#the whole gang's here pretend i tagged them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dcxdpdabbles · 11 months

Note

Hello ❤️

Can you please write something about Jason x Danny? Maybe something about Jason having a crush on this new guy (maybe Danny works in a library or helping people as a nurse) and just falling cause Danny is sincerely nice and isn't afraid of his Lazarus's rage

Jason first notices the new face volunteering at the soup kitchen when the guy hand-makes flour tortillas for the beans. Just like his mom used to make, alongside Mrs. Huerea before she got into drugs.

It's been years since he last had some, not because Alfred refuses to make it but because the butler never has the time.

It's usually a treat for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or his birthday. Sometimes if Jason is lucky, there is another important holiday for the many members of Wayne Manor, and there is time for Alfred to get them done. He can have them more.

But mostly, Alfred had them store-bought.

That's why he wanders to the other man's line, mouth already watering as the volunteer piles smashed beans with cheese and tortillas onto plates. A name tag has a simple "Danny" on top of a white NASA shirt coupled with slightly baggy pants is the whole outfit of the stranger - odd in Gotham's winter time.

He offers Jason a smile, then, with a wink, places two more fresh tortillas on his plate.

Before he can say anything, Danny pushes the plate toward him. "I can tell you're a man who appreciates fine food. Take them. I can always make more. "

He jerks a thumb to the back, where a press awaits use. It looks just like Mrs. Huerea's iron-clad tool that, for a second, he's six again, early happy the women preparing for Christmas.

When his mother was sober, the Huereas had always opened their home to them. The elderly couple had always felt like grandparents to him.

"Thanks," He says around a forming grin. It matches Danny's.

Jason accepts the food with an excited thrill; for once, the memories of his mother are not so bitter and ruined. He moves out of the way for the next person, making a mental note to tell his men to ensure Danny gets home safely after his shift. It would be in his employee's way.

He does this often, assigning some Red Hood boys to make sure no one bothers any of the volunteers. Jason knows he can't get rid of all crime, not like Bruce believes, but he can at least protect those trying to make this place less of a shit hole.

He sits, savoring the flavor with great appreciation. He's got time to relax a little.

One of his Lieutenant is in the back, speaking to the director of the Soup Kitchen. This is one of Jason's protected areas, but to make sure people know it's not to be taken lightly, the Red Hood gang does require protection money.

He doesn't ask a lot but Jason knows that any place that doesn't have protection money is a bigger target. Of course he also here pretending to be hungry just to make sure the place is actually doing what they promised to do and feed people.

When Jason first took over, this particular place had been known to only give out half of the money they donated in food. The rest was going into the old director's pocket. When he caught wind of the senior director often refusing kids just to save money to steal, Jason quickly fed him to the fish.

His Lieutenant, Rogers, would not be able to recognize him. Jason was eating without a mask. What better disguise than his own dead face? Much less the other people in the soup kitchen.

Although he was meant to observe his surroundings for any funny business, Jason glued his eyes on Danny the entire time. It seemed the man had an easy smile for everyone and a calming personality that seemed to put even the most hostile at ease.

Snow. Jason thinks while watching Danny make more tortillas while chatting with a street kid until the young girl feels she could make one. He lets her round the table easily, showing her how to press down on the metal lever with the same soft ease. He's like pure white snow.

He would not last long in Crime Alley. Nothing pure ever does.

Jason fishes his food, unable to look away from what he knows would be a broken man in only a few weeks.

He leaves just as Rogers returns to the front clutching a brown bag. It looks like he didn't need to worry about the upkeeping of this place. He needs to check on the other kitchens in his territory before the day is out.

After three other Kitchens, Jason is satisfied that he's secured two. He must send Rogers to the last one because a few girls seemed uncomfortable with the leering crew. He'll have the creeps removed by this Friday.

He's swinging around as Red Hood on his normal patrol when he catches sight of Danny again. It's close to two in the morning, so he's surprised to see the other man cheerfully strolling about without any signs of exhaust.

He's also not wearing warm clothing despite the snow slowly falling around them. The only difference between what he was wearing earlier is the large black backpack. Jason half wonders if Danny only has nothing else to wear until the man pauses at an alley entry.

He crouches down, unzipping his bag, before pulling out a plastic-wrapped package. Jason watches him cautiously walk into the alley, following on the roofs out of curiosity.

His eyes widen when he spots a young boy hiding behind a trash bin, squishing himself against the wall as Danny carefully approaches him.

Jason hadn't seen the kid when he had passed by earlier, likely due to the boy knowing how to hide himself in the shadows. How had Danny seen him?

"Go away!" The boy yells when Danny gets too close for comfort. Jason's hackles rise, pulling out his gun in case he needs to intervene. He remembers the days when the sound of approaching footsteps to his hiding places in the streets meant.

Danny stops just on the other side of the trash bin. He places the package on top of it and backs away quickly. "I don't mean to bother you. But I thought you could use these. Stay warm, and if you need to escape the snowstorm, go to the address in the right pocket."

The boy doesn't answer, and Danny doesn't seem to wait for one. He leaves with quick strides. Jason watches him from the roof, noticing he returns to a slow stroll once he's back on the main street.

Below, the street kid carefully pulls the plastic bag towards him once he knows Danny is gone. He unwraps the bag only to gasp in delight at the jacket, gloves, hat, scarf, and socks inside. He quickly slips them on, burying himself in the small amounts of warmth they offer him.

Jason watches the boy for a few minutes before jumping down. The kid scrambles away until he realizes it's Rood Hood. Everyone knows that he won't harm street kids.

"Hey," He says, noting that the boy's new clothes seem to be made from expensive material, all in black and neon green. "Do you have somewhere warm to sleep tonight? Snowstorm is coming."

"I can handle it." The boy scoffs despite the shivers that wrack his body.

"I know you can. But it's not safe out here" He kneels at the boy's eye level. He seems about twelve, likely new to the streets since he has yet to find proper shelter. Dirty blond hair and dark, weary brown eyes stare back at him as Jason offers. "Let me get you somewhere safe."

"I won't go back to the stupid system."

"Nah, that shit's broken. I got a safe house for you to crash in."

The boy thinks it over. "Just us?"

Jason isn't a mind reader to know what the kid fears. "No. It's full of other people."

It takes a few more minutes, but eventually, he convinces Max to follow him. They travel across Crime Alley to one of the empty warehouses he had turned into an illegal shelter. Inside are various Red Hood gangsters passing out blankets and setting up cots for people from the streets to sleep.

The heaters are on, but a few still refuse to remove their warm clothing- likely in fear of theft or that it proves an extra layer of comfort- as they settle down.

Max thanks him as the boy rushes to a corner that seems to be taken over by children. He doesn't approach the others to speak to, but he looks more comfortable picking a cot close to them. Jason's eyes widen slightly when he realizes that all seven children are wearing some form of the Black and Neon Green outfits Danny had given Max.

Rogers strolls up next to him, nodding his chin at the children. "Some street kids have been saying a man is offering them free supplies. He doesn't ask for anything in return and leaves them alone with they tell him to. His calling card is the little neon green ghost he places on each item. Want me to take a few of our boys and check him out?"

Jason grunts. "No need. I already know who it is. He seems like a non-threat."

Rogers appears flabbergasted for only a few seconds before pulling himself together. "If you say so, boss."

Jason turns to stare at the man, and Rogers raises his hands. "All I'm saying is that it's a little odd how good the guy is at spotting street kids."

"How good is he?"

"It's like he can see in the dark. He might be a meta."

Jason thinks back to Danny walking around in his light clothes like it's the middle of summer instead of winter and finds some weight in the meta-theory. "I'll pay him a visit soon."

Rogers lets the matter drop, even if he is confused by Jason's involvement. Usually, he has some of the newest members of the youngest ones who reckon a personable target- or new recruits.

But something about Danny called out to Jason. He couldn't say it, but the man's snow-like personality eased the Pit Rage in him. Strangely it felt like Danny was the calm winter promising rest to the wounded parts of Jason's soul.

He didn't want to see Danny's pure heart ruined by this city.

Jason wonders if he could keep it safe and if Danny will even give him the chance to try.

He hopes so. Danny has such a lovely smile.

#dcxdpdabbles #Dead on main #Red Hood's snow #Jason falls for the man trying to make Crime Alley less terrible.#Danny is just vibing being a help to anyone that he comes across #Jason was raised along side a sweet Mexican family cause I say so #Jason falls for a man with a pure heart.#Rogers is freaking out #His boss??? with a crush???#Hope you like!

1K notes · View notes

anisespice · 1 year

Text

“ hate your boyfriend ” || tokyo rev.

two

synopsis: aw, your boyfriend hates when he’s around? good.

pairing: college!toman x gn!reader

warnings: mature language, toxic!toman, possessiveness, reader is sort of an enabler, implied cheating, slight angst for the partner (rip lol), open-ended, maybe a little unrealistic?? i think that’s it.

notes: there's just something about them knowing they're the shit & and can't nobody check them for it <333 i don't condone making your partner jealous/uncomfy in real life...but i be kicking my feet when it's in tokyorev lol hope you enjoy!

tagged: @fantasycantasy ( if you'd also like to be tagged in future works, feel free to join my taglist <333)

"Be nice." Famous last words spoken to your boyfriend before you went to greet MIKEY upon his arrival. You were having a little kickback at your place, and it only made sense that your closest friend got to be there as well, despite how they felt about one another.

It went well…for about five minutes.

Now, you stood between them as tensions arose, hands on your boyfriend’s chest to keep him pushed back while Mikey had no issue with fueling the fire, practically daring the bastard to swing first. It didn’t help that they’d drawn in a crowd, drunk instigators no doubt praying for a bloody brawl to liven up the once chill atmosphere. You don’t even know who started it, but you had a pretty good idea who was gonna finish it if things didn’t get under control.

“Aki, please, you promised you wouldn’t do this…”

“I didn't even do anything, he’s the one with the shitty attitude! Knew you shouldn't have invited him in the first place. And I'm sick of you always defending him, what exactly is this guy to you, [______]?"

Mikey kissed his teeth. “Such a nag. Can’t believe they have to fuck you-”

“Manjiro.” You hissed, sending him a warning glance.

He merely grinned, head tilted as he shamelessly cooed, “Yeah, angel?”

“The fuck you call them?” Aki pressed, taking a step closer. You planted your feet, preventing him from going any further. “Say it again, see what happens.”

Mikey shrugged, “Okay.” Leaning forward off the wall, he gently nudged your chin with his index finger, making you look directly in his eyes. “Yeah, angel?”

“You son of a—” Aki raised his fist, ready to swing; just what Mikey was hoping for. But, you were quick you latch onto the winding arm. No doubt he’d miss, then you’d have to explain why there’s a sandal-print on his face when he wakes up.

“He’s just kidding! Mikey has a, uh, crude sense of humor, always saying what’s on his mind at the wrong times. Never a dull moment.” You chuckled, nervously. “He didn’t mean anything by it…right?”

Sending him a pleading glance, Mikey remained unphased. The dark-haired gang leader eyed your boyfriend for a good, long minute. His dead eyes made the guy feel unsettled, especially since Mikey tended not to blink for periods of time. There were so many things he wanted to say at that moment, so many late night visits Aki knew nothing about—But, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for that later. He’ll play it cool. For now.

Mikey’s stare never wavered as his posture remained relaxed, his aura alone stunning the whole room to silence. The bystanders watched with bated breath. When the pools of obsidian refocused on you, he gave a reassuring wink. Aki didn’t take too kindly to that, stepping backward and taking you with him. The delinquent scoffed, but bit his tongue; he may have won the battle. But there's always the war.

With clenched teeth and a hollow smile, Mikey replied with a simple, “‘Course not. We’re all just friends here.”

Unbothered would be an understatement when describing how DRAKEN felt knowing how negatively your boyfriend felt toward him. Frankly, all he needed was a reason, and he'd happily knock the guy straight out of his shoes. But, for your sake, he remained...cordial.

He also pretended not to hear your little argument in the next room, feet propped up on the coffee table with his arms draped behind the couch, wearing an all too complacent grin knowing he was the subject matter. Again.

"Do you think I'm a fucking idiot!?" Your boyfriend exclaimed, frustrated. Draken couldn't help but snort, wanting so badly to answer the question for you with a fat yes. "I've seen the way he looks at you, we’ve all seen it, so don’t act like I’m the one with the problem!"

“Takeru, just calm down, there’s nothing going on between us-”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” The sound of something shattering, followed by your shriek, made the mechanic perk up in mild alarm; amusement no longer painted his face.

Alright, he thought. Here comes that reason.

It only took him a few strides to get to your bedroom door, nearly splitting the wood in two after he kicked it in. Startling the both of you, Draken’s first priority was to check on your well-being, scanning your person for any visible injury. Luckily, you just appeared to be shaken up a little. Once he was certain, the former blonde directed a hard look toward Takeru, then down at the lamp he just broke. Draken worked his jaw—He gifted you that lamp.

“Kenny…” you said, cautiously. You could sense his impending rage from mere inches away, and you knew your boyfriend would only keep poking the bear. And you’d be correct. “I-It was an accident. Things just got a little out of hand, that’s all-”

“The hell you still doing here, baldy? Thought I told you to-”

Draken chuckled, menacingly. Your partner fell silent, wondering what was so funny, while you just closed your eyes in defeat; you knew that sound meant nothing good. His gunmetal eyes leered down at the pitiful man, cracking his neck before he calmly spoke.

“So we’re just breakin’ shit now, huh. Alright. My fucking turn.”

“I thought you said you'd quit hanging out with him, [_____]! He’s nothing but trouble, have you forgotten he set my roommate’s car on fire?!”

“Tsk. He had it comin’.” Was BAJI’s response, digging through your snack cabinet for a bag of chips. Once he found them, he opened them and began munching away, a bored expression on his face. “Bastard almost ran over Patches, driving around like an asshole. But, he hangs out with you all day, so guess that checks out.”

Referring to one of the building’s stray cats that come around from time to time, you couldn’t help but snort, but you knew he was dead serious—Man doesn’t play about his furry friends.

“Who gives a shit about some stupid-?!” You quickly covered your boyfriend’s mouth before he said anything he’d regret. He wasn’t too pleased, but at least he’d get to keep his teeth.

You exhaled, then directed a frown at the ravenette. “Honestly, I wish you two would try to get along. I think you’d find that you really aren’t so different once you got to know one another.”

“Me? Getting to know that? Fat chance.”

Glaring, your boyfriend ripped away your hand. "Oh, like you're so easy to swallow?"

"Hm, your s/o thinks so."

"Keisuke!"

“The fuck’s that suppose to mean, gutter-trash?” Your boyfriend seethed, turning to you instantly and expecting an explanation. Your eyes were wide, and you waved your hands rapidly to deny the implication. “[_____], what is he talking about?!”

“N-Nothing! God, you always let him get under your skin so easily, Makoto. He’s just being a dick, that’s all…”

Your boyfriend didn’t look convinced in the slightest, brows tight with an upturned lip as he huffed in anger. You shrunk beneath his gaze, stuck without any bandaid words to fix it. Luckily, since Baji was in such a good mood, he decided to relent—It’s no fun when you’re the one suffering the consequences of his crassness. Finishing up the last of the chips, the arsonist crumpled up the bag and tossed it at dude’s face.

“Wha-!”

“Yeah, hot shot, don’t get your panties inna twist. I’m just messin’ with you. We cool?” Baji threw up a fist, fangs on display as he gave an unhinged grin. Makato flinched, but tried to play it off. With hesitancy, your boyfriend eyed the fist with contempt.

“Fuck you. And that ugly-ass cat.”

Probably wasn’t the best thing to say with a fist inches away from his face. Makoto might’ve hesitated; Baji didn’t. So much for getting to keep his teeth.

“You’re a freaking angel, thank you so much for doing this,” MITSUYA gushed, arms snaking around your middle in a warm hug the moment you stepped into the studio. Did he place his hands a little lower than necessary? Maybe.

You chuckled, returning the hug. “Y’know I’d never say no to a free meal."

He had called you for a favor to model a few of his latest designs, needing to make adjustments accordingly before presenting them at the end of the week. His usual canceled on him last minute, putting him in a really tight spot, and you just so happened to be the same size. By offering to buy you dinner for your troubles afterward, it was a win-win for everyone.

Your boyfriend, on the other hand, saw right through Mitsuya. Which was why he so eagerly volunteered to tag along. The lavender-haired designer eyed the guy from over your shoulder, disinterested. "Oh. Didn't know you were bringing him."

"Got a problem with that, Mitsy?"

"Hey now, no bickering you two.” You playfully warned, pulling back from the hug. You fixed Mitsuya an apologetic smile. “I hope it's not too much trouble that he’s here, though. I always tell him how fantastic your designs are, so I guess he wanted to see them for himself. Isn’t that right, Haji?”

Said third-wheel grinned sharply, arms crossed as he sarcastically replied, “Oh, yeah. Can’t wait to watch ya. Very closely.”

Mitsuya deadpanned. But, his brow lessened in weight at the feeling of you tugging on his shirt, pouting at him as your eyes practically dazzled him into compliance. “Please, can he stay?"

It didn't take much for him to cave. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you had the delinquent wrapped around your finger. He sighed, then reluctantly agreed. It’s worth seeing the bright smile on your face, and especially worth the look on Hajime's when you wrapped your arms back around him in gratitude. "Thanks, Taka!"

Mitsuya didn't bother masking the smug grin he shot at your boyfriend, watching him struggle to hold his temper. "Anything for you. But, I’m not paying for his meal."

#🍁vanilla #part 2 mayhaps???#idk mayhaps :/#tokyorev #tokyo rev #tokyo revengers #tokyo rev angst #tokyo rev x reader #tokyorev x reader #mikey #draken #mitsuya #baji

1K notes · View notes

bradshawed · 1 year

Note

OKAY OKAY YOU DONT HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS AT ALL BUT YOU SHOULD WRITE LIKE A STEVE ONESHOT THING WHERE HES DATING (Y/N OR OC IM NOT PICKY) BUT HES STILL PINING FOR NANCY AND LIKE STILL IN LOVE WITH HER SO HIS S/O BREAKS UP WITH HIM BC SHES TIRED OF BEING LIKE "A BACKUP OPTION" AND ALWAYS SECOND CHOICE TO NANCY AND ITS LIKE SUPER ANGSTY AND BASICALLY IT TAKES BEING WITHOUT THEM FOR STEVE TO REALIZE HOW MUCH HE LOVED THEM AND THEN THERES LIKE A LOVE CONFESSION. (THAT WAS A CRAZY RUN-ON SENTENCE OMG)

YOU CAN IGNORE THIS IF YOU DONT LIKE THE IDEA THO <3

Second Best — Steve Harrington

summary — nancy wheeler, the one who got away. she’d always be his first love and you’d always be second best so what was the point of pretending he could love you even just a little?

warning/tags — fem!reader, she/her pronouns, angst, steve being dumb, swearing, bits of stancy, arguing, fluff, the gang scheming

note — thank you so much for requesting! I absolutely adore this idea and loved writing it so so much, I hope I did it justice even if I did slightly go off the prompt. you’re an incredible writer, one of my favourites on wp, and I can’t wait to read your works on here too. I love you tons! thank you again and I hope you like it <3 also, credits to soph for steve’s middle name, ilysm!

word count — 2.5k words

This was the third time in the space of a couple of minutes that you’ve caught Steve staring at Nancy from where he sat on the couch, to say you were sick of it would be an understatement.

It had been movie night with the whole group which had truthfully been long overdue and very much needed but surprisingly difficult to plan with everyone’s hectic schedules. But here you all were, finally relaxing for the first time in months in Steve’s spacious living room among a bundle of cushions, in what should’ve resembled a fort built by the boys. The second movie of the night was playing on the projector that Robin and Max had set up and an abundance of snacks and sugary drinks had been brought beforehand to account for everyone’s tastebuds. With the way things were going, however, it seemed like staying over at Steve’s after the night was over was simply out of the question.

Dustin sent you a sad look from his position on the floor smothered by multiple duvets. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been for the situation. The room seemed to cool another ten degrees when Steve unwrapped his arm from around your shoulders mid-scene, shifting away from you slightly. You were both oceans apart and yet he didn’t even seem to notice the space between you. And this wasn’t the first time it had happened either.

The credits rolled in and Nancy offered to grab more snacks while the kids decided on the next movie. Steve practically jumped at the chance to follow her to the kitchen, or maybe you were just overreacting like usual. It didn’t matter anyway, the fact was that he was with her, not you and the way he looked at her told you everything that had been left unsaid.

You quietly got up from your place on the couch, surrounded by colourful blankets and softly padded around the room, picking up your car keys from where you’d left them and moving to the hallway to put on your coat and shoes. El moved to stop you but Eddie gently placed a hand on her shoulder, letting you go with a sad nod. You couldn’t stay, they knew that, but still, some part of you wishes they would’ve asked. You might have not been there from the beginning but they loved you all the same, if not even more and vice versa. You were the missing piece in their family and for them, you’d do anything even if it meant watching Steve pin for his ex girlfriend.

You’d almost made it to your car before Steve appeared at the door, the expression on his face a mix of everything and seemingly nothing you were looking for all at once. “Where are you going, the movie’s about to start. Mike’s picked out some cheesy horror movie which I know you love to watch and Nance has opened up the last pack of those giggles cookies you love with the weird faces on them-” You hated horror movies, regardless of if they were cheesy and predictable or not, and those giggle cookies with fudge and vanilla cream in them- god you hate them too. You’d eat fudge by itself but for some reason when it’s added to something else it just doesn’t taste right to you.

“Steve.. I’m not feeling great, I’m gonna head home a little early.” You knew he didn’t believe you. You never could lie to him, and his judging eyes told you enough. Not to mention you called him Steve, you never call him Steve, but he didn’t notice.

“You seemed fine a while ago to me. What’s wrong, maybe you can lay down in the spare room?” There he goes treating you like you’re one of the kids and not his girlfriend but that’s not what irks you the most, it’s the fact that mentions the spare room. Not his room, the spare. “Nance can give you one of her green teas, they’re magical I swear, you’ll feel better in an instant. Actually, let me ask her now.” He walked away towards the door, completely disregarding anything you’d said, acting for a moment that he was even paying attention to you tonight bringing up Nancy again and suddenly, you’re done.

“No!” Steve pauses mid stride, hand on the half opened door, slowly turning around shocked by the volume and the panic in your voice, “I’m done Steve, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.”

“Wh-what?!”

“You’re in love with Nancy.”

“I’m what-?!”

“Ha, see you can’t even deny it.”

“Because there’s nothing to deny!” His voice raises even further. He’s never raised his voice at you. He knows how much you hate it and it reminds him of his father so he never did; guess there was a first time for everything.

“Don’t. You don’t love me, you never have. You don’t even know my favourite movie genre or my favourite snack-”

“Yes I do, I just told you!”

“Those are Nancy’s fucking favourites! See you’re pinning after her with those love sick eyes of yours and you don’t even know it.”

“What so not knowing your favourite movie genre or snack is a crime now?! So I’m expected to know everything about my girlfriend?” This elicits a rather loud scoff from you causing Steve to clench his fists in frustration and anger. “We’ve been dating for almost a year so yes, I do expect you to at least know those two things.”

Steve starts again but you cut him off fearing that if you don’t get it out now then you’ll go back to apologising to him the next day and burying it even deeper within you. “It’s her, it’s always been her. I don’t know why I even bothered but I thought you were over her, I truly did. But every time she walks into a room your eyes brighten and they don’t leave her for a single fucking second. You bring her up into every single conversation as if her ghost wasn’t already haunting our relationship and I feel like I’m always being compared to her in everything that I do. Stevie I love you, I truly do but I’m sick of feeling like I’m second place.”

Silence. He doesn’t say anything for what feels like forever. You wished he’d say something, anything, do something to prove you wrong, to tell you it was all in your head or that he’d change, that things would get better. A flash of emotion appears on his face before he puts back on his ‘King Steve’ mask. He never used that with you.

“Okay.” That’s all he says before turning back towards the door and leaving you standing out there in the cold.

That was months ago and here you were with the gang calling you from a pay phone on a Sunday. It seemed like your plans of crying your eyes out to another sappy romance movie that reminded you of your relationship with Steve had been ruined. “Heyyy Y/Nnnn”, came a sheepish voice from the other end of the phone call.

You knew they could feel your eye roll from there, “What do you guys need?”

“What, can’t we call our favourite adult and tell her that we miss her?!”

“Ignoring the fact that this is the first time you’ve called me in months, no Dustin, you can’t call without wanting something first. And favourite?! Ha, nice one. What do you want?”

“Can you please pick us up from the skatepark?” At least he had the common sense to give the phone to Max when the gang wanted something, they all knew she was your soft spot. Then for the millionth time that day, like every other day, your mind went straight to Steve. Where was he? Shouldn’t he be picking up the kids? Why would he just leave them there? They could’ve called anyone else, so why you? And then as if she knew the thoughts running through your head she added, “we didn’t want to bother Eddie and Steve was meant to pick us at two but we got bored and felt bad for asking him to pick us up earlier when he was already in a bad mood this morning and-”

“It’s okay sweetheart, hang tight and I’ll be there in ten. Don’t go anywhere and stick together okay?”

“Yes mum.” And Dustin was back.

He hung up the phone and you went to get changed as quick as you could, sliding along the wooden floor in your socks. If Steve was here now, he’d be laughing his beautiful laugh, teasing you before acting out the scene from ‘Risky Business’, maybe even twirling you around the living room. Shaking your head to prevent more tears from falling, you grabbed your coat and car keys and made your way out the door.

There was a catch. Of course there had to be a catch. Why didn’t you think about this before?!You’d successfully picked up the kids and they’d all piled into your car with their gear when Dustin remembered he’d left something important at Steve’s and needed to pick it up. So here you were driving to your ex boyfriend’s house cursing wildly in your head. It would be fine. You were only going to stay in the car. You wouldn’t even have to see him… right?

Wrong. Fate, aka the kids, had different plans.

Pulling into the driveway, the first thing you noticed was the fairy lights stung around the house. It was still light out, Christmas and New Years were over, Valentine’s Day was even further away, so why were there fairy lights? Why were there sunflowers lining the driveway? Had you stumbled upon Steve’s love confession to Nancy. Oh god. You hoped not.

Here you were, standing on Steve’s porch, knocking on his door instead of Dustin and you hadn’t the slightest clue of how you got there except you figured you’d been roped into some wild scheme that wasn’t going to end well. Fuck me.

Steve Willow Harrington opened the door in all his beautiful glory holding a bouquet of sunflowers, a pack of care bear waffles and ‘The Breakfast Club’. Who the hell allowed him to look so good?!

“Hi.”

No, this was absolutely not happening. He would not turn your heart into mush with one syllable. You started to turn around to leave but his reflexes were faster and he grabbed your hand, the skin heating up under his touch and your heart kickstarted into motion at the electricity that danced along his fingers onto yours. “Please. Don’t go.”

You froze in place. Head and heart conflicted but once you saw the expression on the kids’ faces you understood. He gently pulled you towards him, albeit with a little caution, turning your body but still you refused to look at him. “These are for you.” You accepted them, focusing on the sunshine petals instead of his face until your felt his fingers gently gripping your chin, tilting your head upwards so you were looking into his eyes. Steve’s eyes shone with the telltale sign of tears and regret and something else that you’d only seen when he looked at her. It was love. No. It couldn’t be. You took a step back needing the distance to gather your thoughts. He didn’t get to do this to you, he didn’t get to hurt you all over again.

“I’m sorry. I-” you shook your head, your own tears glistening your eyes making them shine in the fairy lights. “I had a whole speech planned out funnily enough but I see you again for one second and you’ve got speechless. God I- I drove over to your house in the middle of the night to apologise after that day and I chickened out every single time until they all knocked some sense into me.” He nodded behind you towards where the kids were anxiously watching the scene unfolding before them.

“I thought I heard your car but every time I’d look out the window there was no one there so I stopped looking.”

Steve sighed sadly, “You deserve better- you deserved better. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I shouldn’t have taken you for granted. I shouldn’t have made you feel like you were second place, not to Nancy and not to anyone. I should have showed you I cared, that you mattered, that I did know you loved binge watching those sappy romance movies and pointing out bits that reminded you of us and that your favourite snack were those ridiculously overpriced care bear waffles with the rainbow specks of berries because you’d had them since you were a child and refused to give them up. But I didn’t do any of the things I should have. I fucked up and I don’t deserve you. And the worst thing is, I don’t even have a reason why I did them. I think some part of me was terrified of the uncertainty, of the unknown, of how it felt to have someone I was scared to lose. So I buried how I felt about you and turned to something familiar, to something that I could hold onto even if I didn’t actually care about them. It took losing you to realise just how wrong I was and how badly I’d treated you. And I know it doesn’t justify any of what I did to you but I want you to know that I’m sorry and if I could do it all over again, I would do it differently. I would fight for you instead of leaving you there and I would show you exactly how I feel about you.”

You were both crying now, “and how do you feel about me?” The air stilled in anticipation, your fingers twisting around the fabric of your sleeve in a nervous dance.

“I love you.”

That admission of love, and the fact that he said it so easily like it was a fact that everyone should know, knocked the air out of your lungs. You felt breathless after his speech.

“I won’t deny that you hurt me and maybe I do deserve better but I know you can give it to me just as I hope I can give it to you. It won’t be easy and it will take time and a lot of work to get to- to us but if you’re willing to put in the work…” Steve nodded his head enthusiastically, tears slipping down his cheeks for he’d feared the worst, “then I am too.” Then came his megawatt smile, eyes crinkling at the edges from pure happiness. He pulled you into a hug, wrapping his arms around your shoulders delicately so as to not damage the flowers, while yours wrapped around his waist. The kids were dancing by your car, pumping their fists into the air but neither of you payed any attention to them.

“And for the record, I love you too Stevie.”

#✉️#drew writes!#stevie <3 #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader angst #steve harrington x fem!reader fluff #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fluff

664 notes · View notes

baldwinboy5ive · 6 months

Text

I was going to post these screenshots and say "haha AU where the Blades gang, including Aerin, does the Morellan equivalent of the Hot Ones challenge"

but then... I wrote... a whole... stupid fic. I absolutely promise you that it is so, so stupid. Please don't read it without having acknowledged that.

Name on the Wall

Pairing: Aerin Valleros/F!MC, Blades of Light and Shadow Other characters: Tyril Starfury, Nia Ellarious, Mal Volari, Imtura Tal Kaelen, Kade of Riverbend Rating: ...T...? BOLAS says "godsdamn" is a swear haha. Word count: 3441 Summary: See above. It's total fluff. It's "HEY let's give Aerin and MC a happy ending! A VERY happy ending!"

I am tagging @lovehugsandcandy @lilyoffandoms @malthemagnifisent because they requested (or demanded haha) a tag, and @oh-so-youre-a-nerd because you said you wanted even CRUMBS of Aerin haha

Raine had once said to Cherta that her friends were her found family, and Cherta had told her that she needed to work on growing the “found” part. Well, it was finally happening. Raine couldn’t help smiling as she approached Riverbend, ready to begin a days-long celebration of her engagement to Aerin Valleros, former disgraced prince of Morella, now pardoned citizen and hero of the realm for his part in defeating the threats to their kingdom.

Tyril was first to arrive and meet Raine and Aerin, and greeted the former with a fierce embrace, and the latter with a curt nod. Kade was next to appear, and they waited for Mal and Nia’s arrival with Threep and Loola. They all planned to meet in the town square with Imtura, and drop the nespers off with an old neighbor of Raine and Kade’s, where they were to be given plenty of food and attention until tomorrow, when everyone would be in attendance of an engagement party.

Upon its arrival at the town square, Threep and Loola immediately burst forth from a carriage, fluttered their wings, and flew up to Aerin, nuzzling his face and purring.

“The entire way over here! ‘Snacks! Snacks! Snacks!’ They wouldn’t even stop when I threatened to turn the whole carriage around and go back to Whitetower!” Mal yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation as he hopped down from the carriage.

“Because they knew you were bluffing,” said Nia, stepping out of the carriage behind him.

Tyril, ignoring their banter, looked at the affectionate display by the nespers, and then wordlessly turned towards Raine, expectantly raising a hand and waiting for an explanation.

“Oh, yeah. You know they always used to hiss at him. Especially Loola. You know. Not so happy about being locked up and all that, especially while Aerin was walking around in those dungeons. Well, she finally got to him the last time we were in Whitetower, that time you went to go see your family back home in Undermount. She clawed his face up pretty bad,” said Raine with the tiniest of smiles.

“Ever since then, Aerin’s been bribing them with treats,” finished Mal with a loud snicker. “He basically would buy out my buddy over at the pier and dump a whole bag of fish on them, and now look at those spoiled things.”

“You can still see it!” Aerin said, pointing to some faint scars on his cheek, while obligingly throwing some fish out of his pockets to the nespers.

“Yeah, he could finally pretend he was big enough to cut himself shaving!” said Mal with an obnoxiously loud laugh.

Aerin rolled his eyes. “And I have two nespers here who’d do anything I say for a few more of these anchovies, including making you look like you’d cut yourself shaving.”

“Sorry, Mal,” said Threep, who at least had the decency to look abashed. “An anchovy’s an anchovy. You understand. It’s nothing personal.”

“Hush, Threep. Mal, you know he wouldn’t, really,” said Loola.

“Wait a minute…” began Kade as realization dawned on him. “I was locked up, too. Hold on. You mean I could’ve been getting free stuff from Aerin this whole time?!”

Before anyone could answer, Imtura came striding up towards the group.

“Landrat! Princeling!” Imtura said, clapping both of them on the shoulders with a hand each. “Time to get our hot sauce on!”

“Huh?” said Aerin. “I thought all the party stuff was tomorrow.”

“It is,” replied Raine with a mischievous grin. “Today we’re doing the Saucy Folks Challenge.”

“Yes!” Nia said giddily. “I’m scared! And also excited! But mostly scared!”

Tyril nodded emphatically. “To be honest, I feel quite the same way,” he said.

“What’s… going on?” said Aerin dubiously.

“The Saucy Folks Challenge,” Raine repeated. “Ten hot sauces in order of increasingly intense spiciness. The challenge dictates that each participant eats fried pargallus wings tossed in the hot sauces, in order, while answering deep, burning - pun intended - personal questions. You can drop out anytime you like, but if you make it to Number Ten, you get your name on the wall of honor, and a bunch of free food. It’s… mostly a bunch of fried stuff.”

“And bragging rights, don’t forget the bragging rights,�� added Mal.

Aerin groaned. “You mean you four knew?”

“Well, uh, yes,” Nia stammered. “She and Kade said it was a tradition. I couldn’t see the harm in it.”

Aerin turned to Raine, and asked, “Then why didn’t you just tell me that’s why we were coming here early?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Imtura said with a booming laugh. “You know godsdamn well you would’ve said no. That girl isn’t stupid.”

With a rueful smile, Aerin said, “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“You don’t; I think I’ll bow out, though,” Kade said.

Mal chuckled. “I’ve been eating spicy food my whole life - I thought I had a leg up on all you guys, but I didn’t think you were going to quit before we even got started!”

“Yeah…” Kade said absently, looking off into the distance at some of the stores in the town square.

Raine shook her head. “You’re wrong, Mal. Kade’s already beaten the challenge. You can see for yourself. His name’s on the wall… at the tavern.”

“Ohhh. The tavern. That’s where this challenge is hosted,” Aerin said, as understanding came over him. He and Raine had talked extensively about their families - including the sheer amount of trouble Kade was always getting himself into when he and Raine were growing up in Riverbend. “You just don’t want to face that barkeep again.”

The group - minus Kade - laughed.

“Come on, just come with us,” Imtura insisted, slinging an arm around Kade’s shoulders.

“Besides, Raine’s here, and she’ll never let him kill you,” Aerin pointed out.

“That’s true,” agreed Tyril.

---

A collective cheer came from the crowd gathered in the tavern as the group stepped inside.

“The heroes of the realm!” several people shouted. Tankards of ale were raised, and the heroes were clapped on their backs and shoulders as they made their way to the bar counter.

“Raine! Back home already? To what do we owe the pleasure?” asked the barkeep.

“That,” answered Raine, pointing to the wall behind the bar. There was a painting of a pargallus, a small domesticated bird found widely throughout Morella, raised for its feathers, eggs, and meat. It was dramatically engulfed in flames, and its eyes were crossed out with black X marks. This was the logo of the infamous Saucy Folks Challenge, so named for the Saucy Sausage that originated from Riverbend, along with the other nine hot sauces that made up the challenge.

“See? Right there,” said Kade proudly, pointing to the long list of names under the cartoon pargallus.

“All right, I concede,” said Mal, raising an eyebrow.

“Hah! The Saucy Folks Challenge! Wonderful! Any special occasion, or just because?” asked the barkeep, who was already beginning to gather some trays and baskets.

Raine glanced over at Aerin, who flushed a crimson so deep he almost resembled the burning pargallus, and she showed the barkeep the royal ring she wore on her hand. “He gave this to me when we first met. A lot’s happened since then. But now it’s official: we just got engaged.”

There were several surprised gasps from the tavern patrons, and then a second round of celebratory cheers made its way throughout the establishment.

“Well, then, I offer my congratulations!” said the barkeep. “Our little Raine, all grown up, about to get married! To a prince, no less!”

“Well, that part is currently up in the air,” corrected Aerin.

Mal smirked. “I think the term they used was ‘On Probation,’ or, alternatively, ‘We’re Watching You, Young Man.’ They may be on a three-strikes system. Or something.”

“In any case, back in the king’s good graces,” continued the barkeep, his voice becoming stern.

“Ehhh…” said Raine, teetering her palm back and forth in the air.

The barkeep’s expression turned deadly serious. “What I’m getting at is, surely this family is now prospering. I mean it, Kade. It was cute at first, but this has gone on long enough. You think it’s easy making a living here? I don’t care that you’re a hero of the realm, Kade, you’re our hometown boy first, and I expect our folk to take care of each other here in Riverbend - and that means paying your tab in full!”

Kade sat on his barstool taking this in quietly, all while a big smile spread across his face until he was positively chortling with joy.

“What’s so funny?!” demanded the barkeep.

Kade, still with the giant grin on his face, swiveled around on his stool to face his future brother-in-law.

There was an awkward pause. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Aerin relented, groaned, and said, “Fine.”

“Hooray!” exclaimed Kade, putting both hands in the air and spinning on his barstool.

“Wait, really? I’m finally getting paid?” said the barkeep with no small amount of astonishment.

“Hand over the tab,” said Aerin with a sigh. He accepted a thick stack of paper from the barkeep, and his eyes grew wider and wider as he scanned over it. “What the three hells, Kade?”

“Thanks, Aerin! I can tell we’re going to be great as brothers-in-law!” Kade said with a laugh.

“Yep.”

---

“Here it is!” Raine said brightly, approaching the table around which her friends were gathered with an enormous tray filled with fried pargallus wings, each basket of wings being labeled with a number.

“The local butcher’s family has been making these hot sauces for generations. People around here say that they just keep getting hotter and hotter every year. They partner with the tavern to host the challenge, since… well, people want a lot of ale while doing it,” Raine said with a laugh.

“All right,” she continued excitedly. “You ready? It starts with our hometown favorite, Saucy Sausage, and it only gets hotter.”

“It starts with Saucy Sausage?!” said Nia with great trepidation.

“I warned you,” replied Raine with a grin.

“So, Kade? You in or not?” Mal said, nudging Kade in the ribs.

“I was going to say I have nothing to prove - I’ve already got my name on the wall. But you know what? What the hell, my only sister’s getting married! I’m in!”

The table cheered.

“A lot of people do it for weddings, but it’s not a wedding-specific tradition,” Kade clarified as he sat down. “It’s just a thing people do in Riverbend. No special occasion needed, really. People make any old excuse to get together with friends and do the challenge.”

“Then I suppose, as we are here, celebrating an occasion, with friends, it appears we are all set to go,” concluded Tyril.

As everyone began to grab a basket for themselves and get seated, Aerin hesitated.

“Come on, you can sit next to me,” said Raine warmly.

Aerin, however, stayed where he was, and fixed his eyes on Tyril. “Did you mean that?”

“What?”

“Well…” Aerin began hesitantly. “That we’re friends?”

“Yes,” said Tyril flatly. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because… you don’t really treat me all that differently than when you all were threatening to kill me every two seconds?”

Mal, Imtura, and Nia all exchanged amused looks with one another. Then Imtura gestured towards Tyril and said, “You think he doesn’t like you? I think you offended him, Aerin.”

“Yeah, he looks confused and offended,” added Mal.

“Yeah, tell him, landrat,” Imtura goaded Raine.

Aerin felt that Tyril appeared exactly as he always did.

“Um… no he doesn’t,” Aerin said, to which everyone else but Tyril laughed.

“You keep hanging with us, princeling, and you’ll start to see it,” Mal said good-naturedly.

“Yes, that’s just how his face is, Aerin,” Nia explained patiently.

“Not you, too,” Tyril grumbled at her.

“It’s just… well, I just assumed you still hated me,” said Aerin.

“Then why would I be here right now?” Tyril asked.

“To support Raine, of course.”

“If we still hated you, we would have simply thrown a private bachelorette party for her without you.”

“Ooh, we could still do that, too, though,” said Imtura. She and Nia exchanged a look, ensuring that this was definitely happening.

“Then… you’re here for the free ale?” Aerin said helplessly.

“Former Prince Aerin,” Tyril said icily, “I assure you that if I should ever attempt to make nice with Raine’s acquaintances, even if I did not like them, it would not be for the paltry reward of free ale and a basket of assorted fritters.”

“You also get your name on the wall,” Mal interjected.

“And hey, those fritters are good!” Raine insisted.

Tyril turned away to look out of the tavern window in order to hide the mixture of amusement and annoyance on his face. When he turned back around, he was perfectly composed.

“You are, as they say, stuck with us,” insisted Tyril.

“Huh. So we’re friends,” said Aerin, a teasing grin finally appearing on his face.

Tyril Starfury let out a breath and, in his heart, cursed Raine of Riverbend for letting things come to this point. That boy really was annoying.

“The things I do for my friends,” he muttered aloud.

“So?! We starting, or what?” said Imtura.

“Yes, we’re starting!” Raine said decisively. “All right, everyone ready with Sauce One? All you have to do is finish those wings to move onto Sauce Two. Oh, and think up some really good questions, everyone!”

“Wait, hold on, landrat,” cut in Imtura. “You never told us how we win.”

“Yes, we did,” said Kade. “You get through all ten sauces in order, you answer all the questions that are asked of you, and then you win.”

Imtura’s face was a mixture of astonishment and dismay. “No, I mean, then who wins?”

Kade and Raine both looked a little confused. “Everyone who gets to Sauce Ten?” Raine said.

“Then how do you…?” Imtura trailed off.

“You beat the challenge by getting all the way to the end, that’s it,” said Kaid simply.

“So you’re saying there’s a chance that all of us could win, and no one single person is the champion?!” Imtura demanded.

Raine snorted. “I’m not so sure that all of us will win.”

Then it was Mal’s turn to scoff. “I’m the one who introduced you to Purple Parnassians, kit.”

“Mal, those things are probably a one on the scale, maybe a two.”

“Hah!” barked Mal, though Raine didn’t miss the look of apprehension that crossed his face.

Imtura narrowed her eyes at Mal. “Ooh, I’m beating you, at least.”

Aerin, who was familiar with Purple Parnassians back in Whitetower, looked even more nervous than he was before. “So I really have to do this?” he said.

“Oh, just you wait, you who mocked Saucy Sausage,” replied Raine. She then turned towards Tyril, and added, “And so did you, if I remember correctly.”

And so the challenge began.

“Oh, gods,” cried Tyril. “This is horrible.” He shot his arm out towards Imtura. “Ale. Ale.”

“Help!” wailed Mal. He cast a stricken glance over to Nia, who herself was in excruciating pain from Sauce Five, and was not capable of thinking straight. Nia grabbed a pitcher of water and threw it upon herself and Mal, leaving the two of them sputtering.

WIth tears in his eyes, Tyril straightened his shoulders and summoned up what was left of his dignity. “This isn’t working,” he declared. “Hand over the milk.”

“With the ale?!” gasped Imtura, who was fanning herself with her napkin in between gulps of her own ale.

“Not together!” growled Tyril with aggravation.

“This burns more than the Nerada Stone,” sobbed Aerin.

“I’m in too much pain right now to decide if that’s too soon or not, Aerin,” said Mal.

“Wait,” Tyril suddenly said, who was in slightly better shape for having had some milk. “I just remembered we were supposed to be asking questions.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Mal. “Okay, I’ll go first. So, comparing this to the Nerada Stone: too soon?”

“No, it was funny,” answered Tyril with grave sincerity, readying himself for another pargallus wing.

“Agree,” said Kade.

“You don’t even know funny!” shot Mal. ��And this proves it!”

“Just eat your wings!” Tyril roared back, more tears welling up in his eyes.

Nia was panting hard, and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “Imtura, did you ever feel that you lash out at people sometimes because your mother wasn’t generous enough with her affection?”

“Whoa!” Imtura sputtered, spitting out some of her ale and coughing, in equal measures from shock and from the heat of Sauce Five.

“Priestess isn’t holding back!” Mal exclaimed.

“Well?” Tyril prodded.

“Yes! Happy?!” Imtura growled, tearing viciously into a pargallus wing.

“All right, Mal, you’re up,” said Raine. “Deepest darkest secret you’ve never told anyone else ever.”

Mal managed to bark out a weak laugh amidst his panting and gasping. “Why do I get that one?!”

“Everybody can answer that one, too,” said Raine diplomatically.

“Um… don’t have any,” said Mal.

“Boooo!” shouted the rest of the table.

“Fine! I had a crush on Raine when I first met her!”

“EVEN MORE BOOOOOO!” yelled Imtura. “We all knew that!”

“Yeah,” said Nia, sniffling through her tears. “Raine said, deepest darkest secret no one knows!”

“Very funny,” Mal said, himself sniffling through tears as well.

“Kit this, kit that,” Tyril mocked savagely. “It could not have been more painfully obvious.”

Mal turned towards Tyril with venom in his eyes. “Oh? And you?” he said accusingly.

Tyril then had a coughing fit from his efforts to make it through Sauce Seven. When he recovered, he said, “Everyone liked Raine. That is no real secret.”

“Is no one going to ask Tyril about the existential crisis he had when we went to Zaradun?” challenged Mal.

“Just eat your wings!!!” shouted Tyril with more emotion than he’d shown all day.

“Ice, elf boy, please,” huffed Mal, pushing a glass of water towards Tyril.

Tyril obliged, using his magic to drop some ice cubes into Mal’s water. “Only because you said ‘please,’” he said grimly.

Ignoring this, Nia asked, “Raine, did you ever have romantic feelings for anyone else in your adventuring party?”

Raine, who was soldiering through Sauce Nine, but visibly struggling, eventually gained enough composure to answer. “Maybe. I might have. If Aerin hadn’t come along when he did.”

“Who?”

“Yes, who?!”

“Tell us!”

“Oh, I don’t know! You guys know I flirted with everyone back then!”

“Who could forget the bug monster…” Mal said darkly, as he wiped his brow and downed some more ale.

“Done!” Raine suddenly shouted, throwing a bone down into the basket in front of her, and raising her tankard of ale. “Sauce Ten!”

The tavern patrons all cheered and whooped, and thumped the tables. “Raine! Raine!” some chanted.

“All right, I am not getting left behind,” said Imtura with renewed determination. She clenched her jaw, and then tore through Sauces Eight and Nine. The others followed suit, amidst sobs and yells, and dramatic gulps of their ale. Sauce Ten was now in everyone’s sights.

“We’re gonna add a whole bunch more names to that wall tonight!” shouted Kade. “I get a special mark for doing it twice!”

“Keep fighting!” growled Nia.

“We can do this!” added Imtura.

“Put mine up there!” screamed Mal, his face bright red and shiny with perspiration and tears. “Done!”

“Done!”

“DONE!”

“Sauce Ten, done!”

Raine turned towards her fiance, and gave him a triumphant smile before leaning in and kissing him.

“Feels like fire,” he said with a big grin. Raine couldn’t tell if his face was red from the kiss, or - well, frankly, it was probably mostly from the challenge.

Aerin looked around at the people surrounding him - sweating, coughing, wiping away tears, gulping down milk and ale - and even through the sheer pain he was feeling in his whole face from going through this ordeal, he realized he didn’t want to be anywhere else, doing anything else, with any other folks.

His family wasn’t the one into which he was born. His family was the one that took him in, forgave him for the things that he’d done, and relentlessly teased him every chance they got.

He gritted his teeth with determination. They were his new family. Therefore, his name godsdamned well better be joining theirs up on that wall.

“Done! SAUCE TEN!” he shouted, and it brought the house down.

The tavern erupted with a deafening cheer.

There was no better way for Raine and Aerin to start their celebrations and new life together.

#aerin valleros #aerin x mc #blades of light and shadow #my fic

55 notes · View notes

supercorpkid · 3 months

Text

Powergirl Should Die - Final

Supergirl. Powergirl. Kara Danvers x BabyDanvers!Reader, Alex Danvers x BabyDanvers!Reader, Lena Luthor, J'onn J'onnz, Winn Schott.

Word Count: 2750.

Part 1. Part 2.

Powergirl is gone.

"Boss." You nod at J'onn when you fly into the DEO. Alex hears your voice and makes her way towards the both of you. "Tag me in tonight. I've got a good night of rest. I'm ready to patrol the hell out of this town."

"I'm sorry, Powergirl." J'onn, whose voice displays no emotion at all, says. "I'm taking you out of this case. You're too close to the cause."

"What? Of course I'm too close, it's about me!” You speak a little too loud and notice all the other agents pretending they can't hear you. "You can't get me out of the case of someone trying to kill me."

"Are they? Trying to kill you?" You hear Winn's voice on J’onn’s back and you turn your head to look at him. You must be making some face because he looks scared when he sees you. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't butt in."

"Yeah, you shouldn't, computer guy."

"Hey!" Alex defends him and you roll your eyes.

"I just –" Winn continues even after seeing you scowl. "They haven't done anything. You have been getting those messages for a couple of weeks now. You should think someone would have tried something. Did anyone try anything?"

"No."

"Besides," Alex chimes in again. "It's not wise getting yourself in danger for it. Wait around, when we catch them you can do the interrogation yourself."

"Is this for real?" You look at the three agents ganging up on you, looking dead serious about it. You shake your head in disbelief. "This whole place is a joke!"

You go to L Corp for lunch. You show up with a bag of Belly Burgers and a whole speech for Lena. The thing is, Lena truly helped you sleep well the night before. With her you felt safe and yourself. Even with her finding out that you are Powergirl, you could let yourself forget about it, at least while you were in her arms. But still you can't help but feel like you took advantage of her.

You decide to save this whole conversation until after you both finish eating.

"Hey," Lena slides in a little closer, reaching for your hand on top of the couch. "You were quiet all throughout lunch. You know you can trust me with your secret, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm not worried about that." You give her a truthful smile and she slides in even closer, grabbing your hand and holding it between hers.

"What are you worried about, then? Let me in." Lena requests so softly, there's no way you can deny her. "I know the writing is keeping you awake," She makes sure. "but what else is keeping you closed off?"

"Lena." Her name comes out as a whine, and as result she kisses your temple while squeezing your hand in comfort. "What if the writing is coming from someone I know?"

She furrows her brows, but doesn't press you further. "Then you can do something about it, right? You're Powergirl! You're the strongest person I know!"

"Really?" She agrees with her head. You don't buy it. "What about Supergirl?"

"I mean, don't you and Kara have the same powers? Why would she be stronger?" Lena seems sincere, like she truly doesn't think that Kara is better than you in any way, including being a superhero.

"Yeah, I guess." You don't wanna tell her that you think your own sister is writing those things. Lena is Kara's best friend too. You can't poison that unless you know for sure. And the only way you can know for sure is if you confront your sister. "I guess I do have to do something about it."

You're not exactly thrilled to have this conversation with Kara, but it seems to be overdue.

"Hey," Lena whispers a bit closer. "I'm here for whatever you need. Always."

"I thought you would be mad that I didn't tell you I was Powergirl."

"I was. It lasted half a second." Lena says and you smile widely at her.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I was so sleep deprived I just made you uncomfortable with the whole nonsense about you getting me naked. I mean, obviously you wouldn't wanna kiss–"

Lena interrupts you, with her lips crashing into yours. You first widen your eyes in surprise, but when her hand makes way to your neck, you're quick to close your eyes and melt into the kiss.

"I wasn't gonna kiss you yesterday." She whispers, breaking the kiss, and you slowly open your eyes. Your faces are so close you see every single color in Lena's iris. She's so damn beautiful. "You were so tired, it was like taking advantage of a drunk girl."

"I would've let you, though." You joke and she laughs before kissing you again. "Thank you, darling. You have no idea how much you've helped me last night. It was the first night in months I haven't had a single nightmare."

"Glad to be at service." Lena kisses your cheek, and you move your hands out of hers to snuggle her into your embrace. "Same time tonight?"

"Can't wait." You punctuate it with kisses on her face, and finally breathe deep. At least a good thing since you can't patrol the city tonight. Although, you don't think there will be any writing done. Not after you confront Kara about it.

It's after work when you fly through Kara's apartment window, unceremoniously.

"Oh hey!" Kara opens her arms excitedly when she sees you and you give her a forced smile. "You were reading my mind, I was about to call you and ask you to come over."

You make your way inside, but not before your sister pulls you in for a hug and a kiss on the top of your head.

"Why?" You untangle yourself making way to her couch. She furrows her brows when notices that you don't hug her back, but you're already throwing yourself on the couch, supersuit and all.

"Alex told me J'onn decided to take you off the case." You raise your head at her when she comes closer, a clear scowl. "I'm sorry, mini me. I promise I'll do whatever it takes to make the writing stop, ok?" Kara kneels in front of you, reaches for a loose strand of hair, and puts it behind your ear. "It will be alright."

"Will it?" You glare at her, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"It will." Kara gives you a trying smile. "In the meantime, maybe you can talk to Lena about having more sleepovers, so you can continue sleeping well. I'm sure she won't mind."

"Why are you so worried about how well I sleep?"

"Because!" You hear her heart picking up the pace, so you wait for the rest, sure you must be closing in on her real reasons. "Sleep is important, and I know you were having a hard time with it. Nightmares ain't fun." You raise an eyebrow at her, she licks her lips. "And you said you were having them for a while. How-how long again?"

"Months."

"Right. Months with no good sleep, having to work and be a superhero. It takes a toll."

"You know what else takes a toll on people?" Kara raises an eyebrow in question. "Lying."

"Um, I guess. Have you? Been lying?"

"Me?" You can't believe she won't admit it. And she thinks you're the one lying. What the hell. "Oh no, I'm not the liar. You are."

"What?" Kara's mouth opens and closes a few times, like she can't believe she got caught. Like she didn't think you would find out. "What are you even talking about?"

And then, just like that, you snap. Anger starts boiling your blood, and you get up in a swift movement, ready to unleash hell. She stumbles back in surprise. It takes her a few seconds to get up too.

"You made me a superhero. Forced me into this life." You spit out greeted teeth. "Have you ever thought I could want something else? Have you ever thought of me as something other than a mini you?"

"What?"

"You got me to work for you and Alex! So you could both control my every step! And now what? Now you don't want me to be Powergirl anymore?"

"What?" She repeats, looking so surprised, you don't know how she can fake it so well. When did your sister become such a good actress? "What do you mean? Of course I do!"

"Then why have you been writing on fucking billboards and buildings that Powergirl should die?" Kara's eyes widen so much, you can't help but to roll your own. "Oh Rao, stop playing dumb already! I saw you, ok?"

"You saw me?"

"Red cape, blonde hair flying in the wind. All of it."

Kara furrows her eyebrows, "Really?" You agree with your head. "Red cape like this one?" She grabs your cape, pulling you to the direction of the mirror. "Blonde hair like that one?" She points at your reflection.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." You can't stop the irony thick in your voice. "Yeah, sure. I'm the one writing that I should die."

"You are." Kara holds your face between her hands. "You haven't been having nightmares, Y/N. What you think you're dreaming, it's really happening. And the red cape you saw was yours."

"No."

"It's not the first time, either. You used to have them in Krypton too. Used to go around doing things you wouldn't remember and blame them on me."

"You're lying." You push Kara away from you so strongly, you're amazed she doesn't fall. "Just admit you did it! Why won't you?"

"Because I did! Our whole lives I would take the blame for everything you did while you were sleepwalking. With mother and father, Eliza, even with Alex. Gosh, Alex is still mad at me for destroying her chances to go to Europe when you were the one that did it!"

"No, you did it! You – You exploded Alex's stuff with your heat vision and Eliza thought you were feeling left out, I saw your blonde hair!" You stop yourself, walking backwards until your legs hit the couch again and you fall in it, wordless.

"You hate being Powergirl so you want her dead." Kara whispers lightly not to startle you. "I can't take the blame for this, because it won't stop it. You're the one that has to stop this now." She clears her throat to make sure you're still listening. "Kid, I can protect you from all the monsters and villains and planet explosions, but I can't protect you from yourself."

Your mind is screaming at you. Short-circuiting being overflowed with memories. She is right. Oh no, Kara is right. It was you all along.

When Kal was born you were jealous of the attention he was getting, so you stole his baby blanket and hid under Kara's bed.

You lost your spy beacon, so aunt Astra could only communicate with Kara afterwards. But you blamed Kara for having stolen yours and everyone believed you.

Alex said she wouldn't be back from college that year. Instead, she was going to Europe for the summer. You got mad and sad, you missed your sister so much and was so anxious to see her, yet she wasn't coming home. So you did it. You exploded Alex's side of the room and said Kara did it.

And Kara took the blame. She took the blame for you again and again. She would have people yelling at her, mad at her, but she wouldn't accuse you.

Oh my God, you just blamed your sister for wanting you dead when she was only trying to protect you from yourself again.

"Kara," You raise your tear-soaked face at her. "I swear I didn't know. I – I didn't do it on purpose."

"I know, baby." She whispers, one lonely tear rolling down her cheeks.

"No, I – Kara, I –" You can't talk. Can't breathe. It's all too much. "I'm sorry." You fall on your kneecaps, head hanging low. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll tell Alex, I'll call Eliza and tell her too, I wish I could tell mother and father, I wish I –"

Kara kneels in front of you, pulls your face to her chest and hugs your head. "You're ok. It's ok." She kisses the crown of your head. "It's what I'm here for. I'm here to protect you. I'm here to prevent you from getting hurt. I would've taken the blame for this too, if I could. But if I did, the writing would never stop."

"You took the blame for everything." You cry harder. "Oh Rao, I've been hating you for weeks. But it was all my fault. And you," You look up to her, though you can't see right with all of the tears blurring your view. "You knew. I was treating you so badly, and you knew exactly why."

Kara shrugs. She doesn't care that you've been blaming her. Why doesn't she care?

"I told you," She answers the question right out of your mind. "I will always protect you. And I won't stop just because you're being mean to me. I'm your big sister and I love you."

You hold her tight, crying non stop, unable to tell her how much you love her too. But she knows. She knows by the way you're sobbing and giving her a bone-crushing hug at the same time.

"It's time to let Powergirl go, baby." She cleans your tears, and helps you up. "Come on, let's let her go."

"But – But you need my help, you need me to be her." You whine, even though you are making it easier for Kara to detach the cape from your back.

"No." Kara speaks softly and kisses your temple, soothing. "I don't need Powergirl. I need my sister. I need you, Y/N."

She helps you out of your stupid gloves and boots, while you cry. You don't know why you're crying. You're happy, you’re finally free of this gigantic responsibility that was placed on your back. You’re happy you won’t have to lie anymore. And yet, you cry.

“Come on, it’s over now.” Kara shows up in front of you with one of her baggy hoodie and you’re out of skin tight suit soon after. And so you can finally breathe again.

You watch Kara carefully folding your suit and placing them in a box. She gives it to you so you can decide what to do with it. You don’t take the box from her hands.

“You keep it. In case of an emergency.”

Kara looks at the box in her hands. “I’ll not ask you to put on this suit again, I promise.”

And you believe her. But you also know that if any of your sisters or Lena are in danger, no one will even have to ask you.

“You take it to the DEO then. I’m sure they’ll keep it safe.” You hug Kara tight, one last tear falling from your eye. “Thank you for everything. Thank you for keeping me safe and always protecting me. El Mayarah."

"El Mayarah, mini you. Mini sis? Minnie Mouse!" Kara says and scrunches her nose at it.

"Yikes."

"I'll think of something else." Kara guarantees, kissing the top of your head. And you make your way to the door. "Wait," She says before you leave. "You're not wearing pants."

"Oh," You look at the large hoodie reaching mid thighs. "It's fine, I don't think Lena would mind."

"I knew it!" Kara says excitedly, and then she furrows her brows right after. "Can't let you leave the house with no pants, though. Especially now that I know where you're going."

"Fineeee." You pretend to be annoyed, but you're not really. It wasn't a good idea leaving the house without pants. Kara gives you matching sweatpants and kisses your head one more time before you leave.

"I'm happy for you and Lena, little one." Then she smiles brightly, eyes lightning up as well. "I think I got it this time."

"You've got it."

Powergirl is gone. Not dead. But definitely gone. And that lifts a huge weight from your shoulders and you're completely sure you won't have nightmares and won't sleepwalk again. At least not for that reason.

But hey, who are you to skip a sleepover date with your beautiful girlfriend, right?

#supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #kara x reader #lena x reader #reader insert #alex danvers #baby danvers

39 notes · View notes

jackoshadows · 2 years

Text

A blogger was wondering the other day why there were not more posts theorizing about Arya’s future arcs and I posited that it was because there was a tendency in this fandom to devalue Arya’s story, themes, characterization and strengths, negate them entirely, ignore them or subtly hand them off to prop up Sansa’s story.

Browsing the Arya tags today and I came across an example of exactly what I was talking about.

Example 1 from a fake Arya/Sansa stan (Someone pretending to be Arya’s number one fan and yet thinks that Arya’s best endgame is her being Sansa’s PA and personal spymaster.

Here is an example of how they pretend to build up Arya and then subtly take away and undermine her strengths. They say Arya is the one training at gathering information - and then immediately mention how Sansa also has information skills. Because it’s important that Sansa is on par with Arya at every level and good at everything.

Note: Over 5 books I have not read Sansa trying to collect information for the sole purpose of using that information to further some goal. So the person above saying that Sansa also has ‘information skills’ is just plain wrong.

Then they make the point that while Arya gathers the information, it’s Sansa who will figure out what to do with it... There is just so much wrong with this interpretation, which has no basis at all in the books.

Arya is good at not only gathering information, but also knowing what to do with it! Her whole arc in Harrenhal - a nest of intrigue and political tension - clearly demonstrates this. Even way back in AGoT, Arya knows that the Lannisters are upto no good. She sees the Lannister guards at the galley that was supposed to take them away from KL and knows it’s a trap.

Even when Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, Lommy, Weasel etc are traveling, she’s the leader of that little gang, making the plans and plotting rescue operations.

As Roose’s cupbearer she hears Roose and the Freys discuss plans, realizes that the situation is going to change very soon and that she needs to get out of there, sneaks a look at the map and figures out a route, then conceives of, plans and executes the entire escape, including take care of logistics.

In contrast to all this, Sansa unwittingly spills information to the Tyrells because Margaery is beautiful and sweet and it’s Littlefinger who plans her escape and Dontos who gives her step by step instruction on what to do, which she follows.

Apart from that one time where Sansa guesses Corbray could be LF’s man in the 4th book (Even here, she doesn’t know how she comes to that conclusion! LF has to explain it to her), when has Sansa ever put 2 and 2 together to come up with 4? She has so much information at her disposal - that Lysa and LF plotted and murdered Jon Arryn, that LF was the last person to have Jeyne Poole, the plotting for the purple wedding which LF explains to her. At no point in AFfC do we see her thinking about any of this information she has.

I have no idea how someone reading the books with no bias can have the opinion that Arya is only good for information gathering and that’s going to be her endgame - being Sansa’s spy - while Sansa is the one who deciphers the information. How?! It’s just utter nonsense.

Example 2 of Arya’s book strengths being undermined and handed off to Sansa:

Arya is ten times smarter than Sansa in the books, in canon. But yes, let’s point out that Arya ‘isn’t dumb because she can figure things out’ to give the appearance of being a neutral fan who loves both Arya and Sansa equally!!

Arya is the heart and Sansa is the head? Sansa good at analyzing information without feelings and providing context?

Arya has both heart and the brains to go with it! That’s why she is leadership material. She has empathy, kindness and compassion, she has the intelligence to understand right and wrong, to get information, to use information, to understand political intrigue. The person who knows her best, Jon Snow, describes her as ‘clever’ in the books.

It’s Sansa who sees Joffrey sadistically maul another child and attack Arya with his sword and think that it’s her ‘beautiful, sweet prince’ who is the victim in all this. It’s Sansa who thinks that the Queen who ordered her pet wolf dead for petty vengeance knows better than her father. It’s Sansa who trusts the Tyrells because Margaery is beautiful and elegant and graceful unlike unsatisfactory Arya. It’s Sansa who continues to be LF’s pawn in the Vale participating in the slow poisoning of her little cousin because ‘Father knows best’.

It’s Sansa who overhears LF’s price gouging schemes and about the food scarcity everywhere and still the most troubling thing for her is Harry the Hair calling her a bastard, while enjoying a 64 dish extravagant feast.

It’s Sansa who is unable to understand why the hungry people of KL attacked her and Joffrey’s coterie in KL while loving Margaery (Hint: It’s about food)

The same smallfolk who pulled me from my horse and would have killed me, if not for the Hound. Sansa had done nothing to make the commons hate her, no more than Margaery Tyrell had done to win their love. - Sansa, AGoT

Arya meanwhile feels guilt when she realizes that the smallfolk of the Riverlands suffer the consequences of war - that it does not matter who wins, Stark, Lannister,Tully - the victims are the ordinary people.

"Wolves, she thought again. Like me. Was this her pack? How could they be Robb’s men? She wanted to hit them. She wanted to hurt them. She wanted to cry.” - Arya, ASoS

And Arya has studied Heraldry and history under the Septa, same as Sansa. She recognized her father’s men and their houses using their heraldry. She is further learning about Braavosi history and politics in AFfC and ADwD. She has a keen understanding of the North by spending time with her father.

Sansa nearly pushes Joffrey off the walkway until the Hound steps in and stops her, but it’s Arya who is all emotional while Sansa analyzes information? The same Arya who endures beatings and sees innocent people killed and yet stays silent because she was powerless to help? That Arya is too emotional to analyze information?

There’s this narrative that’s constantly propagated by certain fans that claim to love both characters the same - that Sansa and Arya have complimentary skillsets and will have to work together as a team. Those same folks also always envisage this team as comprising of Queen in the North/Lady of Winterfell Sansa Stark and her assistant Arya Stark. To hell with that nonsense.

Arya Stark has all the characteristics and the strengths to be a leader of Winterfell and the North in her own right. She has the Stark name, the Stark look, the North rising up for her and two kings trying to save her in ADwD, her father’s words and wisdom guiding her, a huge grey direwolf (The symbol of house Stark, their sigil and a gift from the Old Gods), her mother’s strength of resolution and courage, the love of the Lord Commander of the NW, kindness, empathy, intelligence, people skills, ability to deftly wield a sword and the charisma and strength to be a leader of men and women.

Everyone should read the books and enjoy these characters independent of any of these takes from so called neutral ‘we love both sisters’ readers. Fandom would then be a lot more interesting and fun place to debate and discuss actual character arcs based on what’s in the books and what their possible endgames could be. IMO.

#Arya Stark #fandom nonsense

221 notes · View notes

symphonic-scream · 8 months

Text

Okay. Random thoughts and notes from Lovers Naoto au! I'll just lay out the team roles here again for clarity as this post goes on.

Wildcard - Kanji

Magician - Rise

Star - Teddie. Still

Chariot - Yu

Priestess - Yosuke

Emperor - Yukiko

Lovers - Naoto

Fortune - Chie

Alright. Time to just. Lay a bunch of them out! Putting a cut here cause it'll probably end up long, don't wanna clog any tags with Long Post :)

So the idol group Naoto's in, Royale, they're all pretty close. Naoto, Prince, and the member called Knight were the first two chosen for the group at age 12, with the last being the member Dame at 13. They're all the same age, Naoto being the oldest by like. A week, and Princess pouts about it all the time

They have assigned colours! Naoto, Prince, is Blue. Knight is Yellow. Princess is Pink. Queen is Purple. And Dame is Red. They're like, the rising group at this time and, it's causing stress for poor Naoto

The girls call him Naonao, but not Knight. She only calls him Naoto, they're the closest of the group. She's always been his number 1 supporter, and. They're in the same boat, kinda. She's, very gay. Having to pretend to be into Prince, is hard

Queen's changing room is the one that they find the camera in. That's what sparks Naoto into having his breakdown that forces their rest period. Idiot was pushing himself

When Naoto renegotiates his contract, the agency reluctantly agree to stop forcing him to keep his T doses cut in half, to keep his face pretty and shit. And, surgery dates. And, when he returns after his recovery from top in Inaba at age 17, the agency. Realize they can actually use this

He's got very minimal scars, and it's rather easy for them to cover them for music videos and shows. So, they have a party themed album. Night life theming or something. All that matters is they're covered in glow paint handprints, and Naoto is in a mesh shirt

Rise. Buys that poster immediately. Hangs it in her room and longingly stares at Naoto. Maybe she has a cardboard standee of him that she talks to like a therapist. Very "oh Ariana, we're in it now" energy. Except that's her boyfriend

AND FHE RECOVERY. I HAVE MANY CUTE IDEAS

Naoto gets it done in Okina, so the gang is there to have a boobless and high Naoto handed over to them by the idol girls. He's. Very giggly. Slurring his words as he talks at length about Neo Featherman on the drive back in a van borrowed from Junes

Rise and Kanji stay to help him heal. Kanji is there for just a few days to carry the drowsy Naoto around, and. Rise stays the whole time and longer. She missed him. Also, someone needs to make sure he doesn't overwork himself again

He's real sweet the whole time, cuddling and smiling all gooey at her. He missed her! And he feels a lot better now. Back feels better, he can breathe better, he feels, more himself. He's glad he got a whole month to recover with Rise

Naoto with. Face scruff. None under his nose, but. His chin gets real scruffy before he notices. And man, Rise loves it. His fans don't get to see him in the morning when he's unshaven, that tickly blue scruff on his chin as he shuffles around the kitchen making breakfast. That's for her eyes only

For the final Royale shoot, right as theyre going to all retire at age 20-21, their agency ends up doing a whole special photo book and magazine. A special farewell to the group, as it were

There's a few pages for a beach spread of course. The girls in, revealing suits. And Naoto, both surgeries over with and healed, is handed some flattering shorts

He feels good. They make him shave all over so he's. Smooth. But, he mentally notes to get the IT together for another beach trip again

...Rise also buys these

Now. Back to their first meeting

Rise: H-HELLO IM RISE AND I LIKE YOU A NORMAL AMOUNT

Naoto: ...uhm. hi? Could you step aside? I have to run an errand for my grandfather and. You're standing in my way

Rise: ...*oh my god I got in his way I'm going to die.* hahaha sorry!

Naoto: ...now you know what I'm truly like... I'm sorry you had to see that,

Rise: we all have our things we hide,, it may change some things about the way I see you, but, overall, I think I'm still your number one fan. Both as Prince, and, as Naoto

Naoto: ...*fierce blushing*

Rise likes to pinch at his cheeks. He's still got a little of the Roundness that first year, and, she loves how flustered he gets when she just. Does something so simple

She starts taking photos of their friends making fake angry faces and adds the caption "are you binding safely"

He finds them. Somewhat amusing. But also the one of Kanji is. A little scary

Naoto's bedroom starts off real plain. The one in Inaba. To the point where when the team goes there to get clues, there's. Nothing. But slowly, as his break progresses, he gets more little decorations

So when he goes to stay during his recovery, it feels a little like coming home

Princess: I think your little girlfriend hates me

Prince: hi this is Rise!! And yes I do <3

Prince: SORRY SHE TOOK MY PHONE

Princess: lmao I like her!! Don't mess this up

Dame: if you don't marry that girl I will

Prince: WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM

Dame: she's cute, and remember, we have the same type, mister. Treat her right or I'll make her *my* lady

Prince: I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF HURTING HER

Knight: buddy she's teasing you

Prince: ...

Dame: HAHA

Queen: leave him alone he's gone through enough this year

Princess: lmaooo I bet he's bright red! Cherry flavoured Naonao!

Dudes who like Royale: man that Prince is lucky, being surrounded by those four pretty girls all the time

Naoto: I miss my wife, Tails. I miss her a lot

The big thing that doesn't change is that Rise still stares at the fire alarm every damn day

Kanji and Rise doing each other's nails, Naoto hugging Rise from behind and rambling about Phoenix Ranger or something

Kanji: they really don't take advantage of your collarbones dude! Tell your stylist they need to highlight them more, you've got manly ass collarbones

Naoto: ...thanks, I think

Kanji: yo, do you two wanna have a first years sleepover?

Rise: ooh! That sounds like so much fun!

Naoto: I mean, I don't see why not,

Kanji snoring on his bed with Naoto and Rise passed out on the futon, some romcom still blasting on the TV

Rise: Naokun and I will help you find a boyfriend!

Naoto: we will?

Kanji: you will?

Rise: yup!! A manly man, someone perfect for you!!

They do not succeed.

Naoto: what about Yu?

Rise and Kanji: he's gay for Yosuke

Naoto: ...is. Yosuke not straight?

Rise and Kanji: he isn't. Hadn't figured it out yet

Naoto: ah

Naoto: sorry, Kanji

Rise: yeah,, we're sorry,,

Kanji: dudes, I knew this would be the result. Thanks for trying. You're my best friends

Naoto: HELLO. I NEED YOUR HELP

Kanji: wassup little dude

Naoto: I PLAN TO PROPOSE TO RISE WHEN MY CONTRACT EXPIRES NEXT MONTH. COULD YOU BRING HER TO KYOTO FOR A BESTIES TRIP?

Kanji: wait why are you in Kyoto

Naoto: AGENCY MOVED

Kanji: hell yeah man true love

Kanji sobs the whole time. And at the wedding. He just loves their love okay?

Kanji: congrats on the dick surgery man.

Like. Maybe a week into bottom recovery for Naoto and-

Naoto: thanks,

Kanji: I brought over my Play Station so we can game in your room. I bought Phoenix Featherman Arena too, it was supposed to be your birthday gift but I suppose it works as Penis Gift

Naoto: if I wasn't straight for Rise I'd kiss you

Kanji: ...I'm good without a kiss man

Rise sits behind Naoto and massages his scalp as the boys play. She. Tried for a bit, but she isn't too good

She prefers to dote on her boy

Rise: med time!

Naoto: noo, they make me sleepy,

Kanji: it's cool man we can play tomorrow!

Rise: we'll both be with you, all night

Naoto's soft snores, Kanji sounding like a fucking. Chainsaw level of snoring. And Rise occasionally humming softly

Naoto: ...babe why is there a poster of me from the party album on the ceiling in your room

Rise: you looked really good

Naoto: ...please take it down while I'm here

Rise: fine,

Remember, this is Navi Naoto

Naoto: Rise, you're low on health! Make sure to get some healing!

Yosuke: HEY IM LOW ON HEALTH TOO

Naoto: ...when did I ask?

Yu: if I had a healing move I'd heal you Yosuke

Yosuke: thanks bro

Rise: apologize to Naokun and I'll heal you too, Yosuke

Yosuke: WHAT

Yosuke is surrounded by queer people.

Cause. Kanji is very gay, Rise is bi, Naoto is bi and trans, Yu is gay, Yukiko and Chie are both gay-

Yosuke: I'm the only straight one...

Yu: ...we just made out. You're not that straight

Yosuke: we're wearing socks, it's not gay

Yosuke getting saved by the fucking. Rainbow parade that is the starting trio in this au

Rise rejoining Naoto at the like entrance TV set every time with a big leaping hug

"you did good,"

"Thank you!! It's cause our Navi always has my back~"

Yosuke: I hate them

Yu: ...you did wonderful

Yosuke: I wish Rise jumped at me like that-

Yu:

Ten seconds later they all hear Yosuke shout in pain cause. Yu jumped on him

Naoto: ...ignoring them-

He's cut off by a kiss

Rise: sorry!! You're just, too cute with those glasses,

Rise always wears flats. Especially since it makes her just short enought that with Naoto's platforms she can be under his arm

They're awful during the ski trip. Naoto and Rise. Always trying to sneak kisses but they're not sneaky at all

Yosuke: guys. Where are Rise and Naoto

Chie: probably making out

Yukiko: probably

Yu: they bought hot chocolate, I saw Naoto in line there

Kanji: they're probably making out yeah

Yosuke: damn, I'm so jealous of Naoto!

Yu: ...

Yu: we were making out the other day. Your hand was in my pants

Yosuke: yeah, the back. That's not gay man!

Chie: okay, let's bet. How far until Yosuke admits its gay? I'll say. Pants off, both sides

Yukiko: hm, hand in underwear

Kanji: both butt naked

Yu: ...full on. Actual gay sex.

Chie: ...dude,

Yu: ...why do I love him

They're not usually the couple to make out constantly. Typically it's, sweet kisses. Spending hours together, Rise napping while Naoto watches Featherman. But. They do occasionally get carried away. It happens more as Naoto gets his T increased. But that first year? They're not too much

Rise: *giggling* your hair is so soft, I could play with it for hours,,

Naoto: sjfjfufhfj,

Rise: awe!! You're all blushy,, gosh, now I *have* to kiss you

He just. One hand in her back pocket, the other, palm flat on her back, fingers just under the hem of the comfy T-shirt she stole from him

Rise trails her kisses up towards his ear, sucking a quick mark right under it, where she knows Naoto's weak. He's a puddle on the couch, and she can kiss down to those Very Nice collarbones before he'll recover enough to pull her back in for some proper kisses

Naoto: I wanna, flip

Rise: go for it, big guy~

Naoto: its a thin couch, babe. I. Both of us need to work this out

Rise: ...oh, right

They awkwardly shuffle, until it's Rise lying back on the couch

Naoto: ...did you leave a hickey on me again?

Rise: *giggling* maybe~

Naoto: grandfather is going to so kill me...

Rise: well, as pay back, you can give me some?

Naoto: what do you mean some? Is there more than one? Rise-

She quickly pulls him down for another long kiss

After his bottom surgery, the rest of Royale just drive him right to his place in Inaba where he has three months off to heal and be with his friends. It went a little rough this time, he reacted weird to the anesthesia and his legs are. Wonky for a bit

Naoto post surgery just talks the other idols' ears off about how he can't wait to see Rise again

Knight: Im driving so someone else please LIGHTLY poke at his side for me

Dame: DIBS

Knight: anyone but Dame.

Naoto: I mish her so much,,,, wanna. Kiss her, and snuggle, and, maybe take her shirt off-

Princess: oh my god I'm going to do it. I'll tape his fucking mouth shut-

Queen: I'll be giving your recovery care package to that Kanji boy, right?

Naoto: mmmmmyewh,,, him. Him and, and my Rise are gonna watch over me,,,, *little giggle* I'm gonna get to see Rise again!!

Knight: yeah. Give it to the big guy. I think Ms Rise is gonna be a bit occupied with this one

The van isn't even parked and Rise is running up to open the back door

"NAOKUN!!"

"RISSSSSSSSE,"

She gives him a tender smooch, ruffles his hair

"hey, Handsome. You're looking so good!"

"Youre soooo pretty,,,,"

Knight: where's Kanji? We were told he would help get Naoto inside

Rise: KANJI! THEYRE HERE

Kanji comes out in a little pink apron with kitties on it, ready to carefully carry Naoto up to his room: sorry, I was making him his favourite ramen

Naoto: KANJIIIIIIIIII!

Kanji: hey little man, feeling okay?

Naoto: I got. Dick. I'm, great,

Kanji carries him up all slow and gentle, Rise with his blue duffle over her shoulder, getting hugs from the rest of Royale. They've come to adore her through Naoto. The photos, the way his face would always light up at her texts,,

The others come by to visit Naoto who. Has been coming down from the pain meds and is less than happy his friends are around while he's stuck lounging in bed in just his boxers

Naoto: I wish I could put pants on

Rise: I don't

Yosuke: BLECH, WAIT FOR US TO LEAVE, DAMNIT!

Yu: ignore him. We're happy you're feeling more like yourself, Naoto

Naoto: I'll feel better once I'm healed. Looking down and seeing. Unhealed surgery results. Can be horrifying

Rise: the first time he got up to piss in the night on his own he screamed and fell over

Kanji: Yeah I thought he was being attacked so I grabbed the chair

Naoto: it was very embarrassing

Kanji: okay, you're healed enough for a bath. You've got three options: you bathe alone, you have one with me, or one with Rise. Either way, I have to help you into the bath

Naoto: ...no offense, but. Kanji. Why would I choose to bathe with you over my girlfriend?

Kanji: we're bros

Naoto: I'll share with Rise, thanks. But. I'll have a towel around my waist until I'm in the water. I'm sure Rise can help me to get that resorted afterwards

Kanji: whatever you say man. I'm game to keep my eyes closed

Naoto: do not handle me with your eyes closed. Please.

Rise: I'll be there to help guide him though!

Rise slips into the tub behind Naoto, helps him remove the little waist towel, and then they're just. Relaxing in a warm bath

Rise: I have to sponge you down, but. I think we'd both prefer some skin time first

Naoto: mm. I've missed you so much,

Rise: I know. But, this is your last year. After that, we can do whatever! I can move to Tokyo with you if you want to continue being an idol, or you can move here with me, and we'll take over the tofu shop, or do our own thing

Naoto: I love you more than I. Ever imagined I'd ever love someone. You're truly special, Rise

She presses little kisses along his shoulders, hands tangled with his under the water

Rise: I understand, cause I feel the same about you!!

Naoto: this is gonna be the best three months ever ...

Rise: mm~ you just worry about healing, mister. Then we won't have to rely on Kanji to carry you around like a little doll

Naoto: yeah that's. Embarrassing.

Kanji: LET ME KNOW WHEN I NEED TO LIFT THE BOY

Naoto: I'm 19,,, I'm a man, right Rise?

Rise: ...hm? Yeah, yes of course, you're my man too.

Naoto: ... are you thinking about the scruff?

Rise: I MISS YOUR SCRUFF PLEASE DONT SHAVE WHILE YOURE ON BREAK

Rise tracing on the light hairs on his chest, smiling as she trails down to the patch growing just under his belly button

Naoto: uhm. Babe?

Rise: sorry, got distracted. Do you need something?

Naoto: ...please move your hand. *Please*.

Rise: ...OH IM SORRY

Kanji: hey I made cookies!

Kanji: ...why are you both blushing like that

THERES MORE SO MUCH MORE BUT. I WORRY ABOJT THIS BEING TOO LONG SO. YEAB

AK ME ABOUT THIS AU I LOVE IT SO MUCH

#lovers naoto au #naoto shirogane #rise kujikawa #naorise #long post #kanji tatsumi #yosuke hanamura #yu narukami

27 notes · View notes

ariadnes-red-thread · 11 months

Note

Congratulations on the 150 🥳 you deserve it! "Bad Habits" lives rent free in my head (Fives 😮‍💨) and I recently reread "In His Sights" (now that I'm back in my Crosshair era) and the feelings are just 🤌.

Can we get either “I will never get enough of you.” for Fives or “You can do better than that.” for Crosshair and afab reader?

Thank you, can't wait to read everything you come up with!!

Hiiii Zwei! Thank you so much for celebrating with me! You're so sweet, I'm so glad my writing resonated with you. That has honestly been the wildest part of being on here - not only are other people reading and enjoying my writing, but so many of you are badass writers like yourself, and I'm just "...you like MY writing?" 🥺

I decided to write the Fives prompt, but TBH, I actually started the Crosshair prompt, too, because I LOVE the line you chose for him. I need more time to sit with that idea, though, and you've already been so patient. So thank you for celebrating with me. Here's a little Fives spiciness, and maybe keep your eye out for Crosshair down the line!

Pairing: Fives x F!Reader

Warnings/Tags: NSFT *Minors DNI*, Established relationship, Teasing, Fingering, Oral (female receiving), Public play, Explicit consent

Word Count: 1.2k

One of the best things about dating Fives, aside from everything about him, was how you instantly gained a whole gang of brothers who loved you nearly as much as he did when they saw you were good for him and that he was serious about you.

Fives, however, hated it, or so he liked to say. The weighest, most dramatic sighs would leave his lips when you and Kix would tag team to roast him, or when the punchline of yours and Jesse’s elaborate pranks would finally land. Still, he would always hug you a little harder and smile a little wider afterward.

He also never hesitated to give it back to you, like he was right now. As retribution for you and Kix dragging his choice of candles during his last “secret” spa night, he had just revealed to his brothers that your sense of direction was so bad that you had once gotten lost in your own apartment building six years after moving in.

“I’ve had about enough of your nonsense.” You wagged your finger at Fives, in between bouts of bellyaching laughter.

He pretended to snap at it. You jerked your hand back to your core, clutching it to your heart in mock offense. Fives let out a full laugh as his arm snaked around your shoulder, and he pulled you into his chest. You leaned against the broad frame of your handsome boyfriend as you turned back to face his brothers. Jesse, Kix, and Tup watched you both with grins on their faces.

“Now they’re just getting gross.” Jesse shook his head as he elbowed Tup.

“Jealousy is a bad look, Jesse.” Fives snorted.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jesse waved him off before he stood and stretched. He cast his eyes out over the rest of the club. “Only thing I’m jealous of is that full drink in front of you. Tup, Kix, let’s get another round and try our luck on the dance floor.”

Kix smirked as he rose to his feet. You watched as his eyes sifted through the crowd until they found the cute woman you'd noticed Kix trade glances with all night. She felt his look right away, her eyes lifting from the friend she was talking to and meeting his, bringing a shy smile to her pretty face and a flush to her cheeks. She quickly glanced back down at her drink before tilting her look back up again and watching Kix through hooded eyes. Kix’s cool smile never flickered. He turned back to your table with the same cool, confident smirk.

“Someday, you’ll learn, Jess.” Kix patted his brother on the shoulder. “Luck’s got nothing to do with it.”

Kix began an unhurried walk toward the woman. Jesse frowned as he followed his brother’s look. Then, he cursed under his breath as he moved to trail behind Kix.

Tup chuckled to himself as he watched them go.

“You can hang out, Tup.” You smiled at the remaining clone, “Promise we’re not that gross.”

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on Jesse.” He shrugged as he reached up for his hair tie. “Besides, he doesn’t remember, but it’s his turn to be wingman tonight. He owes me one.”

Tup winked at you and Fives as his dark curls fell over his shoulders. Then, with a quiet swagger, he followed his brothers’ path to the bar.

“Go easy on ‘em, you rancor.” Fives called out. Then he turned to you with shining eyes. "Just the two of us now."

He dug his finger into the flesh just above your knee. Slowly and without releasing pressure, he dragged his calloused fingertips up the inside of your leg until he found the most inner crease of your thigh.

“What are you up to?” You flashed a cheeky smile at your boyfriend, despite the stirring feeling that suddenly appeared in the pit of your stomach.

“Oh, you know," Fives' eyes flashed darkly at you. Beneath the table, his touch crept underneath your panties to find your already pooling entrance. "Nonsense."

It wasn't the first time you'd played in public, but this was certainly the most exposed you'd ever been. Your eyes scanned the crowd, but no one was looking into your dark corner booth. Their attention was on their own affairs.

Fives waited until you turned back to him, his eyes locking on yours. You knew what he was waiting for.

“Don't stop." You finally spoke, the words more choked than you'd expected them to be.

Two broad fingers slowly breached you, the slow friction making you dizzy with the sudden pleasure. Your head fell to his neck as he began to thrust, pulling heavy breath from you with every motion. You began to grind into his palm, unconsciously searching for more friction.

Then his hand disappeared from underneath your panties. When you looked back up at him, his fingertips had found their way up his grinning lips. He popped his fingers between them, winking at you as he cleaned them of your juices. He pulled it from his mouth with a pop before he hungrily leaned in to capture you in a furious kiss. You could taste yourself on his tongue, mixed with the headyness of his kiss, and the liquor from your drinks. The slick between your legs grew.

Finally, he broke the kiss, and as he pulled away, he lifted his arm from your shoulder. With a sideways smile and a surprising amount of stealth for still wearing the lower half of his armor, Fives dropped to the floor and disappeared underneath the tablecloth. You quickly felt his hot breath on your knees.

“But I thought you’d had enough of my nonsense?” Fives' voice was cheeky and raised just enough so you could hear him above the din. He spread your legs apart, his eagerness clear in his speed and strength.

You started to say something when a finger slid back inside of you, stopping the words on your lips. Instead, you let out a small whine. You quickly scanned the crowd again. Still, no one was paying attention to your dark corner.

Fives pressed a kiss to the inside of your knee and smiled against your skin, bringing your attention back where it belonged. He slowly kissed a soft line up your thigh, tracing the path his fingers had taken earlier. At the same time, he began to drag his finger in and out of you, hooking it as he moved, alternating between spreading you open and reaching your sensitive spongey spot. Then, his teeth nipped your inner thigh as his head reached your center. He pulled your panties to the side with his free hand. You held your breath. The neon lights flashed around you, adding to the intoxicating feeling of the moment. On the dancefloor, the music began to crescendo. A second finger breached you. Then, his broad tongue found your clit. You had to bite your lip to stifle a moan. Your hand fell and found purchase in his hair. The pressure spurred him on as he began to dance over your sensitive nub, sending wave after wave to your core.

“I will never get enough of you.” You let out a breathy sigh as your head fell back into the cushion of the booth. Bliss followed soon after.

#fives x reader #fives x you #arc trooper fives #tcw fives #tcw fives smut #fives x you smut #tcw #the clone wars #fives #star wars #clone wars #the clone wars smut #nsft #aria's 150 followers celebration #ariadnesredthread 150 follower celebration

36 notes · View notes

ashes-writing · 2 years

Text

wild one pt eleven | stranger things; g.emerson

tag list babes || req rules / fandoms + characters || send me ?s || masterlist

CHAPTERS ;

one + two + three + four + five + six + seven + eight + nine + ten can all be found by clicking. stranger things masterlist is here -it's gonna be updated shortly though.

AUTHORS NOTES;

As you can see, this story still has a chokehold on me. And this part, whew.. It was originally supposed to fall in the angst / hurt comfort category and yet.. Somehow it both did and did not and it's looong as hell too btw. A few things worth nothing here.. This is the first day of school for them. It's also the first Hellfire meeting. And sue me, I decided to throw Erica -and Will / El, into this as well as Max. It fits what I'm going for.

Guys I am still so blown away by you all, I've said it a thousand times, I do not post with any intention beyond getting ideas out of my head so every single time anybody bothers reading it -let alone likes/reblogs/reblogs with tags or comments, it just like... It makes me so happy and it motivates me and I cannot thank you guys enough for it -and for putting up with my ass.

SUMMARY;

-- us against the world.

PAIRING;

Gareth Emerson x Fem!Reader -beyond female parts, outfit descriptors and personality traits I've randomly assigned, she is a mostly blank slate. I'm tryingggg omg.

WARNINGS;

the jocks are the warning. Bullying is heavily implied here. A punch is thrown. Several threats are made. A cheerleader decides to try and get into reader's head. A lil comfort moment. JSYK, Gareth and the two remaining members of Corroded Coffin have all been aged up to 18 so the gang will all graduate together. The Upside Down / deaths / Vecna don't exist for this but bullies and typical teenage stuff does.

TAGLIST;

@allelitesmut

@aurumbelis

@aries-arcade

@cole22ann

@chieflawyerpastatoad

@ebonybloom

@fandomfreakforever

@hcloangcls

@heyaitsklaudia

@hoeshii

@hotgirlsshareaccounts

@icequeen1371

@krys-orion

@letsbedragonstogether

@louderfortheback

@littlestarfighter03

@musichealsscars

@oflavenderandevie

@secretsicanthideanymore

@scoobiessnacks

@suits-and-smirks

@thechoiceslookgrimm

@untitledarea

@untoldshortsofthefandoms are the only ones currently on my taglist. if you'd like to be on it, please click the link up top.

“She can’t be serious.” Caroline grumbles, blinking in disbelief when she spots you wandering into the school building, your step sister in tow.

“Him? I could make an allowance for screwing a freak if it was Munson. But him?” Megan scoffs and shakes her head.

“What the hell is she wearing?” Heather looks from you to Gareth and back again, a hand at her mouth as soon as she realizes what you’re wearing with your jeans and t-shirt. One of Gareth’s flannels. It has sleeves but it has to be his. It’s too big to belong to you. “Oh my goddd. She’s wearing his shirt.”

“Oh god, it gets worse.” Caroline rubs the bridge of her nose and pretends to gag. “Maybe she’ll get knocked up by the freak and have to drop out and then I won’t have to deal with her anymore.” she sighs. “I can dream, I suppose.”

You are completely unaware of the conversation between the other members of your squad because you’ve just spotted Gareth and you’re taking off at a run, flinging yourself at him with your arms around his neck. He’d spent the whole weekend involved in a campaign for DnD that one of Lucas’s invited him to play in, so you hadn’t seen him a lot because you spent most of that time babysitting or helping Angel out at the bar for some quick cash.

Gareth chuckles, an arm slipping around your waist to keep you steady, deepening the kiss as you pull his mouth against your own. “Hello to you too, sugar.”

You yawn as you lean against him, your forehead against the front of his flannel. He’s gone from an arm around your waist to holding onto both of your hands while you melt against him. “They start this shit show too early.”

Gareth chuckles at this. “We did stay up til two on the phone.”

“I wanted to hear you win the campaign, okay?” you pout when you look up at him. He chuckles and brushes his lips against your forehead. “How’s your back today? Max kinda told me about the spider in the shower incident. Plus I heard it. You have a really loud scream, y'know that?”

“I swear, Max can’t keep a secret to save her damn life. So she told you I nearly tore down the damn bathroom because Satan’s little pet was spying on me in the shower, hm?” you grumble, but you turn your back to face Gareth so he can raise up the flannel and your Motorhead shirt beneath it.

He laughs, “She kind of had to. I heard the noise in the background when she answered the phone last night.” He hisses and grimaces as he sets sight on the huge purpling bruise on your side. “Jesus christ! Babe, how in the hell..” he grazes a fingertip against the bruise gingerly, “Did you let Susan or Wes look at this?” he asks in concern.

“When I slipped while yanking down the shower curtain and it’s rod, I fell back into that tub in the bathroom me and Max are sharing.” you explain. “Susan looked at it, gave me some ice to put on it. Hurts like hell. She said if it starts to swell any worse or anything or it keeps hurting, she’ll take me to a doctor.”

“Shit.” Gareth shakes his head.

“Mhm.” you admit, yawning again as you turn back to face him and lean against him, nuzzling your nose into his neck. “You’re warm.” you mutter sleepily.

He tenses suddenly and you glance up just in time to spot Caroline, Megan and Heather staring in your direction. You roll your eyes and pay them no mind.

However, when the teacher peeking out into the hall catches you practically draped against your boyfriend and clears her throat, giving you a lecture about ladylike behavior and being too free with affection, you’re all sweet smiles and sheepish apologies until she’s back inside her classroom and then you’re mimicking her speech with perfect pitch.

“Can you believe that old bat is making us do that flour sack kid thing? I’m still struggling to figure out why I signed up for Home Ec.” you’re laughing when you say it. Gareth laughs. “You didn’t, remember? Even sending Wes up here to talk to them about letting you take auto shop class was shot down.”

“Yeah. I still can’t believe that he didn’t intimidate them into letting me somehow.” you’re pouting a little.

A throat clears almost obnoxiously behind you both and you turn to find yourselves face to face with Andy.

Gareth clenches a fist. He’s still itching to get his hands on Andy for three nights ago when you went to pick up Susan from her shift at the diner because Andy cornered you in the parking lot. He wanted to go and kill him that night, he was halfway out the door of his parents house to go find him at the ballfield where they hang out on the courts most of the time, but you barely managed to talk him out of it.

“You want something, Weber?” Gareth pulls you against him so close that there’s no space left between your bodies. Andy chuckles. “Y’know, sooner or later, she’s gonna get bored, Emerson.”

You try to step up to him but Gareth’s arms have an iron-clad grip around your waist. “Ah-ah. What was that you told me the other night when I wanted to kill him, babe?” he mutters against the shell of your ear. Getting obnoxiously close and touchy just to really rub it in with Andy.

Andy clenches his fists.

You clear your throat. “Why are you still standing here, shit for brains? I don’t play with boys when I can have a real man.”

When you say it, Gareth’s face flushes just slightly. And he bites back a groan because your body melts back against his even more.

He clears his throat and speaks up. “If I were you, Weber… I’d seriously consider leaving now. Because I wanted to fucking kill you when you cornered her outside the diner a few nights ago and honestly?” he taps his fist against his palm as he makes himself taller with a defiant smirk on his face, “I still really, really wanna.”

Andy steps up. This traps you between the two until Gareth pulls you back behind him and smirks. “Try it, Weber. C’mon..” he coaxes. “I dare you.”

“Oh I will, Emerson. But not here.” Andy’s eyes are darting around the hallway and he smirks. “You won’t be expecting it when it happens either.”

“Bullshit!” Jeff coughs to cover the word but it doesn’t work. He smirks at Andy and steps forward a little. Of the two boys, Jeff has height on Andy. And he knows that when in doubt, crazy works. So when he pretends to lunge, he snarls a little. Andy walks away and Jeff taunts calmly, “That’s right, Andy boy. We all know why you won’t fight either one of us.”

“The fuck, man? I had that.” Gareth grumbles, glaring at Jeff.

“Yeah, that’s exactly why I did that. You had time to calm down a little and you didn’t bash his skull in on the hallway floor, right?” Jeff points out with a mild shrug. “Nobody got expelled or killed.”

“I’m still going to get my hands on him sooner or later. Shit isn’t funny, the way he shows up whenever ___ is alone somewhere.”

“You do realize I chased him with a pool stick and he hightailed it… Right?” you ask as you snuggle against your boyfriend’s back. Gareth turns to face you so that you’re snuggled against his chest instead. “And you shouldn’t have fuckin done that, baby. What if he hadn’t run? Hm?”

You bite your lip and give him your best big-eyed expression. Gareth shakes his head calmly. “We’ve talked about this, babe. I’ll handle him.”

“But..” you start to argue but Gareth shakes his head firmly. “No buts.”

“No fair and no fun.” you grumble, making him laugh. “I’m not lettin you get hurt.”

“He’s got one brain cell to spare, baby. How? How is he gonna hurt me? He’s a chickenshit idiot.”

Gareth chuckles, shaking his head. “Give me begging eyes all you want, sugar. It’s just not gonna happen. Got it?”

“Fiiiiiine.” you grumble in a lower tone, “You and that stupid sexy firm tone.” which has him biting back a quiet groan when he hears you, his face all flushed.

“So that’s what Eddie was talking about.” he mumbles, mostly to himself. And this only flusters you, of course, that he’s noticed that certain tones he takes with you seem to make you calm down or behave.

Jeff and Grant are about to fall over laughing and Jeff asks Gareth through laughter, “You good? Hey.. Look.. Just don’t let that go to your head, man.”

– ( around lunchtime )

“Do you think she’s screwing the freak?” Caroline wonders aloud, a disgusted look on her face. “I mean, look at ‘em. They can’t keep their damn hands off each other. It’s disgusting.”

“She has his shirt. And last week at the mall, she had those hickies on her throat… If she hasn’t yet, she wants to. I mean look at her, it’s disgusting. He’s only with her because he can’t do any better than her and she’s only with him because she knows nobody else will have her.” Megan sips her chocolate milk as she stares at the table you’re sitting at.

What makes this whole thing so much worse in their eyes is since you’ve apparently decided that you’re not going to sit with the usual table this year, this has now given that weak little so-called captain Chrissy and your shared best friend Emma the audacity to abandon the table also. “They’re all traitors. And you know Jason isn’t going to stand for it, when he sees where she’s sitting, he’s going to have something to say about it. All we’re trying to do is keep the peace. Be a team. And it’s always those three, every single time. They always go against us.”

“I wish our old coach hadn’t ever let her, Emma or Chrissy on the damn team. The good news is our new coach hates the three of them.” Caroline smirks as she says it. “So maybe, we can find a way to use that to our advantage.” Caroline rubs her chin as she thinks it over. “I mean… she’s looking for any excuse to strip the title of Captain off Chrissy, you guys heard her.”

Jason wanders into the cafeteria and the second he spots Chrissy sitting with you and Emma over at the Hellfire table, he’s furious. Oh, he hides it, of course, but he’s only barely hiding it. He walks over and stops beside you three, clearing his throat. “Ladies, I think all three of you are a little lost?”

You and Emma share a look before bursting into laughter. “Uh, not that we’re aware?” you retort. Gareth doesn’t really stop to think about the implications of where his hands happen to be on your body at the time and neither do you. But he’s tense because Jason’s around and it never fails to piss him off when a jock pops up, so his fingers are kind of digging into the sides of your thighs since you’re sitting on the table in front of him.

“There are rules for that. Knock it off. Just because you have disgusting taste, ____. This doesn’t mean we should all have to see it…” Jason nods his head to Gareth’s hands and where they happen to be on your body in disdain before turning to Chrissy. “C’mon, princess. Let’s get back to our table.”

Chrissy’s response shocks everyone present.

She gazes up at him for a few seconds, seems to be thinking it over. You’re half assuming that she’ll do what he says because she usually does, just because she’s afraid to try breaking up with him again because of what happened the one and only time she tried to last year, but you’re wrong.

“I’m talking to my friends.” Chrissy says it with a firmer tone than usual and she takes a sip of her milk. “I want to sit here.”

“Leave these whores to whatever they’re over here doing. They’re going to drag you down, princess.” Jason’s voice is starting to veer more towards angry calm than calm and collected and as soon as you and Emma pick up on it, you share a concerned look.

Eddie breaks the silence. “Get fucked, Carver. None of us are bothering you. And there’s no law that says they have to sit there if they don’t want to.” and the smirk he gives Jason as he says it has Jason furious. “What’d you say to me, freak?”

Eddie has height on Jason. So he stands taller. Arms folded over his chest. Gazing down at him with a calm smirk. “You heard me, jockstrap. Or do I need to say it slower..” he chuckles, stepping closer, “So it sinks into that pea sized brain of yours, hm?”

“You’re the third time senior and you’re saying I have a pea brain, Munson? That’s rich.” Jason snorts, stepping up to Eddie. Smirking. “Real rich, comin from you, freak trash.”

“What’d you say to him?” Jeff is standing. Arms folded. Calm smirk. “You might wanna get back across the lunchroom, asshole.”

Gareth stands and gives a dry chuckle. “Unless you idiots just want your asses beaten to a pulp by us ‘freaks’ today. Because honestly, I’m dying to get my hands on one of you anyway.” as he says it, his voice raises and he locks eyes with Andy, smirking.

“Fuck it. I’ve been to Saturday detention a time or two, I don’t mind goin back.” Grant is standing too. Fists clenched. Smirking down at Jason.

Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin share a look. Of the four, Mike, Will and Dustin stand. Max is gaping at Lucas and she shakes her head. “I can’t freaking believe you right now, they’re your friends.” she gestures at the three boys sitting opposite the two of them. “Have you lost your mind, Lucas Sinclair?”

“Do you seriously want to start this, man?” Mike gives Jason a mild shrug as he goes silent. “You’re clearly outnumbered here.” Will is smirking when he says it. Dustin chuckles and steps up beside Eddie, “You were saying, Carver?”

Chrissy’s breath catches in her throat.

Eddie’s probably one of exactly three people who seem to actually care about her well-being lately. He’s the one who was calm and rational with her a few nights ago when she sought him out hoping maybe he had something strong enough just to help her sleep at night. He let her sit in his trailer, explained to her what might happen. He even smoked with her just so she wasn’t all alone on this particular night and he was sweet about it. No judgment, nothing. Every time she’s tried to tell Jason how bad things are lately, he just tells her she’s fine and it’ll be okay. He doesn’t try to help or reassure her, he doesn’t seem to care. Eddie cared. Eddie listened. The last thing she wants is for Eddie to suffer because he makes the mistake to stand up for her. And she has no doubt in her mind, Jason will make sure he does.

“Okay, alright. I’ll go. I…” Chrissy calls out to Jason because all she can think is that he’ll do something, a fight will start and Eddie will wind up expelled.

“Chris, no.” you call out, shaking your head. “She was so close too.”

“Chrissy, damn it, he does this every fucking time.” Emma rubs her forehead. “I wish a meteorite would fall on your fuckin head, Carver. I really do.” Emma glares up at Jason’s turned back as she grumbles, flipping him off.

“Every single time she tries to get away, ugh.” you sigh and shake your head. “I mean, I get how he’s doing it and I know she’s scared because of it, but it still pisses me off. Because he knows what’ll work on her. It’s disgusting.” you frown and shake your head. “I wonder what would happen if someone anonymously went to like.. Hopper or somebody with his shit?” you muse, gazing at Chrissy across the cafeteria.

“I’m putting Ben Gay on his jockstrap. That’s it, I’m done with the way people just listen to him and eat up his every single fucking word. How does no one see he’s fucking poison?” Emma’s rant catches Eddie’s attention and he gazes at her quietly. Curious.

“You see it too, huh?” Eddie asks quietly, nodding to Jason.

“I’ve seen it since kindergarten? The asshole tried to kiss my cheek and I didn’t want cooties at the time, so I shoved him into a mudhole when he kept following me and trying to corner me. Then he starts to cry and has the teacher believing I shoved him for no reason!” Emma throws up her hand in frustration.

“Look, we only have to deal with their childish bullshit for a few more months and then we’re all out of this hellhole.” Grant speaks up quietly. Glancing at the two of you. Gareth nods in agreement, scooting you forward on the table a little.

“If I don’t go to prison first.” you and Emma both say it in unison. This has both Gareth and Eddie groaning at the same time as they palm their faces.

Mike raises a brow. “Why are either of you complaining? You’re both popular.”

Will gives him an elbow, shaking his head and Mike gestures at the two of you. “It’s true though! They’re not the ones getting shoved into lockers or…”

Gareth clears his throat, shooting Mike a warning glare and Mike glares right back. “Look, all I’m saying is from where Dustin, Will and I sit, you two have it made.”

You and Emma share a look.

“Whatever you think, Mikey.” you answer calmly. You see where he’s coming from, but what they go on to tell you next has you furious upon hearing it. Gaping. Because you knew that the jocks and the other girls on your squad were shitty human beings, but you didn’t know just how shitty they all were.

“I’m not wrong, though… Do they shove you guys into lockers? Or chase you home after school when you’re on a bike and they have cars to do it?” Mike states, despite Will shaking his head and elbowing him a time or two. “We said we weren’t saying anything, damn it. We were going to handle it, Mike.”

“Yeah? Well I just got sick of hearing these two, alright? They’re popular, they don’t know how shitty the other side of it all is, Will. Maybe they need t’ know.” Mike’s outburst has everyone at the table staring at him.

“They did what now?” Emma’s gaping. Glancing over at the jock table in the front of the lunch room. “Okay, kid.. You’ve got six seconds to start pointing fingers.” she taps her wrist patiently. “I need names, Mike, spit them out now.”

“Holy christ.. Max, are they doing this shit to you and El?” you’re gaping, glancing at your step sister across the table expectantly. Max shakes her head. “Not since El nailed Caroline’s sister in the head with that skate at the roller rink last year.”

“Will? Dustin?” you’re gazing from Will to Dustin, waiting. They don’t have older siblings, but since they’re always around Max, you worry about them too.

Dustin sighs, shoulders slumped. “They chased me and Will up to the hill last week. When we were going to try to power up Cerebro and see if we could tune it, get it to work for the AV Club meeting.”

“Does your mom know, kid?” you ask both boys. “Answer me.”

“If she doesn’t, she’s going to. I’ll make sure Gretchen tells Joyce when Joyce comes in for her usual trim in a few days. Perks of being the bookie at my mom’s salon, kid.” Emma gives Will a mild shrug. Will gulps. “No. I haven’t told her. You don’t have to, alright? We’ll… We’ll figure something out.”

“Don’t you have like… two brothers in our grade also? Have you even considered telling either of them?”

Will shakes his head when you ask him the question.

Max speaks up. “The point here, Mike.. ____ and Emma are not like them. Like, at all. Maybe if you’d pull your head out of your butthole, you’d see that.”

Eddie’s glaring daggers at the jock table because until Mike’s outburst, he didn’t have the first clue what the jocks were doing to the younger members of Hellfire. But now that he knows, he’s furious. Seething. Dying to get his hands on the jocks.

“Okay, here’s what you little shits are gonna do, alright? Next time they approach you, find one of us. I don’t care who. Just one of us. We’re gonna fix this shit, okay, kids?” Eddie speaks up. The younger teenagers all nod.

Lucas is conflicted.

And he feels like shit, because since he made the basketball team, he’s immune to the teasing and taunting. Clearly, his friends haven’t been and suddenly, the way they all seem tense around him makes perfect sense. And they normally tell him everything and yet, they haven’t told him any of this.

“Did you know any of this, Lucas?” Max asks, thinking about her conversation with you on the night of the Independence Day Carnival. Your warning. And it hurts, but lately, Lucas hasn’t been acting like the boy she cares so much about. And he’s barely been around his friends. Dustin, Mike and Will had to plead with him to ditch the team at the courts over the weekend to play DnD with them and Hellfire.

“No.” Lucas insists, gaping. “If..”

Max studies him intently, arms folded. “You’re sure? I mean… they’re your best friends, Lucas. How did you not notice it, hm?”

“We didn’t tell him because we know how much it meant for him to make the team, okay? We didn’t wanna…” Mike takes a deep breath, rubbing his face. “We didn’t wanna make him feel like he had to quit. Besides, we’re all gonna grow apart a little.”

“Bullshit, Mike.” Max insists. “You should have said something before now.”

“She’s right.” El speaks up quietly. “All of you. Friends don’t lie, remember?”

“El, c’mon.. We didn’t lie. We just handled it ourselves.” Mike pleads. But El is shaking her head. “It’s still a lie, Mike. Not telling is almost the same.” she gives Max a questioning look and Max nods. “It is.”

“And that’s not a smart idea with those assholes. Listen to me, little shits, alright? I’ve been around long enough to know what they’re capable of. Find a fucking adult adjacent person from now on. Even if it’s me or one of the guys.. Or even the two hellions present.” Eddie gestures to himself and the rest of his friends and then at you and Emma as he goes quiet. “I mean it. Are we clear, little shits?” he repeats himself firmly. “I can’t believe you three. Just gonna keep quiet and let them keep winning.” he’s shaking his head.

“Okay, shit.” Mike mumbles.

“I told you to keep your damn mouth shut, Wheeler.” Dustin grumbles. “Okay. We will.”

Will nods quietly. “We didn’t want to start anything.”

“I know, kid. But jesus, you’re all part of this club. If they’re messing with you, speak up.” Eddie gives the quieter boy a smile.

– ( cheerleading practice / hellfire meeting )

“I believe you two owe me something?” Coach Gentry corners you and Emma as you make your way into the gymnasium. The two of you share a look and Emma speaks up. “The pledge, right?”

Coach Gentry smirks. “I knew you two would come around. Go on, let’s have them.”

You laugh as you take it and tear it up.

Emma follows suit.

Coach Gentry grumbles, her patience worn thin. “All you have to do is sign the paper.”

“Nope.”

“Not happening.” you shrug, “Sorry.”

“Twenty five rounds around the gym. Both of you. Perhaps this will change your attitudes and help you remember what being part of a team means.”

“I think you should make them play in the powderpuff game this Friday.” Caroline is smirking when she says it, glancing at you and Emma. “Since neither of you ever bother signing up to play. Ooh, and what about the school carnival coming up in two weeks? Maybe they need to be made to do clean up, Coach Gentry?”

The coach is smirking.

If looks could kill, the look you’re giving Caroline Owens would have her six feet deep. Your jaw clenches.

“She does have a good point. Neither of you have ever participated in anything other than the Homecoming Parade, the food drive, the tutoring program last year and the car wash over the summer. I’m not your previous coach. There will be a bond with this team.”

“Seriously? Because we’re not up their ass working kissing booths?” Emma fumes as the two of you start to run around the court. You’re focused on just how much you want to strangle Caroline when you’re done with laps. As the two of you complete your last round and collapse in the bleachers, the coach wanders over with a fresh copy of the pledge for each of you.

Sharing a look, you both take it.

As the coach walks away, Emma nudges you. “You’re not signing this one either, right?”

“Nope. She can absolutely rot in hell.” you answer calmly.

“Good. I’m not signing either. She can’t make us do anything. And if she tries to throw us off for some bullshit reason, we’ll just quit.”

“After Friday, Em..” you start, trailing off. Emma nods and sighs. “It’s kinda sad, y’know? It’s all so fucked up. I mean we wanted to be like Veronica Sinclair and Danielle Wesson, remember? They were popular but they were truly nice people. We thought it was going to be so much fun.”

“Yeah, well.. We were idiots. When Veronica came home to wash clothes and spend the weekend, I talked to her. She said that she wanted to tell us both not to try out. I think that’s why she hammered it in so heavy when she was coaching us before tryouts that we didn’t need to let it change who we are. When I told her about the new coach, she said she’d talk to her mom or something, I think Mrs. Sinclair was on cheer or the old dance team back in the day.”

“Sucks.. Because if she’s going to talk to her mom about taking over the squad, I feel like neither of us will still be on it by the time that time rolls around.” Emma muses quietly. “Because after the stupid powderpuff game on Friday and the pep rally, I’m kinda done.”

“Me too. And there’s no way Mrs. Sinclair will get Coach Gentry to quit. And there’s no way we can run her off…” you trail off, going quiet.

Caroline shoves a clipboard into your hands and you and Emma sign up for the back to school powderpuff football game on Friday. She smirks. “This is going to be so much fun!”

“She doesn’t realize my father taught me a proper tackle when I was like… Five..” you’re laughing and shaking your head. Emma smirks, “Or that my mother taught me how to throw a ball so hard I can hit someone’s nose from a pretty fair distance. I mean.. They’re going into it to hurt us, so why not.. Right?”

“Exactly.” you laugh and pull yourself off the bleachers, holding out your hand to Emma. “C’mon. Let’s go shower and go down to the drama classroom.”

“Going to be a certain drummer’s personal cheerleader, hm?” Emma teases, but only partially.

“Maaybe.” you’re laughing softly. The laughter dies when you wander into the showers to find that your change of clothes has been soaked in water, the shower still turned on.

Emma’s swearing from behind you, holding out soaked jeans and a t-shirt. “They got you too, huh?”

You spot the red lipstick on your locker.

“Freaks Slut.” you laugh as you read it out loud. “Is this.. I mean is this all they can come up with? I always thought they were sharing one brain cell, now I know it.” you roll your eyes at the lipstick graffiti.

The door bursts open and Caroline laughs. “Aww.. what happened?”

Emma throws her wet clothing at Caroline and you walk over, stepping up to her. Smirking. “I could kick your ass, y’know. I could, but I’m not. Not yet.”

“Y’know, if I bat my lashes, he won’t want you anymore, right? He’s only dating you because you’re popular. Imagine if he thought he could have me… I mean…. We all know I’m better.” Caroline’s words are discarded as best as you can and you raise a hand as if you’re going to slap her. She grabs your wrist and smirks. “Who knows.. Maybe I will try my luck with him… I mean… Why should you have all the fun, right?”

You pull your wrist out of her grip and you shove her up against the locker, glaring hatefully. Maybe her words do bother you on some level. Maybe they’re kind of sitting heavy in your mind, but… You’re more pissed than anything that she just assumes she can do whatever the hell she wants with no consequence, especially with your boyfriend. Just because it worked on other guys, she thinks she can keep doing it and she can keep being gross and nobody will ever do anything to her about it. It disgusts you, it always has. She’s no better than the assholes on the football or basketball team who assume that if you smile at them one time, you want to crawl into their backseat. It’s just another reason you’re quitting the team as soon as Friday is behind you.

You’ve got a hold on her gray Hawkins Phys.Ed shirt and you slam her back against the locker a little, laughing. “You think so, hm?”

“Aw… are you upset now, ___? Wanna go cry like you used to?” Caroline taunts, smirking. Shoving at you. You stumble back but regain your balance and step up to her again. Her back meets the locker this time and it’s harder. You’ve got a hand at her throat when she smirks. “I’d rather die than let him anywhere near me. No worries, sweetheart. I mean… make no mistake. You were worried.”

You let her go and take a deep breath or two, but then that second wave of anger hits you as she’s walking over to her own locker so you decide you can’t just let it go, you have to do something. You tap her shoulder and when she turns, you send a right hook smashing into her nose.

“You bitch!” she’s got her hands on her nose, blood seeping through her fingers. “Oops.” you shrug calmly, “My fist slipped, sweets. Force yourself on him if you want, Caroline. I mean we all know you do it with everybody else because if not, nobody would touch you... But if I find out about it? Your nose is gonna be the least of your worries.” you’re glaring at her. A hand on your hip.

“It won’t be forcing if he likes it, ____. And we both know he will. He’s gonna get tired of you. You know it and I know it. You’re just a stopping point until someone better comes along.” she’s holding tissues to her nose and shouting at you as you walk out of the locker room.

Once you’re out in the hallway with Emma, she nods to the closed door at your back. “I think we both know what’s gotta happen, trouble. This shit?” she gestures to the door again, “This is not what we signed up for when we made the team. It’s just not worth it anymore. I know I said I didn’t want to miss the parties but fucking hell… This is too far out of hand. They’re like a nest of vipers.”

“Yeah. You’re right. We’re sticking around long enough to play in that stupid game against them on Friday and then we’re done.” you nod in agreement. “Because I want to tackle Owens one good time.”

“Ditto.”

The two of you take really deep breaths and wander down the hall, the squeak of your sneakers the only sound until you’ve turned down the hallway that the drama class is on. Emma stops in front of the door.

“You’re okay… Right? Like… you know Caroline Owens is full of shit, don’t you?”

You manage a weak smile and nod. And while you know she is, there are some parts of you that wonder… What if she’s not wrong? It’s just in your head and you’re doing your best to shake it out.

“Girl..”

“What?”

“Stop thinking about it, she’s full of shit okay? You’re amazing. And if there comes a time where he can’t see that, it’s his own problem.. Not yours, alright?”

“Okay, alright, shit.” you roll your eyes. “No need to get all fucking emotional about it, woman.”

“I’m gonna have to kick your ass again, aren’t I?” Emma asks, laughing softly. Shaking her head. “The woman has yellow teeth and a bird beak for a nose. Not to mention that one eye that kind of crosses itself sometimes, oh and, and.. She smells like mothballs… You’re seriously going to rake yourself through the coals about what she said?”

“Emma, I’m not, alright? I mean it.”

There’s a small chance that you might have been lying a little, but you seem convincing enough that Emma relaxes.

The two of you wander into the drama classroom and flop into empty chairs. Back out of the way so you’re not disrupting, but Eddie clears his throat, nodding to the table. “If you’re going to come in, come closer so you can watch the game unfold, huh?”

Emma’s giggling. “This guy would be an amazing ringmaster.” she mumbles, making you laugh a little. You drag your chairs over, sitting them by Gareth and Emma sits her chair in between Eddie and the Henderson kid.

Gareth can just tell something is bothering you. That you’re trying to pretend it’s not. So when Eddie calls for a break for a few minutes to grab drinks from the vending machine or snacks, he corners you when it’s just the two of you in the hallway.

“Hey.. C’mon, baby. Start talkin.” he’s pleading, stepping close. Doing that thing where he stands taller and dominates any sliver of space left between your bodies. You laugh softly. “It’s dumb. Trust me.”

“Ah-ah.. Out with it, sugar. Now.” he’s pleading in a firm tone again, caressing your cheeks. You roll your eyes and cringe as you tell him what happened in the locker room and what Caroline said to you as it happened. He’s gaping by the time you’re done, a disgusted look in his eyes. “She seriously said that.”

But then it clicks. It got to you for whatever reason.

He’s figured out by now that you’re not nearly as confident or as bold as you pretend to be ninety nine percent of the time. He pulls you against him, arms around you. “You’re the girl I want, alright? I mean that, sugar.” his forehead settles against yours. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” you melt against him, taking a few shaky breaths. He sees you blinking because you’re trying not to cry and he lets you lean your head against his neck with your arms around him. “ ‘S okay, baby. I mean it.” he coaxes, calm and patient. “Shhh.”

You take a few more shaky breaths and pull away a little, wiping at your eyes. “Sorry.” you mumble.

“Babe, it’s okay.”

“I know, I just hate it when I get so frustrated or upset that I wind up crying.”

Gareth chuckles, his hands on either side of your face as his forehead settles against yours. “It’s okay. It’s better that you told me than just keeping it in.”

You nod.

“Do you feel better?” he asks, gazing at you in concern.

“Yeah.” you smile, a weak grin, but it’s real. Not strained like when you came into the classroom twenty minutes ago.

Caroline is glaring when she walks past you both in the hallway.

Gareth knows it’s probably low-hanging fruit, but he really wants to say something, so she knows that he’s not an option, even if it’s just to get under your skin. “It’s a shame.” he calls out to her, stopping her. She’s giving him a little pout and your fist clenches. Gareth smirks and continues, “Punch still didn’t help the beak situation, huh?”

“Fuck yourself, Emerson.”

“I’d resort to my hand before I ever tried to come to you. You’re kind of a doorknob, Owens.”

“What did you call me?”

“A doorknob. Everybody takes a turn?” Gareth shrugs and you’re leaning against him just so you don’t double over laughing and make the situation worse or anything.

“Asshole.” Caroline grumbles.

“Never said I wasn’t. If you’re smart you’ll leave my girl alone, alright?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Gareth smirks. “You won’t like what happens if you don’t.”

“What are you gonna do, hm? Hit me?” Caroline gazes at you, “You see what you’re with, right? He just threatened me. Was he really worth punching me over, ___? Think a little. We’re only trying to help you out here. There are girls that would kill to be where you and Emma are and yet both of you are constantly destroying the bond between us girls. We’re supposed to be closer, not two against the rest of us.”

“He never said he’d lay a hand on you. Now me, Owens..” you step away from Gareth a little, stepping towards her. She backs up and you laugh. “Go home and fix your nose, Owens. You’re a waste of fucking time. The fact that you call yourselves a team is a joke. This isn’t what I signed up for. This is bullshit.”

“ The coach knows what you did and you’re probably going to get Saturday detention.” Caroline smirks. You shrug. “And? You act as if I’m supposed to be scared. Look, I’m sick of you. Sick of the bullshit. Detention is worth it if I get to punch you.”

Everyone is wandering back from the vending machines and you notice that Emma isn’t wearing Patrick’s lettermans jacket anymore. Not only that, she’s holding her hand against her chest.

“What the hell happened?” you ask, gazing at her in concern.

“Your friend, ah..” Eddie’s snickering. Emma takes over, rolling her eyes. “Let me tell my story, lug.” she’s laughing at him and shaking her head. “Patrick started to bitch because a) I’m at a Satanic cult meeting apparently, and b) I tore the pledge up again. So we started to fight. He admitted that he only wanted to date me because he has some bet going with one of the guys.”

“Okay but how’d you hurt your hand?” you nod to her hand and she laughs. “I-I.. shit, trouble, you know how bad I am at expressing my anger and frustration. I was going to punch him but I just.. I couldn’t. So I hit the locker.”

“But then she threw the damn jacket at him so hard it made his nose bleed because a button caught it.” Eddie’s now given up on holding back his laughter as he gazes down at Emma and shakes his head. Emma is flipping him off.

“I’m not the one who chose to hit a locker instead of the target of my frustration.” Eddie shrugs.

“I’m a pacifist, damn it. Gretchen is the one with the rage.”

“Pacifist my ass, Emma.” you’re laughing and moving back a little, settling back against Gareth. “You weren’t a pacifist this summer when you and Megan tied up at cheer camp.”

“She caught me on a bad day.”

“My ass. I think we both know you’re full of it. Pacifist. Riiight.” you’re laughing.

Mike clears his throat.

“Remember when you said to tell you if they’re gonna mess with us? There’s a truck full of jocks outside in the parking lot. Erica.. She was out there but Will spotted her and snuck out, got her in the back way. Now you know.” he says it as he turns to walk away.

“Who the hell is Erica?” Eddie rubs his chin, confused.

Dustin and Erica Sinclair turn the corner in the hallway with Will, all three out of breath. “They’re outside. All of ‘em.”

Eddie chuckles. Then he nods to Erica. “Who is this? Do I look like a babysitter, kid?”

“You told us to find more people.” Mike scoffs. “We found more people.”

“I meant in high school. Not with bedtimes, Wheeler.” Eddie rubs his temples, shaking his head.

“Next time be more specific, holy shit!” Mike throws up his hands. Will speaks up. “I can vouch for her, okay? She’s good. She played with me, Max and Lucas a few times when everybody else was gone or busy. We’ve uh… we’ve been teaching her.”

Eddie eyes the 11 year old warily and grumbling about it, he pushes open the door of the drama classroom.

“What about the assholes outside?” Mike asks in concern.

“We’ll sneak you guys out the back if we have to.” Eddie answers. “But the rest of us are going out the front, so all I can say is peddle like your lives depend on it. Or go hide in my van, fuck.. Guess I’ll drop you all off or something…”

“If you can’t fit them all, I’m stuck driving Gretchen’s big piece of shit Blazer.” Emma shrugs.

Everyone settles down around the table again and you wind up being pulled into Gareth’s lap at some point during the game. And then, when he rolls a good number, he won’t let you even think about removing yourself and you laugh.

One day filled with hurdles and annoying bullshit down. Quite a few more left. But maybe, you think to yourself, maybe everything will be okay…

– ( after the meeting )

Everyone is letting the energy out that they’ve held back for a few hours by the time the campaign is over for the night. Erica is excited, talking loud a mile a minute and Dustin is chuckling in amusement. Gareth wraps his arm around you, pulling you into his side. Max is talking with El, Mike and Will, fuming about a fight she had earlier with Lucas when he decided to blow off the first meeting of a club he’s been invited to so he could go play basketball with douchebags.

Eddie stops everyone at the door. “Guys, c’mon. Let’s see if the douchebags left, shall we?”

Gareth pulls away and smirks at you. “Stay put. I mean it, baby.”

“Gare…”

“Stay put. You and Emma keep them inside. They’ve been doing this to us since fucking sophmore year. We’re kinda used to it now.”

Erica nudges you and nods to Gareth’s retreating back as she smiles. “Did you finally tell him?”

You smile and nod. “I did.”

“Good. I told you, didn’t I?”

“Okay, little old lady.” you’re joking.

“Hey, what’s going on out there?” Emma nudges Will and Will peeks out the door.

“I think we might be lucky tonight. I think they’re gone.”

“If they’re not, tell me. Me and ____ will go out. This is probably all our faults, sitting with you guys at lunch earlier.”

“They’ve been doing this for weeks now, it’s not your fault. Either of you.” Will states quietly. Mike nods in agreement. “I’m sorry about earlier. I was just frustrated.”

“We get it, kid.” Emma shrugs.

“Yeah, we get it.” you add quietly. Smiling at the younger boys.

Eddie peeks back in. “They just left. One of the girls who stayed over for band stopped me and told me if we’re going, we need to book it. So everybody grab a ride. Probably a better idea if we don’t let you guys go home on your own tonight.”

“C’mon, Max. You and El and Will can ride with me and Gareth.”

“I live down the street from Henderson and Sinclair, Munson. I can take them home. We might even stop for ice cream since my little buddy nailed your asses to a wall in there.” Emma suggests, high-fiving Erica who smirks and sticks out her tongue at Eddie. Eddie chuckles. “It was luck. We’ll see how good you really are at the next one, huh?”

Erica claps her hands. “Really?”

“Yeah, why not. Fuck it.” Eddie chuckles.

Eddie and Mike gaze at each other warily. “Looks like you’re going with me, kid.”

“Will, I’ll call you and El when I make it in. We’ll talk about the thing with Lucas.” Mike calls out to his friends.

“Do it on the com. Patch me in, dude. I’m fucking livid.” Dustin calls out from the passenger side of Emma’s mom’s Blazer before getting in.

Gareth holds out his hands to you. “Keys, babe?”

“Oh come onnnn. I’m not that bad.”

“I love you but I have to disagree. You are.” Gareth is teasing and you pout but you put the keys into his hand.

Max, Will and Eleven settle into the backseat and as soon as you’re all in the car, you turn to look at Max. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just upset. Disappointed. Pissed. I can’t believe he really did that.”

“You know what we talked about, Max.”

She nods. “I know.”

Eleven speaks up. “Maybe he had a good reason.”

Will nods, agreeing. “Maybe..”

“ Call him when you get home, Max. Talk to him.”

“I dunno. He’s acting different lately. He tried to defend them earlier when we were all talking about the shit they’ve been doing to us. He tried to defend them.”

“Maybe he’s just lost, red. Give him a little time.” Gareth speaks up, catching her eyes in the rearview. “If he doesn’t come around though, I think maybe ___ is right.”

“Yeah. I hate it, but yeah.” Max takes a deep breath.

Once the Hopper-Byers cabin comes into view, Will and Eleven are climbing out. “We’ll call you later, Max!”

“Yeah.”

The ride back to the trailer you and Max live in, where Gareth’s truck is parked, is quiet. At one point, Gareth reaches down and puts his hand on your thigh, squeezing. “You’re okay, right? It’s not still getting to you?”

“No baby.”

And it’s not. You lean across and kiss him on the cheek, then you lean your head against him. “What a first day, huh?”

“Yeah, well.. The shit you saw happen is the usual. I mean, kind of.” Gareth laughs. “It’s not a big deal.”

“No, it’s not. They shouldn’t be able to just get away with this shit. I swear its like this whole damn town is so sports obsessed that they turn a blind eye to anything Jason and his band of assholes do. It’s always been this way and I hate it.” you frown. Gareth laughs. “It’s not gonna matter in a few months anyway, remember? We’ll be out of it.”

“Finally.” you answer, laughing.

He pulls your car to a stop behind Wes’s K5 and Max spots Lucas, grumbling to herself. You stop her.

“Hey.. Take a few deep breaths and then go over. Don’t just unload, alright? At least try to hear him out.” you advise. Max nods and gets out, making her way over.

You and Gareth get out and make your way over to his truck where you’re leaned against him.

“So Emma and I are done after Friday.” you tell him quietly. “Like, I can’t… I can’t deal with it anymore. It’s not the same as it was when Lucas’ older sister and the girl who lived two trailers down were the captain and co-captain. They’re all vipers.”

Gareth grips your jaw to make you look at him and he’s grinning a little. “Really? But why Friday?”

“Because I want to be able to legally drill Caroline Owens into grass on a football field. Yeah, apparently, she had the same idea, because she told the coach we should be made to sign up for more stuff and she mentioned it. So Emma and I didn’t exactly argue it.”

“Okay, she’s really not smart. I’ve seen you tackle before. If you still tackle the way you did in middle school..” Gareth cringes, laughing. “She’s going to regret it.”

The laughter dies away and you melt against him. “Gare?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Love you.” you yawn out sleepily. He presses his lips to your forehead. “Love you too.” and he’s grinning because hearing you say those three words back to him has made his night.

Maybe even his lifetime.

And he’s determined not to let anything happen to what you two have together.

#gareth emerson #gareth the great #gareth emerson imagine #gareth emerson fanfiction #gareth emerson x reader #gareth emerson x fem!reader

88 notes · View notes