#roommates AU

[penny00dreadful]

And They Were Roommates!

Part 2 AO3

Steve didn’t hate him exactly.

He was just… vastly irritated by his very presence.

When they’d fallen into being roommates with Eddie, Steve and Robin were just happy to have anywhere to live. 

They’d spent a few weeks living in the ageing BMW after they’d gotten booted by their previous landlord when the rent had spiked again and they couldn’t afford to pay it anymore.

Then Dustin had come to them saying he had a friend that had a spare bedroom that he needed to fill and they had jumped at the chance. 

It wasn’t a terrible apartment, all things considered. 

The bathroom needed a bimonthly mould clean out and the water pressure was nonexistent. It was almost always colder inside than it was outside, no matter how hot the weather got and the front door had clear signs of being broken down before, with a new lock haphazardly slapped over where the old one had been but it was shockingly quiet and secluded. 

A small and unassuming building that people tended to glance over sitting close enough to the city centre so that everything was within walking distance. It was twice the size of the place Steve and Robin had lived before, an open plan kitchen and sitting room with enough room for a dining table creating a barrier between the two. 

A nice dining table too. 

One that could fit more than two people.

Two bedrooms, one bathroom. 

Eddie had apparently wrinkled his nose at the idea of sharing with a couple but Steve and Robin weren’t about to correct him. He was a completely unknown person who seemed to make it his mission to look mean and scary, no matter what Dustin said about him. 

So Steve refused to feel bad about making assumptions.

But the guy was less mean and scary and mostly just annoying.

He left his shit everywhere, like he’d never heard of fucking organisation before. And he was so loud and exuberant all the time. Like yeah, they guy could enjoy his passions or whatever but that didn’t mean Steve had to like being an unwilling participant in it.

When Robin moved out, Steve stayed even though it was clear Eddie would have preferred if he'd gone too. 

He wasn’t going to give up a good place just because his roommate was a lot. 

And he certainly wasn’t going to give up a good place just because his roommate kept dropping hints he wanted his special someone to move in and Steve to move out.

Steve would show Eddie the meaning of stubborn.

They bickered like an old married couple constantly and Steve couldn’t exactly say that he hadn’t risen to the bait or caused his own fair share of problems between the two of them either.

Things had only marginally shifted once Eddie had proudly stuck up a flyer advertising the set list for the Pride Parade After Party that his band had somehow been signed to perform at.

When he caught Steve looking at it one morning he’d levelled him with his smuggest smile, like he’d just won some kind of argument. Like he was just waiting for Steve to go on a homophobic rant and run out of the apartment, never to return.

“Got a problem there, Stevie boy?”

Eddie crossed his arms loosely over his chest and leaned back against the kitchen counter with a feral look in his eyes, itching for a fight.

Steve had just turned to him with his sharpest, most cutting grin and lifted open the zippered side of his bomber jacket, revealing his bi pride flag patch sewn to the inner pocket.

“No.”

Eddie had glared at the patch like it had personally offended him before storming off to his room with a scowl.

After that, the barbs thrown at each other had gotten a little more… queer.

After one particularly frustrating argument, Steve had snapped at Eddie “I know how to keep a fucking shower drain clean, Mary.” before snatching his keys up and slamming the door behind him.

When Steve had finally seen fit to talk to Eddie again, nearly two full days later, huffing at him to hurry up in the kitchen, he wanted some coffee, Eddie had turned with the most exaggerated face of surprise and his hands thrown up in shock as he proclaimed, “She speaks!”

Steve had rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Jesus, you’re such a queen.”

Eddie had levelled him with his own cutting smile and responded, “That I am, darling.”

After that their arguments were full of a lot more condescending and patronising ‘Mary’s and ‘sweetie’s and ‘oh, honey’s.

It gave Steve the strangest feeling of companionship. Not only with Eddie, loathe as he was to admit it, but also with the culture and with the queers of old who were still around, who’d had to kick and spit and fight just to be seen.

Eddie had been buzzing around the apartment all day. 

It was A Big Date Night™ apparently. 

He was gonna ask the boyfriend to take a road trip with him back to Indiana to meet Wayne, a big step that he’d never made with a partner before.

Steve liked Wayne. But he liked even more how irritated Eddie was that they spoke. Wayne had called the apartment one day looking for his nephew and when Steve answered he heard the sounds of a game in the background and asked about it.

It was over forty five minutes later Steve turned to find Eddie staring at him with a horrified expression on his face and Steve couldn’t help the evil glint in his eye as he continued to debate Wayne on their favourite players.

But Eddie had left hours ago now and it was getting… late.

Really, really late.

Like four in the morning late and he hadn’t come home yet.

He was supposed to, he needed to be up the next morning for his shift at the nerd shop he worked at and he loved that job. He wouldn't miss it for anything.

Steve wasn’t like, worried or anything.

Not that Eddie needed to be babied, he wasn’t one of his kids. 

He was just… looking out for the safety of another human being.

The only light in the dark apartment was coming from the low glow of the tv and it was so quiet there was barely a sound coming from the speaker. Steve was curled up on the couch, swaddled in a throw and his mind kept drifting. 

He couldn’t pay attention to whatever was playing, his brain just kept catastrophising about what the fuck could have happened to make Eddie so late. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin and simultaneously felt his body unclench when he heard a key in the lock and recognised Eddie's wild head of hair coming into the apartment.

But that didn’t last long because Eddie caught the door before it could close with a loud snap like it usually did, shutting it slowly and softly behind him.

It was alarming because Eddie never remembered to close the door quietly, no matter how much Steve bitched at him. And it wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose, Steve knew that, it’s just that his mind was most often somewhere else, focused on some other thing so that he simply… forgot.

Eddie cursed low to himself as he slumped into the kitchen, pulling the freezer door open and rummaging around for a bit before pulling something out.

He kept his head low, hair spilling out around his face as he jumped up onto the counter and sat. 

He still hadn’t noticed Steve sitting there, watching the whole exchange under the dim flickering light of the television.

It looked like Eddie had snatched up a bag of Steve’s frozen peas. And they were Steve’s. Because Eddie didn’t eat anything green unless it was artificially coloured and covered in sugar.

Eddie squeezed the peas in hand hands, considering, before he muttered to himself, “so fucking stupid” and brought them up to rest on the side of his face.

That kicked Steve into action, unfurling himself from the couch, keeping his throw around his shoulders because it was fucking cold and he padded over to the kitchen in his fluffy socks.

“Eddie?”

Frozen peas scattered, skittling across the tiled floor, landing in the sink, ricocheting off the cupboard doors and clattering off the walls as Eddie jumped violently at the sound of his name, softly spoken as it was. 

He’d snapped his head up and Steve could see, in the dim light of the tv behind him, unusual darkness spreading over Eddie’s face, like a stain on his pale skin.

Eddie tightened his hands again around the now mostly empty bag, looking back down at it. 

“‘M sorry about your peas.” He mumbled.

Steve could only blink in response. 

Eddie wasn’t supposed to mumble. 

He wasn’t supposed to be quiet and subdued and wilted. 

He was supposed to be loud and brash and tawdry and bright.

“I’m gonna turn the light on, okay?” Steve tried to keep any rising panic and worry out of his voice, tried to keep himself calm and level. He could barely just make out the small nod Eddie gave after a beat of hesitation.

The light was harsh and painful after so long spent in mostly darkness and Steve had to squint through his glasses waiting for his eyes to adjust, but when they did he felt his stomach drop.

Eddie's face was scrunched up as he tried to blink through brightness but that wasn’t what caught Steve’s attention. 

Because there was blood crusting on the side of Eddie’s face, settled around his eye and in his hair from a gash over his eyebrow. His lip was split and puffy and swollen and his cheek was slowly blooming from red to purple.

“You should see the other guy.” Eddie grinned with a wince, when he noticed Steve cataloguing, but his eyes stayed distant and sad.

“What…” Steve stepped closer, hovering his hand over the injuries, over his hair. “What happened?”

Eddie shrugged, dipping his eyes back down to the melting bag of peas in his hands. “We had a disagreement.”

Steve looked down too and gently took the peas out of his grip, placing the bag in the sink next to them. 

It was only then that he noticed Eddie’s knuckles were bloodied as well, split and starting to swell.

He had to swallow against the sickening anger coiling in his throat as he closed a gentle hand around Eddie’s cold fingers and he tugged it over to the sink, turning the tap on. 

“Your peas-”

“Fuck the fucking peas, Eddie!” Steve snapped before trying to reel himself back in when Eddie flinched, nearly pulling his hand away but stopping himself at the last moment.

With the softest movements he could manage, Steve got Eddie’s fingers as soapy as he could before slowly working his rings left and right, pulling them off his fingers.

“What are you doing?” It wasn’t quite a whisper but the question was low, almost like a hum.

“Your fingers are going to start to swell soon. I can leave them on if you’d rather have them cut off later?” Steve looked up to see Eddie watching their hands working together under the dribble of the tap. 

He shook his head.

“Well okay then.” He tugged the last ring free and examined them, silver and wet and heavy in his palm. 

There was still some dried blood in the grooves. 

“Did you at least get him good with these?” He gestured to them before placing them carefully to the side and gently towling Eddie’s injured hand dry.

A smirk tugged at the uninjured side of Eddie’s mouth. “You’re damn right I did.”

Steve gave a short sharp nod, placing Eddie’s hand back in his lap. “Good.” 

He moved over to the freezer, pulling out his own cold compress which Eddie hadn’t chosen for some reason and tugging the first aid kit from on top of the fridge.

“So are you going to tell me what happened?” He said, trying to keep his voice even and his posture lighthearted as he laid the stuff out next to Eddie’s leg. He pulled their second drawer open and took a clean dish towel out, running it under the tap.

“Why, Stevie? You worried about me?” Eddie tried to grin but it quickly turned into a grimace as Steve pressed the damp cloth against the cut on his eyebrow, his lips turning down.

“Don’t be precious about it, honey. Just tell me. I’ll never stop pestering you until you do.” He pulled the cloth away and started gently brushing it across Eddie’s skin, trying to remove as much of the dried blood as he could.

“Alright, alright, keep your wig on.” Eddie huffed and pulled his mouth into a frown before shrugging again. ”Well I’m single now.”

Steve managed to keep his hands working, only halting for just a second as the words hit him. “Rick did this?”

“Yep.” Eddie said with a pop. “Everything was going good, you know. Standard date stuff, whatever. Then I asked him to come meet Wayne and he looked at me. Said, and I quote; ‘What exactly do you think this is?’”

Eddie snorted and shook his head. 

Steve was forced to pull the cloth away to stop tugging on the broken skin. “Wait so-”

“So apparently I’ve been seeing this whole thing as more serious than it was. Apparently I’ve been putting feelings where there were none. And get this,” he grabbed Steve’s hand, stalling his movements again and forcing him to look into those giant deep brown eyes, “he’s married.”

Steve felt his mouth drop open in an indignant stare. “No.”

“Yeah. I know, right? I’ve been the other woman this whole time.” He brought his hands up to make air quotes. “Just a bit of fun.” He tongued at his split lip. "And it's my problem, my fault that I didn't figure it out, according to him." He shook his head, forcing Steve to retract his hand from around his eye. "The fucker took his wedding band off every time we met, so…"

Rather than grabbing Eddie gently by the chin, which he was really, quite horrifyingly tempted to do, he instead said, "Be a dear and stop moving."

Eddie levelled him with a glare but there wasn't much behind it, it was all performative even as he tutted and started twisting the chain on his jeans around in his fingers. But he stopped moving his head.

"So how did that lead to this?"

Eddie scoffed. "How do you think, Mary? I got mad."

"Well good. You should've been mad. Did you throw the first punch?"

"Technically?" Eddie hummed in consideration. "Yes. But he had his hands on me before that soo…"

Steve froze, he couldn’t help it. 

What the fuck?

What the fuck?

"In what way?" He kept his voice light but the bright white concern underneath was like a foghorn. 

Eddie shrugged again and turned his head, giving Steve more access to the blood crusted above his ear and into his hairline. 

Then he leaned forward just a little bit more until his forehead was resting against Steve's shoulder.

Steve reached back to pull Eddie's hair out of the way, over the back of his neck so he could clean up his hairline.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments, the silence wasn't tense but it wasn't calm either. It was anticipatory. Eddie was building himself up to answer.

"He didn't see a problem with the situation, I mean obviously he didn't see a problem with the situation so he just wanted to… continue, I suppose. We'd been… experimenting with switching before this and he tried to go full dom on me. Kept trying to get me to submit." Eddie's voice had started to shake even though he tried valiantly to keep it down and it made Steve wonder just how long he'd been keeping it down already. 

Steve dropped the cloth off in the sink and brought a hand up, resting it on the back of Eddie's still bent head, making sure not to cage him in, making sure to keep his touches light and gentle but still there if he wanted them.

"I didn't- I didn't want to anymore but he just kept going and I told him he wasn't asking my consent, he was demanding it. He said I had to do what he wanted because he was in charge and that’s how it works-” 

“Eddie, that is not how it works-”

“Yes, thank you, darling. I know that. I told him that wasn't what's done, no matter the dynamics and he was just getting more and more pissed off, like I was ruining his fun and he wouldn’t get off of me so I just… fucking decked him." Eddie laughed, a terrible broken thing. “I thought… I thought we had… it had been so good while… why can’t I have… why does it always have to end like this?”

His voice had become harsher, more defeated as he went on, cracking and pitching along the words until the end. Until a heart wrenching choked off sound was pulled from his throat.

Eddie was weeping softly into Steve’s shoulder and his hands were twitching in his lap, like he wanted to reach out, like he wanted some comfort but didn’t know if he was allowed. 

But he must have decided he didn’t care if he was allowed or not because the next second he’d thrown his arms around Steve’s shoulders and pulled him in tight, sniffling openly and freely into his neck.

Steve took the tiniest of steps closer and wound his arms around Eddie’s middle, bypassing his leather jacket and battle vest, snaking his arms underneath until there was just the threadbare band t-shirt between them.

He ran a hand up and down Eddie’s back as he shook, while Eddie just clutched on tighter.

“Why does it always have to be… why can’t I… why…” a terrible little sob broke out of Eddie’s throat. “Why does no one ever want me the way I want them?”

Steve had to pinch his eyes shut against the pure heartbreak in his voice, coming out halting and thick and so small. 

He just held him tighter, whispering little placating words and small shushes that he felt more in his chest than he did his throat. 

He hesitated for just a moment before placing a light little kiss to the side of Eddie’s head, into his hair. The same kind of kiss he’d give to Robin or one of the kids if they were in the same situation. 

That was all.

“God.” Eddie muttered, pulling back and scrubbing his hands roughly over his eyes and nose, apparently uncaring of his injuries. “Your shirt is fucking disgusting.” He eyed the stains and wet patches and no doubt little traces of blood he’d accidentally left there. “What makes you think that’s an appropriate state to appear in?”

Steve just rolled his eyes, taking the lighthearted jab for what it was, a want to move on, to start snarking again and cracked open the first aid kit. 

“Your face is disgusting.”

“Yeah, well. You’re the one who’s been cleaning me up, sweetheart. So, who’s fault is that?”

He glanced up at the cut over Eddie’s eyebrow. 

“That might need stitches.”

“No stitches, can’t be bothered with stitches.”

“Stitches not punk enough for you?”

Eddie did glare at him for that.

“Don’t even. You know I’m not a punk.”

Steve grinned at him. “No?”

“Steven.”

Even through the heavy talk, Steve relished the sight of the slight smile that had appeared on Eddie’s face and his return to bitchy banter.

“Edward, is there a difference?” Steve shrugged as he fished for supplies in the kit. “Doesn’t seem to be.”

“To you, maybe.” Eddie flicked at a piece of his hair. “God you’re such a… you’re such a jock.”

“Wow,” Steve raised his eyebrows, “let’s add observant to your list of positives.”

“Assho-ow!” Eddie shrieked as Steve pressed a butterfly bandage over the wound.

“You’re a giant pain in my ass.”

“Only if you ask nicely,” Eddie growled at him, irritated and snappy, “you perpetual bottom.”

“Excuse you,” Steve snapped back, “I switch it up. I have versatility."

“Uh-huh.”

“But you gotta admit,” Steve flashed his most charming grin, “it’s a lovely bottom.”

Eddie scoffed but there was a red flush starting to creep up his neck. “S’not like I pay much attention to your bottom.”

“Oh, Eddie,” Steve gave a disappointed sigh, “everyone pays attention to my bottom.”

He didn’t get a response, just a bitchy roll of the eyes.

“You gonna call out of work tomorrow?” He dropped the cloth into the sink and crossed his arms as Eddie leaned back on his hands.

“Why? So you can mother hen me all day? No, thank you.”

“Oh sweetie.” Steve regarded him with mock sympathy. “You think you’d be lucky enough to get my mothering?”

“What if I die in my sleep tonight? You’d be inconsolable.”

“Yeah. Simply devastated.” He said as he all but pushed Eddie off the counter and herded him back to his room.

Part 2 AO3

@augustjustice @geekymagicalpotato @wormdebut (I remember you showing interest for this one but I won't tag you again unless you ask! 😘)

Big thanks as always to @hbyrde36 for her magnificent beta work and to the @strangerthingswritersguild for their motivation.

Divider by firefly-graphics

[lilpuffyart]

Finally! It's done!! AU where, after a surprise attack from one of the other two AMs, the Yankee AM, using a body he built himself, manages to run away in the short period his computer is turned off for repairs. The supercomputer, now in a smaller body, finds himself hiding in an apartment, so he can experience life.

[overflowofcrows]

Roommates AU - Meet Error

Error’s not a roommate, but he is close friends with Ink! This happened when Cross was starting to get adjusted to being Ink and Blue’s roommate, but before Dream enters the group.

Prev • Master Post • Next

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Roommates Arguments

Things that roommates could argue about:

not doing the dishes

not caring enough for their pets

not repairing damage their pets did

about who can use the bathroom first in the morning

about the people they bring into the shared space

being too loud when they get in late or go out early

never going grocery shopping

eating all of their food

never doing their chores

music or TV is too loud

stealing the other person's clothes

regularly burning the food they try to cook

not paying rent on time or other bills

about what they will watch for movie night

one being a night owl and the other being an early bird

their partner basically living with them without paying rent

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[darkxsoulzyx]

It’s been a while since I drew crunch :3

[kyasarinkishinuma]

Night.

Summary: Cloud comes home from a mission to find you pulling an all-nighter, and he agrees to stay up with you.

Pairing: Cloud Strife x Reader

Themes: Roommates AU, Fluff

AO3 link

Your apartment had long been plunged into darkness when the front door creaked open, admitting a late-night visitor. Or rather, a late-night homecomer, as this apartment was not yours alone.

Cloud placed his sword by the door, propping it up against the wall once he had shut the door behind him. He let his eyes drift to you, curled up on the couch beneath a blanket. You hadn’t greeted him as you were completely indulged in your study of the weighty book resting in your hands. It didn’t bother him.

“Hey,” he spoke offhandedly, not expecting a response as he stepped further into the humble apartment. You gave off a hum in response, brows knitted together as you committed your whole attention to the words swimming in front of your tired eyes. Cloud hesitated then at the hallway leading to your separate rooms then, glancing back at you briefly.

“Whatcha reading?” He asked casually, choosing to commit a moment longer to you, his roommate. It just so happened that Midgar was short on apartments for broke people, and it just so happened that you were one of the few people that he could put up with. You were quiet, calm and minded your own business. You asked nothing of him, only that he paid his half of the rent. He was fine with that. But over the weeks, living within the same apartment had inevitably led you to become more acquainted with one another. Talking became more natural, all while holding that nonchalance that had always been there. Conversations that didn’t mean anything. The easy kind.

Grateful for an excuse to get away from your reading if only for a moment, you let your gaze wander to Cloud, lazily stretching out over the couch. He was filthy. Cloud always came back like that. In the early hours of the morning, looking like he had just tumbled in the Midgar dirt. You never really asked him why, just like you never asked him about the massive sword he carried around. This was Midgar, after all. Nothing’s too weird to be true. The blonde had opened up to you about a couple things in time, though, as you had with him. “Oh, you know, the usual.” You gave a quiet groan, rubbing your hand over your eyes. They were burning from the strain of pulling an all-nighter. “University stuff.”

“Yeah.” Cloud nodded then, somewhat awkwardly. Like he didn’t know how to respond to that. He wasn’t big on talking. “You want a coffee?” But he was still very thoughtful, in his own way. You smiled at the proposition, nodding as you suppressed a yawn.

“Yeah. That’d be great, actually.”

“Give me a minute.” 

“Thanks, Cloud.” You called after him, but you got no response. Sighing through your nose, you curled back onto the couch, casting a wary look down at your book. You had been at it for hours, slaving away at your university assignments. It may seem silly to those like Cloud who were out there doing actual jobs. But to you, it was important. It was your chance at a better future than one in the slums.

You hadn’t realized you were falling asleep right then, nodding off as you fell deeper and deeper into your thoughts until Cloud came back with two mugs in his hands. “You okay?” He asked you, mako eyes burning into your face as you were startled awake with a quiet snort. You flushed in embarrassment but the mercenary didn’t even seem to notice it, handing you your cup of coffee.

“Thanks.” You brought the drink to your lips, feeling Cloud’s weight plop down on the couch next to you. He casually slung his arm over the side of the couch opposite of yours, making himself comfortable in his filthy state. You didn’t complain. “Did you get in a fight with Barret again?” 

Cloud’s gaze followed yours, focusing on a bruise on his arm, one too large to have been caused by a mere trip-up. He didn’t show a reaction, leaning back against the couch as he shrugged.

“Maybe.”

You laughed quietly then, shaking your headd. Sounds about right. It did kind of surprise you, though, that a guy as quiet as Cloud always seemed to be getting into fights. A silence fell over you both as you held your mugs in your hands, simply enjoying the cover of peace that only existed at night in this city. You could still hear the distant ruckus of breaking glass and drunken shouting from further down the street, sure, but it was nothing to how rowdy it would get during the daytime.

“You should really go sleep if you’re tired.”

Cloud’s voice broke into your thoughts as you looked over to him, finding him looking back. His expression was its usual. Neutral, unreadable. Except in time you had learned to pick up one small but crucial detail. His brows were furrowed in the slightest, eyes set on you intently. Like he meant it. He had shifted out of his lazy slouch, sitting up in the slightest. Attentive.

You showed him a tired smile then. Cloud was right. Some shut-eye wouldn’t hurt you. But you absolutely had to get this reading done by tomorrow. “I know. But these books won’t read themselves.”

“Can I help?” 

You had to admit you were surprised by the prompt reply, feeling his eyes burn into yours. It didn’t seem like he was letting up. Truth be told, this kind of attention was not something you saw everyday from your roommate. It was a side of him you got to see slowly, bit by bit as talking became easier. In a way, perhaps he was seeing that side of you too, ever since you had first offered to stitch up his wounds for him.

You shook your head. After that it was like Cloud hadn’t said anything at all, his posture relaxing as he laid back against the couch and turned to focus on the empty TV screen. But you did reconsider his offer after a moment. “Well… There might be something.” You heard him hum absently. “Maybe you can stay up with me until I’m done?”

Cloud didn’t respond right away. You figured he was giving it some thought as he leaned back further against the couch and crossed his arms. His answer came shortly after. “Sure. I wasn’t planning on going to sleep yet, anyway.”

“Great.” You showed him a grateful smile, making yourself comfortable on the couch. “Thanks.” 

And so you read, and so did Cloud, picking up some book he found laying around. ‘LOVELESS’. Ha. You hadn’t taken him for the type. Or perhaps he wasn’t. Peeking at him from over the top of your book, watching his focused eyes and tireless demeanor, you had to wonder if he really had meant to stay up or if he was doing it because you had asked him to. Regardless, his company was… nice. It made it easier to study this late into the night, knowing someone else was there with you.

About an hour in, just as you were nearing the end of your chapter Cloud slid off the couch, stretched his hands over his head and straightened out. “Going to shower. I’ll be back in a bit.” He told you from over his shoulder, blue eyes briefly meeting yours as you nodded. He left, the sound of the shower soon letting itself be known as you dove back into your reading.

By the time Cloud came back you were fast asleep, book held limply in your hands as your body was slumped against the back of the couch. He frowned a bit, examining the scene as he wondered what to do. In the end he chose not to wake you. Instead he moved the book out of your hands, marking the page before he placed a blanket over you. The nights were cold in the slums. He let himself observe you for a moment, shaking his head. He wished you had taken his words more seriously. At this rate you were working more than he was. However, it seemed sleep had gotten the better of you. In any case, it seemed that reading that was so important to you would have to wait until tomorrow.

“Night.”

And with that he shut the lights, dousing the apartment in the early morning darkness.

[space-invading-pigeon]

Eddie is the cryptid of their apartment building. He's a night owl and an insomniac, so he's up at all hours with no regard for the other tenants. He's respectful, courteous, and genuinely kind to anyone he comes across, but at least three of their neighbors are convinced he's a vampire and/or Steve is being held against his will.

Steve is well-liked by their neighbors because he babysits, for free, and shows so much love for the kids around him that the whole building is ready to kill for him within a year of Steve moving in. Trustworthy, medically trained, friendly, loving? The only downside is that the building is in a shittier neighborhood in the city, so the walls are thin, and Steve wakes up his floor-mates with his night terrors for months until they learn to tune out his screams.

Eddie is an unknown, though; most of the tenants only see him at an ungodly hour of the night, frizzy curls either forced into a messy bun (which looks more like a ponytail he forgot to finish tying) or down in a terrifying(ly glorious) mane that makes him look larger than his thin frame would permit. He has shadows under his dark eyes, translucent skin, and he's always wearing ratty pajama bottoms and homemade crop tops. The neighbors who HAVE spoken to him give wildly conflicting accounts.

Leonard from the first floor says that the Munson guy stabbed someone just outside his patio and screamed "are you fucking sorry" at the collapsed victim. (Eddie actually punched Jonathan Byers, Steve's friend visiting from California for some kind of conference that his partner was attending. In his defense, be thought he was being mugged and panicked while trying to apologize)

Derek on the fifth floor says he saw Eddie threatening a bird with a knife at four a.m. (Eddie has no excuse; he was tired and he's never trusted birds)

Bruce on the fourth floor (Steddie's nextdoor neighbor) will tell anyone who will listen that Eddie spent three hours teaching his spouse how to make different kinds of tea, because Donnar wanted to help Bruce relax in the evenings.

Mason on the first floor insists that Eddie is a vampire, because he's only ever spotted at night. (Eddie likes night. It doesn't help that his favorite water bottle is blood red and has "Donations: O-" on it)

No one can get a read on Eddie, and Steve finds it hilarious that Eddie has such varied accounts; he can't see Eddie as anything but the angel sent to make up for the rest of Steve's shitty life.

[euphemiaamillais]

roommate au where coryo sucking sej off for the first time while sej eats you out and you guys realize that coryo literally has no gag reflex

mdni | you and sej find out coryo has no gag reflex

you are perched on sejanus’ face, thighs clamping tightly around his head as his tongue darts out to lick up the slick pooling at your cunt. he’s been nagging you all day, desperate to eat you out, and you finally relented. you buck your hips ever so slightly, careful not to put too much weight on him, moaning as he laves at your folds.

coryo is sitting at the end of the bed, watching sej’s cock harden in his sweatpants. his mouth goes dry—he’s been wanting to suck sejanus off for the longest time, but hasn’t had the courage to ask, usually he’s too busy shoving his own cock down your throat, or fighting with sej as to who gets to fuck your ass.

but tonight, he can see the way sej thrusts his hips into the air, hands grasping firmly at your thighs as he eats you out. coryo crawls over to sej, and begins to palm at his clothed cock. sejanus moans against your cunt, the vibration sending shivers down your spine.

‘coryo,’ you begin, craning your neck to see him steadily tugging down sej’s sweatpants and boxers.

‘i wanna suck sej off,’ he whines, causing you to cock a brow in surprise.

you can feel sej nodding under you, though his mouth is too distracted by licking your wet folds, lapping up the sweetness of your juices. you arch your back slightly, heat rushing to your core.

‘do you—ah!’ you’re cut off as the tip of sejanus’ tongue swirls around your clit, sending delicious waves of pleasure through your body. ‘do you know how to suck dick, coryo?’

coryo shakes his head, blonde curls bouncing angelically. you giggle, and begin to guide him through the motions. sej’s girthy cock is hard and throbbing beneath coryo’s hand, and he lets out a groan against your pussy as coryo begins to palm him.

‘give the tip a lick first, to tease him—with the flat of your tongue, of course,’ you murmur, shifting so you are sitting to face him, leaning a little forward so sej’s face is buried in you from behind.

coryo brings his pink tongue down to lick the head of sejanus’ cock, which is dribbling ever so slightly with precum, and his pretty eyes flutter shut. he swipes up the precum in one gesture, and you find yourself flooded with more heat at the sight of him like this.

‘good, sej likes that,’ you feel him hum against your cunt again, mouth wrapping around your clit so he can suckle at the sensitive nub.

‘now, take just the tip in your mouth, and bob your head up and down. you don’t wanna go too far at first because you might gag,’ you instruct, and coryo obliges.

he takes the aching tip of sejanus’ cock between his lips, and you sigh as you watch his plump lips wrap around him. but as he brings his head down further, you’re surprised to see that he is managing to take sejanus quite deep in his throat. coryo bobs his head a little, and sejanus’ hips thrust into his mouth.

‘seems like you know what you’re doing, coryo,’ you giggle, clenching your thighs around sejanus.

you feel the pit of your stomach ignite with warmth as sejanus’ tongue continues to lap at you, while you also watch coryo move his tongue up and down sejanus’ veiny, thick shaft.

‘fuck sej, wish you could see this,’ you let out a breathy sigh as coryo takes sej deeper down his throat.

you wait to hear him gag, to see tears sliding down his cheeks, but he’s got sejanus all the way down his throat, cock stretching out his lips, his nose brushing against the thick thatch of dark hair on sejanus’ pubic bone.

you can’t believe it, he doesn’t have a fucking gag reflex. coryo moves his mouth back up to the tip of sejanus’ cock, swirling his tongue around the dripping slit, and then takes him all the way back down his throat again. your mouth hangs open in awe.

asshole.

you’d kill to be able to take either of them all the way without gagging and sputtering around their shafts, eyes filling with tears. sometimes they even poured down your cheeks as you tried to suck them off. but no, none of that was happening for coryo. his baby blues gazed at you with lecherous intent, a bemused smile flickering at the corners of his lips—well, you could sense it in spite of sejanus’ thick cock stretching them out.

sejanus whines underneath you, and feeling disgruntled, you clench your thighs around him more, trying to edge your way to your own pleasure. his hips are bucking pathetically into coryo’s throat as he tries to continue to eat you out, mouth latched at your sensitive clit, but it’s not good enough. you ride him a little, but coryo’s distracting him, he’s just that fucking good—and he’s never even sucked cock before.

you watch as coryo cups sej’s balls, moving his tongue over them ever so slightly before taking sejanus’ cock back down his throat. sejanus gives a muffled groan, and you watch coryo’s eyes stretch in surprise as he takes his first load. he doesn’t give up until sejanus is whimpering and begging for him to stop, and he pulls his mouth away, a shit-eating grin upon his wet lips.

you’ve lost your orgasm, sejanus’ tongue had faltered and ceased its ministrations because of the bastard. it was fucking cruel, and you were going to make coryo pay for it.

‘fuck you,’ you spit, climbing off of sejanus’ face and curling into a ball, arms wrapped around your knees.

coryo laughs, crawling to you and pressing a kiss to your lips. you can taste sejanus’ cum on his tongue as he slips it inside your mouth, but you aren’t in the mood to be placated or belittled, so you shove him away.

‘what, jealous that i suck cock so well?’ he goads.

‘you are so going to pay for this, coriolanus snow.’

[talktonytome]

Excerpt from my bucktommy roommates au WIP:

When Chimney connected him with Tommy, Buck never thought getting a roommate would also lead to finding a fast friend. He’s not only glad to be out of the frat house-seque living situation, but living with Tommy is great- Tommy is amazing. He’s so deadpan and dry with his humor, the kind that laps at you like the edge of a wave caressing the shore, you almost miss it. He keeps the place tidy and organized, which Buck is a big fan of. And Buck quickly discovered Tommy’s a movie nerd- loves romcoms in particular. He’s missed many a movie references between Tommy and Chim. Buck’s just never been a huge movie guy, but he finds he can’t say no to Tommy, who’s determined to introduce him to a new movie every week.

Last week, it was Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 movie (and yes it’s different from the BBC mini series, Tommy had pointed out.) Buck enjoyed it more than he thought he would, mostly because Tommy recited his favorite lines under his breath and glanced at Buck ever so often to gauge his reactions. It didn’t hurt that Mr. Darcy reminded Buck of Tommy, all tall, cool and stoic and could come off as closed-off before you got to know him, handsome, too. Buck ended up having a very weird dream that night which involved him and Tommy at a ball.

Their shifts don’t always align so they can’t have movie night on the same night every week, but they do make it a point to make time for it. Buck has snacks and beer ready, since he got off a bit earlier and now he’s just waiting for Tommy to get out of the shower. When he finally comes out, he’s wearing a nice button down and jeans. He ironed them, Buck realizes. His button down is open enough to reveal the hollow of his throat and something in Buck itches. He doesn’t know what that’s about. The point is, this is a date outfit, which means Tommy’s going out- but it’s movie night…

“H- heyy, Tommy,” he says awkwardly. “Uh, I have snacks and a movie, but Iooks like you’re going out?”

Buck sees the moment Tommy’s face falls. “Evan,” he groans softly. “I’m so sorry. I thought I texted you earlier, but I guess I never hit send. This guy asked me out and you know I haven’t been out with anyone, since you’ve known me. I just got excited, is all,” he explains. Buck knows Tommy doesn’t owe him an explanation. He’s free to go out, hell, he should. He’s a great guy and anyone would be lucky to be with him.

“Hey, no worries!” He says a little too cheery. “It’s okay, really. You deserve to go out. I hope you have a great time,” he tries to sound as sincere as possible, because Tommy does deserve to be happy. Sure, Buck’s a little disappointed and he doesn’t know why the thought of Tommy spending time with someone else stings a little, but there’s always next week. Tommy doesn’t look completely convinced but he nods and gives Buck a relieved smile. “Thanks, well don’t have too much fun without me,” he says drily.

“Yeah, well watching movies by myself’s not as fun,” he huffs. “I might go out, too. I mean, hot chicks love firefighters, right?” God, why did he say that? What is wrong with him? Tommy looks at him curiously. “O-okay?” He says slowly, a little confused. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Have a good night, Evan.”

“You too,” Buck calls out softly, as Tommy walks out of the door and locks it behind him.

[blorbocedes]

BROCEDES! ROOMMATE AU + UNEXPECTED VIRGIN!

‘Take a shot if your body count is more than 5!’

Most of the crowd drinks, even those with obviously shifty eyes and guilty demeanours. Lewis drinks.

He was coursemates with Adrian the previous semester and had to hear his bitching and moaning about the bitches he gets – the lack thereof, spots him drinking too. Nico’s standing at the end of the couch, expensive loafers careful to step around the sticky spilled beer.

He nurses his red solo cup, untouched. Lewis frowns.

‘Take a shot if your body count is double digits!’

Fewer people drink this time. The crowd goes ‘ooh’ at the ones who do. Technically, Lewis’ is 7 – 8 if you count the blowjob and her getting her period at the last second, opting out. But college athletes have a reputation to maintain, so Lewis finishes off his cup.

This time, Nico is watching him. Smiles when their eyes meet and does a mock salute, lips still not grazing his drink.

What the fuck? What could it be? It bothers Lewis that Nico’s not being honest. He's seen Nico half-lidded hanging off some guy’s arm at a party or cuddled into some girl to know better. Although, since Nico has access to all the population instead of 50%, it would make sense if his count is twice as high.

A pretty girl in a low cut top and blonde highlights taps Lewis on the arm to dance with her, and all thoughts of his roommate and how many people he fucks are forgotten.

A few hours later, the party has died down. Cold pizza and the music is less in-your-face, more indie. A small group gather on the floor playing the laziest truth or dare with a half empty bottle of Bacardi. The guy beside Nico is in an obnoxious leather jacket and tight pants, and his hand rests on Nico’s thigh.

It falls on Lewis.

“So… Lew-iss,” Natalie? maybe asks, voice slurring a little. “Do you remember when you first met Nico?”

Nico raises an interested eyebrow. Of course he remembers. However, Lewis is aware they asked the question because people think him and Nico are secretly hooking up because they live together, and since Nico’s seen with everyone. His teammate Felipe and his girlfriend are within earshot.

“Nah, man. I don't remember shit like that. I remember when I like, lost my virginity.” Lewis offers as bait.

Nico frowns, it's cute on him. Brows wrinkled up.

Naomi(!) bites. “Tell us about how you lost your virginity.”

“That's two questions.” Lewis leans back, flashing his most charming gap-toothed smile. Everyone's too drunk to keep track of whose turn it is.

Nico disappears off with Mr. Skinny Jeans.

It's a little while later when Lewis has smoked a spliff to clear his head, rejecting the blonde highlights girl’s offer back to her dorms which is on the other side of campus, when Nico returns, hair mussed and shirt buttoned more than it was when he left.

“Home?” He asks. Lewis follows.

Nico’s a pretty chill roommate. He grew up with a silver spoon and an only child, so he has no concept of sharing. Instead, when he orders Thai, he makes sure to order for two so that Lewis doesn't try to eat any of his dumplings. Lewis gets to have the flat to himself a lot since Nico disappears for the night, returns at early hours of the night with glitter on his cheek or bite marks on his neck and a cheeky smile before collapsing on the couch. Lewis can't complain, it makes bringing girls over easier. And when Nico is studying, he keeps to himself. Lewis will know, because there will be an extra coffee for him. In turn, Lewis gets rids of the bugs in the flat – the first time Nico seeing a cockroach asking if they should call pest control or sue their landlord for unhygienic living conditions.

“Why didn't you drink? At the body count question?” Lewis asks, breaking the amiable silence of their walk home, and the lack of filter signalling he was drunker than he thought.

Nico hums thoughtfully. “Cause that would be a lie?”

Lewis tries to make sense of that, doing math in his head. “No…? It wasn't about the exact number, just if it's more than.”

“Yeah,” Nico smiles, unlocking the door and stepping side. “That would be a lie.”

Lewis rolls his eyes. Nico and his riddles and his games. “It would only be a lie if you're a virgin. Which you're not.” He snorts at the thought.

Nico’s eyes flash dangerously. “Yeah?” Nico turns around, effectively trapping Lewis between the door. “You think about who gets in my pants a lot, Hamilton?”

Lewis feels a flush rise in his neck. Thank god for melanin, if he were Nico he'd have two giant red spots on his cheek right now.

“I don't care who you sleep with. Or don't sleep with.” Lewis tries to go for gruff, chill, but it doesn't quite land. He gets out of Nico’s cornering, going to the couch. “It's just weird you’d lie considering Jenson–”

“Oh if Jenson said it, it must be true.” Nico’s sarcasm is shrill and annoyed, betraying how drunk he is.

It does make Lewis pause. Jenson has a habit of embellishing stories of his conquests. The fated twins threesome never happened, he had separately hooked up with twins. Lewis remembers Jenson bragging in the locker room how he rocked Britney’s world and Lewis had worn his his shin guards with a little more force than necessary.

“Rock my world?” Nico rolls his eyes, leaning against the wall. “Hardly. We made out for forty minutes until he came in his pants.”

TMI because now Lewis is inundated of images of Nico, mouth swollen and bodies entangled while fully clothed.

“So you're actually a virgin? What about all those people?” Lewis is still trying to wrap his head around it. Nico is the most sexual person he knows. He eats yoghurt off the spoon distractingly, and has no shame walking around the apartment naked. Very sexual liberation chic, and Lewis had to draw up boxers boundaries.

Nico wrinkles his nose. “So you get with the easiest lay on campus and you're the only person he won't fuck. Do you want to admit something's weird and wrong with you, or do you just go about inferring you had sex? It's not like I'm going to correct them.” He must see something on Lewis’ face because he interjects, defensively offensive, “Don't ask why it's better to have a reputation. I know your tells. You drank twice.”

Lewis chooses his words carefully, gentle like he's not trying to spook a wild cat. “I'm not judging. I'm just surprised. Nobody figured it out?”

Nico softens at the tone. He sinks on the couch beside Lewis. “Honestly, you're the first person to notice.”

Lewis finds that sad. “Hey, we don't need to talk about this if it's a sensitive topic. I'm sorry I –”

“Jeez, Lewis. I don't have trauma, I'm just frigid. A pricktease. Nothing bad ever happens to a Rosberg.” Nico works on the complicated laces of his boots. He hates being pitied.

Lewis leans over. “It's really not all that cracked up to be. The first time, at least. Cause you're bad at it and you don't know how to pace yourself. Lots of people wait until they're ready. My first time, it was this girl I was seeing after GCSEs. We couldn't find a place so we got in my dad’s old Subaru. Lasted like 30 seconds. Wiped the whole place down but I was convinced he would know somehow. Come Sunday, I went and told him. He hadn’t the slightest clue. So that was an awkward drive to church.”

Nico gawks him, crumpling into himself laughing. Lewis regrets being a vulnerable and oversharer of a drunk. Nico’s gelled hair has come undone from hours of partying and falls over his eyes. Lewis is never going to open up to anyone ever again.

“On God's day, Lewis?! And you think I should save myself until marriage? Find myself a nice, righteous wife?”

“Someone you trust. Someone you're into.” The room spins a little. Nico Rosberg is a virgin.

“Someone who’d remember when we first met?” Nico challenges. "That's not very nice, is it? I can't believe you forgot--"

“You were checking out an encyclopaedia on space at the library. I wanted the Senna autobiography. We were 12.”

Nico’s eyes go wide. Lewis holds his gaze.

[brontidepng]

for #sulemioweek23 day 2 - oh my god they were roommates

im planning on making this into something else so for now, here's the simple version

[penny00dreadful]

And They Were Roommates! - Part 2

Part 1 Part 3 AO3

Eddie had called out of work the next day. Steve could hear him making his apologies to Mrs. Henderson who'd taken over the running of the shop when her husband passed.

Steve knew she'd probably tell him to stay home for the rest of the week, probably longer if she could get away with it, but Eddie loved every second he spent working there. Adored Dustin. Adored the other kids, Steve's kids, who used the back room for their dice game after closing on Thursday evenings.

Eddie would have to be beaten away from the premises with a bat. A bat with nails.

Steve might just have to give it a try if the idiot refused to rest properly.

He wasn't mothering him.

He was like… distant cousining him.

When he heard Eddie retreat back to his room after the call and when a light rumbling of snores came through the wall maybe a half an hour later, Steve finally made his exit from his room.

He hadn’t wanted Eddie to think he needed to put on a brave face or act like he was okay if Steve was out in the public spaces while he made the call. 

Not because he cared.

Just so Eddie wouldn’t have to pretend.

And so he himself didn’t have to deal with the tension.

Yeah, right.

Also, it was the least he could do to complete Eddie's designated chores off the whiteboard that there had been war over. 

Robin and Eddie’s friend Chrissy had been forced to come in and mediate the whiteboard before one of them set the other's hair on fire. Though by the end of the day the two best friends had been too busy making eyes at each other to be of any help.

Steve was taking a risk; messing with the delicate whiteboard balance that stayed the same, week in, week out, lest another war start. But if Eddie wasn’t up for going to work, he certainly wouldn’t be up for sweeping, mopping, countertops and garbage.

And like, Steve could hardly blame him, he’d been through a lot yesterday, he’d been betrayed by the guy he’d cared most about. He was attacked and had his heart broken all in one night.

So it was whatever.

Just a few chores. 

Whatever.

At least he didn’t have to worry about keeping the noise down. Eddie could sleep through the apartment being ripped up by a cyclone then dropped into Oz.

He’d probably sleep through any and all musical numbers to follow, too.

Though he’d be bummed about missing them.

A few hours had passed by that point and Steve was just about to sit his lovely bottom on the couch to enjoy some good old fashioned thoughtless tv when there was a knock at the door.

He half expected Mrs. Henderson to be on the other side with half a hospital in tow behind her as well as, like, fifteen gallons of her famous chicken noodle soup. Which Steve would not turn down for love nor money and would steal a minimum 50% share.

As was his right.

But it wasn’t Claudia.

It was some guy. 

Some guy who had a bandage over his nose, a harsh purple colour blooming underneath, sitting a little off as though broken. Some guy who had cuts and scratch marks all over his face and neck.

Some guy who seemed to be affronted at the very sight of him.

But as he stood there Steve could see the clogged up gears working in his brain before the guy opened his mouth and said "You're Steve, the roommate."

Steve pursed his lips. 

Well, this interaction was off to a great start. 

Though if this was who Steve thought he was, he couldn’t give less of a fuck.

"I'm Steve. Eddie's the roommate.” He said with a raised eyebrow. “What was with the look?"

The guy blinked at him. "What look?"

"The look you gave me, when I opened the door. Like I'd shit on your shoe." He answered with a cocked eyebrow and a cocked hip.

"Oh, uh… I just thought Eddie had shacked up with someone already.” The guy laughed. “Bit soon.” He shrugged and smiled at Steve as though looking for some kind of commiseration for a good joke, two men giving each other nudges about how silly their wives were or whatever other shit straight people did.

But Steve had no commiseration to give.

So this was definitely the shithead, then. Rick.

Steve leaned against the doorframe, practically acting like a barricade, blocking off access to the apartment with his arms crossed. "Don’t like the idea of him having someone at home?” He asked in a light tone. “Bit hypocritical if you ask me.”

Rick’s face immediately soured. "That wasn't his business to tell."

“I think you lose the privilege to that kind of privacy when you fuck around on people you’re supposed to love.” Steve shrugged. “Or just people in general.”

“Who the hell are you to judge me?” Rick puffed his chest out. “You don’t know me.”

“And thank god for that. I don’t need to know you. I know you’re a cheater, that’s enough.”

Rick scoffed. “Whatever, man. I’m not here to debate morality or some shit with you. I’m here to see Eddie.”

“No.” Steve answered as simply as he could. 

The guy seemed to need things to be concise.

Rick looked bewildered. “Ex- excuse me?”

“You got cotton in your ears or something? I said no.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are? His keeper? You know he hates you right?”

Steve pulled his mouth down into a mocking pout. “Oh no.” He sighed, deadpan. “I’m so heartbroken.”

“Listen, I’m not getting into it with you right now, man. So call Eddie out or move.”

“Or what?” Steve leaned forward a little, feeling his blood light on fire. 

There would be nothing more he’d love at this moment than Rick trying to square up to fight. 

The guy was a little taller than him, but Steve was much broader, much stronger and though it wasn’t something he liked to do, he knew he could throw a decent punch if it was for someone else.

That much was obvious. 

Thinking back on the things Eddie had said last night, the things Rick had tried, the way he’d cried into Steve’s shoulder, Steve would break Rick’s nose all over again if given half a chance.

“Steve.”

Eddie appeared next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him away from the door.

Rick looked between the two of them before his eyes landed back on Steve, snapping at him “You can fuck off now.”

Steve raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘oh, can I?’, but even so, he looked at Eddie, waiting for some sign of what he wanted, whether he wanted him to stay or go.

But Eddie gave no indication of what he wanted, wedging himself in between the two and pulling the door tighter to himself, his expression thunderous through the blooming bruises and angry cuts.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

Steve took that as his cue to go. Even through all the bluster and posturing and how much the two of them still didn’t like each other-

We barely tolerate each other, Steve insisted to himself, we don’t like each other. I don’t like him.

-he wasn’t going to force himself into this drama and if Eddie needed to tear this guy to shreds on his own, Steve would let him.

But he had barely taken a step back before Eddie’s hand shot out, grasping at what he could until he had a fistful of Steve’s shirt, white knuckling it and stopping him in his tracks.

The movement was hidden by the door, Rick wouldn’t have been able to see it and Eddie didn’t acknowledge that he’d done anything, still staring his ex down.

Steve stopped dead where he was and when Eddie seemed to realise that he wouldn’t be moving, his hand loosened, coming back up to rest against the door.

“I’m here to sort things out between us. Try to fix it.” Rick said, his voice going soft.

Eddie exhaled a derisive laugh through his nose. “Why don’t you go and ‘fix’ your wife?”

Steve crossed his arms, standing guard in the back but still mostly out of sight.

“C’mon babe…” Rick reached out, attempting to grasp at Eddie’s fingers but Eddie snatched his hand back. “I think you’re just… making a big deal out of this when you don’t need to.”

“A big deal?” Eddie snapped, leaning forward. “Not only have you been cheating on your wife but you’ve been cheating on me too.”

“You?” Rick sputtered, incredulous.

He exhaled with an eye roll and only then noticed that Steve was still standing there.

“Are you serious?” Rick almost shrieked. “What the hell are you still here for? Show’s over, normie!” He waved his hand in Steve’s direction as though dismissing him.

Steve raised his eyebrows and smiled back, not moving an inch.

Rick looked back to Eddie. “Are you not going to do anything about him? We’re in the middle-”

“Oh my god.” Steve injected as much sarcasm as he could. “Is this a private conversation? I had no idea.”

Rick’s face was turning red with frustration. “You got a real attitude problem, man.”

Steve turned his mouth down in a pout. “Oh no.”

“That’s it.” Rick slammed against the door all of a sudden, wrenching it from Eddie’s grip and almost blowing it open if it wasn’t for Steve’s hands stopping it in its tracks.

The sudden stop jostled Rick, sending him slightly off balance and Eddie took the opportunity to kick out hard, swinging his leg up until it landed in between Rick’s legs. 

Eddie retracted his foot for just a second as Rick crumpled with a scream of pain before kicking out again, catching him in the hip and shoving him back into the hallway, sending him sprawling.

“Lose my fucking number, asshole.” 

Eddie spat down at Rick before turning back inside and slamming the door behind him.

His eyes were still narrowed and furious as he glared at Steve who could do nothing but stand there.

The sound of Rick’s groans were still echoing beyond the door as the two of them looked at each other.

The silence stretched on as Eddie heaved heavy breaths in and out and Steve stared dumbfounded.

There was a glossy sheen to Eddie’s eyes by the time Steve opened his mouth, not sure of what he was going to say.

But it didn’t matter.

Eddie stormed past him without a backwards glance, his hair just disappearing behind the door before he slammed it closed and the wailing of a guitar and the crashing of drums started to scream out of the speakers in his room.

He didn’t see Eddie for the rest of the day. Didn’t knock on his door to try to pull him out and didn’t try to get him to talk.

Steve was only just waking up the day after when he heard Eddie’s bedroom door open and shuffling coming down the hall towards the phone.

He twiddled his thumbs, waiting in his room while he heard Eddie’s muttered conversation. 

He didn’t want to interrupt, didn’t want to have to force his presence on Eddie before it was necessary but he really had to pee and he’d have to walk past the phone to get to the bathroom.

Thankfully the conversation didn’t last long but then Eddie shuffled away from his own room towards the bathroom and Steve had to take some very deep breaths.

He couldn’t really be mad at him for it, the guy hadn’t come out of his room at all yesterday after the confrontation, he deserved to pee but Steve felt like his kidneys were gonna start failing at any second.

When he heard Eddie shuffle back into his room Steve nearly cracked the wall with how hard he threw the door open, rushing down the hallway and into the bathroom before he exploded.

Eddie hadn’t made another appearance by the time Steve was grabbing his keys for work and as much as it irritated him, he was feeling a little wary about leaving him all alone for most of the day.

Turned out he didn’t really need to worry about it.

Just as he had turned back towards Eddie’s room, there was a knock on the front door.

He swung it open to find bouncing blonde curls and a bright perky smile.

“Hi Steve.”

“Oh, hey Chrissy.” He stepped aside, allowing her to sweep inside. Her sweater was very unusual. Dark blue and baggy and tucked into her light wash jeans. Steve could have sworn he’d seen it before. There was a large plastic bag in her hand that a glance inside told him was filled with every tooth rottingly sweet thing she could have scooped off the shelves at their local store.

She placed the bag on the kitchen counter with a light clink of glass against glass coming from inside.

Maybe it was also a day-drunk type of visit.

“How is he?” Chrissy asked, blinking up at him with her big earnest eyes.

“I’m… not sure?” Steve shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck a little embarrassed. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

She nodded. “Okay. That’s okay.”

“I think I’m probably going to call over to Robin’s after work.” He muttered, trying to keep his burning blush down. “Hang out for a little bit.”

He didn’t think he needed to say he was doing it to give Chrissy and Eddie their space, to do their ice-cream and chocolate and alcohol and talk about how terrible men were without him hovering. But thankfully she got it, smiling at him so bright it almost hurt to look at.

“Could you…?” She hesitated, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her fingers. “Could you ask Robin- never mind.”

Steve opened his mouth to assure her it was okay to continue but she barrelled on.

“The boys are coming over later too. Is that okay?”

“The boys?” Did she mean the kids?

“From the band.”

“Oh! Yeah I mean why wouldn’t that be okay? Eddie lives here too.”

“Yeah. I just wanted to check in case-”

“In case I complained about it later?” He tried to ask in his kindest tone. Maybe he’d been guilty of bitching about them in the past but he would never deny Eddie his support system, not at s time like this.

Even if he did… dislike him?

Did he still dislike him?

What was he talking about, of course he did.

“I’m sorry.” Chrissy looked incredibly guilty and Steve couldn’t stand it.

“No, you were right to ask. I haven’t- I’ve been a bit rude in the past.”

She looked like she wanted to apologise again so he shot her a warm smile and patted her on the shoulder. “I have to get to work, but take care of him, yeah?”

She gave him a curious look but nodded, sending him out the door with a wave of her hand, her sleeve following loosely where it was still pulled over her fingers.

Steve was halfway through his shift by the time Robin came in. She worked shorter hours ever since she’d taken that part time internship as a translator.

They’d just gotten past their mid-day coffee rush by the time they had a chance to talk.

“Are you doing anything after this?” He asked her, leaning back against the counter.

“Is this your way of asking me out?” Robin was rifling through the under counter refrigerator next to him, throwing out any old stock that had gone out of date.

“Yes.” Steve nodded. “I’ve been hopelessly in love with you for years and I thought now was the best time to confess.”

“You could have picked a more romantic location.” She sniffed at a container of strawberries, considering before shaking her head and dumping them.

“But my heart told me it had to be now, Birdie.”

Robin just rolled her eyes at him.

“So?” He nudged her with his foot, very nearly sending her off balance. “You, me, two of the best subs this city has and your couch. It’s my best offer.”

She shut the refrigerator door, pushing herself to stand, using the counter for balance. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Steve absentmindedly snapped his fingers at her, remembering.

“Oh! You have a date tonight, right?” 

“I did have a date tonight but sh- he cancelled.”

“He cancelled, did he?” Steve smirked, trying not to enjoy the poorly masked revulsion on Robin’s face at having to pretend to be dating a man.

“Yes. He did. Rain check for another time.”

“Bummer.” 

Robin hadn’t told him much about the girl she was seeing and Steve hadn’t pushed for any more information than she was willing to give. When she wanted him to know, he’d know.

“But-” he continued “-that leaves your schedule wide open for a date with me.” He spread his arms wide open and smiled at her.

“Well, aren't I just the luckiest girl in the world?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“The luckiest. Any reason for the rain check?”

Robin nodded. “Friend emergency.”

“Oh. That’s sweet.”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “He’s a very sweet…” her nose scrunched up, “boy.”

“Very sweet boy.” He repeated with a smile. “So can I steal your keys? Have everything all spread out for you when you get home?” He dragged his hand down his chest, wiggling his hips.

“God, Steven.” Robin shuddered. “You’re repulsive.”

“Wrong. I am a dish.”

“Ugh. Gag.”

Steve pouted at her. “I’ll get you a milkshake too, how about that?”

She crossed her arms and stuck her nose up. “Fine.”

She could only hold for so long before she started to break, cracking a smile.

“If you two don’t mind,” a voice next to them said and they both jumped, seeing Mark their manager standing there, “could you stop flirting and get back to work?”

Neither of them even bothered arguing that they were not flirting anymore. They both knew the rest of the staff had a betting pool going on when they would get together.

They would be waiting a very long time.

By the time Robin got home, Steve had himself swaddled in her blankets and had stolen her best hot water bottle.

Why did she live somewhere so cold?

His toasty warmth didn’t last very long, however. 

She wrestled the hot water bottle from his grip by resorting to dirty tactics, pulling at his hair until he let it go. 

“How many times have I told you the hair is off limits?” He hissed at her, trying to fix it. His hair was his fucking signature, how could she be so rude?

“That is exactly why I go for it every time. It’s your weak spot.” She grinned, smug in her win and attempting to pull the throw off of him as well.

“Go get one of my sweaters if you’re gonna be such a big bitch baby about it. I just got off work.” She pouted, batting her eyelashes at him. “I’m tired.”

“I brought you subs and milkshakes!”

Robin heaved out a heavy, put upon sigh. “Fine.” She heaved herself up from the couch, still clutching at the hot water bottle and disappeared inside her room.

Steve took the opportunity to swaddle himself again, just getting cosy when he heard Robin call out, “Evie, did you steal my sweater?”

“Which one?” He shouted back. He probably had five or more of hers at home and he wasn’t even sure if all of those had started out as hers or his.

“The blue one!”

“Which blue one?”

“The new blue one!”

“What does it look like?”

“What do you think it looks like, it’s fucking blue!”

Steve rolled his eyes and tried to remember any blue sweaters that existed within his own apartment. 

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have it. I don’t even remember you getting a new blue sweater.”

“Well where the hell is it then?”

“How am I supposed to know? I didn’t even know it existed!”

“You’re supposed to know these things!”

“Maybe the sweater fairy stole it.” He snickered to himself until a dark red sweater that had definitely belonged to him first hit him in the face.

“You are the sweater fairy.” She pouted, sitting back down and stealing the throw from his lap.

“Don’t hate crime me. It’s rude.” He tugged the throw back over his legs, leaving her enough slack to cover herself as well.

Robin reached over to snatch her sub from the coffee table. “So.”

“So.”

“Something’s going on with Eddie.”

“What?” Steve ran through the entire day in his head. He didn’t think he’d mentioned Eddie once. “When did I say there was something going on with Eddie?”

“You didn’t.” Robin’s mouth went slack in the way it usually did whenever she was hiding something but she covered it up with a large bite, speaking through a full mouth. “But you’re here and not at home so…”

“That’s not that unusual.”

“No, but what is unusual is that you asked if you could steal my keys instead of just taking them.”

“Oh.” Yeah. That was not the norm. “Um, well it’s not really my place to say-”

“Who am I going to tell?”

“That’s besides the point.”

“Tell me.” She jabbed him with a sharp elbow.

“I don’t know if I can.” He said, running his hand through his hair.

“I mean, nothing too personal, if you don’t wanna.” She backtracked with a shrug.

“Doesn’t matter what I want. The thing is it’s not my business, it’s Eddie’s.” He shrugged. “But there was some… relationship drama the other night.”

“Ooh. Juicy drama?”

Steve winced. “Not exactly. More like… red flag drama.”

“Oh shit. Chr- I didn’t know that.”

Steve looked at her, bewildered. “I wouldn’t expect you to, how would you know?”

Robin just shrugged, shoving another large bite into her mouth. 

“I don’t really… I’m not comfortable talking about the things Eddie and I talked about but I do need you to help me… figure myself out.”

“Okay, that I can do. I’m an expert at it. I helped you find your sexuality.”

“Find it? It wasn’t fucking lost Birdie.”

“Yeah, but I brought it out into the sunlight.”

“Jesus, you’re acting like you released it from captivity. I knew. I’ve always known. Just because you didn’t know that I know, doesn’t mean I didn’t know.”

She shoved his arm. “I unlocked it.”

He shoved her back. “You didn’t unlock shit.”

She shoved him again. “I unlocked it. You’re welcome.” 

He gave her a final shove with a huff to go right along with it. “Whatever.”

“Okay, no more side tracking. Tell me your scrambly brain thoughts.”

“Alright. Um. Okay. So.” Shit. How much could he tell her without either breaking Eddie’s trust or revealing too much. “So there was drama the other night, between Eddie and the boyfriend, you know that much. I won’t say what happened but he didn’t get home until like four in the morning and he called out of work yesterday and today-”

“He called out?!” Robin shrieked, open mouthed. She’d lived with Eddie long enough and been through enough of Steve’s bitching to know just how much Eddie loved that job.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. It was… it wasn’t good, Birdie, what happened. It was actually really fucking fucked up.”

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“So then yesterday he’s trying to sleep it off pretty much and there’s a knock at the door.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah and I go get it because I had assumed it would be Mrs. Henderson with some chicken noodle soup and you know I’d kill my own mother for some of that soup-”

“-I’d kill your mother for some too, yes.”

“-yeah. But it wasn’t Mrs. Henderson, it was Rick, the boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend, I don’t know and he was trying to like, bully his way into the apartment to see Eddie and I don’t know what happened with me but-”

“-you went full guard dog protector mode didn’t you?”

“I…” Steve sighed, looking down at his hands. “Yeah, I did. Why did I do that? It’s none of my business. I don’t even like the guy. Why would I care?”

“Because you always care, Evie. You saw someone who needed help and you helped, it’s what you do.”

Steve scoffed. “Hardly. It’s not like I’m some fucking selfless hero for doing it.”

“Nah, you kinda are.”

“It was just some guy!”

“And you’re just some guy too!”

Steve glared at her, offended. “You take that back.”

Robin looked at him for a moment. “Okay, fair, retracted.”

He gave her a small grin and dragged the sleeves of the sweater over his fingers.

“Hey! Stop, you’ll stretch it!”

“What does it matter if I stretch it, it’s mine.”

“It is not.”

“It is too!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!” He jabbed her in the side, knowing full well that if they continued the way they were this could go on all night. It had gone on all night more than once.

Robin squawked and immediately lunged, her hands grabbing at the top of his head. 

“No, no! I told you not the hair!”

“And I told you it’s your weakness.” She hissed, her eyes flashing as he scrambled at her wrists before she could get her fingers buried deep enough.

“Boobies!” He shouted, as loud as possible. The effect was immediate, Robin tried to cringe away from him with a look of disgust. “Boobies, boobies, boobies!”

“Oh my god are you five fucking years old? Can you not say tits or breasts or fucking mammary glands or something like a damn adult?” She wrenched her wrists away from him. “I’m so embarrassed for you.”

“I’m embarrassed of your face.”

“I’m embarrassed of your weird man hair.” She scowled, patting at his chest. 

“You shouldn’t be. Everyone loves the chest hair. Even the lesbians. It’s like a respect thing.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Steve pouted to himself.

He just wanted to help. He wanted to make sure Eddie was okay, that he would continue to be okay and there was this horrible little part in the back of his head that also wanted to make sure that no one would put their hands on Eddie ever like that again.

It was weird and possessive in a way he really shouldn’t have been feeling about his irritating as shit roommate who didn’t even have the courtesy to play guitar with headphones on half the time.

No matter how good his playing was.

“I can smell your hair burning.”

“What do I do now, Birdie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… I want to help, I guess. But I don’t know how. We don’t even like each other, why would he accept my help?”

“Well… how did he react when you did what you did?”

“He… I guess he… I was going to leave when Rick came to the door and he stopped me. He didn’t say anything to me, he didn’t even look at me but he grabbed onto me and… I think he was scared, Rob. I’ve never seen him scared.”

“Well Steve, I think you’re gonna do what you always do. Help. Whether you know you’re doing it or not, whether you even really mean to, you always help.”

"You're making me out to be some sort of saint."

“I’m really not.” She shook her head. “You’re just… you.”

“Wow, incredible observation there, Birdie.”

“Oh, fuck off and finish this for me.” She shoved the rest of her sub into his hands.

Part 1 Part 3 AO3

@augustjustice @geekymagicalpotato @wormdebut @eddielives1986 @releasethexbarakat @a-little-unsteddie @steddietogo @steddiehyperfixation

Big thanks as always to @hbyrde36 for her magnificent beta work and to the @strangerthingswritersguild for their motivation.

Divider by firefly-graphics

[lilpuffyart]

A tiny ref thing I did a few days ago with AM and Ted for roommates AU

I've been very busy lately rip, but I'm thinking of maybe making another comic for them after I'm done with some 2001 aso art i have

And a ref for AM's clothes and finished body (maybe I'll do one for Ted as well in the future, I have to decide which clothes he'd use besides his... weird canon outfit combo)

[overflowofcrows]

Roommates AU - Rain

Smooth like Dread (Dream x Red) or fumble like Clue?

Prev • Masterpost • ?

[itreallyrains]

they were roommates

[diaryujin]

𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒 (𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄)

summary: you were tired of waiting around for heeseung to confess. so, to rile him up, you go on a 'date' with his best friend, jake.

genre: angsty fluff

includes: roommates au, uni au (mentioned once) friends to lovers, jealousy, heeseung is whipped but won't make a move, jake is mentioned once as hee’s bsf, angst with happy ending

pairing: bsf! heeseung x bsf! fem! reader

word count: 1.3k

a/n: late heeseung birthday special! isn't that angsty unlike SOMEONE (read: sol) tbh, had this in my drafts so i just rolled with it

“Where are you going?” He eyed you as you headed towards the door. Your outfit wasn’t something you usually wore. You were all dressed up, ready to go outside. “To a cafe.” “Dressed like that?” He raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. “Any issue?”

“Well, you usually don’t go to cafes- hell, anywhere- dressed so…fancy? You’re trying to impress someone, hm?” He saw right through you. It wasn’t like you were hiding it extremely well, but it still always caught you off guard.

“Okay, maybe I am. Any issue?”

“Who is it?” “Jake.” Heeseung’s eyes widened and he crossed his arms. You were trying to impress his best friend. What did Jake have that he didn’t?

“Why? You told me before that you liked him. What’s with the sudden interest?”

“I just like him, okay?”

He looked up at the ceiling.

“Um, I just don’t know if he’s the right one for you.”

“Well, I can’t just wait around anymore. I’m going to have to search.”

“Yeah, but- I don’t think you’re his type.”

“...are you saying that negatively?”

He pushed himself off the wall and came closer to you. His eyes were soft but the tone of his voice was firm.

“Look, I’ve known him for a long time too, it just wouldn't be a good match.”

“You need to also know that life is full of surprises.”

“This would be a nasty one.”

You were getting him all riled up. The point of this whole ‘date’ was to see if Heeseung would react. You weren’t actually going out romantically with Jake, it was just a meet up. You hadn’t fallen for him as hard as you feel for Heeseung.

“Well, why are you so pressed about it? It shouldn’t bother you in any way, right? We’re just friends, it’s not like we’re dating or anything.” 

He had a very strong urge to just kiss you to make you shut up.

“I know, I just…wanted to tell you what I thought. I’m serious though, it’s not a good idea.”

“Didn’t ask, don’t care.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, clearly pissed off.

“Okay then. Have fun with Jake.”

“I will.”

That hit him like a shot in the heart. He provoked you, so why was this hurting?

“Call me if you need anything or if something happens, hm?”

He held your hand for a few seconds before letting you go and smiling, although it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Thanks Hee. You’re the best best friend someone could have.”

You hugged him, and he hugged you back. His grip was oddly stronger than normal, and he was clutching onto you as if he didn’t want you to leave. You ignored this and broke off the hug before waving to him as you walked out the door of your apartment, closing it.

Heeseung stood frozen there for a few seconds, before sighing and pinching his left arm.

No, this wasn’t a nightmare. He wished it was.

His vision was blurring due to the tears in his eyes, and he pursed his lips into a thin line.

Hell, here he was, crying over a girl.

That too, you.

He slumped onto the floor, burying his head in his hands.

He wanted to scream, punch something and take his anger out on something.

He did neither.

He stared blankly at the wall, hands now crossed against his chest again. He tried to think of anything, everything other than you and your date with his best friend.

He failed miserably.

After a few hours, a notification popped up on his phone while he was mindlessly watching TV. He turned it on to see that it was six messages from you. He opened it to see that it was five pictures of you and Jake, with bright smiles on both of your faces. His chest tightened, and he wanted to throw his phone against the wall. He wanted to block you. He wanted to tell you that you were breaking his heart. He wanted to tell you how he felt.

‘happy 4 u :)’

You looked at his message, cogs turning in your brain. That was…a response alright. You couldn’t understand what he felt behind it. If he was truly happy, he’d text something in a more excited manner. If he was jealous or mad or sad or just feeling negative in general, he’d text less enthusiastic. What was he like back home?

You reached your shared apartment. He unlocked the door, expression unreadable. 

“Hey Seung. Nothing burned down while I was gone, right?”

You chuckled, but it was lost on him. He usually laughed along, no matter how corny the joke was.

“Check for yourself. I’m going to bed.”

“Uh, so quickly? It’s only 8 p.m.”

“We have uni tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s a Sunday.”

“I want to wake up early to study.”

“Since when were you studious? You usually stay up until like 4 a.m. playing video games with me.”

“Don’t want to this time.”

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it? What happened? You know yo-”

“No.”

He stormed off to his room. As he was about to enter, you pulled his arm, preventing him from going.

“Heeseung, you’re not acting like yourself. You usually trust me with anything.”

“You don’t really care.”

“I d-”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does!”

“You don’t need to know, okay?”

He raised his voice at you, making him sound intimidating. Your grip on his arm didn’t falter though, and you were slowly pulling him closer.

“Seung-”

“No, I can’t- I can’t trust you with my feelings, because damn it Y/N, you’re the reason behind it! It’s so obvious that I’m so foolishly in love with you and yet you’re so fucking oblivious to how I feel! Do you know how- how hard it is to hear you talk about Jake like that, how hard it is to pretend to be happy- for you, when all I just want is for you to love me back?!”

He was breathing heavily after his outburst. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he gritted his teeth together in frustration. Your grip on his bicep loosened, and your hand slid down from his arm to his hand. 

“Heeseung…”

 His eyes shot open in fear as he realized what he just said.

“Y/N, Y/N, I’m so sorry- I didn’t…didn’t mean it, mm? It was a mis-mistake, I was just joking- haha! So funny right? Very funn-”

You pulled him closer until your noses were touching. Shocked by the sudden movement, he whispered quietly, his warm breath hitting your face.

“What…Y/N, what does this mean?”

“It means I like you too, Heeseung.”

His eyes softened, and both of his arms wrapped around your waist, holding you so delicately. 

“I’m- I can’t even explain how I feel in words like now.”

One of his hands went up to your hair, his palm on the back of your head, holding you firmly in place, yet it felt so loving. His fingers got tangled in your hair, and he started into your eyes, smiling softly. You leaned in closer, your noses brushing against each other’s.

“May I…?”

“You may.”

He moved close enough to allow your foreheads to bump. He continued gazing into your eyes, admiring them. He them slowly moved his lips to yours, closing his eyes. He kissed you gently, holding you close. His lips moved carefully against yours, as the fingers of his free hand intertwined with yours. After a few seconds, he pulled away, before wrapping his arms around your waist and hugging you, sighing.

“I’m sorry for the sudden outburst, Y/N.”

“It’s okay- it helped the both of us anyway.”

He chuckled a this, and pressed a light kiss to your forehead.

“Thank you.”

“For…?”

“For not choosing Jake.”

“I knew you’d be jealous!”

“I was not!”

“You were!”

“Was not!”

“Were!” “Was n-”

He felt your lips against his again, making him get flustered. After you broke the kiss, you grinned.

“You totally were jealous. At least now you know that you shouldn’t be.”