#i will b normal and sleep jesus christ

[kartana]

I'm wearing her shorts and there is a part of me slightly alarmed by how much I'm enjoying knowing they are her shorts

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[barnesafterglow]

first burn

summary: your crush on peter may burn you alive

pairing: mcu!peter parker x avenger!reader

word count: 2.6k

warnings: not canon compliant (no snap, everyone is happy and healthy and no one did anything stupid), peter is of age and well within his rights to fuck!!, a little tropey for a second (brief "fake dating" and "only one bed" to move the story along), smut [unprotected sex, pull out method oral (f receiving), just some sweet love making dude], listen i'm here for a good time not a long time

a/n: two fics in a year?? who is she

main masterlist - i no longer have a taglist but you can follow @theafterglowlibrary for updates!

Peter Parker was going to be the death of you.

With each grunt that echoed through the gym in Avengers Tower, your eyes flicked to his sweaty form. The goddamned death of you.

You tried to backtrack, to see when these feelings first started as a small burning in the back of your mind that had turned into a raging wildfire every time you were in his presence. It had to have been the mission in London.

It was normal - or as normal as any Avengers mission could be. 

You had just stumbled through the throes of midtown London, hand in hand with your boyfriend, looking with every bit of wonder like neither of you had ever seen the delights it had to offer.

Then, as soon as you stepped through the hotel door, Peter dropped your hand as if it had burned him the whole time. 

Maybe it started then, with that glimmer of disappointment. Peter wasn’t your boyfriend and he would never take the time to take you around tourist London like he had just done. 

And then that pit in your stomach grew as the door to your room opened: only one bed. Jesus Christ, Tony. 

“I know,” came the response from beside you; you must have spoken out loud. “It’ll be fine.”

Those were the last words he spoke for a long while, as you both got ready for bed, then slid in beside each other. The tension was palpable, and you didn’t know if it was your slowly mounting feelings or the clench of his discomfort, but regardless you slept fitfully for hours until you finally stumbled into a deep sleep.

You woke up to a strong pair of arms wrapped around your middle - somehow pressed there in the dark of the night - and the world spun around you as you shot up.

Peter was alert in seconds, standing by the bed assessing for a threat, when his eyes met yours - utterly confused and you had no real answer for him.

“Bad dream,” you mumbled as you headed to the bathroom, the door clicking with a sort of finality behind you.

And it was fine, really it was. You definitely didn’t think about the way press of his body against yours and how sexy his bed head had looked. Nope. Not at all. 

And you definitely didn’t imagine what he would have looked like if you were the one who made him sweaty and flushed like he was right now.

Snapping out of your borderline impure thoughts, you stood from your spot on the ground where you had been warming up and - before your mouth said something you could regret - you walked out of the gym.

With your back turned, you missed the way Peter’s eyes followed you the whole way.

-

Saturday nights were girl’s nights, as Wanda so boldly claimed. And girl’s night came with a lot of complaining.

Throwing the shot back, you groaned, not even wanting to voice your thoughts aloud.

“I shouldn’t even think about it,” you said. “He’s practically a kid.”

“Not to impede on your self-loathing, but he’s not a kid anymore babe,” was Natasha’s response. She nodded across the bar where Peter was sipping his beer, laughing at something Sam had said. Right, he was 22 and totally within your age range, but that didn’t mean you didn’t still see him as the 16 year old kid who had fought by Tony’s side. “Plus you’re not that much older than him. We used to call you a kid too, you know.”

Dragging your hand down your face, you stood from the table to order another drink, ignoring Nat and Wanda’s laughter at your misery.

As you leaned against the bar waiting, Peter dropped down into the stool beside you.

“Alright, what did I do to you?” His words were casual, joking, but you could hear the hurt laced within. That was never your intention, and your heart sank.

You and Peter had been friends for a long time, since Tony had first brought him in after the air had cleared with him and Cap. You bonded over being the youngest Avengers and what that meant for your lives. The two of you understood each other on another level that no one else truly did. And here you were, ruining everything over a little crush.

“Nothing, Pete.” You ruffled your hand through his hair and his face lit up in a blush that he tried to hide behind his beer bottle. “How have you been?”

“Not too bad, I guess,” he replied, then looked down at you - when had he gotten so tall - with an unreadable emotion on his face. “I miss you.”

Right. And you were back where you started. Admittedly, you had avoided him for the most part since that London mission, only saying hi in passing and at the occasional movie night or debrief. You weren’t exactly proud of it, but you didn’t know what else to do.

“I miss you too,” you whispered, shame coating your words. You never meant to hurt him - honestly, you didn’t. “Listen, kid, I just-“

“Don’t call me kid.” And the anger in his words surprised you. “I’m not that kid you met six years ago - when you were barely any older, might I remind you - and you know that. I know you know that. So don’t use that as an excuse to stop whatever is going on here.” His hands gestured between the two of you. 

Strong, capable hands that you had seen hurt and save, had seen run through his hair, had seen play video games. Hands that you had imagined for weeks now. Hands that you couldn’t help but grab out of mid air, clasping one in your own. 

“And what’s going on here, Peter?”

He leaned in close, breath hot on your ear. 

“I see the way you look at me.” Your breath hitched, then stopped altogether. “But I don’t think you see me looking right back.”

Body all of a sudden hot and raging with emotion, you squeezed his hand and took a deep breath. 

“Take me home.”

-

Your apartment was closer, so you walked the handful of blocks from the bar in tangible silence. Every brush of fingers was an electric jolt through your body and every bump of shoulders sent heat through your core. By the time you reached your front door, the tension was pulled so tight it was bound to snap at any moment.

And snap it did.

As soon as you had the apartment door closed behind you, Peter was on you, his hands everywhere all at once. He crowded you, pulling you close to him when you winced at the door knob digging into your side. One hand came to rest on your hip, rubbing soothing circles there, while the other cradled your face, eyes searching for permission.

You didn’t know what you were giving him permission for, but you nodded anyway.

The world around you stopped as Peter placed a searing kiss to your lips, stealing the breath from your lungs. The hand on your face moved to gently tug your hair and he took your gasp as an invitation to explore your mouth. God the boy knew how to kiss.

His tongue pressed into you, tasting every inch while your hands roamed his body. When he pulled away - not for air, not to leave you, but to place hot kisses down your neck, leaving a trail of burning fire in their wake - you tugged on his t-shirt in a silent plea for him to take it off.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t seen him without a shirt before. Between missions and training and plain old gym sessions, you were thankfully no stranger to a shirtless Peter Parker. But in the dim light of your living room, with those brown eyes boring into your own, everything was suddenly different.

You just stared - for far longer than necessary, you were sure - until he took a step back towards you, his fingers intertwining with your own. Nodding at him, you started to lead him towards your bedroom, not making it more than two steps until his hands were once again exploring your body.

When you finally made it - a trail of both of your clothes left in your wake - your breaths were heavy and panting, aching for more of him.

He stood there for a moment just looking at you, taking in the red lace of your bra and underwear. Unable to contain himself, he ripped it off of you in two quick pulls, leaving you bare before him.

You expected him to jump on you the second you were naked. Instead he pressed his front against your own - you gasped at the contact of your nipples against his bare chest - and lightly traced shapes over your exposed back, moving down to trail along your legs, then back up your arms. Everywhere he touched burned the memory into your skin.

Finally, finally, he gently pushed you against your bed, your back hitting the mattress with a soft bounce, and he peeled off his jeans and underwear before manhandling you towards the center, moving your body as if you weighed nothing.

You truly didn’t need any foreplay, the tension on your own end built up these last few weeks on top of Peter’s heated discovery of your body made for an easy transition, but he wasn’t about to let that happen.

No, Peter Parker was a fucking tease.

He started by kneading the soft skin of your breasts, touch light and gentle as if you were something precious. Even when he leaned down to take one of your nipples in his mouth, he still only gave you quick nips, nothing as satisfying as you needed. He made his way down your body, placing lover’s kisses everywhere he could reach, before finally settling down on his stomach between your legs.

You thought that this was surely the moment you would get some reprieve, some kind of real touch that may or may not send you over the edge, but no. He wasn’t done with you yet.

He kissed the inside of each thigh, alternating until he was breathing right where you needed him most. When you thought you were about to explode, he finally lowered his mouth to your core.

The feeling after so long of teasing was euphoric, and you swear if you were a weaker woman you could have come from the first swipe of his tongue against your clit. You held out as his tongue made its way in circles and figure eights, then he pressed a finger against your entrance, eyes looking up through dark lashes to silently ask permission.

Once you had given it, he sank a finger into you, pumping it a few times before adding another. With that, both his hand and mouth picked up speed until you were grinding on his face, chasing your orgasm.

You were on the edge, ready to jump off, when he pulled back. You whined at the loss of contact and tried to sit up, but one large hand pushed you back against the bed, the other starting its assault all over again.

This time, he didn’t stop until you were coming all over his face, and you think you blacked out for a second because the next thing you knew he was over top of you, not even bothering to wipe his mouth before kissing you, driving his tongue in and swallowing down your moans.

He ground his hips against you, his cock sliding easily through your folds, and you both whined as his tip caught at your entrance. He continued his movements, getting closer and closer to fucking you with every pass, but never quite committing.

Sick of his teasing, you pushed hard on his shoulders and, in his surprise, were able to flip him so he was on his back.

“Stop teasing, Peter,” you whispered in his ear as you straddled his waist. “I need you.”

You pulled back, eyes searching his, before he nodded and wrapped his hands around your hips. Taking that as permission, you grabbed his cock, lining it up and slowly sliding down.

He was big, much bigger than you had anticipated, and you had to take your time before he was fully seated inside you. Once your hips were flush together, you took a breath, practically feeling him in your throat. 

He looked up at you - almost adoringly - as you adjusted to him. You leaned down, pressing your chest against his, and kissed him gently, pouring every ounce of emotion you possibly could into it before starting to move your hips. Now more adjusted, the burn of the stretch turned into a pleasure that had you melting against him and hands guided your hips to move you along his length.

For long minutes you let him move you as he wanted, content to hang on for the ride. You didn’t expect for Peter to flip you over and start pounding into you.

“Fuck,” you gasped out as he settled your legs over your shoulders. “So fucking deep.”

All you could do is hold onto him as he fucked you, alternating between hard thrusts and slow grinds until you were dizzy with pleasure, chasing an orgasm that wasn’t going to come unless Peter damn well wanted it to.

And when he did, when he reached down and rubbed harsh circles into your clit, you exploded around him. The clench of your heat around his cock spurred his own orgasm, and he pulled out at the last second, his come coating your stomach and tits.

That on is own was hot enough, but Peter fucking Parker did not come to play. He swiped two fingers through his own release before pressing them to your mouth. You opened up for him, cleaning off his fingers as he groaned, and you could see his cock give an interested twitch, like it was already trying to go for round two.

The weight of his body disappeared from yours and you whined, reaching out for him even with your eyes closed. He quickly returned with a warm rag and cleaned you up before maneuvering you both under the covers. 

Regaining a semblance of strength, you turned so that you were facing him, suddenly very aware of each of your nakedness.

“What now?” Your voice was hoarse-sounding, it’s only use in the last bit from moans and gasps.

“Well,” he started, once again tracing shapes along your bare skin, “I think we maybe skipped a step in the middle of all this.”

“What do you mean?” If he was going to say what you thought he might, your heart would implode.

“I mean, I’ve liked you for a really long time, longer than I’m going to admit, and I took this chance because I didn’t know if I would ever get it again. But if I’m right - and I think I am - then you feel the same way I do. So, I want to take you on a proper date. I want to make this work.”

His confession made your heart stutter-step and you couldn’t even find the words to tell him yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Instead, you pulled him in for a soft kiss, hoping every emotion he had just poured out to you was matched in the press of your lips against his.

“I’m taking that as a yes, then.”

“Yeah, Pete, it is.”

[bottomtim]

steddie a/b/o au part 2! (part 1 here) | rated M, 2.9k words, now on ao3

Steve walks up to the door of the Munson trailer, blankets now situated in a laundry sack for easy transport, and goes to pull it open, only to find it locked. 

Knocking is a courtesy that, lately, Steve only really extends when Wayne is there, but his car is nowhere to be seen. He does usually call first, and when he doesn’t, Eddie grumbles about how he needs to start locking the doors if Steve is going to barge in like he owns the place. But that’s just good natured teasing, or else Eddie would have locked the doors before today. (And do you know who shows up at your place uninvited, who you keep the doors unlocked for, who you keep that boundary open with? Pack mates.)

Steve’s mind is still so hyper focused on pack mates and what it means to be pack mates that when he goes for the door and it doesn’t budge, his mind doesn’t really comprehend it at first, thinks maybe he’s just not turning the knob far enough. But he goes to open the door again, and, nope, still won’t budge. So he knocks.

His initial knock goes unanswered, so he knocks again, harder. When there’s still no answer, Steve yells, “Ed, it’s me! I know you’re in there, open up!” And when Eddie still doesn’t answer, he decides knocking incessantly and calling Eddie’s name will get his attention eventually, will break through whatever barrier that is currently being provided by sleeping, or reading, or writing music. Steve’s about to go knock directly on Eddie’s window when he finally hears, “Jesus Christ, Harrington, shut up, I’m coming.”

When he hears the knob jiggle, Steve lifts his laundry sack of blankets into view, ready to explain to Eddie that he’s here for his scent. But when Eddie opens the door, he looks, well… Awful.

His hair is flatter and duller than normal, he’s pale but his cheeks are red, he’s looking sweaty, and Steve can see the exhaustion all over his face. Steve would’ve assumed Eddie was sick and had a fever if the smell didn’t hit him next.

“Holy shit, Munson, are you in heat? You’re in heat! Why didn’t you say anything? Oh my god.” Steve pushes Eddie back inside, and firmly shuts the door.

“Steve, why are you here?” Usually Eddie seemed pretty happy to see Steve, or, at least, not upset. But right now he looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than in his living room with Steve.

“Came to get your scent for the movie night nest, but, heat scent is definitely not what we’re going for.”

“My scent? Why…?”

“For the nest? The pack nest? The one that we set up every movie night…?” Then Steve waves his hands, going back to the more pressing matter. “Why didn’t you tell us about your heat, Munson? You need nesting materials with our scents, you need, like, snacks and water, you need someone to be here for you, like holy shit, why are you here alone right now?!”

“I’m here alone because I didn’t think my uncle needed to hear me jerk off for the next three days. Don’t sweat it, Stevie, I can handle my heat just fine.”

“You don’t look like you’re handling it, you look like you’re about to keel over.” And, as if on cue, Eddie starts swaying and Steve has to steady him by the arm and lead him to the couch before he actually does keel over. Steve sets the laundry sack down and focuses his full attention on the omega in heat in front of him.

Eddie takes a deep breath, then says, tiredly, “Steve. Why are you still here?”

“Why—? Eddie, because you’re apparently in heat and you shouldn’t be alone! Why do you think we would leave you alone during your heat?”

And then the lightbulb goes off in Steve’s mind. His brain supplies the answer to his question before Eddie can.

Because the girls were—ugh—right.

Because Eddie doesn’t know he’s pack.

Eddie sighs, exasperated. “Why would you think I want you to be here for my heat?”

“Eddie,” Steve begins, hesitantly. “Why do you think I came to get your scent for the pack nest?”

“Still haven’t parsed that one out yet. Kinda too busy trying not to whip my dick out in front of you, right now.” 

“Okay, um.” Shit. Shit. Steve has to approach this carefully. Asking someone to join your pack when they’re in the throes of heat isn’t ideal, but Steve can maybe use this opportunity to ease him into it gently. “How does this sound. How would you like some things that smell like… Us… for your heat nest.”

“‘Us’ being?”

“Well, the pack. At least Robin or Nancy’s, or, um. Mine.” He could probably get Eddie to agree to stuff from the kids, too, but he thinks just the 3 of them might be less overwhelming.

Eddie whimpers, probably involuntarily. “Not gonna lie, that sounds, uh. Nice.”

“Ok! Ok, good! Let’s start there. I’ll get some stuff for your nest. Do you want to lay down? You look like you need to lay down.”

Eddie nods hard, eyes glassy as Steve helps him lay down on the couch. Eddie lets out a whined, “Smell so good,” before Steve heads over to the telephone. Christ.

Nancy picks up on the third ring. He doesn’t even let her say a greeting before he goes, “You were right.” 

“Of course I was.”

“We’ve got a bigger situation.”

“Okay?”

“He’s in heat.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah ‘oh.’ Uh, can you bring some stuff over? Some painkillers, snacks, he likes those gummy bears and that Earl Grey tea, and something for his nest?”

“Yes,” Nancy answers quickly, no hint of hesitancy in her voice. Nancy is a very good alpha, and whether Eddie has been officially invited into the pack or not, Steve knows she still sees him as one of hers.

“Are you sure you want stuff for his nest if he doesn’t even know he’s pack? Will he be okay with it?” 

“Yep, he’s fine with it. Maybe just stick with stuff from you, me, or Robin for now.”

“Got it. Robin and I will be there in 20.”

“You don’t need to bring Robin.” Steve hears Eddie whine again from the couch. Probably the idea of having any alpha near him sounds appealing, just for the company and comfort alone. But the idea of two alphas being in Eddie’s space makes Steve nervous on his behalf. He knows neither Robin nor Nancy would ever do anything to intentionally hurt Eddie, but he’s vulnerable and could easily be overwhelmed. It took Steve a while to be okay with having the both of them around for his own heats; though it’s still usually just Robin keeping him company, Nancy will still stop by to check on him because she is, as previously stated, a very good alpha.

“Don’t worry about it. See ya soon!” She hangs up before Steve has a chance to say anything further.

Right. Okay.

Steve hangs up Eddie’s phone and turns back to see Eddie laying on the couch with his arm thrown over his eyes, taking deep controlled breaths. “How ya doin’ over there, buddy?

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” Eddie starts. “I’m trying really hard not to grind into my couch cushions right in front of you right now.”

“Right, got it.” Steve’s been there. He’s felt the uncontrollable urge to rub himself on every available surface, to put anything even vaguely phalic shaped inside of himself just to quell the incessant desire screaming at him, the quiet the little voice in his head telling him he needs to be filled. “Do you want to go to your room and take care of it?”

Eddie moves his arm to peek at Steve with a big, surprised eye when Steve realizes how that must sound. “Can’t even ask me to dinner first, Harrington?”

“By yourself, I mean!” Steve corrects, hastily. “Obviously.”

Eddie grimaces, face turning sour. “Yeah. Obviously.” The smell of hurt and disappointment hit Steve like a truck, and shit. Steve mentally asks himself why he’s being so stupid today.

“Eddie, that’s not what I mean, I just mean, that, well, y’know… We’re not… We’ve never…” Steve’s at a loss for what to say. They’ve never done anything, not really, and have never said anything. Eddie doesn’t even think he’s part of the pack. And, sure, Steve sometimes feels butterflies when Eddie sleepily scents him when they lay on the couch, or when they’re in the pack nest and Eddie chooses to sit next to him over everyone else. But that’s all that’s ever happened. Steve chooses not to look too far into it. Eddie’s never said if he would be interested in another man, or even if he’d be interested in another omega, so it’s hard to say if Steve just wants to see more than there is or if there’s really something there. So he ignores it. 

Eddie sighs, still smells a bit unhappy, but says “No, I know. It’s just… Heat Brain making me sensitive. Sorry.” 

“Yeah, no worries. I shouldn’t have said it like that.” 

“I am tempted to, uh, go take care of it. But from what I could hear of your conversation, I should be expecting company.” 

“Yeah, just Rob and Nance. They’re gonna drop some things off for you.” 

Eddie lets out a choked little noise, probably trying to hold back another whine before he says, “Gotta be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been around any alphas for my heat. Wayne’s a beta, mom was an omega, Dad was a beta, too. And I’ve never, uh, been with any alphas, either.” 

“I get it, man. Nancy’s a good alpha. So is Rob. Hell, Robin spends every heat with me, just making sure I don’t, like, get dehydrated. Or die. And Nancy always checks in, too.”

“And you guys don’t… Do anything?” Eddie asks, hesitantly.

“Nah. You know about Robin. And Nancy and I tried when we were together, and it was fine, but it just… I don’t know. Wasn’t really either of our things.”

“Mine neither,” Eddie admits softly. “Not the… The alphas or the-” He’s cut off by a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it. Are you okay if they want to come in? I can just take the stuff and tell them to scram. They won’t be offended, I promise.” 

Eddie turns to lay on his side and looks up at Steve with glassy eyes, contemplating. Steve can tell every fiber of his omega being wants the presence of an alpha but he’s internally debating on if he thinks he should, probably heard too many horror stories of alphas and omegas not being able control themselves around each other during a cycle.

Steve can’t help but reach out and card his fingers through Eddie’s hair. “I promise, if you want to see them, nothing will happen. I’ll make sure of it, if you’re worried. And if you don’t, that’s fine, too.”

Eddie thinks a moment longer, the girls (probably more likely Robin) are continuously knocking on the door now, much like Steve was earlier.  Eddie nods and Steve gives him a reassuring smile before he gets up to answer the door.

As he approaches, he hears Robin call through the door, “You guys better not be having s-!” and she stops when Steve opens the door and flashes an overly wide smile at him. “We come bearing gifts,” she says, instead.

Robin shoves the pile of clothes and blankets she brought into Steve’s arms and makes a beeline straight for Eddie on the couch. Steve follows close on her heels– Look he knows, okay, he knows, it’s just Robin and nothing is going to happen, he doesn’t need to be protective of Eddie, but… Something about Omega-In-Heat Pheromones make it a little hard for Steve to think straight. He’s anxious. He feels an arm squeeze his shoulder and turns to see Nancy, who just deposited some grocery bags on the kitchen counter, looking up at him. “You need to relax,” she says, giving him a reassuring smile. “Deep breaths.” He can smell Nancy releasing a calming scent and it does help a little.

“Oh, Eddie,” Robin tuts, holding his fevered face in her hands. “I’m sorry you thought you had to do this alone. We should have talked about this sooner.” 

Eddie groans, taking in a deep breath of alpha scent and melting into a puddle in the couch immediately. “Smell sooooo good,” he says, hazily. 

“I know, buddy, I smell like a dream,” She laughs, easily. It helps Steve relax, seeing her smile, seeing her dote. He knows this is how it goes.

“Ugh, yeah,” Eddie says, openly scenting her wrist. She smiles wide up at Steve like in a Do you see this happening?! Kind of way. They can tell Eddie is losing more of his focus the more time he’s around the alphas’ scents, plus there already seemed to be another wave coming on not long after Steve got there. 

“How are you feeling, Eddie?” Nancy asks. Her face is concerned and her grip on Steve’s arm is still tight, but she still smells calm as ever. 

“Betterrrrr,” Eddie slurs, the word turning into a purr in the latter half.

“Good! Good. We brought stuff for your nest,” She says.

“Nest!”

“Yes. Nest. Do you want to put some stuff in your nest?”

Eddie nods, clumsily sits up. Robin and Nancy are all over him in seconds, helping him stand, leading him to his room. Steve really wishes Robin hadn’t shoved all of the nesting materials in his arms right about now. 

They make it into the bedroom and Eddie plops down onto his bed, which already has Eddie’s regular blankets, both throws from the living room, and a couple of Wayne’s work shirts scattered about. Steve sets the nesting materials next to him and watches as Eddie takes his time to sniff each piece. When he gets to one of Steve’s shirts, he nearly moans and says Steve’s name, holding the fabric tight and rubbing his own scent on it, mixing their smells together. Robin gives Steve’s shoulder a not so subtle shove, a shit-eating I-told-you-so grin on her face while Nancy giggles behind her hand. 

They watch as Eddie takes his time, laying out each piece–Shirts from Robin and Nancy, the blanket Steve recognizes from Robin’s room, but also a big blanket they save for pack nights. Eddie purrs when he smells  that one, and Nancy leans to whisper in Steve’s ear, “I had the kids scent that one. I know… I know you said just us, but… I don’t know. Felt right.” She shrugs, eyes locked on Eddie watching him fuss with each piece.

After a while, Eddie has all the materials placed, and he looks up to Steve and the alphas, almost for approval. 

Robin is the first to say, “It looks so great Eddie! So comfy! Any omega would be lucky to have a lovely nest like that.” This is what Steve loves about Robin as an alpha, as a pack member, as a person. Robin will be the first to say she talks too much, that she rambles, that she doesn’t know when to shut up, but Robin says the right things with the right tone. She knows how to comfort you, how to make you laugh, and how to knock some sense into you when you need it. When she compliments Eddie’s nest, his face lights up and he purrs again. He’s so happy, the smell fills the room. 

Nancy smiles at Eddie, tells him, “It looks so comfy, Eddie. I bet you’re going to take a good nap in that nest, huh?”

Eddie flops back into the nest, rolls around a bit, then curls up into a ball like… Like a puppy… He’s so cute Steve could die. He nods to them, glassy eyes getting heavy. Steve can tell from where he’s standing Eddie’s still warm, probably gotten even warmer since he started working on the nest.

“Alright, well, you go ahead and nap, Eddie. We’re going to go,” Nancy says, turning to leave, the others following suit, when Eddie whines. 

“No,” he says, pouting up at them from his nest. 

“Do… You want us to come in your nest?” Robin asks.

“No,” Eddie says very adamantly.

The three of them share a look, not sure what to do. Then Nancy asks, “Do you want Steve in your nest?”

“Yessssss,” Eddie says, stretching out like a cat then reaching his hand to Steve.

Ok, it’s honestly kind of a big deal that Eddie wants Steve in his nest. Steve wouldn’t let Robin in his nest for the first cycle they spent together, and even after that, his mood on whether or not he wanted her there was fickle. Now he needs her there like he needs the water she makes him drink so he doesn’t get dehydrated, but it wasn’t an immediate thing. So Steve’s kind of shocked that Eddie wants him in his nest.

But he’s also deeply pleased, a primal part of his brain preening at being chosen.

Steve stands still frozen for a moment before Robin shoves him towards the bed (Robin again with the shoving!). He fumbles a bit, almost falling into the bed, but he catches himself on his hands, face to face with Eddie. “Are you sure he asks?”

And Eddie, hazy and warm, gives him the softest smile (really, Steve is going to die), and says, “Yes. Very.”

Robin and Nancy are waving goodbye and just like that, Steve is in Eddie Munson’s nest with a warm omega koala-gripping his front and jamming his nose into Steve’s scent gland. Steve softly laughs. It tickles.

They fall asleep smiling.

[outerspacebisexual]

A Place in this World - Steve Harrington

Book B - Part Two

Summary: You and Steve Harrington are together, and now you're in hiding, which leaves him less than impressed.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Word count: 3.71k

Warnings: SPOILERS for Season 4 Vol. 1 & 2, swearing, smoking, canon violence, fluff, angst

Masterlist

Lucas was absolutely shitting himself.

The constant balancing act of trying to understand what was happening and also lead Jason, Andy, and Patrick astray to protect you and Eddie was starting to unravel. He was on edge, especially being in the trailer park trying to avoid being spotted by cops.

At your trailer.

Jason handed him the spray paint. “Come on, Sinclair. She’s the devil’s bitch, and I want everyone to know it.”

Lucas stared at the red can for another moment, before looking up to see what the others had already done.

Andy clapped him on the shoulder and nodded towards the trailer. In his mind, Lucas begged for your forgiveness. He begged you to understand that he was only doing this to protect you and Eddie. So that you guys would have a chance.

He wondered if you would ever forgive him when the first line of paint sprayed across the wall.

+

“Hold on. I’m confused,” you said, leaning forward from where you were sat on an upside down milkcrate. “How have you guys seen this happen before?”

You question was directed at all of them, but no one seemed especially keen on filling you in, until Max said, “It’s all a bit complicated. We’ve fought a Demogorgon and demo-dogs and the Mind-Flayer and Russians, but this is new. This is different.”

“Yeah, see we normally we rely on this girl, Eleven, who has superpowers, but those went bye-bye—” Steve started.

Robin cut in. “So, now we’re in sort of the—”

“Brainstorming phase,” Max finished.

You stared at them, face surprisingly blank considering that you had just been told a number of life-changing facts:

You were being hunted by the Hawkins P.D. for your suspected connection to the murder of Chrissy Cunningham;

It was only a matter of time before the town found out and you and Eddie would be Hawkins’ Most Wanted; and

Apparently, all of your friends had seen this kind of shit happen before and had come out alive. More than once.

“OK,” you said finally. You looked at Eddie who had a similar look of astonishment on his own face.

You were losing your mind. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation. You had barely slept last night, for the second night in a row. It turned out that being in hiding and also being in a boatshed did not make for the most ideal sleeping conditions.

You had wanted to go with Steve last night, but he had reminded you that you were still wanted, meaning spending another night at Reefer Rick’s. Steve hadn’t wanted to leave you there, but you had promised not to go anywhere again until he and the others returned in the morning with food. A promise you had kept, despite the ache in your back from the cold floor and the images of Chrissy’s body every time you closed your eyes.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Dustin added, and you and Eddie only stared at him. Little Dustin Henderson, who had apparently fought inhuman monsters and won.

You leaned over and put your head in your hands. “Jesus Christ.” At this point, you wished that you were going insane.

You felt Steve kneeling in front of you before his hand rested on your shoulder, running his thumb up and down your collarbone. “I know it’s a lot. But like Robin said earlier, we’re feeling confident.” His voice was so soft and tender that you had to hold back tears as the palms of your hands pressed into your eyes.

Before you could answer, sirens ascended up the hill and your head swung up in alarm.

“Tarp! Tarp!” Robin yelled, and Steve was pushing you towards the boat as Eddie grabbed you and threw the tarp over the both of you.

Your heart was racing as you laid there, Eddie squeezed beside you. Both of you were perfectly quiet, wide-eyed as you waited for the inevitable.

But then, the sirens faded, and you furrowed your brows as Steve pulled back the tarp and helped you out of the boat. “They’re headed up towards the park,” he said. “I’m going to check it out.”

“I’ll go with you,” you volunteered, but Steve held up his hand.

“You need to stay here. Everyone is looking for you. And we are heading towards the police.”

You shook your head. “I’m not leaving you again. If they’re looking for me, how long do you think it is until they knock on your door?”

Steve opened his mouth and then stopped short. He hadn’t thought about that. You two had been pretty public with your relationship. And you worked together. He glanced between you and Eddie, the latter of who just shrugged and said, “She’ll either go with you now or follow you after you leave.”

Steve heaved a sigh. “OK. But you need to stay low. No getting out of the car. At all.”

You nodded before turning to Eddie. “You’ll be all right here?”

Eddie gave you an easy smile. “I’ll be fine. Plus, someone has to protect Harrington here,” he joked, and for the first time in two days, you laughed, even as Steve rolled his eyes.

Then, satisfied with a hug from Eddie and a promise that he wouldn’t move, you were in Steve’s car, crouching between Max and Dustin as you pulled up to the ambulance and mass number of police.

From where you were, you could see the cordoned off area. And…Nancy Wheeler?

“Don’t move,” Steve mumbled to you, as each of them got out.

You could see the utter relief on her face as she spotted them—spotted Steve. You couldn’t blame her, not if the body under the white sheet was another victim like Chrissy. You wondered who it was.

It turned out that you didn’t have to wait long to find out because Nancy squished into Steve’s car as you all headed back to the trailer park, filling you guys in. You leaned with your back against the door in front of Max, her legs up on the seat to accommodate you, Dustin in the middle, with Nancy on the left.

She had been visibly shocked to see you when she climbed in but hadn’t said anything. You stared at her as she looked ahead. She looked beyond uncomfortable, and you were pretty sure you knew the reason.

“We didn’t do it,” you said, breaking the silence.

Her head swung around to look at you. “What?”

“Kill Chrissy, I mean. We didn’t do it.”

She looked at you for a moment before looking away again. “I know. Mr Munson said you couldn’t have.” She paused, thinking about something. “He said that even though you and Eddie have your eccentricities, you weren’t capable of it.”

“Did you think that we did? Before that?” You weren’t sure why you wanted to know. The entire town knew you guys were different, sure, but did they honestly think that you were capable of something this horrific?

Nancy didn’t reply straight away, and your heart sank.

You swallowed harshly and leaned further back into the door. You made eye contact with Steve in his rear-view mirror, his eyes soft, almost sympathetic. You hated it.

You were surprised to find the trailer park almost deserted. You guessed that Fred’s body had taken the focus to the backroad. For that, you were grateful.

As Steve pulled up beside Eddie’s trailer and everyone got out, he reached a hand back and stopped you. “There are still people here. You can’t get out.”

“They’re my neighbours, Steve. They’re good people.”

He shook his head. “If they think you did this, I guarantee that they will call the cops on you. Just please, stay in the car.”

You huffed. “Fine.”

Steve gave you a grateful smile as he ran his thumb across your knuckles, before joining the others at the table outside Eddie’s. You wondered sadly where Wayne was staying. There was no way he was staying at his place.

You found yourself insanely thankful that your parents were away and would be for over a week. The last thing you wanted was for them to get caught up in any of this…supernatural shit.

You placed your head in your hands again.

You couldn’t believe that Nancy had thought that you were insane enough to murder someone. And not just kill them, but mutilate them. You knew that your choices in style and who you were was divisive. You knew that people across the world thought that Dungeons & Dragons was devil worship, but you hadn’t thought that people in Hawkins believed it.

The Hellfire Club were harmless. You guys played a game.

You thought back to Steve’s words as you peaked your head over the doorframe. Maybe your neighbours did think that. People who had known you since you were a toddler. Maybe they thought you were a devil worshipper who sacrificed people.

You went to sag back down when you caught sight of your trailer and your entire heart shattered in your chest.

Numbly, you reached for the handle and opened the door, stepping out.

You could hear Steve calling your name in the background, but your eyes were focused on your trailer—on your home.

You couldn’t hear your footsteps. You couldn’t hear Steve and the others rushing towards you.

You could only hear your thundering heartbeat as your beheld the graffiti painted all over your home.

HELLFIRE BITCH YOU’LL DIE

Along with some crude images of a pentagram and a giant target.

You were crying as Steve stepped between you and your trailer, trying to shield your view of it. “Y/N,” he said, “I need you to get in the car. Please.”

But you looked past him, weakly trying to push him away. He held steadfast, instead wrapping his arms around you as you cried.

The others stood in silence, no doubt taking it in.

Steve squeezed you tighter. “Baby,” he begged. “I need you to get back in the car. If someone sees you…” He started pulling you to the car.

You stopped listening. You stopped listening as you felt your heart begin to burn hot with rage.

Someone had destroyed your home. Someone was hunting you and your best friend for something you didn’t do.

Steve’s arms were the only thing keeping you grounded, even as he manoeuvred you into the backseat. He reached a hand up to your face, wiping your cheeks and holding your face in his hands, forcing you to look at him.

“It’s going to be OK,” he said, and you could see the promise behind his brown eyes, the one that said that you would get this fucker. That you would stop this. That it would be all right.

You nodded, and Steve kissed you, helping to calm your racing heart, before turning back to the others. You could vaguely hear them arguing about going somewhere, but you tuned it out. You tuned everything out, even as Max and Dustin got back in along with Steve, Nancy and Robin nowhere to be seen.

You could feel Max’s eyes on you, and you looked at her. She tried to give you a reassuring smile.

Even with everything going on, it helped. And so, you gave her one back.

+

Sitting outside the school shrink’s house waiting for Max was about as exciting as it sounded.

“Hey,” Steve said, turning in his seat so he could see you. “How are you feeling?”

You looked at him for the first time in half an hour. “Why didn’t you tell me about the monsters?”

He was taken aback for a second, glancing at Dustin who just raised his hands. “I, uh, I don’t know. I thought it was all over. I thought we wouldn’t have to deal with another one.”

“Were you ever gong to tell me?” you asked, voice low.

“I don’t know.”

You sighed, leaning back against the door again. “Why didn’t any of you tell me? All of you had this huge secret and none of you thought to clue me in?”

Steve placed a hand on your knee. “It’s not really the kind of thing that makes sense to a lot of people, babe.” You traced your fingers gently over the veins on his hand. “But I am sorry for not telling you,” he said.

“Don’t be. I’m not mad. It’s just…a lot,” you admitted.

Everything was fucked, you thought as you rested the back of you head against the door. This whole situation could have been avoided if Eddie hadn’t been so kind, if he hadn’t tried to sell Chrissy something stronger.

The boatshed was colder at night, the blanket you had ‘borrowed’ from Rick’s place pulled tight around your shoulders.

Sleep was evading you, no matter how much your eyes begged you to close them and your brain clouded with fog. You just couldn’t sleep.

Eddie rolled over from where he was curled up in the boat and you looked at him. “Hey, Eddie?” you called, hoping he was awake.

He let out a tired hum, not opening his eyes.

You hesitated, before saying, “Why was Chrissy Cunningham at your trailer in the first place?”

Even from metres away, you could see the way his whole body tensed. “She, uh, she came over to buy drugs.”

That caught your interest. “Drugs? Since when does she do drugs?” You were fairly up to date with Eddie catalogue of clients, and he had never mentioned Chrissy. Ever.

“First time. She wanted weed at first, but then she asked for something stronger, I picked her up after the game and Hellfire. Brought her back to give her the stuff because she seemed like she really needed something to take the edge off. That’s when she…she started…” His voice shook as he trailed off.

“What do you mean she needed something?”

He sighed, clearly not wanting to go over it, but you needed to know. “She was acting weird at school when we met at the table. She was…skittish, like she was scared of something. She even said she felt like she was losing her mind.”

“And you thought hard drugs were the answer?” you quipped.

“I obviously didn’t realise that there was actually something wrong,” Eddie spat back. “She mentioned having headaches and nightmares on the drive over. I thought she just meant about school. Or Carver.”

“And ket was going to help with that? She’d feel even worse when she came down from the high.”

Eddie ran his hands over his face, letting out an exasperated sigh.

You could feel the fear and fatigue mixing like a deadly cocktail that would explode the longer you guys kept up this line of questioning. “I’m sorry,” you said. “That it happened to you.”

Eddie cracked open his eyes. “You have a terrible habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up before throwing you both a cigarette and his lighter. It was both an observation and an apology.

You let out a bark of laughter as you lit up. “Don’t I know it.” You closed your eyes again, taking a drag. “Our guitars had better be somewhere safe. I’ll kick your ass if they’re gone.”

Steve squeezed your knee, bringing you back to the present. “You’re handling this whole ‘monsters in Hawkins’ thing much better than I did.”

“You should have seen him, Y/N,” Dustin chimed in, grinning like a madman. “Nancy and Jonathan had to protect him because he wouldn’t stop screaming.”

“All right, Henderson.” Steve rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t need to know that.”

“Nancy even had to hold him at gunpoint to get him to calm down.”

You raised your brows, smirk edging its way across your face. “Really?”

Dustin continued, despite the annoyed look on Steve’s face. “Really. But he did look cool with his nail bat, I guess. One time, he used it to stop the demo-dogs getting me, Lucas, and Max when we were in a bus.”

“What nail bat? Why were you in a bus?”

Steve cut in, “Long story. All you really need to know is that you’re doing exceptionally well in spite of the whole…situation.”

His eyes were warm as he continued to run his thumb over your knee.

“How about the time you squealed like a girl in the Russian elevator?”

Steve smacked Dustin with his free hand. “That’s it, Henderson. Once more and you’re walking.”

“Nice try. Y/N wouldn’t let you do that to me.”

“Oh, really? And why’s that?”

Dustin nodded, a smug look plastered across his face. “She likes me better.”

You laughed at that, and Dustin’s smug look only grew as Steve’s fell and he removed his hand from you, grumbling, “Sure. Why wouldn’t she? You know, with all your pre-pubescent charm.”

Dustin’s smile dropped. “I’m a teenager now. And we like the same stuff. I don’t see you offering to play D&D with her.”

You could only watch on in amusement as they got lost in themselves arguing, which happened almost every time.

“I don’t need to play D&D with her. I see her at work, and we hang out all the time.”

Dustin scoffed. “Hang out? What are you, ten?”

“You know, your ego is going to be the death of you—”

Steve was cut off as Max reefed open the car door and jumped in, slamming it closed and screaming, “Drive, Steve!”

Steve fumbled for a minute before taking off down the street, ordering Max to tell him what was going on.

Max held up a set of keys. “We need to do a bit of breaking and entering.” She looked at you, already smiling. “You should be able to help us with that.”

You shared her conspiring smile.

+

“How do you know how to do this?” Steve asked as you all stood outside the entrance doors of Hawkins High under the cover of night.

You jiggled the pin inside the lock, biting your lip in concentration. “Practice.” Ms Kelley’s keys worked for most of the locks inside the school, but the outside doors were a different story.

He looked between you and the lock before settling his eyes on Max. “How did you know she could do this?”

She shrugged. “I’ve seen her and Eddie do it before.”

“I don’t know how I feel about you watching me, Mayfield,” you added, just the lock clicked open. “I know we’re neighbours, but I might have to get a restraining order.” You pushed open the door.

The four of you raced inside, heading straight for Ms Kelley’s office.

“I can’t believe you know how to pick locks,” Steve said to you as you walked.

“I grew up in a trailer park. The people there are usually nice, but they’re often not the best influence.”

“What other skills do you have that I don’t know about?”

You waited for Max to unlock the door to the office. You glanced at Steve, patting him on the chest. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” Then you were inside, leaving him standing there with Dustin.

Max headed straight for the filing cabinets, pulling them open and leafing through the files.

You would probably feel bad about the prospect of looking through students’ most private folders, but you were a bit pre-occupied with ensuring that you and Eddie didn’t end up getting caught and charged with murder. You really didn’t want to die, and you would, because you most definitely would get the death penalty—especially because of your so-called ties with Satan himself.

“Holy shit,” Max said, and you swung your flashlight to her.

“You found it?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. And not just Chrissy’s file. Fred was seeing Ms Kelley, too.” She sat the desk, Dustin and Steve crowding her as she started to read Chrissy’s file.

You stayed at the filing cabinet, pulling open one of the drawers that said ‘Past Students’. You had no idea why they kept old student files. It wasn’t like they needed them once you’d graduated. You scanned the tightly packed drawer, eyes finally landing on the one you were looking for.

L/N, Y/N

You pulled it out. It was relatively thin compared to some other people’s folders. You hadn’t seen Ms Kelley regularly, just when the school decided that you need to. Same thing happened to Eddie. Apparently, they believed the two of you needed some serious counselling because no normal people could randomly decide to start dressing and acting the way you did.

You flipped it open, surprised with the photo tacked to the notes. You looked so young. It was hard to believe that it had been over two years since you’d graduated.

You ran your finger over the notes, skimming the words Ms Kelley had written.

Started a school group with a friend—Edward Munson—game playing? – Will need to reassess in a few weeks. Music is big part of life. Plays guitar—wouldn’t consider joining school band. Said she ‘would rather die.’

You chuckled at that. Over your dead body would you join the school band.

Bullying incidents have risen since return for tenth grade. Numerous times has been accosted in the halls by other students. Reports that Edward has also been at the receiving end. Is adamant that she does not want to involve staff.

You flipped the page, seeing your senior year notes. Most were just average that you didn’t even remember, but one you did.

Most recent incident resulted in having a week off school. Again insists that she does not want to involve teachers. Became teary when speaking about the incident. Spoke about wanting to leave school, but she decided against it—wants to graduate with Edward.

You bit your lip as you read the rest of the notes. You imagined telling your high school self about everything happening. Trying to explain that there were monsters in Hawkins. Trying to explain that you were in a relationship with Steve Harrington. Old you would probably think you were crazy.

You could hear Max talking, and silently put the folder back. Getting lost in old memories wouldn’t help you now.

Not if you wanted to save yourself and Eddie.

a/n: thank you for reading!

please check out my new prompt celebration and put in a request if you want to!

<3 aeia

[weepingguitar1968]

The Who x You - Breakfast went wrong...

It was 6:30 in the morning and you were hungry, so you went to the kitchen.

You noticed someone there... he looked like a stranger.

But you decided to go over and make sure... Wait... it was John.

"What are you doing?". At that moment the spoon fell out of his hand.

"JESUS CHRIST" he looked seriously scared. It's the first time you've seen him like this...You noticed that he was mixing cereal with... jelly.

“I understand that you like drinking with Keith, Pete and Roger, but to confuse jelly with milk?" You were surprised even though you had seen worse things.

For example, a few days ago you saw Moonie trying to kill Roger with a plastic knife.

With a fucking plastic knife.

You thought nothing would surprise you. By the time.

"Why are you doing that?" you asked and John showed you where to sit.

"Let me start with the fact that after the last drinking, Keith threw up on my bass. And he left the flakes in the night, and as revenge I wanted to drown them in jelly."

He explained and you laughed. "and I seriously thought Keith was the master of revenge".

"Well, now I will take this title away from him."

He smiled and finished what he started. Suddenly Roger entered the kitchen. Half asleep.

"Hey. Did you sleep?" you asked Roger, and he almost fell to the floor.

You belayed him until he sat down at the small table. "I didn't ask anything..." you said.

"he couldn't sleep. He was afraid that Moonie would come to him again with that plastic knife" John said, placing the bowl next to the microwave.

Roger practically fell asleep at the table. You rubbed Roger's back a little. "Poor Roger... We have to start locking Keith in his room at night. It'll be safer that way."

"Roger, I've got my revenge on that little bastard for trying to stab you with a plastic knife.".

"what have you done?" the singer asked, then you replied, "he mixed Moonie's cereal with the jelly."

Roger, less sleepy, got up to look at the bowl. "Not bad, buddy. This fucker will get you too." Roger stated, and the bassist replied, keeping his face calm, "He won't get me if we lock him in his room at night."

And at that moment Pete walked into the kitchen. He didn't look tired. He functioned normally, did not drink anything and slept at night.

He took the box of cereal and tried to pour it into a separate bowl, which none of the three of you noticed.

He wanted to pour in the cereal.

He poured out the laxative pills...

"Hahaha... very funny. Why did you want to poison me? He asks you, squinting his eyes slightly. "Oh god. It was for Keith. I wanted to take revenge on him. Leave it and just sit down. We are waiting for him."

Pete sat down, talking with you about Moonie. "There's even a key box with the key to his room," said Pete, slowly understanding the seriousness of the situation.

What if Moonie does something worse?

Nobody knew that.

John stood there, pretending to be doing something at the microwave. That he's warming food or something.

And finally our wonderful drummer came, full of joy of life.

"Good morning everyone!" Moon said happily. You and Roger looked at him displeasedly.

After all, it's all his fault.

Keith walked over to the counter and looked into his bowl. He acted shocked for a moment.

But then he did what what no one expected.

He walked up to John and pulled his ass pants down with great force.

John screamed, kicked Moonie in the balls, pulled his pants up and then screamed again, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?".

"Sorry, but you won't take away my title of best joker"

Roger, you and Pete almost fell off your chairs laughing.

Moonie took the box of cereal tested by then unaware Pete. He poured it into the second bowl.

Plan B.

Moonie starts chasing John around the house, you take one of the laxative pills and put it in Moonie's water bottle in his room.

You've been waiting for quite a long time. After 3 minutes it dissolved. Now you just shake, you leave his room, you signal to John, and John throws Keith over his shoulder and pushes him into the room, locking it.

You and John give each other a high five and head to the kitchen.

Roger and Pete were to secure/remove all sharp items. So that the situation with Roger doesn't happen again. When everything was secured, you could let Moonie go.

John stood with his ass against the table, Roger went to put on something normal, Pete was sitting in the bathroom, and you were talking to John.

Keith took ketchup from the table and poured baking soda there.

He shook it and left it on the table.

And he walked happily towards his room.

A moment later, you made everyone (except Mooni) fries. You took ketchup, unaware of anything, and poured it on everyone. John, Pete, Roger and yourself.

Keith started laughing at his satanic act.

Roger got up and went to Moonie's room. ''Idiot, look what you did''

Moonie laughed even more. Roger kicked him hard in the shin, leaving Moonie's room happy :)

Moonie: *screaming* I'M GOING TO SHIT.

[aerodaltonimperial]

pipeline punch

Pairing: Hook/Max Caster Rating: T Warnings: None, except that I am, myself, a warning Prompt: Two people reach for the last bottle of the same drink in a gas station fridge.

It’s pretty easy to figure out when the roster descends upon any given location, because the nearest accessible sources of sustenance are nearly immediately wiped out, and today is no exception. The only Sheetz within walking distance looks like it’s been ransacked following the zombie apocalypse: all empty shelves and barren refrigerators, straight out of some B-grade horror flick. It’s a minor miracle that there’s a single energy drink left within the metal rings, even if it’s the most obnoxiously berry flavor, and Hook opens the door to reach for it in autopilot because he’s so fucking tired after getting delayed in O’Hare again that he can barely make sense of what’s happening around him.

Which is why he doesn’t notice the other hand reaching into the fridge at the exact same time. Fingers clamp down around his prize, bare skin that jolts him back into reality, and he whirls to find himself face to face with Max Caster.

“Let go,” Max says, all business.

“You let go,” Hook hisses.

“Oh, ho!” Max exclaims. His eyes have lit up, which sends alarm bells off in Hook’s head. “He does speak occasionally.”

Hook is way too tired to deal with this bullshit. “Let go, Caster.”

And Max leans way, way too close, grin wide and blinding. “Make me.”

“I will kill you,” Hook says, and boy does he mean it after the day he’s had. Of all people to tempt fate by poking a sleeping bear…but then again, he might get some real pleasure in beating the smile off Max’s face.

“Resorting to threats?” Max tilts his head to the side, studying Hook, but he very definitely does not let go of the Monster can. “Kind of a one-trick pony, aren’t you, Hook?”

Hook sighs. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

“Not a single thing,” Max replies. Cheeky. “Actually, there’s not much here to do at all, since every other person I know has decided to go to the gym, and now there’s a waiting line just to get on the leg press.”

“Maybe you could just use your ego as the weights,” Hook tells him seriously. “It seems big enough, anyway.”

“Ha!” Max throws his head back, laughing, and—come on, that was supposed to offend him, not make him laugh. “Fuck, that’s funny. Still not gonna give you the drink, though.”

“Caster,” Hook says, and yes, he’s aware that his voice is dangerously close to a whine, but in his defense, O’Hare might actually be a hellmouth. “Give me the damn drink and go away.”

“No can do, Hook-aroo. You see, I find myself with a pretty desperate need for some caffeine.”

Okay, Hook is really going to punch him. “Get something else. Go find a coffee shop.”

Max shifts. His grip on the can is somehow better than Hook’s, and maybe that’s the whole exhaustion factoring in; Max tugs the can out of the empty fridge and Hook has to scramble to keep his own fingers wrapped around it. He is not giving this up. He needs one win to keep the day from being a total and complete disaster.

He growls. He knows it probably won’t scare Max off, but whatever—feels good anyway. “Let go, Caster.”

“What'll you give me?” Max asks.

“Nothing,” Hook tells him, and then, amends: “The ability to keep living.”

Max grins again. God, Hook hates it. “You’re such a sourpuss. C’mon, make it worth my while.”

“What, you want me to pay you for it, and then pay the cashier again?” Hook snorts. “Fat chance.”

“Aw, what’s the matter?” Two of Max’s fingers clamp down over Hook’s, tight enough to pinch his skin against the metal. “Trust fund baby doesn’t have the money?”

Jesus Christ, it’s like he wants to die.

“Are you always this fucking annoying?” Hook seethes.

Max laughs. “Oh, normally I’m so much worse.”

Hook can believe that. He tries jerking the can closer towards his chest, thinking maybe he’ll catch Max off-guard and gain the upper hand, but all it does is pull both the can and Max closer to his position. Shit. “You’re an asshole.”

“Takes one to know one,” Max shoots back.

Oh my god… “What are you, five?” Hook gives the can a shake, which is seriously going to backfire if he’s the one who ends up with it. “I’ve had the shittiest day, just give it to me.”

“And this canned monstrosity is going to make your shitty day better?” Max scoffs. “Aim higher, at least.”

“You’re one to judge. How’s hanging out with Daddy Ass?”

“Oh!” Max exclaims. The glint in his eyes gets sharper. “Wow, that’s not dripping with disdain at all. Tell me how you really feel, Hook. How’s being all alone with no friends because you’re so insufferable to be around?”

Okay, that stung, and maybe he deserved it, but still. “You literally don’t know anything about me.”

He expects an argument, but Max gets kind of quiet. Thoughtful. “You know, you’re right; I don’t.”

“Right,” Hook says, although…it’s not really a retort. He’s a bit thrown, now, off his game.

“So let’s say I want to,” Max tells him. “Tell me something about yourself, then.”

What? “This isn’t fucking happy hour, Caster.”

“I’ll say. People normally don’t make faces that grumpy at happy hour.”

Hook’s back to wanting to punch him in the nose. “You are easily the most annoying person I’ve ever talked to.”

“That’s not a high bar, though, is it? You don’t talk to anyone, so there’s like, what, five people on that list?”

“Caster,” Hook says. Pleads. “Please.”

“Let’s go, then, Hook,” Max says, and is it Hook’s imagination or has his voice dropped significantly? They’re close enough that Hook could easily sock him in the face if he really wanted. “What’s it gonna be? Give up? Or give in?”

“Give in how?” This is so fucking frustrating. “All you’ve done is stand there and run your mouth.”

“Tell you what,” Max says. He tugs the can, and fuck, Hook’s sneakers tangle up together, propelling him forward farther than he wanted to stumble. They are toe to toe now, close enough that Hook’s got an uncomfortably close look at the mirth in Max’s eyes. “I’ll make this even easier for you. I’ll give you the drink, and I’ll just take what I want in return.”

“I’m not giving you the FTW belt,” Hook replies, automatically.

It’s insulting that Max laughs at that, too. “In what world do you think I want your belt? How would that even be a decent trade?”

“Then what do you want?”

Max’s tongue creeps out, pressing into the corner of his mouth. There’s kind of a stretched moment of nothing that Hook thinks is actually something, something monumental that he’s managed to miss. Like most things, really. The whole thing just serves to double the frustration in his stomach. If he could not be doing that…thing with his face, it would be great. Hook’s tired. His thoughts are a mess. He just wants to go to his room and not have to deal with people anymore.

“What,” Hook says, flat, when Max fails to answer his question. He’s trying to be as uninviting as possible, and it’s infuriating how little it seems to be working.

“I know what I want,” Max tells him. His tone is low, and kind of throaty, like he’s trying to be…wait.

Wait. “Uh,” Hook says, eloquently. Max is leaning closer, like close-close, like so close that Hook can feel the warmth of his exhales. “We’re, uh, in a gas station.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Max’s mouth quirks up, one corner higher than the other. “Why? You wanna go scurry off to the bathroom instead?”

Well, it would be better than standing here, right in front of the damn drink fridges, except Hook can’t get his legs to move. His knees have locked up, freezing him to the ground. And Max is—shit, Max is still shifting in. Hook’s hands tighten instinctively around the can, breath catching.

It isn’t until Max’s mouth is pressed against his that Hook realizes he probably could have run. He could have dropped the energy drink and turned on his heel and left, or he could have smacked Max across the face for getting even a fraction of this close, and he didn’t do any of it, and now they are locked at the lips, and it’s not even bad. It’s actually—ah, fuck, it’s actually good. Max kisses without any of the bullshit bravado Hook would have expected, sort of deliberately but gentle, little pushes of pressure that make Hook want to part his lips, which is, he’s pretty sure, exactly the point.

Well. Shit. Now he’s kissing Max Caster, and the kisses are bordering on really great as Max lets go of the can and instead cups Hook’s face with his palms, and Hook’s closing his eyes because this is the sort of thing he wants to fall into and let sweep him out of his weariness altogether, and did he know Max’s hands were this big, wide enough to cover the whole of his ears?

Ah, shit.

Max pulls back wearing the most fucking smug expression Hook’s ever seen, and that’s saying something considering it’s one of Max’s default looks. Except he doesn’t say anything else; he just takes a step back with that smile still plastered on his face.

In fact, he gets halfway to the doors before he stops. “Three twenty-seven,” he says, twisting around with his hands shoved into his pockets.

“The price?” Hook frowns, confused, because his brain hitched and sputtered and stopped working somewhere in the middle there.

Max grins. “My room number.” Then he flashes Hook a scissoring gesture.

Oh that son of a bitch. “Fuck off,” Hook grumbles, cheeks heating. He hopes no one he knows was in the Sheetz with the same idea of sustenance to see this entire situation unfold. Not even the Monster between his hands could help lessen the embarrassment if word of this got out.

Ugh. The worst thing is that, after Hook pays for the drink without looking the too-amused cashier in the eyes and flees the scene, the damn thing is just as obnoxiously, nauseatingly sweet as he expected it would be, coating his tongue.

And now he can’t stop repeating Max’s room number in his head.

Son of a bitch.

[muppetable]

OH SHOOT I FORGOT INCORRECT QUOTES DAY!!

Janus: *watching the squad's shenanigans with concern* Do you feel like this has gotten out of hand?

Logan: I don't know. Feels normal enough for a group that's on 911's blocked callers list.

Janus: Time for plan G.

Logan: Don’t you mean plan B?

Janus: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties.

Patton: What about plan D?

Janus: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago.

Virgil: What about plan E?

Janus: I’m hoping not to use it. Roman dies in plan E.

Remus: I like plan E.

Patton: If you put 'violently' in front of anything to describe your action, it becomes funnier.

Patton: Violently practices.

Logan: Violently studies.

Virgil: Violently sleeps.

Roman: Violently shoots pictures.

Janus: Violently boxes.

Remus: Violently murders people.

Virgil: Violently worries about the previous statement.

Logan: Why shouldn't you put a toaster in a bathtub full of water?

Patton: Because your toast would get soggy!

Virgil: Can you pass the pepper?

Roman: Say the magic word.

Virgil: *sighs* EDUD YDOORB YKOOPS DRIEW SIHT YMOOLG LAER SA EM WENK ECNO UOY

Roman: JESUS CHRIST JUST TAKE IT OH MY GOD

[softsnzstuff]

40. “You’re sneezing everywhere. Clearly, something’s up.”

Streamer AU with fetish Steve and sneezy Eddie. Eddie trying to hide that he's sick (or allergic to something scented that Steve finds soothing) and doesn't want Steve to feel like he needs to stop streaming for him

❤️ Bewitchedfeathers

Thank you, friend! This is such a cute prompt. Opted for knk!steve doing a GRWM stream and poor sick!Eddie trying to go about his morning as well without disrupting Steve. ❤️KB

***

“What’s up guys! This morning I’m doing a Get Ready With Me stream.”

Steve was standing next to the bed he shared with Eddie as he streamed with his phone.

Shame we didn’t get to see you waking up?

Aww bed head

Where’s Eddie?

“Usually Eddie is still sleeping when I get up for a jog, but since today is a lazy day around here, no run this morning. But uh… Eddie is up already? Think he went to sleep on the couch but not sure why. Maybe he couldn’t sleep?”

Steve used one hand to gesture.

“So first thing I like to do is make the bed. My mom always told me you should start the day by making your bed. Next thing I like to do is start the pot of coffee before I start everything else.”

Steve exited the bedroom and welt through to the living room/kitchen combo. Sure enough Eddie was laying on the couch looking tired. He was still in his pajamas as well, but also sporting a hoodie.

“Oh here he is! You want one or two cups of coffee?”

Steve pointed the camera at Eddie who waved.

“Umm just one today I think.”

Steve propped up the phone to point at him as he filled the pot with water.

What’s the go to coffee flavor?

I use that brand too!!

I’m a three cup kind of gal myself…

“Go to flavor right now is the Starbucks fall blend.” Steve held the bag up to the camera.

“H’etchUMPF! ikt’CHISH! TschEW!”

The sneezes came from Eddie in the background, muffled into the elbow of his hoodie.

Bless you Eddie!

Bless you!!

That was so cute??

Steve felt his cheeks get hot. He couldn’t just let the stream know that he thought sneezes were hot though, so he had to play it cool.

“B- bless you!” He called over his shoulder, trying to sound normal.

“Thanks.” Eddie sniffled.

After the pot of coffee was going, Steve retreated to the bathroom they shared. He started squirting some toothpaste on his toothbrush.

“I’m gonna brush my teeth now. Obviously.”

As Steve was brushing his teeth, there was another outburst from Eddie in the other room.

“iTSCHew! Hu’ktchiew! AesshIEW!”

Jesus Christ it was going to be hard to stream with that going on in the background…

“Bwesh oo!” Steve yelled past the toothbrush in his mouth, ducking down to rinse his mouth out.

“Now for the good stuff…” Steve mentioned, pulling a few things out from under the sink.

THIS IS IT GUYS

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

NO HE ISNT

He’s gonna show us how to do the hair 😭😭

“You guessed it! I’m gonna do my hair now. So usually I like to shower first, but I’m clearly not going to show you that. So here’s what else I’ll do. I get a little bit of mousse and will sort of run that through my hair if it’s slightly damp….”

He wet his hair just slightly and then put a small dollop of mouse in his hands, running his fingers through his hair.

“Now I gotta blow dry it so it sort of styles correctly I guess… so headphone users might wanna unplug for a second.”

Steve turned on the hairdryer and started blow drying his hair, using his fingers and a brush to style it the way he wanted. He was looking at himself in the mirror to make sure he was doing it right when Eddie sulked up to the open door. Steve flicked off the hairdryer.

“Hey Eds, what’s up?

“SnFF Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt the stream…”

“No you didn’t. I’m done with the dryer anyways. Plus they love you.” He pointed to the phone comments flooding in.

Eddieeeeeeeee

It’s my birthday can you say hi?

I love you Eddie!

When’s Eddie’s next stream?

The older man smiled, “hey guys! Hoping to stream some stuff within the next week.” He turned back to Steve and pointed slightly past him, “can I just grab… I need to blow my nose.”

Steve turned around and grabbed the tissue box at the other end of the counter. When he turned around to hand it to Eddie, his eyes were fluttering shut as he brought his elbow up to his face.

“IxxxT! N’xxt!! H’eKSHh! snfsnff… excuse m’be.”

Steve was biting his bottom lip without realizing. He blinked a few times and brought himself back to reality, handing Eddie the tissue box.

“Bless you! Are you okay? Let me stop the stream for a sec.”

“No no! Don’t stop it. I’b fine…” he paused to blow his nose quietly.

Bless you again

He sounds sick

Bless you x3

“Well, you’re sneezing everywhere so clearly somethings up.”

Eddie rubbed at the back of his neck. “I guess I don’t feel great… it’s nothing. I’ll live.” He offered a smile.

Aww he is sick

I knew it!

Poor guy

“You’re more important than the stream Eddie. I get ready every morning anyways.” Steve laughed.

He reached over and ended the stream, putting his phone down. Moving closer, he pulled Eddie to him by the hips.

“Couldn’t focus on the stream anyways. You’re too cute when you’re sneezy.”

Eddie rolled his eyes with a short laugh. “You’re something else Steve…”

[rad-roche]

do you have any noir book reps,. ive seen you read them and id like to get more into the genre

(being fucking normal) a couple!

i lied to you anon. i lied to you under the read more. i'm not normal about this at all

anything by dashiel hammet, dorothy b. hughes, lot of staples in there. if you come across a noir from the 40s/50s chances are it's based on a book and chances are that book is pretty fuckin good. i've got my friends into reading those books and the ones that've made them go 'oh i get it now' have been anything by raymond chandler, and i'm including myself in that group. the first two i read were for research, the other five i tore through because i had to see them. i'm on the last one, playback, and i can't bring myself to finish it because then it will be over. i will, i'll get there eventually, but i'll be very sad because it means my first time reading them will be done. i've read books where i've gone wow, what a turn of phrase, i've very rarely read books where every page has like, seven. me and the girls were posting excerpts in the gc going 'can you fucking believe this'. of his books, the big sleep, the little sister and the long goodbye are considered the best, but if you want my opinion i'd start off with lady in the lake. not that they're hard reads at all, i just think it's the easiest to vibe with if you're only just getting into them. it's a good barometer to see how you feel about the whole thing

“I don't like your manner," Kingsley said in a voice you could have crack a Brazil nut on. "That's all right," I said. "I'm not selling it.”

i mean jesus christ. fuck

if you're looking at something contemporary, i'll have to admit to a slight gap in my knowledge, i'm mostly into the stuff written from, say, mid 20s to 50s. don't take that as a mark of quality, 'it was only good back then!' or something, more of a taste thing on my part. neo-noir is a cool (if a little nebulous and hard to categorize sometimes) take on the questions noir raises, but there's something interesting to me about seeing the first stabs at it. saying that, akashic books has a collection arranged by location, city, country, so that might be something you're interested in

what's happening in your city? probably some terrible events that leave lives in shambles! that's like, the most interesting kind!!

[alexwatchesshows]

Black Sails XI (S2E3) review

Spoilers for up to and including E11.

"You'll either be the death of each other or we'll all end up working for you someday."- Charles Vane

Finally the end of Ned Low, thank fucking god. Vane's reasoning for the whole endeavour is a little all over the place. Max isn't exactly wrong in calling him out on being motivated by his feelings by Eleanor and using the "prize" to explain his moves to his men. I also get the sense that neither of those are what he uses to justify the efforts he went through to himself, though. There was something about Ned Low that felt a little like Charles Vane going completely off the rails and seeing his worst aspects reflected back couldn't have been fun. Still, maybe he's more at peace with his feelings for Eleanor than he normally seems, as he doesn't accept Max's offer of teaching how to stop caring about her (it would be interesting to know what exactly Max would have said if he'd said yes, though). Speaking of Low being Vane's worst traits reflected back at him, that whole interaction between them is unhinged. Low wants a partnership with Vane, as he can only see and appreciate the physical power that Vane holds in having control of the fort, a crew and being a strong fighter himself, and not the type of tactical, political power that Eleanor holds, and thinks that with the might of the two of them combined they'd have no issues whatsoever. Normally this would sound like Vane's kind of reasoning, but, whether it's because of his feelings for Eleanor or him maturing in his reasoning, he doesn't take him up on the offer. Instead, we get an absolutely feral fight between the two of them, which really emphasises the "two sides of the same coin" thing, alongside Vane's crew swimming up to Low's ship with fucking knives in their mouths and then killing the rest of his crew. Honestly, by the time Low's head ends up on a pike in the middle of Nassau, I'm not sure whether Vane was a better option.

Whatever it means for Nassau, Vane killing Low definitely gets him back in Eleanor's good books (jesus christ those two just keep making each other worse). I love that he still insists to Eleanor that he didn't kill Low for her. I'm not even sure what he was trying to achieve by telling her that, regardless of what his intentions were. Honestly, maybe he's just a man. And he has Abigail Ashe now. Great.

One upside of the whole Vane/Low/Eleanor debacle is that, as a favour to Max, Vane publicly forgives Anne and Jack. He didn't even seem that bothered by what they'd done to his crew so he was either a) faking nonchalance so they don't know they've gotten to him, b) only pretending to be mad at them because condoning killing your crew isn't a good look, or c) he is literally incapable of holding one opinion or feeling for more than a week. Honestly, I'm leaning towards c, given what we've seen so far, although he does make sure Jack and Anne know that he's only forgiving them as a favour to her, I guess just to keep us all guessing.

Regardless of their career prospects, all is not well between Jack and Anne (but, honestly, when is it ever). Anne is spending more and more time with Max and, as a result, less time with Jack. In return, Jack is going out looking for a crew (albeit unsuccessfully, prior to Vane's intervention) without Anne. Despite this, they actually end up communicating (a rare win)! Anne knows that Max might be manipulating her, Jack knows that Anne can't help her feelings for Max (and is shockingly relaxed about the whole situation), and Anne decides that the solution to this whole dilemma is for them to all sleep together, and, honestly, it seems to work? Good for them. It's also worth noting that this is the first time that Anne is actually undressed around Max, and honestly the connotations of Jack being the only one she feels safe around are both heartbreaking and heartwarming. What a trio, I'm sure nothing will ever go wrong with this.

Meanwhile, over on the Walrus, an equally complicated partnership seems to be forming between Silver and Flint. Dufresne is still quartermaster, which is honestly a very smart and Flint-like move, both in the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" sense and also because Dufresne did actually make a decent quartermaster, but Silver now holds equal, if not greater, power with the crew. His reports have continued and, as the whole crew now joing in with the foot stomping thing, we can see that, as he predicted, him and his reports are now both needed and appreciated. He's no longer just talking to the crew about the crew, though-- he's also passing down messages from Flint. Against all odds, he's managed to make himself valuable to both crew and captain. In this sense, he definitely holds more power than Dufresne, and is possibly heading towards rivalling Flint. For Flint, all this change is something that he knows he'll have to explain to Eleanor, and, as Dufresne points out, he'll have to, one way or another, justify Gates' death, whether he tells the truth or not. What Flint doesn't expect, however, are the changes that have happened in Nassau since he left (he still references Hornigold controlling the fort, taking for an unchangable fact, as it has likely been the case since he came to Nassau).

We also see that Miranda has not been idle since Flint left (good for her). She seems to have given up on any hopes of getting out of Nassau for the time being and has instead turned to the inner islanders for some level of community. This, of course, is something that Eleanor knows and wants to exploit. Look, I really want to like Eleanor as a character, but it's hard. She starts her conversation with Miranda by implying that she is unremarkable, and that Flint doesn't see her as important, then tries to leverage Miranda's relationships with the inner islanders, then starts questioning Flint and Miranda's relationship. Like Pastor Lambrick, she assumes that Flint and Miranda must hold some kind of leverage over each other that forms the basis for their relationship. Unlike Lambrick, however, she doesn't assume that Miranda is a passive victim in this situation. Somehow, people seem to be incapable of believing that Flint and Miranda just care for each other, or whatever more complicated variation of that that we're slowly learning about through the flashbacks. For her part, Miranda lends weight to the suggestion that it is their shared past that brings her and Flint together. As she tells Eleanor, we, as the audience, and the pirates on Nassau "perceive the effects of Captain Flint's demons, echoes of their voices [but she] know[s] their names. [She] was there when they were born" and, as a result, she knows more of Flint than Eleanor could even understand. Eleanor, after all, doesn't even seem to recognise who Miranda is talking about when she first refers to Flint as James, and apparently has no idea of what his past (the past that we are starting to learn about) might include. So, Eleanor leaves the interaction with very little gained in terms of political power, but potentially more knowledge of Flint (insofar as knowing that there's stuff she doesn't know can be counted as knowledge) and, as Flint arrives in Nassau, she's about to learn a whole lot more.

Flint now trusts Silver enough to make choose him to acompany him into Nassau to get provisions. Almost immediately, they notice that things have changed as Hornigold's flag is now on the beach, but, at least from my perspective, very little of Nassau itself has changed. We are reminded of just how much has happened since they left when Flint arrives to Eleanor looking for a new bodyguard (the Walrus crew were away for more or less the whole Ned Low situation). Honestly, as this series continues, the Eleanor/Flint dynamic really grows on me, and I love that hug between them. They (at least to an extent) trust each other and were evidently worried about each other as they were managing their respective crises, but neither of them is entirely happy with how those crises were managed. Flint is just generally bitter about anything that Vane does (and vice versa) because of the rivalry they just keep up because they can. Eleanor tries to convince Flint that he's being a little bit dramatic about the whole thing, but, as we all know by now, once Flint's made his mind up about something, nobody can convince him to change it. I can sympathise much more with Eleanor's concern about Flint's story-- I don't doubt that she knew he could be violent (he is a pirate captain after all), but murdering his second in command and best friend to pursue a course of action that was evidently a bad idea to begin with is a new level even for Flint. Even turning her use of "what was necessary" back on her doesn't reassure her or convince her that it was the only reasonable course of action, and, even by the end of the conversation, she still seams much more wary of Flint than she was when they were first reunited, a wariness that remains when she later tries to confront Mr Scott about him. She sees that "something is different about [Flint]" from when they last talked and, in all fairness, killing his best friend, surviving a mutiny and a shipwreak and then retaking his position as captain really has taken a toll on him. Flint is, somehow, even less trusting, and even more haunted. Eleanor also tries to talk to Flint about Miranda, but, as we've seen before, getting this man to open up about his past is basically impossible.

While Flint and Eleanor are discussing Gates' death, Hornigold and Silver are having a very similar conversation. Hornigold points out, not incorrectly, that Flint seems to be very good at getting rid of anyone who gets even remotely close to him, but Silver is unbothered. Despite his growing connection to the crew, he still argues that he's only in this whole thing for the money, and that, so long as he doesn't start to believe in Flint, he's safe.

Despite Eleanor's reassurances, when he and Silver reunite, Flint's still pretty mad about Vane holding the fort. Even Silver tries to talk him down, trying to remind him of the irreversable changes he could bring about by directly confronting Vane and so obviously aligning himself with Hornigold. Really, when Silver tells you you're going too far, you should know there's a problem, but Flint decides to go ahead and make another one of his speeches. Ending the episode on "I will rain holy hell down upon him" can't be a good sign, can it?

Then there are the London flashbacks. James and Thomas are getting close and are working better and better on trying to resolve the Nassau problem. Meanwhile, things are developing between James and Miranda. It almost looks like the backstory that Richard Guthrie gave is coming to fruition, but, while the actions by themselves match up with his story, the attitudes of the three of them don't. When the three of them are in a room together at the beginning of the episode, it doesn't seem like James and Miranda are somehow keeping secrets or even considering anything like that. Instead, we see the easy companionship between Miranda and Thomas that they are both inviting James into, in this case, through books. It's worth noting that Don Quixote, the book that Miranda gives James, saying that it might help him manage Thomas, is about a man who goes mad and decides he's a knight on a mission to vanquish some vague evil (this is a massive oversimplification, but I read it a while ago and can't remember a whole lot). Essentially, I think Miranda is joking that Thomas will fight for what he thinks is right, regardless of whether it's achievable or what other people think is happening. Given the nature of their relationship, I don't think she's maliciously implying that he's wrong/mad, more just affectionately teasing him about his "impossible" mission. It's also a sweet but also painful parallel to Flint saving La Galatea (another book by Cervantes) for Miranda. They just really love to draw comparisons between those two time periods just to make us hurt, don't they?

We then get a little bit of just James and Miranda. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this whole scene (for now I'm shutting off the gay part of my brain that short circuitted seeing shirtless McGraw). On the one hand, Miranda, as a woman, seeking out a relationship and taking that initiative is subversive, and, especially given the historical context of this show, it doesn't have the same dynamic as it would if a man sought out a woman's house and showed up unannounced, but there's also the class element to the power dynamic. As someone from a working class background, whose career is more or less dependent on being on good terms with the aristocracy, McGraw doesn't necessarily hold all the power in this situation, and Miranda showing up at his place without warning could actually put him at a very real risk. There are always two sides to a situation, and Miranda isn't wrong when she tries to convince James that "there is an inverse relationship between the degree of one's happiness and the concer one suffers for what the neighbours think", and making him aware of the less traditional relationship structures that can exist with the consent of all parties is well-intentioned and has the potential to be a really valuable thing for James, but what she doesn't fully recognise is that, while she and Thomas are okay with rumours, as they can ignore them, James has every reason to be more wary. Ultimately, quietly taking Miranda back to her house was probably the most tactful response to this situation. During this, Miranda takes the opportunity to read him like a fucking book. I don't have a neat way to integrate all these quotes but I feel like they need to be included: "I imagine there are two kinds of men who make their life at sea. Those whose sense of duty forces them to leave any snese of permenance or identity behind them and those for whom that is the attraction"; "I think you're someone who's very good at managing how you're perceived and perhaps getting what you want without anyone ever knowing that you did it or perhaps even if it ever happened". Like, damn, she can just read him like that. It also emphasises a number of similarities between James as McGraw and James as Captain Flint, suggesting that maybe he hasn't fundamentally changed as a person in the years between these two plotlines, but more that different situations have brought different aspects of his personality out. Ultimately, Miranda does seem to figure out the source of James' reluctance to enter into any kind of relationship with her (once they'd both established that Thomas is okay with it), that "[he's] more concerned with whether or not people talk about what [Miranda and James] are doing behind closed doors than with what [they] actually are doing", even if she maybe can't fully grasp the reason behind him feeling this way. Then there's the kiss, suggesting the beginning of their relationship. As I wrote earlier, the external situation seems to be set up as what Richard Guthrie recounted, but what the characters themselves have said doesn't match up-- especially the care that both James and Miranda have for Thomas, and his acceptance of any kind of relationship they might have.

But clearly something happened, as we now see Flint and Miranda in Nassau. Although Miranda has now found some kind of community among the inner islanders, it's a big difference from what we see of her life in London.

Then there's the inscription in the book Flint leaves for her. It's so soft and intimate, and yet it also reminds us of their fight in season one. Miranda is happier, but Flint wouldn't get them out of Nassau, and now Miranda is building a kind of life wihout him, much like he did with his life as a pirate.

We can see the beginning and the end now, but not how the two link up.

[wishingwell1111]

5/12/23

⚠️TW: SH⚠️

jesus christ i woke up at 4:30 am and can't get back to bed (it's 6:23 now)

so here i am lol

sh'ing in the moment felt "good" but now i have to see it every fucking day and remind myself of how i fucked up. i still have some urges but when i look at my thigh it goes away kinda quick.

idk if anyone can related but when i sh i like to make it look "perfect". i do all straight lines, i mess up sometimes but still) so i have these c*ts but i didn't make it all into a "perfect" square or rectangle which bothers me now. i want to make if more uniform if that makes any fucking sense. that's kinda the main reason i get so many urges since then.

i literally was going to do it again to "fix it" but one of my friends i kinda talked about this stuff so i didn't. i still want to though. seriously how fucked in the head am i to think and do these things? ik other people go through this stuff too, but i feel so isolated and like i am the only one with all these problems. i don't feel real, but the sh grounded me i guess? pain is a human experience so it helps a little. but not enough. i am so detached from being "a normal person".

alllll i do is self sabotage. a) fueling an ed for one lol. b) relapsing sh c) drinking. d) not taking care of my body at all (disordered eating/eating unhealthy food, not showering or brushing my teeth enough, little to no exercise, always dehydrated, etc). e) this fucked up sleep schedule lol, and more 😻😻

well i'm gonna try going to sleep again !! let's hope i have a good day and not binge <3

bfn <3

[kermitgasm]

This Is Why review but it’s the unhinged shit i said in my notes app

under the cut ofc cuz i don’t wanna spoil it for anyone but pls know this is unhinged and like a train of thought rather than anything that makes sense

running out of time: only 5 seconds in and so fucking true like…. fr… also this is so funny. maybe i am just a selfish prick actually…. has some sort of r&b feel? THERE WAS A FIRE!! METAPHORICALLY! BE THERE IN FIVE! HYPERBOLICALLY! OK GUITAR!!!

Big Man, Little Dignity: not to be a david bowie fan but the intro reminds me of moss garden. this is very wavey. oh shit she’s coming for HIIIIM…. no offense but you got no integrity…. READ HIM!! SMOOTH OPERATOR IN A SHIT STAINED SUIT…. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GODDDDD. the outro is beautiful, FLUTE TIME!!!!! A BITCH LOVES A FLUTE!

You First: RATTLING THE BARS OF MY FUCKING CAGE THIS IS ALL IVE EVER WANTED YOURE JUST LIKE THE STRAY ANIMAL I KEEP FEEDING SCRAPS ???? HELP???? KARMAS GONNA COME FOR ALL OF US AND I JUST HOPE SHE COMES FOR YOU FIRST!!! BITCH WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS EVERYTHING OH MY GODDDDDD TURNS OUT IM LIVING IN A HORROR FILM WHERE IM BOTH THE KILLER AND THE FINAL GIRL SO WHO ARE YOU??? hayley williams do you want to choke me out it’s so fine if you want to do that. THEEE GUITAR THE DRUMS ORGASMIC…

Figure 8: taylor york is the heart of paramore i will say it over and over again. pearls before swine all flowers die tapped the last good vein don’t know how to shut it off! THIS SONG HOLD THE FUCK UP!!!!! JESUS CHRIST…. OK burning at both ends tonight HOW COULD I HOW COULD I IF IM MADE OF THIN ICE… YOUD BE WISE IF YOU THOUGHT TWICE… ALL FOR YOUR SAKE BECAME THE VERY THING THAT I HATE!!! god damn god damn god damn…. GOD DAMN ok i’m fine now i’m normal

Liar: i don’t even have the words… this is so heartbreaking and beautiful. please god “oh my love i lied to you but i never needed to / oh love i lied to you but you always knew the truth” tears in my eyes i’m gonna punch a hole in the wall. and why should i deny what’s all at once crystal clear 😭😭😭😭 I CANNOT… oh my god the lyrics… man i can’t even type them in too busy holding my head in my hands (metaphorically)

Crave: intro is so beautiful, i know i keep saying this but taylor (and zac) really are just so incredible. “i can’t wait to memorize this day a picture cannot contain the way it feels” oh no i already feel myself crying… “just for a second it all felt simple, i’m already missing it” hayley’s vulnerability always makes me cry… WOW THIS PART… i romanticize even the worst of times when all it took to make me cry was being alive…. look up and see the reflection to someone who never gave way to the pain well what if i told them now that i’m older there isn’t a thing i wouldn’t change…. yeah let’s think about that (not for too long). i will not be able to sleep after this. this album is all i’m gonna think about.

thick skull: OK!!!!! wow the lyrics in this really are making me insane. i will be thinking about this intro later… hit over my head epiphany hit over my head repeatedly …. UMMMM HELLO ONLY I KNOW WHERE ALL THE BODIES ARE BURIED THOUGHT BY NOW I’D FIND THEM JUST A LITTLE BIT SCARY…. what’s the body count up to now captain??? this song is so fucking good… let it be KNOWN OH THE GUITAR PICKING UP??? DOES TAYLOR YORK KNOW HE IS THE ONLY MAN EVER…. COME ON OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP??? OK PATRICK BATEMAN GIRLIE

this album is a 10/10 to me and paramore are one of the best bands ever.

[rodolfoparras]

I love caffeinated drinks😋 I don't really get affected by caffeine actually but like coffee, energy drinks and sodas are yummy and some of my favorites. Do they give me any energy? No😭 and I am feeling much better!!! Had lots of tea and cough drops :3

angels and priests that are just filthy😋🙏 such a delicious trope

!!! Viper has definitely ripped up some of Gaz's favorite shirts or stuffed animals before on accident and feels so bad😭😭😭 bro is over there sulking like a wounded puppy as Gaz looks at the shreds with such disappointment😞 but he's a good boyfriend and will get replacements!!! Gaz also learned to keep irreplaceable things far away when they're fucking🙏 But like Viper literally spent so much money getting a limited edition item for Gaz because he accidentally ruined it and Gaz was so shocked??? He almost cried and cuddled Viper soooo much😭❤

Also Soap caught Gaz and Viper cuddling once and actually was scared because Viper looked like he was contemplating murder💀 he just slowly turns his head to look at Soap with the most terrifying expression ever and was like "boy if you don't walk back out and close that door istg-" he's just a silly little dragon😋 (Soap slept with Ghost in fear of Viper jumping him in his sleep)

like Viper does not care if he gets caught fucking but cuddles???? Absolutely not!! That is only for him and Gaz🙄

The trope of both characters loving each other but like at different/the wrong time??😭 devastating and so delicious. The angst of it all is so😭❤ Also William stronger than me, if someone saved me and fixed my glasses like Grell did I would've made out with them right there😋

I can't even blame her for it because the man I was when atsv came out??? I was going feral over Miguel and Peter B. My friend created a literal folder of screenshots of me being a whore for them😔💔 though I do enjoy doing the "BACK WOMAN🤺 BACK I SAY🤺" to her whenever she starts getting silly about Grell

-🌱

SEE YOU GET ME I absolutely love energy drinks and sodas sm I know it’s not good for me but Jesus Christ it genuinely is one of the reasons to stick around on this earth also im glad you’re feeling so much better sugar bee!!! Let’s hope you stay healthy and can enjoy this summer without having to deal with any more colds🫶🏻

I absolutely love gaz and viper’s relationship!! The fact that viper takes Gaz’s feelings into consideration and tries to make up for the hurt he happens to cause and how gaz can meet viper half way and show understanding for his tendencies idk it’s so sweet and I’m single and lonely😞

I can imagine ghost being woke up looking all confused hair mused bleary eyes and being like what do you want to soap and soap is just is just like please move to the side I don’t want to die and ghost is so confused but does as he says before he knocks out

Sometimes I feel ashamed with how much composure fictional characters have compared to me 😭 bc every day I’m like idk how the rest of 141 are acting so normal around price I’d be tripping over my words and my feet

Give her some grace as someone who’s whipped for price I know she isn’t living an easy life 😞

[livingthevibrantlife]

Core Center of Our Strength: Spirit, Body, Mind ... Bending a Bow of Bronze!

 All we do comes from the core strength in God. Today’s class workout video.

SPIRIT: Jesus Christ as our core center. BODY: All physical movements start in the core and move out from it. MIND: Faith, belief, developing mind of Christ in all of our thinking

God has given us one life here on earth, one snapshot in time was chosen for us to live, move and have our being in a Spirit filled life.  God’s own Holy Spirit living in us!!  In this beautiful temple God has given us to care for and to keep healthy so we can live a full life full of joy and serving. We all have challenges, sometimes more at times due to illness, disease and injury. However, there are always choices we can make to improve our situation, getting sleep, good food, exercise and rest.  Exercising our bodies is important, taking care of the shell that houses our souls (the essence of who we are) and houses God’s Holy Spirit now and for eternity!  The Holy Spirit is here to give us all wisdom and understanding and guidance in our health journey. Tap into it today!  Feel better! Making good decisions keeps us from living in regret and guilt.

2 Samuel 22:33-37 (Ministry Resource Book page 2) It is God who arms me with strength (my strong refuge), and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield;   our help has made[b] me great. You provide a broad path for my feet,   so that my ankles do not give way.

God knows our bodies and how they will respond to any certain exercise, we just need to seek God and let Him show each of us what is best for our individual needs.  For David to “bend a bow of bronze” and be “surefooted as a deer”, “safely treading along mountain heights”, it took training and preparation. We too, need to be prepared for our daily living and the things God calls us to do.

Our bodies need to be strong:

Balance: protects us from injuries and we need good core strength along with upper and lower body strength to have good balance

Protect from injuries: Stronger muscles and bones can keep us from serious injury when we fall or have an accident

Improve cardiovascular health: Moving and strengthening, so much science here

Better sense of well being: making good choices for our bodies just makes us feel good about ourselves and life!

Clothes fit better: Total body fat remains relatively constant with age but its distribution changes. More accumulates in the thighs and less in the abdomen, so “middle age spread” is not really due to increased fatty tissue. It probably occurs because muscle tone is lost, producing the characteristic sagging of the abdomen.(1)   It seems like fat comes to the surface when we lose muscle tone. My own story on this: got out of habit of doing strengthening exercises and although weight remained about the same, my waistline was bigger with lots of extra fat making my pants fit tighter. I couldn’t understand how this could be with my weight the same (lost muscle, gained fat: muscle is more dense so adds more weight AND consumes more calories!), but this statement gave me clarity that I had lost muscle and not  gained as much fat, but with less muscle to hold it in.  After being consistent for several months in strengthening exercises, moving more and cleaning up my eating (I still eat the “bad” foods but in smaller portion and have increased the good food with more color and roughage), my waistline is almost back to “normal”!

Live it out: testimony

Denise Austin, age 65, reveals her secrets in getting “bikini ready” for the New Year (Of course, this doesn’t have to be your goal to apply her great advice). "Walking is such a great form of exercise," she said. "I try to walk every day. I get in my steps. … If you could walk and pump your arms, you’ll burn more calories because you’re using more muscles. … But walking is just fine. I believe in three ways to stay in shape – cardio to burn some fat, toning to firm up your muscles and then stretching for improving your flexibility. … I tell people if they’re just starting, [exercise] three days a week. You will see a difference in your body. Make sure you do a little at a time. Take your time, ease into it."  https://apple.news/AC7XL_KdTRjqX32IhIKVr9Q

(1) How And Why We Age, Leonard Hayflick, Ph.D.

[gayaristocrat]

My beautiful Husband

Pairing: Chris Evans x Male Reader

‼Author’s Note‼: I hope you all enjoy this😅 Also I didn't proofread this. If there are any spelling mistakes or errors, please let me know so I can fix it

Summary: Chris' husband wanted nothing more than to cater to to him and show him how much he loved him. But what happens when Chris says something to his husband that he'll deeply regret saying?

Rating: Angst to Fluff

Request: Can i request Chris Evans Angst/Fluff X male reader, so Chris and Male reader have a fight and chris said something that he shouldn't said to reader, and when reader heard it, he's shocked and just run to bedroom and lock the door, amd after realizing what he said chris went to reader and try to say his sorry and keep trying until reader want to talk him or forgive him. Also have a great day 💙

Tags: @evansphnx12

Word Count: 1,740

Word Key:

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You and Chris always hated arguing with each other, so you both tried your best to avoid it as much as possible

But sometimes, like any normal couple, things just happened that just made you two fight

This fight, for instance was all because you decided to show up on the set that Chris was at when he was filming for an upcoming movie

Usually it would always make him super happy, but this time, it didn't

You really wanted to surprise him this week at work by bringing him small gifts and snacks when you visited

When he comes home, he is obviously dead tired and wants nothing more than to sleep the rest of the day, leaving you all alone and cuddling with Dodger

Unbeknownst to you, this particular week had been a very rough week, and every time you showed up, it didn't seem to make things better

When Chris got home, you ran straight up to him with Dodger following close behind, and engulfed him in a tight hug only to be shoved off

"Jesus fucking Christ (M/n), cant you just leave me alone when I come home for once?"

"B..but Chris, I'm sorry. I just thou-"

"I honestly don't give a shit what you thought. God man, you're so fucking annoying, just shut up and leave me alone. Fuck! All I wan to do is just come home and lay down without you following me around and bothering me like you're some lost fucking puppy! Sometimes I can't fucking stand being married to you"

Chris walked stormed past you before you were able to respond and went to the kitchen with Dodger behind him with no comprehension of the dialogue between you and Chris. ".....I understand...I'm sorry for bothering you." You quickly ran to the bedroom and locked the door behind you, and finally you let your tears spill. Did he really mean what he said to you? Did he really get tired of being with you? All of these thoughts going through your head made you cry harder, your breath was stuttering in an uneven pace as you fell onto the bed which only made you cry harder. After a while, you could hear footsteps approaching the room and stopping in front of the door. The doorknob twists a little before it was stopped by the lock. On the other side of the door, you heard a deep sigh before a knock on the door. "Baby, please open the door. I'm...i'm so sorry for saying those horrible things to you. Please...please just let me in" You sat in silence for what felt like forever, cuddling your pillow closer to you, pushing your face in it in an attempt to silence your cries. Chris eventually got the hint and let out another sigh, muttering another 'i'm sorry' before walking away to go sleep on the couch. You didn't know what else to do besides cry yourself to sleep that night. You thought you were a very good husband to Chris, and did everything right, but it seems like you were wrong.

The next day, you woke up and felt the bed to cuddle close to Chris, but when you felt the bed for him, it was cold and empty. Suddenly you remembered what happened the other day. The things Chris said to you, it really hurt you. You lay in the bed for a couple of hours and scrolled though your phone to take your mind off of things, until you decided to get up and doing your morning routine. You made your bed, used the bathroom, took a shower, and washed your face. You didn't have much energy to brush your teeth, so you grabbed one of your toothpaste tablets, chewed it, and then grabbed your toothbrush and gently brushed your teeth. The whole time you couldn't help but replay for the second time this morning everything Chris said to you yesterday. You pushed his voice aside and spit out the toothpaste and rinsed out your mouth, then you spit out the water and turned of the water faucet. Using your bath towel next to you and wiped your mouth dry and made your way out of the bathroom. Not bothering to get dressed, you unlocked the bedroom door and slowly opened it, cringing at the echoing squeak the hinges let out into the hallway, taking a mental note to ask Chris to fix that later if things cooled down between the both of you.

You tip-toed into the hallway and made your way to pass the living room, but stopping as you see Chris slumped over the couch. His hair was disheveled, eyebrows furrowed, face stained with dry white tear marks that ran down his face along with drool. His mouth was wide open and he was lightly snoring, you looked down and saw about six empty beer bottles on the floor below him, he looked like a complete mess.

The sound of thumping started towards your direction and you felt rough paw pads gently push your leg and a whine which made you draw your attention down to it. Looking down, you saw it was Dodger. He began walking away and looking back at you every so often to make sure you were following him into the kitchen. When you made it there, you were careful as to make sure to not wake Chris up from his sleep, poor baby, you really hoped he enjoyed his sleep. Dodger dragged you over to his food bowl and sat down next to it and patiently waited for you to serve him his food and water. "Your such a good boy Dodger, yes you are." You say, he starts eating his food and you give him a little rub on his back, making his tail swing back and forth from enjoying your praise and attention. Walking towards the refrigerator, you wondered what you were going to make yourself. Eventually, you make your decision on (f/b/f), and grab those ingredients needed. As you are cooking, you start humming to yourself a happy little tune, completely forgetting about what happened the other day. Without warning, you feel two muscular arms gradually wrap around your waist and you then are pulled into a strong hard chest. "I'm so fucking sorry baby." Chris says as he lays his head in the crook of your neck, the stubble on his face was scratching against your skin. "(M/n), please...please forgive me." He says in between kisses, "I was a fucking idiot to say all of those nasty things to you, and I'm so sorry."

You took the pan of food off of the burner and set it aside before turning around with his arms still around you. You looked into his eyes, shocked at his state of being. Chris looked horrible, and the change in his looks happened to quickly overnight. His eyes were baggy with dark circles, his hair sticking in every direction, his eyes were bloodshot red as tears pored out of them. Chris dropped to his knees and started sobbing and hugged your leg closer to him. In all the years you were his boyfriend, and even when you became his husband, you have never seen Chris so broken down like this before. You've never seem him on his knees, begging for your forgiveness. Chris cried as though your marriage was hanging on a single thread, he felt like this was his last chance to make things right, and he would do anything for you to forgive him. He screwed up...no...he majorly fucked up, and he wanted to make things right. You kneeled down to his height and held him into your arms as he cried even harder at how gentle you were being with him. "H-how can yo-you s-still love me (M/n)...a-after how I treated you?" He questioned

"Chris, you are my husband. What you said to me yesterday was really messed up, and it hurt me a lot. But I see that you're telling the truth when you apologize, so I do forgive you. Plus I know that you will find some way to make it up to me. I love you and I will never stop loving you. Now, lets go lay on the couch and eat some of the food I made us."

Chris hugged you tighter and nodded into your shoulder before getting up and making his way to the couch. He knew he would have to do some serious work to fix things one hundred percent, but he was willing to do anything, not matter how long it took. You both reached the couch and sat down, sitting close to each other with Dodger next to you. After eating, you both put the dishes in the sink to wash them later, and cuddled tightly together and shared a blanked while watching tv. Soon after you ended up falling asleep in Chris' arms and he kissed your forehead, missing moments like these. He hated sleeping on the couch without you in his arms. He hated sleeping without you next to him at all. He couldn't stand hearing you cry upstairs in the room by yourself because of him. But, now, he was glad you were here, that you stayed with him. You both loved each other dearly, and nothing would change that. You both were now able to sleep in peach, and you both liked it that way. "I love you baby, and I love being married to you, my beautiful husband."

Let's just say the Chris now looks forward to you being the first one to greet him when he gets home, and he loves when you surprise him at work. Especially when you bring food you cooked for him to eat when he's on his lunch break. Chris always tells you how he loves seeing the jealous faces of the other actors and the tech crew when they see the delicious food you cooked for him.

Production Crew Member: "Bro, Chris you have an amazing husband man!"

Chris: "Yep, I know, and he's all mine too"

Production Crew Member: "Yeah...so uhhh...do you think (M/n) could cook me some of that food too PLEASE!!!🥺I'm so fucking hungry and I'm tired of eating the nasty stale food they give us. Your husband's cooking smells so god damn good!😭"

Chris: "Nope, sorry dude. No can do man, his delicious food is only for me and my tummy😊"

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