#low key hoping his dad will so I can zip to the gym before we have dinner there 😅

[pumpkinespresso]

Omg… ;; I haven’t had a cheat day in weeks and this morning after we woke up, my bf said he’s going to take me to ihop later!!!!

You guys have no idea how much I love pancakes!!! 🥞

[emeralds-are-love]

The Balance: A Ben 10-Kingdom Hearts Crossover

Prologue:

The world wasn't always like this. At least...that's what my grandpa tells me....

Long before I was even thought of, or any of us for that matter, people where born with special abilities. Super powers, so to speak. These abilities were split into two halves of one whole: the Light, symbolizing purity, innocence, the shining sun in the day, and the Dark, symbolizing mysteries, mischief, the glowing moon at night. They were literal Yin and Yang, coexisting peacefully, one never overtaking the other. People seemed to accept that for a long time. Until...he came along.

Xehanort Shadhart is a name that will live on in infamy. When he was younger, it was said that he and his brother, Sephiroth, had grandiose dreams of growing stronger with their Dark powers and eventually become the most powerful people in the world. And it turns out they weren't the only ones that felt that way.

Thousands of Dark users had felt the same way as the Shadhart brothers, and certain Light users didn't help the situation at all. They bragged that because people of the Light represented purity, they were better than those of the Dark. Some even went as far as to oppress Dark users, going against their "pure" nature by being cruel. This caused hatred and animosity to grow strong in the hearts of those of the Dark, fueling their power and making them stronger. The Balance that had formed in the beginning was starting to break.

Xehanort saw this and planned to take full advantage of it. He rallied all those of the Dark together and proposed that they overthrow the Light side and take control of the world. Needless to say, they liked his plan and it was quickly set into motion. And, unfortunately, the Light side never saw it coming.

Powerful Light users were either killed or taken away, never to be seen again. The ones who weren't so strong were registered and kept under constant surveillance. Once everything was said and done, Xehanort seized the opportunity and made himself leader of this new world, with his brother as the leader of his armies. Over the years, the Shadhart family grew more and more powerful and it seemed as if nothing could stop them. But what they didn't realize was that not everyone from the Light side were going to take this lying down.

My grandpa, Max Tennyson, is a very powerful Light user and a kind yet capable man. When he realized just what was going on, he began to gather Light users to form a resistance against the Dark regime. Since he was a powerful user, my grandpa had to do all of this carefully, staying hidden and holding secret meetings. But a life of hiding and fighting wasn't a life he wanted for either of his sons, my dad Carl and my Uncle Frank. So, he encouraged them to try and stay low in plain sight and not get involved with the Resistance. To lead safe lives. They both married and led normal lives...well normal as it can be under a tyrannical rule. That is until...they wanted to start a family.

And that is where I come in. My name is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, but I would thank you to please just call me Ben. I was born to Carl and Sandra Tennyson along with my twin sister, Brendalyn Kirsten Tennyson, but call her Bree. When our mom found out she was pregnant, our parents were ecstatic. But when we were born, that excitement turned to fear. Why?

Well, after Xehanort came into power, he decreed that any child that showed strong Light power by the age of five would be taken straight to him. Once that happened, the children were never seen again. So many families were destroyed that way and it was another reason why so many ran to the Resistance. My parents, despite both my Grandpa Max and Grandma Verdona being very powerful, were low on the power scale and thought that they would have children who were the same as them. Oh God, they were so wrong.

A child of the Light is usually born with sparkling eyes and the brighter the eyes shine, the more powerful the baby would be. Unfortunately for my parents, my eyes shone brighter than the stars. Bree's eyes shone bright as well, as did my cousin Gwen's. My aunt and uncle immediately went into hiding with the Resistance, but my parents didn't, hoping, praying, that our power would fade. But it never did.

Having no where else to turn and knowing that Xehanort's forces would come to take us on our fifth birthday, a month before our fifth, my parents gave me and my sister to our grandparents in the Resistance and went on the run, hoping to lead them off our trail.

That was the last time we ever saw them. We're fourteen now and have been in the Resistance our whole lives, growing with the rest of the children and learning how to fight. My goal is to become stronger and one day, this war will end. And I will have my family again.

----------------------------

"Ben? Ben!"

I snapped out of my daydream and sighed, sitting up from my reclined position. My eyes raised up and blinked at the sight of my friends, Sora Strife-Leonhart and Julie Yamamoto, standing over my position on the floor of the Light Compound's auditorium.

Julie was a American-Japanese girl whom had come to the Compound with her family a year after my sister and I had. And I know this isn't pertinent information for everyone else, but I thought that she was really beautiful. She had long, silky black hair, usually tied back in a ponytail, and soft brown eyes. Her skin was pale and soft- looking and was accented by the clothes she wore; a pink, cherry blossom print kimono styled shirt with a white obi, black shorts, fishnet tights, and boots. She was staring down at me disapprovingly with her hands on her hips. Seeing this made me wonder what I did wrong this time.

Sora, however, was grinning at me with his usual megawatt grin, causing me to smile a little. You couldn't help but smile when you're around him. Also, at the risk of sounding somewhat attracted to my best friend, he was kinda cute. He had spiky, chestnut hair and sky blue eyes. His skin was sun-kissed, seeing as he like to be outside when he took his naps, and he wore his usual attire; a red and black short sleeved hoodie with a red V- tank top underneath, baggy, black pants with two belts that crossed in the front and in the back, a black choker around his neck, and red sneakers.

"We can always find you here, can't we?" He asked teasingly, offering his hand to help me up. I grinned and took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet.

"What can I say?" I said, straightening my own clothes- a white sleeveless zip-up vest with a ten on the right side and on the back, a green, skin-tight, turtleneck, sleeveless shirt that stopped just above my navel, black pants with a belt that hung off my left hip, and black combat boots- and grinning. "I'm predictable like that."

Sora laughed while Julie rolled her eyes but smiled just the same. They were used to my antics and I, theirs. I mean they've both known me since I was little, I like to think that they know me by now.

"Bree's looking for you," Julie stated, folding her arms across her chest. "She said if you make training start late again, she's taking the twenty laps around the gym out of your hyde."

I flinched. Twenty laps for being late? That means-

"Terra's training the four of us today?" I asked, looking at Sora for confirmation. The tired look that replaced his grin was all the answer I needed. I swore and dragged my right hand down my face.

Terra Rockford was five years older than me and Sora, so nineteen. He was a strong, muscular man with brown hair that went down to his shoulders, blue eyes, and a stern disposition. Despite that, he was a good guy, always taking care of the younger kids and teaching them how to fight. He was also one of the few who could wield a Keyblade.

A Keyblade is a special weapon shaped like a giant key- hence the name- that supposedly can open any lock, unlock doors to different worlds, and (depending on who's wielding it) can restore hearts from darkness. There used to be so many who could wield one, but the number of Keyblade users on the Light side had dwindled over the years. Terra, Sora, his brother Roxas, and their cousin Ventus can all wield one. Only Terra and Ventus were Masters but only became Masters recently. We used to have two others but...not anymore....

Shaking my head of that sad thought, I sighed and said, "Alright, Sora and I'll get going. What time is it?"

Without waiting for an answer, I glance at the black and green watch on my left wrist- and my eyes nearly bulge out of my skull. It was ten minutes to three, almost time for us to be there! And the training gym was on the other side of the compound!

"If you guys know where I hang, why did it take you so long to find me?! C'mon Sora!" I grabbed Sora's wrist- gently, I wanted him to hurry not be hurt- and pulled him from the Auditorium and together we booked it towards the gym.

The problem was that the Light Compound was huge. Basically, the Compound was an underground city: tunnels that stretched for miles, some leading to important parts of the Compound used by Light soldiers, scientists, and leaders, such as the training gym, the armory, the meeting hall, the top secret labs, and barracks for soldiers. There are many more but it would take forever to list them.

There were also "rooms" for civilians. Stores for clothes and food, a trading market, a woodshop, a blacksmith, a school for us kids, small restaurants, and homes for civilians. There was even little play areas for kids, a night bar for the adults, a museum, a library, and a small movie theater. The only thing that was above ground were the green houses, fruit trees, and gardens. People tended to them regularly.

The gym where Sora and I train and the Auditorium were on opposite sides of the Compound. It usually took a grand total of thirty minutes to get from the Auditorium to the gym, twenty if you're fast enough. Either way, Sora and I were gonna be late. Unless....

I looked over at Sora with a sly smirk as we ran. "How about we...speed things up a bit, hm?"

Sora grinned back at me, his eyes sparkling in excitement. "I like the way you think!"

We looked away from each other and began to focus on our energy, channeling it from our hearts, through our legs, and to our feet. Once it was all there, our eyes flashed and we shouted in unison, "Accelerate!"

We sped down the halls as our legs moved superhumanly fast. To the people we passed, we must have looked like nothing but blurs.

(TBC)

[xfilescat]

something else (steve harrington x named!reader

word count: about 3k

warnings: none except language (maybe not even language, i might’ve taken out all the swearing lmao)

preview: “You were so caught up that you barely registered Hopper speaking. ‘Have you two been drinking already?’

Joyce chuckled. ‘I don’t think so, Hop. That’s not alcohol. That’s something else.’

‘Drugs?’

‘Something else.’”

A/N: umm hey guys! guess who’s back w another attempt at being a good writer!!! i gotta tell you something: i’ve literally written and scrapped like five entire fics since i posted “a river in egypt” because i do this thing where i reread something i’ve written so many times that i start to despise it. i’m basically holding myself at gunpoint to post this one because i really wanna break that cycle!! also forgive me for completely ignoring the release date of “we built this city.” this fic is set around june 1985 & the song came out in august of that year, but it’s just such a good example of a bad ‘80s song (now there’s an oxymoron for ya) that i had to pretend it came out earlier!! also, there is one prerequisite for reading this fic: you MUST either listen to or look up the lyrics to “he’s the greatest dancer” by sister sledge before you read this, otherwise you’ll be a little confused about a few jokes. anyway, i hope you enjoy cuz i had a lot of fun writing this. oh, and i’ve included a list of all the songs mentioned in this fic because i love music and i think it will help you to kinda feel what i was feeling when i wrote each scene :) so take a look!

songs used/implied/referenced: “last chance on the stairway” by duran duran

“he’s the greatest dancer” by sister sledge

“wonderful tonight” by eric clapton

“we built this city” by starship

“train in vain” by the clash

“one more night” by phil collins

June 1st, 1985 was the Hawkins High School senior prom, and from the moment you zipped up your sparkly dress and stepped into your sky-high heels, you told yourself that you were going to stick it out for the whole night. Yes, prom was an archaic, overrated triviality, but you figured that after all of the stuff that had happened last year, you could use a little triviality. Plus, you were there with Steve, so you knew that even if nothing else lived up to your expectations, you’d have a good time. He was your best friend.

You had to admit that the Hawkins High School prom committee had done a bang-up job of turning the run-down gymnasium into something halfway gorgeous. There were glimmering paper stars and streamers hanging from the rafters, a big shiny disco ball was casting flattering beams of light across everyone’s faces, and they had even gotten one of those classic balloon arches under which students posed for Mr. Comenski’s camera. It looked like a cheesy movie, but in a good way, an “I’ll remember this forever” way.

About a half hour before the end of prom, one of your favorite songs started to play. You and Steve were mingling with some friends at a table when you heard the first few notes, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the dance floor so fast you nearly knocked a couple of people over. He had to have the patience of a saint for putting up with you, for just smiling good-naturedly whenever you did things like that—which was often. When it came to you and your antics, there was never any question as to whether or not he was along for the ride. He always was.

“I gotta say,” you said after a few minutes of dancing. “This night isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.” You took his hand and twirled under it.

“I know.” Steve had to shout to be heard over Duran Duran. “This is really fun. The only thing I’d change is your dancing ability.”

Your jaw dropped. “Wow. Sorry I haven’t mastered your signature move of standing there and bopping your head. We can’t all have your god-given talent.”

He grinned and nodded, easily sidestepping your sarcasm. “Did you know Sister Sledge actually wrote ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ about me?”

You laughed and placed your hands on his shoulders as “Last Chance on the Stairway” faded out and an old Eric Clapton song filled the room. “Ah, so you’re the ‘champion of dance.’”

“My moves would put you in a trance,” he confirmed as he wrapped his arms around your waist. You two began to slow dance, albeit a bit formally. There was a safe and friendly distance between you. Nothing like Carol and Tommy, who were literally making out with each other ten feet away from you. It was nice: you chatted as you swayed, joking around and singing along to the song. You shut your eyes and tried to memorize every single detail: how the way you were angled made the music sound a little louder in your right ear, how Steve’s hands felt around your waist, how badly your shoes hurt. In that moment, everything seemed special and everything seemed to be a part of something bigger and more beautiful.

Then, they cut Clapton short and started playing “We Built This City” for the second time that night and you opened your eyes the same reluctant way you do when you hear your alarm go off in the morning. You and Steve looked around at your fellow students kicking up their heels and then locked eyes in mutual confusion. You shrugged. Maybe nearly dying a couple times gave you and him a lower tolerance for bad music: life was too damn valuable to spend any second of it listening to Starship. Steve said something to you, but you couldn’t hear him. You leaned in closer. “What?”

“I said, do you wanna get out of here?”

You smiled in relief. “Yes, definitely.”

He immediately took your hand and led you off the dance floor. You made a beeline for the back door and to your surprise, he didn’t let go right away. Not even after the door swung shut behind you and there were no more crowds to get lost in.

It was tranquil outside. You could still hear the music from the gym, but other than that, there was no sound save for your heels clicking against the pavement. It made being on campus at night feel all the more surreal. So did holding Steve’s hand. “Hey,” you said, peering up at him. He looked almost unreal in the moonlight, and you had to tighten your grip on him to make sure that you weren’t dreaming. “Is this something we do now?” You started swinging your still-entwined hands. As close as you had become in the past few months, holding on this long was new.

He chuckled. “Sure, why not?”

“Alright, then. Cool.”

“Cool.”

You listened to your footsteps for a little while longer. Once you reached Steve’s car, you leaned against the passenger side while he unlocked the doors. You watched him fumble with his keys in the low light before he glanced across the roof at you. “Shannon?”

“Mhm?”

“Where are we even going?”

You rested your chin on top of your folded arms. “I dunno. Anywhere but here?”

“We could go grab some food to kill time before Tina’s party.”

You sighed. “Right. That. I forgot about that.” You knew that an after party was part of the whole prom deal, but you’d let it slip from your mind. Or maybe you’d blocked it out because it was too unpleasant to think about. Standing around in some stranger’s trashed house while your classmates did dumb, drunken shit wasn’t exactly your definition of a good time. You opened the door and slid into the passenger seat with another sigh.

Steve sat down behind the wheel and met your eyes with an authoritarian, knowing look on his face. You knew that look. You called it his “dad face.” It was usually aimed at one of the kids—or you—when they tried to do something stupid. “You don’t wanna go?”

“Don’t give me that damn look.” He laughed, and you fought back a smile before continuing. “It’s not that I don’t wanna go, it’s just that…” You trailed off.

“You don’t wanna go,” he finished for you.

You grinned. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “In all honesty, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going, either. It’s just gonna be more of the same. Plus, Hargrove may not have shown up here, but there’s no way he’d miss out on free booze and I reeeally don’t want to deal with him tonight.”

“Exactly. So can we just ditch it?”

“Please.”

“Thank goodness.” You leaned back in your seat and sighed for a third time, this time in contentedness. “Now, what are we gonna do with all this free time?”

He thought it over for a moment as he started the car. You watched as a smile eventually spread across his face. “I have a great idea, Shan,” he said matter-of-factly, pulling out of his parking space.

“What is it?”

“Put your seatbelt on first.”

You complied. “Where are we going?”

“To a disco on the outskirts of Frisco.”

“Steve,” you giggled. “Come on.”

“Okay, okay. I know a couple of people who’re throwing a very exclusive party tonight, and it just so happens that we’re on the guest list.”

When you walked up to the front yard of Chief Hopper’s cabin, he and Joyce were sitting on the porch enjoying the weather. “You kids are back early,” he commented. You were far enough away that he had to shout for you to hear him.

“Yeah,” Steve called. “We skipped out on the whole after-prom thing.” He was helping you hold up your skirt so it wouldn’t get dragged across the forest floor. You were still in your dress and he was still in his tux even though you both had brought a change of clothes for Tina’s party. You knew that the kids would love to see you guys all dressed up.

“Good,” Hopper replied. “I don’t need any more drunk and stupid teenagers running around my town tonight doing drunk and stupid things.”

Your high heels were turning the leaves into a treacherous obstacle course, but you were determined to make it to the cabin without assistance. You stumbled once and steadied yourself, then another time, and then another time before Steve finally rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around your waist. You looked up at him and raised your eyebrows. “Is this something we do now?”

He burst out laughing and you couldn’t contain yourself, either—you were overcome by that inescapable, long-lasting kind of laughter that only inside jokes brought about. Steve’s dress shoes weren’t ideal for traipsing through the woods, either, so with all your giggling, neither of you were very surefooted. About thirty feet from the porch, you stepped onto a particularly slippery patch of leaves and went down, taking Steve with you. This only served to exacerbate your laughing fits. It suddenly seemed like absolutely everything was funny, from the leaves in your hair to the awkward position you had landed in. You were so caught up that you barely registered Hopper speaking. “Have you two been drinking already?”

Joyce chuckled. “I don’t think so, Hop. That’s not alcohol. That’s something else.”

“Drugs?”

“Something else.”

“Ah.”

After a few more seconds of mindlessness, Steve stood up and helped you to your feet. “Alright,” he said, dusting himself off. “We’re gonna make it this time. Are you good?”

You winced as you stretched out your arm and felt a fresh soreness in your elbow. “I’m good enough. I just need to…” You grabbed his shoulder and reached down to take off your shoes. “There. Now I can walk.” You bunched up your skirt so it wouldn’t drag and started toward the cabin. Steve fell into step beside you and muttered something under his breath about how you should’ve just taken your shoes off earlier. You went wide-eyed. “Oh, okay! Keep it up, Steve. Keep it up and you’ll be wearing these shoes.”

He laughed and looked at you like you were crazy. There was something else in his eyes, though, something intense and admiring, that threatened to send you reeling back down to the forest floor. “What the hell does that even mean?” His playful tone of voice was completely out of sync with that look.

“You heard me,” you replied, but you said it to the ground so he wouldn’t see you blush.

Once you reached the porch, you made small talk with Hopper and Joyce until a cacophony of voices drew you inside the cabin. The kids were huddled in front of the television watching some old soap opera. From what you could tell, they were parroting lines from the show in ridiculous voices and completely losing their minds over it. “Alright, kids,” Steve called as he took a seat at one of the chairs at the kitchen table and kicked off his shoes. “Party’s over. We’re back.”

El turned around first. When she saw you, her jaw dropped and she immediately ran over. “You look so pretty,” she said emphatically, twisting the skirt of your dress so that it sparkled in the light. You beamed and ruffled her hair.

Steve watched this interaction with that same dazzled look on his face from a few minutes before. When you met his eyes, however, he cleared his throat and turned to look over at the rest of the kids. “So, what have you guys been up to?”

Max leaned over the back of the sofa. “Never mind what we’re doing. Why are you home so early?”

“Yeah, it’s prom,” Lucas said. “Aren’t you supposed to be out all night?”

“I bet they got kicked out,” Dustin teased.

Mike scoffed. “They didn’t get kicked out. They’re not cool enough to get kicked out.”

“We didn’t get kicked out,” you confirmed. “Prom’s over. We just didn’t go to any after parties ’cause we’d rather hang out with you guys.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “And by the way, we are so cool enough to get kicked out.”

He and the kids then launched into a ridiculous debate about what you two would’ve had to have done to get yourselves thrown out of prom. You stopped listening after Will posited that you guys could have been shown the door because you only hung out with middle schoolers. You instead focused your attention on El, who was still studying your dress. “Shannon,” she said thoughtfully. “What is prom like?”

You motioned for her to follow you over to the couch. “Prom is really cliché, but really fun. You get to dress up and see your friends and just have a great time.” You set your high heels on the floor and relaxed into the cushions.

El sat down next to you and folded her legs. “What do you do there?”

“You dance, mostly.”

“Like at the Snowball?”

You half-smiled, half-cringed as memories of tense, uncomfortable slow dances with nervous preteen boys at your own Snowball flashed through your mind. “Yeah, sorta. But dancing at prom is different.”

“Different how?”

You thought about it for a minute. “Honestly, I can’t explain. It’s just different.”

“Geez, Shan. Don’t be so cryptic,” Dustin interrupted as he flopped onto the adjacent sofa. The debate must have been resolved because Steve and the others make their way over, too. Steve joined Dustin on the couch while Mike, Will, Max, and Lucas sat down on the floor.

You chuckled. “I’m not being cryptic! It’s just different. Here, you know what? We’ll show you.” You stood up and held out your hand to Steve.

He tore his eyes away from the television. “We will?”

“Just get up.”

He grinned, stood up, and took your hand. You started to pull him into the kitchen where there was more open space. “Wait,” he said, trying and failing to dig his sock-covered heels into the wood floor. “We’re gonna dance to this?” Something by The Clash was playing.

“No, not this.” You dropped his hand when you reached the kitchen and walked over to the radio. “Something more like…” you let yourself trail off as you tuned through different stations looking for an appropriate song: something slow, something sweet. You stopped when you heard the beginning of “One More Night” and turned it up loud. “Something more like this,” you said, walking back into the kitchen.

“Okay, everybody,” Steve said to the kids once you’d reached him. “Pay attention.” Five out of the six of them regarded you two with a casual interest, but El looked completely engaged. “If you’re leading, you’re gonna keep your hands right about here,” Steve said, putting his hands on your waist.

“That’s right,” you said. “No higher, no lower. Now, if you’re not leading, you’re going to put your hands on the other person’s shoulders like this.”

“We already know this stuff,” Mike interrupted. “We’ve all danced before.”

“Yeah,” Dustin agreed. “Hey, Mike, remember when your sister practically begged me to dance with her at the Snowball?” Mike whacked the teasing smirk off Dustin’s face with a pillow.

Steve shrugged. “Well, then consider this a refresher course.”

“And I told you, dancing at prom is different,” you added. “It’s a lot slower.” You began to move to the music.

“And closer,” Steve said, guiding you toward him until you two were pressed right up against each other. You looked at him and widened your eyes a little. That wasn’t how you had danced together at prom.

“So, uh, from here on,” you said quietly, “you just sorta sway.”

Steve nodded. “It’s easy.”

After that, neither of you spoke for a while. You just held each other and stepped from side to side. During the silence, Phil Collins sang the lyric “I will always be with you” and you realized that this wasn’t how best friends were supposed to dance with each other. The kids seemed to have picked up on that, too, because they’d all pointedly fixed their gazes back onto the TV. Out of nowhere, you began to laugh. You laughed because you were nervous, and you were nervous because you were young and a little in love. Steve leaned back and looked down at you. “Are you okay?” He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word.

You moved your head in some semblance of a nod. You had stopped dancing by then and you started to sink down to the floor. Steve sat down, too, eyeing you cautiously. “Why are you laughing?”

“I don’t know,” you managed to say. “I have no idea.” You squeezed your eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. Once you were calm, you opened your eyes and looked over at Steve. When you saw how utterly confused he was, though, with his face all scrunched up the way it gets when he’s doing his math homework, you started to giggle anew. This time, he did, too. You let yourself fall against his chest, your shoulders shaking with the force of your laughter. You felt giddy and weightless; you imagined that this must be what it felt like to be drunk. At some point, you lifted your head up just as he bent his down and your lips gently and innocently brushed against his.

The laughter stopped instantly as if someone had flipped a switch. At once, you drew his face to yours and kissed him again, this time on purpose and with fervor. He clutched you closer and reached one hand up to cup your cheek. Kissing him was like laughing with him: it was easy, it was intoxicating, and it was incredibly hard to stop. You only paused to pull away when you felt him smile against your lips. “What?”

He was already snickering. He could barely get the words out. “Is this—is this something we do now?”

You both fell back into hysterics and collapsed against each other. Your stomach was killing you and your eyes were watering and your bruised elbow was caught between Steve and the cabinet behind him, but you didn’t care. Especially not after Steve threw his arms around you and kissed you urgently. In that moment, you knew you weren’t just best friends anymore. You were something else.