Alfred was Mattie and Mattie was Alfred. Aww yeah! Operation Switcheroo is ago! 🇺🇸 <- -> 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 <- -> 🇺🇸 🤜 🤛

Before they know it, camp is over and it’s time to go “home.” The boys bid an emotional farewell, promise to keep in touch and help the other out if needed, then part ways. Alfred takes Mattie’s passport and gets on the plane to Quebec. Matthew boards the greyhound bus heading to New York. Both are so nervous all the ways it’s agony and they can hardly sit still. Matthew almost throws up eight times. Alfred actually does throw up, then pretends he didn’t when the kind air stewardess asks if he’s okay. The journey seems to last forever, but eventually the plane touches down and the bus pulls in.

Alfred steps out onto Canadian soil and looks around for the face he’s seen only in his secret photograph. He hears a French accented voice call Mattie’s name, turns, and sees Francis for the first time. Waving and coming to meet him with a beaming smile and a big, white dog on a leash. Alfred was sure he’d be okay, that he wouldn’t cry. He was wrong, but the tears were hidden and absorbed by Francis’s kashmir sweater when he swept his son up in a hug. Alfred hugs Francis back, breathing in his scent and feeling his silky hair tickle his cheek. This is his other dad. He’s hugging his other dad!! Francis feels Alfred shaking and is concerned, asking “Matthew” in French if he’s okay. And Alfred immediately forgets every French lesson he ever learned. He might have been found out there and then if not for Mr. Kumajiro distracting Francis by barking up a storm. This little one may look like their pup, but he doesn’t smell like him! By the time Francis gets him to calm down, Alfred has recovered. He hastily dries his tears, put on a Mattie-style smile, and tells Francis in French that he’s fine. Just got a little hayfever from all the flowers at camp. Francis says they’ll get some meds on the way home. As they walk to the car, he asks if Alfred enjoyed his first time at camp? Did he make friends? Was it exciting? Alfred grins and tells him: yes, yes, and yes again. He absolutely did.

Meanwhile, Matthew arrives in the crazy bustle of New York and is barely off the bus before Arthur appears to greet him. Mattie doesn’t get a chance to think before he’s swiftly hugged, and then held by his shoulders as his dad grumbles about various things while kneeling down and checking him over for injuries. A common occurrence when Alfred returns from anywhere further away than school. Mattie stares at Arthur, lost for words. This is his other dad. His other dad just came over and hugged him. Matthew feels his mouth go dry and his eyes well up with tears and has to fake a sneezing fit so Arthur doesn’t get concerned and suspicious. The hayfever excuse works twice in one day. Then Mattie puts on his best Alfred grin and asks, loud as he dares, if they can go get some food because that trip took for-ever and he’s starving! Arthur grabs his son’s bags and says sure, he’ll cook something as soon as they get home. As they head down to the subway, Arthur asks “Alfred” if he enjoyed camp this year? Did he see his friends again? Did he stay out of trouble? Matthew says: “You bet!” “Yes!” and “Nooo comment!” Arthur tuts but can’t help the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile. He pats Matthew on the shoulder and Mattie has to act extra Alfred-style bouncy to stop the tears coming again.

Five hundred miles apart, Francis and Arthur are both surprised and touched when their son reaches out to grasp their hand on the journey home. Neither twin has done that in years, protesting they were too old for baby stuff like hand holding.

The hayfever excuse gets a few more uses before the day is out, and not just from the twins

(Stay tuned for part 5! (´ε｀ )♡)

#hetalia #fruk #face family #hws america #hws canada #hws france #hws england #aph france #aph america #aph england #aph canada #parent trap au #my posts

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beautifulrebelglitterwitch · 8 days

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Kelly Clarkson once said “I was looking for skinny jeans when I should have been looking for wranglers”. We know that story did not end well, but that statement stuck in my head like, you think you know what you want, what you should be looking for, but maybe THIS over here is what you really need. I wasn’t looking though. I wasn’t looking for skinny jeans or wranglers or a suit or gray sweatpants. I wasn’t looking at all. Maybe a side eye look like “hey is it you?”but not with any kind of strength behind it.

I wasn’t looking for anything but myself. I was (am) figuring out what exactly it is that I wanted because the truth was I knew what I didn’t want very clearly but couldn’t list one thing I actually wanted. You’ve got to know both. The universe can’t help you with half ass truths. So I went about creating the this is me and what I want list that was imaginary and in my head. I tried on ideas like clothes in a dressing room, not buying anything that didn’t fit or suit my style. In that process I found things that fit so well I knew it was the truth. I kept finding the things that fit well until I saw myself more clear than I ever, but still me, feeling more comfortable in my skin than ever before. I was alone, but not lonely. I was fulfilling desires alone better than being with a partner, especially the wrong one. I was always smiling in disbelief that I could feel so fulfilled and be alone. I had been searching and searching and searching for the person that fit with who I am now and I was exhausted.

A mentally drained creative person is a frustrated person. So I was coming up ways for me to express myself that I hadn’t before and that were free. The things I did created so much joy. I found myself, even through getting help for my depression and anxiety, through these creative endeavors a lightness and surge in creativity I hadn’t felt in some time.

Minding my own business and really the hardest part of my day being what to post to curate my blog, and what to eat, I received a message. A test. For both of us. For him, would I bite? For me, is this guy a creep? I bit. He’s not a creep. We haven’t stopped talking since. Everyday I think I wasn’t looking, I wasn’t even paying attention. I didn’t even want to talk to anyone and then he appeared. I did the opposite of what I would normally do, I broke every one of my rules. I worried I wasn’t enough, I thought he must be lying, I hoped this wasn’t a joke, I worried he would ghost me, I worried see all of my body would be the reason he’d ghost me. I was deathly afraid of my feelings.

Then one day this Motherfucker (in our earliest days I kept saying in my head this Motherfucker is trying to get me to love him, or this Motherfucker says the sweetest things. I know by calling him that in my head, I was stalling, I wanted him to prove me right, he wasn’t this amazing person, he was in fact a Motherfucker) anyway, one day this Motherfucker asks me to call him and then asks me if I’d like to be his best friend? When I tell you my eyes were wet and my smile was the biggest it’s been in years, because it’s single handedly the sweetest, most romantic thing. I’ve ever experienced. He asked a scaredy cat girl wrestling with her feelings if I’d like to be his best friend and in that moment I loved him and became even more scared, but also knew I could tell my best friend anything.

Since that phone call I have experienced something lacking in almost every relationship I have ever had. Consideration for my feelings constantly. Someone who asks the right questions and listens to my answers. Someone who says “only if you’re comfortable” and means it. Someone who makes sure I’m ok and doesn’t freak out when I’m not. Someone who will talk things out. Someone who knows we’re in this together. Someone who wants to be better for himself and for me and makes me want the same. Someone who turns me on just be being himself. So finally one day I broke down and asked “Are you for real?” and he answered “I am really real baby darling” I stared at that text for minutes. I swooned. I cried. My heart was bursting. This Motherfucker, my best friend, my lover. He’s really real.

@always-be-batman-71

#love #writing #romance #best friends #thoughts #growing #motherfucker #my menace #my devil

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usermischief · 1 year

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chapter 54: like the thirteenth stroke of a clock Warnings: -

You can read it on AO3 as well.

---

Jackson walks past them, not even glancing in their general direction. His anger is palpable, even for people who can’t pick up on chemo signals. That wouldn’t be particularly surprising if not for the fact that Jackson is neither interested nor part of the track team.

Stiles glances at Theo, who glares at his coffee cup as if it somehow betrayed him. The dark circles under his eyes tell the story of a restless night. They stayed up way longer than they probably should have, but Theo was restless and in his head. Keeping him distracted seemed almost impossible. When Stiles eventually drifted off to sleep, Theo was still awake — and that’s saying something. “You didn’t have to come, you know?”

Theo grunts in response, his lips forming a tight line.

“I’m not being stupid,” Stiles playfully insists, flicking Theo’s forehead.

“I didn’t say that,” Theo mutters.

“You’re grunting did that for you,” Stiles tells him, raising his brows.

Theo grins, and it reaches his eyes for the first time since he found out his father is Peter Hale. He leans forward, presses a short kiss to the corner of Stiles’ mouth, and crosses his arms over the railing. “The Dread Doctors are not going to ease up,” Theo reminds him, now scowling again as he watches someone run past Stiles. “If anything, they’re going to escalate. You didn’t stop them, but you did interrupt their plans.” And they don’t like that. Theo doesn’t have to say these words to make it abundantly clear.

This is the second time Stiles has managed to successfully stop them from creating another chimera. With how quickly they killed Caitlin, it’s clear they will not take any more chances. “They’re pissed.”

“I’m pissed,” Theo says, furrowing his brows. “They’re vengeful.”

Stiles grabs the railing, letting out a long breath. “They can’t kill me.”

“After everything you’ve been through, I thought you knew there’s worse things than death.” Theo presses his lips together, studying Stiles for a few seconds. He doesn’t look happy with Stiles’ attitude towards the Dread Doctors at all. “Besides,” Theo adds, shaking his head to really rub it in, “they tried to have you kidnapped before.”

As much as Stiles would like to argue that, he’s aware that Theo is right about that. Donovan’s attempts to kidnap him didn’t happen all that long ago, yet it feels like forever ago. Ripping the ley line away from their newest chimera probably didn’t help. Plus, choosing Caitlin feels personal. It shouldn’t. Stiles barely knew her, and yet, out of everyone on this list, they picked a girl that may not have been in his life for long, but she still changed its trajectory — especially regarding his love life.

“So, that’s why Jackson’s here?” Stiles glances in his general direction. Judging by how he tilts his head, Jackson is listening in on their conversation, even though he’s pretending to be busy with his phone.

Theo doesn’t reply immediately. Once again, he watches what’s going on behind Stiles. “I chose the lesser of two evils.”

“Did you consider calling Brett?”

Theo glares at him, but he doesn’t reply. Not that he needs to. His face says more than any number of words could.

“He’s growing on you, isn’t he?” Stiles tries his best not to grin. It’s a highly unsuccessful endeavor.

“Don’t push it, babe.” Theo rolls his eyes and sips his coffee. The avoidance of an actual answer says a lot more than anything else could. A friendship between Theo and Brett is unlikely, but maybe Brett standing up for him yesterday helped put their feud at ease, perhaps even on hold until all of this is dealt with.

Which is hopefully soon. Because Stiles is sure Theo is right about one thing — the Dread Doctors are vengeful. They haven’t had any success in a while. Stiles stopped a transformation, and their time has essentially run out now that Stiles can finally control the nemeton fully. They’re out of options. They've been doing this for decades before finally achieving their first success with Theo, so it's highly unlikely they will give up anytime soon.

And that’s most likely why Jackson’s here.

Stiles lets out a long breath. “You really think they’re coming here?”

“Wouldn’t put it past them.”

Pinching his brows, Stiles glances at Jackson again. So, they’re really here to— what? Fight them? Even as alphas, they won’t be able to do anything about them. They won’t be able to stop them. Not the three of them, and certainly not Theo and Jackson alone. Stiles swallows around the lump in his throat, a terrible hunch forming in the depth of his gut. “What’s the plan here, Theo?” Stiles asks, and when Theo’s eyes lock with his, the hunch takes root. “What are you gonna do if they show up?”

Theo’s expression hardens, but he doesn’t say a single word.

Not that he has to.

“No.” Stiles pushes away from the banister. “Absolutely not.” This isn’t happening. He won’t let it. Shaking his head, Stiles turns on his heels and walks away.

Theo is by his side almost instantly. “What are you doing?”

“Quitting track.”

“And you think quitting track will stop them from coming after you?” Theo grabs his arm and pulls him back around, stopping him effectively in his tracks.

“No, but I’m sure you and Jackson won’t stop them either.” Stiles pulls his arm free. The only real safe place used to be Eichen House, but Kira destroyed their defenses effectively. Nowhere is safe from them, and the only reason they haven’t come after Stiles themselves yet is that they always had a chance at using the nemeton’s power without him intervening. But that’s not the case any longer. They’re bound to figure out that their time has run out.

Theo reaches for his hand again, intertwining their fingers. His touch alone stifles Stiles' gnawing worry that something might go wrong. How could it? How could anything happen when Theo's hand feels so right against his own? "What do you want me to do then?" Worry is etched into every inch of his features.

Stiles parts his lips and lets out a breath. "I can only tell you what I don't want you to do. He squeezes Theo’s hand tightly, wishing he could somehow make him understand. “I can’t do this again.” Just the thought of having to sit by Theo’s bedside again, wondering if he’ll ever wake up… and if he wakes up, wondering if he’ll be okay. There are limits to what a body can handle. Eventually, it’s going to reach the end of the line. Theo’s been on the brink of death twice in just a couple of weeks. Even a supernatural body has its breaking point.

“Okay.” Theo doesn’t look entirely happy, but he sounds sincere, at least. “We’re not here to protect you. We’re here to support you.”

“I swear,” Jackson utters, coming to a stop next to them, “if I got up early for you to leave—”

“He’s thinking about quitting,” Theo interrupts, not even giving Stiles a chance to respond. It’s almost an instinctive reaction. He doesn’t even look in Jackson’s direction as he says it but contemplates Stiles instead.

Jackson doesn’t look at Theo either. “And you think quitting track will stop them from coming after you?” he asks incredulously. Well, at the very least, he’s not acting like Theo doesn’t exist.

Stiles stares at Jackson, then Theo, and back again. Huffing out a breath, he lets go of Theo’s hands and crosses his arms over his chest. “I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots before.” Stiles lets out a long breath and rubs his hands over his face. “It’s obvious you two are related.”

Now Theo and Jackson cross their arms over their chests.

Coach’s whistle cuts through the silence.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jackson asks while Theo keeps staring Stiles down. While they share many similarities, one pretty significant distinction is finally making itself known. On the one hand, Theo tends to remain silent, bottling up his emotions until he reaches a breaking point resulting in an explosion that ultimately leads to people ending up in the crossfire. On the other hand, Jackson’s first instinct is confrontation until pushing him too far will lead to a deadly silence. Arguments between them will be a delight.

“Stilinski!”

Stiles waves Coach off, then points at Theo and Jackson. “You’re brothers. Get it together.” Shaking his head one more time, he jogs to meet up with the rest of the team in the middle of one of Coach’s pre-practice speeches. But Stiles isn’t actually listening to anything he tells them. It’s usually not all that important anyway — or new. Stiles is pretty sure he knows ninety percent of his motivational speeches by heart at this point. Instead, he focuses his attention on Theo and Jackson returning to the stands, rubbing his chest absentmindedly. By the looks of it, they're not talking and sit down as far apart as possible.

That’s going to take some time, but at the very least, they seem to be able to work together if they have to. It’s not ideal or anything Stiles had hoped for. Still, he can’t change it. He can’t force Theo to change anything. They’ll have to figure this out by themselves.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Kira appears next to him without warning.

Stiles nearly jumps out of his skin. “Warn a guy,” he breathes.

Kira chuckles. “Did I miss anything?”

“Probably just his usual motivational speech,” Stiles whispers, watching Coach wave them off, which most likely means they’re supposed to start their warm-up. He seems distracted as well today. If Stiles didn’t know any better, he’d guess Theo called Coach too, but a human wouldn’t exactly be helpful in their situation. It’s much more likely he’s distracted by Jackson being here. As passionate as he appears to be about track, lacrosse is where his heart is at. Stiles is more than fine with that. If he’s too busy talking to Jackson about lacrosse, track will remain pretty uneventful, which sounds great. They’re due for uneventfulness, and Stiles will savor it for as long as he can.

“Theo seems on edge,” Kira notes as they start jogging after the rest of the group.

Stiles sighs. “He’s worried the Dread Doctors are coming after me.” They’re already catching up to the others. In no time, they’re going to pass them without any issues at all. Running comes so easily. If only he could run from his problems like this — or at the very least from the Dread Doctors. But they’ll catch up to him eventually. Unless they manage to find a way to stop them indefinitely.

“That’s the next logical step, isn’t it?”

They break into a sprint, leaving the rest of the group behind. The silence between them is filled with the sound of the wind in his ears for the next 100 meters. As freeing as running feels, the last few days have left their mark on Stiles. He can already feel a strange tightness in his chest. They slow down again, and Stiles lets out a breath. “Unless Nolan remembers something.”

“Even if he does,” Kira interrupts, not showing any signs of their recent sprint, “we can’t kill them.”

Yet, Stiles thinks. “But it’ll give us a chance to search their lair.” And hopefully, find something that will help kill them or, at the very least, level the playing field. If they become vulnerable, three kitsunes and a hellhound should be able to take them on — not that Theo would let him fight this battle alone. Maybe he even deserves to be the one to deliver the killing blow. They put him through enough that he should be on the front line when they finally go down.

Kira shakes her head. “So, we’re going to deliver you to them?”

“You sound like Theo.”

They break into a sprint again, this time forcing Kira to postpone her reply until they slow down again. They finished their first round—two more to go before they start with the rest of the warm-up.

“What I mean is—”

Stiles is falling. Without warning. One second he’s running, and now he can barely get his hands in front of him to stop his face from smashing into the ground. The skin on his hand tears open, and Stiles hisses, grinding his teeth together. But the pain comes and goes within seconds as his body heals the minor injuries almost immediately.

Kira drops to her knees next to him. “Are you okay?” An edge of panic sneaks into her tone, and she reaches out, fingers curling around his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Stiles mutters, rubbing his chest again. It still feels tight every now and again. It’s almost as if someone is wrapping their arms around him, squeezing him, and then easing up again. It’s getting more prominent as time passes, and it’s also happening faster. What the hell is going on? Grimacing, Stiles sits up and checks his arms more out of instinct than anything else. His skin is completely healed, and there are only a few smudges of blood that tell a different story.

“What happened?” Theo asks, arriving at the same time as Jackson and Coach, who watches Jackson with mild irritation.

Kira crosses her arms over her thighs. “I think he tripped.”

“I didn’t trip.” Stiles isn’t sure what happened, but he knows what didn’t happen. There is no way he tripped over anything. Stiles takes a deep breath and rubs his sternum with a scowl. Something weird is definitely going on. Usually, he can blame that on the ley lines, which in turn means the Dread Doctors are doing something. “I think I need to sit down.”

“You are sitting.”

“I need to sit down somewhere that’s not the ground, Whittemore,” Stiles clarifies with a roll of his eyes.

Theo offers him a hand and pulls him to his feet the moment he grabs it. As soon as he stands, his world slips away in the blink of an eye. This time, however, he doesn’t black out, but he’s feeling it now — the sensation of someone pulling at him, trying to drag him under.

“Babe?” Theo wraps an arm around his waist, pulling him close and steadying him.

Stiles takes a deep breath. “Something’s up with the ley lines.”

“Are you okay?”

“I just need to lay down,” he smiles at Theo before glancing over his shoulder and watching Jackson tell Coach something about ‘possibly dehydration.’ But by the look he’s giving him, Jackson is listening to them and knows what’s really going on. “And deal with it before it becomes an issue.” This shouldn’t become a problem unless he ignores it for too long, but Stiles doubts the ley lines will allow that to happen. They’re all but screaming for help.

Theo helps him sit on the bleachers while Kira offers her bunched-up jacket as a makeshift pillow, and Jackson distracts Coach.

“Okay.” Stiles lies down, heart thumping in his chest. He should be relieved. So far, the Dread Doctors still think they have a chance at resurrecting their beast without him. Besides, he knows his way around the ley lines now that he’s truly connected to them. For the most part, at least. He’s still worried he could spend too much time down there. “Give me fifteen minutes,” Stiles says, glancing from Theo to Kira and back again. “If I’m not done by then, bring me back.” Although Theo’s spark usually helps him to find his way back, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

After a brief nod from Theo, Stiles closes his eyes and allows the ley lines to pull him back into their realm. When he opens them, he finds himself floating in this breathtakingly beautiful space again. This time, he doesn’t get the sense of being somewhere he doesn’t belong. It’s almost a little like coming home, a feeling made even sweeter with Theo’s spark held close to his heart.

But he isn’t here to admire the view. He’s here to fix a problem. Dread pools in his stomach, almost weighing him down. Stiles is highly aware of what that means. Another death. Another innocent teenager was caught in the crossfire. Stiles hates the thought of it, but he doesn’t have a chance. Once again, the risk of success is too great. He has to protect the people and the balance. Something as dangerous and unnatural as the beast cannot be allowed to roam free.

Stiles lets out a breath and checks the sea of ley lines for one that’s acting up. It’s surprisingly easy to find despite being lumped in with a bunch of others. Stiles follows its course with a strange sense of direction, somehow knowing where he is despite being somewhere that is Beacon Hills, and at the same time, it is not. He follows it past the school, deep into the preserve, and towards an eerily still silhouette. It’s so different from Caitlyn, who fought for her survival. This person, however, doesn’t do anything. They’re not even holding on to the ley line.

Drawing his brows together, Stiles sinks to his knees right next to them. With how hunched over they’re sitting, it’s hard to make out any defining characteristics. If not for the ley line acting up, he’d think they’re already dead. Which would’ve made it a lot easier to yank their lifeline away from them.

But they’re alive, and Stiles still curls his fingers tightly around the ley line. If he just pretends— maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t survive with the line’s help anyway. Not with the way they’re hunched over like they’re passed out, in a coma, already dead. Perhaps it’s easier if he doesn’t look at them.

Taking a deep breath, Stiles focuses on his fingers and the flickering of the ley line. Whoever the Dread Doctors chose this time, they didn’t even make it past the first stage. They won’t make it, no matter what he does. “I’m sorry,” he whispers and yanks the ley line out from under the teen. Only a moment later, everything around him settles. It feels calm, like the world after a storm.

Stiles curls his hands into fists, resisting the urge to linger, and pushes back, following Theo’s spark. Navigating this space gets easier by the second, and so does leaving it.

When he opens his eyes, Stiles squeezes them shut quickly again. The sun is way too bright. This is a nightmare. Why did he have to live in California? Carefully, he blinks his eyes open again, shielding them with one hand. It’s probably a good idea to feed before starting school, or the fluorescent lights inside the building are going to cause him a major migraine if the sun doesn’t get there first.

Stiles turns his head a little and finds Theo and Kira with their backs to him, probably hiding him from the rest of the team, but with their heads surprisingly close together. It’s not that they haven’t gotten along, but they also never acted particularly friendly. Then again, Theo was getting along with Jackson before he learned about them being siblings. His boyfriend seems to be rather volatile these days.

“Yeah,” Theo says softly. “We’ll be there.”

Kira pulls away, eyebrows pinched and chewing on her bottom lip.

It’s then that Stiles spots the phone in Theo’s hand. He pushes himself up on his elbows. “What’s going on?”

Theo turns around, wearing almost the same worried expression as Kira. “That was Brett.” The two exchange a look, almost as if Theo considers keeping whatever they’ve been talking about away from him. In the end, he decides against it, “Nolan remembers.”

— — —

Nolan is terrified. That in of itself isn’t the biggest surprise. He’s always been a withdrawn and easily startled boy, and usually, being turned into a werewolf heightens some of your traits — especially on full moons. If Stiles checked the calendar correctly, one is right around the corner. What surprises him, however, is that Nolan doesn’t seem to be afraid of the two strange alphas standing on opposite ends of the room. He is afraid of Stiles. He avoids his gaze and refuses to leave Satomi’s side until Brett physically drags him to the map of the desk where Stiles is waiting.

“Show him,” Brett orders, nudging Nolan even closer to the map and, with that, Stiles.

The new werewolf all but shrinks away, shoulders pulled up to his ear. He doesn’t say a word or even glance in Stiles’ direction. All he does is tap the map once before shuffling closer toward Brett again.

Stiles stares at the spot, drawing his brows together as he surveys the surrounding area. Deep in the preserve. Close to a creek leading into a small lake. “Are you sure?”

Nolan nods shortly.

“What’s with the look?” Isaac asks, tapping a finger against the thick wood of the table.

Stiles bites his bottom lip, watching Nolan take his chance to slip away and stand next to Satomi again. “It’s…” he trails off and shakes his head. There is no time to wonder why Nolan is afraid of him right now. There’s more important shit going on. Stiles takes a breath and points at the spot Nolan showed them. “This is where the Dread Doctors hide now, right?” Theo, Jackson, and Kira crowd around the table. Feeling Theo and Kira right next to him has never felt this calming before. “This—” Stiles moves his finger to a spot near the beginning of the creek, not far away from the Dread Doctors’ newest hideout. “This is where they buried their most recent experiment.”

Both Jackson and Theo stiffen slightly. Stiles watches them exchange a glance, features hardening before looking back at the map. Before they left to go to Satomi’s, Theo and Jackson ended up in another explosive argument. Well, Theo informed Jackson that it was a waste of time to go looking for a chimera who wasn’t even conscious in the first place. Jackson spent the rest of the drive snapping at Theo, even going so far as to call him heartless and accusing him of not caring about anybody but Stiles. That really didn’t need to be part of the conversation, but Stiles chose not to make things worse by objecting. Instead, he and Kira tried to make themselves as scarce as possible in the backseat of Theo’s car, waiting for the other shoe to drop, while Jackson kept arguing and Theo kept driving.

Stiles still isn’t sure if he wants to be around when he ultimately finds out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

Kira lets out a breath, “It was a trap.”

“It was a trap,” Theo repeats and curls his hands into fists. For all but a second, it seems like this is what might push him over the edge again, but he takes a deep breath instead and turns to Stiles, “You’re not going to go there.” He points in the general direction of the map, his blue cold and hard. There will be no arguing about this.

Biting his bottom lip, Stiles glances around the table. Some part of him wants to pass on the responsibility of making this decision to Isaac. It is his job, after all, since this is affecting all the packs in his territory. But Isaac simply stares back at him, lips pressed into a thin line. He won’t make that decision. He won’t ask anyone to go to the Dread Doctors’ lair when they've already set a trap. “We have to check it out.”

Isaac pushes away from the table with a shake of his head.

“We have to!” Stiles insists, slamming his hands on the desk. “This might be our chance to find a way to level the playing field.”

“They know you went looking for Caitlin,” Brett says, shaking his head.

Theo crosses his arms. “I’ll go.”

“Absolutely not.” Stiles turns to look at him, a familiar burst of irritation clawing its way to the surface. “After everything you did, don’t you think the Dread Doctors have a bone to pick with you?” As task-driven as they might be, in the end, they’re humans, and humans have developed a taste for revenge. Stiles can’t believe Theo would even think they’d just let him walk away if they caught him. They’re either going to kill him for crossing them, or they’re going to lock him up and use him as bait.

“I’ve been living with them. I can—”

“No, Theo,” Isaac cuts in, “you’re not.”

“They’re going to kill you.” Kira’s voice is so soft Stiles almost can’t hear her. The thing is, sending anyone there with the Dread Doctors expecting them sounds like a suicide mission. Their ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields means that no werewolf is a match for them, at least until they’ve figured out a way to make them vulnerable. That’s why Nolan remembering everything was so important. It was a way to gain the upper hand, to be one step ahead of the Dread Doctors. They lost that chance.

Jackson clears his throat. “Or they’re going to use you.” He sounds almost worried.

Looks like Stiles isn’t the only one who thought of that. He turns to face the others again and pushes his hands into his hoodie. The Dread Doctors are likely more than aware of his and Theo’s relationship. Donovan knew, after all. Hell, maybe Tracy kept them in the loop as well. She spent so much time away from the pack, it’s entirely possible Scott wasn’t the only person she kept in the loop of what was happening.

Theo scoffs. “Are you volunteering, Whittemore?”

“I didn’t say that,” Jackson snaps, jabbing an accusatory finger in Theo’s direction. “Not everyone is as fucking indifferent about life and death as you are.”

“Stop it.” Stiles has had enough of this bullshit. “If you two cannot stop bickering for two seconds, get the fuck out, okay?” He really thought them capable of working together, but that’s apparently only the case if they don’t have to be standing in the same room or talking to each other. “Seriously. Grow up.”

Theo shoots him a dark look.

Jackson turns away.

Stiles only barely resists the urge to throw his hands in the air.

“I could ask my mom,” Kira says, leaning over the table and pressing a finger to the spot Nolan pointed out. “We’re immune to their powers, and we’re fast.” She looks up, her questioning gaze landing on Stiles before she turns her attention to Isaac — probably because she remembers Stiles’ decision can be vetoed very easily in this room. Three alphas and Isaac have a bit more to say than he does. Well, for the most part. Theo can be swayed.

Scrunching up his face, Isaac studies Kira in silence. As much as it irks him to be the person to make decisions like this, he seems to have finally accepted his fate. He probably never would’ve agreed to be turned into a werewolf if he had known the responsibility that would fall into his lap. Then again, better Isaac than Peter. Stiles doesn’t even want to think about the chaos Beacon Hills would fall into if he were the one in charge. But Isaac and Jackson would have to die for that to happen. Good thing Jackson agreed to become a member of Derek’s pack shortly before leaving for London. Otherwise, the only person standing in Peter’s way would be Isaac, and Stiles isn’t entirely sure how much Peter values his life. Jackson, however, is his son. Sane Peter is not going to kill his son, not even for the power of the nemeton.

Stiles is sure about that, hopefully. He’d rather not be wrong about Peter. But seeing that he was right about Deaton all along, it’s probably about time he doesn’t second guess his instincts — and his instincts regarding Deaton demand consequences. Stiles glances at Satomi, who is quietly contemplating her tea. Maybe he should talk to her and figure out what the rules are for disturbing the balance.

“I’m going to call Jordan,” Isaac mutters, already pulling out his phone. “I’d be more comfortable with a hellhound accompanying you.” With a shake of his head, phone pressed against his ear, Isaac walks out of the room.

Without hesitation, Nolan takes his opportunity to rush after him.

“Guess that means we’re done.” Brett runs his fingers through his hair and then crosses his arms.

Kira sighs softly. “I’m going to talk to my mom.” Smiling softly, she glances at Stiles before hurrying out of the room.

“I don’t like it.” Stiles crosses and uncrosses his arms, unsure what to do or say or if he should stop Kira and Noshiko from essentially walking into a trap. While they have to check out the Dread Doctor’s lair, Stiles doesn’t like that he’ll have to sit and wait for them to return. If he’s terrible at one thing, it’s doing absolutely nothing.

“It is the best course of action,” Theo says, and as much as Stiles wants to believe he really means that, he is probably just relieved Stiles isn’t involved any longer.

Jackson rolls his eyes. “That doesn’t mean it’s a good one.”

“It’s not like you came up with a better idea,” Theo shoots back. These two are really ready to turn everything into an argument.

“Can you stop it!” Brett looks about as pissed as Stiles feels. “I thought you two were getting along?” They were. One of their strongest arguments for forming an acquaintanceship was their shared dislike of Brett, but then Brett defended Theo when he thought Stiles was dying, which pissed off Jackson even further, and they’re suddenly related, and Jackson wants to play family, whereas Theo would rather see everything crash and burn. Here's hoping Brett involving himself in their business pushes them together a second time.

But Jackson does not seem willing to make peace. “If we’re done here, we can leave, right?” Raising his brows, he turns his attention to Stiles.

“I would like to talk to Satomi.” Stiles pushes his hands in the pockets of his jeans, not looking at anyone when he adds, “alone.” He knows that secrecy is rather pointless with so many werecreatures around. It’s still nice to have the illusion of having some privacy.

Theo steps closer. “Are you okay?” Worry is edged into every inch of his face, his anger regarding Jackson already forgotten.

“I’m fine.” Stiles smiles, cupping the side of Theo’s neck. “I just have a few questions about druids and rituals.” And since neither of that is private or a reason not to have them in here, he adds, “and your and Jackson’s constant arguing makes it hard to focus.” For more than one reason. “I’ll be with you in a sec, okay?” Stiles kisses the corner of Theo’s mouth, smiling softly when he pulls away.

Although Theo doesn’t look entirely thrilled at leaving him alone, probably because of the now even stronger threat of the Dread Doctors looming over their heads. But Stiles can’t tell him. Not now, not this time. Because Theo doesn’t have the same reservations about killing someone as Stiles does. And maybe Theo gets it. He nods and kisses him once more before leaving. He glances over his shoulder, watching Jackson follow.

The thought of leaving them alone doesn’t sit right with Stiles either. “Brett, can you—”

“Make sure they don’t kill each other?” he chuckles drily but nods. “I’ll send Morrell in too.” That part is directed at Satomi. Brett doesn’t stop to wait for a reply. He merely leaves the room, footsteps receding down the staircase.

Stiles doesn’t want to sound hostile, but he’s pretty sure his disdain is impossible to hide — not even from his tone. “Morrell, really?”

Unsurprisingly, Satomi remains unphased. Sometimes Stiles wants her to lose the tight grip she has on her emotions. It’s infuriating. “If you have questions about druids and their rituals, it seems best to ask a druid, don’t you think?”

It’s hard to argue with that logic, but that doesn’t mean Stiles is looking forward to a conversation with Marin Morrell. They don’t exactly have the friendliest past. Her being Deaton’s sister doesn’t help either. Stiles leans against the desk with a sigh. He has a feeling that discussing this with Satomi will be futile.

Morrell enters the room only a few moments later, freeing them of an awkward silence, and closes the door behind her. “Stiles,” she nods as she sits down next to Satomi.

Although she did help him before, Stiles can’t help but be upfront about his issue with her. “The last time I saw you, you threatened to kill me.” He taps his fingers against the edge of the desk, watching Morrell carefully. Trusting Satomi was hard enough after the stunt she pulled to control him, but Morrell is a very different story. Even though she tried to help him with the nogitsune, did help him until Brunski sedated him. She also worked for Deucalion. Trusting her will be no easy feat. Depending on how this conversation goes, however, things might change.

Morrell crosses her legs, expression impassive. “The last time I saw you, you were possessed by a nogitsune.”

“Not much has changed.”

“I don’t think that’s quite true.” Her shoulders relax a little, but she seems wary around him for the first time. There probably aren’t many people who like the thought of a nogitsune with permission to stick around. It’s hard to blame her.

Satomi stirs her tea. “What questions do you have for us?”

Part of him is sure Satomi already knows, and that’s why she called Morrell. Still, it’s also possible she wanted her emissary at her side since she is talking to the nemeton, something that’s technically a druid’s job. Stiles crosses his legs at his ankles. “I’m sure Brett told you about what happened the night we freed Peter Hale.”

For all but a second, discontent crosses over Satomi’s features. She quickly hides it by sipping her tea, and when she’s done, she seems as serene as always. “Brett has not informed me of anything that has happened in the tunnels.”

Stiles raises his brows. “How come?”

“I haven’t asked,” Satomi admits, sounding almost rueful. Stiles wonders if she blames him for Brett acting out. Well, more than usual. He’s her second in command, after all, and they didn’t have any secrets from each other. Then again, it was Satomi’s idea to link Brett to Stiles without asking either of them for permission first — and Brett keeping quiet about Deucalion might have a different reason.

Stiles glances at Morrell. Maybe Brett isn’t entirely sure where Morrell’s loyalties truly lie, either. Sure, Deucalion wanted to have her killed, but only because she played both sides. “Someone other than the Dread Doctors took the nemeton’s power without its permission.”

To his surprise, Morrell shoots to her feet. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she starts pacing the office.

“I wonder,” Stiles continues, forcing his attention back to Satomi, “what the consequences are for something like that.”

“I’d say that depends on the crime.” Satomi watches her emissary.

Stiles crosses his arms. “Disturbing the balance.” At his words, Morrell comes to an abrupt stop. She probably already knows who he is talking about. Stiles doubts there are a lot of people in Beacon County who have access to the nemeton’s power. There are no more packs, meaning there aren’t any more emissaries in the area. Plus, Stiles would notice if someone else tabs into the ley lines. If she isn’t the culprit, there is only one person left. They all know it.

“What did he do?” Morrell crosses her arms over her chest, expression hard.

“He stole the nemeton’s power and used it to create an alpha. Thus disturbing the balance.” Stiles mirrors her stance, preparing himself to argue his point. At first glance, it might not seem too bad. After all, some alphas truly do rise through sheer willpower. Stiles has done his research. “I want to know how he did it, so I can dish out some fitting punishment.” With or without Isaac’s consent. He can live with the consequences of whatever decision he’ll make.

Satomi clinks her spoon against the rim of her teacup, seemingly finally satisfied with the taste. “The nemeton would not release its power willfully to create an alpha spark.”

“That’s why I said ‘stole.” His tone is sharper than he means it, but Stiles can’t deny that he’s feeling on edge being alone with Satomi and Morrell. They both are powerful women devoted to protecting the balance, yet Morrell allowed Deucalion to turn into the monster he was in the end. “How do you steal the nemeton’s power?” Other than forcing it to save the life of a dying supernatural creature by allowing a connection to the ley lines.

Morrell is silent for a moment, possibly contemplating the most likely answer. “He would have needed some form of access to harness the power.” She starts walking again, heels clicking loudly against the wooden floor. “And enough time to gather it slowly enough so the nemeton didn’t notice anything.”

“How much time are we talking?”

That depends on a variety of factors. How did he access the nemeton? How much power was he taking? Perhaps there was another distraction.

Satomi rises to her feet as well. “How do you know Alan stole from the nemeton?” His name rings loudly in the room, but Morrell doesn’t seem surprised. Meaning Stiles was right, she knew. Which begs the question, how often did Deaton use the nemeton’s power for his own gain? Clearly, often enough that his sister suspects him immediately.

“Because we stripped Scott of our spark,” Stiles says, sensing a familiar anger burning underneath his skin, and pushes away from the desk. “We took what was stolen from us.” He will not argue about his decision to save Theo’s life. It doesn’t matter if they consider his choice as hypocritical. They wouldn’t have been in this situation if Morrell stopped Deucalion and stopped Deaton from turning Scott into an alpha.

Morrell and Satomi exchange a look before the latter inquires, “What happened to the spark?”

“We saved a life.” Stiles wonders if the nemeton is defending him. Although he is entirely in control of his body, it seems his mouth doesn’t quite belong to him now. He also wonders if Stiles' fear of losing Theo influenced the nemeton to save his life. How much control does he really have of something as old and powerful as the nemeton, poisoned or not? “Tell us how he did it.” Stiles forces himself to lean back against the desk again, fingers curling tightly around its edge.

“The ice bath ritual,” Morrell says, sounding as if she had known all along. Maybe she did. Maybe Deaton told her everything. She wouldn’t have been able to reverse it either way. “With the Darach’s ritual and your surrogate sacrifices, it was easy for him to steal power from the nemeton. The connection was wide open for 16 hours. All he had to do was change Scott’s ice bath just enough to ensure the power would be transferred to his spark.” She crosses her arms again and leans against the wall. Something akin to regret slips onto her features. Perhaps even guilt. It isn’t entirely impossible she was the inspiration for a ritual like that. “But it couldn’t have been successful.” Morrell looks up now, brows furrowed. “Your connection to the nemeton remained.”

His connection remained, yes. “Allison’s didn’t.” Stiles remembers Isaac telling them that he was the one who found the nemeton because of Chris’ emitters.

“The power her sacrifice was supposed to give to the nemeton—”

“It went straight to Scott.” Stiles pushes away from the desk again. He needs to move, or his anger will turn into something explosive again. By the sounds of it, both Allison and Stiles were supposed to give their powers not to the nemeton but to Scott during their time in the ice bath. If the ritual had worked as intended, their parents, Isaac and Allison, would have been crushed underneath the nemeton. Stiles would have never been able to find it, not in that storm, not after the car crash, not without the connection to the nemeton. Fuck, and even if he had been able to find them in that basement through some sort of miracle, his baseball bat wouldn’t have stopped the whole building from collapsing. If a werewolf and four humans couldn’t keep it up, how would a single baseball be able to stop it?

The more he thinks about it, the clearer it gets that the nemeton has taken a liking to him from the very second they first connected. Perhaps that’s what not only saved everyone in the basement but it also might have stopped Deaton’s ritual from working as intended. Either way, without the nemeton’s help, without his connection to it, Stiles would have never been able to save them. “My father would have died just because Deaton decided to play God.” He stops pacing and turns to look at Satomi, hands curling into fists. “So tell me, Satomi, what punishment do you see fit?” Because he has an excellent idea of what he wants to do — an idea undoubtedly fueled by the rage of a nogitsune. Deaton’s reckless behavior did not only risk the life of their parents and insult the druid code. It’s an insult to them. How dare he think he can get away with this?

Satomi doesn’t break eye contact, and her expression is harder than Stiles has ever seen. “I doubt you will find a satisfactory answer here. I’m afraid this is a decision you must make alone.”

Stiles snaps his gaze to Morrell, who avoids his eyes for the first time like Nolan did. Well, at the very least, she was willing to tell him the truth. “Fine,” Stiles says, turning towards the door. “I will do this myself.” And without another word, he rushes out of the room. One thing is clear, Deaton will not run from the consequences of his action for much longer — not as long as he can do something about it.

— — —

“So…” Theo lowers his sketchbook for the first time in who knows how many hours, “are you going to sulk for the rest of the evening?” That’s rich coming from him. It’s not like Theo has been in a good mood since they left Satomi’s. He glowered his way through school without so much as looking at Jackson, was clearly peeved that Stiles wanted to talk to Satomi alone — and even more annoyed that the room was supernatural proof. With the door was closed, he couldn’t even listen in and then told Josh and Corey very curtly that they’d be staying the night at Stiles’, and grabbed his sketchbook the second they entered his bedroom.

Stiles remembers Theo drawing a lot as a child, especially when he was overwhelmed with emotions. He got in his head and tried to work through his feelings by drawing whatever came to mind. He knows it’s better than bottling everything up, so Stiles didn’t bother him. To be fair, he didn’t exactly try talking to him either, seeing that he was still pissed about Satomi refusing to give him the answer he wanted to hear. Well, that means he’ll have to get his answers from somebody else.

“I don’t know,” Stiles mutters without looking up from his AP History essay. “Are you going to be a dick to your brother for the rest of your life?”

“Hilarious.”

“You think?” Stiles squints at his laptop. He has absolutely no idea what point he is trying to make. “I haven’t laughed in a while.”

“I don’t get why you’re mad at me. I didn’t do anything.” Theo slams his sketchbook onto the desk.

Letting out a breath, Stiles closes his laptop. "I'm sorry."

Theo gets to his feet and crosses the room, plopping onto the bed beside him. "It's fine." But it's really not. It's not fair to turn Theo into the punching bag for Stiles' lousy mood — just as it wasn't fair to try and put the responsibility of a decision Stiles is willing to make onto Satomi. She would've never gone along with violence of any kind as a punishment. He should’ve never expected her to. What the hell was he thinking? Stiles rubs a hand over his face. It was a waste of everybody’s time. Besides, if he hadn't talked to her, they might have made it to second period, which in turn would have spared Stiles and Isaac Jordan’s lecture about the importance of school. Stiles honestly hadn’t expected Jordan to allow Theo to stay over, but apparently, Jordan thought channeling his inner disappointed dad would get the job done. Stiles almost doesn't have the heart to prove him wrong.

“My point still stands.” Stiles puts the laptop onto the nightstand and rolls onto his side, facing Theo. “You can’t be angry with Jackson for the rest of your life.” They’re going to have a hard, if not impossible, time avoiding each other as long as they are dating Stiles and Lydia. After all, they’re planning to move in together for college, and Stiles has absolutely no intention of planning their dates around Jackson.

Groaning, Theo rolls onto his back and glares at the ceiling. “I have no interest in playing happy family.”

“And you don’t have to.” Stiles cups Theo’s cheek, gently urging him to face him again. “But you got along before. I don’t really understand what happened.”

“What happened is,” Theo snaps and jumps to his feet, teetering very close to the edge of yet another outburst, “Jackson decided to make decisions for me before I even knew we’re brothers.” His cheeks are flushed with anger, and he opens and closes his fists like he’s trying to fight the urge to throw something. “I don’t need my big brother meddling in my business like Tara used to do.”

Stiles pushes himself up on his elbows, biting back a grin. “I’m sorry to inform you that you’d be the middle child.” If Tara was still alive. A statement that hangs heavy in the air even though nobody says it out loud.

Theo blinks, then whips his head around. “What?”

“I know Jackson’s bossy nature makes it hard to believe, but he’s six months younger than you.” It’s unfair that Stiles went from only child to youngest of three — something that will not change judging by the number of family dinners his father is planning with Jordan and Isaac invited to every single one of them — and Theo comes out as the big brother. They all have to adjust to new family dynamics. “I get that this is hard for you,” Stiles says softly, “but Jackson’s been struggling with finding out who he is and where he came from his whole life. You can’t fault him for trying to make his new family work.”

Setting his jaw in a firm line, Theo sits on the edge of his bed again.

Stiles scoots behind him. “Hey, come on.” He wraps his arms around Theo’s waist and props his chin on his shoulder. “Talk to Jackson. He’ll understand, I promise.” Although Jackson had a good relationship with his adoptive parents, Stiles is sure he will have no issue sympathizing with Theo’s struggle. “You talked to me.”

“That’s different.”

“Give him a chance.” Stiles leans his head against Theo’s, brushing his thumbs over the warm fabric of his shirt. “I know you bonded over your irrational dislike of Brett.”

Theo huffs out a breath that sounds suspiciously like a laugh.

“Misiu, you need to relax.” Stiles kisses Theo’s cheek, then jaw, then the spot behind his ear that gets rid of any sort of discontent. Almost immediately, Theo leans into him and closes his eyes. That’s better. He scoots back on the bed, dragging Theo with him until he lies with his head in Stiles’ lap, both legs dangling over the edge of the bed. “See?” Stiles runs his fingers through the short strands, unable to hide his grin. “Even the big bad alpha needs some downtime every now and then.” Especially after a sleepless night. Stiles is used to running around on little to no sleep, Theo? Not so much. “You get cranky when you don’t get your beauty sleep, darling.”

Grimacing a bit, Theo opens his eyes again. He watches him without giving any retort. Instead, he sighs, cocking his head a little, and studies Stiles as if he's got him all figured out. He probably has. It's a comforting thought as well as a scary one. But at the very least, Stiles doesn't have to expect any judgment from Theo. "Why are you so pissed at Satomi?"

Stiles rolls his eyes and lets himself fall sideways onto the mattress. "I'm not pissed at Satomi."

"But?"

Although Stiles can already tell Theo will never believe him, he merely shrugs. "I don't know."

Theo crawls up to him. "You do know," he says with an almost terrifying certainty. "You just don't want to tell me. Why?"

Stiles closes his eyes as Theo traces his jawline with his index finger. For a moment, he doesn’t respond and simply allows Theo to continue following lines on his jaw and cheek, and neck as if he is the only person who knows exactly which buttons to push to get what he wants or turn him on. Those two things aren't exactly mutually exclusive. He swallows heavily, feeling the ball of Theo’s hand brush against his Adam’s apple in what could be considered an accident, but nothing his boyfriend does is ever an accident. Stiles shivers when Theo finally curls a hand around the side of his neck, thumb nudging his pulse point gently.

Stiles lets out a breath and opens his eyes. “If I tell you, you might end up doing something stupid.” He curls his hand around the nape of Theo’s neck, pulling him close until their noses brush. His whole body aches with the need to be close to him, making it almost harder to focus on anything else. “And I won’t be able to protect you from the consequences.” If there are consequences, which there will probably be for killing a druid like Deaton.

“But if you do it alone,” Theo whispers as his fingers slip under Stiles’ shirt ever so innocently, causing an eruption of goosebumps, “will you have to face any consequences?”

“Probably.” Stiles can feel his muscles contract, his breath hitching in his throat. It should be embarrassing how Theo can play his body like a fiddle without having to do anything. “But Isaac likes me,” he grins, leaning up just enough so their lips touch.

An almost inaudible chuckle vibrates in Theo’s chest. He brushes their lips together only once before pulling away again, his free hand now busy working on opening Stiles’ belt. “Are you lying to me?” The question is unnecessary. Theo knows exactly when Stiles is lying to him, irregular heartbeat or not.

Something about the way he says it, however, makes Stiles’ mouth go very dry. He swallows again and clears his throat. “About what?” His voice comes out as a whisper as every inch of his body suddenly grows very warm, and he becomes very aware of what Theo’s hands are doing — one still cups the right side of his throat despite the awkward position Theo is undoubtedly in, the other works dreadfully slow on opening his pants.

“About why you’re keeping secrets.”

Stiles shakes his head, mostly to clear his head — and convince his brain that it’s actually important to finish this conversation without giving up the information Theo probably craves almost as much as fucking him into the mattress. “No.” His heart is pounding in his chest even though Theo has barely done anything. The amount of power he holds over him should be illegal.

“And there is nothing I can do to change your mind?” Theo raises his brows with a smirk and leaves Stiles’ open pants unattended now, index finger dragging over an exposed line of skin instead.

Stiles is very aware of the fact that Theo is trying to manipulate him. His dear boyfriend knows he can’t bully him into giving him the answers he wants unlike the rest of his betas. But knowing that and doing something about it are two very different things, and it’s not exactly an easy feat when his dick has other plans. “No,” Stiles whispers, trying to pull Theo closer to him again. If this is going to be a thing Theo does, Stiles can be mad at him later, but right now, he really needs Theo to finish what he started. Begging, however, is not going to get him anywhere. Theo has always been a quid pro quo kind of guy.

Still speaking in this almost soft and innocent voice, Theo shifts his body on top of Stiles, elbows propped up next to his head, thigh pressed between his legs. It doesn’t exactly make focusing on the task at hand any easier. “Didn’t we agree not to keep any secrets?” Theo leans down, lips brushing against the shell of his ear.

It’s almost impossible to keep still when all Stiles wants is for Theo to move his leg, to do something. But Stiles is not going to be swayed by a bit of teasing. He is not. He swallows drily, trying his best not to move either. “I’m going to tell you,” Stiles says, running his hand from Theo’s neck to his shoulder. He can do this. He can turn this around. Theo isn’t the only one who can play this game. “I just need a bit more information.” With a grin, he spins them around and straddles Theo’s lap, hands resting on his chest. Theo’s heartbeat quickens under his palm. So far, his body’s only betrayal of his calm demeanor. “Be patient, mój kochanie. It’s nothing terrible, I promise. I just don’t want to put an idea in your head while you’re clearly out here looking for something to destroy.”

Everything that happened in the last few weeks, but especially the constant fighting with Jackson and learning he’s been lied to his whole life, shortened Theo’s already very short fuse. Becoming an alpha doesn’t help, either. Even Scott became more prone to violence. There’s no telling what Theo will do once he hears what Deaton did… and what Stiles would like to do to him in return. Then again, maybe even hearing that Stiles is considering killing Deaton would be all Theo needs to hear to go after the emissary himself.

Theo’s eyes narrow dangerously, but he doesn’t say anything. Not that he has to. Dark red bleeds into his eyes, showing exactly how much he dislikes everything going on. Stiles cups his cheek. It’s a little reckless since it’s still too soon to judge how much control Theo has over his newfound powers. Still, Stiles isn’t scared of Theo or worried he might do something to hurt him. He scrunches up his face a little as Stiles gently runs his thumb over his cheekbone to his nose and down to his mouth. Theo keeps looking at him, eyes red and slightly narrowed. Being an alpha suits him. Theo always radiated raw power, and now he has the eyes to prove it.

Stiles drags his thumb over Theo’s bottom lip now. Fuck, he really needs to kiss him. And he can. So, he does. The moment their lips touch, Theo buries his fingers into Stiles’ hair and keeps him close. His other hand finds Stiles’ ass, squeezing shamelessly, and grins into the kiss when Stiles gasps. “Jerk,” he whispers into the kiss and pulls away. But Theo’s leans up, clearly not willing to stop kissing him. Stiles could continue this for a lot longer, but he’d like to get to the end of their conversation before that. So, he grabs Theo’s shoulders and pins him back into the mattress. “Someone needs to learn to take no for an answer.”

Theo quirks a brow and grabs Stiles’ hips, his grip just tight enough to make a point. “I don’t like it,” he says, and it’s obvious by his tone that he’s not talking about having to stop their make-out session.

“So?” Stiles taps his fingers against Theo’s shoulders. They agreed on not keeping secrets. Theo has every right to be annoyed that he is going against it — to a certain degree. “What are you gonna do about it?” He sits up further, dragging his fingers over Theo’s chest down to the waistband of his jeans. Goosebumps appear on the strip of skin Stiles can see, and he grins, locking eyes with Theo again. “Are you gonna fuck the answer out of me?” Stiles doesn’t miss Theo’s dick twitch against his leg. “That was your plan, wasn’t it? Seduce me, make me beg until I give in and tell you everything so you’ll allow me to cum?” He leans down again, fascinated that he’s got the same effect on Theo as he has on him. Sometimes it still surprises him. “You want to try it? Who knows, maybe—”

Theo doesn’t even give him a chance to finish. He spins them around again, finding his place between Stiles’ legs easily enough, and kisses him with a hunger that’s contagious while his fingers work his own pants open.

They’re not going to draw this out, and Stiles absolutely doesn’t want to. He hooks his fingers into his pants and boxer briefs, trying to wriggle out of them as quickly as possible. Something that would be easier if Theo moved just the tiniest—

The door to his room slams open, and Theo moves so fast that he bangs his elbow against the wall.

Jordan doesn’t look particularly amused. “Dinner,” he says curtly as he moves the door until it can’t go any further. “This stays open.” Without another word, he turns on his heels and vanishes around the corner.

“Ever heard of knocking?” Stiles yells after him, pissed and embarrassed that Jordan chose this exact moment to forget his manners.

Theo smirks at him, “Please, try telling me again how wonderful siblings are.”

“Oh, shut up,” Stiles huffs, rolls out of bed, and adjusts his pants. He knows Jordan isn’t pissed about Stiles and Theo having sex. The only reason he disapproves is because, last time, Theo accidentally poisoned him. But really, what the hell was he expecting? They’re not going to stay abstinent for the rest of their lives.

Theo stumbles out of bed as well, fidgeting with his belt. “He’s going to shoot me.”

“He’s not going to shoot you.” Stiles slaps his hands away and fastens the belt with a sigh. “My dad might, but Jordan won’t.”

“That’s not as comforting as you think it is.”

Chuckling, Stiles cups Theo’s cheeks and kisses him. “I love you.”

Theo sighs and curls his arms around Stiles’ waist. “It’s not dangerous, is it? What you’re not telling me?”

“No.” Stiles shakes his head for emphasis. “It’s not dangerous, but I’m worried it’ll cause problems for you.” And the last thing Theo needs is any more problems, especially if they’re caused by killing Deaton on a whim. “I need to get a bit more information first, then I’ll tell you everything.” Morrell probably won’t be happy about losing her brother, but it’s not like Stiles owes her anything. Plus, he doubts she’ll be too broken up about her brother’s murder. It’s not her he’s worried about, though. It’s other druids. Other packs. Other consequences he’s not yet aware of. Once he knows that, he can talk to Theo about it.

Since Satomi isn’t talking to him, however, he’ll have to talk to the only other person who might be able to tell him everything he needs to know.

“Hey.” Stiles runs his thumbs over Theo’s frown. “I promise it’s not dangerous. I’d never lie to you about that.” And he means it.

“Dinner!” Jordan bellows from the bottom of the stairs. Somewhere in the kitchen, Isaac is howling with laughter.

— — —

"I officially don't like this," Isaac informs him for the eighth time, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he waits for a white Mercedes to leave the parking space in front of Peter's downtown apartment building.

Stiles rubs his temple. "You didn't have to come."

"And let you go alone?" Isaac barks out a humorless laugh. "All hell would break loose if something happened to you because I let you go without supervision." He backs into the parking space with surprising ease for someone who has never driven a car as big as Jordan’s. "Your dad would kill me. Theo would torture and kill me. Lydia would find a way to bring me back and—"

"I get it." Stiles rolls his eyes. "But you know as well as I do that nobody will be able to stop the Dread Doctors if they decide to come after me." Not until they've figured out what's keeping them alive no matter what happens to them. If they’re lucky, they’ll know the answer as soon as Jordan, Noshiko, and Kira are done checking out the Dread Doctors’ lair. If not, they’ll have to figure out another way. They’re going to find another way.

The engine shuts down. The following silence is filled with the sounds of downtown Beacon Hills. Cars. Laughter. People yelling. The occasional horn. It feels more lively here. Weirdly enough, it also feels a lot less dangerous. More places to hide. No chance of the darkness creeping in.

Stiles removes his seatbelt and grabs the bag of sushi sitting in the legroom. “Thanks for the ride. Peter will—”

“Kill Deaton for you?”

Stiles whips his head around, staring at Isaac with wide eyes. The smug expression on his features does nothing regarding answering any questions. “How did you know?” He didn’t even mention anything about Deaton or druids with Isaac in the room. At the time, he was already outside talking to Jordan. Even Kira already left the room, if he remembers correctly. "Brett?" He's the only one left. Theo or Jackson wouldn’t have said anything to Isaac about it.

"He mentioned you had questions about druids but wanted to talk privately. Satomi and Morrell were arguing quietly for the rest of the day." Isaac taps his fingers against the steering wheel and peers out through the window. "It wasn’t that hard to figure out.” His eyes narrow slightly before he leans back against the driver’s seat, studying Stiles as if he’s still trying to work out a mystery.

Stiles sets his jaw. “Deaton was ready to sacrifice our parents to steal the nemeton’s powers. If his ritual had worked, I would’ve never found you. You all would’ve died.” Too many people who tried to kill all of them were allowed to walk away. He’s not going to continue this fucked up tradition — especially not when they’re destroying the balance in the process.

Scrunching his nose up, Isaac runs his fingers through his hair. “So, attempted murder is punishable by murder? Is that what you’re saying?”

“My job is to protect the balance,” Stiles reminds him, grip tightening around the bag. “Deaton cannot be allowed to have any access to the ley lines again, and if that means I will have to kill him….” He takes a breath and watches a man on the phone hurrying down the sidewalk. Although he is sure about this, Stiles struggles to say it out loud. It’s different with the chimeras when he can keep reminding himself that they are already dying and that their survival could lead to hundreds of deaths. Not that it makes it any easier to do. There’s nothing like that with Deaton. He has disrupted the balance. He has put his dad’s life on the line — but that makes him a selfish asshole. Being egotistical doesn’t exactly call for a death sentence. Plus, what happens if Talia Hale’s former emissary suddenly winds up being killed?

Isaac curls his fingers around the key in the ignition, ready to pull it out or twist it and start the car. “You sure about this?”

Stiles’ reply will make the decision for him. Is he ready for it? He certainly was when he spoke to Satomi and Morrell earlier today. Biting the inside of his cheek, Stiles contemplates the apartment building for a few moments. “Yes,” he whispers then, hoping his uncertainty isn’t as noticeable as it seems.

Muttering something under his breath Stiles can’t quite catch, Isaac yanks the keys out of the ignition and gets out of the car. Even though Stiles would have preferred that he stay here and wait, it’s good to know that Isaac is at least somewhat on board with everything Stiles is planning. Then again, Isaac has his own history with the veterinarian. There may be some resentment there.

Stiles follows him out of the car. A couple in a fancy getup walks out of the building, not bothering to close the door themselves. An opportunity Isaac instantly uses to their advantage by slipping so casually into the building, Stiles wouldn’t be surprised if he’s done that before — just as he wasn’t surprised that Peter owned the whole top floor. That’s probably the least surprising thing he’s learned today or even in the last week.

“What if he’s not home?” Isaac wonders, pacing the elevator almost like a caged animal.

Stiles watches as numbers jump from twelve to fourteen and scoffs when the elevator finally comes to a stop. Of course, Peter would live on the thirteenth floor of a building. They can call it the 14th floor all they want; they all know it’s a blatant lie. Stiles wonders if werewolves are as superstitious as humans, who, unlike werewolves, are unaware that all their worst nightmares are actually real. “Then we wait,” Stiles replies as the elevator doors slide open to reveal a lobby that most likely used to be a hallway connecting the two apartments on this level. The door on the right has been walled off, probably right around the time Peter Hale decided he wanted to have a penthouse.

And what Peter Hale wants, he gets. Usually. Stiles glances at Isaac, who seems to have come to a similar conclusion, then crosses the hallway to the only door left. Before he even has the chance to knock, the door opens.

Peter crosses his arms. “You know where I live,” he says, gaze flicking from Stiles to Isaac and back again. “Not sure if I should be flattered or worried.”

“Deal or no deal,” Stiles shoots back, “don’t underestimate my distrust of you.” Although he didn’t exactly expect Peter to jump for joy at his unannounced arrival, Stiles was sure he’d be a bit more welcoming. Then again, Stiles actively chose to support Theo’s decision to keep him out of his life for now. Peter’s probably a bit resentful because of that. Sighing, Stiles raises the bag. “I brought sushi.” It’s most likely not a peace offering someone like Peter would be very interested in, but his mother did teach him to never arrive empty-handed when visiting someone for the first time.

Once again, taking in Isaac, who is now standing directly behind Stiles, Peter draws his eyebrows up and regards the white bag almost suspiciously. “Laced with.”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have bothered breaking you out.”

After only a brief moment, Peter nods seemingly more to himself than them. He steps aside anyway, so Stiles counts his argument as more than convincing. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

“He has a question.” Isaac puts his hands on Stiles’ shoulders and maneuvers him into the room. “I’m just here to make sure you’re not being a creep.” His fingers dig a little harder into Stiles’ skin, almost as if he’s warning him not to push the subject or something that would elicit a reaction from Peter, even though Isaac should know that Peter is the last person they need to worry about right now.

If Peter heard the lie, he doesn’t respond. He merely shuts the door behind them, snatches the bag with sushi from Stiles’ hand, and walks into a giant open living space. The wall of windows would make Stiles paranoid with the lives they are living, but he also gets their appeal. The whole of downtown Beacon Hills seems to be visible from the apartment. On the left side of the room is a huge kitchen with a dining table big enough for at least twelve people. The right side has been turned into a living area with an oversized white couch, multiple bookshelves, a TV taking up a surprising amount of space on the wall, and a vinyl record player. The other two doors most likely lead to a bedroom and a guest bathroom.

Unsurprisingly, there is nothing personal in this place. As expensive and clean as everything up here is, there are no pictures, no decoration, nothing that could serve as a reminder of his family, making the apartment suddenly feel too big and lonely.

Stiles bites the inside of his cheek and looks up at Isaac, who looks back at him with a shrug before following Peter into the kitchen. “You weren’t lying about not living in a cave.” He pulls a chair out and slips onto it, not entirely sure how to act now that he’s no longer on his home turf. This time, he needs Peter’s help, and all he has to offer is a few boxes of sushi.

“I don’t recall having lied to you so far,” Peter replies as he sorts the sushi rolls onto a large plate.

Once again, Stiles exchanges a look with Isaac. The other boy squints and shrugs again. Stiles scrunches up his face. He can’t tell if that’s a lie because he doesn’t remember Peter flat-out lying to him either, which is something even Theo prides himself on — and Stiles really doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with that information.

Peter clears his throat. “How is Theo?”

Stiles expected the question the moment Peter opened the door. He lets out a breath and leans back in his chair. “I believe you’ve got a phone for that.” Even though Theo doesn’t know Stiles went to Peter for help, something he would’ve never agreed on simply because it’s Peter, he’s not going to try and smooth out things between them. It’s not why he’s here, and it wouldn’t be fair.

“You could throw me a bone,” Peter says, setting the plate of sushi on the table in front of Isaac and Stiles.

“I could,” Stiles agrees and watches Peter return to the kitchen to gather dinner plates. “But I won’t.” This is going to be an interesting dinner.

Isaac shifts in his chair, furrowing his brows as he’s given three dinner plates and silverware. His lips curl slightly, almost like he’s about to announce that guests shouldn’t help to set the table, but Isaac keeps his mouth shut and follows the unspoken request. By the looks he shoots Stiles, they will be talking about this later.

“You have a question for me, don’t you?” Smiling as if he’s won some sort of prize, Peter turns around to grab something from the cabinet behind him. He sounds way too excited, and honestly, Stiles should’ve expected something like this. "Quid pro quo." Peter sets down a pair of wine glasses, either out of habit or to provoke — he probably doesn’t get a lot of underaged guests, if he gets any guests at all. "Help me help you."

Stiles chuckles humorlessly. "That's not exactly what that stands for, is it?"

“It does tonight.” Peter slides into the chair with a bottle of unopened red wine. “So, how is my son?” The corkscrew looks almost more like a weapon than the claws he’s hiding.

Isaac nudges Stiles’ leg. This time, it’s very clearly a warning.

And Stiles doesn’t have any intention of helping Peter connect with Theo as long as Theo hasn’t agreed to it. Which he hasn’t. Since Theo doesn’t know Stiles is here. He knows, however, that Isaac and he have left to get some answers. Still, Stiles knows he has to give a little if he wants to get any answers tonight. “Nothing has changed since you last saw him,” he replies eventually, pushing his wineglass towards Peter.

This time, Isaac kicks his leg.

“Don’t worry,” Peter says with a chuckle. “You can sniff it. Regular human wine.” Clearly amused by Isaac’s reaction, he offers him the open bottle.

Isaac’s eyes narrow slightly, but he doesn't reach for it or stop Peter from filling Stiles’ glass. “I don’t trust you, Peter,” he informs him as if the passive-aggressive silence he’s been throwing at the other werewolf hasn’t been explicit enough.

“You trusted me enough to dig into your memories.”

“I trusted Derek,” Isaac replies without any hesitation.

Peter fills his own glass and then sets the bottle aside, sniffing the wine as he swirls it around. “That’s not really an answer, Stiles,” he says as if their conversation hasn’t been interrupted.

Pulling his glass back towards him, Stiles scrutinizes the wine. “I can’t promise you he’ll come around.” The last time he had wine, he hated how it made his tongue feel. Liquid shouldn’t be able to make his mouth feel dry.

“He isn’t talking to Jackson.” Peter sips on his wine and then contemplates the sushi as if this conversation had the weight of small talk.

Stiles shouldn’t be surprised — neither at Jackson keeping Peter in the loop nor at a Hale bottling up their feelings. It’s one of their specialties, especially Peter’s. “Jackson isn’t exactly talking to him either.” Unless they’re counting their countless bickering as an actual conversation instead of the snide remarks that they are. “But since they are your kids, I assume you’re aware they’re endlessly stubborn and unable to talk about their feelings unless their life depends on it.” Or, in Theo’s case, if Stiles’ life depends on it. He’s just glad Theo does open up to him if he’s pushing enough. Maybe one day, Theo will come to talk to him before breaking everything in sight the second Peter pisses him off.

Placing three different types of sushi on his plate, Peter gives him a tight smile. He really does seem upset about the current state of his family. “You wanted to ask me something?”

Stiles watches Isaac grab some sushi as well. He has no idea how he can eat again after wolfing down an inhuman amount of lasagna only a few hours ago. “What are the consequences for wreaking havoc on the balance?”

Peter quirks a brow. “You’re coming to me for that information?”

“Satomi didn’t give him the answer he wanted,” Isaac chimes in, sounding way too cheerful about that.

“Well,” Peter sounds as if he’s contemplating his reply when he leans back in his chair, “I’d say that depends on the crime and the person who committed it.” His response is so similar to Satomi’s it’s hard to see it as anything but genuine.

Even Isaac stares at Peter as if he’s grown a second head.

Looks like Stiles wasn’t the only one who expected Peter’s answer to be related to death and violence. It’s not the answer Stiles came looking for, either. “An emissary,” he explains, and if he notices the edge in his voice, Isaac and Peter do as well. “He manipulated a ritual to steal power meant for the nemeton.”

“If it’s an emissary, the pack will have to decide upon a fitting punishment.” That’s more information than Satomi gave him earlier, but it’s still not entirely helpful.

Stiles twists the glass between his fingers, watching the wine twirl. “What if there is no pack left?”

“Then the person in charge of the territory will have to make that decision,” Peter replies, tapping a finger against his own glass. “I presume you’re talking about Deaton?”

Stiles doesn’t know why he tried to be vague in his descriptions. He doesn’t know any other emissaries aside from Morrell. It’s not like Beacon Hills is swimming in packs with emissaries who could be the one Stiles is referring to. He didn’t even try to go the hypothetical route. So he simply nods.

“That puts Isaac in charge of his fate.” Whether or not he tried to keep it hidden, there is a hint of glee in Peter’s tone. “However, I’d say you should have a say in it as well. After all, it is your power Deaton stole. It’s only fair if you’re involved in making that decision.”

Isaac huffs, clearly not entirely happy with that statement. “Stiles reckons he should be killed.”

“No,” Stiles says quickly, hating the way Peter’s lips curl into a knowing grin, “I think he should be barred from ever having access to the nemeton again. If death is the only way…” he cuts off again and studies Peter’s face. Admitting to wanting to kill someone feels even worse in front of him. This is Peter Hale, after all, he knows how to push everyone’s buttons. He swallows and straightens his shoulders. “Let’s say Deaton is killed,” Stiles speculates, pushing the wine glass away from him, folding his arms over his chest, “what’s gonna happen in the werewolf community?” Because if his murder will cause any issues, Stiles is not going to do it.

Peter raises his brows. “What makes you think his death would have any effect?”

“He was Talia Hale’s emissary.”

“One she kept secret from her own pack,” Peter tells him, smiling in a way that’s a little too reminiscent of Theo’s pleasure at other people’s pain.“ And his stories about the True Alpha don’t seem to have been taken particularly seriously. Otherwise, every pack in California would’ve asked for an audience with Scott.” But that never happened. Only a few people seemed to have believed that Scott was a True Alpha.

Which begs the question, how reputable was Deaton as an emissary? And if he wasn’t, would anybody miss him?

“Okay, before we consider killing him,” Isaac interrupts around a mouthful of sushi, “what about Eichen House?”

“Valack and Deaton are old buddies,” Peter says without breaking eye contact with Stiles. He raises his brows slightly again, and there is a certain type of hunger in his eyes — one Stiles has felt burning in his veins earlier today. Revenge. It’s almost like Peter wants to get permission to kill Deaton, maybe because of something that happened in the past. Maybe he blames Deaton for something. Or maybe, it’s because Deaton chose a teenage boy over a Hale.

Stiles presses his lips together and jumps slightly when his phone vibrates in his pocket. It’s quite a welcoming distraction. He shifts in his chair and pulls out his phone. If he gives Peter permission to kill someone… no. No. That’s out of the question. Isaac might actually end up ripping his head off. But if Deaton doesn’t have the best reputation, they might get away with killing him.

“It’s a text from Kira.” Stiles tilts his phone to the left so Isaac can read it with him, but when he opens the chat, he doesn’t exactly get the response he expected.

“Abandoned?” Isaac says out loud, confusion lining his features. “What does she mean by abandoned?”

Like Stiles knows the answer. They’re reading the same fucking text, a text that very clearly states that this place looks as if there hasn’t been anybody in a while. No equipment. No chimeras. No Dread Doctors. Nothing that would even indicate they’ve ever been there. But Nolan remembered where they kept him. He showed them only hours ago. The Dread Doctors might be able to suppress memories, but they can’t change them. Plus, they buried a chimera there. Stiles knows they did because he saw it. He felt it. Why would they do that if they—

Stiles jumps to his feet, chair clattering to the floor behind him. “They knew.”

“What?” Isaac stares at him with wide eyes.

“That chimera, it wasn’t a trap.” He shoves the phone back into the pocket of his jeans, heart hammering in his chest. “It was bait.” The Dread Doctors know Theo. They know he never would’ve let Stiles walk out there without protection. They knew Stiles would be with Jordan. It’s not a coincidence that Nolan remembered where he was held hostage at the same time as the Dread Doctors buried a chimera without any chance of survival. They knew that Stiles would not be accompanying Jordan when everyone thought they set a trap to get to him.

Isaac’s face goes white. “But that means—”

That means they will look for him in the places that make the most sense. Theo’s place, or Stiles’ home. And when they go to the latter, they will find Theo alone. “We have to go.”

“Wait, what’s happening?” Peter gets to his feet as well.

Stiles’ breath catches in his throat, and he has to swallow heavily to get the words out. “Theo is in danger.”

No sooner are the words out of his mouth than the lights are flickering in the whole apartment. Stiles casts a look outside the wall of windows, but the neighboring buildings do not have any issues with their lighting. That either means that Peter coincidentally started having issues with his electricity, or Stiles has been wrong about where the Dread Doctors are looking for him.

Isaac grabs his wrist and pulls him close. “We need to go,” he says, looking over his shoulder toward the balcony and back to the front door. “We need to go right now.” They have three ways out of this building, the fire escape, the elevator, and the staircase. All three force them to leave Peter’s apartment through the front door. The issue is, however, that there are also three Dread Doctors. Something Isaac is fully aware of because otherwise, he most certainly would’ve already made a run for it.

“I can deal with one of them.” Stiles has done it before. Maybe it was sheer luck, but it’s not like they have a lot of options.

“You’re not going to fight them!” Isaac snaps, tightening his grip around his wrist.

Stiles tries to pull free anyway. “I’m not talking about fighting, but I can clear a path.”

“No, you—” But Isaac doesn’t finish his sentence. His gaze darts to something past Stiles’ left ear, and what little color he’s got left in his face drains even further. His lips part, and he backs away from something, dragging Stiles along.

The only thing Stiles can think of that could scare Isaac this much right now is the Dread Doctors, but while they can phase through walls, they have not yet learned to teleport. Stiles whips around either way, only to find nothing behind him. Not even Peter, who is still standing next to the table and regards Isaac with the same confusion that’s clawing its way through Stiles’ fear.

“Dad?” His grip loosens as Isaac backs away again, suddenly looking very young.

“No.” Stiles steps forward, remembering what Lydia told him. Regarding the Dread Doctors, Stiles isn’t the only one able to create powerful hallucinations. “Isaac. Isaac, this isn’t real.” He grabs Isaac’s arm, trying to pull him along, but he isn’t even budging. “Listen to me, they—”

The front door slams open, but only the Surgeon enters, his trusty cane in hand. His dramatic entrance is a little undermined by his two friends appearing out of nowhere at his sides.

Stiles lets go of Isaac and flexes his fingers. He’s not going to fight them. All he wants is a way out — and if he runs, they’re going to leave Isaac alone because that’s not who they are after. “Peter, a little help here?” The lack of response makes his stomach drop. “Peter?” Stiles asks, voice shaking slightly. If they got into Peter’s head as well—

Without warning, he’s grabbed by the throat and slammed against the ground. Peter is above him, claws digging into Stiles’ neck and fangs ready to rip his throat out. His eyes, however, despite their glaring blue, seem strangely vacant. Like he’s not really seeing him.

“Peter.” Stiles knows his lips form his name, but not a single noise leaves his mouth. His heart slams against his ribs as the panic kicks in. He’s thrashing around, kicking at Peter, trying to tear his hand away from his throat. Tears burn in the corners of his eyes. He promised Theo that it wouldn’t be dangerous. He promised him.

Snarling, Peter leans closer.

Stiles gasps, but breathing feels as if someone set his throat on fire.

“Talia,” Peter whispers, unbothered by Stiles clawing at his arm, “you should’ve never taken my kids from me.”

It’s me, Stiles wants to say. Please, please, stop. But his mouth refuses to cooperate, and his chest burns. His vision blurs, from tears, from lack of oxygen. His lips part for a last ditch effort to get some air. He needs to breathe. He needs to breathe. If he doesn’t breathe, they’re going to get him.

They’re going to get him.

Stiles closes his eyes.

I’m sorry, Theo.

#steo #stiles stilinski #theo raeken #steoedit #teen wolf #stiles x theo #theo x stiles #no place for promises #*tv:teen wolf #*w:npfp #*s:steo

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