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triplexdoublex · 8 months

Text

Chlorine and Nicotine

Pairing: Jaden Hossler x Reader

Warnings/tags: Smut , Age Gap (reader is in her 30’s) tipsy hookup (consent implied) mentions of prior divorce, pregnancy, c section and children. Body image issues /self conscious reader . Mention of coopers death/fentanyl poisoning.

A/N: 5.5k words! This one’s for the self conscious and tired mamas on this app. Go find yourself a Jaden lol

You and your two other friends, Ashley and Liz, had planned the perfect getaway to celebrate your messy divorce being finalized: A child-free, 7 day, all-inclusive, 21+ cruise to the Bahamas. Tickets were purchased, excursions were selected, trustworthy babysitters were hired and bags were packed, there’s only one thing you all forgot…

“Is it just me or are we like the oldest ones here?” You ask your friends, looking around as you all board the cruise ship.

“Yeah, I noticed that too— seems like mostly college kids for some reason?” Liz responds.

Just then you all notice the banner on the side of the ship ‘Spring Break 2023’!

The three of you, having been out of school for close to two decades already, had completely forgotten this week was usually spring break.

“Ugh,” Ashley groans, “I can’t believe we forgot. I was hoping we could all get some much needed rest and a full night's sleep this week without our kids, not be kept up by a bunch of frat boys and sorority girls partying.”

“Hey, you know what? As long as I’m with you guys I’m sure we’ll still have a great time, even if they do keep us up. Besides you know the saying ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. When was the last time any of us got to let loose and party a little?” You reply.

“True,”

“Yeah, you’re right,” your friends answer in unison.

“Ok,well now that that’s settled, first order of business is finding our cabin, changing into our bikinis, and working on our tans while we sip margaritas pool side.” You instruct. “Let’s go!”

**********

“Whooof!” You exhale. “I’m getting hot. I’m gonna go take a dip in the pool and cool off real quick. I’ll be right back.” You head into the pool.

“Ash, do you hear that? I think those guys next to us on the right are talking about Y/N. Listen,” Liz says, keeping her voice low..

“— yeah the one in the yellow floral two piece… right there … she just got into the pool… she’s a total MILF bro—“

“Okay, I’m back, mmmn that cold water was refreshing. Did I miss anything?” You joke, knowing you were only gone for a minute.

“You did actually,” Ashley speaks in a whisper “Apparently you’re a Milf!” Liz adds.

“Says who!?” You laugh.

“Shhhh! Liz warns. “That little cutie right over there,” She nods in his direction. “The one in the black swim trunks.”

Descretly, you turn to see who your friends are talking about.

“Oh my god, I’m pretty sure I have jeans in my closet older than him! You scoff before taking another look. “I mean… he is pretty cute though— solid body, lots of tattoos.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you actually do,” Ashley laughs. Which reminds me we need to go shopping and update that wardrobe of yours, I haven’t seen you in anything but leggings for the past 6 years.”

“Ugh I know! It’s because nothing fits! It’s been 6 years since I had the twins and I’m still not back to my pre-baby weight,” you sulk. “Plus I’ve been so busy taking care of them and putting them first, I haven’t even had time to think about me. And now with the divorce and paying my lawyer— money’s tight. If it wasn’t for you guys paying my share of this trip, I wouldn’t have been able to go, and lord knows I need the break. I can’t thank you guys enough.”

“Aww you’re so welcome,” Liz hugs you.

“You deserve it,” Ashley says, patting your shoulder.

“Sorry, I’m being a negative Nancy. Fuck all our problems! We’re here to escape them and have fun!” You state. “Anyone else getting hungry, I could totally go for a burger?”

**********

At night, the pool area transforms into somewhat of a night club, with drinks, dancing, swimming and fun events— tonight’s is a singles lap dance competition.

“Good Evening,cruisers!!! The lap dance competition is about to begin,” the event organizer announces. “I need three single people to volunteer to receive a lap dance, raise your hand if your single and would like to receive a lap,” he shouts loud and enthusiastically as if announcing a wrestling match.

“Oh my god y/n! You should totally do it!” Ashley squeals, trying to raise your hand for you.

“No way, are you crazy?” You laugh pulling your hand back down.

“C’mon y/n, you’re single now , and when was the last time you had a hott guy on top of you?”

“Not within the last eight years, I know that much!” Liz sasses, wide-eyed taking a sip of her drink, and making you spit out yours.

“Fair enough,” you cough out after practically choking. “Fine I’ll do it,” you agree,the liquid courage you’ve been sipping on, helping to release your inhibitions.

“Alright, I just need one more volunteer!”

You adjust your bathing suit and raise your hand.

“ Ok pretty lady, c’mon up,” the DJ calls out. You head up onto the stage, your friends laughing, screaming and cheering you on. “Now I’m gonna need some volunteers to give the lap dances. Let’s start with this pretty lady right here,” the DJ motions to you. “Who wants to give this beautiful woman a lap dance?”

You look out into the crowd watching as a few hands go up. One in particular catches you eye, and you try to place why he looks slightly familiar, and then it hits you; it’s the young guy your friends overheard calling you a MILF earlier in the day.

“Alright, take your pick,” the DJ tells you.

“Him—the one with the dark hair and tattoos,” you point into the audience, before taking a seat on the folding chair on stage.

“You heard her, my man, c’mon up,” the DJ calls him to the stage.

He stands in front of you wearing his black swim trunks from earlier but is now also sporting a white tank top and a forward facing baseball cap. You can feel his eyes looking down at you, checking you out while waiting for the other contestants to choose their lap dance partner.

“Let’s get it started!” the DJ announces. “At the end of the song, y’all are gonna help me decide the winner,” he says, speaking to the audience. “Let’s gooo!!”

Sam Smith’s ‘Unholy’ starts bumping from the speakers and your tattooed partner throws his head back in a brief laugh at the song choice, before locking eyes with you. He wastes no time getting close; stepping forward so that both of your legs are sandwiched between his wide stance. With one hand on your shoulder he begins rolling his body in your lap, his free hand quickly grabbing his hat and turning it backwards so the brim doesn’t hinder his view of you. He glides that same hand down his torso over his white tank to its hem, bunches the material in his hand and slides it up, exposing his perfectly toned abs. You smirk, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth at the sight. He removes his hand from your shoulder and uses both hands to peel his tank off completely, tossing it down on the stage. Then he slides his thumbs into the waistband of his swim trunks purposely lowering them, his prominent V-lines on full display, along with a fuzzy line of hair descending from his navel. Your eyes follow the trail down until it meets a small patch just barely visible peeking out the top of his swim trunks. Your mind wanders, imaging what’s below—imaging what he’s working with. The trance you’re in is broken when he places one of your hands flat on his chest, inviting you to touch him while he moves in your lap. You let your hand glide down over the topography of his body, your fingertips exploring the hills and valleys of muscle as you go, stopping when your hand reaches the horizon where flesh meets material, even though your hand craves to continue its descent. As if he can read your mind, he pushes your hand lower, pressing his half hard bulge against your palm as he rolls his hips insync with the last ‘unholy’ of the song before it ends.

“Alright it’s time to vote. Let me hear you give it up for couple number one,” the DJ instructs. The audience claps, cheers and hoots. “Alright, a alright, now make some noise for couple number two.” A slightly louder roar of cheer and applause echoes under the night sky. Your sexy partner stands behind you with his hands on your shoulders as you both await your turn.“And last but not least couple number three.” The crowd goes wild with thunderous clapping,and high pitched whistles —your friends cheers the loudest of them all. “We have a clear winner here tonight, folks,” the DJ announces. “Winning by a landslide…couple number three!”

Tattooed arms unexpectedly scoop you up off the chair, running bridal style off the stage and towards the pool with you. You playfully shriek and laugh the whole way until … splash... he jumps in the water with you. When you both surface again, your hungry mouths are attacking one another like prey: desperate and determined. He moves forward in the water, pinning you against the side of the pool with his body as you devour each other— all lips, tongue, teeth and flesh. His skin tastes like chlorine, his kisses- a hint of nicotine; and just as addictive. Underwater, he teases a hand up your inner thigh and begins gently rubbing you through the fabric of your bathing suit. You allow it, encourage it actually—rocking your hips to press yourself firmer against his fingertips. You can feel how hard he is through his swim trunks and you opt to help him out, grasping his hard cock through the thin veil of fabric. You work each other into a sexual frenzy and it’s not long before his fingers transcend the boundary of your bathing suit bottoms, pushing the fabric aside and inserting two slender fingers inside of you. You follow his lead, sinking your hand into his swim trunks and wrapping your fingers tightly around him.

Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a complete stranger who’s name you don’t even know, or that he’s much younger than you, or perhaps even because no one besides your ex-husband has touched you this intimately in years, but you feel a familiar sense of heightened arousal that can only compare to the giddy exhilaration of your first sexual experience. God the nostalgia!—Back when just the novelty of making out, and touching each other was enough. Back when foreplay still existed, before the busyness of life and motherhood had you trading sex for sleep. Or swapping making love for quickies during naptime.

Every swirl of his tongue, curl of his fingers, and flick of your wrist has you feeling renewed, awake and alive again. You never want this to end but your body is chasing after the high it so desperately wants bucking against his palm while his fingers caress that sweet spot inside of you. As your orgasm begins to build, your grip on him falters so he places his free hand over yours, helping you stroke him. The feeling of your walls squeezing his fingers as you cum is so sexy to him that he finishes shortly after you.

Since the moment he jumped into the pool with you in his arms, you’ve been in your own world, oblivious to anything or anyone around you. It’s not until you start coming down from your high that the outside world starts to trickle back in: the music, the people, the sounds of your friends cheering your name. You turn to the direction of the noise in search of your friends, but a series of cannonballs by a group of guys momentarily blocks your view before you finally spot them. When you turn back after locating them, the boy is gone.

***********

The next morning in line for the breakfast buffet you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder.

“Hey, sorry about last night. My name’s Jaden by the way,” he holds out his hand.

“I’m y/n,” you shake his hand. “What exactly are you sorry about? I may have been a little tipsy, but I remember having a great time.” You give a small smirk.

“Ok, good,” he smiles “I was worried I got a little too caught up in the moment and took things too far,” he admits. “But mostly I’m sorry I disappeared on you like that. My buddies almost drowned me with their cannonballs and I wanted to spare you from having to see me choke to death and squirt water out of my nose.” He laughs.

“Fair. You’re forgiven,” you joke. “Can I ask you something?

“Of course, ask away.”

“How old are you?” You brace yourself for the answer, but at least you know he’s at least twenty one.

“Twenty two, you?”

“Oh god, umm let’s just call it mid 30’s” you answer, slightly embarrassed, and worried about how he might react.

“Can I ask you a question now?” He asks.

“Sure.”

“I’d like to spend some more time with you today. Would you like that?” He asks.

“Wait, so your not bothered by me being much older than you?” You question.

“Not at all,” he smirks. “Sooo is that a yes then?”

“I-I dunno..” you're sure he just wants to hook up again , and you don’t want to give him that impression. Last night was just a heat of the moment thing.

“I just wanna talk, get to know you. Hands to myself this time, promise,” he replies as if he’s read your mind.

“Okay,” you agree. “My friends and I have a dolphin excursion during the day and dinner reservations at 6:00, so why don’t we meet somewhere around 8:00?”

“That works for me. Meet at the hot tubs?”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you then.” You answer.

**********

You head down to the deck with the hot tubs after dinner; bathing suit on and towel in hand. You know you’re going to be a few minutes early but you figure you’d get there before they get crowed. When you arrive however you see Jaden already in one of the hot tubs; his elbows resting on the edge, and a cigarette between two fingers. You know it’s a nasty habit and not good for his health but fuck - why does he look so good doing it.

“Hey,” you say, grabbing his attention.

“Shit!” He blows out a mouthful of smoke and ashes the cigarette out on the edge of the hot tub. “Sorry, bad habit, tryna quit. I wasn’t expecting you for like another ten minutes, thought I could sneak one in.”

“No worries,” you smile, stepping into the hot tub with him. “I expected there to be more people out here, thought I’d come early before they filled up.”

“Yeah, same,” he says as you scoot over next to him . “But apparently there’s supposed to be a rainstorm some time tonight, so maybe that’s why. Although I don’t really see why it would matter, like you’re in a bathing suit literally sitting in water anyways.” He shrugs. “So anyways, tell me about yourself. I’m guessing you’re not here on Spring Break too.” He laughs.

“Nope, celebrating my divorce actually,” you admit, holding up your left hand and wiggling your ring finger— a lighter band of flesh, where a ring once sat.

“Ooh brutal, sorry to hear that. Did you guys have kids together?” Jaden asks.

“Dont be. I’m glad it’s over. And yeah twin boys actually. They’re six. My moms watching them while we’re gone.”

“Aww, sweet” he smiles.

“How ‘bout you? I already know you’re here on Spring Break. Sooo ummm—ooh I know, tell me about your tattoos, do they have any special meaning or anything?

“Some I just liked, and some have meaning but this one’s the most important to me,” he points to a scrawling of repeated sentences that goes from his chest down his side. I got it for my best friend Cooper who passed away from fentanyl poisoning last year. I just didn’t know what say, didn’t know what to do after he passed , ya know, it’s like — “ he pauses a moment and swallows hard . “Fuck, I’m sorry. Let’s just talk about something else,”

“Sure, no problem. I understand” you say supportively, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The rest of your conversation is much more happy and upbeat —sharing your favorite movies, music, and books, where you both live and what you do for work. Also telling silly anecdotes about your childhoods, college life, motherhood and so on.

And then the rain starts; which you both agreed was no big deal but, unfortunately this rain is accompanied by thunder and lighting.

“Ugh, I was having a great time talking with you. Sorry the rain cut our little date short.” You say, sounding disappointed as you both quickly exit the hot tub.

“Is that what this was?” He smiles.

“Maybe,” you answer coyly with a shrug and flirty smile.

“If you’re okay with it, you can come back to my cabin and talk a little more, hangout, watch a movie or something,” he suggests. “But I totally understand if you're not comfortable with that. No pressure.”

“Sure, I’d like that,” you agree.

***********

“Shit, I just realized I don’t have anything dry to change into” you state upon entering his cabin. “And my rooms like on the complete other side of the ship. Do you have anything I could just throw on for now?”

“Uhhhm, sure,” Jaden looks around the room for something to give you. “Here you can wear this bathrobe,” he says, tossing you the white, terry cloth covering before sitting down on the bed.

In the corner of the room you turn, facing away from Jaden, put on the robe, and then descretly remove your bathing suit from under it.”

“What, no show?” Jaden jokes.

“You don’t wanna see, trust me.” You say, sounding down.

“Oh, but I do,” he laughs, but then stops when he notices you aren’t laughing too. Hey, what’s a matter. I’m just joking.I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable that wasn’t my intention. I don’t want you to think that’s why I invited you back to the room. You don’t have to show me anything you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that. I’m just really not comfortable in my own skin these days—haven’t been for a while actually. I love my kids to death but let’s just say pregnancy didn’t do my body any favors. You're young, you can have any hott girl with a tight little body. Why would you wanna see mine, it’s nothing to look at, I promise you.”

“I promise you you’re wrong. Let me show you how beautiful you are.”

You’re not sure what that consists of exactly, but you nod in agreement anyways. Jaden makes you feel so safe, and you could definitely use a confidence boost.

“C’mere,” Jaden leads you by your hand into the bathroom, and positions you in front of the mirror. “Can I take this off?” He whispers in your ear from behind you, as he places a hand on each of your robe covered shoulders. You meekly nod yes and he slips the garment off your shoulders, letting it pool at your feet, leaving you completely nude. You fight the urge to cover yourself but the look of awe in Jaden’s eyes as he surveys your naked body helps melt away some of your insecurity. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he breaths against your our neck. “Now what I want you to do is look in the mirror with me,” he instructs. You flick your eyes up to the mirror meeting his in the reflection. “I want you to tell me what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror—give it all to me, the good, the bad, the ugly, then I’m gonna tell you what I see.”

“I see someone I don’t recognize anymore. I used to be pretty, but now I have crows feet by my eyes, and my breasts have lost the perky fullness they had before breastfeeding two kids. It’s been six years and I still haven’t lost all the baby weight,” You poke at your stomach. “And I have this C-section scar from when my body failed to do the one thing it was literally designed to do!“ You start getting emotional. “My hips are so wide now, and my ass is huge , and don’t even get me started on the stretch marks on my inner thighs,” you sigh, holding back tears.

“First of all, you ARE pretty, I think you’re absolutely gorgeous. When I look at your eyes I don’t see crows feet— I see a million smiles and childhood summers spent having fun in the sun,” he says, making you smile. “That’s a million and one now,” he teases playfully. “Now, before I continue, do I have permission to touch you?”

“Permission granted,” you snicker “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dying to feel your hands on me again,” you admit, blushing.

“And my lips too?” He begins kissing slowly up the side of you neck, making every hair on your body stand on end with arousal.

“Mmmhm, yeah, that too.” You giggle coyly.

“And these,..”he continues, cupping you from behind, “I see breasts that nourished two beautiful babies,and still look plenty perky to me, especially these nipples,” he rolls the buds between his thumbs and pointer fingers. “I love how erect they are for me.” He tugs on them gently before moving his hands to your stomach. “You don’t need to lose a single pound, all I see is curves and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not the 90’s anymore where women had to be rail thin to meet some ridiculous standard of beauty— all bodies are beautiful. And besides you don’t give yourself enough credit for growing two human beings inside you, this was their home for nine months!” He grips your soft belly tightly as he speaks. “And this scar,” he traces his finger over it, causing a ticklish chill to run through you at the ghostly sensation— you still don’t have much feeling there. “This is not a failure, it’s a reminder of how your babies were able to safely enter this world when things didn't go quite as planned.” Your eyes begin to well with tears again, not with sadness, but from the joy of a guy you met less than twenty four hours ago helping you fall back in love with your body and realize all its accomplishments. “And your ass and hips— fuck, that might be my favorite part of your body. Do you know how many women literally pay thousands of dollars to make their hips and ass look like this?” He rubs his hands over the swell of your backside. “It’s literally perfect.” He says with a firm squeeze. “And these—” he places his fingertips on the jagged pink and white lines on your inner thigh and begins to trace them upwards. “These are a map, leading me to where I wanna be the most,” he slides his middle finger through your wetness, “God damn you’re soaked and we’re not even in the pool this time,” he teases. “I think you want me here too, huh?” He begins rubbing slow circles on your clit, “and I mean more than just my fingers this time,” he smirks at you in the mirror before pressing his growing erection against your backside, and his mouth to your neck.

“Mhm, fuck—“ you moan, tilting your head and reaching back to run your hand through his dark hair while he marks you. “Mmmm, Jaden… do you… do you have a condom? I mean, my tubes are tied but—”

“I just got tested before the cruise baby—I’m clean.” He states breathily, before reattaching his lips to your neck, and pulling himself free from his swim trunks with his free hand.

“Okaay,” you moan. “I-I trust you.”

He slips in with ease; both of you releasing a shaky breath at the feeling. And while you haven’t exactly seen his dick yet, you can tell that it’s big.

“Fuccck, you feel incredible!” He nips along your jawline as he begins to thrust — one tattooed hand on your hip and the other, full of your breast, holding you against him so you can watch. He begins with a slow, gentle rhythm, taking his time to fully appreciate your warmth and tightness with each lengthy stroke.

“Ohhhh, Jaden!” You moan breathily.

“Mmmh yeah—am I making you feel good, baby?”

“Ss-so good.” And you mean that in every way- not just sexually.

“Keep your eyes on the mirror. I want you to see how beautiful you look while I fuck you,” he rasps in your ear.

You watch Jadens thrusts grow more urgent, his hands more hungry as he claws and grabs at every square inch of flesh he can get his hands on. Because of him you’re able to watch unashamed, as your soft body jiggles everytime Jaden’s hips crash against your backside, the movement spurring him on even more. You’re able to see the undeniable desire in his eyes, hear the truth of his words.

“God, you’re so fucking sexy!” He grunts through clenched teeth, increasing the intensity and depth of his pace even more, as he grows close to orgasm.

You grip the bathroom counter in front of you and let your head hang down in overwhelming pleasure. With a firm but gentle hold of your throat, Jaden lifts your head back up to face your reflection.

“Don’t want you to miss the best part,” he teases.

And with one final thrust, he cums hard, filling you to the brim. The warm eruption triggers your own orgasm, splashing against Jaden’s pelvis and dripping down his tattooed thighs.

“Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever came that hard before,” you admit after finally catching your breath, your legs still weak and trembling.

“I can believe that,” he laughs looking down at the mess you’ve made of him. “It was so fucking hott though…Shower then room service?”

“Sounds perfect” you smile, stepping into the shower with him.

The shower starts off innocent, with the intent of actually washing up and getting clean but when Jaden asks if he can help wash you, things heat up rather quickly. As he soaps up your breasts you feel something brush press against you and look down.

“Are you really hard again, already? You just came!”

“I’m young, I got the drive and the stamina to go all night if you want,” he smirks.

“I just might have to take you up on that,” you smirk back, reaching to grasp his cock. You give it a few teasing tugs before dropping to your knees.

He watches with his bottom lip between his teeth as you tease your tongue along the underside of his shaft , tracing the vein from hilt to tip. He lets out a low and breathy “Fuck” as the head disappears inside your mouth— the rest of his length soon to follow. He tastes of you, and the scent of chlorine still lingers on his skin, especially when you take him deep, your nose pressed into the neatly trimmed patch of hair on his pelvis. The same patch that was just slightly visible last night above the waistband of his low hung swim trunks. You remember the way your eyes followed his happy trail to it, your mind wondering what was below it. Now just barely twenty four hours later it’s been inside of you; first your pussy and now your mouth. Every bob of your head brings him closer, his pleasure building so much he can’t help but buck his hips, gently fucking into your mouth.

“Ohh, shit —Fuck, I’m gonna cum!” He moans out, grabbing the back of your head with both hands holding you in place as he spurts down your throat. “Mhgmmmmmmmmm” he lets out a long and pleasure-filled moan, still pumping his hips in short stokes, enjoying the last tendrils of his orgasm before pulling out. “God damn, that was so good!” He praises your skills, making you blush. “Ok” he starts with a laugh “let’s try this again, shower then room service”

*****************

By the time room service arrives after your shower, you’re at it again, this time riding Jaden in bed— a position you haven’t been brave enough to do in quite some time. You’ve already cum and Jaden is dangerously close when you both hear the faint knock followed by “Room service.”

“Shit, don’t stop,” Jaden whispers to you before shouting to room service “Just—fuck, j-just leave it by the door!”

Another roll of your hips and he’s done for, eyes rolling back, chiseled body twitching under you, calling out your name as he cums for the third time tonight.

*********

“We definitely worked up an appetite,” Jaden laughs looking at all the now completely empty pile of dishes on the room service cart. “You save any room for dessert?”

“No way, I’m stuffed,” you answer.

“Well I did.” Jaden smirks pushing you back down on the bed, and spreading your legs, his head disappearing between your thighs.

“Ohhh Jaden …”

**********

In the morning Jaden wakes before you, he can’t help but watch you sleep, sofly swiping a single knuckle along your cheek as he admires your beauty. The sensation stirs you from your slumber. Your eyes still heavy with sleep blink open and Jaden’s face comes into focus.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Jaden says, his husk, sleep laden, voice sounding so sexy. “It’s just that you're even beautiful when you sleep.”

“S’ok,” You murmur, with a smile. “Gotta get up anyways,my friends are probably wondering where the fuck I am.”

***********

You put your key card to the door of your cabin and the door clanks open rousing your friends from their sleep.

“Shit, what time is it?” Ashley asks, squinting at her phone. “Ten thirty two, sorry we woke up so late. I think me and Liz had a little too much to drink last night. I hope you weren’t bored waiting around for us.” Ashley apologizes. “Have you already been swimming this morning?” she asks noticing you're in a robe with your bathing suit dangling from your hand.

“Wait!” Liz interjects, “That’s the bathing suit you had on when you left for your date with -with that college boy, what’s his face—“

“It’s Jaden” you remind her.

“— you’re just getting back now, aren’t you!! You spent the night!?” Liz exclaims accusingly.

The hue of your cheeks and your guilty smile give you away. You take a seat on the edge of the bed and wait for the slew of questions you know you’re about to get pummeled with.

“Oh my god, did you sleep with him?” Ashley asks.

You answer wordlessly, pulling back the collar of the robe, exposing the numerous wine colored markings that decorate your flesh.

“Jesus! I haven’t seen that many hickeys since highschool” Liz teases. “Ok, spill, how bad was the sex? I’m cringing just looking at your neck.”

“It was honestly the best sex I’ve ever had,” you blushed. “He made me feel like a fucking Goddess!”

“ There’s no way,” Liz scoffs. “How much experience can he even have.” She says with an eyeroll.

“Yeah I’m not buying it either,” Ashley laughs. “C’mom you don’t got to lie to us. We’ve all had our subpar hookups, especially when we were in college. Guys that age are all confidence and no skill.”

“No I’m dead serious, it was amazing!!!” You gush. “And not just his dick, but the way he made me feel…”

You proceed to tell them every detail of last night, from how he praised and appreciated your every flaw and gave you your confidence back, to just how good his dick felt inside you and how talented he was with his mouth and fingers. When you're done talking Liz gets up and starts walking towards the cabin door.

“Where are you going?” You ask perplexed.

“Going to find me one of these college boys” Liz laughs. “Does he have friends?” She jokes, making her way back to the bed. “Seriously though, sorry we teased you, that sounds amazing.”

“Yeah,” Ashley agrees. “I’m a little jealous— good dick AND body positivity, sign me the fuck up!”

“What are you guys gonna do when the cruise is over?” Liz asks, “You’ll probably never see eachother again.”

“Oh my god, that’s right! I forgot to tell you guys the best part! Earlier in the night when we were just talking in the hot tub we figured out that he only lives an hour away from us!”

“Holy shit, what a small world, that’s awesome.” Ashley exclaims.

“I’ll tell you what’s not small,” you smirk.

#jaden hossler smut #jaden hossler #jxdn #jxdn smut #Jaden Hossler x reader #jxdn x reader

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eddiernunson · 1 year

Text

Trapped | Eddie Munson | Part 10

Prev Part | Master List | Next Part

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 20.1k

Also when going to add my tag list I realized I forgot during the last part to add my tag list. I am very sorry.

Warning: Cringey writing in which this version of the reader character is now written into even more of the show. Sometimes, she has nothing to add to the conversation. Sometimes she will take a line, sometimes the reader adds a line. It took literally months to write but personally only 35-40 minutes to read. But if you forgot a lot of what happens in first 9 parts then it might take longer.

There is no smut. Sorry.

Authors note: My life fell apart, guys. I had no motivation to write this. Some scenes were so daunting. I only wrote the scenes that affected the reader in any sense. There are moments where I cut dialogue because she couldn't hear it anymore but there are also moments in which she's not even present. You'll figure it out. I really tried to tie the characters and the bonds I created in my own story with what was happening in ST4.

Example. In my own story Robin and Nancy are already friends in a sense so none of that "so are we friends" but the Platonic with a capital P is still there.

And there is a lot of affection between reader and Eddie but I really tried not to take away the fact that these characters must be terrified out of their minds.

Chapter Five: The Nina Project

It’s about 7 in the morning, all of you have found a surface to lie down on, and the faint sound of Eddie calling out for someone suddenly rings loud in what falsely appeared to be a quiet morning. “Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there?”

There is not a soul who even remotely stirs at the signal.

“Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin?” Dustin is peacefully sleeping propped up on the tv, but as Eddie calls out, “earth to Dustin!” Nancy bursts awake, and her brain catches up to reality.

“Hey, it’s Nancy.” She answers, her eyes still blurry from sleep.

“Wheeler! Hey.” Eddie says, relieved in an answer. “Um, I’m gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me going out into the world—"

“No. No, no, no. Don’t do that.” Nancy chirps out, falling into the trap he lays out for her. “Stay where you are, and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen um, can you pick me up a six pack?” Nancy shakes her head at this, annoyed she perked up for it. “I know, it’s stupid as shit, drinking right now,” as he’s speaking, Nancy starts to look around the room to everyone passed out, and she notices two things. One, Dustin is sleeping. Two, Max is not. In fact, she’s nowhere to be seen. “-but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves.”

“Hey, I’m gonna have to call you back.” Nancy hurriedly answers him, turning off the walkie as she sets it down.

“No, don’t you da- Wheeler? Wheeler?” Eddie asks, and he is met with radio silence.

“Dustin!” Nancy yells at Dustin, and it takes a moment for him to get his bearings, taking a second to look around him. “Wake up.”

“What?” Dustin manages out, still groggy.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on Max watch?” She asks, frustrated and worried.

“Yep. Yep, yep, yep. Sorry.” He answers, rubbing his eyes.

“Then where is she?” She asks, gesturing to where Dustin still hadn’t noticed her gone.

“She’s right- there. A second ago. I swear I just dozed off for,” He checks his watch, and looks up at Nancy, almost afraid to tell her. “...an hour.”

Nancy and Dustin trudge upstairs, worried sick Max took off and is already levitating somewhere. Karen Wheeler notices, and as she asks if everything’s ok, Nancy sighs in relief as she spots Max crouched down, sitting at the table.

As it turns out, Max was drawing, and from the looks of it, she was going for a while. She explains what she saw, and a hypothesis is brought out by Dustin that it might’ve been in Vecna’s mind, seeing as Vecna went into Max’s. Dustin makes fun of the drawing, calling it vague but Nancy recognizes the stained-glass door immediately.

She pieces the labyrinth-like drawings together and creates a setting, Victor Creel’s house. It sets up a piece of the puzzle Nancy feels she’s been missing and she fast-walks back down the stairs to wake the rest of you.

(Not without pissing off Mr. Wheeler one last time just for funsies from Dustin.)

Nancy wakes you all up, and despite the group’s collective annoyance, its an agreement that you’re burning daylight and yesterday took much longer than any of you anticipated. As Nancy explains the Creel House, Steve asks what they’re supposed to do about it.

“The only thing we can do. Investigate.” Nancy answers.

Now here you were, pulling up to the abandoned house with everyone in tow. Everyone shuts the station wagon doors, and it feels eerie as you walk up to it. “Yeah, that’s not creepy.” Steve comments, and the group echos the thought.

As expected, the doors were nailed shut. The rest of you watch as Nancy and Steve work together on digging out the nails with hammers one at a time and it’s hard not to feel awkward even given the circumstances. “What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” Steve asks, border-lining on whining.

“We’re not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna.” Nancy answers, unsure herself but just needing something to investigate.

“Because Max saw it in Vecna’s red soup mind world?”

“Basically.”

“Great.”

“Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he’s back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max.” Dustin interjects- ever so perceptive.

“We don’t think he’s in there, do we?” Lucas asks, sounding hesitant.

“Guess we’ll find out.” Says Max.

“Ready?” Steve asks Nancy, all the nails now out. She confirms, and the wooden panel comes down with a creek and an overly dusty thud.

“Dustin. Dustin!” You grab his attention, “Do you have any extra walkies in case he reaches out again?” You whisper to him bending down from the step above him.

“Shit. No, I don’t.” Dustin answers, apologetic.

“Fuck. Keep that thing on you, then. Someone might find him.” You say, pointing to the walkie sticking out of his bag.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dustin responds, and you let your head fall back hopelessly. You glare at him, hoping to get the message across. “I’ll do it!” Dustin yelps, and you still don’t believe him.

Steve attempts the door. “It’s locked. Should I knock, see if anybody’s home?” He asks, not helping the situation but it was funny.

“No need.” You look to face Robin, who was no longer right next to you, but standing at the bottom of the steps. She dramatically holds up a brick, looks to it, and looks back. “I found a key.”

Robin gleefully throws the brick through the window, glass going everywhere as the window shatters. Steve reaches in to open it, struggling to find the knob. Once he does, the door opens with a comically loud creek. It’s quiet, dark, and dusty.

Your flashlights are routinely turned on, each of you scanning the house as you walked in single file. You enter second to last, moving towards the bottom of the steps inquiringly.

“Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill.” Lucas comments, and Dustin just turns on his flashlight.

“Where’d everyone get those?” Steve asks, looking around as he realizes everyone now has one.

Dustin glances back at him, and he pauses for a moment. “Do you need to be told everything? You’re not a child.”

“Thank you.” Steve deadpans.

“We grabbed them while you were in the bathroom, I think.” You comment, looking up at the impressive spider web in the corner of the room.

Dustin takes his backpack off, handing it to Steve. “Back pocket.”

This choice would come back to bite Dustin in the ass because Steve unceremoniously drops the bag onto the creaky hardwood, not knowing the promise Dustin had made you.

Nancy is peering into what looks like a living room. “They just left everything.”

“I guess a triple homicide isn’t good for resale value.” Robin jokes as you pass them, you elbow her to let her know it was genius as she thought it was.

“Hey guys?” Max calls out, and you all flock to where she’s standing. “You all see that right?”

“Yeah”

“Yeah.”

“Is this what you saw? In your visions?” Nancy asks her, noting her incredibly still stature.

Max nods silently, clearly scared.

“I mean. It’s… just a clock.” Robin comments, trying to make something terrifying mundane. “Right?” She weaves around Max, reaching up to wipe away the years of dust build up on the clock’s face. She looks back at the group. “Like a normal old clock.” She adds, and you’re not even sure she believes herself.

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?” Steve asks, looking off. “Maybe he’s like, a clockmaker, or something?” It’s…an interesting theory to say the least.

“You’re lucky you’re pretty.” You tell him, and he accepts the compliment, until he realizes it was not a compliment.

“Hey.” He calls out, but you’ve already moved on.

“All I know is, the answers are here. Somewhere.” Nancy says ominously. “Alright everyone stay in groups of two. Robin, upstairs.”

“Hey, hey there are seven of us.” You call out, following Nancy and Robin as they go up the stairs.

As you go up the stairs Max pairs with Lucas, walking further down the hall into the main level, and Steve and Dustin once again find themselves paired up.

Steve sighs heavily, and begrudgingly heads up the stairs.

“Was that a sigh?” Dustin asks, annoyed.

“No, I did not sigh.” Steve dismisses him outright.

“Why’d you sigh?”

“I didn’t sigh. Just come on dude.” He answers, sounding tired.

“I heard you.”

“W-we’re just always partners, okay?”

“What, you have a problem with that?”

“It’d just be nice to, I don’t know, mix it up a bit.”

You and Robin are exchanging looks that say “Oh god” as they continue yet another squabble, something that could’ve been heard through the entire house.

As they continued, the entire group misses the lights up on the roof spasming, showing signs that you weren’t exactly alone in the house.

Eddie sits across from a can, bored out of his mind for the thousandth time in two days, he’s currently playing a game his grandfather would’ve probably gotten a kick out of. Oh joy. He misses again.

Dammit.

A car drives by on the highway, and it startles Eddie out of his balance in a half crouch. He places his hands delicately onto the wooden windows, as to take a startingly quick glance outside.

Fuck. Please let it be a trick of the goddamn light. He glances back up, dammit. It was Jason and his crew all dressed in tuxes, heading for Rick’s house.

Jason had a crowbar in his hands.

“Shit. Shit.” Eddie whispers and looks out the back window to see how their investigation would go.

Oh god please let their perception check be shit.

They see the empty pot he left on the stove. They rolled a solid 17.

Shit.

“Hey, Dustin. You there? It’s Eddie. You remember me, right?” Eddie calls out, his teeth gritted as he crouches back on the floor so they wouldn’t see him. “Sweetheart?” He calls for you, hopelessly. “Hey. If anyone’s there, I really think I might be in a bit of trouble here. Okay?” And someone would’ve answered it, had Dustin not taken his bag off. “Wheeler?” He waits, and it still takes too long for anyone to answer. He gives the walkie a tap out of frustration. “ANYBODY?”

Eddie decided it was a lost cause, and he has to do something. He’s in a boat house and there’s only one way out. Shit.

As you and Robin make your way through the rooms and unhelpfully make comments on their choice of decor, Nancy was wondering how she ended up with the two of you as partners. She should’ve gone with Dustin, at least his commentary would add up to something. She wanders off from you two, thinking she might have to deviate from her own rules.

She turns a corner when Steve comes running backwards out of the bathroom, sounding panicked as he moves his hands up and down his torso to get a spider that fell off a meter ago. “Whoa, whoa.” Nancy ushers out as she realizes he was about to back right into her. She settles him as he catches his breath. “What’s wrong?”

“There was a spider.” Steve manages out, still out of breath.

Robin, eavesdropping after hearing the collision in the hallway, perks up her ears and starts walking towards the two of them, you follow her when she wasn’t answering to where she was going. You start to realize she was intentionally going towards Nancy and Steve.

“What?”

“A black widow.” Steve puffs out. You hear a slamming of a door. “Don’t go in there.”

“Oh. Oh.” Nancy comments, and you had to admit your interest was also piqued at this very underwhelming field trip. “Wait just…”

“What?” Steve asks, his voice sounding panicked. “Something? Shit. Okay.”

“Wait. Stop moving.” Nancy chides him. “Stop. I just… I got it. I got it.”

“Thank you.”

You and Robin come around the corner in time to see Nancy picking a stray web out of Steve’s hair. “If there’s a spider, you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.” Robin taunts him, you struggling to keep in laughter right behind her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve asks her, and it was rhetorical, but it seriously freaked him out.

Robin snorts, not taking anything too seriously as she wanders off. “Robin, seriously.” He calls out for her, and the two of you had already forgotten the conversation.

“She’s got problems” Steve explains to Nancy, checking out his hair for any loose web.

Nancy sighs, staring at a freckle on his neck she forgot about. “Tell me about it.”

“It’s cool you two are friends now. All of you. Maybe after we find Vecna, kill him, save the world and stuff, maybe we can all go out or something.” Steve says, trying to sound casual. “Me, you, Robin, Y/N, Jonathan, when he’s back.” He adds for good measure. “It’s not like we’re dating. Me and Robin. Not like we’re dating. Right? She told you? That we’re not?”

Nancy sighs at his rambling, having finally gotten any cobwebs out of his hair. “Yes. She made that very clear.”

You and Robin had made your way back into ear shot, having exchanged side-eyed glances the entire time Steve was rambling. “Platonic with a capital P.” She clarifies, giving cheeky thumbs up when Steve thanks her for making a point that is still, apparently touchy.

Huh. You thought he was over it by now. Then again, you only just found out about it yourself.

Steve lowers his voice, and suddenly you couldn’t hear his further mumblings. Something about the world being in peril always manages to convince you that Steve and Nancy weren’t exactly over. But then they barely have a conversation alone for the next eight months and all is well.

How is this the second time in a row they’re tricking you like this?

It takes a minute, but Nancy finally rejoins you both with a perplexed look on her face, and something tells you that Steve said something very like himself.

About five more minutes go by and Nancy seems like she’s about ready to give up hope, seeing as their search has only found decades old dust and spiderwebs when Lucas and Max call for everyone to come down to the main area.

Now all seven of you are staring up at the ceiling chandelier, lit up despite the lack of any electricity running through the house.

“It’s like the Christmas lights.” Nancy whispers after a moment of silence.

“The Christmas lights?” Robin asks her, wondering if she heard wrong.

“Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down the lights… came to life.” Nancy stares at them doe eyes wide.

“Vecna’s here.” Lucas whispers. “In this house.”

“Just on the other side.” You finish for him, suddenly understanding why Nancy had trouble looking away.

As you finished, the lights continue to flicker brighter and brighter with each fade in and out until they fade altogether. “I think he just left the room.” Robin states.

“Did he hear us?” Max asks, peering around for an answer.

“Can he see us?” Steve asks.

“Headphones.” Lucas states, and Max slips her headphones on in a fluid but hurried motion.

“Wait, wait.” Nancy protests. “Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out.”

You all follow her orders, as Steve protests the act. “We won’t be able to see if we all turn off our...” he fades out as he watches everyone else follow orders. “Jesus Christ.”

Everyone wonders down the halls and into the rooms, watching for any sign of him. You’re on the other side of the house when Robin pipes out, “I got him! Got him!”

Your feet take you across the house ridiculously fast as she calls out a third time.

As you wonder into the room, the light fades out from her flashlight. “I…I had him.”

The light seems to jump right to yours, startling you as you peer at it. “Whoa. I... think he’s moving.” You chirp out as you move along the trajectory of where the light was going.

“Oh, he’s moving.” Steve confirms, trailing behind. “He’s moving.”

You follow the light, taking you back up the stairs and you feel like you’re on him when the light fades again. “Shit.” You mutter. “Lost him.”

“No, we didn’t.” Max calls out, seeing a shadow of a light into a room with an ajar door. At least, it looked like a room.

Max peers into the doorway and hesitantly but bravely follows to where the stairs go up. The crowd follows her up single file, and Robin is already over it. “It’s an attic. Of course it’s an attic.”

At the end of the line, Dustin peers around the corner and yells up the stairs, “Hold up, guys. What if he’s leading us into a trap?” No one answers. “Guys.” Dustin grits his teeth. “Guys!”

By the time he’s swearing repeatedly and following anyway, you are all already at in the attic.

Eddie was perched right by a window, peering out with wide eyes, his breath shallow and his heart racing, looking into Rick’s room as he watches Jason’s friends continue their search for him.

Eddie ducks down as he sees the realization in Jason’s eyes. As a last-minute resort, he takes out his walkie again. “Sweetheart, I really need a hand here.” He pauses, closes his eyes in frustration. “Dustin? Please. Are…are you there?” No response. “Never mind.”

Eddie finally does the thing he’s been debating on since getting trapped into this situation and gets back into the damn boat.

Jason kicks in the door of the boathouse, but all they see is water and an empty slot where a boat would be.

One thing Eddie will admit to as he is not an athlete. Nothing more of a struggle than attempting to get away in a canoe with only one person rowing wearing a two heavy, arm restricting jackets. He’s moving slowly and tentatively, as to not make too much noise to alert them but still make a getaway.

Somehow.

Any hope he has for getting away without them seeing him is lost in a second as he hears Jason yell, “Hey Freak!”

He looks back, and for the first time since getting roughed up badly in his early high school years, Eddie fears for his life.

“Where you think you’re going?” Jason yells, and as he undresses Eddie adds the equation together.

“Shit.” Eddie lurches to the back of the boat, pulling the cord at the engine with more energy than he knew he had. “Come on!” He yells at the engine spluttering, frustrated and scared. “Just,” pull, “come,” pull, “on! You piece of shit!” Eddie gives a strong pull, and he’s sure it would work until it splutters back down. “Come on.” He pats at the engine pathetically, shaking with adrenaline and nerves. “You gotta help me out here, man.” Eddie continues to beg the engine, still attempting to start it.

When he notices a figure splashing towards him in the distance, he knows he needs to start going. Somehow. “Nope? Okay. Alright. Okay.” Eddie stumbles across the boat back to the oar to start rowing away from Jason hurling towards him at a terrifying speed. Eddie tries not to look back at him, whimpering “Shit. Shit.” As each row gets him to what feels like nowhere.

Up in the attic at the Creel house, you make your way into the attic where a singular light bulb is fading in and out. As you’re looking up at it, Dustin calls out, “Flashlights.”

You look down to yours, and it’s lit up. Every one of them are. The crowd gathers around the light bulb, flashing your torches up towards it.

“Okay, what’s happening?” Asks Steve. None of you know, but you all peer up at the light, looking around the room and waiting for an answer.

Panic is now starting to really set in Eddie’s nerves as the two jocks almost catch up to him, barley escaping them. Eddie’s freaked out, panting, and far too exhausted to keep rowing at the rate he is. At a last-minute ditch effort to get rid of them, he gets up, and uses his oar to swing at them. “Hey, stay back, man! Stay back! Stay back!” He yells, his voice getting louder as his desperation grows.

He was trapped next to someone who never had a decent opinion about him to begin with now with a vendetta and armed. The only thing around him was water and with the rate Jason caught up to him he was not going to be able to swim away. None of this was pleasant.

“Come on! We almost have him.” Jason chokes out at Patrick, who is staring off into space. “Hey Patrick. Patrick! Patrick!”

Patrick suddenly is yanked into the water, and Eddie has no idea what’s going on, staring cluelessly into the water.

He had one idea, but he hoped he was wrong.

Jason continues to call out for him and its silent except for the sounds of the water in Lover’s Lake.

A splash erupts from the water’s surface as Patrick is elevated into midair.

Upon seeing the image of a body pulled into midair by nothing again Eddie steps back from it as far as he can get in bewilderment and momentarily forgets he is in a small boat, falling backwards into the water.

Your flashlights only continue to get brighter until Robin’s light pops, and it continues all in a circle causing each one of you to jerk away from it.

Eddie scrambles to swim back up to the surface, facing something he had hoped he would never have to see again. The cracks? Worse than he remembered.

Much worse.

All the lights seem to explode as Patrick’s extend limbs are cracked, finishing in sync as his eyes are, well, pulled.

Jason lands back in the water with a splash, Jason left to grab him while Eddie gets away only to find that his walkie no longer worked.

Fuck.

Episode 6: The Dive

It takes two hours of walking for Eddie to finally find the construction site he knew was happening by Lover’s Lake. They were onsite for almost a week at that point and Eddie thanked his lucky stars his uncle knew so many construction folks nearby. He spent the entire time wondering how he was going to manage a walkie out of one of their belts.

The first time a worker is in the bathroom he is beside himself in the bushes wondering how he would grab one. It was only when the door opened did the walkie sitting in the belt on the cutting table did he realize his missed opportunity. As the same worker makes his way back to the bathroom a mere 8 minutes later does Eddie sneak up behind the porta-potty. It wasn’t the smartest of ideas due to an odor assaulting Eddie’s nose but creeping to the cutting table to preen the walkie out of the tool belt was all worth the while.

The relief that Eddie felt as he ran back into hiding was unexplainable. As he walked in further back into the woods, he realized he recognized the path, and he knew that Steve should, too.

You sat in the back corner of the station wagon, your eyes popping open as Steve hits you with a licorice wand. You furrow your brows at him, he points to it mouthing, eat it.

Your eyes shift downward to your lap seeing the licorice in question. “Aren’t these for Eddie?” You ask, annoyed.

“Not the licorice.” Steve responds, words garbled thanks to a half-eaten wand in his mouth.

Your brows raise, as Steve was literally snacking on the chips you know you had picked out for Ed. Steve looks at you confused, his mouth half open and his pretty eyes peering up at you. You point to the chips. “It’s fine. That’s why we got more chips.” Steve says, gesturing to the numerous Pringle tubes at your feet.

Your eyes roll into the back of your head, the licorice hanging out of your mouth as you lay your head back down.

“Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car?” Robin’s voice comes out of nowhere, and you open your eyes to see you had made a lot of progress out to the Lake. “’Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck.”

“It’ll be fine.” Nancy assures her.

“I can’t stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie’s break again. I really, really can’t.” Robin mutters and you wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment.

“At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” Steve calls out, holding the case of beer he had gotten Eddie.

“That’s what my mom does.” Max says off handedly.

“Why don’t we give it a trial? ‘Hey Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Y/N approved junk food and that six-pack you requested.”

Dustin turns to you from where he’s between Max and Lucas. “Didn’t I provide most of the suggestions?” He asks, furious.

You roll your eyes, too tired and just looking forward to seeing that he was okay. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re not the one whose—"

“Dustin there are bigger battles.” Steve interjects and Dustin turns around defiantly.

“Can I get back to the point? Practise?” Robin calls out, and she takes the silence as a guilty yes. “Where was I?”

“Uh, six pack.” Nancy offers.

“Right. ‘Oh yeah! We found Vecna. Bad news is that he’s in that other, darker, much scarier dimension, and the gate’s closed and so we have no way of getting to him. He’s entirely shut off to us, so basically, you’re screwed. And, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you’re liked, doubly, triply screwed.”

An audible gulp leaves your throat as the situation you have spent more time than you care to tell attempting not to think about how bad it was. Max’s concerned eyes land on you and you can barely hold back the mist that makes it into your eyes.

Not gonna cry. Not yet.

“Well. Maybe we don’t put it like that.” Lucas offers, his glance switching back to you. These looks of pity were charming yesterday. Now they’re about to get on your nerves.

“We’re one step closer to finding Vecna.” Nancy counteroffers. “That’s what we say. That’s what’s important.”

“See Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference.” Steve calls out, and you grit your teeth.

“Uh huh.” Robin calls back.

“Oh shit.” Nancy curses and you pipe up to see what she saw.

Shit.

A police cruiser, news van, and a crowd. You smile lamely at Steve as he crawls out the back area of the car and you stay, watching the mess from afar.

Despite you being unable to leave the car due to exposure Nancy leads all of them to around the van. Shit. What was going on?

Fuck it.

You got out of the back, using the police’s distraction in making civilians back up to sneak up behind the van. You round the back as Powell was describing the scene. You caught the end of his sentence, “homicide on the lake.”

“You can’t be here.” Robin whispers, you swat her off and shush her to listen to what he has to say.

“Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover’s Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney.” Oh shit. That was one of Jason’s friends. Lucas played with him. “His limbs…his body, it was disfigured… There was an eyewitness on the scene. We have also identified a person of interest.”

Your heart drops into your stomach, and you pray that they’ve found another person to pin it on. Someone else. You would help prove their innocence of course but please, someone else.

You don’t realize how tense you already are, with your shoulders scrunched and teeth gritted until the chief flips up Eddie’s senior photo. The one he was so excited to take, to be a yearbook as a graduating senior.

Now used as his identifier as a suspected murderer.

All tension leaves your body in the worse way and looking back you wondered if you had the reaction because you could not have any more tension. You divert your eyes from any caring friends’ glances, you just needed to find him.

“Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward.”

“Oh man.” Steve groans out. “This is not good. Really not good.”

Yeah, no shit, you shoot him an icy stare.

You barely hear what the chief finishes off his statement as the press have questions for him. What comes loud and clear, however, is the sound of Eddie’s voice on a walkie. “Sweetheart. Y-Y/N. Dustin. Can you hear me? Wheeler?”

His voice should’ve made you feel better, but a tear falls down your face as you realize he still doesn’t know the town will be on a hunt for him soon. “Answer him.” You choke out as Dustin already has the walkie in hand.

“Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?”

You follow closely behind the crowd around the walkie, sniffling and attempting to get yourself together.

“Nah, man. Pretty...pretty goddamn far from okay.”

At least the two of you were in the same emotional state.

“Where is he?” Robin asks.

“Where are you?” Dustin repeats.

“Skull rock. Do you know it?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s near Cornwallis and-“

“Garrett, yeah.” Steve says, interrupting him. “I know where that is.” Steve takes off into the trees and it takes a moment for your brain to catch up to the idea that he wasn’t going to the car.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming.” You hear Dustin call out, and it felt like the end of that.

“She okay?” Eddie calls out, and its so quiet Dustin stops and asks him to repeat it. “My girlfriend. Y/N? Is she okay?”

You nod to Dustin when he looks up to you for help. Say yes. Do not be honest. You don’t need him to worry about you on top of being on the run. “Yeah. She’s ok. A little shaken up but she’s ok.”

“Good.”

You smile at Dustin in thank you when Nancy calls out. “Hurry up, we’re not waiting!”

Shit. You run to catch up.

Why did there have to be an uneven number? You wonder as you walk in front of Nancy and Robin, arms crossed as there wasn’t enough room for 3 to walk side by side.

You’re walking and absentmindedly admiring some particularly tall trees while eavesdropping on Steve and Dustin’s argument ahead of you. “Dude, I’m telling you, we’re taking us the wrong way.”

“It’s north. I’m positive. I checked the map.” Dustin answers the same way yet again.

“You do realize Skull Rock, it’s a super popular make out spot?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Yeah well it wasn’t popular until I made it popular. All right? I practically invented it. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” Steve takes off in a harsh left, and Dustin calls out for him. “Stop whining. Let’s go. Trust me.”

You get used to the different terrain, walking downhill instead of slanted. As you do, Robin and Nancy catch up to you as it seems to get larger. You smile at the company.

“Okay, so apparently we’re going this way now?” Max pipes out. “I swear to God, if they get us lost…” She pauses, and you, Robin and Nancy give each other a look. “Hey. You okay?”

Robin stops you and Nancy, extending her arms out as to prevent either one of you from walking any further. “Wha-?”

“Shh” she shushed you, quick and fluid. “C’mere.” She leads you and Nancy to the side of the path that Dustin and Steve are still walking, and she clings onto a tree to get a good vantage spot.

“Uh, yeah.” He answers distractedly. “I’m fine. Just…thinking about Patrick. You know?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, it’s… it’s like, why him? But then, I remember this one day, he…he came to practice with a black eye. He said he fell, but clearly, he was lying. It’s like everyone Vecna targets has something in their life. Something that’s—”

“Hurting them.” Max finishes for him. “Haunting them.”

“Yeah. I…I didn’t really know Patrick, so it was easy to just look the other way, I guess. But I did know you.” This rings true, and you remember observing her pulling back but not saying much. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“It’s not your fault.” She dismisses him, but Lucas wouldn’t have it.

“No.”

“I disappeared.”

“No, no, you didn’t. I just didn’t look hard enough. Okay? But I see you now. I see you.” Knowing how hard it is for Max to be vulnerable that felt mystifying to hear Lucas say it.

As Lucas and Max continue down the path, Robin scrambles her way out of the tree she had made her way into, subtly starting back the path up to Skull Rock.

Your heart pitter-pattered. Eddie was at Skull Rock.

Robin scoffs. “Oh my God, they’re so adorable I just wanna squeeze ‘em, you know? If I’m permitted to see a silver lining in this end-of-the-world doom and gloom, it would be the rekindling of old flames that, frankly, never should have been snuffed out.” You and Nancy share a look before both turning your heads to face her. “I-I didn’t mean that as a hint or anything.”

“Right.”

Like a burning fire you can’t look away from. You knew that on some level Steve was still pining after Nancy but also Robin outright admitting to rooting for it.

“But if I did mean it as a hint would that be so terrible? To wish happiness for my friends?” Robin asks Nancy.

Nancy scoffs, “You think I’m not happy?”

“I…I’m sure you are.” Robin responds, assuring her. “It’s just, the other day, I mentioned Jonathan, and you flinched or winced or something like—”

“I didn’t flinch or wince.” Nancy protests, her voice annoyed.

“Ok.”

“Jonathan and I are fine.”

“Got it.”

“We’re good.”

“Right.”

It almost feels like a stand-off as you stand between the two of them.

You’re sure Nancy is about to dismiss the idea altogether…until her face shifts only for a moment. With Jonathan refusing to come up for Christmas and him procrastinating his applications repeatedly, it made sense.

“It’s just…” The three of you continue walking as she gathers her thoughts. “He was supposed to be here for the break, and then he backed out at the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason. And to be honest, I’m not that surprised because I’ve been feeling him pulling away. And I don’t know if it’s because we’re 2,000 miles away or if he met someone new or what. And now I can’t find out why because apparently, he’s blown up his family’s house phone or something. So yeah, if… if the mention of his name caused a slight muscle spasm on my face, that’s… probably why.”

“Seems like a perfectly reasonable to flinch, wince, or something.” You comment, and Nancy turns to you, smiling softly.

“Oh, boom!” Steve calls out from the other side of some plants. “Bada Bing, Bada Boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock! In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.”

“It doesn’t make sense” Dustin’s voice echos.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. Can’t admit you’re wrong, you butthead.”

You hear a loud echo of someone landing on the ground, and you nearly crumble in relief when you hear his voice. “I concur.” Dork. “You, Dustin Henderson are a… total butthead.”

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” Dustin tells him and you attempt to not let jealousy get a hold of you as you hear the back pats of a man hug.

“Yeah, me too, man.” You can’t hold it back anymore and run into a full sprint to him, ignoring the looks you know Robin and Nance are giving the back of your head. As you collide with him, his back towards you but you didn’t mind. “Whoa—” Your arms wrap around his stomach, squeezing him tight as you inhale the scent on the back of his jacket.

He turns around to face you, having trouble as your hold on him is so tight. “Hi, sweetheart.” He chirps out, and you can hear the smile in his voice.

“Missed you.” You mutter into his chest, and the faint smell of his odor is there, and you can’t help but feel guilty as he has been on the run for two days while you got to change your clothes.

He hums. “I missed you more than you know.”

You look up at him, chin still connected, and all tension in your body seems to leave at once.

As the town rushes out of town hall while ignoring Sheriff’s calls for a mandatory curfew, your mom sits nearly stunned in silence. Jason Carver, a boy that you have complained about to her repeatedly, lead a slam campaign that led to a town wide hunt for Eddie. Her heart stutters, she has no idea where you are, how Eddie could prove himself innocent, and what she is to do now.

Her head turns to face Karen along with both Dustin and Lucas’ parents and they all give her a look of strained pity. However much pity they feel for your mom, the hopelessness that Dustin’s mom felt seemed to overshadow it.

As they gathered in an inconspicuous circle Karen hushed Lucas’ mom as she attempted to talk. “They should all be back at the house, including your daughter. C’mon.” Somehow your mom doubted you were there, but the nagging hint of hope in the back of her mind made her want it anyway.

The rubber was harsh and stark against the cement as the parents’ cars pulled into the Wheeler’s driveway. All car occupants were leaving the cars as soon as they were put into park and right into the house.

Karen Wheeler entered her house in a rush, looking around anxiously around her house for any sign of any of the kids. “Guys?” She goes to the top of the stairs, opening the door to the basement. “Are you down here? Guys?” At the bottom of the stairs Karen looks around in her dark and dingey basement, and understands they are not in the house. She runs back upstairs. “They should have been back by now. They should be back.”

“What time was the movie?” Lucas’ mom asks.

“Uh, four hours ago.”

“Hate to break it to you, Mrs. Wheeler, but they lied to you.” Erica says, confident in her statement.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” Holly sings, being a little sister.

“Holly.” Ted chides her.

“We don’t think they’re actually involved with this Eddie guy, do we?” Dustin’s mom asks frantically.

“Eddie did not do this.” Your mom pipes up, placing her hand out to “calm” her.

“How can you be sure?” Lucas’ mom asks her.

“Because they’ve been dating for five months and he’s been over so many times I put leftovers in my fridge for him to find.”

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t—”

“He didn’t do it. Let’s just focus on finding our kids.” Your mom finishes the discussion with finality.

Karen Wheeler passes your mom to the phone on the wall.

“You’re calling the theater?” Erica asks incredulously.

“The police.”

Now that Eddie has been located, it was imperative that you decided on a next step. The big question was to why Eddie didn’t get a hold of anyone after Patrick got Vecna’d. “When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys but, uh,” he takes a large swig of his water and no, you weren’t staring at his throat as he did it. (You totally were.) “My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran.” He chuckles in his self deprecation, intentionally missing the look you give him.

“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy asks, and she has a hypothesis, you could just tell.

“Yeah, no, I…I know exactly what time it was.” Eddie moves to take off his watch. “My walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.”

He tosses her the watch, nearly missing it at the lack of caution Eddie had used to throw it to her.

“9:27”

“Same time our flashlights went kablooey” Robin adds.

“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asks, still out of the loop.

“The surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick.” Nancy answers.

“Well, we’re one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks.” Robin adds.

“And where he attacks from.” Lucas says.

“So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart.” Max concludes.

“If he has a heart.” Robin jokes.

“A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?” Steve asks the last part of his sentence as if he was genuinely worried about the possibility.

“It was a metaphor” Max stresses.

“A bullet should work on him, right?” Eddie offers, you shoot a look at him in surprise. What he mouths to you.

A gun? You mouth back.

He shrugs. It would work.

“I say we chop his head off” Lucas declares as you and Eddie are having your silent conversation.

“I’d say all the above, but we can’t do any of that til we find a way to the Upside Down.” Nancy points out.

You look to Dustin, realizing he hasn’t spoken much, which was unlike him. You kick down to your boyfriend’s leg right next to you to point him out when you see him pacing like a madman.

“We need El to get her powers back.” Max complains.

“We had this girl. She had superpowers.” Steve starts to explain to Eddie.

“Yeah, I met El. Hey, uh, Henderson’s not uh, cursed, is he?”

“Cursed? No, no he’s fine. Mental? Absolutely.”

“Boom!” All of you are startled by Dustin’s loud voice echoing through the forest turning to face what madness was going on his brain this time. “Bada. Bada. Boom.”

Steve’s face scrunches up in bewilderment.

“I was right. Skull Rock was north.”

“Seriously? You’re serious?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“This is Skull Rock. Okay?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now.”

“Yes.” Dustin agrees with him. “And no.” Ok now you were lost, too.

“Oh my god.” Steve exclaims as he hides his face in his hands to rub the stress off.

Dustin holds up his compass. “This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. Correct when we got in the car on Kerley. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it’s way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong. The compass was.”

“So, you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong.” Steve is still somehow arguing and missing Dustin’s point completely.

Dustin’s head tilted argumentatively, “Except it isn’t faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?”

Lucas scratches his head thoughtfully for only a fraction of a second. “An electromagnetic field.”

“Yep.”

“Electro-what?” You stutter out.

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” You glance to your boyfriend and watch as his eyes slowly start to glaze over as he doesn’t take a single word Dustin is saying. You felt less stupid. “So, either there’s a super big magnet around here, or…”

“There’s a gate.” Lucas finishes, the only one on the same page. (The same book, for that matter.)

Dustin points to Lucas, confirming.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy points out.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate? A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller, way less powerful.”

“Snack-size gate.” Robin quips.

“How? Why?” Steve asks.

“No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to get to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.” Dustin seems to miss the social ques of everyone fidgeting as they’re still unsure of what any of what he’s saying means, as he turns around the opposite direction to let the compass show him a path to the gate.

That is, if there was one to begin with.

“Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” Steve calls out to him, and Dustin turns around exasperated. “Y/N’s still being sought out for questioning and Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie.” Dustin pauses, raising his arms out dramatically to him. “What say you, Eddie the Banished?”

All the attention is turned towards your boyfriend, who is still perched onto his toes and crouched down. “I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor,” dork, “which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire…the Shire is burning.”

Dustin starts hopping up and down excitedly, his smile bared from ear to ear.

Without warning Eddie lurches himself up onto his feet, and you have to move away from him to not get hit by his dramatics.

“So, Mordor it is.” He walks right passed anyone in the circle to start walking, and it takes a moment for the rest of the group to catch up.

“Ed!” You call out to him as they weave around him. He jerks himself back around to you. “Your stuff?” You point to your feet where a white grocery bag still sat.

“Get your stuff dude, let’s go.” Steve berates him, and you give him the stink eye as you pass. “What?” Steve asks you, and you decide to leave it be. There are bigger battles right now.

Much bigger.

By the time the Compass is guiding you anywhere, the sun is nearly set on another day. Something tells you that there aren’t many days left.

The crowd half pays attention to Dustin at the very front and his numerous zig-zags but the chatter remains. You find yourself walking next to Eddie, his hands brushing against yours as your strides match each other’s. “Police hadn’t gotten a hold of you, yet, eh?”

You shake your head, biting your bottom lip. “Nope. I don’t think if they had attempted to question me now, I would be any help.”

“Nah. You would save me.”

“Would I?” You counter back. “I’m so glad to be with you in person. Not knowing if you were ok, I felt sick to my stomach since the news broke out from in front of your trailer.”

“I didn’t mean to worry you like that.” Eddie states, his voice calm and soothing. “I should’ve called you—”

“No. It’s good you didn’t.” You interrupt him.

“No instead of running I should’ve come to you.” He argues back.

Your stride stops mid step, forcing him to stop, too. “You didn’t do anything wrong by reacting how you did, Eddie.” He doesn’t believe you, his eyes avoiding yours as they twitch around the light pink sky. “Hey. Look at me.” He hesitates, then they gaze back down to you. “You couldn’t have reacted any better than to get yourself away from the situation. You didn’t know what was happening. Someone was lifted into air with all 206 bones in their body broken by seemingly nothing. That was an appropriate response. I need you to know that.” You hold your hands out to frame his face, petting his cheeks and taking in the bags that were so heavy underneath his eyes from stress and lack of sleep.

Eddie goes silent, nodding. He places a hand on top of yours, grabbing it so he can gently kiss it. You grab his hand and lead him so you continue walking. You knew he still didn’t believe you but at least you got to tell him.

“C’mon, lovebirds! We don’t have all day!” Robin calls, about ten feet ahead of you.

Your eyes roll, and you know she says it out of love.

“I just hope Wayne knows.” He mutters under his breath.

“He does.” Nancy says, and you didn’t realize you had almost caught up to her, having let Robin continue walking down.

“You figure?” Eddie asks her, placing his hands in his pockets apprehensively.

“I know.”

“Wait a minute.” Eddie drops your hand and uses his long limbs to get next to Nancy. “What do you mean?”

“I went to the trailer park when news broke out to get a story for the school newspaper.” That was a very small summary of a much more nuanced story but that was beside the point. “I had went to every neighbour on your lot for a quote but they weren’t much help. I only had one possible person to go to and I had initially avoided him out of respect.”

“Wayne.”

Nancy nods. “He was on the bench, smoking. He wouldn’t even talk to me at first, he said he already talked to reporters who all had their story already. Once I convinced him, he…surprised me.” She admitted softly.

“What…what did he say?” His voice is soft, holding back.

“He doesn’t think you did it.” Nancy states outright. Eddie stumbles back in surprise. “He truly doesn’t think you did it. He said you might be rough around the edges, but he knew you weren’t capable of doing what happened to Chrissy.”

Eddie audibly gulps, his eyes blinking rapidly as he attempts to hold back his tears. “He. He. He said that?”

“There was no doubt in his mind. He knows you’re innocent.” Nancy smiles up at him, closed mouthed with a sad disposition on her face.

“Thank you.” He tells her, and she nods before walking up to meet back up with her designated walking buddy.

Eddie waits as you catch up to where he’s standing, and his eyes are glossy. “You okay? Need a minute?” He shakes his head jerkily to deny it, as he’s only staying silent so he won’t fucking cry. “Alright. Let’s go I think they’re starting to pick up.”

As it got dark, the group dissipated into several different pairings of walking buddies. You somehow found yourself sandwiched walking behind Eddie and in front of Steve.

As you get used to the group’s formation, talking softly as you continue, Dustin is hyper focused on the compass as it steadily twitches more and more. Out of nowhere he starts into a full sprint, running towards where the compass takes him.

“Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?” Eddie calls out for him and runs when he realizes Dustin paid no attention.

As Dustin and Eddie run out of sight everyone struggles to keep up with him. “I think we’re getting close.” Dustin calls out.

Eddie catches it before you could even call out, grabbing Dustin by the backpack before he takes another step. “Watch your step, big guy.”

“Oh man. You gotta be shitting me.” Steve exclaims as all eight of you stare out into the open water of Lover’s Lake. “Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar.”

“Lover’s Lake.” Robin names the body of water you were all staring at.

“This is confounding.” Dustin mutters, rubbing his eyeballs.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asks out loud.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Nancy deducted.

This is how you knew you wouldn’t have survived without her. Your brain couldn’t even process it.

“Yeah, only one way to find out.” Steve stares out into the open water. “How are we supposed to find out?” He asks, pointing out the obvious problem that was already vexing Dustin.

“Well.” Eddie pipes up, a smirk on his face.

After Eddie leads the group along the edge to where he had stashed Rick’s boat, tugging the tarp off with flair. It’s small and definitely wouldn’t fit everyone, but it would do.

The boat is picked up by you, Robin, Steve, and Eddie about four footsteps back into the water into shore. Eddie and Steve takeover to put the boat into the water, Eddie being a bit rougher than necessary. You maintain that he didn’t know his own strength.

“Easy…I” The boat lands with the metal creaking against the ground loudly, “I said easy, man.”

“Sorry, dude.”

Robin lines up to get into the boat, rejecting Steve’s extended hand. “Yeah, I’m just gonna do that.” She mutters, placing her hands flatly on top of their heads. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, that works, too.” Steve mutters.

Eddie climbs in, turning around to extend a hand to help you in. You grab onto it, annoyed at the rickety balance and lack of footing a boat provides for you as you step in. “Thanks.” You mutter to him, he winks flirtatiously back.

He turns around to face Nancy, also ready to climb in. Eddie extends his hand out to her, offering the same courtesy he gave to you.

“Yeah, you got her.” Steve mutters, still holding the boat.

“Wheeler.”

“Thanks.”

Dustin gives one last goofy look to his friends before attempting to get in. Eddie reaches out to flick him back. “Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?”

Nancy bends sideways to see around Eddie. “It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max.” Eddie lets her move past him. “Keep an eye out for trouble.”

“You keep an eye out.” Dustin retorts childishly.

Nancy squints. Dustin makes an exasperated face back.

“It’s my goddamn theory. Plus, there are already four people on the boat.”

“You heard Nance.” Robin adds.

“Who put her in charge?”

“I did.”

“Compass.” Nancy states, holding her hand out for Dustin. Dustin sticks out his bottom lip, pouting as he reaches in to give Nancy the compass.

Steve pushes out the boat very slightly before saying, “Hey, there you go.”

Thwump. Dustin gets his backpack thwarted into his face. “Ow.” Steve uses the distraction to push the boat out into the water, using the momentum to get in. “You said three! That’s five!”

“Sorry.” Steve calls back, sincerely apologetic.

You and Eddie use the oars you had both grabbed and started rowing out, using Steve’s momentum to help get further.

Robin couldn’t help herself, as she was holding back her giggling with much difficulty. “Bedtime at 9, kiddos!” She calls out, to which Dustin coldly flips her off. This just egged her on. “Miss you already!” She calls out, standing up on the boat as she does.

About three minutes go by, and in all the effort rowing takes it felt like forever when Nancy finally speaks up. “Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Slow down guys.”

You and Eddie had taken the hint, using the oars to stop the boat from floating any further. All five of you peer into a circle with the compass centered, observing the way the arrow turned jaggedly without direction.

“Whoa.” Steve comments when he gets a good look at it.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin’s voice erupts from the walkie, “Come on, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Robin picks it up. “Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘aah!’.”

Steve starts to undress; you didn’t notice him take his shoes off, but it was far more obvious as he took of his socks. “Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asks him.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this out.” He mutters. “Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years then…it’s gotta be me. No complaints, all right.?”

Eddie lets out a silent chuckle. “Hey, I’m not complaining.” He looks over the side of the boat, peering into what looked to be a void of darkness. Night lake blindness was real and terrifying. “I do not wanna go down there.”

You reach out across where Robin was sat next to you, tapping his arm lightly to berate him. What? He signals to you. You just ignore it. He rolls his eyes, bringing out the white plastic bag he had in his jacket to empty all its containments on the bottom of the boat. You watched him curiously, wondering what he was doing. You watch him as he wraps the plastic bag around the flashlight, completely missing Nancy ogling Steve as he took off his shirts.

Eddie finishes the bag by tying it securely in a bow with the loops. “Hey.” He calls out to Steve, handing it to him. “Good luck.”

As Steve looks back to him, you peer up at him in awe. Something about this angle just looked so good on him. “Thanks.”

Steve prepares himself to hop in the water and Eddie pulls out one of his joints to pass the time while he’s down there. As he’s just about to light it, Robin pulls the joint out of his grasp and flings it into the water. “Gross.”

Eddie grits his teeth, shaking his head in a What the hell manner.

“Steve?” Nancy asks, and Steve peers back to her. You swear they share a moment before she says, “Be careful.”

Steve doesn’t say anything in response, just gives a subtle yet jagged nod. Without anymore notice, he dives in, the water creating a jarring splash in the quiet of the nighttime.

A few moments pass in awkwardness. It was odd, considering up until last week there really wasn’t any awkwardness to speak of. “Robin?”

“Hmm?” She replies to you.

“Now that Steve is momentarily out of the boat, can you—”

“Oh, yeah sure.” Robin moves her butt over to where Steve was sat, and you’re now able to have leg room.

“So, when was the first-time you guys dealt with… the other…world?” Eddie asks, leaning forward onto his knees with one arm and holding your hand with the other.

“1983” Nancy answers him without missing a beat.

“Is that it?” He asks again, but he already knew the answer.

“Again in 1984, and last time was in the summer.” You add, and Nancy nods along.

Eddie’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

“Remember the mall burning down?” Robin prompts him. “That was us.”

Eddie turns to look at you pointedly. “You helped burn the mall down?”

“Hey, did you want to turn into a giant flesh-eating monster?” You jab back at him. Eddie slowly nods his head to indicate no, he did not want that. “Us either. So, we got rid of it with fire. We figured out in ’84 they hate fire.”

“They?” Eddie asks, and you know he doesn’t even know what a demogorgan is. Hasn’t asked.

“Irrelevant. The point is. It was the mall, or Hawkins, so we did what was necessary.”

“So,” Eddie starts, “did the chief know about this?”

Everyone goes silent, as Hopper died a hero but not for the reasons Hawkins thought. “Yeah. He’s El’s dad. In fact, without Hopper most of us would’ve died two years ago.” Nancy comments.

“Oh.” He clears his throat awkwardly. “Sorry to—”

“It’s fine, Ed.” You tell him. I love you. You mouth to him.

I love you too.

Robin leans forward to Nancy as she looks back to her watch, having kept track of time the entire conversation. “Where we at, Nance?”

“Closing in on a minute.”

“Okay.” Robin lets out an audible huff, a way to let out pent up anxiety.

“Do you, do you hear something?” You ask, hearing a commotion come from where Lucas, Dustin, and Max were sat down.

“I see flashlights.” Robin offers. “Shit. Cops.”

“We should be good, right?” You ask anxiously.

Robin peers over the edge, watching for Steve to come back up. “As long as Steve comes back faster.”

Only two seconds pass of silence when it’s interrupted by the sound of water gushing loudly as Steve erupts out. The four of you are startled from the loud noise, Eddie letting out an involuntary, “Oh, Christ!”

Steve attempts to catch his breath his he barks out, “I found it.”

“You found it?” Nancy asks, confirming what she had heard.

“Yeah, I found it.” He pants, swimming up to the boat.

Robin grabs the walkie out. “Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate.”

Steve maintains hold of the boat still panting. “It’s more of a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.” Abruptly Steve “falls” back into the water, his hands leaving the boat as if he had no choice. You all clamour towards him, wondering what was happening. Steve grabs back onto the boat, looking back down at the water worriedly. Just as abruptly and clearly Steve was pulled back down into the water, the four of you yelling after him.

“Steve!” Nancy yells after him, both hands on the edge of the boat with her knees almost going over the edge.

All three of you girls call his name repetitively, hoping on some sort of level it would call him back to you.

Eddie was by himself, panicking. “No! No! What the hell was that, man?” Eddie asks no one in particular.

“Nancy, really, what happened?” Robin calls out to her loudly.

“Jesus!” Eddie yelps out in a higher note than you knew he could even manage.

Your mind was panicking but you were watching her closely as to what she would do. It was obvious what was on her mind when Nancy stands up and moves to the edge. “Wait, wait, wait.” Eddie stops her. “You’re not going in there, are you?”

Nancy pauses. “Just-wait here.” She says, holding out her arms. Leaving no room to argue she dives into the water.

“No, Nancy!”

“Nancy!”

“Goddammit!” Eddie calls out, frustrated and you would be entertained by him if your cortisol levels weren’t so high.

Mere moments pass by, and you already knew it was going to happen when Steve was pulled in as Robin sits up onto the edge of the boat.

“No, no, no, no. What are you doing? She said wait.” Eddie states, his voice nearly desperate.

“Yeah. I heard her.” Robin pipes back.

“She’s in charge.” Eddie bites, pointing sharply at the water.

Robin laughs hoarsely. “Are you kidding? I made that shit up.”

Robin plugs her nose, scooting back and falls back into the water with a splash as Eddie calls out to her. He sighs, turning his head to you, and you’re already standing at the edge. “No. No. Don’t go. Please.” He asks, much gentler to you than to either of the other girls.

You sigh to him empathetically. He didn’t sign up for this. “Sorry, Ed. It’s what we do. When someone’s in trouble…” you drift off, not finishing your sentence, jumping feet first into the lake. Before water engulfs you, you hear the last of Eddie begging you to stay in the boat.

As you start to move towards the vaguely red light at the bottom of the lake, praying you don’t run out of air, Eddie is still on the surface. “Goddammit! Lying son of a—” He picks up a snack he had from his bag and throws it to the other side. He stands up of the boat, pacing as he looks into the water. “Son of a bitch! Oh, this is so stupid, this is so stupid, this is so stupid.” Before he could procrastinate the inevitable any further, he takes the leap, “Shit, shit, shit—” his last curse is engulfed by the water as he takes the leap as well.

When you emerge on the other side of the gate back into the Upside Down, you find Robin and Nancy standing there, both looking off into distances. You land on your hands and knees coughing up the water you had managed to swallow. “Shit.” You mutter. “Where’s—” you still didn’t have your breath back yet. “Where’s Steve?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Suddenly, the sounds of creatures from the blaring sky erupt and off into the distance you can see a bat- a demo-bat that is, fly down to a specific target. Steve. Nancy looks to you and Robin, all thinking the same thing.

Nancy extends her hand to help you up with Eddie bursts out from the gate as well. “Fuck!” He yells, coughing as he wipes his face. “Jesus Christ. That was—” You hand an oar to him, interrupting his train of thought.

“C’mon.”

You start to make your way over in a half jog when the clear sounds of screaming are heard and echoing. Nancy breaks into a run, leading all four of you as you run to what you had hoped was Steve.

Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

You, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie arrive to a scene of Steve lying on the ground and attempting to fight off five demo-bats all at once. While one choked him, the others attempted to make a delicious snack out of him. Nancy goes right in, locating an oar by a nearby skeleton of a boat and swings for one of the bats biting from his chest.

“Hey there.” She grunts and follows it up with another swing against the one on the other side of his chest.

Robin stomps onto the bat, meanwhile Nancy swings at it repeatedly at his face to kill it.

You look around for more bats anxiously and you get surprised by a thunk right behind you. You look over to see Eddie, and you realize there was one coming for you. “Thanks.”

“Welcome, now watch out!” His pupils dilate as he looks right behind you, and you move out of the way as Eddie hits this one with such force it breaks his oar. “Shit!”

You turn around to face one on coming directly to you, and your years of missed baseballs all seemed to come down to this. You focus on the trajectory and swing your oar at it. “Shit.” You call out when it works. The bat comes back to you, and you hit it again downward, causing the bat to splat onto the ground.

Nancy and Robin continue to fight the bat still choking Steve, as it showed no sign of letting go yet. “Come on, please!” Robin begs to no one.

“Nancy, behind you! Watch out!” You call to her, watching a bat aim specifically for her.

Nance lurches forward as the bat lands on her back. “Robin, get it off me!”

As another bat flies by, Eddie calls out that he has it, breaking the last of his oar.

Steve’s bat finally let’s go after he bites it, causing it to attempt to fly away. Steve yanks it back to him, slamming it onto the ground repeatedly.

Meanwhile Robin gets the bat finally off Nancy’s back and slams the bat down to the ground as well. She holds it as Nancy lurches her oar into the bat’s face and tells it to go to hell.

Eddie calls out to the bat coming to him, egging it on. “Come on, you flying son of a bitch!” When it flies to make a large circle Eddie calls back out, “I said come on! Let’s go!”

Before the bat even reaches him, you swing at it, breaking your own oar in the process and the bat spins like a frisbee over the boat skeleton.

You share a moment with him, both out of breath until you pay your attention to Steve who was still manhandling the bat. He gives one last swing with it into the ground, killing it for sure but just for good measure he steps on it to rip it in half. Wasn’t necessary, but to Steve, that was personal.

He spits out the blood in his mouth, panting as he glances around him. “Steve!” Nancy calls out to him.

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie exclaimed. “Jesus H. Christ!” He yelled even louder, almost a tantrum.

Hmm. Your boyfriend sure didn’t deal with stress very quietly. “Hey.” You reach out to him, grabbing his hand to pull it to you. “I know. It’s a lot.” Eddie lets his forehead rest onto yours clumsily. “We’ll get through this.”

“Are you okay?” Nancy asks, assessing the damage gasping when she saw the wounds.

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh.” Steve starts, looking down at his chest. “But other than that, yeah, never better.”

Robin was crouched on the ground, assessing one of the corpses.

Eddie had his arm around your shoulder, you tucked into his chest. It’s been so goddamn long since you were like this, it hurt.

It was four days, but it was a long ass four days.

“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?” Robin asks half heartedly.

“What?” Steve asks, making sure he and everyone around heard right.

“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once symptoms set in, it’s too late. You’re already dead.” She rambles on and Eddie kisses and mutters into your hair, “Jesus Christ.”

None of you are given a chance to even ponder on that thought as a group of demo-bats steal the spotlight, screeching as they got louder. You all crowd together in anticipation to fight them, but they weren’t coming to fight. They flew right to where the gate was, all hissing at your direction. “All right. There’s not that many.” Steve anticipates as he preps himself and the rest up, facing the increasingly agitated bats. “We can take ‘em.” He huffs, “Right?”

In the distance, the sound that you all just collectively heard is amplified by a thousand, and a swarm of bats catch your eye, all flying around in the shape of a deadly tornado.

“You were saying?” Nancy asks, and the hand Eddie is holding tightens around yours as his others goes up to his hair in stress.

Nancy turns away, examining for any other solution. “The woods. Come on!”

She breaks out into a run, and your reaction times all flitter one by one as you follow behind her.

“Great. More running.” Robin huffs as she starts.

The five of you make a head start in the woods to take cover, no idea of where you were headed but grateful for the cover, nonetheless.

Back at the Wheeler’s house Officer Callahan and Sherriff Powell had brought Max, Lucas, and Dustin in their cruiser and the three were sitting on the couch all racking their brains on how they were going to get themselves out of this one.

While your mom was anxious that she didn’t know where you were, she was glad you weren’t found by them. Something in her gut told her that it was good. She wasn’t sure how much she trusted that feeling quite yet. Not that she shared that with any of the other parents.

“What exactly were all doing at the lake?” Officer Powell asks them, his hands on his hips in a power stance.

The kids sitting on the couch’s mouths all opened, none of them sure what to say, what their lie would be.

“Uh...its comp—” Dustin starts.

“We were… We were just going for a walk.” Max interrupts him.

“A walk?” Callahan asks, not believing it at all. “At 9:00 pm?”

“To the lake.” Dustin squeaks out, a voice crack drifting through the sentence. Callahan gives an incredulous look and Dustin avoids it. “We were gonna take a little swim.” Beside him, Max and Lucas look elsewhere, taking interest in random corners of the Wheelers’ living room. “Little night swim.”

“Dusty.” Mrs. Henderson peeps out, her voice desperate. “Someone was just murdered there.”

“Yeah, we… we didn’t realize that until we got there.” It was a dumb lie, but it was by far the only thing he could come up with that wasn’t totally over the top.

“That’s why we didn’t swim.” Lucas adds.

“And Nancy, was she with you at this night swim?” Karen asks, still confused about where her daughter was in all this.

“No.” Max denies.

“Yes.” Dustin says at the same time, choking on his words when he realized what happened, ignoring Max’s glare.

“We’re not sure.” Lucas offers.

“She was there. Then she left.” Karen huffs, having no more answers. “It’s all a little confusing.” Dustin whispers, hoping on some level, the adults were buying their bullshit.

“That’s when you guys came.” Lucas adds, tying what they were doing to when the police came.

“Right. Then they dared me to say what I said.” Max explains.

“Oh, yeah.” Lucas laughs.

“About the killer.”

Dustin and Lucas turn to one another, laughing too hard about this ‘dare’.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot.” Ted comments.

“Have you had any contact with Eddie?” Powell asks them, turning it back on track.

“That psycho…freak killer?” Dustin asks without any true bite in his voice. Your mom winced, and she knew Dustin was covering his tracks, but it was hard to hear. “God, no.”

“Nope. Absolutely not.” Max adds.

“No. We haven’t heard from him.” Lucas says at the same time. “Barely know him.”

“Who?” Dust asks, taking a step too far.

Erica was done at this point. “Oh, that’s a bunch of bull.” Her voice is loud and effective in getting their attention.

“Erica!” Lucas and Erica’s parents chastise her at the same time.

“I mean, you realize they’re lying. The whole couch is on fire.”

“Erica.” They warn her again.

“Just the facts.”

“Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?” His mom asks, and your mom is astounded how little she knew.

“No!” Dustin objects, his voice screeching and high pitched.

“Lying to the cops is a crime, son.” Lucas’ dad says directly to him.

“I’m not lying.” Lucas insists.

“The fire is consuming us.” Dustin glares at Erica to cut it out.

“We also seem to be having a hard time getting a hold of Miss. L/N. Was she there with you?”

Your mom’s breath hitches as she watches them hesitate again.

“Sh-she left with Nancy.” Max stutters out, and Dustin and Lucas nod along side them. It wasn’t a lie, technically.

“Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that’ll loosen their lips.” Ted comments, mostly annoyed at how long it had taken just get a word that made sense out of the kids.

“Okay—” Dustin starts.

“You wanna send our kids to jail?” Lucas’ mom interrupts him.

“We need to take this seriously.” Ted maintains his stance.

“He didn’t mean it like that.” Karen says at the same time, cancelled out by what Ted says.

The crowd breaks out into arguing, everyone talking at once. No one seems to make any sense of what anyone has to say to one another.

“Shut up.” Powell attempts to call out, no one hearing him. He takes a deep breath in, preparing to project his voice. “Shut up!” It works, all voices fading down reluctantly. “We’re gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time.” He points to Max. “You first.”

Max tenses up. “Wait, what? Why me?”

“Follow me.” He responds, ignoring her.

“I’m not even in the Hellfire club.” She argues further.

“Do I need to cuff you?” Callahan threatens, and it was completely unnecessary. Max sighs, realizing she didn’t have any other choice. “Chop-chop! Let’s go.”

Max passes Callahan on the way to the makeshift interrogation room, and Callahan gives Dustin and Lucas a signal that ‘they’re next’.

Lucas and Dustin sit silently on the couch, anxiety bubbled up in their stomachs, unable to do much more.

It wasn’t long that taking cover in the forest was deemed ineffective as demo-bats started to swarm over, seemingly seeking out the five of you. The desperation for shelter came to a head when Steve pointed out Skull Rock. As you hunched under the rock, it was hard to stop the fear from growing. Steve being yanked into the abyss was scary. Being surrounded by monsters was a terror you had forgotten existed.

For good reason.

Finally, the bats seem to thin out, Robin takes the first step out of the rock. “Oh…okay. That was close.”

“Yeah.” Steve agrees.

“Too close.” Eddie remarks.

Your arms are across your chest, as if would somehow make you more secure. Eddie leans down to you. “You… you ok?”

You nodded. “You?” He nods back, and there’s nothing else to say.

“Oh, sh… shit.” You hear, turning to face Steve falling against the one of the rocks.

“Steve?” Nancy calls, seeing him fading out.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Steve insists to her, despite the clear evidence he wasn’t.

“No, no, no. You’re not. You’re losing blood.” Nancy insists, as again, clear evidence he wasn’t okay. “Come on, sit. All right?”

Steve reluctantly sits down, grunting in pain as his ass lands harshly on the hard ground. He holds the wound at his pant line, realizing how much in pain he truly was. “All right.” Nancy said, assessing her options in treatment.

As Eddie, Robin, and you look on in concern as the reality seems to set in of how injured Steve was. Nancy asks fast, ripping the excess of her undershirt off to make a decent gauze.

Concerned for her best friend, Robin kneels next to Nancy.

You hang back with Eddie, watching the scene unfold.

“So, the good news is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know.”

“Robin” He stops her.

“Yeah”

“I kinda wanna punch you.”

She laughs, a little relief in her voice. “Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.”

Nancy finishes ripping off the excess of her shirt, Robin gives them the room as Nancy moves in to dress it.

Eddie turns his face away from it, watching medical ‘procedures’ tended to make him squirmy, turning you away from it as well. Robin catches up to the two of you, and as Nancy wraps him up awkward small talk ensues.

(Unfortunately, you miss one of the most erotic scenes of someone getting their wounds dressed in all of history of man kind but its ok you never found out.)

A pinch appears between Eddie’s eyebrows, and you barely have a minute to consider the expression before he’s excusing himself. “What are—” you start to ask him, but his crouched position on the broken-down tree answers for him.

He crawls on all fours up the log, timidly standing as he reaches the apex of the arch. “So, uh, this place is like Hawkins but with monsters and nasty shit?”

“Pretty much.” Nancy answers him, allowing Steve to use her as a crutch.

Eddie nods, he assumed he was right, but the confirmation made it all the bleaker. He starts to make his way back down the tree, his step staggered when Nancy interrupts him. “Wait, watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.”

You didn’t even realize he was crawling onto vines as he made his way up. Was he not avoiding the vines? Fuck.

Eddie remains paused. “It’s all a what...?” he asks timidly.

“All the creepy crawlies around here. They’re, like, one or something. Step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” Steve answers, and you couldn’t have put it any better than that.

“Shit.” Eddie hesitantly makes his way down the tree again, comically side stepping one foot in front of the other.

“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people?” Robin asks.

“As far as I understand it, yeah.”

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”

“Does the Hawkins PD even have grenades?” You ask, and Steve shakes his head.

“Grenades, no. Probably a lot of guns, though.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom.”

Eddie plops off the tree next to you. “You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?” Eddie asks, his voice seeped in doubt.

Not that you blamed him. You nodded to him nonchalantly, confirming.

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin jokes.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” Nancy answers.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” Steve comments.

Eddie rolls his eyes, taking his vest off.

“Well, you almost deserved it.”

As they linger too long, you nod towards them pointedly at Robin, and she shrugs.

Thwap.

“For your modesty, dude.” Eddie deadpans.

Steve clutches onto the vest Eddie threw at him, half glaring at Eddie for hitting him so hard with it.

Steve isn’t given long to think about it, the ground shaking beneath your feet as effective as an earthquake.

The ground stumbles you off your feet, your hip hitting the ground harshly as the other two are effectively grouped into two. You crawl to the nearest two, your arms buckling as you barely make the embrace of whoever’s nearest.

Turned out to be Robin, awkwardly lying against Eddie.

It’s over as quickly as it started.

None of you are given a chance to catch your breath, a looming sound coming off from the distance reminding you that you needed to get out as fast as you could.

“So, guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.” Eddie concludes.

“Yeah, me too.” Robin nods.

Robin crawls to her feet, working her way around you and you find your back against Eddie as you fall back into him. Eddie allows it, using a hand to rub his leg as it hit one of the vines when he fell.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve asks and starts back down the trees. As he passes you scramble to your feet to follow behind them.

One disadvantage of navigating the Upside Down that even though it is the very same town you were born and raised in, it still felt labyrinthian at times. Not as many landmarks are present, resulting on far too many rerouting.

You walk hand in hand with him, your brain attempting to trick itself into thinking that things might be normal again.

“I think we deserve an extra spring break.” You mutter under your breath, the memory of your mutual plans now a hazy memory. It was supposed to be the final break where you could just be 18, lying in your boyfriend’s bed for days at a time, ignoring responsibility.

“It’s not all bad.” He tells you.

You stop walking, the scrunch in your forehead signalling your doubt.

“Ok its pretty bad.” He admits, his thumb caressing your own. “Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I just went to the police.”

“And?”

He chuckles humourlessly. “If I was in custody when what’s-his-name—”

“Fred”

“Fred got…Vecna’d. I would’ve had an alibi for them both. But with D&D being a-a target like it has been, I don’t think I would’ve been let go regardless.”

You gulp, your heart beating in your throat. “You think they would’ve found a way to pin it on you?”

“Yeah. I do. I just have this feeling.” His other hand finds its way to his stomach, his fingers fanned out. “I joke about it, but 60 Minutes had a documentary about it, and since then it’s just gotten worse.” He stumbles over a vine, his lanky limbs too long for himself. “I used to get a glare on the occasion but now my mere presence at the arcade is just a spectacle.”

“You think you would’ve been the scapegoat.”

He nods, confirming with enough conviction to worry you.

“I wouldn’t have allowed it.”

“Wait, what?” He asks you, his eyebrows raised.

“If they had the nerve to attempt to blame you when I knew you were innocent, I would’ve fought it tooth and nail until they let you go.”

“And if that didn’t work?” He asks, a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Prison break.”

He stops, framing your face into a kiss in which his tongue evades your mouth, and you forget where the hell are for half a second.

“Lovebirds!” Robin calls to you.

You separate, as if both electrocuted by her interruption.

“Not the place!”

Eddie steps back into place with you, your hands brushing delicately, sending shivers down your spine.

Not the place.

“It just means a lot to me that you answered that so damn fast.”

Your cheeks heat up, and he staggers across a mess of vines. You take the off chance to catch up to the murmuring of Nancy and Robin, ignoring the smug looks they’re both giving you.

“Couldn’t we have tried a road, or something just slightly less creepy?” Robin asks, peering up at the silhouettes of the creepy trees.

“I think we’re getting close. We’re almost out of here. Don’t worry.” Nancy comforts her, and you find yourself comforted by it as well.

Having ran ahead, Steve takes the opening he waited for. “Eddie.” Eddie turns to him expectantly. “Eddie. Hey, man. Uh… Listen, I just, uh… I just want to say thanks. For saving my ass back there.”

Eddie doesn’t even hesitate. “Shit. You saved your own ass, man. I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”

“Ozzy?” Steve asks, unfamiliar with the world of heavy metal.

“When you took a bite out of that bat.” Steve doesn’t answer. “Ozzy Osborne? Black Sabbath?”

Crickets.

“He bit a bat’s head off onstage.”

“I don’t—”

“It’s very metal, what you did. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks.”

“Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter in fact.”

So did you, and there was only one night where he genuinely believed you. Granted he was too drunk to remember.

“Henderson said that?” Steve asks, flattered.

“Oh yeah. Shit. Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It’s kinda annoying, to be honest. I don’t even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve.”

For the first time Eddie makes eye contact with Steve as he considered what the metalhead was telling him. Dustin Henderson was worshipping him behind closed doors. Huh.

“I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually” he inhales, swallowing his pride, “a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche?” Eddie chuckles. “No way, man. No way. That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine.”

There’s a pause, Eddie comes slightly too close to Steve’s face, breathing in his face. “Still super jealous as hell, by the way.” A laugh erupts out of Steve. “Which is why I would have never jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh… normal circumstances.”

A branch snaps.

Eerie howling can be heard in the distance.

The two of them stop in their tracks, staring off on edge of their surroundings.

“Nope. Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that’s what I’ve learned about myself this week.”

“Give yourself a break, man.” Steve interrupts, patting his chest with the back of his hand.

“See? The only reason I came here was ‘cause those ladies came in straight after you.” Eddie tells him, pointing at your back side as you, Nancy, and Robin continue trudging your way through the freaky forest. “Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. My girlfriend jumping in as if there were no other options just rattled me.” Eddie pauses, pointing specifically to Nance. “But Wheeler right there she didn’t waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in. Now, I don’t know what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back. ‘Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen.”

Steve considers what Eddie had to say, pausing. Steve’s eyes assess Eddie, glancing at Eddie’s two-day old stubble. He ignores the pull to Eddie’s lips, lingering far too long at them.

Wasn’t…Eddie…just steering him to Nancy?

He switches his glance back to her.

The ground doesn’t give Steve any chances to lull on any of what just happened, a rumble erupting. The ground becomes shaky again, feeling yourself unable to walk in a straight line.

“Here we go again.” Eddie bites out, his teeth gritted.

“Second on my list of favourite things, earthquakes.” Robin yells out, and you’re left wondering how she’s able to talk. “Seriously, I’m unsteady enough as it is.”

Nancy leans up against a tree, staring dead ahead, determined. She doesn’t hesitate.

She runs.

“Nancy, wha--!”

“Where are you going?” Robin calls after her. “Nancy!”

“Robin, come on!” You tell her, tugging her hand.

Before you knew it, you had all caught up to where she was standing, staring ominously at her house standing tall in a field of debris.

The five of you stare off at it, the sound of five of you catching your breath overwhelmingly loud, yet your ears remind you of the echo of thunder. Oh, God why so much sound?

“Come on.” Nancy urges, charging forward into the skeleton of her own home. You follow her, and the closer to the house you got, the louder the thunder seemed to get.

As you trekked forward, Dustin sat in the toilet of the Wheeler’s house attempting to use the left behind walkie to get a hold of the five of you. “Steve, do you copy? Nancy, Robin? This is Dustin. Where are you? We’ve been collared by the law, I repeat, we’ve been collared by the law. Do you copy?” At the radio silence, Dustin realizes how fucking hopeless it was. “Shit!”

He flushes the toilet, bursting out of the bathroom, past the parents crowded around Powell requesting if they needed lawyers. Karen is stood beside your mom, comforting her as she has started to worry about you. If Karen knew your mom hadn’t seen you in a few days she would’ve sent you home.

He nearly bumps into Holly holding onto her Lite Brite, walking it away from the commotion in the living room. He shelves the walkie, looking to Lucas’ expectant face.

“Anything?” He asks him.

“Nothing.”

They pause, a thought occurring to them at the same moment.

“You don’t think they went through…”

“Through Watergate?” Dustin asks, incredulous. “Without us? Without a plan? Without weapons?” He scoffs. “They wouldn’t be that stupid.”

“Yeah.”

“They must just be laying low ‘cause the law got us.”

“’The law?’” Erica repeats, walking into the kitchen with a juice box in hand. “What is this, Gunsmoke? The Stupid and the Ugly? Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses?”

Lucas glares at her, not in the mood for what shenanigans Erica usually has to offer. “Erica. Please, just go away.”

“Here’s the deal. Either you tell me what’s happening, or I tell Dustin what I found under your bed.”

Lucas perks up, slightly terrified. Dustin turns to him, intrigued.

“Please, no.”

“Spill your guts, cowpuncher.”

“What’d she find?” Dustin asks, leaning onto his elbow.

“Nothing.” He claims, switching his glance between the two of them.

“Is it gross?” Dustin asks her. Erica nods. “Scale of one to ten.”

“A hundred.” Erica answers, not skipping a beat.

“A hundred?” Dustin asks, turning back to face Lucas.

Lucas gives up. “The serial killer is a dark wizard from the Upside Down. And we’ve been looking for him, but he’s in the Upside Down, which we can’t reach. At least we thought we couldn’t, until we found a gate at Lover’s Lake. That was reason we were there, but those stupid cops grabbed us.” He’s starting to get loud, as Dustin mentions for him to lower his voice. “And if you tell anyone about this, that’s including Mom, and Dad, and Tina…”

Erica continues slurping her juice, unbothered.

Lucas shakes his head, getting Erica to understand the seriousness of it. “…Especially Tina, I…will smother you…in your sleep. Do you understand?”

“Hmm…” Erica leans on one hand, pretending to think about it.

“Erica?” He leans forward on his elbows to her. “Do. You. Copy?”

Erica pushes off her elbows. “The smothering in my sleep part, but not much else. Why would they open a gate at Lover’s Lake?” She asks mostly to Dustin.

“What?” Lucas asks.

“The commies.”

“The commies didn’t do it—”

“Then who did?”

“Nobody.”

“So, it just opened up for fun?”

“Erica, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No, she doesn’t, yet she raises an essential question.” Dustin interjects, noting Erica’s surprisingly good point. “How did Watergate open up? Only two gates have opened, so as far as we know. One by El, one by the commies. But it’s not the commies or El this time, so it…” He drifts off, something clicking. “Holy shit. Wait, wait, wait, wait.”

“’Wait, wait, wait,’ what?” Lucas asks him, wondering what the hell was going on in his brain.

“There’s one thing we’ve never understood.” Dustin starts pacing around the kitchen. “Which is why Vecna’s killing people. What’s his motive? Killing teens? It always just seemed too random. Too prosaic. On top of that, how does the Mind Flayer figure into all this? Maybe this is it. This is the answer.”

“What is the answer?” Lucas asks, completely missing the point.

“Are you sure you just want water?” Karen asks one of the police officers, making her way to the fridge. “We have Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper.”

They signal one another they need to get out of the kitchen to avoid eavesdropping, following Dustin into the hall by the dinging room. “Okay, just hear me out. How did El open the Mothergate?”

“She contacted the Demogorgon.”

“With psychic contact. Just like…”

“Vecna when he casts his spells.”

“Exactly.”

“So, what if, with each kill, he’s not simply killing them, he’s making a powerful psychic connection with his victims? A connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space.”

“He’s opening up more gates.”

“Bingo.”

A few steps come from the living room. “Copy. We’re still at the Wheeler House.”

Damn cops. They turn the corner to where the basement goes down.

“Why would he be opening gates?” Dustin asks, voicing his thoughts out loud.

“To take over the world.” Lucas answers.

“Who do we know that wants to take over the world?” Dustin leads him.

“The Mind Flayer.”

“So if the Demogorgon was just his foot soldier, Vecna’s his five-star general. A five-star general with the power to open gates.”

“Holy shit.” Lucas curses, his mind blown.

“Holy shit!” Dustin answers in agreement.

“Holy shit.” Erica speaks up for the first time in a minute. “That was incomprehensible. You lost me at ‘Mothergate’. Please be kind. Rewind.”

“Ok, so remember the gate?” Dustin starts to explain to her, patient as his newfound breakthrough would allow him to be.

“Oh, no. I blocked that out.” Erica quips.

As Dustin answers, you’re catching your breath as you finally reach the door to the Wheelers.

The lights flare up as you pass by, a detail missed by Dustin, Lucas, and Erica.

Nancy bursts through the door, looking around a version of her own home she barely recognizes. You look around the house, the vines decorating the walls. “Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler.” Robin deadpans.

Nancy dampens whatever emotional reaction she was feeling, gritting her teeth. “Come on. I don’t want to stay here longer than we have to.” She starts her way up the stairs, Robin, you, and Eddie following closely behind.

Nancy goes straight to her closet, bursting through for the shoebox in the top left-hand side.

As she brings the box to open it up, you glance around, and something felt off to you about the room.

She opens the box to find tissue paper and a pair of heels.

“Those aren’t guns.” Eddie comments.

“These heels are pointy, but I was hoping for something along the lines of a deadly projectile.” Robin adds, and Nancy ignores them, trying to figure out where the hell her guns were.

“I don’t understand.”

“Maybe you left them somewhere else.” Eddie offers a solution, granted a weak one.

“There’s a six-year-old in the house. I know where I keep my guns.” She answers, defensive. “Also, I threw these away years ago.”

Nancy ends up doing a double take to some homework she doesn’t remember placing on her dresser.

“Uh Nancy?” You ask her, glancing her around the room. “Didn’t you get this wallpaper replaced a while ago?”

“Y-yeah, I did, actually.” She says, scanning the notes.

“I get that grades are important, but perhaps studying can wait till we get out?”

“She’s right.” Nancy says softly. She looks up to her wall. “I got this wallpaper replaced years ago.” She holds her flashcards up. “These notes are from sophomore chemistry. As Nancy gets more of a look around her room, she finds herself in a personal time warp. “This mirror was sold in a yard sale years ago. And you.” She rushes forward to where a stuffed bunny sits perched. “you’re not supposed to be here. No, I gave you to Cousin Joanna two years ago.”

Nancy pauses, and Eddie glances to you, nodding at Nancy in concern. You gesture toward her. When Nancy acted off or manic it usually ended in results.

She sits there, staring blankly at her diary. “What is it?” Eddie asks, and you can hear the vague annoyance in his voice.

“Nancy? You’re freaking me out.” Robin asks her.

“I think the reason that my guns aren’t here is because they don’t exist yet.”

“They don’t… exist?”

“Nancy, what’s going on—” you ask, walking up behind her. “Uh Nancy, why are you reading that specific date, also didn’t you al--”

“I did.” She interrupts you, walking back to Robin and Eddie. “This diary should be filled with entries. It’s not. The last entry is November 6—”

“1983.” You finish with her. “The day Will went missing.”

“The day the gate opened. We’re in the past.”

The four of you glance at one another, the looming idea odd.

“Dustin! Dustin!” Steve’s voice erupts from the downstairs.

Robin jumps into action, running down to see what the commotion was about as Steve repeats it, turning his flashlight around.

“Dust- Hello! Hello!” He calls, turning in circles with his voice a register higher than normal.

As you all watch in concern, Robin leans in. “Maybe he really does have rabies.”

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy asks him, a bit of a bite in her voice.

“Hello!” Steve calls out one last time, flashing the light right into your eyes. You hold a hand to shield them, a collective choice.

“He’s here. Henderson.” Steve claims, out of breath with a smile plastered on his face. “That little shit, he’s here. He’s like… He’s in the walls or something. Just listen. Dustin.” Steve starts screaming again, despite the bewildered looks he’s receiving from four people. “Dustin! Dustin!”

Just when Steve seems to be going legitimately crazy, Dustin’s voice comes from seemingly nowhere, loud and clear. “That brings us to the question you first raised.”

Shit.

“Dustin!” The four of you join him, looking around the area you could hear him most, the dining room.

Eddie flips up one of the curtains, “Dustin?”

“Good spot, there, Ed.” You comment.

“Shut up.”

“Dustin?”

“All right, either this kid can’t hear us or he’s being a total douchebag.” Steve concludes, finally giving up after searching for an unfortunately long time.

“Will found a way.” Nancy mutters.

“What?”

“Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights.” Nancy scurries to the lamp on an accent table by the stairs.

“Lights?”

“Yeah.” Nancy attempts to turn on one of the lights manually, but to no avail.

“The switch, try the switch.” Steve says, pointing to it.

“Okay.” Nancy moves it do it, still unsuccessful. “It’s not working.”

“Hey. Guys? You seeing this?” Steve asks, his flashlight aimed at the large overhead light, a particular ambiance eroding from it.

As you peer around the corner next to Robin and Eddie, you catch a glimpse of Nancy with her hand raised by the lights, the mere proximity causing it to flare.

“Whoa.” Eddie murmurs a smile reaching his lips as you gather around the light.

As you reach the light Steve’s hand is raised in the light, rotating, his fingers experimenting with the feel. You follow as Robin and Eddie reach out, hesitant yourself into the feeling it would provide. As you reached out standing between Nancy and Ed, your fingertip reaches the light and it’s nothing like you expected.

You feel a sense of energy in your hand, it’s almost as if you sat on it for too long, but it tickles rather than hurt. The heat wasn’t too much to bear, just like touching a light bulb that was on.

It was cool, you played with it, watching as your hand moved the light particles around.

“It…tickles.” Steve comments.

A laugh is stifled in your throat, in agreement.

“It kinda feels good.” Robin says, Eddie chuckling at it.

Somehow, tickles and good both felt like understatements.

“Does anyone know Morse code?” Nancy asks.

“No.” You all answer her.

“Wait, does SOS count?” Eddie asks, his voice giving no hint of humour. You, Robin, and Nancy all deadpan to him. “Is that good?” He asks, unsure what the looks he was receiving were about.

“What?” He asks you, giving you a smile that you don’t think you’ve seen on his face since before this shitshow.

“You’re lucky you’re so pretty.” You smile up at him, grinning when he looks at you confused. “Yes, Ed. SOS works.”

“Shit, say that, then.”

He’s lucky he’s so pretty.

Eddie puts his fingers in, using his four fingers rapidly, against the light in three motions. S. O. S.

On the otherside Dustin continues to pace the dining room, asking some big questions, Erica barely paying any attention since the lights started noticeably flaring. “You said you followed Vecna through lights, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I think he’s here.” Erica is on edge, of course, thinking she’s only a dimension away from being in the same room as a mass murderer.

Dustin and Lucas make their way next to Erica, watching the lights flicker.

Finally, the voices on the other side fade out, signalling they were paying attention. “It’s working.” Robin comments, a hint of rare conviction in her voice.

Dustin creeps up to the light, finally witnessing the pattern. Dot dot dot. “S.” Dash dash dah. “O.” Dot dot dot. “S. Hey, uh, remember when I said they wouldn’t be stupid enough to through Watergate?”

“Yeah?” Lucas asks, apprehensive about what he was about to say.

“I overestimated them.”

Holly Wheeler lies down on her dining room floor, ignoring the sounds of the parents in the other room discussing what they must think is quietly, but she could hear every word.

She didn’t quite understand what it all meant, she just knew her sister and her brother’s friends were in deep shit. As suggested by her mom, she grabbed her Lite Brite to keep her company, but she wasn’t even allowed to go up to her room. She had to stay downstairs. That was dumb but her dad didn’t give her much of an option to argue against it either way.

In the middle of a bunny, footsteps passed her which she didn’t pay any attention to until her Lite Brite lost power. “Hey!” She protested.

Behind her Dustin runs to collect the brite lite, rushing out a sorry to Holly’s confused little face. Lucas repeats it, collecting the multicolored beads sitting in the Tupperware containers, dashing right behind Lucas.

Before Holly has any chance to even process what just happened Erica quickly kneels before her, giving her a pack of Skittles, saying, “For your understanding.” Well, a bribe is a bribe.

What, they couldn’t find something bigger?

Dustin bursts through the door of Nancy’s room, maneuvering the many wires cascading over such a small toy.

All gathered around Nancy’s bed seemingly three years ago in an alternate dimension you’re waiting around the Lite Brite as Dustin, Erica and Lucas all scramble to place the tiny little beads onto the board, camouflaging the bunny Holly had been working so hard on. It was a slow and painful process to wait for, Eddie gritting his teeth impatiently while Steve hurried them. “Come on, come on.”

As the final colored bead was placed, Dustin urging “Okay that’s it. Go, go, go.”

Lucas confirms, snatching the socket and lurching on the floor to where the wall socket lived, lighting up the brite lite.

“Okay you guys—”

“..seeing this?”

The space on the bed suddenly lights up with the same orange particles that had surrounded the overhead lights earlier. Nancy reaches in, creating the familiar shimmer affect as before. As she does a cackle of laughter echoing from Dustin as confirmation that it worked.

As Nancy’s hand floats around, you find yourself hypnotized by the dazzling shimmers around her fingers, your eyes glazing over. You catch a glimpse of Eddie and Steve sharing a look of holy shit behind Nance, you stick your tongue out at Steve when Eddie leans back forward.

Dustin’s voice echo’s, “We’re not moving it, but we’re gonna unplug it. Stand by.” The orange sparkles disappear as soon as the light is unplugged. “Okay, try it now.”

The five of you wait on edge as Nancy hesitates to reach out again. Eddie’s grip on your shoulder tightened, his other hand landing on his head, his fingers fidgeting.

If this didn’t work, you weren’t sure what other options you had.

Nancy reaches in, spelling out Hi as a test run. It feels eerily silent, waiting for the confirmation.

“That worked!”

The celebration is unanimous, the relief overwhelming to a tee.

Eddie is particularly satisfied, yelling out ‘yeses’ in his joy in between gritted teeth. “Hi!” He shouts in excitement to, no one in particular.

Robin lets out a full giggle.

Your nails end up digging into the heel of your hand, the hint of pain signalling just how tense you were in your own excitement.

Nancy thinks fast, leaning back into writing once again. STU…CK

“Oh ok, they’re stuck.”

“Yes.”

“We are.”

You nod rapidly.

“They’re stuck in the Upside Down.”

“Uh, you can’t get back through Watergate?”

“What the hell’s Watergate?” Steve asks.

“Oh, cause it’s in water, and it’s a gate.” Robin concludes.

“Oh, right.”

“That’s cute.” Eddie comments.

“Precious even.” You add.

“Um, no. It’s…” Nancy leans in again. GUAR…DED

It was humouring, to say the least to hear Dustin sound out the first syllable of it without realizing the rest.

“Okay. Uh, Watergate’s guarded.”

“Perfect. Yes. Yes. Yes.” Steve chants.

You hop on your two knees, a mini dance party in-between Eddie and Robin, celebrating with you.

“We think we have a theory that can help with that.” Dustin starts.

“Yes.”

“Genius child.” Robin whispers, and you had to admit, without his genius you wouldn’t be nearly as lucky as you have been.

“We think Watergate isn’t the only gate. That there’s a gate at every murder site.”

Confusion, all around. Wind through your ears. “Does anybody understand what he’s talking about?” Nancy asks, making sure you were all on the same page.

“No”

“No idea.”

“You heard words?” You ask, clueless.

Nancy leans in, drawing a large question mark.

“Okay. Seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me?” Dustin’s voice barks back.

You blink, Dustin temporarily stunning you.

“Jesus Christ, this kid’s got to get his ego in check.” Steve remarks, his face scrunched up.

“It’s his tone. Right?” Eddie perks up, peering around Nancy to agree with him.

“I know.”

“I keep telling him.” You mutter. Eddie wraps his arm around you, his thumb caressing your shoulder.

“Okay. So…So how far is your trailer?” Nancy asks to Eddie.

“Seven miles.” Eddie answers.

“You just know that?” You whisper, Eddie shrugs casually.

“Nancy?” Robin asks, peering around you and Eddie. “Uh, I know your house here is like, weirdly, creepily, frozen in time and shit, but haven’t you always had bikes?”

Eddie turns back for her reply, a question he genuinely didn’t know the answer to.

You did, and so did Steve. “Robin, you genius.”

Nancy takes a few tries to communicate the idea formed in her head, it takes the words ED…DIE, TRA…ILER, Dustin immediately understands from the sound of it.

“H-how are we going to get there?”

Nancy was already writing BIK…ES by the end of his sentence. “Oh… that’s-that’s not bad.”

The sound of thumps down the stairs invades the deafening silence of the Wheeler’s house, Steve holding the door as he ushers you all outside.

The garage is opened abruptly, Steve resting one hand on the elevated garage door as his flashlight cascades over the bikes. “Hey, we uh, we only got 4 bikes.” He observes, looking over his shoulder.

“Well then, two are going to have to partner up. We don’t have time for this.” Nancy huffs, already marching towards one.

“Come on, sweetheart.” Eddie says, grabbing your hand to one of them.

“Use Mike’s, El used to ride on the pegs.” Nancy passes you, already walking a bike to the beginning of her driveway.

He does, you half jog to the end as Robin and Steve get themselves situated.

On the other side, Max is let go from the makeshift interrogation room, immediately ushered away by Dustin as Powell mistakenly distracts the parents.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find those girls.” Powell explains, emphasizing with the worried bunch.

“One of these little brats is gonna squeal. I just know it.” Callahan claims, assuring the parents with much less sympathy. “Where are they?”

“Upstairs.” The officer ‘observing’ them said. “Moping.”

Callahan sighs and turns to run up the stairs. “Oh, little pigs.” He calls out mockingly when he reaches the top. “Oh, little pigs.” He taps the door rapidly to tease them. “Let Officer Callahan in.” When he pushes his way through the door in attempt to scare them, the sight of an empty room with an open window greets him.

By the time Callahan peers through, he sees the kids on their bikes already starting to ride. “Hey! Excuse me! No, get back here!”

“I guess it’s just a minor misdemeanor.” Erica mutters, stabbing one of the wheels to the cop car.

Callahan continues to call out, it grabs the attention of parents as they start to understand what was happening. They run out to the front lawn but most of them are panting through each stride.

You sit yourself onto the back of the bike, ignoring your boyfriend’s smirk over his shoulder as he starts riding.

The wind hits your face as Eddie gets his momentum, your hand clutching onto his shoulder.

The parents stare after their kids making their getaway, worry stricken in their faces as they all wonder what they were up to at the lake, and why they had to get away.

Your mom had a feeling you had something to do with it, and any little hint of doubt you did had disappeared.

Dustin, Lucas, Erica, and Max rode on the street to get to the trailer park as fast as they could, matching in tandem with you, Eddie, Robin, Steve, and Robin.

Headlights on, wind in your ears, bats in the distance.

Nothing was gonna stop you now.

This was probably the most daunting bike ride of your entire life.

The idea of riding with Eddie lost its novelty at the fourth mile, your back sore from hunching over his back. At one point his hair, flowing wildly in the wind, made its way into your mouth. Normally, it wouldn’t be all that terrible, but it took an unreasonably long time to able spit it back out.

The red lightning didn’t seem as bad, and you almost catch yourself getting used to the distant screeches of the demo-bats.

That was until the haunting image of the Creel House, the place you knew Vecna attacked and resided, came into your peripherals.

Right. Vecna was a real… and was actively killing people.

No. Correction you thought. It was the most daunting bike ride of your entire life.

Nancy and Steve sped up and you squeezed Eddie’s shoulder to indicate to do the same.

Finally, Eddie turned the corner into the trailer park, and you felt a sigh of relief as Eddie’s trailer came into sight. “Right here.” Eddie said, gesturing to his little lot on the side.

Eddie stopped, letting you get off before unceremoniously letting his bike drop.

“That’s gotta be a Guinness World Record. Most miles traveled interdimentionally.” Robin exclaims.

You wonder for a moment how you would get someone to record it.

“Just inhaled a bunch of that crap.” Steve coughs, clearing this throat. “It’s stuck in my throat.”

Eddie led the way up the stairs into his trailer, the place unrecognizable. His eyes shoot straight up onto the ceiling, knowing exactly where to look. “Goddamn.” He breathes out. Not that he needed to inform you, the red glowing doing the work for him. It was downright terrifying. “This is where Chrissy died.” Eddie gulps out. “Like, right where she died.”

That is also downright terrifying.

“I think there’s something in there.” Robin observes, and by the shadowy figure exuding squirmy noises she might be right.

You peered in, watching an object slowly move out from the snack sized gate. “What the hell is that?” Steve asks, the exact appropriate amount of bafflement in his voice.

A beat in silence passes before something seems to ‘pop’, startling the five of you to back the fuck off from it.

The object repeatedly smacks its way, a few drips of whatever was on the ceiling falling onto the floor. You glance around you, wondering what the hell anyone was supposed to do.

Steve volunteers, creeping up slowly, to peer up to it. You follow his example, the portal slowly coming into view. “No way.” Steve breathes out, the sight breathtaking.

It comes into view, and it’s somehow the weirdest thing you have ever experienced.

Dustin’s laughter is loud and clear as you see Lucas, Max, him, and Erica all looking up, appearing to be upside down in the way bats are in a cave.

“Hi there.” Dustin waves, glee radiating from him.

“Hi” You all wave back, smiles of relief on your faces as the escape is finally right in front of you.

“Holy shit this is trippy.” Robin comments.

“Holy fuck.” Eddie whispers, his hands resting on his knees. You bump into him endearingly, causing him to hike up and wrap his arms around you tightly. “We’re finally getting the fuck out of here.”

You look back up, watching Dustin’s overzealous jumps. “Bada-bada-boom!”

It took about seven minutes of struggle watching the four of them struggle around and ask Eddie where to find random things in his trailer until the mattress was plopped onto the floor. “Those stains are, uh…” he pauses, looking at his audience and second guessing himself at Robin’s side-eye. “I dunno what those stains are.”

“Mmm.” Robin grunts back to him, thrown off.

You sit next to him, wondering if you had noticed any of the stains before. He leans over to you, “Pretty sure those are from you.” He whispers to you under his breath.

Your face heats up, oh yeah, that was a good one.

“I heard that.” Robin clears her throat, her face now scrunched up half in between disgusted and amused. Well, she knew your stories weren’t exaggerated at least.

Dustin comes into view clutching the tied-up sheets. “Not quite sure how these physics work.” He admitted, winding the makeshift rope to toss it, “but uh, here goes nothing.” The rope is launched out of his hand and lands roughly on the floor in front of you. You glance back up to Dustin, clutching the rope anxiously. “There we go. And if my theory is correct…” He lets go of the rope, and somehow, miraculously, it stays in place.

Seemingly it just, floats in suspension, nothing to yank onto, but working either way.

“Huh. Abracadabra.”

“Holy shit.” Lucas swears.

“All right, pull on it! See if it holds!” Dustin calls.

Robin steps up to it, placing each hand high on the rope and attempts to pull as hard as she can. When it stays in place the tension in the room seems to dissipate all at once. You have a way home.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’ve seen some crazy shit.” Erica comments, sounding joyful, almost.

“Guess I’m the guinea pig.” Robin jokes, her hands already in place on the rope. She starts climbing, grunting slowly as she makes her way up.

Nancy holds her hand out for a safety net while they clear the landing pad on the other side. Robin reaches the hole in the ceiling, and once her head crosses the threshold she is yanked by gravity onto the other side, letting out a yelp of surprise.

She sits up the relief on her face clear as daylight. “Oh, thank God. That was fun.” she says, grabbing the closest hand offered to sit up from Eddie’s mattress.

You look back down to face your boyfriend already looking at you. “What?” You ask, startled.

He puts his hand lightly on the small of your back. “Go.” He says, giving you no options.

“But—”

His brows raise, daring you to protest him.

“Ok, then.” This might’ve been the only moment your gym teacher could’ve told you when you would need to use a rope climbing skill in real life to your disgruntled question. You reach forward and pull up to start climbing. It’s a bit more of a struggle than Robin’s but you only needed to get your head through to the other side. As you did, you felt the pull of gravity force you onto the mattress, sucking the air out of your lungs. “Shit.”

You recollect your breath, staring back up at him, a stupid glint in his eye. You don’t have too long of a moment, ripped out of it by Dustin exasperatingly pulling you off the mattress.

“Not your first time there eh.” Robin mutters.

You hit her shoulder, gathering around the mat waiting for the next climber.

You didn’t have to wait long, Eddie’s climb took half the time yours did. You and Robin both eased yourselves into the gravity, while Eddie lurched himself, basically cannonballing himself back into the right dimension.

No one saw it coming, all startled by his rough landing. He sits up instantly, “That, was fun.” He agrees with Robin. “Shit.” He grabs the hand extended to him and is helped up, but he does most of the work.

“That was fun to you?” You ask him, the only fun thing about it is being out from the dust particles.

“Woah. Ok something’s happening. Steve?” Dustin yells out

“Nancy!” You peer into the hole, seeing Steve clutch onto Nancy’s shoulders, calling her name repeatedly. “Stay with me. Nancy! Hey!” He grabs the attention of all of you, wondering what was wrong. “Nancy!”

Max gulps. “Vecna.”

Oh for fucks sake.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! If you want to be added onto the tag list please let me know. Any feedback or reblogs are appreciated.

taglist: @emturtles @yourthebrokengirl @steeldaisies @skrzydlak @thirddeadlysin @sammararaven @bebe07011

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fluff #i miss him #eddie munson x y/n

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sapphicsandscience · 10 months

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20 questions for fic writers

Not going to lie - no one tagged me in this lol - but I am doing it .

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

47.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

322,829.

Crazy number for me. I know some have literal millions but I can’t believe I’ve written that much in like the last two or three years??

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Star Trek (TNG/VOY/PIC & some DS9). ER and Criminal Minds more so in the past. But ER I’ll never leave you.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Aster

- my labor of love - no pun intended.

- i WILL finish her (manifest it pls).

A Flame In Your Heart

- going to be honest writing post s3 isn’t something that interests me the most.

- however, this is a cute story and i wish i had some more ideas for it as i feel like i lack direction.

I Should Have Moved Moons For You

- ahhh.

- a fic I really should have pre-written before posting but i do have fun with it.

- i am half confident she will be finished in time but it stresses me out thinking about it and my outline lol.

- but like most of my WIPs the chapters are all outlined and i do have semi-concrete endings for them or at least know the main plot.

A Lot Of Things Can Happen In Two Months

- like the concept but i think i could have written it better ?

- feels a bit messy but also there are a lot of feelings in it.

- but happy i got it finished !! and i am proud of it overall.

Eighteen Minutes

- ngl I forgot I wrote this lol.

- the only one-shot here.

- def benefited kudos wise from being posted after the second episode aired.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! And I love to give comments regardless if I get a reply from the author. But personally, I like to reply back as the commenter has taken their time to do this. And you can have some really lovely and funny interactions in the comments haha … I just love talking about fic.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well…it would have to be either of the ones I killed Beverly in - Last contact or Too Late.

Not sure which is more angstiest?

However, as for a multichap ending that ends the most angstiest and wasn’t written to be a character-death-fic - maybe - A Lot Of Things Can Happen In Two Months. Which sucks cause it’s pretty much canon compliant LOL.

Hmm now I am tempted to write another multichap with a less than happy ending…

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics that have an ‘ending’ are WIPS that I haven’t finished yet lol.

But maybe Our Turn - it’s just Beverly and Jean-Luc enjoying everything wonderful in their lives <3

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Not really - I doubt anyone cares enough lol. But I am ‘fortunate’ that some of the more ‘controversial’ ships I may write have had writers come before me and take the brunt of any crap :(( but they’ve created a lovely sandbox for the rest of us to play in <3

9. Do you write smut?

Not often but I have yeah…and *deep breaths* … I have no idea if I am even acceptable at it LOL. It’s definitely something I sometimes want to add to my fics and lately I’ve been giving in a little.

Okay, someone tell me if I am terrible and I will stop.

10. Do you write crossovers?

It’s not my go to thing but yes I have. Including the fusion ER/TNG fic that three people have probably read (but three people I love).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but that would be cool as!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! With my lovely and supportive ER fic buddies ❤️

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Not sure how best to answer this. It is very dependant on my current hyperfixation and I am one of those sapphics that very much is into the woman more than the man in terms of interest in f/m ships…

However, at the moment it’s Beverly/Jean-Luc and I can say I am definitely more invested and interested in Jean-Luc’s character than I have been with other men in f/m ships. So that’s another reason.

But I love to read/write Crusher/Janeway ❤️ and LOVE those characters. Kerry/Sandy too is special to me.

Can honestly say apart from helping me give Emily Prentiss a baby in my fics I never cared that much for any of her ships I wrote (sorry 😭).

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but probably won't?

Probably better I don’t answer this. It stresses me out cause I want them all to be done 😭

I’ll answer with a WIP I never posted which was a dystopian AU with Kerry and Sandy. Field medicine, babies (it’s me so ofc) and friends trying to survive together.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm - I think I can come up with some good ideas. I can be good at description and introspection … probably more than dialogue.

And I am very strong in the art of giving Beverly Crusher lots of babies. And also making her go through angsty stuff. But I make up for that with the babies I think.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Long intricate plots ? I would love to be better as balancing many themes and plot points in one story. I struggle with dialogue sometimes as well.

Also I am very word count preoccupied at times which is a hindrance as a writer. I sometimes really struggle to get anything out in a session then can overcompensate later by writing too much? But honestly either way I just let myself go with the flow these days otherwise I stress about it.

Yeah and I probably need to edit better.

And smut.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Is this controversial?? I don’t have any issue with it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

(redacted)

20. Favourite fic you've written?

These are both not what I would consider my best work (idk what that even is) but probably Gone (Ice)fishing or It Takes A Village.

Both were written as gifts and out of my comfort zone (for different reasons) but I am really proud of them both.

But I also love some of my Kerry/Sandy one-shots I did here on this blog. And Aster is definitely a personal accomplishment in terms of length as a writer. I love it too ❤️.

Oh, also - To Build A Home - cause it’s tragic & angsty but also BABY🥹 - it’s just my brand.

—————————————————

Okay -I’ll shut up now.

Anyone feel free to do this and tag me.

#fic ask #ask meme #fanfiction #writing

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feuqueerfire · 24 days

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August 2024 Movies/Shows Wrap-Up

A little monthly (spoilery!) wrap-up of all the shows, movies, and shorts I’ve watched or am watching in August 2024, general thoughts, and ranking of them all.

Recommendation of the month(s): Bulbbul, an indian horror-esque movie.

Ranking

Bulbbul (2020)

Cherry Magic TH = Century of Love

Bad and Crazy (2022) = Love Sea = Love Sea: Special

Prom Pact (2023)

Currently Watching: 4 Minutes

Rewatched Parts: History 3: Trapped (Ep 6 ending, Ep 17 - 20)

Not Rated: 1 ep of Modern Family

Average Rating: 6.2/10

MDL Updates - Added to Watchlist:

A section because I’m curious about how many shows I decide to add to my Watch List a month and also the ratio of watching them:adding them.

Title MDL (year) - (date added to Considering or finalized to Watchlist): initial reaction

4Minutes - 240811: Been anticipating this for so long, decided to watch while it's on-air after 3 eps were out.

Love Sea - 240822: I was going to watch the sex scenes even if nothing else because of all the woof/dog/puppy things that was going on with Fort's character but now that I've got a week of iQiyi VIP, why not.

Knock Knock, Boys! - 240828: Wasn't on my radar but as it was airing, I've heard only good things and people seem satisfied with the ending. It seems sex-positive? Which I could really use from BLs. Also curious to see Seng.

The Secret of Us - 240828: Got a lot of praise, though it seems like it had a rocky ending. Gorgeous, gorgeous Orm. Need to watch this to just watch her face.

Love Sea Special Episode - 240829

To Watch List At Start Of Month: 64

To Watch List At End Of Month: 62

Removed from To Watch List:

Title (Year) - (date removed): reason

Rookie (2023) - 240815: The reviews aren't very good, oof

The Boyfriend (2024) - 240829: Okay, actually, I don't think I'll actually end up watching a dating show program.

Currently Watching

4Minutes

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Jul 26, 2024 - Sep 13, 2024

Watch Via: ;>

Watch Dates: Aug 11 - , 2024

Rating: -/10

Overall:

tags: 4 minutes

Also Appears In: 4 Minutes Ep 1 - 4, Ep 5 - Ep 6 Live Blogging

Completely Watched

Cherry Magic

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Dec 9, 2023 - Mar 2, 2024

Watch Via: ;>

Watch Dates: Aug 3 - 7, 2024

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall: I’m glad that I ended up liking this adaptation better than the Japanese Cherry Magic live-action which was meh to me. Karan and Achi were cute and endearing (and felt more human/real to me than Kurosawa and Adachi I think?). i’m so charmed by Jinta and Min actually, a vast improvement from the japanese version’s equivalent. I liked getting my little taste of celeb/non-celeb dating and typical idol show problems from them too. On the other hand, I didn’t care about Pai and Rock ship whatsoever, though they were okay as standalone characters. I enjoyed the adaptation and how it had the Japanese touches (the company try work for specifically) while also introducing Thai elements (religion, festivals, dialects). Great improvement on the kissing department and I’m glad they also squeezed the wedding in there.

tags: cherry magic th

Also Appears In: Cherry Magic TH Live Blogging

Century of Love

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Jul 10, 2024 - Aug 8, 2024

Watch Via: Youtube

Watch Dates: July 27 - Aug 8, 2024

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall: I think this show had a strong first half but the last two episodes were irritating and kind of forgot what the show was about in the first place. I enjoyed the 120-something year old San and his little family that spans generations, I like San's grumpy nature contrasted with Vee's bright demeanor, I liked the question of whether Vee is the real Wad reincarnation, I liked their romance and the tinge of sexiness, I liked San being cold to the idea of even doing anything with Vee but progressing to fall in love and ultimately choosing Vee regardless of whether he's the reincarnation or not. loved Juu! She was sooo cute and gorgeous and the acting was good, I want to see her more. But then for the last 3 episodes, we spent too much time with the flat, one-note villains with ridiculous fight scenes, hiding (ridiculous!!!) the stone situation from Vee and SanVee being separated and not on the same page instead of tackling this together, and no answers to one of the main aspects of the show (is Vee the Khun Wad reincarnation?) - just lipservice of "let the past be the past" as an afterthought. The premise and set-up of the show were good but it just fell flat at the end.

tags: century of love

Also Appears In: Century of Love Ep 1 - 8, Eps 9 - 10 Live Blogging

Proo Thunwa - ใช้ฉันทำไม (Stand-in): Watched this MV because it had Mark/Ohm and I was curious about the ship. Pretty interesting, I wish their show trailer was more appealing because based on the mock, I don't think I'll be watching it. but who knows, maybe the show will turn out incredible and I'll watch.

I wanna watch 4 Minutes so badly oof because I don't wanna be spoiled since it's only 8 episodes but I can't watch ep 3 as it airs, not until next Tuesday at the latest most likely and even eps 1 - 2 I'd have to watch on my phone and all staggered instead of the whole ep at once. But I don't wanna be too spoiled and I don't necessarily think I can avoid many spoilers because it comes up on my Twitter...

Chicago Trip

Modern Family (Aug 9): Watched the Up All Night episode on the plane to Chicago. I'd only watched random funny clips from the show before. The episode was funny and good. Would watch more episodes

New Girl (Aug 9): Watched S1 Ep 1 - 4 because my friends put it on. it was... meh to me i guess. funny kinda but not really my thing

Prom Pact (2023)

Country: USA

Release Dates: March 30, 2023

Watch Via: Disney+

Watch Dates: Aug 9, 2024

Rating: 5.5/10

Overall: Annoying characters, but at least I watched with friends and it's fun to have movie nights like that

Bbulbbul (2020)

Country: India

Release Dates: June 24, 2020

Watch Via: Netflix I think? Disney+?

Watch Dates: Aug 9, 2024

Rating: 7/10

Overall: A great surprise since I wasn't sure I'd like whatever horror movie my friends decided to watch. Great visuals (the CGI was not good lol but like idk the cinematography or art direction is maybe what I'm talking about), was obsessed with the couple and their interactions before Satya became similar to his brothers (that was the point). In love with the female lead Bulbbul when she's all grown up and her arroagant, leisurely demeanor in the present day. Such a tragic movie, especially how she was left alone to withstand such cruelty once Satya left but once he came back, he also hurled cruel words and did not treat her well, did not respect her, becuase of his jealousy towards Dr. Sudip. Then again, the very end can be still considered a win I suppose.

Watched episode 1 of 4 Minutes during the trip too.

Bad and Crazy (2022)

Country: Korea

Release Dates: Dec 17, 2021 - Jan 28, 2022

Watch Via: iQiyi (free trial)

Watch Dates: Aug 18 - 22, 2024

Rating: 6/10

Overall: Fine but did not make me feel much and is not going to stick with me the way other shows by these actors have. The first couple of corrupt cop investigations was fine but a bit annoying because we seemed to know everything far in advance to the characters finding out. The second half with Yunho was more interesting in some ways because we also did not know and it was like psychological tricks basically but I wish the ending was more satisfying somehow. Like everything is wrapped up nicely but Inwouldve liked it see it. Nothing super wrong with it but I could’ve just kept it off my watchlist and I wouldn’t have missed much.

Also Appeared In: Bad and Crazy Live Blogging

Love Sea

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Jun 9, 2024 - Aug 11, 2024

Watch Via: iQiyi (free trial)

Watch Dates: Aug 22 - 28, 2024

Rating: 6/10

Overall: A fine enough show, I think the dynamic and characters were interesting and the show/relationships threads were good for the main couple, especially the class difference rich/poor conversations and how their dynamic evolved. Thank you forever for all the puppy/dog Mut. Unlike most people who were so over the side-GL, I was actually quite into Vie/Mook (esp because they have some tropes I enjoy, such as celeb/non-celeb and one person makes their crush do chores/errands) and kept hoping for... something to happen, for their dynamic to progress. They didn't get a proper ending, which is sad. Vie was also such a good friend to Rak, I don't know why she was such a terror with Mook and then never progressed past it. Loved Meena, what a cutie. I do agree with the general consensus that the island episodes were better.

tags: love sea

Also Appears In: Love Sea + Special Live Blogging

Love Sea Special Episode

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Aug 25, 2024

Watch Via: ;>

Watch Dates: Aug 29, 2024

Rating: 6/10

Overall: A cute special overall. It's about Rak and Mut's progress and lives together in the future and how they've met each other in the middle rather than random drama. Vie and Mook are cute too, it makes me sad that their story wasn't given a proper conclusion in the original series. Also, I wanna go on vacation so bad.

tags: love sea

Also Appears In: Love Sea + Special Live Blogging

I feel like I don't get attached to shows and characters as I used to. Even when I enjoy the process of watching a show like My Stand-In or Century of Love, I finish watching and then don't ever really think about the pair or storyline. I miss being consumed by a show or being incredibly fond when thinking of a ship, not just watching a show for 1 hour episodes and then stop thinking about it the minute I finish it.

In that same vein, I'm once again rewatching parts of History 3: Trapped. The Ampliverse/Boys Love Boys Love are recapping it and they're only on ep 3 (/ep 6) but man, I love that show a whole lot and hearing them talk about it makes me wanna watch it too. Rewatched eps 17-18 + the dancing in the club scene in ep 3 (What an iconic moment fr).

Watched the 4 Minutes episode.

Watched History 3: Trapped Ep 19/20 (Ep 10). Man, what a show.

On Air after Century of Love (Aug 1):

4 Minutes ✅

The Trainee

(iQiyi) I Hear The Sunspot

I have a 7-day iQiyi VIP voucher, so I'm planning on watching shows that way and I hope I can download shows to watch on my commute and stuff. I have to use the code by Sept 1. I'm eyeing shows that are exclusively available on iQiyi:

Start watching Bad and Crazy on Tuesday but don't get iQiyi until evening when you download the next eps

Bad and Crazy (can watching during commute) ✅

Deep Night (too risque too watch during commute)

Love Sea (too risque too watch during commute) ✅

Meet Me At The Blossom (tentatively because it's not yet finished and isn't on my watchlist yet)

I Hear The Sunspot (tentatively because it's not yet finished and isn't on my watchlist yet + it won't be over by the time I get to use the code hmm)

Love In Translation (tentatively because I'm more likely to watch this if I end up really liking Century of Love)

To Watch This Month - from July 1:

On-Air: I Hear The Sunspot and/or 4 Minutes ✅

Finish On-Airs: Century of Love ✅

iQiyi: Bad and Crazy ✅, I Hear The Sunspot, Love Sea ✅/Deep Night/Love In Translation

South Korea: a thriller/mystery (Bad and Crazy ✅), She Makes My Heart Flutter, Method

Thailand: Blank S2, a recent GMMTV BL (Cherry Magic ✅), an older one (ITSAY)

Next Month - rotation of some counties with a few shows: Philippines (Gaya Sa Pelikula, Rookie/Sleep With Me), South Asian (Monkey Man, Jab We Met), some Japanese (Favouritism of the Gods, I Became the Main Role in a BL Drama, The Boyfriend)

✅: watched this month, ⏸️: currently watching, ❌: not watching in this iteration/section of country, ⏭️: moved to next month/ran out of time

#general bl #tracking #century of love #cherry magic th #love sea #4 minutes

0 notes

youngeditor1999 · 2 years

Text

I posted 5,843 times in 2022

17 posts created (0%)

5,826 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@natashatrace

@boasamishipper

@spongebobssquarepants

@anything----and-everything

@chilewithcarnage

I tagged 1,423 of my posts in 2022

#love - 473 posts

#babes - 451 posts

#bradley rooster bradshaw - 450 posts

#jake hangman seresin - 426 posts

#top gun: maverick - 420 posts

#hangster - 336 posts

#sereshaw - 285 posts

#pete maverick mitchell - 198 posts

#natasha phoenix trace - 154 posts

#bradley/jake - 133 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also in my mind they silently told each other that they can fly with the other anytime and and that they are both glad that the other is ok

My Top Posts in 2022:

Ok!! So now that it's officially fanon that Jake "Hangman" Seresin is indeed the biggest Swiftie out of the group, what do y'all think are his top Taylor songs??

The correct answer is ✨obvisouly all of them✨ but if you could only pick 5-10 (😩), which ones are they (and why, but you don't have to say why if you don't want to/don't have the time, effort and energy to)?

I'm choosing:

1) Gorgeous

2) All Too Well 10 minute version

3) King of my Heart

4) Style

5) Love Story

6) Out of the Woods

7) Fearless

8) Red

9) Cardigan

10) You are in Love

BONUS: Our Song, This Love, Mary’s Song (Oh My My My), The Best Day, Better than Revenge, New Romantics.

I am begging all of you to let me and the rest of us fans know!!!

(Also, Glen Powell needs to 👏🏻get 👏🏻on 👏🏻it and add some Taylor to his official Spotify Hangman playlist! We are more than ✨ready for it✨. 😏😉😝😍)

P.S-I know that these are numbered from one to ten, but in my mind, they’re not actualy ranked that way. Especially because I can see Jake loving and appreciating all of these songs equally. 🤗😌 The numbers on this list are more for pratical reasons than anything else!!

33 notes - Posted June 25, 2022

I love how as a fandom, though we ship Jake "Hangman" Seresin with different people, the one thing that we all agree upon is that he is so totally not straight. 😊

(And to those of you who are seeing the connection between Hangman and Phoenix...you are valid and accurate; there was definetly something there that was/had been happening between them...👀)

35 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

I was so excited to see Top Gun: Maverick that though I have in fact seen the original many times before, I didn't rewatch it before I went to the theater.

Last night I rewatched it again after seeing TG: M three times (so far!!). I'm embarrassed to admit this but here we go: I totally forgot about the part where they're in the bar and Ice comes over to Goose and Mav and greets Goose by saying, "Mother Goose!" 🥺🤧

It's an important part and means so much to me, especially because of how broken up Ice later is when he's telling Maverick how sorry he is about Goose. 😭

43 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

Y'ALL:

This is from a Buzzfeed article (read it in full here: 17 Times "Top Gun: Maverick" References "Top Gun" https://buzzfeed.com/evelinamedina/top-gun-maverick-then-vs-now) and when I read the above I literally screamed out loud because basically, this article is confirming that yep, all of us did indeed see what we saw when it comes Hangman and Rooster. 🤩

Look, interpret this piece of information (that we all knew anyway lol) however you want, just know that I am loosing my fangirl mind right now.

Addtionally, on a somewhat related but also kind of random note, I would like to point out that I personally see Hangman as an Ice-Maverick hybrid because he kind of looks like Ice, but he follows the rules like how Maverick did (or didn't, rather...). Looks aside, I also get Ice vibes after he saved Mav and Rooster at the end of the movie!!!

And Bradley is very much his father's son, but still makes sure to follow the rules, always and of course (as we all saw!) is the first to point out whenever people are being unsafe and leaving their wingman when they aren't supposed to (Ice vibes for Rooster, anyone?? 🥺💙).

70 notes - Posted June 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Thinking about how Jake would call Bradley "baby" as a pet name has me going absolutely feral.

Not to mention all of the different ways he can say it and the context of when he uses it.

Just imagine them waking up next to each other and Jake's usually unheard southern accent slips out when he utters, "Morning, baby," because it's still early and he hasn't had time to adjust quite yet.

Or when he gleefully shouts, "Hey, baby!!" from across the room when he sees Bradley again for the first time after either one of them has been away on an assignment.

And of course, when they are in the heat of the moment and Jake pants out, "Yeah, baby, right there, that's the spot."

Yeah. 😌😍

Bradley is Jake's baby for now and for forever. ❤️

81 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

0 notes

heller-mads · 3 years

Note

hellooo 👋

dude please don’t apologize! i completely understand that life can be hectic and replying to people can be energy-consuming. (for instance, i woke up at 03:00 and saw your reply but haven’t made this until now because i was too busy celebrating dean’s birthday and going to school (currently in class rn doing this instead of my work lol))

however! if it makes you feel better then please know that today is my birthday and normally i despise it because my family forgets/doesn’t care/makes it about them, so when i woke up this morning and your post was one of the first things i saw, it genuinely made my year. to see something meant for me on my birthday made me literally bawl my eyes out and that wouldn’t have happened if you had replied sooner. so your timing is perfect. definitely no need to apologize

i think i’m gonna buy a photo-op with Sean Astin and i will -definitely- tell him that Mads says “hello” if i do end up buying it. i’m also contemplating dressing up as either galadriel, eowyn, or legolas. but no matter who i dress up as i’m going to be taller than him so it will look like a proper elf/human + hobbit photo which i’m excited for lol

i’m so glad you and your family are starting to feel okay! sending you my thoughts and hopes, bubs!!!!

New Girl is the shit, dude! one of my favourite comedies for sure. i just finished my re-watch about a month ago. Winston’s definitely my favourite character: who’s yours? sadly i disagree on the Jess/Nick relationship. i’m not a big fan of it tbh (i’m not really a fan of any of the romances on New Girl, if i’m being honest) but i can definitely see where you’re coming from! currently i’ve started watching The Righteous Gemstones which is another comedy and i am -in love- with it. i watched the first season and a half of Once Upon a Time when i was younger but then got bored, perhaps i should try it again. you seem to have good taste in television shows so i’m going to trust your opinion

Earth and Environmental Science is a course that i’m taking next year! i love the environment and find the way if functions incredibly fascinating! are you taking any other courses this year? or is E&E Sci your final one?

it’s funny that you like/are good at geometry because that’s actually the one math subject that i struggle with lol. i’m definitely an algebra person myself

<33333 genuinely smiled so hard from your kind message near the bottom of your reply. seeing your replies makes my day too!

i’m so happy you got some snow! hopefully it’ll stay for a while so you can enjoy it better! we got about three feet of snow just this past week and it’s been ranging from neg15-neg20°celsius (5- neg4°Fahrenheit) (currently neg23°c (neg9.4°f)) i wish i could send you some lol!

just realized how long this “ask” is whoops, sorry about that, dude. me and my rambles 😬

have a great day! talk later!!!

-🗡-

ohmy god ???? HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!! im so happy that my timing happened to be just perfect lol. I'm sorry your birthday seems to not be something you like very much, but I hope this year was better. as of writing this there is about 40 minutes left in the day, so if this is not get posted while it's still your birthday, im still wishing you the happiest of birthdays <3

oh you aBSOLUTELY should dress up as Legolas, and i only say this because i love his character so much lol.

okay okay okay i respect the not liking the New Girl romances, especially Nick/Jess. I just love their dynamic as a couple, and even just as friends ! My favorite character is most definitely Nick. I love all the other characters, especially Jess and Cece, but it seems as though I've become emotionally attached to another mentally ill middle aged man :')

Once Upon A Time is another show I could go on and on about if i had the ability to concentrate lol. It's genuinely a really good show and I adore it with all my heart. The characters, the story, and the world they create, it's all beautiful and it's definitely a show I 100% recommend if you like fantasy type stuff. The last season is a but rocky, and a different vibe from the rest of the show, but I promise if you watch that far into it, the ending is worth it.

E&E is my last class of this year, and in 130 days, I graduate ! And yeah, I'm enjoying the class so far, our current subject is astronomy <3 I'm absolutely terrible at math and it genuinely gives me so much anxiety and just makes me miserable in school that i just try to avoid it at all costs lol.

Dude. I need to move up north I need more snowy winters in my life. I truly think that if i had snow all December, especially on Christmas eve and Christmas day, all my problems would be solved.

Don't apologize for long asks, they are wonderful ! Happy birthday again, I hope you see this is the 8 minutes left of your birthday when im posting this, although that is unlikely :') bye :]

#~ask mads~#🗡️anon #it's now 7 minutes i forgot i had to add tags #apologies if the response is messy and there are typos i havent read over it more than once lol #it's also very lucky that i saw this when i woke up this morning in my notifs under the notes for one of my birthday dean posts lol #otherwise it would've been lost

0 notes

garbinge · 2 years

Text

Contaminated (11/?)

Bishop Losa!Dad x OC Lara Barrera Losa Angel Reyes x OC Lara Losa

A/N: Did I put Guy’s Grocery Games callout in this fic because I’ve been binge watching season by season for the past week? yes. and i’d do it again lol.

For a refresh, all the chapter links are in the below link!

Chapter Index

TW: 18+, mentions of sex, murder, death, violence, drugs, and alcohol.

Word Count: 3.6k

Taglist: (Just let me know if you want to be added :) @est1887 @minimel-fics @spnaquakindgdom @nessamc @alienstardust @mrsstevenbuchananstark @hinagiku0 @lyly00 @drabbles-mc @lilac-tea-time (it’s been a while since I’ve posted this, if I’ve forgot to add you to the taglist or you’d like to be tagged just let me know!)

Lara rolled over and groaned. The sun wasn’t exactly up yet but the orange and yellow tones were starting to peek through the window causing her to stir awake. As her eyes fluttered open, she realized she didn’t recognize where she was. Her heart dropped and she quickly made notice of her surroundings. The minute she saw Angel to her right, she felt a breath of relief escape her mouth before letting reality set in.

Of course, she ended up at Angel’s house. Her next move was to notice he didn’t have a shirt on and she was miraculously missing her other clothes too. Her eyes shut, the sigh she was letting out was in defeat. There was nothing she could do about any of this now, except settle her mind on the fact that she slept with Angel. Again.

Luckily, Angel was a deep sleeper. This allowed Lara to grab what she could around her to get dressed and get out without having to deal with, well, Angel and everything this situation entailed. She didn’t pay mind to what she was putting on, she just needed to cover up so she could get to her car and get home.

Lara had successfully maneuvered her way out of the house and into her car but when she was met with a picture of her and her best friend in the sun visor, thats when more of reality hit her.

“Frankie. Fuck.” She thought to herself as she checked the clock in her car. 7:29AM.

Her eyes looked down to notice she was wearing Angel’s tank top. A deep sigh escaped from her mouth. If Frankie was home, she would have known immediately what happened. If not for leaving with Angel and coming back home in the morning, but what would seal the deal was the fact Lara was wearing his shirt. She banged her head against the headrest of her car a couple times before she came to a realization. Frankie had stayed at EZ’s, there was a really good chance she wasn’t home yet, and Lara would take those odds. With that, she quickly sped through the early morning light traffic that Santo Padre had to get home.

Now, Frankie finding out wouldn’t have been the end of the world. It was her best friend, and if anything, she was dating EZ, she’d get it. But that was the thing, Frankie and EZ knew what they were doing, they had mutually agreed to being a couple. All Angel and Lara had mutually agreed on was sex, and even that was strictly consent based, there had been no conversation about labels, fuck buddies, friends with benefits, none of that. If anything, Lara expected things to go back to how they were years ago when they first had sex. Angel ignoring her and Lara making life hell for him. It was the only logical explanation, plus history tended to repeat itself, right?

There’s a saying that when you leave it to chance, all of the sudden you don’t have any luck left. Well, in this case, that was a lie. Lara pulled up to her house and quietly tip toed her way through. As she trekked down the hallway, she glanced into Frankie’s room since the door was open. Empty. She hadn’t been home. Her head dropped back as she smiled and then made her way to her room.

After a quick shower and a short lived nap, Lara was being woken up by the ringing of her cellphone on her nightstand.

She let out a grumble instead of a pleasantry for whoever was on the line.

“Come to the clubhouse in about an hour. We need to talk.” Bishop’s voice said not even bothering to comment on her grumpiness.

Who needed alarm clocks or roosters when the eerie call of your father who sounded just about ready to kill someone did just the same thing.

Lara shot up out of bed, “El que?” The shock had been so real that she flipped to Spanish like it had been her first language.

“10:30. The Club. It’ll just be for a few minutes.” Bishop said still with the same firmness in his tone. He didn’t give her a chance to respond, just hung up leaving Lara in bed, hungover, half asleep, wondering what what going on.

Her head began to fill with thoughts as she drove down to the clubhouse. Had her Dad solved the issue? Had he dug himself deeper? Had he dug the club deeper? Had he fucked up? Was he sending her away for good? The thoughts weren’t going to stop, she thought by stopping for coffee, it would give her something to enjoy but the caffeine just made her spiral more, until she started to drive down the dirt road towards the club.

That was the funny thing about getting behind that metal fence, it ironically felt safe. It felt quiet. It felt calm. There was a peace to knowing that all of the people here would have her back, not just because she was the El Presidente’s daughter but because they all did genuinely care about her.

The yard was packed, there had to be 2 times the amount of bikes there. For the first time, Lara hadn’t recognized half of them, but she did recognize one of them.

Tio Marcus. Curses flooded her brain as her thoughts went back to being extremely negative. Lara now stood in front of the club, staring at all the bikes. The feeling of safety was still there but it was being pushed to the back burner. Nervousness, anxiety, pressure, and the most prominent, scared. All words she’d use to describe her thoughts right now. She would give anything to go back to last night, where nothing mattered. But instead, she was here, while reality started to hit her like a brick.

“Lara!” A voice said from behind her causing her to jump and get startled.

“Sorry,” EZ grinned getting a bit of enjoyment out of startling her.

“Yea, the sympathy is dripping off you.” Lara rested her hand on her chest to catch her breath. “How’s Frankie doing?”

EZ’s grinned stayed plastered on his face, “back asleep, I gave her Tylenol, a granola bar, and a gallon of water to keep her hydrated while I’m on prospect duties,” he explained, “planning to bring her lunch later.”

Lara nodded as he talked.

“I didn’t expect to see you here so early,” EZ added as they stood in front of the clubhouse.

“Came to talk to Bish.” She pointed inside.

With a nod, EZ began walking towards the building, Lara in tow, “They’re in templo.” he informed her.

Lara froze for a minute. “All of them?” She pointed towards the bikes, “do you know why they’re all here? What’s going on?” Lara was starting to spiral.

EZ turned to face her and pointed at the prospect patch on his kutte, “Your guess is as good as mine.” And with that he entered the club.

That was a lie. Lara’s guess was most definitely way better than EZ’s, but she also didn’t want to believe it. With a deep breath, she followed behind EZ and just as she entered the club, templo was over and the large amount of Mayans were exiting the room. None of them looked twice at the girl, or even once for that matter, not even the ones that she had known. It made her think that maybe whatever this was about had nothing to do with her, it was just some larger club business, which Lara would gladly accept. She was turning now towards the templo doors that were still open, sneaking a peak to see that the head patch members were still in there. She managed to get a glimpse of Bishop and Marcus before the doors closed again.

Lara didn’t have enough time to sigh because in the next second Angel was in front of her.

“Sup?”

Lara was frowning, there was so much going on in her head at this moment, everything with the Calaveras and Bishop and now Angel, who was standing in front of her, neutral faced, talking to her like nothing happened.

“Sup?” She repeated his question. While she was really questioning it, Angel took it as she was genuinely asking.

“You left your shirt at my house,” he smirked.

It was said at a whisper which made Lara smirk but she was still a bit confused.

“Maybe you can come by later and pick it up,” he shrugged trying to keep a cool composure.

Lara was honestly shocked, she hadn’t expected Angel to give her the time of day and here he was trying to get her to come over again. It was better than the last time, and honestly, she was on board, so she went with it.

“I took yours by mistake this morning.”

“Yea, mistake.” Angel nodded.

“Hungover, half asleep, you know, wasn't paying much attention.” Lara smirked.

“Right, totally makes sense.” Angel nodded.

“I mean, if you want I can stop by tonight, pick mine up, drop yours off.” Lara continued.

“That works,” Angel faked like he was thinking pretty hard.

“See you tonight, then.” Lara turned as she saw the templo doors open.

She didn’t have a moment to process what really happened, she was already focused on the main reason she was here.

Marcus had walked by her, offering nothing but a nod, but Lara could tell there was something off with the way he looked at her, he normally would stop and chat, but this time he was leaving before she could even wave. Her eyes moved towards the next few people that passed by, president patches from the other clubs, offering her no glance or acknowledgement. Finally, Bishop walked out and they made eye contact.

There was so much tension between them. Lara felt it. Bishop felt it.

“Come on, let’s go outside.” He said and before Lara could argue he was already halfway out the door.

They stood against the railing of the porch, watching Marcus get on his bike and leave. Once he was gone, Bishop spoke up.

“If you get any notes, any calls, any in person run ins, any fuckin’ morse code messages for all I care, you tell me immediately. You don’t wait till you see me, you call me immediately. I don’t care if you think it’s not from them, I want to know. I want you home by 10, everyday, if you’re working, me or one of the guys will follow you home. No more going out to God knows where with God knows who.” Bishop was firm in his words.

Lara opened her mouth to argue.

“I’m not done.” Bishop didn’t even look at her. “If there’s so much as a fuckin post it note on your car, I’m putting someone on you 24/7. I’m not going to lose you over this.” His eyes were still staring straight off.

The urge to argue was gone. Lara knew there was no version of this conversation where she’d end up winning or getting anything that she wanted out of this. So she decided to go the route where she metaphorically punched him in the gut. After a long pause and a deep breath, Lara spoke up.

“You lost me a long time ago, Bishop.” She began to take a couple steps down the stairs. “Don’t worry, if one of the Calaveras sends pigeon mail to me you’ll be the first to know.” She called out now that she was further away.

Bishop stood there, ruminating on her first words. You lost me a long time ago. Bishop. Bishop. She used his first name. Which wasn’t uncommon; she had used his name before, especially when talking to other people, but this was different. He heard the sting behind her tone, he felt it. But regardless his number one concern was her safety. And that’s what he was doing. That’s what he was always doing. Whether he was doing it right or not.

_________

Before Lara knew it, it was night time. She briefly checked in with Frankie earlier in the day and she was spending another night at EZ’s. There were pros and cons to that. For one, it meant that she had no one to talk to about what happened. This wasn’t something she wanted to explain over text, but she also needed to explain the audacity of Bishop, and maybe get a dose of reality from Frankie but either way she just needed that support. On the other side, it meant that EZ and Frankie would be occupied tonight, which made sneaking to Angel’s, well, less sneaky.

Which is what brought her where she currently was. Sitting in front of Angel’s house. It was a little intimidating if she was being honest with herself. They had a history, and she wasn’t sure if she fully trusted him yet. But there was something there. There always was. It was also different this time around, for a multiple of reasons. She felt more vulnerable, which was likely because of everything happening with The Calaveras and Bishop and yet the butterflies were on level 10.

Lara knew if she sat there any longer, she’d psych herself out. So she grabbed his shirt which was in the passenger seat and made her way to his front door and knocked.

Angel opened the door and it was one of the first times she saw him (outside of their intimate interactions), without a kutte on since their first time meeting. She was taken aback a bit which is why she paused after his greeting but quickly recovered.

“Your shirt.” She lifted up the tank and kept eye contact with him.

“Right. My shirt.” He smiled and opened the door more and nodded to invite her in.

She stepped inside, even though she was there in the morning, there wasn’t really much time to look around and take in his place like she could now. It looked like a frat boy’s house. Random flags and signage, old black leather furniture, a mini fridge even though the kitchen was not too far. It was very, Angel which gave her a bit of a giggle.

“Nice place.” Lara was still looking around.

Their conversation hadn’t gone past 4 words a piece, yet.

“Ain’t much, but it’s home.” Angel shrugged, moving to the mini fridge and grabbing beers for the both of them.

Okay 5 words. They were getting somewhere.

Angel approached Lara with the beers, startling her a bit. “Oh, no, I’m not drinking tonight.” She shook her head and pushed the beer away a bit.

Angel’s eyebrows raised in shock, he wasn’t sure if he had ever heard Lara Losa turn down a drink before. He wasn’t going to push her, though. He nodded and went into the kitchen and grabbed two waters.

“You don’t have to not drink just because I’m not.” Lara grabbed the water from him.

“Nah, it’s cool. I still feel like I’m fighting a hangover anyways.” Angel shrugged and plopped down on the couch. Lara nodded and stood awkwardly still looking around his house.

“You can sit down, you know.” Angel tilted his head next to him.

Lara hesitated before she moved to sit next to him, letting her mind go a mile a minute before pushing every thought to the back of her mind and sitting down on the couch to his left.

“It doesn’t have to be awkward.” Angel said as he turned the TV on to have some background noise. “I had a good time with you last night, even before we came back here.” Angel boldly said.

The girl wasn’t expecting that from Angel, and he definitely wasn’t either, which is why he started to back pedal. “But whatever you wanna do, you know. We can act like nothing happened, go back to how things were, you know.”

“Is that what you want?” Lara turned to face him even though he was nervously staring at the TV, “to go back to how things were between us?”

Angel should have thought before he spoke, but that rarely ever happened so he just blurted out something. “Whatever you wanna do, you know?” He shrugged like they were talking about traffic or the weather not the situation between the two of them.

Lara in that moment felt her confidence overtake her. She saw through Angel’s charades and knew that the power was in her hands, it was up to her, and that made Lara thrive.

“I think the sex is too good to go back to how things were” Lara smiled.

Angel’s head snapped to her, stunned at her words but managed to let a smile build on his face.

Lara’s nostrils flared as she tried to hold back her laugh as they stared at each other before they both let a belly cackle out.

“So what are we watching?” Lara got comfortable on the couch, the two of them weren’t touching yet, but it was progress from when she first got there.

______

It had been 4 hours since Lara first arrived, she was currently sprawled out on the couch, her shoes off, swimming in one of Angel’s hoodies, and cuddled up next to the man.

“I can’t believe we’ve been watching Guy’s Grocery Games for the past 4 hours.” Lara said as she checked her phone, 9:27PM and a notification from Bishop.

9:26PM Bishop Losa: Home. 10PM. Don’t forget.

“I mean, it’s the superstar challenge, we gotta see it through,” Angel said as he innocently looked down seeing the message on her phone but quickly looking away.

“Wish we could but, I gotta get out of here. Plus this is the last episode on for the rest of the night,” Lara leaned over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote and pressed the button that allowed the tv guide to pop up. “See, Kitchen Nightmares is on next.” Her body fell back into his.

“Man, I fuckin’ hate that show.” Angel said, wrapping his arm around the girl effortlessly as her head rested on his chest. “Makes me never want to go to a fuckin’ restaurant ever again.” He shivered.

“You easily have 4 different kinds of takeout in your fridge as we speak, Angel. That’s never happening.” She went to stand up.

“You leavin’ already?” Angel changed the subject.

“Yea, gotta get home.” Lara said leaving the rest to be interpreted, but Angel wasn’t going to let her go that quickly.

“Bishop got you on a time clock?” He frowned, he didn’t get up or even change his position on the couch.

“You shoulder surfing?” Lara frowned realizing he had read her text.

“Didn’t mean to,” he adjusted his posture and was now leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“What do you know?” Lara asked, sitting on the wooden table so the two were eye to eye.

This was the million dollar question, what did he know. What was she going to share. Were they going to trust each other.

The answer was yes, but also no.

“I know Bishop’s got some personal shit going on that he brought to the table.” Angel started, trying to tiptoe around the templo meeting this morning.

“Bishop?” Lara frowned and nodded. “Sure let’s go with that.” Lara wanted to leave it at that, but she couldn’t. “I get that what happens in templo is sacred, blood brothers, secret spit handshakes and all that shit, but I know Bishop said my name at that table this morning. What do you know?”

Angel thought about it, this was the first time they were hanging out as whatever they were and he was already seeing the consequences of messing with the club president’s daughter.

“You know I can’t tell you about templo, but I can tell you that Bishop is serious about keeping you safe.”

Lara nodded, “So you know that I have to be home by 10.”

“I didn’t know that, but it makes sense. I know there’s some shit that went down with The Calaveras and I know that the day I saw you at the main square you were having issues with someone wearing a Calaveras rocker.” Angel shared, hoping that would be enough. He knew a little more, but there was a line he had to tow when it came to this.

“So observant.” Lara sarcastically joked.

“What happened?” Angel asked, now flipping the interrogation onto the girl.

“I used to date one of the guys from The Calaveras, bad breakup, they’re taking it out on Bishop.” Lara told a partial truth.

Angel didn’t push for more, he just stood and stuck his hand out to the girl who stared at it for a minute before taking it in her own.

“Well, I guess we better get you home before the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella.”

“10, and I think I’m more of a Mulan.” Lara said with her hand wrapped in Angel’s who looked at her a bit confused.

“Disobeying my father, but still fighting for his honor, you know.” Lara grinned.

Angel took the bait that Lara probably didn’t even realize she left. “Well if you’re disobeying, you might want to go to my bedroom.” Her eyes went wide in shock not expecting Angel to be so bold. “To get your clothes, from this morning.” He smiled even harder knowing he had made the girl blush with her assumption.

“Right, my clothes.” Her head moved up and down as she stepped away from the tall man and inched her way to his bedroom. “You know I think I might need your help to find them.” She turned to him with a fake confused look on her face.

“Well, you know me, I’m a helper.” Angel’s shoulders shrugged and followed her through the house.

“I sure do.” Lara laughed as their hands intertwined and they disappeared into the room.

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i-am-still-bb · 2 years

Text

Hurtless: a Britchell fic in three parts

“The stones are from Asgard,” Olaf said, gesturing to the engraved stones in a circle on the ground with the sword.

“Where ‘gard?” Axl asked.

“Norse god home.”

Axl took a deep breath that sounded like he was trying to prevent himself from rolling his eyes and started to step into the ring.

“Oh, take off your clothes,” Anders interrupted.

“What?” Axl asked, incredulous with a disbelieving laugh.

“Look, you don’t have to,” Olaf said assuringingly to Axl who was now backing away from the circle.

Anders repeated himself, “Trust me, take off your clothes.”

“Gayest god ever,” Ty quipped.

“I loved that jacket, it was totally ruined,” Anders replied bitterly.

Meeting

“Hey, Andy!” Mat chirped as Anders pushed open the employee’s entrance of Bean of the Gods.

“It’s Anders.” Anders had little hope that Mat would listen. It had been 6 days a week for 3 weeks. Anders corrected him each time. And each time it made no difference.

He hung his denim jacket on a hook. He looked at the patches sewn onto the fabric and a faint smile. He checked the stitching on the most recent one, a blue and white CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) circle patch. He’d only had red thread and it stood out against the solid white border on the patch. But it was secure.

“It’s nearly 7.”

“I know, I know,” Anders grumbled and reached for the golden apron hanging in his locket. At least his name tag had the right name.

“Why doesn’t anyone just get a black coffee with sugar or cream? Or a tea?” Anders was wiping down the counter after the pre-work rush of men and women in suits with thin ties and shoes that pinched.

“Would you pay $3 for a black coffee when you could just make it at home?”

“I do!” Anders gestured toward his cardboard cup of coffee by the register.

“And on our wages at that…”

Anders shrugged and took a sip of his quickly cooling coffee.

With everything clean and put away and the mid-morning pick-me-up rush still a little over 30 minutes away Anders pulled a book from his locket and leaned over the counter reading the yellowed pages of Herman Hesse’s Siddartha.

“I forgot this.”

“Your balls?” Anders asked without looking up.

“Rude,” Mat said. “This.” He dropped an envelope next to Anders’ elbow. “Someone bought one of those,” he gestured to the poems and scattered drawings that were clipped to a length of clothesline running along the wall.

“Really?” The book flopped shut. Anders opened the envelope to find a crisp $50 bill, far more than the hopefully optimistic $10 price tag he had put on it. “Who? When?”

Mat shrugged. “Some dude. Before you came in this morning. It was still dark.”

Anders stuffed the envelope into the pocket of his jeans. He looked at the line of papers—some his own, but others belonging to other employees or to regular patrons, often art students from UChicago—and tried to pick out what the man had bought.

“Was he a regular?”

Mat shrugged again. “Why? Looking for a sugar daddy?” he teased. “I think you’d be out of luck with that one. I nearly just told him to leave because he looked homeless. Who wears combat boots with tracksuit bottoms?”

The L was pretty empty this early in the morning.

He was normally still burrowed deep in his blanket in the “room” that he rented in a house far from the city center. He still was not convinced that it hadn’t been a coat closet that someone had punched a hole into to add a window—a legal requirement for something to be a bedroom. It was barely large enough for the twin sized mattress on the floor and an upturned milk crate for a table and several in another that held his clothes and the odds and ends that he had acquired since landing at O’Hare a month ago.

But he was curious about the person that had bought his sketch. It had to be the one of the eyes looking out of the darkness with an almost-Haiku scratched into the dark charcoal with an eraser.

He had to see who had bought it. Even if just for a moment.

“You’re early,” Mat accused.

Anders shrugged and moved to make himself a pour over.

“Money then coffee,” Mat held out his hand.

Anders fished two crumbled dollar bills and some coins from his pocket.

“I’ll get that.”

Anders and Mat both looked up sharply. They had not heard the bell over the door ring when the man entered. Anders would later swear that it had not.

“And I’ll get a caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream.”

Mat moved quickly after ringing the order up.

“Thanks.” Anders dropped his money back into his pocket.

“Would you be the “A. Johnson” that draw some of those pictures?”

Anders nearly inhaled some of his coffee. “Yeah. That’d be me. But I think you misread the price,” he fumbles with one hand for the envelope still in his back pocket, “it was only supposed to be $10.”

“I know.”

“Oh.”

They looked at each other in silence. There was the hum of machinery as Mat made the man’s drink. Anders boldly took in the man’s appearance, the boots and tracksuit bottoms, the bomber jacket over a very worn graphic t-shirt, the long hair, pale skin, and the red lips. Anders felt uncomfortably warm, but he did not stop staring. There was a small smirk on the man’s face, like he knew that he was being ogled and he didn’t mind at all.

“Ireland?” Anders asked to break the silence.

A nod. “New Zealand?”

“Yeah.”

“Mitchell,” the man offered his hand.

Anders’ automatically took it, his other hand burning the the heat of his coffee through the cardboard. “Anders.”

Mat put the drink down on the counter and looked at them both.

Mitchell released Anders’ hand and took the drink with its obscene mound of whipped cream.

“Wait!” Anders said, rounding the counter, nearly spilling his drink with his quick movements. “When will you be back?”

The man turned, an amused expression on his face. “Maybe tonight, maybe this same time tomorrow, maybe never.” He reached out and fixed the collar of Anders’ denim jacket. “Nice jacket, Anders.”

This time it was Anders’ turn to be consumed by someone’s eyes. He flushed, but he boldly stared back.

Mitchell’s smirk was back.

And then he was gone.

#britchell #mitchers #anders/mitchell #britchellcontributionfest2022 #bb writes #part 1 of 3 #hurtless

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asimpforarmin · 3 years

Text

What Dog the AoT Characters Would Have 💛

Character(s): Armin Arlert, Sasha Braus, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Bertholdt Hoover, & Annie Leonhardt

Genre: Light-hearted, modern!au

Warnings: Mentions of animal neglect/abuse, some dog breeds commonly perceived as scary, cursing

A/n: I usually include Mikasa in my headcanons, but I just forgot until last minute that she existed ;-; so, sorry for not including her. If someone requests it, I’ll add her to the list.

💛 Armin

His parents got him a beagle puppy for one of his birthdays and he got so attached to it. He was so grateful that he had a dog and absolutely treasures him.

Named him Buddy because he’s his little sidekick and is always fun to play with and snuggle up to.

Buddy almost never shuts up though. A bird flies past the window? He starts barking. A truck goes by? Goes bonkers. He sees himself in the mirror? Shooketh.

Whenever Buddy starts going crazy, Armin picks him up, takes him away from whatever’s bothering him and scratches behind his ears. That makes Buddy practically melt into Armin’s arms and it’s so adorable. 💕

Buddy is very protective over Armin, or as protective as a dog his size could be. He always barks at the doorbell and is very wary of strangers.

If you walk into Armin’s house and Buddy has never seen you before, Armin will be sitting in a chair holding a dog who’s glaring into your soul.

You and Armin will try to have a normal conversation while Buddy is snarling and growling at you with Armin just patting his head and making an expression that says he deals with this all the time.

After a couple visits, Buddy is still tense around you but unwinds once you start playing with him.

Whenever Armin’s studying or working, Buddy will jump up into his lap and snuggle with him.

Sometimes when Armin falls asleep at his desk, he’ll have his arms on the table and Buddy in his lap.

When he’s in the car, Buddy tries to bite cars through the window. He just growls and bangs the glass with his teeth before Armin stops him from chipping a tooth.

Just how Buddy is protective of Armin, Armin’s protective of Buddy.

If someone talks shit about his dog, he’ll get sad about it. Buddy doesn’t deserve to be treated like that, he never hurt anyone.

Buddy can’t be taken to the park because he just agitates other dogs. He never gets along with them and never lets his guard down.

Buddy’s also one of those dogs who gets really dramatic. One time he was laying on the couch with his ball and it rolled off so he just started howling.

It’s also really hard to trim his nails without him growling, even though he’d never bite anyone.

Once Buddy has calmed down around someone, he’s fun to just hang around.

Armin likes to sit on the couch reading with Buddy on his lap or beside him. He’s great to study with or have around.

💛 Sasha

Adopts a 5-year-old blue greyhound from her local shelter.

She’d been volunteering there for a while when the greyhound came in and just couldn’t resist.

With greyhounds being bred to hunt and Sasha coming from a family who has a hunting background, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

She bought her and gave her a bright pink collar with a little dog bone tag with her name etched in it.

Since greyhounds’ necks are so long, she gives her a big knitted scarf to wear in the winter to keep her all nice and cozy.

Was torn between naming her Snickerdoodle or Candy because they’re both cute names and are both foods, but ended up naming her Pumpkin because she couldn’t decide and Pumpkin’s a really cute name as well.

Sasha loves playing fetch with her and it’s so fun because Pumpkin can run really fast, really far.

Pumpkin almost never barks unless she’s having fun or there’s someone at the door.

Sasha’s bed is lofted by a couple feet for storage and Pumpkin has no problem getting on and off her bed.

The first time Pumpkin saw Sasha’s bed, she didn’t know what to do so just sat there looking up at Sasha. It took a couple minutes for her to realize Sasha patting the bed meant she could jump onto it.

Sasha allows her dog on any of the furniture so there’s short hairs all over the couch no matter what.

Pumpkin’s really kind and gentle around kids so Sasha can basically take her anywhere. She’s super well behaved but sometimes scares people because she jumps in excitement.

Sasha also shares her food with her dog all the time. Always packs extra whenever she goes somewhere so she can give some to Pumpkin.

If you moved in with Sasha, Pumpkin would take to you right away.

She would literally be so sweet and always make you happy all the time. 😭💕

Plays tug of war and fetch a lot with you.

If you’re working/eating at a desk, she’ll lean her head on your leg until you pet her or give her food, or both.

Overall, Pumpkin is so sweet and adorable. She will always cheer you up when you need it and always has enough energy to play.

💛 Jean

Adopted a pitbull who is now 6, but was brought into a fighting ring when he was 4.

He knew it would be a challenge to help an abused dog but wanted to give him a good home.

When he first saw him, he was covered in scars and missing part of his ear.

He named him Kane. He’s a beautiful deep reddish-brown color with a white belly.

From the first moment they met, there was a connection. Kane warmed up to Jean quite quickly for a dog who’s been through so much.

Jean took him home and slowly introduced him to lifestyle changes, like going for walks or taking baths.

He introduces him to other dogs too. Kane showed a little hostility in the beginning, but once he realized they weren’t threats he was fine being around them.

Jean pays top dollar for him. Any issue he has, he takes him to the vet and gets it fixed up. He also gets the best food for him because that’s what he deserves.

Kane loves going for car rides. Sometimes Jean will get in the car with him, no destination in mind, and just drive.

Jean rolls the window down and Kane pokes his head outside. His mouth opens and because of the wind going into it, he showers the window behind him in slobber.

Kane absolutely loves swimming. He’s quite good at it, but Jean still takes a lot of safety precautions, such as a life jacket or shallow water because pitbulls are known to be somewhat bad swimmers.

Every summer, Jean takes out a kiddie pool and lets Kane splash around in it.

He also really likes to turn on the hose or sprinkler and aim it at Kane. He jumps up to bite the water and they both have a great time.

It can be a problem though because when Jean’s trying to fill the pool up, Kane keeps batting the hose with his paw or trying to eat the water and Jean has to get him to relax.

Other than his little quirks, Kane’s a relatively chill dog. He’s alright with being dressed up in costumes or having to wear a cone.

Every halloween, Jean gets both of them a matching costume and they sit on the porch to give kids candy.

Jean also lets the kids pet Kane because over time, he gets very welcoming of people and other dogs he doesn’t know.

Long story short, Kane’s not the dog you want to protect your house, if someone broke in, he’d just start wagging his tail and not be able to tell what’s going on.

💛 Connie

Saw how cool Jean’s dog is and also wanted a badass and cool breed.

He ended up adopting a doberman pinscher.

Like Jean’s dog, she looks strong and intimidating.

Unlike Jean’s dog, she acts the complete opposite of how she looks.

She’s often quite jittery or seems scared. Whenever someone even remotely raises their voice, her ears go down and she lowers her head.

You and Connie often have to give her tons of pets and appreciation after shouting, whether it’s good or bad shouting.

She’s also a total cuddlebug. She loves to be on Connie’s lap 24/7 and sleeps right next to him, watching over him.

Because of her timid personality, Connie named her Lily. It’s a sweet and innocent sounding name. Even though he sought her out to be a “cool” dog, she’s super sweet and didn’t want to name her something that conflicted with who she really was.

One thing about Lily is she loves running. Connie likes to skateboard alongside her as she pulls him along. It’s not much effort for her because Connie’s lightweight and uses his feet a lot. Plus, the area they live is pretty flat, so they often do.

Lily has a hard time understanding what is and isn’t a toy. One time she nearly chewed off one of the sofa legs. Next time Connie sat on it, it snapped and then he figured out Lily was behind it.

After that, he trained her to know everything he puts in her basket is a toy, but everything else isn’t. Then, she used the basket as a toy.

She goes through toys lightning quick.

Every time you or Connie give her a new stuffed animal, it takes approximately .2 seconds for it to be torn to shreds.

Connie loves to take her to PetSmart and let her pick out toys in-store.

If she chooses a toy that means Connie won’t need to guess what she likes and what she doesn’t.

One time she chose one of those scented rope toys, but once Connie took the packaging off, she started acting weirdly.

Once he gave it to her, she started barking at it and whacking it with her paw.

Connie was super confused so he threw it and she chased after it like normal, but once she got close to it she started acting scared of it and barking.

It’s been like that ever since now so they just don’t play with that toy.

Lily doesn’t bark that often. She usually only barks from excitement or when she meets someone new.

She also doesn’t have the zoomies that much so she’s a really relaxed dog to hang with.

💛 Bertholdt

Bertholdt saw his neighbors packing their stuff in a van one day and leaving but saw they left their samoyed leashed up outside.

He wanted to hold out hope that they were just going out somewhere for a bit so waited the rest of the night but found the dog still chained up the next morning in the rain.

He was never close to his neighbors and didn’t want any confrontation so he went up and knocked on the door, checking if anyone was home.

No surprise, they weren’t so he cautiously made his way over to the dog.

It was so happy to see someone and started licking his hand right away.

He unchained the dog and led it into his house where he gave it a nice warm bath and some food.

While bathing her, he took off her collar, with the neighbor’s number and address engraved in it along with her name, Mavis.

While Mavis was eating he called the number he found on her tag. He explained that the dog looked like it was left there on purpose so he took it in until they got home. They just said they didn’t want her anymore and hung up, which broke Bertholdt’s heart.

So he took her to the vet, got some pet things because he hasn’t owned a pet previously and she became a big part of his life.

She clings to him everywhere and won’t ever leave his side. Almost never barks and is super good on a leash.

Bertholdt takes her to the dog park a lot, Mavis is very social and has made a lot of friends there.

Mavis has quite the habit of rolling around in the mud or dirt though so Bertholdt has to give her a bath quite often.

Bertholdt absolutely cannot contain the dog hair. There is so much of it and it’s everywhere, went through like 3 lint rollers in the first week.

He spoils her rotten. Whenever he goes shopping he gets her new treats and toys because he swore to do right by her when her old owners didn’t.

If you were brought into the equation, Mavis would love you unconditionally. She’ll be there to give you high-fives and cuddle with you.

She is the softest thing on the planet so the cuddles are amazing. If you and Bertholdt sleep together, she’ll plop herself right in between the both of you so she could get attention until you fall asleep.

Whenever she needs something but isn’t up, she licks your face until you give her what she wants.

Even though she can get quite hot in the summer, she always wants to cuddle and loves to do it, whether it’s with you or Bertholdt.

💛 Annie (normally I don’t write for her but I couldn’t get this scenario out of my head)

Hitch gave her a chihuahua for her birthday even though she never remotely hinted at wanting a dog.

She didn’t want to return it though and oddly liked it, even though she never asked for him.

Just calls him “Dog” for a bit since she doesn’t know what to name him.

He’s a tan deer head dog so Annie gives him the name “Biscuit” after a couple weeks.

It’s super generic but she doesn’t think he needs any fancy name and he looks like a biscuit so 🤷🏻‍♀️

She has one of the backpacks with a compartment to fit a dog.

She likes to put Biscuit in there and take him out when she goes out.

When Annie takes him out, Biscuit is usually pretty chill, aside from giving a couple glares to random people.

Sometimes he even falls asleep in her backpack.

Whenever someone pisses Annie off, Biscuit senses it. Annie isn’t usually one to get into a full-blow fight and be loud, so Biscuit is her volume. Whenever she starts going off, he starts growling and barking.

And when she does get loud, both of them are yelling and screaming so that often deters the other person.

When she first got Biscuit, Annie didn’t really pay that much attention to him. She’d be on the couch and whenever he came up to her with a ball or toy, she’d throw it.

Then as she started to get used to him, she started to like him more.

Nowadays, she sometimes chases him around the house with a smile on her face and it’s so adorable, especially because she doesn’t smile all too often.

Biscuit is relatively calm, even for a chihuahua. He can often be seen on the couch on his back with his tongue out laying in the sun.

Speaking of being on the couch, originally Annie wanted to keep him off all furniture but soon realized he simply wouldn’t stay off and she didn’t want to bother to train him not to.

Now, they share almost everything. She sleeps with him next to her, they relax on the couch together, and sometimes she even brings him up on one of the kitchen chairs and they share food together.

Biscuit hates her alarm clock with a passion. If Annie doesn’t wake up from the alarm, she wakes up from the high pitched barks of her dog wanting her to turn it off.

Once the two are close, they are bonded for life and can be seen everywhere together.

#attack on titan #attack on titan x reader #Armin Arlert x Reader #Armin x Reader #Sasha Braus x Reader #Sasha x Reader #Jean Kirstein x Reader #Jean x Reader #Connie Springer x Reader #Connie x Reader #Bertholdt Hoover x Reader #Bertholdt x Reader #Annie Leonhardt x Reader #Annie x Reader

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maddieinwonder · 4 years

Text

A Lesson In Romance #7: False Start

Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Just a lot of awkward vibes hahaha

Word Count: 1.7k

Plot: Reader keeps getting caught in rom-com situations with Spencer Reid. This time, they try to confess their feelings.

A/N: I didn’t actually manage to include the definition of a False Start in the chapter itself, so I’ll add it at the end. No spoilers for now!

Masterlist | All chapters here!

-----------

It took you 24 hours to decide that you were going to do something about your feelings for the good doctor. Pretty quick, considering you were a living, breathing rom-com cynic. But as ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, once said: "The only constant in life is change".

Specifically, change happened after you woke up in your cute co-worker and dear friend's arms and you wanted nothing more than to get back into them as fast as possible.

But by the universal laws of working in the BAU, catching a break seemed to be the hardest when you actually wanted one.

Firstly, it was like every serial killer in the country decided to cancel their vacations simultaneously, swamping the team with urgent case after case. At this point, you were more familiar with the couch on the jet than your bed at home, and everyone was feeling the strain.

Secondly, if you weren't sleeping, you were usually out in the field chasing unsubs with Derek or Rossi. You had stopped holding out hope for being paired with Spencer — on account of your areas of specialty overlapping too much, and Hotch not being the type of leader to waste his resources — and as a result:

Thirdly, getting even ten minutes alone with the genius became an impossible task, and not for lack of trying either. At the start of the month, the two of you had tried to adapt your breakfast ritual to the road, but it always got interrupted mid-coffee order or even at the ding of the lift. Not that you and Spencer stopped trying, no, but your patience was wearing thin.

So you did something you hadn't done since you submitted your application to join the BAU — you prayed for a chance.

Because every day that you didn't admit your feelings to the doctor was another day fighting the compulsion to tell somebody else about them, and god only knows what a room full of profilers (and one nosy tech analyst) would do with that kind of information.

Then, out of the blue, the door of opportunity opened.

After two weeks of straight travel, the team had earned a well-deserved one night’s rest in your own beds before dealing with a local case, bright and early tomorrow morning. And since your flight landed at 2am and all the trains had stopped by then, this gave you the perfect shot to execute your plan.

Unfortunately, you forgot to take into account the most important factor — your nerves.

It didn't help that Derek had wolf-whistled in the carpark as the two of you walked off in the same direction, nor that Spencer immediately put your favourite album into the CD player out of instinct; an overly domestic action that made your heart beat even faster.

But it was when you arrived in front of his apartment building that you felt the worst of it. As you tried to summon the right words to your lips, your heart hammered in your chest and your thoughts jumbled themselves into nonsense.

"Are you ok?" Spencer asked, snapping you out of your anxious spiral instantly. "You don't look so well."

"I-I'm fine." Your fingers twitched nervously.

"Doesn't seem like it." He looked down at your hands, and you cursed your subconscious brain for giving you away. Then, he placed a hand over yours and your heart stopped.

"You're not alright, that's for sure, but it seems like it's just sleep deprivation." He assessed, bending slightly to look at your face. "You can't drive in this state. Do you want to come in?”

Your head snapped up to meet his gaze, ready to protest, but Spencer beat you to it. "Let’s go. You wanted to talk about something, right?" He called out, already one foot out of the car.

Before you could realise what was happening, you found yourself sitting on Spencer's couch holding a warm cup of tea.

This was the first time you were in his apartment. Yet, it was exactly what you thought it'd be like. Every wall was lined with bookshelves, filled to max capacity with books of every topic imaginable from neuroscience to philosophy. Those that didn't make it to the shelves were found in random stacks around his apartment, standing out against his forest green walls.

"Did you know that chamomile tea is a natural remedy for insomnia? In fact, it is commonly regarded as a mild tranquilizer. It's calming effects may be attributed to the antioxidant apigenin, which binds to specific receptors in your brain that initiate sleep and reduce anxiety." He explained, walking over with his own mug.

"I actually did know that." You smiled. The tea seemed to work its magic because you did feel relaxed, and you must have looked it too, because the worried frown disappeared off Spencer's face.

"Didn't know you were a tea person." You commented lightly, blowing the steam from your mug.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He replied mysteriously, and you raised your eyebrows.

Spencer's apartment was too quiet, no rumbling fridge or quiet radio playing in the background to make your awkward silence any less pronounced. It was then that you noticed he didn't have a TV. Somehow this fact didn't surprise you very much.

"You... you wanted to talk to me about something?" He broke the silence, looking down at the hot tea swirling in his mug.

Right. You were here to talk about your feelings. Your face flushed as you tried to summon your willpower, again.

"I wanted to tell you something—" You began shakily. "But before that, I just want to preface, we can ignore this entire thing if you don't agree. I mean, I really enjoy our friendship as it is, and I wouldn't want to do anything to affect tha—"

"Wait." Spencer interrupted urgently, before catching himself. "Sorry, um, before that, can I say something?"

"Um, ok, shoot." You replied meekly, trying to hide your relief behind a long sip of tea. There was a pause as he gathered his thoughts, and you might have been seeing things, but he looked almost... nervous?

"The day we met, I calculated the probability of meeting somebody that shared my exact coffee order and the result was almost one in a million.” He finally spoke, lifting his head to meet your gaze. “That probability decreased when I factored in working together, sharing the same interests, and... and how I enjoyed spending time with you more than with anybody else."

Spencer cleared his throat, a blush coming onto his cheeks.

"Ever since then... my life just started making sense. I know I’m a scientist, not a poet, and I could tell you all the statistics about relationships in the world, but when it comes to you...”

His cheeks were crimson now, as he ran his fingers through his hair. You had a feeling yours looked the same.

"I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that I think you're beautiful and smart, and I have no idea what you see in me, but I'd really—"

Suddenly, both your phones buzzed violently against his coffee table, jolting you out of the moment. You leaned over in a trained motion, only to see exactly what you expected:

Garcia: No rest for the wicked, crime fighters. Conference room in 30.

Penny: No rest for the wicked, crime fighters. Conference room in 30.

You let out a sigh you didn't realise you were holding, and Spencer looked over at you, doe-eyed and nervous.

“The case?" He asked quietly.

There was a silence filled with words unsaid. "We should go." He said finally. "If we leave now, we can still make it on time."

You only nodded in response, more out of duty than desire, and gulped down the rest of your tea. The thought of what he was about to say burned down your throat.

Driving away from Spencer’s apartment was torturous. The doctor hadn’t said anything to you since he entered the car, only fiddling with his bag as he looked out the window. It was too dark to read his expression, but you wondered if he could still hear the way he called you “beautiful”, or whether the moment had already dissolved into the space between you.

Luckily, you didn’t need to wait long for an answer, as Spencer tugged on your sleeve before you exited the carpark, his face scrunched in worry.

"I really didn't mean for that to be so... weird. Can we talk about this again after the case?" He asked softly, and despite every semblance of logic left in your brain, you couldn’t stop the hope from blooming in your chest and you smiled.

That was when Spencer did something completely uncharacteristic. (You didn't know this at the time, but it was something that you would tease him about for a long time after.)

In one fluid movement, the doctor pulled you into a tight hug that elicited a squeak from you, but it only took a second for the initial shock to wear off before you relaxed completely into his warm touch. He took that as a sign to continue, burying his head into your shoulder and letting out a content sigh.

Unlike waking up to your bodies intertwined, nothing about this was a mistake. Not the way his fingers stroked your back peacefully, nor the way his curly hair tickled your cheek. You felt the stress of the past two weeks melt away in his embrace, and so did any coherent thought, except one: normal friends didn't hug each other like this.

Later when the two of you finally entered the conference room, miraculously still on time, nobody commented on the smiles plastered on your faces but everybody could tell. They were profilers after all.

But for the first time in awhile, you were just too happy to care.

-----------

Tag List:

@blue-space-porgs @nobutalsoyes @lady-loves-a-lot @queen-flower @oops-all-ajs @spottedzebrasinpartyhats @agentcarterisgay @totalmess191 @sapphic-prentiss @mellowalieneggsknight || @averyhotchner @amesandpineapples @willowrose99

Definition of a False Start here

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mggssocks · 3 years

Text

Followed

Not My Gif!

Pairing: Fem!Reader x Spencer Reid

Content Warnings: None just fluff :)

Summary: Spencer makes an Instagram and stumbles across reader’s page.

Word Count: 1,899 words

A/N: This is Season 10 Spencer with Season 13 looks. Also, instead of it being Kate on the team, i put Emily instead because who doesn’t love the season 3-7 team? Also I might make a part 2 depending on how much this blows up. Honestly i’d be happy if i got one like. Anyways.. hope you enjoy!!!

masterlist // part 2 // part 3

It was 8:00 in the morning. Spencer walked in the doors of the bullpen to the bau. He sat his satchel down and began to settle in for a long day of work. It was pretty early so the team wasn’t in yet. Except for Aaron Hotchner who had gotten in an hour prior to Spencer and been in his office ever since. Apparently others had the same ‘get to work early’ mindset as Spencer. Spencer opened a case file but his attention was quickly whipped away due to the sound of the door opening. He sees Penelope Garcia with all her attention focused on her phone. Spencer quirked his eyebrows when she bumped into a fellow coworker and her attention remained on her phone while quickly mumbling a quick “sorry”. As she passed his desk, Spencer decided it would be the great time to speak.

“Hey, Garcia.” Her feet came to a stop and her head snapped up at him.

“Boy wonder! I’m so glad you’re here. I really need someone to talk to because if I don’t I’m going to explode!” She sits in the chair across from his desk.

“Is everything alright?” He leaned back in his chair.

“No… no everything is not alright. If anything.. everything is all wrong. Very very wrong. I-“ she takes in a deep breath “I was stalking Kevin’s page because the other day I seen him at the mall with another girl. And while I was 56 weeks down in his page, I accidentally liked a picture.” She explained, in a huff.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” Spencer was even more confused now than before she started.

“I liked a picture that he posted 56 weeks ago!” Her eyes were wide.

“How is that a bad thing?” His lips pouted as he’d never understand social media.

“Ugh! Reid, you really need to get with the program and get you an Instagram. That means his picture was old and now he knows that I was looking at his page. You understand now?” She asked.

“Oh. Yeah I understand. It’s bad that he knows you were looking at his page.” He asked as Prentiss, JJ, and Morgan had walked in.

“Yes. And now I must go into the bat cave and wait for him to call or text me and ask what me lurking on his page was about.” She whined as she stomped her way to her office.

“What was that about?” Prentiss asked, setting her bags down on her desk.

“Uhh- rough morning” Spencer shrugged, still not really understanding the whole social media thing.

“Hey do you guys have an Instagram?” He asked the three.

“Yeah but I’m barely on it.” Prentiss answered.

“Same here” says Morgan as he takes a seat at his desk.

“Yeah but I only get on to post the boys and myself sometimes” answers JJ.

“What about Hotch and Rossi?” He asked.

“Yup! Rossi likes to post about his expensive wine and cigars. Hotch posts Jack every once in a while and a throwback Thursday.” JJ says.

Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed for what seems to be the 100th time that day.

“He doesn’t know what that is” Prentiss looks over to JJ.

“It’s something you post like an old picture of yourself every Thursday.” Morgan explains.

“Do you guys do that?” Spencer asked.

“I did last Thursday.” JJ pulls out her phone and opened the app. “This was right after Emily, Penelope, and I caught a guy who was trying to pick up Prentiss by pretending to be an FBI agent a few years ago.” She chuckled showing him a picture.

Spencer takes her phone in his hand and examines the post. 142 likes. 57 comments. He clicks on her name which takes it to her page. 302 followers. As he scrolls, he sees a picture the team took a while ago and sees a little person profile thing the corner and clicks on it causing other names tagged to each individual team member. Except him. After he examined all of their profiles, he gives JJ back her phone and gets to work like the rest of them. He felt a little left out but he knew it was because of his own decisions and not his team. He liked that they didn’t press him about having a social media because they new he was more old school than anything. And it was ironic because he wastage youngest member of the team with the more old school habits.

When Spencer got home he decided he wanted the social media app. The idea of being able to share with his friends and only his friends excited him. Being able to post about his favorite things for his friends to see without talking their ears off.

He opened his phone and went to the app store, typing “instagram” into the search bar. He followed the sites instructions as he made his account. Using a snapshot he took of his bookshelf as his profile picture. He sees the option to add the people in his contact list which was only his team, mom, and his mother’s caretaker. But everyone’s profile popped up and he quickly followed each and every one of them. Except for his mom and her caretaker of course.

Soon enough, he got a follow back from Garcia, Hotch, Rossi, and JJ in that order. Morgan and Prentiss weren’t lying when they said they weren’t on often.

After two weeks, Spencer hasn’t posted anything yet, not knowing what should go on his profile. Morgan and Prentiss ended up following him back and the app ended up adjusting to his interests. Nothing but accounts about interesting facts, books, and doctor who.

It was Friday night and the team had just got back from a case in Chicago. Spencer opened the door to his apartment and set his satchel down on the couch, exhausted. His mind wonders to get something to eat being that he wonders to get something to eat being that he hasn’t ate since before they caught the unsub. Which was about 5 hours and 7 minutes ago but he still needed to get something into his system. Spencer opened his fridge and sees 3 day old Chinese takeout. He shrugs and pops it into the microwave while looking for a book of his to reread while he eats. After he finishes dinner, he gets on his phone and subconsciously pulls up the app. He clicks onto his explore page to discover something else he likes. While scrolling, he sees a picture of someone reading and clicks on it.

765 likes

Yourfriend’sig whenever people ask me what to give you for your birthday or Christmas, I always tell them to get you a book or something green and it works every single time. Happy Birthday to my best buddy, @yourinstagram !

View all 84 comments

Spencer smiles and clicks the heart button and bookmarks it to look at later. He liked the picture. Both the picture and caption reminded him a lot of his own love for books and the color green (hence his apartment).

Once he got out of the shower, he brushed his teeth. He found himself subconsciously scrolling through his instagram bookmarks to find her post. He doesn’t know what it was but something about the picture brought comfort to him. As he brushed his teeth, he clicked on the post once again.This time, he actually clicked on your account. It was a private account with 186 followers. The bio read:

Y/N... bookworm.

Her profile picture consisted of a black cat surrounded by either a bunch of well taken care of plants or artificial ones. His finger hovered over the blue “follow” button. As he bent down to spit his toothpaste out, his thumb accidentally clicked the follow button. But he didn't realize so until he looked down again to see the “follow” button replaced with “requested”. His heart basically drops out of his ass. He quickly clicks the button again, taking back his follow.

It was now one in the morning, Spencer laid in bed awake staring at his ceiling. Once again, he clicks onto the app. He scrolled down his timeline and saw a picture Penelope posted of one of her new desk animals with the caption “Got her at a thrift shop! Isn’t she cute??”. He saw that Hotch and JJ liked 45 other people. JJ also commented with two red hearts. Spencer likes the post and keeps scrolling. His thoughts wander to the post about the girl again. He’s never thought about a social media post this much since he’s created an account. He wonders what sparked his interest so much about this one. As he makes his way to the post, clicking on her account. Debating if he should follow her. She’s a total stranger. Do the others follow strangers? There’s no way JJ knows 302 people in real life. He mentally shrugs and presses the follow button. Requested. Again.

He swipes out of her account back onto the post now seeing that she commented on it.

yourinstagram thank you, bubs! ily to the moon n back <3333

It was commented thirty six seconds ago. Meaning she’s currently active. Again, Spencer’s heart sinks and he immediately regrets his decision. Going back and unfollowing her. He doesn’t know what to do with himself. He’s a mess. Over a stranger. But he feels like an idiot. Reacting the way that he did just because he saw that she was online. So he goes and follows her.... again.

After clearing out all of his apps, he turns off his phone and lays down trying to get some sleep before work in a few hours. His thoughts wander to her. What she was like. if she was nice or mean. If she was socially awkward or very outgoing. Before his thoughts could get too far into what she was like, he receives a notification from instagram. He opens his phone and clicks on the notification. His heart began to pound when he saw it.

yourinstagram would like to send you a message!

He clicks on it.

yourinstagram You’ve followed and unfollowed me about 5 times in the past 3 hours. Is there something I can help you with?

Spencer completely forgot that other people got notifications and now he felt like some kind of creep.

spencerreid I’m sorry. I came across your friend’s Instagram post wishing you a happy birthday and i guess i got curious and wanted to follow you if that makes any sense.

He felt so dumb.

yourinstagram and following me once wasn’t enough for some reason???

spencerreid Sorry about that. I’m new to this whole social media thing and don’t follow any strangers. You are the first person I’m following that I don’t know in real life. Again, my apologies for the disturbance. I’ll unfollow you’re account If you’re uncomfortable with me.

yourinstagram i just hope that you’re not one of my raging exes, someone trying to catfish me, or a psychopath lol.

Spencer smiled.

spencerreid Nope. Just me.

She leaves him one read. Spencer’s smile fades when he doesn’t see any three loading dots. She wasn’t texting him back. As he’s about to exit the app, he sees two notifications.

yourinstagram has accepted your follow request!

yourinstagram has requested to follow you.

********

I hoped you like this!!! If this blows up,i will do another chapter!

#spencer reid #dr reid #criminal minds #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #matt simmons #david rossi #cm #emily prentiss #jennifer jereau #penelope gracia #luke alvez #tara lewis #elle greenaway #spencer reid x you #cat adams

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theepisceswriter · 3 years

Note

bestie, idk but, brat tamer tsukiyama shuu, he's probably a little teasing shit yknykn 💋

Bestie....I think you might’ve done something with this one bestie 🙈 NS4W things underneath the tag, fembodied!reader (she/her pronouns)

Unlike Erwin, Tsukiyama is such a soft dom. One of those doms who spoil you a lot with affection and would much rather spend most of his time doing things that pleasured the both of you; keeping that healthy 50/50 dynamic between a dom and their sub. He’s is very overbearing at times and can fall on the possessive side very often and since you’re so accustomed to having attention on you 24/7 you crave it and seek it from others when you’re not around.

Which is how most of your brat taming sessions end off starting; him catching you “flirting” with someone else when he’s not around really gets his gears grinding, but of course he remains calm for your sake. All you’d get as a warning of the night ahead of you is a “Naughty, naughty.” Whispered in your ear by him with a tongue click and a grope of your ass of he’s feeling risqué like that out in public.

Before the two of you could even get out the car he’d give you directions to follow like, “I’m going to give you a 5 minute head start, by the time I get into the bedroom I want you sitting on the bed completely naked with your hands on your thighs facing the wall.” Um yes please, you don’t have to tell me twice !

He would take way longer then 5 minutes to come into the bedroom just to keep you on your toes and because he’s so light on his feet you don’t even know that he’s in the room until you feel his finger tips ghosting on your skin leaving you shivering in anticipation, but he’d retract them like two seconds later and move away from the bed completely to grab all what he needs for the night out of his closet.

“You know why I’m doing this right? Because you wanted to be a needy brat earlier,” he would just go on and on about how he’s so disappointed in you for acting out the way you did today and that’s enough to make you fold right off the bat, begging about how you’ll never do it again and you just want him so bad 🥺 mind you you haven’t even seen his face yet, only the glimpse of his hands as he sets a vibrator and rope down on the side of you.

You know that really pretty style of Japanese bondage that’s always making rounds here on tumblr every now and then. I forgot what it’s called but I just know he has it perfected and big side note, but in a modern AU I feel like he would go viral a lot for posting pictures of his significant other tied up in beautiful patterns he made. BUT BACK TO BRAT TAMER TSUKIYAMA; he would time your arms behind your back to keep you restricted and because he knows it’s torture alone just for you not to be able to touch on him like you want to. Also, he would tie it a little tighter than usual just to add to your punishment.

Another contrast between him and Erwin, he’s not as rough at him at all even in a punishing setting as such. There’s no choking or tying a belt around your neck, but he will put a ball gag in your mouth and might give your pussy a little tap that he knows will leave a sting every now and then. Especially farther on in your session when he has your knees weak like jelly and muscles tightening from how many times he’s made you orgasm. He’s also really big on praising you throughout the session instead of degrading you.

That vibrator he pulled out earlier? He’s going to use it like no tomorrow. He’s such a slut for overstimulation, especially when he’s the one doing it to someone else. The first three orgasms felt amazing even after being forced out back to back, his hands were all over you and Tsukiyama was vocally leading you to your orgasm, but it’s after the third one that he ups the vibrator up to its highest setting and leaves it sitting against you. His hands leave your body completely and he even relocates himself to a chair in the corner of the room that’s sitting in front of you. It’s the very first time you see him the whole night, chiseled chest on display along with everything on his body that can be bare and his cock standing erect in his hand as he strokes it to the sight of you bing overstimulated. Drool forming around your ball gag and falling onto your chest and face flushed a bright red.

It’s torture watching him so close but so far away not able to be the one to please him like you’d like. Not to mention the painful ache from between your legs as you near your fifth orgasm of the night. Your promises of being a good girl for the rest of the night are muffled by the gag in your mouth and though he can’t make out what you’re saying he still lets out a, “Brats don’t get what they want. Maybe the man you were flirting with earlier would’ve gave up his cock a lot easier, but too bad you had to come home with me, huh darling?”

It’s not until after your 7th orgasm that he comes to remove the vibrator from between your legs and it’s only because it died. You’re a mess; eyes & cheeks glossy with tears, drool dripping from your chin, and thighs clenched together right between the head of the vibrator. Tsukiyama even takes pity on you, letting out a small, “My poor baby, so worn out and tired.”

You think he’s finally going to untie you, let you free and snuggle up against his chest, but instead he comes up to you from behind to slip his cock into you and after 7 orgasms he doesn’t have to prep you at all because your cum did all the work for him.

“Come on angel, come on you can give me one more. Just give me one more one more orgasm. I want to see your pretty pussy cum around me.” But he’s lying, he’s going to make you give him at least two more tops before he himself is too tired from constantly orgasming.

The aftercare is top notch and amazing though.

#toyko ghoul x reader #tsukiyama shuu x reader #tsukiyama shuu headcanons #tsukiyama shuu smut #pls not me adding tags like the fandom is still active LMAO #Stallion Speaks.#Asks.#Spicy.

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snowdice · 3 years

Text

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 68]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Had an early doctor’s appointment today so I’m tired, and the tests done made things feel worse, so idk how long this is going to go, but I want to get at least a bit of my work done. Also brain is not running at full capacity... so if I just disappear it means I forgot I was doing something, laid down, and fell asleep and/or zoned out.

Chapter 31

Logan waited for a while after Patton left to check on Virgil, but the two never resurfaced. It was odd, Patton would usually remember to come back and get Logan or at least tell them where they were. With a sigh, Logan climbed to his feet to go find them. It took him a while to weave his way through the maze of bushes to them especially because they were suspiciously quiet (Well, suspicious for Patton. Virgil was often unnervingly quiet when alone.) Luckily, he knew the bushes enough after all of these years not to get lost and managed to find the two after a few minutes.

“Ah,” he said, immediately identifying the reason for Patton disappearing.

“Logan!” Patton said, his voice excited, but also quieter than normal. “We found a kitty!”

“I can see that,” Logan responded, taking a step closer. The cat hissed at him in response. The hissing was so intense and wild that he’d suspect the thing was feral if it wasn’t happily on Virgil’s lap having had it’s head in Patton’s lap before Logan had approached.

“No,” Virgil told the animal as though it could understand words. “That’s Logan. Be nice.”

The cat still glared at him and swished it’s tail back and forth threateningly. Virgil pet the top of it’s head and it broke eye contact with Logan to purr.

Patton seemed delighted by the purring, reaching to stroke under the thing’s chin carefully. “We should give her a name!” Patton said.

Virgil frowned. “I thought her name was Ghost Kitty.”

“That is ‘Ghost Kitty’?” Logan asked skeptically. From what Patton had said about that cat, it was terrified of people and no one could ever get near it, even him. Now it was in Virgil’s lap?

“But that was a temporary name,” Patton said, “for before we officially met her. Now we have to give her a real name.”

“Do not give it a name,” Logan said. “You will get attached.”

“How do you name a cat?” Virgil asked.

“Do not name it,” Logan said.

“You give them names based on their personalities, how they look, or even just because it’s a cute name,” Patton explained. “Like, remember Mittens? I named her Mittens because she has white fur and black paws!”

Virgil looked at the cat. “She’s completely black,” he said.

Patton hummed. “So, we could give her a name based on that like Midnight or Shadow.”

“Those are fine,” Virgil said.

“No, no,” Patton said. “I’m just giving you examples. You get to name her yourself.”

“This is a bad idea,” Logan said.

“Just throw out some names,” Patton said. “Anything you can think of.”

“Uh,” Virgil said. “Knife.”

“…Just Knife?” Patton asked.

“Nightmare.” Virgil seemed to think about it. “No, that’s mean.”

“How about things you like?” Patton suggested.

“Alfredo?”

Oh no, Logan thought, he was worse than Patton at cat naming.

“Good start,” Patton said. “Logan, do you have any suggestions.”

“Cat,” Logan said.

“Real suggestions,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and thought for a moment. “Aphrodite.”

“Catphrodite!”

Logan glared at him. “Helena.”

“Helenpaw.”

“Claudia.”

“Clawdia.”

“Persephone.”

Patton smiled at him, cheerfully.

“…Damnit!”

Patton turned to Virgil again. “Like that! They don’t even have to be serious. Like, uh, you could name her Madam Fluffywuffykins the Great!”

“Do not name her that,” Logan said, scrunching up his nose.

Logan sat on the ground, the cat eyeing him, but no longer hissing. Logan gently guided them towards more sensible names despite Patton trying his hardest to drag them into stupidity.

Virgil still didn’t quite get it. He mostly tried to name it after foodstuff, and often not even appropriate foodstuff such as “Corn” and “Acorn Squash” and “Sandwich” and occasionally would drop in semi violent ones such as “Razor,” “Nightshade” and “Void.” Patton suggested names like “Fluffers,” “Bobette” and “Darling” as well as some that were puns. Logan tried to direct them towards more sensible ones like “Salem” and even went so low as to suggest the contrary “Snowball.”

It quickly seemed to become less about actually naming the cat and more of a game. Patton had taught Virgil about playing with cats and had even gotten out a ball of yarn he cared around for his crafts. Both Virgil and the cat seemed to find endless entertainment with that. Logan hoped Patton had another ball of yarn that color because, he was never going to get that ball back.

The barrage of names fizzled out into naming things around them like “Leaf” and “Bush” until they stopped suggesting names altogether. Patton and Logan sat back and watched Virgil play with the cat.

Logan watched as they stopped playing suddenly and Virgil and the cat squinted at each other. “Marisol,” Virgil said, pulling the name out of nowhere. “That’s her name.” He said it with a certainty that was surprising considering how he’d treated the naming process with confusion and caution earlier. If Logan did not know better, his tone of voice would indicate that the cat, or Marisol he guessed, had gotten bored of them coming up with stupid names and decided to tell him her actual name herself.

The cat made a sound and batted at Virgil’s face without claws to grab back his attention.

He turned back to it and bopped its face with a finger in kind. It attacked his finger, but in a clearly playful matter as it still did not extend it’s claws and its teeth did not draw blood.

“That’s a great name, Virgil,” Patton said.

“Much more pleasant than any that Patton suggested all afternoon,” Logan said. He received an elbow to the side for his quip.

“A pretty name for a pretty kitty,” Patton said, scooting over to where Virgil was sat and attempting to pet Marisol’s head. Marisol, however, was too keyed up and batted at the hand.

“I love you too!” Patton said.

Logan rolled his eyes, but he had long since resigned himself to watching the two of them play with and coo over the cat for the rest of the day.

Eventually, though, it started to get darker. Even after Logan pointed this out, it still took over an hour for them to relent and leave the bush maze to go to the door. The problem was of course, that the cat had managed to grow very attached to Virgil in the last few hours and she followed them all the way to the door with manipulatively heart breaking mews.

“You’ve got to stay out here,” Virgil said, when they got to the castle door. He pet her ear softly and she shoved her head into his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anywhere to put you.” He sounded horribly sad about that fact and Logan felt himself shift uncomfortably. “I basically live in a closet and Logan doesn’t like cats in his room anyway.”

Logan immediately felt unreasonably guilty, probably more so because Logan did not think Virgil was trying to make him feel guilty. “…Bring the dammed thing inside.”

Virgil blinked up at him. “What?”

“It will get cold soon anyway,” Logan said.

He frowned at Logan from where he was crouched. “But you don’t like fur in your room…”

“I will have to find a potion that works,” he said with a sigh, “and we’ll have to say it’s mine to the guards and Father since it will be staying in my room, but it is yours in every other way. That means you are going to feed it, clean it, and clean up after it.”

Virgil nodded immediately and swooped Marisol up in his arms. The cat went without complaint. “Thank you!” he said. “I love her.”

“I know you do,” Logan said, already regretting it already. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to even consider recanting the offer considering how happy Virgil seemed to be. They had a cat now, he guessed.

Chapter 32

“What are you doing?” Helen asked a few minutes after her son walked into the kitchen and started looking around as though he were trying to find something. It was a few hours into the afternoon, and she and a few workers were already prepping for dinner.

“Uh,” Patton said. “Have you seen Virgil?”

“No,” Helen said. “Why.”

“Er… Logan and I sorta, lost him,” Patton said. He was wringing his hands anxiously. Helen put down the knife in her hand.

“What do you mean you lost him?” she asked.

“Well, see, we were trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, um, but then we didn’t think to tell him that he eventually had to come out if we didn’t find him, and now we haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

“He didn’t know what tag is?” she asked. That was just one more thing to add to the list of why Helen worried about Virgil and where he came from. Every morsel of information she’d managed to wring from Patton despite his evasions made her lists of concerns grow larger, even little things like him not knowing about simple childhood games. Actually, thinking of concerning things having to do with Virgil. “Wait, so he hasn’t eaten lunch.”

“Um, we don’t know that,” Patton’s mouth said while his eyes said ‘no.’

“He needs to be on a consistent diet, especially when he’s still taking the malnutrition potion,” she scolded.

“I know, Mama, I know,” Patton said. “I’m trying to find him. I’d kinda hoped he’d gotten hungry and snuck down here. He probably wouldn’t want to risk being caught stealing food though.”

Helen grimaced. Yet another concerning thing.

“Wait! I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” Patton turned and ran out of the room. Helen frowned at the space he’d been and finished chopping the carrot on the cutting board in front of her. If it had been any other person in the castle missing, Helen wouldn’t have worried, but she had literally never seen Virgil without Patton and/or Logan by his side. Even when he’d gone to help Jeff can some fruit, Logan had reportedly hung around to read a book.

Considering that Logan had never exactly been clingy even with Patton, she imagined that either Virgil asked, or Logan thought he should stay with him for his comfort. So, she was surprised that he was apparently hidden away somewhere in the castle where neither of the other kids could find him.

Still thinking about this, she walked over to the entrance to the cellar below the kitchen where they stored most of the vegetables, planning to grab some more carrots. She was confused for a moment when she heard movement from deeper in the pantry. She reached over and touched the panel near the door that controlled the magic lights.

The newly illuminated figure startled as the lights came on, whipping around to stare at her with wide eyes.

“Virgil?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said immediately, taking a step back.

“It’s fine,” she said immediately, “but what are you doing here?”

He considered her for a long moment, but apparently, she passed some sort of mental test, because he relaxed, at least as much as he’d ever relaxed in her presence. “Where are we?” he asked.

Her brow knit together. “The cellar under the kitchen,” she said, “You don’t know that?”

He shook his head.

“The only entrance is from the kitchen.” Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him go through the kitchen at any point.

“No, it’s not,” Virgil said. “There’s a tunnel.”

“A-a tunnel?” she asked. Actually, taking a closer look at him, he seemed a bit grimy. He had dust all over his front and dirt on his nose. She thought he might even have a couple of cobwebs in his hair.

“Yep,” he said.

“Where’s the tunnel?” she asked.

“It’s right over here,” he said. He took a couple of steps and pointed to the ground. There was an open square hole there that clearly had been made a long time ago but which she had never noticed in all of her time working here.

“How did you find this?” she asked.

“We were playing hide and seek,” Virgil explained. “Logan said I could hide anywhere inside the castle. I hid on top of a dresser upstairs in some unused sitting room. There was a hole in the wall above it, so I climbed into it. Then, I crawled a little bit and it let out into a hidden passage in the walls. I wandered around in it until I found another hole in one of the walls. I thought it was a way out, so I squeezed into it, but it took me to a different hallway where I found an old room. There was a different hole in that room that had probably been covered by something because it was in the floor but whatever it was had rotted away. I crawled though it into a tunnel and came out here.”

She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his explanation. “Well, it sounds like you went on an adventure,” she said, “but Patton and Logan have been trying to find you. You missed lunch.”

He tilted his head at her. “I know. I was supposed to hide.”

“Yes,” she explained, “but you are supposed to come out at some point if they can’t find you for things like food.”

“Oh,” he said.

“They probably should have explained,” she said. “For now, why don’t we get you something to eat? You must be hungry.”

Virgil frowned. “But I missed lunch.”

“You can still eat even though it’s not in normal hours,” she said. “You could even if you had made it to lunch.”

“Really?” he asked, he looked tragically confused by this offer.

“Of course, sweetie,” she said. “In fact, I insist you get something good to eat right now. How about I made you a grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Maybe some cookies too!”

Virgil titled his head. “You are Patton’s mother,” he stated.

Helen laughed softly. “He gets its all from me,” she said. “We should probably go find him and tell him you’re okay. He was worried.”

“I didn’t mean to worry him,” Virgil said with a frown.

“I know,” Helen said. “It’s okay. He’ll probably laugh when he figures out where you’ve been, and Logan will interrogate you all about the secret passageways.” He seemed happy about the prospect of seeing his friends. “Come on, let’s go upstairs for a bit,” she said.

Chapter 33

Patton’s mom had already made Virgil sit down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen and had handed him a sandwich by the time Patton barreled into the kitchen, Logan coming after him at a more sedate pace.

“Virgil!” he said, sounding surprised and relieved.

“Patton,” Patton’s mom scolded. “No cats in the kitchen.” Patton had brought Marisol in with him and had let her go as soon as he’d seen Virgil. She immediately plodded over to him and hoped onto the table to sniff at his face in greeting.

“But she’s the princess!” Patton argued.

“No,” Logan said.

“Yes, she is!” Patton said.

“The stupid cat is not a princess.”

“Don’t be mean to your little sister, Logan.”

“I regret every life decision that has led me to this point.”

While Logan and Patton were distracted squabbling and Patton’s mom was distracted watching them squabble, Virgil tore off a bit of the ham in his sandwich and offered it to Marisol. Marisol gracefully took it from his grip and ate it.

“So, this is Logan’s new cat I’ve been hearing about?” Patton’s mom asked.

“Indeed,” Logan said, his lips thinned. He and Marisol were mostly amicable when alone with just them and Virgil, but Patton had a habit of cooing over the kitten and needling Logan into being irritated.

“Mmm, yeah,” Patton’s mom said. She glanced over at Virgil right as Marisol basically slammed her face into his chin in a bid to get pets. “Your cat.” She shook her head. “But Princess Kitten or not, I do not want fur in dinner,” she said.

“Sorry,” Patton said, honestly not sounding sorry at all. Virgil was always a bit surprised when the insolent shrug garnered nothing more that a scowl that did not reach Patton’s mom’s eyes. “I thought she could help me find Virgil, but you already found him.” He turned to Virgil. “Where have you been all day?”

“Found a tunnel,” Virgil said. He had to use one hand to hold Marisol back from his sandwich as he took another bite, but then gave her a bite of cheese.

“You found what?” Logan asked.

“There’s a tunnel under the cellar,” Virgil said. “It goes to an old closed up room and also to a set of secret passageways.” It was a bit of a security risk honestly, though clearly no one had used it in years by how dirty it was. He did plan to go back into it and make sure the sprawling tunnels didn’t go to anywhere more dangerous like the royal wing.

“A closed-up room?” Logan said. He could see a bit of curiosity already building in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Virgil said. “Where the door used to be seemed like it had been bricked over.”

“Really? Can you show me.”

“Sure,” Virgil answered.

“Ah, perhaps we should be a bit more cautious about climbing through random tunnels we don’t know the stability of,” Patton’s mom said.

Logan’s frown edged on a pout.

“Talk to your father,” she said. “I’m sure he can get someone who understands these things so you can safely investigate.”

“It was safe enough for Virgil,” Logan pointed out.

“No, Logan.”

He sighed but seemed to concede. That was another strange thing about living here. By all rights Logan didn’t have to obey anyone except the king, but he often listened to those around him, not just the adults but Patton as well. It was interesting though it sometimes made the hierarchy hard to figure out. Virgil did sometimes stress out about the hypothetical situation where he got conflicting orders from two people, and he wouldn’t know which one to obey. So far it hadn’t been a problem luckily. They always seemed to work it out amongst themselves in some give and take social interaction that was a bit too complex for him to understand.

Patton walked over to where Virgil was sitting. “I’m glad your safe,” he said. “We should probably put a time limit on hide and seek in the future, so you know when to come out.”

“Did I win?” Virgil asked. He’d honestly forgotten they’d been playing a game until Patton’s mom had asked how he’d found his way into the cellar.

Patton laughed. “I’d say so, yeah,” he replied. He leaned over to kiss Virgil’s forehead, but drew back immediately with a pinched expression. “You are… very dirty,” he said, rubbing his mouth.

Virgil nodded. “Your mom made me sit on a tablecloth,” he said gesturing to the fabric she’d laid over the chair.

Patton snorted out a laugh. “We’ll get you into the bath when you’re done eating and you can tell us all about your little adventure.”

“I would also like to hear about your discoveries,” Logan said. “Though you are not allowed to sit on the bed until you do not have spider webs in your hair.”

Patton’s eyes widened and he jumped away from Virgil, startling both Virgil and Marisol. The latter hopped from the table onto Virgil’s lap. “Spiders?!”

Virgil tilted his head at him in confusion.

“He isn’t a fan of spiders,” Logan informed him, his voice amused at Patton’s reaction.

Apparently deciding that she was no longer startled, but more confused by the noises Patton had just made, Marisol jumped out of Virgil’s lap to investigate, wrapping her way around Patton’s legs. He bent down to pat her back, though he still looked a bit startled.

“Your cat, huh?” Patton’s mom asked Logan once again. Virgil studied her. She had apparently missed Logan mentioning that he allowed Virgil on the bed. Or perhaps Logan was correct in his insistence that it wasn’t actually that big of a deal here. Virgil would rather not test that assumption, however, so was glad that it had been distracted from by Patton’s outburst.

“Creepy, crawly death dealers,” Patton mumbled into Marisol’s fur, having picked her back up. Virgil made a note to not inform Patton of all of the different types of spiders he’d seen skittering around in the castle walls today. Maybe he’d talk about them with Logan once Patton left. He’d probably be interested. Virgil had seen some he’d never seen before! Logan probably could even help him figure out what their names were. “You’ll protect me, won’t you kitty?” Patton asked Marisol.

She made a little ‘burrrr’ sound in response, which Patton seemed to take a confirmation.

“Aw thank you, baby! Such a good baby.”

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Virgil popped the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. Patton’s mom turned away and grabbed a plate stacked with cookies. She handed it to Logan. “Take these, and please get the health hazards out of my kitchen,” she requested.

Logan took them without complaint. “Come on, Virgil,” he said. “Let’s go get you clean.”

“We’re going to need so much soap,” Patton said.

Virgil looked down at himself. “I can go outside and get most of it off if you get me a bucket of water,” he offered.

“Virgil, it’s below freezing,” Logan said as though that had a baring on what he’d just said. Logan sighed. “No. Bathtub.” Virgil shrugged. “Honestly,” Logan said. He turned with the plate of cookies in his hand, clearly expecting to be followed. “You’re not going to catch your death pouring a bucket of water over yourself in the cold when there are literally over a hundred perfectly good bathtubs in this castle. For goodness sakes.” And well, Virgil wasn’t going to complain.

Chapter 34

Patton, to be completely honest, was not all that interested in the room that Virgil had found. Beyond just the fact that it would definitely have creepy crawly death dealers in it, he really did not understand the intrigue. If it had just been him, he probably would have just let a castle worker deal with it, but it was not just him. Logan was ecstatic with the prospect of investigating a secret in the castle. People who didn’t know him well may not believe it considering he spent most of his time with his nose in a book, but he was an adventurer at heart.

Thomas had been easily swayed into finding someone to help tear down part of the wall into the secret tunnel near the room (so no one would have to crawl through the kitchen cellar like Virgil). It had taken a few days, however, and Logan was practically bouncing off the walls waiting. Virgil, despite having already seen the room before, also seemed excited, though if that was because of his own curiosity or because he was just excited that Logan seemed so exited remained to be seen.

“They are silly, aren’t they,” Patton asked Princess Marisol. He was laying on his stomach on Logan’s bed and Princess Marisol had just put her little paw on his nose.

“Yes, I agree,” he said. “Don’t they know that we’re literally going to be 2 feet away from the normal hallway?”

“It is not silly,” Logan defended himself. “Any number of things could go wrong.” He sounded far too excited about the prospect of something going terribly wrong. “The tunnels could cave in and block off the exit or there could be some unknown pathogen in the air.”

Patton did not ruin his fun by mentioning that Logan’s dad had definitely basically baby proofed the tunnels for them ahead of time. Instead, he just said, “Don’t let Virgil hear you say that sort of thing. It will just stress him out.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” he said, waving off Patton’s concerns as he mulled over two different weird green planty things (potion ingredients, Patton assumed) before setting one aside and sticking the other in his bag.

“So silly,” Patton cooed at the cat. Logan let out a huff but did not choose to say anything about it this time.

Speaking of silly, Virgil came back from Logan’s bathroom then, and Patton tried not to giggle. “Is this right?” Virgil asked, sounding and looking confused. Logan, in his overexcitement about adventure had commissioned Virgil an outfit that actually fit. Said outfit, however, very much made it look more like Virgil was going on a safari instead of a two-foot detour from the normal castle hallway.

“Almost,” Logan said, “Here, let me.” Logan started straightening everything out and flattening the collar, reminding Patton of an overbearing parent on picture day. Virgil accepted the fussing without protest. It was adorable. Well, the outfit was ridiculous, but still, adorable. “There,” Logan said. “I think we’re ready to go now.”

It was about time. Patton was sure people were already waiting for them downstairs. Patton got up and patted Princess Marisol on the head. She looked up at them with interest.

“You can stay here, sweetie,” Patton told here. She seemed to consider it and then hopped down from the bed to go rub up against Virgil.

Patton guessed she was coming. It didn’t matter too much since Logan had given her a magical collar that allowed her to open most doors in the castle and everyone knew she was the royal cat now, so if she decided she wanted to come back to the room and nap, she could. (She was very aware of the power she held.)

She pranced happily by Virgil’s side all the way down the steps to the first floor of the castle. She was such a good kitty.

Well, she did hiss angrily at everyone who came too close to them, but still, a very good kitty.

Patton did lean down and pick her up so they could actually talk to the man waiting for them at the large hole in the wall. Logan went to talk to the castle worker while Virgil half hid behind Patton. He was clearly listening very intently to the conversation however, at least more intently than Patton was. Patton was busy shaking his head fondly.

“Yes, yes, Princess,” he said to the cat. “I know we do not trust the strangers, but I promise this stranger is perfectly safe.”

“How do you know?” Virgil asked.

“His name is Chester and I’ve known him since I was 9.”

This seemed to slightly alleviate Virgil’s suspicion, but Princess Marisol still seemed antsy. Patton really needed to start slowly introducing the both of them to more people.

Logan finished talking with Chester after a few moments and it was time to climb through the hole in the wall. He wished he saw in the tunnel whatever Logan with his excited eyes and bounce to his step obviously saw. Or even that was more comfortable in the dark closed in space as Virgil obviously was. As it was, Patton’s nose scrunched up at the thought off all of the spiders that could be living everywhere in the secret tunnel, but he pushed through.

The entrance to the tunnel had been made only a little bit from the room Virgil had mentioned and Chester had led them through it after only a couple of seconds. As Patton had suspected, the room was already lit up and probably cleaned a little bit by the people who had cut into the wall, not that he was complaining.

Virgil was still clinging a bit to Patton’s shirt, though it seemed to be less out of anxiety at this point and more out of a desire to stick close. He was peering around curiously at the lit-up space. He probably hadn’t seen much of it in the dark when he’d been here before.

Yet, his curiosity was nothing compared to how excited Logan seemed to be. Now Patton may have not been interested in the room itself, but he was entertained by how interested Logan was and was happy to encourage that.

“What do you think this place is?” he asked Logan.

Logan hummed contemplatively, eyes looking around. “Well,” he said. “It’s a bedroom clearly, and old. Considering the location it is in in the castle, the size, the decorations, and it’s likely age, I’d imagine it was a bedroom of a royal family member. This used to be the royal wing three royal lines ago.”

“Bearing that in mind, there are a couple of likely possibilities for the origin of the room as well as the reason it was sealed up, but we will need to investigate more in order to come to an actual conclusion.” He had already placed the bag he’d brought on the ground and was going through it, pulling out things that Patton did not recognize. He also got a piece of paper and sat on the floor to start to sketch.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked.

“I’m sketching the floorplan of the room,” Logan said. “I will then put a grid on it so we can investigate while being sure that we aren’t missing anything.”

Virgil seemed uninterested in this part of the adventure, instead electing to go poking around by himself. Princess Marisol squirmed out of Patton’s arms to go follow him. Patton swore that he only looked away from those two for 5 seconds, but the next thing he knew he heard metal clicking against metal.

“Oh,” Patton said, eyes wide when he saw what Virgil was fiddling with. “Honey, you probably shouldn’t touch…”

The old but fancy looking chest that had been at the end of the remains of the bed creaked open. Virgil sneezed as a cloud of dust puffed out of it. “Huh,” he said studying the contents. “There’s a skull in here.”

“Oh, I don’t like this adventure anymore,” Patton commented.

Logan was on his feet within moments. “Let me see,” he said eagerly.

“What if it’s cursed?” Patton pointed out.

“Then I’ll just break the curse,” Logan waved him off. “Oh, it’s just a horse skull,” Logan said, sounding disappointed. “And also what seemed to be potion ingredients. Though they seem very fresh considering the state of the room.”

“Maybe we should get someone else to…”

Logan already had both arms inside the chest and was pulling things out of it. “This chest must have some sort of stasis effect to it.”

He started pulling things out to look at them before setting them on the floor with no caution. “Well,” he said, “that answers the question of what this room is.”

“It does?” Patton asked.

“Ah, yes, between the horse skull and the potion ingredients, this is obviously the bedroom of Princess Marianne Elicia. She was the third child of King Simon IV and was quite the fan of horses.”

“…So she kept a horse skull in a stasis chest in her bedroom?” Patton asked.

“Of course,” Logan said. “Back when her family was in power, magic was outlawed and had quite the stigma against it, but she ended up learning magic and become quite proficient.”

“It’s debated what exactly happened when her father found out about her activities. Some sources say that she was executed silently by her father, but others say she managed to escape with the head of the stables but not before putting a curse on the country of Prijaznia. That is until she or one of her bloodline sits on the throne, every royal line will end in madness and blood by the 5th seated monarch before an heir is born.”

“Isn’t that something you should be worried about?” Virgil asked.

Logan shrugged. “It’s just a myth,” he said. “Besides I’m 6th in the line, so there really isn’t any concern.”

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“There are a lot of interesting things in here,” Logan said, still focused on the chest. “Not to mention the books. We’ll have to be careful with those though since they don’t appear to be in stasis.”

Logan pulled the horse skull out and set it on the floor making Patton wince.

“Marisol no!” he said as Princess Marisol immediately went to go sniff at it. He swooped her up in his arms. “How long are we staying in this creepy room?” Patton asked.

“Patton, we just got here,” Logan said.

“We just got here and already found a skull!”

“Yes! Exactly!”

Patton groaned into Princess Marisol’s fur even as she tried wiggle away to go back and investigate the skull. This was going to be a long day.

Chapter 35

Logan was surprised when he woke up alone in bed. He’d grown to anticipate waking to a smaller body unrelentingly clinging to his in the past couple of weeks. Confused he sat up and peered around his bedroom. He wouldn’t have seen Virgil with the way he melted into the darkness if it he hadn’t heard the sound of purring coming from near the window. He could just barely make out a dark blob shifting up and down at the cat kneaded at a different blob sitting mostly hidden behind the thick curtain.

“Virgil?” Logan questioned. “What are you doing?”

“It’s snowing,” was the answer.

“That is not an answer,” Logan grumbled at the ceiling. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed. It was a bit chilly in here, he thought. The temperature must have dipped suddenly and intensely enough that the runes keeping the castle at a warm enough temperature hadn’t caught up yet. He pulled one of the blankets off of the top of his bed to wrap around his shoulders as he approached the window. There wasn’t much light outside, the stars and moon covered by clouds, but there were some lanterns lit for the night guard who patrolled the outside. “Oh,” he said in surprise. “It’s really snowing.”

It had been colder but not quite cold enough for snow to stick the day before, so it came as a surprise when he saw snow was piling up quite high to the point where familiar paths outside his window had disappeared.

“I don’t like it,” Virgil informed him.

“Why not?” Logan asked.

“It’s cold,” Virgil answered. It was clear in his tone that in Virgil’s opinion ‘cold’ was a horrible insult to the concept of snow. Logan quirked a half smile and his attention was drawn to the fact that it was quite cold right here close to the window.

Frowning, he pulled at the blanket around his shoulder so he could wrap it and his arm around the lump that was Virgil. He brushed the boy’s hand when he did so and found it was like ice.

“You’re freezing!” Logan said. “How long have you been by the window?”

“I dunno,” he replied.

Logan was already tugging at him. “You need to get back in bed,” he said.

Virgil obeyed the pulling at his arms even as he frowned. “I’ve been colder than this before,” he said.

“That actually doesn’t make me feel better,” Logan replied dryly as he shooed him towards the bed.

He took the thicker blanket that usually stayed folded at the end of the bed and pulled it up over Virgil before climbing into bed beside him.

“There,” Logan said, rubbing Virgil’s arms through the fabric of the sweater he wore to bed. He was glad he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt at least. “The runes for heating the castle should catch up within a few hours, but until then this should do. Assuming we don’t sit by the freezing window for an undetermined amount of time.”

“I don’t like the cold,” Virgil told him.

Logan sighed. “Then why did you sit by the window?”

Virgil shrugged and ducked his head a bit. Logan reached out to grab his hands to help him warm more but was surprised when one of the hands was much warmer than the other. He found his fingers were clutching a crescent shaped stone: the protection charm they’d made. Logan knew that he kept it in his pocket most of the time, but he didn’t normally see him holding it like this. It was warm to the touch, of course, indicating the safety of the room around them.

Logan looked over his face. “Are you…” he said. “Scared of the snow?”

“I don’t like the cold,” he said once again.

“You’re scared of the winter,” Logan concluded. He looked at Virgil who was far too small for his age and seemed surprised at every casual act of kindness. It was clear that his basic needs were far from being met before he came here. Logan had to wonder what winter usually meant for him. His experiences were doubtlessly very different from Logan’s own. “That makes sense,” he acknowledged, “but you don’t need to be scared of it here. The castle is always perfectly warm and safe in the winter and Mr. Deknis and Ms. Heart work hard during the other seasons to make sure we have plenty of food. There is nothing to fear here.”

He did not seem convinced.

“You don’t even have to go outside if you don’t want to,” Logan promised. “The castle is plenty big if you’d like to stay inside all winter long. It was made for the winter even without the magic devices that keep it warm. We have fireplaces and well insulated rooms even if those that ends up failing.” Logan pulled open the hand that had the protection charm just to transfer it to his other hand to warm it. “Though, while no one would force you to go outside, the snow isn’t always bad.”

“Yes it is,” Virgil said, his voice sure.

“Not all the time,” Logan insisted. “Some people love the snow.”

“They’re stupid.”

Logan laughed. “It can be fun for a while with the right equipment if you have someplace to get warm again afterwards. Royal duties slow down during the winter and Patton tends to come up with all sorts of games for both the inside and the outside to pass the time. He’s particularly proficient at snowball fights, at least against me.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Play fighting,” Logan answered. “Like pillow fights, but snow.”

“I’ll stick with the pillows,” he replied.

“And then there’s a hill to sled down on the western side of the castle, and people like to build snowmen along the path.”

“What are snowmen?” Virgil asked.

They’re temporary statues made out of packed snow,” Logan explained. “Typically, they’re made of three different sized balls of snow: the largest being the base and the smallest the ‘head’ though there are some variations. After building them one typically decorates them with different articles of clothing and objects found lying around. It’s usually sticks and rocks for the face and then things like extra hats and scarfs for decoration.” He smiled softly. “When my Pa was alive, we used to steal my Dad’s crown and fanciest robes. Sometimes Pa would steal it right off of Dad’s head and we’d run away. We’d find a secluded area of the castle yards and build the biggest snowman we could as quickly as we could before we got caught. He’d usually end up letting us keep the robes, but we’d have to give the crown back since some of the metals in it would rust when wet.”

“That sounds…” Virgil’s nose twitched. “fun if you take away the touching snow part.”

Logan laughed. “It is fun,” he said. “Even with the touching snow part. Though, I admit that some of the ability for it to be entertaining does come from the fact that we could warm up afterwards with ease. You’ll enjoy Patton’s mother’s constant offering of hot chocolate during the season even if you never go outside, I’m sure.”

“Hot chocolate?” Virgil asked intrigued. His dark eyes shone brightly in the little light coming through the window. It was clear he could guess something about the drink just by the name and enjoyed the implications.

Logan smiled fondly. “It is a hot drink,” he explained. “It’s a warm drink made out of milk and chocolate. I can get you some to try in the morning.”

Virgil nodded, eyes still wide with interest.

“For now, we should sleep though,” Logan said. “Are you warm enough? I can get more blankets.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Good,” Logan said, reaching up and adjusting the blanket over them once more, tucking it around Virgil a little bit for good measure. “Goodnight Virgil,” he said.

“Goodnight,” he replied softly. Logan reached under the blankets to grab the hand that was still slightly chilly from the window between his own. Virgil’s eyes slipped closed after a moment as he nuzzle his face into the pillow. At some point they both drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 36

Thomas had already been well aware that winter was on the way, but he and the rest of the castle occupants had been surprised at how intensely and suddenly it had come on. Most things were ready for the winter, but not all of them had been initiated. The fireplaces that took some pressure off the castle heating runes were cleaned out and ready, but they hadn’t been started yet. The stables for different animals on the grounds had been checked over and staff assignments had been made, but most were still in far out fields. Staff that went home for the winter months had been dismissed, but there were a few stragglers that would have to be helped home before things got worse.

He’d gone out to the main stable to talk to the three workers that were the heads of different areas of animal husbandry to make sure a plan to get everything to where it needed to be soon was in place. It took a while to figure out considering that they’d expected a little more time before the first major snowfall. Thomas also asked them to make sure all of the workers’ homes were in good enough condition for the weather. Ranch hands typically had homes on castle grounds but not in the castle themselves since they needed to be close to the animals. Thomas knew at least half a dozen of those who spent most of their times out in the fields were the type to forgot to maintain their homes because they preferred camping amongst the animals in the summer months and then would be in for a bad time when snow began to fall.

There should be enough extra rooms in the castle if they needed a place to stay until repairs could be done.

Those conversations took a good couple of hours, before Thomas was satisfied. Before trudging back to the castle through the still falling snow, he made a point to stop at one specific horse stall in the main stable. The horse turned his head to see Thomas when he stopped in front of his stall and puffed out a rather disaffected snort before sticking his head over the gate so Thomas could pat his nose. “Hello, Mr. Apples,” Thomas said.

The horse seemed to conclude he’d tolerated Thomas’s petting enough and ducked his head to nudge at his torso. Thomas rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I brought you an apple. Some things never change.” He reached into his pocket to grab the red apple he’d brought the white Arabian. “At least you don’t bite me anymore.” He paused, apple slice in hand and eyed the horse’s nose suspiciously. “Do not bite me,” he said even though he hadn’t felt the animal’s teeth in a decade. It would be just like Mr. Apples to wait until his guard was down.

After a bit of scrutiny, he offered an apple slice. It was snatched out of his hand and there was a loud crunch as it was bit into.

“It’s snowing out,” he told the horse. The horse seemed to roll his eyes at the statement of the obvious. “I’ll remind again that if you run out in a snowstorm, I’m not running after you, so you’d be out of luck.”

Mr. Apples snorted.

“You’re old now. You’d probably not survive long enough for people to find you. Besides, you blend in with that white fur of yours. They’d probably walk right past you a few times.”

He went back to nosing for treats as soon as he finished his first and Thomas sighed, pulling out another apple slice. “What are they not feeding you enough?” The gusto with which the horse snatched the apple slice was a very clear answer. “Well, we both know that’s not true.” Thomas fed the horse a third slice of apple when he was done with his second. “I have to get back to the castle now. Don’t be a devil horse.”

Mr. Apples threw his head a bit, splattering apple smelling foamy spittle all over Thomas’s front.

“Understood. Have a nice afternoon.”

He left Mr. Apples in his stall then, knowing he’d be well cared for no matter how ill-tempered he could be at times. He’d been a king’s horse once, after all, no matter that said king had been dead for more than a decade now.

Winters were hard.

Winters were the times when things always slowed down at the castle, where royal duties were often thin. There were a lot of memories in winter.

The trip back to the castle was not particularly long, but it was also not particularly pleasant. The snow had not been cleared away considering it was still snowing which meant his feet and legs were wet and cold by the time he made it to the nearest castle door.

He wasn’t sure if, when he entered, the castle heating runes had started to work in earnest or if he’d just been so cold that any measure of warmth was appreciated, but he was relieved to be out of the snow either way.

He decided to check up on the progress of the castle staff lighting the fireplaces. With any luck, they’d be lit already, and he could warm up even more. That in mind, he headed towards the main foyer where the largest fireplace in the castle sat to take off the chill brought in by the large front doors.

The main foyer was bustling with activity when he snuck in along the sides, giving the guards stationed around nods as he passed. The main fire in the room was burning brightly, though only one of the two smaller ones near the side exits from the room was lit. The other one was still being set up with safety mechanisms. It was good progress and assuming other areas of the castle were being set up as efficiently, he assumed they’d all be set up by nightfall.

He’d need to go check around to be sure, but for now, he walked up to the main fireplace to warm his hands.

He’d gotten into the habit when he was younger to every so often glance upwards. There had been a certain stable boy who had a propensity for climbing trees. These days, he usually found nothing when he did so, often not even consciously noticing that he’d turned his gaze momentarily skywards. Yet, today, he was startled out of his own idleness by dark brown eyes looking back at him from a small ledge in the shadows high above him.

He froze as he met the young boy’s gaze. Virgil seemed as surprised to be caught as Thomas was to have caught him.

Slowly Thomas raised one hand and waved to the boy. He slunk back into the shadows at the acknowledgment. If Thomas peered hard enough, he could see a shadow stretch up towards the third-floor balcony in the darkness and disappear over the railing.

Interesting boy.

Thomas found himself smiling despite the oddity. They still had not found out much about Virgil. He would speak to Jeffers about many things apparently, but often could not be redirected to invasive topics and he was still a bit skittish around Helen. He hadn’t willingly existed in a room with Thomas. Thomas hoped that changed at some point. There was something about him that made Thomas like him.

Chapter 37

Virgil had not spent a lot of time out of Logan’s room. What little time he had spent outside of it was either with Patton and/or Logan or tucked away in secret corridors he found in the walls where no one would stumble upon him. Yet, here he was willingly in a, well, not public by any means place, but one that was still more exposed than he was used to being in. Somehow, he was managing to not care at all.

It was helped by the fact that both Logan and Patton had been in the room at the start, but they had gone off to go… somewhere. Food sounded like it might have been the reason.

He liked food, and usually he would have been all for going to get some, but between them promising to bring him back some and the fact that he was never going to move ever again, he’d decided to stay.

Princess Marisol seemed to be the only other rational being in the whole castle because she had also not moved since discovering the contents of this room. She was currently laying on his chest purring happily.

The fireplace was a wonderful invention. Now, Virgil had, of course, warmed up by a fire before when it was cold, but this was much different. There was a grate that blocked off the fire a bit keeping it from burning the person in front of it and there was a plush rug right by it, perfect for laying down on. Someone had known what they were doing when designing this room.

He didn’t even care that the king had access to this sitting room as well as Logan.

…

Okay, so he did care a little bit, but he was ignoring that. He was probably busy this time of day anyway, right?

…

He really didn’t want to run into him after being caught watching the castle workers set up the bigger fireplaces. Kings probably didn’t like people sneaking around watching things from the shadows even when they didn’t know that the person sneaking around was literally sent to kill them.

Princess Marisol must have had a sixth sense for his anxieties (or he’d just started breathing faster and disturbed her) because she stirred a bit.

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She started up a calming purr as she moved to gently kneed his chest. “That sort of hurts,” he noted idly as she dug her little paws into his sternum. She responded by purring more. He moved his arm to scratch behind her ear.

Virgil still was feeling a little bit anxious about the fact that he was out in the open, though he very much did not want to leave the room with the nice fire, and Patton and Logan would be back soon anyway. He should find some way to distract himself, and, well, the best way to distract himself was to investigate his environment, and it had the added benefit of making him feel safer.

He carefully turned to his side to gently deposit Princess Marisol on the rug. She gave an insulted ‘mew,’ but quickly forgot her ire to sprawl across the ground with her belly to the fireplace. Virgil got to his feet and eyed the room as a whole.

It was fancy, to be sure, but a lot more homely than he’d expect to be in the royal wing. Logan’s bedroom was much more extravagant than this. It was closer to what he’d expect in the home of a financially stable, but not well-off family’s home both in contents and décor.

There was a nice, but older looking couch that was probably older than Logan, perhaps even older than the king. It was huge though and comfy looking. It had two chairs that weren’t quite matching but were close enough and a table in front of it that had slightly chipped wood. A seemingly random set of pillows was on it, none quite matching the rest, but all sort of earthy browns and greens. There were bookshelves stuffed with books of all different shapes and sizes, and a giant painting of a turkey of all things over the fireplace. The fireplace itself was probably the fanciest thing in the room.

Most of the fireplace was made out of bricks, though it had a wooden outline a good distance from the fire, and there was an ornate iron grate in front of it with pretty little leaf designs. On top of the mantle were little figurines that grabbed Virgil’s attention. They were small little wooden things carved into animals. Some were painted and some left the wood to be exposed. There were a good number of horses, but there were also things like rabbits and birds. There was even a few creatures Virgil did not recognize himself. They ranged in size from only about as big as his thumb to about as big as his hand.

He leaned closer to take a better look at them, careful to keep his legs away from the hot iron grate, though he could still feel the intense heat from how close he was. He did not dare touch them. The room may seem like it did not belong in a castle, but it still was in one, and who knows how expensive or important the little figures were.

He settled his chin on the edge of the mantel, getting as close to the decorations as he dared, his eyes locked on a little robin that had been painted orange and grey with a bright yellow beak and eyes that almost looked alive.

He spent a good minute staring at the wooden creature, before finally drawing back.

“They’re nice, aren’t they?” a voice asked, and Virgil just about jumped onto the ceiling, but there weren’t any good footholds, and the ceiling wasn’t very high besides and wouldn’t give much cover. “And that is why I waited until you stepped back,” the same voice said and perhaps it sounded a bit amused, but Virgil was not focusing on that.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered, cringing back. Why did he always have to be screwing something up when the king came upon him. Why did the universe hate him?

“Oh, it’s okay,” the king said. He was still by the door, having only paused outside of the room instead of coming in. “You weren’t doing anything wrong.”

He certainly had been doing something wrong even if he was allowed to get that close to little things that seemed so fragile (which he almost definitely wasn’t) or be in one of the royal rooms without Patton or Logan in sight. Virgil had come here to kill this man even if he didn’t know it. He was an assassin in one of the private royal chambers. If the king had any idea, Virgil would be dead

He made as though to take a step into the room, but he paused when he saw Virgil take a step back and grimaced. “I’ll, uh, just be going,” he said. “You can stay. You can look at the figurines all you want.”

Virgil looked at the man’s feet and didn’t say anything. He hoped he didn’t take that as an insult.

“Okay,” the king said. “Goodbye.”

He walked off then, likely to his own private room. When the footsteps faded, Virgil bent down to pick up Princess Marisol, who meowed her complaints at being pulled from the fire. He snuck quietly back into Logan’s room.

Logan and Patton found him in the closet 10 minutes later.

Chapter 38

It was a bad day for Virgil. Now, Virgil had been skittish for the past few days ever since Patton and Logan had left him half asleep on the sitting room rug and came back to him crammed into a closet with Princess Marisol for company. He hadn’t told them what had happened, but obviously something had, and he’d been jumpy ever since. However, today seemed even worse.

The snow outside had only gotten thicker in the last few days since the first snowfall, and it had put Virgil’s anxieties through the roof. Often literally.

This morning, Logan had a meeting with his Dad, and so it was Patton’s job to coax the boy out of his closet. He’d reportedly slept in Logan’s bed but had stalked off to huddle in on himself in the closet as soon as Logan had had to get up.

Patton entered Logan’s bedroom to a greeting meow from Princess Marisol. She, at least, was still in bed, happily perched on Logan’s pillow. “Oh, sweetie,” Patton said. “You know Logan doesn’t like cat hair on his stuff. She just purred happily, and Patton didn’t bother to push the issue any further. Instead, he turned to the closet.

He tapped twice. “Hey, Virgil, honey. Are you in there?” he asked, though he already was fairly certain of the answer.

There was a pause and then Virgil called back. “Yeah.”

“Can I open the door?”

A longer pause.

“Can I open the door long enough to join you in there?”

#proofread stories #not writing

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crescentsteel · 4 years

Text

Just Friends - Part 7

plot: fubu set up with Kuroo , model fem reader warnings: sexual tension, slow burn word count: 7.2k

A.N:

- Finally!! I'm so glad to finally release this. October was so hectic and I'm a very slow writer. - I'm so sorry for the mistakes on the previous chapters. No one beta reads for me. So I went back and edited Chapters 3-6. - So sorry for the word vomit on this chapter. I was out of control. - Thank you for all the nice comments!! I swear. They keep me fired up and inspired. - As always, lmk if you want to be tagged in any of my works,

Part 6 | Part 8 | m.list

“No! It’s not what you think!”

Kuroo almost laughs at how cliche you sounded, a typical response of someone who’s been caught red-handed. You’re about to chase Kenma, but he grabs your wrist to stop you.

“Maybe you should wear your shirt before you go after ‘im.” He tries to hide the mirth in his expression and tone. Your face is so red, you look like you’re about to burst. He also doesn’t want to add up more to the awkwardness you might feel later, so he’s gonna let this one slide. He’ll just pretend that the massage thing was as harmless as it should be.

You put your shirt in a jumble and walk briskly to Kenma. He follows at his normal pace, settling behind you when he catches up to you and Kenma.

“Sorry about that,” you laugh nervously. “He was just giving me a back massage.”

It was kinda the truth, but Kenma looks dubious.

“It sounded more than a massage.”

He covers his lips with his back hand so he wouldn’t laugh. Although his rascal self wants to tease you more, he can’t let you feel any more embarrassed than this. He looks at Kenma and shakes his head minutely with a knowing look, hinting not to push the subject any further.

“Naah. Y/n here is just really stressed so she moans like she’s being fucked.” Okay, maybe he couldn’t completely let it slide after all.

You irritatedly look at him and punch his arm with more force than usual. “Piss off,” you hiss.

He dramatically rubs the arm you just hit. “Ow! So violent.”

Kenma ignores the antics and just passes by you two. He’s about to plop himself on the couch, but pauses. He instead gets a chair and seats himself there.

You couldn’t overlook that. Obviously, in Kenma’s mind, you and Kuroo were doing something indecent there so he doesn’t want to be in it. You want to clear it up to Kenma that you really weren’t doing anything of that sort. Well, you were about to pounce on Kuroo, but still, it didn’t actually happen.

In a way, you’re relieved that Kenma interrupted at the right time. You might have done something you will harrowingly regret afterwards.

“Don’t sweat it, y.n. He just misinterpreted it.” Kuroo’s unusually magnanimous today. It’s strange. He wouldn’t have lived this down on a regular day. Maybe it's because of your no sex relationship? Still, this is aberrant of him. He shouldn’t fail to notice how that last moan of yours was not of comfort.

“Right?” He adds, his eyes gauging your own.

So that’s how it is. He is aware. But he’s giving you the option to disregard what just almost happened. You’re relieved, but also confused at the tiny shards of disappointment prickling in your chest. This is what you wanted, for you to avoid sex and Kuroo in the same room. It shouldn’t be confusing.

You look down and break away from the eye contact. You put a hand on your hip and the other on your temple, which then moves to brush your hair back.

With a long, audible puff, you speak.

“Of course, it was nothing,” you return to his gaze with a dry expression to camouflage the lie behind your words. But at the same time, you also wait for him to say something or for his eyes to show something other than indifference. You don’t know what it is you want or expect, but you wait for it. You’ll know it when you see it.

It doesn’t come though as he shrugs it off like it was nothing.

Disappointed, that’s what you are. You don’t like the feeling, but you are.

—

You ring your driver again, hoping that this time he’ll finally answer. If he doesn’t get to you any soon, you’ll be late for your shoot. You can’t be late for this shoot in particular. Mitsuki’s the creative director. She’s a very pleasant one, but she absolutely hates tardiness. No exceptions. She gets all sour and crank when someone’s late.

The other end of the line picks up. “Ms l/n. I’m so sorry. One of the tires got flat. I need to change it, but I’m still stuck in traffic.”

Of all the days to get a flat tire on a heavy traffic, it had to be this day. You exhale heavily to clear the irritation getting under your skin.

“How long before you’re here?”

“I think about an hour, Ms.”

You aren’t the type to get mad at hired help, but you’re really in a pinch. In an hour, you should be in hair and make up already, not arriving only then. Mitsuki gets enraged when someone’s 15 minutes late. To be late an hour, you can’t imagine how she’d be. There’s no way you’re going to wait here for an hour.

“Don’t come anymore. Just get it fixed.” You say coldly before you end the call. It wasn’t the driver’s fault. You wouldn’t bother getting a driver if your car hadn’t been acting up recently. Being dumb this morning, you forgot about your busted car and was late in this morning’s meeting with a client. You found yourself brisk walking in heels at the hotel’s lobby earlier just to save yourself from any more delayed minutes. And now, even your driver’s car is jacked up.

“Y.n?”

You turn around at the recognizable calm voice you heard. It’s Kenma, except he wasn’t alone. Kuroo is right there beside him. It was kind of weird to see them together at this place and both in business wear.

“What’re you two doing here?”

“I’m working with Kenma here to sponsor our next promotional video.”

You just stared at the two of them. You’re used to the three of you just fooling around when you’re together. Meeting like this when you’re all in the middle of doing your jobs is something new to you.

“And who might you be giving a hard time on the phone, hmm y.n.?”

They heard that? They must both be near while you were getting bummed out from being late this morning and potentially late this afternoon.

“Ah! I need to go. My driver can’t make it. I’m going to be late,” you spiral back to your hectic schedule. “Bye.” You give them a quick wave, and despite your heels, you walk as fast as you could towards the entrance of the hotel.

You try to hail cabs that were passing by, but almost every cab was occupied. And for some reason, someone always managed to get the empty cabs before you can even spot them. To worsen your luck, it began to rain. You frantically tap your left foot on the concrete as the panic sets in you.

Mitsuki’s gonna kill me.

You bite your lip and contemplate how you’re going to arrive in the venue on time. The answer you found made you turn back on your heels to go back inside the hotel, only to find them already there behind you.

“You’re here,” you exhale, relieved that they haven’t gone anywhere out of your sight. “I’m in a bind. Can anyone give me a ride?”

The two men exchanged pithy looks, but you don’t bother figuring out what that could’ve meant. You just need the help you typically won’t ask for since you’re always doing things on your own.

“I can’t. I have a stream coming up. Sorry, y.n.” Kenma first spoke. You shift to Kuroo, hoping that he can give you the time of day. “Yea, sure. Am free for the rest of the day actually.” He says with a brief smile.

“Oh, thank God!” The panic and nerves were clearing out of your system. Despite the awkwardness of your previous massage fiasco, right now, you’re glad that he can help.

“Bye, then.” Kenma quickly took his leave as the hotel valet stepped out from his car and handed him his keys.

“Should we go now?” Kuroo asked. “Aren’t we waiting for your car?” “No. I don’t want strangers handling my car.” “Then why did you go here?”

Amusement shows on his face at your question. “I saw your cute attempt to hail a cab. Is that how rich kids do it? Let someone else steal their ride for them?” You smile sweetly, disgustingly sweet, then roll your eyes before saying, “Let’s just go.”

You told him the location of the shoot. The drive was comfortable as you both share work conversations with your usual banters on the side. Being friends with Kuroo is confusing and reassuring at the same time. With the history you two shared, you need to tread the waters of your friendship carefully every once in a while. If it wasn’t the sexual tension, it was the affection you felt towards him that would sometimes seem like resurfacing. Even with all that, you can’t bear to walk away from what you presently have. You feel like you really found genuine company with him and Kenma.

“We’re here. Let me just get an umbrella.” He looks back to the back seat and stretches his right arm to reach for it. The current angle of his face emphasized his sharp jaw and the length of his neck. You were just thinking how you need to tread carefully, but easier said than done when you know exactly how your fingers have grazed that jaw, how your tongue has tasted that neck, and much more.

“What’s taking you so long? I might as well get drenched from the rain,” you snap because you can’t stand your own indecent thoughts.

“Found it.” He says and returns to his normal sitting position. “Why the hell are you suddenly cranky? Geez.” You feel bad for being suddenly grouchy. He was just being nice and you were being nasty for reasons you can’t tell him. “Sorry. Just don’t want to be late,” you apologized.

He shrugs it off nonchalantly. “Hey. Where’s my umbrella?” You ask when you see him reaching for the door with only one umbrella in his hand.

“We’re sharing this. I only have one.”

You purse your lips to the side and sharply avert your eyes elsewhere, your irritation resurfacing again. You feel uncomfortable with the idea of being that physically close to him. You’ve pushed the massage incident behind, but that doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten about it.

“What is up with you? What are you so pissed about?”

“Nothing. Can we go now?”

He stares at you for a good 3 seconds before getting out and opening his umbrella. He moves to your side of the vehicle and opens the door. You get out and try to avoid any raindrops. He closes the door and presses his car keys to lock the vehicle.

You both start to walk towards the entrance of the place. You’ve never felt more awkward in your life. You’re avoiding getting past the edge of the umbrella while also avoiding Kuroo’s body.

“Why is your umbrella so small?”

“The heck are you talkin about? This is the standard size.”

You don’t answer him. The umbrella isn’t small. He’s just huge and his whole body occupied almost all the space under the shade. You flinch when he suddenly grabs you by the shoulder and pulls you close, so close that you can feel the firmness of his body pressed onto yours.

You raise your gaze to him with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re gonna get wet if we don’t huddle closer.” You could accept his reason, if only you didn’t catch the miniscule curl of his lips and the skittish glint in his eyes. It was so typical of him really. Maybe you should stop being so worked up all the time.

“Fine.” Even though he was messing you, you can’t deny that it’s much more comfortable. You’re safe from the rain and his body provided heat from the coldness of the downpour.

He doesn’t do or say anything more as you both get to the doorway of the bar where the shoot will be held. He puts down the umbrella when you reach the shade of the building. Before you’re able to get away from Kuroo’s hold, the door opens. Mitsuki was holding her phone to her ear when she met your eyes.

“I was calling you and you weren’t — oh.” Her eyes flew to the hand on your shoulder and traveled to its owner. “Well, well, y/n. You leave for a good while, then come back loaded.” You can always count on Mitsku to not hold her tongue. You gently release yourself from Kuroo’s hold to avoid looking defensive. “It’s not like that,” was your thrift reply.

“Kuroo, this is Mitsuki, my creative director for today, sometimes my friend too. Mitsuki, this is Kuroo.”

Both of them exchange casual greetings for meeting the first time.

“How come you mention our relationship, but not yours?” referring to you and Kuroo. You sigh. “He’s also a friend.” You turn to Kuroo and thank him for the ride and his time.

“Is your driver picking you up?” he asked.

You seal your eyes shut at your own stupidity. Because you were panicking and irritated, you sent your driver home. You open them again and purse your lips in a straight line. “No. I’ll just take a cab.”

“With your cab-hailing skills in this rain? Good luck with that.” he snorts. “Haha. Real funny.” From the corner of your eyes, you see Mitsuki with an entertained grin on her face, obviously enjoying the exchange between you and Kuroo.

“Call me when you’re done. I’ll come pick you up then.” You want to protest but it will just drag on. You don’t want Mitsuki seeing more of the dynamics of your relationship, so you thriftly say “Okay.”

“Kuroo-san, right?” Both of you shift your attention to Mitsuki. “Actually, we need a male model because the scheduled one today is a total wimp and cancelled last minute.” She shamelessly eyed Kuroo from head to toe. So that’s why she was about to call you. The shoot was cancelled.

When she looks at you, you mouth the word “no” to let her know that she shouldn’t do what you think she’s about to do. The reaction you got was her smiling widening before speaking to Kuroo. “Do you have an agent? Can we talk over the phone right now to discuss?”

That’s when you step forward. “Uhhh. He’s not a model. He used to be a volleyball player, hence the height and build.” You say defensively. You nudge Kuroo with your elbow so that he’ll back you up, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s just there waiting for Mitsuki’s next words.

“An athlete, I see.” She nods approvingly. “That’s perfect! I don’t have to talk to anyone. It’s completely up to you then.”

“Errr. I don’t really know anything about modeling. Sorry.”

Your relief was short-lived when she tugs you to her direction and grips both of your shoulders. “Then your friend here can guide you. She’ll be your co-model anyways.”

He probably figured out by now why you were so apprehensive during the conversation just now. You don’t want him as your co-model.

His grin just confirmed your thoughts. “I’ll go for it then.” His eyes sparkling with mischief made you surrender. You already admit defeat in your head even though the shoot is just about to start.

You both get in hair and makeup. Being a woman, you take longer to finish. The clothes the stylists are arranging on you are taking while as well. They let you wear a very long, elegant gold dress that fits your upper body like your second skin, but the material is flowy from your waist down. When you arrive at the set, he’s already there talking with Mitsuki while waiting for you. Mitsuki notices you first. “Alright! We’re good to go.”

When Kuroo faces you, you almost don’t recognize him. His usual emo bangs were gone. They brushed his hair up cleanly. The suit he was wearing earlier was replaced by gray slacks and white long sleeve polo that has two top buttons open. You have conflicted feelings towards the hair and make up staff that did the work. They did a remarkable job with his overall style. He does look like a model like this. But also, why the hell did they make him look this damn good? The regular Kuroo was bad enough for you.

“This feels weird. I feel like I have too many things on me.” You scowl at his remark. “Too many? Wanna try being a girl?” He’s about to retort but Mitsuki claps twice which calls both of your attention.

“So our client is a liquor brand and the theme is something like wild love at the bar. What I want is you two giving the impression of having a passionate first encounter while you’re out drinking. Give me something and we’ll work it out as we go on, mkay?”

You knew you’d be working with a male model for this brand, but you didn’t expect that they’d go with something like this. You thought it was just going to be glamour shots to showcase the drink.

But what Mitsuki said, ‘Wild love at the bar’?? That is not something you’d want to be doing with him. It reminded you of the first night you met.

“I’m all ears on what to do, y/n” His haughty smile doesn’t help the situation one bit. You take a deep breath. This is not the time to muck around. You’re the experienced one, so you’ll be taking the lead. “Swear to me that you’ll take this seriously.” You glare at him, no trails of humor apparent. The change in his demeanor surprised you. You forgot how intimidating he can get when he’s serious. You’re so used to him being an idiot all the time that it catches you off guard. But for today, you’re glad to have it.

You explain to him how the whole shoot will go. For the first shot, you ask a staff member for a chair and tell Kuroo to sit on it. “Get the glass with the liquor and look at the camera while holding it.” He did as you told, except he has this perplexed look on his face with a noticeable discomfort from the way his lips curled in a corner.

“On second thought, maybe this is a bad idea,” he said after trying the first time. You want to agree with him, but the shoot is already happening. You just want to get over it already since you’re already there. “Nooo. Uh-uh.” Mitsuki’s tone took a sharp turn. She wasn’t happy with what Kuroo said. “Just imagine you’re in a bar, chilling with your favorite drink and you just snagged the hottest girl in the place.”

“Hottest girl aka me,” you comment on her instruction. That seemed to work because he changed back to his normal self and looked at you with amusement. “Just like the night we met, huh?” He said it low enough for only you to hear, but you still glanced nervously to Mitsuki if she caught any of it.

“That’s a nice expression, Kuroo! Keep looking at her like that.” You ease up since it looks like she didn’t hear it. You put your elbow on his shoulder and tilt your hips to give your waist an S curve while angling your body towards him at the same time. You lift your chin up a bit and look at the camera with parted lips.

“Yep. Looking good dear.” Mitsuki signals the photographer to start taking the shots. You both slightly alter your angles so the pose will have variations. Sometimes you look at Kuroo, smile flirtatiously at him, or look at the camera in a sultry way. Every time you two would look at each other, you’d ‘cheat’ and look at the bridge of his nose to give the illusion that you’re actually looking at his eye.

While looking at the shots from a separate screen, she suddenly asks the photographer to stop. You both straighten your bodies while awaiting instructions. “It looks nice,” she said before looking at your direction. “But it’s boring. There’s nothing wild about it.” You space out for a bit because for the first time, you don’t know how to proceed. You’re used to fashion shoots and runway. You’ve never had an ad with this theme. “Y.n, dear, can you be a bit aggressive towards him?”

You raise your eyebrow from disbelief. “A-aggressive?”

Mitsuki nods. “Throw yourself at him, dominate him, take control. mkay?” You feel a bit pressured when she’s just looking at you two and waiting for you to start posing for the camera. You don’t have a solid idea in your head, but you just go for it. You try to prop yourself up on the bar counter, but your dress won’t allow you.

Kuroo notices your dilemma and gets up from his seat. “You could’ve asked for help, you know.” He positions himself in front of you and grabs your waist. His hands were strong yet gentle. With your palms still on the surface of the counter, he lifts you up while you put weight on your arms so you can usher yourself properly. You’ve been deliberately avoiding his gaze, but right now, your eyes are glued to his face.

“Yes. Like that.” You both flick your gaze towards Mitsuki. “Do that.” She instructs the photographer to move the side so the angle of the shot captures you both without him blocking you completely. You realize the position you two have. “I agreed to this to make you uncomfortable, but I’m not gonna lie. I’m the one extremely uncomfortable right now.” Kuroo whispers with a hint of regret on his face. The camera flashes start going off but something clicked between the two of you that you two end up laughing. It’s probably the awkwardness and the nerves that’s been hanging on the air that something so shallow as Kuroo admitting his uneasiness, cracked you both up.

It was just a brief exchange of laughter but you feel relaxed. Even though Mistuki is pretty cool for a creative director, she’s still as serious as any professional. So when you see her smiling as you apologized for the delay, you’re a bit shocked.

“No worries dear. Let’s continue then.”

You feel more confident now. You’re you. The reason you became successful on an international level is because of your professionalism and ability to produce quality results.

From being seated on the counter, you’re a few centimeters taller than Kuroo. That completed the idea in your head. You took the glass drink and placed it on your right hand. “Put your hands on my hips,” you tell him then lightly lift his chin with your index finger, “and look at me like you worship me.” The command earned a raised eyebrow from him but you pay no heed to it.

You extend an arm over his right shoulder, the glass dangling on your fingertips. With your index finger on his chin, you look to the camera with provocative eyes. If anything looks wrong with Kuroo, you’ll just let Mitsuki handle it. After all, she’s the one who asked him to be a part of this.

“Oh yea! That’s really good.” Compared to before, she looks pleased with the shots now. The pose was captured a few times before she speaks again. “Instead of using your finger, grab his hair to tilt his head back.” You comply immediately and tugs his locks downwards. You might’ve done it a bit rougher than you wanted because you heard a raspy grunt from his throat. You got distracted, so instead of looking at the camera, you look at him.

You regret it. When you said he should look at you with worship, you didn’t think he’d do it this well. Because his hair is pushed completely all the way back, you see every aspect of his face. Nothing was blocking his eyes that were full of yearning and desire. He’s looking at you like you’re not just the hottest girl in the bar, but the most beautiful person he’s ever laid eyes one.

“Pull him closer and look here y.n.” You do as you’re told, thankful that you needed to look somewhere else. “Damn. You two look so good right now.” She gently claps her hands while looking at the monitor.

“I’m already satisfied, but let’s just do one more for another option. Umm, Kuroo. You be the aggressor this time. Y/n, …. you know what to do.” She winks after.

Well, not really you don’t. She just wants you to do the thinking on what to do. You put the glass down and put both your hands on his shoulders. “Help me down?” You ask with an easygoing smile. You don’t want to ruin the momentum of the shoot, so you decide to be nice to him for now.

“You got it,” then his hand travels up your waist and guides you down back to the floor. You tell him to lean on the counter. He follows with no complaints. You get his arm and ushers him to wrap it on your waist. When he goes along with your silent instruction, you raise your leg to his side.

“Tug my skirt up to my thighs.”

He doesn’t react and just squints at you.. “Huh?” Since he did not grasp what you meant, you take it to yourself to do it and slowly gather the material at the ends. Then, you yank it up to your thigh. “Get it?” He whistles as he gets the cloth from your hands. “Hey. Don’t do that. If you’re a real model, you’d be in trouble if I report that behavior.”

“But I’m not a real model, am I?” You glare at his provocation. You won’t be having any of his crap at your workplace. “Kuroo,” you say with a menacing glare and he immediately gets the threat behind it. “My bad, my bad. I’ll behave again, kay? Stop scowling now.” You relax your face and take a deep breath. “Moving on then.” You enclose your left arm on his neck while you plant your right on his chest. You don’t want to direct him any further than this. If this is unsatisfactory, Mitsuki will say something.

Aaaand she does. “Kuroo-san. Aggressive please. Own her. You don’t want her to get away from you.” Upon hearing Mitsuki’s additional instructions, everything about him intensifies three folds. He pulls you even closer, causing your breath to hitch when his face is dangerously near yours all of a sudden. His sleeves don’t do anything to mask the firmness of his arms. And even with the velvet fabric, you can still the strength of his thighs as they’re pinned on yours. The heat of his hand ignited the skin of your thigh as he clutched the fabric and your flesh forcefully. And his eyes, they no longer worship you. They spoke of something similar, but not quite.

He wants to devour you whole.

It was too overwhelming for you, so you look away and close your eyes dramatically to make it seem like you’re being swept away in the moment. After one camera flash, “Okay dear, but I need you to look at him this time.”

The few seconds of breaking away from his fiery stare did you some good. You were able to collect yourself again, but not enough to truly look at him. You just focus your gaze right between his eyes as you did earlier.

“Nooo. When I said look at him, I meant really look at him. Respond with your own passion. You’re looking a bit of a scared vegetable right now, honey.” You’ve never had feedback like that in forever. Maybe when you tried modeling the first few months, you received something similar to that. But never when you started doing it full time.

You don’t want to, but you have to. You finally meet his gaze and tap into something inside yourself that you’ve been holding back. You let your desire for him deluge you, let it surge through your veins until you’re aching for him. You push yourself even closer to him, not allowing even air to pass between your bodies.

“Yes! YES! You want him so much, but you shouldn’t.”

It was just as she said. You want him so much, so much that it almost hurts. You part your lips slightly as you get lost in the moment.

“Oh my God.” Her words sounded distant. It was there. You can hear it, but what clouded your senses was your heart pounding hard against your chest, his hot breath mingling with yours, and the way his eyes are now devoted to your lips. Not long after, he angles his face so that your lips are almost touching. Just a tiptoe and a kiss will already take place. You clench your fingers on his shirt, holding yourself back from that one tiny push that will allow you to feel his lips on yours again.

“Holy Shit! HOLY SHIT! That was it. That was the money shot.” Mitsuki’s shrill voice which was followed by her squeal broke the trance you were in. You know what she meant. The shoot is done. Yet, you still feel hot. The heated atmosphere around you two still hasn’t caved in. He let go of your thigh as you put some space away from him. You settle your hands on his shoulders while you rest your forehead on his chest. He doesn’t move either. His hand remains on your waist, but without the force this time. With his other hand, he caringly skims the curve of your shoulder.

“You okay, kitten?”

His voice is so gentle, you nearly convince yourself that it sounded loving. You nod weakly before heading back to the dressing room without saying anything.

Kuroo’s gaze followed your back as you disappeared. He was amazed but also bothered at what just happened. You looked really into it, like you really wanted him. If the shoot didn’t finish any sooner, he might have closed that tiny gap that separated your lips from his. He’s been aching for you for so long that his control is slipping inch by inch every time there’s an opportunity to cross that line of friendship you set. When he saw you let go and completely relent within his hold, it was maddening at how he couldn’t have you at the moment. What’s worse is that even without the glamorous set, he knows you’re still not his to have.

He walks towards the room where his clothes were hung and changes back to his usual suit. He asked the make up staff to remove everything on his face. He doesn’t like the feeling of having a layer of cosmetics on his skin. The hair they couldn’t do anything about because they used a lot of product to fix it up.

When he gets out of the room, Mitsuki approaches him with a satisfied look on her face

“You did so well for someone with no experience at all. Do you have a card? I can hook you up for other gigs. You’ll do great.”

He smiles graciously at her generous offer, but he doesn’t want it. “Sorry, but I’m not really interested. I only did it cause it was her.” He said truthfully. Mitsuki’s mouth curled in amusement. “You know, y.n’s really good to work with. She always had this cool facade that never went down, and it works for her. We love her for it. But today,” she pauses as she gives him a meaningful look. “I’ve never seen her show such vulnerability and rawness. It was,” she sighs with admiration for you.

“Beautiful, wasn’t it?” He knows exactly what she’s saying. After all, he has seen several times how captivating your authenticity can be.

“Soo, are you two dating or what?” Her eyebrows twitch up and down from anticipation at what he’s about to answer. He badly wants to say yes, but he doesn’t have that luxury. “Naaah. Like she said, I’m just a friend.”

She’s obviously dissatisfied with his response. He is too, but that’s the lousy truth. Out of the blue, she takes her phone out. “Too bad though. You two looked really good here.” She showed him the photo and it was you and him earlier. You were seated in the counter with your arms on his shoulders and his hands on your waist. It was when you were both laughing at his stupid statement.

“Can you send me that photo?”

“Why should I?”

He’s well aware of what she’s trying to do. It’s a business transaction, except for the lack of formality. She wants to get something in return, and he knows exactly what it is.

“You’re good.” He admits with an impressed glint in his eyes.

“I am. So what’ll it be?” He knows that she knows she has the upperhand of the negotiation. She could probably tell that there’s something going on with the two of you. It’s just a matter of deciding which information to give her. But he didn’t have the fortune of having too many options. He didn’t want to reveal the nature of your relationship before. He wasn’t sure of your feelings for him. He can only speak for himself.

“Fine. I sorta like her.”

Her eyes brighten up. “Aha! I knew it. You should totally ask her out, kay? You’re gonna have tall and beautiful babies.” She put one hand on her cheek and closed her eyes while screeching at her own daydream of you and him getting together. When she calms down, she sends you the image file. “For real though. I’ve never seen her like that,” she points to your dazzling face in laughter in the photo.

“Hey. What’re you two talking about?” You’re back to your normal clothes, but your hair and makeup was still there.

“Nothing. Let’s go now?” He spoke immediately before your nosy director could say something. He walks to your direction before heading out together. “Bye! Update me, Kuroo-san!” Mitsuki said as she waved goodbye. You couldn’t help but be curious on what he should update her about.

The rain stopped so no more umbrella horseplay. When you both get inside his car, you immediately ask him, “What was that about?”

“Uhh. She asked if I wanted to do other modeling projects.”

“Do you?”

He didn’t hesitate before answering, “No. That sort of stuff is not for me. I only did it to piss you off.” He starts the engine, then pivots his body to face you. “I must say though. I enjoyed seeing you eyefuck me.” Just when you are getting used to the peaceful, non-smug Kuroo, his true personality kicks right back in. Good thing you took your time getting changed and basically just calmed yourself down.

“Glad you did. That’s the most you can get from me after all.”

His smile turned upside down at your remark. “Tch.” Your lips tug upwards at the side from his lack of retaliation.

“I haven’t told you yet, but it wasn’t my first modeling experience.”

You’re a bit surprised. Even though he has the appearance of a model, you didn’t think he’d do it. You agree with what he said just a while ago. It wasn’t for him. He’s best at his job right now.

He gets his phone and scrolls up. He must be looking for a photo to show you as proof. When you see his screen, your heart swells. It was you and him a year ago. The neckline of your shirt was pulled to your shoulder for a makeshift off-shoulder while he knotted his t-shirt to form a crop top. You two wore large smiles while posing silly in front of the cam. It was right after when you told him that you’re a model.

“I- you... umm. You kept these?” You swipe the screen and see every single photo you took that day. Not one was deleted. You remember the laughter and absurd joy behind each frame.

“Yea. Why wouldn’t I?”

One more swipe and there’s no other photo after yours. That’s when you notice that the photos are in the Favorites album. You felt like you were about to tear up. You’ve never felt so cherished in your whole life. Even though you left without saying a proper goodbye and no indication of going back, he still kept them. You tried so hard to forget about him, yet there he was, keeping these small tokens of what you had - proof that you really had been a part of his life.You felt something inside you crumble piece by piece. You should be scared, but at the moment, you don’t feel any fear. Instead, you were enraptured.

You can feel your cheeks hurting from how wide your grin is. You don’t bother hiding it from him.

“Can you send these to me?” You turn to him with the smile still plastered on your face, but he frowns at your question.

“Those photos came from you.”

You look back at his phone, your big smile reduced into a faint one that’s traced with melancholy. “I deleted them when I went to the US.” If he asks why, you wouldn’t know how to answer. Fortunately, he doesn’t. He gets his phone back from your hand and fiddles with it a bit. A few seconds later, you hear a notification from your own phone. When you open it, all the photos are sent to you.

He looks at you warmly, his face devoid of anything but heartfelt fondness. “There. Like you never got rid of them.”

---

You lie on your bed with bottomless thoughts that night. Kuroo’s words weighed more than they should in your head as you stare at the photos.

You deleted them to completely erase any trace of his existence in your life. Now they’re back in your phone with not a single photo missing from the stack. Ironically, it’s also you who asked for them back. Yet, you don’t mind. You came to accept that those memories existed. They happened. There’s no use trying to forget they did when he’s already back in your life anyways.

Looking at you and Kuroo in the images, you can’t avoid thinking how simple those times were. You were just two cool people who had sex for fun. You had no clue things would happen as they did - falling for him, leaving, and for some reason - destiny or whatever, meeting him again. The past you tried to leave behind crept up to you and there wasn’t anything you could do about it.

You thought you’ve moved on. You’ve thoroughly convinced yourself that you’ve disposed of all unnecessary emotions that involved Kuroo. You thought that whatever it is that you felt when you met him again was just remnants of yesterday. You were so wrong. That‘s just what you tried to tell yourself, repeating the idea over and over in your head until you believed it.

But it never really happened. You haven’t forgotten about him. When you went on dates in the U.S., you’d remember him. So you stopped trying to see anyone and attributed that to being scared of getting hurt again. Hence, you shut yourself out to anyone until you no longer found dating to be interesting. You told yourself getting in a relationship would just get in the way of your career.

That wasn’t true.

The truth is just as he said. Your feelings for him are still there, you never did get rid of them. The question now is how to proceed from here.

You jerk when your phone rings right at your hand.

‘Kuroo’

You don’t want to answer it. You basically just admitted to yourself that you’re still in love with him. Hearing his voice right now would be dangerous for your fragile heart.

But it might be something important. He doesn’t usually call.

You press the answer button. You were about to say hello, but your heart was beating so fast that you were unable to get any word out.

“Hello?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat so you could speak. “Yeah?”

“Is something wrong? You sound a bit off?” How he could tell even through a phone call is unbelievable. “Everything’s fine. Why’d you call anyways?” You do your best to sound normal. “Block your Thursday next week. I’m throwing a party.”

“What for?”

“Mmm. Just felt like having one.”

You minimize the call to check your calendar if you had any plans that day. “Alright. I have an event in the morning, but that night’s free.”

“Nice!!” He sounded a bit too glad.

“Is that why you called?” It’s a bit suspicious that he rang you just for that. It’s just a party. He could’ve texted you instead.

“Why? Am I not allowed to call when I want to?” Your heart skips a beat from the playful tone in his voice. You picture him smirking on his phone while he’s lying in bed. You bite your lip at the image in your head.

Screw you and your stupid imagination.

“Good night, Kuroo.” You said dismissively. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to say anything else important anyways. He chuckles from the other line before speaking so ever softly with tenderness that gives you butterflies in your stomach.

“Good night, kitten.”

It was just a simple good night but you were reeling. You fight the smile that was forcing itself to form on your lips. You look at your photos one more time and sigh.

You are so in love with him.

On the other end, Kuroo is all smiles to himself. Nothing beats hearing your voice after a long day. Once again, he stares at the photo Mitsuki gave him that afternoon. He wishes it was real. He wishes you were smiling for him, laughing with him, and happy with him. If only you gave any indication that you like him more than a friend, he would’ve made his move.

Even though he knows you still desire him, he wouldn’t settle for just sex. He doesn’t want a repeat of the past. He wants something further than that and more importantly, you deserve better than that. But so far, he could tell you were enjoying the friendship and companionship only. Even if he wanted to take things forward, he’s not sure that that’s what you want. You haven’t given anything away for him to make his move. He doesn’t want to risk it and have you running for the hills.

Will he ever make you fall for him? Should he just leave things as is or do something bolder for you to realize that to him, you’re not just a friend?

He sighs.

He’s so in love with you.

Part 6 | Part 8 | m.list

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