#maybe a banner? gotta consider

[exoticbvnni]

cvte_bunny04 | C.Y.

Emo boy!Choi Yeonjun x kinderwhore camgirl!reader

Plot:Yeonjun loves watching his favourite streamer until,one day,a nice surprise comes his way

Warnings:Yeonjun has a lip piercing,masturbation,sex talk,cyber sex,prise kink but also a lil bit of degradation,daddy kink,thigh riding,finger sucking,dom!possessive!Yeonjun,pussy eating,unprotected sex (don’t do it!),smut

With a sigh,Yeonjun unzipped his black hoodie,throwing it on the bed:what a nerve wrecking day.

First,he had to attend the rehearsal of his rock band;then,as if he wasn’t tired enough,and his social battery wasn’t completely dead,he had to meet up with his tinder date.

How much he hated it,the worst two hours of his life:he didn’t have serious intentions, nor the girl he met had, however he wasn’t even able to kiss her.

From her Tinder and Instagram accounts she indeed seemed his type:long hair,big eyes,angelic features in contrast with her alternative look; however,in real life,she wasn’t that alternative. All she did was wearing black and going around saying she liked Nirvana. Besides that,she probably had photoshopped her pictures to highlight her almost non-existent cute features. How frustrating:he hoped that, for once,he may had found someone that actually attracted him,but, again, as soon as he met her, all his feelings had turned off.

He didn’t know why being interested in someone was so hard for him: maybe he was an idealistic? Maybe he was picky? Maybe he had high standards? Or, maybe, he had only one standard:cvte_bunny04.

It was stupid, he knew it, but he couldn’t avoid comparing every girl to his favourite streamer. She was,indeed,the stereotype of the woman of his dreams.

Right in that moment, a notification popped on the monitor of his computer:

cvte_bunny04 is going live now!

Yeonjun walked to his desk,sitting on his gaming chair and clicking on the notification banner. Immediately, he was directed to your account and the frame of your bedroom appeared in front of his eyes.

He had seen it a million times already, but he loved analysing every single detail of that small space:it gave him a glimpse of your personality.

He was sure you liked purple, since that was the colour of the lighting. It was sexy, as sexy as you.

Furthermore, hint by the posters on the wall facing your bedroom, he could tell you were into The Cure, The 69 eyes and Hole. Hole were,probably, your favourite band considering that you dressed following Courtney Love’s kinderwhore aesthetic.

He was smirking, thinking how much he would’ve loved talking about music with you while smoking; and then fuck you in that pretty bed of yours covered in stuffed bunnies. Bunnies, surely your favourite animals.

Yeonjun licked his lips, the cold of his piercing hitting his senses as you appeared on the screen:

“Good evening babes -you talked with that silky voice of yours. So smooth. So soft. So pure. -I’m a little bit late today, so I think I’ll stream a little longer to forgive myself” you smiled, adjusting your bunny mask.

The comment section started flooding:

hvjk88:gotta change my schedule then

m1k67:stream all night angel~

dedee344:can’t fucking wait😈

On this round, Yeonjun didn’t comment:he was too busy admiring you.

Every night you looked more and more gorgeous in your signature dress:the white corset highlighted your small waist,while the short, ruined tulle skirt, showed your pretty thighs, sending shivers along Yeonjun’s spine who couldn’t stop thinking how much he would’ve loved biting that skin.

“How’s everyone tonight? How we feeling?” you asked, sliding your chair a little further from the the desk, so you could bring your legs on your sitting, showing your lace knee socks.

m_mmi00:so horny now that you showed us how pretty you look in those socks🥵

You giggled:

“Do I? Really?” you asked. You knew your viewers would’ve gone crazy over them. You left nothing to chance.

Yeonjun smirked, typing his first comment of the night:

yeo.nj99:naughty princess knows how to do it

As soon as you read his comment, you bit your lips:

“Princess? Am your princess,babes?” you demanded

yeo.nj99:gotta say ours,but I’ll say mine.

“Yours? Okay Yeo,I’ll be yours” you giggled. You didn’t mind giving special attention to him:he had been flooding you with the most interesting comments, the ones that worked you up the most. He, indeed, was your favourite follower.

hvjk88:I’m jealous now ehehe

dedee344:want you to be my princess as well😭

“I’m everyone’s,don’t worry guys. Yeo, you’re making them jealous,you should apologise” you teased him, curious to see what he would’ve answered.

Yeonjun laughed,immediately typing his answer. If you wanted to play, he would’ve played along. What a turn on.

yeo.nj99:if you don’t apologise for being so likeable I won’t apologise for liking you

A little laugh escaped your mouth:

“Am I? Oh -you paused, faking hesitation- then…what do you like the most about me?” you asked, your hands wandering upon your chest,making the chains on your neck swing, hitting one another. It was time to start the show.

“Do you like my hair? -you kept on,swinging your long strands- my lips? -you sent a kiss to the camera- or -your voice lightened- my legs?” you spoke, sliding your fingers up,following your socks until you touched the skin of your inner thighs.

Yeonjun rested his back against the chair,playing with his lip piercing as he was admiring you:how much he loved when you teased your viewers. You were so good at it:you would start slowly,showing the boner to your dogs,making it look like the best thing they could have,and from there a climax of nice meals would follow until it was time for the dessert. He was so eager to enjoy every second of it…every second of you.

The comment section was already flooding,and the views increasing:

nmxxx06:I’m already so turned on

dedee344:hot🥵🥵🥵

Yeonjun stretched his arm out to type:

yeo.nj99:show us how pretty you are,princess

You bit your lips again,lifting your short skirt up to let them see how you were slowly caressing your intimacy through your lace panties.

“Fuck” Yeonjun mumbled,his legs spread to mirror you and a bulge already appearing from underneath his trousers. The white sleeve of his shirt fell,revealing his collarbone and shoulder;however he didn’t notice:he was too busy admiring you.

yeo.nj99:so freaking pretty

yeo.nj99:our favourite girl

yeo.nj99:don’t stop princess,our eyes are on all you;mine,especially

Your comment section was exploding,but all you were focused on were Yeo’s words. He was so good at talking,or better,typing, you through it, so good that you were already completely wet.

“I want your eyes on me” you replied,marking the third word to let him understand that you were now talking directly to him,even if you couldn’t do it openly.

Yeonjun gasped as soon as the realisation hit him:he would’ve never imagined that he could get to that point, to you feeling so good at the idea of being watched by him. Shit,he was more worked up than ever.

yeo.nj99:all eyes on you,princess

He typed,while his free hand slipped on his crotch,palming it through his trousers. He wanted to take it slow,to enjoy the whole thing and cum only when you did. It wasn’t a random live anymore,it was HIS live now.

You closed your legs for a second, not only to tease Yeo,but also to loosen a little bit the laces of the corset. The cloth slid down, revealing your breast line.

Yeonjun hand started moving faster:he was so hard,so needy;but you were so pretty teasing him,so pretty that,for how much he wanted to get to the point,he also didn’t want you to stop your thing

yeo.nj99:never see someone like you

yeo.nj99:such a pretty whore

yeo.nj99:don’t stop I -he cancelled the words- we wanna see more

“You will” you replied,sliding your hand back in between your thighs. You stimulated yourself a little longer, stroking your wetness; the first few moans filled the room as your cheeks started getting red and your mind foggy. You didn’t dare to shift your eyes away from the monitor, though, you didn’t want to miss a single comment of Yeo.

“I want you so bad,I wanna fuck you so so bad…” the boy talked to himself, unbuckling his belt to let his trousers fall. Then, he slid his hand into his boxers,which he lowered. He was so freaking hard,it almost hurt. He needed to get off fast, he had never felt like that before.

yeo.nj99:come on bunny…

yeo.nj99:…and let us hear your pretty moans

yeo.nj99:lots of pretty moans

At those words a new whimper left your mouth:

“Fuck, I’m so so horny tonight,babe…babes” you corrected yourself immediately, moving your panties aside to slid one of your fingers inside you.

Yeonjun sighed in relief for a second, staring to move his hand, and jerking off at the same tempo as yours.

“Fuck…fuck this feels so good” he moaned, head thrown back and eyes shut while your grunts echoed in his mind, making him imagine the most unholy scenarios.

He could picture himself in your bed, above you, watching as you squirmed and twitched while he fucked you numb. He knew you would’ve been so good at taking him, your walls clenching around his hardness. He would’ve shown you what heaven was:he would’ve gone so deep, he would’ve been so buried inside of you that you would’ve screamed his name so loud that all your neighbours would’ve heard it.

He would’ve showered you with those prises that you seemed to love so much, but, at the same time, he would’ve made sure to remind you what a whore you were…his whore. His pretty, little, amazing whore.

yeo.nj99:so good princess

yeo.nj99:feeling so good

Then an idea crossed his mind:it could’ve been risky,but he knew you would’ve loved it. He would’ve loved it.

He watched as your lips parted, your head was thrown back, just like his, but, as soon as your eyes were back on the monitor he shot his shot:

yeo.nj99:those chains are so pretty

yeo.nj99:would love to see you play with them

“Gonna-gonna do it if you ask me so nicely…” you gasped, dragging your free hand to your neck.

You wrapped your fingers around the chains, tightening them. You were using so much strength that a bruise would’ve popped out the next day, but it felt too good to stop…especially if Yeo was the one asking you to do it.

Yeonjun’s eyes widened as he was watching, and a smile of lust appeared on his face. He was grunting and sweaty as he stroke himself; the breath was irregular,fast. He knew he was close:the more he heard your squirm, the more he saw you holding onto those chains for dear life just because he had told you, it sent him to the edge of his orgasm.

yeo.nj99:so close

yeo.nj99:cum and I’ll give you a reward baby

yeo.nj99:be a good girl

yeo.nj99:be a good whore

As you read, your head felt dizzy and your legs shook:you were close, so close, and nothing else but his name was filling your mind. How frustrating it was for you not being able to openly moan his name, tell him how good he was making you feel. Tell him how you were pretending that the soaked fingers hitting your g spot so well were his. How much you wanted it.

You bit your lips, pushing back the need do scream his name, replacing those three letters with a loud, high-pitched whimper as you cum all over your hand.

Immediately, you let the chains go; your head fell against the back of the chair. You were panting, completely gone.

In the meantime, Yeonjun’s breathing got stuck in his throat as, with a deep grunt, he cum all over his lap.

“F-fuck” he was trembling, but collected the strength to send you one hundred coins and leave one more commet

yeo.nj99 has sent +100 coins

yeo.nj99:good girls always get rewarded

he smirked, watching while your eyes lit up at those notifications. You loved that so much, he knew:you were an open book to him,now.

Since things were now getting too blatant, and you didn’t want to break your followers’ fantasy focusing only on one of them, you recomposed yourself and greeted them, ending the live.

Yeonjun’s breath had just gotten back to normal and he had just cleaned himself, when, ready to turn off the computer,a notification of a private message popped on his screen:

cvte_bunny04:hi Yeo, do you wanna meet up?

His eyes widened:what the fuck was that? A joke? A scam? It couldn’t be you!

The boy immediately opened the chat, checking your account:shit,it was you. He was astonished. He was about to type the most condescending and desperate message, but, thanks to a glimpse of common sense, he held back,playing it cool.

yeo.nj99:do you always hit up your fav viewers like this?

What a prick, you thought, he seemed even more interesting now.

cvte_bunny04:getting two special treatments in a row,you should be happy

cvte_bunny04:but if you aren’t, it doesn’t matter. I won’t text you again☺️

Yeonjun laughed

yeo.nj99:so touchy for nothing, I didn’t say that I don’t wanna meet you

cvte_bunny04:ofc you didn’t babe

cvte_bunny04:I guess I made you cum all over the place ehehe

yeo.nj99:just like I did with you…

cvte_bunny04:touché

cvte_bunny04:here’s my address,you deserve it. Good at sex and also really funny. You must be a one of a kind guy,Yeo😉

Said so, you sent in one more text containing your address.

As soon as Yeonjun read it, his heart skipped a bit:you used to live in the same building as him! Just a few floors above him!

yeo.nj99:can I come over right now?

cvte_bunny04:you ain’t tired yet?👀

yeo.nj99:that’s not the point

yeo.nj99:just wait a second

He sent the text, leaving his apartment to get to the elevator and reach your floor,the fourth. He then knocked at your door.

Confused,you quickly changed your clothes and hid your bunny mask in the drawer of your desk, then you opened the door.

A boy with faded pink hair and dark eyes was now standing in front of you,playing with his lip piercing as his hands were hidden in the pockets of his black,baggy jeans.

“You are?” you asked

“Yeo” he replied, smirking.

“Holy shit! -you laughed- this is absurd! Get in man. Can’t believe we live in the same building!”

You closed the door, letting him sit on the couch of your living room:your flat was extremely small, Yeonjun had to admit it,but it was really pretty. It reminded him of a vintage apartment,one of those you see in those movie released in the 90s.

The two of you chatted for a bit, getting to know each other; then, you showed him your very famous bedroom.

“It’s smaller than what I imagined” Yeonjun commented, fixing his leather bracelets

“I can’t afford a huge flat right now, after all I’m just a broken art students”

“Who gains money by cumming in front of a bunch of perverts” he pointed out, stepping closer. The tip of his nose was almost touching yours.

The attraction between the two of you was undeniable:even there, even after having jerked off the whole evening, you would’ve jumped on each other just to get another round.

“Shut up. You’re one of the perverts, which is worse” you bit back

“Touché…princess” he caressed your lips with his thumb

“I’m surprised you don’t have a pretty girlfriend to fuck numb everyday” you commented, sitting on your bed, Yeonjun followed you.

“Can I smoke in here?” he asked

“Yes, just open the window when you’re done”

The boy nodded, lighting up a cig. You stole one for yourself, smoking with him.

“So, what about your pretty girlfriend? Why you don’t have one?” you asked again

“Cuz I can’t find women I’m drawn to”

“How’s that possible?”

“You tell me, since you must be in the same situation as mine…aren’t you? Nothing makes me think that you’re in a relationship”

“I’m not looking for one, I just want to have fun” you shrugged your shoulders, the smoke left your mouth to fly to the ceiling

“Let’s have fun together, then” he smirked.

You laughed, nodding

“Of course, you can come over tomorrow night -you looked at your PC- I wonder if…” a little smile appeared on your lips

“You wonder if your viewers would be jealous if you fucked a man in front of them? -he looked at cigarette in his hand, shifting his eyes on your direction immediately after- we can find out” he giggled

“Are you really available to stream with me??” you were surprised:every guy watches porn, but not all of them are willing to stream one themselves

“Sounds so much like one of my wet dreams. Can you imagine it? Fucking your favourite streamer while thousands of people are watching, cursing because they aren’t you. Damn, yes, that would be so funny” he turned off the cigarette

“Kinky bitch -you commented,leaning in- I like it” you bit your lips, giving a fast kiss to the boy. He tasted of cigarettes and beer. Lovely.

“See you tomorrow then. Don’t be late to our streaming. Same hour, same place”

The next day Yeonjun showed up at your flat as promised:he was wearing a black tank top, low waisted black baggy jeans, his usual leather bracelets and a studded choker with a few longer chains.

“Welcome back” you smirked, tilting your head:you were already wearing your signature dress.

Yeonjun squared you from head to toe, smiling at how much prettier you were in real life while wearing those clothes. He couldn’t wait to lift that skirt and make you see the stars.

He stepped closer, grabbing your chin as his thumb rubbed the soft skin of your cheek. Shivers crossed your spine.

“Even better than on my pc” the boy commented, walking to your bedroom. You didn’t reply,you just bit your lip and followed him. Yeonjun’s attitude made you dizzy:he wasn’t the regular boy who worshiped the ground you walked on, he wasn’t the usual idiot who would stare at you with his mouth drooling; he was straightforward and masculine. He had that attitude of a leader that you loved in men. You would’ve a lot of fun with him.

“Have you thought how to settle the workstation?” he demanded, staring at your desk. You could see he was in deep reflection.

“Isn’t my chair enough? -you demanded-it’s a gamer one, it’s bigger than regular chairs,we’ll fit in” you crossed your arms

“I’ve got something else in my mind” Yeonjun looked at the bed. You giggled.

“Baby boy wants to get laid in my pretty bed with my pretty bunnies” you taunted him, he licked his lip:

“What makes you think that I won’t be the one getting you laid in your pretty bed with your pretty bunnies,bunny?” he snapped

“We’ll see-you kept on teasing him;then you opened a drawer of yours-for now choose your steamer identity”.

Yeonjun walked closer, analysing the animal masks you were hiding

“What kind of collection is this?” he asked, surprised

“Stuff from the old days in which I used to play dress up…so,what animal are you gonna choose?”

“I’ll take this one-the boy looked at you-the foxy and the bunny…it’s exciting,isn’t it?” he put the mask on.

You didn’t reply, you just fixed the workstation and turned the live on.

“Welcome back,babies -you purred- today there are a few news” you nodded to Yeonjun, telling him to sit on the bed. He followed, looking straight to the camera with his head tilted and a satisfied smirk on his lips.

“We’ve got a new set and…-you turned around-a special guest”

“Sit here,baby” the boy immediately talked, his voice suddenly deepened, giving you shivers as you followed his words.

As soon as you placed yourself on his lap,Yeonjun’s hands started wandering all over your legs and thighs:in and out,left and right,teasing every inch of your skin.

You were so soft, so dreamy, the boy thought, his little candy to unwrap and eat. Suck and bite, lick and twist in his mouth.

His lips immediately rested on your neck, leaving wet kissing all over it. Eyes focused on the screen,dark, behind the foxy mask he was wearing. He didn’t want to lose a single curse of those idiots that wanted to replace him…and damn if there were many of them.

“He’s-he’s not my boyfriend -you tried to explain as viewers were curious,tipping on Yeonjun’s cheek to tell him to let you talk;but he ignored you:his game had already started- he’s just a guest to…-you hesitated for a second:not only because you didn’t really know how to justify his presence there,but also because his mouth was disconcerting you…”

“To make tonight’s stream funnier” Yeonjun spoke on your behalf, saving you from a complicated story

“Y-yea…that…” you leaned onto his chest, meeting his eyes. He admired you for a second, then his lips met yours. The coldness of his piercing arose a fire in your tummy,a fire which burned hotter when his hand held onto your neck.

A whimper escaped your mouth as you arched your back

“Already wet,princess? I’m just kissing you” he whispered, sucking behind your right ear. You closed your eyes, shaking your head

“Make me” you bit back, dragging his face closer so you could kiss him again. Your movements were harsh, your tongue eager to taste his as you bit and sucked on his pinky lips.

Yeonjun didn’t make you wait:he moved your weight on his right leg, holding you by the waist

“Ride my thigh and I’ll make you pour” he talked to your hear,biting your lobe.

Like in a trans, you grabbed the cloth of his jeans and started swinging your hips; however Yeonjun stopped you by grabbing your hips.

“Not like this. Turn around, I wanna see your pretty face”

You nodded, turning your body in order to face him. Breath stuck in your throat.

“Now,move” he whispered, kissing your lips.

Immediately,you started swinging your hips again:

back and forth

back and forth

back and forth

fingers deep dung in the cloth of the boy’s jeans as you started to feel your lower abdomen tingle.

Yeonjun lead you, tensing his muscles and pressing your core against his thigh as much as he could.

You started panting and sweating,a wet spot appeared on Yeonjun’s trousers as you had begun to soak.

“Faster” he ordered you, controlling your peace through his hands,which were still holding your hips. His grip was firm, strong.

Moans started filling the air while Yeonjun watched your beautiful,contracted expression.

He was grateful you were facing him and not the camera, he was a jealous man and would’ve never shared that beautiful scenario with anyone else.

Your cheeks were red and flushed,your hips plumb due to the harsh kisses the two of you had shared before; and your head was slightly thrown back in pleasure. He knew you were already close to your orgasm, so he started whispering prises to your hear:

“Good girl riding daddy’s thigh so well. Don’t stop princess” he sucked your exposed neck, leaving a dark hickey on its side

“Need-need to cum…” you mumbled, you slowed your pace to better rub your intimacy against his thigh.

“Then cum” he replied, kissing your shoulder as he untied your corset, revealing your chest.

His hand rested on your breast, massaging it while his lips sucked on your collarbone

“Cum princess,cum for me” he talked again, watching as your release hit you.

Your lingerie was soaking, and so were Yeonjun’s jeans; however you weren’t tired yet, you couldn’t be when the boy’s hands were playing with your breast.

“I need more” you whimpered, tightening his grip on your chest

“Don’t worry angel, it’s just the beginning -he grunted, grabbing your hand to let you feel the bulge in his trousers- good girl,making daddy so happy. Say it” his thumb tugged on your lips, ordering you to let it slip in. You opened your mouth, sucking on it.

“Who am I? Say it,angel. Say it” he spoke

“D-daddy…” you mumbled

“Louder, they didn’t hear you”

“D-daddy” you repeated, your voice pitch came out higher than usual

“Good girl” he praised you, moving your body weight to let you lay down on the bed and tower you.

Yeonjun admired you from above; then he unbuckle his jeans and let them fall to the side of the bed together with a bunch of plushies.

“You’ve been good,so I’ll let you choose:tongue or fingers?”

You didn’t answer, you just grabbed the boy’s face to kiss him one more time. Yeonjun smirked, biting your lower lip:

“I’ll take this as an answer” he replied,giving a glance to the camera. He couldn’t see the precise number of viewers and comments,but he could tell the live was imploding.

“Yeo…” you whispered, demanding his attention. Thank god your viewers didn’t hear you:you couldn’t reveal his name, but your train of thought was so far gone that you weren’t even able to control your own words.

Yeonjun turned around, lifting your skirt up to kiss your inner thighs. They were exactly as he had imagined:the sweetest,most satisfying place he had ever leaned his lips on after your pretty mouth.

He sucked and licked, sending shivers along your spine as you arched your back, holding the sheets with one hand, and Yeonjun’s strands with the other.

His mouth went up,up until he was close to your wetness. He moved your panties aside, sucking on your clit.

“Fuck!” you moaned, shaking, the guy blocked you with his strong hands. Fingers dug in the flesh of your thighs, almost scratching them. What a good feeling.

Yeonjun grunted, he was getting harder every time he tasted you; every time his tongue twisted around your intimacy. Damn if he wanted to fuck you, to hear you squirm as he pounded inside of you.

He fasted his movements, you were so close to come once again when he distanced his lips.

“Come on!” you protested, tightening your fingers around his hair. Yeonjun laughed, sliding your body closer before lowering his boxers.

“No more time to play -he blocked your wrists above your head- gonna make you feel good, don’t worry, princess” he kissed the angle of your mouth, sliding himself in.

Loud moans followed one another as you adjusted to his side:fuck, how good he felt inside of you; even Yeonjun’s breath got stuck in his throat when he realised your walls were perfectly welcoming him in.

Immediately, his minds started racing as fast as a horse:he had gotten there, he was living his wet dream. An electric discharge crossed his body from head to toe; adrenaline begun to frizz his blood as he started pounding inside of you.

He went deeper at every thrust. No hesitation in his movements:as always,he knew what he was doing and would’ve never stopped until both of you cum.

Grunts filled the air, your sweaty skin slamming against the boy’s whose breaths were irregular.

“So fucking good. Taking me so well -he looked down to you, enjoying once again your pornographic expression- v’been dreaming of this for so long and now look at you, look at you folding for me. Fuck” he hit your g spot, making you whine both in pain and pleasure.

“God, it’s good! Don’t stop” you shut your eyes, tears wetting your cheeks.

“Never gonna stop until you cum for me princess. Come on,make daddy happy again” he grunted. His movements got sloppier as he was close, just like you.

You moaned, fingers sliding beneath his tank top, scratching his back; then, a few thrusts later, you cum all over the place, followed by Yeonjun.

“Damn” he let his body fall on yours, resting his head in the crook of your neck. He kissed you, leaving a few more hickeys here and there.

You were panting, drying your sweaty forehead before exchanging one last needy, but tired, kiss.

Yeonjun slowly collected the strength to dress up and walk towards the pc:

500k viewers

220k likes

140k comments

+50k coins gained

The boy smirked:

“See you next time, whores, and remember:she’s mine”

cvte_bunny04 has ended the livestream

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 10, Uneasy - Pt. 3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, mentions of sex, Jade Carthage (sorry), petty behavior.

Word Count: 368

Previously On...: The Lion, the Witch, and the Audacity of this Bitch... Bucky had the balls to answers a call from Jade, abruptly ending sex with you to do so. You contemplated getting back into your old self-harm habits, but decided against it. You and Bucky argued, and it seemed like you really got through to him when you asked him to think of how he'd want you and Steve to interact every time he found himself in a situation with Jade. I'd say it seemed to work, but this is only Chapter 10 out of 28 :(

A/N: As promised, due to my lack of any updates yesterday, here's your second update for today! It's short, I know, but at least you didn't have to wait an entire day to just get < 370 words! :D

I love you! (no question mark) Also, when reviewing it to post, I noticed there was no swearing, and I thought 'can't have that! gotta reputation to maintain!' So I added a 'fucking' at the end, just to keep things on brand.

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917!

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

Taglist: (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!) @jmeelee @cazellen @blackhawkfanatic @les-sel @marcswife21 @buckybarnessimpp @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @erelierraceala @hayjat @capswife @itsteambarnes @jupiter-107 @marygoddessofmischief @sebastians-love @learisa @lethallyprotected @rabbitrabbit12321 @buckybarnesandmarvel @fanfictiongirl77 @calwitch @fantasyfootballchampion @selella @jackiehollanderr @wintercrows @sashaisready @missvelvetsstuff @angelbabyyy99 @keylimebeag @maybefoxysouls @crist1216 @vicmc624 @sashaisready @j23r23

While Bucky took his shower, you threw on one of his Henleys and made your way to the communal kitchen to grab some snacks for your film. To your disdain, Jade was already there, pouring herself a glass of juice.

“Trouble in paradise?” she asked with a smirk as she put the juice back in the fridge. “I didn’t mean to overhear, but you and Jamie were just arguing so loudly.” 

“We’re fine,” you said. You grabbed a couple of bags of chips, some Twizzlers, chocolate, and some drinks. “But thank you so much for your apparent concern.”

“Didn’t sound fine to me,” she beamed. “You forget, I have super soldier hearing. Maybe you should consider getting a new therapist, since the one you’re seeing now clearly isn’t helping. I’m heading back to my room, but don’t feel the need to keep the fighting down on my account, ‘kay? It’s better than Netflix!” With a wink, she turned and walked out the door, juice in hand.

In your anger, you were gripping one of the bags of chips so tightly, it popped open in your hand. Coming to a quick and, probably stupid decision, you grabbed your snacks and raced back to your room.

Bucky was just coming out of the bathroom, with only a towel around his waist, when you burst through the door, tossing the snacks and drinks onto your nightstand.

“Ready for the movie now, doll?” he asked, toweling off his damp hair.

“Changed my mind,” you said as you started taking off your clothes. “Sex is back on the table.”

Bucky grinned at you, but his face quickly fell. “Are you sure, sweets? What changed all of a sudden?”

You pulled the towel from around his waist, licking your lips as his cock sprung free, already growing hard in front of you. “Just something I heard,” you told him before pouncing on him. “I’m gonna need you to make me scream, Barnes.”

“It’ll be my pleasure, doll,” he said before hoisting you up and kissing you.

You knew you were being petty, and it was not a great quality, but you didn’t care: you were going to make sure Jade Carthage heard every. single. filthy. fucking. thing.

<- Previous Part / Next Chapter ->

[jo-harrington]

Disaster Preparedness (Eddie Munson x Store Manager!Reader)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Maybe it's time to put a name to whatever it is you and Eddie are...but not without some misunderstandings first.

Previous Part: Peak Sales Hours

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Reader works at the Claire's at StarCourt. Eddie works at TapeWorld. Angst, Jealousy, Fluff, and a series of unfortunate misunderstandings with a sweet ending.

Note: A day late, but what can you do. This was sort of always a pre-planned part of the Store Manager Verse (and actually set at Christmas Time at StarCourt) but a very special prompt made me switch it up. So without further ado @allthingsjoeq and @bettyfrommars please consider this collection of Holiday shenanigans inspired by I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus my take on Prompt 14 from your Holiday Prompt Party:

You can tell that the mall Santa is a babe under that beard, and you decide to get closer to investigate.

With a little twist...

You can find my masterlist here for more featuring our resident Store Manager and all of my other writing.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

The holiday season wasn't Eddie's favorite, per se.

Just like Thanksgiving, it was a time to make do. Couldn't really celebrate when you were reminded of the things you'd lost or didn't have in the first place.

Still it had its high points. Cookies were great, having a little extra cash between Wayne's holiday pay and bonus and the handful of parties he'd be able to deal at, and let it be known that...Eddie Munson was a sucker for snow and always wished for a White Christmas.

And for his friends? Eddie would always muster up the Holiday Spirit and Christmas Cheer. A special one-off campaign for Hellfire, a potluck dinner with Corroded Coffin, and handmade gifts that he spent way too much time on.

This year...working at StarCourt brought its own spin on Holiday cheer and it was a little annoying.

If he hadn't worked the closing shift on the 30th, and seen all of the overnight workers and maintenance vehicles that rolled out of the service corridors as he walked out, Eddie would have thought that it was magic that transformed StarCourt Mall into a true Winter Wonderland come December 1st.

Because it was night and day.

Lights were strung around every store entrance, wreaths and garland hung every 50 feet from the ceiling, soap snow fell down from special blowers in the vents onto the food court, and the space in front of Montgomery Ward suddenly contained a special gift-wrapping destination.

And suddenly the mall muzak had a festive flair to it.

It was honestly kind of sickening.

He wasn't a scrooge or anything, it was just overwhelming and appeared all at once. And after how overwhelming Black Friday had been, how was anyone supposed to cope with the bright lights, large crowds, and repetitive music? He intentionally started turning the shop radio to a higher volume to drown out the bells jingling and carols mingling for the next few shifts after the decorations appeared.

"It's Holidazzle," you told him as he leaned against the entryway to your store--"the conversion Eddie, for God's sake!"--and watched you hang a special banner in the window, featuring the Gift of Piercing and cartoon bears ice skating around a tree.

"It's overkill," he argued.

"It's Mall Life." You climbed down from your ladder and surveyed your work with a critical eye. "You get used to the big everything that is Christmas and just deal with it, and then, come January, it all dies. We're decorating today, and next week we start wearing reindeer antlers on the sales floor. It just is what it is. Gotta get the customers into the festive spirit so they buy more before it all tapers out.

"Surprised Kyle isn't already wearing like...a Santa hat and a cheesy sweater with ornaments hanging off it or something."

And Eddie wasn't sure if you were somehow clairvoyant or just knew his boss well enough, but that's exactly what Kyle wore to his next shift and, indeed, every shift for the remainder of December.

Santa hats in every color--and he'd bought hats for everyone else in the store--and if there wasn't a Santa hat, there was tinsel in his hair. A piece of glittery garland strung around his neck and a mug full of cocoa constantly present in his hand, even when he was on the sales floor. And, somehow, a different cheesy holiday sweater on every single shift he had.

Where did he even get them?

"Listen," he clapped a hand on Eddie's shoulder and shoved a candy cane in his hand. "I know you're Mr. Non-Conformity, but in this instance, you just gotta go with the flow. No one wants to give their money to the Grinch. But Jolly Old Saint Kyle? He's who they're trusting for their Christmas Gifts. You catch me?"

---

So Eddie tried.

He did. He tried.

For all of 3 days.

He wore the hat, he played the game, he did his spiel about gift certificates and BOGO, and he didn't even get a treat at the end of his shifts because you worked the opposite schedule from him. With school and all it was hard...

He just wanted to kiss you. Was that too much to ask for? It wouldn't be the most romantic place but he figured that he could set out some mistletoe by the baler and trick you into a festive smooch when you took the cardboard out. He could do that now, except he couldn't.

...but Wednesday night you'd both be closing. You'd swapped shifts with Mindy two weeks in a row so you could go to his show last week and she could go to her kids' Christmas Recital at the elementary school this week.

He definitely planned to make his move and get his reward. And give you a little reward of your own, seeing how hard you'd been working too. He wondered if this might be the chance to officially ask you to be his girl. Everyone had already made the assumption the two of you had been dating for months...why not put a name to it? And then he could take you out on a real date.

What could possibly go wrong?

Famous last words.

With a few minutes until his fifteen, anticipation building...Mike and Dustin ran into Tape World, looking out of breath and nervous.

Eddie was finishing up a special order for a customer when he saw them out of the corner of his eye. Little assholes, lurking by the door. Mitch had tried to walk up to them and give them the spiel but they waved him off.

"We're here for Eddie."

Great. This better not be about one of them missing Hellfire on Friday.

"What do you want?" he huffed, trying to be a little patient with them since it was the holidays after all. He picked on them enough at school. "It’s busy tonight."

"Well," Dustin shifted. "We were coming to see the new Ewoks movie--" Eddie snorted and grinned at them fondly. "--and we were just killing some time, when we passed by Mom's store."

Eddie couldn't help the bark of laughter he let out with that one. He told the guys to cut it out, this...continuation of calling you Mom since Halloween.

"You guys gotta stop calling her that," he scoffed. "Steve Harrington's your Mom. Get that straight."

"Well then Mom is upstairs right now flirting with not Mom," Mike sassed, hands on his hips.

Now that gave Eddie pause. Harrington? Upstairs with you?

Flirting?

“Kissing.”

Kissing?!

"What?" Eddie's voice broke a little as he reacted. He chuckled to try and alleviate some of his own nerves. "Isn't Harrington dating someone? Pretty sure I've seen him running around with that cashier from KB Toys."

"Well it was Wicks'n'Sticks."

"But we think they broke up!" Mike piped up. "Because Steve quit Scoops last week."

"Which means we need to pay full price for movie tickets again," Dustin nodded.

"But Nancy said that Robin told her…that he got a job at Santa's Workshop," Mike thumbed over his shoulder. "And we just saw Santa upstairs with Mom and she was wiping strawberry lipgloss out of his beard."

The first thought in Eddie’s head was that you didn’t wear strawberry lipgloss.

The next was that you didn’t wear strawberry lipgloss when you kissed him. What if you wore it for Steve?

No, that was ridiculous.

But unless Santa’s Workshop was operating as a functioning kissing booth and Harrington was looking for a quick and easy fix for a bunch of housewives smooching him after their kids asked for a new bike or Hot Wheels racetrack or Tina the Talking Tabby doll…there was no explanation.

Which, alright, Eddie wouldn’t normally consider himself a jealous person. An envious person. Yeah, he might have seen a little green at the edges of his vision when the kids fawned over Steve Harrington time and again, but ever since he was brought down a few pegs—humbled—he didn’t seem like the same old douchebag from Hawkins High that he used to be.

Eddie might even say Steve was kind of alright.

But you were his girlfriend…or something…

And the jealousy and possessiveness he often mocked others for over the years, as he watched meathead jocks tighten their arms around their girlfriends shoulders as he simply walked past, suddenly overcame him.

“Mitch I’m taking my fifteen!” He called towards the back of the store and strutted out of Tape World, all while Mike and Dustin called after him, fully intending to get to the bottom of this obvious misunderstanding.

---

He planned to ask you about Harrington the moment you opened the door to the loading dock, hauling the dolly of cardboard boxes behind you.

A simple "hey sweetheart, how was your day, anyone named Kris Kringle come to bother you?" and he would have had his answer and all of his doubt would have been alleviated once and for all.

Except that as soon as you appeared--with your disheveled hair and makeup, your slumped shoulders, and your groan of weariness--your eyes got brighter and you melted at the sight of him. So happy to see him, so relieved.

Then he melted.

"God, what a night," you groaned and let the dock door slam behind you. You abandoned your cardboard and walked right into his arms where he was standing by the baler; your arms wrapped around his waist and your face nuzzled into his flannel, just the way he constantly craved. "Some lady wanted an individual gift receipt for every single item she bought. Then Chrissy almost messed up this kid's piercing. Thank God I stopped her as soon as I saw."

"Oh yeah?"

"And then I swear I'm like...I just have one of those faces where everyone comes and complains to me as they're shopping. I have to hear about everyone's life story or their relationship issues, especially this one guy..."

Eddie's ears practically perked up at that.

"This one guy?" he urged you to continue, on the edge of his proverbial seat.

"I dunno," you sighed tiredly. "Not the first time he's come to me for advice. He's a nice guy and he means well, but it just seems I'm always the one. And I'm happy to help just...not during Q4, you know? He needs to figure out how to talk to his ex on his own. And not just...come in looking for extra glossy strawberry lip gloss thinking he's gonna kiss his way back into their good graces."

Extra glossy strawberry lip gloss.

Eddie wondered if he was pushing his luck if he were to ask if this nice guy was dressed in a Santa suit.

Still his heart soared nonetheless. He should have known that it was nothing to worry about, that those little shits just put two and two together to make five, and that mom wasn't actually kissing Santa Claus.

It was just a misunderstanding.

"How was your night?" you backed away from him slightly to look into his eyes. "I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

It was like a weight on his chest had been lifted, as he stared into your sparkling eyes.

"Same old, same old," he chuckled away the doubt. "Probably worse because no one knows what they want to give as gifts for Christmas and they're not listening to me."

"How dare they not take the advice of the great God of Music!" you feigned outrage.

"Gonna give me an inflated ego, sweetheart."

"You mean you don't already have one?" you teased.

Whatever fleeting bits of doubt remained disappeared as his fingers found your sides and he tickled you as punishment for the jab. Even more so as you grabbed his face and kissed him to get him to stop.

---

You'd spent the remainder of your break on Wednesday night softly kissing on the loading dock. You held hands as he walked you back to your store. Then once the mall was closed, you continued the kissing against the side of his van in the employee lot as the rest of the cars disappeared one by one.

With one last kiss goodbye, you agreed to Christmas movies and cocoa at his place on Sunday.

But as he sauntered into the mall on Sunday morning, twirling his lanyard on his finger as he headed to Tape World, Eddie swore that the universe was mocking him--

Or it was just that trademark Munson Bad Luck.

--because with a quick glance up towards your store, he saw you, holding the gate up with one arm, talking and laughing with someone conspicuously dressed in a Santa suit.

Well, he couldn't really see the holly jolly bastard that was up there making you smile, but just a quick glimpse of red velvet and white fur and all of his doubt was back.

The two of you still hadn't put a label on your relationship yet. He'd wondered the other night as he drove home if it was a little juvenile to want to call you his girlfriend. Was it too high school? What did a real life, grown up boyfriend do? He only had TV shows to go by and he figured you'd laugh if he tried to give you his '84 class ring that was stashed in his sock drawer. In fact, he was sure of it.

But how was he supposed to get past the visceral need to be your boyfriend when you were up there being wooed into potentially becoming the new Mrs. Claus yourself?

By Santa Harrington no less.

The doubt was back with a vengeance.

Kyle--decked in red onesie pajamas, butt flap and all--clocked his woes as soon as he walked into the store.

"Don't tell me she broke up with you," he guessed as he counted up the registers for the day. "I know it's not the end of the world, but you guys barely got started. What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Eddie answered honestly as he restocked the front display.

"Hmmm, actually come to think of it, that might be exactly the point."

"I don't think we were ever together, if I'm being honest."

"Dumbass," Kyle chuckled under his breath. Eddie, exasperated and just needing someone to commiserate with, explained the whole thing to his boss, who simply ate it up like a gossiping housewife and then laughed louder. "No seriously, you're a dumbass. This is the Mall at Christmas, dude. You're gonna start going cross eyed if you're looking around every corner for a suspicious Santa Claus flirting with your girl.

"Why don't you save yourself some heartache and just talk to her. You know, like you should have been doing this whole time? So, one time only because you're my buddy, I'm letting you take an extra break so you can go up there and talk to her."

And Eddie knew Kyle was right: it was all about communication.

Communication, or the lack thereof, was how the two of you had gotten this far, right? You'd known each other since May? June? And had only figured out that there was some mutual attraction in...what? September if Eddie was going to be honest with himself. Two weeks ago if he wasn't.

Lack of communication, caused by self doubt and fear, cost him...months...of getting to kiss you and hold your hand. And while he cherished the time spent being your friend, he was always gonna wish he had all that time being more.

So no, he shouldn't let it draw out much longer.

---

Unfortunately, he really was a dumbass.

So instead of taking advantage of it being so early in the day that there were practically no customers in the mall to go upstairs and clear things up with you and maybe ask you out on a real date...

Eddie booked it across the mall to Santa's Workshop.

There he stood, wasting his extra break in line with the handful of proactive parents coming in early to get their family pictures with the Big Man himself.

"What's on your wish list this year?" A little boy in a tiny navy suit tugged on the leg of his jeans and asked him.

"Uh..." He was at a loss when it came to kids and his hands wrung around his lanyard. But he couldn't just leave the little guy hanging. "A new amp...and maybe a Skeletor action figure."

The boy's eyes got wide and blabbered on about his desired Castle Greyskull while his mom ran a comb through his hair.

"Eddie?"

Eddie froze and his attention shifted from the kid, up and up green velvet clad legs then torso, to a familiar cherubic face and tousled curls covered by a pointy hat.

"Gareth?" he chuckled, staring incredulously at his friend dressed as one of Santa's Helpers. "...what is this? I didn't know you..." his eyes slid down to the little boy, then back to his friend. "...were an elf."

"I was trying to keep it under the radar," he shrugged and gestured down to his costume. "Especially since they have me dressed like this. Uh....anyway, why are you in line for Santa?"

"Uhh..." Eddie scratched the back of his neck then folded his arms across his chest. "Gotta get my wishlist in before all the good gifts are taken."

Gareth narrowed his eyes in suspicion and Eddie hoped that he would just chalk it up as another one of the million things he'd seen Eddie do over the years of their friendship.

"Can I keep the picture?" Gareth finally asked mischievously. "Or was Wayne planning on sending out a special card this year?"

"Nah man," Eddie nodded, grateful not to have to answer any more...invasive questions. "It's all yours."

"Nice." Gareth held his fist out for Eddie to bump and then let the family ahead of Eddie in to see Santa.

Which meant he was next.

Now, Eddie wasn't big on confrontation, so unless he was actively thwarting bullies and deterring them from picking on his friends, he wasn't the type to pick a fight. He also wasn't the type to have a calm and rational discussion and get to the bottom of a problem either.

So this was new territory for him.

What would he say?

What could he say?

"Now listen here Harrington," he muttered. "You...she...I..."

He ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

"I heard you're having some relationship issues," he tried again. "But you can't keep sniffing around my girl. My girl? Ugh...but what if she isn't."

There were a few flashes of a camera and by that time, Gareth was back to lead him to his execution.

"Alright, young man," he snickered. "Are you ready to meet Santa?"

"Shut up," Eddie shoved him and stalked along the carpet into the little photo area.

He was too preoccupied with the task at hand, too consumed with thoughts of you laughing with Steve Harrington and exactly what he was gonna say, that he didn't notice that it wasn't Steve under the beard and hat until he plopped himself directly on Santa's lap.

Santa groaned as Eddie settled himself and threw an arm over his shoulders.

"Aren't you a little too old for this Munson?" Santa deadpanned. "Or is this one of your little Hellfire pranks."

Eddie froze at the familiar voice, as years of hearing that grumbling gritty tone at Benny's and the police station and around town flashed through his memory.

"Hop?" he whispered in horror.

"Who were you expecting?" Hopper grunted.

"Why are you Santa?"

"...don't tell me you thought Santa Claus was real, kid?"

"No, I just--" Eddie stammered, looking for the right words. "I...Why?"

"I'm doing this to surprise Jane," he explained in exasperation. "Buddy of mine runs Santa's workshop and Joyce said she'd bring the kids to the mall today, maybe get a picture. So I pulled some strings. I don't know what to get her for Christmas; she's keeping her wish list under wraps."

It all started making sense for Eddie. Jane was friends with Dustin and the others so he'd seen her around Hawkins High, even though she wasn't interested in DnD. She was a good kid, if a little shy. Of course Hop was doing this for his adopted daughter, wanting to give her a perfect Christmas.

"But you...were up at Claire's earlier?" Eddie narrowed his eyes, the reason for him being there still eluding explanation.

"Because that's Jane's favorite store. I swear I'm single handedly keeping them in business with the number of earrings and scrunchies I buy every week. The manager promised she'd keep an eye out if Jane and Joyce popped in today, let me know everything Janie was looking at if this ended up being a bust."

Hopper shot Eddie a pointed glare and Eddie, correctly, looked ashamed of himself.

"Alright, less talking," the elf at the camera rolled their eyes and waved for Hop and Eddie to scoot closer. "More smiling. Say jingle!"

There was a flash and a polaroid was shoved into Eddie's hand as Hopper shooed him away.

---

"What is this?" you pulled away from Eddie's soft, warm lips as your hands felt something foreign in his back pocket.

The Year Without Santa Claus wasn't the most romantic Christmas movie, but Eddie was feeling a certain type of resentment when he had chosen the movies at Family Video, and it was mostly going ignored in favor of cuddling and kissing and sweet words.

Until your hands worked their way downward to pull Eddie's weight further into you, and you found--

"Did you go take a picture with Santa?" you giggled as you inspected the Polaroid. Eddie groaned and rested his head on your shoulder. "Can I keep this?"

"Believe it or not," he sighed, "Gareth already has dibs."

"May I ask why?"

"Because he likes to ruin my life. Pretty sure he's gonna take it to Fox Photos and get it made into t-shirts."

"No, why did you go take a picture with Santa silly," you shoved him. "It's really sweet."

He turned to look up into your eyes, to get the courage to just...tell you how silly he was being...to ask you out for fuck's sake...but the way you looked at him, the softness of your gaze, the way you reached out and pushed his bangs out of his eyes...he didn't want to ruin it all.

"I promised I was getting into the holiday spirit didn't I?" he shrugged pathetically. "Couldn't let the opportunity pass without getting photo evidence."

You stared fondly at the picture for another moment and then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"It's perfect."

---

After Eddie had chickened out, you planned your get-togethers for the rest of December.

Or rather, the lack of them.

With finals coming up and the semester coming, and then mall hours getting later and later the closer to Christmas it got, the opportunities to hang out became sparse.

The best the two of you could unfortunately--or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it--come up with was Christmas Eve.

You'd fight off those final last-minute holiday shoppers, and come 6pm when the mall closed, you'd both be off to Benny's for the special pot roast dinner that he put up for anyone who didn't have family to go to, or didn't want to go see the family they had.

With Rick out making the rounds, and Wayne scheduled for that sweet time-and-a-half holiday double most years, Eddie usually ended up at Benny's anyway.

This year, with you, it would be perfect.

He just had to get through the next few weeks without a hiccup.

The universe, once again, decided to test him.

Mock him.

It was almost comedic at this point.

Santa was everywhere.

Of course, he would be, it was Christmastime but...everywhere in relation to you.

Thankfully, it wasn't Harrington he needed to worry about.

However, that meant it wasn't just Santa he needed to worry about.

It was all of the mall Santas.

Hop had shown his face in the red suit and beard once or twice more and scared the life out of him. Especially when Eddie walked smack into him on the way to drop an Orange Julius for you on the night you closed.

The church's community choir had spent one Saturday afternoon caroling by the Sears, all dressed as Santa Claus. As the two of you made your rounds window-shopping and chatting on your break, one of the Santas grabbed you and spun you around in a circle during a jazzy rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas where you, apparently, were the true love bestowing the many gifts.

How Eddie let a bunch of Santas serenade you before he got a chance to, he would never know. Nor would he let himself live it down.

And then one awful day, he found you sitting at your usual table in the food court with a charismatic older man in a Santa suit--sans hat or beard. The man sat in Eddie's usual seat and leaned quite close, making you look entirely uncomfortable; he couldn't help puff up his chest to ward off the intruder by the time he reached the table.

"This is Henry," you introduced as politely as you could. "He's gonna be the manager at the new Spencer's store when it opens in January."

"Figured I would do the neighborly thing and just say hi," he chuckled and looked down at his attire. "Oh? This? Figured that this would be a great way to do something nice for the community in the mean time."

"That's great," Eddie sniffed judgmentally, getting a weird feeling about this Henry. "Nice to meet you. You're in my spot though."

"Eddie!" Your eyes went wide and you bit your lip to stifle your laughter.

"Hey, nope, totally get it," Henry held his hands up and stood from the seat. "Those lunch breaks are short, especially when you want to spend them with friends and not a stranger like me. Nice to meet you guys. See you around."

Eddie dropped into his seat and you waited until Henry was well out of earshot to scold him.

"That was not nice."

"I'm not nice," Eddie grumbled. "He was looking at you weird, like he wanted to steal your soul or something. Did you not get creepy stalker murderer from him?"

"No, I totally did," you nodded. "He was like...dead behind the eyes. I know, that's awful to say. Anyway, are you feeling soft pretzels and cheese because I--"

"Are you a Santa magnet or something?" Eddie interrupted you and you looked like a deer in the headlights.

"What?" you giggled. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Seems like they're just always around."

"It's Christmas, Eddie," you frowned in confusion. "Even I have a little Santa dress that I'm gonna wear to work. Everyone's just in the spirit."

"Yeah well..."

"I thought you were trying to get in the spirit too," you reminded him and then reached over and plucked at the fair isle sweater Kyle had gotten the whole TapeWorld team so they could match for a group picture. "Exhibit A, Mr. Grinch."

"I am trying," he whined. "It's just hard to be extra jolly when someone's always sniffing around your girl."

"Am I your girl?" you asked. You were obviously teasing him, but still...Eddie froze. "You haven't asked me if I want to be yet."

Everything inside of him was on red alert at that moment.

Evasive maneuvers? No, that was a bad idea. All power to the forward shields, which were holding but weakened. He didn't have enough firepower for this.

"No..." he replied awkwardly. "I haven't."

The way your expression dropped broke him, and he knew he had fucked up.

---

"I'm disowning you," Kyle shook his head in disappointment by the time Eddie got back from lunch. "In fact. We all are."

"Jesus Christ," Eddie groaned.

"Mitch! Paulie! Eddie's disowned."

"You can't fire him, he's closing tonight," Paulie argued.

"Not fired," Kyle pointed across the store with authority. "Disowned. And such a shame; Edward Tapeworldington, first of his name...you shall never be king."

Eddie stewed in the laughter of his coworkers.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" Kyle threw an arm around his shoulder. "You could have asked her out right then and there. Been like 'hey you wanna be my girlfriend?' And it would have been like...the happiest day of your life. Hell, happiest day of my life. Cuz then I wouldn't have to hear you bitch about it all the time."

"Didn't know I complained that much," Eddie muttered self-consciously.

"All the time," one of the other guys chuckled.

"It's not complaining," Kyle corrected. "It's just that...we want you to be happy. As cliche as this sounds, we're like a family right? Hey, psst, all of you? Savor it, you're only gonna hear me say it once.

"If one of us is miserable, we're all miserable," he continued. "And you've been kind of a miserable piece of shit for a while, Ed. I'm sure your buddies would tell you the same thing. Lovesick puppy act's only gonna get you so much sympathy until you're the one getting in your own way."

Eddie felt his stomach turn because getting in his own way really did hit the nail on the head.

He thought about it for an eternity--really only 30 seconds--went about asking himself what had held him up for all this time. Fear of rejection obviously but even he started to think that some of the things that had gotten him so caught up were just...excuses.

Even now that he knew you liked him just the way he liked you, they were just excuses.

"So why can't I just...say something?" he finally asked.

Kyle clapped his hand down on Eddie's shoulder twice and then turned so he could head out for his own break.

"Only you can answer that question kid."

---

"Hey do you wanna go out sometime? Ugh."

So he practiced.

"So remember how we're supposed to go to Benny's for Christmas Eve? No."

For days he practiced.

"You know how the first time we went out for pizza I mentioned it wasn't a date? Well this one is. No god, you're an idiot."

Through the rest of the semester, during band practice, he even almost flubbed the lyrics at the gig at the Hideout on the Tuesday before Christmas. There were only so many days left until your dinner together at Benny's and he really wanted it to be your first official date.

But if Eddie was gonna fix this, if he was gonna ask you out, he needed to get it right.

"Hey sweetheart." He muttered as he counted down Paulie's register at the start of his closing shift. "I know I really flubbed it last time we talked but I really like you and I want to know if you'd be my girlfriend.

"We've already kissed enough for it," he added at the end and then winced.

"How about you just lose that last bit," Paulie offered beside him and signed a few receipts. "And then it's perfect."

"Yeah?" Eddie asked hopefully. "Alright. Cool. Great."

He would do it after work tonight.

"Edddiiiiieeee!!!" a screeching voice called from inside the mall and Eddie and Paulie both watched as a Santa with flailing arms ran into TapeWorld. "Eddie man, I really need a favor. I need to use your bathroom."

"What the f--Gareth?" Eddie looked around the store to make sure he wasn't just hallucinating. Gareth was already shedding the hat and the fake beard and unbuckling the wide belt from around his waist. "What the hell are you doing here? Why are you Santa? I thought you were an elf?"

"There's no time to explain," Gareth panted. "But there's a line through the food court to use the bathroom and I couldn't wait, so you either need to let me into your back room or I'm gonna exorcise a demon right here on your sales floor man. Please."

"Ugh," Eddie wrinkled his nose and pointed towards the stockroom. "Yeah, sure whatever. Gross."

"I owe you one," Gareth tossed the fluffy jacket of his costume over the counter at Eddie and then ran into the stockroom. Hopefully just in time.

"So glad I'm cleaning the bathrooms tomorrow night," Paulie scrunched his nose in disgust. "Alright, you and Mitch need anything before I go?"

Eddie was about to say no, was about to send Paulie on his way.

But then he looked down at the coat and got an idea.

An awful idea.

Eddie Munson got a wonderful, awful idea.

"Actually, now that you mention it," Eddie grinned and shrugged the coat on, then the belt, and as he glanced up at Paulie, his coworker groaned, clearly able to read Eddie's mind.

"I thought we agreed no more gimmicks," Paulie exclaimed. "You're just gonna go up and talk to her."

"Yeah," Eddie nodded. "I, Santa Claus, am gonna go up and talk to her. I'm not even gonna take my full break, just five minutes, and then you can leave."

"This isn't gonna work man."

"None of my plans ever do," Eddie shrugged and pulled Paulie into a big hug. "But if it does, I owe you my whole life."

And off he went, across the mall, and up the escalator. He adjusted the coat and the hat and then remembered that he forgot the beard on the counter.

No matter, of course; he really didn't want to get fake beard in his mouth when he planted one on you.

There was practically a line out the door by the time he got to your store. He was able to see you through the window, on the register checking one customer out after another.

You were in the zone, but you didn't look stressed. You smiled a smile that didn't quite reach your eyes, but every so often Mindy would crack a joke beside you and it did.

"This actually might be the worst idea," he muttered to himself.

But it was too late.

It was now or never.

You were gonna kill him.

Some of the younger kids in the store started muttering in excitement when they spotted him, only for their parents to say "that's not the real Santa" and "Santa doesn't wear ripped jeans" but you were oblivious until he was standing right beside you at the counter.

"Excuse me," he took a breath and lowered his voice like he would during Hellfire. "I heard there was something special on your wish list this year, young lady."

"Sorry sir," you answered without a thought. "I'll be with you in a second."

"You can't even take a second to help jolly old Saint Nicholas?"

You turned your head, obviously about to tell him off as you schooled your features into something plastic and robotic and customer friendly, until you realized it was him. Then something visibly short-circuited in your brain and he smiled brightly.

"I'd like to apologize to all the boys and girls shopping tonight," he announced to the customers theatrically. "But I have very important Christmas business with our dear Store Manager here. It'll only take a minute."

He was surprised when a few of them started laughing and clapping.

"Alright Santa," you finally composed yourself to answer, arms crossing over your chest in annoyance. "What official Christmas business can I help you with?"

"Well, I was reading over the wishlist that you sent up to the North Pole," he explained. "I don't have it with me, you see. Had to leave it down in the workshop so the rest of the elves could work on the scrunchies and the lipgloss you wanted."

"Uh huh."

"And the new windshield wipers that you refuse to let Santa replace."

You rolled your eyes and waved your hand to get him to go on.

"But there was one thing on the list that...maybe it's these tired old eyes--"

"Old?" you giggled and reached out to tug on his curls. "Your hair isn't even white Santa."

A bunch of nearby kids boo'd.

"Clock's ticking," you whispered. "Get on with it, or I'm gonna have to kick you out Ed."

"--maybe these tired old eyes weren't able to read. See I thought it just said friend. But my trusty elves Kyle and Paulie and Mitch assure me it says boyfriend."

Mindy cooed an awww from beside you and Eddie felt his confidence grow.

"So, Miss Store Manager," Eddie held his hand out to you. "Which one is it? Because I happen to have some high quality...boyfriend material that I can use to make your wish come true. Is that what you'd truly like this Christmas?"

Mindy immediately slammed a hand onto your shoulder and squealed, and although your lips were clamped shut and nose was scrunched, Eddie was sure that you were holding back a smile.

It was the longest 30 seconds of his life.

"Yes, actually," you finally responded. "That's exactly what I want for Christmas Santa."

Eddie's heart surely grew 3 sizes in that very moment as a bunch of customers clapped. And he was eagerly about to jump forward and plant a kiss right on your lips when your hand slammed against his chest to hold him back.

You laughed and your eyes sparkled with promise as you pointed to the door, a silent understanding that you'd continue this conversation later. But for now?

"Get out of my store!"

---

Eddie found you leaning against the side of his van when he clocked out. Your car was parked beside his, running idle, as you waited. The radio softly played the Nutcracker Suite and you hummed along to it.

"Alright," he began when he got close enough. "I know that what I did was a big no-no, but I think everyone was in good spirits about it."

"You're lucky they were," you glared at him in--what he hoped was-- fake annoyance. "I really would hate it if my DM got a call complaining about that. Then I'd have to break up with you before we were actually even together."

"I wouldn't blame you," he winced and then looked down at his feet. "So...do you wanna go out sometime?"

"Like a date?"

"Yeah," he glanced up at you and then back down at his feet. He shuffled them back and forth. "Dinner at Benny's on the 24th? How does that sound."

"Ugh, I dunno," you sing-songed and took a few steps to close the distance between you. You grabbed the lapels of his jacket and shook him a few times.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he questioned as you lifted his hair and turned his head back and forth.

"I'm looking to see if this was the quality boyfriend material that Santa just promised me a few hours ago."

"Hey now," he grabbed your hands in his. "I most certainly am. We've just...been friends for so long. I didn't know if..."

"I do," you answered before he could finish.

"But what if I..."

"You aren't."

"I was gonna say 'what if I fart under the blankets while we're cuddling.'" He deadpanned. "See, this is why it's important not to make assumptions."

"Alright, Fartmeister," you challenged him. "If you want to Dutch Oven your girlfriend, I guess I can't fight you. But don't be shocked when I do the same thing to you eventually."

"That's all I want from a girlfriend," he said. "A strong sense of retaliation and justice."

"Alright then."

"Alright." He shook your hand like you were making some kind of deal. "Christmas Eve at Benny's for our first date."

"Sounds perfect," you agreed.

"Good."

"Good."

You launched yourself in his arms and pressed your lips to his and he swore, probably for the first time in his life, he believed in the spirit of Christmas.

---

Next Chapter: Standard Operating Procedures 1.06

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Ooooh here we go again

With that dumb parrot story

I did a art and made a banner

I'm too tired to do more words, so have a chapter

Flight Risk

Young!Mihawk x AFAB!Marine!Reader

Ch. 6 of something there's gonna be at least two more chapters

Brief summary of The Story So Far: Your mission, as a Marine and Zoan type devil fruit user (gray parrot), is to gather intel on Dracule Mihawk, a pirate on the Grand Line who has become a thorn in the Marines' side over a relatively short period of time. You have managed to gain the trust of the swordsman in a shorter period of time than you expected, but at what cost...?

Previous Chapter, First Chapter

Next chapter

No Trigger Warnings in this chapter. Possible future Trigger Warnings for imprisonment, mild torture (definitely psychological, maybe physical)

Tags: Enemies to lovers, eventually NSFW, idk maybe more later

Word Count: 4,408

Taglist: @i-am-vita, @browneyedhufflepuff, @h0n3y-l3m0n05, @littleleelee, @nerium-lil, @schanwow, @dragon-bubs , @animefreak818 holySHIT guys I didn't realize there were so many of you I'm not used to this thank you so much??

The longer that no word came of your status, the more Bogard found himself growing increasingly concerned for your well-being. Little as he enjoyed it the fact, he had grown somewhat fond of your during your brief stint of training at Marineford, having been the one forced to oversee the vast majority of it.

“You know a group of parrots is referred to as a pandemonium?”

You had certainly made an impression on Garp, if nothing else. Bogard rolled his eyes toward the vice admiral, who took no notice of his wry expression—he was too busy flipping through a book you had left behind on exotic birds, leaned back behind his desk with a cigar clutched between his thumb and index finger.

“I can hardly begin to imagine why,” said Bogard dryly, leaning his shoulder into the wall next to the desk and crossing his arms. “Considering a change in career, vice admiral?”

Garp gave a snort of laughter, taking a couple puffs from the cigar. “Gotta retire eventually, don’t I?”

Bogard let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. For the last week he had been stuck with the man in a small office with no purpose except to process new reports on Dracule “Hawk-Eye” Mihawk. World’s Strongest Swordsman. Marine Slayer. The elusive pirate’s epithets were growing nearly as innumerable as reports on his activity weren’t, and it grew more tiresome with every passing day. It almost felt as if they were being punished for suggesting this absurd operation in the first place.

“Huh. Lifespan of over a hundred years in captivity. Maybe not the best retirement option, then…���

“Are you capable of taking anything seriously?” said Bogard wearily as Garp shut the book and dropped it heavily on his desk. Garp shrugged a shoulder, clamping the cigar between his teeth and reclining further back in his chair.

“Just enjoying the downtime while we still have it,” he said, tucking his hands behind his neck and propping his boots up on the desk. “Reports should start coming in any day now.”

“So you’ve been saying for the past seven days,” said Bogard, shoving away from the wall. Garp just shrugged a shoulder again, watching Bogard pace across the office in front of the desk. “Not the least bit worried that we’ve sent somewhat promising cadet off to die for no reason.”

“Nope.” Bogard stopped at the corner of the desk, looking back at him and raising an eyebrow. Garp shifted in his chair, settling back more comfortably, his untroubled sigh sending another stab of irritation straight through Bogard’s skull. “She’ll be fine.”

Same as always—Garp rarely took anything seriously, and his faith in the abilities of anyone he took on as a protege remained ever unshakable. He had spent the past week with an air as if he were practically on vacation, and right now was no different. Bogard finally took a seat in the chair across from his, falling into it heavily and strumming his fingers on the armrest, watching in increasing frustration as Garp began snoring. He rolled his eyes and picked up the discarded book from the desk, flipping through it idly.

The vice admiral’s snoring grew steadily louder in the confines of the tiny office, and as Bogard was considering chucking the book directly at his head, the unthinkable happened.

The den den mushi that had been sitting silently on the desk for the past week began to tone dully.

Garp cracked an eye open in an instant, and both men simply stared at it for a long moment—then Garp gave an amused snort, stretching and rubbing at his eyes.

“You do the honors,” he said, nodding at it. “Since you’re so concerned about the kid.”

Bogard shot a glare in his direction, but didn’t waste any more time in picking up the receiver, reclining slowly back into the chair as he pulled it to his ear.

“Rear Admiral Bogard, speaking.”

“Sir. This—this is the office taking reports on—”

“Dracule Mihawk, yes,” he said in a clipped tone. “Your report.”

“He was sighted recently in the port city of Acacia.” Bogard gave brief hum in acknowledgment. “In Dressrosa—”

“I’m quite aware of where Acacia is located,” he said. “Are there any further details worth mentioning?”

“It appears he made port to gather supplies. No casualties, he was gone by the time the reports reached us. And, uh...well…” Bogard gave an impatient sigh at the hesitation of the Marine at the other end of the line. “It’s...well, he wasn’t exactly alone? Our reports say he had a gray bird sitting on his hat.”

He slowly lifted an eyebrow, glancing at Garp. “A gray bird on his hat,” said Bogard, and rolled his eyes at Garp’s bark of laughter. “Is that all?”

“Well, he didn’t really cause any problems. Gave a pet store owner a pretty good fright, but she insists he paid for everything.”

A—pet store—” He shoved his hand over the receiver to shush Garp as the vice admiral burst into hearty laughter, to absolutely no avail. He lowered his hand again, shaking his head. “Keep her on your radar. Myself and Vice Admiral Garp will be en route soon to take her statement.”

“Yes, sir—”

He dropped the receiver back onto the snail on the desk, hanging up the call, strumming his fingers against his knee as he waited for Garp to get a hold of himself.

“Straight to a pet store,” he chuckled, wiping at the corners of his eyes. “I’d say the girl’s already outdone herself.”

“So it would seem,” said Bogard stiffly. He leaned into the arm of his chair, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as Garp stood, picking up his coat from the back of his own chair.

“On your feet, man. Looks like we’re bound for Dressrosa.”

“Indeed it does,” agreed Bogard, pulling himself to his feet. It was a marked relief to know that the operation seemed to be going according to plan, of course—even if it meant he would have to endure Garp’s gloating for the foreseeable future.

###

Amid your brief outing to gather supplies, you had learned three things about Dracule Mihawk—none of which, unfortunately, would help further your mission.

The first was that he did his best to avoid direct confrontation with Marines in most circumstances, as they did him. The moment he had been sighted by a pair of cadets on patrol near the docks of Acacia, they had gone white and fled immediately in the direction of their base. He had done little more than roll his eyes at the sight, and assure you as you perched on the brim of his hat that there should be no concern of a fight. You had already learned during your training that most of his hostility toward Marines had been a result of him being attacked, so it was no surprise. The information might be important—it would, if nothing else, mean he might be more likely to accept the offer of Warlord status, should that come to pass.

Secondly, you had learned that he was quite the charmer. The owner of the small pet store he had entered with you had almost immediately gone into a panic at the mere sight of him, but the swordsman had easily assuaged her worries that was merely there as a customer in need of advice on how to handle caring for a bird. Within less than ten minutes, she had been happy to recommend him a couple books on the subject, and even close the shop long enough to walk to the docks as a willing hostage to ensure the Marines wouldn’t interfere with his departure.

Third, you had discovered he had all but completely trained the strange race of intelligent primates that resided on Kuraigana Island to do his bidding—well enough that they actually listened when he commanded them to carry the supplies he had returned with back to the castle. You couldn’t be sure whether he had trained them to handle weapons himself; but you were certain from the way they listened to his commands, and from the very manner in which they looked at him, tat they viewed him with equal parts fear and respect.

That, perhaps, was the best information you had gained. The beasts, which he referred to as humandrills, would attack anyone but him on sight, and they were formidable enough in strength and intelligence that their presence alone made the island an impenetrable fortress. That explained well enough why almost no one that had entered Kuraigana Island had lived to tell their tale.

You shifted your post to his shoulder in one of the larger studies in the sprawling castle, when he removed his hat and reclined back onto a daybed built into the window, flipping through a book he had bought from the shop in Acacia.

“‘Over one hundred years in captivity,’” he read aloud, sighing to himself. “Our friend at the shop said you didn’t seem much older than twenty. I suppose I’ll be stuck with you a while, won’t I?” You tilted your head when he glanced over at you, and he gave a small scoff, rolling his eyes back over to the book propped open against his knee. “Talking to a damned bird…” he mumbled to himself as he flipped a page. “Perhaps I am as mad as the rumors claim.”

There were a few other bits of information you had gleaned about Mihawk in the week you had spent posing as his feathery companion. You knew he spent the vast majority of his days either training, maintaining his sword, reading, or sleeping.

You knew that he enjoyed his solitude—and despite that, he didn’t seem to consider your presence as any imposition upon it.

You knew, whether he realized it or not, that he had a soft spot for animals. His attitude toward the humandrills was evidence enough of that, given he could have easily wiped them off of Kuraigana Island had he wanted to. He had instead chosen to live in peace with them. While it was clear they feared him, that he had definitely established his dominance among them at some point, he still spoke to them with a sort of respect that they seemed to emulate. In the same way, he had a tendency to talk to you as if you were able to understand him, despite his belief that you were just a parrot.

And you knew, having grown up on a reservation for exotic birds, that people who were kind to animals tended to be inherently good.

You had learned, little as you wanted to admit it, that he was kind.

He could be impatient, he could be downright terrifying and deadly if he wanted or needed to be—but the vast majority of the time, he desired nothing more than the peace and quiet to do as he pleased. It made perfect sense why he had decided to set up base on this gloomy little island. It was a place where no one could bother him, where he could spend his time sipping wine and deciding his next course of action without any interruption.

You found yourself growing just as comfortable with the silence and solitude as the days dragged on. As your two month period of observation drew closer and closer to its end, you honestly found yourself dreading it. While you had managed to successfully embed yourself into Mihawk’s daily routine, you had failed to find anything at all that the Marines might consider an actual weakness on his part.

Sure, he seemed to respect the humandrills, but you doubted he would be too concerned at anyone attempting taking them hostage—they could handle themselves

Yes, he valued his solitude, but there wasn’t much that could impede upon that.

There was only one thing you could honestly think of that he might consider a weakness, and you were loathe to admit to it yourself.

As you perched at the footboard of his bed, tucking your beak down into your feathers and pretending to drift off to sleep, you knew that you might be his only weakness.

You knew that every night for nearly two months, he had gone to sleep with you perching mere inches away from him, nonethewiser that he had an enemy in his midst, that you were tracking and noting his every move, that his only loyal companion was spying on him.

You lifted your head from your wing, watching him sleep soundly with a hand tucked behind his neck, knowing that within a few days you would have to leave.

Knowing yourself how much it hurt to lose a beloved pet.

How much it might hurt him—

No. No, you couldn’t think about that. Couldn’t consider it. You were a marine, you had a mission to follow through on, one that you were nearly finished with.

You had to figure out what to do. If you kept overthinking it you were bound to jeopardize everything. The thought of lying to Garp and Bogard made your stomach twist, but...so did the alternative. To tell them that you may have inadvertently become the only potential weakness of the pirate you were supposed to be gathering intelligence on sounded laughable even in your own head, even if it was the truth. The stress had made it nearly impossible to sleep for days, almost impossible to eat.

You knew you were only supposed to make outside contact if your life was in immediate danger, but if you continued on your current path you were bound to lose focus and slip up, and then your life would be in danger. The only den den mushi that you knew to be in the expansive castle was situated in the large study one floor down in the tower from the bedroom, far enough away that you wouldn’t disturb the sleeping swordsman as long as you kept your voice down….

You had to. You had to make the call now. Keeping your eyes glued to Mihawk, stretched across the bed with a hand tucked behind his neck, the covers twisted and only half draped across his midsection and legs, breathing deeply, you fluttered your wings a few times.

Gave a small whistle.

He didn’t so much as twitch in his sleep.

Drawing up your resolve, you hopped down from the ornate footboard of the bed, spreading your wings out to glide across to the open door of the bedroom, landing softly on the stone floor just outside. You crept slowly, silently along the edge of the wall, your heart racing as you made your way down the spiraling stairs.

As you edged the cracked door a bit further open with your beak, just enough that you could slip through but not enough to make the old hinges creak.

Shifting out of your devil fruit form after so long felt strange. The study was still enormous, practically a small library, but it seemed a great deal smaller to you as you glanced around at it now. The effect was almost dizzying as you lifted the receiver from the den den mushi and quickly turned the dial on the device before you could change your mind and return to the safety of the bedroom.

You nearly jumped when your call was answered in less than a single ring.

“Rear Admiral Bogard. This had best be important.”

You swallowed, glancing toward the grandfather clock in the corner of the darkened room, illuminated only by the silvery light of the half-moon that drifted through the window behind the desk. It was nearly four in the morning, and he sounded equal parts tired and irate.

“I—I...ah…”

Silence met you as you struggled to form a sentence, to articulate even in your own addled mind exactly why you were doing this.

Bogard saved you the trouble of finishing your thought.

“Are you compromised?” His voice became curt in an instant, far more awake and aware than his initial greeting.

“N...not exactly. Not yet. I…” You swallowed, closing your eyes, and forced yourself to speak quickly, quietly. “He has no weaknesses. The only chance of reducing the threat he poses to the Marines is by offering him Warlord status.”

Several seconds of silence again, followed by a heavy sigh as you clutched the receiver in a death grip, your eyes glued to the door of the study.

“Garp’s going to be thrilled to hear that,” he grumbled, and you gave a quiet hum of agreement to his sarcasm. “You have four days left, are you certain—”

“There’s no point continuing,” you said. “There aren’t any—”

“None,” he said. “None at all?”

“No, there aren’t,” you insisted. “I either have to make the offer or I leave empty-handed. That’s all there is to it.”

“You have your orders, cadet. Four more days, then you make your way to the nearest evacuation point. After—”

“I have to make the offer first. He’ll be suspicious if I disappear and return,” you said. You swallowed as he grew silent again. “He doesn’t let me out of his sight. I made sure he was sleeping before I left to make this call. If any ships show up here he’ll just cut them in half. If anyone makes it onto the island they’ll have to get through the humandrills—”

“Humandrills?”

“The—apes, they sort of act as a natural security system, it’s…” You sighed yourself, running a hand back through your hair. “This was always going to be one potential outcome. I was well aware my life could be danger when I accepted the mission. At the very least I can get the offer across before being killed and potentially avoid the need for anyone else to die.”

Silence.

The silence was worse than being told no, than being scolded for going against orders.

The silence made the pounding of your heart even more deafening in your ears than it already was.

“I’ll inform Garp immediately,” he said finally. “Find some way to make the offer that will allow you to escape quickly should the need arise, and do so within the next four days. If you don’t make contact again before then, or if you aren’t at the evacuation point by the end of the designated day, we are prepared to employ a Buster Call—”

“That—won’t be necessary,” you said immediately, your stomach clenching harder than ever. The thought of an entire armada of Marine ships surrounding the island, blasting everything upon it into oblivion, wasn’t a welcome thought at all. The grizzly scar on your right arm served as a reminder of how dangerous the humandrills could be, how violent the beasts were by nature, but you couldn’t stand the thought of being the reason for an entire species being wiped out. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“I suppose we’ll have to trust your judgment on the matter for now,” Bogard said wearily. “You’ve had more contact with Dracule Mihawk over the two months than anyone in our ranks has had over the last decade.” You swallowed, your throat gone dry as you waited for him to continue. “Four days. Make the offer.” Another labored sigh. “And stay safe, cadet.”

“Yes, sir.”

You swallowed again as you quietly hung up the receiver, not willing to clear your throat for the potential of the sound echoing down the hall and rousing Mihawk from his sleep.

You hadn’t necessarily lied. The idea that you could be a weakness was only an idea, not a concrete fact. It was honestly laughable. He had been seen with you in public, after all. He was more than intelligent enough to know that the Marines were likely well aware of his new feathery companion. If he considered you a liability he wouldn’t have kept you around to begin with.

You kept telling yourself this as you shifted back into your devil fruit form and crept silently back into the bedroom on the next floor up, as you climbed the woodwork at the foot of the bed and perched there again.

He had rolled onto his side in his sleep, but otherwise showed no signs of having stirred in your brief absence. You did the only thing you could—you tucked your head back beneath your wing and shut your eyes, trying to slow your heart and still your mind enough to sink into an uneasy sleep.

You had evidently fallen asleep at some point, for when you lifted your head again and fluttered your wings, you found yourself squinting against the sunlight pouring in through the windows in the bedroom, the bed empty and neatly made. The source of the rustling that had stirred you awake became evident when you turned your head to see Mihawk adjusting a loose, ruffled white shirt over his shoulders and pushing the wardrobe shut.

He jolted a bit when you mimed a loud yawn, looking back over his shoulder as you stretched your wings out and ruffled your feathers.

“Wind in your sails,” you squawked out in greeting. He huffed out a sigh, already holding out his arm as you flew the short distance between him and the foot of the bed, your talons wrapping around his forearm.

“Yes, good morning,” he said dryly. He had been up for at least a bit longer than you, you noted as he lifted a mug of coffee from the end table next to the bedroom door and took a sip from it. He shook his arm a bit, a silent indication for you to move to his shoulder, and you quickly obliged the silent request. “You slept in,” he commented. “It’s nearly noon. Lazy creature.”

And yet he was the one who yawned. He gave a small scoff when you imitated the sound as he headed out of the bedroom and down the spiraling stairs of the tower at the eastern side of the castle.

It wasn’t uncommon for him to talk to you over the course of the day as if you understood him, for him to roll his eyes or chuckle at your repetitive responses. You had frankly grown accustomed to the mindless banter, so used to playing your role that it came naturally. It was for this exact reason that when he left the castle and headed in the direction of the forest without saying a single word to you that you piped out a curious, “Whatcha doooin?”

“I thought we’d go for a little stroll this morning.”

That was unusual.

He usually spent his morning flipping through the newspaper, sipping coffee and making dry comments about the state of current affairs.

He glanced at you when you tilted your head.

“There’s a bit of business at the shore I need to see to,” he went on in explanation, reaching over to scratch at the feathers between your neck and the edge of your wing. “Nothing to get your feathers ruffled over, pretty bird.”

“Pretty bird,” you repeated, leaning your head into the light touch—though your stomach did a somersault at his words. Business at the shore. You doubted Bogard would have gone against his word, but there was every possibility that Garp might have made a different decision. You still kept your composure, kept up your act, crooning out as you nuzzled toward his hand, “Pretty, pretty girl.”

“Yes, yes, pretty girl,” he agreed, rolling his eyes, and the small hint of a smile curving his lips as he patted your head set you a bit more at ease.

You were being paranoid, that was all. There was bound to be a morning here or there that didn’t adhere perfectly to his normal routine. It had nothing to do with you, with your business there.

You spent the brief stroll down the path carved through the dense forest whistling to yourself, occasionally mimicking the sounds of other birds throughout the woods, watching for signs of the humandrills moving through the edge of the trees to track Mihawk’s movements as they so often did when he passed through.

Relief flooded through you as you emerged onto the sandy coastline and saw no sign of even a single ship between the shore and the horizon. Yes, paranoid, you were simply being paranoid, there was nothing at all to worry about—

Nothing to worry about, surely, as he stopped at the edge of the water.

As he reached his and across and abruptly wrapped his hand around your neck, pinning your wings down, and pulled you away from his shoulder.

“You’ll have to forgive me, pretty girl, for being overcautious.”

His sharp yellow eyes narrowed as he held you out in front of him, and slowly resumed walking out toward the water.

You weren’t just being paranoid.

“If I’m wrong, I will feel awful about this.”

Your eyes flitted between his and the water below, the gentle tide washing around the ankles of his boots as he crouched down in the shallows.

“But if I’m right…”

You were frozen in terror as he lowered you, his hand tight around your wings to ensure you hand no chance of escaping, toward the water.

As his mouth curled into a small, self-assured smirk, and he plunged you into the shallow depths.

Every ounce of strength left you the moment you touched the foamy brine rolling in over the sand, your body shifting out of your devil fruit form as you lay limp and defenseless and drenched, the waves washing around your head and your shoulders as he tilted his head, lifting his eyebrows as you stared up at him in mounting terror.

In case of something like this.

He shifted, pinning your legs down against the wet sand with one of his knees, giving a small chuckle. His eyes raked over you, your drenched tank top and cargo pants you had worn to ensure there was no sign of your Marine affiliations in case of emergency.

“I suppose we have a lot to discuss.”

You flinched as his hand tightened around your neck and he pulled you up harshly, gritting your teeth as he brought his face mere inches away from yours, so close you could feel the warmth of his breath brush across your lips.

“Don’t we, pretty girl?”

Next chapter link again, for your convenience

[koolades-world]

Congrats on 2k!

Could you maybe do prompt number seven with Belphie, but instead he's the one wearing MC's shirt rather than MC being the one wearing his? (I know people always assume MC's smaller than all of them, but just let me have this 😞🙏 /hj)

I mean, I don't really know what the prompt could indicate, so I thought I should clarify

thank you! yes of course i can!

since i got two asmo ones for this prompt too, i almost spun one to be asmo wearing mcs shirt, but then i saw this request! you read my mind haha

i'm glad this prompt is well liked because it's gotta be one of my favorites

not sure what my upcoming posting schedule will be either because i just downloaded wuthering waves and my man's (jiyan) banner is about to go away since i didn't start on launch. he goes away in three days. i must have him.

enjoy <3

prompt 7 w/ Belphie

Another day was finally over. It’d been fun, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t long. You had a day out with friends from breakfast, to a movie, then to someone else’s house where you spent the rest of your day hanging out. You hadn’t spent much time with them recently, and you felt as if was much needed catch up time. But, you couldn’t deny how tired you were now that the adrenaline had died down.

You were eager to get home and rest. But, the lounging clothing you’d laid out on your bed was missing. Well, half missing. The pants were exactly where’d you left them, but your shirt was nowhere to be seen. So the hunt for it began. Usually, you’d let it go but it was your last lounge shirt and considering you were currently waiting in the line to do your laundry, you didn’t have a choice.

You started in Mammon’s room. He wasn’t there, so you searched all the usual places he would hide things he snatched from you. While you were searching, he walked in on you rifling through his closet. Once you told him, he vehimently denied, but did suggest you text the group chat asking if anyone else had seen it. You thought it was a pretty good idea, but wanted to check a few more places first, in case it was in plain sight.

Next, you made your way to Levi’s room. It probably wasn’t in there, but if you wanted to ask him, you’d have to go in person. He was too busy playing his games to answer any text messages. After giving the secret knock and password, he opened the door for you. He was happy to see you and asked if you were up to play something with him tonight. However, once you informed him of your situation, he told you he hadn’t seen it, which you kind figured. Both of you knew he hadn’t left his room today. With that, you told him you would love to do something with him later, but you had to continue your search.

You decided to check one more place before you sent out the text. You knew Beel would be in his room because you’d arrived home at around the same time as you and he’d told you he’d be there after his shower. You made sure to knock, and after he opened the door, you asked if he’d seen your shirt. Unfortunately, he says he hadn’t and asked if he could help in any way. You thanked him for his kind offer, and just asked him to keep an eye out for it. With that information, you left and went back to your room.

Since it was your last resort, you sent a message to the group chat, simply asking if anyone had seen it. Everyone reponsed pretty quickly, save for Levi and Belphie. You’d already talked with Levi, and you knew he hadn’t seen it. Belphie, however, you hadn’t seen. He must’ve been asleep somewhere. Not in his own bed, at least. Since you didn’t have anything to wear, you decided to get something small to eat while you mulled over what to do. You could always borrow something from one of the brothers, but you were a little afraid you’d start a war if the other brothers found out you picked someone else. But, you weren’t about to wear any of your any day clothes to bed.

As you grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and settled in a seat at the kitchen island to think about your next move, Belphie walked in. He had his cow pillow as usual and a blanket that had been a gift from his twin draped around his shoulders. “Mc. You’re back.” He sat next to you and set his head on your shoulder.

“Hey, Belphie. How was your day?” He looked very comfortable, and the way he dragged himself to your side basically answered the question.

“I had a great nap outside today. Beel went out for a hike and carried me on his back. We spent some time at the top of nice hill in some shade. It was great,” he sleepily recalled.

“Glad to hear you had a good day. My day wasn’t nearly as relaxed, but I still enjoyed it.” You unclipped the bag of chips and began munching.

“I was just about to ask how that went.” He looked intrigued at what you were eating, so you turned the bag around so he could see the label.

“Yeah, it was super fun. I won’t like though, I’m tired and I’m not even sure I can stay awake for dinner.” Belphie reached around you to grab a chip. When he did so though, you got a better glimpse at what he was wearing. He had on some slouchy, comfy looking pajama pants, and an awfully familiar shirt. Just the one you’d been searching for. “Belphie, is that my shirt?” You struggled to contain your giggles. You couldn’t believe he’d just had it all along.

“It’s very soft. And I missed you. So I just borrowed it,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“You’re adorable, you know that?” You gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head, much to his delight.

“So, if I borrow your things more often, I get more kisses?” He gazed up at you mischievously.

“As long as you promise to return them. I do need that back today though. Any other time I wouldn’t care, but that’s my last shirt.” With your statement, he shrugged the blanket off his shoulders and moved to remove the shirt. Slightly alarmed, you placed your hands on his shoulders to stop him. “Not right here!” He chuckled at your exclamation.

“Well, you didn’t specify.” He was such a little shit and he knew it. But, he also knew he could get away with it.

“If you’re so eager to take it off, let’s go to my room or something.” It was your turn to laugh.

“What are we waiting for them?” With the most energy you’d seen out of him in the past week, he grabbed your hand and effectively dragged you after him. You had a soft spot for him, and you both knew that. You loved this cheeky, mischievous demon with all your heart. He loved you back to. He always looked at you with a caring, soft gaze that was reserved for you and you alone. How lucky were the both of you.

[iz-star]

Ever since I got Zayne's engagement rings my delulu has increased to godly levels

I got Zayne's engagement rings like four days ago and since then he's been showing up wearing his ring on his own, without me having to put it on him 🥺❤️

The first day I made him wear the ring as soon as I got it, but the second day, he showed up wearing the same outfit he had the previous day and the ring too, I laughed to myself thinking that he didn't change or something, maybe his workaholic self showing up (it was a bit odd considering that he always shows up with different outfits) but funnily enough, since I've been super busy with work, I wasn't able to play a lot and take pics with the rings, so it's like if he wanted the time we finally got the rings to last 🥹

The third day he dressed in his formal outfit and he gotta know that I LOVE this outfit since it's the one that he was wearing in Veiled Whispers event / Drunken Intimacy card which is a card so so important to me, literally this was the banner that was out when I started to play the game, so it felt like going back to the days this handsome sir was trying to woe me with his charm (he didn't have to do a lot tbh, ever since I saw him I just knew he was the one).

Sadly I didn't get this card since I was a new player so I couldn't farm enough dias to get it but, ofc I watched it on YouTube and since then I always ramble about how meaningful this card is for me, it's like this card consolidated me as a Zayne main bc even tho I already knew I liked him the most, I was trying to get to know the three better and give a chance to Xavier and Rafayel, but Zayne in this card just felt like home to me, because of his sweet calm affection and gentleness, respect and care, I could write an entire essay about this card but that's for another day.

(I also have to add that since I got him this outfit, I've seem him wearing it like idk 3-4 times, is not an outfit he picks up normally).

And the fourth day he shows up wearing his Snowy Serenity outfit with the ring and honestly, he surely KNOWS that whenever I see this outfit I can't help thinking of his hungry kisses but also how in this card he finally allows himself to be fully honest with his feelings and needs and at least for me that was a milestone ❤️

Istg that he's getting me used to this that if tomorrow he doesn't show up wearing his ring I will legit cry 💔

I know I'm just making up stories in my head but let's be honest, the development of the relationship with Zayne has been so organic that sometimes it feels somehow... alive. And we as the player get emotionally invested somehow. I've seen him grow, show his insecurities and weaknesses little by little with no shame, embracing his feelings instead of running away from them like a true man ❤️

Now I just need them to bring Illusio back so I can make him wear his ring in this scene:

[copaline]

It's WIP Wednesday!

Time to share works-in-progress, writing or art, for Gravity Falls. No pressure but I'm tagging the usual suspects to share a piece of what they're working on:

@i-prefer-base-twelve

@punedrr

@journalnumberthree

@spoopyghostgirl

@mask-knife-is-buggys-girl

...and anyone else who sees this and wants to play! Consider yourself tagged by me! Feel free to use the banner!

Anyway, here's a fun little clip of upcoming Chapter 7 of Horror Vacui:

Her treasonous body had officially rebelled against her.  After resisting every attempt to resume business as usual, it was clear to Leaf nothing would fix this other than a much-needed rest. A day or two without tampering with the fabric of reality should set her back to full strength. Well that much she could do. Taking a weekend off actually sounded nice, almost like a mini vacation. Defeated by her own exhaustion, Leaf had finally gone to bed and settled into the quiet darkness of her bedroom. The plush bed and cool sheets provided exactly the kind of soothing environment that placated her thoughts and allowed her mind to slip into a deep dreamless rest. This isn’t so bad. Who knew? Maybe she’d sleep an entire day away. The universe, of course, had other ideas.  “-GOTTA WAKE UP!” Mabel’s shrill voice jolted her out of blissful nothingness into the harsh chaos of morning. Leaf blinked in confusion as she tried to shield her eyes from the glaring sunlight. Someone had pulled open her curtains and rudely yanked away her covers. “Mabel?” she groaned, grabbing at her head as the blend of light and noise ignited a migraine. “It’s Sat’rday. Office is closed.” “I’m sorry I just really need your help right now Dipper is an ink monster and it was an accident but now there’s nothing we can do to-” Leaf was not entirely listening and tried to grab a pillow to throw to whap her into silence with only to then realize… “Why am I wet?” “About that, uh, you weren’t wakin’ up,” a gruff voice echoed from the doorway. Stan was there looking as though he’d gone three rounds with a sledgehammer. In his hand was a suspicious looking drinking glass. All at once the pieces slotted into place. They’d shown up, broken into her house when she hadn’t answered the door, and tried to waterboard her in her sleep. Annoyance bled into something closer to fury.  “What in all the nine hells-?” she hauled herself out of bed, ready to break the rest of Stan’s nose when a small hand clutched her damp sleeve.  “It’s my fault. I’m sorry but please, please Leaf, you have to help my brother,” Mabel’s voice trembled as though she were about to burst into tears. “Mabel…” Leaf gave an exasperated sigh. She was cranky at being so rudely woken up but choosing violence at this particular moment seemed wrong for a vague reason that her barely conscious brain refused to elaborate on.  Leaf visibly deflated before glaring balefully at the child. It was then she noted Mabel’s stance. Her hands were curled into two small fists as though ready to fight, but her eyes were frightened. She didn’t seem to have slept at all the night before and her sweater was torn. She is afraid and came to you for help. “Alright, alright, I’m up,” she grumbled before waving in Mabel’s general direction. “Take it from the top. What happened?”

[umnitsa]

You should mess with Jim - 7

Summary: Big Jim is out for the week, he's eager to go back home! Maybe to your home :3

A/N: I don't even know, my friends. It just came to me as a flash, and damn, I missed Big Jim. By now I'm not sure we are going anywhere but the bedroom with those two bunnies. <3

Banner from @cafekitsune

Written with unholy eagerness and absolutely no proofreading!

Pairing: retiredpornstar!Hopper x fem!Reader

CW: Fingering, degradation (in a loving way), cockwarming, talks of Jim being an old man (any age gap is on your mind, I didn't write it!)

Jim had to be patient.

You two had a lovely day together and unwillingly parted ways. At least he wished you could have stayed more.

Fuck, you were cuddly. And you let him indulge in his laziness, curled on top of him, wasting hours of your time just enjoying the feeling of your skins touching.

But he couldn’t fuck you that night. He had a bit of a resurgence and, fuck, money was money. So he was going to travel for work, a week. He told you so, with sadness, and you just shyly asked if you could see him when he came back.

Jim wanted to sweep you into his arms and crush your body against his.

He never hated his work that much.

Every night he wondered if he should call you, and he broke his resolve by wednesday night.

“Hey, sweetie.” He softly gruffed.

“Jim!” You chirped happily. “I was hoping you would call.”

“Didn’t want to bother you.” He said softly. “If I knew I wouldn’t would have called earlier.”

You giggled, making him open a huge smile. He placed a hand behind his head, laying on the bed. Jim felt the stirrings of desire in his lower belly. Jim closed his eyes and exhaled, he still had shoots in the next day… Jim looked at his dick and huffed. He was surely regretting his policy of saving himself for the moneyshot that moment.

“What are you thinking?” You asked, curiously.

“I’m getting hard just from hearing you giggle, sweetie.” He growled. “I work tomorrow, I can’t do anything about this.”

“Really?” You giggled even more. “Don’t give me power, Big Jim.”

“You’re a tease.” He stated, his smile almost audible through the telephone, somehow. “Tell me how was your day.”

“Work, home, touching myself to a video of yours… Nothing much.” You teased, Jim groaned in response.

“Damn, sweetie, this is serious!” Jim blurted, exasperated but feeling incredibly fond of you at the same time. You exploded in giggles, and he huffed.

“Sorry.” You said, but he could hear you were not really sorry. Naughty little thing. He really enjoyed that aspect of you. “Anything new?”

“Oh, I was casted to play Santa, for the first time.” He said amusedly, scratching his chest, his cock hard, unattended, making his boxers sticky. “I’m gonna get all the ho-ho-hoes.” He continues, cheekily. You groan.

“I don’t know why this made me wet.” You giggle.

“I am the biggest DILF in the business, I know I am. I got the sense of humor and everything.” Jim looked down and sighed. “I gotta go, darling. This call isn’t getting easier.”

Jim had to be patient.

***

By friday you were angry and a bit testy. The damn call gave you the unholy idea not to touch yourself until Jim visited. You thought it would be sweet, just three days, it wouldn’t be much.

You were avoiding your computer like the plague, so you wouldn’t be tempted by all the porn in the internet.

You thought he would find it cute that you even tried, but by night you were considering getting your toys and not telling him what you did.

It was late, when you heard the knocking on the door.

Your state of undress didn’t bother you, only one person could be knocking on your door so late. Jim. But he told you he would arrive in the morning.

You opened the door, quickly.

“Did you order a pizza?” Jim was standing at the doorstep, smiling. He had two big boxes of pizza balanced in one hand, some beer on the other. There was a backpack hanging from his shoulders. You giggled, insanely happy to see him. “I finished early and changed my flight.”

You stepped back, inviting him in. You directed him to the table, so he could get rid of the pizza boxes and the beer, at least.

“Oh, I love men who come bearing gifts, you are a Prince.” You rubbed his back, humming as you felt his solid expanse under your fingers. A shiver between your legs made you tremble, and you were painfully aware of the fact you weren’t wearing panties under your big shirt. “I’m glad you came early.”

“It’s rare, but it happens.” He chuckled with his own double entendre, then turned to you. “Last weekend was so good I thought we could repeat the dose. Here, this time.” His big hand moved over your waist, pulling you closer. “I want you to see the one I did today, the Santa one.”

“Are you fishing to see if you can awake a new kink in me?”

“Oh, no. I wanna see you complain about every single dirty pun in the damn script, you’ll love it!” He grabs his belly and boasts a ho-ho-ho, to your utter dismay. You explode in laughter, then groans playfully. You can feel your thighs sticky, as he smirks at you. “Come on, let’s eat some pizza, then we can cuddle.”

You must have made a face, or a noise, because Hopper stopped, a slice of pizza on his big hand.

“What happened, sweetie?” He raised his eyebrows, looking concerned. “You look like a deer in the highlights.”

“Well…” You toe the floor, looking mischievous. “I felt sorry for you in that call so I stopped touching myself until you came back.”

“Oh, baby.” Jim’s eyes sparkled, a crooked, satisfied smirk curling his lip to one side. “You’re frustrated. Your greedy pussy didn’t get even a finger! I bet she’s hungry.”

Jim sat, smiling smugly, bit on the pizza slice as he watched your squirming. He chuckled and opened a beer.

“Sit, eat something, you’re gonna need your strength eventually.” Jim sounded so sweet you felt almost as if he was mocking you. It made you blush, his teasing.

“You’re evil, Jim.” You grumbled, pulling one chair.

“As if you don’t like it.” Jim pokes you playfully, fingertips tickling your side. “So you took pity on me and decided to save yourself for your own particular moneyshot.”

“When you say it like this it doesn’t sound like a good idea.” You chuckle.

“You forgot two things.” He raised two fingers, a huge, sweet smile on his face, making his eyes twinkle. “One: my work gives me some relief, so I wouldn’t be waiting for long. Two: you’re a horny little dirty thing. It must have been hell.”

He kept eating, as if nothing was happening, his fingertips tickling over your thigh, up and down. A feathery soft tease kissing your skin, up and down. You felt the tingle in your pussy, and a shiver up your body.

“Poor little thing.” He rumbled gently, palming your thigh, his warm palm a source of unbearable heat against your skin. “I bet you’re so frustrated. Your toys are probably glad for the small vacation.”

“Hey!” You blushed, squirming under his gaze. You squirmed, feeling pinned down by his eyes. You could feel yourself getting wetter and wetter, shame acting just as fuel to the fire between your legs. “I like to imagine my toys are happy.”

“I can imagine how much the little motors struggle to keep up with your desire, little slut.” He teased again, testing the waters to see your reaction. He looked so sweet, his eyebrows raised, degrading you so gently. Your nipples hardened, sensitive against the shirt. “Hmmm, I see you like that. Good to know… I do too, sweetie.” He brushes the back of his fingers against your nipple, rubbing gently up and down. “It’s so good when we enjoy those things together, isn’t it, honey?”

Even with all the sweetness, he sounded almost condescending. Smug, even.

You whimpered, nodding, almost overwhelmed by his light touch. He was playing with you.

“Aw, look at you, all dumb… And I barely did anything! So sensitive, little thing.” He palmed your breast, enjoying your hard nipple poking the palm of his hand. “I bet you’re not wearing panties.”

Jim let go of the pizza, opened a beer, then pulled you to sit on his lap.

“Oh, lucky me wearing shorts today, I can feel you so warm against my thigh.” His hand wrapped around your waist, and he rubbed your skin, and your hip. He squeezed, kneading gently as he sipped on the beer. He released the can and raised his fingers to your nipples.

A flash of cold enveloped your sensitive nipples, through the shirt, the cold moisture of condensation that still cling to his fingertips seeping on the fabric and adding a new layer of sensation. You shivered.

Jim leaned, his nose brushing gently against your ear, his hot breath fanning against your cheek.

“Does that feel good?” His fingertips moved gently over and around your nipples. With a light caress to the curve of your breasts, his hand goes back to the can. He drinks, watching you with the side of his eyes. His lips curved lightly up, as you tensed.

“Yes, it does.” Your voice was trembling, shaky from the effort of pushing words out, when your body was so focused on the feelings brought by his gentle ministrations.

“Would you like more? What do you want, little slut?” Jim felt his cock straining his shorts, pulsing, his underwear sticking to the head. He knew he was too tired to fuck you the way you deserved, but he would make sure you would come as many times as you needed, on his fingers and on his tongue.

He wanted to make you come, as many times as he could; he wanted to feel you slack against his body, fucked out, floating in afterglow.

But he couldn’t help himself, he wanted to tease you. He enjoyed your wide eyes, your trembling lip; so afraid of your own desires but ready to sample each one of them. With him.

He could list a thousand reasons why you shouldn’t want to… He didn’t think he was worthy of your desire, but you gave it so freely. It was so pure… He had to taste it.

You panted, trying to take control of your own body, at least enough that you could answer him, but you were mesmerized by the way he moved. His thick fingers made the can look so small, and it made you feel warm to think those big, thick fingers could fit in you, and make you feel so good.

“Tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen, my greedy little whore.” He rested the can against the table. His fingertips went back to your nipples and once again you shivered.

“I really need to come, Jim.” You pouted, wiggling your hips so he could feel how wet you were. “Soon.” You swallowed, licking your lips. You raised your hands and placed them on his chest. He cupped your face and rubbed his thumb over your cheek gently. He watched your eyes, your lips, licking his own. You blinked, eyelashes wet. “Please, Jim.” You whined. “I can’t take much more. I’m sorry.”

Jim wanted to crush you against his body, just hug you so tightly neither of you could breathe. Nodding, he made you stand up, then stood himself.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetie. I’m here now.” He looked around, navigating your house, considering where your bedroom should be. With a comforting smile, he lead you through the house, leaving you sitting on the bed. “I’ll take care of you, lie down. I’m gonna wash my hands.”

You nodded, taking your shirt off and lying on the bed. Jim didn’t take long to be back, soft smiles and slow, purposeful movement. His eyes trained on you, he stopped at the side of the bed and took his shirt off, in one quick movement. He then opened his belt and toed off his shoes. It was such a mundane moment, but you were entranced by the way his big body moved.

“You’re so beautiful.” You whispered, the words just escaping your mouth.

Jim blushed, laying down, his head between your legs.

“I’m too tired to give you everything you deserve right now, sweetie.” Jim nuzzled your pussy gently, humming along your slit. “I’m just an old man you seduced with your needy, begging eyes. Keep offering this sweet, greedy pussy to me… How can I say no?” He licked a broad strip along your pussy, and the pleasure you wanted so much hitting you like an electric current.

You felt his shoulders under your thighs, his thick arms wrapping around your legs, as he licked more and more, pressing his face against you. A moan escaped your lips, your hand holding his head, burying your fingers in his hair. He growled, pulling back.

“So desperate.” He mused and shifted again; you felt his thumb against your clit as he looked up for your reactions. He rubbed in circles, in an unhurried pace. “Do you want a finger, sweetie?”

“More!” You whined, pushing against him.

“More than one?” He taunted, gently. “Two?” He chuckled condescendingly. You nodded, eagerly, as he teased your hole. “Three? Greedy… You sure you can take it? Two whole days neglecting your little pussy…”

He pushed two fingers into you, carefully. You whimpered, and his lips went back to your clit. He licked and suckled as his fingers thrusted in and out of you, to his knuckles. You whined and pushed against him, desperate for release.

Chuckling, Jim added a third finger and angled them just right. You felt weightless, your orgasm exploding into fireworks, fizzling against your skin. Your consciousness slipped, ecstasy burning through the edges of all your senses.

“So good for me. Look at that.” He whispered softly, pulling away. “So good… My little pervert…”

You chuckled, feeling his hands sliding over your body, big paws grabbing and kneading your flesh. He chuckled too, blushing.

“You liked it, don’t you?” He asked, almost sheepishly. “I mean, I love that you are a little pervert.”

“Yeah, Jim.” You turned to your side, as Jim wrapped his body around yours. “I really enjoyed your dirty fantasies, old man. So helpless against my charming pussy.” You chuckled, squirming against him.

“Temptress.” Jim pushed his cock between your slick thighs, his warmth a furnace along your slit. You grumbled, pushing back, trying to get comfortable. “What about some cockwarming, hm?”

“Oh… It would be good.” You sighed, as his cock slid inside you, thick, hard, pulsing, as you squeezed him tightly. “Fuck, Jim…” You exhaled, your body relaxing against his.

“Yeah.” He hugged your body, crushing you against him. “So greedy you can only relax with my cock buried deep inside your cunt.”

You giggled, your muscles fluttering under and around him. He sighed, a deep chuckle, then yawned, nuzzling your neck.

“This poor old man is tired from working and travelling so he could meet his dirty little pervert.” Jim said, mirth obvious on his voice. “He needs his sleep so he can fuck his sweetie properly, just the way she deserves.”

You smiled, closing your eyes. You could feel his breathing calming down, getting deeper, until he was rumbling softly against you. Jim’s soft snores made him vibrate gently.

His hand absentmindedly caressed your thighs, your belly, as he drifted to sleep; his warmth and solid presence pulled you with him.

[merakiui]

Oh so real!! Aaa I would love to learn more about RSA. It's been, like, what? 4 and a half years now? They've gotta give us something eventually!! (coping) I do think in general we should get more fun traveling events. I know we're getting those obviously with the hometown events, but I'd love to learn some more about the world that isn't the few countries surrounding Sage's Island? Like we still have no idea where Sam's hometown (Port O' Bliss) is! Though considering what Sam's twisted from maybe they could be saving it for something like halloween??? They probably won't tbh but it WOULD be really cool.

I want to update and say I unfortunately did Not pull b7 eel cards (Jade got me to about 87 before the banners ended, no chance to pull on Floyd 💔 so greedy) so I'm handing in my Jade lovers card and twirling his poor twin around. Floyd wouldn't do me and my savings like Jade did. Trust. This does remind me actually to reread some of your Floyd fics ,, it HAS been awhile I fear

It is a really cool feature!! And AAAA I LOVE BARB !! We share,, many fictional men. Right down to my poor poor childhood crush on Kyoya. Reiji though has plagued my brain for YEARS I would love to see what all you think of him if you ever do read a full translation!! There's been fan-made english patches made actually for the first two Dialovers games on the vita if you have a pc and patience with the silly silly world of emulators. It's how I did his Haunted Dark Bridal route :-) and goodness what a trip that game is!! Ohh Reiji and Laito the interesting little critters you are,,,,

Vampires though in general,, auughfhh,, I think about vampire fish a good bit honestly. I can't remember rn if I've stumbled across any works like that but maybe I should check ao3 after this,,, for science. of course. Also don't worry about answering these quickly or anything. You could respond to this in a month and I'd still have the same joy reading your response as I would if you'd responded immediately. So always take your time.

(Also I wasn't sure how to throw this into my ask, but have you ever shared your twst friend codes here? If not, would you be open to doing so? If you aren't it's totally chill!! But I'd been wondering for awhile :]! )

- :3 anon

Begging twst for an RSA event!! OTL I want to see the inside of RSA and see more characters from there,, more Neige and Che'nya!!! Omg and it would be so fun to learn more about places beyond Sage's Island and the other areas nearby. I would love more Sam crumbs, especially hometown crumbs!! Thinking about a Princess and the Frog inspired Halloween event,,,, AAAAA THAT WOULD BE SO AMAZING!!! OTL OTL hoping with all of my heart for something.....

No eels... (◞‸◟；) I am sorry you couldn't bring either of them home. Those rotten eels!!! ( ｡ •`ᴖ´• ｡) how can they be so troublesome and slippery!!! Friendship ended with Jade. Floyb is the new bestie and he would never treat you or your savings in such a disrespectful manner! Certainly not in the way Jade did. I hope he will comfort you more than Jade ever could. <3

We are on the same wavelength, :3 anon!!! Immaculate taste as always for us hehehe!! We are passing the fictional men around and letting them spin in our brains like conveyor belt sushi! I definitely want to learn more about Reiji because he was one of the brothers I sort of,,,, ignored due to my lack of interest. ^^;;; but now I am very intrigued. What do you MEAN he creates drugs and potions and other nefarious things!!!! I fear I am not immune to a cordial smile and the drugs slipped into my tea (winking and nudging Reiji). How terrible it would be if attractive vampire with glasses did that to me...... uuwaaaa,,, I want to be able to play those fan-made patches!!!! One day I shall have a PC that allows me to unlock full gamer potential like Idia. >:D haunted dark bridal route sounds so fascinating... 👀

AND LAITO!!!! Dare I say,,,,, what if Cater x Laito crossover!!!! Cater in Laito's outfit,,,, VAMPIRE CATER?!?!?!?!?!?! OTL my brain chemistry was irreversibly altered when I first watched that church altar scene in the anime. LAITO, THE VAMPIRE THAT YOU ARE!!!!! Truly the most interesting of critters.

Vampire fish my beloveds. AAAA I just love vampires. <3 gothic vampire Azul is amazing, but I also love modern-day vampire Floyd....... and of course vampire Jade who loves playing with the cute vampire hunter who is after him. Many thoughts for those three. May you find plentiful vampire works in your very scientific ao3 search!!!

UUWAAA you're too kind and patient,,, 🥺 thank you so very much... I would feel so terrible if I responded as late as a month later!!! orz but it's a relief to know you would still be happy to read my thoughts. Please also take your time in replying!! There is never any rush.

:o I haven't shared it before!! Here it is below! Feel free to add me as a friend! My profile is very Rollo as of this moment. I hope my level 105 tako card can be of use in battle. 🐙 ✨

[heehoothefool]

I FINALLY FUCKING FINISHED SIDE ORDER

SPOILERS BELOW AS I TALK ABOUT IT

Okay so first and foremost congrats to Nintendo for making a genuinely fun new way of playing the game that felt really inventive and fresh. "Splatoon Roguelite" was not a concept I'd ever imagined seeing, and it certainly wasn't something I was entirely sure I'd enjoy when it was confirmed as a reality.

And yet, I found myself having an absolutely wonderful time with this game! It's not so hard it's impossible, but it's also not so easy that I get bored, striking a really nice balance of keeping me both deeply invested in the gameplay without ripping my hair out in a fit of gamer rage.

I think like many others, I too would have liked maybe a few more bosses in the boss floor rotation, but genuinely I'm more than happy to over look that just by virtue of how fun the game turned out to be. I do think maybe Parallel Canon could have stood to be a bit tougher, it really just feels like an Octoling Onslaught level from past solo modes, but that's about my only real complaint for how the bosses themselves play.

The music kicks ass like usual, and I liked the way they handled the story so that both players who really only committed to the one Big Run and players who, like me, went for all the palettes, had a good chance of leaving the dlc rather satisfied with their answers.

In terms of palettes, I was genuinely surprised with how good most of them felt, and was especially surprised when I found myself sincerely enjoying palettes with weapons I normally would despise! Finding out that Marina's palette was actually genuinely viable, and possibly one of the stronger palettes I the game, was such a rush of joy to me. In no world had I ever considered a brella, paired with a sprinkler and ink storm, would ever be a viable combination in a game like this. And yet it was so genuinely fun to play with and build and very quickly opened my eyes to very creative palette building methods!

Some part of me does wish the order clone weapons you got for beating a run weren't just Skins, because some of those kits were genuinely really good and unique and I would have loved to play with them in a competitive setting, but I do understand why Nintendo, and especially the Splatoon Team, didn't lock An Entire 12 Unique Weapon Kits behind a paid DLC, and I appreciate it deeply. (A new Luna kit would have been nice tho)

Also, holy fuck was 8's palette hell. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very good and enjoyable challenge, but also I reached Overlorder like 6 different times and kept dying on the final phase because I turned off my Damage Reduction Hack in favor of Increased Damage and An Extra Life while still being able to have like. 12 chips. So every enemy shy of the little bastards and the sprinkler bitches would one shot my armor. Not to mention Reef Slider spam. I kind of wish the chip reduction vs. active hacks wasn't as unforgiving as it is, but that's a personal preference and not really a complaint I'd genuinely launch against the game. I was just having a rough time due to the splattershot's low damage compared to the Jelleton's high hp. I felt like I'd been handed an Arospray with a little more range and a slower fire rate, but no added damage, and been launched into a profreshional Salmon Run match Alone. A really good weapon if you want a real challenge from the game.

Overall I loved this, and I'm definitely gonna make a few more runs to try and get the Prlz to buy out Cipher's shop. I already have all the gear and banners, just gotta pick up the stickers and decorations.

[mercysought]

❝ Can I ask one more favor? ❞ - to v!

the banner saga 1 // accepting // @aldcldo

   “That depends, does it come with another round of 'getting my head chewed off'?" V. scratches the side of her face, turning from her. Still atop it, ready to go starting to clip the sides of her hair to her scalp. That was the one reason why she might consider start wearing a helmet: maybe getting a helmet hair cut was better than having her hair potentially getting in her face. That and getting attitude from Viktor. Taking a deep breath she feels the Badlands dust in the air; it is not enough to make her cough but it feels stuffy in a way that only the Badlands could.

She could get why folks ran away from the city to the badlands, hell there wasn't anything like sunbathing in the middle of nowhere. Still, she was not one of them that would trade the life if she were given the chance.

   “That's more Vince's (@mindsmade) thing." getting his head bitten off by pretty gonks, that was. She squints biting into her seventh hairpin, past Panam and tilting her head to side “Well..."

Technically she wasn't one to talk. Truthfully, if anyone was to ask what most of her chats with Takemura were like, she could see how "getting her head chewed off and getting some sick satisfaction from it" could be read from it. Still, it still stood that while Panam was pretty, she didn't have a shoulder. And that, that was a prerequisite for V. to even consider becoming even remotely part of a mat to be stepped on.

Figuratively.

V. sighs, turning to Panam once more Viv could only imagine how disappointed she probably was when she contacted them only to realise that it was the wrong V. who was comin' out to the badlands. It wasn't that Vince wouldn't have jumped at the chance but they were all dealin' with some shit after Evelyn. The mercenary scratches her face softly after setting her hair up.

There was so much shit to do when she got back to the city.

   “If you can make it sound more fun than what I gotta do next, I'm in. Watcha need?"

[eddiernunson]

Trapped | Eddie Munson | Part 9

Prev part | Master Post | Next Part

All parts are listed on all other parts. I'm tired.

Pairing: Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 17.9k

Warning: Cringey writing in which you are now written into the canon of the show. I gotta admit, it was a weird balance to wonder where the character would take a line from someone else, and when to give the character their own. Sorry, no smut. I tried to write one scene but it felt so out of place.

Authors Note: I desperately tried to capture the essence of the scenes. If you're wondering why you would read something you have already watched, that's fair. But if you want to see how she would fit in to the season 4's storyline then stay tuned!

I added one or two of my own scenes but it was only for it fill in those plot holes.

(There's not much Eddie in this part, it only goes up to the end of Dear Billy. Get fuckin ready next part.)

Chapter 9

Chapter One: Hellfire Club

In the middle of the cheerleaders dancing and the crowd’s loud cheering and show of school spirit, somehow Dustin and Mike had managed to get into another argument based on who’s girlfriend is better. Eddie would interject and decidedly win their argument each time, but he wasn’t there to claim you for the title.

“Look, I’m not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours. It’s just that Suzie’s like, a certified genius.” Dustin continues, yelling loudly over the band music.

“You do realize El saved the world twice, right?” Mike retorts, referring to his most used argument, attempting to somewhat pay attention to the cheerleaders.

“And yet you still have a C in Spanish.” Dustin answers, and Mike glares at him annoyed.

“Shut up.” You tell the two of them, done with the argument for the millionth time. “Both your girlfriends are cool. Just watch the pretty cheerleaders like normal people.”

Just in time, the music ends and one of the male cheerleaders ends with a final flip. The announcer comes on the speaker, yelling, “And let’s hear it for your Tigers!”

A group of teenage boys run through the giant banner lead by the ever-resented Jason Carver. You roll your eyes as he charismatically looks around the gym, putting on a show.

Mike and Dustin politely clap, attempting to show some inkling of support for their best friend. Anyone who was watching would be able to tell their hearts weren’t in it. They weren’t; they still didn’t understand why Lucas was on the team in the first place.

“Good morning, Hawkins High!” Jason yells into the microphone placed in front of him. He saunters from the stand, successfully putting all the attention onto him. “First off… hey. First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand.”  He starts. And the crowd is eating it up already. As always, you’re left wondering how no one can see right through him.

You see Lucas waving awkwardly, and watch his eyesight to Max, who decidedly ignores him. Ouch.

“And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad.” Jason continues and creepily makes eye contact with who you supposed was Chrissy. The two have been dating longer than you and Eddie were, but somehow the idea of Jason with someone as sweet as her made you feel nauseous. “Chrissy…” he pats his chest twice, ugh, “Chrissy, I love you, babe.”

Your eyes meet the back of your head and you didn’t realize going to support Lucas would be this painful. Maybe you should’ve gone to Eddie’s house for the morning.

Jason starts backing off away from the Squad and a serious aura radiates off him. Not because he seems sympathetic or genuinely serious, but because he made such a big show of it. “You know…” he starts, looking down, as if seriously considering how to approach whatever bullshit he was about to say. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say it’s been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss.” The air of the gym becomes heavy with the unspoken in Hawkins. “And sometimes I wonder, ‘How much loss can one community take?’ In dark takes like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, ‘Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy.’”

Oh, this asshole. You look at Max, and it seems the crowd around you and her had decided the same. You bump into her, letting her know you were right there, and she offers you a fraction of a smile.

“’Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for?’” You, Dustin, and Mike were all shooting daggers at him for making light of a fucking tragedy the four of you had to face. “’For us to lose to some crap school? No!’”

Several people around you shout No back to him, all eating this right up. “’For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No!’”

“NO!” More people in the crowd shout back to him.

“’No. Let’s win this game. Let’s win this game for them.’ And that’s exactly what we did!” The crowd goes wild, as if he didn’t just name and use the tragedy of the mall fire to get them going. You sit in stunned silence next to Mike and Dustin, neither of whom had anything to say about it, either. “We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we’re gonna bring home the championship trophy!”

The crowd roars, and it’s a very successful prep rally, all thanks to Jason’s ability to make a compelling speech.

“Tonight?” Mike asks, leaning into Dustin.

“How is that possible?” Dustin adds, also in dismay.

“They call it a tournament. You win one game, you go on until there’s only one team left.” Max speaks over you, knowing what Dustin was asking but still answering it, nevertheless.

“You really don’t pay attention, do you boys?” You ask, seeing this coming a mile away. “I warned you Lucas would need to find a replacement, but no one listens to the girlfriend.”

Mike watches as Lucas excitedly high-fives his teammates, getting pumped for the nights game. You stretch your neck out next to him, excited to leave the evil clutches of Jason Carver.

-

You made your way from the gym to your classes, being lightly annoyed as the day seemed to crawl on by. Eddie picks you up from your third period, arms crossed and bent at a slight curve against his new favourite locker to wait for you at. You smile at him as the hustle of the crowd engulfs you, the Friday seeming more busier than normal. You wondered if you were imagining the excitement on his face and the energy running through him.

You made your way to the cafeteria, being some of the first students to sit down. As Eddie sits, he pulls out a magazine with “D and D: The Devil’s Game” on the opened page of it. “Doing another dramatic reading?” You ask, hiking your arms bent around his neck from behind him.  

“Oh you know it, sweetheart.” He smiles up at you maniacally, and puckers up for a kiss. You lean down to kiss him, and he pulls away suddenly. “Oh shit, you’ll never guess who asked for a deal after school today. Like, never. In a million years.”

You narrow your eyes at him, wondering how far fetched his new customer could’ve been. “I give up.”

“Chrissy Cunningham.” He states, and your eyes go wide. “I know. I fucking know.”

“Holy shit. Please tell me how it goes. Like I want to know everything.” You ask, knowing Chrissy usually tends to stay away from anything remotely unwholesome.

“Don’t even need to ask, sweetheart.” He comments, starting to dig in the raisins sitting in his tin.

You give him a kiss on the forehead as some band members start to arrive at the table. “I gotta go, baby. I asked for extra help because chemistry is biting my ass this semester.”

“Speaking of biting your ass,” Eddie starts as you pull away, pinching your butt as you walk passed his table, saying hi to the Hellfire members sporting their matching shirts on the way. You roll your eyes at him, mouthing the words I love you, and start to make your way to the chemistry classroom.

As you make your way down the hallway, Dustin and Mike corner you and you blink at them awkwardly. “Make Eddie move Hellfire club.” Dustin starts, his tone not asking but demanding.

“I, hi to you too?” You ask, switching your eyes between the two of them.

“Yeah, whatever. Make him switch the days. We tried to reason with Lucas, but he wouldn’t budge.” Mike complains, attempting to persuade you.

You laugh, purely out of pity. “Oh, you poor things. You really think he’s gonna move the finale he’s been rambling on about to me for months for a basketball game? You know how he loathes literally anything Jason is involved with and that now includes basketball. He won’t budge.”

“Which is why we thought you could do it” Dustin explains unhelpfully.

“Yeah, I got that part.” You whisper, squinting your eyes at them. “I’m not cleaning up your mess. You do it.” You move passed where they’re blocking you off, smirking at their stunned faces. “Besides, I’m going to the game.”

-

After you walk to an empty classroom with your teacher gone to lunch you make your way back to the cafeteria, where you’re greeted by your boyfriend tossing yet even more fruits to the poor soul that had suggested he postponed the Cult of Vecna. Not that you saw it coming from a mile away, but again, no one listens to the girlfriend.

Rather than interrupt them, you watched as he seemingly couldn’t sit still, waddling around the cafeteria and claimed he was gonna flip Principal Higgins off. You rolled your eyes in adoration, knowing the bullshit that Gareth and Josh had called had some truth behind it.

“Yeah, yeah, and I was full of shit. This year’s different. This year is my year. I can feel it. ’86, baby.” He claims, and your breath hitches out of excitement to get the hell out of there with him. Eddie then crouches down next to them, letting them know they were the future of Hellfire. Hell, you knew he was planning on giving the head role to Dustin since October. As he effortlessly manhandles them by their shirts and pushes them to go find a replacement for Lucas, you gulp at the demonstration of his strength.

You finally walk up to him as he watches them stutter their way through a table, the group all denying the invitation off the bat. “You really needed to be that rough with them?” You ask him, watching the two with him.

“No. It certainly got the depth of the situation in their hands, and this way we’ll actually have a replacement for him.” Eddie says quietly, placing his arm around you.

“Always have an answer, don’t you?” You ask, leaning up for a kiss, much to the negative jarring of the members behind you.

“Always.”

-

As the day passes, Dustin and Mike run around like headless chickens asking people from every club if they would join. You meet your boyfriend after school right by your locker to give him a final kiss as you wouldn’t see him until tomorrow. “Hey, call me tomorrow morning, won’t you?” You ask, grabbing his hand as he starts to leave.

He gets tugged back to you, albeit a bit more dramatically than necessary.  “Of course. I’ll come pick you up and spill all the dirt, don’t you worry, love. Now, I am a bit late to meet her and I don’t need her thinking I ditched.” He gives you a kiss, and there’s some finality to it.

“Love you!” You call to him, and he turns around and shouts it back before running out the door to catch Chrissy.

You make your way home to get ready for the big game and you wonder who Dustin and Mike had managed to get, or if they were truly fucked.

Your phone rings as you finish getting ready for the game, starting to get everything you needed together to leave the house. “L/N Residence.” You answer half-heartedly, barely paying attention to your phone call.  

“Hey, sweetheart.” Eddie replies, presumably using the payphone at the school. “She wanted something stronger, and I don’t usually carry Special K at school, ya know? She’ll be stopping by my place after the game tonight.” Great, there goes any hope you had of spending the night over at his place tonight.

“Oh, okay.�� You try to hide your jealousy of Chrissy going to your boyfriend’s house, despite knowing there’s a zero percent chance of anything happening. “Wait, why does she want special K?” You ask, wondering for what reasons she could have other than partying after the big game.

“She asked me if I ever felt like I was going crazy. I don’t know what’s going on with this girl, but I think she’s going through something.” Eddie admits, and you can hear the seriousness of his voice.

“Has to be, to date Jason Carver,” you mutter under your breath.

“Be nice.” He tells you, and it feels weird to be on the other side of this statement, something you usually have to tell Eddie.

“I just wanted to be the girl over at your house tonight, is all.” You joke, and he laughs before letting you go with an I love you.

You and a good portion of Hawkins make your way back to the school to cheer on the basketball team in their attempt at the Championship.

You sit by yourself but at a position where you can clearly see both Robin and Steve, something they have chosen to do to give each other side eyes at the games, and you only just joined their escapades, complaining you felt left out as they joked about it at work.

The band’s final song comes to the end, and Mr. Higgins comes to the front of the microphone, saying “Everyone now please rise for our national anthem. Singing us tonight, we have a very special guest. All the way from Nashville, our very own Tammy Thompson!”

As the crowd goes crazy the three of you catch each other’s eyes, incredulous at the random appearance of Robin’s old crush. The crowd goes to silent, and Tammy starts singing into the microphone off-key.

“Told you. Muppet.” You watch Steve mouth to Robin.

Robin switches her glance down to you, and you barely hold your laughter in, your mouth just holding back a smile. You nod in agreement, finally hearing the similarities.

“Okay she does sound like a Muppet.” Robin finally admits.

Little did you know in the drama club Eddie refuses to take Erica as a suitable sub, only accepting her for days they have all their team members. It only takes moments of Erica ripping him to shreds to formally welcome to her into the club as a member, immediately seeing her potential.

The game kicks off and the Tigers are really having a rough time staying on top of the opposing team, Jason yelling at his team to stay on top of them. Finally when one of their members end up falling to the floor injured Lucas is called to play off the bench for the first time since he joined the team and things get exciting from there.

Life imitates art and both Hellfire and the game were in their homestretch, being a matter of every decision counting.

Every one was on edge in the gym watching as the two teams remain neck in neck, neither one of them able to gain a strong enough lead to take a breather. Tigers need a time out.

Lord Vecna in Eddie’s carefully constructed finale is taking out members of Hellfire one by one to where only Erica and Dustin are left over, and they need their own time out.

Eddie offers an out, knowing damn well when given the offer it just puts fuel onto Dustin’s fire of spite. “There’s no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes. Not today, ‘kay?” His challenge hits the right spot, and they land perfectly into his trap.

As the team takes a time out, you look up at Steve, curious to how his date is going. He solemnly shakes his head, letting you know it was not going well.

The team shoots, and the balls misses, creating the crowd to call for rebound. Lucas grabs the ball, making a three pointer at the last second, and everyone watches in baited breath as the ball hits the rim, the backboard, and finally into the net. The crowd goes wild, and you’re reminded why it’s cool to attend a game every now and again.

Across the school, the members of Hellfire are celebrating their unforeseen success against Eddie’s long awaited finale to a semester long campaign, a natural 20 landing when they needed it the most. You run up to the group, asking all of them how it went. “Dude, Erica slayed him!” Josh exclaims, high fiving her with much more ferocity than he intended.

As the night ends, your mom asking how the game went and asked why you weren’t at Eddie’s like you thought you might’ve been. You tell her you were both too tired to really hang out, and it’s a lame enough excuse but she doesn’t press on.

You go to sleep after a shower, refreshed and ready to see him in the morning before work, wearing one of his t-shirts that still had his strong scent on it.

Across town, Eddie was snapping his fingers at a girl who’s eyes had whitened over, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. Like she was already on something.

As she was lifted into the air, Eddie stared up at her, mind empty in fear of something he couldn’t see.

Her bones snap. Her eyes get pulled, and Eddie can’t get the sound of his head as he runs to his van.

His life would never be the same, and neither will yours.

Chapter 2: Vecna’s Curse

Your alarm snaps you out of a deep sleep, and once you gain your bearings and finally wake up, your mind is clouded in confusion as to why you weren’t woken by your boyfriend calling as he promised. He barely forgets to call, and when he did it was for a good reason. You rub your eyes, stretching from head to toe and you figure you’re just overthinking it and he probably fell asleep, and you prepare yourself to get ready for work.

As you make your way into work, already decently busy due to the Saturday before break, Robin and Steve are in the middle of a squabble which you can feel yourself getting dragged into. You put your hands as if to surrender yourself from the conversation, and it works only momentarily, leaving you to work on the big ass return pile in peace.

Your peace lasted about all of ten minutes. Robin practically skips to where you’re stationed at the counter doing rewinds, asking if you had wanted to hear how Vicki and her finally said more than a simple hello to one another on the bleachers after an agonizing semester of hearing her pluck up the courage.

Steve often called you a hypocrite for making fun of Robin for it, but you had to admit it was so much fun on the other side of it.

“Then Vicki laughed. And it wasn’t like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like…It was a real, genuine laugh.” She emphasized, barely leaving Steve alone for two minutes as she explained it to the two of you.

“Of course. It’s my Muppet joke. It’s hilarious.” Steve mutters, claiming all the responsibility for their first genuine interaction, as per the norm.

You laugh out loud, causing Robin to shoot a glare back to you and it dies in your mouth as soon as she makes eye contact. She turns back to face Steve, and you suddenly don’t feel like she’s telling you anymore. “My point is that Vicki laughed, and everything was just like…it was just perfect.”

“But?” Steve asks, egging her on.

“But I’m having this problem, where it’s like I should stop talking. I have said everything that I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it’s like my…my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or…or rather my… my mouth is moving faster than my brain.” Steve positions himself against one of the shelves, witching a look back at you as the two of you watch her unravel. “And I’m digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I’m trying to stop, but I can’t. And I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?”  

Steve and you share another look, fond and non-judgemental. “Yeah, you are.” He says, gentle.

“Oh, I’m hopeless.” Robin stares, backing up into the light up poster.

“Eh.” Steve shrugs, backing up next to her. “We both are.”

You watch them, leaning on the counter right in front of them, both pitying and emphasizing with them. How was it possible that the two that give you the most advice are the two that are the most lost?

Robin looks over, and you can tell she has a crazy idea. “If only we could just, like, combine.”

“Combine?” You ask for Steve, and they didn’t even realize you had still been listening.

“Yeah!” She and Steve make their way back to the counter. “Think about it. I know exactly what I want. I have found the girl of my dreams but I can’t get the courage to ask her out.” She places a hand on Steve’s shoulder both speaking about him and to him. “Meanwhile, he goes out on a million dates, and he has no idea what he wants.”

“Am I not still right here?” Steve asks to you, shaking his head.

“So if we just combined,” Robin continues, ignoring him, “all our problems would be solved. Because, I mean, alone, let’s face it…”

“We totally suck.” Steve finishes for her, blunt and in acceptance.

“Totally and utterly.” Robin agrees, the same sentiment.

“I mean I wasn’t gonna say it but as long as you two are aware I think that’s a good first step.” You smirk, moving back to your tasks.

“Ooh, I think I know our morning movie.” Robin perks up, going to grab it. “Doctor Zhivago.”

“Ugh. You know I don’t do double VHS.” Steve dismisses it off the bat.

“But it’s about doomed love.” Robin says, holding the tape like a teddy bear.

“Oh well, that’s relatable.” Steve sighs, starting to push the return cart more.

“Precisely.” Robin concludes. “Put ‘er in, there, sweetheart.” She hands the tape to you, and you roll your eyes as they have insisted on using Eddie’s nicknames for you lately. You start to look for the remote and can’t seem to find it. “Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have seen in my life. Hey. Movie?” Robin asks you, pointing to the screen.

“Remote?” You ask her in the same tone.

“Oh right.” She yanks it out of her pocket, forgetting she had placed it there after misplacing the damn thing all morning.

The tv is turned on and you’re immediately greeted by the morning news broadcast. “We’re in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County.” You were listening to the tv report, reading the back of a  movie you hadn’t heard of yet. You just miss as Eddie’s trailer leaves the background of the news reporter, but your ears perk up at his trailer park.

“Shit, that’s the park where Eddie and Max live.” You comment, moving up next to Robin and Steve.

 “We don’t have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name-”

“Holy shit.” Steve comments, and the reporter continues.

“although we are told they’re currently in the process of notifying the family.”

Your breathing grows shallower, as you take in the crowds at the trailer park and you swear up and down you hope it was one of his neighbours, but it looked. It looked like Eddie’s trailer.

“Fuck.”

-

As you’re internally freaking out, you fall dead silent at work with Robin and Steve barely able to yank out about what’s got your jeans all jangled up, Max is ringing on Dustin’s doorbell, out of breath, and panicked.

“Chrissy Cunningham?” He asks, in disbelief. Eddie was barely seen dealing to the cheerleaders, they seemed to steer away from him. “You sure it was Chrissy?”

“She was in her cheerleader outfit. Same thing she was in when I saw her with Eddie.” Max responds, backing her evidence.

Dustin continues to pace, “Did you tell any of this to the cops?”

“No. No, but I…I can’t be the only one who saw them together. Eddie and Y/N were weird at first, but now they’re just together. These two stood out.”

“Eddie the freak, with Chrissy the cheerleader?” Dustin clarified, still wrapping his head around it.

“Exactly. You know, his name’s not in the news, yet or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect one now.”  She informs him, trying to make Dustin understand the gravity of the situation.

“That’s crazy. Eddie didn’t do this. No way.” Dustin claims, and he knows for a fact you would’ve fought Max on it. “No. Way.” Dustin repeats when Max gives him a look of disbelief.

“Well, we can’t rule it out.” Max claims, having seen the scene and knowing being the only last witness to see them together doesn’t look good for them.

“Yes, we can.” Dustin interjects.

“Dustin!”

“You don’t know him like I do, Max. Okay? When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? No one was nice to us. No one except Eddie. Besides, you really think Y/N would willingly date him for months if she thought there was a chance he could murder someone?” Dustin argues, making a case for Eddie.

“Okay. Well, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he’s a super nice guy, but then he’s murdering women on the weekend. Plus, he had a girlfriend.” Max retaliates, and she’s only pointing out how bad it looks for him.

“So, you’re saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy?”

“No, I’m not saying- I’m saying that we can’t presume anything, okay? But it doesn’t look good for Eddie.”

Dustin sighs, falling onto his bed. He thinks about this for a second, and a thought occurs to him. “Why haven’t you told the cops this?

“I-I don’t know.” Max says, crossing her arms defensively.

“You don’t know?” Dustin asks, egging her on for more answers.

Max sighs, and the final thing she had witnessed that has been haunting her finally has to come out. “After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go into the trailer…something else happened. Nothing that weird or anything. I mean.. Eddie always drives like a maniac and the power goes off at my place all the time. It’s a piece of shit. But..this morning, I started to think back, and… I don’t know. The look on his face. He was scared, Dustin. Really scared. Maybe he was scared because, you know, he had just killed someone, or, maybe he um.. maybe… because… I don’t… I don’t know, maybe…”

“Something else killed her.” Dustin finishes off the sentence she was too afraid to admit out loud.

Max nods to him, confirming what she was hypothesizing. “But that’s impossible. Right?”

“I don’t know.” Dustin admits. “It should be. Only one person knows what actually happened.”

“Eddie.”

“Have you talked to anyone else?” Dustin asks, heading out the door with Max to figure out a plan.

“No. I can’t find Lucas or Nancy and Mike’s in-”

“California, shit, shit, shit.” Dustin’s mom calls for them as they leave, and Dustin shuts the door on her anyway, letting her know they’ll be safe. “Million-dollar question.” Dustin adds as they both grabbed their bikes. “Where is Y/N?”

“Her mom said she was working this morning. I don’t think the police have stopped by her house to ask her questions yet, or even if they have gotten that far. I don’t know if she even knows.” Max answers, holding her bike as they discuss the pros and cons of telling you themselves.

“We need to stop by to see if she might know where he would be hiding, anyways.  If she doesn’t know, we can use their phones to call around and ask.” Dustin figures and they finally figure a plan as they hop on their bikes.

Dustin goes over the scenario in his head. On one hand, if Eddie didn’t do it, it means the Upside Down wasn’t destroyed and they have another war to win. On the other hand, if Eddie did do it, he didn’t think that was any better.

-

As Dustin and Max arrive to Family Video, the news is still running in on the background and you’ve gone dead silent, silently wishing for any sign of Eddie, a phone call, a mid-shift visit, anything that will tell you you’re just losing it.

Robin and Steve have given up on getting you to speak, unsure of what’s got you so unsettled and wondering if they should send you home.

“Hey, guys. Y/N here?”

“You see this?” Steve points to the news, still watching.

“Is she here?”

“Someone was murdered.” Steve interrupts.

“Y/N. Is. She. Here?” Dustin emphasizes, and Robin points down the store to where you’re silently working on restocking the returned movies and fighting an anxiety attack.

“Wait, guys she has been silent since the news broke out you won’t get much out of her, what do you need out of her anyway?” Steve asks, following them to where they have crowded you.

You look up to see Dustin and Max, and you can already tell the gut feeling has been correct. “You saw the trailer the police are at?” Dustin starts tentatively, and you nod your head at him and your stomach plummets into the depths of the earth. “Do you know where he might be?”

Your head shakes no, and Steve feels like he had just heard you speak two languages at once. “Wait, what is going on? Who?”

“How many phones do you have?” Dustin asks, interrupting his questions.

“Two, why?” Steve answers, confused to how this was relevant.

“Technically three, if you count Keith’s.” Robin adds.

“Three works.” Max comments, and Dustin runs back to the front counter, Steve annoyed as he seemingly chases him around the store. Curiously you follow them, still silent but somehow the confirmation making you feel both better and ten times worse.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks, watching as Dustin throws his backpack off and over the counter. “Whoa, what are you-”

“My pile!” Robin yells.

“No, no, no! My tapes! Dude.” Steve yells as Dustin’s maneuver to throw himself over the counter meets some casualties. “What are you doing, man?”

“Setting up base of operations here.” Dustin answers, instantly starting on the computer.

“Base of operations?” Robin asks.

“Get off.” Steve attempts to shoo him.

“I need it.” Dustin claims.

You watch from the counter, not quite understanding what it had to do with Eddie or his trailer yet.

“For what?” Steve demands.

“Eddie’s friends’ phone numbers.” Dustin answers, not actually telling a single lick of his plan. You start to understand, walking around to where he’s sitting and watch him work through the computer.

“Ah, what do you have to get it from here, why can’t you get it from him?”

“Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it’s a Saturday. It’s our busiest day.” Robin answers, cleaning up the mess Dustin tore up on his way into the counter.

“Robin, I emphasize, but this cannot wait.” Dustin drones out, starting to write down numbers of the other club members from Hellfire.

“Oh my god.” Steve mutters, rubbing his hands on his face in stress.

“Calling Eddie’s friends is an emergency?” Robin sarcastically announces, annoyed.

“Correct!” Dustin yells, not having explained anything but still annoyed they haven’t understood yet.

“Want me to strangle him or you want to?” Steve asks Robin, sharing the annoyance.

“We could take turns.” She jokes.

Dustin turns to face Max, body tense and erratic. “Can you fill them in while I do this?”

“Fill us in on what?” Robin asks, still mad confused.

“I think I get it.” You mutter, leaning up against the counter.

“She speaks.” Robin peeps out, and suddenly they’re all facing you.

“You’re looking for him, aren’t you?.” You pipe out, pleading with her by staring directly into her eyes.

You look up to Steve’s eyes and finally tell them what had you dead silent. “It was his trailer they were at. Either Chrissy is the dead student and he’s a person of interest, or worse, much worse, he is.” You look to Max for confirmation, and she neither confirms nor denies.

“Well, more or less.” Max starts and goes into what she had told Dustin not half an hour before.

-

At family video, after hearing Max’s recount of what she had seen the night before, it made you feel both miles better and worse. Underneath the hope that Eddie was just sleeping in for the morning you knew it was unlike him to not at least get a hold of you. Somehow this tiny bit of knowledge whisked you back into shape, realizing it does no one, especially Eddie, any good if you freeze up now.

Three of you were manning the phones while two manned the shop to make sure it still ran smoothly.

“Have you seen or heard from Eddie recently?” Was the most common question being asked, and as you made phone calls to his friends, they were all confused to why you were calling them but were sympathetic when they all answered no.

“Reefer Rick? No. Does this Reefer Rick have a last name? I mean, it’s kind of…” Max is on the phone, and as you over hear the conversation while crossing off another name, you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself.

Rick was in jail; it was the perfect hiding spot.

“Hey guys, I might have a lead.” Max says, seemingly optimistic.

“Seriously?” Dustin asks, almost ready to give up.

“Yeah, apparently Eddie gets drugs from a guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.” You laugh without humour, hearing the musings of someone who didn’t know Eddie at all.

“That sounds promising where does Reefer Rick live?” Robin asks, and their eyes all turn to you, standing off to the side as you watch almost as a bystander.

“Y/N, you know where Reefer Rick lives?” Dustin asks, carefully approaching you.

You shrug, smiling sadly. “No idea. I just know he had a place on Lover’s Lake. Eddie got his supplies from him until he got arrested last month. It would be the perfect place for him to hide.”

“Cool. Does he have a last name?” Dustin asks, seeking a possible solution.

“No one knows.” You say, and Max nods her head in agreement, the same thing Gareth had told her on the phone.

“Bet the cops know the last name.” Steve comments, working with the discount bins and reorganizing them.

“What?” Max asks.

“Cops.” Steve states, still working. The four of you look at him in disbelief to see if Steve was actually suggesting what you had thought he was. “I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, and was arrested last month, then he’s in the system.” Steve states, leaning onto the counter.

“The cops?” You ask in disbelief, and sometimes you remember how dense Steve was at times. “Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?”

“I think they should be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.” Steve admits, and got a fraction of a point. None of you knew it was anything supernatural at this point, but if it were, then going to the cops would be bad news.

“Oh, you think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” Dustin asks, and your eyes widen, that doesn’t even occur to you that Steve might be thinking along those lines.

“Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know. Don’t think we can rule it out.” Steve admits as he casually rubs his arms together.

Your jaw locks and you give Steve a hard look. “If you think for a second that he is capable of this then you clearly aren’t as much as I friend to us as I thought you were.” You state, and there’s a guilty flash across Steve’s face. “Ruling it out is precisely what we’re trying to do.”

“And maybe we’d have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie.” Dustin adds.

Max looks at you in concern as you continue to grovel in anger at Steve. You shrug half heartedly, but the anger would sit with you for a minute.

“Somebody has to attend to the customers.” Steve obnoxiously states.

“Especially if they’re babes right?” Robin jokes, winking.

“Hey, that’s not fair, alright. I attend to all the customers equally, babes and non-babes alike.” you watch him with raised eyebrows behind him as someone literally walks in the door, unnoticed by him. “We have a very big selection in here.” Steve starts on a rant, and you, Dustin, and Max share a look of disbelief as he bullshits his way through defending himself. “It can be super overwhelming for people.”

This sets off bells in Robin’s head, and you love when she gets the light up in her eyes in a crisis. It’s always a good sing. “Yeah, it can be.”

Robin moves to the computer, taking the lead.

“What are you doing?” Max asks, wanting to know how much of an idea Robin had.

“Maybe we don’t need a last name.” You and Steve both join her at the computer, both aware of how your workplace’s system managed. She types it in and a bell dings as a list of Ricks cross on the computer. “Twelve Ricks have accounts here.”

“Lot of Ricks.” Max deadpans.

“So, let’s narrow it down. Rick Alderman’s latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. Chances our drug dealer has a family?” She asks, sarcastic.

“Not likely.” Max comments the obvious.

“Alright, Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone.” All of you collectively agree No before she can even finish the list. “Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease.”

“Nah.” The group groans out, still a definite no.

Robin moves down the list of Ricks. “Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash.” You all laugh at it, a hell no.

“Definitely not”

“No way.”

“Okay, Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke.” The list just got better and better, and you remember Eddie describing Rick’s heroes being Cheech and Chong.

“Bingo” you laugh, and narrowly avoid Steve as he laughs next to you.

“Lipton?” Max confirms.

“Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road.”

“That’s out by Lover’s Lake, right where you said it was.” Dustin comments, making eye contact with you.

“Middle of nowhere.” Max adds.

“It’s a perfect place to hide.” Robin concludes, and you all pack up shop, locking the door behind you, to take off because if you didn’t leave by now, you wouldn’t be there until midnight.

As they all pack into Steve’s car, he catches your arm, and you attempt to angrily get out of his grasp. “Hey. What I said was fucked up.” You blink at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “Of course he didn’t do it. How could I think otherwise.”

“I don’t know.” You answer, still in disbelief. “I already know I’m going to have to defend him from everyone else in town. I didn’t think I would have to defend him from his own friends. Especially you. That’s why it hurt.”

“Are you ok? It’s a lot to process.” Steve replies, seeing the look on your face when Max had told her part of the story.

You sigh, and it’s starting to feel like last summer, or Halloween of 84, or the November of ’83. “When isn’t it? C’mon, we gotta get going. If he’s not there then we’re back at square one.” You get into his car, and hope time goes by much faster.

It was lucky the three of you left out the store when you did, and lucky the phones were busy for the better part of two hours. Police were coming to ask you questions after finding Jason, and they had tried your home address first. Your mom was calling to ask you to come home, as she recognized the trailer and was driven into calling after police came to your door. They had arrived when Steve’s car was long gone, but yours still in the parking lot. It didn’t look good for Eddie or you that his girlfriend had seemingly made herself unavailable to the police.

-

After seemingly hours Steve finally pulls up to the address, and your heart is in your stomach in anxiety. What if he’s not here?

What if he is? How the hell are you supposed to help him?

Dustin rings the bell, and only waits half a second before it escalates into multiple rings in a row followed by loud knocking. “Okay. Well, that’s settled. I guess he’s not here.” Steve opts out, giving up a little too easily.

Dustin continues to loudly knock, shouting. “Eddie! It’s Dustin!”

“Great.” Steve adds when Dustin so loudly calls out the wanted fugitive’s name.

“Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help.” Dustin knocks again. “Eddie!”

“Shh” Robin shushes him, peering into the house with a flashlight. You peered in with her, and it looked empty, no sign of life.

“Eddie!” Dustin calls, ignoring her. “Rick!” He bangs more, starting to grow increasingly more desperate. “Reefer Rick!”

“Don’t scream that.” Steve chides him, looking around for any curious neighbours.

“He’s not there.” You state, walking back to the front door.

Max starts to wonder around the property, taking a look herself. Dustin is still yelling at the door, Steve attempting to get Dustin to stop yelling out the words “Reefer Rick.”

“Hey guys?” Max yells, catching all your attention. You all peer to where she is looking at, a big metal boat house, a great place to hide.

Your flashlights appear into the windows, first glance to see if any silhouettes pop in. “You go first, Y/N.” Steve whispers, pushing you lightly.

You push back, not wanting to be the first one to walk in a spooky boathouse at night. “What? Why me? Let Robin do it!”

“Oh, you big baby.” Robin chides you, slipping through the big metal door. “Hello?” She calls out, looking around. You follow right after her. “Is anyone home?” No answer, and neither of your flashlights reach anything.

Max, Steve and Dustin make their way into the boathouse, the multiple flashlights eluding creepy shadows on the wall.

“What a dump.” Steve unhelpfully comments, not adding anything to the search.

As the group continues their search for any evidence that Eddie could’ve been there at one point, (you’re hopelessly looking for his jacket), Steve reaches on the wall and grabs an oar, and starts using it against the tarp covering the boat.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Dustin asks, incredulous.

Steve stabs the boat again, not answering.

“What are you doing?” You ask him, repeating Dustin’s sentiments for emphasis.

Steve continues stabbing with the oar. “He might be in here.”

“So take the tarp off.” You tell him, hesitantly reaching out to rip it off yourself.

“If you guys are so brave, you take the tarp off.” Steve snaps back, continually stabbing at the boat.

You’re still looking around aimlessly as Max points out some wrappers on a table. “Hey, look over here. You peer over as Robin goes to investigate, keeping an ear on the two idiots. “Someone was here.”

“Maybe he heard us.” Robin offers, and you want to cry at that idea. “Got spooked and ran.”

“Don’t worry”, Dustin offers sarcastically. “Steve will get him with his oar.”

“I know you think you’re being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slight-” Steve doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, the tarp moving up and Eddie popping out of the boat he was prodding, with a broken glass and backing Steve up to the wall armed and afraid.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Steve shouts, and Eddie doesn’t even listen, holding the glass up against his jawline in a defense position.

“Whoa, whoa, woah, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!” Dustin calls out, and for some reason you’re frozen in place, stuck watching the man you loved have an expression you’ve never seen before. He places himself in between you, Robin, and Max as they attempt to get the threat disarmed. “Eddie! Eddie! It’s me. It’s Dustin. This is Steve. He’s not gonna hurt you, right Steve?”

“Right, yeah.” Steve whispers, barely given any choice in the matter.  

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” Dustin offers, and Steve complies, but the sound startles Eddie into using the bottle against Steve’s jaw even harder.

Steve groans in pain, the bottle starting to break skin. Somehow the action brings you out of shock, and you’re understanding Eddie is technically a threat to Steve for the moment. You step to Dustin’s side, holding Robin back.

“He’s cool, he’s cool.” Dustin continues attempting to calm him down.

“I’m cool, man. I’m cool.” Steve whispers, using his humour as a coping mechanism to distract from the slight pain at his jawline.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks him, interrogating, rather.

“We’re looking for you.” You answer, and it turns his attention onto you, the slight recognition on his face, hiding behind fear.

“We’re here to help.” Robin offers, also having calmed down a bit.

“Eddie, you know us.” Dustin answers, and you’re relieved tension is starting to ease in Eddie’s shoulders.  “Robin, from band.” She plays a pretend instrument to fuse the tension, and you suddenly wonder if Dustin knows they know each other a bit more than that. “This is Max, the one who never wants to play D&D.”

You step a bit further from where Dustin is, unable to help yourself.

“And of course, you know Y/N. Your girlfriend? The only person I have seen roast you and not get dried up grapes thrown at them for it?” Dustin says, and from the look on his face you can tell it’s working. “Eddie. We’re on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?”

“Yes, yes. We swear.” Max agrees.

“On Dustin’s mother.” Robin awkwardly adds.

“Yeah…Dustin’s…Dustin’s mother.” Steve manages out, a last effort to get out of his sticky situation.

Eddie hold his place for about one second longer, before letting Steve go finally, and sinking to the floor. You watch pathetically, the expression on his face distant and afraid. You crouch down next to him, getting him to look you in the eye, and seems to see right passed you, and it scares you to imagine what he saw that affected him this much. You rub his arm comfortingly, not even attempting to take his safety, his weapon away from him.

Dustin lets you have the moment before crouching down in front of him. “Eddie. We just want to talk.” He reaches out to grab the bottle from Eddie so he can’t attempt to use it again, and you shoot daggers at Dustin when Eddie whimpers and grabs it out of reach. “Okay?”

Robin crouches down next to you. “We want to know what happened.”

Eddie sniffs, and it takes everything you can not to instinctively reach out and cradle his face in comfort. “You won’t believe me.” His voice breaks, and he sounds sure of it.

You make eye contact with the friends around you, all afraid of what this sentence implied to the five of you.

“Try us.” Max insists.

Eddie looks at the group in front of him, in disbelief that you were all giving the benefit of the doubt.

-

“Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and uh. And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones. Uh she,” Eddie whimpers, and your grip on his arm tightens, unable to do anything but listen to him struggle through telling his side. “Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It..it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I..I didn’t know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there.” The guilt was plain in his voice, and you’d wish you’d realized something was wrong when you woke up that morning. Maybe he wouldn’t have felt so alone.

His retelling is haunting, and you have to catch his breath after he finally manages to look at his audience. He immediately breaks away, scoffing. “You all think I’m crazy, right?” Eddie leans his forehead into his hand, wondering how he managed to get himself stuck here.

“No. We don’t think you’re crazy.” You answer, still offering affection even when he wasn’t leaning into it.

“Don’t bullshit me, I know how this sounds.” He shouts, and you try not to take his tone too harshly.

“We’re not bullshitting you.” Max says, her voice confident.

“We believe you.” Robin adds.

Eddie exhales, and you weren’t sure if it was in relief or disbelief, but his broken face was enough to keep you on track to try and soothe him as he struggled.

“Look. What I’m about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take.” Eddie makes eye contact with you, and you can almost recognize him.

 He looks up at the rest of them, processing what Dustin had just offered. “Okay…” Eddie says, opting Dustin to continue.

“You know how people say Hawkins is…cursed?” Dustin starts, and one of your nightmares comes to fruition, Eddie finding out about the Upside Down and getting involved. “They’re not, way off. There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours.”

“Like, ghosts and shit?” Eddie asks, wondering if he was being bullshitted.

“There are some things, worse than ghosts.” Max whispers.

“Those monsters, from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they’ve come back before. That’s why we needed to find you.” Dustin explains.

“If they’re back again, we need to know.” Max adds.

“Ahem.” You mention, drawing attention to yourself. “Not to be selfish but that’s not even in my top three reasons to come and find you.”

Eddie lets an inkling of a smile cross his face, connecting his forehead to yours for a second.

Robin interrupts it, but you knew it wasn’t the time nor the place. “That night, did you see anything?”

“Dark particles, maybe?” Max adds, giving an idea to what Eddie might’ve been looking for.

Eddie shakes his head, very confident he didn’t see anything.

“It would almost look like dust, swirling dust.” Dustin describes, giving a pretty good description.

Eddie continues shaking his head, insisting. “No, man, there was nothing you could see, or uh, or touch. You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn’t move. It was like she…she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell.” Dustin offers a different word.

Eddie seems more brought down to earth as he understands he is believed and there is now a theory to as what he had seen. “A curse.” He adds, thinking of the creature that uses these same abilities from D&D.

“Vecna’s curse.” Dustin helps, remembering the abilities and how it lined with what Eddie had said.

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asks speaking for the first time in a long time.

“An undead creature of great power.” Dustin answers, afraid of what the implications could be.

“A spell caster.” Eddie answers, all the hours reading up on lore suddenly useful in real life.

“A dark wizard.” Dustin finishes, and he and Eddie make eye contact as the gravity of the situation hits the entire group.

“Shit.” Steve unhelpfully comments, and the group dissipates, discussing their plans for tomorrow.

As they move into a corner to talk about plans you know you will have to catch up on, you catch his attention, offering a weak smile. “Fuck.”

“Should’ve known something was up when you didn’t call this morning.” You answer, tentatively raising your hand to brush his face. He leans into it, eyes closed and tension seems to leave his body like a deflated balloon.

“I was thinking about it, but I figured the police would be looking for me, and in case you were brought in for questioning I didn’t need you telling them I called you this morning. That looks bad for the both of us. Did they?” He asks, and you can tell his mind is still going at a mile a minute.

“No, but if they went to my house my mom would’ve directed them to the store, and we closed up shop early to come see if you were here.” You answer, and now it hits you that you’re probably being looked for by the police, as well. “Are you okay?” You ask him, knowing the answer but still needing to hear it.

“No, but if they believe me, hell if you believe me I think I’m doing much better than before.” He admits, and squats up to give you a proper hug, tugging you into his arms. “So you knew about this other world?” He asks, making sure you weren’t just along to find him.

“Unfortunately, yes. I tried to keep you from it in hopes I would never have to deal with it again, and you would never have to see it.” You admitted, annoyed and thinking if you had told him maybe he would’ve come to you instead of being alone the entire night.

“Do you have any idea what you are gonna do?” He asks, unsure where you would even go from here.

You laugh, and it feels good to see him break out in a wider smile. “No, but we have Dustin, and I can tell you he already has three or four ideas cooking in that brain of his. He’s a genius.”

“Guess I’m in good hands.” He mutters, watching as the other four make a sizeable plan, and before you know it, you’re tugged away from him and you kiss Eddie for good measure and you’re basically dragged to the car, Robin explaining their plan for tomorrow to you.

The start of something was brewing, and at this point, you were convincing yourself you ready to face the world ending yet again.

Hopefully.  

Chapter 3: The Monster and the Superhero

Neither one of you get a decent night’s sleep. The moment you got home your mom asked if the police got a hold of you, and you shake your head, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. She sighs, informing you that you should go the next morning to keep their benefit of a doubt that you or him were at all innocent.

You peered up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time. “You don’t think he did it?”

“No one is that good at hiding who they are.” She comments, letting you go upstairs, figuring you were just stressed about the whole thing. Who wouldn’t be?

As agreed, the group meets up at the grocery store, grabbing some snacks for Eddie before they give share any updates of news they had. Somehow you and Dustin end up arguing over some ridiculously trivial idea over which cereal he’d prefer, until Steve yells for you to shut up. “Just a pick a damn cereal, time is a-wasting.”

Steve pulls up to Rick’s lake house, and when you burst through the door, Eddie is by the window, prepared again with his broken bottle. “Delivery service.” Dustin announces, and Eddie visibly exhales in relief.

You waste no time running into his arms, inhaling his scent as if to burn it into your memory. He gently kisses the top of your head, and it takes all your self discipline to let go of him. Eddie kisses your temple again, as he walks past you to grab the bags, flinging them haphazardly as he sits down in his makeshift bed to begin eating.

Dustin exchanges a look with the rest of the group, and they all give him the go ahead to start the rundown. “So we got uh, some good news and bad news. How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie replies, mouth full into a swig of pop.

“Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you. Also, they’re uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.” You gulp, remembering the helplessness of listening in with them, biting back tears as the police chatter with an unearned amount of conviction about Eddie.

“Like, 100% percent, kind of convinced.” Max adds, and you had to admit now wasn’t the time to sugarcoat it.

Eddie glances to you, and you nod solemnly. “And the good news?” Eddie asks, needing the pick me up.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet.” You answer, thanking the fates.

“But if we found out about you, it’s a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.” Robin states, blunt, but true.

Eddie stares off, a bitter disposition that he usually reserved for behind closed doors. “Hunt the freak, right?” You wince at the sentence, gritting your teeth.

“Exactly.” She confirms, and you make eye contact with her as she apologetically shrugs her shoulders. You shrug back, knowing it was only a matter of truth, one you instinctively knew yourself.

“Shit.” Eddie curses.

“So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” Dustin lists off, as if any of your misadventures with the upside down have ever been so easy.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?” Eddie asks, voice hard.

“Yeah, no, that’s pretty much it.” He confirms, voice growing softer at the end of the sentence.

“Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this before. I mean, they have a…a few times,” Eddie looks up for confirmation and you and Steve both casually nod your heads as she rambles, “and..and I have once. Mine was more human-fleshed-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this.” You were glad Robin was confident, because you weren’t as sure as she was.

“We usually rely on this girl who has super powers. But uh, those went bye bye, so..” Steve adds, and Eddie side eyes you as to ask why hasn’t heard a single word of knowing someone with superpowers.

El, you mouth to him, and Eddie sits on it for a moment.

As you exchange this information Robin continues, “So, we’re technically in more of the-”

“Kinda..” Steve rolls off it, now thinking out loud.

“Brainstorming phase.” Max says putting the concept into words.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snaps his finger, thanking her for finding the word he needed.

“There’s.. There’s nothing to worry about.” Dustin offers, and doesn’t seem to believe it himself.

Steve scoffs, also not believing it either. You hadn’t even attempted to assure him, knowing he could see right through you, and in turn, your lack of confidence in the group’s lack of plan.

Eddie looks at the group, raises his eyebrow as if to ask if you were all joking. You truly wished you were.

Sirens pass, and Steve curses under his breath as you jerk yourself out of your seat, as if it would do anything, but unable to sit from the mere anxiety the police gave you.

“Tarp. Tarp. Tarp.” Robin repeats, telling him to hide. Eddie gets the message, and he’s hiding in the boat again, mean while you all run to where the sirens are coming from as they increase in proximity.

Multiple police cars pass by, and a fire engine, and an ambulance. It was a dead giveaway that something was off again.

Assuming that the numerous emergency vehicles meant an update to the case, you all hop into Steve’s car, and pull up to another scene surrounding resembling the one on the news from yesterday, this time Nancy speaking to the police officers. As you all pop out, Robin lightly pushes you back in. When you nearly ask why she whispers harshly, “You are still being searched for by them, too. You are technically someone wanted for questioning. Stay out of sight.”

Nancy offers a small wave, her tiny stature frigid with anxiety, and you’re not sure how much of a coincidence it all is.

-

The six of you sit down at the picnic table you at the trailer park, and you station yourself in a way you aren’t forced to see the crime scene tape surrounding Eddie’s trailer. You all tell Nancy what you have learned in the last 24 hours, getting her up to speed.

“You’re saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it’s from the Upside Down?” She confirms, and dread fills the air.

“If the shoe fits.” Steve confirms.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now, whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don’t know.” Dustin says.

“All we know is that this is something different. Something new.” Max says, and there’s no arguing that.

“Doesn’t make sense.” Nancy pipes out, annoyed.

Dustin attempts to negate it. “It’s only a theory.”

Nancy realizes she has to explain herself. “No, Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. I mean, why them?”

“Maybe they were just in the wrong place.” You had hoped that was wrong, because it was chilling to think how close it was to being Eddie in that case. “They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.” Max points out, both cases surrounding the area.

“We’re at the trailer park.” Steve points out as well, making a decent point. “Uh, should we maybe not be here?” You all look around, spooked by the idea.

“I’d like to leave.” You admit, turning to face the plot that has been haunting you.

Nancy extends a hand to comfort you, adding on what Steve said. “There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

“Acting weird as in..?” Robin asks.

“Scared, on edge, upset.” Nancy lists, remembering his scattered brain.

Dustin recalls what Max had told him the day before. “Max said that Chrissy was upset, too.”

“Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school” She says, and it doesn’t seem to be only at the trailer park.

“Eddie said Chrissy wanted something strong. He said it was like she was losing her mind.” You add, voice small as you finished.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right? So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-”

“Vecna,” Dustin interrupts Robin, correcting her.

“Dunno bout you, but I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” Steve says, and you’re not sure you would’ve done the same.

“And? Say what? To who? If you don’t know about the Upside Down, like Eddie, chances are you would ignore it and hoped it went away.” You answer Steve, making a good point of Eddie not completely understanding what he saw with Chrissy.

“Well, maybe they did.” Max admits, and Steve give you a ‘see? Told you’ look that you roll your eyes at. “I saw Chrissy leaving Miss. Kelley’s office. If you saw a monster, you…you wouldn’t got to the police. They’d never believe you. But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.” Robin finishes, and Max nods in agreement.

You all make your way to Steve’s vehicle, manning a plan to somehow get a hold of any information on Chrissy or Fred they might’ve shared with Miss. Kelley. Steve notices Nancy making her way to her own vehicle, and calls for her. “Whoa, whoa. Nance. Nance!” Nancy turns around, still on edge. “Where you going?”

“Oh, there’s just something I wanna check on first.” Nancy attempts to negate from the truth.

“Something you wanna share with the rest of us?” Dustin asks usually wanting the whole picture to solve the problem.

She looks down sheepishly, “I don’t wanna waste your time. It’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No, it’s too dangerous. You need… You need someone to…” Steve stutters through his sentence, and you’re confused to what the energy has been brought to them. “Here. I’ll stick with Nance.” Steve offers, tossing the car keys to Robin. “Take the car, check out the shrink.”

“I don’t think you want me driving your car.” Robin yells.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.” Robin barks out.

“Why don’t you have a license?” Steve asks, annoyed.

“Because I’m poor.” Robin deadpans, and it’s dropped.

“I can drive.” Max offers, half joking.

“No, no! Never again. Please. Here, you drive.” Steve hands you the keys, and you stare at them as he shoves them into your hands before glancing up at him in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m not driving.” You say, shoving them back to him.

“What? Why not?” Steve asks, his frustration loud in the eerily quiet park.

“The police are looking for me, too. They have been driving around town all day. If they see me driving your car, something they wouldn’t know if I had permission to use, I’m toast, and so is Eddie. Not happening.”

Dustin makes a face, offering to drive, and Steve shuts it down.

“All right. Okay. This is stupid. Us ladies will stick together.” Robin takes charge, grabbing one of the long range walkies and tugging you to where Nancy was. “Unless you think we need you to protect us.” Robin jokes, and it’s decided.

“Be careful.” Steve yells, watching the three of you walk to the station wagon. Robin holds out a peace sign, both humorous and condescending.

Dustin watches Steve, amused. “Just gonna stand there and gawk?”

“Shut up.” Steve whines.

“Why don’t we go, okay?” Dustin offers, sweet talking him.

“Just get in the car.” Steve barks, unamused. “Wipe your feet.” Dustin does, on the fabric of the inside of the car, intentionally showing Steve. “On the outside, not the inside. Always the babysitter. Always the goddamn babysitter!”

The two different vehicles take off, and you’re feeing fortunate to drive away from Eddie’s place for once, the place now giving you the creeps.

-

You, Nancy, and Robin walk up the steps of the public library after she quickly explains her shot in the dark. The bells ring, indicating another hour passing by and creating a feeling of unease in the pit of your stomach. You glare at the clock as Robin gets the story straight, time isn’t your friend. “Help me get this straight.” She is continuing, still confused. “Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he’s the one running around committing these murders?”  

As you’re walking fast paced Nancy shoots a glare to the two of you, signifying she knows she sounds crazy. “Pretty much.”

“But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the ‘50s.” Robin points out.

“Well, ’59.” Nancy corrects her.

“So that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?” Robin continues.

“Yeah.”

You enter the library and make your way up to the front desk, and while you didn’t think it was a lead that would help the case in anyway, you had reason to trust Wayne. “Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old.”

“Yep.” Nancy agrees through gritted teeth, dinging the bell when the librarian wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“So he’s a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air.” Robin concludes sarcastically, resting onto the front desk.

“It doesn’t make sense. I know. That’s why I said it was a shot in the dark.” Nancy explains, a little annoyed.

“Y/N, no concerns?” Robin asks you, looking passed you to where you’re stood on the other side of Nancy.

You shrug, absentmindedly looking at the pattern on the adjacent wall. “I trust Wayne. I also trust her gut.” You elbow Nancy lightly, and Nancy gives you a thankful look as she dings the bell again.

“Look, I know you trust her, it’s just that I thought by ‘shot in the dark’, you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later.” As Robin continues on her tangent, Nancy starts dinging the bell repeatedly, seemingly done with her theory torn up. “But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who’ve been spun around fifty times.”

Nancy dings the bell more rapidly.

Robin stares at the bell, wondering what it could’ve possibly done to offend Nancy so much.

“Coming!” the librarian finally calls, holding a stack of books on her hip with a bright smile on her face.

“Hi. Sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush.” Nancy sheepishly says, turning on her good student tone. “Could we get the keys to the basement archives?”

“Of course! Give me one sec.” she answers, and you knew this was Eddie’s favourite librarian.

“Did I come off mean or condescending?” Robin asks abruptly, and you look at her inquisitively.

“No.” Nancy answers, and you’re not sure it’s all that true.

“Right. Sorry. It’s just, you seem annoyed. You don’t know me well.” After the many afternoons they have spent teasing you collectively you weren’t sure that was true, either. Although, Robin may be talking in terms of crisis. “I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues.” That was true.

“Okay.” Nancy comments, clearly uncomfortable.

“If I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it’s a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily.” You think o the times you have guided Robin in a conversation where the lack of a grasp on social cues were clear and saved her from herself.

“Got it.”

“All right, ladies.” The librarian comes back holding the key. “Here you go. Have fun.”

“Thanks.” You take the key, the girls still ravelling after an awkward conversation. “We’ll try. C’mon.” You lug the two girls after you, unsure of the conversation that occurred and for the first time in a while you wonder if there’s some unresolved issues with those two.

-

Two of you sit in front of screens, scrolling through the archives as you continue to grab articles containing Victor Creel for the two of them. The tension is suddenly rough, and you wished you had also been a babysitter for today.

Robin interrupts the silent air, asking, “Anything…juicy over there?”

“Nothing new.” Nancy answers, her voice overly polite.

“Yep. Same here. Victor seemed like a normal guy. Dead family, missing eyes, took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst. Blah, blah, blah, blah.” Nancy rolls her eyes deep into her head as Robin continues, and you wonder off to see if you could find any more articles to get you out of here.

Suddenly, as you’re moving through the archives, Nancy comes down the stairs to the drawer next to you, purposefully searching for something you’re not even sure she knows. “You know that Steve and I are like, totally not a thing, right?” Robin asks suddenly, and you jerk your head, wide eyed, wondering how this came up.

Robin shrugs, and gestures vaguely. That helps you understand nothing.

“What?” Nancy asks, turning to face her as well, and you share the same sentiments.

Robin moves around to the files, talking animatedly. “So, I figure you and Jonathan are still going on strong ‘cause you guys are going to college together. You’re one of those unstoppable power couples, but I..I just…I just wanted to make sure that Steve and I are just friends.” Robin moves to where you’re standing, and you decidedly move over a couple of slots. “Like platonic with a capital P.” Somehow this whole adventure just gotten more awkward as Nancy has no idea how to respond to either of this, and you’re almost ready to admit maybe they were right and you should’ve stayed behind with Eddie. “Just in case that’s adding any tension between us.”

“It wasn’t” Nancy answers, and she’s convincing as a fifteen year old with a fake ID.

“You look down to where you’re skimming, and your eyes catch a familiar magazine. “Holy shit.” You mutter. “The Weekly Watcher. Can’t believe they have this.”

“Didn’t they write about, like Bigfoot and UFOs?” Nancy asks, skeptical.

“First of all, UFOs are absolutely real.” Robin interjects, moving next you to look through the drawer as well. “Bigfoot, I’m still on the fence.” Holy shit, you think. She would get along with the members of Hellfire more than you’d realized.

“We are looking for information about dark wizards.” You add, considering what Robin has been saying.

“Exactly!” Robin says. “If someone’s gonna write about that, it’s gonna be these weirdos.”

“Those weirdos have kept Hellfire entertained for lunches on lunches.” You comment, now missing how mundane that feels in comparison.

“Case in point.”

Nancy glances down at the film and suddenly realizes you two may have a point.

You all gather around the screen, scrolling slowly passed each article, each one more ludicrous than the last. “Ah. Elvis Cloned by Aliens.” Nancy reads, and suddenly all hope is lost.

“You never know.” Robin lightly offers, and continues scrolling through the articles as she walks off.

She only goes past two more articles before landing on the exact one the three of you were looking for. “Holy shit.” You mutter under your breath.

“Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed family.” Robin declares dramatically, and you stifle in laughter. “The murder that shocked a small community.”

“Ha, ha. That’s very funny.” Nancy sarcastically answers, apparently thinking it’s a cruel joke.

“She’s not kidding.” You answer for Robin.

“Get over here.” Robin calls her, and Nancy joins in-between the two of you. “According to several insiders, Victor believed his house was haunted by an ancient demon. Victor allegedly hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home. Pretty novel for the ‘50s, Exorcist wasn’t even out yet.”

You shudder at the title, the film by the same name when Robin turned it on one night, you only lasting the first half of the film before you begged for it to be shut off.

“Keep..keep going.” Nancy urges, and the look on her face gives you a small sense of relief that this might’ve been successful.

“So, Victor clamed this exorcism failed but it angered the demon, which then murdered his family, removing their eyes. Victor believed he was spared as a punishment.” You continue reading the article for them, not that Robin needed it, just attempting to help.

“That’s pretty convenient for Victor.” Nancy comments.

“Yeah, or super inconvenient.” Robin bites back lightly. “Victor was declared legally insane by the court, right? What if this is why? It sounds insane. Just didn’t go public because—”

“The plea bargain. The records were sealed.” Nancy finishes.

“What if demon did invade Victor’s home?” You ask, and you’re almost sure you’re on the same track as the two of them, having not read the articles with them. “It’s just. This demon wasn’t any old demon.”

“It was Vecna.”

The three of you head out the library, daylight now gone and a sense of urgency filled the air. “Dustin, do you copy?” You ask on the walkie, following behind as Robin and Nancy go down the steps.

“Yeah, I copy.” Dustin answers.

“As always, Nancy is a genius. Venca’s first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull’s eye.” You answer, the three of you arriving to the Station Wagon.

“Okay, that’s totally bonkers, but I can’t really talk right now.” Dustin answers, sounding out of breath.

“What are you doing?” You ask, afraid to know.

“Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files.” Dustin answers, matter of fact.

“Can you repeat that?” You ask, wondering if you heard him correctly.

“Just get your ass over here, stat. We’ll explain everything.” He answers very vaguely.

“I thought they were talking to Ms. Kelley.” Complains Nancy.

“We leave them alone for two hours.” Robin sighs, and the three of you get into Nancy’s car to head over to the school.

 -

Chapter 4: Dear Billy

Nancy drove with more urgency and less care than normal, pulling up to the parking lot of the high school with an abrupt screech of her brakes. The three of you burst through the double doors of the school, flashlights shining every which way as you run through the hallway to meet the rest of the group.

It leads to Max leading the group down the hall, the flashlights shining Max’s silhouette on the wall as she stares blankly. “It was here. Right here.”

“A grandfather clock?” Nancy asks, and Max shakily nods her head.

“It was so real. And then when I got closer, suddenly I just…I woke up.” Max says, her voice thick.

She sounded scared.

Real scared.

“It was like she was in a trance or something. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy.” Dustin comments, and you can’t help but notice the look you get as his name is mentioned from Steve.

You ignore it, observing as Max’s breathing grew shallower. She turns around, her eyes wide. “That’s not even the bad part.”

When asked to elaborate, she emphasizes that it would be easier to demonstrate by showing you, and the five of you follow her back into Ms. Kelley’s office. “Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help. Uh, they were both having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn’t go away. And then… then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They’d wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually… everything ended.”

“Vecna’s curse.” Robin diagnoses.

“Chrissy’s headache started a week ago. Fred’s, six days ago.” You glance around the office, staring at the writings of Miss.Kelley’s notes on both Fred and Chrissy. “I’ve been having them for five days.” The admission makes your eyes shot up to hers, and the serious threat of Max’s life is now an added stake in the case.

How fucking inconvenient.

“I don’t know how long I have. All I know is that,” Max gulps, “for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so” Max exhales shakily, “looks like I’m gonna die tomorrow.” She admits, and her tone is shaky.

As her heavy words hang in the air, a distant sound in the hallways catches all your attention, each of you whipping your heads towards it in sync.

Steve turns his head to face the group, makes eye contact with each person and makes a quick albeit impulsive decision. “Stay here.” His sneaker squeaks as he stumbles, and he pauses by the door to glance back for something. He finds it, grabbing an adjacent lamp and continues to make his way to the hallway.

The four of you remaining glance at one another, exchanging a look and sharing the same thought. Dustin says it out loud, “We just gonna let him…” Without another moment’s hesitation, you all saunter to the hallway behind him, deciding you weren’t gonna let him face it alone.

Another bang down the hall, and you all hold your breath as the sound of quick paced footsteps echo in the hallway, coming at an unprecedented rate, the sound growing faster.

As you prepare yourselves, you holding your breath, Steve preparing to swing, Robin scrunching her face up, Lucas comes wildly around the corner, resulting in a screaming bursting out of most of you.

After nearly colliding it takes a moment to understand who is standing in front of you, the group backing off instinctively once realizing their ‘intruder’ is no longer a threat. “It’s me!” Lucas shouts, his face illuminated by flashlights.

“Lucas?” Nancy asks, still catching her breath.

“It’s me.” Screaming, now bending over to catch his own.

“Jesus, what is wrong with you?” Steve yells at him, on edge.

“I’m sorry.”

“I could’ve taken you out with this lamp.”

“Sorry guys. Sorry.” Lucas pants, still completely winded. “I was.. I was biking for eight miles.” Lucas walks around in circles, holding a finger to indicate he still needed a minute. You glance at one another as he does, knowing there was some news you had to drop onto him. “We’ve got a code red.” Lucas says, finally seeming to caught his breath.

“What?” Steve asks, hands on his hips, the lamp somewhat forgotten.

Lucas walks passed Steve right to Dustin. “Dustin. I’ve been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they’ve gone totally off the rails.”

At the mention of this Steve glances to you, knowing something about Jason you still haven’t told Nancy or Robin. Jason added to the equation was an unwanted and unwelcome extra.

“Wait, Jason?” You ask, needing to know what he meant by it.

“Uh yeah,” Lucas says, now talking to the both of you. “They’re trying to capture Eddie and they think you know where he is.” Lucas says the last part mainly to Dustin, but you had a feeling they were also on the lookout for you as well. “You’re in terrible danger.”

The feeling of dread from being sought out by him only came second to the feeling of how your heart sunk to the words ‘they’re trying to capture Eddie’. Jason knew Eddie was the person of interest and of course, he didn’t doubt it for a second.

“All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we’ve got bigger problems than Jason right now.” Dustin answers him, and glances back towards Max. You glance with them and you feel humbled as you gain some perspective.

Right. Max might die. Jason isn’t even on the top five right now.

But fuck, Eddie didn’t know and you still fucking worried for him.

-

You, Nancy, and Robin spend the next morning coming up with a plan, and it took all the fighting in the world to convince them you shouldn’t have been involved. As Nancy was on the phone with one of her newspaper workers, letting them know the final details the two of you hashed it out and Robin finally interrupts it. “C’mon just give us one good reason why.”

“Cause my boyfriend is wanted for fucking murder and I don’t have it in me to go undercover and play pretend for some lunatic. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.” You admit to them finally, and Nancy uncovers her phone’s receiver as she answers the numerous calls to where she had gone on the other end, confirming they only needed two fake files.

“Do you need to talk about it?” Robin asks hesitantly as Nancy hangs up and grabs her keys to drive to pick them up.

You sigh, following them and gulping as you can feel her watching you, you leant up against the Wheeler’s kitchen counter. “I mean it sucks, but I feel like being in either of their position would suck more. I feel selfish when I want to whine about it.”

“I mean, it does suck.” Robin tells you, and you follow Nancy to her car. “There’s no doubt about that. You’re allowed to think it sucks. Don’t you think it would be nice to pretend your biggest problem is talking to a loony bin doctor about his patients?” Robin gives it one last try to convince you to go with them, and you glance up at her and shake your head silently.

Robin seems to accept it, and you feel Nancy’s eyes on you as the corner of your head bounces against her back window of her car and you let it go.

Nancy’s worker was ridiculously fast with a typewriter. All papers were ready by the time we got there. She gleamed at the papers, and glances up her lackey. “Aren’t you curious to why we want these papers?” Nancy asks, a light mischievous smile dancing on her face.

“No. I’m on spring break. I’ll ask questions later.” The girl admits, and she shuts the door in your faces before Nancy could even thank her. Cool. You had everything you needed and they seemingly had a plan in place.

You got back to the house, making your way down the steps to the Wheeler’s basement. Dustin, Steve and Lucas all on the couch while Max is still at the desk writing, just as she two hours ago when you had left.

“Okay so…” Nancy starts, and you’re all out of breath. “we have a plan.”

“Thanks to Nancy’s minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.” Robin explains to them as they go through the indoctrinated files.

“There’s only two.” Dustin comments.

“Uh, she’s sitting this one out.” Robin says, a finger casually pointing towards you yet still resting on her knee.

Steve glances up curiously at you, and you sigh. “I can’t. I’d rather stick with you guys.” You stop there, refusing to sound any more trivial in comparison to what Max is facing.

“Anyway.” Nancy says, and you silently thank her for bringing the attention off you. “I’m now Ruth.”

“And I’m Rose.” Said Robin.

“Ruth?” Steve asks, somewhat teasing, and you glance at the exchange he has with Nancy, eyebrow raised.

Whatever, you ignore it for the sake of your sanity.

“Nice GPA.” Dustin compliments, admiring the handiwork of the fake files.

“Thanks” Nancy takes it, and you glare at her, it was fake.

“So we called Pennhurst Asylum and told them we’d like to speak with Creel for a thesis we’re co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics—”

“To which they outright denied.” You commented, cross legged on the carpet, picking at a loose thread.

“But we landed a three o’clock with the director.” Nancy adds, adding some good news.

“Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor.” Robin finishes.

“Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse.” Nancy says.

“Yeah, about that.” Steve says, glancing back to her. “We’ve been doing our Victor Creel homework, and uh…we got some questions.”

“Lots of questions.” Lucas says, emphasizing.

“So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers.” Nancy says dismissively.

“Wait…wait…wait a second uh…where’s mine?” Steve asks, and Nancy glances up at you, scoffing. Did he just miss where Dustin did the math? How there were only two? And that was assuming you were going with them. Nancy looks at him, smiling tightly.

-

Steve angrily follows Nancy up the stairs, asking questions that are all going unanswered. As you sat picking at the carpet, Nancy goes back halfway down, calling for you. “C’mon.” She says, and you reluctantly follow them.

Nancy pushes passed Steve waiting outside her room and straight to her closet. “Nancy, you’re outta your mind if you think I’m babysitting again.” Steve complains.

“First, they’re not babies anymore.” Nancy answers, and you walk over to her bed, lying on it. “And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her.”

“I know. But why me. If Y/N is staying behind, then why can’t she do it? Why can’t I go?” Steve gestures to where you are lying there, and you lift your chin up, raising one eyebrow at him.

“We already have the papers!” Nancy half snaps, and Robin bursts into Nancy’s room.

“Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster.” She glances back at her, smug. “You have a Tom Cruise poster.”

“Shit, you haven’t been in Nance’s room?” You ask, absentmindedly as Nancy goes through her closet.

“Nope.” Robin says, squatting as she unashamedly checks out Nancy’s cassette tapes on her bedside table.

“Can you please not touch anything?” Nancy asks, and Robin ignores her altogether, and you choose not to intervene, it’s far too entertaining.

“I can’t do anything here, Nance. Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude.” Steve still attempts to make his case. “I don’t know. I could turn on my” Steve pops his lips animatedly, “my charm.”

“Not the charm we need.” Nancy shuts him down, incredibly smug about it.

“Ouch.” Steve says, and turns away from her.

Robin continues to dig through her room, you’re sat up watching her like a monkey in a zoo.

“No, it’s just. I did a little digging last night, and it turns out that his Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world. If we’re gonna win him over, we’re gonna have to convince him that we are too,” As Nancy explains this to a defensive Steve, Robin gleefully opens Nancy’s music box, all too excited about the knickknacks she is finding, “academic scholars.”

As if on her cue, Robin whispers, “Holy shit. There’s a little ballerina in here,” holding up the music box.

Steve nods bitterly, wondering how he lost to Robin. “Academic scholar? She’s giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah.”

Robin rolls her eyes, offended at the mere suggestion of her low intelligence.

You sit cross legged on Nancy’s bed, watching it all go down. It was entertaining, and it proved to be distracting. “No, but…” Nancy pulls out an outfit from behind the closet, holding it up to Robin. You have to bite back laughter at the ruffles and wait for Robin to turn around. “she will.”

Robin’s jaw drops, and she forgets all about mocking Nancy through snooping through her things. “Oh, please, tell me you’re joking.”

Nancy smiles, holding it up for her, and you are suddenly very glad you opted out of the undercover student plan.

-

You and Steve make your way back down the stairs after the two girls leave, Robin pulling on her neck level blouse, and wearing makeup for the first time since you’ve met her. Max stays quiet in her corner, writing and sealing envelopes.

You, Dustin, Lucas and Steve attempt to make quiet conversation but it eventually leads to looking after her, concerned no matter how hard you try.

“I know you guys are staring at me.” Max says, not even looking back.

You all move into action, as if she had pressed play and you grab at the nearest item to make you look busy.

“What sorry?” Steve.

“You said you needed something?” Lucas.

“Just hanging out.” Dustin.

“They really should be dusting down here.” You.

“How do you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don’t know.” Max says. She gathers her things and walks up to face you, but you’re all anxiously avoiding looking at her.

“You can look at me now.” She says, and you all instantly relax into it, putting your activities aside and mumbling your sorry’s to her. Max sighs, jerkily handing out an envelope to Dustin. “For you.” She does the same for Steve, Lucas, and surprisingly, you. “Oh, and um, give these to Mike, El, and Will.” She says, handing three envelopes to Lucas. “If you can ever get a hold of them again.”

You peer into your envelope, wondering what might be on it. “What are you doing? No, don’t. That’s not for now. Don’t open it now.” She rambles.

“Don’t…Okay.” Dustin stutters, staring blankly at his envelope. “I’m sorry. What is this?”

“It’s um… it’s a fail-safe. For after. If things don’t work out.” Max admits, and the air grows heavy and thick with tension.

“Wait, whoa. Max, things are going to work out.” Lucas says, reassuring both himself and her.

“No. No, I don’t need you to reassure me and tell me it’s all gonna work out. People have been telling me that me entire life and it’s almost never true.” You make eye contact with Steve and Dustin, and you feel eyes glossing over as you listen to her. “It’s never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should’ve seen that one coming.” Max admits, and you’re watching someone too young trying to grapple with the idea that her life is over. She exhales shakily, glancing around the room. “Where’s a walkie?” She asks, and you hold it for her.

When Dustin gives you a questioning look, you mouth ‘Eddie’ to him, having talked to him last night when you managed a minute alone. It was only a minute, and you barely managed to continue talking after the sound of his ragged voice tugged a tear out from you, but it counted, and you held onto the walkie in case he would reach out again.

“If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?” She asks, holding up the walkie.

“Of course, yeah.” Dustin nods, knowing it could reach California if he had really wanted it to.

“Why are we talking about East Hawkins?” Steve asks, and he knows the answer before she even says it. “No. No. No!”

Max doesn’t even pay him any mind, grabbing her bag and booking it to the outside, and you all struggle to grab your things and follow her. “Max, Max. Seriously.” Steve yells, finally catching up to her. “Seriously, I’m not joking. I’m not driving you anywhere.”

“If you think I’m going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler’s basement, you’re out of your mind. Either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute.” Max ends her threat with a failed attempt to open his car, and they have a stand off. “Open the door.”

“Uh, no.” Steve dismisses her.

“I know a good lawyer.” She threatens him. Again.

Steve looks at her in disbelief, glancing up at you, sitting at the other side of your car with your hand on the roof. “Gotta be honest, Steve. I don’t really want to sit around all day waiting for something to happen, either.”

He looks back down at Max, who is staring him down, and reaches into his pocket, scoffing. “Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.” He threatens and the five of you finally crawl into his car. “Henderson, back seat. The adults sit in the front,” he says, wondering why you were sitting in the back.

“Cops.” You say to Steve, and he rolls eyes.

You sit on the other side of Lucas, and Max hesitates before climbing in. Hallucination? Hesitation?

Or just fucking scared? Cause even if was just the latter you wouldn’t have blamed her, regardless.

-

Even with the police on your tail, listening in on their radio hearing the reports of retrying your house and keeping an eye out for you to bring you in for questioning you wished you had sat in the front. Max slouches in her seat while Lucas does his best not to watch her, but fails miserably. It was far more awkward with you stuffed in with them.

You slouch your head back as well, catching Eddie’s trailer as you look out the window, and it feels as if your breath is caught in your throat. Steve pulls into Max’s parking lot, the dust settling around the car.

Steve puts the car into park with gusto. “This better be fast, Mayfield.”

“Twenty seconds.” Max promises, and the door is shut hard before you can even register she left the car.

You are left to wait for her, and Steve’s brow furrows. “That thing’s got batteries in it, right?” He asks, gesturing to the walkie in Dustin’s hands.

Dustin tilts his head to face forward, shaking it as he sighs. “I’m not even answering that question.” Steve grimaces, looking confused until Dustin responds, exasperated, “Yes, it has batteries.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Steve barks, and your eyes roll to back of your head as you let it heat the leather softly, closing your eyes.

If you had a nap right now, would shit be normal when you woke up?

You wake up to Steve yelling “Hey, that was longer than twenty seconds” at Max as she gets back to the car, in a hurried pace and worried disposition. Steve notices it, attempting to cut her off. “Hey. Whoa, whoa. You all right?”

Your eyes open to see all three boys now stood outside the car, no wonder since it was fucking blazing hot inside it. “I’m fine, just drive.” Max says dismissively, waiting for Lucas to get back to the middle seat before slamming the door shut behind her.

“Did something happen?” Dustin asks, his voice worried.

“Can we please just go?” Max asks, and avoids eye contact with every one of you.

-

Max lets Steve where-else she would like to go, and the car ride is dead silent. You can’t help but notice as Steve’s brown eyes look into his rear view every minute or so, and you know it’s not because he’s being a careful driver. He’s concerned.

The car radiates with concern for her from all of you, and she rejects it outright. She didn’t want it.

“Turn here.” The only things coming out of Max’s mouth has been directions, and this was the first one in over five minutes.

Dustin assesses their location to where she’s requesting, and it’s surprising, to say the least. “Here?”

Max says nothing, just nodding her head so lightly it was like she barely did it.

You, Dustin, and Steve share a look as you pull in the cemetery, and Lucas has barely stopped watching Max the entire ride. The car pulls into a long windy road and Max tells them to stop at the newer tombstones, leaving the car without a word and with conviction.

“Shit.” Lucas mutters, and he’s out of the car, he couldn’t stop himself another minute. “Max?” He calls for her, running to catch her.

You scooch forward in your seat, reaching across the centre console to Steve, “Hey, roll the windows down.”

“Already on it.” Steve mutters, the window already on it’s way, and you work on the back.

“Lucas, please, just wait in the car.” She pleads him, continuing her tread.

“Max, just wait. Max, please.” He continues anyway.

“Lucas, just wait—”

“Max. Just listen to me. Just, please.” Lucas begs, and she reluctantly stops in front of him. “I know something happened back there with your mother. Was it Vecna?”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Max insists, with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Okay?” Max sighs, adding, “I mean as fine as someone who’s hurtling towards a gruesome death can be.” Her voice drips in sarcasm, and it’s a coping mechanism, but it’s not helping her case in anyway. She loses her nerve, breaking her eye contact with Lucas as his face shows the genuine concern he’s feeling for her.

“Max…you know you can talk to me. Right?” Lucas starts, not believing her smile for a second.

Max takes in the expression, and it’s full of care for her enough where she feels uncomfortable. “Yeah, I know that,” she smiles awkwardly.

“Okay, then why do you keep pushing me away? Okay, look, I don’t need a letter. I don’t want a letter. Just talk to me. To your friends. We’re right here. I’m right here.” It was what Max needed, someone to take her and the situation seriously. She jerks her head towards the car, and back to Lucas, taking him in. “Okay?” He asks her, soft. “I’m here.”

Breaking up with him in January was the start of her closing herself off, and if this was the first conversation they’ve been able to genuinely have since then, then it was a long time coming. “Wait in the car. This won’t be long.” Max dismisses him, walking fast paced to the headstone in question.

You all watch her, worried and anxious.

-

Max sits crossed legged in front of Billy’s grave for a for a bit, and not much is said as she’s so far away. “Hey, Dust, that thing is on like all the time, yeah?” you ask, not hearing much of a peep from anyone for a while.

“24/7.” Dustin answers, staring after her, standing at the passenger side door.

You don’t answer back, anxious due to Eddie not reaching out all day.

Steve has been checking his watch frequently, his fingers anxiously tapping the window ledge of his car. When you were about to tell him to cut it out, Steve gets out. “All right, it’s been long enough.” He comments.

“Steve, just give her some time.” Lucas argues, now sitting on the hood of Steve’s car.

“I have, all right, Sinclair? I’m calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can.” Steve says with finality, running off to where Max is still sitting.

You get out of the car, relaxing onto the roof next to Dustin. Lucas glances back anxiously at the two of you, mostly at Dustin, and exhales sharply.

Steve is talking to her in the distance, and suddenly he bends down to face her. As he starts clapping, the three of you still waiting by his car realize she was back in a trance, your bodies tensing up as Steve yells at her to wake with no avail. “Max! Wake up!” He calls, voice carrying across the cemetery.

“Oh, something’s wrong.” Lucas mutters, and the three of you slowly start to make your way off the car.

“Guys!” Steve calls to you, and it pushes you into running straight toward her. While Dustin and Lucas don’t hesitate, your first instinct is to grab the walkie, something telling you that you would need it, and follow them as fast as your feet could carry you.

You spend an uncomfortably long time surrounding Max, calling to her, begging her to wake up. You stared at her, eyes white, not even flinching at you yelling at her face and wondered if this was how Chrissy had looked.

Steve pauses his yelling to direct it at Dustin. “Call Nancy and Robin! Go get ‘em! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!” Steve releases his hold, and Dustin makes a run for it.

“Dust!” You call, running after him. “Dustin!”

“What?” He asks, gesturing to you to let you know now was clearly not the time.

You toss him the walkie, and Dustin’s face lights up in understanding. “Oh, shit. Ok.” He starts calling for them, repeating the code red with the occasional use of curses in between.

It takes minutes of Dustin begging in the background, pacing back and forth on the grassy path as he keeps repeating the code red signal, until it’s met with Robin’s answer, “Dustin, it’s Robin, we copy.”

“Holy shit. Finally!” Dustin yells, and there’s nothing you can do but continue to beg for her to wake up. “Please, please tell us you guys have this figured out.” Dustin begs, and his voice isn’t just desperate, it’s borderlining on hopeless.

Dustin takes a sudden run off to the car as Robin is explaining, and makes a quick return holding a bunch of tapes and Max’s Walkman. He trips into the circle where you’re still attempting to wake her up, the tapes all clumsily landing onto the grass. “What, what is this?” Lucas yells, voice hurried.

“Her song! What’s her favourite song?” Dustin yells.

The question is understandably met with confusion, both you and Steve giving Dustin a weird look. “Wh-why?” Lucas asks, exasperated.

“Robin said if she listens…it’s too much to explain now. Whats. Her favourite. Song?” Dustin stumbles through, and suddenly it’s the most important thing in the world right now.

Four pairs of hands fumble over the tapes, fingers shaking as you all ask the same question. What was Max’s favourite song? Lucas holds a tape, fingers gripping against it desperately. “It’s right here! Got it!” Lucas yells, and it’s put into the Walkman and pressed play, you place her headphones on her, telling whoever had the Walkman to press play now. The matter of who did what was unimportant, as long as Max didn’t suffer the same fate.

Your shouts to wake her up continue, calling after her. You were running out of patience, but it didn’t matter. This was working. It had to be.

As you were clinging onto this thought, you find yourself falling stuttering backwards onto your ass as Max starts to levitate. She rises higher, and you are finding it harder to breathe as you stared at her in horror and heartbroken disbelief. Max finally stops rising at nearly twenty feet, and all of you can do nothing but shout after her and hope Kate Bush was working.

It felt as if you were yelling for forever, jumping up and down, calling for her, your arms bent as your hands hold your heads in a mutual incredulity of what you were seeing.

The desperation.

Her name was being repeated like a mantra, over and over when her eyes open, she gasps out sharply as she drops to the ground. You all crowd around her as she sits up, her voice shaking and sobbing, and you can’t make anything of what she’s attempting to say but thank god she was okay.

Lucas holds an arm around her, and she clings onto him just as much as he attempts to calm her hyperventilating. You reach out for them, comforting in any way you can, and you can’t explain the need to reach out for them like you did but it was all anyone could do.

“I thought we lost you.” Lucas croaks out, his voice cracking yet didn’t hold a candle to how desperate he felt.

The sentiment is echoed by all of you, and you look up from where you zoned out onto the back of Lucas’ jacket to see both Steve and Dustin clutching onto them as well, a sign of solidarity and unity. The relief you had felt was over whelming, and there was nothing any of you could do but sit there.

“I’m still here.” Max says, and it’s both for him and her, as Max nearly lost her life. She was telling herself this as well.

She was still here.

[sewmice]

hello, do you know how many wish tones are needed for UR? i have 11175 and anxious for cecil/shion/masato's birthdays and hoping for christmas gacha like shining live.. i'd like to pull for eiichi now but i'm afraid to. do you know how many are needed for guarantee, if any? do i have enough/am i on track? i don't really understand this wish tone currency and pull rates.. could you please help me? thank you in advance so much!

To absolutely guarantee a UR, aka you have garbage luck and could not pull it at all, you need to pull 200 times, or 20 10-pulls. That will be 50,000 wish tones, and then you can buy the UR from its crown shop. But that is only if you have to use the crown pity system and only on limited banners. Hopefully you will pull the card you want sooner than that though.

You have 4 10-pulls currently. So I would absolutely continue saving up. The Eiichi gacha is not worth imo, none of the birthday ones are. It's just the standard pool of cards, with Rs guaranteed to be him, and his SRs and UR being boosted. And there's no pity system for those birthday banners. It's only luck, so you could spend way more than 50,000 if you have bad luck. Odds are, you will pull those cards naturally on other gachas at some point, so the general advice is to skip them unless you're spending money or really don't care to save up at all. Wait for Shion or Masato's SFM or any of the 3 of them to get a different limited UR.

The bad news is, events, getting S ranks and full combos, and reading stories just don't give as many tones as Shining Live gave prisms. Or in reality, they give about the exact same number, but tones are worth less as the pulls cost more. So we just can't pull as willy-nilly as we did in Shining Live. Gotta save for the boy/card you want.

In good news! They hopefully will change some of those rates? Maybe??? They did with the daily missions after all. And while Tokiya's event story didn't drop tones, Masato's did. So hopefully we'll see more there. ALSO, they've been quite generous with random login bonuses lately. For the end of the summer this week. For Moonshine last week. Various other reasons. So hopefully they'll keep that up.

We get 100 tones a day from daily missions, giving you a little over 1 10-pull per month. The normal login bonus is what, 100 every week as well? (I don't pay the best attention). And I've noticed some 500s occasionally as well from...something in between events. There's 500 separated into 50s along the points ladder for this current Session Live event. And we get 2 events per month. So 1000 there not counting any stories/tiering. So around 2 10-pulls per month with all of that? So without considering any extra login bonuses like we just had, tiering into higher levels, song playing, card stories, or anything else that can vary, it will take about 10 months to guarantee a limited UR. Assuming I did my math right. It likely won't take anyone that long because the random login bonuses they're giving out. But know it CAN take that long.

I hope this was helpful? Informative? Useful? I can explain more about anything if needed!

[sotwk]

Hello there! Just dropping in to say that I’m sorry you’re having an ebb in motivation/not feeling the love but I appreciate you and see you lifting up others’ work even when you are maybe feeling down.

I recently lost perspective and felt I’d done nothing for forever and it had been like 2 weeks I hadn’t written. Maybe you are like me? If so i will say you just did a massive bunch of asks for your birthday not that long ago so maybe you need a break. Regardless I wish you rest and renewed joy in writing, even if it takes a minute to come back!

I let this little piece of sunshine sit for a while in my Ask Box, but now I would like to say thank you for reaching out and offering encouragement! <3

Even during dry spells, I do try my best stay active in the fandom, and supporting the work of other writers and artists is an important part of that. Unfortunately, I haven't been in the mood even to read fanfic this past month, so as I start to slowly feel better it's time to play more catch up!

I've considered going on hiatus, especially with everything I have going on offline. But there's just too much value in using Tumblr to unwind, and I'm worried about how my anxious mind might spiral without the diversion. Anyhow, I'm hoping to break through the stupid writer's block any day now!

It kind of feels like Bruce Banner trying to turn into the Hulk, but the Hulk just won't come out. The writer is in there somewhere; just gotta coax him out! XD

[navree]

what do u think about zeglar and how she talks about the snow white movie? what are ur thoughts on the situation?

Is this about the Rachel Zegler thing? Cuz I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea what that was about at all. All I saw was that she maybe said that her version of Snow White might be more proactive than in the original? Or something similar to that? And that doesn't seem like a bad thing to say, to me, it's not that revolutionary to point out that some of the early Princess movies had somewhat more passive protagonists than people my age are used to having from Disney (seeing as we grew up with Disney Renaissance of the 80s and 90s, which focused heavily more on active protagonists than the classics did).

It doesn't seem like she was passing an indictment on the original movie, moreso just saying that they were attempting to make this new one resonate with the audience of the 2020s rather than the 1930s, especially considering this is a retread of a story they've already seen before and are familiar with, whereas the original 1937 Snow White was entirely new territory (it's literally the first Disney animated movie, it Is the prototype for everything that's come about since then). It doesn't seem like she said that people shouldn't enjoy the original, or that it was bad to like a more passive protagonist (honestly mood, one of my favorite Disney princesses is Aurora and she does not do a lot in her original movie). Nor do I think her saying her version is updated for the times is out of bounds, these dumb fucking remakes need to justify themselves somehow and seeing as Snow White likely won't be as CGI heavy as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast or The Jungle Book or the terrible awful horrible disgusting nasty trash ass The Lion King (can you tell I don't like the TLK remake?), trying to make it more "updated" means that the studio can pretend that this is about creativity and not cash grabs and monetizing childhood nostalgia.

What I know I don't like is that apparently a young actress, who by and large seems to be nice and not have a problematic online presence and is just doing her own thing, said something Some People didn't like and got an internet blood mob after her for no reason. Like, you dumb assholes need to get a hobby, so she said that her Snow White is more "active" apparently, so fucking what? Did she hold up a banner saying death to women who want to be rescued by men? Did she demand that everyone burn their copies of the original movie? Did she break into your home and personally destroy every piece of Snow White merchandise you clearly have since this movie from the 1930s is so fucking important to you? Oh wait no? She didn't? She just voiced her opinion on a movie that's still in the process of being made and attempted to explain why it was worth existing at all because nobody is going to be honest about the fact that these movies are easy money and that's it? Because that's exactly what it is, and then it's people being whiny babies because of this idea that's becoming increasingly more prevalent in a LOT of circles that if you like something, everyone should like it too, and if you don't like something, no one should like it. It's the death of subjectivity and the inability of a good chunk of people on the Internet to grow the fuck up and touch some godforsaken grass, it's a bizarre resistance to just dislike something and move the fuck on like a normal person.

And it's misogyny for me, honestly. If a woman says something that you don't agree with and you blow your fucking lid and think she should be dragged through the streets, you really gotta examine why. Were any of you complaining about the fact that the Beast or Aladdin might have gotten more of a different arc in their remakes than in the originals that might be considered more compatible with a 21rst century audience, or is it just that a young woman said it that pisses you off so much? It's ridiculous, and it's embarrassing.

So yeah, those are my sorta thoughts on it, as someone pretty far removed from the situation who hasn't really given it much thought.

[project-sekai-facts]

Not really an important question, but something I have been wondering nonetheless,

How likely do you think the chances are for Toya to get a 2 star anytime soon? Like, in the span of five months, maybe. As of now I’m fairly certain he only has three (not counting his starter 2 star) and his last 2 star was vivid old tale which was 318 days ago (I think) and he has been confirmed to get a four star in the next An event (along with Rin, so yeah)

As I said not really important, but you seem to be fairly knowledgeable on these things so yeah!!

It really depends on whoever gets the next 5 months worth of mixed banners. Considering that he’s likely the next VBS event after An, he won’t be getting a 2* on a unit event soon, but there’s always a chance for him to show up on a mixed banner. He’s most likely to show up on mixed banners with another Kamikou student, and there’s still five of them that need second mixed banners, so that’s what you’ve gotta hope for. It’s hard to predict mixed events ahead of time though so I can’t give you any solid predictions.