#every episode i’m a crying mess

[souriwin]

this is the part where the dam broke for me

[cleo-fox]

Overtime

Summary: Sometimes, working overtime isn’t all that bad.

Pairings: Loki x Female Reader

Warnings: Smut, 18+ minors DNI, sex, cunnilingus, teasing, light bondage, office romance.

Series: Overtime (I don't have a masterlist for this, but if you enjoy these idiots, check out Daylight, a sort of sequel).

A/N: This was largely written prior to season 2 and posted right before episode 4, so it’s not entirely canon compliant and the parts that are may be compliant by accident.

Also, @give-me-a-moose and I were on a similar wavelength about Loki angrily reading romance novels and I would strongly recommend checking out her fic The Imagine Nation if you too are enthralled by this idea.

You don’t think that Mobius intended to keep Loki’s desk behind yours.

“It’s temporary,” he tells you apologetically. “He just needs somewhere to go for now, until I figure out what to do with him.”

“You’re talking about him like he’s a stray cat that you found,” you say.

“You won’t even know he’s there, I promise.”

“You’re still doing it.”

Mobius sighs and puts on his most sincere, earnest expression—the one that he always uses when he’s about to ask you for a stupidly massive favor.

And it’s only because you almost never, ever see this look from him that you back down.

“Okay, fine,” you say. “But he’d better be on his best behavior.”

Mobius puts his palms together and tips them toward you. “Thank you. You will not regret this, I promise.”

You sigh and shake your head. “Just remember this next time you’re budgeting for raises.”

But then—in a move that you certainly don’t expect—Loki ends up sticking around. And, in the subtle way that the stray you’ve been feeding slowly turns into your cat, Loki’s temporary desk becomes his permanent desk. And strangely enough, Mobius’ assurances turn out to be more correct than not: Loki does a lot of fieldwork and is often away; when he is at his desk, it tends to be because he is working on more complicated missions, the ones that require poring over mountains of files looking for patterns and trying to untangle the slippery mess of time itself.

Your work is decidedly less glamorous than Loki’s—almost no fieldwork, lots of files. Endless files. Some days you feel as though you must have seen every file in the TVA’s extensive library and then you’re immediately proven wrong by another wing of filing cabinets that you swear wasn’t even there before.

Although he is generally well-behaved as your desk neighbor, Loki’s presence has a way of distracting you. Even if you didn’t know who he was, your gaze would still naturally drift his way, lingering on those regal cheekbones, that ink black hair, that cunning smirk. The way that the fabric of his dress pants clings to his thighs certainly doesn’t help, to say nothing of how his forearms look with his shirtsleeves rolled up. He can make your heart start to race with no more than a casual glance in your direction and god help you if he gives you one of those devastating smiles. Luckily, you don’t think he takes that much notice of you. You have the sort of pleasantly dull exchanges of coworkers who don’t really know each other and he is almost painfully polite to you. It’s a strong departure from the way he interacts with others—with others, he is bold, charming, sarcastic, talkative, a far cry from the more subdued, almost courtly tone he strikes with you. It’s a difference that is so stark that you can’t help but attribute it to some sort of negative feeling on his end.

“How’s it going with Loki?” Mobius asks you during a one-on-one meeting a couple of months after Loki’s temporary desk becomes his permanent desk. “He’s behaving himself, right?”

“It’s been fine,” you say, “though truthfully, I don’t think he likes me all that much.”

“What? Of course he likes you,” Mobius says. “Why wouldn’t he like you? You’re lovely.”

You shrug. “I dunno, he’s just different with me than he is with everyone else. Like…overly polite. It’s like he thinks I’m going to send him to the principal’s office or something.”

“Let me get this straight,” says Mobius. “First you were worried that he wouldn’t behave himself and now you’re worried that he’s too well-behaved?”

Privately, you realize he has a point. Outwardly, though, you’re not going to admit it. The sardonic tilt of Mobius’ mouth suggests that he knows this.

“No, I just…I don’t think he likes me all that much,” you say. “And he’s entitled to that. People don’t like each other all the time, it’s not a big deal.”

This is also a little bit of a lie—you do wish he liked you. Loki is so magnetic it’s hard not to want his attention. And with the matter of your silly little crush, well…that doesn’t help either.

Mobius sighs. “I think you’re overthinking this. He likes you, sometimes it just takes him a little time to warm up. He’s a bit of a prickly guy.”

You bite down the urge to point out that you’ve seen him warm to other people almost immediately. This conversation has already gone on longer than you want and you are edging dangerously close to having to admit that you care so much because you have a big stupid crush on him, which is obviously unacceptable.

“Well, the point is that it’s fine,” you say quickly, trying to project an aura of cool confidence. “I don’t have any complaints, he seems like he’s settling in, so let’s move on. Did you have any feedback on my recent report?”

The furrow between Mobius’ eyebrows deepens just slightly, the only indication that he doesn’t fully believe you. But for whatever reason, he decides to let it go and follows your change in topic without further comment.

This is one of the reasons you like Mobius as much as you do: he always seems to know the right moment to push and the right moment to bend.

You’re not sure if your relationship with Loki would have changed had it not been for the problem of Charles Berlitz.

The joke around the office is that after Mobius convinced Loki to work for the TVA, he needed something new to obsess over and Charles Berlitz was the next best option. It’s hard to say exactly who Berlitz is, as he has a tendency of showing up, well…everywhere. He is quite literally in every timeline, at least as far as anyone can tell. Sometimes he is an author, penning serious, scholarly essays on outlandish theories like the Bermuda Triangle and the Philadelphia Experiment. He seems to have a fondness for all manner of schemes—he was responsible for introducing both homeopathy and multi-level marketing to no fewer than sixty different timelines. His ability to peddle bullshit naturally led him to politics—pick any rebellion, coup, or campaign on any given timeline and there’s a good chance you’ll also find Charles Berlitz.

Scammers and con artists are not atypical in your line of work, but what makes Charles Berlitz an enduring mystery is that he has never been found. You can have reputable documentary evidence that Berlitz was present at a certain time and location, but if you show up to investigate, he is never there. There have been some glimpses over the years—a shadowy face in the back of a crowd, the hem of a cloak disappearing behind a corner—but nothing concrete or substantive.

“Our ghost in the timeline,” Mobius had said in one of his more poetic moments at an all staff meeting, his voice overly hushed and dramatic. You had seen Loki roll his eyes and you had to fake a coughing fit to hide your laugh.

Time moves differently at the TVA, so it’s hard to say how long Mobius has been working on this case when he makes a breakthrough, but it’s not terribly long after your conversation about Loki. A campaign button had been found in an apartment that Berlitz rented for two years in the French Quarter. That particular campaign button could only have existed in one specific timeline and its distribution was limited. You aren’t entirely clear on all of the details, but Mobius seems to have a plan.

And unfortunately, that plan involves you giving up most of your weekend to work.

It’s near quitting time on what passes for a Friday at the TVA. Loki has been in today and you can hear him starting to pack up. Technically, he’s got twenty minutes of work left, but you’re not about to tell him that.

You doodle absently on your notepad. Technically, you’ve also got twenty minutes of work left, but realistically: nothing is happening.

“Oh, great, you’re both still here.”

In general, this phrase has never meant good news for you and when you look up, you see Mobius with a sizable armful of files.

Also not a great sign.

Mobius plunks the stack of files directly on your desk. “There’s been a development with Berlitz. I need you both to review these now.”

“It’s Friday,” says Loki, affronted. “Surely it can wait until Monday.”

“No can do. I need this done by Sunday at the latest,” says Mobius. “This is an all hands on deck situation.”

Loki glances pointedly at the office around you, which has already started emptying out for the weekend.

“All hands on deck, but most hands are already in the field,” Mobius concedes. “Which is why I need the two of you—” He points to you. “You because you’re good—” He gestures to Loki. “And you because you’ve got desk duty.”

“I beg your pardon—” begins Loki.

“He’s grounded,” Mobius says to you in an exaggerated stage whisper.

This is not surprising to you: you had heard a rumor last week about an incident that had occurred on a mission to the inauguration of Richard Nixon and you suspect that these two events are likely connected.

You look at the pile of paperwork on your desk. You could probably get through it on your own in a couple of hours, but if Loki’s helping, maybe you still have a shot at having Saturday to yourself. You bite back a sigh. “What do you need me to find?”

“Anything that mentions anyone from the Lucchese crime family or Nero Variant N2815,” says Mobius. “I’ll go get the rest.”

Your heart sinks. Farewell, Saturday. “There’s more?” you say.

“It’ll be triple overtime, I already got it approved!” he calls over his shoulder

You sigh and glance at Loki who is scowling at the pile of files as though they’d wronged him personally.

There’s a long moment of silence before you speak. “Is there any truth to the rumor I’ve been hearing about the Nixon inauguration?” you ask.

“If it involved a hot air balloon, then yes,” he says rather tonelessly.

“Well.” You pause as you stare at the pile of papers. “At least it was worth it.”

That at least earns you a hint of a smile.

*

Several hours later, your stomach is growling and you’ve developed a rather impressive crick in your neck.

You lean back in your chair, stretching your neck to the side and rubbing the knot that is pulsing in your upper trapezius. Office work has done nothing positive for your posture in general, but tonight’s work has you hunched over more than usual and your neck is aching.

You and Loki have made good progress, but your pile of finished and sorted files is scarcely comparable to the full cart that Mobius had brought in. Back when the evening was new and you weren’t quite so tired, you’d been optimistic about possibly having half a Saturday free from work; that hope has slipped away the longer the evening has dragged on. Now you’re hoping that you’ll still have a bit of Sunday to yourself and even that feels unlikely.

Your stomach growls again. You should probably eat something—you’d worked through your regular dinner hour in a fit of misplaced optimism. The cafeteria is closed this time of night, but there’s a vending machine not far from your office that has shitty coffee and mostly edible sandwiches.

You stand and stretch, stifling a yawn as you turn around. “I’m gonna grab a coffee and some dinner,” you say. “Do you want anything?”

Loki looks up at you from the file in front of him, blinking somewhat dazedly and running a hand through his messy curls. “I’d like to stretch my legs a bit, if you don’t mind the company.”

You honestly didn’t expect him to want to join you. It’s a pleasant surprise, certainly, but also a little nerve wracking in the way that interacting with Loki always is. He’s so handsome and aloof and you’re not quite sure how to talk to him without acting like a total fool.

But you’re also not about to say no, either.

“Of course,” you say, “I don’t mind at all.”

The TVA is unusually quiet at this time of night—the steady hum of fluorescent lights and the murmur of distant voices is all that accompanies the tap of your shoes on the linoleum. It only heightens the jittery, nervous feeling you get from Loki—like your stomach is filled with drunk, lightning struck butterflies.

“Are you finding much?” asks Loki as you enter the hallway together.

You shrug. “A bit. Mostly on the Nero variant. I’m not having as much luck with the Luccheses.”

“I’ve got all of their property transfers, I think,” he says. “Renato Lucchese never met a vineyard he didn’t like.”

“Or racehorses, from what I understand,” you say. “I think that’s how he lost most of his money.”

You arrive at the vending machines. Loki looks at the vending machines and then back at you, a somewhat puzzled and troubled expression on his face.

“This is what you meant when you said you were going to get coffee and dinner?”  he says.

You shrug. “Yeah, what’s wrong with this?”

He points at the coffee machine. “Mobius calls that machine Satan’s coffeemaker, does he not?”

“Yes, but I know how to trick it into giving me something that’s almost palatable,” you say.

Loki gives you a rather dry look. “Something that’s almost palatable?”

“I mean, I’m just trying to manage your expectations. It’s still pretty shitty coffee, it just tastes less burned.”

He looks at you for a long moment before tilting his head toward the hallway. “Come on, let’s go.”

It’s your turn to look skeptical. “What are we doing?”

“We’re going out for dinner.”

*

He takes you to a twenty-four hour diner called Frank’s that’s maybe a five minute walk from the TVA. It’s one of those places with yellowing Formica tables and big booths covered in red faux leather patched with the occasional square of duct tape. It smells like coffee and grease with a faint odor of cigarette smoke despite the prominent no smoking signs.

“I wouldn’t have thought this kind of place was your style,” you say as you sit down in a booth next to the window.

“I’ve expanded my horizons,” he says, sliding into the seat across from you.

An older woman with greying blonde hair approaches your booth. She wears a nametag reading “Connie” in big capital letters, a sticker of a pink cat stuck on the space next to her name.

“How y’all doin’ tonight?” she says as she hands you each a laminated menu. She looks at Loki. “You want your usual?”

“Please,” he says.

“You got it.” She turns to you. “How ‘bout you, hon, can I get ya started with something to drink?”

“Coffee would be great.”

“All right, I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

You raise your eyebrows at Loki as she walks away. “You eat at diners and you have a usual order. My expectations are being completely upended.”

He returns your pleasantly amused expression. “And you have vending machine coffee for dinner. It’s a revealing night.”

“I mean, I don’t actively seek it out,” you say. “It’s a convenient option that I exercise only when I have no other choice.”

“No other choice?” A sly smile curls at his lips. “Do you not have the entire array of space and time at your fingertips?”

“Well, first of all, we aren’t supposed to use TemPads for personal errands without a supervisor’s approval.”

“Technically.”

“No, actually. It’s in the personnel manual. Like verbatim.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You would put yourself through the egregious physical suffering of vending machine coffee simply to appease the capricious whims of our cruel overseer Miss Minutes?”

You bite back a laugh. “You know she’s not actually our boss, right?”

“I can’t discount that possibility. She wields a concerning amount of power within the organization.”

Connie is back with your drinks—coffee for you and tea for Loki. “Sunday Special?” she asks Loki as she sets a metal teapot and empty mug in front of him.

“Please,” he says.

“You got it.” She looks at you. “Didya get a chance to look at the menu or do you need a minute?”

You’re feeling a little daring. “I’ll try the Sunday Special as well.”

“All right, two Sunday Specials comin’ right up,” she says, collecting your menus.

“So, what’s in a Sunday Special?” you ask Loki as you take a sip of your coffee.

“Boiled fish eggs, mainly,” he says, pouring the hot water into his tea mug.

“Liar,” you say promptly.

He raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t even look at the menu, how could you know?”

“Places like this don’t serve fish eggs,” you say. “Way too unusual and definitely the wrong price point.”

“I suppose you’ll just have to see,” he says with a playful glint in his eyes. The easy charm that you’ve seen him use with the others is on full display and it’s enough to make you giddy. Maybe he doesn’t dislike you after all.

“Well, if it’s fish eggs, you’re picking up the bill,” you say, “and I’ll be getting something else instead.”

“You’d really hold me responsible for your impulsive dinner selections?”

“Yep. And I don’t even feel bad about it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you could be so unforgiving.”

“Well, you don’t know me all that well.”

“To be fair, you keep to yourself quite a bit.”

“A little bit,” you say. “But also to be fair, you haven’t really asked.”

“On work time?” he says, widening his eyes in mock horror. “That would mean write ups for both of us, I couldn’t let that happen.”

“I think I know enough about you to know that getting in trouble is not one of your primary concerns.”

He gives you a sly smile, like you’ve caught him out and he likes it. “That’s a diplomatic way to put it.” He takes a sugar packet from the dispenser on the table and tears it open before pouring it into his mug. “Well, we’re on break now, so you can safely tell me something about yourself.”

You drum your fingers on your coffee mug. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, this can’t be the only part of your life. Who are you outside the TVA? What did you do before this?”

That giddy feeling comes to a screeching halt and you take in a long, slow breath. It’s a simple question, one that most people can answer to some degree. For you, though, it’s a bit more complicated.

“Well,” you say. You take a sip of your coffee, mostly to give your hands something to do. “I don’t actually know—I chose not to remember when they gave me the option.”

You’re surprised by how gentle his eyes are when you look up. “My apologies,” he says, “I didn’t realize.”

“It’s okay,” you say and you really do mean it. “You couldn’t have known.”

Usually, you say something like this and then gently redirect the conversation, but something about the way he’s looking at you makes you want to continue. Like maybe he understands difficult things and doesn’t mind hearing about something that others would shy away from.

“When they told us everything and said they could fix our memories…” You clear your throat and focus your gaze just above his shoulder. “It’s weird, but I just had a feeling that it wouldn’t be good for me to know…that something really bad had happened. So I asked Mobius to check for me, just to be sure…” You swallow, blinking hard.

You remember how sad Mobius’ eyes were, how he’d gently placed a hand on your shoulder and said, “I think you’re making the right call, kid.”

“It’s not really okay, is it?” Loki says softly.

You shrug. “I mean, it’s…it is what it is.”

“You’re a terrible liar, you know.”

“It’s not a lie—”

He raises a skeptical eyebrow and you remember that he is, in fact, the god of lies.

“It’s more like…I can’t really miss what I don’t know, but at the same time, the reality of that absence hurts a little. So maybe not exactly okay, but not exactly not okay, either.”

There’s a lot of kindness in his gaze and you have to look away because it makes your head spin and your breath catch in your throat. “I’m not really sure if that makes sense,” you say.

“It does.”

There’s a silence between you, but it’s not uncomfortable.

“Do you…do you think you’d want to forget if you had that option?” You’re not entirely sure what prompts the question and you regret it almost as soon as it leaves your mouth. “I’m sorry, that’s probably too personal.”

He shakes his head and there’s a warmth in his eyes that you don’t expect. “I rather think I owe you one.” He pauses, running a finger around the rim of his mug. “Sometimes I do,” he says finally. “It can be quite painful remembering.” He worries his lip between his teeth. “But I’m not sure who I would be without the knowledge of my past, either.” His gaze flicks back to you. “What’s it like for you? Do you feel like you know who you are without those memories?”

It’s a good question—one you’ve never been asked. “I mean, it’s hard to say for sure. I think I do,” you say. “Sometimes I wonder if I was different in my timeline. Maybe I was kinder because I had different experiences that made me more empathetic. Maybe I wasn’t—maybe I was worse. Maybe I had a villain arc.”

He chuckles. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

“I dunno, maybe it explains the vending machine coffee and my fish egg related threats,” you say and you feel almost giddy when he returns your smile. “Or maybe I’m the same and all those experiences that shaped me are just scars I can’t see.” You shrug and take a sip of your coffee. “At the end of the day, though, that timeline is gone. I’m all that’s left. It’s sad, but it’s also freeing, in a way.”

He nods. “Mobius has said much the same.”

You smile slightly. “Our philosophies are similar, I suppose, though I think there are probably more bits of his past self in his present self than he realizes.”

Loki grins. “It’s the jet skis, isn’t it?”

“I mean, I just don’t think most normal people spend that much time expounding on the reliability of the Yamaha engine versus the pure, raw power of the Kawasaki.”

Loki holds up a finger. “But have you gotten the lecture about Yamaha’s braking system?”

“I think I have that memorized at this point.”

“‘The perfect choice for families.’”

“‘You just tap the brakes. Just tap them. Perfectly smooth stop every time.’”

“‘Reliability meets affordability.’”

“‘You can’t say no to that.’”

You think you probably could have riffed on this for a bit, but you’re interrupted by the arrival of Connie with your dinner.

The Sunday Special turns out to be a fairly traditional breakfast—eggs, hash browns, two fluffy pancakes, sausage, toast, a little bowl of strawberries.

“Definitely lots of fish eggs in this meal,” you say to Loki after Connie leaves.

His smile is small, but genuine. “You haven’t looked under the pancakes yet.”

You feel it then, but you don’t fully understand until later that this dinner has unlocked something important between the two of you. After months of awkward, stilted conversation, it’s like you finally understand how to talk to each other. And you’re surprised to find that even outside of your big stupid crush, you actually like Loki. You like his sly smiles and his dry humor and how easily the two of you fall into a routine of playful banter. You click in a way that surprises you, in a way that makes you mourn the lost potential of all those awkward, stilted months and feel giddy about the possibilities ahead.

Dinner is over too soon and you walk back to the TVA feeling revived from the coffee and the conversation. 

Disaster awaits you back at the office, though: you’d left a stack of the Nero variant files on your desk and evidently the construction was too precarious, as the entire pile had tipped off your desk and spilled to the floor, contents scattered everywhere.

“Fucking hell,” you sigh, running a hand through your hair. You’re not sure whether you want to laugh, cry, or scream. Possibly, it’s all three.

“Here.” Loki is bending down on the floor to gather the files. You studiously try to not ogle his ass or thighs. Or at least not obviously. “Clear off some space on your desk—I’ll help.”

Twenty minutes later, you’ve set up an entirely new system—Loki has dragged his chair over to your desk and the cart of unsorted files sits between you, like a surly metallic chaperone. And even later when you’ve sorted out all of the files from the floor, he remains parked at the end of your desk, a stack of new, unsorted files in front of him. Admittedly, it’s a lot more efficient for you to work like this: privately, though, it gives you a warm glow that has nothing to do with workplace efficiency.

“I’ve invented a new game,” he says some time later. 

“What’s that?”

“Every time either one of us finds documentation showing Renato Lucchese losing money on a racehorse he was told was not a good investment, I get to have a drink.”

You look up at him. “Look, I know you’re a god and everything, but I am pretty sure that will kill you.”

He sighs and tosses the file into the Lucchese pile. “I think it would add a little excitement to the evening, don’t you?”

You raise your eyebrows and look back at the file in front of you. “You mean this isn’t your idea of a fun Friday night?”

“My idea of a fun Friday night includes far fewer files and a lot more debauchery,” he says, taking a new file from the cart.

You glance at the clock. “Well, it’s only eleven. I don’t usually start body shots until after midnight.”

“What are body shots?”

For one horrifying moment, you think that you’re going to actually have to explain this to him, but then you get a good look at his expression.

He’s teasing you.

“You’re an ass,” you say, swatting him on the shoulder with the file you’re holding.

He wags a finger at you. “That’s workplace violence. I’m going to have to report that.”

You lean back in your chair and return to your file. “I’m pretty confident that you’ll be put off by the amount of paperwork that process requires.”

He shakes his head as he returns to his own file. “Uncontrolled bureaucracy is how bad actors escape accountability.” There’s a brief pause. “And…there’s another racehorse.”

You continue on like this for the rest of the evening, occasionally chatting and Loki proving definitively that the Renato Lucchese racehorse drinking game could not be played without resulting in a fatality. It’s nice, though. Yes, it’s sorting files and yes, it’s not the most intellectually riveting task you’ve ever done, but spending time with Loki is nice. It’s because of this that you find yourself trying to stay awake, pushing past your looming exhaustion.

But around two, you can’t quite fight the heaviness of your eyelids any longer and you doze off in the middle of a report on the sinking of the Lusitania.

“Hey.” Loki is gently shaking your shoulder. The way he says your name in that deliciously deep voice makes you want to swoon and you’re glad that you have the ready made excuse of sleepiness to explain any embarrassing behavior on your end.

“I think you’d better call it a night,” he says gently. “Get some sleep and come back with fresh eyes.”

“What about you?” you say. “Are you going to do the same, or are you just all talk?”

He smiles at you and it warms you to the very tips of your toes. You could bask in that smile like a cat in a sunbeam.

“I’m starting to fade a bit myself,” he says

“Very convenient,” you say and he grins at you.

“Come on, I’ll see you back home.”

Part of you wants to protest—there’s really no need for him to walk you home—but a larger, louder part of you wants to let it be, prolong the magic of tonight for just a little longer.

There’s a comfortable silence between the two of you as you walk out of the office together. 

“What time do you think you’re going to come in tomorrow?” he asks as you approach the residential wing. “It’s probably sensible to coordinate our efforts a bit.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” you say. “I was thinking nine, but that will be dependent on how much coffee I have.”

“Yes, about that,” he says. “I cannot stand idly by and watch you torture yourself with vending machine coffee.”

“Well, the cafeteria will be open, so I was going to torture myself with cafeteria coffee, which is at least thirty percent less over brewed.”

He clicks his tongue. “You’re not making a compelling case for yourself.”

“To be fair, it’s quite late and I’ve been staring at files for hours.”

“All the more reason to get decent coffee,” he says. “We’re going out for breakfast.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh, we are?”

“Consider it an intervention,” he says. “I’ll come collect you at eight.”

You’re not quite sure if this is just his natural confidence and swagger coming through or if he’s flirting with you and this counts as a date.

“Where are we going?”

“I know a place.”

*

The place in question turns out to be a food cart in Central Park in 1998.

“Should I even bother asking if you have supervisor approval for this?” you say, looking skeptically at the time door glimmering before you.

Loki scoffs. “I don’t have a supervisor.”

“You do. It’s Mobius.”

“That can’t be right, we’re peers.”

“You’re absolutely not. Did you read any of the onboarding materials?”

He ignores your question. “I don’t see why I’d even need a supervisor, honestly.”

You snort. “Need I remind you of what happened at the Nixon inauguration?”

He spreads his hands in front of him. “It’s not my fault that I’m the only one with a sense of humor.”

“I’m not entirely sure that was the problem,” you say. “Gerald Ford is never going to be the same, from what I understand.”

Loki waves a dismissive hand. “He’ll be fine, the tail isn’t permanent. Now, are you coming or not?”

You roll your eyes at him and make a halfhearted complaint about proper protocol, but you know that you’re walking through that time door and not looking back. You knew that before he even posed the question.

The food cart is owned by a man named Samir who has a wide smile and booming laugh. He talks to Loki like he’s a friend and he tells you that you have the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen. You are fairly certain he’s exaggerating, but you stuff a few extra bills into the tip jar anyway.

“I can’t believe you fell for that,” says Loki as you walk away, each carrying a coffee and a brown paper bag with a breakfast sandwich.

“Fell for what?” you say, batting your eyes at him. “I do have beautiful eyes.”

“I’ve heard him say that on at least thirty separate occasions.”

“Yeah, but this time he really meant it. I could tell.”

He rolls his eyes and leads you to a park bench overlooking a wide, grassy field. The leaves are just starting to change and the air has a little bit of a bite to it. 

You sit down on the bench and take a sip of your coffee.

“It is good coffee, I’ll give you that,” you say.

“See,” says Loki, “you can’t go back to that vending machine sludge after this.”

“I mean, if it’s eleven o’clock at night and I’m on a deadline, I can.”

“Darling. You have a TemPad.”

“Loki. Read the personnel manual.”

He wrinkles his nose. “It’s not really my genre.”

You roll your eyes and take out your breakfast sandwich. “What is your genre?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Is that a serious question?”

“Of course it is,” you say. “I love talking about books.”

He gives you a slight smile and takes a sip of his coffee. “A little bit of everything, honestly,” he says. “Philosophy. Magical theory. History. Politics. Anything from Asgard, really, though it can be a bit more challenging getting some of those titles.”

“I’ve had pretty good luck with the Library of the Sacred Timeline—have you checked there yet?”

He frowns. “I’m not familiar.”

“Oh, you’d like it—it’s on the eighteenth floor. It’s intended to be a collection of the greatest works of literature from as many branches of the timeline as possible,” you say. “It started as a research project, but people liked it and it just kind of evolved into this huge collection. They’ve actually got a pretty sizeable collection of books from Asgard.”

It’s like you’ve told him that his personal paradise had been located on the eighteenth floor this entire time. “Will you show me?”

He is practically vibrating with the sort of anticipatory, manic energy that you typically would associate with Christmas morning right before you tear into presents. It’s sweetly endearing.

“Of course.”

Ten minutes later, you’re leading him through the winding hallways on the eighteenth floor. You’re not surprised he hasn’t heard about the library—it’s a bit out of the way and the eighteenth floor is so poorly designed that it’s not terribly easy to find.

The design of the library is a sharp departure from the rest of the TVA. The shelves and floors are made of the kind of dark mahogany that you typically see in the kind of estates that look like something directly out of a Jane Austen novel. Worn oriental rugs muffle your footsteps on the creaky wood floors and the air smells faintly of dust and paper.

There’s a subtle change in Loki when you walk through the doors—almost like a muscle in his shoulders finally relaxes and he seems truly at home for the first time since he arrived.

You touch his hand. “This way.”

You lead him into the stacks, back to the far corner, right after the books from Alfheim.

“You can borrow whichever ones you like,” you say softly. “There’s a sign out sheet at the front desk.”

He nods, though you don’t think he really hears you—he only has eyes for the shelves, his gaze sweeping across the spines like they’re old friends. You’re about to excuse yourself to give him a little privacy when his brow furrows and he exhales sharply. “Oh, you can’t be serious.”

“What is it?”

They have the entirety of the finest Asgardian literature at their disposal. Untold centuries of the writings of our greatest minds—” he plucks a book off the shelf, “—and they choose to include this?”

The title looks fairly innocuous—a red, leather bound book with the title The Cloistered Heart embossed in gold script on the front. You take the book from him and open it. “What’s the problem with this?”

“It’s inconsequential fluff, literary pablum of the highest order.”

This is the Loki that you’re more familiar with and a smile curls at your lips. Almost on cue, you flip the book open to a chapter titled “The Wedding and Bedding of Aloisa.”

You bite back a laugh and look up at him. “It’s a romance novel.”

“Precisely my point,” he says. “To think that this is on the same shelf as Nielsen and Auber.”

“That’s kind of how libraries work,” you say, flipping further into the book. The phrases “throbbing length” and “eager moans” draw your eye and you have to tamp down another laugh. “Oh, and it’s a sexy romance novel.”

“It appeals to the lowest common denominator, yes.”

“What, so you’re too good for a bodice ripper?”

He scoffs. “I prefer to do the bodice ripping myself, not read some overwrought description of it.”

You are glad you’re looking at the book because you’re pretty sure you’d disintegrate if you had to make eye contact with him while he delivered that line. “Oh spare me,” you say lightly, snapping the book shut and drawing it to your chest. “I’m gonna read this.”

He blows out a puff of air. “It’s a waste of your time.”

“I’ve got lots of time, I can afford to waste it,” you say cheekily. “Besides, I’m curious to see what kind of book turns the god of mischief into a pearl clutching prude.”

Loki sputters. “Prude? Darling, let me assure you, I’m no prude—”

“I’ll leave you to browse,” you say with a grin as you turn away from him. “Come find me at the front when you’re ready to go.”

You’re a few chapters into the book when Loki rejoins you at the front of the library, a small stack of books tucked under his arm.

You close your book with a snap. “This book is a delight. I think your real issue is just that you’re no fun.”

He scoffs. “I’m very fun.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

You bicker playfully back and forth as you check out your books and leave the library. A quick glance at your watch tells you that you spent much more time there than you’d planned. You can’t quite bring yourself to worry about that, though, not with the memory of Loki’s wonderstruck expression burning so bright in your mind.

There’s a bit of a lull in the conversation as you wait for the elevator.

“Thank you,” he says softly.

“For what?”

“For showing me that.”

“Of course. I’m sorry you didn’t know about it sooner.”

He looks at you, lips parting slightly like he’s about to say something. His tongue swipes briefly over his bottom lip and you would swear that his gaze drops to your mouth for just a second.

For just a second—one heady, slightly irrational second—you think he might be about to kiss you.

The ding of the elevator arriving breaks the spell, startling you just a little. You run a hand through your hair, trying to give off the impression of composure even as your heart beats wildly in your chest.

Loki gestures to the elevator doors. “After you.”

There is a group of analysts in the elevator already, chatting animatedly and completely obliterating any chance you may have had at recapturing that moment.

You try not to dwell too much in contemplating what ifs or timeline branches—often, it feels too much like work, something Mobius might assign you.

But you know that the possibility of that moment—what if the elevator had been a hair slower, what if those analysts had taken a different route, what if you were braver—you know that’s something that’s going to haunt you for a while.

*

You wouldn’t give up that time in the library for anything—it’s one of those moments that feels formative, something that you’ll return to again and again for one reason or another.

But it’s also true that it’s time that you probably could have used for sorting files and as Saturday ticks on, you can’t help but wish you had a way to pull another hour out of somewhere.

“We’re not going to be able to make this deadline, are we?” you say with a sigh.

It’s getting late into the evening and the cart of files still to be sorted still remains depressingly full, despite the fact that you’d brought both lunch and dinner back to your desk so you could continue working.

Loki eyes the remaining files. “I think we might. We made good progress today.”

You rub your eyes. “My brain feels like it’s about to leak out my ears.”

Loki takes the file you are working on and sets it back in the stack of unsorted files. “I think that might be a sign it’s time to turn in,” he says.

“There’s still so much left.”

“There’s still tomorrow.”

You reach for the file. “Well, let me just—”

He pulls your hand away from the pile. “You can come back to it in the morning. Besides, if you’re this tired, you’re not going to do good work anyway.”

He squeezes your hand and drops it. It’s brief enough to still be friendly, but unusual enough to make you wonder and send your mind racing back to that moment by the elevator.

You shake the thought away. It’s late and you’re tired.

You heave a world weary sigh and slump back in your chair. “I hate it when you’re right.”

To his credit, he only smirks a little. “Come on. I’ll walk you back.”

Once again, there’s no reason for him to do this, but once again, you’re inclined to let him.

You pack up for the evening and walk out of the office side by side. You’re trying very hard not to think about the fact that this is likely the last night that you’ll do this, that tomorrow the assignment will be over.

As you near the residential wing, you start to hear distant shouts. If you inhale deeply, you catch a very faint whiff of explosives—you’re not sure what kind.

“I think someone brought work home,” you say with a sigh. 

This happens from time to time—things get out of hand in the field or something happens when retrieving an asset or a target and all hell breaks loose at the TVA. Mobius had once referred to it as “bringing work home” and the name had stuck.

“Wasn’t there an incident in this wing not long ago?” asks Loki.

“Yes.” You sigh, running a hand through your hair. “I had to call off the next day—I got no sleep that night.” You listen carefully, trying to determine the source of the noise and the status of the problem. “But maybe it’s almost over,” you say with an optimism you don’t fully feel. “Sometimes these things are resolved really quick.”

Your heart continues to sink the closer you come to your home. The acrid burn of explosives only increases and you think you catch the low, dull roar of something not quite human.

And indeed, when you turn the final corner, you are immediately stopped by an electric blue barrier being monitored by a hunter. G-21–you’ve worked with her on a couple of missions before.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” slips out of your mouth before you can stop yourself.

“There’s an ongoing incident in this area,” says G-21 and you almost want to laugh because no shit. 

“How long do you think it’s gonna be closed off?” you ask.

She shrugs. “We’re at a code 54 right now, but it’s probably gonna escalate.”

With pitch perfect timing and before you can even try to remember what a code 54 means, there’s an almighty crash and a low bellow.

“Go!” she yells before running toward the commotion amid frantic calls for backup.

Loki is grabbing your wrist and pulling you into a run.

Your standard issue work shoes are comfortable enough on a day to day basis, but you certainly want to have words with whoever decided that leather soled shoes with absolutely no grips were a good choice for a building floored almost entirely in linoleum. In a low stakes situation, it’s meant occasionally you wipe out in the cafeteria and hurt nothing but your pride. In this situation, it means that Loki’s firm grip on your hand is the only thing keeping you upright.

But there’s a small mercy in that while you can still hear distant crashes and shrieks, whatever is happening down that hallway doesn’t seem to be following you and eventually, you both slow to a brisk walk and Loki drops your hand.

You haven’t even had a chance to consider where you are going to sleep tonight. You could probably curl up on that terrible couch in the office and just plan on getting up early enough to run back to your place for a quick shower and a change of clothes…assuming the incident resolves by then—

“You can stay with me,” says Loki, as though he can hear you trying to sort this out.

“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just—”

“If you say you’re going to sleep on that terrible couch in the office, I will personally take you to the most boring governmental proceeding I can find and leave you there until you come to your senses.”

“Sounds like a great place to fall asleep,” you say.

His eyes glint, but his tone brooks no arguments. “You’re staying with me tonight.”

You sigh, but you can’t think of a counterpoint. “When did you get so bossy?”

“Darling, I’m a prince,” he says with a bit of a wry smirk. “It’s my birthright.”

Loki lives on the opposite end of the residential wing and his place looks quite a bit like yours—he’s got an extra window in the kitchen but the floor plan is otherwise the same. A lot of his furniture is standard issue, but there are little details that make it seem more personal: an area rug with a bit of fraying on the edges, a painting of what you think is an Asgardian landscape, a vase filled with dried flowers so delicate they look like they might disintegrate if you were to touch them. And books—so many books. Books on shelves, stacked on the coffee table, tucked into the little rack that you know is meant to hold magazines. Hardbacks, paperbacks, leather bound, dog-eared, well-worn and brand new. It’s no wonder he was so excited about the library.

“Have a seat,” he says, gesturing to the couch. “I’ll get some things for you.”

You sit down and he disappears down the hall. You idly examine the books stacked on the end table next to you. Many are quite clearly from Asgard and it sparks a pang of sympathy—it’s like his homesickness is on full display in his living room and there’s something sweet and sad about seeing that vulnerability laid so bare.

He returns a few minutes later with a pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, and a hand towel.

“Here,” he says, handing you the pile. “Bathroom’s just down the hall. I’ll make up a bed for you.”

“Thanks.”

In the bathroom, you realize that the pajamas he’s given you aren’t the standard set you can order from the TVA. These are made of a dark emerald silk that ripples over your skin like water, and somehow, that makes it feel a thousand times more personal than if he’d loaned you a standard set. They don’t fit quite right on you, but they’ll work well enough for tonight.

You brush your teeth and attempt to get through as much of your evening routine as you can before collecting your clothes and exiting the bathroom.

When you return to the living room, you expect to find that he’s made up a bed for you on the couch. These living units only have one bedroom—it would be quite reasonable to have you sleep on the couch.

You do not expect to find a pajama clad Loki stretched out reading on the couch, a blanket over his lap and his head propped up on a pillow like he intends to sleep there.

You exhale slowly. “Please tell me you are not giving up your bed.”

“Don’t be absurd, of course I am,” he says without even looking up from his book. “The point of this was to prevent you from sleeping on a couch, not simply put you on a couch in a different location.”

You wish you had something to throw at him. “You don’t even fit on that couch.”

“Luckily, my knees bend. Besides, you’re a guest,” he says, as though that settles it.

You roll your eyes and plunk yourself down in the armchair across from the couch, setting your pile of clothes on the floor. “I’m not moving until you give up the couch.”

He finally looks up from his book. “You’re really going to do this?”

You examine your fingernails, flicking away an invisible speck of dust. “I’m not the one being unreasonable. I’m simply meeting you at your level.”

“If you think that I’m being unreasonable and you’re also saying you’re meeting me at my level, does that not mean you are admitting that you are being unreasonable?”

“It’s nearly one o’clock in the morning. I’m not arguing semantics with you.”

“Fine.” His eyes glimmer as he sets his book down and slowly rises to his feet. “But you’re still not sleeping on the couch.”

“Oh, you’re going to be so disappointed when you realize how wrong you are,” you say. You think you see your opening and you try to play it cool.

He’s walking toward you, leaving your path to the couch wide open. In your head, you can see exactly how this works: you’ll spring from your chair and dart around the coffee table before diving onto the couch like a baseball player sliding into home plate, soundly defeating Loki. Easy peasy.

Instead, what happens is that you spring to your feet and Loki moves with inhuman speed, grabbing you around your waist and pinning you to the front of his chest, stopping you in your tracks almost immediately.

“I suppose I should have expected that,” he says. Your back is facing him, but you can almost hear the dry, sardonic look he’s giving you.

“Probably,” you say. “God of mischief and all.” You struggle fruitlessly against his iron grip. “You can let me go now.”

He laughs. “I’m afraid I can’t. It was clearly a mistake to trust you. I won’t be making that error again.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say, trying again to squirm away from him. “Let me go.”

“The interesting thing about all of this is that you’ve made a rather substantial tactical error,” he says, continuing as though he can’t hear you.

“You’re bluffing,” you say with more confidence than you feel.

“Fascinating theory,” he says, “but I don’t think it’s going to work out for you.”

With that same ridiculous speed, he’s suddenly spinning you around and lifting you, tossing you easily over his shoulder.

“Hey!” you shout in protest.

“I warned you,” he says, his voice full of mirth as he carries you toward the bedroom.

This is not exactly how you’ve imagined being carried off to bed by Loki.

Though, admittedly, you do have a nice view of his ass.

“This is ridiculous,” you say.

“You brought this upon yourself.” He’s walking into the bedroom and a moment later, he’s lifting you from his shoulder and tossing you unceremoniously onto his bed.

You scramble to your feet and try to lunge toward the door, but he’s clearly expecting that. Before your feet even hit the floor, he catches you around the waist and hauls you back to the bed. Your back hits the mattress and you try to leverage the momentum to propel yourself back onto your feet.

He catches you immediately and you find yourself back on the bed again.

“I don’t mean to be patronizing,” he says, failing to bite back a laugh, “but it’s adorable that you think you can outmaneuver me.”

That is deeply offensive and the only way you can earn my forgiveness is by letting me take my rightful place on the couch.” You can’t quite keep the laugh from your voice.

He grins. “Not a chance.”

You attempt to dive off the opposite side of the bed, only to have him grab you by the ankles and pull you back. You manage to dislodge him and lunge in the opposite direction, only to be immediately thwarted.

It becomes increasingly hilarious the longer it goes on and soon your sides are aching from laughter. Loki is laughing too, but it doesn’t seem to affect his strength or speed at all.

Eventually, he wrestles you back down onto the bed and you are fairly certain there’s no way out of this one—he’s got your wrists pinned above your head and his legs locked around yours. You’re both a little out of breath.

“Yield,” he says.

You shake your head. “Never.”

His gaze flicks to your lips and back to your eyes. “Yield.”

“No.”

Something has changed. There’s an electricity and intensity that crackles in the air between you, possibilities blooming in both of your gazes. It feels a little like that moment by the elevator, but you’re afraid to hope, afraid to even wish because the idea of him wanting you still feels as impossible as capturing smoke with a net. 

But the way he’s looking at you, the way his gaze keeps drifting between your eyes and your lips…that’s not nothing.

“Yield.”

You lick your lips, your heart beating wildly. “No.”

Is it just your imagination, or did his breath hitch when you licked your lips?

“Yield.”

God, he’s so close and you want him so badly. 

“No.”

He looks again at your lips and this time, he closes the distance between you.

They call him Silvertongue—you’ve heard the jokes, you’ve rolled your eyes at all of them. But as he kisses you, you realize that there’s an element of truth there because only seconds in and you’re ready to sign away your soul to live under the power of Loki’s tongue. The slow, warm slide of it against yours, the way he guides your mouth against his, the way he lets out a soft sigh as he tastes you—you would give up everything if it meant you could stay like this.

“Yield,” he breathes against your lips.

“No,” you say.

He deepens the kiss, catching your lower lip between his teeth and gently tugging until you whimper and arch against him.

He still has your hands pinned against the bed, his grip unyielding when you try to wrestle them away.

“Let me touch you,” you say when he draws back. You want to touch him everywhere—run your hands along every muscle you’ve admired from afar. 

“Then yield,” he says with a grin, his eyes flashing with devilish intent.

You consider this for a moment. You could give in—there aren’t really any stakes at this point and you’re pretty sure you’re both going to end up sleeping in his bed tonight anyway. But that glint of mischief in his eyes also promises some intriguing possibilities if you stand firm.

“No,” you say.

“Such a pity,” says Loki, though his expression is one of hungry delight.

His hands slip free of your wrists then, but they stay pinned to the bed by some invisible force.

“Cheater,” you say. 

“I think this is only fair,” he says, his hands sliding to your hips. “I’m clearly the victor, am I not entitled to my prize?”

You shiver. “Your prize?”

“Yes.” He kisses down the column of your throat. “My lovely, lovely prize.”

“How can I be your prize if I’m also your competitor?”

“You think too much,” he mumbles against your neck.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Generally, it’s not.” He sits back on his heels between your legs, looking you over with satisfaction. “But in this case, it’s distracting you from more pressing matters.” His hands creep under the hem of your shirt, stroking the small of your back, thumbs tracing teasingly along the waistband of your pajama pants. 

“Have I mentioned how much I enjoy seeing you in my clothes?” he asks. There’s a husky depth to his voice and a hunger in his eyes that sends a flood of arousal to your cunt.

“You have not,” you say.

“A casualty of too much thinking,” he says solemnly, his thumbs gently grazing the skin at your hipbones. “You look utterly delectable. I almost want to leave them on.” His eyes glitter with mischief. “Almost.” His hand strays to the bottom button on your pajama top. “May I?”

You nod. “Yes.”

He slips the button free and slowly makes his way up until your shirt is open. He carefully pushes the fabric aside, baring your breasts to his sight and touch.

You’ve never felt more beautiful seeing Loki stare at you, lips slightly parted, eyes wide and hungry. He trails one hand up your stomach and rib cage and slowly brushes a thumb over your nipple. You gasp and the sensitive skin puckers and stiffens as he palms your breast, rolling your nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

“Gorgeous,” he murmurs as he lowers his mouth to your breast, his tongue and lips taking up the role of his hand, while his other hand moves to cup your other breast. You whimper, wishing you could run your hands through his hair. “That’s it,” he purrs, “I want to hear all the sounds you can make, my love.”

You rock your hips forward and arch your back as he lavishes attention on your breasts. It’s the most delicious kind of torture, having him so close, but not being able to touch him.

He’s taking his time, which you both love and hate. He feels so good, but you need him to touch you, you need to touch him, you need him inside of you. You wait until you can’t take it any more and breathe his name like it’s a prayer.

You wonder if this is what he was waiting for because with little more than a brief smirk and a wicked look, he starts kissing his way back up your chest and neck. You whimper when his lips meet yours and you can feel him grin as he kisses you. He fits his hips against yours, angling himself so that his cock rubs up against your clit just right and you moan into his mouth. You can tell that he’s big and part of you wants to savor the anticipation even though you feel like you might go mad if he doesn’t fuck you now. You rock your hips against him, trying to feel that friction.

His large hands frame your face, one hand sliding to cradle the back of your head so he can draw you deeper, the other trailing from your cheek to your throat.

Both hands soon stroke down your sides, lingering teasingly at the waistband of your pajama pants. He hooks his thumbs underneath the waistband and you lift your hips. He slides your pants down maybe an inch and you can feel him smiling as he kisses you. You lift your hips again and your waistband creeps down another inch.

“Loki.” His name falls from your lips with a sigh.

“What is it, my love?”

“Touch me,” you breathe. “Please.”

You lift your hips again and this time, he pulls the fabric fully down and off your legs. He guides your legs apart and stares appreciatively at your bare cunt, his teasing expression replaced by a rapt awe.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs. 

You believe him.

His hands stroke your thighs, seemingly in no hurry, despite your pleading whimpers and the way you arch against the mattress. He draws his thumb gently along your slit, barely grazing your clit.

“Do you know what an utter distraction it’s been sitting behind you?” he asks, tracing your clit in the slowest, lightest circle.

You arch upward, hands still bound by his magic. “Tell me,” you breathe, your hips rising to chase his hand.

“Every time you stood up, I could only think about bending you over the desk.”

You manage a sly smirk. “And here I thought you didn’t like me much at all.”

His thumb presses a little more against your clit and you moan.

“I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you,” he says, rolling his thumb in a slow circle. “I kept you at arm’s length partly as a matter of protection.”

For who?”

“You,” he says. “I’m not fully redeemed in some eyes and you being involved with a dangerous variant—”

“You’re not,” you say.

“Some would disagree.”

“Well, they’re wrong,” you say. “You’re not a dangerous variant. You’re Loki Laufeyson and I want you just as you are.”

There’s something unreadable in his expression and it makes you wonder how many people have told him that he can just be himself.

“You should be careful saying such lovely things to me, you know,” he says solemnly.

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh really? And why is that?”

“Because it makes me want to do very wicked things to you.”

You’re surprised you’re not shaking, you want him so badly. “What kinds of wicked things?”

“Oh, all manner of wicked things.” He presses a kiss to the inside of your knee, his tongue swiping briefly against your skin. “Things with my mouth...” His thumb rolls over your clit again, his index finger teasing your entrance before retreating. “…my hands…” He drags his gaze over your naked form before locking eyes with you. “My cock.”

A shiver works its way up your spine. “So if I talk about how I think you’re really clever and funny and I find it unbelievably sexy, what sort of wicked thing would that merit?”

The intensity of his gaze makes you shiver again. He crouches down and presses another kiss against the inside of your knee, slowly moving upward. “If you keep talking like that, I’m not going to let you leave my bed for days.”

“You know that’s not a disincentive, right?” you say, sucking in a sharp breath as he nips at the soft skin of your inner thigh. “I’ve wanted you for such a long time, Loki.”

“I’ll make it weeks if you’re not careful.”

“Again, not a disincentive.” You gently tug at your bound wrists and find that they’re still firmly secured. It’s exhilarating, even though you really wish you could run your hands through his hair, especially if he ends up where you think he’s going.

“What else should I tell you?” you muse as he continues his agonizingly slow path along your thigh. “You know, half the reason I kept to myself was that I wanted you so much I was certain that I’d make a fool of myself.”

That earns you a few circles of your clit with his thumb, but his progress up your thigh remains slow. You have a theory about what might move the needle, though.

“I know you like to act like you’re this sort of barely reformed villain, but I think there’s more good in you than you’d like people to believe.”

This time, he moves up to the crease where your thigh joins your hip, close enough that you can feel the heat of his breath ghosting along your labia. His tongue traces a line along your skin and you briefly wonder if you’ll be able to hold it together enough to deliver the last part.

“And,” you say, trying to keep your voice steady, “yesterday and today made me want you even more because I feel like I finally saw who you really are and you’re even more wond—”

Your words abruptly give way to a breathy moan because his perfect, skilled tongue has finally found its way to your clit.

You had a plan from here, but whatever it was has dissolved into nothing under the skilled caress of Loki’s tongue. You suspected he would be good at this from the way that he’d kissed you earlier, but you could not have imagined that it would feel like this.

“Oh my god, Loki.” Your thighs are already quaking. You tug again at the invisible bonds on your wrists, but they hold fast. Something about the way the bonds are keeping you gently stretched along the bed combined with how his large hands have your thighs spread open seems to heighten every sensation. There’s no wiggling away from him or adjusting yourself so that you feel more or less of the onslaught of his tongue on your cunt. You are completely at his mercy and you’re not entirely surprised that you fucking love it.

He slides a finger into your aching channel and your cunt shudders around the thick intrusion. The warm, roiling center of your orgasm starts builds in your hips with every stroke of his tongue, spinning faster and faster, like ocean winds whipping up into a hurricane. Your back arches and his tongue presses flat against your clit, and suddenly you know that this is going to be what takes you over the edge.

Loki seems to know it too, at least from the way that he presses his tongue more firmly against you, one arm slung across your hips to hold you in place. His other hand slides two fingers inside you, rocking and curling against that aching, tender spot.

You whimper, your hips bucking wildly. It’s so good and so much and you are almost there.

You look down at him then, his hair wild, hollowed cheeks flushed pink as his tongue works you over, his eyes closed like he couldn’t imagine anything more blissful than being in between your legs while you come undone.

This is ultimately what tips you over the edge. The storm that has been forming inside you is finally let loose and you arch your back and cry out in a wordless scream as your climax crashes into you.

Only then do the bonds around your wrists release and your hands fly down to grab his hair as your body shakes with pleasure.

It takes a moment for you to get your breath back and reacquaint yourself with the concept of speech, but when you do, you find Loki looking up at you, his expression pure mischief.

“And to think you wanted to sleep on the couch.”

“It wasn’t that I wanted to sleep on the couch, it’s that—” Your voice cuts off as his tongue starts stroking your clit again.

“It’s what?” he asks in between strokes, his smirk obvious in his voice. The lingering ripples of your orgasm are coalescing around the path of his tongue, tightening that coil in your belly again.

“Fuck—you’re not playing fair, you can’t just—” You lose your sentence to a low moan that rises up from your chest. “You can’t just—fuck, yes—you can’t…oh god, yes, just like that.”

His laughter rumbles against you as your hips start rocking against his mouth. How are you already so close?

“You can’t just—fuck—win an argument by—”

You’re trying to say that he can’t expect to win an argument by making you come and you think he might understand this based on how determined he seems to be to prove you wrong. His fingers curl again until he finds that soft, tender spot that is so often the key to your unraveling.

You have stopped trying to complete that sentence—you moan, your hands tangling in his hair, urging him on as the swell of your climax rushes up, inevitable as a tidal wave looming over a seaside village.

You cry out as it crests and breaks, falling down over you in a rush of tingling pleasure that feels like champagne and fireworks all at once.

“Now, what was it you were saying, my love?” he asks as he releases your clit a moment later. “Something about how I can’t just win an argument by making you come? I couldn’t quite hear you over the sound of you coming completely undone on my tongue.”

“Oh, you think you’re so smart,” you say, giving him a stern look as he crawls up your body.

“You know what I think?” he says, settling himself on his side next to you. “I think you liked submitting to me.”

You shiver before you can even think about hiding it and his smile turns decidedly vulpine. 

“You did, didn’t you? You liked having your hands bound and being completely at my mercy while I licked your pretty cunt until you came undone in my mouth.”

“You are enjoying this far too much,” you say.

“I am enjoying it the correct amount.”

You realize your hands are now free to explore his body and you tug at his pajama shirt. “I think you’re wearing too many clothes,” you say.

He gives you a wicked grin as he lets you pull his shirt over his head. “Yes, perhaps it’s time we even things up.”

You pull the shirt away and rake your eyes over him greedily, your hands following the path of your gaze. He is as perfect as you imagined, unfairly beautiful in the dim light of the bedroom.

You hook your thumbs into the waistband of his pajama pants and lower them an inch, a cheeky parallel of how he teased you earlier. His lips curl into a sharp smile when he realizes what you’re doing.

“Interesting strategy.” There’s a bit of a growl in his voice, a rough desperation that makes your cunt clench. “But I think you forgot that I have the upper hand here.”

He raises his hand and with a twist of his wrist, his remaining clothes dissolve in a shimmer of green and he is bare before you.

Your breath catches in your throat. His cock commands your immediate attention, nudging up against your thigh—he’s big, as you suspected, but completely bare and rock hard, he somehow seems longer and thicker than he had when he was grinding against you.

He pulls you into a slow kiss as you reach for his cock. You wrap your hand around him, delighting in the silky hardness of him, the way he throbs in your hand and the low groan he makes as your hand moves from base to tip and back, the way his hips thrust along with you. Your cunt clenches in anticipation.

After a moment, though, he places his hand over yours, slowing your movements.

“I need to be inside you,” he rasps.

“Yes,” you breathe.

He rolls on top of you  and you’re not sure that you’ve ever felt anything quite as wonderful as the heat of his bare skin and yours pressed together. This feeling means intimacy, a closeness that you’d longed for but never expected even in your wildest daydreams.

He pulls you into a kiss, slow, soft, and languid, like you have all the time in the world and he intends to take it. It’s decadent and dreamy and perfect.

But the heavy weight of his bare cock resting against your stomach combined with the ache between your legs—an ache that would be so perfectly soothed by the hard column of flesh currently throbbing against you—proves to be a force too powerful to resist for very long.

You cant your hips against him, snaking one leg around his waist, hoping he’ll get the hint.

He does.

He braces himself on one hand, the other sliding between your bodies to rub his cock along your slick folds. He positions himself at your entrance, waiting for your breathy plea to begin to ease himself slowly into you.

He fills and stretches you in the most wonderful way, but even more than that, he feels like home. The thought strikes you quite suddenly and you’re not entirely sure about everything it means, but you know it’s good and right.

He pauses for just a moment, seeming to savor the feeling.

“You feel better than I ever imagined,” he says.

You quirk an eyebrow at him. “You imagined?”

He gives you a hungry smile as he leans in to kiss you. “Like I said: it has been an utter distraction sitting behind you.”

His rhythm is slow and easy, like he wants to take his time learning every inch of you and memorizing how you react to his touch. His mouth moves over yours in a slow kiss that’s somehow both languid and demanding, his tongue gliding in and out of your mouth in the same rhythm of his hips rocking into you. His cock bumps up against that sweet spot inside of you that his fingers had teased earlier, each stroke inching you closer to bliss.

He shifts the angle of his hips so that his pubic bone grinds against your clit and it feels so good you almost see stars. You can feel your orgasm building, your cunt growing slicker and tensing around his thrusting cock.

He draws back to look at you, eyes hazy with a loose, dreamy kind of pleasure.

“Do you have any idea how good you feel?” he breathes.

You are shaking. “Loki, I’m gonna come.”

“I know you are,” he purrs. “Let go for me, let me feel you, my love.”

With two more thrusts of his hips, you unravel.

He groans as you tremble around him, but mostly, he watches your face, rapt by the way you throw your head back against the bed and gasp his name like it’s the only thing that will save you.

“You’re beautiful when you come,” he breathes. “Absolutely stunning.”

He waits until you catch your breath before he kisses you again, slow and sensual. His hips are still rocking in that beautifully slow rhythm and you don’t know how it can still feel so good.

He keeps moving against you, his touch and his low murmurs of praise invoking a symphony of sensations. He presses deeper and your body sings with every thrust, your muscles tensing and tightening around him like you never want him to leave. Your climax swells again and you come with a whimper, your whole body shaking as he fucks you through it.

You want him to come, want to hear the sounds he makes and feel his sweet, hot release burning inside of you.

“I want you to come for me,” you breathe.

He grins at you. “Oh, I will, but not yet. You’re not done yet.”

You whimper. “Loki—”

“Two more, my love, two more and then I’ll come for you.”

Somehow, you give him three. By the second one, he’s panting and his words have become rough, his voice a growl as he utters some of the filthiest praise you’ve ever heard. The third builds quickly after that and you know instinctively that you’re going to take him over the edge with you this time.

You fight to keep your eyes open against the tidal wave of pleasure blooming again in your hips. You need to see him come undone.

As in everything else he does, he’s unfairly beautiful—he throws his head back, letting out a low groan that you can feel all the way to the tips of your toes. His cheeks are flushed, a few ink dark curls plastered to the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. You can feel him emptying himself inside you, his release hot and hard won.

It seems to last a long time and it’s another minute before his hips slow to a halt. He kisses you, so soft and sweet it would almost seem chaste were it not for the fact that his cock is still throbbing inside of you.

After a moment, he slowly eases out of you, rolling over onto his back, his arm snaking around your waist and pulling you to him like he can’t bear to be parted from you even for a moment.

You curl up against his side, your legs tangling with his. He takes your hand, lacing his fingers with yours before resting your clasped hands on his heart.

You could fall in love like this, you think sleepily to yourself.

You don’t know it then, but you’re right.

*

Time moves differently at the TVA, but a couple years later, there’s a ring in a box on your desk.

Loki likes a spectacle and you’d daydreamed about a traditional wedding, but when you talk it over, you both agree that you want to do something different, something quiet, something just for the two of you.

“I do think we should tell Mobius beforehand,” you say to Loki.

“Isn’t the point of eloping that no one knows until after it’s done?” says Loki.

“Yes, but I feel like we could make one exception,” you say. “If we’d done a full wedding, I would have asked him to give me away.”

Loki’s gaze softens a bit then and he pulls you close. “All right. But we only tell him right before we leave. The man can’t keep a secret.”

But Mobius doesn’t seem terribly surprised when you tell him—in fact, he seems far more concerned about your wedding gift.

“I didn’t have a chance to wrap it yet,” he says. He’s retrieved a large picture frame that had been propped against his desk, though he keeps it turned away from you. “So…this also requires a bit of an overdue confession for context.”

You raise your eyebrows. “A confession?”

“A confession,” says Mobius.

“Will I be angry about this?” asks Loki at the same time you say, “Is this like a go to jail confession or a misdemeanor confession?”

Mobius gives a good natured chuckle, shaking his head slightly. “God, the two of you. Always so dramatic. No wonder you ended up together.” He takes what feels like an unnecessarily long drink from the coffee mug on his desk. “It’s not bad, I promise.” Another sip of coffee. 

Loki sighs. “He always does this,” he says to you. “Have you noticed? Whenever he has something that you want to know, he stalls and drags it out just to torment you.”

“Okay,” you say, “but you jumping in to bicker with him probably doesn’t help.”

“I’m not bickering,” says Loki. “I’m simply pointing out that he’s stalling—”

“What was it you were saying, Mobius?” you say brightly, nudging Loki with your elbow.

Mobius’ eyes twinkle. “See,” he says to Loki, “I always liked her. It’s a good match.”

You don’t have to look at Loki to know he’s rolling his eyes, though he also makes a point of surreptitiously pinching your ass, a detail you hope Mobius doesn’t notice.

“Anyway,” says Mobius, taking a deep breath, “it was pretty clear to me from the start that you liked each other. And you also seemed absolutely determined to get in your own way.” He points to Loki. “Especially you with your whole stilted Asgardian prince thing.”

Loki frowns. “What are you talking about?”

Mobius sighs. “Anytime you like someone, it’s like your brain gets a factory reset and you get all overly polite and courtly.”

Loki scoffs. “I don’t do that at all.”

“You do. It’s deeply weird. You’re like a mannerly robot.”

Loki turns to you. “Darling, tell him he’s being absurd.”

You reach over and squeeze his hand. “You did call me ‘my lady’ a couple of times in the early days.”

Loki sighs and looks back at Mobius. “What was your point in mentioning this?”

“Well,” says Mobius, “you seemed pretty determined to get in your own way, so nothing was happening. And eventually I got sick of all of the pining, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.”

“What do you mean?”

Mobius pauses, a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “There wasn’t a breakthrough with Berlitz that weekend. What there was was a surplus in the overtime budget and a high priority indexing project for Archives.”

Your lips part as your brain slowly puts the pieces together. Mobius’ eyes twinkle.

“Wait,” you say, “you lied to us?”

“I did not lie,” says Mobius, his demeanor suddenly becoming very serious. “That would have been wrong.” He nods at Loki. “Also, it would’ve tipped him off and that would have ruined the whole thing. I simply failed to mention that the cart of files that I gave you needed to be sorted for indexing for the Archives department and I peppered in a couple of unrelated things about Berlitz.”

“But the office was empty that weekend,” says Loki.

Mobius snaps his fingers. “Right. I did make some adjustments to the schedule that weekend.”

“And the disturbance that prevented her from returning home on Saturday night?”

Mobius spreads his hands wide and grins. “All me, buddy. Paid G-21 five hundred bucks for that one.”

Loki pauses for a moment and then looks at you. “I don’t think I can be mad about this. I’m genuinely impressed.”

“I mean, I can’t argue with the results, but Jesus, Mobius, you could’ve just set us up on a blind date,” you say.

“Ah, but that’s not as fun,” Mobius says. “Plus, it wouldn’t have made for as good a wedding gift.” He turns the frame around and hands it to you both.

It’s both your timecards from that pay period, neatly framed side by side. Your eyes well with tears and Mobius smiles.

“Honestly, I’m just relieved it’s not a jet ski,” says Loki.

“He's deflecting,” you say to Mobius in an exaggerated whisper.

“I know,” he whispers back.

But you can’t help but notice that Loki’s eyes are brighter than normal.

“Okay, now get out of here,” says Mobius. “You’ve got a wedding to get to.”

Twenty minutes later, you’re wearing a simple white dress and standing with Loki in front of a time door, your hand clasped in his.

“Technically, we don’t have a supervisor’s approval for this,” you say with a wry smile.

He looks at you, eyes dancing with mirth. “I had Mobius sign off on the paperwork while you were getting ready.”

Your heart swells and your smile is so wide that you feel like your face might split in two. “Then hurry up and marry me, Laufeyson.”

He grins and tugs you through the time door.

-------

But wait! There's more: I don't have a masterlist for this, but if you enjoy these idiots, check out Daylight, a sort of sequel.

[storm-angel989]

Fix it, Vox. (Valentino x Daughter)

SHOUT OUT TO absolut3lyn0t  for all the help with the Spanish and for being a FANTASTIC human in general. You are AMAZING!

The weight of her body jolted him awake. A tiny head against his chest, and muffled tears. The bright red clock flashed on his nightstand. Three thirty. He had literally gotten to bed less than a half hour ago. He tried to ignore the aching in his head as he struggled to talk to the sobbing child. 

“Beibita, what’s the matter?” He mumbled as he wrapped his arms around the crying toddler. “Shush. Papi is here, niñita. Vuelve a dormir.”

“Papi, will the angels come and get me?” She choked out. “Daddy, I’m scared. I don’t wanna get ex..er…”

Now he had her full attention. ¿De que ella habla? What was she talking about?

“Princessa, no one is going to take you away. Who told you that?” He asked, trying to mask the fury in his voice. “Papi is here, bebita. Shush.” He rocked her as gently as he could as he tried to bite back his exhaustion.

Of all the weekends for her mother to go out of town. 

“The tv said so, I heard it! I…I…” She sobbed. 

God fucking damn it. He told that son of a bitch. He told him his daughter wasn’t asleep. He warned him not to change the channel for another half hour until they could be sure she was safe and sound in bed and not about to try to sneak out to curl up with them or try to con him into letting her watch just one more episode. After all, she did it every single night. But no, Vox  insisted he put on the news right away. He insisted it would be fine. And now here Valentino was, paying the goddamn price. 

“Shush. Papi won’t let anything happen to you, okay?” He said softly as he sat up. “Come on, bebita. Papi will make you a warm bottle and you can sleep with me, okay, pequeño amor?.”

She cuddled closer into his chest and he lifted her up effortlessly. He carried her cradled against him to the kitchen. With one arm supporting the weight of his daughter, the other carefully warmed up a bottle of milk and flicked it on his wrist before trying to hand it to the toddler. 

“Drink up, mi amore.” 

She refused to take it. “I want Mommy! “And Uncie and Auntie! The angels are gonna get them! Papi, we have to do something!” She burst into another round of tears.

God fucking damn it, Vox. He silently cursed as he set the bottle off to the side and tried to sooth the hysterical toddler. “Mommy will be back tomorrow night, shush,” he replied softly as he bounced her soothing

He looked at the clock. Four am. There was a good chance Vox was up and in his office. A twinge of anger made its way through Valentino. If Vox was awake, it was only fair that he helped clean up the mess he made. 

“Let’s go see if Uncie Voxxy is awake, alright mi amore? Your mommy will be home tomorrow and Auntie Velvette is sleeping.” He shifted her weight and pressed the bottle to her lips, willing her to take it. A full tummy was the key to getting her to sleep- he learned that when she was first born. “Come on, bebita.”

She refused and he sighed in frustration. He nabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and walked towards the elevator, hoping that by the time they got to Vox’s office she would have at least settled down. 

No such luck. 

The sound of a crying, screaming baby tested every single bit of Valentino's last nerve. Even if it was his daughter, and he loved her with every single beat of his heart, he was absolutely at his wits end.  There was no reason for her to be this afraid; it was absolutely uncalled for. Vox should have listened and then maybe, just maybe he would still be asleep. By the time he walked into Vox’s office, every single part of him struggled to maintain control. He stormed from the elevator and stomped over the shark tanks. 

“You broke it, you fix it,” he growled as he tried to hand reader over to Vox. “I told you not to put on the news. I told you she wasn’t asleep yet, and now look!” 

The anger in her fathers voice only triggered more tears. Desperately she clung to Valentino’s neck and dug her hands into his shirt. “Daddy!” 

Valentino put a protective hand on her back and glared at Vox. 

Vox was up on his feet in a matter of moments. “Woah. Alright, take a breath Val. What happened?” His eye began to swirl. “Babygirl, why are we crying? Come here, Val. Take my spot. Sit down. Breathe. You relax. She’ll relax.” He took the bottle from Valentino’s hand and set it off to the side. 

“The angels are gonna get us,” Reader sobbed into Valentino’s shoulder. “I saw it on TV!”

Valentino shot Vox a look and guilt spread across Vox’s features. 

“Shit. I mean, fuck. Sweetie. Baby. It wasn’t real, I promise. It was a story. Like..” he struggled for a moment and then his expression lit up. “Like a bedtime story your Daddy tells you. It was just a scary story, it’s not real. I promise. Now come to Uncle Voxxy, let me hold you sweetie.” 

She reached up to him and Vox wrapped her in his hold as he rocked her. She heaved a hiccup and Vox gently tilted her head up to meet his eye. “Who controls the television, my sweet baby girl?”

 “Uncle Voxxy….” she answered tearily. 

“Right, sweetheart. So wouldn’t I know best?” He asked as he stroked her hair. “Uncle Voxxy, and Daddy and Mommy and Auntie Vel won’t let anything happen. I promise babydoll.” He picked up the still warm bottle and guided it to her mouth. 

She sucked on it gently as he continued to rock her. Carefully, Vox handed her back to Valentino. Valentino carefully laid her head over his heart as Vox wrapped her in the blanket. 

“Duerme bebe niña papá está aquí,”  he said softly. “You’re safe, we’re safe, it's okay.”

To both their relief, she fell asleep almost instantly, soothed by the beating of Valentino’s heart, a full tummy, and the feeling of security. Vox caught the bottle as it fell out of her hands and set it on the desk.

“Are you okay Val?” Vox asked softly. “You look like shit.” 

“I’m exhausted, Vox. I went to bed like thirty minutes before this all began,” he replied tiredly. “I need you or Vel to watch her this morning- I’m begging you.”

“Just call me when she wakes up,” Vox replied quickly. “Or you can give her to me now. I can work with her in my arms.” 

“No, I can take her for a few hours…”

“Nonsense. Give me the baby. Take a breath. And get some sleep.” Carefully, Vox lifted the bundle to his own chest and laid her head carefully against his heart. “She won’t wake up now that she’s out. Go get some rest, Val. When you wake up you can take her back.”

Grateful, and with one last kiss on his sleeping daughter's forehead, Valentino made his way back upstairs. In his control room, Vox adjusted the little girl against his body as little as he possibly could. Guilt washed over him as he worked. Valentino had warned him she wasn’t asleep. It was his own fault for scaring her so badly, and for his friend to be pushed beyond the point of exhaustion. 

“I’m so sorry I scared you. It won’t happen again,” he said quietly to the sleeping toddler. He kissed her on the forehead. “And I promise we will always keep you safe.”

Against him, she snuggled closer and he leaned back in his chair as he held the sleeping toddler. He closed his eyes for a moment and let out an exhale. To his surprise, she did the same. He felt something stir deep in his chest. Love. Protectiveness. The desire to never let this sweet little girl feel afraid again. 

“You’re safe, babygirl,” he whispered as he held her carefully. “I promise.”

[mikathemonster]

could you do fili with praise for kinktober please💞💞

kinktober, episode 1 <3

author's note: the way I am so numb and horny after writing this means I desperately need to go touch some grass. anyways, I'm so excited to start off kinktober with a cute Fíli drabble <3 feel free to request more if this one really got y'all going :) enjoy!

Pairing: Fíli / Gender-neutral Reader

Word Count: 850

summary: porn without any plot in sight <3

content warnings: nsfw, cowgirl/riding, needy/whiny men, need I say more?

DO NOT REPOST OR COPY. MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT.

“You’re taking me so well,” he cooed as you slowly eased yourself along his length. The pleasure was more than enough to send you reeling as you grinded down on top of his lap.

“I always do,” you hummed, setting a slow pace as you savored the feeling of him filling you up. “Don’t I, Fíli?”

He looked at you with half-lidded eyes as he watched you take all of him, smiling when you wrapped one of your hands in his hair to anchor yourself. “Fuck, ghivashel…”

His eyes rolled back for a moment from the feeling of your cunt sucking him in, a mixture of your arousal and his pre-cum already making a mess where you two were connected. 

With a playful smirk, you positioned his head to face you dead on. “Come on, now. Don’t grow quiet now, love. Tell me how good I’m making you feel, hm?”

He pulled you close, chuckling as he planted kisses along your neck. “You always look so gorgeous when you’re like this.” His hands found purchase on your sides, massaging circles along your hips as he watched you take him so deliciously. 

Your pace quickened at the praise, deciding to reward him for his good behavior. “And?”

His breathing was becoming slightly uneven now and it was taking all of his willpower to not turn the tides and pound you into the mattress. Gods, the things you did to him were enough to drive him crazy. 

“A-and,” he paused, a moan ripping out of him as you slammed your hips against his. “That’s it, right there. Please, don’t stop now. You’re perfect.”

His kisses were becoming more sloppy against your skin as he teased one of your nipples with his tongue, eliciting a moan out of you as you leaned into his touch. You tightened your grip on his hair and smiled at the way he melted into the palm of your hand. Just the sight of him desperately trying to keep it together was enough to make you even wetter as you continued bouncing on his cock. 

“Ahh, please,” he whined, bucking his hips up into you, reaching deeper inside you as you buried your head in the crook of his neck, your moans and heavy breathing only warming his ears. “Y/N, it’s like you were made for me, for this… Nobody else can fuck me the way you do.”

A sharp cry came from you as a padded thumb found your clit, rubbing gently in tandem with his thrusts and your grinding. “Fuck, Fíli, you’re doing so good. Keep talking, please.” 

Between his whining voice and the sheer pleasure of you riding him, you could tell you were getting close. 

And between your dominating attitude and the way your pussy was drowning his cock, he was also very close to the brink. 

But that dominating attitude was quickly whittling away with every thrust of your lover as he bullied his cock deeper inside you, going faster and harder as he sent you bouncing on his cock. Your hands moved to steady themselves on his shoulders, digging your nails and leaving red marks on his war-scarred skin just to anchor yourself as best as possible.

“You’re driving me wild, Y/N–” He was barely keeping himself coherent now as his thrusts sent you bouncing on his cock with such intensity that you were starting to go dumb. “Fuck, I’m getting close now.”

“Fíli, don’t stop,” you pleaded, biting into his shoulder now to keep yourself from melting into his violent pacing. “Come on now, we can hang in there a little longer, hm?”

He let out a guttural moan at your words, knowing it would be more fun if he complied. 

“Anything for you, ghivashel,” he whined in between thrusts, trying his best to hold out. “Gods, you’re so warm, so tight. You’re so fucking perfect. I could fuck you like this forever–”

More babbling spewed from your lover’s lips as he lost himself in the overwhelming pleasure of your pussy pulsing around his length as you came. 

Your grip on his shoulders tightened as his name was all you could scream, his thrusts slowing down enough for you to ride your high before quickly speeding back up so he could chase his own. Tears brewed in your eyes as the overstimulation was starting to hit you, feeling so sensitive that pain and pleasure seemed one and the same now. You bit his shoulder harder this time, knowing it would certainly leave a mark in the morning, and the next few thrusts led to him painting your walls white. 

A mixture of him and you was beginning to leak out from where you were connected as the two of you could only swallow each other’s moans in the sloppiest kiss imaginable. His hands rubbing soothing circles into your back now as your own moved to massage his now tender shoulders.

“Shall we keep going?” You grinned, feeling him begin to grow hard again as you moved yourself against him.

“Give me just a moment to recover,” he breathed. “But absolutely.”

[thesharktanksdriver]

A wish for a happy life (romantic)

The Readers gender I’ve tried to leave ambiguous

This is being made when there’s only 4 episodes out (and I haven’t yet seen them all) so there may be inaccuracies to stuff later revealed but who cares!

I got inspiration to write this after seeing @ice-cream-writes-stuff bucchigiri fic that you can find here. Please check it out

There need to be more fanfics for this show pleaseeeeee 🙏🏻

To say you were a handful as a child was an understatement

From the moment you could remember anything your knuckles were always bruised and bloodied

Bruises littering your arms like medals of a successfully won fight

Tousled hair and busted lips

Glowering and prideful eyes daring someone to be next

Fighting was almost as natural as breathing to you back then

Speaking with your fists to get across the message of not being messed with as playground bullies ran off

Violence was all you knew as a way to get attention

Crying and begging for the orphanage attendants or preschool teachers to listen was for naught

They brushed it off

Crying was white noise

But the yelling and sounds of an arm being broken on school property was heard loud and clear

On all accounts you should’ve ended up as a delinquent

For hells sake you even started a gang at some point

On all accounts you were Someone on the “wrong” path in life fated to be some lowlife scum

It was expected of you by just about every grown up

Even looking at yourself in the mirror, busted and broken you knew how you’d likely end up

You didn’t want that but what choice did you have?

You wanted to be loved, to be seen, to have a happy life

But fate didn’t seem to have that cut out for you

…at first

But despite it all

You changed

And it all started with a woman own a small Chinese restaurant and her son

Despite your track record

The scornful look on your lips and gritted teeth as the other children lined up to be picked as you sat off to the side

That kind woman and her son saw you

The kid off to the side

The unwanted

The “trouble child”

And despite the fact they should’ve picked one of the more well behaved kids they chose you

Arajin often talks about the look on your face that day

The pure disbelief

Shock

Confusion

And most of all the tears

The expression of finally being seen for the first time in your life without having to quite literally pummeling it into someone

Your expression remained that when they brought you home

A room already made for you and left for you to eventually decorate how you want

That night laying in your new bed you vowed you’d change

You’d put your life on track

Not only for yourself but for your new family

Arajin (platonic)

Arajin can removed with a whole heart the first time he met you

It was before bringing you into the family

He was training with Matakara at the time as some older kids from some gang showed up

They were probably gonna rough them up

Arajin was ready to fight when suddenly someone beat them to the punch

“Oi! You fucking meatheads I told you to leave civ’s alone!” You stood there, a scowl on your face as the others cowered. Your eyes turned to him and Matakara, sympathy flashing through the hardened eyes of steel and diamond. The unspoken words of “I’m sorry” in them.

After that he saw you around town

Never going up to you but watching in curiosity

Maybe once upon a time he’d see you like any other punk

But that day changed something

There was compassion in your eyes

Even compassion in the way you seemed to fight for others without admitting it

He could see at heart you were a good person

Someone who fought for others because no one fought for them

He didn’t know why you did what you did until he and mom ended up at that orphanage

And in the back he saw you there

To the side with a resented sadness

Knowing you would never be picked

Never be loved

Never have a good life

His eyes connected with yours and he swears he sees them widen in that moment

You were seen

You were chosen

You could have a good life now

That night he remembers your silent sobs of joy in the next room over

The next morning he design comment on your reddened eyes and neither does mom

Both just focus on how you eat with a smile

Still a little jittery as if wondering if this was real

He pats your shoulder to remind you it is

In the months following he can’t help but smile when noticing your room grow with things of your interest

The way you seem to find clothes that properly fit you

The way in which you talk with him while cooking with mom

You grow with him

Hang out with Matakara who welcomes you with open arms

When he becomes interested in base you save up your buy him one for his birthday and when it comes yours he does the same bit with a drum set

In every way possible Arajin sees you change for the better

Perhaps your temper never went away but you know how to handle it now

Use it for good

Use it without lashing out wildly

He sees that you help mom out, call her mom too

You call him Ara, call him your brother

In every way possible you look out for him as best you can

When he looses his old physique and dream you take the place of protector instead

No matter the situation you step up for him even if his idiotic actions lead to his ass being beaten

You love him like he’s actually your brother

And he loves you the same

When moving back to the graffiti covered hometown you both were born in he can’t help but see your nervous

It’s easy to tell for him since he sees past your stoic facade

Your hands fidget

Eyes glancing from place to place

Breath getting heavy

When your shared teacher talks about the class he sees your hands fidget once more

For so long you’ve protected him

And in the moment your both in front of the class he protect you

He introduces you by his nickname for you

Your stoic face breaking a little with gratitude before he immediately sits down beside a cute girl in the back of the class

You aren’t surprised, damn horny teenage boys

The sentiment of what he did thought resonates with you though

Much more than you’d ever admit to your stupid little sleez of brother

That girl he’s looking at with goo goo eyes is trouble (also vaguely familiar)

But you’d be damned if he’d get his asskicked if you weren’t there to save him

…….later on when he ends up in a temple almost completely naked and ends up shooting both himself and you with two old ass guns you almost give him the ass kicking of the century

But fortunately for him you don’t

But unfortunately for the both of you two beings appear instead

“Ara, when we get home I’m kicking you in the ass for shooting me in the stomach”

“Just don’t kill me before I lose my virginity”

“God your a degenerate”

Senya and Astḗr (platonic)

The two Majin appear from a burst of smoke swirling smoke of red’s and purples

Two magical beings demanding to know what both your and your brothers wish was

The Majin your brother was granted is much more intimidating in nature than yours who leisurely relaxes on a cloud

Their much more and lithe androgynous appearance paired with an elegant and sly smile

Whilst Senya pokes at Arajin for being a wimp, Astḗr stares at you with interest in their golden eyes

A curious expression on their face as they examine your glare of both fear and defence

A lavender tinged hand reaches out

Your frozen in fear

And then-

“Kyaaa!! You’re such an adorable human!” The Majin wraps their arms around you, choking you in a massive hug as the other lightly laughs at their behaviour. “Ah! Mind my manners! I’m Aster, now what’s your wish?”

“Huh?…w…what?”

“What’s your wish?”

“My wish?…” you think it over for a moment before a memory plays in your head as you one night watched a shooting star “I wish happy life”

The Majin grins at that, “as you wish”

And then Arajin wishes to lose his virginity which makes you and the two Majin stare at him in both shock and disbelief

Before you them rightfully punch Arajin in the head for both shooting you and wasting a wish for literally anything in the world

Meanwhile both Majin laugh their metaphorical asses off

The Majin are only seen by you and Arajin despite Ara trying to get others to see the two

Despite the fact that you had a mental breakdown when first meeting Senya and Astḗr you become quickly used to their presence

Senya is the more battle hungry of the two, enthusiastically asking you of your past experiences once hearing you had your fair share

Despite his initial impression he seems to be quite a fun guy

He even has an almost puppy like expression at times when you explain new human things as Aster listens with a look of amazement

Speaking of Aster your Majin is seemingly the youngest

Apparently their first time even experiencing the human world

Senya has granted wishes a couple times within the span of few centuries but Aster is doing it for the first time

It leaves Senya looking on like a big brother as Aster engages with you with enthusiasm

You soon realize though that your wish for a happy life was soon much more complicated than you initially wishes

“Aster why am I seeing shojo anime sparkles?!?”

The Majin giggles “well you said you wanted a happy life right! Well I watched some of those shows your mom was watching and some fairytales and well…they seem to be living a really happy life! Plus you used to live here right? Whats more happy and romantic than reuniting with your old friends!”

As much as you like Aster your gonna strangle them

Mahoro (romantic)

The girl your brother is listing after and sits beside seems worryingly familiar to you

Even she seems to notice this as she looks your way as Ara is too love stricken to notice she’s looking behind him

It’s so odd

She rings a bell in your head yet you can’t place a finger on it

Until it’s after school and you end up at a small stationary shop selling cute stuff

Even back in your delinquent days you had a soft spot for cute stuff

It was a secret you hid in the depths of your soul for your reputation

Except to two people in particular

One of which who you gifted a small my melody keychain to match your kuromi one

In that small store you pick out the cutest stuff of your dreams without any hesitation you used to have

By the time you leave your bag is filled to the brim

It’s there you bump into that pretty girl

She looks at you with big pink eyes

And it’s there passing her you notice her my melody phone charm

It’s there you realize it’s “Mai-chan” as you used to affectionately call her

The only person you felt comfortable in talking about your love for cute things

Back in the day she used to have the biggest crush on you

She’d follow you around and cling to you like a stray puppy and glaring at anyone in a 3 feet radius

She even had the gull to argue with her big bro about being to close to you

In retrospect maybe a little obsessive but at the time she was one of the few you felt…soft with plus it was probably just puppy love

Around everyone you had to be ready for a fight

You were the ruthless leader of a gang after all

You couldn’t have to to just simply sit down and enjoy something like Sanrio

Someone but yourself to put bandaids and wrap your bruised knuckles

But with her you let your guard down

She was someone you could simply be you with

And because of that, because you were her shield and someone who would genuinely listen to her

You could simply be you and she could be herself without people just perceiving her for her looks

When you were adopted though you cut contact for everyone’s sake

Because how would she feel if she saw you were a completely different person

In some sense you were ashamed

In another you thought it was best for anyone to know

When you leave the shop she stares at the kuromi merchandise you bought

Distantly you hear her nickname for you but you pretend to ignore it

When Ara asks about his prospects with his “sweet Mahoro-chan~” you can’t help but sigh

She’s doing that old habit of luring guys in for her brother to beat up since you won’t do it anymore

You tried to warn Ara but you assume you’ll have to step in personally when the time comes

“Oni-chan! I think I saw them again! And they’re hanging out with some boy! You know what that means!”

Matakara (romantic)

The moment you stood up for him and Arajin as kids he looked up to you

Despite the fact you were the leader of those kids you clearly had morals

Even watching your fights against other kids he noticed you were honourable

And that’s something that stuck with him

Sure, it didn’t take much for you to bloody your knuckles but you didn’t play dirty

You fought fair

Sure maybe you were rough around the edges but he saw in you like Arajin a kindness

One that was on display that day and even more so when you were taken in

He didn’t know you for very long until you and your family moved but when he did it was something he’d never forget

You were more kind at heart than he imagined

When he an Arajin would train you’d alway cheer them on and have celebratory snacks ready

When he pushed himself to the limit of got hurt you’d patch him up

Washing his scrapes and putting cute little bandaids on them

He was heartbroken when you left and as were you

So it’s a surprise when he suddenly sees Arajin again

And by extension that means your back too

When you both run into each other again your much more happy than Arajin

In fact his men can hardly believe it when he’s suddenly tackled hugged by you

Never can he but he then spins you around in pure joy

All the while his men Zabu and Komao watch in awe

Before you turn your attention to them

And pause

And then turn back to Matakara with an expression which could only be described as “pissed and wanting an explanation”

So turns out he joined a gang

And turns out you don’t like that much since you then suplex him onto the ground

Of all the things he learned from you it should’ve been not to get affiliated with gangs

It’s literally what you told him and Ara everyday

But nope, this block headed puppy dog did the one thing you told him not to do

Zabu and Komao almost attack you if not for Matakara laughing it off

Even if your upset with his decision he’s at least happy that your still the same you

Temperamental but compassionate

Sturdy yet gentle

Stoic and emotional all at the same time

He asks if sometime you’d like to have lunch or train at the dojo his relatives own and you agree

But only if it’s non gang related and he smiles

Zabu and Komao can practically see hearts buzzing around him and the gentle look in his eyes as you leave

They can’t really blame him for it either

“Other than joining a gang (which I’m still upset about) what have you been doing?” You ask sitting down beside him with your bento box and his. Mom made one specially for him

“Well I’ve been training. Arajin may have given up but I haven’t, it seems like you still train too” he says with the same kind smile as usual

You feel yourself get a bit flustered at that “how else am I supposed to keep that idiot brother of mine safe. I swear he walks into danger sometimes” at that Matakara laughs in agreement.

Marito (romantic)

Back when you started your gang there was only ever one person that ever came close to your strength and that was Marito

When you had defeated him it was as if he became a parasite that latched onto you (you say this lovingly and out of annoyance)

He had stuck with you like glue and became your right hand man

Quite literally helping you claw your way to the top of the metaphorical food chain

Marito and his sister were the only two people at the time that saw you for who you were

Saw where you’d slink back off to at night

Saw how utterly hopeless and alone you felt

You were strong yes, that’s what drew him to you in the first place

It was (as he says) “love at first fight”

But beyond that he began to see the person who did his sisters hair

Gave other tips In how to throw a proper punch

Allowed their mask to break In his presence and crumble

It made him grow to love you more

Respect you more

And most importantly grow to care for you despite your inability to properly see it

Despite what you thought so many people respected and looked up to you

Him included

For fucks sake his own sister got jealous when he once had to carry you or when your attention was on him too much

You didn’t see this though, perhaps couldn’t with the constant feeling of invisibility and insecurity instilled into you at birth

It’s because of this that one day you seemingly disappeared and left a note saying you gave up your position as leader to him

It hurt

It hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit

everyone felt your absence, him and Mahoro especially

But despite that Marito never gave up on trying to find you

He would get it through your thick head one way or another that he cared for you

That he loved you damn it

And if there was one thing people would agree on about Marito is was that he never gave up on something

Especially for someone he loves

So when years pass he’s still looking for you when something catches his attention

His sister mentions that she thought she saw you

It seems you were back

And with a guy? Who was also once again wrapped around her finger

He wasn’t surprised at that but moreso you were with someone

So maybe after that he got a little bit heated more than usual when interrupting Mahoro’s “date” with him to beat the shit out of him

And maybe he does get a little obsessed with his punch

And then you show up with that beautiful stoic and cold look on your face as you give him your famous combo moves

And he falls in love with you all over again

I mean how can he not?

Especially when he punch back and you simply spit the blood out to the pavement

And how can he not be jealous when you go help Arajin before realize through a now pissy Mahoro (upset he got to be within 4 feet of you) that’s your brother

From the look on his face of lovesick and determined you can’t help but feel a bit nervous in class with Arajin as Mahoro practically looks behind you and you hear some footsteps quickly approaching your classroom

“Looks like big boss is back in town! I wonder how long I’ll need to fight them to get it in their thick head how much I love them” he says kicking his feet as newer members look in confusion. The older one though know

“Oni-chan you better not hog them from me!” A huffy Mahoro grumbles

You really wish you could’ve wished for something else

Your having the feeling Arajin wishes the same

It seems they were right about having wishes always turn out in the worst of ways

Senya and Astḗr don’t seem to be doing it maliciously but rather out of obliviousness

But maybe it was both your faults for not asking for a straight forward wish from two entities that haven’t interacted with humans for centuries (or for in Astḗr’s case ever)

[lisaslosingstreak]

Inspired by @homicydlgoth - final episode of S3 Wednesday.

“You NEVER really were my friend, were you Wednesday? Every time I tried to get close to you, you just ran away. You sabotaged my relationships, you hated all of them, you never supported me.”

“Enid I….”

“SHUT IT ADDAMS!!! (tears start) I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU. You couldn’t believe in me or even try and meet me in the middle at any point. thought there was a nice girl under all the psychobitch persona but wow I was so wrong. I don’t EVER want to speak to you again. I’m GLAD this is our last day. Goodbye FOREVER you fucking psycho.” (starts to storm out with bags)

“ENID DONT LEAVE PLEASE! (Enid turns round) CAN’T YOU SEE I LOVE YOU? (Starts ugly crying).”

“What?” (Walks back to Wends and grabs her hands which are covering her face as she sobs)

“(sniffs) From the first moment I saw you I was in love with you. I didn’t know it back then but after Crackstone I realised. Every waking moment I think of you, you haunt all my dreams at night. I am so totally gone for you I fear for my sanity. I once said you left an indelible mark on me, but it was more like a hot iron branding my black heart with your name. I have been driven insane by you I don’t know myself any more. I have tried to show you how I feel so many times as I was always too scared to be direct and tell you but each time I messed up and upset you. “

“I used to have dreams of becoming a happy recluse, a famous author or detective but my only dream now is to kiss you, to hold you, to grow old with you, to walk into the afterlife with you. I am such a coward. Look at me - the scary Wednesday Addams, too timid to reveal my true feelings to my best friend, the love of my life. I don’t deserve to call myself an Addams. I will do anything for you, but PLEASE don’t walk out like this.”

Enid, smiling broadly as she wipes Wends tears away “You had me at I love you Willa”

Wednesday looks up into those endless blue eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“For such a clever student you can be as dumb as anything sometimes. Just kiss me already.”

Wednesday desperately pulls Enid to her, holding the back of her neck to pull her down for their first kiss, messy and urgent. Enid kicks the door closed as they break for air before she speaks. Wednesday is kiss drunk, her bangs in disarray and pink lipstick all around her mouth. Her eyes are open wide, she is struggling to catch her breath.

“Well I guess you’re mine now huh?” Enid asks in a husky voice, also trying to catch her breath.

“Cara mia, I already was, and always will be.”

[lavendermunson]

cards - eddie munson

day 3 of leia's christmas tree farm

cw eddie struggles with mental health, eddie's pov. henderson!reader (no physical descriptions). angst. exes to lovers. inspired by a scene from love actually.

Eddie is a mess right now. He sits on the couch of his trailer, his right leg bouncing as his foot taps loudly into the floor. In his head, breaking up with you was the best thing he could ever do to protect you from all his mood swings, tantrums, and anger episodes.

But he fucked up, you haven’t talked to him for a month and it’s killing him. He missed you, he let you go for a stupid, stupid reason and he regrets it every day of his damned existence. 

The phone rings so loudly that it makes him flinch. As annoyed as Eddie can get, he picks up the phone and shouts “What do you want” to the person on the end of the line. As good as his luck can get, it’s only your brother, Dustin. 

“I’ll be quick, my sister is going out with a weird guy. Well, he is not weird, he is just Drew and he isn't you, Eddie. I know she loves you, I know you love her and this guy isn’t good for her. Please do something! They are watching a movie at his house! GO NOW!”

Dustin hangs up the phone, leaving Eddie speechless. Jealousy crawls over his body, he holds the phone so tight his knuckles turn white. He knows this guy, he has been in his house for a couple of parties and even if Drew is not the worst person ever, he still has something that Eddie loves, something Eddie wants.

He makes a plan and after an hour Eddie gets in his van and turns on his walkie-talkie to talk to Dustin on his way. It has to be perfect. 

When Eddie arrives at his destination, he hears the phone ring inside the house. That was his sign to knock on the door, not too hard but with his hand shaking in desperation.

You open the door and Eddie’s heart melts, you look so beautiful. Even more beautiful than he remembers, his memory doesn't do justice to your perfect and beautiful face. He lets out a nervous sigh as his breath comes out in a cloud from the cold. He holds the cue cards in his hands and presses the play button on the boombox to a Christmas song sung by a random caroling group. He begins to pass the cards.

He feels so lucky you didn’t close the door on his face, that was a great sign.

‘I’m sorry, I know I fucked up’

You cross your arms over your chest, wrapping the blanket you had around yourself to warm you up while the cold wind hits the front porch. 

‘I love you, since that time in the sandbox’

‘Remember? I found a ladybug and gave it to you’

A voice comes from inside the house, you jump at the sudden scream. 

“Hey, who is that?” your date asks while holding the phone in his hand. “I’m getting a huge deal on family video tapes over here!”

Oh, and Steve is going to kill Dustin.

“Great!” you reply, looking over at the guy with the red phone in his ear, excited to hear how a little kid tricks him. Only he is oblivious about it. “Just carol singers, I got it”

And you return your attention to Eddie, who nervously passes to the other cue cards as you read them carefully, while his knees keep shaking. He has been planning this for hours, and it’s not what you deserve but it’s just a start. He thinks he can do better and he is going to.

‘Because we used to believe ladybugs…’

“Are for good luck since one landed on my hand the day we kissed for the first time”

You say, and Eddie nods with the biggest smile on his face. His cheeks hurt with the cold weather. He feels his fingers cramp, his arms are about to give out and he needs a better jacket but that didn’t cross his mind because you are in it. All the time.

‘I’m in love with you, that’s never going to change’

‘You make me better, kind, smarter…’

‘I miss you’

‘My life has no meaning without you’

He sees you crying, tears rolling down your cheeks making Eddie’s heart break like shattered glass because he knows he caused all of this mess. He just wants to fix it because he has lost a million opportunities by running away, this time he is doing the opposite and he is trying, he is trying. 

“Are you gonna watch the movie?” Right, you are on a date. With a guy who has never broken your heart, while Eddie begs for forgiveness feeling almost stupid for it.

The final cue card comes, and Eddie has lost all of his hope. But it’s worth a try.

‘You are the love of my life, the only one I want’

The music stops. Both standing in silence, while Eddie holds his bleeding heart on his hands and you keep crying, bottom lip quivering and red cheeks hurting while you try to hold a smile.

“I- I’m sorry Eddie” 

You take a step back and close the door. The dungeon master admits his defeat, picking the cue cards from the floor and the boombox from the steps on the porch. Walking to his van before collapsing on the snow.

He had to try. He had hope, he lost it, he lost you and now he will be heartbroken for the rest of his life. No matter how many friends he has, how many metal records he owns, and how many concerts he performs. Life would be nothing without you. 

Once he gets in his vehicle his hands grip the steering wheel and he starts crying. He touches his chest, just where his heart is. The cold, his heartbreak, the thought of him losing the only person he loved other than Wayne. It’s too much and he honestly doesn’t know if he can handle it. 

His sobs get cut when someone knocks on the window of the passenger seat, Eddie glances at the door ready to scream the loudest ‘FUCK OFF’ of his life with all the anger in his chest. 

“You are the love of my life too, Eddie. I love you”

You hop on the van and kiss him. A soft but gentle dance of lips, mixed with tears. It’s so tender, so soft… it erases the what-ifs, the sadness, and the tiny little voice in Eddie’s head that used to torture him. And now, as you hold him. He knows it was worth the risk, he knows he should stop running away from everything. And that Christmas miracles exist, according to Dustin.

reblog to support your creators! comments are appreciated !! ♡ thank you for following my christmas event, remember you can still request a gift!

[nctangelz]

sick birthday girl 💌🧸🎂🤍✨

— synopsis: sooyoung has a little too much fun at her 21st birthday party — and jaemin comes to tuck her in bed and nurse her back to health.

— warnings: mentions of throwing up, food poisoning, slight mention of drinking, kissing, small amount of angst

outfit: #1, #2

THE NIGHT WAS YOUNG at sooyoung’s birthday party — with every one of sooyoung’s closest friends and nct in attendance, but the only person missing was the birthday girl herself. sooyoung didn’t want to be missing out on her birthday party, but the mixture of strawberry cake and vodka did not settle well, and she was getting violently sick in the vibrating bathroom. sooyoung couldn’t help but cry as she sat on the cold bathroom floor, she was missing her own party! she wanted to be out there, singing and dancing with all of her friends - but her body was not forgiving her for her naive mistake.

she had been busy all morning preparing for her party, making sure everything was perfect and how she imagined, she only had one decent meal before people started arriving. her sweet tooth caved, and she had way too many pieces of her cake along with too many shots with her friends. sooyoung wished she just would have went for the wings table instead of the sweets.

soon enough, she heard a knock of the door, the person not even giving her a chance to respond before it was opened, revealing a confused jaemin.

“sooyoungie, what’s wrong?” jaemin asked, rushing to the girls side, pulling her hair back just as she was leaning over to get sick again. “oh, sooyoungie. how much have you had to drink?”

sooyoung whined as harming rubbed her back, crying once again once the episode was over. “i hate this.” sooyoung said, flushing the toilet and slumping against the wall.

“i know honey, i know.” jaemin whispered. “what happened?” jaemin asked, frowning when sooyoung continued to cry.

“i barely ate anything today, so i binged on the cake. and i lost count on how much i had to drink tonight, so that’s probably not a good sign either.” sooyoung sighed, looking over at jaemin sadly. “you don’t have to be in this stinky room with me, i’ll be okay. go have fun.” sooyoung said, swallowing down another sob.

“i’m not leaving you, soo, you’re the birthday girl. you’re the whole reason i’m here, so why would i leave you?” jaemin said, pulling the girl into a hug, shushing her as she began to cry again. sooyoung couldn’t help but feel her heart swoon as jaemin spoke to her so sweetly, only to feel it break seconds later. jaemin always knew the way to make her feel special, to make her feel so loved - but she knows she can’t allow herself to feel deeply about him. it could ruin everything, and she couldn’t afford that.

“do you feel like you are going to get sick again?” jaemin asked, pulling back when sooyoung whispered no, bringing the girl to her feet. “let me see what i can find to clean you up.” jaemin said, leading her to sit down on the toilet. the boy found a washcloth and mouthwash, so he filled the cap with a decent amount of mouthwash, and dampened the cloth with warm water.

after sooyoung rinsed her mouth, jaemin gently washed her face for her. he might have looked at her lips too long - maybe he swiped her mouth with his thumb without reason, letting it feel the softness of her puffy lips too long for it to be considered an accidental touch - but sooyoung couldn’t tell. she was in too much of a daze to make sense of things. jaemin looked up into her eyes, taking a deep breath when he saw her beautiful, big brown orbs. he cleared his throat and stood up, quickly putting everything away.

jaemin closed his eyes and collected himself - he couldn’t seem to push down the tingling sensation in his stomach - and when he looked over at sooyoung sitting with her legs crossed, her hair messed up and her makeup smudged, he could barely ignore his thumping heart.

“do you want to go back to the party, or go sleep?”jaemin asked softly, cooing when sooyoung only burst into tears again. “oh sweetie, don’t cry. please don’t cry. i know you feel bad - but everyone will understand.” jaemin reassured, brushing the hair out of the girls face.

“why are you being so nice to me?” sooyoung asked, sniffling and looking up at jaemin. “you didn’t have to stay with me, you know. you could’ve left me. but you stayed, even though you knew i could have thrown up on you any second.”

jaemin was taken aback by her question, quickly swallowing and answering, “because we are friends, and i care for you. friends don’t leave eachother when they are down.” jaemin said, sighing when sooyoung frowned at him. he could feel the atmosphere turn tense quickly, awkwardly swallowing the lump in his throat.

truth to be told - he hasn’t been the nicest to sooyoung recently. he’d been avoiding her - turning around when she’s in the living room, making up excuses when she asks to hang out, taking a longer time to respond to her texts. he knows it’s not fair to sooyoung, but it’s the only way he can keep himself from exploding and expressing his affection for sooyoung. ever since his managers warning - he’s been extra cautious around sooyoung, desperately trying to let go of his feelings for the girl.

it wasnt fair - but surely sooyoung would understand if he told her. but he couldn’t tell her - so he had to deal with the guilty conscience of knowing he was hurting his best friend.

sooyoung forced a smile, deciding to drop the elephant in the room - for now, at least. she could save the confrontation when she was sober.

“i want to go to sleep. i intended to spend the night anyways, so i already have an overnight bag in your room.” sooyoung shared, smiling when jaemin nodded.

“do you want me to stop the party?” jaemin asked, furrowing his eyebrows when sooyoung shook her head. “you’re going to be able to sleep through all this racket?”

“i can fall asleep anywhere, let them have their fun. just not renjun’s room, please. i’m pretty sure i saw him go in there with one of my old school friends.”

jaemin closed his eyes and laughed, shaking his head at renjun’s antics. “you can sleep in my room. i promise not to hook up with your friends.” jaemin joked, smiling when sooyoung laughed, helping her up. jaemin helped to girl walk up the stairs, holding his breath as she stumbled around.

he watched as sooyoung went to sit in the middle of his bed, struggling to pull the pink ribbons out of her curly hair. jaemin smiled at the girl, sitting behind her and uniting them, gently brushing out her hair for her. a sweet moment like this reminded jaemin on just how much he missed this girl, his dream girl.

“i could fall asleep right here,” sooyoung sighed, giggling when jaemin scratched her back, “you aren’t helping me!”

sooyoung slowly crawled out of the bed and grabbed her bag, smirking at jaemin and going to the bathroom to change.

this girl will be the death of jaemin.

jaemin quickly got nervous as he waiting for sooyoung to come back - would she want him to stay and sleep next to her? he doesn’t think his heart could stand seeing her sprawled out against his bed, her hair fanned against his pillow, and her soft, plump lips resting open. he wouldn’t be able to stand listening to her breaths, feel her chest move up and down next to him.

sooyoung didn’t help his struggle when she came out of the bathroom, wearing pajamas that fit her just right, showing just enough skin for jaemin to feel a sweat arising. he quickly looked away and stood up out of his bed, sitting on his beanbag in the corner of his room.

“you know, in the seven years i’ve known you, we never have had a sleepover just by ourselves.” sooyoung said, snuggling under jaemin’s warm covers.

“and you’ve had sleepovers with the rest of the members?” jaemin questioned, raising an eyebrow at the girl. he knew her and monique slept over time to time - but never knew about her sleeping in any of the boys rooms.

“just dream. and monique.” sooyoung said shrugging the question away. jaemin couldn’t help but feel jealous, but he quickly set it aside. it wasn’t his place to feel jealous over sooyoung.

“come lay with me, jae! i’m so lonely over here.” sooyoung pleaded, giving jaemin her best puppy eyes. “this bed has plenty of room for the both of us!”

jaemin knew he shouldn’t. if he got in bed with her, he would never be able to let her go. he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without her on his side again. he would never want to sleep alone ever again.

while he knew all of these things - he still stood up, and layed down right next to her, turning his head to look at her. everything about her was so beautiful in jaemin’s eyes, he loved how her nose was slightly crooked, how her left side of her mouth came up higher than her right when she smiled…all of her imperfections she would complain about, he loved.

sooyoung couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the man next to her, the man she had allowed to fill a special place in her heart for years, a man she spent countless of nights dreaming about, a man who she loved - her little secret she couldn’t share with anyone. she could feel her heart race as she took in all of his features, allowing herself to move even closer to him, until their noses were touching.

he smelled so sweet, his breath smelling of strawberries and wine. she wished she could have a taste, and before she could get the chance, jaemin hurriedly pulled away and bounced out of the bed.

“you’re drunk, sooyoung. we shouldn’t do this.” jaemin stated, bringing a hand down across his face, as if to wipe away sooyoung’s scent. “you don’t know what you are doing.”

sooyoung could feel a sharp pain go through her heart at her words - even if she was in a drunken haze - she did know what she was doing. “this isn’t a drunken impulse, i want this. i want you, and i’m tired of pretending like i don’t.” sooyoung whispered, slowly sitting up in the bed, hurriedly pulling her night shirt down.

“soo, you aren’t in the right state of mind. you won’t remember any of this tomorrow, you’re intentions aren’t real.” jaemin said, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself, not sooyoung.

“but what i feel for you is real. this is real, and i can’t help but feel like it’s real for you too.” sooyoung said, pointedly staring at jaemin, sighing when he only turned away from her burning gaze. sooyoung knew that this could have been a mistake. why did she allow herself to burst out like this? she knew that if something went wrong, it was over. it was completely over for her, there was no turning back around. she would never be able to truly let go of jaemin without leaving.

jaemin stared at the floorboards for awhile, until he finally gained the nerve to say something. “we can talk about this in the morning, when you’ve sobered up.” jaemin said flatly, knowing by the frustrated whine coming from the girl that he’d said the wrong thing.

“but you won’t talk to me tomorrow. you’ll just keep on ignoring me. when are you going to stop avoiding me? what did i do to make you so incapable of dealing with me?” sooyoung cried, not holding her tears back any longer. jaemin couldn’t handle it, knowing that he was the only one to blame for her tears. so, without any hesitation, jaemin jumped to her side, cradling her in his arms, gently caressing the back of her head until she calmed down.

“you didn’t do anything, sooyoungie. i’m not upset with you, or mad at you. i know shouldn’t have been avoiding you - but i felt like i didn’t have any other choice.” jaemin whispered, sniffling to keep his emotions at bay. he had to hold it together - at least until he could make sooyoung feel better.

“you could have talked to me, you could have said anything to me! and we could have figured it out together.” sooyoung choked out, pushing jaemin away when he tried to hug her again. “tell me what’s going on, right now.” sooyoung demanded, the look in her watery eyes so fierce that it immediately made jaemin cave, spilling his guts out on what has happened the past week, the past couple years.

he told her about how fell in love with her, when she and him were just kids, running home from the school in the rain. he thought she was the most prettiest girl he had seen - and even though she barely spoke to him, she still had the kindness in her heart to use the last dollar she had to buy him a snack. he couldn’t stop noticing everything she did after that. he watched as she helped the other trainees, how she politely listened to everyone’s opinions, how she opened doors and gave every single person such a kind smile.

and then he told her about the warning.

how the manager told him this love was bad news, that it was too dangerous, could be too obvious. people were already talking enough about sooyoung being in a group full of boys - could he possibly imagine what would happen when their speculations of her dating a member finally come true?

“i never want to put you in that position, where you have to choose between me or the career that you have put your entire soul into. and i knew that to keep you happy, i had to stop loving you. and i can’t get over you by feeling the weight of my love everyday when i see you. so i ignored you. and i know you were confused and hurt, and i never wanted that to happen. i’m so sorry, sooyoung. for being so foolish.” jaemin finished, reaching out to hold the girls hand. “i’m not foolish for loving you - because you are so deserving of being loved, but i’m foolish because i hurt you. i hurt someone who is so precious to me.” jaemin whispered, finally letting his tears run down his cheeks. he never expected this to turn out this painful.

“jaemin, please don’t hide anything from me anymore.” sooyoung whispered, squeezing onto the boys hand tightly. “i know you didn’t want to ruin things, or make things awkward and confusing. but i’d much rather have a complicated relationship instead of nothing at all.” sooyoung said, smiling softly when jaemin nodded, resting her head on jaemin’s shoulder.

“you know, i’ve loved you for a long time, too. i just never though you would notice me like that.” sooyoung chuckled softly, wiping jaemin’s tears away softly. “i know this love is messy - but it’s not wrong. why should we let what people say about us prevent us from loving each other?” sooyoung asked, sighing and staring at jaemin. he was so pretty, everything about him was so precious to her, she loved his heart, his soul, his small favors and his kind words and voice, she hated that everyone would think that their love was a crime.

how could such pure and innocent love be wrong?

“it’s not only us that this relationship would affect. it would mess with everyone, our groups reputation…success…we might not be able to release any music until the situation is cleared up.” jaemin pointed out, raising to sit on the bed with her. “you mean the world to me, sooyoung, but this is risky.”

“but to me you’re worth the risk, jaem. i don’t care-” sooyoung started, only to be interrupted by jaemin shaking his head at her.

“don’t say you don’t care if you loose your job, soo. because you would care - this career is everything to you, to both of us. this is the dream that we fought for, so even if you think you would be okay with loosing it all for me, when it actually happens, what are you going to do? what is going to keep you going?” jaemin said, his voice breaking at the end. “and i’m not saying that i don’t want to fight for us, but this is the reality, sooyoung. this is messy, we are crossing the lines between our job and love, and the way this business runs…they aren’t supposed to overlap.”

sooyoung frowned, she knew jaemin was right. if she didn’t have music, she might as well have nothing at all. there wasn’t a day that she didn’t think about music, whether that be listening to others music or creating her own, there wasn’t a day that she didn’t think about dancing. she was always thinking about her art, her work in some sort of way. she wasn’t ready to let it go anytime soon, but she couldn’t handle having jaemin so close to her, yet so far away any longer.

“can we just try, jaem? try and make it work?” sooyoung asked, almost melting in jaemin’s hand when he brushed away her hot tears on her cheeks. “i don’t want to let you go.”

jaemin closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, and when he opened them, he knew he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. without a second thought, he carefully leaned in closer to sooyoung, bringing a soft hand to rest on her waist, the other gently tilting her chin towards him. when he kissed her, he knew that there was no going back. he held her with such tender love, sooyoung felt like her heart was going to burst at the seams for the boy. there was no rush between them, they took their time, letting all of their emotions connect and rush through eachother.

“we can make this work.” jaemin whispered against sooyoung’s lips, leaning down to leave one final kiss before swooping her up in his arms, rolling them onto the bed. “i love you,” jaemin whispered, smiling when sooyoung just giggled and hid her face in his neck. “god, it feels so good to say that.”

“it feels so good to have my jaemin back,” sooyoung said, bringing her head up to look at the boy, her boy, leaving a gentle kiss on his cheek. “i thought i was going to loose you forever.”

“i’m not going anywhere now, angel.” jaemin said, smiling when sooyoung nodded, relaxing her body against his own. “i’ll love you, forever and always”.

forever and always, and that was the truth. when you fall in love with someone like sooyoung - there’s no letting go. there’s no saying goodbye, because sooyoung was a girl that everyone remembered. that everyone adored, and jaemin couldn’t be more happier when he knew that sooyoung was going to let him love her like he always wanted to. let him treat her right, let him really know her.

let him be hers.

[cheollipop]

first of all HI HELLO IM SORRY FOR SPAM REBLOGGING ALL OF YOUR STUFF now that that’s out of the way…. speaking of idol radio when they were playing the “i love you” game and one mr being yunhos first step was like 5 feet long?!?!?!?!? all i could imagine was like teasing him all day and he’s finally had enough and is stalking up to you like that while trapping you against the wall i’m gonna scream he’s been bias wrecking me for like two months now and it’s SICK

THANK YOU FOR REBLOGGING OMG??? please don't apologize,, I love getting feedback and I am now crying happy tears in the corner of my room.

I've only watched random clips from that episode (it seems like atz are celebrating pride month wholeheartedly btw) and ikr?? everyone being whipped for yunho is so valid like... I'd be fighting every single member for him if I were them too. he just HAS to use those long ass legs to bias wreck me even more--so I get you on that dw skfjje

(this ended up being a gn!reader drabble btwww)

no bc imagine after a long day of filming, his eyes trailing off the cameras to you—sitting cross-legged behind the director, complimenting all the members except him after every scene then looking up at him through your eyelashes, blinking innocently as though you were unaware of what you were doing. the music video shoot took longer than usual, the crew sharing bewildered glances as—out of everybody—yunho repeatedly messed up the choreography.

clad in yunho's puffer jacket, you made your way back to the dressing rooms after the shoot with him trailing behind you, waiting for the soft click of the door before turning around to face him. a shiver ran down your spine at his narrowed eyes, a visible twitch moving his left eyebrow as he continued his steps towards you. long, toned legs moved forward and you instinctively cowered back, your palms swinging behind you until they collided with the painted wall.

now trapped between yunho's towering body and the cool concrete, you blinked up at him cautiously, noting the subtle clench of his jaw.

"having fun?" he spoke, voice gruff and strained as his molars grinded over each other.

you stiffled the sly smile teasing at the corners of your mouth, tilting your head in faux naivety. "what do you mean?"

"(y/n)," he sucked in sharp breath, leaning in until his face was mere centimeters from yours, his eyes wide and threatening. "are you gonna behave?"

your shoulders stiffened up, his eyes glancing at your frozen body before moving back up to your face. you kept up the facade, though, despite the warm hand trailing up your hip and under your top, fingers digging into the bare skin of your waist.

"yuyu, I-"

"what's it gonna take, hm? do you want me to stuff you full of cum—have you leaking through your pretty little panties so the others could see you're mine?" He pressed his body flush against yours, wrapping his arm around your waist and bring you even closer. "is that what you want?"

timidly, you nodded, a breathy moan blowing over yunho's chin when he pressed his hardening cock into your hip.

he scoffed, "look at you, so docile and needy at the mere mention of cock," yunho's voice lowered to a whisper, leaning his head closer to your ear. "is my pretty baby a slut?"

you melted into his touch, burying your face into the crook of his neck and reveling in the hands wandering over your body. "only for you, yuyu."

"mm, that's right," he smiled, his fingers dipping under your waistband. "I guess just I'll have to make sure the others know that too."

(I'm totally sane rn *eye twitch*)

[cinematic-phosphenes]

HoTD S2x01: A Son for a Son (I have thoughts and I'm keeping them here)

The Stark theme and Cregan doing his best Sean Bean accent have me nostalgic.

If getting conscripted to the Wall is an honour, then why does budget Jon Snow look unhappy about it?

No Sara Snow, okay. I’ll live with it. No Jace/Cregan (b)romance, not okay. Tumblr made me want it, only to be so denied by the showrunners.

Not more Targ colonialism erasure. "We colonised an entire continent to save the world, no really. And look, even the noble Starks agree with it!" is such a shit take, even if it's canon. I like the Targ characters, but let's not erase the original Aegon's colonial crimes.

Jace looks so pretty! Major glow up.

Dragonstone has a dragon hangar! Yay for worldbuilding!

Daemon calling Vhagar a hoary old bitch reminds me of this absolutely amazing Vhagar POV fanfic I read. (Soon the god's hoar by eldritcher on AO3) (The fic is spoiler-y for the rest of the Dance, jsyk.)

Yes, Rhaenys! Put Daemon in his place! Also, her dragon riding outfit!!!

Alyn, I see you doing an Egg by shaving your head.

Why in the hell does no one take Helaena’s visions seriously?! She’s right every time. (Can I blame ‘I had a dragon dream once’ Viserys for this? Because I want to blame Viserys for this. Look at the mess you left your kids in, Viserys! I hope Balerion bites your ass in the afterlife.)

And here we see the 'Our lives are in danger, so let's fuck about it' trope in action. I’ve heard a lot of Alicole hot takes. “Criston Cole is ‘unmanly’ for going down on a woman” is the absolute hottest of hot takes I’ve had the misfortune of encountering.

Otto giving Alicent and Criston Cole that look as they walk in. He knows what they’ve been doing.

Aegon grinning at his son like a fool. Aegon giving Jaehaerys attention and wanting him to learn how to rule even though he’s only six. Aegon trying to do better than deadbeat Viserys did. Aegon talking about pony rides in a way that suggests Jaehaerys often gets pony rides, possibly from Aegon himself. If you told me last season Aegon would somehow turn out to be the best father on this series ….. (Yes, I know that when it comes to being a dad the bar is in hell’s basement here. Yes, I know the way Aegon treats his illegitimate kids is horrific. I think there’s definitely been some retconning here and S2 Aegon is not the same character as S1 Aegon. They should have portrayed him this way from the start.)

Alicent wrote Rhaenyra letters to apologize for Luke's death and she's expecting a response?! Girl ....

My kingdom for a scene of the Greens finding out that Aemond killed Luke. My kingdom for a scene of Aemond deciding to just fully commit to the villain persona and lie to say he killed Luke intentionally. Such a missed opportunity.

Larys being an intimidating creep to Alicent again. He should go fall down some stairs.

Alicent scrubbing her skin raw. She is not okay. (I want to see Alicent cracking. Let Olivia Cooke act!)

Rhaenyra’s grief over Luke is heartbreaking. Emma D’Arcy is acting their heart out. And Syrax crying too, nooo.

Aegon walking in sync with his fratboy squad. You know they practised that entrance during one of their nightly seshes in the throne room.

Are they going to show the throne cutting Aegon?

“On further thought, I have decided ….” Aegon is hilarious.

It’s Hammer time!

Larys already angling for the Hand’s position. I know this guy is ambitious, but damn.

Just Alicent looking ethereal reading letters.

Mysaria’s accent has been toned down! (Why was Mysaria fleeing King’s Landing though? Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t get it?)

“We swore an oath to protect the whole of the royal family. So what were we to do when they turned against one another?” Jaime Lannister echoes.

"I want Aemond Targaryen." Chills. Rhaenyra only says four words all episode and it's these four words.

Jace trying to keep it together and be professional to give his report. Jace looking so much younger and more vulnerable when he’s back with his mother. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Scenes with Rhaenyra at Luke’s funeral interspersed with scenes of Alicent paying tribute to the dead, including Luke. My heart. That empty space next to Alicent in the sept where Rhaenyra used to pray. They are an absence in each other’s lives.

Rhaena crying for her betrothed, nooo.

Why didn’t they have a dragon light Luke’s funeral pyre?

The return of the Daemon crime hoodie, now upgraded to a war crime hoodie.

Making it unclear if Daemon told B & C to go after another son if they can’t find Aemond or if B & C just went rogue – that’s a cop out by the writers. Unless it comes up again. EDIT: Daemon said 'a son for a son.' He was giving them carte blanche to go after another son if Aemond is MIA.

Daemon reluctantly admitting Aemond is a good fighter. I love to see it.

Why do I get the sense that Aemond also knows about Alicole?

“Rhaenyra is a cunning spider. Long ago she pulled Alicent into her web. Intoxicated her. It is not your mother’s fault.” “Her Grace speaks with two tongues. Alicent holds love for our enemy.” So they’re both obsessed and very much not over Rhaenyra. Do Alicent and Cole both think of Rhaenyra while being unholy together because it kinda seems like it?

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond is so mesmerizing. That man has presence.

Why the fuck has no one tried to map the secret tunnels into the Red Keep and close off the ones that allow randoms to sneak in/royal minors to sneak out?

The entire Kingsguard is in the throne room guarding Aegon? And they don’t stop the ‘rat catchers’ working at night? Even if the rat catchers were supposed to be there, I feel like it would still be protocol to stop and question them. Have none of these writers been pulled over by the cops for no reason/even slightly suspicious behaviour?

I think the build up to B & C should’ve focused on Helaena and her kids instead of B & C creeping around, arguing for no reason and committing gratuitous animal abuse. (That dog kicking scene looked so real, I watched the end credits for a disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the making of.) They could’ve shown Helaena getting the kids ready for bed, reading them a story, etc. They established a connection between Aegon and Jaehaerys pre B & C but none between Helaena and the kids before it happened. Lost opportunity.

B & C was very different than I expected before I was spoiled. I guess I see what the writers were going for with Helaena’s response to B & C. She’s dissociated rather than hysterical. She’s been painted as a character who’s distanced from the world around her in general, so perhaps this is an in-character trauma response for her. Plus you could see the absolute terror in Phia’s eyes. Helaena was terrified and traumatized. She was just quiet about it.

As for her just pointing out Jaehaerys instead of trying to bargain or plead more for his life … I guess it’s because they’re characterizing her as very literalist, straightforward and honest to a fault as part of her ‘strangeness’? So she just took B & C at their word and didn’t try to change their minds because after the necklace offer failed, she assumed they couldn’t be swayed and would definitely kill her and both kids like they threatened to if she didn’t point out Jaehaerys to them. As for not pointing to Jaehaera – that wouldn’t accomplish anything. If they didn’t check that they really had the boy, one of her kids would still be dead. If they checked and discovered she’d lied, they might kill both kids. She was a mother who didn’t want either of her kids to die but perceived she couldn’t do anything to save both of them, so she felt she had no choice but to point out Jaehaerys. And then she grabbed Jaehaera and got her to safety when she saw the chance. At least she could save one of them.

As for Helaena saying they killed ‘the boy’ instead of saying his name Jaehaerys – I don’t see that as her being insensitive and uncaring about her kid. I think she was just repeating B & C’s exact word use in her dissociated state. She was on auto pilot at that point.

I do get what the writers were going for … but it’s not going to translate well to most of the audience I don’t think. I see many people interpreting it as Helaena not caring about Jaehaerys and not trying hard enough to save him. “Why didn’t she offer up her own life like any mother would?” If a large part of the audience misinterprets or misunderstands a scene or a character’s intentions or motivations, then that’s a failure on the part of the writers IMO. I’m not upset they didn’t make B & C more graphic or violent in the physical or psychological sense. (In the book, their twisted mind games were just as horrific and brutal and every bit as violent as the physical violence). But I do think that scene could have been better executed in a different way. And including Maelor probably would have worked better to illustrate the horrific, inescapable situation Helaena found herself in between a rock and a hard place.

Where the fuck are the guards? In the throne room with Aegon? Sent away by Cole to hide the fact that he’s in the queen dowager’s bed? The Greens never considered infiltration or a stealth attack? They really got complacent because they have Vhagar guarding the city.

Alicent and Cole doing it in Rhaenyra’s old room, in Rhaenyra’s bed!! Are they both imagining they’re with Rhaenyra too?! Because this is giving … high levels of dysfunction. They’re both haunted by Rhaenyra

The only thing I’ll say about Alicole is that they really should have shown them getting together for the first time. When, how and why did that happen? Who instigated it? How did they both feel about it? Again the writers don’t show the motivations they had in mind for the characters, resulting in the viewers drawing different conclusions than they’re ‘supposed to’ and it works against the story. The interviews I’ve watched seem to say it’s consensual on both their parts. (I know there’s a power imbalance that makes it problematic, but I don’t think the writers see it that way.) Again, showing the start of their first sexual encounter would have been better writing (IMO) because it could have been used to illustrate consent.

The last thing I’ll say about Alicole (okay, so I wanted to say two things) is that showing it after B & C that way by having Helaena walk in on them cheapens B & C. The true shock and horror here is that a child was murdered in front of his mother. Why add the cheap shock value of someone walking in on their parent in flagarante?

All in all, okay episode, kind of weird. Looking forward to see what they do with the rest of the material.

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Three

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: An Increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan’s been up to. The boys pair up with El for an investigation. Joyce is convinced that Will and Steph are trying to talk to her. Meanwhile, Steve feels like someone’s watching his every move.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 15,209 (Oh, lord)

🎲Date: 05/27/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; References To Broken Friendship; Talks of Kidnapping; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Talks of Mental Health Issues; Bullying of All Kinds; Physical Fighting; Lying; "Death"; Crying (Lots of it); Brief Mention of Corpses; Gun Use; Implied Unloving Parents; Will & Steph's Mental Strain - Joyce's Too; Hopper Being a Great Cop & A Total Mess; Dustin Being a Gangster & A Total Mess; Steve's 'Asshole Era'; Steve's Emotional Damage. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

-This also contains me not knowing how the fuck the Upside Down works despite so much research.-

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N:  So… this is a very long, very intense one. Very emotional too. Hopefully y'all are ready for this. I notice a lot of you readers are spitting out theories and I can't help but love them. But unfortunately I have to stay silent and let you guess wait 🤭. While rewatching this episode, I totally forgot how fucking good of an actress Winona Ryder is. Seriously, rewatch the scenes with her and the lights again and you'll see. Any who, Happy Memorial Day everyone! Enjoy!

Steve practically had to “bully” Tommy into taking his girlfriend home last night. It was hard for him to make eye contact with her after their argument – A real argument, not just some mindless bickering they’ve done in the past that doesn’t pack much heat, but a real, real argument – and when she came back to his room only a few minutes later telling him that Barb must have left already and needed a ride, he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Was this making him feel and look like a coward? Probably. But it’s not like he didn’t want to risk having another eye opening conversation with her again.

Eye opening, my ass. There was no “eye opening”. I’m just being paranoid. But was he though?

Nancy, oh, sweet Nancy, always talked about how she was aiming for journalism as her major. For a while, to be honest, he couldn’t really see it. Sure, curiosity was practically tattooed on her heart, but the months they’ve been dating he hasn’t seen anything else that screams “I’m a Journalist”. 

That was until last night.

He’s not sure why he never put that box away after their friendship ended, he doesn’t know why he didn’t just stuff it into his closet or under his bed, but the fact that someone had found it in his spot he called “out of sight, out of mind” shocked him. The little box that could fit under his dresser, completely oblivious to anyone who stands next to it. Of course out of all the days for someone to finally have spotted it was the day he brought his girlfriend to his home (Still, it might have been better for her to find it rather than his parents. They sure were… nosy).

And of course she would be the one to break him down when he was trying to forget, forget because it was the best option here.

And his girlfriend was smart, one of the traits he most admired, and she could read through his lies most of the time, a trait he hates. Loathe. But… did he really think he could have avoided all this? That once he put a lid on their friendship she would suddenly vanish? Every single thing about Stephanie Henderson would be forgotten? That was the plan, the “dream” so to speak. I guess dreams don’t always stay dreams unless you put work into them.

.

“So who is she to you?” Nancy asked, standing up and flashing the memorabilia at him.

.

She was just… just some kid he knew since they were five. Nothing more than that, It shouldn’t be more than that. She was just some girl that had confidence radiating out of her as they lock pinkies and swore–

.

“I’m not jealous. I’m just curious.” Nancy replies, honestly. She takes another look at the photos in her hand before looking back at him. “I mean, if she isn’t your friend anymore, then why do you hang on to all this stuff? Or better question–”

“Nancy, stop, it’s just–”

“Why did you break it off?”

His brain short circuits again. “What?”

“I said, ‘Why did you break it off?’ I mean…” She flips through some of the photos he has, memorized. “From what I see, you two remind me of Barb and I. You two look like you were tied at the hip. So why break it off?”

.

Because he had to. He needed to. God knows if he didn’t, her and her family would be… Jeez. He could barely remember it, not wanting to remember it.

The memory was blurry. So blurry. Maybe it was the many hits in the head for his shitty memory, or maybe he was really, really trying not to remember it. 

What was his parents planning on doing again that made him so… scared?

.

“Look, I just want to understand you. I mean, every time I think I have you figured out you throw me through a loop.” She gives him a reassuring look as she picks up the box, shuffling whatever was remaining around. “I mean, from what I see, you seem like a completely different person then. I just wonder if it’s a good thing or a bad–” 

.

No… no. He still doesn’t understand what she meant. He hasn’t “changed”. He’s still the same person since the day he was born. What was she even getting that from? A couple glances at some photos gave her a new impression of him? There’s no way. It’s laughable. It’s totally laughable. Everything that’s happened between him and Henderson was totally laughab–

.

“‘CAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!! OKAY?!” Steve snaps, startling them both (He can’t believe he just lost his cool like that). He swallows again, head spinning at the memories (Why did he fucking leave the box right there?). “I just… there was an incident and… it… shaped my decision, okay? But it didn’t involve me or her with a gun, it was… s-someone else. Someone I know. I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, I…” 

.

That certainly wasn’t laughable.

Sometimes that memory is hazy, which he preferred, but the other times it was crystal clear. Too clear. Just a heated exchange between him and someone else just before it went to shit. He still remembers the pain in his bicep, the wind feeling like it was getting knocked out of him with someone’s loud scream. Then came the sinking realization that Henderson wasn’t bouncing up to her feet like he did. 

It still… fucks with him sometimes. Taunting. Haunting. Torturing. 

.

Nancy breaks eye contact, and only reverses it when she gathers the right words. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry I intruded, I probably shouldn’t have but… I’m just trying to understand you.”

Steve shakes his head, still confused. “I-I…” He shrugs, and crosses his arms defensibly. “What’s there to understand?”

.

Exactly. There’s nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Nothing. She doesn’t need to go digging around Pandora’s box.

.

But Nancy looked at him with eyes full of pity and took another step closer. “I don’t know what the reason was for you two to stop being friends, but all I know, from what I gathered, she wasn’t the one to end it.” She places Steph’s flier on his chest that he subconsciously grabbed, and said one last thing before leaving his room. And that was,

“Maybe there was a good reason for you to end it, but that’s not an excuse for you to stop being who you really are.”

.

But I haven’t changed. I’ve been the same person since I was born. Even his own gut coiled at his denial. The heaven’s beyond were probably busting a lung. Hell was shaking its head. He just keeps telling himself that lie and maybe it’ll come true one day.

Yeah, right.

This boy’s been telling himself that for almost two years now and hasn’t even sunk in yet.

Steve sighs, rolling in his bed to face his alarm clock; The red numbers glaring at him. It hadn’t even gone off yet, he still has about an hour but… 

Another sigh. School. Right.

He didn’t even feel like going, too mentally exhausted from staying up pretty much all night, completely alone with his thoughts – His very dangerous, troubling thoughts. He didn’t want to go, but his parents were going to be home any minute now from their trip and were not going to be happy if they saw him just lying around. They were surely going to berate him for missing a day of learning. Except...

Fuck. Going wasn’t an option, his brain hurts and his body was dragging and he really, really didn’t want to see Nancy’s pitiful eyes, or listen to Tommy’s mocking, or Carol’s sexified comments. Fuck, no. Fuck.

Where can he hide out for the next eight hours? He started putting what was left of brain together as he threw something on, not even trying to dress to impress today, and snagged his precious car keys. He is about a foot outside his bedroom when something tells him to stop. His chocolate eyes stare at the box on the end of his bed, something deep inside tells him not to leave it unoccupied.

He swallows, wanting to tell his subconscious to fuck off and leave him be, but… 

“Fuck it.” He races back over, making sure the lid was on before taking it with him. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

It’s been… how many days since then? They don’t know. They stopped counting every time they ran into trouble. Like… right now. Traumatized by the beast pulling an innocent woman into the Harringtons’ pool and violating her before coming after them. They were lucky to have some kind of head start or otherwise they might have been goners. But–

Jesus. It was getting hard to breathe in this place, the cold weather was getting to them too. 

Eventually, miraculously, they had escaped from their predator when their bodies finally gave out.

“Fuck.” Stephanie gasped as the two of them collapsed in someone’s backyard. They both sat on their hands and knees, a line of sweat dripping off their icy noses. She sniffles and pants, her breath being seen in the air. “This is getting ridiculous.”

It really, really was. They can’t even take a break without worrying if that thing would come after them. 

How am I supposed to figure out how to get out of here if I can’t even stop to think? She sits back on her news, frowning. “Why does it keep coming after us?”

Will sneezes, and sniffles before resting his body against the side of the random house. He starts fiddling with his frigiding fingers, worried if he was going to say something wrong. “I don’t think this time it was. It looks like it was attacking someone else.”

“That’s true.” She sighs, taking her cap off for a second to rest. “However, we either were at the wrong place at the wrong time, or that thing was following us and grabbed the first prey it saw.”

He nods. “Yeah. But that doesn’t explain where the person came from. Does… that mean we aren’t the only people here?”

“I don’t know.” Are there actually more people here? “I mean, I guess on the bright side, if more people are going missing someone’s gotta know what’s going on, right?”

That honestly didn’t cross her mind at all while being here. She was so worried about keeping herself and especially Will alive that she didn’t think about what was going on on the other side. How was her family reacting? His family too? And what about the town? Did the police actually give a fuck this time?

I really hope it’s Hopper. He seems like the only one who gave shit last time. Stephanie prays he’s on her case as she subconsciously tries to grab the chain around her neck, only to find nothing. Her heart sinks as she looks down and feels around the front of her shirt.

“Shit.” She says, dreadfully. Did she really lose her–

“What?” Will replies, concerned. 

“Uh, I just…” Fuck. “I just uh, lost my necklace.” She frowns again. “I didn’t even realize it.”

Now it was his turn to look sad (I guess you could say he was just copying her expression). “We can go look for it if you like.”

She’s already shaking his head. “No. It’s okay. I could have lost it on the first day here without realizing it.”

“Can you replace it?”

“It’s… I don’t know. It was a gift.” She looks over at him, his expression seems so broken over her confession. “It’s okay, Will. It’s not a big deal.”

“I know, but still.”

Stephanie couldn’t help but crack a small smile on her peach lips, and ruffle the boy’s hair. “Don’t ever change, kid. You’ve got a good little heart.” That seemed to do the trick because the boy blushed and seemed all proud of himself.

“Do you think it’s safe to rest here for a bit?” Will asked, as she looked around.

“Yeah.” She nods. “I think we’ll be fine. How about you pull out the blanket?”

They both shrug their backpacks off, and keep their guns by their sides pointed safely away; Will unrolls the blanket they took from her house and scoots closer. Steph tucks the fabric under their feet before the boy snuggles up to her side. Dying from the cold was off the menu for the both of them. For most of the time they stayed quiet, controlling their breathing and rubbing their cold hands in their laps.

“There’s something I don’t understand though.” Will blurted out. I guess this was the thought that came to mind in the moment of silence.

“And what’s that?” The older girl asked, sparing him a glance.

“If that thing is supposed to… you know, kill people, then why bring them here?” He stares up at her nervously. “Why not just kill us in our world? Why the extra hassle to bring us here?”

Her eyes widened slightly, those words hitting her like a truck. “That’s… a good question.” A really good question. It was something else she hasn’t thought about either. If the beast could go between worlds, why bring them here for the kill? 

Will must have noticed the wheels turning in the girls head and looks down hopelessly. “It’s going to be hard for people to find us then, right?”

Stephanie says nothing, and gnaws on her bottom lip because he’s right. If they’re stuck in another world then…

.

.

.

How are their loved ones going to know?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When Jonathan woke up the next day he wasn’t expecting his mother to be leaving before he did. “Mom? Where are you going?” He asked, as she stopped upon hearing him speak.

“Oh, I’m going to town. I’m going to pick up a few things.” She replies, putting her belongings into her purse. “I was… you know, thinking about maybe getting some stuff Will likes to eat so he can have it when he gets home. Or, you know–”

“Mom?”

“And maybe a new phone? Our old one’s obviously not fine, so–”

“Mom?” Jonathan tries again, getting a hum. “You sure you’re okay going by yourself? I can miss school again if you don’t feel comfortable yet.”

“No, no, don’t do that. Go… I just need to get out of the house. I’ve been stuck in here for a few days.” Joyce replies, reassuring her oldest. “I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” He nods. “But if something happens just… call the school and I’ll be there.”

“Okay.” She says, giving her a quick hug. “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll see you later.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the early morning at the Wheeler’s house, the boys were planning a mission to finally figure out what happened to their friends.

“We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school. That’ll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood.” Mike explains, the three of them gathered around the upside down D&D board.

“You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will and Steph are?” Lucas said, making the other boy eye roll.

“Just trust me on this, okay? Did you get the supplies?”

“Yeah.” He nods, and shows off what he’s got. “Binoculars... from ‘Nam. Army knife... also from ‘Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana…” He grins. “And the wrist rocket.”

Dustin looks at him strangely, almost laughing. “You’re gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?”

“First of all, it’s a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon’s not real. It’s made up. But if there is something out there, I’m gonna shoot it in the eye–” Lucas snaps the rubber and startles his friend. “And blind it.”

“Dustin, what did you get?” Mike asked, trying to get straight to the point.

“Well, alrighty.” Dustin starts pouring stuff out of his bag, also proud of what he grabbed (Which is totally not what Mike told him to bring). “So, we’ve got... Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix.”

“Seriously?” Lucas said, disappointed.

“We need energy for our travels. For stamina. And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway?” He points to the girl on the couch. “We have her.”

“She shut one door!”

“With her mind! Are you kidding me? That’s insane!” Dustin could almost laugh with all the stuff he could think of about her powers. “Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like…” He quickly looks around and grabs a giant toy version of the Millennium Falcon. “I bet that she could make this fly!” He stands in front of El and holds it out. “Hey. Hey. Okay, concentrate. Okay?” He lets go of the toy that quickly drops to the floor. “Okay, one more time. Okay. Use your powers, okay?”

“Idiot.” Lucas mumbles once the toy drops to the floor again.

Mike sighs. “She’s not a dog!” He says, taking it away from him.

“Boys!” Karen calls out from above. “Time for school!”

He crouches down in front of Eleven as the rest of his friends make their way up stairs. “Just stay down here. Don’t make any noise, and don’t leave. If you get hungry, eat Dustin’s snacks, okay?” 

“Michael!”

“Coming!” Why must he be rushed? “You know those power lines?”

“Power lines?” El asked, confused.

“Yeah. The ones behind my house?”

“Yes.”

“Meet us there, after school.”

“After school?”

“Yeah, 3:15.” It took a second for Mike to realize that she didn’t understand. “Ah. Hang on.” He unstraps his watch and ties around her own wrist. “When the numbers read three-one-five, meet us there.”

“‘Three-one-five’.” She repeats.

He nods. “Yeah. Three-one-five.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Did you get any rest?”

Her tired blue eyes looked back at him, his face scrunched up in concern for the girl that almost tripped two seconds ago. And to answer his question, it was ‘no’. Their little rest had turned into sleep, but once again she couldn’t dare close her eyes with the beast lurking somewhere (She’s honestly surprised she’s still standing at this point).

“Yeah, I got a little.” She said, hoping that sounded convincing. 

Will narrows his eyes and steps in front of her, stopping them from walking any further. “No you didn’t.”

“Will–”

“Why aren’t you getting any sleep?”

She sucks in a breath. Guess there was no point in arguing with a twelve year old. “Because I’m keeping an eye out.” She tries taking a step around him but he follows.

“That’s bullshit.” He replies, shocking her (She’s honestly heard him cuss before. Which is ironic since he hangs out with three boys that act like cussing is their first language).

“Will, it’s true. I’m keeping an eye out.”

“Yeah, I understand. But you can’t keep missing sleep because of that.”

“Someone’s got to protect you. Just like I promise.”

“Well how are you supposed to do that when you can barely stand?” That seemed to strike a nerve. “Can you just… next time we sleep, I’ll watch and you actually sleep.”

“Will–”

“And, if I hear something, I’ll wake you up immediately. How’s that?”

Well… she can’t say no to that face. She sighs. “Okay. I’ll sleep.” She replies, getting him to smile. “But you wake me up if you hear anything, okay? Don’t you even think about doing the opposite and handling it yourself. I don’t want you to wound up hurt or dead. Got it?”

“Got it.” 

The two of them continued their unwanted detour that ended up being Hawkins’ little downtown. This place looked more like the apocalypse than their neighbourhoods. Dark, abandoned, quiet and completely trashed. It seemed a little scarier to walk around than the previous routes they took. 

“Maybe we can hide out somewhere here?” Will asked, as they stopped at an intersection to look around.

“Possibly. If anything’s open we can. I want to avoid making too much ruckus in case that’s what attracts the monster.” Steph said, thinking. 

They walked slowly and carefully by each store, peeking inside to see if anything got their attention. Stephanie blissfully sighs upon seeing a familiar sign and points.

“Dude, I kill for some chicken parmesan right now.” She says, smiling at the thought of eating Italian at ‘Enzo’s’. 

“Hmm, meatball’s sounds good. But I think I really want my mom’s Sloppy Joes.” Will admits, and can already picture it in front of him.

“Sloppy Joes are awesome too. I wouldn’t mind eating that when I get back either. Then Enzo’s.”

“Totally Enzo’s.” He chuckles. “Uh, so when we do get out of here, how do we explain this to someone?”

“What? This?” She gestures to the open air. “You mean that telling the authorities that we were abducted by an eight foot tall creature with just a mouth and brought to a creepier version of Hawkins doesn’t sound truthful?”

He makes a face. “I… I don’t know. They might think we’re crazy.”

“Crazy, but it’s true.” She shrugs. “I really do wonder how we’re going to explain this.”

“I hope my mom contacted Chief Hopper. I know they were good friends growing up, I’m sure he believes her.”

“I hope it’s him, I don’t really like some of the people he works with.”

Will tilts his head, confused. “You don’t like cops?”

“No, I don’t certain cops here. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.”

“How come?”

“Well–” She cuts herself off and stops, eyes trailing to something inside one of the shops. She takes a second to make sure she’s seeing that right before pointing and saying, “November 6th.”

Will perks up at that. “That’s the day when we had our D&D campaign. The night we disappeared.”

“Yeah.” Steph looks around her hand following up to another object, a clock. “Nine Twenty-Three. That’s probably around the time we disappeared too.”

“But why is everything stuck this way?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, didn’t this place exist beforehand?” Will asked, head spinning. “How come everything is stuck on the night we disappeared?”

She purses her lips. “It… exist because of us? Or does time run differently here?”

“This is making my head hurt.”

She chuckles. “You and me both, kid.”

They continued their walk, popping into a few shops when they saw something useful, like another set of matches or even a sleeping bag they could share. They eventually ended up at a hunting store and scavenged there. Steph started grabbing a couple boxes of shotgun shells and ones that could fit inside Mr. Harrington’s pistol. It felt strange to have something like this in her possession, especially given the history of it. A very… bittersweet history of it. 

Stupid, Harring– The small box tv on the counter startled her when it made a noise. When her gaze locks onto it, she realizes it’s not even on. She sighs, shaking her head. Now I’m imagining shit? This is getting fucking ridiculous.

She starts making room inside her bag for the ammunition when–

.

|| –Those Poor Children. ||

.

Stephanie nearly drops everything and grips the gun and starts frantically searching for the voice. What in the fucking–

.

|| Jesus, I know. I can only imagine what their families are going through. ||

|| It’s such a shame– ||

.

“What the…?”

“Did you hear that too?” Will asked, eyes full of hope as she looked between him and empty space behind the counter.

“Huh? Um… Y-Yeah. I-I did.” She swallows and then realizes something. “Wait… is that what you– Is that what you were talking about?”

“Yeah!” He shakes his head eagerly. “I told you, I swear I could hear my mom and Jonathan talking that night. I told you I wasn’t crazy.”

Stephanie takes a deep breath, still in a bit of disbelief I mean– This changes everything she’s thought about this place. “If we can hear somebody, then…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence. It was so shocking.

“Maybe we can talk to them. I know for a fact my mom heard me when I called the phone. She even responded when I talked back.”

“So it’s totally possible.” She goes silent to think, an idea coming to mind in a matter of seconds. She grins. “Follow me.”

Will of course does, a little intrigued by the fact that they found themselves climbing to the top of an old bell tower that overlooks most of Hawkins. “What is this place?”

“Somewhere I probably shouldn’t have been hanging out at when I was young.” Steph admits. “Don’t worry, the tower hasn’t been used in decades ‘cause the bell’s broken. Alright.” She smacks her hands together. “We have to figure out a way to get someone’s attention. Whether it’s your family, my family, friends, or hell, even some random stranger. We just need to get someone’s attention.”

“But how? I’m not even sure how any of this works.” Will asked, truthfully. He’s still not even really sure how he was able to contact his mom that night. 

She hums, scratching her head. “Where’s your house at?” He gets close to the edge, looks around and points to it in the distance. She nods and starts doing the same as she speaks, “Alright, well there’s mine, Lucas’, and Mike’s. So we got options. We just need to figure out how you were able to speak to your mom that night. If we can figure that out, maybe we can do it again.”

“All I really did was just dial my house’s number and she picked up.”

“Okay. Maybe it’s just that simple after all.”

“Well… I know whatever happened that night, it fired the house’s phone. We’re going to need a new phone.”

“We can get one. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll move on to another house. Hopefully, one of our friends will pick up.”

And they have to. This is our only plan right now. She waves for him to go first. “Careful going down, it’s more tricky than going up.”

“Okay.” He says, doing what he was told.

She starts to follow closely behind when another voice appears.

.

|| I am such an idiot. || 

.

She froze, her heart sinking again. She looks back at one of the corners of the tower, and an aching feeling in her gut.

“Steve?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve had a cigarette in one hand, and his other tangled up his own locks; One leg was dangling off the tower, while the rest of his body laid against the arch of the opening. Today was stupidly sunny, barely any clouds and no smell of precipitation in the air for a chance of rain – the aesthetic was the complete opposite of his mood right now.

He took a puff of nicotine and blew it out like a long, heavy sigh. The shit from last night keeps replaying in his head, provoking him to do or say something he’s probably not supposed to (or is supposed to, his subconscious yells at him) – He still doesn’t understand why he suddenly ended up here out of place. He could have gone to skull rock, or even the quarry, or maybe even just running around the mall hoping no one realizes he’s a teenager and asks why he’s not in school.

He groans, closing his eyes, listening to the traffic below and people bickering, praying nobody looks up and finds him here. Again, why did I pick this place?

“I am such an idiot.” He mutters, then the insecurities he had slowly started to fade away when he felt a presence nearby. Worried that maybe a cop finally found him, he changes his sadden look for something cooler before opening his eyes and looking. 

But strangely enough, no one was even there.

“Huh.” Steve blinks, swearing that he could feel someone was watching him. Maybe though? I mean, this was an old church that may or may not be haunted.

He shakes his head. “Fuck this.” He puts his bud out on the ground and stands up to leave.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Hey, Where’s Steve? I didn’t see his car in the parking lot.” Nancy asks, butting into Carol and Tommy’s conversation. She honestly wanted to see him to give him another apology, she still felt bad for prying so much about something she probably shouldn’t have seen. And I want to see if he’s in a good mental state today.

She watches the couple spare a look and gets worried, “What?”

“You haven’t seen him yet?” Carol said, as she shakes her head. “That’s weird.”

“Steve never skips school.” Tommy adds.

“What did you guys argue about last night?”

“Us?” Nancy said, pointing to herself. “You think he’s not here because we fought?”

“It’s a possibility. He finally has a girlfriend who’s charm finally made the King skip class.” Carol said, arms cross. “I’d say that’s an achievement.”

She scoffs. “First of all, It was just a disagreement, nothing more. A second, there’s no way that’s the reason he’s not here.”

“Maybe you hit one of his insecurities you were yelling about last night.”

Nancy holds her tongue and ends up just leaving in a huff. Every time she thinks she’s finally on their level, she’s pushed back down. She sighs and enters her first class of the day. Her gaze follows over to where her friend would be at, but atlas, her desk was empty.

She reaches out and taps the girl in front of her shoulder. “Hey, Ally. Where’s Barb?”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Um, shouldn’t you know?”

Nancy’s stomach dropped. “You haven’t seen her anywhere... at all?” 

Ally shakes her head just as the bell rings and everyone’s ordered to sit down, leaving the Wheeler to wonder if she stayed home too because of their bickering.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“There she is. Emerald City.” Powell announced as they pulled up to the one and only laboratory in Hawkins. They were going off really their only lead at this point, and hoping it plays out.

“I heard they make space weapons in there.” Callahan replies, getting a look. 

“Space weapons?”

“Yeah. You know, like, Reagan’s Star Wars. I guess we’re gonna blow the Ruskies to smithereens.”

“Hey, can I help you?” The guard asked once the police car rolled to a stop just in front of the gate.

“Uh, yeah. We’re here for a tour.” Hopper lied.

“Oh, we don’t give tours.”

“Okay... A quick look around.”

“You have to get clearance for that. You can contact, uh... Rick Schaeffer at the Department of Energy.”

“Maybe you seen it on TV.” Hopper pushes, not backing down from this. “We got two local kids missing. We have reason to believe they might have snuck in here.”

“Like I said, you have to speak to Mr. Schaeffer.”

Hopper exhaled through his nose, and turned the car and placed his hat on the dashboard; His partners beside him grew quiet, and let him have at it. “What’s your name?”

“Patrick.” 

“Patrick, I got a panicked mayor, and I got reporters breathing down my neck and I got two very upset mothers.” He said, his face growing softer, more wounded like. “Now, I know the kid’s not in there, but I gotta check off this box. Patrick, would you do me a favor? Would you speak to your boss and see what you can swing for us? I’d really appreciate it. I’m talking ten minutes, tops.”

Just ten minutes to see if they were in there. That’s all that the police chief needs…

And wants.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve heads inside the shop nearby, his stomach growling for food. It completely slipped his mind this morning – or afternoon now – he’s completely lost track of time. 

Now what kind of junk sounds appetizing today? He starts wandering around, not at all familiar with this layout or the shop for that matter (Why didn’t he just go to the sandwich shop next door again?). As he slips through one of the aisles, he notices the person in front of him struggling to reach for something off the high shelf. 

Deciding to be a nice boy, he reaches up and grabs it down for her. “Here you go, Ma’am.”

“Oh, thank you.” She said, surprised and grateful. “How kind of you.”

“Early Christmas shopping?” 

“Oh, I wish. No, I just need a new phone in case my son calls the house.”

He nods. “Your son lives far then?”

“Um, no, h-he’s missing.”

Oh?

Oh…

Oh!

Steve’s eyes widened at the realization. “Oh, oh my god, I’m so sorry. You’re that kid’s mother.”

“I am.” Joyce says, shifting her weight around. 

“Am… so sorry, I-I didn’t know, I–”

“Like you said, you didn’t know.” She puts the phone into the shopping cart. “It’s okay.”

“Okay, um…” This was awkward, right? Steve shifted on his feet too, not really sure how to wrap this up. “Uh, do you have… uh… heard any updates?”

Joyce shakes her head, sadly. “Not yet. I know the Police Chief has put many of his guys and volunteers to work. But I think at this point they covered all of Hawkins.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I just, uh–” He trails off, struggling to make a sentence. “Sorry, I was just being nosy. I don’t really hear much news, I…” He swallows. “I went to school with the Henderson girl, so...”

Is he making any sense? Hopefully she’s understanding what he means– Fuck, his heart’s racing so fast.

“Oh, yeah?” Joyce said, looking bittersweet – Looking like she was a mother staring at her hurt child (How come his own mother never looked at him like that?). “Must be hard knowing someone you knew is missing.”

Damn, right on the money. “Yeah.” He says, his throat feeling tight.

She hums, and then gives him a stern expression. “Shouldn’t you be in school though?”

Annnnddddd… Fuck. 

Nice Going, Harrington. He scolded himself as he racked his brain for a believable lie. “Oh, uh, I-I graduated already. I was a grade ahead.”

“Oh.” She says, apologetically. “My mistake.”

“No worries, seriously. It happens all the time.” At least he didn’t say something stupid, and needs to get out of this conversation before he does but… damn his little heart sometimes. “Uh–” He gestures to her cart full of different items. “Do you want me to pay for some of that? For bothering you? Or uh, I… I know you’re probably–”

“Oh, no!” She shakes her head. “No. Thanks, but I can get it. Money’s a little tight, I’ll admit, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You know?”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I appreciate the offer.” Joyce smiles, and subconsciously pats the young man on his shoulder. “You’re very sweet. Take care.”

“You too.” He says, seeing this as he exits and walks past her.

Joyce watches as he turns to another aisle, growing a bit sad by the interaction. 

Alright, do I have everything? She has a new phone, some groceries– things she knows Will would like– 

The display of string lights flickered for a second.

Confused, thinking most likely it was probably a short circuit, she doesn’t understand why she ended up muttering her youngest name, “Will.”

Coincidentally, the light flickers shortly afterwards. “Will!” She says, again, hope blooming in her chest. Then, all the lights on the display shined for a few seconds. 

God, call her crazy, but maybe this was a sign that her son is still close by.

Before anyone could blink, the checkout counter was filled up with so many boxes of Christmas lights, some just the basic color, and some of the tri-colors. She can only imagine how much this is going to cost her, but who cares! If this is strangely how she can talk to her son, then this is what she shall do.

Her Boss, who was the clerk for the day, looks at her worriedly. “Joyce–”

“Just ring me up, Donald.” Is all she said, patiently waiting until he was all finished. Without sparing another word, she gathers all the bags into her hands and races to her car.

Donald sighs while watching her leave. “That poor woman.” He says, just as Steve comes up to the counter with his snacks and drinks. He raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be minding your own business?” Steve said, becoming bitter again.

“Mmm, hmm.” He scans everything and a price pops up on his screen. “That’ll be Five-Fifty.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Found a phone.” Will said, almost immediately as they entered. It shouldn’t be a shock since this is the place his mother works at.

“That should work.” Steph said, smiling. “Let’s get a move on.”

Will gets up on his tippy toes to grab it, slowly pulling it off the shelf when something presses his hand. Startled, he falls back and the older girl grabs the box before it falls. 

“What happened?” She asked, worriedly.

“S-Something touched me.” He says, taking a step back.

“What?” She hands him the box and peeks over the shelf herself (She’s not exactly tall either). There was nothing odd out of the ordinary, just the normal dust and native plants that grew in this world. She frowns. “I don’t really see anything.”

Suddenly the display of lights flickered. Out of instinct her hand reaches for the pistol at her side. Then her heart sinks at the next thing.

.

|| Uh, do you want me to pay for some of that? I know you’re probably– || 

.

“Steve?” Stephanie says, surprised. 

So she wasn’t crazy after all. She did hear him. 

Will looked up at her, stunned too. “Steve Harrington?” He asked, but before she could speak another voice could be heard.

.

|| –I can get it. Money’s a little tight, I’ll admit, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You know? ||

|| You sure? ||

|| Yes. I appreciate the offer. You’re very sweet. Take care. || 

.

“Mrs. Byers?/Mom?!” They both erupted, then went quiet to see if they could hear anything else.

Nothing.

“Shit.” The oldest said, and now gnawing on her lip again, nervously (And completely forgetting about Steve for the time being). “That might have been our chance.” She hears the boy drop the phone somewhere next to her. “Will?”

The boy seemed fascinated with an idea swirling around in his head. Stephanie finds herself just watching, waiting to see what he had in mind. Will reaches up and lets his fingers brush the display of some string lights, the lights getting a little bit hazy – It was almost like his touch was giving them electricity. 

.

|| Will. || 

.

Joyce’s voice broke through very faintly, but they both heard it and nearly cried.

“Touch the light again.” Steph said, urgently. Will does what he’s told and they both stay quiet again.

.

|| Will! ||

.

“She hears us.” He says, happily. 

“Holy shit…” She chuckles. “I have an idea. Touch all the lights.”

Frantically, they rush to touch all the lights they saw on display, not even questioning how this was even possible, they just hoped Joyce got the message. Once the hue died down they both held their breaths, and crossed their fingers. And then…

.

|| Just ring me up, Donald. ||

.

Stephanie threw her hands up. “Yes!” She says, with Will laughing beside her. “Thank you, Ms. Byers.”

“My mom’s the best.” He said, with a warm look.

“Hell, yeah she is. And forget the phone–” She locks eyes with him, determined. “I think we figured out a better way to communicate.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“And you think these missing kids may have crawled through there?” 

Hopper spares the man a glance before looking back at the drain. Somehow, he convinced the security guard to let him and his guys in, but so far their theories are turning out pretty sour. “Well, that was the idea.”

Their “Tour Guide”, I guess you can call him that, made a fact that was all smug and prideful. “Yeah, I just don’t see how that’d be possible. We’ve got over 100 cameras. Every square inch covered, plus all my guys. No one breaks in here. Certainly not some kids.”

Hopper perked up at the news, eyes trailing to a few cameras in view. Now it was his turn to be the smug one as he asked, “Those cameras, you keep the tapes?”

Well… I don’t think the guide was expecting that reaction.

Now, the three of them were following the man inside, the hallways swarmed with men in lab coats, and a security team blocking a room that was marked “hazardous”. 

The police Chief found this a bit suspicious and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you guys do in here?”

The guide chuckles. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

“Staying one step ahead of the Russians?”

“I expect. Something like that.”

“Who’s in charge here?”

“That’d be Dr. Brenner.”

“And he builds the space lasers?” Callahan asked, eagerly. 

“Space lasers?”

“Ignore him.” Hopper replies, sighing. They eventually entered the surveillance room, the three of them watching the screen closely. “This is the night of the 6th and 7th we’re seeing here?”

“That’s correct.”

Hopper narrows his eyes, waiting to see if he sees anything unusual. However, to his surprise, the tape only lasted less than a minute. “Is that it?” He asked, in disbelief. 

“Like I said, we would have seen them.”

And then the cops were practically shoved out of there, and the guide gives them their condolences for the tired search (Yeah, what an asshole, right?).

“The night of the 7th, we had a search party out for Will and Stephanie. You remember anything about that night?” Hopper asked, seeing if he wasn’t the only suspicious one. 

“Mmm, not much to remember. Called it off.” Callahan replies, thinking.

 “‘Cause of the storm.” Powell adds.

“Yeah, a lot of rain that night.” Hopper says, arriving at their car. “You see any rain on that tape?”

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” He spares a look at the building, a sinking feeling in his gut. “But they’re lying.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the boys were outside shifting through the playground for some rocks. Mike picks one up and shows it off. “How about this one?”

Dustin looks and shakes his head. “Too big for the sling.” He says, getting on his knees to do some digging. “So, do you think Eleven was born with her powers, like the X-Men, or do you think she acquired them, like... like Green Lantern?

“She’s not a superhero. She’s a weirdo.” Lucas replies, rolling his eyes.

“Why does that matter?” Mike snaps, offended. “The X-Men are weirdos.” 

“If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mike, seriously?”

“What?”

“You look at her all, like…” Lucas makes a giggly face, and softens his body language, followed by a higher pitched voice, “‘Hi, El! El! El! El! I love you so much! Would you marry me’?” 

“Shut up, Lucas.”

“Yeah, shut up, Lucas.” Their bully, Troy, announced as he stomped towards the group. “What are you losers doing back here?”

“Probably looking for their missing friends.” James said, smirking.

“That’s not funny. It’s serious. They’re in danger.” Dustin hisses, annoyed.

“I hate to break it to you, Toothless, but they’re not in danger.” Troy bites back. “They’re dead. That’s what my dad says. He said that Byers was probably killed by some other queer. And maybe your sister’s been killed by some crazy stalker who is into weirdos like her.”

The two bullies laugh as Dustin looks like he’s about to strangle someone. No one says anything about Will like that. And nobody especially says something like that about his big sister.

Mike sees this, and puts his arm in front of his friend to soothe him. “Come on. Just ignore them.” He says, and starts to leave, only to be tripped – and face planted into the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, Frogface.” Troy spats, but he instantly gets a taste of his own medicine. 

To everyone’s surprise, Dustin was the one to deliver the karma, which was forcibly shoving him to the ground. 

Everyone stared, and before someone could speak he shoved James too and scrambled to pick up Mike.

“Lucas! Let’s go!” Dustin yells, and silently tells Mike to go. As they were leaving, he flips the bullies the bird and snaps, “You shitheads need to keep Will and Phanie’s name out of your mouths! Got it?!”

And then they broke off into a Usain Bolt type sprint.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

They finally ended up back on Mirkwood, guns loaded, backpacks full, and hope in their chest. If this works, if Joyce does this right, then maybe they can finally communicate to the other side. All they needed to do was tell her where they are, and maybe they could figure out a way to get back. 

It sounded easy, and they just hoped it was.

The two of them were silent for most of the walk, and when they got to this specific road, the boy grabbed her hand, shaking. She says nothing, ‘cause nothing needs to be said about it. If that’s what made him feel safe then so be it.

“Do you think it’s negative emotions?” Will eventually said, breaking the ice.

Stephanie tilts her head, confused. “Hmm?”

“Do you think that’s how we can hear some people? Through negative emotions?” He looks up at her. “Like my mom, she must be worried about me, maybe that’s why we can hear her?”

Her eyebrows shoot up, shocked. It’s definitely a plausible theory (But would that apply to Steve as well? And if so, why is he so worried?). “Maybe.”

“But would that go with us too?” He adds, the wheels in his head really were turning today. “I mean, is that how the beast picks their victims? Because they’re in a bad mental state?”

Well, now that makes sense if you put it that way. “It’s possible.” She said, nodding. Yeah, that’s completely possible. 

It explains a lot of things. More or so she wanted to admit. She knows these last two years were… interesting to say the least. Definitely could qualify as a ‘Bad Mental State’. And… she also has felt a bit stressed about school and talks about her future. But if she knew herself was in a bad state, then that means–

“Then… are you okay?” Steph asked, realizing something. The boy froze, like actually froze when she said that. It was a trippy sight to see. “Will?”

“What?”

“Are you okay?” She tries again, a bit gentler this time. “Mentally?” Nothing. “Will–

“I… I’m fine.” 

And then he lets go of her hand and starts walking a bit quicker– not even realizing he was doing so. She stops, concern on her face. She wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction from a simple yes or no question. She makes a note for herself that when they do get out of here she’s going to have a talk with him (Or at least tell Joyce about her concerns).

She sighs. Always got to be the therapist, Henderson.

She takes a step to move but stops, her eyes trailing off the road to her right, right into the void of the trees. It was weird. She felt like someone was standing right there – The same kind of presence back at the clock tower. 

“Huh.” She turns her attention back in front of her, then proceeds to freak out a bit when she notices how far Will was. She cusses and breaks into a sprint to catch up quickly.

Completely unaware of who that presence really was. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve steps over the barricades, his feet sinking into the leaves. Curiosity got the best of him you could say, or maybe the conversation last night really was getting under his skin (Like he’ll ever admit that), but he found himself here. Standing at a… crime scene, I guess. 

Her car went off road with herself and the Byers boy in it. Not long afterwards, they ditched it. 

His brown orbs trailed from the tree the vehicle hit and down the long road. He also knows, from what he’s heard, they both ran back to the boy’s house and then the trail went cold after that. But that’s the part that tickled his brain a bit. 

Why run all the way back home, a place you’re probably the safest at, and then leave it? It didn’t make sense in his book. Hell, it shouldn’t make sense in anybody’s book. What was the urge for them to run away from home and into the thick woods that surrounds Hawkins? 

He rubbed his chin and started thinking like he was going to solve this or whatever. Like…

He then scoffs at himself. 

What the fuck am I even doing? What is he doing? Why did he drive himself here? It’s not like he should care anymore. I mean, he shouldn’t care anymore. His parents would have his head if they knew–

Then there it is again.

That strange feeling that someone’s watching him. 

He turns around, half expecting a cop to be there to scold him, the other half expecting nothing and– Oh! What do you know? It was nothing. 

But even if it was nothing, he swears someone is standing there, watching his every move. Almost like this presence was here to judge him and see what other stupid things he can do today.

It was definitely giving him the heebie-jeebies.

He frowns, and looks away. “What the fuck…?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It took her an hour, but Joyce got all the lights up. She strung them all through the house, up along the wall and hanging gently off the ceiling. She hopes that she’s not losing her mind – She knows how silly this looks; Putting up Christmas lights in November (I mean, the holiday’s not that far off but still). She was expecting some reaction to happen, some or maybe all of them would immediately start blinking; Instead, her doorbell rings and she’s met with Karen Wheeler.  

Not wanting to be rude, Joyce invited her and her youngest in. Karen pops in a casserole she made into the oven, sitting next to the worried mother and tries to see what state she was in.

Joyce chuckles nervously when her guest notices the festive decoration. “Will always loved Christmas, you know. So I thought if I... I put the lights up... I don’t know, he... I’d feel like he was home somehow.” She covers part of her face with her hand. “I-It’s silly, I-I know…”

Karen shakes her head. “No. No, it’s not silly.” She takes the other woman’s hand in hers, giving her a gentle squeeze. “How is Jonathan holding up?”

Joyce takes a deep breath. “You know, he’s good at taking care of himself. He always has been, you know? I…” She scoffs. “I mean, he thinks I’m losing my mind, but…”

“Joyce.” Karen says, softly. “I want you to know something. If you need anything, anything at all... Ted and I are here for you.”

This sentimental moment caused them both to become oblivious to the lights flickering on in the hallway, a walkway pointing towards Will’s room. The only one who didn’t miss it was Holly, who was now sliding off her chair to follow.

“Thank you.” Joyce said, sincerely. 

Karen smiles. “Okay.”

The two women continued to talk, Joyce even bringing up Mike’s feelings about the whole thing – and even wondered if Claudia and Dustin were okay too. Meanwhile, little Holly Wheeler watched the lights flickered on and off, guiding her to the bedroom. Her eyes watched in awe as the many, many lamps that were lingered around Will’s room turned off and on one-by-one in a symphony-like way.

She giggles and claps, excited to watch this “show”. Then…

They all stopped and the nightmare began. 

Her happiness starts to pool away as she hears a scary sound. She then turns white as a ghost when she notices one of the walls was moving and stretching out towards her.

Who knows what would have happened if Joyce hadn’t come in and grabbed Holly, handing her back to her mother. 

“She shouldn’t be here.” Joyce said, scared in both tone and facial expression. 

Karen didn’t notice the seriousness of her look as she apologizes, “Oh, I’m sorry. She’s quite the explorer these days.”

“Wait, did you see something?” The worried Byers brushes her off, and the little girl nods quickly. “What did... what did you see? Tell me. What did you see?”

“Joyce!” The blonde scolds, but she’s already being shooed away.

“Karen, thank you for the casserole, but I need you to leave.” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy tapped her foot repeatedly, impatiently waiting for the person to pick up the phone. “Come on, come on, come on…” She mumbled, gripping the payphone tight. “Come on–”

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

Oh, thank god. “Hi!” She says, eagerly. “Hi, uh, Ms. Holland, it’s Nancy.”

[ ‘Oh, Nancy, how are you?’ ]

“Good. I’m good. Um, I was just wondering, uh, is Barb there?”

[ ‘Mmm... No, she hasn’t come home yet.’ ]

“But she did come home, right? After the vigil?”

[ ‘No, she said she was staying with you last night.’ ] 

Shit. Nancy mentally scolds herself. “Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up.”

[ ‘Oh, um, no, I haven’t seen her.’ ]

“Do– do you know what? I just remembered... she’s at the library.”

[ ‘Nancy, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her?’ ]

“Yeah.” She shakes her head, frowning at how worried Barb’s mother was sounding. “Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you.”

She hangs up the phone, frustrated. This wasn’t like Barb at all. In the past when they’ve had some disagreements, she’s never once disappeared like this. The only thing Barb’s ever done that was “extreme” was she did the silent treatment for most of the school day. 

This is so weird. This whole day’s been weird. She sighs and digs out some more change for the machine, and dials another number she knows by heart. The whole time as it rang she was nipping at the tip of her thumb. To her surprise, a voice she’s never heard before answered the phone.

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

The voice was a bit husky, but sweet with a pinch of sass. 

Nancy’s confused, and twirls the phone cord around her finger. “Oh, I’m sorry, who’s this?” She asked, wondering if she dialed the number wrong. “Is this the–”

[ ‘This is Jessica. How can I help you?’ ]

Jessica?

Jessica?

Jessica? Who’s…

Her eyes widened. 

Oh.

Now she recognizes the name. 

It was Steve’s mother – The woman she hasn’t met yet – The woman she’s “meeting” for the first time over the phone.

She swallows, nervously. “Oh, I-I’m… sorry. I was trying to get a hold of Steve.” She replies, feeling a bit awkward (and nervous?).

[ ‘Steven? And who are you to him?’ ]

Well she sounds lovely. She can hear the snobbishness in her tone, almost offended that someone was calling for her son. That’s a little weird.

“Um, I’m his girlfriend.” Nancy replies, trying to sound confident. “I was just wondering if he’s home? I haven’t seen him at school day and I’m a little worried.”

Then came the very long, very uncomfortable pause. For a second there she thought the mom hung up, it was so quiet.

[ ‘Girlfriend? That’s new. ]

“Did Steve not tell you about us?” Nancy asked, a bit hurt and a bit confused. He seemed so proud to show the whole school that they were dating, how come he never told his mother?

[ ‘What’s your name?’ ]

Skipping my question. I love it. “Um, Nancy. Nancy Wheeler, Ma’am.”

[ ‘Wheeler, you said?’ ]

“Um, yes.” Now she was puzzled even more. Was this a bad thing–

[ ‘That’s wonderful!’ ] 

Nancy blinks. “It… is?”

[ ‘My son’s dating a Wheeler! I almost can’t believe it.’ ]

And the woman was laughing with joy(?), which Nancy puts to the side. She just needs to get an answer to her own simple question. “That’s… wonderful, um… is Steve there?”

[ ‘No, he’s not. *Sigh* I swear if that boy’s skipping school, we’re going to have a problem.’ ]

And I think I just made everything worse. She straightens herself up, ready to end this. “Okay, Well… thanks, Mrs. Harrington, I’ll see if he’s maybe hiding out somewhere in the school.”

[ ‘Okay. Well, you have a good rest of your day, sweetheart.’ ]

Sweetheart? Nancy shakes her head again. “Thanks. You too.” She hangs up the phone. Well that was even weirder than the last one.

She crosses her arms, turning to head inside only her eyes to beeline to Carol and Tommy following someone closely – Tommy looking pissed off, especially. 

“What the heck?” She says, and hurries towards them.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper and his partner entered the library with an idea – an idea hanging on a very thin thread that is. So, he puts on his best smile and takes off his hat, strolling up to the woman at the desk. “Hey, Marissa. How you doin’?”

The librarian pursed her lips. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here.”

He blinks. “What?”

“You could have at least called, said, ‘Marissa! Hey, it’s not gonna work out. Sorry I wasted your time. I’m a dіck’.”

Oh, now he remembers. “Yep.” He said, agreeing immediately. “I’m sorry. Uh... Maybe we could go out again next week?” She, and even Powell, made a face at him that gave him his answer. He smacks his lips and looks around. “Newspapers? You guys got newspapers around here?”

Marissa nods and shows them where they all are. “We have the New York Times, the Post, all the big ones. Organized by year and topic. You can find the corresponding microfiche in the reading room.”

“Okay, we’re looking for anything on the Hawkins National Laboratory.”

“Well, shouldn’t you be looking for that missing kid?”

“Yeah. We are.” Hopper pushes, and adds, “So, why don’t you start with the Times, and we’ll check out the Post.”

She scoffs in disbelief and walks off, Powell stepping up with a look on his face. “The librarian?” He said, getting a shrug.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy sped up when she saw who they were stalking in the parking lot. Why would two people like Tommy and Carol go after a kid like Jonathan Byers? Nothing that went through her mind would give her that answer. When she got closer is when it got more intense. 

Tommy was practically manhandling Jonathan, yelling and trying to take his bag away from him. The eldest Wheeler sped up even more, full on running now.

She manages to step between the two of them, arms out in defense. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“This creep was spying on us last night!” Tommy said, pointing furiously. “Nicole says he was taking pictures of us by the pool.”

“I was looking for my brother.” Jonathan replies, holding his bag close.

“Bullshit. Now let me see.”

“Back off!”

Nancy steps in between them again. “Tommy, stop!” She yells, making him scoff.

“You’re defending this creep, Wheeler?” Carol asked, in disgust.

“First of all, you really going to believe what Nicole said? The girl’s like the boy who cried wolf.”

“Nancy–”

“Lastly, so what if he has photos of us at the pool? It wasn’t like we’re naked.”

“Naked or not, he still took pictures of us!” Tommy snaps, taking a step closer as she takes a step back.

“Pictures or not, he was looking for his brother–”

“How do you know, huh? How?”

“Because he’s been hanging out missing poster signs of him and missing school because he’s the big brother.” Nancy looks over her shoulder, locking eyes with Jonathan. “Go.” He hesitates. “Go, man!”

Not wasting another opportunity, he hustles off towards his car. Tommy tries to lunge towards him, but Nancy isn’t letting up.

“What the fuck, Nancy?!” Tommy shouted, and she chose to ignore him by walking away once she knew Jonathan wasn’t around. “Nancy!”

“Nancy, get back here!” Carol yelled.

“Nancy, you such a fucking princess! Wait until your boyfriend hears about this!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Dude, I can’t believe you did that!” Lucas said, as they bike away from the school. “You know Troy and James are not going to let that slide.”

“I don’t care!” Dustin says, bitterly (and if he could cross his arms right now he would). “I don’t like when people bad mouth my friends, bad mouth my sister! I mean, for Christ’s sake, she was giving Will a ride home. What’s so bad about that?”

He doesn’t care if James’s waiting tomorrow to give him a wedgie, or Troy’s fist plummeting into his face, he doesn’t care. Both Will and Phanie had their fair share of bullying themselves, or whispers of derogatory names and speeches – All because Will was the “quiet kid” and wears “colorful” clothing; All because his sister wasn’t a “girly-girl” and a total nerd. He’s heard that all throughout his life, and sometimes he said something, sometimes he stays silent when told too – He probably should have done that today.

But those… fucking bullies just had to poke him when he was the most stress. Stressed out with each day that none of them had come home.

Jeez, he’s either going to get scolded or praised by his mother if she finds out about that interaction. 

“And don’t even try to convince me to beg them for forgiveness. They don’t deserve it and I’m standing my ground.” Dustin adds, shutting his friend up. As they rode closer and closer to their houses, he frowned, worriedly.

I just hope El knows what she’s talking about. He just wants to find them both soon (Safe and sound would be a plus).

The boys continued to ride until they arrived at the power lines behind the Wheelers’ house. Mike shouted and told the girl to hope on, warning all of them they only had a few hours to pull this off.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce was standing in her kitchen with a cigarette when Chester started barking. She looks up to see the lights in the living room start flickering, and hurries in there. As soon as she entered they died down. Then, slowly the light directly above her activated, and then made a pathway to the other side of the room. Her fingers laced around them, and followed, ending up being directed at a bundle of them lying on the floor.

She rushes to take them in her hands, sitting down and taking a deep breath. It was now or never to find out if she was really losing her mind or not. She closes her eyes, and whispers,

“Will... are you here?”

There was a brief pause followed by the ball lighting up and fading. She chuckles in excitement, completely over the moon with fresh tears in her eyes. 

“Okay, good, good, good, good. Are you…” How should she do this? “Um, blink once for yes, twice for no. C-Can y-you do that for me, sweetie? Can you do–” The ball lights up again just once as she feels a tear run down her cheek and hugs the object.

She can feel it in her bones, in her heart now. She knows this is her baby boy. She knows that her son is still with her.

Joyce smiles and sniffles. “Oh, good boy. Good boy. Okay, Will, um–” Another deep breath. “Is… Is Stephanie with you too?” 

One blink. The girl who was kind enough to pick up her son is still with him despite all this time. She can finally put some of that guilt away now.

“That’s wonderful news.” She said, her expression growing bigger. However, this was going to be the hardest question yet to ask. “Baby, I need to know…” She swallows. “Are you guys alive?”

One blink and her heart skips a beat. She thanks any God who’s listening for this.

Her lip quivers as she follows up with, “Are you guys safe?”

Two blinks.

Her son and Stephanie were not okay.

Now, Joyce was shaking like a leaf as she clenched the lights tighter, her mind running a mile a minute on what she can do. What could she say that wouldn’t revert to playing twenty questions four times over?

“I need to know where to find you two, honey. Where... where are you? Can you... can you tell me where you are? Can you…” She chokes, her cheeks completely stained. “Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just... Will…”

She didn’t know how long she sat there and cried, wondering what she could do for her baby, for Steph; But at some point a light bulb idea appeared. She suddenly found herself stringing some lights on the wall over her couch, a row of three, before popping open a can of black paint and began brushing letters on.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“How do we get my mom’s attention when we can’t see what she’s done?” Will asked after hours of walking back to his home, he was disappointed to find that his house still looks the same. I guess their theory about earlier was right–

This world was stuck on the day he and Steph got kidnapped by the beast.

The oldest walked around a bit, thinking. Unfortunately, despite all the lights Joyce bought, they can’t see any of them. “Did she put it in your room, maybe?” Stephanie thought, and wandered inside.

Nothing. Of course. The only thing she saw that was possibly different was some scratch marks on the wall, ones that would be too high for a dog to do.

She swallows and leaves, meeting the boy in the hallway. “Did you have scratches on your wall before?” Will gives her a weird look and shakes his head. She hums. “We got to find those lights quickly. I think that monster’s been lurking around here.”

They found themselves back in the living room, and started moving their arms around, squinting too to see if something would appear. All hope was starting to seem lost until her hand hits an object above, a glowing hue appears for a split second.

“Whoa…” Will said, in awe, and suddenly, they both swore they heard a dog barking. “Chester?”

Steph took this as a sign to keep going, hitting the same spot again before gently moving her hand along the imaginary line. She trails to the little cabinet against the wall, feeling around until she hits something that makes light.

Come on, Ms. Byers. Please tell me you’re home. The two of them waited anxiously, waiting for the woman to speak, waiting for–

.

|| Will... are you here? ||

.

Joyce’s voice broke through, breaking them.

“Mom.” Will breaths, coming down to sit on his knees. “What do I–”

“Start feeling around. Just like I did.” Steph said, coming to sit next to him. He nods again, keeping calm and feels around – His fingers touching something that made the hue appear again. “Perfect. Just like that.”

.

|| Okay, good, good, good, good. ||

.

“See?” Steph says, happily. “It’s working.”

“Mom.” Will says again, smiling. Now, they just have to stay silent and listen.

.

|| Are you… Um, blink once for yes, twice for no. C-Can y-you do that for me, sweetie? Can you do– || 

.

Of course they can. So Will reaches out and touches it once.

.

|| Oh, good boy. Good boy. Okay, Will, um– Is… Is Stephanie with you too? ||

.

One touch. Will is eternally grateful that he’s not alone in this scary place. 

.

|| That’s wonderful news – Baby, I need to know… ||

.

There’s a pause, and they hold their breaths.

.

|| Are you guys alive? ||

.

Their hearts clenched at how painful she sounded. 

His poor mother. I can only imagine what she must feel like. Steph thought, and touched his shoulder, trying to give him some comfort.

He touches the air with a shaky hand, trying not to beat himself up over how much his mother was suffering.

.

|| Are you guys safe? ||

.

They frown, and he touches the air twice.

I’m sorry, Mom. Will says, trying not to picture the state she was in after that answer.

.

|| I need to know where to find you two, honey. Where... where are you? Can you... can you tell me where you are? Can you… Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just... Will… ||

.

“Mom?” He croaked, after she went silent. “Mom?”

“Ms. Byers?” She said, worriedly.

“Mom, please… where did you–”

Then they heard the couch scrap across the floor, hitting the wall, followed by the sounds of hammering. 

“What is she doing now?” He asks, both of them standing and hearing the string lights she must have in her hands clink together, and move along the wall. “Why is she hanging up more lights?”

Although he was puzzled, Stephanie was not. She walks over to the couch, getting onto the cushions and feeling around, the hues returning when she hits a certain spot. She laughs blissfully.

“Oh, your mom’s a genius.” Steph said, with a huge smile on her face.

Will gives her a look. “I don’t get it.”

“Watch closely. See–” She touches a line of lights near the ceiling. “Eight.” Then the middle. “Nine.” Then the bottom. “Nine. It makes twenty-six. Your mom’s a freaking genius.”

“Still not getting it.”

“Don’t you see? She didn’t just hang up more lights–” Her smile grows, and soon will his. “It’s an alphabet wall.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy wasn’t sure what she was going to do. First Steve doesn’t come into school, and now no one knows where Barb is. She decides to kill two birds with one stone after school, and takes a drive over to the Harrington house. A quick driveby shows that her boyfriend’s car wasn’t there, so she figures he must have just skipped school because of last night’s disagreement. As for her best friend though, she couldn’t have said the same thing.

She slows down and parks directly behind Barb’s car, jogging over and taking a peek inside. Everything was the same, Barb’s purse was on the floor board, and the sweater she changed out of was laid in the seat. 

No. No way. She couldn’t believe this. If Barb didn’t drive home last night then where was she? She tried to come up with excuses, tried to make up ideas that would lead to her coming home without her car but…

Nothing made sense. 

She about cried on the way home, on the verge of a breakdown as she thinks only but the worst of the worst. 

“Hey!” Her mother calls out as she enters the house. “You’re home early! How was the game?” When her mother notices how quiet she was, it is when she meets her daughter halfway. “Nancy? What’s the matter?”

“I-It’s Barb.” Nancy croaks, shaking. “I think... something happened. Something terrible.” She hopes she’s just over exaggerating, but she doesn’t know about that.

She can’t shake off this dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I don’t know, Chief.” Powell begins, really on the fence about all that they read.

“What don’t you know?” Hopper asked, confused.

“This lady, Terry Ives, sounds like a real nut to me. Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments? She’s been discredited. Claim was thrown out–”

Hopper sighs. “Okay, forget about her. Take a look at this.” He slides over a newspaper clipping he printed out. The headline said: ‘MK ULTRA EXPOSED’. He points to a familiar face in the picture. “Dr. Martin Brenner.”

“Who?”

“Brenner. He runs Hawkins Lab.”

“Okay…”

Hopper sits back in his chair with disbelief and scoffs. “You don’t find that interesting?”

“Not really.” Powell said, with a shrug. “He was involved in some hippie crap back in the day, so what?” 

“No, this isn’t hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research.”

“Doesn’t mean he had anything to do with our kids.”

“Come on. Look at that.” Hopper points to the other people in the picture. “Hospital gowns. All of ‘em. Now, that piece of fabric that the teacher found by the pipe. That sure looked like a hospital gown to me, huh? Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know, Chief.”

“Come on, man. Work with me here. I’m not saying that there’s some grand conspiracy–” (You sure about that?) “I’m just…” He sighs, exhausted. “I’m saying maybe something happened. Maybe Will and Stephanie were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they saw something that they shouldn’t have.”

Powell makes a face. “It’s a reach.”

“It’s a start.” 

Before more could be said, Powell’s radio goes off, and Callahan starts speaking.

[ ‘Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?’ ] 

Hopper wastes no time to reach over and take the radio off his partner’s shoulder, answering it, “Hopper here. What do you got?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The boys follow Eleven through the woods, the sun finally setting, slowly engulfing them in darkness if it wasn’t for the lights on their bikes. To everyone’s shock and confusion, she had brought them to a familiar place.

She turns around and faces them, replying, “Here.”

Mike gives her a look. “Yeah, this is where Will lives.”

“Hiding.”

He shakes his head. “No, no, this is where he lives. He’s missing from here. Understand?”

“What are we doing here?” Lucas asked, dropping his bike in annoyance. 

“She said he’s hiding here.”

“Um…” He looks around. “No!”

Now it was Dustin’s turn to look annoyed. “I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing–”

“That’s exactly what we did. I told you she didn’t know what the hell she was talking about!”

Mike sighs and looks at her. “Why did you bring us here?”

“Mike, don’t waste your time with her.” Lucas replies, fed up and tired.

“What do you want to do then?”

“Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday.”

“We are not calling the cops!” 

“Hey, guys?” Dustin says, something catching his attention. 

“What other choice do we have?” Lucas yells again. 

“Guys!” He snaps, drawing their attention to the police cars rushing by, followed by an ambulance. Their sirens were blaring loudly, and were heading in a direction they all knew where it led to.

A dreadful feeling came to all of them instantly. 

“Oh no…” Mike whispers.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie wrote on the wall with a marker the best she could, drawing the alphabet in each row. They couldn’t see the lights or the letters Joyce probably scribbled on too, but they could make do with what they had.

“This should probably help, right?” 

“Definitely.” Will agrees with a nod.

“Good.” She smacks her hands together. “Alright, come on Mrs. Byers, talk to us. Ask us some questions.”

“Come on, Mom.”

They waited and waited, until they finally heard her speak.

.

|| Okay. Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you guys? ||

.

“What should we say?” Will asked, as he climbed onto the couch.

“Uh…” What could they say? “Here! Right Here. Tell her that.”

“Okay.”

Will Reached up and started touching right above each letter, listening – His mother repeating back whatever he touched.

.

|| ‘R’. Good, good, good, good. That’s good. Come on, come on. ‘I..  G... H... T... H... E... R... E…’.‘Right here’. ||

.

Stephanie frowns, worriedly. Yeah, I know it doesn’t make any sense but it’s true.

“Come on, Mom. Understand. Please.” Will begged, quietly.

.

|| ‘Right here’? I… I-I don’t know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you guys? How do I find you? What should I do? ||

.

“Um…” Will looks over at the teenager. “What should we tell her?”

Steph’s mouth opens and closes quickly. What do they tell her if they’re not even sure what this place is? “Fuck… um…” She scratches her head. “How about–”

. “I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING.” .

The vicious voice seemed to spread itself around the house like a disease making the hair on their necks stand, and a chill ran up their spines. And then all the supposed “dead” electricity started going off, turning the whole house into a light show; Radios and TVs started going frantic; Fans turning on and spinning around too.

Will starts looking around all disoriented. “Steph, what’s going on?” 

“I–” She gasps as she hears the infamous growl in the distance, then the sound of the beast trying to bust through the wall behind her. “Will!!”

The boy frantically writes something out of his mother, just as the monster’s claw broke through the house. Steph takes a quick shot to stun it enough for them to run out the back door – From there, they were off running into the forest.

Again. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•��•°•°

Joyce set the brush down, her alphabet wall was done and ready to use. She takes a few steps back so she can see the whole thing, and rubs her hands impatiently.

“Okay.” She breathes, mentally preparing herself. “Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you guys?” It takes only a second for a letter to appear. “‘R’. Good, good, good, good. That’s good. Come on, come on. ‘I..  G... H... T... H... E... R... E…’.‘Right here’.”

What? 

That doesn’t make sense. What do they mean they’re right here?

“‘Right here’?” She says again, puzzled. “I… I-I don’t know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you guys? How do I find you? What should I do?”

She sees the light flicker again, and waits to see what they spell. Slight spoiler…

It was not what she expected them to say.

They were letters that were going to take her breath away.

R

U 

N 

And then all the lights in the house turned on and flickers rapidly, a sound of growling coming from behind. Scarcely, she turns to find something trying to crawl out of her wall. Terrified to even scream or speak, she starts to back away towards the door as a beast breaks through the wallpaper and hisses. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The boys biked faster and faster, trying to catch up to the emergency vehicles, fearing the worst was yet to come. Just like they suspected, they ended up right at Sattler Quarry.

Meanwhile, Hopper was shaking, praying that what Callahan told him was not true. He arrives at the scene to find paramedics going deep into the water, two stretchers trailing behind. He doesn’t even know if he parked the car or not as he rushes out; A terrible, terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He runs and blends into the crowd of firemen, waiting (im)patiently for their findings. 

“Oh, Jesus.” He mutters, trying so hard to keep his composure. “Oh, God. Please tell me it’s not the kids.”

The boys and El hid behind a truck, hearts in their throats as they watched as a waterlogged body of a boy was being loaded on the stretcher – soon followed by a larger female.

As soon as he saw the clothes, as soon as he saw the color of their hair, Hopper knew he was too late. Not wanting to break down right there and scream, he turns away and heads to his car. How in the world was he going to be able to tell Joyce and Claudia about this? How was he going to tell them that he failed to save their children after they begged him to? What could he have done differently to change this atrocious outcome?

The boys were shaking their heads from afar, not wanting to believe what they’re seeing. It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. It has to be! They can’t really be–

“It can’t be them.” Mike choked, shaking his head. “It can’t be.”

“It’s Will and Steph.” Lucas says, lips quivering. Both boys were a mess, almost coming undone, but Dustin…

Oh, Dustin.

He felt like he was about to faint.

“Phanie…?” He whispers, taking a step back while holding his head. No. No. No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No– No! This can’t be real! This can’t be! She can’t be–

“It’s really them.” Lucas said, after getting another look once the bodies were brought back to shore. Tears were in his eyes, and they were ones he wasn’t even going to try to hide like he normally would.

Same thing goes with Mike, who was hugging himself, and sobbed. His best friend was gone. A girl that was like a sister to him was gone. He just couldn’t… wait. “Dustin?” He begins, looking over his friend who seemed so far away from this world.

It was a scary look, enough for even El to get scared and worried. She reached out to him, to comfort him; She even muttered his name for the first time.

To everyone’s surprise, he slaps her hand away.

“‘Dustin’? ‘Dustin’, what?!” He snaps, hatefully. “You were supposed to help us find them alive. You said my sister was alive?! Why did you lie to us?” He points at her, scaring her again. “What’s wrong with you? What is wrong with you?!” 

Eleven stays quiet, not even sure what to say from his outburst.

“Say something! Give me an answer, damn it!” He yells, as Lucas and Mike take a step closer.

“Dustin–” Mike tries, but the boy shakes his head and backs away.

“Screw this! Fuck everything!” Dustin turns around and grabs his bike, his friends ushering him to calm down before taking off. But whatever they say wasn’t going to be enough. The Henderson was practically up the hill when they finished their speech, and wasn’t planning on slowing down no matter what happens.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, not too far down the road, Joyce was running for her life – running whatever that thing was that crawled out of her wall. She was so scared that she didn’t even realize a car was coming towards her. Luckily, it stopped mere inches away, causing her to scream.

“Mom?” Jonathan says as he gets out. “Mom, what happened?” His mother couldn’t speak, only reaching out to grab her son and hold on to dear life. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I got you.” 

But everything is not okay. Far from it. 

Because in the distance, police were coming to inform them of the unfortunate news of their son and brother.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve slips through the sliding door in the back of his house since it was much quieter. He really didn’t feel like facing his parents just yet, and he knows this is around the time at night where they sit around with a glass of wine/beer and watch their shows. He’ll just see and deal with them in the morning, and hopefully they don’t notice any signs that there was a party last night.

He walks lightly across the floors, his mind set to go for the stairs which was going to be a bit tricky since they do tend to creak in some spots. A quick look into the living room he finds his dad on the couch, and his mother standing up but facing the opposite way. 

Perfect. He thought and made his move just as his mother’s voice broke through.

The black, wavy haired and brown eyed woman was pacing around a bit, clearly upset about something – or someone to be exact. 

“The boy was skipping school today, Richard. Can’t you believe that? How is suppose to keep up his grades?” 

Steve had to hold back from groaning as he eye rolled. Here she goes again. He chooses to ignore it, and is about to when he hears the next thing.

“If it wasn’t for his girlfriend calling we would have never known.”

He froze as soon as his foot touched one of the steps. Nancy called? 

His girlfriend actually called the house? She was actually calling because she was wondering where he was at? Even after their fight? He could smile because it warms his heart that she cares, but he was also devastated that his mother was the one to pick up the phone. He hasn’t even told–

“On the bright side, he’s dating a Wheeler. A Wheeler! You know what her father does for a living, right?” She chuckles with excitement. “It’s perfect. I can almost cry.”

And here comes another eyeroll. See this is why he didn’t bother mentioning this girlfriend this time around to his mother. He knew once she found out who her family was it was going to be a game changer. 

Jesus, Christ. He can’t wait to see what’s in store for him in the morning.

“Well, it beats the other choices he’s had in the past.” His father said, pouring salt into old wounds and making him shake his head.

These freaking people, man. I swear. Steve starts to go up the stairs when he hears another voice; This time it was on the TV.

. < In Other words– breaking news. The bodies of some local children, William Byers and Stephanie Henderson have been found. > .

He froze again, this time more rigid and cold.

No.

No, he didn’t just hear that right.

No, his mind’s just playing tricks on him because of last night…

Right?

. < The children have been missing since the 6th, and local authorities and it’s volunteers worked many hours to bring them home, only for it to end in a tragedy. >  .

“About fucking time.” Charles said, raising his beer with joy. “Damn weirdo. I guess our worries about her hanging out with our son again are put to rest.”

Jessica sighs with relief. “Thank God for that. I was tired of seeing her face everywhere.”

“Amen to that.”

He listened to his parents laugh, and clink their drinks together as the world started to spin around him.

No.

No.

This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t–

He’s not sure how much noise he made, or if he made any, but Steve was out the door again in a split second – running straight for his car where he’ll speed off to the unknown parts of Hawkins.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Dustin stumbles inside his house, slamming the door with more force than necessary. Maybe it was necessary ‘cause it got his mother’s attention. She came from the other room, asking what’s going on as he stares at her with a red face and puffy eyes, cheeks stained with tears that wouldn’t stop falling.

“Dustin? What’s wrong?” 

He felt like something was wrapped around his vocal cords, and there was a knife sticking into his chest, and there was something hot poking at his lungs. He has to speak. He has to tell her. It’s better if she knows from his lips rather than a man in blue. 

“Dustin?” She tries again, getting closer.”

“M-Mom…” He begins, his whole body starting to tremble. “St-Stephanie… sh-she’s… she’s…” Oh, god. Why can’t he freaking say it?

“She’s what?” Claudia asked, worriedness creeping up onto her features.

“Sh-She’s… she’s gone.” He whispers into a sob. “Th-They found them both in… I-In the quarry.” Another sob. “Th-They’re b-both gone. M-Mom. St-Stephanie’s gone…”

And then his mother started to shake her head and said ‘No’, followed by Dustin’s reassurance. This went back and forth for who knows how long, but it ended with Claudia being in the same state as her son – a hobbling mess.

“I-It’s true…” He gasps. “I-I saw it my-myself. They’re r-really b-both gone.” And then he broke down again, this time in her arms. She holds him tight, trying to be the strong one here. 

“Shh, baby, we’ll get through this.” She soothes, rubbing the curls on the back of his neck. Her son grips onto her clothes, burying his head into her chest and lets out never ending gasps for air.

“Mommy…” He choked, as his ears picked up on the sirens in front of his house.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve’s surprised the gas pedal hasn’t gone through the floorboard yet with how much force he’s applying. He doesn’t even know where he’s going, doesn’t even know if he’s hit something, or runs a red light, but he does know that he’s not anywhere near the speed limit. 

The news story was still playing around in his head and it was certainly not helping the situation. 

. < From the looks of it, the poor children had plummeted into the quarry and ended up drowning with possible hypothermia. But the mystery still remains on why these two disappeared in the first place. Hopefully, the police can find the answer to that, and bring some closure to the grieving families. > < Hopefully so, Liz. I can only imagine what they’re going through right now. > < Everyone here at WCPK would like to give our condolences. And we advise everyone watching to give a moment of silence for the children. > .

Steve slams on the breaks, the wheels spinning and making an awful sound as he stops along one of the abandoned roads in the town. He starts breathing heavily, which slowly turns into panting. His heartbeat was in his ears, his throat tight and dry, his brown eyes starting to gloss over.

“Fuck…” He whispers, in disbelief. No matter how many times he thinks this is a dream, thinks that maybe they were wrong and it was two other kids they found, his guts tells him ‘No’ and ‘This is real’. 

“Fuck…” He says again, the pain was slowly turning into anger which eventually led to him banging on every surface in his car. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!”

Stephanie Henderson was dead. The girl he knew since five was dead. The girl he made promises with was dead. The girl who was there for him at his every low was dead. The girl who was the only one to make him really laugh and smile was dead.

The girl he had to give up to protect was dead.

Stephanie Henderson… The girl that was his friend.

No.

Screw that! 

He didn’t want to make that choice but he had to.

The girl that is, and will always be, his friend is dead.

She was just supposed to keep moving on in her life, she was just supposed to keep hating him until she completes her dreams. She was supposed to stay in Hawkins and pretend not to know him until her dream life opens up and whisks her away. 

She was supposed to be alive and safe. 

She wasn’t supposed to be dead at the bottom of a quarry with a boy she offered to protect.

Everything he did to make sure she lived was now pointless.

Now, tears rolled down his face, his hands trembling and his lower lip quivered. Every emotion he kept locked up from their old friendship had returned and it was eating him away, tearing him bit by bit, suffocating him till he turned blue.

He still couldn’t believe it. He wishes he could blink and reality would reveal it was just another dream. 

He knows it won’t be like that. It never will be. So instead…

.

.

.

.

Steve found himself screaming until his throat ran raw.

(TBC)

A/N: Did I emotionally destroy all of you enough? I apologize a bit if so...

~~~

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

@emsownuniverse @unspecifiedvisitor @smaryamsstuff @kitty49646 @jinxeee @bookkeeperlove

[melefim]

Dead Boy Detectives Score is out!

I’ve also added it to my playlist with all the other songs used in the show here:

I’ll be doing a complete listing of where all the songs are found in the show like I did for the regular soundtrack, but in the meantime here’s what I recognize from a quick listen/ click through:

(Episode numbers are in parentheses)

Death Becomes Him: Gas mask ghost street chase, Death in the office (1)

The Dead Boy Detectives Main Title theme: self- explanatory- opening titles for every episode, as well as credits for 1-3.

So Many Questions for So Many Fools: Edwin’s Flashback (1), intercepted by cats & escorted to the cannery (2), (escort to cannery bit also plays when Niko & Crystal are walking to the cannery in episode 8), Edwin gives Crystal a list of questions for Niko —> We have the same left (2)

Little Girl Collector: Esther’s theme— bits of it played throughout: Esther meets Crystal (1), Yelling at Monty (1), Esther browsing Tragic Mick’s (2), Esther in the butcher shop (3), Esther sees Monty with Edwin (3), Esther & Monty in the kitchen (5&6), Esther walking down the street (8)

Want and Pleasure: Cat King theme- all or partially played during Edwin’s punishment discussion (2), Meeting by the lighthouse (4), Cat King in forest (6), Esther in the cannery (7)

Niko: bit starting around 2:00 is following Maxine (5), 2:45-3:00ish is setting up the butcher shop for the date & Jenny’s reaction(5)

Sadness Came Too/ Looking for Boys: up until 1:37 is Niko & Crystal talking about their families (2), 1:38 and on is the Night Nurse/ Lost & Found department theme. Sections are heard at end of episode 1, reviewing the boy’s files (2), the notary (3), interviewing the Devlin girls (3), Night nurse arrives in Port Townsend (4), upstairs with Jenny (4), that night on the cliff (4), appears to take the boys (6), opening the door to hell (7), and when she leaves at the end of 7.

Awakening Skeletons: Dandelion shrine field (2)

Stuck in a jar: Dandelion Sprite theme- when they’re first in the jar & when Niko first sees them (2), the three scenes with them taunting Niko in Devlin house (3), Jenny sees them (8), very end of igloo & end credits (8)

Odd Customers and Cohorts: first bit is Potential client interviews (3), second half might be at Tragic Mick’s?

VHS and David: Devlin House- last minute of the song is after the loop is broken and Death comes (3)

You Can Talk To Me: first bit is them back at the tongue & tail after the lighthouse Leapers (4)

All So Obvious: 2:20-3:17 is summoning Shelby (5)

Never Been Kissed/ Hell: first bit is Niko & Edwin talking about kissing (4), Middle is probably Charles descending into Hell?? (7), 4:30 on is the ‘Previously on Dead Boy Detectives’ background music (2-8)

I Messed Up: Crystal & Jenny in the alley, Crystal & Charles in the alley, Crystal unlocks her door, Charles shows her his parents (1)

Accepting Being Dead: beginning is almost but not exactly the bit in Hell from when the spider grabs Edwin to when Charles finds him again. (7) 1:00-2:30 is Edwin coming out to Charles (6). Last 30 seconds is Charles crying on the cliff (4), Bad guy talk (5), and right after he realizes he’s dead in his flashback (7).

Mirror Maze: Maxine attacks Jenny (5), pretty sure at least part is the David/Crystal/Charles confrontation in the forest (6)

Run From Hell / I’m in Love with You: first 45 seconds is Charles & Edwin running from the baby doll spider, :45- 3:30 is the second scene with Simon (do you think it has to be torture being the way we are?), 3:30- end is Edwin’s confession (7). Confession time can also be heard during conversation at end of (6) and the hug at end of (8).

Her Own Fault: first bit is Fight at Esther’s house, starts when Esther throws Niko against the wall, goes through Niko’s death

Esther’s Origin/ A New Deal: Cat King’s Esther story (8), 2:50ish onwards is the Principal looking at the case board through the end of the scene to the zoom out the window (8)

I will be going through and trying to find timestamps for where every song plays in the show, but it’ll take a bit. Until then, hope people find this useful! (And if you know any parts of songs that I missed, please feel free to drop a comment!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you like lists of things like I do, you can check out my other Dead Boy Detectives list posts here:

Full soundtrack with timestamps

When Charles’ Shirt Colors Change

George Rextrew’s Edwin comic inspo board

Moves, Incidents, and Cases Masterlist

Swearing Masterlist

[dachher]

Can u write abt reader and boyfriend gavi having a fight and he kicks her out of his house so she goes to pedri and he comforts her plssssd

useless

paring: pablo gavi x fem!reader, pedri gonzalez x fem!reader(platonic)

summary: angry gavi saying too much

words: 409

warnings: angst.

a/n: i am having baby fever lately, so you might expect baby fics🥹

masterlist

gavi was known from his anger. he was just angry teenager. not only when he was getting fouled on field.

today pablo just wake up with shit humour. he was pointing you your every mistake looking for fight.

first you did him breakfast.

“you gave too much salt.” he grunted not even looking at you.

then you were doing your daily makeup.

“you’re going somewhere?” he asks harshly walking to the bathroom without even knocking to the door.

“no, why?” you were putting your lipstick on as he was staring at you through the mirror.

“because you are again sitting in bathroom doing your makeup, trying to hide all your imperfections.” as he said that you look at him with wide open eyes don’t believing that he just said that.

and you were thinking that everything was normal again till 9 pm.

you were sitting on couch watching new episodes of your favourite show.

“you know were is my training kit?” you heard from behind you.

“it’s probably in laundry.”

“what? i need it. why are you always sitting on couch. you should do something useful like dinner or laundry!” he yelled at you angry.

“i am not you housewife!” you snap back at him standing now in front of him.

“oh i can’t stand you! you are not doing anything in this home any more! you are so useless!” tears were forming in your eyes as you heard that. “yeah, now go cry about it.”

you go past him wearing your boots and hoodie.

“where are you going? it’s already dark?”

“i am useless. so i’m out of here.” you said as you left with only your phone.

you didn’t really know were to go. tears were falling down on your face ruining your makeup.

after twenty minutes of walk you find yourself standing in front of pedri’s house.

he was yours and pablo’s mutual friend so it wasn’t probably a good idea but you were looking like a mess and you were so cold and you could feel raindrops falling on your face.

you quickly knocked to his door, now being soaked with water.

minute later you saw shocked pedri standing in front of you. he pulled you into his house.

“what happened?” he asked caring.

ten minutes later you were sitting on couch in his living room in his clothes and with tea in your hands.

[tifaria]

How about that Umbrella Academy ending, huh?

I’m forever salty that the show didn’t find a bigger following on tumblr. It was made in a lab for tumblr but it never blew up here.

I was not surprised by the Five and Lila thing at all, and I didn’t hate it. It made sense for what was happening in that episode, but I wish there had been more episodes to resolve it. Aidan Gallagher better get so much work after this, because he has been the MVP of every single season. He really sells “sixty year old man trapped in teenage (well, early 20s by season 4) body”, and the heartache on his face was almost too much. This is the same character that was in love with a mannequin at one point, getting to express some actual romantic feelings and it was very soft and sweet.

The storylines were a mess, so I had to turn my brain off more than normal and just roll with it. I can only blame Netflix for the shortened season, which sucks, because they were clearly in a rush to wrap it up.

The ending got me crying, though. I love these assholes so much and I’m sorry to see them go.

[halfhissandwich]

What your favorite Sanders Sides episode says about you because I’m binging the series rn and I wanna do this. All of this is a joke, I’m just being silly

My True Identity: Wow look at the fun little identity crisis series! Would be a shame if this goes downhill, right? Yeah, that’s what denial of the inevitable sounds like.

Way Too Adult: I’m willing to bet you’re a fan of the Unsympathetic Patton stuff. Just the vibe I get.

Taking on Anxiety!: I’m so sorry for the atrocities that have occurred in this fandom regarding Virgil. All you wanted was a sassy little emo boy and the fandom made him the embodiment of uwu, I’M SO SORRY-

A New Year of Lying to Myself… In Song!: You just like the song. I feel you, I like the song too.

The Dark Side of Disney!: We meet again, prinxiety shippers. :)

I’m in a Disney show!: Your favorite character is C!Thomas.

The Mind vs. The Heart: I won’t say you’re a logicality shipper… but if they got married, you definitely wouldn’t complain.

Dad’s Big Game Day Tips: … Daddy issues. I’m sorry, it needed to be said.

Alone on Valentines Day: I don’t have a joke here, but I’ll just say that my first thought was “aromantic”, so take that as you will.

Losing My Motivation: Oh my gosh. We get it. Logan is wonderful. That’s the 5th PowerPoint you’ve made today. Please just let me go home.

Q&A: You want an updated one. Me too, buddy, me too.

Am I Original: Going back and rewatching this video after POF makes you cry every single time.

My Negative Thinking: Hey analogical shippers, how are you doing? Still starving? … anyway let’s do some more logicality and prinxiety, shall we? :)

Growing Up: You’re everything that the people who’s favorite episode is “Losing My Motivation” are, but for Patton, and you don’t understand why the fandom thinks he’s kind of problematic.

Making Some Changes: *obnoxious chanting* LAMP LAMP LAMP LAMP LAMP LAMP LAMP LAMP LAM-

Becoming A Cartoon: … I won’t say anything. I won’t crush your dreams. I’ll just observe, smile, nod and just move on.

Accepting Anxiety: I don’t blame you, a lot of work was put into that episode. By the way you know you can ship prinxiety platonically, right? You can like it platonically without liking it romantically, I-I hope you know that-

Fitting In: You’re actively choosing to ignore drama online and I’m impressed with that, also you are aware that it’s messed up to bash Thomas for making a Harry Potter video 6 years ago, IT WAS SIX YEARS AGO AND HE LIKED HARRY POTTER, DON’T YOU DARE CANCEL THOMAS FOR THAT-

Moving On: Sorry, I’d write a joke for this one but I’m too busy crying-

12 Days Of Christmas: holy wow- no thoughts, head empty. You saw the colorful and festive little Christmas special and you actually said “:D” out loud.

Can Lying be Good: THEATER KIDS, ASSEMBLE!

Why do we get out of bed in the morning?: You probably said one thing in support of logince at one point in your entire life and you got chased with pitchforks by the prinxiety shippers and then Roman started bullying Logan, I am so sorry for this fandom’s sins :(

Crofters the musical: You’re basically Roman in this episode. “But look at him now! (Cue Logan chugging jam like a fucking madman) He’s just so COOL!”

Learning New Things About Ourselves: Your motto is “angst doesn’t exist if I can’t see it.”

Embarrassing Phases: I… completely forgot this episode existed. This is your favorite? I’m not judging your taste or anything, but what’s with your taste?

Selfishness v. Selflessness: Your favorite design? Janus. Your favorite personality? Janus. Your favorite ship? A Janus ship. Your favorite side? … Logan.

Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts: Remus’ abandonment issues aren’t canon. But if I say that too loud, then you people might stab me, so nevermind.

Are There Healthy Distractions: Apparently this episode’s plot of Thomas forgiving his previously homophobic friend is an analogy for Thomas forgiving Virgil for having been a dark side. That’s the connection! I missed it too! I thought it was a silly Frozen episode too! IT’S ABOUT VIRGIL!

Putting Others First: … guys, you can stop fighting the moceit vs roceit war, neither of them will ever be canon. ALSO HOLY WOW PATTON IS A FROG AND HE’S RIPPED FOR SOME REASON, WHAT THE FU-

Flirting With Social Anxiety: Your number one headcanon for the season 2 finale is a direct Frozen quote where Patton is like “Thomas you can’t marry a man you just met” and Roman is like “you can if it’s true love! >:0” (also hi again prinxiety shippers!)

Working Through Intrusive Thoughts: You have anger issues and you relate to Logan. Or you’re just happy to see the silly, goofy, demented Duke with fandom-inflicted abandonment issues!

[absolutebl]

BL Best of 2022 - quick picks

Best KBL: Semantic Error

Best Thai BL: Bad Buddy (remember for me this falls into 2022) 

Best JBL: this was the hardest pick for me because Japan came back SWINGING this year. So... I cheated. 

Best traditional live action yaoi? Minato’s Laundromat 

Best modern BL? Takara & Amagi 

Best for me, personally? Old Fashion Cupcake 

Best Taiwan BL: My Tooth Your Love although I really adored DNA Says Love You and About Youth, the one fudged the beginning and the other the end (both are still v HEA) so My Tooth was the most consistent. 

Best director: Kato Ayaka (Old Fashion Cupcake) she did a fucking phenomenal job, and yes she had two killer actors to work with, but I am such a sucker for those long shots plus the sensual foods close ups? GIIRLLLLLLLL. Gah! 

Best kiss: honestly we had so many good kisses this year I have multiple blog posts going on the subject. But I am handing it over to the one that stuck in my head the most, Billy & Seng’s up against that chain gate with the damn blue towel sticking out of his back pocket in Secret Crush On You. 

The desperation was just insane. But I might have given it to OFC if they hadn’t already won the director category. And I flipping LOVE the Kissable Lips boys BTS smiley kiss from 304: 100% should have been on screen for us.

Best erotic moment: The shower neck make out kiss from side couple RainPayu in Oh! My Sunshine night. 

Runner up: VegasPete and the “ass to waist ratio” kiss in their kinky chain scene. 

Best O scene: Oh the whole LITA special, they knew what they were doing. Doesn’t stop me being annoyed by the whole thing, tho. 

Best cuddles: I mean it should got to 12% because, well, ENDLESSLY spectacular cuddles from SantaEarth but for me it was Star in My Mind’s cuddle+glare. I love me a vicious little “mine” moment. 

Best eye contact/soulmating/eyefucking: FirstKhao in The Eclipse although Japan did great work with THIRST this year (bit more one sided, that one). 

Best cinematography: Cherry Blossoms After Winter, I know, I know, but you know how I feel about yaoi, nostalgia and cinematic storytelling. 

Best boohoo snot bubble I’m dazed and crying: Eternal Yesterday, every fucking episode, Choco Milk Shake (I hate you Strongberry, I love you Strongberry), To My Star 2 (I just hate you and you are not forgiven). 

Most beloved character: Shin MY PRECIOUS BEAN SPROUT 

Best Pair: The Parks although I am also crazy about the To My Star and Kissable Lips boys. I really want more from all of them. Madness that it’s all Korea. 

Best Ensemble: The Eclipse had a killer cast but I expect that from GMMTV. So for all it was a mess of a story Cutie Pie wins best casting from me. All 3 couples had such good chemistry. I don’t think any other multi-couple shows out of Thailand were that on point, not even KP. 

Best siblings//family: My Ride, gotta hand it to the gay uncles and all the queer friends and the adopted son. Although DNA Says Love You was pretty darn great too. 

Best Food: There were so many food ones this year (Ocean Likes Me, Old Fashion Cupcake, La Cuisine, but none were as good food-wise as Bite Me last year) so the one where I actually wanted to eat stuff the most? What Zabb Man. What can I say? I love sweets and ramen, but Thai food is my last best hope in life. 

Best song: Eternal Yesterday’s OST Sunshower by Ayumu Imazu. I can’t believe Japan beat out Korea but I am sorry I just really fucking adore that song. I’m sucker for that raw slightly rough voice combined with Japan’s brusque style (and PINK hair). 

But Leo’s I still from Happy Ending Romance is a close fucking follow up, that boy is dripping slightly-evil honey even in falsetto, he’s a perennially ignored goddamn gift to Kpop. 

I do A LOT of best of lists, this is just the beginning. Also if you have a request of a top 10 of 2022 or any best of... name the tope lists, let me know in an RP or a comment. 

(source)