#like he doesn’t know literally oh this is comic books. but he can see the cracks in their reality more than the others can

[andvys]

sooo... I saw that your requests are open so maybe something with Henderson!reader who secretly has a crush on Eddie/Steve (you know I love them both so it's your choice here 🤭) and she has a fight with Dustin and this little shrimp (with all the love Dusty-bun) and his big mouth scream in nerves something about said crush and of course Eddie/Steve hears it, happy ending here pretty please 🥹

of course you don't have to write it if you don't like the idea! no pressure here, hope you have an amazing day Andy 🩷

My only angel E.M.

Warnings: slight angst, mentions of unrequited feelings, mutual pining, happy ending of course, mostly fluff

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Henderson!Reader

Word count: 2.5K

Note: thank you for this request bestie! I loved writing it!

stranger things masterlist

-

You love your brother, you really do but that little shrimp, how Eddie likes to call him, can truly get on your nerves sometimes. You do anything for him, which is probably why he is so insatiable. You always spoiled him, that was probably your first mistake but you love getting him things that he loves so much, whether it’s new comics, books, movies or anything DnD related. A lot of your savings are spent on him, you know it’s not your job to get him all this stuff all the time but he is your little brother and you love seeing that big smile on his face whenever he gets excited about the things you get him. 

You drive him around when Steve is too busy to do it, you cook him lunch and dinner when your mom has no time to do it, you bake things for him and his friends and you let him host movie nights even though you love having the living room to yourself on Friday nights. 

You always say yes to him. 

But not this time. 

“Come on, are you serious?” Dustin exclaims, rolling his eyes at you as he follows you to your locker. 

“Very serious, Dustin!” 

“You can literally do it any other night, y/n!” 

Mike, Will and Lucas are tagging along with him, giving you their best puppy eyes. 

You open your locker, staring into blank space as you take a deep breath before you turn back around to look at the teens. 

“You know what? I’ve been waiting for this night for weeks! Mom is out of town, you were supposed to be at Mike’s place if I remember correctly and I was supposed to have the house to myself!” 

Mike furrows his brows, “why can’t you have your girls night at our place? You can have the basement,” he shrugs. 

“Yeah, the basement is nice!” Will smiles, though he doesn’t look like he wants to be a part of this argument. 

“Yeah, I’m sure Nancy and Robin would be fine with that,” Lucas says, giving you an unsure grin. 

“Exactly!” Dustin rolls his eyes. 

You tilt your head, “why don’t you host your DnD thing in your basement? That’s where you always used to play!” 

Dustin puts his hand on his forehead, “or you can just hang out in your room and we’ll have the living room to ourselves, that way we can all have what we want!”

You laugh, shaking your head in disbelief, “I want the living room, in fact, I want the whole house to myself, for once!” 

Dustin scrunches his face up in confusion, “oh come on, y/n, please!” 

Mike and Lucas nod along, “please, we don’t want any parents around, they aren’t exactly fans of Eddie.” 

Your features soften a little, something that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed by your little brother. 

You sigh, crossing your arms over your chest, you shake your head. You, Nancy and Robin have planned your only girls night for weeks, there is no way that you will let any boys interrupt it. 

“Nope.” 

Dustin’s face grows red, he rolls his eyes and throws his hands up, “son of a bitch,” he mumbles to himself, “is it because of your crush on Eddie? Are you scared that you will embarrass yourself when he’s around the way you always do?”

Your jaw drops and your eyes widen as you look at your brother. 

Mike’s eyes widen as well, he opens his mouth to say something but quickly closes it again when he sees the metalhead behind you, his expression mirroring yours. 

Will looks down, feeling sorry for you. 

Lucas cups his mouth, looking like he’s about to burst into laughter. 

Dustin’s face grows pale, regret flickering in his eyes when he sees the shocked and embarrassed look on your face and the surprised one on Eddie’s. 

“What?!” 

That’s the question you ask yourself, internally. That voice did not belong to you though, this is Eddie’s voice. 

Your blood runs cold and your stomach churns. Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath. Oh, how you wish the ground would just swallow you whole. Your cheeks heat up and embarrassment rushes through you. 

Eddie, whose face is more flustered than ever, steps around you, staring at you with wide eyes, “y/n, is that the truth?” 

You can only imagine what he thinks and what he feels, you spare yourself the embarrassment of being rejected. You don’t look at him, you don’t even bother to answer the question, you slam your locker shut, “host your goddamn campaign, Dustin,” you spit before you walk away without sparing any of them a single look. 

Eddie’s big eyes follow you, watching you walk away with your head hung low. His heart skips a beat, butterflies swirling in his stomach. You have a crush on him? The girl he has been pining for, feels the same? 

“Dustin,” Will mumbles, “how can you embarrass your own sister like that?” He shakes his head. 

“Yeah, dude,” Lucas mumbles.

Mike scratches his head and glances at Eddie who looks awestruck.

“Shit,” Dustin mumbles, closing his eyes. 

Eddie finally turns to look at him, putting his hand on the teen’s shoulder, he looks down at him, “Henderson, is that the truth?” Eddie asks, “your sister has a crush on me– on me?” He points to himself in confusion. 

Mike and Lucas share a look, smirking a little. 

Dustin finally opens his eyes, looking nervously up at his dungeon master, he is unsure of what to say, not wanting to embarrass you any further, he shrugs. 

Lucas sighs, rolling his eyes at his friend, “yes, Eddie. She has a crush on you.” 

Mike nods, “yeah, she was actually talking about you with my sister.” 

Eddie looks at them, “really?” 

Dustin squints his eyes, taking in the excited look on Eddie’s face, “wait,” he mumbles, “do you like my sister?” 

Eddie swallows, cheeks growing red.

“Holy shit!” Dustin exclaims as the three teens start smirking at him but before any of them can say anything else, Eddie turns around and runs off just the way you did, leaving them all giggling. 

-

You and Eddie aren’t the closest friends, that is probably because of your huge crush on him. Dustin isn’t wrong, you do tend to embarrass yourself in front of him. 

Whenever he is around, you turn into a blushing mess, you barely manage to form a sentence when he talks to you, all he ever gets are short responses, shy smiles and little waves. The poor guy probably thinks you hate him but he really just makes you incredibly nervous. 

You always had a crush on him, from the first moment you had laid your eyes on him, you had a special place in your heart for the handsome metalhead, not knowing that he feels just the same. 

You never talked much to him, only when you sat next to each other during class or saw him outside of school but you weren’t brave enough to make the move to become his friend or anything more than that. 

When your brother befriended him and he started coming around, stealing your job of driving him around, he always left you a blushing mess. Eddie was always a flirt, throwing random pickup lines at you, gifting you a flower that he picked from your mother’s garden or someone else’s property, holding doors open for you or carrying your books to classes but you never thought much of it, you thought that he’s like that with every girl. 

He is not. 

You fear that, that is over now, that he is weirded out by your crush on him. Thanks to your brother and his big mouth, your day and the rest of your week is ruined. 

All day, you have been avoiding Eddie, trying your best to avoid eye contact. The thought of being confronted and rejected makes you feel both mortified and heartbroken. 

You successfully manage to get through the day without running into him again. Now, you’re alone in your room, sulking, listening to Tears for Fears and glaring at your diary, the one that Dustin must’ve read, how else would he know of your crush and your hopeless feelings for Eddie? 

A knock on your window pulls you out of your thoughts, startling you a little. You throw the ripped out pages on your bed and turn around, eyes widening when you see Eddie who stands in front of your window with a smile on his face, waving at you shyly.

Your heart begins to race, your eyes widen. Nervously, you make your way towards it, he purses his lips, staring at you in excitement. Sliding the window open, you lick your lips and take a deep breath, “h-hi?” You mumble nervously. 

He is not here to reject you is he? 

Eddie smiles and you just now notice the flowers in his hands.

Surely, a guy who is about to reject you, won’t show up with flowers and a smile on his face, right?

“Hello princess,” he grins, looking giddy as he eyes you. 

You blush at the pet name, breaking eye contact, you look down. 

“Can I come in?” 

You nod and step aside to let him in, you dig your nails into your palms, a nervous habit that you have picked up on, years ago. You look down at yourself, growing incredibly flustered when you realize that you’re only wearing a big shirt and underwear. 

He climbs inside and shuts the window before he turns around to face you, he can’t even fight the smile off his face when he sees how nervous you are, “here, these are for you,” he whispers, holding out the flowers for you. 

Your eyes light up, looking up at him, you notice the excitement in his dark eyes, his plump lips are set in a bright smile. 

You reach for the flowers, your fingertips graze his knuckles as you take the flowers from him, “thank you,” you smile, glancing at the pink and yellow flowers, “those are not from mom’s garden,” you giggle. 

Eddie shakes his head, “no, they’re not,” he smiles, “I picked them out just for you, there’s a huge field of flowers close to Lover’s Lake,” he explains. He licks his lips, looking around the room that he has only passed by whenever he came over to pick up Dustin, “maybe I could take you there…. tomorrow? To Lover’s Lake, I mean.” 

Your heart flutters in your chest, excitement bubbling in your stomach. 

“To do what?” You ask, tilting your head, “isn’t that like a popular makeout spot?” 

His eyes widen and he chuckles, “no, according to all the jocks at school, skull rock is a popular makeout spot,” he says, stepping closer to you, he smiles as he watches you smelling the flowers, “but we could always make Lover’s Lake a new makeout spot, just for us, of course.” 

Your eyes widen even more, your cheeks grow incredibly hot. 

Your reaction makes him smirk, a sense of pride rushing through him for being so ‘smooth’. 

You giggle, forgetting all about the embarrassment and the fear you have felt before.

“Just for us?” 

He steps even closer to you, bringing his hand up, he brushes your hair back, tucking it behind your ear, “I wouldn’t want to take any other girl there, sweetheart,” he says, eyes softening, “but you gotta stop running away from me, I’ve been trying to catch you all day.” 

You draw your brows together and look up at him with big eyes, it makes him weak in the knees. 

“Tell me, is that little shrimp telling the truth?” He asks with big and hopeful eyes. 

You blink, your breathing quickens and you grow nervous all over again. 

“If he is, then I’d be the happiest and luckiest man in the world, princess.” 

Your heart leaps to your throat, you can’t believe it. 

“Really?” You breathe. 

He nods with a large smile on his face. 

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m like really obsessed with you,” he admits, cheeks redder than ever. 

“Wait what?” 

He chuckles, shaking his head as he cups your cheek, “I thought, I made it pretty obvious.” 

Not only does Eddie use every opportunity to talk to you, to spend time with you, he also creates DnD characters based on you, he drives around Hawkins, searching for the perfect flowers for you, he picks up Dustin just so he can see you, even if it’s only for one minute, he does anything to see you and to be with you and he explains all that to you, leaving you standing there with a shocked and awestruck look on your face. 

“I-I thought you do that for every girl,” you admit. 

“Never!” Eddie frowns, “I only want one girl,” he says as he reaches for your hand, bringing it up to his lips, he keeps looking into your eyes as he presses a kiss to your knuckles, “I only want you, sweetheart. So, will you take pity on my cynical heart and do me the honor and go on a date with me?” He asks, dramatically and with a teasing look in his eyes. 

Your giggle makes his soul happy.

Eddie is so crazy about you. He loves your beautiful voice, it always makes his heart flutter. He loves your sweet smile. He loves the way you get so flustered whenever he just looks at you. He loves your perfume. He loves the way you make him feel. The way you have always been so good and sweet to him, the way you always make him smile and happy, even on his worst days.

You're his angel.

“I would love to go on a date with you, Eddie Munson,” you smile. 

“Really?” He exclaims happily. 

“Yes!” 

He fist bumps the air before he scoops you up in his arms and twirls you around, giggling at the squeal that leaves your lips as you wrap your arms around his neck, still holding the flowers in your hands. 

“This is the best day of my life,” he whispers when he places you back on the ground, giving you a toothy grin, he can’t even help himself, leaning closer, he kisses your cheek, “can’t believe that your little brother made it the best day.” 

“You should’ve asked me out before,” you whisper. 

“Sweetheart, I didn’t think you were into me, I feel like I’ve been flirting with you for months!” 

“I didn’t think you were flirting!” 

“Wasn’t I obvious?” 

You shrug, “I thought that you were just a flirt!” 

He scoffs, putting his hands on the small of your back, he pulls you tightly against him, “only for you.” 

You smile at him. Raising your hand, you run your fingers through his hair and push it back, reaching for one of the smaller flowers in your little bouquet, you pick it out and tuck the stem behind his ear. 

Eddie chuckles at your action but his heart flutters when you lean in and kiss his cheek. 

“You’re pretty, Eddie.” 

“Yeah?” He asks, blushing. 

You nod. 

“I think you’re prettier,” he whispers, smiling at you, “you’re the prettiest.” 

“No, that’s you.” 

“No, you!” 

Neither of you notice the hushed whispers outside of your door, too busy and focused on each other.

“Oh, they’re so gross already,” Dustin mumbles with a disgusted look on his face. 

Lucas and Mike giggle. 

“I think, they’re super cute,” Will smiles with a happy look on his face. 

“I think Eddie will come over for something other than the campaign this weekend,” Lucas says, wiggling his brows. 

Dustin groans, shaking his head, “ew!” 

[rainybyday]

Wayne Spirit Au (now)

IDEA

So, if the Infinite Realms is basically a connection for many many many dimensions do you think Danny would go to the dc dimension after realizing what this means

Like imagine dc is also a fandom in the ‘Danny Phantom’ universe that Danny is a big fan of. He would never think that such a world exists but the idea of it is so cool, and he wish he can go to a world such as that. 

But that was before he kind-of-sort-of-possibly-died-and-is-now-currently-half-dead-and-would-you-look-at-that-he-became-ghost-king-what-a-small-world-we-live-in

well, it’s about to get smaller

Now when he finds out that the Infinite Realms is a connection to other realms, he doesn’t think much of it because he thinks it’s like worlds that have a boy Sam or Mr. Lance as president kind of thing. He doesn’t think much of it until he realizes the extent of what “dimensions” means

Finding out that one of your childhood heroes are real in a different world literally blew his mind

So, imagine this young teenage Ghost King DC nerd willingly going to the dc universe to geek out and possible spook his heroes for the heck of it

Oh! IDEA!!!!!

What if he goes to the dc!universe back and forth where to him it would be like a day and it would be weeks or even years in the dc!universe so he would be young even if years pass by. The heroes are being haunted by this weird ghost kids for years!

GASP

WAIT

What if the Bats were his favorite heroes? 

Like imagine an excited Danny going to Gotham expecting to see Batman but came during the time when Bruce was still a child and was disappointed, like, he wanted to see big bad batman not a child >:0

But every time he comes back, he would just like watch over Bruce thinking like how this kid couldn’t possibly be Batman while also getting attached to the child Bruce. Durning the night he would tuck him in tighter, hum a tone when their alone or blowing cold air his way when its summertime. The little things. 

Bruce thinks it’s his imaginary friend or like the spirit of Gotham

(shot i made another idea in an idea but i’ll come back to that later)

Danny comes back one day to find out it’s been days since the murder of the Wayne’s, and he’s excited to see how the Batman comes to life only to see a devastated crying and depressed Bruce.

that’s when he realized he was waiting for a murder in order to have a child-like enjoyment of seeing one of his childhood heroes for the price of a child to lose their parents

he made a mistake

he wants to fix it but Clockwork refused point blank that he can’t change the past, however, he won’t stop him from taking any action after as whatever he does will affect this universes even more, 

After that Danny made it his mission to bring Bruce comfort and protect him from any types of threats from greedy rich higher ups to thieves coming to steal from the Wayne Mannor. He comes back and forth to his world and this world to look after Bruce and learns how the character in his comic book pages became a person he cares for. 

He watches him leave to train

He watches him come back

He watches him become Batman

He watches him become a father

 (From there I don’t know if Danny would change major things like Jason’s death or even Bruce’s journey through time, but I’ll like to think he does something when it comes to find Damian or even bring in Tim earlier rather than letting him go through that rollercoaster ride he had called a ‘personal life’)

(And yes through this all Danny is still a teenager but he can be around 17-19ish by the time Damian’s 14 or so)

Danny became something of a Wayne protector and Bruce knows that something/someone is keeping him safe as both Bruce and Batman and just let it be. This spirit or thing was there since his childhood so he has a certain attachment to whatever good will this spirit was providing him and pass down the knowledge to Dick and then his children when he notices that the spirit was protecting or helping his children as well

Like:

“B, I didn’t know you have a great singing voice!”

Bruce paused from his newspaper and looked up. “What do you mean?”

Dick pop a piece of bacon in his mouth before talking again, food flying everywhere. “You were humming me to sleep before your patrol!” 

“Mouth close Master Dick,” Alfried wiped the counter. He looked at Bruce with a raised eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware Master Bruce had to time to see the young master to bed.”

Bruce took only a second to understand. “Ah. No that wasn’t me. It seems our littler friend likes you chum.”

“Friend?”

“There are many things you must learn when living in the Wayne Manor Master Dick. Learning to find a little help now and again without one of us at present is also one of the number of things you will expecting while at your stay.”

[okaystoptellingmetomakeanaccount]

Guys. Scrooge McDuck already traveled the multiverse in 1995

Hey look, it’s the doors from doctor strange

-my dad

This year will mark a historical moment in Disney comics history. The first Marvel-made Scrooge McDuck comic. Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime coming up in June will have Scrooge travel through the multiverse to defeat an evil AU version of himself.

To some unfamiliar with Disney comics, this might sound like a lame idea in the trend of many multiverse stories that we are seeing in the cinemas today.

To some familiar with Disney comics, this sounded exactly like the plot of Zio Paperone e il predone dimensionale.

Truth is, the multiverse has always been a part of… just comic books. It’s now starting to slip into other mediums because of the many, many comic book adaptations just getting to that point of the lore, but the comic books themselves have had it for a long time now. Including Disney comics.

Though for Disney it’s less a case of: we wanted to explain continuity errors and then went a bit too far, and more a case of: if you have comics coming out literally every single day of the week then at some point you just get to the multiverse.

There are many of these to be found in Disney comics, which we might talk about later if someone is interested or I feel like it, but today we are going to go over the one most similar in premise to the upcoming Marvel release.

Because I just think it’s really funny how similar they are. Like at this point I would call it a reboot.

Oh oh, Scrooge and multiverse, look at this. I’m pretty sure the Loki tv series just copied their time doors from this comic.

Federico Povoleri wrote a pretty simple story. Someone is stealing from Scrooge again, and this time, the culprit turns out to be… himself!

‘Our’ Scrooge is signified by the red coat (and later the multiverse hopping suit). All the alternates will be clad in blue. DT87 Scrooge is just another AU that no one cares about confirmed

This stealing Scrooge is our ‘Scrooge above all’. He wants to be richer than all his other variants and steals from them for that or something. I don’t remember very well but why he does it doesn’t matter. It’s evil Scrooge and he steals that’s all we need to know.

As we have seen already, he escapes with an universe hopping door. As he always does within these kinds of situations, Scrooge calls Gyro who finds some kind of dimensional energy lingering around where the door used to be. He does the usual explain the multiverse bit.

Then Gyro does in a few hours/days/wedontactuallyknow what Red Raider has been trying for years. There’s a reason they kicked him out of PKNA he would be too overpowered.

Yeah altronave my nose.

Scrooge arrives in the bin of another him, and explains as well as he can. This repeats a few times and I would love to show it but there is a 10 image limit on tumblr mobile for some reason.

Finally he arrives at the bin of the Scrooge who steals and they have a little typical multiverse discussion (I am the real one. No bitch I am. But which one are you. A real me would never do this. That kind of stuff)

But he gets defeated by bad Scrooge. Oh no the only one who could defeat Scrooge has defeated him. What will happen now?

Exactly what you think happens. prime!Scrooge never closed the AU doors and so everyone he visited could just hop through and arrive at Scrooge above all’s office. Yay.

It is not a bad comic. It has the single idea, it sticks to it, it executes it well. The interactions with AU Scrooge’s are just plain fun. At the time of writing the story has place 6020 on inducks which is pretty dang high for such a silly comic.

It’s very much a multiverse story in a classic Disney comics way. It’s not used to bring multiple continuities together. No storia e gloria Scrooge VS life and times Scrooge. Nothing dramatic happening or high stakes. Just Scrooge going on another adventure, and for being one of the first multiverse comics involving Scrooge that didn’t pull random bullshit, it’s considered good by most of the fandom it seems. That the Comicup artists was pretty decent helped as well.

But now, what can we expect from what is totally gonna be a remake of this?

Infinity Dime is Marvel. It’s gonna take a Marvel approach. Assuming it’s not gonna be parody (which i kind of really hope it isn’t), then what will it be? Are we gonna see something similar to this, where Scrooge will just meet different versions of himself or will we see established AU’s? Both Ducktales and all his other animated counterparts (i heard the americans like christmas carol scrooge) seem like easy picks. Will they fight? Will it be Secret Wars? Or will they work together like in this comic?

Marvel has still given out zero information about the story (hell, they haven’t even made clear which artists aside from a few are drawing. “celebrated Scrooge artists” does NOT narrow it down) except for that super vague premise. So the best we can do is imagine this story but with the Marvel flavor. Not that I have read enough Marvel comics to properly understand what that means but ive seen some movies okay.

We can probably imagine there will be more ‘evil’ Scrooges. Some Scroogehenchmen. And they will fight. We gotta have action scenes. Which I trust will look good because Mangiatordi I believe his connection to the project alone will secure that the art department will be amazing. His existence is enough.

I’m also expecting DT17 Scrooge to at least cameo. He’s the perfect character for this type of story, fits way better than any other non comic variant. DT87 Scrooge could work as maybe a younger version? Who is not sure what he got caught up in. But then we would need emotional scenes between Scrooge and Scrooge and that’s probably asking too much from Jason Aaron.

Oh hmm actually. I can see when good Scrooge fights bad Scrooge in the climax he will do a big speech that will last a good 4 pages and will teach bad Scrooge what it takes to be a real Scrooge. That sounds stupid enough to be a Marvel thing but not so stupid as to become completely ridiculous.

I’m not expecting actual references to other established comic Scrooge AU’s. We will probably have Barks and Rosa references and that’s it. I’m not even expecting a Van Horn reference tbh. It’s all Barks and Rosa we gotta keep it beginner friendly. It might even just be Rosa. Which indirectly will result in a Barks reference because every Rosa reference is just a Barks reference but with extra steps.

I’m trying to make predictions okay? So I can go I SAID SO when it comes out. It’ll be really funny for me and annoying for you guys. You don’t even have to read this (yet). This is just for in the future so I can look like a wizard.

The scene where Gyro explains the multiverse might just get copied one on one. Maybe Gyro will be replaced by Ludwig? At least I don’t think they will have Scrooge just go: oh yeah ive seen this before. Maybe another Scrooge will explain it to him/secretly the reader. It WILL involve a big cosmic looking image that will represent the multiverse. It just has to. Even if just to show the Marvel audience how good these Italian Scrooge artists are.

I don’t think Donald or the nephews are gonna play a big role. Maybe at the beginning and end, maybe they will somehow stay in contact with Scrooge or he thinks about them a few times to remind us of hey this is Donald Duck. But I think most is gonna be a solo Scrooge adventure just like we have already seen.

Idk. I really want to talk more about Infinity Dime because it’s the most exciting US made Disney comic in ages. Idk why no one else seems to be hyped. Where is all the rambling and speculation guys?? Not about the covers, but about the actual story!

Anyways now we get to the most important question: do i think it will feature Magica?

Maybe. (Definitely not gonna play a big role if she even appears. Maybe a cameo when at some point there will be a dramatic flashback… Or she could show up in one of the AU’s. Maybe just a short scene in the beginning showing his usual life but that sounds lame. Probably not gonna have a role in the story at least, and I kinda hope it won’t have any Magica at all because I’m scared that they will go of off Rosa’s characterization lol.)

Ok Remember to infinity your dimes and uncle your scrooges gby

[enderpearlll]

Yandere!Kevin Headcanons.

Needed a break from writing Bob. Pretend Kevin isn’t dating Streber in for the sake of the story, please. Sorry if this is too OOC, based it off of the song “Go-Getter Greg” by Ludo.

Gender-Neutral reader.

TW/CW: Yandere content, harsh language, stalking, harassment, creepy behaviour, etc…

• Kevin was a friendly guy at first, rather awkward and off standish. It was oddly charming in a way. When you first started working at the Candy Club he was more than eager to show you the ropes. The place was always short staffed so Kevin was overjoyed to have a new coworker that was reliable.

• The two of you clicked quickly, seeing as you two were the only competent employees there. Now, you liked Kevin but you weren’t willing to take the friendship out of work just yet. But Kevin couldn’t help but fall for the cute new employee. You were just so amazing and he felt the need to impress you, to get to know you better.

• Now Kevin is usually an uptight cynical guy that had no patience for bullshit, but around you he just becomes the most mushiest, soft, and attention seeking guy. You just have an effect on him that he doesn’t understand. It’s like Cupid shot him in the head twenty times over and over. Kevin is the most lovesick fuck around you and it’s sort of terrifying because everyone can tell he has a crush on you.

• He always helps you out around the shop and will let you take longer breaks than him. Kevin is a fucking simp. He is glad to do anything for you if it means you’ll give him attention. Are you struggling with restocking the shelves? Don’t worry, he can handle it! Gotta clean out the back? It’s okay, he can do it by himself! Kevin will happily sacrifice his own time for you.

• You feel bad, but he is really, REALLY persistent. You’re essentially getting paid to sit on your ass all day while Kevin does your job for you. It’s sort of creepy in a way… You try to tell him that it’s okay but he’s stubborn. Weirdly stubborn. Kevin does it to impress you, can’t you see that?

• He is an anxious person, so it’s only natural for him to worry about you 24/7, it’s normal behaviour for him. So he starts to follow you home. It’s just to make sure you make it there safely, honest! Oh, sometimes he’ll bump into around town when you’re both off of work, what a coincidence! Or you’ll even cross paths at one of your favourite cafes, and wow, he can’t believe that you both like the same drink!

• Kevin usually butts into any conversation you have with other coworkers, and will often pull you away with an excuse. Even if you’re having a friendly conversation with a customer Kevin will always interrupt or intimidate the customer. Especially if they’re a guy. “You’re holding up the line. Hurry up already. ” “… There’s no one here, dude.”

• Kevin is secretly a nerd and is into a lot of movie franchises and comic book series, so if you even mention or reference one of them he is on your case immediately. He can’t believe his crush likes the same stuff as him, it’s unbelievable! But if you have any other interests that Kevin doesn’t know about, he will pour hours of dedicated research into it. Then when he brings up random facts and what not, you’ll definitely want to talk to him more!

• Kevin blushes at just the tiniest amount of physical contact with you, it’s unbelievable. You could reach over to grab something from him and your skin will barely hover over his and he will explode internally. He stutters and stumbles over his words when you get remotely close to him, especially if you have a huge height difference.

• Kevin is definitely one of those people that dress to impress, so he always makes sure to look his best around you. He feels embarrassed if there’s even a string out of place on his uniform, since he wants you to see him at his absolute best. If you compliment him, Kevin will literally melt.

• Kevin is always trying to invite you to do stuff outside of work, but you had other friends and what not so it was always a no. He feels defeated at times but that doesn’t mean he’ll give up, no way. You think it’s scary, since he does it almost everyday.

“S—so, um, d—did you want to go watch a movie tonight?” “Um… Not tonight, Kevin.” Your friends also think this is creepy behaviour.

• Hell, your stuff even goes missing at work because of him! You’ve lost more lip balms than you could count, you lost your wallet, gloves and hats go missing, and you even lost your favourite hoodie! You quickly begin to suspect Kevin, but when you ask he vehemently denies it. He’s a horrible liar, by the way, if you didn’t notice. Kevin feels horrible, but it’s so wonderful to have your stuff for his own.

• Now, one can’t see all of this and not pick up on the ungodly obsession he has with you. Especially if you’re the target of said obsession. You slowly start to avoid Kevin when you can help it, and you begin to distance yourself from him. Your friends constantly beg you to quit but your budget was tight at the moment and you couldn’t exactly find another job immediately.

• So you tried to make excuses for Kevin, desperately trying to delude yourself into believing that he was a good guy. It wasn’t until you witnessed him dig through your jacket that you finally snapped under the pressure. You felt like you were going to puke. You quickly gather your stuff and leave, ready to call your boss in the morning to report everything that was going on. You were done.

• Kevin quickly notices you approach and is mortified. You pull your jacket on silently, before leaving the store without a goodbye. He quickly followed you out like a lost puppy, pelting you with a million apologies. You’re trying to stay rational, but dear god you wanted to punt him. This is also when you begin to notice that he was the one following you around, and when he tries to lay a hand on you that’s when you snap.

• “You’re a fucking creep, Kevin! You better knock it off before I call the police on you!” You screamed, pure anger in your voice. Kevin is frozen in his tracks, disbelief evident on his face. No, this couldn’t be… “No, wait! I can explain, please!” Kevin cried, falling to his knees and clutching onto the fabric of your pants. “I love you so much it hurts, please!” He rasped, tears welling in his eyes.

• “What the—?! Get off me, you sicko! I hate you!” And with those three words, Kevin’s world came crashing down around him. You… Hated him? After all he’s done for you? You kicked him off of you and ran down the street, leaving Kevin behind with a broken heart.

• No, no, no, no, no— This couldn’t be happening! He needed you to live, without you he was nothing, he’s never felt more alive when he was with you. Kevin needed to do something to win you back, and quick. Before he loses you forever. He doesn’t care if he loses his job, he doesn’t care if he gets in trouble with the police, all he needs is you.

[xatsperesso]

Wait, do they know??

A sigh left Shichirou as he continued walking down the halls. The school day might be over, but there's much left for teachers to do. Grading assignments, making sure Kalego doesn’t over-punish any students, the likes.

Hmm, it's been a while since Shichirou pulled Iruma aside. He has some new books that could help him with this year's studies, and he's yet to check over Iruma’s flying, see if it's stable enough and if he can use it outside of adult supervision-

Quiet mumbling broke Shichirou out of his thoughts and drew him to a closed classroom

Oh? He wasn't aware of any students usingthis room. Better to check to see what they're doing in case they're taking part in some, adult activities.

He knocked loudly on the door and opened the door slowly (you can never be too safe around teens) and behind the door he saw, iruma? Holding a comic book for young Azazel to read?

Iruma’s eyes shone upon recognising the intruder (and it always delights Shichirou to be met with such warmth) while Ameri grew rigid.

Huh.

"Hello! Sorry to interrupt your..reading session?" Shichirou tilted his head trying to read the title of the story they're reading (and just outside his vision, Ameri was starting to turn as white as paper)

"Ah! Balam-sensei! We were just reading a ma-"

"Aaaaaa magic script from a demon king from the 6th generation! Yes! It's such fortunate that Iruma’s grandfather taught him how to read the old scripts!" Shichirou looked at Ameri in confusion. Why would she lie to him? Does the student Council not know of his bloodline ability?

He looked at Iruma, who was looking at Ameri as confused as Shichirou was. This didn't look like an old script (why would students even have the original old scripts?) This looks like a newly published book.

Wait. Those characters..

"Uh, yeah? Yeah, grandpa taught me how to read the, uh, ancient? Language?" Iruma sounded confused by what he was saying, and in any other situation he'd have adored how bad Iruma is at lying, but Iruma showed him those characters before! These are Kanji!

Why-

"YES! And Iruma can't focus when alot of people are in the room" Another lie, but this time Ameri stood up and all but shoved him out of the room, screaming a quick goodbye before shutting the door.

Why is Iruma showing her human world book???does this boy have zero self preservation?! What if she tells her father and Iruma’s sent back to the human world!

"Yo" A voice suddenly appeared from behind him and Shichirou damn near hit the ceiling

"K-Kalego!" Shichiro moved in front of Kalego, trying to distract his friend from the very loud whispering that's happening behind them.

Kalego looked at the door, then looked at his friend's nervous act. only one thing makes his friend this flustered

"Did you catch students having sex again?"

"K-Kalego! I told you you can't say those words In A School"

"If they're old enough to learn about it then they're old enough to hear the "forbidden words"" Shichiro sighed at Kalego literally doing the air-quotes, and dragged him to their office to once again lecture him on the consequence of using adult language around teenagers, and how these may backfire badly at them.

--

He can ask Iruma about Ameri when he pulls him aside tomorrow.

Iruma that absolute fool!

Does he have no self-preservation! Happily telling Balam-sensei about a book from the human world?! If Balam-sensei found out he'll tell Kalego-sensei! and then Kalego-sensei will report it to the Boarder Patrol agency!

that will not only make them return Iruma to the human world, but Dad will know I lied to him! He'll think I'm not ready to handle the responsibility to work with him and help him! I can't just let that happen!

Now where is Iruma? he's supposed to be done with his lesson on Imaginary Things, now where is he?!

"-I think she's just embarrassed-"

Wait, that's Iruma's voice.

Ameri turned her head, very dramatically, hoping oh so much that maybe she's remembering this hall's layout incorrectly, that just maybe-

Nope. That's Balam-sensei's office.

Iruma is in Balam-sensei's office.

Wait, who's this she he is talking about?

Ameri knew that it was wrong, that it would be safer if she just barged in and took Iruma out. But!

She looked around the hall, making sure that there are no demons around, and then she leaned against the door, putting her ear on the door and trying to hear what they're talking about.

"I see. It seems that I have misunderstood the situation" Oh! Balam-sensei misunderstood! Seems like Iruma was able to cover up what they were doing yesterday!

wait, why is she saying this like they did something bad? (Not bad, but definitely illegal)

And who was embarrassed?!

"-you fly here? I want to-" Dammit! his voice is too low Ameri can't hear a thing!

.

.

Iruma can't fly

--

"So, Iruma, why was Ameri acting so...different yesterday?"

Shichiro was sitting across from Iruma. they were drinking somnum root tea that Balam chose specifically to calm Iruma down. He needs to know whether Ameri knows about Iruma's nature, but he can't ask Iruma outright. He might scare Iruma, and then Iruma might act suspicious around Ameri, and that can't happen!

So! Calming tea and asking questions indirectly to avoid panicking Iruma!

"Ah! I was actually translating a bunch of mangas to her! I don't know where she found them, and I accidentally translated them in front of her, so now we have regular reading sessions where I read them to her! She really likes the story, but I think she's embarrassed by them. A lot of people are embarrassed by romance mangas, but I think they're really beautiful stories!" Iruma smiled as he drank his tea, and Shichiro couldn't help but relax.

So, she was just embarrassed. Doesn't seem like she knows anything (is this Balam or the tea talking?")

"I see. It seems like I misunderstood the situation" so she was just embarrassed. He might need to talk to her about that. It's the best thing in the world to have a hobby that's not embarrassing.

Iruma tilted his head, looking just like Cerberus when he gets confused, and Shichiro really had to try to stop himself from taking a picture and sending it to Opera.

"So, I heard that you have a flying test coming soon"

"Oh, yeah! I've been having fun practicing flying with Azz, Clara, and Sabro! They didn't react much when I told them I can't use my wings, but Sabro was curious whether wings or a spell would be faster. Clara wanted to learn the spell, and Azz is making sure me and Clara don't get hurt"

"It seems you're having fun practicing. How about you fly here? I want to see whether it's safe for you to fly through the cutthroat valley-"

"BALAM-SENSEI!" Shichirou was out of his seat, tea long forgotten and plants at ready the second the door was slammed open. Iruma was still in his seat, calmly drinking the tea (is it too strong on humans?)

"A fight broke out between the upper-classmen and the student council needs your help!!" Oh, that is a serious matter.

Shichirou was out the door, flying towards where Ameri-san was pointing to stop whatever fight started.

He'd have to check up on Iruma later.

--

Ameri doesn't know whether she's lucky or not. All she knows is that Balam-sensei, for whatever reason, wanted Iruma to fly, a bunch of students broke the wall behind her and fell into this hall, and that these students where year 5 students.

Can she take care of them? Yeah. But can she use this opportunity to save Iruma from Balam-sensei?

Also yes.

So she burst into Balam-sensei’s office, told Balam-sensei what was going on, and ran as fast as she can with Iruma in her hand.

Once they were in the gardens she stopped to take her breathe.

"Ok," She panted, and goodness how far have they ran? "I think we've lost him"

"Oh?" Iruma took a sip out of, wait is that tea? "Are the upper classmen after you?"

@tasty-poptard this took longer than i thought, but it was very fun to write! I feel like I got the hang of writing again, though I kinda gave up at the end ^^'. Thank you for giving me this prompt!

"Wha-no- how are you so calm?! Balam-sensei was asking about your flying! What if he found out about your non-existent wings?!"

"Ameri-san, most the teachers already know about my wings~" Iruma said so calmly- wait THEY KNOW ABOUT HIS WINGS?!

"Yeah, Balam-sensei didn't feel my wings through my uniform, so he took me to get looked over by Beur-sensei, and they all saw my small wings" why is he talking like this? Is there something in his tea??

Wait, they saw fake wings on Iruma! So Balam-sensei shouldn't suspect a thing! So why-

"Iruma-sama!" Alice's voice was the only warning they got before Clara literally jumped Iruma and they both tumbled to the ground.

"Iruma-sama!! Stupid Clara what are you doing?!"

"Iruma-chi is acting weird. I think he fell asleep on the ground?"

"No no, I just feel so calm" Clara and Alice continued bickering around, but Iruma is acting very strangely.

Didn't Iruma drink this tea in Balam-sensei’s office? Di-DID BALAM-SENSEI spike the tea?! But why would Balam-sensei do that?!

"Wh-why was Iruma with Balam-sensei?!" Alice looked at her confused, as if Iruma being in Balam-sensei’s office isn't weird at all!

"Balam-sensei tutors Iruma regularly as Iruma-sama lacks some basic knowled-Clara! Where are you taking Iruma-sama?! Come back here!" And with that, Alice ran after Clara who's holding a very sleepy Iruma.

But, if Balam-sensei just wants to tutor Iruma, why would he drug him?

--

Iruma felt that his friends were playing a game around him, but no one told him what they were playing.

Whenever Iruma is alone with Balam-sensei, Ameri-san would come and take him. And after a while of this happening, Balam-sensei decided that he too will take Iruma whenever he's having his reading session with Ameri-san.

And then Azz-kun and Clara somehow found out about this game, so whenever Ameri-san or Balam-sensei kidnapped Iruma from each other, They would kidnap Iruma from them, and for whatever reason, Ameri-san and Balam-sensei would let them??

Anyway, Iruma wants to know what's going on. Preferably before the whole school is in on this game.

So, Iruma dragged Ameri-san to Balam-sensei’s office to talk to them.

"Why do you keep taking me away from each other?" Iruma asked, and watched as both started to look uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. They were avoiding looking into anyone's eyes. Balam-sensei was avoiding Ameri-san

Maybe he should’ve asked them separately first.

Ameri-san suddenly stood up from her chair and looked very seriously at Balam-sensei. Iruma could feel the tension rise in the room.

"Balam-sensei," she looked very suspicious of Balam-sensei, but why? "What do you know about Iruma-kun?"

What? Wait, is this about-

"In what way does this concern you, Ameri-san?"

"It concerns me because you drugged him, sensei!" Drugged?! But Balam-sensei said that-

"That was a mistake. I miscalculated the amount of roots that's safe for his age" Balam-sensei kept apologising that day.

"Oh? And is this tea infront of us also a mistake? Because it has the same smell as the tea that day!" W-wait no! After that Balam-sensei and Iruma kept experimenting with tea combinations to see what tea is safe for humans to drink! There's no way-

"Ameri-san, I advice you to be mindful with your accusations."

"I am, and it's not like this accusations was baseless, sensei. The rumors were true, you experiment on your students!" ??????

"Wait! Ameri-san, this isn’t what's-"

"Iruma-kun! Balam-sensei drugs you and experiments on you because you're a human!"

"What?! No! Balam-sensei doesn't do that kind of stuff!" Why would she even think that?!

Iruma looked at Balam-sensei, because he must be so upset from her words, but. He’s just looking at Ameri confused?

"I thought Ameri-san was trying to make you slip up? So that she can bring you to her father??" What?! No she-

Iruma looked at Ameri, who was avoiding his gaze.

"N-no I'm not! Th-that was just the first week" Alright, so not anymore. And she's looking very guilty over it, so it’s fine.

"...so, you both were trying to protect what I am. From each other." Now the air feels awkward

"..yeah"

"I guess so,"

"Wait, other people know you're human?" All three in the room jumped from the intruding voice.

A floating Purson head appeared from light smoke, looking at Iruma.

"I thought I was the only one"

"Purson-kun, since when...?"

"You talked a lot in first year. No one notice me until the end of the year, so I floated around a lot. Hearing your rants was the most entertaining thing I could do, but then we became friends, and floating around you felt wrong, so I just started hanging out with you, which turned out to be even more fun than just eavesdropping on you, though that meant that I stopped seeing Ali-san, and he was funny. Sometimes I wanted to jus bring him up but I didn't want us to stop being friends. You're the calmest one in our class, and I enjoy hanging out with you even though you attract the noisiest demons."

"...ah" that's all that Iruma said, because really, what can you say to.

Well, at least Ali-san can come out in front of purson-kun now?

[nyanashima]

Satan headcanons because he’s babygirl and I think about him a lot

Satan is VERY expressive when he’s reading, almost to a comical extent. It started when he was little, and his brothers thought it was cute at the time, so nobody’s said anything. To this day, it’s very common to see him furrowing his brow or saying “No. No, actually, fuck you,” out loud at a book. He’s just too invested to hide what he’s thinking.

Because he’s so well-read on… literally everything about cats, he points out every single inaccuracy in the movies he and his brothers watch. By now, everybody can predict when he’s about to tell them that cats can’t actually have milk, etc.

Satan ABSOLUTELY has a fursona and no one can tell me otherwise. He's not super active in the community though, he just likes to think about it. He found out about the furry fandom through Levi, who jokingly drew him as a cat, and has been enamoured ever since. Sometimes Levi will gift him art of his fursona as a private birthday present. Nobody can know.

Satan occasionally boxes with Beel. It’s a good way to deal with anger and stay healthy at the same time, so why not?

I’m like 50% sure he canonically plays visual novels? He is at least aware of Danganronpa, whether through Levi or discovering it on his own.

This man is DYING to recite Shakespeare/Molière/etc. Give him the opportunity and he will give a spirited reenactment of whatever he’s reciting. It’s not to show off, he’s just passionate. Given that he’s usually composed (compared to everyone else, anyway), he also likes getting to be more animated once in a while.

This guy is so full of autism

Every now and then he goes shopping with Asmo to find clothes that work with his sensory issues.

He doesn’t really stim around others, primarily because he’s never seen anyone else do it before. Talk to him about it; encourage it; if you yourself do it, stim around him. Soon enough, you’ll see his happy hands.

Ever notice that in events, he’ll sometimes use words that seem out-of-character for him? (I still remember the whiplash I got when he said “yo” a few months ago.) He’s still figuring out who he is, and speech patterns are part of it. He’ll adopt words/phrases from books or his brothers for a short time to see what he likes and what he doesn’t. 

Introduce him to My Immortal and similar fanfics. He’ll hate them at first and tell you to get out of his room, but eventually he’ll crack and come to like them. He loves going back and forth, both of you reading to each other and doing silly voices for the dialogue.

Satan 100% has moments of thirteen-year-old snark. He got his ass handed to him for making the “blah blah blah” hand signal to mock Lucifer while Asmo was getting chewed out. Doesn’t regret a thing

More of an imagine than a headcanon, but hear me out. Young Satan got a cat plushie that he loved to DEATH. Like, he took it everywhere with him for decades. Now imagine him going to his big brother Levi, nearly in tears, asking him to fix it after the leg fell off.

Levi panics and is like, “Oh it’s okay!! I’ll fix it, don’t worry,” and gets out his sewing kit. Satan starts to calm down as he watches the plushie get patched up. Levi nervously hands it back when he’s done, and can’t help but feel soft when his baby brother smiles and thanks him

Also think about Satan still having that plushie after all this time, and occasionally knocking on Levi’s door to awkwardly ask him to fix it again

Levi can’t help but smile a little

[7-wonders]

Okay but you’re spending your evening just hanging out and watching Spider-Man: No Way Home when Morpheus appears in your living room because he has no sense when it comes to letting you know ahead of time that he wants to see you or just, y’know, having Matthew pop by and be like “boss is coming in five!”

So after you recover from your heart attack you let him know that you’re just watching a movie tonight so if he has better things to do involving The Dreaming/being an Endless, he can do that. He doesn’t understand why you’d say that bc why wouldn’t he want to spend time with you, so he sits down next to you and lets you drape yourself over him before you unpause the movie.

Of course, Dream was imprisoned long before comic books really came to be mainstream, so he has no clue what anything on the screen is. You have to pause every time a new character appears on screen, because he will undoubtedly say, “Who’s this?” and you have to try and respond while also not launching into all the lore™️.

(“Who’s this?”

“MJ, Peter’s girlfriend.”

“Who’s this?”

“Doc Ock, he’s a villain from another universe.”

“Who’s this?”

“Matt Murdock.” On screen, the brick flies through the window, and Matt catches it with ease. You say his line at the same time that he does, “He’s a really good lawyer,” and laugh when Dream looks shocked that you knew what he was going to say. God, you love having a boyfriend that knows nothing about technology or movies or anything.)

And this keeps up, honestly, you’re having a blast with it. It’s fun to get to introduce characters that you’ve watched since you were little to an anthropomorphic personification who is eons older than you are. And then it gets to the scene where one Flint Marko is dropped into the MCU, and Dream again asks who that is.

“Sandman,” you say without thinking, forgetting who it is you’re sitting next to.

“Who?” Morpheus asks in bewilderment.

“Oh!” Shit, you did not anticipate this. “No, it’s not like, a character based off of you or anything like that. He’s literally made out of sand, which is why he’s called Sandman.”

Morpheus scoffs. “My, it must have taken them ages to try and come up with a name so clever.”

You smirk. “Are you mad that your name’s been co-opted, or are you mad he doesn’t have your powers?”

“I’m not mad over a fictional character. It’s just ridiculous that a character such as this would be designed, only for them to name him,” Morpheus scoffs again, as if the very thought is paining him, “Sandman.”

Mad about the name, then. Got it. “I can…pick something else to watch?” you suggest.

Dream shakes his head, acting like this didn’t just get him all riled up. “No, let us finish your superhero movie,” he grumbles before begrudgingly allowing you to hesitantly turn your attention back to the screen.

It’s a good thing Sandman doesn’t have a major part in this movie.

[flo55i]

Maxiel. 2k. Max as the Grim Reaper. Daniel as the lost soul he’s ferrying to Heaven. Because there are some things you shouldn’t have to do alone. tw: death but it’s as fluffy as I get, promise. And also possibly tw; blasphemy?

Daniel wakes up in the same clothes he died in.  He laughs at the irony of the phrase, ‘wouldn’t be caught dead in’, never believing it would apply to him. The only reason he wore the faded red track-pants out of the house was to collect the bins with. Now they look a deep purple colour in the dark swirly mist thing that the afterlife apparently has going for it.

Suddenly realising he’s dead, Daniel puts his hands in his pockets just to make sure he still has control of all his limbs and is distracted by the fact his phone isn’t in them. It makes sense. But like. He can’t remember the last time he was without it. It was definitely there when he— Quickly, Daniel pulls the elastic band around the waist of his pants back and checks his dick is still there. 

“Thank God.” He mutters to himself. 

“God? Like that idiot has got anything to do with this.” Says a curt and surly voice from behind him.

Daniel swivels and comes face to face with Death. Or at least he thinks it is. The long swirling black cloak and the huge scythe that is taller than he is, is a dead giveaway. Literally. Immediately Daniel’s first instinct is to run, but as soon as he takes off in one direction, there’s a snap of fingers and he’s right back where he started from. 

“Was that fun?” The guy says, scowling down at Daniel from where he landed at his feet. At the sarcasm, Daniel takes his hands off his head and dares to finally open his eyes. He thinks he’s more startled to find that Death has sneakers on than the fact that he’s still alive— Daniel places a hand on his chest, checking— still breathing. Whatever he is. He doesn’t know if he’s technically dead or is he in some kind of Limbo? He looks around. It looks like it could be the land in between heaven and hell. What with the dark clouds and the horizon of agonising nothingness and—

“I can do this all day you know.” The guy says, interrupting Daniel’s freak out by tapping his scythe impatiently on the ground. Then uncrossing his arm, muttering to himself he adds, “Not like I’m busy or anything.” 

Slowly getting to his feet and brushing off the mist still clinging to his bare chest, Daniel asks, “You’re not like, going to reap me and shit are you?”

Death rolls his eyes. “What is it that you think I am going to do? You are already dead!”

The hood falls back off his face as he raises his hands in exasperation and Daniel can see this guy is younger than him, and pretty much human too. At least he is from the outside. He doesn’t look very menacing. Especially with those pouty lips and bright blue eyes. Angel, yes. Evil, no. 

If he really is dead like this guy says, Daniel was kinda expecting a scary skeleton type-a-thing, like how they showed in movies and comic books and stuff. No soul, no eyes. This guy looks anything but evil incarnated, what with the way he’s just waving his scythe around all over the place like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Maybe Daniel got the defective grim reaper or something?

“I mean, I’m not telling you how to do your job or anything.” Daniel starts, trying to be nice. By the sounds of it, this guy has probably had a hard day already. Or Eternity. Whatever. “But like, isn’t this the part where you take my soul?”

“Trust me.” Death says, staring Daniel down pitifully. “I do not want your stupid soul.” 

“Oh.” Daniel doesn’t know whether to be offended or not so he just asks, “So what ARE you here to do then? ‘Cause I gotta tell ya dude, that scythe looks pretty ominous to me.” 

Though the response gets an eye roll, Daniel thinks he can see the barest hint of a smile underneath it. 

Coughing, he then states, all official like, “My name is Max and I am here because it is my duty to guide you into the afterlife.” 

Max holds out the arm not carrying the weapon in invitation and Daniel takes the hint and starts walking. There’s rocks and uneven terrain that he has to climb over and crouch through. There are no trees or birds, no life except whatever he and Max are considered right now. Daniel didn’t know what he was expecting, fire and brimstone? 

They come to a lake and at Max’s gentle look, Daniel moves silently forward. It’s cool and the water laps at his collarbones, coming up to his neck. His foot slips and Max grabs his arm, saving his head from going under. He shivers away from the freezing cold touch. The hands don’t linger, as if Max knows that they feel like having a corpse clinging to Daniel’s body. Body moving again, Daniel refrains from rubbing his arm and tries not to think of the water being made up of thousands of souls who didn’t make it across beneath him.

Suddenly, Daniel can’t stand the silence. He tries a joke. “Why did the chicken go to the seance?” 

“I do not know?” Max looks unsure. But more so at the fact that Daniel is actually talking to him about something so stupid and not because he doesn’t know the answer. He plays along though, finally asking, “Why did the chicken go to the seance?”

“To get to the other side.” Daniel replies with a grin. 

“That was terrible.” But Max is looking at least faintly amused again so Daniel doesn’t believe him. 

They’ve reached the opposite bank now and Daniel steps free from the water. He feels lighter, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Looking down, his pants aren’t even soaked. He doesn’t feel as cold either even though his skin is just as cold to the touch. It’s like he’s acclimatised and has simply gotten used to being here.

“So where are we going then?” He can’t help but ask. There’s nothing in front of them or beside them now, just a whole heap of swirling mist he can’t see anything through. “Up or down? Stairway to heaven or the Highway to hell?”

Max sighs. “Up.” 

“Yes! Woo hoo! Take that Mr Brown who thought I’d never get anywhere good!” Excited, Daniel starts singing. “And she’s buy-ying a stairway to—”

“If you sing one more word I will cut you down right here.” Max puts the blade right up against Daniel’s neck. 

“Chill dude. Relax.” Daniel tries to reassure whilst gently guiding the scythe away from his throat. It might not be able to kill him, but he doesn’t wanna spend the rest of eternity without a head either. Where was that nice guy with the smile from earlier? Daniel keeps talking, trying to find him again.

“So what’s it like then? Heaven?” He asks whilst drifting his fingers through the puffs of clouds at his hips. It disappears in seconds, like the water, without him feeling anything at all. 

“Is it Paradise like everyone says it is? Comfy digs, all I can eat? That sort of thing?” Daniel hopes the food is at least real. He can’t imagine not eating for the rest of eternity. “And are there hot angels flying around as far as the eye can see?” Daniel adds mostly to get a rise out of the one beside him. 

Max ignores him, long strides taking him slightly ahead. Daniel can feel that there’s some sort of frosty tension now, like Max is actually mad at him instead of just his usual surly and unpleasant self. 

“You know I always thought there’d be more trees and leaves around. More greenery.” Daniel muses out loud to himself since Max has gone quiet. “And like, I’m not going to be by myself up there, right? My family will be waiting, yeah? Cause that would suck, spending eternity alone and every—”

“I don’t know, ok!” Max shouts. Daniel stops when he does. 

“What?” He asks incredulously. “You’ve never been? Aren’t you an Angel? Isn’t that like, home base or whatever?” 

Max starts moving again and him not answering is answer enough for Daniel. “Is it a rule or something? No fraternising with the enemy or some shit?”

“I don’t—” Max starts, and Daniel is unnerved to see Death looking so startled. “I don’t remember.”

“How can you not remember?” Daniel snorts, struggling to keep up with Max’s pace. 

“I have been doing this for as long as I can remember. I don’t know what there was before.” Max whispers sullenly. “It is maybe punishment for something, I think, but I can’t be sure.”

Just as Daniel is about to ask what type of person is charged with leading him to heaven, Max holds the tip of his scythe up to point at something up ahead. They’ve reached the gates now. Actual pearly gates, not a hint of gold in sight. And they only open when Daniel approaches them after Max takes a step back. 

They creak charmingly, like a garden gate he barely remembers from childhood. There’s sunshine shining from somewhere beyond the clouds and it smells like summer rain and his grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies she would always have ready for him when he visited her. And Daniel knows everything that flashed before his eyes as the garbage truck hit him lies within— everything his Sunday school teacher taught him a life of good deeds has afforded him, but he just can’t seem to make himself take that final step. He hesitates. 

“Well?” Max asks impatiently. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

Daniel shuffles on his feet, only now realising he’s barefoot. The entire journey here, rocks and lakes and mountains of dirt and he hadn’t felt a thing. Max did that. Max got him here safely even though he clearly didn’t want to. “But what about you?” 

The question seems to stun Max, like no one has ever asked it before and it makes Daniel think that he has been fucking up his job all this time if the so called ‘virtuous people’ he’s been ferrying across Limbo to the afterlife don’t even have any human decency left to ask. 

“I suppose I will go and get the next idiot who cannot make it across on their own.” Max states bitterly. 

“By yourself?” Max looks away as he shrugs and Daniel can’t help but wonder what the crime was he supposedly committed that would warrant him to spend an eternity of torture having to watch as everyone else got their happily ever after and not him. “But for how long?”

Max is looking into the scythe now, like he can see all the answers to his past in its blade. Daniel can. Its shiny surface reflects the pearly gates and the Paradise beyond made up of everything he ever thought he could want in life. Family, friends, warmth, happiness…. But Daniel’s already had a crack at living that one. And it only ended up with him being sent here to Max.

“Don’t suppose you want any company, do you?” Daniel asks, half jokingly, half not, just to gauge Max’s reaction. He’s never believed in destiny or any shit like that, but who he is to turn down an actual Angel of God looking at him like he is the answer to all the mysteries and wonders in the universe. 

Holding out a hand, he takes the scythe from Max and suddenly Daniel is engulfed in a sea of black fabric. 

“Sweet.” He quips looking down at the same cloak as Max’s that’s now wrapped around him too. With the other hand not holding on to the scythe he holds it out to Max. “How’s about it then? We could call it a double team approach?”  

Looking back at the slightest glimpse of heaven he’s only ever been able to see, Max looks troubled. “Are you sure of this? I do not know if you can go back.” 

At the caution and care in those words, Daniel wonders who could have abandoned Max when he had obviously offered them to the last reaper. ‘Casue Daniel now knows that’s what must have happened. Max couldn’t ever be some heinous butcher or something like that. No one who has so much compassion and longing for human companionship could be capable of something so cruel as that.

“Well I ain’t no chicken.” Daniel laughs in reference to his own joke. “It ain’t all about getting to the other side, you know.” 

This time, the hand that grasps Daniel’s own is warm and full and together they glow a golden colour that makes him believe that this has always been a job better handled with two. 

“But you will not slow me down of course.” Max warns, still looking stunned at the glow. “I actually have a job to do and I can’t be holding your hand the whole time.”

And Daniel knows he’s bullshitting by how hard Max is still clinging to his hand but he lets it slide. After an eternity of dealing with ungrateful souls running and begging to have their lives back when he is only trying to offer them something so much better, Max has earned some faith of his own. 

“Then lead on, oh grimmest of reapers, you.” Daniel says and follows as Max leads them back the way they came.

Hands still tied by the souls that shine bright within, and by the burden of the scythe now shared between them, together they make the long journey back towards oblivion and beyond. 

[irondad-defensesquad]

Take all your chances while you can

Fandom: MCU

Rating: G

Relationships: Tony & Peter

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker; MINOR - Morgan Stark, Happy Hogan

Summary: Morgan is asking him to read her a story, so Tony checks her bookshelf, noticing there aren’t only regular books, but hand-made ones as well. Curious, Tony takes one of them…

“Irondad and Spiderson”.

Tony feels something in his head. Like a spark. A lightbulb that flickers.

--

Since coming back, Tony has always felt something is missing.

Word count: 1.500

AO3

A/N: Yeah, it's an idea I posted here earlier. It turned out to be way shorter than I imagined.

Disclaimer - I did not see No Way Home and I refuse to. DO NOT INSIST.

TRIGGER WARNINGS - past character death, canonical character death, and grief/mourning

DO NOT SHIP TONY AND PETER. P/ROSHIP DNI.

--

He’s getting by.

After spending such a long time in the hospital, battling against death yet again, Tony Stark is back home with his family. He was in a coma for most of the past months, unfortunately missing his daughter’s birthday. She didn’t mind and instead they made a super special birthday party when he came home. It was very fun.

If not for one thing missing.

No, someone.

Tony can’t tell how he knows that someone is gone. When he invited people, he knew there was one that he wanted them to attend the most. He knew there was someone he’s been quite literally dying to see again.

And yet he has no idea.

Regardless, Tony lives by.

Until one night…

Morgan is asking him to read her a story, so Tony checks her bookshelf, noticing there aren’t only regular books, but hand-made ones as well. Curious, Tony takes one of them…

“Irondad and Spiderson”.

Tony feels something in his head. Like a spark. A lightbulb that flickers.

It’s him, as Iron Man, flying while the… “Spiderson” is shooting webs next to him.

“Daddy?” Morgan calls him.

He stares at the cover intensely.

Only for him to realize that this is probably a character Morgan created.

“Oh, I just found this comic of yours,” Tony smiles, trying to ignore the spark inside him. “Irondad and Spiderson.”

Except Morgan frowns as well.

“I didn't draw that,” she says.

The spark grows bigger.

“Wh… What do you mean?” Tony questions. This doesn’t make sense. “It has your name in it, see?”

Even as he gestures at it, Morgan only shakes her head with conviction.

“Nope. Never saw that in my life.” Although saying it kind of dramatically, she’s very serious.

Tony opens the comic, the first page introducing Iron Man and…

Spider-Man.

“Your friendly neighborhood hero that always saves the day. But he gets in a lot of trouble, so Iron Man has to take care of him. The two grow closer and they become like a dad and his son.”

Tony didn’t realize he said that out loud.

“Read it! Read it!” Morgan says excitedly, maybe enjoying the premise.

Despite the millions of questions in his head, Tony clears his throat and begins.

Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, is a regular teenager who lives with his Aunt May. He was bitten by a radioactive spider that gave him spider powers. One day, all of a sudden, Tony Stark arrives at his home to offer him to fight by his side, since he sees great potential in him. Their first fight is against… Captain America. They didn’t win, but Tony wants to keep in contact with Peter. The kid begs him to be an Avenger, so much that he messes up a lot and he loses his suit. Then, Peter proves himself to be a true hero by fighting a super villain named The Vulture with nothing but his homemade resources. And he also proves to be humble when he declines becoming an Avenger when Tony offers him. Despite this, Peter and Tony remain in contact, and might even grow closer beyond the superhero life.

The comic ends there.

“I liked it!” Morgan says.

Tony, he…

He…

“Daddy, are you crying?”

Is he?

He only realizes that when a tear falls on the comic.

“Oh,” Tony dries his eyes, except more tears keep coming. “I- I don’t know why I’m–”

Regardless, Morgan has scooted closer to him to wrap her small arms around his neck.

“It’s okay,” she whispers. “It’s gonna be okay.”

The comic falls from his hand, landing on the floor.

Tony is shaking so much.

Why?

Why is he?

Why does this emptiness hurt ?

He finds out there are more Irondad and Spiderson editions Morgan made. Quite a few.

They’re filled both with action-filled plots and slice of life moments. Like Peter and Tony watching movies together. Going to the lab to update their suits. Spending time with the bots. Times when Peter nonchalantly dismisses his wounds so he doesn’t worry Tony.

All of these comics, they…

They’re so familiar .

Somehow.

Because he knows Morgan wouldn’t come up with such… specific stories involving her dad. Sure, his daughter is extremely creative, as most children are. But there’s also the fact Morgan doesn’t recall drawing these comics in the first place. Pepper doesn’t remember seeing her making them, either.

Something is wrong about all this.

It’s like Tony is being haunted by a ghost. A ghost named Peter Parker.

A rather familiar sensation, too.

He even checks his files, just in case. But there’s… nothing. Like a great portion has been removed without notice. F.R.I.D.A.Y didn’t detect any anomaly that could’ve sniped them.

He only reaches more dead ends, no matter how hard he tries.

It doesn’t make sense. Why can’t Morgan remember? Why can’t Tony remember?

Why–

His phone is vibrating in his pocket.

Happy.

Tony hasn’t heard from him in a while, since the party.

“Oh, hey,” he picks it up. “Were you taking another vacation from me?”

Happy laughs. “I wish.”

“Hey,” Tony pretends to be offended.

“No, really… a lot has been going on.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy taking care of this kid.”

Tony frowns. “Kid? You have a kid?”

“No, not that kind of kid, Tony.”

“Then what kind of kid?”

“He’s… someone’s nephew. I knew this woman named May, who unfortunately… passed away recently. She was the one who raised this kid, and he doesn’t have any family left, so I’m looking after him instead.”

Tony’s inner lightbulb flickers again.

May.

Aunt May.

Who has a nephew…!

“Happy,” Tony says seriously, “what’s the kid’s name?”

“Oh, his name is Peter. Why?”

“His name is Peter Parker?”

“Yes, Tony. Do you know him?”

He stares at Morgan’s comic in his hand, staring most specifically at the panel of Peter and Tony’s first meeting.

“Is he there with you?” Tony asks.

“Wh- yes, he is.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in five.”

“Wait, Tony–”

He hangs up immediately, leaving the comics and questions behind for his loyal Iron Man suit. He makes sure to text Pepper to let her know where he’s going.

Indeed, he arrives in five minutes at Happy’s apartment. Tony barely gives him any mind, instead looking for the kid.

“Where is he?” He demands.

“Tony, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on,” Happy stops him. “Do you know Peter?”

“I think… I do.”

Seeing the pain in his tone and his eyes, Happy’s expression softens.

“Just… go easy on him. He’s in a rough shape. After everything that’s happened to him…”

Maybe that has to do with why everything is wrong. Why everything seems empty.

Happy is guiding him to a room with a closed door, not before he knocks on it.

“Peter?” He calls. “Someone wants to see you.”

They both wait.

Eventually, they hear slow steps coming to the door.

And it opens…!

Revealing a teenager whose curls are completely messy, his brown eyes are exhausted and heavy, and he looks… sick. As in, mentally sick.

Still, Tony can tell the kid also has a lightbulb in him since he seems to brighten up with his presence.

“M-Mr. Stark,” Peter says with emotion .

Peter knows Tony.

He knows .

He even looks like he’s going to cry at any moment.

But…

Instead, he forces a smile and offers a hand to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Peter says.

Tony stares at his hand.

Then at his face.

Peter looks broken.

So…

Tony hugs him.

As tight as he can.

“Mr. Stark?!” Peter blurts out.

Hugging him…

Is familiar, too.

It’s warm and precious.

It’s warm like all the hot chocolates they drank together. Like the laughter they shared during movie nights. Like the moments of comfort after bad days and harsh battles. Like their first hug in five years.

Tony sniffs.

“I remember, Peter,” he whispers. “I remember you.”

The kid freezes.

“Y-You… remember me?” Peter’s voice is tiny and watery.

“I do.”

Peter loses it.

He’s crying like never before. Like he has held this inside him for too long.

“I’m so sorry, Peter,” Tony says, despite not knowing what happened for his kid to be in such a state. “I should’ve been there for you.”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Peter sobs. “I’m so sorry, I’m…”

“Shhh…” Tony rubs his back. “I’ve got you, Pete.”

They refuse to let each other go.

“I m-missed you,” Peter says.

“I missed you, too…” Tony pauses dramatically “... my Spiderson.”

Peter snorts. “What?”

“What?”

“That’s so dumb,” Peter giggles.

“I know you like it.”

He only faces Peter again to see him smile.

“Yeah,” the teen sniffs, his face a wet mess.

Tony smiles back, content.

He found him.

He found his lost son.

Now, whatever happened, he’s not sure how they’re going to deal with it now. What he’s sure of, is that he’s taking care of his kid again.

Like Irondad once did.

[kimberlyannharts]

So remember Drakkon?  Tommy Oliver if he sucked?  The only thing that kept the Power Rangers side of the main series interesting?  Well he’s back!!!!  He’s back and making new friends (Kiya, who wants to kill him) and reuniting with old friends (the Coinless Rangers, who want to kill him) to fight against Dark Specter, who wants to kill all of them.  Let’s see what wacky shenanigans they get up to in Power Rangers Unlimited: The Coinless!

- remember what i said about this book having old woman yuri?  yeah.

- not to be weird but I totally get Drakkon’s smile rn.  I would also be super happy if Scorpina was on top of me about to murder me

- MURDER WIFE [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE FROM THE SITCOM AUDIENCE]

- you ever get saved from street execution by your ex-wife and immediately start nagging her.  he’s such an asshole

- THREATENING LETHAL VIOLENCE JUST REUNION WITH YOUR EX THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!

- ignoring how he sucks this is our first confirmation that the events of DND were important to this book (Dark Specter refers to this as the first world he conquered, so I guess the idea is it’s because he was summoned through the Deadlock opening) though Evil Andros isn’t mentioned or referenced in any way.  So I don’t know if he’ll be important later or if he’ll just be quietly written off as having been killed by this point

- Kiya just doesn’t have the headspace to even try and figure out the weird anti-divorce dynamic being laid out in front of her and I don’t blame her.  Finster-5 gets more points for literally not even listening to them (he’s been dealing with them for over a decade) 

- "keep zombie loved one hidden as a way to keep them safe and possibly get through to them even though it’ll inevitably come back to bite you in the ass” is an inherently gay trope

- Honestly, between the White powers being unable to be split and Drakkon refusing to give up the Green coin, this is more respect for Tommy’s powers and more analysis of Tommy’s feelings towards them than the main series have done..................since Necessary Evil 

- ZACK/KIM IN THESE COMICS AGAIN?!????!??  IT’S A GODDAMN MIRACLE

- yes it sucks that Zack had to be the one sacrificed here but at least it’s giving him more narrative and emotional importance than he has in ages

- and heyyyyy we got a little explanation of where the fuck the Triceratops coin has been these past few Coinless stories!  Trini had it and refused to let anyone else take it in order to keep Billy close to her.  Simple, but effective

- CAN YOU TWO JUST...........................I DON’T EVEN KNOW.  KNOCK IT OFF

- you know I didn’t think you could make Drakkon and Slayer’s dynamic even funnier but turns out what you had to do was add a bloodthirsty daughter who really wants to kill her horrible new dad 

- oh.........i hoped you would be dead, tbh 

- remember how I said in my one ask Drakkon and Slayer get pissed if the other gets hurt by someone else?  yeah.  

- and yeah.  This one wins though for being probably the funniest sequences of panels in the book.  Just casually stopping the fifth attempted murder of your ex that day 

- AND YEAH.  this one is just insane though

- oh look it’s the sequence that made me want to chew through my walls at five am on a Wednesday morning

- HE’S SO FUCKING PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  this scene was described to me as “he said ‘it’s all yours’ to Dark Specter but apparently he meant everything except Kim” and i just GHRHGHRHGHRGHRHRH  

- [sobbing] old woman yuri

- tfw you acted like a dick to people grieving a lost loved one the entire book but now it happened to you and it fucking SUCKS

so yeah obviously I hate that Slayer was captured and is more than likely going to end up possessed this entire event BUT looking at it from a story perspective 

a) Slayer’s too popular and too crucial to the Coinless World for her to be killed off.  She’ll be back

b) If they’re going where I think they’re going with Drakkon’s development here taking out Slayer is the way to do it.  That page in particular was very clearly setting up that this is meant to hit him personally and possibly be the moment where he finally “wakes up” in a sense 

c) POTENTIAL FOR POSSESSED!SLAYER VS DRAKKON FIGHT..................... 

[sunshinestrand]

slowly but surely we are getting somewhere, so have some stubborn and oblivious idiots <3

TK has never been fond of flying and ever since his trip to California for rehab, he has been pretty excellent at avoiding planes as a mode of transportation. But, his suggestion that he drive and simply meet everyone there was shut down by Paul as the journey would be “incomplete” without him. TK felt flattered by it, but still no less anxious about the flight ahead of him. So, he put together a playlist, brought some comics, and he fully intends to just blank out until they land back onto solid ground. 

He’s just retrieving his airpods from his backpack when he hears the sound of a throat clear next to him. He looks up to find Carlos, a smug look on his face. Then, without a word, he falls into the empty seat beside TK. 

“What are you doing?” TK asks, watching as Carlos digs through his own backpack before he comes out with a book. TK recognises it as the one that he is always reading while on shift. 

“I’m sitting in my seat. What does it look like I’m doing?” Carlos retorts, flipping open the book to it’s marked place. 

“You can’t sit there.” TK says, and his anxiety flares for a moment, making his stomach sick. 

“Sure I can,” Carlos says, and he smiles at him. “I paid for it.” 

“But —”

TK is cut off by the pre-flight and safety announcements, and he sinks back into his seat, trying his hardest to focus on literally anything else. First, the flight, and now he has Carlos sitting next to him close enough for their arms to be pressed together. He feels like he’s going to faint, or be sick, or both. 

Soon, the plane is moving along the tarmac, and TK’s fingers begin to tangle together. When he chances a look sideways, he sees Carlos staring at him, eyebrow raised. 

“What?” TK doesn’t mean it to have so much bite, but his nerves are too on end at the moment. 

“Are you okay?” Carlos asks, and his voice has that soft tone to it that manages to get right through to TK’s heart. TK doesn’t answer, he just shakes his head. “Are you afraid of flying or something?” 

“No,” TK says. “I’m fine.” 

Carlos snorts a laugh. “Of course.” 

“What is your problem?” 

“Nothing,” Carlos says. “Just the fact that you always say ‘I’m fine’ even when you’re so clearly not okay. Or, how you shrug people off when they are just trying to be nice to you, TK.” 

TK rolls his eyes. “Oh, now you want to be nice? Funny, I didn’t know that was a setting for you.” 

“Whatever.” Carlos mumbles, turning his focus back to his book. 

TK doesn’t even have a retort left in him, and he just turns to look out the window, watching the plane turn towards the runway. Without him even thinking about it, his leg begins to bounce, and his fingers are back at work tangling themselves together. 

“I’m terrified, okay?” TK says, his voice low, and there’s a slight tremble to it. He’s not sure if Carlos is listening nor if he cares. But he just keeps talking. “I haven’t been on a plane in four years, and the last time, it was because — uh, it wasn’t the greatest flight.” 

TK feels warmth against his hand, and it startles him for a moment. He looks down to find Carlos’ hand pressed against his, but that’s where he has stopped it. It’s not a push but an invitation. TK lets out a deep breath before he grabs Carlos’ hand, their fingers intertwining, and the warmth seeps deep into TK, settling into his bones, and the calmness that finds him is instant. 

The plane begins to gain speed, and TK can’t help but grip Carlos’ hand harder. He hears Carlos whisper that everything will be okay and he breathes through it until they are finally lifted into the air. TK slowly loosens his hold, and it takes them a few moments to fully pull their hands back into their own laps. 

“Thank you.” TK whispers after a beat. 

Carlos offers a small smile. “You’re welcome.”

[missluckycharms]

How is older!harry doing i miss him

We love older H in this house 🫶🏻

Y/N was awoken by the doorbell, followed by footsteps, a mumbled conversation and then silence again. Usually, she’d wake up at this, but when she realises she isn’t home, she doesn’t bother to move, she just shuts her eyes again and drifts off to sleep, knowing Harry is already up, since he always loves to wake up early (she warned him to not wake her when he does, unless necessary.)

She sleeps for another two hours before deciding it’s time to get up, nearly hitting noon as she rolls out of bed, grabbing a t shirt nearest to her which is one of Harrys vintage band ones he wears around the house (she claimed it as hers now.)

Rubbing her still sleep hazed eyes, she walks into the kitchen, seeing Harry huffing before standing back and looking at something on the counter, confusion evident in his stance as she smiles at him.

“What’s got you all confused?” She asks with a yawn, startling him as he turns, cold expression on his face before it warms up into a wide grin at the sight of her.

“Afternoon, sleepy head!” He greets her, opening his arms as she smiles settling into his embrace, the heat off his bare torso making her snuggle into him more. (She gets chilly in the mornings, if she’s awake before Harry some mornings she’ll stick her feet on his legs, making him jolt awake as she laughs loudly, before rolling over and sleeping again.)

“What are you hiding, hmm?” She asks curiously, pecking his awaiting lips as he smiles into the kiss, it’s soft and sweet, like pancakes drenched in maple syrup on a Sunday morning.

“Oh, I got you something for here.” He says nervously, looking behind him yet again before looking at her.

“Really? What is it?” She laughs, knowing Harry loves to buy her things here and there, like her own bath robe, her own basket filled with her ‘women necessities’ as he labelled it and her own blanket to use when they cuddle up on his sofa after a feed of takeaway food on Fridays.

“It’s not really set up yet, but-“ he cuts himself off, sighing before stepping away so she can see the half put together coffee machine, ones they use in cafes and coffee houses that she loves to visit.

“… it’s a coffee machine, you always said how you’d love to own one, to make your own in the mornings, and plus you said you hated my coffee machine.”

“It’s cheap and literally electrocutes you when you plug it in!”

“It’s a great way to wake you up!” He defends his coffee machine that he can’t seem to let go of, it was the first thing he bought when he moved into his small apartment when he moved out of his Mums house, it’s comical thinking about it when you look at the expensive house he now owns.

“I love it H, thank you! I love you!” She sings out, eyes wide in excitement as she looks at all the buttons and different settings for whatever coffee she wishes to whip up by herself.

“Also bought you a coffee recipe book — apparently it has some step by steps on how to do latte art? Whatever that is.” He says confused, looking at the machine as if it’s a piece of alien equipment.

“It’s amazing, you’re amazing.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. Come on, let’s put it together — properly.”

“Hey!” He whines, her laugh loud as she picks up the manual to read the instructions.

“I tried.” He pouts, she smiles.

She’s so in love with him.

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

@monthly-challenge 2024 | 6. Sharing Food

I used this prompt for my original characters, Nathan and Patience: the story is under the cut.

Word count: 1,411

“What did you want to cook?” asked Nathan, the instant Patience set foot in the kitchen. He was enveloped in a comically large apron, impressive given his height.

Distracted, Patience said, “Did… did you make that apron? Did you literally just make an apron that was too large just for the fun of it?” He smiled charmingly. “Of course.”

It was floral, and not precisely what she would have expected him to choose, but the pink flowers suited his oven-flushed cheeks. “I didn’t even know you sewed, but I’m not particularly surprised when I think about it.”

“I don’t, much, but I wanted an apron the way I wanted it, so I made it. I even hand-sewed it; that’s not machine stitches you see there.”

Patience took it up and examined it critically. “Very neat,” she said in surprise. “I completely thought that was machine sewing.”

“Success.” He grinned at her, and Patience grinned back, taken by his expression. She was maybe a little bit obsessed with her boyfriend, all things considered. Then again, he was a pretty good sort of fellow, the reason they were going out. She wouldn’t have settled for anyone less than him, because the only way that could have ended was badly, and she had no wish to have a relationship that important end badly if she could help it.

She suspected she got into her head too often. Shaking away the thought, Patience replied to his earlier question with, “Do you have any suggestions?”

Her boyfriend blinked back at her, then realised what she was asking. “Oh! Um, not really. Unless you wanted to make migraine soup.”

Patience laughed. “Soup out of a migraine?” she quipped.

“You know what I mean,” Nathan grumbled.

“That doesn’t stop me from laughing at you.” She offered her most charming smile.

“I would not have it so,” said Nathan, and bowed in a courtly fashion to her. “Listen, if you didn’t say that kind of thing where it was clearly noticeable I’d be filing for divorce already!”

She quieted, and he grimaced. “I didn’t—look, Pat, I’m sorry. Bad choice of words.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll try not to again.”

“Thanks.”

That little awkwardness past, Patience brightened and said, “So—do you have a cook book of some kind that we can look through?”

“That’s an excellent point. Mum does.” He fished out three large tomes and dumped them on the kitchen table, and he and Patience pored over them for several minutes, flipping through the books at varying speeds, before Patience said, “How about this?”

‘This’ was a recipe for the curiously named Linzer cookies, which Patience had never seen before, and which Nathan quickly said he had never made. “They do look interesting, though.”

“A bit like yo-yos,” she said, examining the recipe. “Except more exciting because look at that centre. It’s so pretty!”

“Food is to eat but also to look pretty,” he agreed. “Do we have all the ingredients? Flour, yes—almond flour, also yes—salt, yes—butter, let me check—powdered sugar, yes—brown sugar, yes—eggs, yes—vanilla extract, yes—almond extract, let me check—fruit jam, yes. Butter and almond extract, then—” Nathan went in search of the pantry, and returned victorious. “We have both butter and almond extract, apparently. You’re in luck, Patience, because we usually don’t have almond flour but there was some marked down a lot at the shops the other day, so Mum grabbed it while it was there.”

“Wonderful. It wasn’t for anything particular, was it?”

“No, just while it was so cheap as to be cheaper than normal flour. Convenient, isn’t it?”

“Exceedingly.” She waited, awkwardly, while Nathan fetched everything out of the pantry and fridge, then said, “Um—do you have a spare apron?”

“Oh! Yes, there’s Mum’s.”

Patience picked up the dark blue apron, put it on and glanced quizzically at his brilliant pink one. “Pink for girls and blue for boys, whomst?” she said.

“Nothin’ doing, this is mine,” he said, adopting a threatening attitude.

“I wasn’t about to take it away from you,” she replied placidly.

“Just as well. I shouldn’t have let you. Besides, it’d look ridiculous on you.”

“It looks ridiculous on you,” she said fondly. “Not that that’s a failing.”

“Good: I wear my ridiculousness with pride.”

Patience stepped closer and kissed him quickly. “That’s what I love about you.”

“I know.” He kissed her back, and their plans were slightly delayed.

Once Patience extricated herself from the deep embrace they ended up in, she tied back her hair and said, “Well, we should probably get onto cooking those biscuits—”

“They’re cookies, dear, read the recipe.”

She rolled her eyes cheerfully at his nitpicking and said, “Whatever they are. We should cook them.”

“Are we allowed to mix the ingredients together first?” he asked plaintively. This time Patience laughed.

“First we need a mixing bowl,” she said, reading the instructions.

“Ahead of you.” Nathan put a glass mixing bowl on the bench with a gentle clink.

“And whisk the flour, almond flour and salt together.”

“Whisk,” he said, and got out a wooden spoon.

“If you do your mixing, then, while I cream the butter and sugars? It says to use a mixer but I reckon I can do it well enough.”

“I believe in you,” he encouraged her.

She flashed him a smile, then picked up a tablespoon and set to work on it. Nathan was done much more quickly than she was, but watched her attentively and was ready with the first egg yolk as soon as she proclaimed it done.

“I can take over if you want,” he offered, but she shook her head. “Maybe in a bit when the going gets tough.”

“Of course,” he agreed. Patience mixed in silence until it was done, then separated it into two batches.

Once they had shaped the first batch, Nathan read the recipe. “Okay, time to chill.”

She grinned. “Excellent.”

They passed the time until the cookies were ready for the oven in a theological discussion about the terminologies used for God in the Bible. At ‘God of my refuge’, the timer went off and both abandoned their discussion reluctantly, promising one another that they would come back to it later.

They rolled out the dough in companionable conversation, but not about the theological discussion, since Patience wanted to be able to cross-reference and find exactly where each term was used, which she couldn’t exactly do with floury hands. The biscuits they made a perfectly round shape, with small heart shapes in the middle. Nathan made a heart shape with his hands after handing the cutter to Patience. “‘Cause I love you,” he said romantically.

“Love you too,” she retorted, face lighting up with a smile.

“Great, glad to hear that,” he said, looking a little flushed as he kept on cutting out circles and handing precisely half of them to Patience for the additional heart.

Once they were in the oven, they returned to their seats. Patience was the one to remember the timer, which Nathan said was just as well, since he’d forgotten about it and the cookies would be rather blacker than intended if he’d been the one to remember.

While they were cooling, Patience picked up the Bible again. “Where’s that verse about the Lord being a strong tower that the righteous run into?”

“Psalms, I’m pretty sure. Maybe Jonah. Probably Psalms though.”

“Why Jonah?” she mused, already flipping through Psalms slowly and scanning for the desired verse.

“I don’t know. I always get it mixed up with Jonah’s prayer, but I don’t think it’s in there at all.”

“No, neither do I—aha! Found it. It’s not in Psalms at all. I thought suddenly that it might be in Proverbs so I checked. Eighteen, verse ten.”

“Thanks for finding it. Isn’t it interesting?” Nathan added, glancing at her. “The many different ways God is revealed as a—a thing? You know, I can’t remember the word but you know what I mean?”

“I know what you mean. Not just merciful and gracious and all that, but as a refuge, a hiding place, a strong tower. Isn’t it exciting?”

“Exciting seems the wrong word to me,” he demurred.

“Well, it’s exciting to me,” she said firmly. “D’you think the cookies will be cool yet? I want to en-jam them and try them.”

Nathan laughed kindly at her. “They won’t be cool for a while, Pat.”

Nathan and Patience were using this recipe for their cookies! I've never made it but it looked fun. The bit about terminologies used for God was stolen from a conversation I had the other day with... someone on Chrumblr but I forget who. If you see it, hope you don't mind lol. Tagging @stealingmyplaceinthesun@graycedelfin@pilgrimsofworship and @choasuqeen

[white-weasel]

Saw Saturday has come yet again, this time we watched Saw VI:

First off, this movie was so aggressively 2008-2009 in its theme I was FLOORED. Of course there were the predatory lenders, loaning out money to those they knew couldn’t pay it back (direct reference to the housing crash in 2007/2008) and then I got hit with the words “preexisting condition” and literally went “oh fuck the affordable care act doesn’t exist yet.” So definitely was interesting to get a blast from the past with social commentary that was very much based on popular public discourse at the time (not saying predatory lending and American health insurance aren’t also issues now just… a different kind of issue/focus)

I cannot believe that Strahm’s hand survived that entire crushing room so in tact. Then again I did not watch Strahm’s actual death at all because I’m too much of a baby about broken bones, but just seeing the rest of the corpse… man Hoffman got pretty lucky with that one

Perez didn’t die in 4/5 I fucking called it!!! Like I said, if I don’t see your body idc, you’re alive in my book

Still, I’m surprised that they revealed that bit of information to Hoffman. I guess at that point they were running off the assumption Strahm was Jigsaw’s accomplice and thus Hoffman would be a trusted ally in the investigation but man

Speaking of, Hoffman was sooooo sus this entire movie it was almost comical. I mean, it’s probably just because you as an audience member know Hoffman’s whole deal but still

Another Saw trap gauntlet! I think it’s interesting that as the movies moved more towards focusing on John Kramer and his crew as the main characters, rather than those in the trap, the traps have turned into multiple tests rather than just one. It makes sense from a story telling perspective though because that way they don’t have to explain multiple people’s deals why they’re in these traps and can instead just focus on one

With that, I think this was my favorite of the trap gauntlets yet! Actual tough decisions for William and I feel like it mixed the moral choices being put forward by 3 about saving people, while also making the decisions tougher/have more consequences like 5. I really liked the maze where in order to let her pass through he had to redirect the steam and burn himself and the shotgun carousel trap where he had to impale his hands in order to save just a fraction of those on it.

I was staring at the teen boy with his mom who have been put in that cage room with the acid and was like “He looks familiar but idk where I’ve seen him before” a few scenes later my friend just blurts out “oh my god that’s Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and we literally had to pause to take in that information

Once again though, not sure how I feel about more John Kramer lore being added, but this at least didn’t stand out to me as being Too Much yknow. It makes sense that there was a slimy insurance guy who screwed over thousands of sick people and also did it to John, who was a close friend. Didn’t break anything pre established too much

Idk if this was intentional but the whole thing about the knives used to cut the jigsaw pieces out being different for Hoffman vs John felt like it was kinda a reference back to John telling Hoffman that the blade on his pendulum was inferior. If Hoffman had just followed John’s lead and used a surgical precision knife, the right tool for the job, to cut up that latest victim, the discrepancy wouldn’t have been raised and they probably wouldn’t have even thought about re-examining the Seth Baxter tape

The scene in the audio technician lab? So good. Once again Hoffman is being so so sus but also he’s cornered. I do have to question the logic of letting Hoffman hear the actual incriminating evidence when it’s pretty obvious they suspected him at this point, but it led to an iconic moment so I will take it

Rip Perez for real this time :( genuinely did like her from what we saw from her and I desperately wanted her to own Hoffman’s ass

Did NOT expect Hoffman to have basically blackmailed Amanda into killing Lynn (and thereby killing herself) back in 3, but now that I think about it it makes sooo much sense. It never 100% clicked with me why Amanda did that with how I read her character, but knowing that she was making the choice between her father figure/mentor/person who’s approval she wanted most in the world hating her or killing Lynn, things have fallen into place better

Jill was MUCH more involved with the Jigsaw operation than I had previously thought. It was basically like a fucking murder family up in there lmaoooo

Hoffman in the reverse bear trap was unexpected!! And the fact he beat what was supposed to be an unbeatable trap for him??? Actually a little bit insane. (He and Strahm both surviving “unwinnable” traps? They’re perfect for each other) I cannot wait to see what Jill’s reaction is gonna be when he eventually shows up and is like “I lived, bitch”

We’re reaching the point where my friend doesn’t remember what happens in the series (she watched some of the movies year ago) She said she very clearly remembered 1-3, would remember things as they came up in 4, and now only remembers stuff from Jigsaw since she saw that one in theaters. However, she loves hearing me ramble about my theories and then likes to look things up about the movies so she can know ahead of time if I’m right or not lmao

In her words “See, I knew you would like these movies, not because of like the traps or the gore or anything, but because of the crazy shit that happens in the plot. It’s fun seeing you go crazy about the twists and then spiral until we watch the next one.” And she’s absolutely 100% right

[thesleepysphinx]

Summer on the Horizon

Telltale's The Walking Dead Luke x Fem!Reader

Chapter Content Warnings: violence

*Please refer to the masterlist for a disclaimer on the AU this takes place in*

Series Masterlist ◈ Previous Chapter ◈ Next Chapter

Chapter 2: Hope for the Best

Word count: 2647

The newly formed trio treks through the woods as the sun begins its descent, bathing them in warm, yellow light between the trees. If you were to show someone a picture of this a few years back, there’s no way they’d know that the dead were walking among the living. It almost feels serene. Almost.

Luke bends his neck back and forth, cracking it to relieve the stiffness that’s been living there. “Man, it sure would be nice to find a cabin or somethin’, we’ve been out in the woods too much for my liking.”

Y/N unravels a map of the area from her pocket and traces her finger along the river, the same one they’ve been following for the past few hours. If they’re going the direction she thinks they are, then they’re in for some luck.

“It looks like there might be some sort of summer camp up ahead. There’s a small chance they might still have supplies, too. Place seems pretty secluded.” She hands the map to Luke so he can take a look himself.

Clementine speaks up, “There probably won’t be much left. It all happened during summer, remember?”

Y/N sighed. “Damn, I keep forgetting. I was taking summer classes, and all I remember is the school part. Damn memory is giving out on me.”

Luke continues to stretch, rolling his shoulders. “I just hope there’s a bed at least.”

Y/N laughs at him. “That’s legitimately all you’ve been talkin’ about this whole time. Don’t you want anything else?”

Luke shrugs at her, a playful smirk on his face. “Some food would be nice, too.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “It’d be nice to find some reading material. I could do with a new book or comic or literally anything.”

“Yeah…” Clementine sighs. “A book would be really nice.”

Y/N smiles down at Clementine. “Yeah. Just a little escape from everything.”

They continue to walk in a comfortable silence. Luke brings up the rear, making sure there aren’t any walkers following them. You’d think they’re always loud, but some of them have a tendency to sneak up on you. Y/N leads the way holding the map with Clem at her side, keeping her eyes peeled for any threats up ahead, screwdriver in hand. 

As Y/N looks up at the sky searching for the source of the sunset to make sure the sun is in the right direction, Clem glances over at her. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure we’re going the right way.” She says it so matter-of-factly it confuses Clementine even more.

“That… doesn’t really answer my question.”

Y/N glances back at her, finally realizing where the confusion lies. “Oh, you can make sure you’re still headed the right direction if you look for the sun. If it’s morning and the sun is on your right, you’re heading north. But if it’s on your left, you’re heading south. I’m just checking to make sure it’s still on our left and we didn’t somehow get turned around at a fork in the river.” She folds the map back up. “We should be almost there.” With that, she looks up again, this time at the trees. “Y’all stay down here a second. I’m gonna climb up and see if I can spot the clearing.” She shucks her pack off her shoulders and tosses her hat beside it as she digs through the bag to retrieve an ice pick.

As Y/N pulls the ice pick out, Clementine remembers Molly, the girl from Savannah that used an ice pick as a climbing tool and weapon. “Those things sure are useful.”

Y/N laughs. “You’re tellin’ me. Damn thing has gotten me out of more than a few jams. I’m gonna use it till it breaks, no doubt about that.”

She approaches the tallest tree, looking for the best starting point. As she’s looking, Luke comes up behind her. “You’d like a boost?” He hands his rifle off to Clementine. 

Y/N eyes him up and down, noticing more detail this time. He’s definitely fit, and he has a scraggly farm boy charm to him that not everyone could pull off. He’s kind of… handsome. 

She immediately chases the thought out of her head as she answers him, “Yeah, that’d help.”

Luke crouches down next to the tree and laces his fingers together to give her a step. He boosts her up with all his strength, groaning a bit until the weight is off him. Y/N climbs nimbly up to the sturdy branch and looks down.

“Don’t offer if you’re gonna be a baby about it.”

He laughs, mostly at himself. “Heh, sorry. Guess these broken ribs ain’t fully healed yet. I’m fine.”

Y/N keeps climbing the tree, keeping the conversation going. “Damn, broken ribs? How’d that happen?”

Luke leans up against the tree, keeping watch. “Some asshole with a mustache. Another asshole with a mustache took care of ‘im though.” He hears her laugh from somewhere above him. Damn, her laugh is a pretty sound he thinks to himself.

“Well I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t grow a mustache. Too bad you already have.”

Clementine cuts in, “Good thing he’s not an asshole.” She gives Luke the side-eye. “Yet.”

Luke looks at her in shock. “Oh come on now, Clem, don’t be sayin’ ‘yet’ so much. You’re gonna drive me crazy over here.”

Another laugh comes from the trees. Luke swears he can almost feel butterflies that time. “Kid’s got a big bark. I’d be afraid to see her bite.”

“Oh yeah, she’s a mean one. Don’t let her height fool you, she can do some damage.” Luke glances down at the hand Clem bit when he pulled her into the comic book store back at Howe’s. 

Above their heads, Luke and Clem hear, “Well I’ll be damned. We’re not a five minute walk from it. I can see the tops of the cabins, lots of ‘em. Can see a couple of lurkers too. Should be fairly simple. I’m comin’ back down now.”

Luke steps away from the tree, watching her make her way down. It’s like she’s done this so many times before, gracefully swinging down branch after branch. Eventually she makes it to the last branch before jumping down to land right in front of Luke. As her feet meet the ground, she stumbles forward, right into him. He just barely catches her before her face kisses the dirt. As she regains her posture, Luke puts his hands on her shoulders to make sure she’s steady. 

He chuckles at her. “Guess landing’s not as graceful as the climb down.” After he realizes his hands have been on her shoulders a bit too long, he lets go, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. He clears his throat. “Well, what’re we wasting daylight for? Let’s get over there and clear out the walkers before it gets dark.” He grabs his rifle back from Clementine, throwing the strap over his head.

Behind him, Y/N puts away her pick, dons her pack, and settles her cap back on her head, pulling the visor down in a poor attempt to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. Nuh-uh, brain, we are NOT about to do this to ourselves she laments. Maybe joining them might not have been the best idea, especially for her heart rate. But it is very nice to find good people again…

As they get closer to the cabins, they slow their pace to keep quiet. Luke swings his rifle to hang by his side as he unholsters his machete. He brings his voice down to a whisper. “Alright, let’s clear out every walker we can find. Rather not have any surprises while we sleep.” He stays crouched as he snakes around the perimeter of the clearing, Clem and Y/N hot on his trail with their own melee weapons drawn. They come up behind a bigger cabin with a back door, two walkers standing on the deck, aimless. Over towards the left is another one, slowly making its way towards the others. Luke signals with his hand that he’ll be taking the one walking up, leaving the other two to the girls. They nod at him in agreement then look to each other. 

The trio quietly makes their approach as the walkers have their backs turned. Clementine thinks about using the knee trick Jane taught her, but the walker’s fall might make too much noise so she settles on just a quick jab to the back of the head. With practiced ease, they all walk up to the walkers and destroy what little is left of their brains. The walkers slide down to the ground in a heap of bones. Luke nods to the both of them as he continues on around the building to find more lurkers. 

After about fifteen minutes, the camp is clear of walkers, at least for the moment. They all keep their weapons drawn out of precaution. 

“Well,” Luke is first to speak up, “That’s at least a dozen less walkers in the world.” He starts to walk towards the first cabin they came across. “Let’s get inside so we can actually get some rest.”

Clementine paces behind him as Y/N jogs to catch up to his side. “You saying that makes me wonder just how many of these things I’ve killed. I’d say it’s in the hundreds, and it’s probably like that for a lot of other people, but they just don’t stop coming. It’s like cutting off a head of a hydra.”

Luke sighs as he tilts his head up to the sky. “Yeah… It sure does feel like that sometimes. Hopeless. But I’d like to think there’s an end to all this, eventually. Just hope I’m here and alive for it.”

Y/N playfully punches his arm. “Just stick with me and you’re sure to stay alive. I got your back.” She turns around to Clem. “And yours too.” Clem smiles back at her, but it’s becoming obvious that exhaustion is weighing on the small girl. Y/N continues as she turns back forward, “I know I just met the two of you today, but being a part of this group feels right already. Not to get idealistic or anything, but I think we all can make it. Together.” She looks down at the ground and smiles to herself.

As they reach the front door of the large cabin, Luke places his hand on the door and braces himself for an entry. Right before he opens it, he whispers, “You know what they say. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” He nods towards them as he opens the door.

Y/N has her hunting knife drawn as she peeks into the cabin, checking for any unwelcome undead, not that there’s any other kind anyways. As she peers in, it’s all empty besides a few bunk beds with thin mattresses. Guess Luke’s wish for a bed has been granted, even if it’s a shitty bed Y/N thinks to herself. This particular cabin seems to be one of the high-end ones (if you can call it that), as there’s a bathroom attached and a loft near the back with a detachable ladder. Underneath that loft in another room is a kitchenette that Y/N makes note of to search once they’re piled in.

After a thorough search of the cabin for threats, Y/N waves in Clementine and Luke. Luke shuts the door behind him and draws the drapes over the door’s window closed. The moment he turns around, his eyes catch sight of the beds. An instant rush of relief passes over him as he makes his way towards the nearest one and lays down. The weak rays of the setting sun bath him in a faint glow.

“Never thought I’d be grateful for a one inch piece of foam. Next up on the list is food.” He brings his arms up to rest behind his head like a pillow. “But that can wait till tomorrow.”

As Luke finally lets his body relax, Y/N makes her way back to the kitchenette. After opening a few cabinets, a smile graces her face. She calls out behind her, “Looks like it won’t have to.” She presents a can labeled “Dehydrated Eggs” and a portable burner stove. “This baby looks propane powered, and it’s still got plenty of propane left.”

Clementine walks up to grab another can of dehydrated eggs and read the label. Luke sits up to take a look from his place on the bunk. “Well I’ll be damned. Things really are lookin’ up. Maybe Y/N here is a good luck charm or somethin’.” He gets up to stand beside them now. 

Y/N turns her body back towards the counter to hide the insistent blush creeping along her face again. She begins setting up the burner, pulling a pan out of the cabinet. Dust flies everywhere as she blows on it, and she starts coughing, trying to clear the dust from her throat. As she struggles, Clementine uncaps and offers her water bottle. Y/N grabs it and takes a sip, feeling relief almost instantly. She hands the bottle back, thanking Clementine between her ragged breaths. 

Luke laughs from behind her, “Good thing we cleared out the walkers that were here, otherwise they’d be banging on that door. You doin’ okay there?” He places his hand on Y/N’s back as she continues coughing, bracing herself against the counter. All she can do is nod as the embarrassment washes over her. 

Real smooth, Y/N she thinks to herself.

Clementine pulls the stove towards her. “I’ll take care of the food. Maybe you should go sit down.”

Y/N once again only nods, moving to one of the bunks, sitting down as she shucks off her pack and starts digging through it for her own water. She chugs some down and her coughing tapers off. As she’s still recovering, Luke props the ladder up for the loft, climbing up to take a look. He turns towards Y/N, staying on the ladder in a nonchalant pose that he can’t help but look cool in.

“We could pull the mattresses off these beds and stack them up here to sleep on. Would be safer if any walkers happened to make it through the door.”

“Yeah,” she responds in a raspy voice, “I’d prefer not to get eaten in my sleep, so that sounds like a good plan.” And it does, but she can’t help but think about how close they’ll be up there in the cramped loft space. Hopefully I’m too tired to care once we head to bed… 

One by one, Y/N hands Luke the mattresses to stack up in the loft. By the time they’re finished, Clementine calls for them from the kitchen. On the counter sits a pan full of fluffy eggs. Their mouths water at the sight. Clementine moves the pan to the small table at the end of the kitchen. All three of them sit together at the table, an odd sense of normalcy washing over them. Sitting at this table in a quiet cabin, not even any moans of the dead surrounding them. It’s like they’ve gone back in time. 

Y/N takes off her hat and gazes out the window, taking in the serenity of the dusky light and undisturbed trees. She swears she can almost hear the song of a bird, something she hasn’t bothered to listen for in years. Tears begin to form in her eyes, but she wipes them away. “I think… I think this is the first time I’ve actually felt calm in a long time.” She moves her gaze towards her new companions. “We’re gonna be okay.”

Next Chapter: Take What I Can Get

A/N: And that's the second chapter! I'm very happy with the schedule I have set up for myself, it's allowing me time to write without having sporadic posting lol. Holding myself accountable is nice.