#get it cos it's like a metaphorical break

[mickeym4ndy]

I won't be alone for the rest of my life I'll build a boat for when the river gets high

[kazoo-world]

okay. i debated not posting this because I was worried I’d get death threats (that says a lot doesn’t it) but it needs to be said, because its upsetting me.

a woman who publicly says she feels very sane and has “never been to therapy” and who breaks up with her boyfriend in part because he can’t just “”get over”” his depression to love her the way she wants/needs does not.

I repeat, does not.

get to use the imagery she did in her fortnight video.

I’ve been seeing gifsets and screenshots all day of her chained to a bed but ~aesthetic~ and being fed a pill after a cheeky side eye and strapped to a glamourfied ECT machine and no one has said anything about it so I will. those images are genuinely triggering for me.

people have been restrained, forcefed pills, and given electroconvulsive therapy or subjected to the electric chair for severe mental illness against their will. these are not fun props anyone gets to throw around to express that they feel depressed or in a “manic phase” or like they were “raised in an asylum.”

she doesn’t know how a real asylum fried my grandmother’s brain or real cops restrained me because I was psychotic and manic. she doesn’t know what it feels like to be dehumanised that way.

do better. demand she do better, too.

edit: I say that this content is triggering to say that it causes real harm. I do still have a responsibility to myself to curate an internet experience for myself. this does not negate her responsibility to avoid replicating harmful tropes in art which is deeply influential. she does not get to co-opt institutionalization or psychiatric violence as a romanticized aesthetic or as a metaphor because real people like myself have suffered greatly under the things she is representing as glamorous or cool. institutionalization silences and violates mentally ill people in a way that marginalizes them, and that experience should be treated with sensitivity and care rather than being commodified to reduce stigma. if she had experienced these things, I might feel differently, but other ableist content on the record and her statements on her life and art indicate otherwise. she is a woman with immense privilege and power and should not be using that privilege and power to punch down on mental illness.

edit 2: I turned off reblogs for my mental health, but I want you all to know I have seen your criticism. I will not edit the post but I do respect that she has had mental health struggles since that outdated quote. That is my mistake, I own that. My apologies.

However, mental health struggles =/ experience with psychiatric violence. Experiences of mental illness are heterogenous. Aestheticizing, romanticizing, and glamourizing mental hospitals is straight up gross regardless of your experience with mental illness. It’s tasteless and offensive.

I do understand metaphors. I think that her calling her life an asylum as a metaphor is in poor taste. I think her representing her relationship struggles with the imagery of a mental institution is insensitive given the impacts that real asylums and mental hospitals have had on my life and the lives of many others like me, so I had to say something about it.

It’s ableist to assume that critics of your fav “can’t read”, “don’t understand a metaphor” or “don’t have brains” when they clearly demonstrate that they are thinking critically. Do better.

[bimbobaggins69]

Destructive solution

Steddie x virgin fem!reader

summary: after becoming roommates with your high school crush and finally getting out of your crazy strict parents house, you get a little too close to him and his best friend (your coworker) —but they’re straight, right?

warning: SMUT 18+ MDNI, female masturbation, mmf threesome, oral sex (m & f receiving), fingering (m & f receiving), unprotected p in v sex, unprotected p in a sex, dom & sub dynamics, they’re all love sick for each other, controlling parents, one little suicide joke, reader has no game but she’s a pervy virgin, she’s also clueless about sexuality but does admit to having bi thots

A/N: This took way too long, I wrote a whole other story just to hate it and delete it all, Im happy I did because I like this plot way more. Please let me know what you think. I also did way too much “bisexual threesome porn” searches for “research purposes” cough cough for this lmao

It was your second week of working at family video. Instantly falling into a routine of stocking returned tapes back on the shelves and cleaning down surfaces and windows. It wasn’t your first choice of work but with your situation, you would take anything you could get. You’ve been saving up money since summer to finally move out of your parents house, they’ve treated you like a child for far too long and now that you’ve decided to take a gap year and not pursue college like they had hoped you would, they are even worst. If they’re not ramming information about different colleges and courses you should be taking down your throat, they’re criticizing your music taste, your friends and the clothes you wear. Nothing is ever good enough which is why you need this job, so you can find an apartment and break free from your parents metaphorical shackles they’ve placed on you since birth.

The one good thing about your job is your co-workers, Robin and Steve. You usually work with one or the other but the days you get to work with both are always hysterical. Robin is the best always willing to go the extra mile to be sure you know exactly what you’re doing, Steve is sweet and a little bit of a flirt but you know his reputation and well it’s probably just second nature to him at this point, you don’t overthink it since he tends to flirt with the customers too. But god is he gorgeous, you totally get lost in his eyes when he’s talking to you. Not having much experience with boys is the reason you are terrible at flirting back, the most experience you have is making out with Christopher Malone at church camp when you were 15, he might have also cupped your left boob but still, it’s not much to go off of and putting yourself out there to the male species seems a whole lot harder then just being alone.

It’s a lovely Monday morning when you show up to family video. You work one on one with Steve today which always gives you butterflies, even going as far as stuttering like a lame-o when he talks to you, he was always asking personal questions or for your opinions on things and it would always take you by surprise, thus the stuttering

Steve went to Hawkins high with you, both of you sharing a math class where you said all but five words to each other—but working closely side by side was so different. Using a lot of free time to have conversations, and by conversations you mean him talking while you twirl your finger in your hair as you stare into his eyes and at his lips, pretending like you’re paying attention.

“Hello, y/n” his hand waving in front of your face making you snap out of whatever daydream you were having

“Oh, sorry! I-I was thinking about-“ you stahl as you try to make up something on the spot

“About what?” He says as he lifts his eyebrows and puts his hands on his hips

“I was trying to remember if I turned my curling iron off” you spit out

“Mmm” is all he says as he nods his head, giving you a knowing look, almost like he could read your mind. God, you’re so thankful he can’t do that

“So what is it you were saying, sorry” you say as your cheeks turn pink with embarrassment

“I was saying my buddy Eddie is actually looking for a roommate, he just moved into an apartment and I guess his job cut some hours so he’s kinda desperate to find someone, and I remember you telling Robin you were trying to get out of your folks house, so I figured I’d let you know”

“Eddie as in Eddie Munson?” You say as your eyes widen

“Yup that’s him” Steve says as he rubs the back of his neck

“U-um yeah, okay, can I get his number from you?” Your cheeks now a dark crimson red

You had the biggest crush on Eddie Munson in high school, sure he was “the freak” or “the bad boy” but something about him always enticed you, you would look for him in the halls, cafeteria and assemblies. You locked eyes with him on more than one occasion and every time, you felt your heart practically stop, you even contemplated buying weed just for a chance to talk to him, but you chickened out at the last minute

You weren’t sure if living with your high school crush was a good idea but you were also desperate, and maybe this could be your chance to finally get to know Eddie, if not intimately then maybe just as friends

“Yeah, I’ll write it down and give it to you at the end of our shift, just remind me” he says as he gives you a smile

The day drags on and finally at 4:30pm you’re clocking out and gathering your things to head out, as you walk up to Steve to bid him a “bye, enjoy the rest of your day” as you usually do, he turns around from the counter to slip you the number he promised you earlier, as you go to grab it your finger tips touch and you can’t help but get shy, as you look up at him and then look down at your shoes with an embarrassingly big smile on your face.

“T-thanks for this, really it means a lot” you say as you wave the number in your hand

“Yeah no problem, just give him a call and tell him I sent you” he says with a wink that makes your face heat up

“Thank you again, have a good day” you say as you rush out of there, kicking yourself for being so awkward

Once you get home, you head for the kitchen to use the house phone. Your parents never even allowed you your own private phone for your room, and luckily they weren’t home to hear your conversation, they’d lose their minds if they knew you could possibly be moving in with a boy, but for now what they don’t know won’t hurt em’

As you dial the number with shaky hands and a rapidly beating heart, you give your self a tiny pep talk “be cool” “just relax and be cool” as you inhale and exhale a deep breath. The line rings exactly three times before you hear a groggy voice on the other end

“Hello?” -—Wow his voice is so sexy— “no, nope get it together, remember, be cool” you think to yourself

“Helloooo?” Eddie says breaking you out of your thoughts

“Oh, sorry yes um- this is y/n, I work with Steve and he gave me your number because I’m looking to move out and he said you’re looking for a roommate?” You have never wanted to go lay in oncoming traffic so bad

“Mm, Steve gave you my number?” You can hear the smirk on his lips

“Yeah, I’m sorry is that not okay?” — god you wish you could just disappear in this moment

“No, no it’s okay! So when do you wanna come over? I can show you the place and we can go over rent and whatnot” his tone of voice almost sounds eager, but Steve did say he was desperate to find someone

“I can head over in a couple hours, if that’s okay?” You timidly ask

“Cool, cool that works”

After he gives you the address and you hang up, you rush to your room to get ready, you are not going to this meeting in your work uniform

So you freshen up a bit and change into something more you

Deciding on a rainbow band cropped muscle shirt — the shirt your parents always gave you shit for, because one it was “too short” and two “it was the devils music”

You paired it with some black high waisted shorts and a black belt, and then shoved on your white Reeboks, spraying some perfume before you rush out to your little blue ford pinto, the one nice thing your parents did for you—buying it for you your senior year just to get to and from school

The apartment was about a 12 minute drive. You pull up to a brick complex building with a little stoop, it looked fancier then you were expecting, two big pots with beautiful purple flowers on either side of the entrance door— before you are able to walk in you have to be buzzed in by the occupant, so you press the button by B13 and instantly hear Eddie’s voice through the contraption

“Come on up” he says before you’re even able to speak, you hear the door click and you open it— immediately being welcomed by a staircase, you walk up to apt B13, but before you lift your hand to knock you take some deep breaths, Readying yourself for this interaction with a boy you were love sick for almost all of high school

By the first knock, the door swings open and your met by Eddie, and holy hell did he still look as beautiful as he did then, maybe even more so, his hair was a little longer and by what you could tell under the sleeves of his Iron Maiden shirt he definitely filled out more, a little more muscular and maybe even a little taller whatever it was, was turning you into an idiot because you couldn’t stop your eyes from roaming all over his body, his signature black jeans with the rips in the knees and woah is that a bulge? “Okay—okay stop it right now!” You think to yourself, once you look up into Eddies eyes you realize he’s doing the same, ogling your legs and exposed thighs and sliver of skin between your shorts and shirt.

That somehow gave you the confidence to speak first— “hi, I’m y/n” you say as you hold out your hand for him to shake

“I know, we went to school together, right?” He says as he sticks his hand out to meet yours

“Yeah we did, we did— didn’t think you’d remember me” you say still shaking his hand

“I always remember a pretty face” he says back and your panties instantly grow a wet spot— because holy shit, did he just call me pretty?

You want to say something back and be flirty but all you can give him is a little giggle as both of your hands separate from that excessively long hand shake

“Come on in” he finally says as he gestures you in first

You giggle again as you say “thank you”

As you walk inside your eyes scan the place, it was really nice and you could totally see yourself living here, way nicer than anything you could get alone. There’s a few horror movie and band posters hung up around the living room— some fangoria and heavy metal magazines placed on the coffee table, a nice grey couch and a tv setup in front, even a record player with a crate full of vinyls. As you’re busy eyeing the place Eddie is busy eyeing you—looking a little too long at your back side than would be considered appropriate

As you turn around you catch him, eyes still trained on your ass, your cheeks flush and your heart starts beating a mile a minute again, but you give him a smile as you tell him how nice the place is

“Do you want the tour?” He asks, as his eyes are now eyeing your muscle tank

“Yes, please” you say with too much excitement as you bounce from the heels to the balls of your feet making your boobs bounce, which did not go unnoticed by Eddie

But before he began the tour, eyes still trained to your shirt—he points to it

“I like your shirt—I uh, didn’t know you listened to that kind of music” he says as he looks back up into your eyes

Eddie’s nervousness was giving you some kind of boost of confidence because before you could rethink your next words, they’re tumbling out

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Eddie” you say with a smirk as you turn around signaling to him that you’re ready for the tour

As he shows you around, you both can’t help but sneak peaks of each others bodies, you almost couldn’t concentrate on anything else—until he showed you the vacant room, it was a very decent size and could very well fit all of your belongings and then some

“It’s perfect” you say beaming up at him

“Yeah, this place has pretty big rooms, huh?” He says back as he smiles down at you

“So do you wanna go over the bills and stuff now?”

You look back at him with the most beautiful smile he thinks he’s ever seen

“So does that mean I’m moving in?” You squeak out with pure excitement

“Yeah, it does—by the way, when’s the soonest you can start moving your stuff in? You know for rent purposes, the mechanic shop I work at thought it’d be a good idea to hire a couple more people so they cut my hours back” he says with a glum look you wish you could kiss right off

“Oh, well I can start moving little things in by tomorrow, but I need to find someone to help with the bigger things like my bed and dresser”

“Me and Steve could help—if you wanted” he spits out a little faster then he anticipated

“Oh my god, I would be indebted to you both forever, if you did” you say with your best puppy dog eyes

“Yeah I can think of some ways you can cash in that debt” he says with a smirk that makes a chill run down your spine and a place between your thighs throb—you swallow before you smile back at him

“Let’s go sit so we can talk” he says as he does the same “after you” gesture he did when you first walked in

After you both talk about the expenses you’d be splitting and some rules he has which consisted of

Food—you can have whatever of his you want just make sure to ask first and you agreed, that he could do the same. No smoking weed on the balcony, the neighbors like to complain about the smell—but you assured him you don’t smoke, so that doesn’t really apply to you. Last one always let him know when you’re going to have company over, after agreeing and shaking hands he walks you out and before you go to leave he gives you a hug and whispers close to your ear

“I’ll see you tomorrow” goosebumps instantly rising from your skin, you nod and give him a smile before you walk off to your car

As you make your way back home, you try to go over what the hell just happened. You haven’t felt this giddy in your life, you’re about to move in with Eddie fucking Munson, you weren’t sure if you wanted to pull over to do a happy dance or pull over to puke from the nerves that have just swarmed through your stomach at the thought of seeing him everyday, sharing a bathroom with him, holy shit— sleeping in the next room over from him, oh my god you didn’t think about all of this before, what if he sees all your flaws and gets disgusted by you— okay, stop no overthinking, this is your chance to finally be your own person, live your life for yourself and maybe Eddies the perfect person to show you how to let loose.

After Eddie and Steve helped you move your heavier items in—one of your first debts was treating them to burgers and fries for dinner. After grabbing everything from your parents house you left your new number for them to be able to contact you. Moving out the week they were on a work trip, not wanting the confrontation—but you were an adult and you are allowed to move out without permission, you knew once they found out they’d completely cut off contact with you, but you still held out hope that your parents could be decent humans, someday.

But now that you’re settled in, Eddie mentioned a tradition him and Steve have every Saturday, horror movie night. Being around both of the guys you get butterflies for might be a little overwhelming, but you’ve grown to love their company so it should be a good night.

Since it’s your first, you’ve been put in charge of picking the movies—settling on the serpent and the rainbow and fright night. You’ve decided on a whim that you’re gunna look good tonight, maybe that was a terrible idea but you wanted to be desirable, you want to feel sexy and for them to see you as such, so there’s not harm in wearing some cute little pajamas—enfaces on the little

As soon as you got home from your shift you cleaned up a little bit and then hopped in the shower to clean the long day off, once out you used some sweet smelling body lotion and spritzed some perfume on your neck and wrists—finally changing into an off white silk two piece accustomed with some ruffles on the end of the short shorts, showing off the underside of your butt—the top was very cropped and you’ve decided to go without a bra, it just looked better that way, you paired the whole ensemble with white knee high socks. After brushing and drying your hair, you give yourself a once over in the full length mirror that is hanging behind your door, you felt sexy—for the first time in your life, you could kiss your best friend Rachel for getting this pajama set for you on your birthday. The confident thoughts that entered your head left as quickly as they came, now you’re questioning how this makes you look—“am I going to look desperate” “are they going to know I’m dressing up for them?” Oh god I hope not

Before you could overthink any further, there’s a knock at your door—you were so focused you almost jumped out of your skin

“Y-yeah?” You ask trying to catch your breath

“Can you come set up the movie while I get the snacks ready?” Eddie asks from the other side of the door

“Yeah, of course! I’ll be right out”

It’s now or never, either you stop being a pussy and get some confidence or you’ll be stuck as the little virgin forever— so you take a deep breath and walk out into the living room to set up fright night first. Steve called 30 minutes ago to say he’d be on his way soon, so he should be here any minute. As you’re fiddling with the remote and pausing it on the fbi warning— Eddie walks out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn in hand—

“Hey, hope you like butte-“ “woah” he said almost dropping the bowl of popcorn as his eyes descend along your figure in the little pajama set

“You um, you look nice” he says as he looks down, setting the popcorn bowl on the coffee table

“Thanks” you say with a shy smile— can’t tell if that’s a good reaction or not, but you’ll take it

“I uh, I’m gunna go use the bathroom, can you buzz Steve in when he comes?” He says as he rushes off

“Sure” was all you were able to get out before he disappeared down the hallway

About 5 minutes go by and you hear the buzzer go off— it’s Steve, you answer and buzz him through, you open the door and wait for him to come up—but as you wait you get preoccupied with cleaning off the dining table

You hear the door shut behind you, signaling that Steve is now inside, as you turn to look at him, he’s giving you the same look Eddie did earlier before he headed off to the bathroom

“Hey” you say with a little wave

He walks towards you with a 12 pack of beer in his hand as he looks you up and down, making a chill run through your body

“Well hello” he says as he walks up standing right in front of you “don’t you look nice tonight”

“Oh, um thanks” you say as you take the 12 pack from him

“I’ll put these in the fridge” you say heading into the kitchen “Eddie’s in the bathroom—just make yourself comfy”

After pulling out three beers for you and the guys— you put the pack in the fridge and head back to the living room— you see Steve and Eddie immediately stop their conversation once you’ve gotten within ear shot of them, they’re both ogling you as you walk to sit in between them on the sofa— okay these pajamas were definitely working

Once fright night starts playing and you are all sipping on your beer and passing popcorn back and forth— Eddie pauses it to take a smoke break, you pass but they still invite you to hang out in his room, while they partake

You sit up against Eddie’s wooden headboard while Steve and Eddie sit at the end of the bed facing you—passing the joint back and forth to each other while you all get lost in conversation

“So y/n” Steve says as the smoke bellows out of his mouth, looking at your thighs and then back to your eyes “I like these little pjs, do you normally wear stuff like that to bed?” — you feel your cheeks heat at the question, embarrassment washing over you

“Um, no actually I usually just wear big shirts to bed, but these are the only matching pajamas I have, so I decided to wear them tonight for the special occasion” you say shyly

“Yeah? I like ‘em, right Ed, we like ‘em?” He says looking at Eddie, making him choke on some of the smoke he had just inhaled

“Mmhm, we do” he says, both boys looking at you like they were hungry and you were a four course meal

You didn’t say too much after that, now feeling way too shy to insert yourself in their conversations— you guys head back to the living room to finish the movie, resuming your positions on the couch after Steve gets up to grab three more beers for you all

Once fright night is over and all the popcorn and beers have been drunk, you decide to save serpent and the rainbow for another night

“I actually have an early shift tomorrow, so I think I’m gunna get to bed, is that okay?” You ask the boys — noticing the look of disappointment on both of their faces

“Uh, yeah yeah that’s fine” Eddie speaks up first

“Goodnight guys” you say while grabbing your throw blanket and heading to your room— “goodnight y/n” Steve says

Once you lay down and try to fall asleep, it’s almost impossible, things seemed so off tonight— almost like the boys had a secret or were in on something you had no idea about, maybe it was in your head. But you also seen the way they were looking at you — and how disappointed they looked when you told them you were going to bed, you weren’t even sure what you were asking for— there’s no way they’d both want you, so why are you fighting so hard to be wanted by both of them?

an hour passes of you tossing and turning and once you finally find a position you’re most comfortable in, you start to hear foot steps, it’s probably Eddie going to his room— Steve must’ve left.

About 10 minutes later, you’re still wide awake— you start to hear faint moans coming from Eddie’s side of the wall “oh my god, is he jacking off?” You whisper to yourself. The moans get louder and now you hear another set of moans and some slapping noises— “wait, oh my god, is that Steve?” — “holy shit, are Steve and Eddie fucking?” You couldn’t help but get up and place your ear to the wall

You start to feel a tinge of jealousy in the pit of your stomach accompanied by arousal, wow this is turning you on, thinking of both of them together— well this is new, never thought you’d be turned on by two men you’re crushing on having sex. As the moans get louder— your hand descends into your little silk shorts and under your panties, you don’t really touch yourself—probably making yourself cum a handful of times, but woah the instant need is something you’ve never felt before— you’re so wet, you gather the slick that’s seeping out of your hole and bring it up to your clit, rubbing slow deliberate circles on it, as you begin to feel that burning sensation in the pit of your stomach— Eddie and Steve’s moans get a little louder, you hear Eddie tell Steve to keep it down, and then the slapping continues— you reach your peak as you push a pillow into your face to muffle the moans that are coming out of your mouth— holy fuck you’ve never cum so hard, once you’re finished the moaning stops and you hear some muffled talking but not enough to make out what’s being said, after a couple minutes you hear foot steps and the front door close.

As you come down from your high— you start to feel shame for listening in and touching yourself to something you shouldn’t have been listening to, but what the hell?— Steve and Eddie? So what are they like gay?— I mean surely Steve can’t be he’s a ladies man, still flirting and going on dates with the women that come into family video, but I mean Eddie— you’ve never seen him with a girl before, but you’ve seen the way he’s looked at you since the first day you came over, he’s never been subtle in his attempts at checking you out. You’re so confused.

After continuously tossing and turning last night you’ve decided it’d be best to just move on, clearly Steve and Eddie have a thing for each other and no matter how much you like them both, maybe it’s for the best to just start your dating life— you no longer live with your parents thus allowing you to finally go on dates, so why not indulge?

Luckily today you work with Robin, you wouldn’t know how to face Steve if you worked one on one with him, you already feel guilty for getting off to his and Eddie’s moans, the whole thing would just be awkward— luckily you didn’t see Eddie either before you left for work.

It’s nearing the end of your shift, you’re stocking the horror section with some returns when you hear the bell above the entrance door go off, Robins in the back so you’re in charge of greeting and helping customers

“Welcome to family video!” you say as you continue your strategic alphabetical placements, as you’re putting the last movies away, you stand up and head back to the counter— being greeted by a familiar smiling face

“Donnie Anderson?” you say with a shy smile as you look up at the tall, dark haired boy— you both went to Hawkins high together, he was the quarterback and you tutored him on multiple occasions

“Y/n?” He says as his eyes squint “Wow, how have you been?”

“I’ve been pretty good actually, how about you?”

“Yeah, same here” he says with his signature charming smile “wow you look great”

You can’t help but blush at his kind words—“thanks, so do you”—“so is there a movie I can help you find?”

“Right? Movie um, yeah I’m looking for dream a little dream and license to drive, they’re for my little sister” he says as he looks down in embarrassment

“Those are the movies with the two Corey’s, right?” You say as you raise your eyebrows

“Yup” he says as he nods his head slowly

“For your little sister, huh?” You tease

“Yeah, uh, she loves Corey Haim” he chuckles

After you ring him up and get caught up in talks about the past and future— Donnie leans over getting a little close to your personal space, working up his charm

“Hey what are you doing tomorrow?” He asks

“I have another morning shift, but after that I’m free, why? What’s up?” You say as you lean a little closer towards him

“Do you want to go out with me tomorrow?”—“maybe catch a movie?” He says with hopeful eyes

“Sure, y-yeah that sounds fun, I’d love to” you say as you hand him the bag with his movies

“Cool, can I get your number?”

You pull out a note pad and pen from the drawer and jot your number down, tearing out the page to give to him— “okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, have a goodnight y/n” he says as he walks backwards to the door, and then turns around to walk out

Oh my god, your first official date! — you can’t help but to do a little happy dance, quickly being interrupted by Robin

“That inventory took way too lon-“ she says immediately stopping as she sees your dancing form behind the counter

“We having a dance party or something?” She inquires

“No, but Im going on my first date tomorrow” you say with a giddy smile

“Really? Was I gone that long?” She says with a snort

After getting home from your shift, you pull your clothes off and put an oversized shirt on to get comfortable— you lie down in bed and start to doodle in your notebook while crazy on you by heart plays in the background— suddenly you hear a knock at your bedroom door

“Come in!” You yell over the music

“Hey uh, someone’s on the phone for you, I think he said his name was Danny”

“Danny?” You say with a questioning look “oh Donnie, okay” you roll off of your bed and head to the phone—as you talk to Donnie on the phone about your date, Eddie’s sitting at the kitchen table nursing a beer, with a sad look on his face

“Okay, sounds good! I’ll see you tomorrow” you say, hanging up the phone

“Who’s Donnie?” Eddie questions still staring at his beer

“Donnie Anderson, he was on the football team. Anyway, he came by family video today and we started talking and he asked to take me out on a date”

“A date?” Eddie says as his jaw clenches

“Yeah a date”

“Oh, that’s cool um I gotta go” Eddie says as he gets up from the table, chair scraping against the linoleum floors, he walks out the front door leaving it to slam— what just happened?

Going into work the next morning, you worked along side Steve. He was distant and barely said anything to you, other than asking about your date—Robin must of told him.

The date with Donnie went really well—but you couldn’t stop thinking about Eddie, all week he’d been hot and cold with you, one minute heavily flirting and the next almost avoiding you. Steves attitude towards you has somewhat gone back to normal, having little conversations here and there— you really couldn’t understand them, it almost seemed like they were jealous, but that can’t be it.

Finally Saturday rolls around and you wanted to invite Donnie to come hang out, maybe after you’ll let him spend the night and who knows maybe you’ll even lose your virginity to him—-But you’d have to tell Eddie since that was on his list of rules

After getting home from work you changed into a little white cami and some red and white shorts you got from summer camp years ago, they definitely made your butt look great, even if they’re way smaller than they use to be— you make your way into the living room where Eddie and Steve are sitting and talking

“Hey, um is it okay if I invite a friend over?” You say as you walk towards the couch they’re sitting on

“Uh, yeah I guess, sure” Eddie says without even looking at you

“Okay, thanks” you say as you turn towards the kitchen to call Donnie

After you hang up you go back to sit down with the guys, they’re deep in conversation about Eddie’s band. He’d stopped playing for awhile after most of the members headed off to college, he’s been looking for new musicians so he was asking Steve for advice — It was so weird, that you knew they had sex, but they were never affectionate towards each other or at least not in front of you, if you would’ve never heard them that night, you would’ve never guessed they’d have an intimate relationship— you wanted to ask questions, but it wasn’t your place and you didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable or like you were judging— you certainly had your fair share of thoughts about women

But they are your friends so maybe you’d be able to confide in them?

“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt but can I ask you both a question?”

“Uh sure” Steve says as he turns his body towards you with intrigue

“It’s kind of a personal question, so don’t get weirded out that I’m asking, okay?” You say with hesitation

They both look at each other and then look back at you as they say “okay” in unison

“How did you guys lose your virginity?” You say as you put your palm under your chin

“Um, wow that is pretty personal” Steve says as Eddie laughs

You look away in embarrassment, feeling like you maybe overstepped— until Steve spoke up first

“I lost mine when I was 15, she was 17 and I had no idea what I was doing” he said “it was pretty awkward and I had really just wanted to lose it just to lose it, I never really talked to her after that, must’ve been pretty bad” he chuckles

Eddie looks at him with a knowing smirk on his face, like he wants to say something but decides not to

“And you Ed’s?” You say as you look at him

He blushes at the nickname, he loves when you call him that

“Um, I lost mine at 18, same as Steve it was awkward and I had no idea what I was doing” he says as he looks over to Steve and then you

Hmm, okay super vague but I’ll take it— you think to yourself

“What about you?” Steve says catching you off guard

“Oh um, well um” you stammered—both boys looking at you with raised eyebrows waiting to hear your answer

“Well, see that’s why I asked because I don’t exactly have a first time, and um I kind of want to and I was thinking tonight with Donnie we might you know” your sentence coming out as almost one long jumbled word

“You’re a virgin?” Eddie looks at you like you’ve just confessed to a murder

Steve looks like he’s at a loss for words— you just want to go climb in bed under your covers and never show your face again

“Yes, I’m a virgin” you say as you begin to bite your nails, not wanting to look at either of their faces

“Hey, that’s okay nothing wrong with being a virgin” Steve says

“Yeah well, I never had the opportunity I wasn’t allowed to date when I lived with my parents, it was school, tutor, work repeat”—“I wasn’t even allowed to have guy friends, how crazy is that?” You say still playing with your finger nails

“Donnie was my first date” you whisper

You finally look up at the boys faces, and distinctly see the look of pity written all over them

“It’s fine forget I asked” you say as you get up “I’m going to go get ready” you say as you sulk back to your room

Eddie and Steve were shocked—they weren’t sure what “not looking like a virgin” meant but you did not look like a virgin, you were sexy as hell, they couldn’t believe no one had ever jumped at the chance to fuck you— but they definitely didn’t want Donnie to be the first one

After you freshened up and put on a little bit of makeup— Steve had knocked on your door to tell you Donnie was here— tonight you were all going to watch serpent and the rainbow since you didn’t get to last movie night— you walk out into the living room and Steve and Eddie are talking to Donnie as they all sip on a beer, Donnie sees you and jumps up to give you a hug and kiss, you blush as he takes your hand and walks you to the couch to sit next to him, almost uncomfortably close as he sets his hand on your thigh and rubs it

You can see Eddie out of your peripheral looking at where Donnie’s hand is placed—Steve coughs and says “alright everybody ready to start the movie?” You all agree—feeling a thick tension in the air

The movie was long but by the end you stand up and tell the guys you need to use the restroom really quick—“when you come back you’ll ask donnie to stay the night” you think to yourself

When you get back you see Steve and Eddie but Donnie is gone.

“Where’s Donnie?” You ask looking around like he was going to come out of another room

“He left” Eddie said

“Left? Why would he leave?” You say with your eyebrows furrowed

“We told him to leave” Steve says as Eddie looks down at his feet

“Why would you do that?” Now you’re fuming

“Because we just didn’t think it was a good idea for him to stay” Eddie speaks up

“A good idea? What?” — “what the fuck does that mean?” You seethe

They had never heard you cuss before

“We just don’t think you should have sex with him y/n”

“You cant decide who I fuck!” — “Jesus, it’s like I’m living with my parents all over again, you guys can’t control who I see” — “I didn’t tell you two not to fuck the other night, so why do you have the right to tell me who I can be with?” You didn’t mean for that to come out so harsh, but this must of been a trigger for you, feeling like you’re being controlled, it made you wanna scream.

“What?” They say in unison as they look at each other almost like they felt guilty for something

“I don’t care what you guys do, or if you guys are gay or whatever— so don’t insert yourself in my business” you say as calmly as you can

“Gay?” They both say again at the same time

“Sweetheart, we’re not gay” Eddie says with a smirk, god he can be such an arrogant asshole

“Okay well whatever you are I don’t care, just stay out of my business” you say as you begin to walk away

“You heard us?” Steve says stopping you in your tracks

“Uh, yeah you were kind of loud and I had trouble falling asleep that night”

“See I told you to keep it down” Eddie says as he shoots Steve a look you couldn’t quite make out

“Hey, I’m not judging you guys okay?”—“I would never do that” you don’t ever want to come off as a bigoted asshole, you don’t want to be anything like your parents

“Thanks” they both say

“Can you come sit down, so we can talk?” Eddie motions with his head towards the couch

“Um, yeah sure” you say as you walk back to the couch

You sit in the open seat between them— they both turn towards you, giving each other a knowing look before their eyes find you again

“We um, yes we have sex, we’re bi”

“You guys really don’t have to explain yourselves to me” you say trying to stop Eddie from going any further

“No, no we want to, babe” Steve says—the pet name instantly making your stomach flutter

“Okay, well why?” You say as you look at both men sitting on either side of you

“We like you y/n” — “I’ve liked you for awhile” Eddie says — “since high school” he continues

“You’ve liked me since high school?” You say as your eyes widen

“Yeah, I’d always look at you and when you’d catch me I’d look away, I figured you must’ve thought I was a weirdo, so I never tried to talk to you” — “so when you called me and I found out you were, you and you were interested in moving in, I knew I was in trouble, that first meeting i couldn’t take my eyes off of you, you’ve always been beautiful” — “but holy shit” he says

“When I seen you on your first day at family video I wanted to ask you out on a date, but Robin told me to keep it professional, and then when I told Ed you had started working with us, he told me about his high school crush on you so when I found out you were looking for a room to rent and Eddie was looking for a roommate, I thought it’d be the perfect set up, even though I really wanted you for myself” he says as he looks over to Eddie—Eddie shooting him a glare back

“That night we wanted to tell you how we felt, I mean fuck you looked so good, we couldn’t help but to fuck each other while we thought about you” Steve says

“So do you guys do that often?”— “No judgement” you say as you throw up your hands in surrender

“Well we have an arrangement, where if we’re hanging out and we’re horny we just go for it” —“it’s more of like a friends with benefits type of thing” Eddie throws in

“I see” you say as you nod your head

“So what? You said you didn’t think I should have sex with Donnie, does that mean you think I should have sex with you both?” You ask purely out of curiosity

“That’s up to you, princess” Eddie says

Jesus this man and his terms of endearment

“So you both would be okay with taking my virginity?” You ask as you raise your brows

“We’d be honored to, but only if that’s what you want” Steve says

“Well if we’re all being honest here, I’ve had a crush on you Ed’s since high school, too. When you’d catch me looking back at you it was only because I was specifically looking for you. I um, I even wanted to buy weed from you as an excuse to talk to you, but I pussied out last minute. I had even wrote you a note to meet me after school, I was gunna slip it into your locker but I was too nervous, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it” you say as you reminisce with a smile

Eddie’s eyes widen at the revelation, he couldn’t believe you felt the same for him, you both could’ve been together this whole time

“And Steve I was reminded how gorgeous I always thought you were that first day and I loved how much you made me laugh, I even thought you were flirting with me but I mean I knew of your reputation and you flirt with the customers too, so I just didn’t want to overthink it, ya know?”

“Yeah, he is a big flirt, aren’t you big boy?” Eddie says with a smirk as he ruffles Steve’s hair

“Cmon man, not the hair!” Steve says smacking away Eddie’s hand

You couldn’t help but giggle at their antics

“Okay, yes I want to”

They both stop what they’re doing and look at you— “we need you to say exactly what you want, baby?” Eddie says

“I um, I-I want you both to fuck me” you stutter out

“Try again sweetheart, say it like you mean it” Eddie continues with a mischievous smirk

“I want you both to fuck me” you say with more confidence

“Good girl, see that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Steve says

“Let’s move this to the room?” Eddie asks looking back and forth from you to Steve

“Yeah let’s go” you say as you get up and hold both of your hands out towards them to take

You drag them behind you to Eddies room

“Woah someone’s eager” one of them says while they both snicker

Once you three enter Eddies bedroom they’re both on you, Eddie grabs your chin and brings your lips to his, Steve starts kissing your neck, his hand slowly moving down your back to your ass, he grabs a handful making you moan into Eddies mouth

You cannot believe this is happening

You’re about to lose your virginity to two incredibly sexy men, who else can say that?

Eddies tongue slips into your mouth deepening the kiss, while Steve sucks your neck and soothes it wish his tongue

You rake both your hands down their chests—as your hands descend along their lower stomach it stops at the huge bulge in both their pants

You cup them through their jeans, gaining a moan from both men

You break the kiss as you look up at Eddie

“What do you wanna do first, baby?” He says as he grabs both of your hips, smiling down at you

“I want you to teach me how to suck Steve’s cock” you say innocently

“Fuck” they both say in unison

“Okay, yeah I can do that” Eddie says

He grabs a pillow off of his bed

“Get on your knees” he says in a tone of voice that almost made you whimper, strong and assertive

“Yes, sir” you say almost as a joke but you could tell in Eddies face how much he liked it, eyes glazing over, now looking at you with an intense hunger, both of them were looking at you like that—it was almost overwhelming how turned on you were becoming

Eddie kneels beside you, both of you between Steve’s legs from his standing position, eyes trained on you and the metalhead. Eddie begins unbuttoning Steves jeans and pulling down his zipper, he shoves his thumbs in the waistband of Steve’s jeans and boxers and tugs them down just above his knees, his cock springs out— your jaw drops at how huge it is, he’s cut and has a pretty pink throbbing head with precum oozing from the slit, your mouth waters just looking at it. You never sucked a dick before and said you never would, but holy shit, you wanted to live with Steves cock in your mouth, it was beautiful

You and Eddie lick your lips at the same time, as you both stare at it

“Go ahead and grab it, baby” Eddie whispers to you— you grasp it at the base, your hand looks so small compared to it, which excites you even more

Eddie puts his hand over yours—“okay, now move it up and down, mmhm just like that baby, good girl” his whispers causing goosebumps to form on your skin

“Now spit on it” Eddie says

You gather all the saliva in your mouth and spit a on the head of Steve’s pink tip

“That’s it, okay now start smearing that wetness all over his cock, baby” — “yup just like that, fuck Steve she’s a quick learner” he says looking up into his best friends eyes with a smirk

“Okay now put your mouth around the tip, and suck” — “nope” you say as you shake your head

“I wanna see you first” you say as you giggle

“You wanna see me suck Stevie’s cock? what does that turn you on or something?” He says jokingly

You nod your head and bite your lip

“Dirty girl” Steve says looking down at the exchange

“I might of played with myself that night I heard you both fucking” you shyly retort

Eddie and Steves eyes widen as they look at each other — “hear that Stevie? Our girls a kinky little thing” Eddie laughs out

Our girl

“Okay baby, I’ll show you how it’s done” Eddie says pretending to crack his neck before he dives in—putting his lips over Steves tip and sucking, slowly putting more and more in his mouth until Steve is in his throat, Eddie must be very experienced because he doesn’t gag as Steve begins to fuck his mouth

You can’t help it, you have to rub your pussy while watching them, it’s way too hot not to—you slip your fingers into your waist band and start rubbing your clit, your pussy is insanely wet already, making your fingers glide over your clit so smoothly, you can’t hold the moans back

“Fuck, she’s touching herself dude” Steve says while looking down at you as he bites his lip

Eddie let’s go of Steves cock with a pop as he looks over at you—grabbing the back of your hair and crashing his lips into yours, tasting Steve on his tongue makes your panties gush even more— the whole thing is so incredibly sexy

Eddie breaks the kiss— “okay baby, it’s your turn”

You grab Steves cock from the base again, it’s now slick with Eddies spit so you give it a few strokes before you put it in your mouth and start sucking, then swirling your tongue around the tip, taking it back in your mouth moving down slowly finally hitting the back of your throat, you instantly gag on it, making your eyes water

“that’s okay princess, we’ll have that throat trained in no time” Eddie says with a smirk

“Keep going baby, your mouth feels fucking amazing” Steve says as he reaches down to grab some of your hair, reaching his other hand down to grab Eddies hair too—“fuck you both are so sexy on your knees for me” he says looking from you to Eddie

Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you start sliding your lips on the side of Steves cock, you reach out, grabbing Eddie’s hair making him bring his lips to the other side, he knows exactly what you’re trying to have him do, so he puts his lips on the other side, mimicking you and your movements, up and down

“Fuuuuuck” Steve moans out

You and Eddie start making out with Steves tip— making him whimper and groan, the hands fisted in both your hair tightening

“Okay, okay I can’t take anymore” Steve says pulling you both up by your hair

His lips smash into Eddies and they have a heated kiss before Steve pulls away and grips your hair he’s still holding, pulling you towards him and smashing his lips into yours, tongues and teeth clashing, it’s a sloppy but calculated kiss, you finally pull away—looking at Eddie

“Should we suck yours next?” You ask Eddie

“Uh-uh baby”—“I won’t last if I have both your pretty lips on my cock” Steve rolls his eyes as he laughs

“Get on the bed baby, let us take care of you” Steve says picking you up and throwing you down on the bed, as you yelp

Eddie begins pulling your shorts down, both of them looking over your body like they were about to devour you— “take her shirt off too” Steve instructs Eddie

“Cmon baby, let’s get this shirt off of you, we wanna see those pretty titties” Eddie says

“Yes sir” you say again as you raise your arms

Eddie growls as he pulls off your thick camisole, boobs springing out—thanking god you went without a bra

“Fuck, look at that” Eddie says under his breathe

“Those are the most perfect tits I’ve ever seen” Steve says with his eyes blown wide with lust

“Lay back, sweetheart” Eddie says in a sweet but assertive tone

You do as your told, laying back but using your elbows to still keep you propped up—Steve moves closer to you. Eddie grabs one knee and Steve grabs the other as the both pull them apart, exposing the big wet spot right in the middle of your light pink, lace panties—Steve and Eddies hands both touching different parts of you, Steve rubbing your thigh and Eddie playing with the little black bow on the top of your panties, sending you a smirk—Eddies fingers move down to the wet spot, rubbing his fingers over your clothed clit and then cupping your hole pussy in his hand as he grunts

“Fuck you’re so wet for us baby” he moans out

“Can’t wait to stretch that little pussy out, make it take both of us at the same time” Eddie says to Steve making your pussy throb right where his hand is placed

“I-I want that so bad” you moan out

“Not now baby, that’s for another day, we gotta get you use to one cock today”—“but soon you’ll be taking both of us in all your tight little holes, Kay?”

“Yes, sir” you say with slight disappointment, although the promise of another time instantly makes your stomach flutter

Eddie puts his thumbs in the waist band of your panties, pulling them down, you let them fall off your legs and onto the floor—Eddies instantly grabbing your knees and pulling them apart exposing your glistening cunt to both men, you slightly flinch as the cold hair hits the wetness of your pussy

“I have an idea” Eddie says — “turn around ass up, now” he demands, you immediately follow his directions getting into what you know as the doggystyle position from the details of one of your best friends many rendezvous

Once in position Eddie pushes your lower back in trying to make you arch your ass more for them, Steve lays down in between your thighs, so you’re sitting on his face, as his back is against the mattress, he licks a long strip from your aching hole to your pulsing clit—you can’t help but to moan out an “oh fuck” as he reaches your clit

Eddie chuckles as he stands between Steves spread legs and grabs both of your ass cheeks with his big palms spreading them and bringing his tongue to your tight second hole—holy shit, holy shit, you could cry from how amazing their tongues feel on you—Steve starts fucking you with his tongue, as Eddie continues licking your asshole, he begins to fuck your ass a little bit with the tip, before he moves down towards Steves, they both lick each others tongues before going back to using their tongues on you, you could cum right then and there, and you want to so bad—you begin to feel that burning sensation in the pit of your stomach, as you’re seeing stars and moaning so loud the neighbors can hear you. What tips you over the edge is Eddie slowly putting his finger inside your pussy, curling it up and hitting something inside of you that felt like heaven

“fuck daddy, I’m cumming!” You scream out

You had no idea where that came from, maybe something one of your friends told you they said to their partner and it probably stuck with you because you thought it was hot

Eddie and Steve stop their ministrations once your pussy stopped clenching around Eddies finger

“Daddy?” Eddie asks as he looks at Steve with the biggest smile

“Fuck princess, and here I thought you couldn’t get any hotter, now we find out you’re a secret little slut, too?” Eddie says teasingly

You couldn’t help but moan at his words and tone of voice—“is that what you want, baby?” Steve asks “you want to be our dirty little slut?”

“Yes, yes please” you say as the mattress muffles your words from your position

“You’re such a good girl, baby, such a good fucking girl for us” Steve says

“She’s the perfect girl for us” Eddie says back as his arm wraps around your lower stomach turning you around with a strength you’d never know he had

“Alright baby, who do you want to fuck you first?” Steve asks as he removes his pants and boxers completely, working on Eddies next—they both rid themselves of their shirts now matching your nakedness

“I don’t want to choose”—“I want you both to feel good” you whine

“Oh princess, we are gunna feel good, one of our dicks are gunna be in you while another one’s gunna be in one of our ass, how does that sound?” Eddie asks

“Oh my god, yes please that sounds so hot” you beg

“You have to pick which one of us fucks you first, remember?”—“don’t go getting all cock drunk on us now baby, we haven’t even started”

“Okay Um, I want Eddie to fuck me while you fuck him” you say to Steve

Eddie crawls toward you on the bed, spreading your legs wider for him as he gives you a deep kiss— Steve opens Eddies side drawer getting out a bottle of lube and pouring it in the palm of his hand and then stroking his cock with it, smearing it all over, he then takes the bottle of lube and pours more onto his fingers bringing them to Eddies ass and rubbing it in, inserting a finger into his tight hole and pumping in and out. Eddie moans into the kiss as he wraps his hand around his cock, bringing it closer to your pussy, rubbing it up and down your wet slit— finally Steve takes his cock and positions the head of it toward Eddies asshole, pushing in slowly, inch by inch making Eddie moan out a “fuuuck”— as Steve is sliding into him, Eddie positions his cock at your entrance. He looks down at you to gage your reaction

“Are you okay, baby?” He ask as his head barely slips through

“Mmmm, yeah, I-I’m okay”

Steve stills inside of Eddie, waiting for him to bottom out in you, not wanting to accidentally push Eddie into you with his thrusts

Eddie goes excruciatingly slow, so you have to tell him he can go a little faster—it hurts but it’s nothing you can’t handle, you’re wet enough for it to be almost painless, just feeling a little bit of pressure

“Is that okay?” Eddie asks as he’s finally bottomed out inside of you—“yeah baby, please move, don’t stop” you whine out

Eddie finally starts thrusting, fucking into you but also fucking Steve’s cock into him

You all three are a moaning mess—throwing out a stray “fuck” and “oh my god” here and there

“Please please, fuck me harder” you moan out to Eddie while his face is buried in your neck

Eddie’s thrusts get faster, making Steves do the same, now Steve is fucking Eddie into you and it feels amazing, both of their hands all over you and all over each other—Steve bends down towards you and Eddie while he’s still fucking into him, hard— Steve takes Eddies hair and yours and brings you all into a three way kiss of just tongues, all of you moaning out into each others mouths—- once Steve let’s go of you and Eddie’s hair he goes back to his position above you both, slapping Eddies ass as he fucks into him harder

Eddie’s losing his mind, yelling out so many obscenities and filthy things, into your neck 

“Fuck yes, goddammit you both feel so fucking good!” He moans out

He picks his head up from your neck, looking down at you—“your pussy’s so good baby, you’re so tight and wet, fuck”—“I’m gunna cum, fuck I’m gunna cum, where do you want it?” Eddie asks you

“In my mouth daddy” you moan out

“Fuuuck”—“Steve move!” Eddie shouts, Steve pulls his cock out of him, he strokes it as he’s nearing his release, too

You fall to your knees underneath both of them as they stroke their cocks above your face, you hold your tongue out awaiting their cum

“Yes baby, open up a little wider” —-“fuck yeah, just like that” Eddie says as white hot ropes of cum squirt out onto your lips and tongue, Steve can’t hold it in any longer as he’s watching Eddie paint your tongue, his cum squirting onto your cum filled tongue, getting some on your chin

Eddie brings his thumb to your chin wiping Steve’s cum off bringing it up to your tongue, you obey by licking it off—your tongue covered in their cum as you show it off to both of them— you instantly love the taste of them in your mouth, sitting on your tongue, you love the look they give you even more—like they could ravish you again—you finally swallow, holding your tongue back out to show them what a good girl you are

“Holy shit, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen” Eddie says to Steve as he nods his head in agreement

“Get up here, babe” Steve says as he grabs your arm to help you up

“Go lay on the bed with Eds, and I’ll clean you both up” he says as he goes to the bathroom and comes back with a wet towel to clean you and Eddie off with, after he’s done, he lays down on the other side of you throwing his arm over your stomach and onto Eddie’s

“We should go on a date soon” Eddie says as he lifts his head to look at you and the other man beside you

“Really?” you say with excitement

“Yeah we wanna take you out, show you off” Steve says

“So you both want to be with me?” You ask with a big smile on your face

“Of course we do, you’re our girl”

THANK YOU FOR READING

REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

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@jordanwalkersworld @local-stoner-bitch

[asgardian--angels]

Izzy Discourse Masterpost

Hey all, given the amount of awful splintering and wank happening in ofmd fandom rn regarding Izzy's death, including the flat-out immature and unacceptable harassment of David Jenkins and Co, I wanted to just make this one all-encompassing post to address the various grievances and complaints I've seen (almost entirely on Twitter). If I've missed anything, please feel free to add on. I'm putting most of this under a read-more for length.

Please be aware, I say all of this as an Izzy fan. I've loved his character since season 1, and while I was sad to see him go, I completely understand and support David & Co's reasons for concluding his arc, and I think it was done respectfully in a way fitting to his character. So let's break down some of the takes I've seen. I am not referencing specific posts or people here, I just want to address the general themes that I keep seeing about why some people are upset.

Izzy's death served no narrative purpose.

Look, this is one that I'm sure fans will debate for the rest of the hiatus. It's completely within your right to disagree with this writing choice, but Izzy's death did serve a narrative purpose in the story that David Jenkins is telling - and he has spoken to this end in several interviews already. I can only summarize here, and fans may find other perspectives in time as well. What we need to remember is that Our Flag Means Death is, at the end of the day, Ed and Stede's love story. That has been made abundantly, explicitly clear. The show has been fantastic at fleshing out the other supporting characters, but that's what they are - supporting characters. They often have their own subplots but ultimately the narrative seeks to move Ed and Stede's story forward and they are tools to spur Ed and Stede's growth or mirror their struggles. Izzy has been a wonderfully complex, multifaceted character but we must remember that all characters are vessels through which stories are told, lessons are imparted, and metaphors are established. He's not a real person who 'deserves' any particular fate. David said he's always intended for Izzy to die at the end of his arc.

Firstly, Izzy (now canonically, through his own dying words) represents part of Blackbeard. He enabled and encouraged Ed's darker side, they were mutually toxic forces to each other. Ed is attempting to cope with and move on from this phase of his life, and like Stede in season 1, set out a free man, unshackled by expectations and loose ends of those he's hurt and been hurt by (though we realize this is an ongoing process that takes time). This lovely gifset sums it up nicely, with Izzy being the Mary parallel, and making s2 mirror s1. Blackbeard is both Ed and Izzy; Ed cannot be free of Blackbeard while Izzy is in his life, and when Izzy is gone he will never truly be Blackbeard again. They are each other's rotting leg!! Yet, they love each other - and David has said that for Ed, this has developed into a mentor and father relationship, and where Ed has previously despised his father figures (his actual father, Hornigold) he does not want to lose Izzy. This time, Izzy brings out Ed, not Blackbeard - and that's where we get the callback to 'there he is', bringing their impact on each other full circle, freeing Ed, getting approval of sorts that he never had, to be soft, to be loved (and there are parallels to Zheng and Auntie here as well that others have made) from that force that drove him to stay in line all this time. David has said in multiple interviews now that he was going for the idea of the mentor/father figure dying and the hero living on and trying to do justice to them.

From Izzy's side, Izzy cannot be free while Edward remains either (Mary cannot find peace while Stede remains). The scar never truly healed, the leg will always be a reminder. At this point the argument becomes 'yes, but why did he have to die? Why not just sail off with the crew of the Revenge?' David has stated that he feels they've done everything they can with, and for, Izzy; he's come leagues from season 1, he's found community, he's found hope, he's found new parts of himself, and he's made good memories. He's found worth outside of what he can be to others. That's more than most pirates could hope for. Where would his character go from there, when the Golden Age of Piracy he belongs to has burned to the ground? Would he stay around and whittle on the Revenge? If he were a real person, yes, that would be lovely, and he'd deserve all the quiet peaceful happiness in the world. But as I explain several points below, he's not interested in being a captain. He's not up for the hard physical labor of regular crew, and he's extremely overqualified for that besides. He has served his narrative purpose, and symbolically, to enter a new age, everything must go. He's connected to the old age of piracy, to the Republic of Pirates, that is now demolished. To him, fighting for what he believes in, for the family he's found, bringing down an army of British twats in the process, is how he should go. It's a pirate's death, and as Izzy's said, he's a pirate - unlike Blackbeard who's succeeding in breaking away from piracy, Izzy never wanted to stop being a pirate, throughout his arc. To me, that's why Izzy remains trapped in the narrative, trapped in history, whereas Ed and Stede will escape history. They leave piracy, and canon, behind, while Izzy was content to remain a pirate and face a pirate's fate.

Burying him on land, right next to Ed and Stede's beach house, shows that his sacrifice was not in vain - they start this new life together, thanks to Izzy's mentorship, his role in their lives that sometimes for worse, sometimes for better, made their love what it was and made their breakaway possible. The new age is built on the foundations of the old age, and is stronger for it.

As we're well aware by now, David tweeted that there's no version of ofmd without Izzy. Whether that's literal or not, symbolically it's true. Izzy's arc of growth affected everyone on the Revenge. Jim fondly remembered fighting for a time when life meant something on that ship; the crew helped give Izzy new meaning in life, and he helped them in return. When he dies, they mourn and have a funeral; that wouldn't have happened under Blackbeard's watch in episode 2. His life meant something to them. He influenced Ed and Stede immensely, and they will take that with them. As David's said, they're all a family, and Izzy was a part of that family, and his loss unites them and brings them closer to continue to fight for that family they've built. It's a tragic, sudden death of someone they've all grown to care for, and that steels their reserve to keep the torch lit. They literally sail off into the sunset to hunt down Ricky to avenge Izzy; he will always be a part of this show. And, of course, with the brief appearance of seagull Buttons, the door is left open for anything.

If this was The Izzy Show, then sure, we'd be content to see him simply engaged in shenanigans every episode. But the plot, and therefore the characters, need to keep moving forward, and Izzy got his growth and development. He got what he needed for his character to have closure, and he served his symbolic narrative purpose in Ed's (and Stede's) story. You may have your own ideas and perspectives, and that's great - that's what fandom is for. But we cannot say his death was pointless when David Jenkins and the writers clearly had a well-defined motive for pushing the narrative in this direction. I actually think the narrative around Ed and Izzy is the most well-developed in the entire show. I for one am so happy we got such an interesting and complex character, and had the brilliant Con O'Neill to portray him.

Izzy's growth & healing arc was rendered pointless by his death.

As this post so eloquently puts it, it's pretty bleak to have the outlook that taking steps to heal and find meaning in life is worthless if it's later lost. Seeking happiness and self-actualization is worthwhile for its own sake; no one knows what's down the road, and we all die eventually. Find meaning in life now. Would you rather have had Izzy not miss with his bullet in ep2? He was given the chance to experience joy, freedom, and hope for the first time in potentially a long time, and when he died he did so with those happy memories. As mentioned, Izzy's death was decided long beforehand given the narrative, and the point of storytelling is to make you feel emotions. We were given impetus to connect and relate to Izzy's character through his process of healing, so when he did die, we felt it keenly. That's how stories work actually! We felt what Ed felt. It moved us. It's not a bad thing that Izzy's arc made him more likeable to fans before his death. It's not a bad thing to lose a beloved character - guess what, it happens constantly in stories - and it's not bad to grieve over it either, but to say that it made his journey pointless is just not true. People saying that Con must be upset that they snatched his character away from him after getting to develop him so much - again I say, would you rather him have died in ep 2 before he had the chance to grow? Or how about in s1, when the crew tried to mutiny? How'd you feel when Stede killed him in his dream, in the very first scene of the season? I think Con's probably glad for the opportunity to have explored this character so much in season 2. Ask him if he thinks it was pointless.

Killing off Izzy was bad for queer rep/burying your gays/"Izzy was the queer heart of the show"

I'm putting 'bury your gays' on the top shelf so people can't use it when it doesn't actually apply. Most of the main cast of characters in this show are queer, and it's a show about pirates with a good amount of violence. Ergo, chances are a queer character will die in the course of Things Happening In Stories. Izzy didn't die because he was queer, and he wasn't the token queer rep. Please turn your attention to the boatloads (literally) of queer characters that are happy and thriving (how about the LuPete wedding immediately afterwards??). As for Izzy being the "queer heart of the show," this is literally the Ed and Stede show. You know, the two queer leads whose queer love the show revolves around, per David Jenkins himself. I'm glad folks connected with and derived joy from Izzy's growth and especially his performance in Calypso's birthday, but he is not the main character of the show. The queer heart of the show is in fact, the entire show, all of their characters and the community & found family they create aboard the Revenge. Not to mention the fan community as well. Izzy was never carrying the show's representation on his back, and frankly that's an absurdly wild take to have (esp when he spent most of s1 actively working against the main queer relationships in the show, attempting to maintain the oppressive status quo of pirate society).

It was bad and irresponsible to have a suicidal character die

Are we forgetting the entire first half of the season where Ed, who was suicidal, kept trying to passively kill himself because he felt he was an unlovable monster, only to be shown that he is in fact loved unconditionally and it gives him the strength to fight for life and triumph against his own self-doubt? The show has spent quite a lot of effort telling viewers that despite feeling damaged or broken you are worthy of love and that you are loved even if it may be hard to see it when you're in a bad place. That you don't need to be fully healed to deserve love and care, and that love and support will help you along your journey. It's incredibly wild to disregard this major plot point and fundamental message of s2 to try and spin this the opposite way for Izzy's character.

Secondly, where are people getting 'Izzy is suicidal' from? Are we going back all the way to episode 2, when he's at his lowest point and fails at his suicide attempt, only to be figuratively reborn after removing the metaphorical rotten leg? By the time of the finale he's shown to be in a good place, thanks to the arc of healing and growth he's gotten, through the support of the Revenge crew and his 'breakup' with Blackbeard allowing him to find his own way in life, realizing he doesn't need a purpose to have value and enjoying his time on the Revenge and the bonds he's made with Stede and the crew. He is, in the words of Ivan, "the most open and available I've ever seen him" by the finale. To take episode 2 as evidence he's suicidal is to erase his whole season of growth, which is an ironic thing to do in the context of these arguments. There's no canon evidence Izzy Hands was suicidal post-'Fun and Games'.

As for 'irresponsible,' once again I say, David Jenkins is not your therapist, he's not 'Dad,' and has no responsibility to tell his story any other way than he intended to tell it. Please find media that gives you what you want or need, and if the death of a fictional character causes you this much distress please seek help. I mean this kindly but seriously.

Killing off Izzy was ableist/bad for disability rep.

I point once again to the rest of the characters, several of which are disabled in varied ways. There are literally multiple other amputee characters specifically. It's not good storytelling to wholly avoid killing off any character that is disabled/queer/poc/female or [insert marginalized group here], especially when a) it makes sense narratively, and b) there's plenty of representation of these groups in the media in question. The answer isn't making such characters invincible and immortal, it's increasing the number of these characters in shows so it's not devastating when some do die in the course of natural storytelling.

OFMD was my comfort show/safe space show, now it's ruined for me

I am not trying to be insensitive here when I say that's a problem that is yours and nobody else's. David Jenkins created this show with a three-season vision and a story in mind, and he is telling that story to the best of his ability the way he wants to. It's already been said that he and the crew did not anticipate the fandom becoming as large and passionate as it has. The plot of the show was never intended to be 'fan service,' and it's ironic that there were people complaining this season that there's been too many fanservice tropes, up until David and the rest of the writers room made a narrative decision they did not like, then the complaints changed to not coddling the fans enough.

We as viewers can derive joy from this show, it can be a comfort to us, it can be important to us. But it was not designed specifically for that purpose, therefore it cannot fail in that respect. We do not have the right to harass writers for not steering the ship in the direction we want - it's their work of art, and we can choose to either come along for the ride or not. It's rare to see creators actually given the chance to tell their story the way they intend (budget cuts aside), so let him do that. He should not cater to fans, or cave and change the story to appease us. Respect his right to create his art, and remember you have the right to create your own. That's what fanfiction is for - write fix-its to your heart's content, but keep these realms separate. David Jenkins and Co hold zero, and I mean zero, responsibility to you. He could not please everyone no matter what he did, it would be fruitless to try, and it would certainly compromise the quality of the story he set out to tell.

You are absolutely allowed to dislike choices made in any show. Curate your media experience. If this show no longer brings you joy, stop watching. But it was never David's purpose nor responsibility to juggle the mental health of millions of fans. Trying to put that on him will only make him less enthusiastic about interacting with fans or continuing to make this show. This isn't rocket science. You're responsible for yourself, not this guy you call 'Dad' that you've developed a parasocial-therapist relationship with.

Izzy should have become captain of the Revenge.

Really?? Firstly, we did actually get that already in s1. He was tyrannical and the crew mutinied. But even if you think 'well after his character arc he'd be better suited to it,' it goes against the point of this arc. He's found value in not having a distinct role or purpose on the ship, decoupling his worth from the job he's expected to perform. He's found his place amongst the crew, not commanding it. There's no narrative reason to put him in charge when he's expressed no further interest in slotting himself back into a role full of pressure and expectations.

Con O'Neill was only told halfway through filming, it's cruel to just kill off the character he loves so much.

Guys, he's an actor. More than that, an actor with a theater background. I think he's used to characters dying. You don't need to look out for him. Con and David spoke one on one about it at length so they were on the same page, and David even said that Con took it well. I'm sure Con had input, just as other members of the cast have influenced their characters' stories, costumes, backstories, etc. Do you really think David Jenkins hurt Con's feelings or something? The writers (remember, it's not just David, it's a whole team of hard-working people coming up with these ideas) gave Con such a chance to shine this season, really developing Izzy beyond what he was given in s1 and letting Con show off his full acting range. Why are you only focusing on the destination rather than the journey? Sure, Con's probably sad to see Izzy go, but please do not project your distress onto him or try and accuse David & Co of being 'cruel' to their cast. That's really ridiculous. It's constantly evident how close they all are.

More importantly, do you actually, seriously think that Con O'Neill would want fans to harass each other or the writers over his character? The man who preaches being kind above all? There is no better way to make an actor uncomfortable about a show and its fanbase than to start treating fictional characters like they're more important than real people. He would not want you to bully people over Izzy Hands, and it's mind-boggling that some of you have convinced yourself otherwise.

Lastly, I just want to talk about the fact that some people are holding OFMD to absurdly high expectations.

Our Flag Means Death has been a pioneer series for its diverse representation, earnest storytelling, and themes of hope, community, and love. It's fine to discuss aspects of the show with a critical eye, but so much of the discourse has truly felt like folks are trying to find fault in a show that is leagues ahead of the average tv series that we still enjoy. How many fan favorites are killed off all the time? How many plotlines are scrapped, or drawn out without closure, or contradicted the very next season? How many shows are indifferent or actively hostile towards their fanbase? How many have any queer characters, or actually do bury them? The bar's so low, and OFMD has risen above to give us so much. Some are holding the show to astronomical expectations, waiting for it to fall from the pedestal it's been placed on. If something you don't like happens in the show, it's not suddenly ruined or demoted to being ~just as bad as those other shows~. Give them some breathing room, have some perspective on how progressive the show is, and that perfection is impossible, especially meeting every single viewer's idea of it. This is basically a repeat of the recent Good Omens drama, with an absurd number of people harassing Neil Gaiman for breaking up Aziraphale and Crowley and leaving the second of three acts on a very predictable cliffhanger. Let stories be told, let them unfold as they may, and you are free to leave anytime. It's so wonderful that more queer love stories are becoming popular and even mainstream, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by tearing them down when they don't go exactly the way you want it, which often seems to mean no drama, no character deaths, and therefore no conflict or even plot!

Just, please be civil human beings, and while this seems to be a difficult thing for so many fandoms to do, just keep your fan opinions in the fan space. Never bring your grievances to the writers, never bully them and persecute them for telling a story that you opted into viewing. That's something that goes entirely against everything this show, and this cast and crew, have imparted onto us - the importance of kindness, support, community, and love. I'll say it again because it bears repeating: the fate of a fictional character is never more important than how you treat real people. Just be kind in real life, which includes the internet. Thanks.

Now please, let's work together to ensure we get a season 3. There's so much more story to be told, and if you want to see Izzy back, whether that's as flashbacks, as a ghost haunting the inn, or in the gravy basket, we'll need more episodes! #RenewAsACrew

[immoralkombat]

feeling(s)

Kenshi has been blind for maybe an hour or two.

Johnny looks over at him with sympathy. He's not sure what he could possibly do or say to make things seem any less bleak for him. The man was just trying to get his family's heirloom back and now, after months of training and dedication, one of his five senses is gone permanently through no fault of his own. If Johnny were in Kenshi's position, he's sure he'd be feeling just as desolate, if not more so.

Kung Lao is sitting in the far corner, talking to Baraka. He seems genuinely fascinated by Tarkat as a disease. Were Johnny not in the same situation as them, he would find that particular conversation topic a bit morbid. Right now, it's really all they have to talk about. They've already exhausted all the small talk options you normally go through when first meeting someone. They might as well start talking about the disease that'll eventually kill Baraka.

The salve on the cloth seems to have worked a little, because at least Kenshi isn't moaning in pain every few seconds anymore. Not that it makes things significantly more cheerful, but it does help the atmosphere a bit.

Johnny taps on his knees as he sits, eyes darting between looking at Kung Lao and Kenshi. He's kind of in between where the two have sat themselves, a visual and metaphorical median between the two ways one could possibly react to getting imprisoned by a sorcerer that's almost 100% going to kill you. (To be fair, there isn't much that connects the points of "casually talking about a stranger's terminal illness with them as though you're both standing by the office water cooler talking about whatever hit TV show is airing these days" and "rocking back in forth in the corner about how a different terminally ill stranger took your eyes and you have nothing left in this world." Johnny supposes the best middle point is "looking anxiously between your two co-workers and not saying anything because Jesus Christ, what the fuck are you supposed to say in this situation besides aforementioned terminal illness.")

He really wishes that Kenshi still had his eyes, because every time he looked at Johnny, it always seemed to make everything feel okay.

Johnny thinks for a second and then scoots closer to Kenshi. It's only once he accidentally bumps up against Kenshi's foot and scares the living shit out of everyone in the cell that he realizes he probably should've given an audible cue that he was going to be approaching the newly blind guy.

After Kenshi's done having a mini panic attack over the sudden Hollywood A-lister jumpscare he's gotten, Johnny looks at him and asks, quietly, "Do you want to hold Sento for a bit?"

Kenshi turns to face him and even underneath the newly christened blindfold, Johnny can tell that Kenshi is looking at him with the most surprised and reverent eyes in the universe. The kind of look that you'd get and say "fuck this stupid sword, I'd pay $3 million just to get this guy to look at me like that again."

Kenshi's mouth opens as though he's going to say something, but it shuts again before any words or sounds can come out. He opts to nod in response and Johnny takes the scabbard from off his back, holds it in his hands gently and passes it to Kenshi. Their fingertips graze one another, a way to indicate that the blind man is in the right spot. The touch sends crackles of electricity through Johnny and he wonders if Kenshi feels them too.

It's like the tattoos on Kenshi's hands are swirling around him, colors dancing in front of his eyes. It's more beautiful than any lame fucking Disney movie ever could be.

The yakuza's voice is hoarse as he says "Thanks." It's so small that Johnny can almost see it breaking in the air. He wants to put his hand on Kenshi's and tell him that things will be okay, that he's going to pay for a sight companion, any kind of corrective surgeries he wants, whatever it takes. He wants to tell him that he's still just as strong and fierce and goddamn handsome now as he was before. He wants to kiss him so fucking badly it makes his entire being ache.

He settles for saying "You're welcome," and then sitting next to Kenshi in silence.

He watches the way that he holds Sento in his hands, feels every single nick in the scabbard, every single imperfection. It's the first time in Johnny's life that he's ever wanted to be a sword and, if he keeps hanging out with Kenshi after this, (which he hopes he can), it almost certainly won't be the last.

Johnny wishes that Mileena had taken Kenshi's tear ducts with her after she'd stabbed his eyes out, because the short sad sobs that wrack through his body are almost too much to bear witness to. When he cries, it moves through his entire being. It sends a shockwave from his gut upward, makes him lurch his shoulders forward and hug himself.

"H-Hey, what's wrong?" Johnny asks. He knows it's a stupid fucking question, obviously everyone knows what's wrong, most of all the guy it happened to. But it's all he can think to ask as he watches Kenshi continue to awkwardly jerk alongside his cries.

Kenshi's head turns to face Johnny. From beyond the thin red cloth that covers his eye sockets, Johnny can feel them boring into him.

"Cage, could I touch you? I want to remember what your face looks like."

If Johnny were operating on his full mental capacity, he would probably explode at this question. He would become the fireworks they popped last night at the banquet over their heads as they feasted. He would be attached to one end of a fuse with Li Mei holding the other end, readying herself to spark it and send him to the stratosphere.

"Y-Yeah, of course you can, Ken-doll. Just make sure not to damage the goods - people pay good money for this mug to show up on their big screens."

The smugness in his voice would normally earn him a "tch" or a groan, (or an eye roll), from Kenshi. Hearing him chuckle under his breath makes his heart soar.

He turns his face toward him and waits, but no touch comes. His eyes close, he anticipates the electricity to come back... and instead he hears Kenshi clearing his throat awkwardly.

Johnny opens his eyes and finds that Kenshi's still got his hands on Sento. He tries not to be jealous of the sword again, but as with any other time he's tried not to be jealous of someone or something that has what he wants, he fails miserably.

"Could you get closer, Cage?"

"Not the first time I'm hearing that question, won't be the last. How close you need me, handsome?"

The words come out before he can even process them. Jesus Christ, is he really that much of a disaster that he can just openly call a guy he's been crushing on for at least a month handsome without even thinking about it? He's a fucking mess. His wife left him and now he doesn't know how to act. She was gonna be the only person he'd ever be able to trick into loving him and now she was gone.

"I'm going to turn, and I suggest you do the same. I want to be facing you. You can sit with your legs touching mine if it helps."

Great, now Kenshi has a colorful blindfold that also serves as a perfect swatch for the shade of red Johnny's face turns every time the man says something that's totally fucking normal for two people that are acquainted with one another.

Johnny does as he's told, because if there's one thing he's good at, it's taking directions. (Ignoring literally every single major motion picture he's ever been in, every statement he's ever made to the press after consulting his legal teams and public consultants, and generally living life up until this point.)

His knees knock against Kenshi's and it takes him aback for a second, how giddy and childish the butterflies he feels in his stomach are. Getting to know Kenshi was so simple. He wishes he had just taken a second and been less of a dickwad back when they'd first met, because maybe then it'd be easier for him to grow a pair of cajones and tell Kenshi that he doesn't spend a single night without thinking about how much he wants to trace the tattoos on his hands and arms. Maybe if he had just given Sento over, it'd be easier to admit that the low rumble of Kenshi's voice does something to stir up the pool of heat in his stomach that he thought had been long since gone after getting married to Cristal. Maybe if he hadn't tied Kenshi to one of his kitchen chairs, it'd be easier to ask him if kissing washed-up celebrities was something he'd be interested in doing.

"I'll put my hand out, you lean forward to match it."

Kenshi's palm is extended and it takes every ounce of willpower in Johnny's aching body to not press his lips against it. He leans forward until his cheek is lightly touching the yakuza's hand.

He must be hearing things, because he swears he hears Kenshi's breath hitch when they make contact for the first time. Nah, surely not. Must've been the wind.

If Kenshi's senses are heightened because of the loss of his vision, then Johnny's senses are heightened because of the gain of his touch. He purses his lips together to stop from letting out some sort of obscene sound as he feels Kenshi's hand slowly smooth over his cheek. He thanks whatever fucked up Gods exist other than Liu Kang that he finally got on that moisturizing routine that he learned off of TikTok three months ago.

As Kenshi's hand slowly feels out every angle and curve of Johnny's face, his thoughts rush a mile a minute. He wonders if he should've done a closer shave today - maybe his stubble is gonna be too sharp and it'll hurt Kenshi and leave him with little cuts or rug burn on his pretty perfect wrap-around-my-throat-please hands. He wonders if his nose is too big. He wonders if he maybe should've invested in hair plugs after that one weird SNL dropout made a comment about his weird square hairline back when he guest starred on the Comedy Central roast of Megan Fox. He wonders if his eyes are too small or too large or too close together or too far apart. He wonders if he should smile so Kenshi can feel his dimples.

"Yep, it all feels just like how I remember it. Although the stubble has gotten a little longer."

That is certainly not the answer he was expecting to hear.

His voice is small, barely there, as he chokes out his question. "You remember what I look like?"

Kenshi nods. "I do."

Johnny goes to open his mouth to ask, "Then why did you ask to touch it if you already knew?"

But then Kenshi's fingers are on his lips, tracing them with the reverence he'd have holding Sento, and for a moment, Johnny finally thinks he's better than that stupid fucking sword. His smile has the same curves, the same edges. The only difference is that Kenshi can't accidentally hurt himself this way. (He can, however, accidentally hurt Johnny. But even that would be better than the alternative, he thinks.)

Kenshi's thumb is on his bottom lip, the rest of his hand now holding Johnny's chin. If he tilts it up even one degree, Johnny thinks it'll be over for him, that he'll be kissing Kenshi before he can even think to stop himself. He'd always had poor impulse control - why else would he have spent $3 million on a fucking sword to hang up in his living room?

"These are the same, too. I'm glad you weren't hurt in the fight, Cage."

Johnny feels so fucking overwhelmed. He wants to ask so many things. First of all, what does "these are the same, too" mean? Second, why does he care about the guy who bought his fucking family heirloom and refuses to give it back? Third, why does he insist on calling him Cage like one day he won't end up calling him Johnny and breaking his heart? Fourth, what in the goddamn fuck does he mean about Johnny's fucking lips being the goddamn motherfucking same?!

Johnny decides to play it up like he always does. "Well, 'course. Gotta keep my pretty mouth. It's what makes the big bucks. I wouldn't be the same without it."

Kenshi smirks, and thank Liu Kang's weird god siblings that he's blind right now, because Johnny is beet red, mouth agape, with his eyebrows raised (and he's fairly certain that something else also rises).

"That's true. You would not be the same without that infamous mouth." Kenshi accents the compliment(?) with a playful slap to Johnny's cheek, and then his hand is withdrawn entirely, leaving an empty ghost where he should still be holding Johnny's face in his hands.

He bites back the urge to immediately ask if Kenshi wants to know just how infamous the mouth is, and settles for clearing his throat and moving back to sitting against the wall next to Kenshi.

He looks over at him after he's gotten calmed down. His heart is still jackhammering against his ribs, but as long as Kenshi can't feel his pulse, he doesn't have to know. Kenshi seems to sense Johnny's eyes on him because he turns to face him, red blindfold all that stands between the gaping holes where Kenshi's eyes used to be and Johnny's gaze full of adoration.

The yakuza grabs Sento from his lap and hands it back to Johnny.

"Thank you. I appreciate you letting me hold it. And I appreciate your help in grounding me back to reality."

Johnny nods, taking Sento back and putting it where it so wrongfully deserves to be, strapped against Johnny's sore fucking back.

"No problem. Lemme know whenever you get the urge to feel out what an Adonis looks like, I'm happy to oblige." His comment is a means to an end. He plays up the egoism to ignore the shock that courses through him as Kenshi's fingertips touch his one last time.

He resolves then and there to give Sento back as soon as they escape from here, and they will escape.

This cannot be the last time he feels Kenshi's hands on him.

Baraka whispers, about as well as he can without lips or an inside voice, "Do they not realize how much they yearn for one another?"

Kung Lao shakes his head, putting a hand on Baraka's shoulder and immediately regretting it once he feels a spike tear into his palm. "They've just gotta be stupid about it for a bit longer. They'll figure it out."

"Surely their pining has to cause some sort of agony for you as well, does it not, Earthrealmer?" Baraka looks genuinely confused, or as close to it as he can get from what Kung Lao can tell.

Kung Lao hangs his head, sighing languidly. "Of course it does. But what else am I gonna do about it? Tell them? They're not gonna believe me. Trust me, they've got to figure it out on their own time, or they never will."

And as he sees Johnny's hand inch closer to Kenshi's, finally overlapping the tattoos and interlocking their fingers, Kung Lao thinks that maybe the agony won't last much longer.

[scatterbrainedbot]

I AM SPINNING I AM PACING I AM FULL ON FROLICKING IM SO EXCITED

@d1sc0rd1a THANK U FOR THESE TAGS

okayokayokayokay so pretty much all of these questions will be Officially Answered properly in the character design/intro pages im working on but also i am physically vibrating with excitement about the fact that you noticed all these details and i have very little self control so! lore dump time!!!

(minor tw for mentions of leos self-harm/self-destructive anxious behaviors and unhealthy coping skills)

- mikey does indeed have curly fur! i believe he would be considered a 'rex' rat (pictured on the left) for this trait? though the curls can be more easily seen on mice (pictured on the right). or, at least it seems that way. have not delved too deeply into the details of rodent genes and husbandry, but id assume its the same sort of mutation considering curly haired mice are also referred to as rex sometimes? either way hes a extra floofy bby 🧡

-as for raphie, unfortunately being more fluff and less shell than the average rapheal comes with its downsides. especially if you and your brothers occasionally encounter things like territorial dogs, hungry cats, or sewer crocodiles while exploring places ur dad said not supposed to go. (most of his scars will have more ninja related stories, but his ear i think got messed up from something very animal. probably around age 11 ish? old enough to sneak out from dads protection but young enough to not fully know how to handle himself alone against real danger. thankfully his ear injury looks worse than it actually is for the most part, as the damage was largely to the outer ear. his hearing wasnt super affected, except that he now has a bit of a harder time being able to track/pinpoint noises origins if its on his right side.)

-also yep! dons got some glasses that just clip/rest on the bridge of his nose! theyre mostly just for home use, as they do fall off if hes knocked around. in the field he has some goggles he tends to use (theyre helpful as they have multiple additional functions like heat-imaging, extra zoom/telescoping, and recording capabilities. but also theyll give him headaches if he wears them for too long without breaks). contacts are theoretically also an option but he absolutely hates the sensation of putting them in. so sometimes when hes tired he'll just not bother with either clips or goggles and just squint and struggle. leo hates when he does that lol.

-speaking of leo, he is def an anxious baby :) he has a few patches of fur missing on his hand cos he has the tendency to tug on it while hes thinking. he yanked and chewed on his own tail a lot when he was younger too, which is why when hes older he usually wears some wraps to cover the scars left from that behavior. he finds those scars specifically to be kinda embarrassing and shameful because they werent from any battle or life-lesson, just his own 'inability to control himself'. all of his brothers have repeatedly called him out on the fact that that is not a healthy way to think about his anxiety or mental health, but leo insists hes fine. hes kinda convinced himself that a proper warrior always has control over his own body* and his own thoughts, thus he should be able to just like willpower-brute-force his way into 'being better'. (this line of thinking pisses raph off so much he has to leave and go hit something)

Splinter also tries to talk him through some of that internalized guilt/shame/everything, but splinters very metaphorical, poetic, and indirect when it comes to talking about Big Things, which combined with how much leo gets caught in his own head, makes it kinda hard to gauge how much these talks actually help

*this is made extra fun considering leos also ftm trans, so he is faced with a body that fundamentally disobeys him perhaps more than the average rat-man.

-and im still going back and forth between a few species for splinter, but im leaning mostly towards an African Spurred Tortoise! they have these beautiful if kinda subtle geometric shell patterns and are the third largest species of tortoise in the world. the only thing that doesnt fit perfectly with Splints is that (allegedly) their lifespan in captivity is around 50ish years, whereas im p sure Tortoise Splinter is well over 75, probably closer to 90 when the boys are born and hes mutated into Old Man Papa.

but maybe hes just a particularly long lasting African Spurred Tortoise.

the Hamato family has taken very good care of him for many decades after all. :)

(well. until everything all fell apart, that is.....)

[luveline]

Would you be willing to write a little blurb of Steve comforting reader who is in recovery from self harm? I know this is a very no no subject for some writers so I understand if this is a no!

fem!reader !! cw self harm (mention of the self injury, no active graphic imagery, but some details that could be evocative)

You’ve taken to curling up in whatever space he leaves. In bed, you sidle close to his side with your ear to his stomach. On the couch, you’re laying on his lap, every breath a press of ribs against his thighs. If Steve’s on a sun lounger in the backyard, you’re sitting on the ground next to him with an arm hooked over his leg and your cheek bitten by metal.  

It’s sort of odd to see your arms without red cuts and welts. Curled again, you and Steve are sitting on the porch watching the sun dropping lazily to the horizon, the sky a funny shade of blue. You’re actually turned away from the sun and toward the house, Steve to the sun, like inverted commas interlinked. Your hand is on his leg, and your arm is bare and starkly uninjured. 

That’s too generous, maybe. Evidence of a bad habit long to kick tracks the length of you, white and purple and red scars criss-crossed through your skin. 

He’s seen them thick with dried blood and sore to the touch. Your skin aflame. Not because you’ve ever showed him of your own volition, you wouldn’t. You’ve always likened your self-injury to a contagion. “I don’t wanna put thoughts in your head,” you whispered. 

It was a nice concern for you to have, but Steve isn’t at any risk of hurting himself (purposefully, at least). He has no urges. He didn’t even know people did stuff like that until he met you. Maybe that’s why it breaks his heart so much. You hurt so much. You feel terrible and you take it out on yourself and Steve just doesn’t get it, ‘cos you’re aces. 

He never shied away from it, even if he didn’t like that you were doing it. He still remembers the first time he realised what you were doing, his confusion, the immediate internal recoil. How could you do that to yourself? Why would you? You’ve always been prone to that awful persisting sadness under the skin, but Steve knows a lot of sad people. He knows what it’s like to wish vehemently that you were a better version of yourself, or somebody else, or just gone. 

But you’re doing better now. He resists the urge to kiss your hands whenever he sees you and you act like you aren’t doing a brave thing. 

Steve’s stupid but he’s not stupid. (Or, at least he feels that way.) He knows you’re finding it hard to stop, like an addict. It’s a habit. A behaviour that takes conscious effort to break until it doesn’t. The worst bit is that you never even asked for help. 

Your hand twitches on his leg. 

Steve curls a hand behind your neck, kissing you softly, the silky press of your lips to his. You inhale and cut the quiet buzz of cicadas, your breath surprised but not tight. 

“Sorry,” he says, “was that okay? I was just thinking about you.” 

“It’s fine.” You laugh against his lips and take a kiss, evening the score. “It’s always okay. Kiss me whenever you want.” 

“You looked mopey,” he says. Foot in mouth disease forever. 

“I’m not mopey, just distracted.” 

“I know, it’s offensive. You come over here to hang out and spend the last hour in deep thought.” He makes it clear he’s joking through his light tone and his smile, your eyes met, his hand sliding down your shoulder and your arm. He’s especially careful as his fingers run down your forearm. You watch the path of his hand as it falls, twining your fingers weakly with his. “You can tell me anything.” 

“I do tell you anything.” 

“Well, just telling you again.” He kisses your cheek, then, less gentle, your lips. 

You have this aversion to saying the worst part out loud. There’s always a metaphor or an omission. You can’t say cut, it’s too much, but you’ve said hurt. You’ll admit to self injury but not the action. “It’s fine,” you say now. 

“I think you’re doing a good job.” 

You laugh softly through your nose. “Thank you.” 

“I’m not kidding.” He blows a breath up his face. “Look, can I just be honest with you?” 

Your smile turns uneasy at his bluntness. “Um. Are you breaking up with me?” 

Steve shakes his head. “Never,” he says, pushing your sleeve up your arm slowly, and then faster when you don’t resist. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you without them.” He doesn’t say cuts either, mostly for your sake. 

“Sorry.” 

He shakes his head again. “For what? I’m just saying. You’ve had them this whole time and I’ve never– they’ve never stopped me from wanting to kiss your face off.” He probably shouldn’t make jokes. He backtracks. “I mean, they don’t make a difference to me, I like you even if you can’t, uh… Even if the impulse is too much. But I’m thrilled you’re, you know, not doing it.” 

“I know,” you murmur. 

“I love you.” 

“I know.” Your voice is nearly inaudible, “That’s why it’s easier now.” 

His heart swells with pride and love and an unfightable want to hug you. He slides his arms around you from under your armpits, forcing you to hug his neck, stealing a kiss to the cheek as he squeezes you forward. “I just want you to know that I get it. Like, how hard you’re working to not do it.”

“Steve,” you admonish quietly. 

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking about it if you want.” 

“I mean… It's kinda nice to talk about it. It’s not in my head.” 

“It’s not in your head.” 

“But it feels weird ‘cos it’s like, something I should be doing anyways. It’s like getting praise for washing your hands.” 

Steve thinks there’s a pretty big difference between wanting to hurt yourself but resisting it and washing your hands, but he knows what you’re saying. Doesn’t agree, but doesn’t want to invalidate you either. However you need to think about it to get through it is up to you. “I can praise you for washing your hands. I want to.” 

Steve encourages you to turn into the sunshine. You lay your cheek against his shoulder. “Love you,” you say, your hand on his leg. 

He stares right at the sun and blinks hurriedly. “I love you too.” 

[wistfulcynic]

the inn is a metaphor

They are terrible at running an inn. 

In the beginning. 

They don’t know the first goddamn thing about the hospitality industry. Or carpentry, plumbing, invoicing, logistics. Anything, really. They know nothing. 

They learn. 

There’s a lot of trial, even more error. But by the first time the Revenge returns for a visit they have something. A roof that doesn’t leak. Un-rotted floorboards. Nooks and crannies free from feral beasts of any kind. Zero spiders. Twin armchairs in front of the fire and a bed just big enough for the two of them. It’s a start. 

The Revenge comes bearing gifts. Wee John has knitted them some afghans and Frenchie sewed an enormous quilt, which takes pride of place on the bed. They’ve towed in another ship as well, a wreck whose timber they all pitch in to rebuild into an extension and some outbuildings. Roach helps them plant a kitchen garden and a medicinal one. 

Jackie gives them business advice and contacts for her old suppliers. Lucius has a guestbook for them, with marginalia he drew himself. Some of it at least is appropriate for guests to see. The rest…

“Are you planning to have guests who’ll faint at the sight of a cock?” Lucius inquires innocently. “Because I’ll be honest with you, that seems unlikely.” 

The idea of guests of any kind is still a long way off, but they’re getting there. They can envision it now, and not just as a wild fantasy they spin each other at night as they lie entwined with sweat cooling on their skin. They have actual plans, concrete ones, and a decent understanding of how to realise them. 

They get to work. 

Jackie’s contacts prove invaluable. Soon they have a liquor supplier, deals with local butchers, bakers, candlestick-makers, and even a reliable fisherman to give them first dibs on his haul. 

(It’s not Pop-Pop.) 

A few survivors of Zheng’s old crew hire on as housekeeping and kitchen staff. The soup is phenomenal. Ed learns how to make it and how to cook a fish without burning it. They have fresh-smelling towels, expertly folded. They have guest rooms, and soon they have guests. 

It’s an adjustment, having new people in their space. Some of the guests are gawkers, eager for a piece of Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate. They reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, namely those particular assholes. But other guests are much more pleasant. Locals looking for a bit of a mini-break, people from nearby islands wanting a getaway, even the occasional European who doesn’t know who they are. 

The guests are mostly happy with their stay. There’s excellent soup and decent fish, fresh linens and great views. The walls could be a bit thicker, perhaps, for everyone’s comfort, but the hosts are always most apologetic in the morning and offer copious marmalade in exchange for good reviews. 

The Revenge returns frequently, each time with some new trinkets and finery for their former co-captains. In exchange, they host bonfires on the beach with music and dancing and wine, until they all fall asleep together in a pile, so like the old days on the ship that Stede watches them in the soft light of the embers with tears in his eyes. 

“All right, love?” Ed asks him. He slips an arm around Stede’s waist. Stede tugs him in until Ed’s head is nestled against his shoulder. He strokes Ed’s hair. Ed sighs and snuggles closer. 

“I’m all right,” Stede says. “A bit nostalgic is all.” 

“You miss it.” 

“I miss the crew. I wish they could visit more often. I suppose I miss the sea, though of course it’s right there in front of us. But I’m happy, Ed. I have no regrets.” 

“Really?” The whisper of doubt in Ed’s voice has Stede pulling back to look down at his dear face. 

“Yes really! Do you doubt it?” 

“Kind of.” Ed shrugs. “It’s easier for me, I think. I was ready to be done with it, Stede. Desperate to do anything else but be Blackbeard. But you—you had just got started. You could be out there now with the crew, pirating away. You could be famous. You could—” 

“Ed Teach, you listen to me.” Stede’s got his Captain Voice on now and the sound of it has Ed’s stomach turning cartwheels, his dick leaping to attention. “I don’t care about any of that. I only wanted to be a pirate for the freedom. To escape my old life. But I have a life now that I would never want to escape. Do you know why?” 

Ed shakes his head. 

“Because I chose it. I chose you. I love you and I would be happy anywhere you were.” He cups Ed’s cheek in his palm and kisses his forehead, his nose, his lips. Ed moans and presses closer but Stede pulls back, just far enough to whisper, “You make Stede happy.” 

They spend that night alone in the inn, no guests, far enough from the beach that when they serve breakfast to the crew the next morning not a single smirk or smart remark is sent their way. 

They wave goodbye to their friends that evening and stand together on their porch to watch the ship sail off into the sunset. Stede turns to Ed with a smile. “New guests checking in tomorrow,” he says. “We should probably fix the creak in the door hinge of Room 1.” 

“I’ll do it,” says Ed, “if you polish the candlesticks. Fuckin’ polish makes my nose itch.” 

“Deal,” says Stede. He turns to head inside. “What’ll we have for dinner?” 

“Got a nice turbot we could roast.” 

“Ooh, fab.” 

The inn’s front door closes behind them. 

It’s still a bit rickety, their inn. It’s old, it creaks, it springs leaks from time to time. It’s hard work, keeping it going. But they are devoted to the task. Whatever it takes, they will see their inn thrive. 

It’s what makes them happy. 

[jisungsdaydreamer]

Love Playlist | SERIES MASTERLIST

«GENERAL M.LIST» · «NAVIGATION» · «TALK TO ME»

SYNOPSIS A sweet collection of skz college au stories inspired by bts tracks 💕 (3/8) complete; can be read as standalones, but the stories are all connected!

CONTENTS

1. UGH! (Bang Chan)

Release Date: June 2nd, 2023 Pairing: Bang Chan x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, forced proximity Warnings: swearing, mc has autism, misogynistic behavior (not Bang Chan), implications of ableism, bullying, short panic attack description Synopsis: Despite what everyone thinks, Christopher Bang is definitely not perfect. At least, not to you. After the election for Student Council President ends in an exact tie, you and Chris both end up as co-presidents, to your horror. But even though Chris is literally the bane of your existence, you try to remain professional and do your best to communicate with him only when absolutely necessary. But when circumstances force you together, you learn that maybe you and Chris aren’t as different as you thought.

2. MAKE IT RIGHT (Lee Know)

Release Date: July 24, 2023 Pairing: Lee Know x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, exes to lovers, angst Warnings: swearing, messy break-up, mc has a fear of the dark, mild haunted house/Halloween descriptions Synopsis: You and Minho are the “golden couple” of your university. Well, you were. After letting the pressures of college life get in the way of your relationship, you end in a messy breakup. However, you both share a lot of friends and it’s impossible to avoid each other, so you both ignore your lingering feelings for each other. But love works in strange ways, and now yours needs to be made right.

3. FAKE LOVE (Changbin)

Release Date: TBD Pairing: Changbin x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, fake dating, friends to lovers Warnings: TBA Synopsis: Growing up, you were always the black sheep of your family. You were never cute enough, or nice enough, or smart enough, and constantly singled out. Your family’s increased pressure on you to be better caused an uneasy rift between you. However, when you are invited to attend your sister’s wedding, you know you will never hear the end of it from your relatives if they find out you are still single. So, you end up taking your friend, Changbin, and he will pretend to be your date. But maybe your feelings for each other are not so fake after all…

4. BUTTERFLY (Hyunjin)

Release Date: TBD Pairing: Hyunjin x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, strangers to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort Warnings: TBA Synopsis: After a heart-fluttering encounter with an enigmatic boy at a friend’s party, you let go of your reservations and your friends’ warnings to pursue him. Hyunjin may seem like a charismatic, humorous person, but when with you, he literally and metaphorically draws stars around your scars. But such a passionate love at such a young age can be fleeting, like a butterfly. Is it worth the risk?

5. HOME (Han)

Release Date: May 7th, 2023 Pairing: Han x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, roommates to lovers, friends to lovers, mutual pining Warnings: mild swearing Synopsis: Jisung. Your roommate. Your best friend. The person you call when you need a ride home. The person who brings you ice cream when you’re sad. The person who you tried not to like, but failed anyway. So you bury your feelings. When the stress of impending exams doubles down, both you and Han must lean on each other even more to get through. But on one fateful night, everything changes.

6. BLACK SWAN (Felix)

Release Date: TBD Pairing: Felix x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, angst, grumpy/sunshine Warnings: TBA Synopsis: Felix is everything you’re not: happy, sociable, optimistic. You’re everything Felix isn’t: grumpy, quiet, pessimistic. You aren’t a bad person, but it’s the circumstances that you face that keep you from enjoying your life, and Felix is a constant reminder of what you don’t and can’t have. When your troubles reach a climax, Felix resolves to help you, and no amount of sassy comments or eye-rolls will deter him.

7. COFFEE (Seungmin)

Release Date: TBD Pairing: Seungmin x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, strangers to lovers Warnings: TBA Synopsis: Seungmin has never been a relationship person. And no, not even of the casual kind. He prefers independence, getting through college while working at his family’s coffee shop. One day, he’ll inherit the café and finally be able to thrive on his passion, but until then, he’ll keep his head down and work. His plans are thrown off when you breeze into the shop. His heart hurts watching you get stood up on every single date, but there is no way he’s smitten. It’s just customary to spend an extra ten minutes during the morning rush trying to pipe a creamer heart onto your coffee.

8. BOY IN LUV (I.N)

Release Date: TBD Pairings: I.N x Fem!Reader Genre: college au, fluff, unrequited love Warnings: TBA Synopsis: Of course on the one night you let loose, at your best friend’s birthday party, you get too tipsy and end up kissing Jeongin, the guy who sits behind you in your chemistry class. And what makes it worse? You know he has a crush on you, and you definitely do not reciprocate. But no matter how many times you reject him afterwards, Jeongin insists you have feelings for him. But there is no universe where you would have feelings for Yang Jeongin, or his gorgeous smile.

TAGLIST @chansburgah @hee0soo @hamburgers101 @ajxreads @hash2013 @pixigreen @ana-marais98 @ohish @anyamaris @chizumiyoshi @lilydaisyyy @lollloll9090 @jetblackbelle

If you’d like to join my taglist, click here!

♡ If you like my work, please consider giving me feedback in the form of reblogs, comments, and asks! ♡

📢 ©jisungsdaydreamer 2023 | All rights reserved. I do not condone translations or transfers of my work onto other platforms such as Wattpad, AO3, etc. My only platform. Acts of plagiarism are strictly prohibited.

[astroismypassion]

Astrology observations 🌇🌇🌇

Credit goes to my astrology blog @astroismypassion

🌇 Capricorn Venus or Venus at a Capricorn degree: you will have people that will love you even after 10 years! You are unforgettable and people keep memories of you for a longg time let’s just say this.

🔆 Libra Chiron, Chiron in the 7th house and Chiron at a Libra degree: you might take care of more house chores than your partner. Your partner might go on weekend trips with friends and you will be staying at home, taking care of home.

🌇 If you have Virgo Mars, you appear very sexual or just a sexual person to your close friends and co-workers despite this being your authentic self or not.

🔆 We people ask me about compatibility? The easiest trick to check is to look at your crush’s parents Sun signs. It tells you which energy they are familiar with. They might not always have the best relationship with their parents and those Sun signs, BUT it is the energy they are most comfortable with despite everything. Like your crush is a Cancer Sun and their parents are Gemini Sun mom and Cancer Sun father. They are very comfortable with Cancer and Gemini energy or understand it best. The other hack I would use? Check their best friend’s Sun sign or the person that they are a very close friend with. Usually people are so similar to their friends that they often share placements, so it’s very revealing too. Like your crush is a Cancer Sun, but his best friend is Taurus Sun? He is very comfortable with Taurus energy then. And you know how they say that guys are kind of in love with their best buddy? It helps if you are a female version of that said best friend. 😂

🌇 If you have Virgo Mars, you appear very sexual or just a sexual person to your close friends and co-workers despite this being your authentic self or not.

🔆 Libra Chiron and Chiron in the 7th house: you might get blamed for a lot of things your partner does! Like your partner could start having a drinking problem, people could start saying that this person started drinking because of you. Especially for bad habits.

🌇 You will feel the most productive when the Moon is in the same sign as your Mars sign. You will feel the most active and like you can achieve a lot in the day when Moon is in Sagittarius for example if you have a Sagittarius Mars.

🔆 8th house sign shows what you feel trapped by hence which freedom you desire. Cancer over the 8th house you feel trapped by your own emotions and you dream of freeing yourself of your strong emotions. Taurus over the 8th house you dream of financial freedom, yet when you have lots of money, you tend to feel trapped by it.

🌇 Neptune in the 1st house: people get a lot of ideas of how you’re like, personality wise, your life experience and outlook on life, so when they get to know you they get either positively surprised or a bit disappointed, because their illusion of you breaks. People also feel like they can perceive whichever traits they want to see in you in that moment without anything really connected to the actual you.

🔆 Neptune in the 3rd house, Uranus in the 3rd house: you might get into the habit of muting people on social apps. Sometimes because you literally don’t want to hear from them too often and other times, because you get so easily OVERWHELMED with constantly receiving messages.

🌇 I think a clear sign that is better that you date that person after your first Saturn Return is if you have Saturn in the 1st house synastry overlay or Saturn in the 1st house in the Composite chart. The same goes if you have Saturn in someone’s 7th house in synastry, might be a better chance at a relationship with them after Saturn Return.

🔆 Scorpio Rising and Pluto in the 1st house seem to always come up with some ‘royals’ metaphor. They love to talk about that. Perhaps because they see themselves as powerful or striving to be like other power figures, in their head: royals.

🌇 Look at the chart wheel and check all degrees of the planets. This will be your age of your big transformative, life-changing, influential events of your lifetime. Never underestimate that. If you have Venus at 22 degree, you may most likely never forget what you learnt about love, relating, values, work ethic, your talents, self-care, self-worth and self-esteem that year when you were that age.

🔆 Cancer Mars men seem to view women as something to be conquer, yet become really selfish, arrogant and a bit narcissist when in actual partnership.

🌇 You know the trick with getting more recognition and likes on social media is really just embracing your MC energy. If you have Leo MC, just post sunset picture that only you know so well how to take. Or post something creative, like something you drew, painted or you singing, performing, playing an instrument. People love seeing content of the themes of your MC sign, degree and house ruler.

🔆 The decan of a woman’s Sun sign can point to her partner, spouse. For example: if you are Taurus Sun, Virgo Decan, your partner can be Virgo Sun.

🌇 Scorpio, Aries Ascendants are those people you just cannot picture in your head against someone. They are already full on their own, hence they don’t even seek partnerships that much. Libra Ascendant on the other hand, always needs to be in a partnership. Like having a partner is part of their identity. Like Leonardo DiCaprio, a Libra Rising native. Gemini, Virgo, Aquarius Ascendants, I gather, tend to like connections, but would prefer a friendship over partnership. They really prioritise friendship and platonic connections.

🔆 People that have Lilith conjunct Juno can really struggle with actually committing. Or this is the person who might constantly say that they are not ready for a relationship, despite probably being very charming, even flirty in their own attitude.

🌇 People often wonder and speculate, even question, someone’s sexuality if the person has Venus conjunct Mars, especially in Cancer, Libra, Taurus, Aquarius and Gemini.

🔆 Virgo Lilith woman was conditioned at some point in their life with perception that red nails, or even make-up is “a whore look”. They might be silently judge women with red nails or too much make up. So they prefer minimalistic, really natural, clean-looking nails and make up (or non) to avoid their own mental picture prison they created for themselves, because they might even judge themselves if wearing it.

🌇 A lot of Pisces Risings, Neptune in the 1st house, Neptune aspect Ascendant women and even men loove to wear shells jewellery, like a necklaces, earrings, an anklet.

🔆 And also Pisces placements are fans of anklets, jewellery around your ankle.

Credit goes to my astrology blog @astroismypassion

[batneko]

Here's an idea that's been rotating in my brain for a few days: Bowser on a leash.

Somebody's threatening the world again, and to get Bowser out of the way they capture him and chain him up, making him walk on a leash whenever they have to change locations. Bowser's furious of course, but he doesn't get a chance to break free before Mario and Co. show up and beat the boss that was left in charge of him.

Mario and Luigi are just barely too nice to make fun of him to his face (though it's a struggle), and set him free. Oddly, the leash doesn't want to come off. It must be magic. Bowser says he'll accompany them because he wants to utterly destroy the people responsible for humiliating him like this, but when the Mario party starts to leave Bowser doesn't follow.

After a minute they realize he can't. The leash is enchanted so that Bowser cannot move his legs unless someone is holding it.

Bowser refuses to let Mario be the one to hold it (if Peach is in the party she'd refuse because it's just too weird, and if there are any Toads they'd be too scared) so that leaves Luigi. He tries to make the best of it but Bowser isn't helping. He makes demands, he acts out, he won't cooperate. If Luigi asks him to do something he'll either ignore it or do it in the least efficient way possible.

It goes on like this for days, and it's also not helping that Bowser refuses to be seen in this situation so he won't go in to any towns. He and Luigi have to take the long way around while the others get to shop and rest and get information from locals.

It's on one of these side trips that Luigi finally snaps and says something about Bowser's behavior, and Bowser immediately turns on him and yells that Luigi has NO idea how it feels being stuck like this. How demeaning it is, how Bowser can't forget it even for a moment.

"I have to ask you permission to do anything!"

"You don't have to ASK, you can just tell me! I won't say no."

"But you could!"

"But I won't!"

"But you COULD!"

And Luigi notices that Bowser seems... not so much upset as... disappointed? Almost like he wanted Luigi to refuse him?

Like maybe all his uncooperative behavior the last few days was intentional and he's been waiting to be punished.

Oh. Oooooh. Okay Luigi didn't see this coming. And since Bowser actually doesn't seem like he understands why he's feeling this way, it would be wrong to take advantage of it.

So instead of punishing him for acting out, Luigi will praise him when he helps! A perfect plan!

Bowser's ego is huge but it's also fragile, and it doesn't take long before he's eager to get any sort of kind word from Luigi. By the time the rest of the party join them, only a day later, Luigi has Bowser (metaphorically but Bowser would definitely do it literally if properly incentivized) eating out of the palm his hand.

Too bad Luigi hasn't thought through what to do once they do find someone who can get the leash off. Making a guy with infamous attachment issues emotionally dependent on you miiiiiight backfire a little bit.

[sparrowrye]

Demi Demon || Alastor x Reader, A2 part 28 (fixed)

Synopsis: It’s been over a year since we were brought under Alastor’s watchful eye. We’ve unlocked our Demonic powers, discovered our own talents, and began building the Safe Haven with Charlie and co. Alastor seems increasingly interested in the power we hold as one and intends to use it properly.

Previous part

Part 28: my turn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam had tied me to a chair in an empty, stale, and cold metal room, then left me. I was alone with a headband strapped on to keep my magic away. My connection with Alastor was slow to return, strands gradually stringing together and re-tying the knots. It wasn't entirely gone, to my great relief, but it took a lot of time for it to mend itself.

Some time later, when our connection was a bit stronger, I felt him panic. My own panic rose in my throat as I tried wrenching my limbs out of the tight ropes pinning them to the chair. This was all part of Blackwater's plan. It had to be. He was trying to separate us.

The thought I might be just as dangerous that he would need to keep me away and contained, sent a flare of pride in my chest.

A minute later, the panic turned to genuine fear. I let out a loud cry as I tried to pull my limbs free, blood dripping down from where the rope dug into my skin. I reached for my magic but it wasn't there. I threw my head back against the wall but there was no wall. The force threw me backwards and I landed painfully on my back as well as my tied hands with a loud echo. My hands throbbed in pain.

Our connection grew stronger, still. Pain came shooting through it. Something was cutting into the sides of his head and I let out a scream, feeling as if he was screaming through me. I banged my head against the floor in an effort to remove the headband but, like before, the important part of the contraption was on the front most part of my head.

I stopped thrashing and went strangely still. I closed my eyes and pushed through the pain of our connection. His presence was far, very far, and his magic was even further. I anchored myself to our connection and veered off. My magic was all over the place but I found myself drawing them closer together. It was slow and took all my concentration, sometimes losing the pieces when Alastor let out another scream. What was Blackwater doing to him?

I was running out of time. I used what little magic I had and imagined lava sprouting from the metal headband. It felt like I was sweating and my back contorted from the amount of mental effort this was taking. I was doing it, but I could lose it within a millisecond if I lost focus. Take it slow. You'll get to him in time.

Trust the process.

My body felt like it was shaking. My head was throbbing from the work, pulsing beneath the headband and into my neck. So close. Almost there.

Alastor screamed again. My metaphorical hands fumbled, nearly losing the balance of it all. I was going to get to him. I could get to him in time.

Just hold out for me.

Searing pain blinded me and I was abruptly thrown back into the chair, all my progress lost. I let out a cry as the pain dared to break through my skull. My magic flew into my hands and the ropes around my limbs burst into flames. I rolled off the fallen chair and wiped my forehead free of...magma?

The headband had melted and my magic was back.

I had done it.

I closed my eyes and clawed my way through our soul connection. Alastor's energy was gone and the connection almost felt transparent. I kept moving, faster and faster, desperation fueling my adrenaline. I tried calling out to him but he wasn't responding.

He felt limb. Defeated. Gone.

My shadow touched his and I melted with it, stealing the last of his energy and power to teleport myself. I stayed in a shadow and crept along the wall, my mind expanding as the shadow enclosed the room entirely.

Alastor was strapped to a near horizontal chair and a surgeon was using a terrifying-looking tool on the side of his head. His entire face and side was coated in dark blood. His eyes were closed but he was still alive.

Alcine sprouted from my shadow's shoulder and took our Dragon form, mouth opening wide along the wall in a howl. Alastor's shadow weaved through the floor and towered behind the surgeon, drawing open his sharp, wide mouth, cackling as Alastor had always done.

I pulled myself through the wall and took my Demon form, the shadows unwrapping my body and separating from each other, still connected to me at my feet. I took a few steps forward and stopped, narrow eyes watching the surgeon as he backed away from me, from Alastor. I'm not sure what he was trying to do to him but I didn't care. Alcine grabbed his feet and dragged him across the floor.

His soul was bright, bright with fear, and I obeyed the urge to wrap my own hands around it. I gave a testing pull, his soul making a horrible sound like chalk on a chalkboard as I attempted to separate his soul from his body. Surprised by this new skill, I let the soul snap back into its original place. A moment later I impaled my claws into his chest right over his heart. His eyes widened, mouth probably agape behind the mask, and sputtered on his own blood.

I yanked my claws out and stood up, abandoning his withering form as his soul slowly merged with mine and came trapped beside the many other souls I still held onto.

I undid the belt covered his eyebrows and caught his head as it limped forward. I attempted to heal the massive wound, stitching his skin back together before he could wake up to feel the pain. It was slow. My magic felt like I was walking through mud. It took a lot of concentration just to stop the bleeding. There must be more of Blackwater's magic dampening technology.

I briefly stopped healing and let Alcine and Alastor's shadow run through the huge factory. They found any wires they could and snapped them. I had to lean against Alastor's still form as all my concentration and energy was diverted to the shadows.

Finally, the heavy mugginess disappeared and my full power returned. I gently grabbed Alastor's face, hands covered in his blood, and continued my healing. I healed it just enough that his skin was molded back together and the bleeding had stopped. I gave some of my energy to him and felt him stir.

"What did they do to you?" I whispered, thumb smearing blood across his cheek.

The door flew open. Blackwater stood in the doorway, eyes widening at the sight of me. Immediately I threw vines at him as he did to me. It impaled my shoulder, my chest, and threw me on my back. I sucked in air as I pulled the vine out, realizing too late that it had huge thorns. I barely healed the injury as I sat up with a groan.

I saw Blackwater on his back, my own vine impaling him in the same place. I wrenched it free and his head snapped up to look at me. He used his good arm to push himself to a sitting position.

"How did—"

I launched at him before he could finish. He casted fire right under me and I used wind to throw myself higher. I landed awkwardly on my back outside the room and rolled to face him. Bullets grazed my arm as guards began shooting at me. I weaved around the pillars of the balcony above and used a 'force field' to evade the bullets.

Blackwater chased me with more fire. He bent the metal under my feet, casted objects at my head, threw wind into my side, and pulled water out of nowhere to drown me.

I casted the water away and threw his form into one of the pillars. I moved to jump but a vine sprouted from the floor to grip my ankle. The gunshots continued. I bent their guns skyward and heard a few of them backfire painfully.

More vines appeared. They laced together and stretched over my head. Within seconds I was in a ball of horned vines.

"You're harder to deal with than Alastor," Blackwater used the pillar to push himself to his feet, "How did disappointing."

"Alastor doesn't cheat," I argued. The vines were uncomfortably close, thorns grazing my arm from a mere shift in my weight.

Blackwater lifted his hands on either side in a shrug gesture. "What was that you said to Striker? Demons don't play fair?"

My stomach dropped. I stared at him through the vines, guards on watch on the balconies and cheers and cries from the prisoners. 

I was back in a ring. 

I had tried so hard to leave that life behind, to fix my soul, to do better, but it always brought me right back where I didn't want to be.

My body shivered as Alastor looked through my eyes. I saw flashes of the procedure he had to endure while awake. I heard the chants from the prisoners to kill Blackwater, to set them free, to put this unrest to rest. 

Alastor had been right. He had always been right. There was no escaping my nature. You could put a sword on the shelf but when it was needed, it was ready to kill once again. And kill I would if it meant Alastor could live, if Reagan could walk carefree with me beyond the borders, if my haven could be safe. 

I reached out for Blackwater's soul and grabbed it. He froze. He fought me and he fought me hard. His soul was anchored tightly to his body but the harder I tugged the more his strings stretched and frayed. He collapsed on the floor and the vines around me inched away as all eyes went to him. I sprouted my own vines to pry them open and jump out. 

I morphed into my Dragon and clamped my mouth on a hard pillar. Fire scalded my scales and I reared back, head hitting the platform and sending the guards flying. I went into my shadow and flew around the walls. Blackwater spun in an attempt to keep his eyes on me, but I was faster. I used to run circles around my opponents in a small ring but now I was in a large prison with plenty of obstacles to hide along. 

I grabbed his soul again. He lashed out with different magic but it did nothing to my shadowy form. I let out a laugh as I tugged again, earning a cry of panic this time. 

I was starting to understand Alastor's perspective. 

A fleeting thought came to my mind - Blackwater withholding oxygen to the entire prison. A second later I found it took a lot of effort to breathe normally. I tried to dampen his magic, to prevent him from using it, but I couldn't. The way in which he was using magic made it impossible to fight him with normal-styled magic. 

I drew in oxygen from upstairs to keep myself awake as guards and prisoners collapsed. I closed his throat and watched him suffer from his own medicine. He fell to his knees, clawing at nothing and eyes searching for me. I melded into my Demon form and walked up from behind. I casted the entire prison in darkness and let the oxygen come back into the room. 

I grabbed hold of Blackwater's soul, tainted like black blood, and at the same time grabbing his throat. I held the back of his head against my side, claws digging into his skin so it bleed. He was suffocating from the lack of oxygen, physical body bleeding to death, and soul being held tightly in my grasp. 

"You can't beat someone who fought her entire life, and finally found something worth fighting for," I said loudly, voice echoing off the metal walls. His soul loosened as his body began to die. I grabbed hold of his soul with two metaphorical claws and wrenched it the rest of the way, a horrible, sickening, popping sound heard only to my ears, and dragged him far away from the other souls. 

His body fell limp and I let it crash into the floor. I pushed the darkness away to reveal his dead body to the onlooker. The guards stared, unmoving. Their great leader lay in his own pool of blood at the feet of Demon. A Demon who didn't give them a cause for concern, who didn't give anyone a cause for concern. But now I did.

I reached through the magic plains and towered above the shaking souls. I caught two in my fingers and pulled their souls free from their bodies prematurely. Their cries echoed in my ear but for the first time...

It didn't bother me. 

I caught one more before the others came back to the physical word and made a run for the stairs, locking the metal doors shut.

I spun away from Blackwater's body, feeling his soul fighting against my restraints, and walked into the room Alastor was in. The prisoners cried for help but I ignored them, attention solely on my injured soulmate. 

Holding my injured, aching arm, I sat on the edge of the seat. He mumbled my name as I melted the metal cuffs away. As soon as his hands were free, he brought his knuckles up to lazily brush against my cheek. His energy was still trying to crawl back.

"L-Love," he whispered.

"I'm here." I pressed his hand against my cheek and planted a kiss on his wrist. "It's over."

He licked his lips. His voice was void of his radio filter and cracked as he said, "Blackwater. Where–"

"He's dead."

His tired eyebrows moved to make him look upset. He licked his lips before he struggled to ask, "His soul...where?" 

"I have him. He's locked away, I promise."

"Use--" he turned his head away to cough, "use others souls...to keep him under."

"I know." I placed another kiss on his wrist. 

He let out a sigh and his smile turned genuine. He closed his eyes. "That's my girl."

The phrase caused butterflies in my stomach. I kissed him on the nose to steal a taste of his sweet blood. "I'll be right back." 

It almost sounded like a whine as I stood up, his arm falling limp on his lap from the disconnect. I climbed the stairs to the top level where another set of stairs continued upward. I faced the prison and lifted my arms. The locks on all the cells cracked open, the cell doors sliding painfully loud. Red lights flashed and an annoying alarm went off. I broke the earth down on the one staircase behind me and jammed the metal doors shut.

I barked out an order for everyone to gather in the center of the prison. They obeyed, half running and half limping. I waited until each of them had pushed close together and heads tilted back to look at me. I heard men moving the earth in the blocked stairwell.

I felt Alastor look through my eyes again.

Stretching my black claws out, I watched as the ground beneath the group began to lighten up and create a symbol. The purple grew brighter, my energy depleting, as I teleported the entire group just outside the Haven's borders. The guards will ensure nothing happens to them or the haven.

Clanging shook the door behind me. I used a hair of magic to wrench metal free from the stair railing. I leaned against the wall next to the door and waited. I was trying to catch my breath and failing. I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep.

I bent the metal under the door so it curved up and served as a door stop. It did nothing as they began bending the door from its hinges with magic.

This alarm needed to just shut up.

That's when my nose caught a scent. Gas.

I casted the gas through the open hole and up the stairs. I dragged it across every square inch of this huge factory. This place was in ice? No wonder we couldn't find him.

Alcine gripped my shoulders. I melted with her and came to stand beside Alastor. He had clambered off the chair and was laying against the wall, head hanging low and body shaking.

The smell of gas was strong here.

I put my arm around his back and let his head hit my shoulder. I grabbed his opposite leg and drew in energy from my imprisoned souls to run with our shadows.

We came up to the snowy landscape. I drew in a sharp breath as the cold hit me in the face. I fixed my body temperature and let it seep into Alastor's. I and to gather energy and brace myself before every magic action. My mind went with Alcine but my body stayed behind. It took but a spark of fire to engulf the entire factory in flames.

The ground shook. I opened my eyes to the cold snow again. My head hurt as everything shook. I saw the ice crack dangerously close. The spot we were sitting on shifted and it took more effort from the souls to keep myself and Alastor from slipping into the dark abyss. My claws shook from the strain.

The factory was sinking. It was falling into the ice and drowning in the cold water beneath. How deep was this water? The thought terrified me.

I drew on more energy from the souls and painted the ice and snow in my symbol. I wrapped my arms around Alastor's upper body while my tail hooked his legs. My body buzzed and everything felt very light and like we were thinning. Soft, warm grass touched my knees when we manifested.

Alastor withdrew his energy from me and slumped further in my arms. I hadn't even realized he had been giving me some energy. I looked around, realizing I had teleported us to the forest just beyond our borders. I called for help, the wind carrying my cry, as I laid Alastor flat on his back as carefully as I could.

I kept calling, crying, and casting until I felt Husker's presence touch mine. I felt the urgency and the sound of his wings flapping. Relief overwhelmed me. Before I could cry from relief, I fell unconscious beside Alastor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:

I like this version much much better. Thoughts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist:

@wendigonamecaller @saccharine-nectarine @thesimpybitch @papas-ghoulette

[phoenixyfriend]

Shadow and Mirror

Read on AO3, written for this prompt

Cody has a new crush.

Well, a “crush” implies something much more childish than the point he’s reached in his life.

Cody has… felt a connection and really hit it off with someone he finds reasonably attractive.

His brothers are being less than supportive.

“He is my Jedi and one of my best friends,” Rex says, “but I just… for both your sakes, life will be so much easier if you don’t go for it.”

Cody is unfazed. “You do remember he was my Jedi Commander before he got promoted and took you with him, right? I know what he’s like, and I’m into it.”

Rex makes a face. “Uh, all due respect, Cody—”

Oh, this bitch.

“—but he’s changed in some pretty big ways since he split from Kenobi.”

“So’ve I.”

This earns him an eyeroll. “Yes, yes, you’ve discovered your romantic charisma and started charming the pants off of any sentient you encounter on leave. You do realize that’s part of the problem?”

“That I have game?”

“Skywalker doesn’t do casual,” Rex insists. “Open, maybe, if you talk about it, but he doesn’t do casual.”

After a moment of consideration, Cody shrugs. “I can work with that.”

“Can you?” Rex challenges. “Can you really deal with the full force of Anakin’s attention? With him losing his entire mind if you get hurt, and calling you up at three in the morning to chat, and promising you the galaxy in a bunch of flowery words that should be hyperbole, but really, really worryingly sounds literal and sincere?”

“…did you try dating him?”

“No, but I was there basically every time he hung with Amidala, and that shit continued past the point where he gave up on romantic seduction and settled into friendship,” Rex says, more of a grumpy complaint than anything, “and she’s just as weird as he is when it comes to all that, so it’s no skin off her back to match his energy, but you are not on their level.”

“Rude.”

“I’m just saying,” Rex grits out from between clenched teeth, “that you like to have fun, and Anakin likes to dedicate every morsel of crazy knocking around his brain to whichever poor soul ended up in his affections.”

“I feel like insulting your CO that much is grounds for a court martial.”

“Echo told him, to his face, that he occasionally seemed crazy as a bag of tooka kits and about as hinged as a sliding door. General Skywalker took a second to process, and then laughed. He doesn’t care, not if it’s from a friend.”

Cody hums. “Which you are.”

“Yes.”

“Enough to warn me away before I break his heart?” Cody asks. Rex looks away, and Cody can only chuckle. “You’re not that subtle, Rex.”

“I’m trying to make sure you do what’s best for both of you,” Rex insists, glancing at Cody for only a moment before breaking eye contact again, “so Anakin doesn’t get disappointed, and so you’re not walking in blind when it comes to him being… the most.”

Cody snorts. “I can handle Skywalker, Rex. I may not be a Jedi or a Senator, but I can handle one brat with a smart mouth, a bad attitude, and a couple of super-powers.”

Rex grimaces. “I mean… it’s not really… that simple. The Force stuff, I mean.”

There’s something a little odd to Rex’s voice with that one, more than just the weird pauses. Cody doesn’t dismiss it quite as easily as he might have. Instead, he carefully asks, “the whole ‘Chosen’ thing some of the Shinies were gossiping about? Kenobi said it was an old superstition more than anything, a metaphor taken too literally, and that even the Jedi argue about it.”

“When?”

Cody’s expression must speak for him, because Rex clarifies without prompting.

“When did Kenobi say that?”

Cody looks past him at the wall, frowning as he thinks. Rex waits, and doesn’t take it too personally; they know each other too well for that. Finally, Cody shrugs. “A couple months in. Skywalker was still a Jedi Commander with the 212th.”

“So, before Mortis.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “This has to do with that shitshow?”

Rex looks uncomfortable. “You… aren’t 501st.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Well… Kenobi didn’t get possessed. Or channel a god. He just used an extra weird lightsaber for a bit.”

Cody gives it a few moments, and then finally says, “Rex.”

His brother continues to look uncomfortable.

“What did that place do to Skywalker and Tano?”

(Continue on AO3)

[seastarconstellation]

I feel like Snape/Quirrell is a severely underrated ship. Not in a traditional sense, mind you, but in an anti-ship way. These two have great bitter exes potential.

Professor Sprout sets them up together because they’re in the same age range and they both look... like they could use a date. Somehow this turns into a relationship. They spend two years exuding such potent awkwardness and anti-charisma as a couple that it’s difficult not to look away.

The only thing keeping them together is a vague fear of dying alone and an interest in theoretical magic.

Quirrell has the unfortunate habit of chuckling whenever he’s nervous, and Snape has a viscerally bad reaction every time.

Snape swears that he’s not staying up until four in the morning because Quirrell retires at seven and he’s avoiding him, he’s just a night owl.

Quirrell applies to the DADA job relying exclusively on what he learned listening to Snape infodump for two years. Dumbledore hires him and for the rest of the year, Snape only communicates with death stares.

Quirrell breaks up with him over owl while he’s away on his sabbatical. The letter is filled with melodramatic schlock such as ‘I’ve enjoyed the season of my life I spent with you.’ and metaphors about two ships passing each other in the night. Snape reads it aloud in the staff room because McGonnagal thinks it’s hilarious.

When Quirrell comes back, sporting a flashy new turban, he halfheartedly tries to apologise to Snape for the way things ended, and Snape casually informs him that he pawned all of the belongings Quirrell left in his quarters.

Voldemort doesn’t allow Quirrell to visit the pawnshop in Hogsmeade, so that is where his family heirlooms stay.

Snape spends the rest of the year harassing Quirrell like he does in the books, except all the older students and the professors think he’s doing it because he has gone full crazy ex-boyfriend. Quite a few teachers try to get Dumbledore to talk to Snape, not yet aware that this is all according to Dumbledore’s orders.

Quirrell bites it whilst trying to get the philosopher’s stone, and everyone realises who’s been living on the back of his head. McGonnagal takes Snape out for drinks to apologise for the time she tried to organise an intervention with the rest of the house heads.

Snape has to grapple with the fact that Voldemort probably co-authored that breakup letter.

[kenphobia]

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE!

"Y'know, like a liar."

alt title. i have a degree in emotional baggage

summary. when you become friends with Ai for so long, the line blurs between camaraderie and romantic interest. ( 1.2k words / drabble / see end notes )

contents. gn!reader (they/them prms used), angst, hurt no comfort, canonical character death, not proofread. this will be turned into a series

on ao3 . on wattpad .

If anyone asked (Name) if they know who Ai Hoshino is, they'd instantly say no.

Lying had always been one of their many abilities, even so to the point they can keep their entire life under wraps. Not even their own boss, Strawberry Productions' president, know a whole lot about them other than what's said on their résumé.

Was it to protect themself? Was it to convince people to like them? They weren't sure anymore. They had kept up this act for as long as they remembered, and so long that they forgot what they were doing this for. It goes to show just how much effort (Name) had put into their lies, building excuses and reasons on top of each other, only for it to come crashing down because of another liar. And that liar happened to Ai Hoshino, the very idol herself.

At first glance, you wouldn't expect a star sensation like Ai becoming close friends with nearly faceless NPC. But life loves to deceive and bend standard societial 'rules'.

Almost every single day, Ai and (Name) are stuck by each other's metaphorical hips. The little winks Ai sends to the camera when she knows they're watching; the sudden boost of happiness and motivation sparkling in the girl's being whenever (Name) comes to her concerts, no matter how small and cramped the venue may be.

(Name) puts all their damn hardest into their friendship as well. After all, for Ai, they're willing to do anything just to make her smile. Even if it meant risking their job position to ensure Ai continues to shine brighter tham ever, smiling without a care of the world. Bentos after bentos, all packed and meticulously put together in a cutesy manner; Constant texts and phone calls, reminding Ai to take care of herself and stay always alert of her surroundings— They did everything to let Ai know that they consider her as a friend, not just a one-time co-worker.

They were friends, and they always will be no matter what happens. So when Ai called (Name) over to a rural little town, they didn't expect that the said idol was pregnant.

"Promise me, (Name). You won't tell this to anybody." The president, Ichigo, begged and grasped their shoulders. But (Name) quickly pushed his hands away, muttering curses underneath their breath.

"I promised like... What? fifteen times? I'm not some lousy mole rat that's going to snitch on their bestest friend." (Name) rolled their eyes, eyes glancing through the door's small window. Though it was frosted glass, they could clearly see Ai relaxing in her bed and caressing her belly.

"But still..." Ichigo bit his bottom lip. "Fine, I trust you. But you better not break this trust or else."

"I know, boss." (Name) merely mumbled. They turned away and held the door handle, readying themself to meet Ai's ever so starry gaze. "I know."

And when you stepped inside, Ai suddenly went into labor.

It's been years ever since Ai gave birth to the twins, Aquamarine and Ruby. And being Ai's best friend comes with a cost, and that was becoming her kids' babysitter. (Name) had little to no complaints about this, knowing full well how hard parenting is (I mean, look how they turned out—their mother completely gave up on them), but their co-babysitter, Miyako had some.

But it was nothing that couldn't be fix with a little bit of elbow gease and a lot of convincing. The four of them managed to pull it off fairly well and not a single peep about Ai's kids came out to the public.

Speaking of the kids...

"Aqua, Ruby. it's time to sleep." (Name) groaned for the seventh time, rubbing their numbing face. Though they called out for the blonde-haired babs, they wouldn't get away from the TV and continued to watching their dazzling mother perform on stage. "You know this is recorded and you can watch it tomorrow, right?"

Ruby whined. "But watching it live is so much better!! It feels like you're actually there!"

"Still though... Your mom's gonna be mad at me if she finds out that I've been letting you two stay up past your bedtime." (Name) shook your head.

"Just one more! And we promise we will sleep!" Ruby pleaded whilst Aqua didn't bother looking away from the screen, too mesmerized by the flashing colors on screen.

"... Fine. But you two better sleep or I swear—"

"We will!"

They, in fact, did not sleep after that. And rather Ai, it was Miyako scolding (Name) for letting the kids be awake at such hours. But at least, the pop sensation found the entire situation amusing rather than being angry at them.

Through it all, (Name) had been with Ai. Never as friends, but not quite like lovers either. They both know that it wouldn't end well for them, but there's a scratching hand in the back of their mind— a whisper, a dream of a time where they could kiss each other on the lips as free as they'd like without the public caring. But they knew it'll never happen.

The closest thing (Name) and Ai ever had to a romantic interaction was a simple brush of a hand; a hug that lasted far too long to be seen as platonic; the longing looks they gave each other when the other was sleeping. And it was never more than that.

And there will come a time where they'll regret about it all. A time where we'll regret keeping those feelings to themselves, no matter how confusing it is, the shame and sorrow of not being able to truly be honest to yourself will eat you up til your last, dying breath.

Ai sat there, clutching Aqua in her bloodied hands and feeling her pulse slipping from her grasps. "Aqua, Ruby... I love you." She whispered, loud enough for the twins to hear as she pressed her head on the door.

"Finally... I got to say it. I'm... I'm so happy." The idol cried out, forcing a smile to etch her features. The blood bled heavily and through her clothes, her eyes glossy and dazed from the tears and soreness.

Ai's smile flattered. If only she could say the same to (Name), If only they were here holding her dying body in their arms. But that would be too cruel of a wish, wouldn't it?

She chuckled, pushing herself up against the door with the little strength she had left, still cradling Aqua in her arms. As she said her final words, her body went limp. Her pulse slowly, painfully slipped away.

Nothing good happened after (Name) heard about Ai's death. With guilt, anger and remorse overwhelming their heart, they locked themself in their room for hours without end and buried themself under the blankets for a long time. All those years, they had grown accustomed to the blinding light of a computer screen and the smell of rot filling their room like Kudzu.

But they can't keep living like that forever, no, Miyako wouldn't let them. As well as the twins (although it's mostly Ruby would wants to help them, Aqua is still deep in murder mode). In the end, they pushed onwards for a better future. But they don't know if they could even call it a 'better future' when Ai isn't around anymore.

So if anyone asked (Name) if they knew who Ai Hoshino is, they'd instantly say no. Because if they did acknowledge whatever relationship they had with the late idol, they don't know if their heart could handle the emotional baggage all over again.

notes. after 8 days, i finally posted this onto tumblr!! this probs won't get as much as attention since the oshi no ko fandom here on tumblr is really really lowkey but to whoever picks this up, i hope you enjoyed this :]

i wrote this after finishimg the anime (i think they released a new episode on the streaming website im using), so it might not match with some manga lore. i really tried to protray Ai in the best way and hope that i didn't butcher up her character <//3

requests are always open and i'll be adding new fandoms to my list, oshi no ko included!

[alovesongtheywrote]

Hide and Seek | Eddie Munson x Reader

♥ Summary:  When your first meeting with boyfriend's family goes off the rails to a murderous degree, you call your cute co-worker for help. as it turns out, he has a couple demonic tricks up his sleeves [Demon!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader]

♥ Warnings:  18+, minors and ageless blogs dni. graphic violence, extreme gore, a rape metaphor, threats of sa, vomiting, stabbing, murder and attempted murder, gun related violence, violence against women, derogatory terms used for the reader by someone other than eddie (whore, slut, skank), multiple side characters infer that the only purpose of individuals with wombs is to have children/make sacrifices for others, unprotected sex, p in v sex, mild breeding kink, monster fucking, angst, mediocre smut imo, fluff. if you've ever seen ready or not, take that, and combine it with labour paris paloma. if i missed anything, please let me know so i can tag it

♥ A/N: other content tags include: modern au. demon au. there's vague lore to this, i might write a follow up. for more author's note, please check the bottom of this post.

♥ Word count:  23041

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“Grace couldn't be happier after she marries the man of her dreams at his family's luxurious estate. There's just one catch- she must now hide from midnight until dawn while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns, crossbows and other weapons.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you hissed, snatching the movie away from your coworker, “Do not read that shit to me right now, I’m anxious enough as it is.”

A laugh slipped out from Eddie’s soft lips as he scrunched his face up in sympathy, “That bad, huh?”

“Don’t laugh at me,” you groaned, burying your face in your hands, “I never should’ve agreed to this.  I’m so stupid.”

Eddie shrugged, pouting slightly, “No, you’re stupid for other reasons.  This isn’t stupid.  This is far from stupid.  You’re just meeting your boyfriend’s family, I mean, that was gonna happen one way or another, right?”

You didn’t give a verbal response right away.  You just let out a pained scream, muffling the sound of it with your palms.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Eddie gave your arm a sympathetic pat.

“It’s just,” you pulled your hands away from your face, “It feels so soon- and I didn’t think my first meeting with them would be a weekend long getaway at their giant fucking mansion.  How the fuck am I supposed to deal with that?  A giant fucking mansion?  Who the fuck has a giant mansion in this economy?”

“Your boyfriend’s parents.”

You let out another distressed sound, “I mean, I knew Roman had money, I just… I didn’t know it was McMansion money.”

Eddie nodded, hopping up on the counter of the always quiet video store, “I see.  So what exactly are you afraid of here?  Slipping on marble floors?  Breaking their solid gold antiques?  Using the wrong fork in such an egregious fashion that you get yelled at?”

“Honestly, I’m mostly afraid of blaspheming or something.  His parents are like, hyper-Catholic.”

A smile crossed your face, but it faded far too fast for Eddie’s taste, “God, his parents are gonna hate me.”

Eddie tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, or an adorable baby cow.  You weren’t entirely sure how he managed to pull off that expression.  Everything about his appearance seemed to scream tough, scary metalhead- except for his eyes.  His eyes betrayed the fact that under layers of leather, chains, and eyeliner, Eddie Munson was deeply kind.

“And now you’ve lost me,” he leaned back, tipping himself over the counter to a dangerous level, “How could anyone hate you, angel?”

“Eddie, I work a minimum wage job in a nearly-defunct movie store that sells DVDs.  I go to a community college for a degree that won’t take me anywhere.  I’m pathetic, and I have no energy ninety percent of the time, and even though I’m going to try and look nice this weekend, I know I’ll look like a mess.  I’m nothing.  I’m nothing, and I’m going nowhere, and in a hundred years I won’t be anything more than a footnote on a footnote on their son’s wikipedia page.  They’re gonna see that I’m not good enough for him.  I’m never gonna be enough for him and they’re gonna hate me for it.”

“Sweetheart-” his eyes were wide.  He looked completely shocked, taken aback that you saw yourself as nothing.

“You know, whenever we get an angry customer, everyone here hides behind you?”

You raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of where this was going.  Eddie continued, “It’s because you’re strong as hell and you’re terrifying- and you can make anyone see reason.  You’re smart as fuck and you take no shit from anyone.  You’re the furthest thing in the world from pathetic..”

“You’re just saying that-”

“I’m not!” he leaned forward, “I promise!  And I mean, besides all that, you’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met- and you’re definitely the hottest.”

“Are you sure about that?” you asked, finally cracking a smile, “You know Steve.”

“‘The Hair?’  Well, I mean, I have eyes, I know he’s gorgeous, but you?  You’re a total knockout,” he threw a few punches into the air.  You couldn’t hold back your laugh.

He smiled at you, just admiring the way you wheezed at his eccentricities.  

“You aren’t nothing,” he said as your laughter subsided.  

“I know,” you didn’t really believe your own words.  You were pretty sure he picked up on that.

“I’m serious!  You could have the entire world if you wanted it.  Forget a hundred years, I give it six months before the Earth is yours.”

“Are you sure about that?” “Six months!  Then the world is yours and the rest of us are just living in it.”

You scoffed, hopping up on the counter beside him, “Make it four.”

“Or less!”

A soft, content silence passed over the two of you.  You watched as Eddie’s long, slender fingers tapped a beat into his thigh.  You reached out, taking his hand into your own, running your thumb over the blue veins that lay beneath his skin.  God, you didn’t know a person could have such beautiful hands.

“Still,” with his hand still in yours, you leaned into his shoulder, using it as an oddly soft pillow while you spoke, “Even if I am taking over the world, I haven’t done it yet- so this weekend is going to fucking suck.”

“Hey, if there’s anyone who can deal with hellish in-laws, it would be you.  Pretend they’re just customers.   If anyone can deal with a couple of rich in-laws for a weekend, it’s you.”

“Is it?” you sighed, “Or are they gonna kill me because I used the wrong salad fork?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, a smirk crossing his lips.  He gave your hand a squeeze and let go before he jumped off the cash desk, “They’re not gonna kill you, sweetheart.  You think Roman would let them?”

“Who knows?  Think of Grace.  Think of Chris Washington.  This could totally be a Get Out, or a Ready or Not!”

You were playing around now, dabbling in worst case scenarios to ease some pressure off of your worried mind.  Eddie played along with you, as he so often did.

“You’re right.  You’re totally gonna get murdered this weekend.  I’ll have to find someone to pick up your Monday shift.”

“I know,” you feigned a wince,  “Sorry in advance.  I’ll be too busy getting sacrificed to the devil.”

Eddie paused for a split second.  His smile wavered so briefly that you didn’t quite catch it as you continued on your dramatic rant.

“And yes, I should have informed the company over text, at least!  But!” you shrugged, “I was too busy getting murdered by my in-laws.”

“That’s no excuse!” Eddie gasped, taking on some weird, posh sounding accent- presumably the sound of the bourgeoisie, “You should know that the interests of Family Video come before personal crap like getting murdered.”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Boss Man.  I’d ask you not to fire me, but, y’know.  I’m dead.”

Eddie’s smile returned in full force as he twisted away from you, focusing on the new task of placing films back on their shelves.  As you gazed at his back, gears began to turn in your brain.  Maybe keeping someone in the know about your whereabouts wouldn’t be such a terrible idea.

“Hey, Eddie?  Would it- would it be okay if I did inform you?  Over text?  If something happens, I mean.”

He paused, and when he spoke again his voice was much softer, “Nothing’s gonna happen to you, sweetheart.”

“I know that.  Logically, I know that- I’m talking about a scenario where everything goes terribly wrong and I end up offending the hell out of his parents.  If they hate me, can I call you?”

Eddie nodded, his sweet eyes widening as his strong hands wrapped around the plastic case of another film.  

“Of course, sweetheart.  Of course.”

You bit your lip as you watched him turn.  The way Eddie spoke to you filled something inside of you.  It met a deep dark need that ached somewhere in your chest.  You wondered if, in a different universe- one where you had met Eddie before you met Roman- you would still have that need.  

You kept your eyes on Eddie for a few minutes before you finally turned away.

-

Hours later, the clicking sound of your heels echoed across the front lawn of a rather imposing mansion.  The smell of freshly cut grass overtook your senses, nearly covering the underlying stench of metal.  Already, the grass was covered in fallen Autumn leaves.  

A mildly uncomfortable dress clung to your body, exposing your shoulders to the chill of the early evening air.  An expensive bottle of red wine sat heavy in your hands.  Behind you, you could hear the muttering of butlers (butlers!) as your luggage was removed from the car you’d arrived in.

Roman stood at your side, his piercing blue eyes dead focused on the door a few paces ahead of you.  His suit was perfectly tailored to every sharp edge of his toned form.  The harsh scent of his expensive cologne stung your nose.  He was the very picture of confidence- next to him, you felt like a lost, sad stray puppy.

“You’re sure about this?” you asked, not bothering to turn to face him.  You knew he wouldn’t look you in the eye for a question this trivial, “You really think I’m ready to meet-”

“You are,” there was no hesitation in your paramour’s voice.  There was no compassion, either.

“And you think they’re ready to meet me?”

When you were met with silence, you steeled yourself.  You took a deep breath, clenching your fists as your lungs filled with the scent of cut grass and cologne.

“Now, the second that door opens, you are quiet and polite, got that?  Don’t speak out of turn, laugh softly, and for once in your life, do as I ask.”

You didn’t have time to respond.

The door swung open as you and Roman approached, revealing the smiling faces of a middle aged couple.  You had been informed about them on the car ride up- and you didn’t fail to notice the way they looked you up and down, judging you in a practiced silent way.  

The woman, Roman’s mother, had short dark hair, styled neatly so her bangs framed her unwrinkled face.  From what you’d been told, she was a fan of diamonds, anti-aging creams, and vintage reds- hence the bottle in your hands.  The man next to her, Roman’s father, Benedict, shared your boyfriend’s piercing blue eyes.  The watch on his wrist was expensive, though you already knew it would be.  When it came to the finer things in life, Benedict (never Ben) was something of a collector.  

The couple was perfectly warm as they welcomed you into their home.  Cecilia placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, and Benedict clapped his son on the back, expressing a sort of fatherly pride.  Still, as you stepped through the heavy oak doors, you were overwhelmed with a sense of wrongness.  It took all your strength to smile through it.  You had to ignore every instinct you had- all of which were currently screaming for you to run.  

A chill ran up your spine as the doors swung shut behind you, trapping you inside with a heavy thud.  Someone took the wine from your hands.  You had no choice now.  You were in.

You tried to shake off your unease as you moved through the hallways.  Each space you entered dripped with the trappings of wealth.  Everything was crafted with fine materials by the very best craftsmen.  The decorations were decadent and modern and entirely overwhelming.  You could just tell that everything in this house was more expensive than your car.  

You did your best to listen as Cecilia and Benedict took turns delivering the history of the marble floors and fancy trims, but you couldn’t help but focus on their taste in wall decor.  Oil portraits hung on the walls; painted visages of men and women stared down from golden frames.  Their bodies were bathed in painted finery, and their eyes seemed to watch you as you passed through their hallway.

“Ah, I see you have an eye for art!” Benedict exclaimed, stepping away from your side for a moment to gesture to the portrait of one woman in specific.  She had the saddest honey-brown eyes you had ever seen.  You wanted to reach out and hold her hand- which was odd, considering the fact that she was a painting.  

Benedict continued, ignoring you as you became lost in your own mind, “These paintings are all originals, all commissioned by the family.”

Your eyes followed the line of portraits as far as you could see.  In each gilded frame, a different face peered out at you with sad, desperate eyes.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Cecilia took your elbow in her hand, pulling you closer to the painting of the brown-eyed girl, “She was Benedict's darling first wife.  She passed so tragically young.”

Her words told a tragic tale, but her tone was nothing short of upbeat.  You stood straighter, becoming more aware of Cecilia’s proximity to you and the smile on her face as she continued to speak of Benedict’s late partner.You couldn’t help but notice that the woman in the frame was missing a ring.  

“She died in childbirth, as did her baby- her only child.  When she left us, we had this portrait made.”

“Tragically, that’s the case with most of these old things,” Roman said, placing a hand on the small of your back, “When a LeBuer passes, we commemorate their life with art.  It’s a nice way to keep them close- to keep them from leaving.  Someday soon, you’ll join them.”

You nodded, entirely unsure of how to respond to that statement.  All of your jokes with Eddie had been just that- jokes.  Now, however, with the eyes of the portraits boring into you, you were actually starting to get freaked out.  

“Come now,” Benedict’s voice boomed through the hallway as he guided the group away from the portrait and down the corridor, “It would be rude to leave the rest of the family waiting.”

“Oh, yes.  They’ve all been so excited to meet you!  Roman has told us such wonderful things.”

You peered at Roman from the corner of your eye, wondering what, exactly, he had told his family.  He kept his gaze on the portrait, glaring at the woman within as if she had done him a personal injustice.  He remained there, stock still with that look on his face until his parents pulled you away, leaving Roman behind.

A short ways away, the hall opened up into a second foyer that was somehow even grander than the first.  A chaise lounge sat in the middle of the room.  On a small table next to it, dried flowers sat perfectly arranged in a vase that definitely cost more than you could hope to make in a lifetime.  An elegant staircase twisted up one wall.  Beneath it stood an oak door, covered from top to bottom with fine gold detailing.  When you looked closer, you could see that the gold made up tiny illustrations of what you had to assume were biblical stories.

The other walls were decorated with more portraits.  More finely dressed men and women, more piercing eyes staring down from gilded frames.  You suppressed a shiver of discomfort.

Roman’s parents stopped you just as you reached the door beneath the stairs.  Benedict  stood behind you, keeping a firm grip on your shoulders as Cecilia gathered your hands in her own.

“Now, some members of the family were unable to make it- tonight you’ll be meeting our daughter Medea-”

“And her no good husband,” Benedict continued, the tone of his voice and Cecilia’s eye roll betraying the truth behind his joke. 

“You’ll also meet our eldest son, Adam, and Roman’s aunt and uncle, their son, and-”

“Cathrine,” Roman announced his return to the group, “You’ll get to meet Cathrine.”

Honestly, you had no clue who the fuck that was.  Cathrine could’ve been the family pet for all you knew- but something about the way Roman’s lips curved around her name, the way his voice took on a tender tone that he never even used with you- that said otherwise.

“Are you ready, dear?”  Cecilia took your hands in hers again as she asked.  Her words were kind, but you couldn’t help but think her smile looked fake.  You drew in a harsh breath.  Your heart began to race in your chest.  You drew your lower lip between your teeth, nibbling at it as your nerves twisted in an anxious dance.  Cecilia’s hand drifted up towards her neck, where she laid a few dainty fingers over a necklace- a gold chain and a crucifix.  For a split second, and only a split second, you could see disgust cross her face.

“I-” you stuttered, “I think I need a moment.”

Cecilia said nothing.  She no longer looked like she wanted to throw up at the very sight of you, but there was still a cold look in her eyes.  Benedict was unaffected by his wife’s sudden frost.

“Just as well!  We’ll let the family know you’ve arrived.”

He took his wife by the elbow and gestured for his son to follow, guiding them both through the massive doors into what looked like a void of darkness.  Before you could question it, the patriarch’s voice called out to you.

“Come in soon, dear.  They’re waiting for you.”

You smiled, attempting to cover the tremor that ran through you at the echoing sound of Benedict’s voice.  The second the doors shut behind the happy family, you let your facade drop.  You collapsed onto the chaise lounge.  At a different time, you might’ve felt glamorous doing that, in the moment, you just felt anxious.

Moving quickly, you pulled your phone from your dress pocket.  Your lockscreen was a photo of you and Roman at a beach.  His arm was wrapped around you, his eyes and smile confident and self assured.  Beside him, you simply looked inadequate- tired and anxious.  Unlocking the phone, you were met with your homescreen- a photo of you and Eddie where the flash made his eyes go red- and a text from the man himself.

EDDIE: hope you got to the haunted mansion safe and sound (ooooooo ooooooo *spooky sounds*)

Your thumbs flew as you typed a response.

Y/N: i’m here, and i haven’t been murdered yet.  this place is fucking *weird* though

EDDIE: what brand of weird are we talkin??  good weird?  bad weird?  me weird?  that time gareth got drunk and tried to organize the gravel behind my place weird?

You paused, smiling before you resumed typing.

Y/N: ok, tbh, i don’t think anything is gonna top gareth weird

Y/N: but things are like… weird weird.  

Y/N: i don’t mean to be a bitch.  his family is perfectly nice, it’s just…  they have paintings??  oil paintings of all these dead people.  apparently they’re all relatives, but there are so many of them

EDDIE: huh

EDDIE: maybe it isn’t ready or not, maybe you’re in crimson peak, and one of his relatives is murdering all of their wives 

EDDIE: hey if you see tom hiddleston wandering around looking sad, lmk, i wanna get in on that

Y/N: ha ha, very funny

Y/N: but seriously, i hate these damn paintings- it feels like the eyes are following me

Y/N: I’m On Edge, eds. seriously, Roman told me I was gonna join the paintings on the wall one day, and maybe it was a marriage proposal, but it felt more like a threat

There was a pause, a moment where all you had were three little dots telling you he was typing.  For a split second, the storm of anxiety brewing in your chest threatened to overtake you.  Your breath came in harsh pants as your hands began to shake.  Eddie would think you were overreacting.  It was just a comment from your boyfriend- you thought for sure Eddie would call you crazy.  Roman would have called you crazy.  

EDDIE: do you want me to come get you?  I can be there in half an hour if i drive fast enough

Just like that, the storm faded.  The thundering beat of your heart returned to normal.  You couldn’t help the grin that crossed your face as you stared at your phone, nor could you withhold the relieved sigh that left your lungs.

Y/N: don’t break any traffic laws for me just yet… but leave your phone on, just in case

EDDIE: as you wish.  stay safe, sweetheart 

You stared at your phone until the screen went black, trying to fight the warmth that crept up your face.  After years of knowing Eddie, those damn pet names never lost their effect on you.  You tried to shake it off, steeling yourself to prepare for your next challenge.

In-laws.

With a calming deep breath- and then a second and third calming deep breath when the first one didn’t do its job- you pushed open the doors and made your way into the next impossibly fancy room.  

Immediately, you were overcome with the sense that the very act of entering this room was a massive mistake.  It was almost as if the space itself knew you did not belong inside of it.  

A wide, oval shaped table took center stage in the middle of the room.  Like everything else in the house, it was finely crafted- and probably custom made.  The surface was carved with strange, intricate shapes.  Chairs had been scattered around it haphazardly, as if a family sat down only to get right back up again.  The walls were covered in paintings alongside various taxidermied trophies from various hunts.  Unlike the paintings, the glass eyes of the deer, foxes, rabbits and bears didn’t seem to follow you.  Two cabinets sat at the far end of the room, both well stocked with guns and other weapons that you could just see through beautiful glass panes.

The entire LeBuer family fell silent and turned to face you, as if you had rudely interrupted each and every one of their conversations.

You stood there for a moment, facing Roman’s family with wide eyes.  His parents were standing with a pregnant woman, her hands clutching the arm of the man that stood beside her.  That would probably be Medea and her husband if Benedict ’s clenched fists were anything to go by.  Across the room from them, another couple stood talking to two young men, presumably Roman’s aunt and uncle, his brother and his cousin.  At the very back of the room, in front of a massive portrait of a dark-eyed man with a devilish smirk, stood Roman.  With him was a woman you did not recognize.  Cathrine.

Each and every one of them wore an expression like you had just kicked their dog.  Lovely.

The room seemed to drop a few degrees in the following moments.  Silence filled the air as you stared at the family, and they stared back.  You had half a mind to turn right back around and call Eddie, and you were about to follow through with it when Benedict moved towards you.

“Ladies and gentlemen!  And other creatures of the night,” he pointed at Roman’s uncle with a grin, “It is my honour and privilege to introduce you to the newest member of the family.”

You felt like that was a bit extreme, but really, you were just glad someone was talking.

“Miss (L/N),” Benedict ’s hand was on your back, guiding you through the room, “I’d like to introduce you to my brother, his lovely wife, their son, Alexander, and our boy Adam.”

You tried to hide the tremor in your fingers as you made your introductions and shook their hands.  Roman’s aunt and uncle gave you polite but cold smiles.  Alexander looked completely uninterested in you.  Adam almost looked too interested.  He wouldn’t let go of your hand until you pulled away with moderate force.  The smell of his cologne was overwhelming.

The storm of anxiety Eddie had eased moments before had returned in full.  You could feel it clawing at your ribs- it was a force of nature that became less like a weather event and more like a feral creature the longer you stood in that room.  Every moment you spent speaking to Roman’s family was a moment your instincts screamed at you for not running away.

But you were being silly.  These were just nerves.  You wanted to make a good impression.  You wanted to get along with Roman’s family.  You wanted them to approve of you- to make him happy.  He wasn’t even looking at you.  Even as you crossed the room, as you were introduced to his sister and his brother-in-law, his eyes stayed on that other woman.  Cathrine.

“We’re so excited that Roman has finally found someone,” Medea let go of her husband’s arm, placing her hands over her bump, “Maybe our little guy will have a friend to run around with someday soon.”

You didn’t even try to make your laugh sound genuine.  You just smiled, and nodded, and pretended you were totally down with that idea.  

You were not totally down with that idea.

“Roman!” Benedict  called out, “Come here, son.  Introduce your sweet girl to dear (Y/N).”

It took you a moment to process Benedict ’s words- his phrasing was odd, and perhaps it would be a touch hurtful if you were a jealous woman.  

Across the room, Roman took Cathrine’s hand, cradling it gently in his.  He looked at her like she was precious to him, as if she was something he’d searched all of time and space for and finally found.  He looked at her as if she was a divine and expensive creature.  

If you were a jealous woman, this would have been more than a touch hurtful- it would have been a punch hurtful, perhaps.  Roman never looked at you that way.

“(Y/N), dear, this is Cathrine,” those weren’t Roman’s words.  He didn’t even bother to introduce you to her.  His mother did, “She was a childhood friend of Roman’s.”

“They’ve always been close,” Benedict said, putting a hand on your shoulder.  It was probably meant to be reassuring, but it felt like a dead weight on your back, pushing you forward into the event horizon of a black hole.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for so long,” Cathrine smiled at you, her voice was sweet as honey- with a special sort of poison lurking just beneath, “Roman’s told me so many good things.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” you tapped your fingers against your wrist in a rapid, anxious rhythm, “I’d be a little sad if he only told you bad things.”

Cathrine laughed, but the sound was fake; a cheap plastic vase in the place of a porcelain one.  You knew your joke was bad, but still, the sound put you on edge.  When her tiny nose wrinkled with laughter, you were almost sure she was scowling at you.  As her chest rose and fell, you caught sight of her choice of jewelry- a gold chain with a dainty crucifix.  

“Oh,” she hummed, “You’re so funny!  That’s such a good trait.  You’re so pretty, too.  I’m so glad Roman picked you.”

She looked at you the way a hawk would look at its prey moments before they tore it into little tiny pieces.  You thanked her quickly and cast your gaze to the floor, unable to stare down her bloodthirsty expression.

You didn’t have to avoid her gaze for long.  The massive doors creaked open.  The sound echoed through the room.  Neatly dressed men in white shirts and black dress pants filed through, each of them carrying a tray with a single flute of champagne on it.  It seemed incredibly inefficient, but you were just happy that something had distracted Cathrine from her murderous thoughts.

Benedict took his place at the head of the table, standing behind the chair that you assumed was his.  The rest of the family followed suit.  There was a place saved for you beside Roman.  Feeling petty, you took a spot away from him- an empty seat closer to the head of the table.  No one seemed to mind, and the place that would have been yours was filled by Alexander.  

“My beloved family,” Benedict  raised his glass, “A toast!  To good company, good fortune, and a bright future.”

You watched Roman’s family toast and drink.  You did the same.  You had never tasted such salty champagne.  

Benedict continued, “To my brother-” he turned to Roman’s uncle, but you could not make out the man’s face.  You shook your head, trying to clear your head.  Benedict’s voice became briefly inaudible as your vision blurred.

No one paid you any mind.  Roman’s father continued, his glass still held aloft, “To my darling wife-”

You gripped onto your glass, breath coming fast as Benedict’s voice faded in and out.  Black dots swam in front of you.  Something was very wrong.

“My dear children.  You have ensured that our family will prosper for yet another generation.  First, my sweet Medea, and now Roman.  You’ve brought home the perfect girl- and the perfect sacrifice.”

You couldn’t have heard that right.  The world seemed to sway, spinning around as you tried to stay steady on your feet.  Your stomach flipped and your throat burned as you fought the urge to vomit all over the table.   

“You’ve done an excellent job, Roman,” Cecilia’s voice was immeasurably fond.  Her eyes were on you.

“Did you really have to pick such a cute sacrifice, though?”  Medea whined, “Now your kid is going to be cuter than mine.”

“Does the demon have a preference?”

You stumbled backwards, champagne glass slipping from your hand as you tripped away from the family.  The sound of shattering glass was entirely lost on you.

“What-” your voice was weak.  You could barely hear yourself over the static in your ears, “What the fuck-?”

“Relax now, dear,” Benedict put a hand on your shoulder, “You will come to understand in time.”

You jerked away from him, nearly collapsing to the floor in your haste to get away.  You could see Roman approaching you, hands outstretched as if you were some feral creature he wanted to soothe.

“Darling,” he whispered.  You couldn’t hear him, you could only see his lips moving.

“The drugs are in her system, Roman.  You’ll have to speak up.”

Roman sighed, throwing his hands in the air as if annoyed that he’d have to expend anymore energy on calming you.  You were kind of used to that gesture, actually.

“(Y/N), darling- my family has a tradition.  We can’t further the family line until-”

“Until we spill the blood of an innocent and summon the ancient gods,” Cathrine spoke, stepping towards Roman and wrapping her arms around his waist.  She grinned as confusion spilled across your features, and she spoke to you as if you were a small child, “Don’t you understand?  You’re here because I wanted to have a child with my husband.”

Ice spilled through your veins as realization sunk in.  The agony of betrayal bit at your heels like the feral dog this family imagined you to be.  Anguish spread through you, burning in your throat and behind your eyes.  You were hurt, you were sick, and over everything else, you were annoyed.

Because you had been right, and Eddie would never hear about it from you.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Roman took a step closer, “I wasn’t the only one in our relationship who loved someone else.  I had Cathrine.  You had that boy from your work. You should have stayed with him.”

Roman’s words stung like tiny razors dancing across your skin.  Of course this was mostly because he was excusing his own deceit, but it was also because he was kind of right.  You didn’t want to admit it.  You didn’t want your killer to be right about anything- but here, in what could be your last moments, you were thinking of Eddie.

You made an attempt at retreat, but your back hit something.  A cabinet.  

Roman’s eyes were on you.  His family’s eyes were on you.  His wife’s eyes were on you.  Your intuition had been right all along- you were the prey, and they were the hunters.  You were never welcome here.  You were never going to be welcome here.  Your mind raced, eyes flitting around as you tried to find a way out.  They were going to kill you.  Roman’s family was going to kill you in a stupid, cliche way.

But the LeBuer family, in their infinite wisdom, had made a mistake.

They backed their prey into a cabinet filled with guns.

You let out a shuddering breath, folding in on yourself as you tried to project the image of a woman defeated.  You let out a sob, a genuine sound, even though it was a distraction.

“You’re right,” your voice betrayed your terror, “For both our sakes.  I should have stayed with Eddie.”

Roman didn’t have time to ask what you meant.  None of them did, and you couldn’t imagine them being super curious about what you had to say, anyway.  You were livestock to them.  Something to stab so that they could further their family lineage, or whatever the fuck they had said.  You couldn’t remember it clearly, and as you stood, the thought completely vanished from your mind.

Adrenaline flooded through your system as you threw your elbow into the glass panes of the display cabinet.  You didn’t feel the glass pierce your skin, or your blood dripping over the wood.  You just felt the solid reassuring presence of a weapon in your hands.  

You weren’t sure if it was loaded.  Even if it was, you were not confident in your ability to shoot straight given your drugged state.  Therefore, when the first of Roman’s family members approached you, you decided to use the shotgun in your hands as a club.

Alex went down like a fucking chump.

You hit him in the face and he collapsed to the floor with a sharp screech.  Adam was next.  You ducked under his open arms and nailed him on the inside of his thigh with the butt of the gun.  Just as he fell to the ground, Roman’s uncle moved in.  You jumped up, hitting his chin from below and sending him stumbling into his wife.

The other members of the family began to back away.  You turned the gun in your arms, aiming it at them as if you knew what you were doing.  They raised their hands in surrender.  You kept the weapon trained on them as you began to stumble through the room, your back to the wall as you headed for the door.

“Now, (Y/N), sweetheart,” Cecilia began, “You have to understand- this is for the greater good!  Your sacrifice would give Roman and Cathrine the ultimate gift- a child!  Don’t you want that for them?  Don’t they deserve it?  The joys of mother and fatherhood?”

“Isn’t this your place as a woman?” Adam decided to join in, “To give life?  Don’t you want to fulfill your duty as a woman?”

“Don’t you love our son, (Y/N)?” Benedict  asked, “Please, help him with this.  No marriage is truly blessed without children.”

You almost lowered the weapon, shocked at their audacity, “It was never gonna work out.  Turns out he’s married.”

You were almost there, almost out.  Just another few steps, and then you could run.  You didn’t know how far you would get, how long the adrenaline would last, but it had to get you somewhere, right?

You would call Eddie.  You had to call Eddie.

Just as you formed a concrete plan in your mind, someone’s arms wrapped around your throat.  They pulled you back, nearly throwing you to the floor before you had a chance to fight back.  You scratched at their hands with your free one, managing to draw blood.  The angle was awkward, but you did your best, using the gun to try and beat them away from you.  They tried their best to pry the thing from your hands.  You fought back.  Their arm was tight against your windpipe.  With their other hand, they reached down.  Their finger wrapped around the trigger.

The sound of a shot made your ears ring.  The arms around your throat dropped in a millisecond.  You stumbled away, hand wrapping around the gun as you dared to glance behind you.  

Roman’s uncle was on the ground.  The space where his face had been was nothing more than a mass of blood, bits of skull, and scattered brains.

You aimed the gun at your hunters.  You could faintly hear Roman’s aunt screaming, but you tuned her out.  It was easy enough- your ears were still ringing.

“Are you still going to kill me?”

There was a moment of silence.  Blood pooled on the marble floor near your feet.  The light from the chandelier caught on the broken champagne glass you’d left on the floor.  You were seeing double again.

Roman nodded.  So did the second, drug fueled vision of him that only you could see.

“Fine,” you hissed, shutting your eyes against the harsh reality you were facing.  When you opened them again, Roman was much closer, staring you down with a look of pure disappointment.  The fucking audacity of these people.  You turned the gun in your hands again, hitting him in the dead center of his face.

“Good luck with that.”

With that, you were gone, tearing out the doors and down the hallways.  The mansion that Roman’s family called home was a fucking maze.  Even without the drugs coursing through your system, you would’ve been lost in seconds.  The only thing you could do was find a place to hide.

You let out a small laugh at the thought.  Your night had, despite all improbabilities, actually turned into Ready or Not- a cursed game of hide and seek that would end with somebody dying.  You would never let Eddie forget this.

That is, if you saw him again.  To do that, you needed to survive long enough to call him, and get help.  You could do that- you had to believe that you could do that.

You could hear voices and footsteps far down the hallway.  Someone was coming.  With your goal in mind, you ran.  It was a struggle to avoid falling or tripping over the stupidly lavish hallway runner.  There were no significant landmarks to tell you where you were going.  There were no windows, no doors, and every damned wall was covered in those paintings.  The portraits with sad eyes watched as you tried to make your escape.  You weren’t afraid of them anymore.  

After coming upon two dead ends, you finally found some way to make progress.  A twisting stairway led up to another floor.  You didn’t have time to weigh your options.  The voices of your pursuers were only growing louder.  With the shotgun in hand, you threw yourself up the stairs and bolted onto the second floor.

Immediately, you were blessed by the last rays of light that the sun had to offer as it sunk below the horizon.  You didn’t have time to enjoy it.  You just ran down the hallway, past windows and portraits until you finally, finally found a series of doors.  

The first few you tried were locked.  Sweat pooled in the palms of your hands as you heard someone running up the stairs.  The ground seemed to shift beneath your feet when one of the doors finally swung open beneath your palm.  Counting yourself lucky, you tucked yourself inside and gently shut the door behind you.  Moments later, you heard footsteps thudding passed your hiding place.

You took in your surroundings.  You were in a bedroom.  Though it was beautiful, the space smelled of dust and neglect.  The fine silk sheets on the bed clearly hadn’t been used in some time.  A bronze crucifix hung over the bed, though it had been tilted to the side ever so slightly.  The rug was expensive, but its red hue had been darkened from dust.  The other furnishings had suffered a similar fate.  

You took a step forward, trying to explore the room further and get away from the door.  Your leg gave out beneath you.  Nausea overtook your body as you struggled to stand.  The world wouldn’t stop spinning.  Again, your vision doubled, though this time it faded to black at the edges.

You were about to pass out.

In a desperate attempt at self preservation, you checked the door behind you.  There was no way to lock it- no keyhole, no mechanism, nothing.  You glanced at your surroundings again- there was a bed, an oak chest that was far too small for you to fit inside of it, a nightstand, and a door.    You had no choice but to crawl to it, dragging yourself across the floor, burning your skin on the rug.  

You had fully assumed that this door would lead you to a closet, but to your luck, you found a small ensuite.  It was just as neglected as the bedroom- particles of dust floated through the air, coating the counter and catching in the fluffy towels that hung on the wall- but the door had the ability to lock.  That was all that really mattered to you.

You slid the shotgun in first, tucking it beside the toilet before you slid yourself in, knees and thighs clinging to the cold tile.  The moment you were in, you pulled the door shut behind you and locked it.  A moment passed.  The silence was broken only by your deep, haggard breathing.  Your hands clutched at nothing as you tried to calm the erratic beat of your heart.

Though you desperately needed a second to catch your breath, time was not on your side.  Your body shook almost violently on the cold bathroom floor.  Your vision continued to darken, and you knew that whatever drugs were in your system would slowly drag you under if you let them.  You didn’t know if you would wake up from that.

Pulling yourself over to the toilet, you made yourself vomit to the best of your ability.  You did everything you could do.  Still, the world swam in front of you.  As you faded from consciousness, you managed to pull your phone out from your pocket.  Roman’s smiling face mocked you from the screen as you unlocked the damn thing.  In the final moments before the world went dark, you managed to send out one text.  You hoped that Eddie left his phone on.

Y/N: sos.  sos.  please.

Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as your phone clattered to the floor.  Night fell as you lay there, alone and asleep on the bathroom floor.  All the while, Roman’s family searched for you, becoming more agitated as they did.

The sound of your phone vibrating against the tile floor pulled you from your sleep.  The bathroom was dark and cold, and you shivered as you sat up.  Your skull ached.  Your throat stung.  Your limbs hung heavy at your sides.  In other words, you felt like total fucking garbage, and in that sweet moment before you remembered what hell you were living in, you swore you were going to shatter your phone for robbing you from your peaceful sleep.

And then you remembered that you were in deep, deep shit.

You immediately began to search for your phone, pawing mindlessly through the darkness with only the occasional vibration to guide you.  When your fingers wrapped around the sweet little device, you almost cried tears of joy.  You unlocked it quickly, wincing at the agonizingly bright light that spilled from your screen.

Your phone was flooded with missed calls and texts, not only from Eddie, but from Steve, Robin, and Nancy.  Your dear friend had raised the alarms- and you were so thankful that he did.

EDDIE: what’s up??  are you ok???

EDDIE: what’s going on???

EDDIE: (Y/N)???

EDDIE: do you need me to come get you??

EDDIE: is this a joke??  if this is a joke, it fucking sucks :(

EDDIE: you’re freaking me out, man

He called you.  Of course, you hadn’t been awake to answer.

EDDIE: come onnnnn, (Y/N), pick up the phone

EDDIE: ok, im making steve call you

EDDIE: if this is a joke, he’s gonna be so mad

EDDIE: he’s gonna go full dad on you, just wait

EDDIE: and if it isn’t

EDDIE: please tell me this is a joke

There was a missed call from Steve, then a missed call from Robin.  The latter had spammed your phone with texts and direct messages, sending you your name a thousand times on three different apps.  Steve had sent a few frantic texts of his own.  Both Steve and Robin were clearly worried by the end of it, but neither of them could top Eddie.  From his texts alone, you could tell he was terrified, and that was without all the missed calls (of which there were at least 20 and at most 200.  You didn’t bother to read the number correctly.)

A twinge of guilt ran through you as you kept reading.

EDDIE: ok, you aren’t answering steve or robin

EDDIE: i don’t like this

EDDIE: please tell me what’s wrong

EDDIE: please

EDDIE: if you don’t respond, i’m calling hopper

EDDIE: i swear to christ

EDDIE: (Y/N) my heart can’t take this, please pick up your phone

EDDIE: ok, that’s it, im calling hopper

That was the most recent message.  You responded.

Y/N: do it and hurry

EDDIE: HOLY FUCK YOU’RE ALIVE

EDDIE: thank god 

Y/N: i need you to come get me, now

Y/N: please

EDDIE: i'm on my way

EDDIE: are you okay?  can you tell me what’s going on?

There was no way you could tell him- not through text, anyway.  There was no way he would believe you based on words alone.  You tapped his name in your contacts list and hit the little phone icon.  He picked up on the first ring.

“(Y/N)?  Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

His voice was distorted by static, but you could still hear every ounce of his concern.  Your body warmed as tears pooled in your eyes.

“I- I don’t even know, Eds,” you cringed as your voice cracked, but Eddie didn’t miss a beat.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.  Just take deep breaths for me, angel.  You don’t have to say anything, Just stay where you are, I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.  Okay, just be careful.  They-” you paused, taking a shuddering breath as you remembered the feeling of drugs coursing through your veins, of an arm around your throat and hands grasping at your body.  You knew it had happened.  The shotgun lying beside you and the blood spattered across your body told you that.  Still, you barely believed that any of it was real.

“What did they do?  If they hurt you, I swear to god-”

“I think they drugged me,” you sounded so painfully small, broken in the middle of this strange bathroom, “They drugged me, and Roman’s uncle tried to choke me, and I- they said something about sacrifice?”

“What the fuck?” Eddie sounded just as terrified as you felt, “I’m calling Hop, he’ll meet us there.”

“Call an ambulance too, please.  I don’t know what they gave me, and I feel sick.”

“I will.  Just hang on, sweet girl, just hang on for me.”

“Okay,” you whispered as tears finally spilled down your cheeks.

The line fell silent for a moment as your mind raced over the events of the day.  With another shaky gasp, you spoke again.

“Roman is married.”

“Shit- what?”

“He’s married.  He has a wife.  They want to kill me.”

“Jesus H. Christ-”

He’s about to say more when you cut him off, “And Roman’s uncle shot himself in the face.  He- he was trying to kill me.”

“Holy fuck- and he shot himself in front of you?  God, angel, I’m- I’m so sorry.”

A small, breathy laugh escaped you, “Don’t worry.  It was kind of metal.”

It was such a weird joke, but you were coping in whatever way you could.  Eddie laughed cautiously over the phone, clearly concerned but allowing you to cope.  The line fell silent for a few moments.  You could hear him scrambling around, grabbing his keys and trying not to trip over himself.  Despite the situation, you were filled with overwhelming affection for the man on the other end of the line.

“I love you, you know,” you weren’t sure he heard you.  You didn’t try to speak up, “If I don’t make it out of here, I want you to know that.”

“You’re gonna make it out of there.  I promise, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.  I love you, too, sweet girl.”

You let out another small, terrible laugh.  Tears kept spilling down your cheeks.  You couldn’t hold them back anymore.

“Y’know what’s funny?  I was right.  I’m hiding from my boyfriend’s family members while they try to kill me- this is just like Ready or Not.”

“You’re right.  You were right, and this is just like that fucking movie, and you’re gonna get to rub this in my face for the rest of our lives, just stay put, baby.  I’ll be there soon, ok?”

Before you could answer, a floorboard creaked somewhere nearby.  You pulled the phone away from your ear.  Footsteps thudded down the hallway.  A chill ran up your spine.  You threw yourself away from the door as quietly as you could, seizing the shotgun with your free hand.

The bedroom door opened.

“Eddie,” you whispered, “Someone’s here.  I have to go.”

“Okay,” he sounded frantic, “Okay, okay.  You go, stay safe, I’ll be there soon, sweetheart.  I love you.”

“I love you,” the words were barely there.  You hoped to whatever force was out there that he heard you.  The light of your phone dimmed down to nothing, and you were left alone in the dark and the quiet.

You slipped your phone into your pocket with the utmost caution, trying not to make even the smallest of sounds.  Moving slowly, you wrapped your other hand around the shotgun, holding it in front of you like the world’s worst shield.  Someone was breathing on the other side of the door.  You could hear them moving around, getting closer and closer to your hiding space.

Suddenly, the bedroom fell silent.

The smell of cologne became overwhelming.

Adam knocked on the door.

“(Y/N)?” he drew out the sound of your name, his voice violating every syllable, “I know you’re in there, sweetheart.”

You remained silent, praying that he would decide that you weren’t actually in the bathroom and leave.  Those prayers went unanswered.  The doorknob twisted, but it didn’t give.  You had locked it.  Now Adam knew you were in there.

“Who were you talking to, Miss (L/N)?  Was it someone special?  No, it couldn’t be, you already have a boyfriend… well, had.”

Something was tapping against the door- something metal.

“But now you know the truth- or at least part of it.  Roman is happily tied to the lovely Cathrine, and you’re nothing but a lamb for slaughter.”

Your knuckles were white around the shotgun.  Adam went silent for a terrifying moment.

“You’re real a cute lamb, though.  It’s a damn shame, if you ask me.  A real waste of a body like yours.”

You tried not to gag.

“Y’know,” something dragged across the door, fabric, then metal again, “We could always figure something out.  If you came with me, Roman and Cath would just have to find another sacrifice- and we could get a sacrifice of our own.”

You tried to take deep breaths.

“You look like the kinda girl that would like that- summoning a few demons, having a few kids.  You’d make a cute little housewife.  That’s what girls like you are made for.  And I’d treat you better than my shit head brother ever did.”

You remained silent, biting your lip until it bled.  The taste of iron spilled into your mouth, but even that wasn’t as vile as the man on the other side of the door.

“On second thought, I might not keep you, Miss (L/N).  You’ve been too quiet.  I like girls who can scream.”

You could hear the sound of a gun, cocking, loading, fucking whatever, you didn’t know how guns worked.  You just knew that you had to do something, and you had to do it now.

Just before the sound of a shot could fracture the uneasy silence, you unlocked the door and threw it open, smacking Adam in the face.  He collapsed to the ground in an undignified heap, the gun in his hand skittering across the floor.  Without a second thought, you ran for it and kicked the thing into the hallway.  When you turned back to Adam, he was still sprawled across the rug, clutching at his face.  Blood gushed from his nose, dripping into his mouth and spilling across his lips and chin.  You hoped the taste of it was fucking vile.

“YOU FILTHY BITCH!” Adam screamed, “You broke my fucking nose!”

“You deserved it,” you held the shotgun like a bat.  You didn’t know how to shoot, but you did know how to hit something with a blunt object.

Before Adam could struggle to his feet, you hit him again, right in his bloodied nose.  He shrieked in pain, scrambling back as you went to hit him again.  He took his face out of range- an intelligent move, in theory.  Unfortunately for Adam, this put his knees right in your line of fire.

You weren’t sure what damage you did, but by the time you’d finished, Adam was curled into himself, and you no longer felt human.  You staggered away, covered in the blood of not one, but two of Roman’s family members.  Your hand found purchase on the window sill.  You leaned against it, desperately trying to catch your breath.

Outside, someone screamed.

You looked down, only to see some of the LeBuers gathered in the driveway.  Medea was half-way inside of a car, looking up at you with horror and rage painted across her features.  Immediately, half of the people with her raced back into the house.  Cecilia remained outside, ushering her daughter and son-in-law into the vehicle before she, too, went back inside.

They all knew where you were now. 

You were deeply, deeply fucked.

You could hear Adam laughing at you as you raced into the hallway, scooping the discarded gun into one hand and keeping the shotgun in the other.  You sped down the corridor, stopping every now and then to throw open whatever doors you could find.  You hoped that Roman’s family would think that you’d disappeared into another hiding place- anything to give yourself more time.

You ducked into one of the open doors just as Roman’s family spilled into the hall.  They weren’t quiet in their searching- you could hear Benedict barking orders, and Cecilia’s distressed cry upon finding her beaten and bloodied son.  As the hunting party panicked, you slipped into the darkness, moving backwards into an endless and ill-lit corridor that you hadn’t even noticed.

When the voices of your pursuers faded, you finally let yourself turn around.  The hallway seemed to stretch on forever into infinite darkness.  You could just barely see the frames of portraits that still lined the walls.  The floor runner beneath you muffled the sounds of your footsteps, and you followed it diligently, staying silent until you found yet another fucking door.

You held both guns in one hand as you pulled it open.  The next room contained another goddamned staircase, this one descending to the floor below.  Before you could truly question the design choices of the rich and powerful, someone shoved you forward.  You collapsed to the ground, losing your grip on both guns.  Exhaustion filled your bones as you watched both weapons tumble down the stairs.

A well polished shoe slammed into your ribs before you could move.  You didn’t have the chance to respond before your assailant kicked you again, bruising your ribs if they hadn’t already.  You let out a sharp cry as you tried to sit up.  Your attacker spat at you as you struggled, and when you looked up, you saw Alex’s disgusted face.

“Get up.”

You didn’t move.  You just laid there with a shocked expression on your face.  Alex leaned in, grabbing the front of your dress and dragging you to your knees.

“I said get up, you stupid whore.”

This time, you did as he asked, moving slowly as your shocked body tried to catch up with your equally shocked mind.

Alex didn’t appear to be armed.  If anything, he looked like he hadn’t expected to find you.  It was pure coincidence that he’d happened to wander down the same hallway you had.  Alex was doing his best to look angry- furrowing his brow and glaring down at you- but the disgust on his face betrayed him.  Locating you was nothing more than an inconvenience. 

You hoped you could use that to your advantage.

“Alex, listen,” your voice was more sure than you expected it to be, “You can let me go.  You can let me run off.  You won’t have to get your hands dirty.  You can just- you can pretend you never saw me.”

“Mm, yeah, I could,” Alex drew out every syllable he could, whining as a way of mocking you, “But this whole thing will end faster if I drag you back by that skanky little dress of yours.  So-”

He pulled you to your feet, hands still tangled in the fabric of your dress.  Adrenaline surged through you as he pulled you to the door.  You fought him, scratching at his arm, drawing red angry lines into his pale flesh.  He shrugged you off for the most part until you leaned in, seizing his neck with one hand and pulling it towards your mouth until you had the opportunity to bite.

Alex screamed as your teeth broke his skin.  Blood filled your mouth, hot and metallic.  You wanted to pull away, to stop biting and spit out the vile liquid, but you didn’t stop.  You couldn’t.  Not yet. 

With your teeth still embedded in the flesh of Alex’s throat, you used your hold on his neck to drag him backwards, towards the stairs.  He didn’t struggle or fight- he only screamed louder.

When he finally let you go, Alex lost his balance.  You watched as he stumbled, staggering away from you as he tried to stop the bleeding.  With his blood dripping from your mouth, you walked up to Alex and shoved him down the stairs.

You watched him fall, tumbling and bending in ways that human beings were not meant to tumble and bend.  His screams stopped about halfway down the staircase.  You shut your eyes.  You just listened to the sounds of bones breaking in silence until that, too, came to a stop.

Then, the only sound was your breathing.

You felt around in the darkness for the banister of the stairs, and you clung to it as you collapsed to the floor.  You sat there in the quiet, staring into nothing.  For a moment, you were lost to the world as a numbing sort of panic filled your lungs.

“Holy shit.”

You knew that voice.  With a gasp, you looked up.  Of course, given your luck, the first thing you saw was Alex’s mangled body.  His knee was twisted the wrong way, as was his left arm, and you winced at the sight of it, but your attention was quickly pulled away to the thing right next to Alex.

A pair of beat up white sneakers.  Black jeans, a Metallica t-shirt, a leather jacket and violently wild hair.

“Eddie?”

The familiar boy at the bottom of the stairs didn’t say anything for a second.  He just examined the body below him.  At this angle, you couldn’t see his face.  For a moment, you were terrified.  You might’ve taken a man’s life- and that in itself was horrifying- but to add more fire to the hell you were in, you’d taken that man’s life in front of your best friend.  What would he think of you now?

“Eddie?” you asked again, your voice trembling unpleasantly.

“Holy shit, sweetheart,” he finally looked up at you.  His expression wasn’t disgusted or afraid- in fact, if you didn’t know better you would almost say he was impressed, “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

Tears filled your eyes as relief washed over you.  You were safe now.  Eddie was here, and he would take you away from this place, and these people, and you wouldn’t be brutally murdered because Eddie would never let that happen to you.  And on top of that, he didn’t seem to mind that you had just maimed a man.

A smile crossed your face as you called down to him, “Will do.”

He returned the grin, but it immediately slipped from his face.  His eyes were no longer focused on you.  In the silence that followed, you could hear Roman’s family coming down the hall.

“Run, run!”

Eddie really didn’t have to tell you twice.  You sped down the staircase just as Roman’s aunt stepped into the room, a silver hunting knife clutched in her hand.  Adam limped in behind her, bruised and bloodied but still well enough to hunt you down.  Clearly, you hadn’t kicked his ass enough.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, you leapt over Alex’s body and into Eddie’s arms.  He caught you and pushed you behind him, getting you as far from the new threat as he could.  As you moved towards the exit, your foot hit something metal.  You knelt quickly, seizing the guns at your feet and handing one of them to Eddie.

The moment you did, Roman’s aunt noticed her child’s crumpled form on the floor.  For the second time that night, you heard a mother scream at what you’d done to her son.  You couldn’t find it in you to feel any sort of guilt.

“YOU WRETCHED JUDAS!” she screamed as she stormed down the stairs, “You’ll pay!  You’ll fucking pay!!”

She ran at you, knife raised, but before she got the chance to enact her vengeance, a deafening shot rang out.  The shotgun was still in your hands, unused and useless.  Blood soaked the woman’s shirt as she collapsed to the floor.  You and Eddie watched in silence, the gun still smoking in his hands as she pulled down the steps into a bloody heap at the bottom.

“No- no!”  Adam’s face was painted with his rage.  His eyebrows were furrowed, cheeks red, and the look in his eyes could only be described as murderous, “You fucking wretch!  I’ll make sure the last thing you hear is her screaming as I tear her apart!  Do you understand that you stupid bitch?  I’ll break you open and I’ll make him watch!”

You resisted the urge to vomit as you and Eddie ran out of the room, his hand slipping into yours as you fled.  The beating you’d given Adam bought you more time, but you didn’t let yourself indulge in the illusion of safety.  Even as Adam’s threats faded into silence, the need for escape haunted you.  Your fear followed you like the eyes of the paintings on the walls.

“Do you remember the way you came in?” you asked, panting and out of breath from your run.

“I did, but I think we lost it two hallways ago- who the fuck lives like this, man?”

“Rich people.”

Eddie barked out a laugh.  With his hand still in yours, he pulled you to an abrupt stop.  Before you could ask what was wrong, you were in his arms again.

“Please never date a crazy rich dude with a homicidal family again.  I don’t think my heart can take it.”

You laughed into his chest, wrapping yourself around him and grabbing fistfulls of his shirt in your hands.

“I don’t think mine can either.  I’m barely functioning as it is, I can’t even begin to think of doing this again,” you moved your hands up to gently cup his jaw, making his eyes meet yours, “Let’s make a deal- we are never doing this again.  Ever.  For any reason.”

“Agreed,” his smile was damn near blinding, betraying his mock-exasperated tone, “Because all of this is just fucking crazy.”

“I know!  It’s crazy and it’s cliche, and if I ever fall for another psychopathic rich man, I want you to kill me.”

He laughed, but there was a look in his eye.  You couldn’t really tell if it was guilt or some other kind of remorse.  Your smile fell from your lips as you remembered, unsure of how you had ever forgotten- Eddie had just killed a woman.  He had done it for your sake, to save your life, but you didn’t know how that action would weigh upon his shoulders.

“Thank you,” you whispered, “For coming to get me.  And I’m so sorry for- for everything else.”

Eddie shrugged, as if shooting someone hadn’t bothered him in the slightest, “Anything for my best girl.  Now come on, we need to find a way out of this fuckin place.  Hopper’s on his way, he’ll be here soon- not soon enough, but soon.”

You nodded, but you stood still as he began to pull away.  Before he could get far, you launched yourself at him again, wrapping your arms around his broad shoulders.

“I mean it,” your voice was muffled by his body, firm and solid beneath your lips, “Thank you.  And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get us into this mess, I should’ve followed my gut, and-”

“Hey, hey,” two of his fingers slipped under your chin, tilting your head up, “Look at me, angel.  Look at me.”

His eyes were soft, gentle, and indescribably comforting.  You raised your hand, slipping it into his much larger one.  You couldn’t help but watch as his muscles flexed, his fingers wrapping around your own.

When he spoke again, his voice was soft and quiet.  For a fleeting moment, you found yourself captivated by his lips, “You don’t need to apologize.  For any of this.  Look, I’m a coward.  I know I am.  But if you’re in trouble, I need you to know that I will always come to get you.  It doesn’t matter if it’s this homicidal family, another homicidal family, or some other shit.”

He paused.  His hand was so cold in yours.  You never wanted to let go of him.

“When it’s you, I can put the fear aside.  When it’s you, I can be brave.”

The air stilled for a moment as you let his words wash over you.  They warmed your skin like soft flame, and without another thought, you brought his still freezing hand to your lips.  You pressed a gentle kiss across the back of his fingers, silently returning the affection he's given you.  When you met his eyes again, his cheeks burned an impossible red, but he could not hide the smile that spilled across his face like wine across a fine linen.

“Now,” he cleared his throat, “We’re gonna get out of here, and Hopper’s gonna fix this shit, and I’m gonna take you home, and we’re gonna stop for soft tacos on the way, and we are never watching Ready or Not again.  Sound good?”

“That sounds amazing,” you returned his grin, but before you could say anything else, you heard voices echoing through one of the endless hallways.  It was time for more running, “Let’s go.”

“Good plan!”  Eddie kept your hand in his as he bolted, “You’re so smart, did you know that?  I always love your plans. “I think I love your plans more!” you panted, knowing that you, at the very least, were not talking about plans.  

You weren’t sure how Eddie felt about you, but as the two of you threw open doors in the hopes of an exit manifesting itself, you became sure of your own feelings.  Truly and completely, you were in love with Eddie Munson.

Maybe you should’ve been worried about that.  Maybe you should’ve felt some heavy sense of dread that he wouldn’t return the feeling.  Maybe, under normal circumstances, you would’ve felt that way.  However, given the fact that this self-professed coward had broken into this place for you, shot a woman for you, and saved your life, you were pretty confident that he felt something for you.

“This way!  They went this way!”

But you would never know for sure if Roman’s family managed to find you before you could ask.

You threw open every door you found as you ran, again looking for an escape while creating a million distractions.  Eddie followed your lead, catching on quickly as if he was built for this exact insane situation.

Behind each door was the same kind of shit- bedrooms, closets, storage spaces holding extravagant nothings (you were pretty sure you saw the shape of a grand piano.)  You could feel your hunters closing in.  The hallways and corridors of the mansion seemed to close in around you and Eddie.  Then, there came the final door.

It was painted red, though the colour had faded and chipped away through the years.  Without a second thought, you seized the brass door knob and turned it.  The door opened to reveal an empty black space.  You couldn’t see the end of the room.  

A frigid draft blew in through the new space raising goosebumps on your skin.  The smell of rotting flesh overtook you.  You shivered, trying not to retch as you looked around, desperate for another escape.  Other than the red door, you had found yourself at a dead end.

“(Y/N), come on, let’s hide and find another way out.”

“There’s no time,” there really wasn’t.  You could hear Adam’s enraged screaming getting louder and louder with every passing second.  You wouldn’t let yourself be caught.  

You grabbed Eddie’s hand and pulled him into the dark.  As you ran further into the room, the light from the hallway shrunk down until it was nothing but a pinprick.  The smell of mold and decay got stronger as you ventured further inside.  Flies buzzed around just out of swatting distance.  Your body trembled, struggling to get warm as the room got colder and colder.  Eddie’s hand was an anchor in a sea of nothingness.  You held him tighter, desperate to know that he was there.

Towards the back of the room, another light came into view, blood red like a warning.  You raced towards it, Eddie’s hand in yours.  The dim crimson light illuminated a set of poorly painted metal stairs.  You didn’t even stop to wonder what the hell they were doing in a mansion like this.  You didn’t stop to wonder where they led.  The breeze on your face- though it smelled putrid as anything- felt like freedom.  You moved down the stairs faster than was safe.  Eddie followed behind you hesitantly, though he didn’t slow you down.

You seemed to descend for an eternity, moving down until the light faded and you were in the dark again.  When you finally met solid ground again, you surged forward, running in an animalistic panic through what you had to assume was a basement.  You kept telling yourself that you would be safe, that you were almost out the door.

Then, the floor fell out from beneath you.  The shotgun slipped from your hands, landing somewhere deep below with a dull thud.  A scream tore itself from your lips, echoing back up the stairwell and giving away your location instantly.

Eddie pulled you back to solid ground and turned you, keeping your face tucked into this chest.  His arms wrapped around you, keeping you secure in his embrace.  He was muttering something, but you couldn’t hear him over the rush of blood in your ears.  Your fingers gripped his shirt so tightly that it made your knuckles sore.  Your ribs ached as your breath came to you in harsh pants.  

You turned to look at where you had fallen.

All too late, Eddie’s voice finally became clear, “Don’t look at it, (Y/N).  Don’t look, you don’t need to look.”

You had nearly fallen into a pit.  It was deep.  Wide.  And the bottom was absolutely lined with corpses.

You could see bones sticking up through tattered old finery.  Flesh still clung to fingers, decorated with once gleaming rings.  Eyeless sockets stared up at you through matted, fetid, rotting clumps of hair and scalp.  

You were looking down at centuries of sacrifices, first and second and third wives of the LeBuer family, victims of a ritual that you could not hope to understand.

If it weren’t for Eddie’s hold on you, you would have collapsed.  

“I see you’ve found your future tomb.”

You whirled around.  As your eyes adjusted to the low light, you could see Adam standing on the stairs.  Alex limped down behind him, his mouth drawn up in a pained grimace.  Eddie pushed you behind him, trying to protect you from this new, hellish encounter.

“You won’t touch her,” he growled, “Not while I’m here.”

“Oh, shut up, guttersnipe.  This isn’t about you.  This could never be about you.  All we want is the girl,” Alex hissed, though you couldn’t tell which was stronger in his voice- hatred or agony.

“Look, trailer trash, we’ll even make you a deal for her,” as Adam spoke, you wrapped your hands around Eddie’s wrists, trying to provide some form of comfort.  You weren’t sure if it worked, or if it just made you look like a damsel in distress, but at least you tried.

“We’ll set you up for a few years, and in exchange,” Adam continued, “You give us the girl.  And you keep quiet about this, of course.  The LeBuer name has a reputation.  If any of this were to get out-”

“Any of what?  The demon sacrifice?  The murder of innocents for your own selfish needs?”

“And how would you know about any of that you fucking heathen?”

Eddie shrugged, “Just trust me on this one, man.  I know.”

“Look at him, Adam,” Alex wheezed, “He would know demons.  He fucking looks like one.”

Adam scoffed, shaking his head at Alex’s attempt at a joke… or was it an insult?  You were too tired and terrified to give a shit.

“Okay boys, fun’s over, I’m afraid I’m not up for exchange this fine evening.  Now if you’ll excuse us, I think it’s time to leave.  Thank your parents for hosting, Adam, it’s been wonderful-”

The deafening sound of a gunshot cut you off.  

You screamed, reaching up at your ears to protect them from the noise.  Eddie had the same idea, and Alex and Adam ducked right to the ground, lying on their bellies as you all looked up to see who had shot.

Roman stood on the stairs, his back just bathed in the faintest crimson light.  In his hands he held another fucking gun.  Honestly, by that point you were so fucking tired you almost hoped he’d just shoot you with it.

Clearly, God, Roman, and also Eddie, had other plans.

Eddie tucked you behind him, making it absolutely fucking clear to everyone in the room that if they wanted to hurt you, they would have to go through him first- and oh, how your heart sunk as you realized you were something Eddie wanted to protect.  In that moment, you knew you were precious to him.  Maybe you were something he’d searched all of time and space for and finally found.  You wanted to fucking scream again, but your throat was really starting to hurt.

Roman just sighed.  As he made his way down the stairs, his pace was leisurely and completely self assured.  He didn’t even aim the gun at you or Eddie- he barely even spared you a glance.

“My good gentleman, I assure you, this isn’t how we wanted this night to go.”

“Don’t even start with that bullshit, man.  Don’t fucking gentleman me.  Maybe you didn’t want to spend the night in your corpse dungeon, but I’m perfectly happy to be here,” Eddie’s voice had a harsh edge to it, one that made you want to cling onto him and never let go.  If you were too tired to fight this battle- which at this point in the night, you had every right to be- you knew he would handle this thing for you.  For the both of you.

“Are you?  You’re happy to defend an empty vessel?  Happy to stand on the edge of a pit filled with the lowest form of decay?  Well, I guess it’s an upgrade from whatever hovel you crawled out of.”

Nevermind.  Fuck lying dormant while Eddie protected you.  You were going to protect him, too.

“Oh, would you fuck off, Roman,” you barked, woken up from your angst-filled exhaustion, “How long have you been bottling up the classist insults?  Just through our relationship?  Or did you hide even before that?  Come on, then.  If you’re hurling insults at people who don’t spend stupid amounts on whatever pathetic bullshit you call “luxury,” you should probably spare one for me.  We were partners, after all.”

Eddie’s eyes were filled with pride and fear in equal measure- he looked like he wanted to kiss you and shove you back behind him for your own safety.  Roman, on the other hand, had the audacity to look hurt.

“Were?”

It was your turn to scoff, “You were planning to sacrifice me to the devil for your own sake- and for the sake of your secret wife.  You expect me to serve you, to die so you can have a kid.  You used me, Roman, and I’m sick of your shit.  We’re fucking done.”

He stood still on for a moment, his eyes darting between you and Eddie from his place on the stairs.

“I was right,” he finally mumbled, “It’s you and him.”

In the silence that followed, Eddie’s hand found its way back into yours.  Your thumb traced over his knuckles, over every ridge and vein his hand had to offer.  He squeezed his fingers around yours in return, pulling you close to him with no intention of letting go. 

“Very well, then,” Roman pointed the gun at Eddie’s chest, “You’ll both die screaming.”

You knocked Eddie to the ground as Roman fired a shot.  The overwhelming sound of gunfire echoed off the walls, making everyone in the room wince and cover their ears.  It gave you an opening.

With Eddie’s hand in yours, you bolted towards the stairs.  Alex recovered from the sound first.  He jumped towards you.  Eddie let go of you for a moment, just so he could fight off your assailant.  As his punches landed, Alex staggered back.  He made weak attempts to return Eddie’s blows, but he was no match for the metalhead.  For the second time that night, Alex went down like a bitch.  He rolled across the floor, coughing and swearing until he fell off the edge of the floor.

The third time Alex went down that night, he went all the way down to the corpse pit.

You froze, listening to Alex’s scream as he plunged out of sight.  A dull thud echoed through the room as he landed.  Bones crunched beneath him, rotten flesh squelching as Alex slipped through old blood and viscera.  You could barely hear him screaming over the buzz of disrupted flies. The smell of rancid meat rose into the air.  Bile rose in your throat as the screaming turned to desperate retching.  Eddie stood still, gazing into the pit with an expression you couldn’t name.

Before you could reach out to him, an arm wrapped around your throat.  You let out a yelp as someone pulled you into the firm plane of their chest.  Your heart fell through your chest as you clawed and scratched at your attacker.  You couldn’t afford to show them mercy.  You bit and tore at them, drawing blood and shrieking like a feral animal as their other arm curled around your waist.  Through your adrenaline fueled haze, you were absolutely sure that it was Roman’s voice calling you a bitch.

Eddie raced to help you, moving faster than you thought a person could go.  Adam interfered, advancing on Eddie viciously.  Unlike Alex, Adam was adept at fighting and capable of heinous violence.  The two men exchanged blows with equal force and brutality, landing hits until Eddie’s nose was bloodied and the side of Adam’s face was painted purple.

In the interim, you didn’t stop fighting.  As Eddie and Alex beat the shit out of each other, Roman tried to pull you towards the stairs.  In retaliation, you took a sizable chunk out of his arm with your teeth.  You gagged as you spat out his flesh- the sensation of hot, metallic blood spilling past your lips was almost too much to bear.  Roman growled, and you could feel his hand tangle itself in the roots of your hair, pulling you away from his new wound.

“I’ll credit you with this, my darling,” Roman grunted, pulling you backwards as you spat out his blood, “You’ve put up a good fight.  But you have to know, this can only end one way.”

Beside the body pit, Adam had finally managed to pin Eddie to the ground.  You watched as the bastard gripped Eddie’s jaw and turned his head to face you.  Eddie looked absolutely devastated.  Panic swirled in his warm brown eyes as he kept trying to free himself.  No matter how hard he tried, he was still forced to look at you as Roman wrapped a hand around your throat and started to squeeze.

As your vision began to swim, Adam leaned down, pressing his lips to Eddie’s ear.  You clawed at Roman’s arm like an animal.  Your nails tore at his already open wound, but he held you fast, placing another hand just below your navel to keep you still.

“I get what you see in her, pretty boy,” you could hear Adam’s words, muffled slightly by the sound of your blood rushing in your ears, “She’s hot when she struggles.”

Beneath his assailant, Eddie growled, digging his nails into any flesh he could reach.  Adam barely winced.

“It’s a shame you won’t leave this room- I mean, the things we’re gonna do to her once we get upstairs.  It would be a wet dream for a freak like you.”  

Tears spilled from your eyes as the threat set in.  Fear burrowed itself inside of you, eating away at your flesh as flies fed on the bodies below.  Across the room, Eddie grit his teeth, his eyes flashing with rage.  You didn’t see him land his next hit.  You didn’t see him claw at Adam’s face.  You didn’t see anything- it was all too fast.  All you knew was that one moment, Adam was smirking down at Eddie, and the next his face was covered in blood.   Adam shrieked, his hands hovering over his face as crimson gushed from four deep, perfect wounds embedded in his flesh.  

In his panic, Adam made a terrible mistake.  He let Eddie go.  Without a second of hesitation, Eddie tackled his assailant.  He wrapped his pale, slender hand around Adam’s throat and squeezed.  You watched Eddie’s knuckles turn white, his veins standing out against his skin.  Beneath him, Adam gasped for air, thrashing desperately in an attempt to escape.  You could hear him choking on his own blood as it poured down his face.   

You heard something snap.  A smile snuck its way onto your face.

Adam was still gasping, though the sound was almost nothing now.  Static filled your ears.  Roman screamed, a sound of deep rage, right in your ears.  Eddie looked up at you, his eyes wide.  A thick strand of scarlet something dripped from between Eddie’s lips.

And then he was gone.

You watched as Eddie fell back into the pit, dragging Adam with him.  Someone was screaming- you.  You were screaming.  You couldn’t feel the strain in your throat.  You could barely hear the sound.  You hadn’t heard the gun go off, even though Roman had shot it inches away from your skull.  You couldn’t feel Roman pulling you back.  You couldn’t feel the stairs hitting the backs of your legs as he dragged you back up into the house.

All you could see was the dark void that Eddie had fallen into.  All you knew was that dark void.  There was nothing else.  Tears ran down your cheeks.  Eddie was gone.  Broken sobs left your body as you collapsed into Roman’s arms- into the arms of the man that had destroyed your world in seconds.  You were nothing but a wounded animal, now.  Hunted, maimed, and brought forth for slaughter.  You took some bitter joy in that thought.  You knew you would see Eddie soon enough.

The hallways of the LeBuer mansion blurred into nothing.  The portraits on the walls had the decency to look bereaved, but every little Jesus on every little cross you passed seemed to laugh at you.  All the fight had been drained from you like blood from a cadaver.  You said nothing as Roman pulled you back into the dining room.  You didn’t flinch at his family’s carnivorous smiles.  You didn’t make a sound when Roman let you drop to the floor.

Bruises began to form on your arms and shoulders but you didn’t feel the pain.  Someone took your phone, not that it mattered.  You let the family place you on their table.  You let Roman tie you down.  You let Cathrine tear open your dress.  Even the chill of the room on your exposed flesh didn’t bother you.  You just laid there, still as death, while Benedict approached with a large, intricate blade.  He handed it off to his son.

“Roman, dearest, did you drug her?” Cecilia asked, “She hasn’t moved an inch.  Usually they squirm so much…”

“Don’t worry, mother.  As far as it concerns us, she’s already dead.”

“That’ll make the next few steps a lot easier.  Perhaps she’ll bleed less,” Cathrine put a hand to your cheek, gently brushing the smooth pads of her fingers over your flesh.  Her face was the only thing you could see, the only thing you had to focus on as the knife finally dug deep into your skin.

You refused to scream.  You wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.  Your tears, however, spilled from your eyes without your consent.  Cathrine’s smile grew wider as her family tortured you, as you were penetrated again and again with the blade.  You couldn’t see what they were doing.  You didn’t know when they would finally end your suffering.  Your world was made up of her cruel eyes and nothing else.

Your blood burned as it dripped over your sides, pooling beneath you until you could feel it between the table and the flesh of your back.  You could hear drops of it falling to the marble floor.  The sound was enough to drive you crazy- that is, if the pain didn’t do it first.

The blade ripped through your skin, diving deep into you with such brutality that your body shook from the force.  You could feel yourself choking on blood.  The world was turning gray, tunneling into a mess of static.  The grunts of effort from Roman’s family were muted by the panicked sound of your own breathing.  You were going to die here.  You were going to die here, and Cathrine would be the last thing you would see.  You didn’t try to fight it.

In a weird way, it was almost like sex- the blade thrusting in and out of your body, making you bleed, making you hurt.  It was a violent intrusion.  A man imposing his will on you to serve his own desires.  

You didn’t have it in you to fight, but you did want to throw up really badly.  

When she finally pulled back, you had just enough strength to look up and see what they’d done to you.  You’d been stabbed.  Just stabbed, a thousand times without a hint of grace or tact.  You could see yourself bleeding out, blood pulsing to the surface with every weak beat of your heart.  The sight made you sick.  There was something viscerally wrong about your mutilated body lying before you.

You let out a soft cry as Roman put his hand low on your abdomen.  It was a pitiful sound, the only thing you could make as your heart struggled to keep you alive.  

“Thank you.  For your sacrifice,”  he pressed down, a final act of cruelty.

Cathrine wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “It’s what any woman would do.”

“My family,” Benedict  began.  Though his voice sounded miles away, you could still hear the jovial tone in his words, “Let us begin the prayer.”

You watched as Roman took Cathrine’s hand in his- specifically, his hand that wasn’t stained in your blood.  She grabbed the golden crucifix around her throat and held it with a look of pride and hope.

“Our father,” you couldn’t tell who was speaking anymore.  You just knew that they sounded happy.

“Forgive us this trespass and send us a servant of the one below.”

The lights flickered.  You almost wanted to laugh.  This was some cheesy fuckin shit.  The air took on a sudden chill, not that you could feel it.  Your blood provided you with a scorching heat as it spilled from your veins.

“A servant of your fallen son, to bless this fallen daughter.”

The lights flickered again.  You could hear something loud above the voices.  Something crashing, loud like thunder but not as natural.

“To bestow upon our family the ultimate gift- a child-” their voices cut out, “And your name.”

You were pretty sure one of the ten commandments was not to murder anyone- but you knew you weren’t a person to them.  Thou shalt not kill didn’t apply to slaughtered lambs.  Why would it apply to you?

“Accept this most humble offering, this lamb to slaughter, this child of Abraham.”

You heard a door open.  

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Or whatever.  Amen.”

That voice- that voice was new.  Roman’s family stopped their prayer.  You could hear someone gasp.  They sounded terrified.  You wondered, briefly, what they would have to fear.

“You- you can’t be here.  You’re dead.”

“Huh.  Thanks for filling me in, I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.”

“I shot you-”

“I’m aware.”

“Roman, who is this boy?”  Was that Cecilia or Cathrine?  For the life of you- something that was quickly coming to an end- you could not fucking tell.

“You asked for a demon,” you heard a pause.  Footsteps.  Something fell to the floor with a crash, “You got one.”

“No- you’re not, you can’t be-”

“Roman, darling-” was it concerning that you still couldn’t tell if that was your ex’s wife or his mom?  It didn’t matter.  The next thing you heard was Roman, enraged.  You were sure of that.  You heard it enough times.

“ENOUGH- I’m going to end this!  I’m going to end-”

A shot rang out.  There was another pause.  Something small and metal clattered to the floor.  Silence followed.

The lights went out.

Bathed in darkness, the voice of the new guest suddenly became clear, and when he spoke a fresh round of tears fell from your eyes.  You were dead now.  You were sure of it.  The afterlife was fucking weird, but you were certain.  

“Hey there, angel.  You’re gonna be okay.  I’ve got you.  Just tell me what to do.”

You drew in a shaky breath, your chest rattling, aching with the effort.  The cold air hurt your lungs.  You felt like you were burning from the inside out.

“Help me, Eddie.”

In an instant, his presence was gone.  The room was still dark.  When Eddie spoke again, his voice came from the doorway again.

“You’re going to get away from her now,” his voice was low, his words a warning, “This is your only warning.”

Footsteps echoed through the room.  Someone was running.  There was a grunt, a sound like someone exerting effort, throwing a punch.

There followed an awful, fleshy, tearing sound.  Roman’s screams of agony met your ears, just as the snap of breaking bones jolted you back to some level of reality.  There was another shout, a scream of paternal rage.  More footsteps- and again, the sound of flesh being torn from bone.  You couldn’t find it within yourself to feel bad about that.  In fact, you almost laughed.

The next cry that rang out was definitely Cecilia’s.  The noise she made was cut short, overtaken by cracking sounds of a shattering rib cage.  Someone choked on their own blood, gagging and sputtering their way to a brutal death.  You couldn’t really feel bad about that, either.

Roman was still screaming.  You could hear Cathrine’s voice, demanding Roman’s freedom.  It didn’t help much.  The next thing you heard was Roman’s pained gasps for air.

Eddie’s voice rang out again, a source of comfort amid all the auditory gore.

“Let me get this straight.  You two shit stains wanted a child so badly that you were willing to torture an innocent woman to get one?  You were willing to brutalize her for your own sake?”

“It’s tradition!  Roman’s family is cursed- they must have a sacrifice in the name of God!  A holy baptism of blood!  A new mass!  The killing of one womb so that they may conceive in another-”

“God doesn’t give a shit about your family’s tradition of torture porn,” Eddie’s voice was strange, caught between a growl, a laugh, and a sob, “I’m half convinced he doesn't give a shit about anything.  He doesn’t see you, Cathrine.  He doesn’t care about you.  He doesn’t bless you, he doesn’t bless this fucked up family, and he doesn’t bless your husband.”

You heard a weak wheeze before Roman spoke, “She- she gave her consent.  I had her, she whored herself out to me.  That means-”

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN SHIT,” Eddie had been enraged the entire time he’d been speaking, but this was something new.  From your place on the dining table/alter, you could see a red light flickering off the ceiling.

“Consent to sex is not consent to ritual sacrifice, you stupid fuck.”

You were pretty sure the black mass that flew across your vision was Roman.  You weren’t sure how Eddie managed that one, but you sure as shit weren’t complaining.  A deafening crash came from one of the cabinets.  Glass shattered on impact.  You laughed- the sound was wet and broken, and the laugh itself was painful, but the sound still escaped.  You hoped that whatever had happened to Roman had fucking hurt.

“Roman!” Cathrine’s scream all but confirmed your theory.  You heard her footsteps as she tried to get to her husband, but something stopped her.

“And you.  Well, you’re just a fucking disappointment.  Tell me, kid, what makes you think you’re any different?  What makes you think you’ll be spared from him?  From his wrath?  From his family?  There’s a pit in the basement full of bodies, full of people this family has sacrificed for their own gain.  What makes you think you won’t join them?”

“He- he loves me.  Roman loves me.”

“He told (Y/N) the same thing.  Look what he did to her.  Look what you did to her.”

“She- she would have done the same thing!  She would have killed me!”

“No.  Not like this.  I, on the other hand-” 

Eddie didn’t finish that sentence.  You just heard the squelch of skin splitting, the sound of something wet falling to the floor, and a half scream from the woman who watched as the light in your eyes faded to nothing.  Like that, she was gone.  You couldn’t help the smile that slipped across your face.  You shut your eyes.

“(Y/N)- (Y/N), come on, keep your eyes open.”

You did.  Eddie was above you, haloed in red light- and something was different.  His eyes were dark, pupils blown.  It almost looked like the dark overtook the whites of his eyes.  His skin was pale, ashen, far more so than it normally was.  You reached towards him and when he moved to take your hands you noticed them.  Massive leathery wings stretched out behind your boy.  You had to be dead already.  Or at least close to it.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his hand squeezing yours, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.  I never meant for any of this to happen.  I never wanted you to get hurt, I never wanted you to see me like this-”

“You…” your voice was weak.  Your blood stained your lips and teeth, “You’re pretty.”

He let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh.  It broke your heart, a little bit.  You wanted to pull him close to you and never let him go, but it hurt to move.  You just wanted to close your eyes and drift off to sleep.

“No, no, no, come on.  Stay with me, angel, stay awake.”

You could only hum in response.

“I- I’m going to have to touch you.  Is that okay?”

You wanted to tell him that he could touch you however he wanted to.  He could do whatever he wanted, he could finish what the LeBuers had started and cut you to bits and you would let him.  Whatever was left of you was his.  You loved him, and you wanted him to know that.  All you could do was lie there and nod.

Apologies spilled from his lips as he let go of your hand and placed his own over your wounds.   His touch was feather light.  It should have hurt.  By all logic, it should have hurt, but you didn’t feel any pain.  You could feel something sharp against your flesh, but whatever it was, it didn’t cut into you.  It just scratched sweetly across your skin as his fingers traced over your stomach and your ribs.  

Eddie brushed over you slowly, gently, in a way that filled you with want.  You could feel his hands start to tremble as they moved lower and lower.  Warmth seeped into your body wherever he touched you.  Slowly, the agony you felt- the sharp sting of your torn flesh, the bruised ribs, all of it- it just faded away. 

You opened your eyes and slipped your hand into Eddie’s.  Your fingers tangled with his over your stomach.  Where you expected to feel blood, you only felt your own skin- and something sharp, attached to Eddie’s hands.  Claws.  Neat.

Your strength was coming back slowly, inch by inch, but you could feel it- you could feel life return to every vein and nerve you had.  

“Whatever you’re doing,” you whispered, “Don’t stop.  Please don’t stop.”

A smile broke out across his face, “I won’t.  I promise, I promise I won’t.”

He leaned down, pressing a kiss to your forehead and giving you a good view of those things behind him- wings.  Actual fucking wings.  They were beautiful, terrifying, and they were half wrapped around you, keeping you close to Eddie.  You loved them, instantly, but good lord were you confused.

“Am I dead?” your voice was still quiet, still fragile despite your growing strength.

“No, sweetheart.  I couldn’t let that happen to you.  I couldn’t let them take you from me.”

“So this…” your eyes searched his face, “All of this is real.  I’m not dead or dreaming?”

“You’re not.  You’re awake, and alive, and in a few minutes we’re getting the fuck out of here.”

“Oh,” you nodded, “That’s nice.  Are you going to fly me out of here?”

He paused, seeming surprised, as if he had forgotten about the massive wings behind him.  A deep blush overtook his face, painting him red from his jaw to his ears.

“Yeah, about that,” he winced, “I know this is a terrible time to tell you, and I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but I’m not really a person.  Or at least, I’m not anymore.  I’m so sorry that-” You cut him off before he could say anything else.

“They’re perfect.  You’re perfect.  It’s all very metal.”

He laughed at your words, ignoring the tears that spilled over his cheeks.  Without a word, you reached for him, trying to maneuver yourself into a sitting position as you wrapped your arms around his neck.  He leaned down, meeting you halfway, and burying his face in the bare skin of your shoulder.  His messy curls stuck to your skin.  His strong arms curved around your back, his fingers digging into you as if he was afraid you’d disappear if he let go.

“Just hold me for a second, please,” you whispered, running your fingers up and into his hair, “Don’t let me go.”

“Never,” he gasped, his voice trembling terribly, “I almost lost you.  You’re not leaving my sight ever again.”

“Good,” your voice broke, your eyes burning as tears of your own began to fall, “Don’t let me go.  Don’t ever let me go.”

“I won’t.  I promise.  I’ve got you.”

Eddie pulled away first.  You made a small sound of protest, but he wasn’t gone long.  He didn’t even take his hands off of you.  He just took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around your shoulders.  

When you looked down at your body, at his clothes covering you, you couldn’t help but notice that you had been healed of every single stab wound and every single bruise.  There wasn’t even a scar left behind.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, sweetheart.”

“I mean it, Eds.  I would have died if you hadn’t come to get me, I-” you paused, watching as Eddie anxiously bit his lip.  Heat pooled in your stomach like the births and deaths of a thousand stars.  You couldn’t tear your eyes away.  You really wanted to kiss him.

“I really want to kiss you,” you moved closer, your lips barely an inch away from his.

His eyes went wide.  His grip on you tightened.  You could feel his breath catch, feel the way he tensed up in anticipation.  Everything about him betrayed how badly he wanted you.

“Shit, I-” he took a shuddering breath, his fingers kneading a pattern into your skin, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

“Good,” you leaned in, but he stopped you, placing a hand on your shoulder to put some space between you.  You paused, tilting your head as his fingers ran down to your hip.

“Wait,” his voice was so quiet, “Just wait.  I don’t want to- I don’t want to take advantage, y’know?  You just went through something terrifying, and I-”

“You don’t want to hurt me,” you reached up to cradle Eddie’s jaw in your hands, letting your thumbs stroke across his skin, “You’re still protecting me.  You’ve been doing that all night, y’know.  You should let yourself take a break.”

Eddie tried not to grin and failed.  His grip tightened on you as you pulled him closer, your chest pressing against his as you sat up properly.  

“Hey, I have a demon question for ya,” you pulled one hand away from his face, tracing lines up and down his arm.  You followed the thick ridges of his veins, a deep blue against his pale skin.  You hid your grin as he inhaled sharply.  His fingers would definitely leave bruises on your hip, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mind.

“Demons usually offer their aid in exchange for something, right?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Just answer the question, Munson,” you looked up at him through half-lidded eyes, and you watched him melt in front of you.

“Yes, we usually take souls and shit, but I couldn’t ask you for that.  I couldn’t, I-”

“Could you take something else?”

He let out a half gasp, “Wh- what?”

“Could you.  Take.  Something else?” you met his gaze dead on, “A firstborn, maybe?”

“Oh, sweet girl, you are trying to kill me.”

You giggled- actually fucking giggled- and leaned into his chest.  Maybe you were trying to kill him, just a little bit.  Maybe you wanted something else.  

Just as you opened your mouth to speak, something across the room broke.  Beneath the collapsed gun cabinet, something was moving.

“Shit,” Eddie whispered, “Get behind me.” 

Without another word, he let you go and moved to stand in front of you.  His wings spread wide, blocking you from sight as someone began to rise from the rubble.

“I’ll kill you,” Roman’s voice was weak, “I’LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!”

“Don’t you people ever die?”  Eddie asked, exasperated as his body tensed, preparing for a fight.

You stepped to the side ever so slightly, getting a glimpse of Roman that you very much could have lived without.  There he was, your ex boyfriend, his face painted red with his own blood.  His shirt was torn revealing bruised and broken skin beneath.

He looked like a monster.  And he looked like he wanted to kill Eddie.

For whatever reason, your gaze turned to the side.  You winced as your eyes fell upon Cecilia’s body, lying across the room in a pool of crimson.  Eddie had destroyed her.  He’d destroyed all of them.  It was a gorey sight, but you had a hard time finding sympathy for a woman who watched as you were held down and tortured.  If Roman wasn’t being a little shit, you might have grinned.

Beside her, in a puddle of viscera that you could only assume was once Benedict , was the elaborately decorated knife that almost brought about your end.  

“You haven’t even seen the worst that I could do to her,” Roman growled, “You love her, don’t you, demon?  Then it’ll hurt you even more when I flay her alive.” 

“You won’t live long enough to get the chance.”

“Won’t I?  I’ve lived this long!  You killed everyone else, but I’m still here!  I-I have been chosen!  By you- by God!”

You slipped under the table, dashing across the room to grab the knife.

“Man, I genuinely thought you were dead until right now.  Your survival was a mistake.”

“There are no mistakes, demon.  I was meant to be here.  I was meant to survive!  To carry on the LeBuer line!  And I think I’ll use that pet of yours to do it.”

Eddie made a deep, inhuman sound at the back of his throat.  From your space across the room, you watched as he lunged at Roman, teeth and claws bared.  He was ready to attack, and so enraged that he didn’t see the grin that spread across the LeBuer boy’s face.

When Eddie flew across the room, Roman dove out of the way, bending down and seizing a wayward piece of glass.  He leapt at Eddie, shoving him into the wall and bringing his forged weapon to his chest.  Roman’s hand bled where it clenched around the sharp object, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“I’d kill you now, demon, but it would be much more fun to make you watch,” he pressed the glass into Eddie’s shirt.  Honestly, it didn’t do much.  Eddie pulled back, his neck tensed.  He looked absolutely murderous.  Realizing his mistake, Roman dropped the blade and wrapped his undamaged hand around Eddie’s throat.  It took everything you had to keep from screaming- and you couldn’t scream- for the sake of stealth.

The two men were so focused on each other that they didn’t notice you coming.  They didn’t notice you leveling the knife at Roman’s back.

“Roman,” you called his attention to you.  Roman turned, and from the look in his eyes alone, you knew that given half the chance, he would make good on every threat he’d made.

You took a deep breath and drove the knife straight through Roman’s chest.  You didn’t stop until you had run him through.  Roman let out an agonized screech as he stared down at the blade protruding through his body.  You winced as he collapsed, his weight pulling the blade from your hands.  As he spit blood at your feet, you whispered, “We’re.  Fucking.  Done.”

A moment passed, silent and still.  Your hands shook slightly.  Taking another deep breath, you looked up at Eddie.  His big dark eyes were already on you.  Without another thought, you leapt over Roman’s body, running into Eddie’s arms.  You fell into him, and he caught you like he was made to do just that.

He held you close, his grip strong and reassuring.  You buried your face in his chest for a moment, your hands gripping onto him hard enough to bruise.  You could feel his wings wrap around you again, locking you in a soft and safe dimension of your own.  Eddie whispered something to you, several somethings, but you couldn’t quite hear him.  You could feel the vibration of his voice in his chest, but you couldn’t register anything.  It was all just static.

You looked up at him, eyes wide.   His soft lips were moving, speaking, and the motion was hypnotic.

“Can I kiss you now?”

He paused, lips parted slightly and eyes wide.  You spread your fingers across his chest, brushing your thumb across his collar bone.

“I saved you.  You saved me,” you leaned closer, “We’re even now, right?  So we can kiss each other without feeling bad about it?”

He stared at your lips.  His eyebrows furrowed together slightly, creating the picture of a conflicted man.  You could feel his heart racing in his chest, just beneath your fingertips.  

“Eddie?” 

“Fuck it.”

Eddie’s lips were on yours before you could make another sound.  His hands were on your face in an instant, cradling your jaw with such a sweet intensity that you almost melted into him, then and there.  Your hands came up to grip his arms, and you followed them up the shape of his body until your fingers wrapped around his shoulders.  Without another thought, you pulled him closer.

He let out the sweetest sounds as you parted his lips with your tongue.  You wrapped one of your legs around his, desperate to feel his touch everywhere you could.  He lowered a hand to your waist, nearly clawing your side in his desperation to hold you.  Need turned the both of you into animals just a few shades from feral.

 “We’re even,” he spoke against your lips, breathless and panting, “We are so, so even, angel.  Fuck-”

“Haha, I get it now.  You’re a demon, and I’m-” you cut yourself off, whining into Eddie’s mouth as he bit down on your lip just hard enough to make your flesh sting.

“Yeah, sweetheart,” Eddie whispered as pressed kisses to your jaw, “You’re my angel.  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Eds, I’m- I’m perfect… When's Hopper gonna get here?”

He paused, tilting his head, “Not for a while… why?”

“Because I have plans for us, pretty boy.”

A wicked grin crossed Eddie’s lips as he dove back into you.

Eddie may have seen you as angelic, but the thoughts running through your head were anything but holy.  Your blood seemed to burn wherever he touched you.  Sparks flew with every touch he left on your skin.  You were seconds away from catching fire, from burning brighter than any star the sky had to offer.  You let out a soft moan as Eddie’s lips trailed down your throat.  

“I need you,” you panted, “I need you, Eddie, please.”

“Whatever you want, sweet girl, whatever you-”

You cut him off by leaning forward and wrapping your lips and teeth around his shoulder.  You bit down, marking him up without drawing blood.  The moan that slipped from him was far too pretty for you to handle.  Your hips moved against his thigh, grinding against him desperately.  You were very much aware that you were acting like a pathetic slut, but you didn’t really care.  You needed him- and judging by the hard length pressed against you, he needed you just as much.

You wrapped your hands around the back of his neck, pulling him blindly towards the altar/table in the center of the room.  He followed eagerly.  You both stumbled, nearly falling to the ground since you both refused to break the kiss.  

Your back hit the altar with a harsh thud.  You let out a soft whine, jumping up to sit on the flat surface just as Eddie pulled away.

“Are you okay?  That sounded like it hurt-”

“I’m fine,” you reached behind you and unhooked your bra, exposing your breasts to the cold air of the sacrifice room, “Can you do me a favor and tear off what’s left of my dress?”

Eddie didn’t move.  He didn’t say anything, either.  He kind of just froze for a second.  When you looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes were completely glued to your chest.  A sweet blush graced his cheeks, and you couldn’t help but grin.  

The fact that he wanted you, that he couldn’t look away from you set off another set of sparks deep inside your body.  Absolute want pooled at your core as galaxies formed in his eyes.  You were his universe.  You could see it.

“You okay there, Munson?”

“You’re so fucking pretty.”

You let out a laugh before reaching out and pulling him close.  Once you had him between your thighs, you wrapped your legs around his hips.

“Thank you, Eds.  Now are you gonna help me with my dress, or am I going to have to take it off myself?”

You tilted your head to the side, unable to wipe the smile from your face as Eddie continued to devour you with his eyes.  His hands came up to your sides, trembling slightly as he took you into his hands.  Something dark and dominant flashed in his eyes.  His grip tightened.

“You’re gonna have to wait a second,” his voice was low, almost inhuman, and fucking delicious to your ears.  You laughed again as he buried his face in your chest, kissing and biting your skin, leaving purple marks behind.  Your laughter quickly gave way to breathy moans and desperate pleas as Eddie’s lips moved across your exposed flesh.  Your hands found their way into his hair, tangling at the roots and giving them a slight tug.  He growled against you, biting down hard and marking you with the shape of his teeth.

“God, I want you to do terrible things to me.”

“You’re-” he cut himself off with a kiss, “Adorable.” 

“I’m serious!  I almost died today- we both did.  I’ve come face to face with my own mortality, and I realized that life is too short.  If I don’t ask you to rail me now, who knows if I’ll get another chance?  In other words, please fuck my brains out before we get hit by a meteor or something.”

He laughed.  You could feel the vibrations in every place his skin met yours.  You kind of wanted to scream.

“We’re not gonna get hit by a meteor.”

“You don’t know that!” you sat up, pulling his face from your chest and holding his jaw in one hand, “We could get meteored any second, so I need you to know that I love you.”

His soft brown eyes bore into your soul for a moment, and honestly, you wouldn’t have cared that much if a meteor did smite you at that particular moment.  You had Eddie.  You had everything you needed.

“I love you, too,” he pushed you back and finally, finally set his claws on your dress.  He tore it off slowly, making you ache with anticipation.  You could feel the sharp, pleasant scratch of his nails against your skin again, slipping beneath the waist of your underwear.  You really wouldn’t complain if he just ripped you open, but you knew he wouldn’t.  Not unless you asked nicely.

“By the way,” he leaned up to kiss you, “I wouldn’t let you get hit by a meteor.”

“Is that something you could prevent?” you tried to come off as confident, but your voice snapped into a million pieces as he pulled your panties down your thighs.

“I’d do my best,” he shrugged, tossing your underwear to the side for the moment.

“That’s comforting.”

“You’re the one that came up with the meteor thing,” he gripped your thighs, claws just biting at your flesh as his fingers flexed, “You know I’ll always protect you.”

He would.  He had.  He’d proved that much to you.  He leaned in slowly, kissing your lips again before moving down to your throat, tracing the pattern of purple bruises and bite marks that he’d already left.  You squirmed in his hold, hips thrashing slightly.  You could feel yourself dripping.  Arousal gathered between your thighs as he eased his way down your body.  

Eddie’s arms hooked themselves around your thighs, hands spreading on your hips- he was holding you in place.  After pressing another kiss to your skin just below your navel, Eddie paused.  When he looked up at you, you could feel the space of the universe fill your lungs.  When his eyes met yours, the heat of the sun made its home within your ribcage.  

“Please,” you begged.  It was all you had to say.

He bit his way down your thigh, leaving another trail of marks on your skin.  His lips were so soft against your skin.  When he reached your aching pussy, he grinned.

“You’re soaked for me, sweetheart.  How long have you needed this?”

“Too long,” you whimpered, though the sound turned into a moan as he pressed a kiss to your throbbing clit. 

“My poor girl,” his tone was soft with the slightest hint of mockery.  You opened your mouth to respond, but you cut yourself off with a whine as Eddie’s tongue met your entrance.  He lapped at you, collecting your arousal like something feral.  His nose nudged against your clit, making you cry out his name.  

“That’s it baby,” he moaned, “Just like that, fuck.”

You called out his name again, and he buried himself deeper inside you- a reward for your good behaviour.  You could feel Eddie smile against you, grinning like a madman and lapping up your arousal as it dripped down his face.  You could feel your body clench around nothing, feel yourself draw closer to the edge.

His hands reached up, moving over your hips to your breasts.  His calloused fingers brushed over your nipples, squeezing and circling until you threw your head back against the altar.  You tugged at his hair again, pulling him closer to your core with a desperate whine- not that he was any better at keeping his composure.  

The noises he made were nothing short of delicious- hungry praises and moans that let you know just how much he wanted you.  After the blood-soaked night you had, you needed to hear that.  You needed to hear him moan your name.  You needed to hear how badly he ached for you.  It sent you right over the edge.

You let out a weak cry as he devoured you, as he sucked and bit softly, and as his fingers dipped down to find your dripping entrance.  You clenched around nothing, your hips thrusting into his face of their own accord.  The world faded around you, disappearing into a void of stars that burned half as brightly as you did.  

“You taste so good,” he whispered, sounding almost mindless, rambling as if eating you out had decimated his ability to think, “So, so fucking good.”

You simply panted in response.  Your grip relaxed on Eddie’s hair for just a second before you pulled him up to face you.  He went willingly, obediently, following the unspoken order.  When you brought his lips to yours, you could taste yourself on him.  

One of his hands left your chest, moving to your back to pull you closer, deeper into the kiss.  His fingers spread out across your back, rough fingertips dug into you carefully, almost gently.  You pinned his other hand to your chest, threading your fingers through his and pressing your joined hands into your skin.  You and Eddie wrapped your bodies around each other, refusing to let go as you kissed the breath from his lips.

His body was soft but firm beneath your hands.  He was your anchor, keeping you tethered in the real world, ensuring that you didn’t float off into another world while you were with him.  You needed that.

Slowly, keeping his hands on you, you sat up.  You wrapped your free arm around his neck.  He literally couldn’t get any closer to you, but that wouldn’t stop you from trying.  The hand that you had tangled with his slipped away, tracing a line down his chest until it reached the button of his jeans.  

You let your fingers play with the fabric, slipping beneath it to feel the rough, scarred skin of his hip.  You paused for a minute, surprised at what you felt.  Eddie pulled back for a second, a mildly embarrassed look on his face.  You didn’t let him stay away for long.  You pressed your lips to his again, hard and fast as you full on attacked his jeans.

“You must want me pretty bad, huh, angel?”

“How do you figure?” you asked, pulling him closer with the arm around his neck and bringing your lips to his neck.  You kissed the column of his throat for a few moments before you bit down harshly, lips and teeth completely unforgiving.  When you pulled back, a large swath of his skin was stained purple.

“Yeah, pretty boy,” you pressed a kiss to the sore spot, “I want you.”

“Good,” he growled, pushing you back onto the table and pulling you to the edge of the surface.  He brushed his hand across the side of your face before lowering it, tracing down your side until he reached your cunt, “Because I want to do unspeakable things to you, pretty girl.”

You moaned, your face burning hotter than the heat death of a small universe.  Eddie slipped his fingers into you.  He took things slow at first, torturing you by easing you into things, pumping into you gently with just the tips of two fingers.  You mewled, craving more of his touch.  You’d given up on wondering how his claws weren’t cutting you.  You just wanted his calloused fingers to go deeper.

Eddie silenced your pleading whines with a kiss.  Slipping deeper into you, he whispered, “You have to be patient, angel.  You can be patient for me, right?”

“I-” you moaned as he sunk his fingers deeper.  His dark eyes watched your face intently, taking in every change in your expression.

“Come on, sweet thing.  You can be patient, right?”

You whimpered, opening your mouth to respond.  You didn’t get the chance.  Eddie moved his fingers again, moving his fingers in and out of your dripping slit.  You moaned softly, and as your lips parted, Eddie added a third finger.  The sound you made snapped, becoming louder and more desperate as your demon brought you to the edge again.  

“Eddie,” you whimpered, “Please.  Don’t be mean to me.”

He laughed a little, pressing a kiss to your lips as he brought his thumb to your clit.  You came quickly, thrashing slightly in his arms as you clenched around his fingers.

“God,” he groaned, “You’re so fuckin tight.  Such a good girl for me.”

You let out a little whine, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him down on top of you.  The two of you stayed there for a moment, holding each other again as you calmed down.

“Think you can give me one more, pretty girl?”

“Is that even a question?”

He kissed your throat again, keeping you distracted as he freed his cock from his pants.  He pulled away for a moment, allowing you to see the absolute monster he kept between his thighs.  You knew, now, why he had prepared you so thoroughly.  It was necessary.

His cock was almost unnatural- long and thick, red near the tip and covered in veins.  It looked… demonic.  And you wanted to take him inside you as soon as you possibly could.

“See something you like, sweetheart?”

“I do,” you grinned, reaching out for him.  He leaned in, placing his face against your palm.  He smiled down at you, his eyes incredibly fond.  You were the thing he had searched all time and space for- and you had searched for him.  Now, you were both found, both real- as batshit insane as it was that this was the place that made you so.

“Let me know if it hurts,” he whispered, “If I need to stop.”

“I will.  I promise.” He pressed into you, slowly and gently, letting you feel every single ridge and vein.  You shut your eyes, moaning softly.  Eddie braced himself with one arm, using the other to knead at the soft flesh of your chest.  His lips were on your throat again, adding more marks to the sea of purple that he’d already made.  

Once he was inside, he paused, just taking a moment to feel your body around him.  You clenched down on him, running a hand into his hair to tug at it again.  

“You’re so fucking warm,” he growled in your ear, “So fucking tight.”

“Thanks, I worked hard on that.”

Eddie lost his composure, thrusting into you gently as he laughed, “You are so deeply strange.  I adore you, did you know that?”

You thrust your hips up towards his, “I kind of figured, I’m not gonna lie.”

He pressed his forehead to yours, his thrusts increased in speed as you bathed in the light of his smile.  You could feel his cock deep inside of you, pressing against every sensitive spot you had.  You moaned softly as his thumb stroked over your nipple.  The stimulation of his calloused touch on your breast had you arching your back, pressing further into him.

“You’re so deep inside,” your voice wasn’t much more than a whimper, though you willed it to be stronger, “Fuck, keep going.”

“Whatever you want, baby,” he thrust into you harder, leaning down to bite your chest, clearly not satisfied with the job he’d done on your neck.

His hand slipped down to your clit, pressing into your swollen nub.  He circled it in time with his thrusts, alternating between heavy pressure and feather light touches until you were seeing stars and screaming his name.  

“Are you gonna cum for me sweet thing?”

You didn’t even get to answer his question.  You came around his cock quickly, and he fucked you through your orgasm without a moment of hesitation.  Your body spasmed, your walls clenching down on him until he moaned your name into your skin.  

Your chest heaved as you caught your breath.  Eddie’s lips didn’t leave you.  He laved his tongue over the bite marks he’d made, and you could feel his smile against your skin.

“You’re so perfect, sweetheart.  Such a good girl for me.”

You clenched down around him again, moaning this time at the praise.  You searched your mind for a witty comment, something cute to say to make him laugh, but your brain was full of stars and nothing else.  Every time his cock stabbed into you, another damn galaxy found life behind your eyes.  

You used the hand you had tangled in Eddie’s hair to pull him closer.  You pressed your lips to every part of him that you could reach.

“I love you,” you whispered, “I love you.  I love you so fucking much.”

“I know, sweet thing.  I love you, too.”

You tugged his hair, biting down on the side of his throat, and he moaned softly.  You clenched your now sensitive walls around him, whimpering slightly at the sensation.  He let out a sharp exhale, and his hand left your clit to wrap around your hip.  You could feel how wet your cunt was just from the feeling of his damp fingers on your skin.

His thrusts grew harsher, his pace speeding up to something unforgiving.  His grip on you was bruising, but you wouldn’t mind the marks.  

“Are you gonna cum for me, sweetheart?” you asked, “Are you gonna cum inside me?”

His hips stuttered, and you could practically feel his heart skip a beat, “Can I?”

“Please.  I want to feel you- I want this.”

“You- you promise you want this?  The whole- the whole deal about your only purpose being to create life, that isn’t in your head, right?”

You shook your head, “No.  Not with you.”

One of his hands found one of yours.  Your fingers tangled together like they were made to do just that.  You leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips, “Besides, I’m on the pill, anyway.”

He laughed again, briefly against your lips before he went right back to kissing you.  He squeezed down on your hand, his teeth grazing your lip.  You could feel him twitching against your walls, could feel his cock throbbing inside you.  

He thrust all the way inside you as he came.  Ropes of hot cum flooded your walls, filling your cunt and warming you from the inside out.  Another orgasm took you by surprise, rolling over you suddenly and making you clench down hard.  Cum spilled down your thighs, pooling on the altar beneath you.

When Eddie pulled out, you were both completely breathless.  His hand was still in yours, his body still draped over top of you.  You wrapped your free arm around him, your fingers landing on the spot where his back met his wings.  They unfurled behind him, showing you their impressive size in whole.

“You’re amazing,” your voice was quiet, trying not to ruin the post-orgasm haze, “I don’t know how I managed to land you.”

“Are you kidding?” he murmured, his voice just as quiet, “I don’t know how I managed to land you.  You’re terrifying,” he pressed a kiss to your collarbone, “And sweet,” another kiss, “And you’re fucking stunning,” a third kiss.

He pulled back, warm eyes dead focused on you, “I’m in love with you, sweetheart.  I have been for a while.”

“Good.  Because I love you, too, and I think all of this would be a touch awkward if you didn’t love me.”

He grinned, pressing his face into your shoulder and pulling you up.  More cum spilled out of you and onto the altar.  You reached down, collecting some of it on your fingers and putting it in your mouth.

“Fuck-” Eddie hissed, “Don’t do that.  You’re gonna make me cum again.”

You threw your head back, cackling as Eddie put his forehead against your shoulder.  

“Would that really be such a bad thing?”

“Normally?  No.  But I just noticed that that painting looks kind of like my dad, and it’s freaking me out,” he pointed at the wall, to the massive portrait of the smirking gentleman with black hair.

You tilted your head, casually running a hand through Eddie’s hair.  If you squinted, you could almost see the resemblance between Eddie and the man in the painting.  You didn’t want to think about it.  You’d had enough creepy shit for one evening.

“We should get going,” you murmured, wrapping Eddie’s leather jacket around you again, “Hopper will be here soon, and I don’t really want him to see us like this.”

“Fair enough,” Eddie looped his hand beneath your knees, “You brought your stuff for the weekend, right?”

“I-I did.  Eddie, wait-!”

Before you could stop him, he lifted you up, carrying you over the bodies and out of the room.  You wrapped your arms around his neck, clinging to him tightly.

“Am I not-?  Do I weigh anything to you?”

“Demon strength.  It’s like lifting a bunch of grapes.”

You scoffed, letting your head rest against Eddie’s shoulder, “I don’t know where the butlers put my stuff.  My bag could be in the body pit for all I know.”

“It’s not, I was down there.”

You scoffed again, ”Well, we’ll have to hunt for my shit I guess.”

You did.  It didn’t actually take long.  Most of your things had just been left by the door.  As was the-

“Oh shit!  The wine!” you exclaimed, patting Eddie’s chest until he put you down.  You ran over to the bottle, which had been left just beside your bags- bags that you ignored entirely in exchange for the sweet bottle of vintage.

“Angel, don’t you-?  Want your clothes first-?”

“Eddie, you don’t understand, this wine was fucking expensive and I didn’t think I was gonna get a chance to drink it.”

You struggled helplessly with the cork for a few seconds before you gave up and handed it to Eddie.

“Demon strength?”

He laughed at you a little, but he did open the bottle for you.  While he did, you pulled some clothes out of your bag- a shirt you’d meant to sleep in, and some pajama pants.  You kept Eddie’s jacket wrapped around your shoulders.

Once you were dressed, the wine was ready to go.  You gave Eddie a cheer, and a small round of applause.  He joined you, and for a moment you both applauded like idiots in the foyer of Roman’s big ass house.  The portraits seemed to smile down at you, grinning your approval as you drank the blood coloured wine.

You and Eddie passed the bottle back and forth wordlessly as you made your way to the door.  Your hand slipped into his again.  Every time you held his hand, you felt more and more like that’s what your hands were supposed to do- what you wanted them to do.  When you weren’t busy taking over the world, you wanted to hold Eddie close to you.

The two of you sat together on the front stoop of the McMansion.  The porch light cast a warm glow over the front yard.  The freshly mowed lawn had drowned beneath a sea of leaves since you last saw it.  You let your head rest on Eddie’s shoulder.

“What the fuck are we gonna tell Hopper?”

Eddie took a drink of the wine, “The truth.  Your in-laws tried to kill you.  We didn’t let them.”

“I’m pretty sure we both committed several counts of murder tonight.”

He shrugged, “Eh, it wouldn’t be the first time.  For me, anyway.”

You looked up at him, concerned, though you didn’t move away from his shoulder, “Should I be concerned?”

“I mean, I haven’t technically killed any people?  It’s a long story.”

“Oh,” you nodded, taking the bottle from him and taking down a deep sip of wine, “So.  What about the melted puddles of people?  How do we explain that?  Do we just tell the cops that you’re a demon?”

Again, Eddie shrugged, though a wince crossed his face, “Well, Hopper knows.”

“WHAT?”

“Yep.  And Steve.  And Robin.  They know.”

“What?  Okay, okay, who else knows?”

“Nancy doesn’t know officially, but I think she’s aware.  Also, you know those kids who come into Family Video like, constantly?”

“Mhmm, the freshmen.”

“Yeah, they know.  One of them was there for it.”

“It?”

“The incident.  I’ll tell you about it another night, we’ve… we’ve been through a lot today.”

“That’s one way of putting it.  I think tonight was my incident.”

“You could definitely call it that.”

You smiled, lacing your fingers with Eddie’s, “If this was my incident, I’m glad you were here for it.”

“Yeah?” he asked, placing his head on top of yours.

“Yeah.”

You let your eyes flutter closed then, knowing that you were safe from harm.  When you woke, there would be no sirens, and no flashing lights.  Just the guy with the sweet daughter, who bought literally all of the Barbie movies and Die Hard.  The former for his daughter and her friend, the latter for his daughter’s other friends.

When you woke, Eddie would be there with you.  His eyes would be brown again, and his wings would be tucked away so well that you would wonder if this whole nightmare had been a terrible dream.  You would feel his hand around yours, and you would know it hadn’t been.  You would know, finally, that you were no longer anyone’s prey.  

You were the hunter.

♥ A/N: I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS SINCE SEPTEMBER WHAT THE FUCK. IT'S SO LONG MY EDITING SOFTWARE WOULDN'T ACCEPT IT, SO YOU'RE GETTING THIS THING RAW. happy halloween babes, i hope you enjoyed this. thank you to @mxcheese for reading this a million times, and to my partner for listening to me ramble about various plot points with no context.