#i just realized that mike corrects himself from you to us....... makes the whole what about us line from will hit different | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gz-missfit · 1 year

Text

So I wanna talk about tazercraft cause their characters are so incredibly interesting to me in the best way possible. To preface this I don't speak a word of Portuguese (I'm learning tho! And have been picking up on sentences a lot more) and my native language isn't English so I may get some things wrong and if I do feel free to correct me!

More under the cut:

I'll put this in 3 separate parts, them individually and then their dynamic!

Mike:

Mike is interesting to me, he's definitely the outward instigator of the 2 when it comes to causing trouble and as many have already pointed out the brains behind a lot of it! He's managed to master the create mod in ways I genuinely never expected them to be used and it's a cute way to say that mine (his wife) was also a cause of that as the goddess of creation. To move to his personality more he's definitely the lead talker in the duo, he's a lot more confident in his voice and speaking in comparison to Pac and can often seem like the lead of the duo, tho this is the cause for people missing his weaknesses! Mike is not a fighter, far from that actually, he freezes in danger and fumbles. His hand tremble when he holds a sword and sees mobs closing in and when big threats appear his whole body turns into ice. He gets overstimulated by danger he couldn't prepare for or was the cause of. Just to name 2 examples here, the first is in the dungeon on the day the timer ran out you could hear him panic, he was a lot more shaky and especially his sword being the cause of injuries to his friends is what made that worse, it went so far that he even typed in chat that he was overwhelmed (fun fact to note is that through all of that he basically vanished from pacs pov but I'll get to that). Another example is when the code showed up to him and pac to drop Richas cow head to them, he later on explicitly state having frozen in fear to i think Fit if i remember correctly and even when ttt was typed in the chat and pac had jumped down to follow Richas to make sure he could teleport Mike was again, nowhere to be seen.

His fear of a fight that revolves around his family and death especially is so interesting to me cause it's obvious that a lot of that comes from Richas first death and how he still blames himself for it, the fear of failing his loved ones again being set deep into his bones whenever a danger for their lives comes up. This is why the prison stream actually was even more interesting to me than I initially expected, because his personality in that sense took a complete 180! Now it's been shown time and time again that Mike has an intense distaste of the federation and hasn't been fond of them for a long time, he's incredibly hostile to them and not scared at all when threatened by them to the point where it's a game for him and he's retaliated with threats that could lead to a ban for him multiple times. Before I move on I think the reason as to why this is is because the federation never showed to kill or take lives, I think that's why Mike has a lot more confidence in confronting them rather than things that have shown to be fatal with all intention of killing. Back to the prison though, Mike's personality to threats definitely took a turn in there, from the moment we saw him he looked pissed beyond believe and his tone was always threatening and almost mocking, his mind quickly was set on getting him and pac out as soon as possible and the realization that Walter Bob, someone who both have seen be the first federation worker that showed them kindness and an interest in what they do after willingly showing up for a haircut is what devastated him. Mike sees Walter as a close friend due to that and it showed because as soon as the realization of Walters long term treatment hit him he did everything to protect the worker he maybe met a handful of times, you could see him get more and more agitated the more the guards hit him and ironically enough I think if Walter hadn't been there idk if he would've killed the guard, but he was so set on finally setting Walter free as well as make sure Pac doesn't have to relive the past they shared that he was willing to do everything to get those 3 out and that all is perfectly encapsulated by his behavior once Walter got taken again, Mike wasn't sad or distraught like Pac was, no, he was fucking fuming to the point where he didn't respond to Pac. Ya know, the person he talks to 24/7 and that's attached to his hip to the point where most of their words are shared telepathically above all. It was obvious that he was angry beyond believe and I'm sure he's got a lot more plans up his sleeve now to get revenge. Cause if there's one thing about Mike it's definitely that you do not want him as your enemy. He may be an outwardly social guy who is definitely more focused on making people laugh and showing off the things he and Pac created but he's still a fugitive and would destroy the world for those he holds dear as they help him feel stronger in the moments where fear does get the better of him.

Pac:

Pac is honestly incredibly fascinating just due to how many levels his character has. He's outwardly the person that appears more shy in comparison to Mike and stumbles as well as gets flustered quick. This has also been the main cause of people seeing him as a weaker player (which also got added onto by how during the earlier days he'd be the one to die a lot) which in turn has caused an interesting dynamic between him and a bunch of the others players because he's far from that. Pac is full on the brawns when it comes to situations that mean fighting for someone's life, his brain goes into focus mode once a life is on the line and there's many examples to show that! Which is why I find it so funny that he often gets handed things due to seeming and behaving weaker than he actually is (main example here being etoiles who not only gave him a custom diamond sword early on which Pac has kept to this day but also the Scythe which he nowadays uses as his only weapon).

Now to the examples of how he can very much carry his own weight In fights and how fascinating it is to watch him, the first big show of him effortlessly carrying himself and doing his best to support others was during the timer dungeon, he was at the front with Bad,Etoiles and Cellbit and even when a lot less geared than those 3 with a weapon that did a lot less damage he didn't go down once even tho he wasn't even holding a totem at any point. It's genuinely impressive with how well he carried himself through that and used movement to attack big groups of mobs from behind only to have vanished out of their sight again before they could corner him. The only time he got truly cornered was at a point where even Etoiles had to back up a little and ended up next to him and the way Pac casually mentioned being fine only to instantly jump at the opportunity of humor through small talk sticks in my brain to this day due to him having stayed mainly silent the whole time before that. The 2 other examples are about Richas and how quick Pac is to defend his son, like I mentioned before when the Code showed up to him, Mike and Richas, Pac instantly jumped into aggressive, he wanted to hit it but fell due to underestimating the jump and as soon as he laid eyes in Richas he became Pacs priority sticking to his sons side until he was Tp'd away and only then returning to the Platform. The same thing happened during the dinner! Every parent except for him crashed when the codes revealed themselves and as much as Richas was quick to start running the speed at which Pac laid eyes on the egg and started to follow right next to him was genuinely mind blowing, he stood at that elevator once Richas left ready to die if it came to it just to make sure one of those things didn't follow him, and as soon as Mike relogged he became Pacs priority with the latter hovering around him will he was loading in.

Now to compare this to the behavior in prison is interesting. Pacs still as good as ever when it comes to putting on a persona to get what he wants but I do believe that the prison brought up a lot of trauma for him, from what I know his time in prison was a lot worse than Mike's and you could hear that through his voice throughout the whole stream. Pacs a physical fighter not a mental one. But in the end he still has that survival instinct, he still knows he needs to get out to protect his family and he doesn't want to be separated from his other half and best friend anymore so he plays sly. The way he stole the keys from the guard genuinely is the most slick maneuver ever and his ability to portrait his behavior in an exaggerated way that makes him seem like no threat at all has worked in his favor multiple times during this too. He was definitely suffering through that whole experience but his determination to protect the ones he loved still slipped through, his hesitancy when he called to the guards not to hit his friends only to have his voice go small once he was physically threatened. He's not at all comfortable when he doesn't have anything to fight back with. Pacs underestimated A LOT, he let's himself be pushed around for bits with a smile and definitely enjoys appearing a bit dumber and less skilled than he is just due to the perks of it and not really caring for bragging about fighting skills when he'd rather show off the project he and Mike have spent time on, only those with a keen eye can see how he's got the heart of a fighter (Etoiles being the first to vocally call this out) he's not weak by any means and definitely a lot smarter than he'd ever admit. He'd die to protect his family and the ones he cares about and would never back down if push came to shove for them.

To sum this all up and not make this too long (which it already is pfff) for both of them together their dynamic is very clearly the "do not separate" but funnily enough Mike is the one who definitely leans onto that more. During each fight where he panicked, got overwhelmed and/or froze he was missing from Pacs pov, they were split apart and it was Mike who was terrified of not being able to hold his own, the same happened in the prison just differently. In the prison Mike definitely put on a cold facade but it broke everytime he asked if they could share the same cell, the underlying fear of him having to fight alone lacing his words through moments like that. This doesn't mean that Pac isn't the same tho! He's just less outwardly vocal about it in comparison and shows it more through actions and looks. It was obvious to hear his distress when he called Mike's name in prison but his constant turning around to see where the other is and his hesitancy to go into areas that implied separation are what showed how hes just as scared as Mike is about loosing the other.

To go more into headcanon and theories I'd like to think of the 2 as 2 hearts and a shared soul, their telepathic communication is borderline Canon at this point and it's obvious that the thought or implications of being separated doesn't sit well at all with either of them. Their bodies and life's are separate but they're still connected by a soul. And whether that's shown through jokes like not being able to be in one spot without the other or through genuine things like Mike having to remind Pac that only he can hear him unless he uses his voice or their ability to flawlessly work around the other is up to interpretation of each viewer in my opinion but there's something to be said about the fact that without the other they'd never had the determination or confidence to get out of that prison, that without the other their weaknesses would show a lot more and end up causing a lot bigger of a struggle than they currently are. Without the other they wouldn't feel whole.

#qsmp #qsmp tazercraft #qsmp pac #qsmp mike #character analysis #i think #im trying these 2 are so #genuinely interesting to me #in the best way possible #cause at their core they're still silly guy's #long read #text post #void mumbling

347 notes · View notes

majorbaby · 9 months

Text

some early and candid thoughts on MASH: The Comedy that Changed Television

I thought Gary Burghoff had the most illuminating commentary to offer. he was specific, technical and detailed when recounting how the show was constructed, a style of media commentary that caters to my preferences. he has one comment that really stuck with me as a strong descriptor of the Radar character (paraphrase from memory): they needed a character who was experiencing the concept of war for the first time, for whom you could see the

after Burghoff, I thought Jamie Farr had some interesting things to say re: Margaret - 'she contains multitudes' being one of them, and a recurring theme when everyone was speaking about the character

i have to talk about mike farrell's comment on anti-war vs. anti-military: i've talked about how I feel that the post-reynolds/gelbart years have heavily watered-down messaging re: war before, and i've pointed to several episodes where i feel this is obvious, but mike farrell saying (quite strongly) that he felt the show was anti-war but never anti-military is pretty damning evidence.

i mean, i think this is good characterization for BJ, to take a more, let's call it 'broadly', anti-war stance, rather than be opposed specifically to military, particularly to the US military. it fits with his aspirations to live a quiet, middle-class life, with his insistence that he's always done 'the right thing' and imo, a good motivation for him to butt heads with the more radical Hawkeye, who opposes authority figures in general (per Alan Alda himself in this same special) - which actually goes beyond the military...

so i love it for BJ but i hate it for a show that never framed him as being wrong about that idea specifically. i can't say for sure whether BJ always held Farrell's beliefs of course, or vice versa, but if BJ ever did oppose the military as a system, Farrell doesn't know it. this knowledge makes episodes like Preventative Medicine and Back Pay land even worse with me.

'some of us were IN the military' he added, as a justification for his point that the show could not have been anti-establishment which i would speak on even more candidly if i was going to make this unrebloggable lol. but truly it's not that serious except in terms of how i think about the themes of this show - he seems like a perfectly lovely person who really loved making MASH and i think his fans will enjoy watching him speak about that.

Mclean Stevenson makes a point about how what Radar anticipates about a character tells us something about that character beyond what we would receive if we just heard the character say it themselves (which they usually do, at the same time as Radar) - I need to think about this some more when re-watching those scenes...

dlfkjaljfk I've never heard David Ogden Stiers' natural voice I thought someone was giving commentary over footage of him and then i realized he was actually giving the commentary - I feel like everyone knows this, but he was immensely talented, a master of voice and speech

1 hour and 10 minutes (including ads, or 'commercial breaks' as we used to call them back in my day) spent on seasons 1-3. tbf there's character-specific commentary in the first half that is for characters that were with us for the whole run, but, there's also a lot of time devoted to talking about how the show was initially constructed, the pilot being good (correct), and something that made me smirk - Larry Gelbart's commentary on how people were incensed and outraged at Henry's death and felt they had been misled, lied to, about their funny haha, wholesome weeknight comedy (set in the Korean War???) is almost indistinguishable from how people talk about plots they don't like in media nowadays

it was good! i had fun!

#re: mash #idk about uploading the whole thing because tbh the audio is pretty bad but i'll try to do a few gifs

67 notes · View notes

sapphire-weapon · 1 year

Note

You said that part of the fun of old fandom was making backstories for the characters. did you have one for Leon? what was it?

oh boy. this feels so... self-indulgent and cringey now in modern-day fandom, after having dedicated so much time to arguing what is or isn't canon and having to explain multiple times, at great lengths, that the mafia backstory is not canon and why it's not. my brain is just like "shut up and just be glad that people are starting to listen to you at all."

I've mentioned a few of them here and there sporadically over the past few months, so some of these are going to sound very familiar to people who have been following me for a while, but

this is basically the backstory I've come up with for Leon and have been using for mmmm around 20 years, give or take (though I tweaked some slight things to account for Remake Leon, which I'll also note):

● grew up in a suburb around the Hartford, CT area

● only child

● very religious/uptight Catholic mom, dad was basically Mike Cosgrove from Freakazoid

● like seriously, the personalities of his parents couldn't be more different, to the point where it almost doesn't make sense to anyone on the outside looking in how they ended up together at all. but his mom really loves how stable and grounded her husband is and appreciates his really awful sense of humor, and dad fell in love with his wife's cooking and the way she actually laughs at his jokes and the fact that she really believes in something greater than herself -- because he doesn't, and he wishes he did. they also share a taste in music, surprisingly.

● "Scott" is a family name, but Leon's dad was already "the third" and he was like "you really wanna put this kid through being 'the fourth'? that's stupid. just make it his middle name." Leon has never told a single person in his adult life this, but his parents and his very early childhood friends (up until about middle school) actually called him "Scottie" -- because "Scott" was his dad. (yes this headcanon was born directly from how funny I find the whole "Mr. Scott Kennedy" shit in OG RE4 and I'm not sorry) mom's name is Carol.

● mom was a middle school geography teacher (and CCD teacher). dad was a cop (he was bASICALLY COSGROVE)

● was always closer with his dad than his mom, despite the fact that his mom very clearly and very desperately wanted him to be a mama's boy. it wouldn't be quite correct to say that his mom was emotionally abusive, but she definitely didn't Get Him and very rarely actually listened to what he had to say -- she had a pre-constructed image in her head of the kind of person she wanted him to be, and anything that didn't fit that image was either questioned or ignored outright. (NOTE FOR REMAKE-VERSE LEON: this was even worse for Remake Leon, who has a lot more self-awareness than his OG counterpart and started to suspect that he may not be fully straight pretty early in life, even if his conservative upbringing didn't give him the language to express what, exactly, he was feeling. he had a crush on a boy once, vaguely mentioned it in a very roundabout way to his mom, and then spent the next like 10 years convinced he was going to hell. see here for a more in-depth explanation of how I view Leon's sexuality.) dad gave far less of a shit about who his kid was, so long as he wasn't doing dumb shit to get himself in trouble or arrested or something. as a result, Leon's really stupid sense of humor came from his dad, because they did spend a decent amount of time together. the two of them + Leon's uncle (dad's brother), who was maybe a little bit off his rocker, always went hunting once a year.

● was never super religious like his mom is, but still definitely believed. didn't pray regularly -- but prayed enough. he can pinpoint the exact moment that he lost his faith, though: when, while in Raccoon City, he first considered suicide -- and he realized that he was looking not to God for salvation, but to his gun. even as an adult, he won't outwardly classify himself as an atheist, but his general feelings towards God and faith are: "if God is up there, He's not listening anymore."

● wasn't ever super popular in school, but was never an outcast loser nerd, either. he was just kind of... there. he had his own little circle of skater kid/grungecore and metalhead friends, and they just kind of did their own thing.

● didn't actually start to get hot until senior year of high school and kind of thought that people were taking the piss when they started looking at him differently after he'd been so completely ignored as a dating/sexual prospect for so long. plus he had a girlfriend by then, and they'd been together for a while, so he didn't really think too hard about how other people were looking at him, anyway.

● he and his long-term high school girlfriend broke up before they both went off to college, mutually, just because they were going to different schools. (NOTE FOR REMAKE-VERSE LEON: OG Leon lost his virginity to that girlfriend at age 16; Remake Leon didn't. the Remake version of his girlfriend was too prudish to go all the way, but third base was a familiar friend.) this was to the great relief of the girlfriend's dad, who fucking hated Leon's guts and frequently told him that he would never marry his daughter (and once chased him out of the house with a shotgun, but that's a different story).

● played lacrosse in high school. didn't love it, mostly did it to put on college applications. actually wanted to play football, but his mom was adamant about not allowing him to (AND SHE WAS SUPER RIGHT HOLY SHIT DON'T LET YOUR KIDS PLAY AMERICAN FOOTBALL).

● dabbled in some arts stuff here and there in high school and college, but never in a serious way and never for any great length of time. he was more of a math nerd than anything else. but he spent like, half of a school year involved with the lit mag and, despite being a not terrible poet and short story author due to having an inherently romantic nature, dropped it pretty fast out of disinterest. tried being involved with the school paper, dropped that within a year due to disinterest. thought about picking up the guitar because some of his friends were musicians, but never committed to it. the only thing that ever stuck was an interest in film; he spent a decent amount of time in the A/V club and really enjoyed the editing process. probably would've majored in it in college if not for his far greater interest in criminal justice, so he just kept doing it on the side for fun. took some electives for it in college, at the very least, and worked on some student films. mostly horror films, which is ironic to him in hindsight.

● did not go into criminal justice because of his dad; it's just a coincidence that he ended up being interested in the same field that his dad worked. Leon has always had a problem with bullies and was that guy in high school who inserted himself into situations that didn't involve him, just to stand up for someone else. got in only a handful of fist fights as a result of this, and the extent of the scolding from his dad was "knock it off. quit screwin around. you screw around too much." in the most non-committal, "don't actually stop though" tone possible, followed by taking him to get burgers. his mom lost her mind any time he got sent home from school for fighting, though -- and the one time he actually ended up suspended was Literal Hell for that full week. but, either way -- for him, growing up with a very positive opinion of law enforcement to begin with, criminal justice seemed like a natural fit.

● beyond the few times he got in trouble for fighting (in fights he never started and always won), the worst trouble he ever got into was that time his mom found out that he and his friends snuck beer into a Green Day concert in 1994. that was also the first time she learned that her 17-year-old son was already drinking. he got grounded until graduation.

● overall was just a pretty good kid, though. constantly on honor roll. graduated college with a 3.7 GPA.

● mostly behaved in college, too, but he definitely went out and partied when he didn't have anything school-related to worry about. OG Leon partied way more frequently and way harder than Remake Leon did, though. OG Leon dragged his dick all over campus. Remake Leon had maybe a handful of drunken hookups (that still never actually got him laid) and spent most parties being that guy who was taking care of his much drunker friends. catch Remake Leon standing over one of his friends who has their face planted in the sand at a beach party like "hey man. you good? we can't leave yet. I gotta finish this beer." Remake Leon also made an excellent wingman.

● after getting hired at the RPD but before actually able to move out there (in late August, roughly), he did go out to Raccoon City to try to land an apartment so that he'd be ready once he actually did move. he filmed most of that week-long trip in a sort of self-documentary style and edited it all together with the intention of giving it to his parents before he left, in case they started to miss him -- so that they could see where he was and who he'd likely be hanging around with and all that stuff, because he is a Good Boy. he ultimately never finished the very last part of it because of the phone call he got to stay away from the city a week prior to his move, and he soon forgot he'd ever made something like that at all. his mom found it a few months later while cleaning up his room, which she did frequently as a grief response "so that it'll be ready for him when he comes home."

● to date, Leon's family and friends from back home think he died in Raccoon City. the CIA kept a tight leash on where he went and who he spoke to for the first four years of his captivity -- he basically didn't get freedom to live his own life until after Operation Javier. by the time he had the ability to call or visit home, he felt like it was too late -- that it'd be crueler to show up out of the blue after being "dead" for so long -- especially considering that he couldn't stay in their lives. he'd basically just be showing up to say "hey not dead" and then have to disappear again. so he just sort of... let it go. though, of all of the terrible things he's done in the time since then, this is the one thing that weighs heaviest on his conscience -- the one thing that he feels guiltiest about most often. but he continues to stay away, because he has nothing kind to say about the life he's lived or the man he's become. even if he were to go home now, he's convinced that his parents would not recognize their son.

● he doesn't know this, but there is an upright grave marker for him in a cemetery in his hometown dated 1977-1998. buried there is an empty casket with only a framed photo of him. his parents still lay flowers there twice a year: once on his birthday and once on the anniversary of Raccoon City's destruction.

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #leon kennedy #typing up some of this was kind of embarrassing and idk why #but thank u for the ask anon #my new D drive won't be coming in until wednesday so #i have nothing but time to answer long asks like this after work #pls keep sending them

42 notes · View notes

agonycrossbow · 7 months

Text

General Leon backstory headcanons

this feels so... self-indulgent and cringey now in modern-day fandom, after having dedicated so much time to arguing what is or isn't canon and having to explain multiple times, at great lengths, that the mafia backstory is not canon and why it's not. my brain is just like "shut up and just be glad that people are starting to listen to you at all."

but

● grew up in a suburb around the Hartford, CT area

● only child

● very religious/uptight Catholic mom, dad was basically Mike Cosgrove from Freakazoid

● mom was a middle school geography teacher (and CCD teacher). dad was a cop (he was bASICALLY COSGROVE)

● overall was just a pretty good kid, though. constantly on honor roll. graduated college with a 3.7 GPA.

#resident evil headcanons #leon headcanons

13 notes · View notes

carmenized-onions · 2 months

Note

First of all, happy (late) birthday! Wishing you health, wealth, and many more years 🎂

Second of all, I cried lol

I loved how you jumped between the aftermath of what happened on Friday and seeing the development of Chip’s relationship with everyone at The Beef. It’s giving Season 3, Ep 1 vibes with all the flashbacks and that was my favorite episode of the season, so yay ✨

It was sooo cool to see how you used the original scene where Mikey shows Tina the picture that Carmy sends him from Copenhagen and seeing how Chip would fit in that moment AND the confrontation between Carmy and David

“I just-I just made the-The only fuckin’ good thing in my life leave…” P A I N

Also, Carmen not being able to confidently say that he wouldn’t have taken the bait of giving the Exec Chip’s number…oof

You know what? Chip is 10000% correct about the whole Christmas dinner shitshow, like why didn’t anyone defend Mikey? Everyone kept telling him not to throw the fork, not to engage, but Lee started it! I think the only person who told Lee to shut the fuck up was Uncle Jimmy but it was a half-hearted effort at best

Seeing the moment when Mikey calls her Chip, after learning about the weight of being nicknamed Jack…and then the line “He will never realize that you consider the exchange equal”…yeah my heart can’t take this

WAIT, Chip started doing research on wine pairings to impress Syd?! oh this makes them growing apart for a few years even more painful...it should’ve been them all along bro like who tf is Carmen? Don’t know him.

I appreciate the “that’s what she said” joke thrown in there 🫶🏼

“‘I’m not gonna forget you love me, Chip.’ and neither of you know this is a lie, yet.” and now I’m sad again

The entire exchange between Carmy and Richie was so heartbreaking, especially when Richie hits him with “if that’s what your love is, I don’t want it and I don’t want it for Chip, either” like DAMN

“…he might as well tear his hair out because there’s no reason for it anymore if you’re not in it.” oh my guy is going THROUGH IT

The freezer scene with Mikey…yeah that was rough. Like I never really thought about just how bad Mikey got. Obviously, bad enough to the point of taking his own life, but I never pictured the moments leading up to that. The pain of withdrawals, the feelings of shame that come with relapsing. The emotional toll that it takes on everyone who loves the person that is struggling with addiction, really going through the highs and the lows with them. And the parallels between the brothers, too! Carmy and Mikey having some of the lowest moments in their lives play out in the same freezer with Chip and Richie being there for both 💔 AND the foreshadowing of the door handle breaking off one day because of how hard Mikey was pulling on it…you’re a genius fr

“Do I look like a fucking milf, what the fuck is going on —“ Not Uncle Jimmy thinking they were having a kid lol

“I don’t want to choose between her and my career. If that’s what getting a star takes, I don’t want it.” okay I think we’ve been focusing on the wrong love interest for Chip. I see the vision now, and Carmy’s not in it

The scene with Eva was so cute and then I get hit with “You’re gonna break your neck Mike. I don’t want to plan your funeral.” EVIL

“You will not realize he is trying to make things clean and square, until it is too late.” “You think Mikey has a future, still. Mikey knows he doesn’t.” Both of these stabbed me in the chest and I haven’t recovered, just fyi

Mikey wanting, needing Chip to promise him that she’ll talk to Carmy when he comes back because he knows she’s good for his soul…😔 (wait I think you said to remind you about Mikey and fire a few chapters back when I said he was playing matchmaker? I’m seated)

I love that despite still being upset with Carmen for being a dick to Chip, Richie and Syd decide to help him help himself because he’s CLEARLY in desperate need of an intervention

“He’s gonna be your man, and he’s going to fucking earn that title. He’s going to prove it.” When I tell you I’m EXCITED. Rooting for him ✨

okay being completely honest, the last portion of this chapter was really moving. It was so fucking sad to read their last phone call. But what actually made me cry was “He said he would come home and you believed him because he never lied to you before.” She set his things on a tray because he said he would come home. She fell asleep on the couch, waiting up for him because he said he would come home. Yeah. That totally didn’t break me just a little 🥲

This really has been your best chapter so far, 10/10 💜

Thank you for the birthday wishes! Sorry for the crying! But also maybe you’re welcome? Also I’m begging everyone to read this ask/answer because this is like. My director’s commentary of this chapter and i want you to play the fucking dvd extras that is this series. please.

I had Mikey’s scenes planned for so long, and I was planning on putting them all like, back to back with each other, travelling through time. And then S3EP01 came out and i was like oohhhh i could be a little spicy?? I could be a little timey wimey weird? Had a lot of fun that way.

S3 really gifted me with those two scenes to work with, because I HAD planned something similar with Mikey and Chip to the Tina and Mikey scene, but the way they did it in the show was SO much better i had to yoink it. AND they let me know exactly how Carmen would react one on one with fucking david so that’s. Ah. the timing was genuinely insane of S3 coming out pretty soon after Just Dropped, ,,, in s y n c

I shant say anything about the number because as the end of the chapter puts it, they told each other everything I wrote down. So Chips gonna have some…… thoughts about all that.

Chip’s whole dialogue about the Christmas Dinner was my own therapy. I was getting so fucking hyphy watching that scene. I dunno man. I’ve always stuck up for MY older brother when he gets thrown shit. WHY THE FUCK WAS IT ON MIKEY TO CALM DOWN?? HE’S NOT BEING ALL THAT UNREASONABLE?? BEAT HIS (uncle lee’s) ASS!!!!!!!!!!

The big like, through line I took from Mikey’s character is that he feels as though he is made to give to other people, and so when Chip is the one giving back to HIM he’s like. Oh I guess I’m not the giver here. I’m simply taking. And that’s how relationships work. Someone always has to lose. And simply never realizes that there can be relationships where the burden is fucking shared.

…berzatto men share a lot of the same brain chemicals.

Everyone go scroll and look for the ‘who folded’ poll to vote for syd (or whoever). I think you only have a couple hours left. Or go to the #sillylittlepoll tag. GO VOTE!! It’s really quite cute though. It’s referenced in Doing Too Much that they played a game of matching wines to her plates, but it was never confirmed until now that Chip literally deliberately started doing that just for Syd.

I need somewhere to rant so much about Richie in this chapter, like. Am I gonna do it here? I think I’m gonna do it here. This is the director’s commentary part. EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME !!! EVERYONE SHUT UP!!

This whole chapter was so fun to write, because each scene is very weirdly mirrored and sewn together with each other, and that very much also coincides with Richie being in BOTH sequences. Let’s just go scene for scene.

What are you amish? To 0ERR. This one is very simple, the line ends with In your life/Out of his life. Simple. Cute. Whatever. There’s also the aspect that Mikey/Richie very deliberately interrupt Chip’s mental fatigue and then no one talks to Carmen and let’s him spiral… Interesting.

Then there’s 0ERR to fixing the coffee machine. Carmen says he can do it all by himself, that he’s good by himself. And he tries to think of Chip but she’s not here and it’s not working. And then we go to coffee. Where Chip admits that she’s not good by herself and she hasn’t been for a while, and she needs The Beef. And then she spirals and Mikey is there. And he is able to calm her down. Without even asking if she was freaking.

Then coffee to handing off the dessert. Again, Carmen reminisces about his old life, he didn’t know any of his coworkers because they didn’t matter. He knows the faces of everyone here but doesn’t actually know them. Very much so unlike Chip.

Dessert to Fixing the Chair. This one’s not a big flip, but—

Fixing the Chair to the DAVID TALK is huge. Because it’s very clear, Chip used to be a lot more guarded and insecure. She still is. But worse then. And it was thanks to her Guiding Light Mikey. And he supported her, and believed in her. Believed in his brother too, but he never said it. And then with David, David says Carmen is excellent but it’s with such vitriol. Carmen doesn’t get the support, and the praise he does get doesn’t feel good. Because there’s really only a few people he actually wants it from.

You’re Needed Asshole to You’re Needed, Cousin. Not much to say more there. Just fun.

But then. There’s Narcan to I would be so lucky. Richie saw all that shit. Richie saw how much of a fucking mom friend and overly prepared Chip always is. OF COURSE he’d be so lucky to have her because he IS so lucky to have her. She’s a LITERAL LIFESAVER. And to see fucking CARMEN? MAKE HER FEEL LIKE IT WAS HER FAULT??? OHHHHHHFHHFHF. …. I should’ve made him throw fucking punches i’m mad all over again.

24 Hours Sober to Fighting in the Window, not much to say there. Their contrasts of talking one on one is enough, howeevverrr

This is where I have so much to say about Rich. Because his ‘stop being you’ means so much to me. BECAUSE he’s saying it with so much sincere love. Like he really is. Because you can see in the NEXT SCENE, with the withdrawals, he WATCHED his best friend have to very literally stop being him, and TRY to grow. Fucking RICHIE had to stop being him, he had to become the guy, he had to stage, he had to start wearing suits. He had to fucking GROW! And Richie KNOWS how fucked Carmen’s brain is. And that this kid is torturing himself in his head. The best solution for Carmen, to Richie? He needs to stop being him.

Which is why he was so fucking pokey with ‘have you done the work?’ because Mikey had to, Richie had to, even Chip had to do work. He doesn’t see that work in Carmen! He gives up on himself because he doesn’t think he’s worth the work and it PISSES RICHIE THE FUCK OFF!!

There’s also the aspect that Richie literally screams back at Mikey while he’s going through it in the freezer, and Chip has to tell him to not be mean. But Chip’s not there in Carmen’s moments anymore! So no ones there to pull him back!

The deal scene vs the bear flickering scene isn’t much besides the burn the money, but I do love that Sydney asks ‘can you stay after close?’ and that being the exact same thing Carmen said to David. The difference is Carmen actually did stay to hear the critique. Proud of him.

I’ll leave it there, because this is so much to process. But thank you for giving me a place to yap about all that.

Anyways, back to the things YOU wrote because there’s still much to discuss. The freezer scene with Mikey was one I had set up since the beginning, and it really was so crushing in execution. There’s so much love in it, with all three of them being there— And it really just makes the introduction scene from chapter one so much more painful because it felt so familiar to both of them, just without their original Bear.

My master plannnn,,,, i’ve pulled you all in,,,,

The scene with Eva was so cute and then I get hit with “You’re gonna break your neck Mike. I don’t want to plan your funeral.” EVIL “You will not realize he is trying to make things clean and square, until it is too late.” “You think Mikey has a future, still. Mikey knows he doesn’t.” Both of these stabbed me in the chest and I haven’t recovered, just fyi

Yeah i was fucked up for these i have to quote them back to you because i did get a little crazy. A little wild.

MIKEY KNEWWWW, original CarmTony shipper before they even met frfr. Which, speaking of, as promised, the Mikey Fire thing. ALRIGHT.

So in Just Dropped, as I said before, there were SO many different routes I was considering, but one of them that I didn’t mention before was that the oven that Chip fixed, once Carmen dropped the ‘you failed Mikey’-- Was going to full flame up. Like that one scene where Carm tried to light a cig and it almost lit his fucking hair on fire? That.

I ditched this idea, inevitably, because it just felt too much like me fully going ‘yeah ghosts are fucking real’. And I wanted it to be more a choice for the reader whether or not they want to see that as a thing. So instead, there was the expo clock buzzing out for no reason— And if you choose to believe it, it might be Mikey trying to both scare Carmen out of fucking tweaking (painful back massage) and get Carmen to get Chip back out of the parking lot to fix it. Alas, it doesn’t work. But he tried. He also (if you choose to believe it) made the Bear’s logo buzz out. A design you technically helped make. That was just petty older brother shit. I like to think it coincided with Chip at home and the picture frame falling off her wall.

I like this because it adds context to other random breaks. The toilet spraying water in Tony’s face when she started to think she was nothing, Carmen’s oven breaking when Syd was on the verge of losing it. I like to think the Guy is still the guy. Even dead.

I’M GLAD THE LAST SCENE WAS MOVING!! The phone call was also one of those scenes that had a lot of different routes, and I’m glad I went with a lot more of a very simple almost sweet and like,,, pedestrian phone call? Like a normal day, almost. And it just makes the rest so much worse because YEAH SHE EXPECTED HIM TO COME OVER. HELL .

Thank you for your review, and thank you so much for reading it and thank you so much for reading THIS god i just spent like an hour yapping. If anyone read this please send me your thoughts on this director’s cut alone honestly just so i know someone read it and i am not yapping into the void THANK YOU LOVE YOU KISSES HOPE THE NEXT ONE IS ALSO GOOD HOPEFULLY

#yapping #extensive yapping #onion wip #ask #serendipity 29 #i have to go close the boxes i packed now but i think the actual packing is done

5 notes · View notes

timaeusterrored · 1 year

Text

(I’m tired)

((Brought to you by, Andrew is tired and needs comfort))

V thought he’d be alone tonight, which was probably a good thing. He was exhausted, and he was tired of people for the night and didn’t want to accidentally snap at Kerry. God he’d never forgive himself.

He sat out by the pool, staring at the calm water as he smoked. It had been an emotional day of nearly losing three mercs, Venus being one, most of his clients angry about something, getting harassed on the streets by paparazzi trying to get a shot of his face, and just over all waking up on the wrong side of the bed. He wanted sleep. And yet when he had attempted to lay down, he realized his body refused to sleep without Kerry.

“You must be really out of it tonight, babe.” Vax damn near fell out the chair, not realizing Kerry was standing over him- literally when he looked up, Kerry was just staring down at him.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to know you had a fuckin day.”

Kerry was correct, and also correct in Vax being out of it because he got from the sliding door and down the stairs and Vax didn’t hear a damn thing. And he still had his boots on. Vax normally heard his husband walking around, but tonight he probably could have been robbed blind.

Kerry patted V’s legs to get him to move them, sitting on the pool chair. The Fixer hugged his legs to his chest like a toddler, Kerry taking the cigarette before the ash could fall and burn him. Kerry put it out in the ashtray on the ground and looked at V, a knowing look on his face that said Vax wouldn’t have to say much.

“Ven is with Dean and Blue tonight, said you were a ticking time bomb and figured you’d need space. J is with them as well, so don’t worry.” Kerry explained, talking low and soft, as if V was some wounded animal. But it was better than the amount of yelling he had dealt with today.

“Hope I didn’t scare them… I yelled pretty bad today.” Vax had accidentally yelled at Venus and Onyx and Mike, and snapped at Claire and some clients. He felt awful of course, and would apologize tomorrow. But goddamn he was fucking tired.

“You’re pretty scary when you yell, but they aren’t angry if that’s what you’re asking.” Kerry explained, which was valid. Vax tried to not yell often, but when he did, it was fucking scary. He had caused the Afterlife to go silent.

Vax rubbed his face, letting out a frustrated groan. He couldn’t do this, he was shitty fixed and a shitty husband. He should have died on that space station because if he couldn’t be a merc, then what could he be?

This was Jackie’s dream. The nice house, the cars, the fame, this was all for Jackie. And now, Vax wasn’t sure. He didn’t exactly mind being Jackie’s shadow, it was what he was good at. Going in for the silent kill and disappearing… now he was the most sought after face in the world, everyone knew the legend of V, and everyone knew V Eurodyne. And god it made his chest tight.

“Hey… do you need a minute? I can go shower and get ready for bed if you need it.” Kerry hadn’t touched him besides patting his leg, and had maintained a level voice and respectful distance.

“…Think I’m gonna make me some tea from Misty… and see how I feel after.” Vax and Kerry were still working on the whole communication and feelings thing, it was rough because both were so used to just hiding it or hiding away.

“Sounds good, where am I gonna meet you after?” The fact that Kerry still wanted to be around him after the day he had meant the world to Vax. The fact that Kerry hadn’t gotten upset to not have kisses or any thing like that… he was letting Vax go at his own paceS

“If I’m not in bed, probably the couch.” Kerry nodded, standing up and stretching. “A bowl sounds really nice too…”

“Fuuuuck yes it does, you are speaking my language, doll.” The rocker leaned down, but stopped just before he kissed Vax, silently asking permission. Vax gave him a peck on the lips and Kerry took it with a smile before heading inside.

The couch ended up winning, Vax had changed out that godawful leather nightmare for a comfy couch that still somewhat matched the aesthetic of their penthouse. But if he was gonna have a couch, he should be able to take comfortable naps on it.

This time, he heard Kerry coming. His bare feet padding against the floor and a lighter appearing in front of his face. He always knew what Vax needed.

The two smoked and Vax drank his tea, trying to calm the fixer without overwhelming him more. Sometimes, he just needed Kerry there, just in his eyesight. He hated that Johnny went and stayed with Venus but was also glad they were getting along… but damn he needed Kerry and Johnny tonight…

Kerry took the final hit, Vax watching him blow the smoke out and went a little gayer if possible. Damn he loved this man… that was his man at the end of the couch.

“Bed? Or stay down here longer?” Kerry asked, cleaning up so Vax didn’t have too. He knew that Kerry knew Vax could very well wake up and be stress cleaning so Kerry would rather just clean now and try to help his husband rest for as long as possible.

“Bed… ‘M fuckin’ tired.” Vax mumbled finally, feeling Kerry help him stand up and help him up to bed.

19 notes · View notes

threadsun · 1 year

Note

You know, I just freaking realized I’m literally still being vocal on here without using my actual voice. Like, I don’t NEED to tell you how I’m reacting and I could just lie at how much this is affecting me. I could just play it cool and flirt back level headed, but here I am freaking detailing out everything lol. Correction: I need an experienced SADIST dom to get their hands on me, but I’ll never admit it! But damn, I’m usually the one to fluster people, it’s so weird being on the other side! Like, I hand out compliments like there’s no tomorrow, but I ain’t used to people handing them back.

Are you sure you’d be winning though? As far as I can tell, I can still think coherently AND I haven’t melted into a puddle of curses, so I’m not sure if you’re doing so good of a job reminding me how I should behave. A dom who can’t put a sub in their place, shame really~ All I can see is someone talking big game with no action! Heard it plenty times before, so there’s really nothing new there. Now you better show me some real talk here or I’ll just keep believing that I’ll win

Every. Single. TIME

I’m very competitive so~ But yeah! I think when I first learned about Ian, I was upset at what he did, but the afterlife story combined with what we know from the original game hints more as to why he did it and why he wouldn’t do it again. Self esteem issues mixed with religious trauma can definitely f-up someone’s mental image of sex and taboos. Of course, there’s a part of him being so used to m/c being around that he took them for granted a bit, but it’s normal to get more comfortable with someone after knowing them for so long. This whole situation was a reminder that M/C chose to be with them not because it was easy and convenient, but because they wanted to and so doing something like cheating might make them step away. But outside of that, I feel like a long heart-to-heart conversation and some counseling would really help their relationship heal, as couple or as friends. He never did it out of spite of M/C or to purposely hurt them so I don’t think it’s right to demonize him.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Fireman Joesph straddling a giant hose shirtless. Fireman Joesph letting you sit on his lap while he drives the fire truck around. Fireman Joesph warning you about the dangers of fire while smoking a cigarette at the same. Fireman Joesph slipping down the pole with flair just to tease you a bit. Fireman Joesph asking if you want to be the firehouse’s pet while handing you a Dalmatian ear headband. BARK! MWHAHAHA I FOUND YOUR WEAKNESSES! ψ(｀∇´)ψ Anyway, EMT Joesph snapping those gloves into place as he pulls out a heart monitor. Having him ask why your heart rate is so high while he leans over you to grab something. Gonna need that oxygen mask at that point sir! But yes to stripper Joesph in uniform! Freaking playing that magic mike soundtrack while grinding into the floor looking so fine~ YUM!

OMG YES! DO IT!!! WRITE THAT ZANDER FIC WITH OUTLAW JOESPH!! I’LL BE ALL OVER THAT THE MOMENT IT DROPS! 😂 Smoking in fiction definitely is hotter than irl, but imagine Joesph with sunshine who loves bubblegum cigarettes, acting like they’re real while blowing out sugary smoke. Their cheeks get all puffed up trying to keep the stick from flying out of their mouth and them trying to tell Joesph all cool like that their favorite brand is Round Up (Which ironically has a cowboy on the front of it). I can just imagine him chuckling to himself and shaking his head while taking another drag from his cigarette. Maybe they’ll even try to recommend Joesph to use their bubblegum cigarettes instead of his.

-🎃

It's cute how honest you are with me, I think you know I'd see right through you if you tried to lie. For all your bluster and big talk about how bratty you are, all you want is for someone to make you hurt for them. Someone who wants to see you cry for them. You just want a sadistic dom's firm hand to guide you and show you just how much pain you can withstand, all for a little praise and attention. Unfortunately for you, I don't do that part for free unless we're close. So sadly you'll have to settle for knowing I could break you, but I won't. And really, that's the perfect punishment for a brat like you, I think~

Ooooh see I don't think Ian took mc for granted at all. What I think happened is that his mother somehow convinced him that mc was being unfaithful. Whether it was just through constantly sowing seeds of doubt, or having mc followed and photographed in innocent situations framed to look scandalous, or paying someone to lie to him and say they'd slept with mc/seen mc sleeping with someone else. From what we've seen in Afterlife, she's not above things like having Ian followed. She clearly has the money for this sort of thing, doesn't approve of the relationship, and will go to any lengths to manipulate Ian and make him do what she wants. I think Ian didn't know what to do when he was made to believe mc cheated, so he slept with someone else to at least feel desirable and like he was as capable as mc of finding someone else. But as soon as the heartbreak and anger died down (and post-nut clarity hit), he realised it was his mother orchestrating the whole thing all along. So he feels guilty and responsible (because he was ultimately the one who believed it and made the choice to sleep with someone else) but it still keeps in line with the personality we saw in Afterlife and tracks with what we know of his mother. idk this might not be the way they go with it, but to me it makes more sense with what we've seen of his character than him just... deciding to cheat on a whim. Or cheating because he somehow takes mc for granted and assumes they'll forgive him (which is like... the exact opposite of what we've seen of his personality so far).

LISTEN I just think Joseph looks good in uniforms 😔 and I'm correct too. Oh what I would give to be the station puppy in an sdj firefighter AU........ so many big men in uniforms.........

>:3c I just might~ I simply think Zander/Kitty would have so much fun playing a game of cat and mouse with outlaw Joseph!!

Oh absolutely, either those or like the herbal cigarettes people use to help quit smoking! Moon's OC Nik uses those and it's very sexy and smells nice :3c

#sunshine #asks #🎃 anon #I'm dom-leaning but I'm still a switch and the idea of being the fire station puppyboy is... bark arf woof!!

5 notes · View notes

fazbear-security · 9 months

Text

Soul Shift - Ch. 8

Ao3

Sal Berra had been prepared to dispose of a body that morning.

It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d done it, either. Most of the many night guards who had been hired to fill the position had simply been scared away before even finishing a week, but a few had been…unlucky. The restaurant had never made enough money to afford closing for a criminal investigation (especially the way he and Terry had been….’adjusting’ the budget for the last decade), and it always fell to the managers to clean up the mess to keep the business running.

He felt a little bad about it this time, though.

Schmidt hadn’t been a bad kid…he’d been twitchy and anxious and a bit of a doormat, but not bad. He’d been handling the night shift well for the past year, and had even put a lot of work into fixing up the debuting character when corporate had sent over a splintery box of loose, battered parts instead of a full endoskeleton. He got on well with the rest of the staff, despite a rocky start, and he’d always been eager to pick up a new shift when the schedule had an open spot.

Sal tried to tell himself that this was for the best as he watched Terry unlock the front door and cautiously slip inside. For as good of an employee as he’d been, Schmidt had been a lawsuit waiting to happen. His outburst towards his ex could have easily turned violent, had the man not graciously accepted their frantic apologies and lifetime discount coupon. Terry was right - that kind of risk was not one they could afford to keep around. Not when they were so close to getting off scot-free. It was tragic, but Schmidt had to go.

Maybe they could even hire that sister of his to the night shift in Mike’s place? She was almost eighteen, and teenagers always wanted to make a little extra cash, right? No loose ends, no lawsuits, no problems.

Sal paused with his hand on the door as he sneaked in behind Terry and gave his head a little shake.

Terry’s influence was going to be the death of him.

As Sal eased the door shut behind him, careful not to let the bell at the top ring, Terry clicked on his flashlight and swung it around the party hall with a frown. The animatronics were all still standing in their places on stage, and the room looked pristine - no signs of a chase or conflict anywhere. He waited anxiously for Sal to lock the door and join him, and immediately began heading for the Parts & Service room.

“I hope they used that ratty old yellow one.” The man thought out loud. “We could save ourselves the tarps and trash bags and just toss the whole thing in the landfill, once and for all.”

“You want to explain to corporate why their ‘historic’ Fredbear suit is missing when they come asking?” Sal raised an eyebrow.

“If they come asking.” Terry corrected, pausing with his hand on the doorknob to the service room. “Besides, after what happened in Utah, the big wigs will never bring those old things back into the spotlight - and after so long in storage, I doubt any of those suits are in repairable condition, anyway.” He threw open the door, and Sal braced himself for the smell of blood and death.

The ‘costume fitting’ was never a pretty sight.

“...what the hell?” Terry stepped further into the room and swung the flashlight around. “There’s nothing in here!” Frowning, Sal followed him inside, propping the door open with the toe of his shoe. The room smelled of mineral spirits and mildew, but not blood…in fact, all he could see in the beam of Terry’s flashlight was dust. The spare suits - some stood up against the back wall, some slumped over - looked untouched from the last time he’d seen them, and as he watched Terry shove his flashlight down into the torso cavity of one of them, he realized that they were all noticeably empty, too.

“They didn’t use a suit…?” Sal reached out on reflex for the lightswitch on the wall, and winced when the bulbs flickered to fluorescent life. Terry hissed out a curse. “The power still works.” Sal’s lip curled into a snarl. “I thought you said you’d swapped the fuses!”

“I did swap the fuses!” Terry snarled back. “I even hid the box of spares so nobody else could swap it out even if they noticed!”

“Then what went wrong?” Sal stopped himself there; his raised voice was too loud in the cluttered room, and shouting didn’t fix the problem. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go! “Where else would they have put him?”

“I don’t know!” Terry snapped back, as visibly agitated as Sal felt inside. “They’ve never put the losers anywhere else - only the suits!” He gave the suit nearest to him a vicious kick, and it promptly toppled off of its stand with a clatter of flocked plastic and metal. Terry cursed again as he hopped away from the avalanche, and Sal pinched the bridge of his nose.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. They could still make this work

“We need to find him.” Sal flicked off the lights again and pushed the door open, barely waiting for Terry to catch up to him before heading toward the stage, and the basement door beyond its curtains. “Schmidt must’ve figured out that a fuse was the problem.” Sal concluded with a grim frown. “I pegged him for a coward, but if he managed to get down there, where the bots couldn’t follow, he could’ve replaced the blown fuse for a new one to get the power going again.”

“The kid doesn’t even have a car,” Terry snorted dismissively, half-running and half-walking to try and keep up with Sal’s agitated power walk. “How would he know how to change a fuse?”

“Schmidt was majoring in electrical engineering before he dropped out of college.” Sal retorted, straightening a chair that had been knocked askew from a table habitually as he passed it. “Of course he’d know how to change a damn fuse.” He stopped at the door to the backstage area and spun on one heel to face Terry, forcing the other man to pull up short to avoid a collision. “You’d know that if you bothered to talk to your people more than once a performance review.” Terry glared at his manager’s back as Sal stormed backstage, but bit his tongue.

In-fighting was how all those schmucks on ‘Crime Scene Evening’ got caught before they could hide the evidence, and Terry Kline was no schmuck.

The basement door stood half-open, and Terry muttered another curse. Sal opened it further and went down the stairs, and Terry paused to glare at the door. He knew he’d locked that damn door before he’d left the night before - there were only two keys, and he held both of them. To get past it, Schmidt would’ve had to pick the lock.

He’d known from day one that that kid was bad news…

“Terry! Get down here! NOW.” Sal’s stern voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and Terry hustled down the stairs. He stopped halfway, and leaned against the railing with his free hand as his flashlight beam pointed down to the bottom. There, sprawled out on the concrete beside a shattered flashlight and a small pool of blood, was Mike Schmidt. Sal stood over him, glaring up the old string of the pull light as he gave it several useless tugs. The manager gave up on the light and carded his fingers through his short, gray hair, and hissed a breath through his teeth.

“He’s still breathing.” Sal told Terry. “Out like a light with a nasty gash on the back of his head, but still breathing.” Terry clicked his teeth a few times as his mind raced. A crowbar would fix this problem lickety-split, but Sal had only agreed to this ‘clean up’ plan because it kept their hands clean. Terry wasn’t all that keen on getting his hands dirty, either - the plausible deniability of the animatronics doing the murdering ensured that corporate would step in to deflect any future police involvement, lest all the other tragedies they’d knowingly buried be brought back to light.

They needed a plan B.

“....we hide him, then.” Terry came down a few more steps and waved his flashlight around the basement, looking around the dusty stacks of boxes, prop crates, and untouched party supplies. “Set him up in the office tomorrow night and let the band take care of it. He can’t fight them off if he’s comatose.” Sal’s face twisted into conflicted frown, and Terry hopped over Mike’s limp legs to grab his coworker by the arm. “Sal, look at me. We’re in too deep to back out now.” He insisted, pinning his manager with an intense stare. “Either we call an ambulance and risk the kid blabbing about the bad fuse, prompting an investigation that we can’t hide from, or we keep going, make him disappear, and let everything get swept under the rug as usual.”

“.....” Sal hissed through his teeth again and raised both hands to scrub at his face, warring with himself. If his granddaughter only knew what he was willing to do to make sure she got the chance to grow up. “I really hate it when you’re right.” He shrugged Terry’s hand off of his arm, and the other man let his hand drop. “Let’s walk around and make sure he didn’t leave any possessions in the building, first, and then we’ll move the body. Anders won’t be in for…” Sal paused and checked the watch on his wrist. Terry helpfully held the flashlight a little higher to illuminate the carefully painted numbers. “Another hour, if not two. That should be plenty of time.”

“He never took up a locker in the employee lounge,” Terry pointed out as they headed back up the stairs, neither man looking back at the body lying on the cold floor. “But he was always carrying that backpack of his. Should be easy enough to hide.”

“Should be.” Sal shouldered his way through the basement door, which had fallen shut somewhat, and headed back onto the party floor. He heard Terry start to jog to catch up, but did not slow down until he had reached the security office and flicked on the lights. The office, however, was empty. There was no coffee cup on the desk, no jacket on the back of the chair…and no backpack to be seen. Sal could feel his blood pressure rising, and turned to march back down the hall. Terry, having only just caught up, made a frustrated sound but hurried to catch up again.

A quick look through the employee lounge and the offices yielded nothing, but when Terry poked his flashlight into Pirate’s Cove (“just to cover all bases”, he swore), there it was. Sal edged around the rusted animatronic still posed as if for showtime while Terry held the flashlight steady, and sighed (in relief or resignation, he wasn’t sure) as he picked up the grey backpack with the Voltron patch.

“His bag is back here.” He confirmed. “I’ve never seen them take trophies before, but nobody should look for it back here.”

“Leave it where it is.” Terry said, waving for Sal to come back out and join him. “This rusted piece of scrap,” He glared at Foxy, though the animatronic’s blank eyes could not stare back. “Should have finished the job the proper way, but at least it hid some of the evidence for us.” Sal edged his way back to the opening in the curtain, and Terry drew it shut as firmly as he could before they walked away.

They had one hour to hide a body before any other staff came in for the day, and one more day to make it through before this nightmare was over.

#mun's writing #fanfic: Soul Shift #Mike Schmidt #fnaf

0 notes

strangerfigs · 2 years

Text

the fact that in response to el saying mike does not tell her he loves her, he says “you know what I think of you” ✋🚩 the fact that he uses the word feel when talking to will hand ✋🚩

“I feel like l was worrying too much about el and I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you, or something”

then, literally when talking to will, he can’t even bring himself to say the word, makes zero reference to his feelings or having trouble expressing them, instead saying that if he just said the thing he needed to say, then he could be with eleven now. in this, i also think it goes back around to the whole “maybe i was worrying too much about el” like that has been a majority of his relationship with el, looking after her, and her being in trouble, and trying to help her. it’s almost the nature of their relationship. there has not been a single point where he wasn’t worrying about el in some way since she came into his life which is not only unhealthy! (their relationship is honestly so unhealthy on both sides but let’s focus on mike rn) but it pretty much takes up all the space in his brain to feel anything else, which hey, that’s what he said to will, right? yeah, it was. while mike might not fully realize it, or have agreed with eleven, on some level, he knows she is different. he knows that she does not get to have a normal life. he worries about her because on some capacity, he knows that she needs help, and he thinks he can be the one to give it to her, or maybe even feels like he owes that to her (she has entrusted him more than anyone else and she has helped him so many times!) but honestly, I know I said this was about mike, but he needs to let her go. when eleven was able to remove herself from mike and get other help, she was able to conquer her trauma. mike is not the answer, and their relationship tends to hang on that promise of “everything is going to be okay” kind of thing. but like, mike is just some kid in indiana, he’s not a professional, and i really hope, that on some capacity at least, mike realizes that he needs to take care of himself for once. because ya, he can be a little bit of an ass at times, but finn was correct, especially if you rewatch. he is always focused on other people. it’s never about himself. his arc in seasons 1&2 were both about will/el (el being second priority in both to will) and in season 3, it’s obviously eleven, along with season 4, thus far; but will isn’t in trouble in these seasons. but el is, but she was also in trouble in 1&2 and even though we did see mike worrying about her and trying to help her, his focus was will when he was in trouble because truly, truly i think he really cares for them both and loves them both (in different ways) but when it comes down to it; he would choose will. but since season 2, it’s only been eleven, who had to worry about. will has his mom, jonathon, their other friends, while hopper “died” and el moved in with a family, of which, she really did not have much connection to? other than joyce? so I guess what I’m saying, is, I’d be so interested in seeing what mikes feelings are outside of worry; like if he didn’t have to worry about el, how would he feel about her? how would he feel about will? because truly he has had no time to not worry about these two people, one of which he says is the most important thing in his life and the other, who he said was the best decision of his life to become friends with. I think it’s a triangle, and at the very least, he is bisexual (but I rly think he is gay.) And to completely deny that or say fans are delusional to see this, is actually, just homophobic. sorry

literally I can’t wrap my head around it. mike - honey - thinking does not equal feeling. I feel like these two conversations truly confirm the differences of feeling v thinking. mike doesn’t have a problem with words of affirmation. someone with issues with words of affirmation doesn’t say shit like, “I think you’re the most incredible person in the world,” they don’t say, “you look beautiful”, they don’t say, “I called you every night for 363 days,” they don’t say, “I can’t lose you again,” they don’t say, “you’re the most important thing to me in the world” (this is honestly the biggest thing ever and I promise you, someone with words of affirmation is not capable, or at least not as easy to say it as mike was), people who struggle with words of affirmation cannot say, “I’ve never felt, you know, this way with anyone before”, they don’t say things like “a friend is someone you’d do anything for,” or “I’m happy you’re home,” and they don’t say things like, “that was the best thing I’ve ever done,” in reference to becoming friends with someone. like, maybe on a few occasions, Mike would be able to express how he feels if he truly struggled w this, but he doesn’t, and neither did nancy when she did not tell steve that she loves him; it was not even like she hadn’t told steve before, like that we know of. steve says, “you don’t love me?” as if he is surprised, as if she has said it in the past. it’s so valid that people do struggle to open up, people like hopper, for example, but mike has never been that way. he openly sobs in his mothers arms upon wills “death” and seeks her out for comfort again when el and the byers leave. as someone with actual issues of expressing fondness and affection and love, it’s just so obvious to me that that is not the case with mike, and if it is, the development of that makes zero sense. it’s just not his character. like to credit myself, i study human behavior and that’s just… not how it works. nor has it ever been insinuated further than, maybe the scene where he first tries to tell her but that scene made sense: he does not know if she will say it back, but that clearly is not the case anymore.

#byler #stranger things

103 notes · View notes

granolabird · 3 years

Text

The Weight of Reality

Post 2x08. Sorry guys, there isn’t really a way to fluff this one out. It’s gotta be angsty. Beth finds out about Rick being put in jail, and immidiately calls him. Needless to say, he’s not doing well. Written while listening to Giants by Imagine Dragons on loop bc that’s such a Rick-centric song.

Warings: One single F bomb. And a lot of sad teenagers. That is all.

Tags: @hournites @bethchapelsbonnet

If you’d like to be added to my weekly Hournite fic taglist feel free to ask :)

Beth is sitting at her desk doing research when she gets the call. It’s ten at night, and fireworks still light the sky outside her house. She’s always hated the fourth of July. Too much noise and partying. Beth was a fan of neither of those things. This fourth of July felt different though. It felt too quiet, what with all the Eclipso business. She was almost thankful for the bright colourful bursts of light outside her window, reassuring she was still in the real world. She was still here. Eclipso couldn’t get to her as long as she had the goggles on.

Her first instinct after the whole Eclipso business had been to phone Rick. He hadn’t responded, which was nothing out of the ordinary. She chalked it up to the bad service at his farm, as that was his usual excuse. When Beth called Courtney and she didn’t respond was when Beth began to worry. Courtney spent all her free time on her phone. She always answered. She was decidedly not answering. Then Beth tried Pat, who she only really called during emergencies, to the same result. She left them all messages of varying concern, telling them about how she really needed to talk, and she had more information on Eclipso. Perhaps the Whitmore-Dugan family were out having a fourth of July celebration. That made sense. That was the option Beth went with.

So that’s how Beth got here. Googling her life away, looking at shady PDF documents on possible origins of Eclipso, and on the original JSA. She didn’t have much but it was something to keep her brain occupied. She’s skimming an article about The Flash and everything that’s known about him when her phone rings.

It’s Pat.

She almost takes her goggles off before picking it up instinctively, but she corrects herself and leaves them on as she answers the phone. There's a moment of silence on the other side of the line before Pat speaks.

“Beth?”

“Pat! Thank goodness, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you-”

“Beth, I need to tell you something.” There’s a serious tone to his voice. It reminds Beth of the time the hospital called to tell her family that her grandfather was deathly ill. It’s a tone of voice laced with pity, and she hates it. After everything she’s dealt with tonight pity is the last thing she feels like dealing with.

“What’s wrong?”

She keeps her thoughts to herself, instead focusing on figuring out what Pat has to say. There’s more silence on the other end of the line. She can hear what sounds like Courtney crying in the background. She hears Pat take a steadying breath.

“Pat? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“It’s Rick.”

Beth’s entire body drops. She feels it. She feels herself crumple. The feeling of dread she thought she’d destroyed when she fought off Eclipso returns instantly, making her feel sick. Rick.

Something’s happened to Rick.

“Is he…”

“He’s okay, Beth. But he’s in Jail.”

“What?”

“Eclipso got to him. Made him think Matt was Grundy. Rick attacked him, and almost killed him. The police took Rick in. Court and I are at the station now, we’re trying to get it figured out.”

“No.” She can barely hear herself speak.

“Beth I’m so sorry”

“What about the hourglass? Can’t he use that to break out of jail or something?” Beth is scrambling for an answer, a way to help Rick.

“You know he wouldn’t do that Beth, even if he could.”

“If he could?”

“He smashed the Hourglass.”

Beth doesn’t know when she started crying, hot tears flowing down her face. She finally got somewhere with her parents and now this. Now this.

“Beth? Are you okay?”

“Sorry. I’m sorry Pat I just… I need a minute to process.”

“It’s okay Beth. I can call you back later if you want. Then we can talk about what you wanted to tell us?”

Beth wants to say no, that she has to tell them about Eclipso and her immunity to him with the goggles right now but she can’t. She physically cannot. Every time she opens her mouth it feels like fire is creeping up from her lungs. She can barely breathe.

“Yeah.”

Is all she can force out.

She’s shaking as Pat hangs up, staring at her cracked phone screen. The photo of her and the rest of her friends smiling split by the nasty lightning-bolt shatters on the glass screen. Broken. She looks at Rick in the photo, his arm slung around her leisurely as he laughs at a joke Mike said before taking the picture. She wants nothing more than to be back with him at that moment. Things seemed so much easier then.

“I’m sorry Rick. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been there for you.” She murmurs, pressing her forehead to the top of her phone screen.

The phone, of course, provides no response.

She stares at the screen a while longer before she gets an idea, frantically searching up the number of the police station. She’s not sure it’ll work. She’s not well versed in the etiquette of phoning the police station to talk to a newly-arrested teen but it won’t hurt to try, right?

She hesitates for a moment, her finger hovering over the phone number. She takes a deep breath before she presses it, and then hits the call button.

Ringing

And then

“Blue Valley Police Department, how can I help you?” A deep male voice answers the phone.

“Hi! Sorry, I don’t know if this is the right number to call, or what I’m supposed to be doing here really.” She’s speaking quickly, words blending together in her panic. She takes another deep breath and then continues.

“You have someone I know in detainment? A Rick Tyler? Or maybe he’s under Rick Harris, but that’s not really his name.” She cringes at that statement, but the officer, whoever they are, should call Rick by his real name. He deserves at least that.

“Right. So why exactly are you calling?”

“Oh! Sorry, I’d like to talk to him if that’s possible? I know he’s just gotten there but I’m.. Well I’m his closest friend. I just really need to talk to him.”

“Listen kid, we already have people here trying to figure out what to do with him-”

“Pat and Courtney. They know me, they’d want me to talk to him too. Please. I really need to talk to him. Even if it’s only for a little while. Please.”

A deep sigh on the other end of the line.

“You’re lucky I have a soft spot for young romance. He’s in a detention cell right now. I’ll see what I can do.”

Beth’s mind catches on to the words young romance. She wants to correct the officer and tell her there is no romance, but she doesn’t. Because that would be a lie. There was something. A spark. One that may never turn into anything if Rick gets sent off to a juvenile detention centre somewhere halfway across the country.

“Thank you so much.” Beth breathes, realizing she hadn’t said anything in response.

The officer only grunts, and then she hears the sound of the phone being placed on the table, and footsteps walking away.

It seems like hours before she hears more footsteps, hurried, almost panicked. She hears a vague

“You have to be quick. I really shouldn’t be doing this.”

No response, only a swoosh of air as the phone is lifted up and then

“Beth?” Rick’s voice is shaking.

Beth has never heard him so genuinely scared. He sounds terrified, and so deeply sad. He sounds broken.

“Rick. Rick, I’m here, what happened?”

“Beth.” He repeats her name, and then she hears him sob.

It’s a guttural noise as he gasps for air, and Beth wishes she could reach through the line to hug him. She wants to be there with him more than anything.

“Rick, it'll be okay.”

“It won’t. I’ve fucked it all up Beth. We can’t fix this one.” He sounds so defeated.

“We can try. I’m not going to stop trying. This isn’t your fault. We’re going to get you out of this.” “This is my fault. This is entirely my fault. It was bound to happen one day, and now it did. Even Matt knew it, I was destined for the cells. That’s my future.” He’s not even listening to what she’s saying, just rambling to himself at this point.

“Rick-”

“You deserve better than me Beth. You, and the whole team. I’ve been nothing but a dead weight. You’ll be better off without me.”

“RICK.” Beth half-shouts into her phone, tears still burning molten streams down her cheeks.

She hears Rick inhale sharply on the other end of the line. He’s surprised. Good, at least that’ll get him out of his own mind.

“I’m not leaving you and that’s final. Nobody is. You may not think it, but we care about you. A lot. We’re going to get you out of this.”

Another sob on Rick’s end, and she can hear his heavy breathing as he tries, and fails, to regain his composure.

“I’m sorry. Beth, oh my god I'm so sorry.” She wishes Rick didn’t sound so terrified.

She wishes there was some way she could reverse time and be there to help him. To make everything better.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not. Eclipso made you do it. Please, please don’t blame yourself. Please don’t.” She’s pleading, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“I… Beth I…” He’s at a loss for words.

She hears the deep voice of the Officer in the background. Shuffling. “I’ve gotta go Beth.” His voice is strained. “Ok. I’ll see you as soon as I can.” Beth offers, hoping it’ll provide him some reassurance.

“Right.”

A deep breath on his end, and then more shuffling and voices. “Beth I.. I lo… I…” He’s really trying to say something, his words choked as he struggles to spit them out.

Before he can finish his sentence there’s more footsteps and the phone clatters down. A few more seconds of shouts and shuffling before the line cuts out, and Beth is left alone again.

She’s almost certain she knows what he was going to say in that last sentence but she can’t bring herself to think too much about it. It’ll be something to talk about once they get Rick out. They have to get him out. With a sigh Beth returns to staring at her shattered phone screen, still crying. She stares at Rick’s smiling face, and tries to smile back at him. She just wants to be with him. She just wants it all to be okay. She’ll just have to keep telling herself it’ll all be okay. Then, maybe one day it will be.

It has to be.

#This hurt me to write #But it is what it is #Stargirl #Stargirl Spoilers #Hournite #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #beth x rick #hourman #dr. mid nite #pat dugan #Angst #Just a lot of angst

47 notes · View notes

femmeharringrove · 4 years

Text

when steve goes into labor early, he finds himself craving his mother's presence in a way he never has before.

he's always loved her, even if she never really loved him. growing up, she always just sort of avoided him - his eyes were so big and open and honest as he toddled about proclaiming his own love for just about everything under the sun - his nonna, the roses growing, and his mama. and she knew she should have loved him. hell, she wanted to love him, but she just couldn't. and since she couldn't love this little being who seemed entirely made up of love, she distanced herself.

and maybe as a child he didn't know, he was gullible enough to believe that she was just busy, just couldn't come play or couldn't help him plant a new flower, but he grew up and he saw everyone else's mother do so much better. and it stung. it did worse than sting, it ached in a way he just couldn't explain. and when he was fourteen he finally broke down and asked her why she didn't love him, and he'd hoped that she'd tell him otherwise but she was drunk and all she could do was break down and cry and ask for his forgiveness. she didn't remember it the next morning but steve's been haunted by the memory ever since, the knowledge that his mother doesn't love him.

of course he always knew his father despised him, there was no question of that. and now that he's having a baby of his own his aversion to the elder Harrington has only worsened. john harrington is a cruel being, he never should have been allowed near ant child, and steve was determined to keep him away from this one no matter what. he's already told the man he won't be allowed in the hospital, but his mother is supposed to be there. but it's the dead of night and the baby is coming early and as much as he cries for her there's no possible way to get her there in time.

still, billy's heart tugs at the way steve whimpers and says "i - i need her." but the thing is, billy knows the infamous misses harrington. and she doesn't deserve to be there when steve gives birth. but he knows exactly who does.

he does feel a little guilty about calling at such a ridiculous hour, but he isn't surprised when joyce answers, soft and groggy.

"hello?"

and billy pauses, because he doesn't know how to word this. he doesn't know how to tell her that steve's hours away from being a father instead of week, that he's crying for someone who doesn't love him, that billy himself is a little terrified. but in the end it just comes out on its own.

"he needs his mom."

and so joyce shows up at four in the morning and steve sobs against her because he's only ever been ready for the theoreticals. this isn't him reading a book on pregnancy, this isn't one of the kind mothers of hawkins sharing their delivery stories. this is steve, his stomach contracting miserably, his back and hips screaming, his heart racing because he's about to be in possession of a tiny little human being who's going to need him for everything. and this is also steve, barely in the third decade of his life, no real plan for his own future, staying up most nights because he's scared of monsters - monsters he'll now have to protect his baby from. and he doesn't know how to put those fears into words so all he can do is cry, and joyce, she gets it, she always does, and so she strokes his hair and soothes his fears as best she can.

and then there's claudia of course, who's been there since steve's first ultrasound, and she never leaves his room for long, not if she can help it. she holds his hand and wipes his tears and steve feels safe. claudia's always called him the older son she never had, and he feels more like steve henderson than steve harrington in those moments.

the kids won't leave either, because of course they won't. eleven and will overheard joyce on the phone the night before and when hopper tries to get them to school they outright beg to stay home because focusing is impossible knowing their honorary neice or nephew could be born at any second. and hop wants to make them go, but ultimately he can't. and once they get the all-clear, they call the others, and the next thing steve knows he's surrounded by a gang of not-quite teenagers looking him over for any problems and loudly expressing their excitement. and it's endearing, because it reminds steve that this kid has a plethora of babysitters at the ready - even if mike tries to act like he doesn't care, which is decidedly false judging from the panic that crosses his face when steve's hit with a nasty contraction.

dustin refuses to go home even as night falls, and max tells susan she's spending the night with eleven - which is true, but they're both staying at the hospital as well, hopper watching them while joyce stays firmly by steve's side.

on his right, as has been the case for the entirety of his pregnancy, is billy. holding his hand, pushing his hair out of his face, comforting and praising him through steve's low whines and pained groans. he doesn't know how many hours he spends pushing but it hurts like nothing else, like his body is being torn from the inside, and he wants it to stop but he needs to keep going. so he does, he grits his teeth and he pushes through everything, and in the end he's rewarded with the first wail of a human being.

and he doesn't cry right away.

not that he can, his body is catching up with that the hell just happened, his breath is still coming in quick, shaky gasps, and he feels like he's only hearing joyce, not listening. nothing feels right until he's given the solid six-pound weight of his baby on his chest. she's so pink, and her cries are subsiding slowly, but steve runs a trembling hand over the top of her head and realizes she's got the same dark fuzz from all of his baby pictures and then it smacks him in the gut.

this baby is his.

and he holds her close and cries because the amount of love in his chest is too much, he hurts with the intensity of it.

nikita rosaline harrington is her name, and billy tears up a little bit because of it. she's a pretty little thing, her nose is tiny and scrunches up whenever billy runs a fingertip down the tiny bridge of it. she's got her father's eyes too, big and brown and curious, billy's never seen anything more precious - or he thinks so, until he watches steve stare at her with the same eyes and nearly has a heart attack at how sweet the two of them are. and he doesn't need to complicate things right now, not when steve's finally catching his breath after months of hardship, but he knows in his heart this is his family. that's his baby, that's his - well, his steve. and he kisses them both on the forehead and promises he'll take care of them. he's not the dick responsible for knocking steve up, but it's an honor to do this, to step in.

to prove he's not like neil. he can be a dad, and a damn good one at that.

and steve, who doesn't even like letting nancy drive the party to the arcade without him being there, he trusts billy wholeheartedly to raise this baby with him. billy doesn't take that lightly.

joyce and claudia spend a good hour fawning over nikita, they've gotten her so many gifts and she ends up in the little cap claudia made and the outfit joyce got. max and eleven are just as thrilled, max kisses her chubby little cheeks and eleven stares at steve in awe for literally creating a life. will talks to her quietly and holds her like he never wants to let go, even though he does in order to let hopper hold niki for a bit.

there's never been a question about who her grandfather is. neil and john are simply unfit, and hopper's been a pseudo-dad to billy and steve, he's the only one who gets the grandfather status. there's a whole mix of emotion on his face as he bounces the cooing baby, telling her how nice it is to finally meet her and how he's gonna enjoy spoiling her rotten. when he finally gives her back to steve, the man has tears in his eyes.

"you did good, kid," he tells steve, runs a heavy hand over his hair before patting billy on the shoulder.

dustin holds her the longest, of course. he quickly comes to adore the fit of his finger in her curled palm, and he tells her about all the things he's going to teach her as she grows up. steve's fondly amused at how easily dustin takes to carrying nikita, in the same way steve got used to dragging dustin around. every time the curly-haired kid remembers to look up at the other people in the room, he gives steve the brightest grin, eyes crinkled with merriment.

"you have the coolest dad ever, niki," he informs her proudly, and steve's finally beyond the need for cool points but it's touching nonetheless.

mike and lucas meet her in the morning, and lucas immediately charms the baby with a little song as he rocks her back and forth. he declares himself the fun uncle, which dustin protests, but steve and billy know lucas is correct. mike is the only one who just knows how to hold a baby, thanks to a baby sister, so he takes nikita from lucas like it's nothing and stares at her little face for a long time. the emotion there isn't something steve can read, but he sees the way mike draws her closer after a moment and smiles.

mike's a protector, even if he likes to act like he doesn't care sometimes. and steve, who's just as protective, knows that niki is beyond safe with him.

when robin meets the baby she nearly screams. but then she remembers how new those little ears are and settles for the biggest grin as she swipes niki from billy and walks about, cooing all sorts of nonsense to her little neice. "she's too cute," she gushes, planting a kiss to the baby's forehead. "i'm taking her home. sorry, dingus." and steve protests, but they both know she isn't about to walk out of there with a baby. robin loves kids, but she doesn't think motherhood is for her.

it's certainly not for everyone. and that thought doesn't occur to steve until his mother shows up, nearly a day after niki is born.

he watches her go to pick nikita up and his heart twists and he wants to reach over and take her back. his hands stay clenched under the blanket as the woman smiles at the baby, then at steve himself.

"you made a cute one, i'm not surprised," she muses, and then she says, "don't you just love her?"

and steve, he can't really respond to that.

billy's his saving grace, picks up on the shift and ends up gently convincing misses harrington to come back another time. when he turns back to steve, the brunette has tears already streaming down his face.

"why couldn't she -?" he tries, but billy doesn't need him to finish that sentence. he moves closer and wraps steve up in his arms and for the first time decides that he hates both harringtons, not just john.

because steve's easily the most loveable soul he's ever stumbled across. he looks at nikita and all he can see is a little steve, and he hates the boy's parents for refusing to love the vulnerable little soul they brought into the world.

#steebie writes #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things au #co parenting au #harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove

52 notes · View notes

kitchen-witch-bitch · 4 years

Note

6. Let’s make a deal shall we? With Reddie?

EEEE THANK YOU BBY I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS!! If not you can beat my ass Friday XD

“Let’s make a deal, shall we?”

The statement comes unprompted from Richie’s lazy form in the hammock, shouted across the clubhouse in a poor imitation of a Bond villain Eddie is too tired to keep up with.

Eddie peeks over his comic book from Bill’s old spot; their friend, the last one of the Losers to leave besides Mike, had moved for college a few weeks prior, and Eddie and Richie honestly weren’t far behind. Richie was due to leave for California any day now, and Eddie...Eddie was headed to New York. Tomorrow. With his girlfriend (re: babysitter, as Richie had called her on more than one occasion) that he may or may not be hiding from in an effort to spend a few more hours with Richie.

Just a few more hours.

As Eddie’s stomach churns at the thought, he realizes he hasn’t given his friend an answer. He may have pulled out a voice, but it was a statement that Eddie was supposed to respond to, based on the way the raven-haired boy pushed up so he could look at Eddie and fiddle with his glasses.

Eddie turns a page without having really read the first one, his fingers just needing something to do besides stain the pages with sweat from their sitting in one place too long. “What kind of deal?”

“One of those marriage deals.” Eddie chokes, and Richie is quick to correct himself. “I mean! Wait! No! We don’t have to get married!” Richie really sits up now; he does it so fast the hammock angrily drops him to an unforgiving dirt floor. “I’m not, like, gay or anything--” he’s spitting out dirt as he tries to talk, and for some reason, Eddie can’t move from his spot to check on him.

Eddie grips the comic book so tightly he feels one of the pages tear a bit. He doesn’t care. “Yeah. uh. Not gay. I know you’re not gay. I’m not gay either.”

The statements hang in the air while Richie situates himself on a sturdier chair, neither of them really even breathing for fear of disturbing the bubble they’ve created here. The lies taste like dirt on Eddie’s tongue and he just barely catches himself in time to not retch. He figures the way his throat and eyes twitch and the blood that is pooling in his cheeks may have given him away or, at least, alerted Richie to the fact that he was uncomfortable. Neither one calls the other out.

Richie clears his throat. “I guess, uh, what I meant was--God, I sound like Bill--what I meant was we could, you know, live together. You know. If I’m not married and you’re not married by the time we’re 35, we could buy a house wherever we want and be bachelors forever.”

“I can’t stand you, how the fuck could I live with you?”

“You can too stand me,” Richie insists, but there’s a look behind his eyes that Eddie knows means he’s been hurt. “You would have gone and hidden from Myra at Mike’s farm instead of hiding here with me if you couldn’t stand me.”

Eddie pulls his bottom lip into his mouth; Richie has a point. He doesn’t know how right he is. Eddie would give anything to be going to California with Richie instead of to New York with Myra. He doesn’t have anything to retort. “Richie, I...I’m getting married. Right after college.”

“Things can change,” Richie’s voice has taken on a definite edge, but Eddie hears the hitch in his breath. It’s enough to make Eddie hide his face behind his comic to hide his own red eyes.

“I don’t know, Rich. I...mom already had me give her the ring.”

Richie is uncharacteristically silent before storming to the ladder, quickly scaling it. “Well, offer’s on the table. We all know that’s not gonna last.”

Eddie breathes out a quiet “Deal,” although he’s not sure Richie heard. He swears he sees Richie’s foot waver on the top rung when Eddie speaks, but when Richie keeps going, Eddie is afraid he didn’t hear him.

He doesn’t call Richie and apologize like he feels like he should.

*~*~*

It's 23 years before Eddie sees Richie again, 27 years after their first encounter with the clown that has killed so many, including sweet Stan, and took their memories of one another piece by piece. Everything was so murky when he got back to Derry at first, but now it's all clear as a bell, now that he's lying in a hospital bed, actually struggling to breathe for the first time in his life.

He's not alone, though. It's not so scary. Richie and Beverly are holding his hands; Ben is rubbing at his feet because not only are his hands good for building delicate things, they're good at reflexology, too; Bill is settled on the bed with a hand on part of his chest that isn't torn, trying to be a steady force against which Eddie can start to regulate his breathing; Mike is stroking his hair from somewhere above.

In all of it, he lets out a choked laugh. If he dies, he's not alone.

He passes out shortly after staring Richie in the eyes, remembering their last encounter as teenagers. The way Richie ran away from him, and how this entire time he’d been home, Richie kept running back to him, protecting him just like he had all those years before.

Richie's the only one in the room when Eddie wakes up for real, eyes fluttering open and then snapping shut against the startling sun, intruding through the windows. He's got a killer migraine, but he can breathe.

Fuck, he can breathe.

His chest doesn't hurt.

He lets one hand move across where there should be a gaping hole, but there's nothing.

He feels someone sit on the bed next to him and gently take his hand. He recognizes those hands as Richie's, but he can't open his eyes. Even though he wants to look at Richie all the time, his head hurts too badly.

"What happened?" Eddie slurred.

"We don't know." It is a quiet admission, and Richie starts stroking his thumb across the back of Eddie’s hand. "They had you in surgery and...you just started closing up? Everything's working perfectly, the doctors say you can go home soon." One knuckle strokes at Eddie's cheek. "You gotta open those doe eyes, though."

Eddie keeps them closed. "I don't wanna go home."

They're both quiet for a long moment, and Richie pulls his hand back down to where his other one is holding Eddie’s. "No?"

"No." Eddie shifts a little, moving his head from where the window is so that he can just barely squint. Nope. Still hurts. He shuts them tight again. "Where is everybody?"

"They had to go get everything packed up at the Inn, but they'll be back soon, Eds."

Eddie hums and tries to nod. Good. That gives them time to talk. "We had a deal."

Richie chuckles lowly; it's self-deprecating, a tone Eddie doesn't like him using. It's the only voice of Richie's he actually hates, just because it breaks his heart. "Yeah, that only works if you agreed to it and held up your end of the bargain, baby."

"I did agree to it," Eddie insisted, voice strained. He needs water, but he needs to finish this conversation more. "I don't wanna go home to Myra. I wanna find a new home with you."

There's a long pause, and Richie is frozen in place. "Bachelor life calling your name, hm?"

"No," Eddie insists. "I don't want that either."

Richie is still and quiet long enough for Eddie to almost open his eyes, fuck the pain, but right as he's doing so, Richie's lips are pressed against his own. His fingers keep Eddie’s chin tilted toward him as they kiss, soft and sweet and hesitant. Eddie melts, tears from the stress of this whole situation and sadness of a lifetime lost with his best friend hitting him hard while Richie coos at him.

"Deal," Richie says softly, moving to kiss at Eddie's cheeks, his temples. "We'll find a new home, Eds, I promise. You don't gotta cry. You're okay. You're gonna walk out of here and we're gonna go home, baby. We're gonna spend as much time as we can with our friends, too, because life is too fuckin' short."

Eddie lets out a little snort--when did Richie get so good with words?--and nods, finally able to flutter his eyes open all the way and smile at his friend, who looks just as tired and sick as Eddie feels.

"Close the blinds and lay down with me, Trashmouth," he insists, moving to make room.

"Deal."

If the other Losers come back to find them curled up together, Richie's face buried in Eddie’s hair and Eddie’s face finally blissful, they don't tease.

They knew well enough.

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #thank you krysta!!!!!!#krysta #I love you thank you for enabling this #it #My writing

75 notes · View notes

klaineaddictsfanficrecs · 3 years

Text

Unmasked

By Gleeful Darren Criss Fan

Covid sucked. It had totally ruined 2020. First, he had landed his first major role in a Broadway production. Ok, it was an understudy role, and it was a revival of Wicked. He was Fiyero’s understudy, even though he was better than the guy cast to play the role, some cocky kid named Brody that slept his way to the top. Unfortunately for the promiscuous boy, he had pissed off the director and was fired during the pandemic, allowing Blaine to step in and fill his shiny, polished shoes.

Unfortunately, Covid had other plans. The governor called for the emergency closure of all nonessential businesses, which meant the show and the theater was mandated to stay closed to the public until further notice. Initially, he had been optimistic, thinking that they were only going to close down for a couple of weeks. Now, almost a year later, there was finally a date set for opening night. It was finally time for his debut. He had finally gotten to walk back through those doors and step back on stage. But that wasn’t the reason that he had been so elated.

This morning when he was told that everyone would be allowed to congregate and rehearse together, he had practically jumped for joy. Yes, it would be amazing to see his costars again. Rachel, although a diva at times, was fun to be around and immensely talented. And his friends in the ensemble, like Sam, Tina, and Mike were a blast to be around. And even Santana, Rachel’s understudy, was even becoming his friend, even though he did not want to get on her bad side. But the person he was most excited to be around wasn’t even on the stage. And because of that, he only had the opportunity to see him sporadically, only when the costume director needed to take measurements or do adjustments. Yep, that’s correct. His favorite person to see in the whole production was the lead designer for the show, Kurt Hummel.

When he was first told that Brody was out and he was in, he was ecstatic because that meant that he’d get his chance to shine. Unfortunately, it had caused Kurt to flip out because Brody and Blaine were very different, especially in the height department. Blaine was also told that he was not as defined in a few areas, like his arms, but he was much more defined in other areas, such as in the crotch area. Blaine had never blushed so much in his life as when Kurt had to take his measurements that day.

And since then, Blaine’s outlook for his day seemed to improve as soon as Kurt walked into the theater. It hadn’t happened much at first, because they staggered days that they worked at the theater so that they could socially distance themselves. Kurt had said that he could do much of the sewing at home, so he seldomly graced them with his presence until the virus finally started to get under control.

And when Kurt was there, he would always do the responsible thing and distance himself and wear an impeccably designed and completely original mask. Of course, all of them were encouraged to wear masks. Blaine had his on currently, although he was permitted to take his off when he was singing because it was hard to sing with them on. However, since Kurt was a costume designer that didn’t have to perform or sing, his mask stayed in place the entire time that he was there. And Blaine absolutely hated it.

Yep, he hated that little piece of fabric so much. Stupid covid. Because of you, Kurt’s face was concealed. His luscious lips, his adorable button nose, his strong jaw, his rosy cheeks, and that adorable cleft in his chin were being touched, caressed even by the fabric instead of his own fingers and lips. Now, Blaine had to imagine what Kurt’s face looked like when he laughed or when he got irritated and said something fiery and sarcastic. It was just so unfair. And what made it worse was that everyone had to bring attention to them.

Kurt never seemed to wear the same mask twice, unlike most of the rest of the crew. Some of them obviously only owned one and never bothered to wash it. Kurt, however, always walked in with the most stunning, unique masks that Blaine had ever seen, which became the immediate topic that everyone had to talk about. Sam, Mike, or even Santana would comment on how amazing the mask was. Blaine thought back to the first time that Kurt had walked in with the accessory that Blaine now detested most of all.

“Oh my God, Blaine,” Tina exclaimed as she embraced him. “Did you see Kurt’s mask yet?”

tin man mask

Blaine nodded. “Yeah. It’s neat.”

“Neat? Blaine, it’s the tinman’s face, in exact detail. It’s incredible. I’ve not seen anything like it, and I’ve searched like crazy for the coolest designs and fabrics when I was making mine. I bet he made it. He has the skill, obviously. I wonder if he’d make me one.”

“I’m sure he would,” Blaine said softly, though he was really trying not to roll his eyes.

“Don’t you like it? I thought you liked the wizard of Oz. If it wasn’t for the popularity of that story, Wicked wouldn’t have ever happened.”

“I love the wizard of Oz. You know that.”

“Then, what’s the reason for that face. When I brought up the mask, you looked almost as irritated as you were when Rachel tried to make “As long as You’re Mine” a solo because she had the strongest voice. Do you not like Kurt?”

Blaine bit his lip. “No, no. Of course, I like Kurt. I was just thinking of the show and everything. Sorry. It’s a great mask.”

“Cool. I’m going to ask him to make one for both of us then,” Tina said, ignoring the look of horror from Blaine as she frantically started waving the brunette over. “Hey Kurt! Come here for a minute!”

Kurt smiled as he stepped up to the two friends. “Hi, Tina. Hey Blaine. Did you need somethi-?”

“Yeah,” Tina interrupted, shaking Kurt’s hand, neglecting to let it go so that Blaine could do the same. “We were just talking about your mask, and how cool it is, and Blaine and I thought it would be neat to have one. Where did you get it?”

“Oh, I made it actually,” Kurt replied. “During the pandemic, I had to do something to earn money and keep my sanity, so I designed and sewed masks. It was also a way that I could do my part to help. My dad was at risk, since he’s a cancer survivor and all, so it started with me trying to convince him to wear a mask. He kept fussing that he couldn’t find any that were comfortable and fun to wear, so I started designing them for him to wear.”

“He’s a Wizard of Oz fan?” Tina asked.

Kurt shook his head. “Nah, not really. This one was completely my idea. No. I designed him some masks with his favorite car models or the Buckeyes.”

Blaine did a double-take. Could Kurt be more perfect? “You like the Buckeyes?”

Kurt laughed. “Oh Heck no. But my dad does. He loves football, and he’s all about supporting the local team, you know.”

“Oh ok,” Blaine chuckled. “I didn’t take you for the type that liked football.”

“Hey, now. Don’t put me inside a box, Blaine. I was on my high school football team.”

“For like two games, and you were the kicker,” Rachel interjected, popping up behind them as if from nowhere. “Hey, Blaine, Tammy.”

“Tina,” Tina said with an eye roll.

“So, are you ready to finally get to practice together? I bet it’ll be a total disaster since I highly doubt that the rest of the cast rehearsed daily as I did to stay in optimum shape both vocally and physically. Kurt, have you put on some weight.”

“Why, yes, Rachel, I have, or to phrase it more accurately, I’ve gained muscle mass, because unlike, what you suggested, I’ve kept up with my aerobics and exercise routine daily, and I’ve actually watched what I’ve eaten better. Have you?”

Rachel’s eyes flashed. “No, I have not. I’ve actually lost weight, thank you very much,” she said, stomping away angrily.

“Thank you,” Tina said graciously. “I can’t stand her sometimes. We’ve worked together for a while now, and she still calls me Tammy.”

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. “She just feels threatened because she’s not used to sharing the spotlight much. So, you want a mask like this?”

Tina nodded. “Yeah. It’s incredible. Actually, could you make two? Blaine wants one as well.”

“Is that right? I think that I still have enough fabric at home to whip one up for both of you. Or did you want a different character? I even have couples’ masks if you’re interested.

“No, no, uh uh. No couples masks. Blaine and I aren’t a couple. I’m seeing Mike. Blaine’s gay,” Tina corrected.

“Oh, is that right,” Kurt replied. Blaine wished that he could see the rest of Kurt’s face when he had said that because if he didn’t know better, Kurt seemed to be smiling, maybe even blushing, but Blaine couldn't be sure because of that damn mask covering his face.

“Uh yeah, totally gold star gay,” Blaine responded, feeling his own cheeks grow warm. Thank god he had on a mask to cover the bright red hue painted on his cheeks. “I thought it was obvious.”

Kurt laughed, his nose scrunching up under the fabric. “Nope. and I thought my gaydar had improved since I moved here. Good to know,” Kurt said with a wink.

A wink. What did Kurt mean by that? Was he blushing too? Smiling at him? Could Kurt be interested in him? Blaine was usually good at reading people’s expressions, but with that stupid mask, he wasn’t getting the full picture. And unfortunately, every conversation after that was just as cryptic.

“Hey Blaine,” Kurt said as he stepped into Blaine’s dressing room. “Do you have a minute?”

“Yeah sure. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to see if you got your mask, and you obviously did because it’s right there. Does it fit right?”

“Oh, I haven’t tried it on yet since I haven’t left my dressing room yet. I wore a different one here today, but it looks good.” He fitted the elastic over his ears. He smiled, but then quickly realized that Kurt couldn’t see it anymore. “Yeah, it’s perfect. Yours is interesting today.”

Baby Yoda mask

“Thanks. I think baby Yoda is adorable,” Kurt replied.

I think you’re adorable, Blaine thought. “Yeah, he is. Did you need something else?”

“Um, yeah. Actually, I noticed yesterday that your costume is a little snug in a few areas, specifically around your arms and other areas and I didn’t want it to be uncomfortable so I thought I’d take your measurements so I could make the needed adjustments.”

This was mortifying. Kurt noticed that he had put on some weight during the pandemic. He tried to keep up a healthy diet, and he still exercised every day. He also indulged more in sweets though, especially since his favorite bakery started offering delivery. He and Steve, the Door Dash delivery guy, were now on a first-name basis. “Yeah, I guess that I started eating less healthy since this whole pandemic thing started and I discovered cronuts. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Kurt said as he started measuring Blaine’s triceps. “If anything, I just thought that you had increased your workout regime while you were stuck at home. Your sleeves have definitely gotten tighter, along with some other things,” Kurt remarked, his eyes shifting down his body. “I thought at first that you just started dressing up in tighter clothing until I saw you in the costume. Not that I mind.” Kurt said as he turned his head up and looked directly at Blaine, and were his pupils larger?

“Oh, um. Yeah. It wasn’t intentional. I can’t pull off the look as well as you do,” Blaine replied.

“Debatable,” Kurt answered back quickly, and was that a giggle? That stupid piece of fabric on his face muffled his voice a little, so Blaine couldn’t be sure. Was he flirting? “Anyway, I’ll adjust the shirt for you,” Kurt said as his fingers worked his way down to Blaine’s thighs, “although I think I need to take out the pants a little as well. You’ve clearly gained some definition in your thighs as well.”

Blaine was thankful for his mask at that moment because it hid how his mouth dropped open in shock. Was Kurt complimenting his legs? Or was he just doing his job and noticing that his pants had gotten tighter.

“Do I need to take them out in other areas? Turn around and let me get your measurements in the seat of your pants.”

Did Kurt just ask to measure his ass? “Are you trying to imply that my ass has gotten bigger?” Blaine laughed, again a blush rising on his cheeks.

“Not at all. It’s actually the opposite. You’ve obviously defined certain areas, and so your trousers are ill-fitted in some places and too tight in others. I just didn’t want you to have an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction on stage. Plus, I know how uncomfortable it is to squeeze into a pair of pants that are too tight.”

“Your pants are really tight. Why do you wear them that way if they’re uncomfortable?” Blaine questioned, thankful that Kurt was behind him and not able to see how embarrassed he was by the question.

“It’s fashionable. Plus, I have long legs. My skinny jeans accentuate my assets,” Kurt answered as he moved the measuring tape along Blaine’s butt.

“Yeah, they do,” Blaine blurted. “I mean, you obviously know what looks good on your body type,” he quickly added. Change the subject, before you pop a boner, Blaine. “So has my ass has gotten smaller.”

Kurt laughed heartily. “Are you trying to insinuate that I committed the size of your ass to memory, Blaine?” Kurt said, rising up, and resting the tape on his arm.

“Um, no, but you said my pants no longer fit right,” Blaine mumbled. “So it must’ve gotten smaller, right?”

Kurt chuckled again. “Not necessarily. Like I said, your thighs have gained definition and you have gained some muscles in your glutes as well. Therefore, it changed the fit of your already tight trousers. And since they’re white, they’re showing some things that may not be appropriate for the kiddos in the audience to see.

“Oh, um, then, by all means, let’s fix that.” Blaine laughed.

“Well, then, I’ll kinda need your pants.”

Blaine ran his hand through his curls as he turned his head from the brunette. “Wait, right now?”

“Not this exact second, Blaine. I’m not telling you to drop ‘em right this instant.” Kurt chuckled. “I’ll leave, and you can change. Then, I’ll tailor them as quickly as I can so that they are ready for the dress rehearsal Thursday.”

“Oh, ok. Thanks, Kurt.” Blaine smiled, even though he knew Kurt couldn’t see it with his mask covering his face.

“No, thank you, Blaine. It’s been my pleasure. Kurt said with a wink. Then, he turned and shut the door behind him.

What the hell? Was Kurt flirting or was he just doing his job? He had to be flirting. He had noticed that Blaine’s body had changed, and he had even commented that the changes were nice. Was Kurt trying to hint that he liked what he saw? Or was it really an issue of a wardrobe nightmare waiting to happen?

Damn that mask. Blaine had missed all the signs. The shy smiles, the blushing cheeks, the sly, confident smile he’d usually look for when he read another guy’s expressions. The signs that he had read on his former hookups or boyfriends before he felt confident to ask them out. Hell, some guys made it extremely easy, like Sebastian, who basically called him sex on a stick and gave him a room key to his dorm. Covid had already complicated his life on so many levels, and now it was messing with his love life. Not that he had a love life. Blaine sighed and unbuckled his pants. Yep. He hated those stupid masks.

The next encounter was even more confusing.

“Hey, Blaine. Are things inside your pants better now?” Kurt asked, making Blaine nearly spit out the water he had just taken a sip of. “Oh God. I meant, do they feel better.”

“Wanky,” Santana laughed. “You been lettin’ Hummel get into your pants, Anderson?”

“What? No. He had to make some adjustments yesterday.”

“Some adjustments? Is that what we’re calling it now? Santana laughed again, raising her eyebrows and perching her hand on her hip.

“I had to tailor his pants, Santana. Just like I had to make adjustments to your costume as well after you decided to get some adjustments of your own,” Kurt replied.

“Hey, just because Berry’s captain of the itty bitty titty committee doesn’t mean that I have to join too. Now, I’m ineligible, thanks to some silicone and a team of surgeons. Anyway, Blaine, you didn’t answer Ladyface’s question. How are things inside your pants? Growing uncomfortable, are we?”

“No, they actually are fine. Thanks for your concern. Don’t you have some lines to review, Santana?”

“Yeah, but they aren’t going to be as fun for me to study as the ones that Kurt studied on your ass.”

“Leave him alone, Santana. Blaine can’t help that his body changed during the pandemic, even though he looks great. Getting into better shape and taking care of your body is a positive thing, especially since Blaine didn’t have to get the help of a doctor and a scalpel to do it.”

Santana flipped her hair, “Whatever, lady face,” she sassed, stalking away.

“Thanks, Kurt.”

“For putting her in her place? She lived with me for a little while. You just have to call her out when she gets bitchy,” Kurt replied.

“No, I meant for the alterations. I don’t feel quite so obscene now.” Blaine laughed.

“No problem, Blaine. That’s my job. Although I kinda liked the view,” Kurt said quietly. “Besides, it reflects poorly on me as a costume designer if anything appears ill-fitting.”

Blaine smiled. “Well, still, thank you. I can actually breathe in my costume now. Did you make that mask as well?”

“Yeah. Do you like it?”

Chewbacca mask

Nope. Not at all, Blaine thought as he visualized how even more gorgeous Kurt would be without it. “Yeah. It’s fine.”

“Fine? Do you not like Chewbacca, Blaine?

“He’s fine, I guess. I’m more of a Han solo guy myself.”

“Oh, I like him too, but I didn’t know how to make a Harrison Ford face,” Kurt laughed. “I don’t think they sell that at Mood.”

Blaine chuckled. “No, I guess not. But does that mean that they do have Chewbacca Fabric?”

“No, I had to order it from a specialty shop online. They use a special program to put the design on fabric. My customers really seem to like them.”

“They really are unique,” although I wish you’d take yours off so that I could see your gorgeous smile again, Blaine thought. “I think that it’s great that you make them, even though I can’t wait for the day that they lift the mask mandates.”

“And why is that, Blaine? I really like seeing the different designs that people wear, and they’re fun to make.”

I really like seeing your whole face, and I haven’t gotten to see it since this stupid pandemic started, Blaine thought. “I just don’t like trying to breathe through the fabric, I guess, and I kinda miss seeing people’s facial expressions.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Especially for an actor. I guess it’s hard to react to your scene partner’s expressions when you can’t see them. And I guess it’d be difficult trying to sing with one on,” Kurt replied. “But, safety first. I wouldn’t want anyone to get sick because of my negligence.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It is the responsible thing to do.”

“Being responsible sucks sometimes, though,” Kurt said. “I don’t particularly like them either.”

“You don’t?” Blaine asked in surprise.

Kurt shook his head. “I miss people’s smiles too, some more than others,” Kurt said as he turned and walked away.

What did he mean by that? Did Kurt mean him? Was he talking about someone else? He had never been so puzzled in his life.”

__________________________________________________________________________

The next few weeks continued to puzzle Blaine. The days that Kurt was at the theater were few and far between, and when he was there, he was bombarded with the task of fixing a burst seam or making alterations to the rest of the casts’ costumes. And since the CDC and the governor were still suggesting that every one social distance, Kurt seemed to take that to heart, barely speaking to him at all.

“Blaine, what did you think of Kurt’s mask today?” Sam asked as Sam exited the stage and Blaine prepared to enter.

“Oh, I haven’t even seen it yet. I wasn’t aware that he was here today.”

“Yeah, the CDC finally lifted some of the restrictions, although they are still recommending masks,” Mike commented. “You didn’t notice that everyone was here today?”

Blaine shook his head. “I’ve been running lines in my dressing room. With the opening night being just a week away, my nerves have been a mess,” Blaine admitted.

“Then you should definitely check out Kurt’s mask. It’s just your style,” Sam said, smiling.

“I’ll check it out,” Blaine said with a nod, stepping on the stage, and then spotting Kurt sitting front and center in the center of one of the front rows, and Sam was right. It was definitely his style.

Han Solo mask

Blaine flubbed several of his lines as his focus was pulled from Rachel and directed to Kurt countless times. It was Han Solo. Kurt was wearing a Han solo mask. What did that mean?

“Blaine? Cut? We need to try that again. That line isn’t even in this scene. Where’s your focus? We have opening night in a week, and you can’t just be dropping the wrong lines. It might throw me off. If you’re going star opposite of me, you have to match my level of talent and enthusiasm. I don’t want my opening night to be lackluster.”

“God, Rachel. It’s not just your opening night. You do realize that hundreds of people all have a hand in making this play come together. You aren’t the only person that people are coming to see. I need a break,” Blaine sighed, storming off the stage in frustration.

“Hey, Blaine, are you ok?” a sweet melodic voice asked behind him.

Blaine turned to see Kurt standing in front of him, his Han solo mask still in place. “Yeah, I just get a little flustered by her sometimes.”

Kurt nodded in understanding. “I get it. We used to be roommates. I couldn’t take it anymore. I moved in with Elliott during the pandemic.”

“Elliott?” Blaine had never heard Kurt mention that name before. Did Kurt have a boyfriend? Of course, he did. There was no way that a man as gorgeous and sweet as Kurt was single.

“Yeah, we met when he auditioned for my band shortly after I moved to New York.”

“Your band? You’re in a band?”

Kurt nodded. “Yeah, but we haven’t played anywhere with a lot of the venues we play not having shows this past year. I really miss it. We still practice sometimes, but I miss performing in front of an audience. We have a gig coming up, though. You should come.”

“Sure. When is it?”

“Friday at Callbacks. It starts at 8.”

“I have rehearsal, but I’ll try. By the way, your mask is great.”

“Thanks. It was inspired by you. You said that you liked Han. and I’ve already sold several on my Etsy page. But I saved one for you, if you want it.”

“Of course I want it. What makes you think that I wouldn’t.”

“You said that you don’t like masks,” Kurt answered matter of factly.

“It’s not that I don’t like them. I just miss seeing people’s faces.” Especially yours, Blaine thought. He had never been so jealous of a piece of fabric in his life. Those masks got to be right up close to Kurt’s smooth skin, his perfect, luscious lips, and it wasn’t fair. “I’ll try to be there Friday. I can’t wait to hear you sing.”

“I can’t wait to be back on stage again myself. I’ll see you then. And here. This is yours. Kurt placed something in his hand. It was a mask just like his own.

“Thank you,” Blaine said, squeezing Kurt’s hand as if to discourage him from moving it away from his.

“No problem. I made one for Sam and Elliott as well. They’re both Star Wars fans like you. And hang in there. Rachel does not use to sharing the spotlight, but one of these days, she’ll realize the importance of a team effort. See you Friday.”

“See you then.” Although Blaine was really tired of the fact that he still wouldn’t get to see Kurt’s beautiful smile. But then he realized that Kurt would be singing and it was hard to sing with a mask on. Kurt would have to take off the mask. There’s no way that Blaine would miss finally getting to see his face once again.

____________________________________________________________________________

Blaine was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth in front of the little club. He debated going inside. On one hand, he’d get to hear his crush sing. On the other hand, Kurt would be there with the man he lived with, that probably got to kiss his lips and touch his face and strong jaw.

After about five minutes, he finally gathered the nerve to step inside the club, only to see the man of his dreams, maskless, and wrapped in the arms of a gorgeous, taller man with eyeliner and a leather jacket. He turned around and abruptly left the club without looking back.

_______________________________________________________________________

It was opening night, and Blaine’s nerves were on edge. He was excited. His parents and Cooper were both going to be in the audience tonight to watch him perform. His parents had already seen the special showing the night before, and then they took him out for dinner at a swanky place that Blaine could probably never afford. It was a nice evening, but it had been plagued by a feeling of frustration. Kurt hadn’t even tried to talk to him since that night that he stood him up at Callbacks. And Kurt would be at the show. He’d have to be, to make sure that everyone’s costumes were in perfect shape. In fact, he had seen Kurt running around and checking with everyone to make sure that they didn’t need anything. Except him.

Kurt hadn’t even turned around long enough for him to see his mask today. And suddenly, Blaine collided with someone hard, almost falling backward as a strong arm gripped his and prevented him from hitting the hardwood beneath him.

“Are you ok?”

“Kurt, hey, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was goin-”

“Are you ok? Kurt asked again.

“Your mask. It’s me.”

Blaine Anderson Mask

Kurt nodded. “It is. I broke my rule to wear it tonight.”

“You have a rule? I mean other than to never take it off.”

Kurt nodded. I don’t usually wear the same mask twice. But I wore this one again.

Blaine shook his head. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“I wore it at Callbacks. I guess you couldn’t make it that night.”

“I was there, but I-I had to leave. I’m sorry.”

“Was there an emergency or something?”

“No, I just couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry.”

Kurt shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. You’re going to have to explain it to me.”

“How does Elliott feel about that mask?”

“He’s fine with it. He actually helped me find a picture of you to use so that I could draw it accurately.”

“And he wasn’t jealous?”

“No, why would he be. We’re just roommates and bandmates.”

“He was holding you quite tightly the other night. I didn’t want to intrude.”

“Oh, that? He needed a friend. His boyfriend of two years broke up with him the day before and we had just rehearsed a song that Elliott wrote for him. I was being supportive.”

“Wait, so Elliott isn’t your boyfriend?” Blaine asked.

“No. I just needed a place to stay when Rachel became an even bigger diva than she already is. Elliott and Danny offered to let me stay at their place. They never seemed to mind me. That is until Danny accused Elliott and me of sleeping together. Which would never happen because I respected their relationship too much, and I’m not really attracted to Elliott. I’ve been hopelessly head over heels for someone else for over a year now.”

“Wait, you have? Do I know him?”

Kurt smiled and pulled his mask off and handed it to Blaine. I thought I made it pretty obvious. I mean, I wouldn’t just put anyone on my face.” Kurt facepalmed. I mean, I wouldn’t just wear a mask with just anybody on it.”

“You had Han solo’s chest on one of them.” Blaine objected.

“Because he was your favorite,” Kurt countered.

“And you wore baby Yoda.”

“Because Sam said that you liked Star Wars a lot. He told me that you thought Yoda was adorable.”

“I think you’re adorable,” Blaine blurted, and then blushed profusely when he realized that he said that out loud. “I mean, especially now, since I can see your face.”

“Well then, if you like seeing it, then how about you make plans to see it again, tonight, after the show. Dinner. You and I.”

“My brother’s taking me out tonight. But we can do something afterward.”

“Will you show up this time,” Kurt pouted.

“I showed up last time. And I am truly sorry about that. I really did want to see you perform. I just was caught off guard when I saw you and Elliott holding one another so tightly. It just seemed like I’d be intruding.”

“You can’t intrude if I want you to be there. And he was comforting me because I thought that you weren’t coming.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,” Blaine said dropping his head down in shame.

“Make it up to me?” Kurt asked with a timid smile.

“Anything.”

Kurt cupped Blaine’s jaw and closed the distance between them, their lips finally meeting in an electric kiss.

“God, I’ve wanted to do that for ages. But I couldn’t because of these things.” Blaine said, referencing the mask that was still in his hand.

“I knew you didn’t really like them.”

“I hated them at first, because I didn’t actually get to see you smile anymore. I didn’t get to see your nose crinkle when something irritated you, and I didn’t get to see your cheeks redden when Santana said something distasteful. But then, I realized that I got to see another part of you that I hadn’t got to see before. I think I fell head over heels for you when I saw you in a mask for the first time. That tin man mask. It just showed so much personality. And then, you made one for me too. I still have it. I wear it all the time.”

“I have mine in my keepsake box. It was the day I realized that I didn’t just have a crush on you anymore. It had grown into something much deeper.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Blaine asked, staring intensely at the gorgeous man in front of him.

“It depends. What is it that you think I’m saying?” Kurt smirked. Smirked, and it was adorable and so freakin’ hot.

“I think you’re saying, Mr. Hummel, that you want me to be your boyfriend,” Blaine smirked back.

“And I think that’s pretty accurate,” Kurt replied as he pressed his body into Blaine’s and kissed him firmly on the lips.

“It’s nice to finally get to do this,” Blaine whispered against his boyfriend’s lips.

“Do what?” Kurt prompted, lightly kissing Blaine’s lips once more.

“To get you unmasked,” Blaine replied before deepening the kiss.

8 notes · View notes

zootopiathingz · 4 years

Text

Thanksgiving in Quarantine

(A/N: more Pixar AU!! no there's not really a plot I just wanted to write something for thanksgiving. Also friendly reminder I've never cooked a day in my life so Imma just be vague on those details)

"Alright Pixars, listen up!" Mike called to get everyone's attention. After their conversations died down, he stepped forward towards the front of the room so all eyes would be on him. As the group leader, it was his job to host the monthly meetings and inform them of recent events or decisions made by him or their creator, Luxo Sr.

Once he was sure they were listening, he proceeded to explain, "So as you all know, even though we aren't affected by Covid, we still have to stay in quarantine for the sake of others. So that means that this year, we won't be spending Thanksgiving with the Disneys—"

"YES!!" Everyone cheered ecstatically, some standing up to pump their fists or high-five each other.

Mike was taken aback by their joyous reaction. Not just because it was a response to what he said, but he couldn't remember the last time all of them were that excited about anything. "—like we usually do.." He finished.

"Oh don't act like you're not relieved about it, Mike." McQueen said, "You hate the Disneys just as much as we do."

"Excuse me, but we do not 'hate' here." He said, "We just strongly dislike. Anyway, I'm not that relieved like you guys are. I was actually looking forward to our tradition."

"Well, I'm just glad we won't have to be greeted by them singing 'Be Our Guest' for the millionth fucking time." Woody scoffed, earning some murmurs of agreement from the rest.

Their relationship with the Disneys was complicated, to say the least. Luxo Sr. started the alliance with Mickey Mouse himself several years ago, and thus they joined the Disney family. But the Pixars were never given a say in the deal, and while they did admire the Disneys and were grateful for the success they brought them, that didn't mean they were tolerable to be around. The Pixars didn't hate them (despite constantly joking that they did), they just despised their arrogance and their random outbursts of songs every ten minutes.

"Wait so if we're not going to the Disneys, we're gonna have Thanksgiving at our house?" Marlin asked, "You do realize we haven't done that in like, 14 years? And obviously the family's grown since then."

Mike nodded, "I understand that, but if we're able to somehow survive Halloween, Easter, Christmas, and New Years on our own, then how hard can Thanksgiving be?"

"Your optimism is appreciated." EVE said, "But from past experience, this feels like yet another disaster waiting to happen."

"Yeah, I mean, who's even gonna cook dinner?" Remy asked.

"You are." Mike shrugged.

The rat man widened his eyes, "Say what now?"

Remy was a great cook, and honestly he was the only one who actually knew how to use an oven. But cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal for the whole group was asking a bit much.

"I can't cook that much in one day by myself!"

"You won't, some of us will help you. Right, guys?" Mike asked. But he got no responses, instead everyone just awkwardly looked away.

Remy sighed, "Come on, guys. Do you really want to eat burnt turkey for Thanksgiving? Imelda?"

She put her hands up in defense, "Don't look at me. I don't know how to make white people food."

"Okay, relax. We'll have WALL-E help you." Mike said, gesturing to the robot man—who gave an enthusiastic wave.

But this offer didn't make Remy feel any better. Out of all the Pixars Mike could've suggested, it just had to be WALL-E. "Seriously?" He asked, "You know he burns toast, right?"

"He'll be fine." Mike waved a dismissive hand. "..probably. Okay, does anyone else want to help with Thanksgiving dinner?"

Once again there was nothing but silence and awkward glances. Remy looked around with a pleading face, trying to get anyone to agree, but no such luck. Well, until Atta got tired of the lack of responses and and decided it was best to take one for the team. "Alright fine. I'll help you." She said to Remy.

"Thank Luxo." He sighed with relief, "You are a saint, Atta."

She shrugged, "I try."

"Then it's settled." Mike said, "Thanksgiving will be hosted by Remy, Atta, and WALL-E. Let's pray they don't screw it up."

The three gave him a cold look, while the others nodded in agreement.

—

Thursday came sooner than they realized, and unfortunately due to the pandemic, buying groceries was a pain in the ass and getting what they needed for dinner took longer than they would've hoped. Luckily they were able to have it all in their kitchen and (hopefully) would have enough time to make it. And even though they were spending the holiday by themselves, the Pixars still got dressed up and decorated for the occasion.

Since the kids would be joining them at the table as well, that meant having to cook for even more people. Remy, WALL-E, and Atta were hard at work in the kitchen making gravy, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, etc. And of course, turkey. At first it didn't seem like cooking was going to be so bad. They got an early start before most of the Pixars even woke up. If all went well, they would have dinner done by the afternoon.

"Okay guys, we've got a full house of hungry Pixars so we gotta get this done quick." Remy reminded them, "Atta, you're on pie detail, and you're gonna help me with the turkey. WALL-E, you focus on the casserole, eggs, and making sure Atta stays away from the marshmallows."

Atta slowly looked over at him while he pointed at her, "Yeah, I see you."

She narrowed her eyes at him before slowly reaching her hand toward the bag of marshmallows. He scolded her as she popped another one into her mouth, smirking at him and holding back a laugh. But then the two quickly moved on, since they couldn't waste much time on banter and jokes.

"I don't see how the Disneys do this every year." WALL-E commented, taking a bite of bread.

"Well, they don't actually make it. They have a whole cooking staff that serves them every meal. Which is kinda why they invite us in the first place." Atta explained to him, helping Remy baste the turkey.

Remy scoffed, "And yet there's only one chef in this house. Man, I'd love it if I could get more help around here. Hopefully the new Pixars will know how to cook."

"That's what you say every time." Atta chuckled.

"Maybe if I keep saying it, it'll happen." He shrugged.

After a few minutes, the turkey was ready to cook. They placed it in the oven and set the correct amount of degrees and time. Now all they had to do was wait and finish the rest of the meal.

Violet walked into the kitchen, inhaling the strong scent of half-cooked food. "Mmm, smells great in here." She commented, opening the fridge to grab a water bottle. "So how's slaving away for the others going?"

"We're not 'slaving away', Violet." Remy rolled his eyes. Although now that he said it out loud, it kinda seemed like they were, considering not a single other Pixar was offering to help. Instead they were all hanging out around the house doing who knows what. "Regardless, we're doing just fine."

"You wanna help us?" Atta asked with a mouthful of marshmallows—which earned a scowl from Remy.

Violet sighed, shutting the fridge. "I'd love to, but Joy's taking me out shopping for Christmas presents.

"But stores aren't even open today." WALL-E said.

"That's what I told her." The teen shrugged her shoulders, "But she insisted on taking me and a couple others. I honestly think they're just trying to get out of the house so they have an excuse not to help out."

The three exchanged an annoyed glance. While they expected that sort of behavior from their friends, it was still irritating to know they didn't care enough to even stay home for Thanksgiving. But then again, ditching her friends when they need her didn't sound like something Joy would do.

Before they could question it, they heard Violet's name being called from the other room, signaling her to walk away. "Well, good luck with dinner, guys." She said.

"Okay, have fun today." Atta said to her right before she left. The three then gave each other the same confused expression, all thinking the same thing. But it was a short-lived moment, as they quickly got back to work.

"Alright, making conversation is nice and all, but we can't spend much time having social interactions." Remy reminded them, "From now on, no more distractions, okay? Focus is key."

He turned around, seeing a certain someone once again stuffing three marshmallows in her mouth. "Atta!"

"Leave me alone!" She retorted.

—

Several hours passed since the three started cooking, and they were getting close to being finished. It was hard keeping the kids out of the kitchen to stop them from sneaking bites of the food, since they always did that even when eating at the Disneys' place. But in a display of irony, Remy always shooed them away or chased them out with a broom.

A little after noon the meal was finally ready to be gorged. Everyone had a little bit of everything on their plate and had to pull up a few chairs and small tables so they could all sit together in one spot (one of the tables was actually just an old nightstand). Usually when eating meals, the Pixars would just sit in different areas around the house since the table wasn't big enough for all of them to sit at. But since this was Thanksgiving, they wanted to be together.

"Alright everyone, before we eat, we should go around and say what we're thankful for." Woody said, "And I'll start if that makes it easier."

"It would." They all agreed.

They all joined hands as Woody began, "Well, I'm thankful for all of you. You're not just my friends or people I'm forced to live with, you're my family. Which is kinda the same thing but has better meaning. I'm also thankful for our success, and I'm thankful we're doing this here and not at Disney hell."

A few of them laughed and nodded, although they never thought they'd hear the words "Disney" and "hell" in the same sentence.

"I'll go next." Sulley said, "Let's see, I'm thankful for the food on my plate, and the hard-working people who made it for me."

Remy, Atta, and WALL-E smiled at him.

"And I'm thankful to have the privilege to celebrate this holiday with the people I love."

"Awww!!" They cooed.

Barley leaned towards Sadness to whisper, "Wait, are we supposed to say meaningful shit like that every time?" The girl merely shrugged in response.

Once everyone had a turn saying what they were thankful for, they were finally able to dig in. The turkey was even better than they were used to. The whole meal tasted far better than what they would've received at the Disneys' Thanksgiving. Except the sweet potato casserole appeared to be missing quite a few marshmallows.

"I'm so glad it's Thanksgiving." Joy said, a little out-of-the blue.

"Why's that, Joy?" Bob asked her curiously.

"So I can finally get in the Christmas spirit without people telling me to 'wait until Thanksgiving'." She rolled her eyes.

Out of all of them, Joy was definitely the Christmas fanatic, so much that all other holidays around the end of the year were irrelevant to her. The Pixars didn't mind it, though. They loved Christmas, and they were glad she was always the one to go all out on decorations so they didn't have to.

"Can't argue with that." Jessie said, stuffing a piece of pie in her mouth. "But sadly it's not gonna be the same this year."

"No kidding." Merida scoffed. "If people had just done what they were told back in March, this wouldn't have happened."

McQueen raised a brow, "Dude, we had a whole ass celebration for the Swearing-In in March—"

"That was before quarantine, shut up." She was quick to defend.

"When's quarantine gonna be over?" Dash asked, "I'm tired of staying inside all day."

Mike sighed, as he dreaded this topic every time it came up in conversation. But as the leader, he had to be the voice of reason. "Look guys, I know it's tough, okay? We can't even die from Covid but we're being forced to stay at home, and I know it's frustrating. Heck, there's probably not even gonna be a Swearing-In ceremony for 'Soul'."

"There's not??" Dory asked with a frown.

"If things stay this way, then no." He said, even though it hurt to admit. Swearing-Ins were a big deal for the Pixars. It was what made them apart of the family. "But there's nothing we've been through that we've faced alone, right? We've always had each other, and we always will."

Even though they were still sad about the situation, and even if what he said was a little cheesy, they knew he was right. They were the Pixars for crying out loud, they could handle any challenge as long as they stuck together.

Mike raised his glass, signaling everyone else to do the same. "I propose a toast. To our Pixar family."

"To our family!" They cheered, sipping their drinks afterward.

36 notes · View notes

flourchildwrites · 3 years

Text

Six years after their escape to the human world, the Grace Field children live together in a happy, harmonious home. Twenty-one-year-olds, Ray, Norman and Emma, have folded themselves into modern society and work tirelessly to provide for their younger siblings, putting the greater good of their family before their personal needs. But as children turn to into teenagers, new house rules come into play. Norman, convinced that Emma will never remember their unique childhood bond, makes a bold proposition — to prohibit romantic relationships between the Grace Field children and end his hopes for something more with Emma once and for all.

Ray knows all too well how dangerous it is to reignite a spark, but for the happiness of Emma and Norman, he's always been willing to burn.

Fandom: Yakusoku no Neverland | The Promised Neverland (Manga)

Relationships/Pairings: Emma/Norman (Endgame), Emma/Ray (Fake Dating), Norman & Ray, Emma & Ray

Genre: Post-Canon (Spoilers for Anime-Only Fans), Fake/Pretend Relationship

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 12,930 words (incomplete 3/5)

A/N: Oh, hi! So it's been a while, but I have neither dropped off the face of the Earth nor given up on this fic. Sometimes, I just have to wait until I'm in the right state of mind to write a chapter. Until next time....

Chapter 3

The cuckoo clock on the wall of Norman’s study is an ornate piece of artistry. It does its job fashionably and without complaint, keeping time with as much precision as its pendulum can muster. Norman likes to lose himself to the details of the carved wood. The dancing animals and crisp steeples that surround the clock face never fail to interest him when his thoughts turn sluggish at the end of the day.

Norman would happily wile away his evening hours waiting for the clock’s melodic chime to sound at the top of the hour, but this is not the gift’s purpose. Instead, it is meant as a constant reminder that time itself is a precious commodity. Mike Ratri gave him the clock upon his admission to law school. And though Norman’s enthusiasm for the present has dissipated, he cannot disagree with the principle behind the clock’s coded message.

Time can be a beautiful, but unforgiving mistress; yesterday’s opportunities are lost in the past, gone forever.

Perhaps, Norman muses, for his next graduation, he will receive a high-end watch from the Ratri clan. Then he, along with his time, will be literally and figuratively shackled to the course the family’s scion has mapped out for him. Norman knows he is regarded as the best of the bunch, the poster child amongst the extraordinary children born and raised in the demon world. Ever rational, he cannot disagree with that conclusion.

Still, he rakes a finger under the collar cinched around his neck to loosen his tie and fusses with the first few buttons of his pressed shirt. The emblem of Lambda 7214 peeks out from underneath the scoop neck of his undershirt, and not for the first time, Norman traces the tattoo’s hard lines where they are exposed. Compared to this marking, the numbers on his neck are practically forgettable.

Norman isn’t like the other Grace Field children, not since Peter Ratri’s malicious experiments. Neither can he lump himself in with the other Lambda survivors. Though Barbara never shies away from advocating for the latter.

“Are you even listening?” Barbara’s voice is shrill as it comes from the cellphone wedged between Norman’s shoulder and ear.

In the background, he can hear boxing gloves rhythmically pound against a punching bag. Norman doesn’t like lying to Barbara; he knows what the woman is capable of when she’s feeling feisty. But after hearing the juicy gossip from the younger children in his house, concerning a date between two certain someones, Norman’s mind refuses to focus on administrative matters. Still, he tries to soldier on as if nothing is amiss.

“Of course,” Norman fibs. “You’re concerned about the benefit, just like you are every year. And every year, it turns out fine. We get our funding; the Ratri family keeps their moral high ground.”

The sound of hard punch startles Norman, and Barbara pauses, slightly winded, before responding. “But the problem is that they want Zazie to attend this year. Zazie!”

The thought causes Norman to pause. He is wont to recall Zazie as he once was — a child stuck in an overgrown body with a paper bag hiding his face and twin swords strapped to his back. But Zazie, like his brothers and sisters, has grown into his shaggy hair, and in his case, his mental strides are much more impressive.

“What does Zazie think about attending the benefit?”

Barbara scoffs. “He’s fine with going for a little while as long as he isn’t on his own, but why should he waste his precious words on that family ? They don’t fund his therapy out of charity; they pay for it because his hardships, all our hardships, are their fault.”

Normally, Norman would play devil’s advocate. He would remind Barbara that Mike isn’t like Peter and point out that most of the advances made on behalf of the cattle, Lambda and farm children are funded by the donations of the benefit’s attendees. But tonight, Norman has no such fight in him. He has four cases to read and brief, an argument to draft for his legal writing class and a Ray-and-Emma-shaped problem that seems to become more bizarre by the minute.

“I’ll talk to Mike and see if we can defer Zazie’s involvement,” Norman capitulates, rubbing at his neck as his to-do list grows longer. “He may look like an adult, but he’s still a teenager. It can be easy to forget.”

There’s a pregnant pause on the other side of Norman’s cell phone connection.

“Are you feeling alright, boss?”

A part of Norman wants to laugh, a great big belly laugh that would draw the kind of attention the household head does his best to avoid. Of course, he isn’t alright. It was a relief when he first made the decision to impose a fraternization ban, but then, Ray went and asked Emma out just to spite him.

Clever, impulsive asshole.

How could Norman go through with it after that? Either he would have seemed like a heartless roadblock or a jealous cockblock to his siblings. And neither alternative comes close to the truth, an inconvenient conundrum that’s been eating away at him for years.

Norman exhales, long and slow, and because he can ordinarily be (somewhat) honest with Barbara, he doesn’t lie to her this time. He won’t divulge the whole, messy truth. For that, he wouldn’t even know how to begin. Heavy the head that wears the crown, or in this case, Norman thinks it’s more along the lines of a cape.

“No,” he responds, “I’m not alright. But I’m sure I’ll be fine after exams. I just need some time to rest and get my head on straight. No need to be concerned.”

There’s a flurry of movement coming from Barbara’s side of the connection, and when she speaks again, her voice sounds unflinchingly clear. Norman braces himself when he realizes she’s paused her evening workout and taken herself off speakerphone.

“Far be it for me to suggest that you shouldn’t be living with the Grace Field kids, but you’re also one of us — a Lambda experiment. We have different needs, and Lambda House could provide you with much more support or at least a break from being in charge. Come live with us and let someone else run things over there. We all miss you, boss. Maybe someone could help you for a change.”

A lump sticks in Norman’s throat, and he swallows it, ready to make excuses that never arrive. Words fail him for the umpteenth time in a handful of days. Suddenly hot, he scratches the back of his neck and shrugs off his collared shirt entirely. The top of his Lambda 7214 tattoo remains on full display. Sometimes, he hides it so well that he begins to believe his own lies, but there are moments when the truth corrodes his carefully constructed facade.

Norman may be the brightest child from the demon world, but he’s also damaged goods, marked in ways that Ray (for example) is not.

He could live at Lambda House. Correction, he should live at Lambda House to better avail himself of the on-call therapists for his night terrors and have his medication managed with more regularity. But then, there would be no reason for Norman to oversee the Grace Field children’s home. He wouldn’t be able to drag himself down to breakfast each morning to find her, Emma, sipping her coffee and joking around with the younger children, or feel his heart flutter when wishes him well in the evenings.

Norman stays because she’s worth all the small inconveniences and then some. The time in between, the numbing hours spent studying, problem-solving and balancing the books, are a means to an end. Emma always tips the scale in Grace Field’s favor. Even with an anti-fraternization rule, Norman doesn’t expect his feelings to change.

Nevertheless….

“I’ll think about it,” Norman hears himself say, and he ends the call promptly with promises to be in touch soon simply to put the matter to rest.

Read the rest on AO3!

#tpn #noremma #the promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #tpn emma #tpn norman #tpn ray #tpn phil #manga spoilers #flourchildwrites #when the mood strikes her

2 notes · View notes