Silly idea I talked about ages ago with @azure7539arts, inspired by a similar event my workplace hosts every year. Would minors be allowed to participate in such an event? Probably not! But then again, it was the 80s, who can say for sure. Anyway, it's my birthday and I'll post nonsense if I want to <3
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“I need you to buy me.”
Eddie looks up from his notebook, effectively jarred from his campaign-plotting fugue state by Steve’s declaration.
Steve is standing at the other end of the dining table, staring at him expectantly.
“Y’know, this is the part where someone usually follows up their completely bonkers demand with an explanation,” Eddie says slowly.
“At the charity auction,” Steve clarifies. “I need you to bid on me, and I need you to win.”
Ah, yes, that weird Rent-an-Athlete charity auction the school runs every year; anyone on any Hawkins High sports team could volunteer to be “auctioned” off in order to raise money for said sports team, to spend a day at the beck and call of the highest bidder (within reason, supposedly). It’s generally restricted to students, but occasionally, prominent alumni are invited to participate – and Steve certainly fits the bill, especially after the story the government spun about his heroism in the face of “serial killer” Henry Creel last spring.
“And what, deny all those pretty girls a chance to get at you?” Eddie asks drily (he’d never turned up at previous auctions himself, but you could hardly avoid gossip in a school their size; it had usually been some cheerleader bidding with daddy’s money who won a date– that is, a day with Steve Harrington).
“It wasn’t always a girl who won,” Steve says, crossing his arms over his chest. “One time it was Mrs. Dalton – you know, the lady on the school board who lives on my block? I just spent the day doing yard work for her. She gave me lemonade. That was pretty cool.”
“Right,” Eddie drawls. “And I’m sure she definitely didn’t sit outside and stare at your ass while you were working.”
“She did not– she– I mean she was on the porch, but, like– she wouldn’t have– she’s, like, seventy, Eddie,” Steve splutters, and it’s all Eddie can do not to laugh.
“Older gals have needs, too, Steve,” Eddie says, giving in to a smirk. “So she was checking you out from the porch, huh?”
Steve goes red. “Shut up, that isn’t the point. I’m trying to ask for your help.”
“Right, right, your absolutely reasonable request for me to buy you at market. Why, again?” Eddie asks.
“The kids are planning to bid on me,” Steve says gravely.
Eddie blinks at him. “Okay?” he says, when no further explanation is forthcoming. “You basically do most of what they ask, anyway, so…?”
“Okay, believe it or not, I actually say no to at least half of what they ask me to do. I would literally never get anything done if I gave in to all their demands.” Steve jabs a finger at Eddie, who holds up his hands in mock surrender. “Anyway, this is all Henderson’s fault.”
“It usually is,” Eddie agrees, nodding sagely.
“He decided that he was going to bid on me and then use that day to finally make me play your nerd game with you–” Eddie snorts, and Steve shoots him a look, “but Wheeler doesn’t want me to play, so he said he was going to bid against Dustin and make me do anything but sit in on a session with you guys.”
“So let Wheeler win.” Eddie shrugs.
“No! I can’t let fuckin’ Mike win, he’ll probably make me do something even more ridiculous!” Steve exclaims. "He’ll make me play chauffeur for him and El on a date, or something, and he’ll probably include the stupid hat.”
“Wait, I thought El broke up with him,” Eddie breaks in.
“No, they’re on again,” Steve says absently, shaking his head. “Which is why Max has been in a bad mood lately.”
Eddie bites back the reflexive need to ask “How can you tell?”, going instead with, “I thought she and Sinclair were on again.”
“No, they are. That’s why no one’s been actively murdered,” Steve says.
“How do you keep track of all of this?” Eddie asks, squinting at Steve.
“It’s a natural skill. And we’re getting off track,” Steve says quickly. “Normally, I wouldn’t be that worried, because Dustin regularly blows his savings on weird science gadgets or whatever, but then Lucas and Will started taking sides.”
“This is getting very involved,” Eddie says.
“So you see why I’m stressed!” Steve insists, smacking a hand to his forehead (personally, Eddie thinks Steve is stressed for many other reasons, but he figures pointing that out just now won’t be appreciated). “Lucas is on Dustin’s side, and that kid does odd jobs like nobody’s goddamn business; he actually has shit saved up. And usually I’d have faith in him being more, like, sensible than to spend it all on this, but the little shit is really fucking competitive.”
“Wonder who he got that from?” Eddie mutters.
“Okay, we do remember that I’m not actually biologically related to any of these idiots, right?” Steve snaps.
“Well now we’re just getting into nature versus nurture–”
“Eddie.”
“Right, sorry, continue.”
“Well, Will took Mike’s side–”
“Shocking.”
“Right? But anyway, I don’t know if the kid has much saved up, but between him and Wheeler, they might be able to win.” Steve sighs, looking far more world-weary than Eddie feels the situation really warrants.
“You know you don’t actually have to do what they ask you to, right?” Eddie points out.
Steve rolls his eyes. “If an auction winner complains to the school that the person they bid on didn’t fulfill their end of the bargain, they can get their money back. It’s a whole…” he waves his hand vaguely, “thing. Happened once when I was a sophomore; Deacon McNab. Lost a good chunk of change for the football team, and they vandalized the shit out of his car.”
“Ah, right. Forgot we went to school with literal psychopaths,” Eddie hums.
“So, I just need you to bid on me and win, so I’m not stuck wasting a Saturday on whatever the hell the kids are going to try to make me do. Or not do. Or– whatever,” Steve says.
“Okay, not that I don’t understand your predicament here, but I think you’re forgetting something kind of important, Steve,” Eddie drawls.
Steve’s brows draw together in question. “What?”
“I’m fucking poor.”
“Oh.” Steve shakes his head. “I didn’t mean– no, I will give you the money, you don’t have to spend a dime, man, I just need you to get me out of this.”
“Why not have Buckley do it?” Eddie asks.
“That was Plan A, but she actually has a date that night, and it’s kind of a big deal, so I don’t want her to cancel,” Steve says. “But I assumed you wouldn’t be busy.”
“Wow, rude,” Eddie scoffs, and Steve sighs.
“Fine, sorry, I just really hoped you wouldn’t be busy.” Steve gives him the most lethal set of puppy dog eyes Eddie has ever seen, as if there had been any chance from the beginning that he’d be able to say no. “Please?”
Just for show, Eddie lets out a long sigh, falling against his chair and letting his head flop over the backrest like he’s deflating.
“Fine.”
“Thank you,” Steve groans, sounding so genuinely relieved that Eddie almost feels bad about how quickly his thoughts dip into the realms of the inappropriate. “Oh my god, I owe you.”
Eddie glances back up at Steve, tongue darting out to wet his lips almost unconsciously. “You know I’m not as easy to appease as a couple of fifteen-year-olds, right?”
Steve’s eyes drop for just a second—maybe down to Eddie’s lips, maybe not; who can say?—before he looks back up, cocking an eyebrow at Eddie. “I think I can handle it.”
Slowly, Eddie grins. “We’ll see.”
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Am I Trans Enough? by Alo Johnston
thanks to netgalley for the arc!
read: oct 2022
rating: 4*
summary:
see title ;) more seriously, a self-help text written by a therapist for people who are experiencing doubt in and of their transness.
opinion:
this is a really affirming read! or at least it was to me.
to some extent i think this is the kind of book which each reader will get varying mileage out of depending on what they relate to and what they need. cishet people might struggle (but i still believe it could be useful for them! you never know what gender is lurking, plus allyship!), but people who have a more complex relationship with gender will (i believe) find parts that they relate to, if not the whole thing.
the book itself covers a variety of potential trans and nonbinary experiences and historical context, and tho i bounced off the first half (with the exception of the exploration of the strange feeling of trying new pronouns which made me feel a lot better about a fear i'd been diminishing) the second half felt much more practiceable. towards the end there's three separate chapters, one each on being a trans man, woman, and nonbinary.
(the author also acknowledges that this doesn't and can't cover all potential identities and experiences. how you feel about that is up to you.)
and, of course, the gist of the book is that yes, yes you are trans enough.
the chapters themselves are very short, a couple of pages each, and any longer ones are broken up with sub-sections, so it's very easy to read. plus, if anything comes up that you really need to sit and think about for a while - and like me, you have a base need to finish chapters before putting the book down - you can!
but, bear in mind, i don’t technically identify myself as trans (though i use multiple pronouns), so this was more of an interesting reading exercise, with a few hopes that maybe some of those minor niggling doubts were more universal than i'd initially thought. (surprising literally no one, they were).
however, as a person relatively newly playing with gender, i did feel very affirmed and reassured by both the writing style and the content.
it's also, for anyone concerned, open and accepting of detransition as an option, and supports more fluid experiences of gender. (low bar, i know, but appreciated.)
my only critiques with it are that it seems to try and cover too much at once, and ends up covering a lot of stuff in a very light way. this, coupled with the lack of activities makes it feel like a sort of superficial book. to put it another way, i feel like my knowledge around trans doubt has changed, but i'm not entirely sure how to approach feeling different around my own doubt.
not unhelpful tho! and the long list of resources and notes in the back are greatly appreciated!
but still, i think i was hoping for a bit more depth.
on the whole, i enjoyed this book and found it useful! would recommend to anyone early in their gender journey, or perhaps looking for a little insight into other gender identities.
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Jason, Jason Todd
[DP x DC fic]
[Love at first… murder? - part 18]
<< Prev | Next >>
Part 1
Ao3
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Private chat nicknames:
Gramps = Alfred
---
After throwing the last of the tp onto the manor they hop back over the wall, wandering back to where Jason parked his motorcycle earlier.
Honestly, Jason knows that it felt like it was too easy.
And it was.
The only reason they were able to freely “break into” the manor is because Jason was with Danny, showing he wasn’t a threat. He’s certain Babs has already noticed the loop he had put the cameras on. She probably hasn’t interrupted them yet out of politeness, or so that she can gather more blackmail.
It’s likely both…
Jason conspicuously checks his phone while walking when he notices he has a new message.
---
Private Chat
Gramps: I presume you will be coming back later today to clean up the manor. Won’t you, Master Jason?
---
Jason, knowing he’s already lucky enough that Alfred isn’t upset with either him or Danny, lets out a relieved breath. He quickly answers Alfred, apologizing for the tp-ing despite absolutely not regretting it in the slightest and replying to the implied question in the positive.
It’s also a bonus Alfred approves. He supposes as he reads Alfred’s next text.
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Private Chat
Gramps: And do bring over young Danny for dinner sometime.
---
Steph stares in shock at the manor, completely covered in tp, in front of her. She drops the bag she’s holding onto the ground.
How dare they…
“Damn it!”
Out of the dropped bag rolls a roll of toilet paper.
“Who got here before me?!?” She exclaims, feeling oh so deeply betrayed. “And why wasn’t I included?!”
She quickly takes out her phone, a displeased frown on her face, paired with a pout. She opens the group chat and takes a pic of the manor. As she’s typing, she vows to herself…
She’s going to get to the bottom of this.
---
Danny checks his phone for directions to the location he had in mind.
Earlier that week he had scouted the city in his ghost form in order to find a place for the date. After finding the perfect spot, he marked the location down on his phone so he would easily be able to find it again.
After double-checking his phone, Danny puts it away and they both get on Red Hood’s motorcycle again. Danny gives him the directions as they drive, the sky slowly beginning to darken.
The location he chose wasn’t too far off from the manor, and in no time they arrived at the top of a hill looking out over Gotham City.
They get off of the motorcycle and Danny gets his bags out of the saddle bags as Red Hood, who had already taken off his helmet and is currently holding it under his arm, seems to be looking around.
“So, what’s the big plan, Polaris?” he asks.
Danny raises a curious eyebrow at the nickname.
“Polaris?”
Red Hood nods.
“You’ve mentioned before, while you were telling me about Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, how Ursa Minor is also known as the Little Bear constellation and how it contains the North Star, which is also referred to as the Pole Star or Polaris.
“Besides that, I felt like Polar Bear was a bit too long for a nickname, and Polar-is, which again is in the Little Bear constellation, just seemed to fit perfectly.” Red Hood says, a cheeky grin on his face.
Danny pauses, his cheeks flushing a little.
“You know what? That’s pretty creative, I’ll give you that.” Danny says, nodding.
“Though, to answer your question, I thought this would be a nice place to have a picnic dinner,” He says with a smile as he takes out a picnic blanket and some food and drinks he had brought along as well.
Red Hood smiles back at him.
“You know what? That sounds great. Here, lemme help you put it down” He says, reaching out for the blanket.
---
A little while later, they’re sitting on a blanket, looking up at the stars. They’re taking their time enjoying the food and looking out over the city and the night sky.
Jason has his helmet set down next to him, mask still on his face, of course. He’s almost fully lying down, leaning back on his elbows. Danny sits cross-legged next to him.
“So, Mr. Aerospace Engineer, what can you tell me about what we’re seeing here?” Jason asks, gesturing at the night sky.
He glances over at Danny. Danny, who had been looking up at the sky in awe, meets his gaze. Danny takes a moment to respond, looking back at the sky and then looking Jason over before meeting his gaze once again.
“Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?” He asks instead, tilting his head.
“You’ve told me before how you love English literature, especially the classics. But what’s your favorite book?”
Jason’s face lights up with a smile as he starts telling Danny about Sense and Sensibility from Jane Austen.
---
There’s a lull in conversation when Jason looks over at Danny, studying his peaceful expression. While taking in the beauty of the man next to him, Jason makes a decision.
To hell with it.
Jason takes off his mask. The action causes Danny, who had just turned to look at him, to immediately avert his gaze, cheeks slightly red. Danny opens his mouth to say something but Jason interrupts him before he can.
“No, no, it’s alright. If we’re actually doing this, if we’re actually dating… perhaps becoming more… then at the very least you deserve to know who you’re dating”
Danny hesitantly looks back up at Jason, making eye contact. Jason smiles at him, Danny giving a small smile back in response. He holds out his hand. Danny glances at it before giving him a questioning look.
“I’m Jason, Jason Todd.”
Danny’s smile transforms into a small grin. He grasps Jason’s hand, shaking it.
“Hi, Jason… I’m Danny, Danny Fenton.”
They shake hands and let go. The short silence afterward gets broken by Danny in no time.
“Jason?”
He makes a questioning noise in response.
“Can I kiss you?”
The question brings Jason’s thoughts to a stop and he sucks in a breath. Danny watches him, face filled with nervousness. Letting out a breath, Jason replies with a small teasing smile.
“Well, since we’ve already been to dinner I suppose I’m still owed one…”
After a few seconds, realization crosses over Danny’s face.
“I totally forgot I actually said that, oh the Ancients.” He takes a deep breath, running his hands over his face before dropping them back into his lap.
“Wait, so that’s why you came over to my apartment that first time with flowers and took me out to dinner?”
Jason sits up fully, turning so he’s facing Danny better. His gaze is filled with fondness and exasperation as he responds.
“You mean to tell me you forgot we agreed to go out to dinner first after I asked you if I could kiss you? Did you think I was just taking you out without asking then?
“Why did you even let me lead you out the window? Did you have any idea what I was talking about when I told you of the plans I had made that evening?”
Danny’s cheeks flush. Embarrassment fills his voice as he speaks.
“I mean, I don’t know, I thought you were just taking me out to dinner to thank me? For the— uh, murder?” He whispers the last word.
“I was, but I was mainly taking you out on a date. You do know that, right? I had considered that our first date, the tour being the second one.”
“Well, I did wonder later on if the dinner and observatory might have been a date but I figured it might have been some form of false hope, and I didn’t wanna have to ask. Especially if it wasn’t actually meant as a date....” Danny says.
Danny is rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, looking down at the blanket. His cheeks are still flushed. Jason lets out a sigh as he shakes his head a little.
“Well, it’s not entirely your fault. I guess I also could have been clearer. But… You don’t mind that having been our first date?” Jason asks, keeping his gaze on Danny’s face to study his reaction. “Even if you didn’t quite realize it was meant to be a date at the time?”
Danny shakes his head, smiling at him.
“No, no… I don’t mind.”
They’re both gazing softly at each other. Danny moves a bit closer and raises his hand, gently placing it on Jason’s cheek. When he speaks, his tone is a soft whisper.
“Well, since we got a liiiiittle bit off-topic I suppose I’ll ask again. Jason Todd, can I kiss you?”
“I’d like nothing more”
Now, having verbal consent, Danny places his other hand on Jason’s other cheek. Jason places his hands on Danny’s arms. They both lean in, closing their eyes.
They kiss.
It’s only a short moment after when they both suddenly jerk away from each other.
Two pairs of toxic green glowing eyes meet.
One gaze filled with shock, realization, and a small twinge of excitement. The other filled with pain, comprehension, and horror.
They both speak at once.
One voice filled with amazement. The other filled with devastation.
“You’ve died?”
---
Taglist:
@i-always-say-yea @uraniumwizard @why-must-i-be-like-this @griffinthing @i23432i @imsotiredfanficlovertm @jaguarthecat @arkita-shadow @ilydana @jai-twin @apple-juice16 @mossy-bonez
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