#where are my dnd goths

[mothgoth106]

Apparently my old blogs got deleted, so I'm here to start a new one while I watch Twitter crumble into dust. Hello again?

[nonbinary-eddie-munson]

Steve hadn't meant to evesdrop on eddies new band. Really, he was an innocent party here.

Once things had calmed down in the aftermath of Vecna, Steve and Eddie had scrounged up every penny they could -steve even sold his precious beemer so they could have the extra cash- and got the hell out of dodge. Eddie couldn't stay in a town where everyone still looked at him like he was a murderer and Steve loved Eddie too much to keep him trapped in a town that hated him.

They had settled into chicago nicely, far enough away from the hellmouth that was hawkins, indiana that they werent constantly jumping at the sight of their own shadows, but still close enough they could be back in less than a day if shit started going down again.

The metal scene in chicago was just starting to take off, and Eddie quickly fell in with a local band that was in need of a new lead guitar. Steve had yet to meet any of Eddies new band members, his work and class schedules keeping him entirely too busy and exhausted for socializing. All of which led to this moment, Steve hovering awkwardly at the end of the hallway leading backstage as Eddies new bandmates tore him apart.

"Seriously how'd a guy as hard core as Ed end up with a preppy little asshole like that, i mean did you see what he was wearing?" The drummer scoffed

Self-consciously Steve worried at the hem of his black polo, he had stressed over his outfit all evening before they headed out to the venue. Eddie assured him that he looked great telling him he looked "like a sexy little gothed up jock" in his black polo, his tightest jeans and just the barest hint of eyeliner and mascara to make his eyes pop

"I know it must have been slim pickings back in butt fuck nowhere but Ed's got options now. Sure, the guy has a nice ass, but Ed could pull someone who's not gonna ruin our cred by dating a guy who looks like a narc" the bassist added on meanly.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat Steve turned to head back to the bar when Eddies voice stopped him in his tracks.

"People who disrespect my boyfriend dont get to talk about his ass" came Eddies sharp reply "Steve is more metal than all of you dumb fucks combined, and he's the inspiration behind all of the lyrics that are making us so big in the scene right now. If you cant fucking respect my boyfriend, you sure as hell dont deserve to get famous off the songs i wrote about him so im fucking out and im taking my songs with me."

"Ed you cant be fucking serious" the drummer started

"No, fuck you guys! You act all high and mighty but your just as fuckin shallow and small minded as the dumb hicks Steve and I left Indiana to get away from. Good luck finding someone to replace me and my songs before the fest next month" Eddie spat, his footsteps thundering against the concrete floor and around the corner into the hallway, coming up short as soon as he spotted Steve frozen in the hallway shocked at Eddies fierce defence of him.

"Oh sweetheart" Eddie crooned bringing a hand up to cup the side of Steves face his thumb gently swiping away the tears Steve hadnt even realized had begun to fall "I'm sorry you had to hear that baby. Lets go home" Eddie took his hand back from Steves face, wrapping it around his waist and tucking Steve firmly against his side ushering a still dazed Steve down the hall, out of the bar and into the cool night air

"Your didnt have to do that Eds" Steve said quietly, reluctantly pulling away from Eddie now that they were out in the open where anybody could see.

"Of course i did baby. You're the love of my life. You matter more to me than anything else in this world. More than my guitar and metal and dnd. And certainly more than some mouth breathers who wouldnt know what metal is if it got up on stage and took a bite out of a demon bat" Eddie replied with a grin and a wink swooping down to press a quick peck against Steves mouth as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk frozen in shock at Eddies declaration

"Im more important to you than music and dnd?" Steve asked in a quiet awed voice, his heart beating rapidly as if it was trying to physically escape his chest and burrow itself into the flesh of Eddies own ribcage.

"Sure are sweetheart, now why dont you get that sexy ass of yours moving so we can get home and I can show you just how much I mean it" Eddie replied, his voice lowering into a deep gravel that drove Steve crazy, hands reaching out to pull Steve forward a few steps urging him in the directon of the van parked furthur down the street.

Steve stumbled after Eddie, letting the other man lead him, his brain still not fully back online after Eddies bold decleration of love.

Steve didn't believe in any god, but he found himself thanking every god he could think of for bringing Eddie Munson into his life.

[iraprince]

dnd session sketching. the gang is in a terrible dreary little village where something is obviously very very fucked up but my paladin brad (normal human dude [/gender neutral] from the present day) does not even care because there's a righteous goth babe here

[theresattrpgforthat]

Heya! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for ttrpgs that are easy to teach the basic rules of in ~10 mins and good for running one offs!

I work with an organization that runs dnd games at conventions and breweries and we've been trying to branch out from DnD lately, but unfortunately since so many people know how to play 5e already it's the easiest to just keep using that.

THEME: Easy To Teach

Hello there, I totally sympathize with you on this! I’m first going to direct you to my First-Time GMs post just to take a look at some of the games I’ve listed there. I definitely recommend Pugmire and Visigoths vs. Mall Goths as the top two from that list. I’m also going to stick to games I’ve personally played before. I'm also going to @gayandtrashy because they asked a very similar question.

Enjoy!

The Vampire Next Door, by Cat Elm.

It's the late 2000s, school's out for summer, and you're headed out of town to stay with your grandparents in the idyllic Yorkshire village of Wymton-on-Tee. Your summer plans include exploring the countryside, and most importantly enjoying Grampy's famous chocolate chip cookies…. except that you're pretty sure that Vladimir Alucard, Grommy and Grampy's new neighbour is an evil bloodsucking vampire.

And none of the adults will believe you.

The Vampire Next Door is a roleplaying game for 3-7 players, intended for single-session or short form play. It's an homage to classic shows like Scooby Doo, Mona the Vampire, and Gravity Falls, where it's down to the kids to be smarter than the adults and save the day.

I’ve played this game with a first-time GM, and it was fantastic. The GM had an outline of the village that she could use to reference when the players wanted to go somewhere new, and the rules were very easy to understand - 4 stats, 4 dice attached to them, and 3 levels of difficulty. The goal is to acquire 4 pieces of evidence indicating that Vlad is a vampire, so once your kids have the evidence, it’s just a quick ending narration scene and you’re done! (If you want a shorter game though, I’d recommend reducing the evidence required to 3 pieces instead.)

Kids on Bikes, by Hunters Entertaiment.

Kids on Bikes is a Collaborative World Building RPG set in small towns with big mysteries. It is a rules-light storytelling system that gets players into the action fast. Kids on Bikes takes place in a more mysterious time, where anything and everything could happen. 

I’ve run a hack of Kids on Bikes for friends before, most of which hadn’t played much outside of D&D prior to playing. The tropes that are present in Kids on Bikes streamline character creation, because each trope presents you with dice already assigned to stats, and recommendations for strengths and flaws. Worldbuilding can be done by the GM or collaboratively depending on what the group is more comfortable with. The GM is presented with a a Difficulty chart that they can reference to determine how difficult its is to do something. If you have a larger dice, you’re more likely to succeed, but players also have resources such as adversity tokens, which can be spent to add bonuses, ignore the effects of fear, or activate special abilities attached to each character.

The best thing about Kids on Bikes is that once you’re comfortable with the system, you can branch out into the other games that use the same rules! This includes games such as Teens in Space, a game about science-fantasy exploration, or Kids on Brooms, a game about magic schools.

Cats of Catthulu, by Joel Sparks.

In Cats of Catthulhu, players take on the roles of a variety of ordinary-seeming cats fighting conspiracies of cosmic chaos. Mighty spirits such as Snarlyathotep, slimy Phatphroggua, and Hastpurr of the Yellow Eye inspire their cultists to destroy civilization-but that’s where all the comfy furniture is! One person acts as the Cat Herder, arranging the secret plots, challenges, and rewards and guiding the others through the process of making an adventure. Rules are light and quick, emphasizing player cleverness and the fun of being feline. There’s plenty of darkness and chaos in the world, but our fuzzy heroes can handle it!… Usually.

This is another game I’ve run for new players before! The game mentions special d6’s with cat dice on them, but you can honestly use any old d6. There is a short, defined list of character options with helpful charts to give your players some inspiration. To do something, you’ll roll 2d6. You’ll want to get at least one Success on your dice, although in some situations you might need 2 successes to get what you want. If you are the Right Cat for the Job, then the task is easier for you, and if you have a Treat that you can spend, you might even get to re-roll!

This game is cute, humorous, and excellent for short games, although there’s definitely room for longer stories if there’s interest.

Spectaculars, by Scratchpad Publishing.

Spectaculars is a tabletop roleplaying game where players create their own comic book universe, craft heroes and villains to populate that universe, and then play through full-length campaigns to tell incredible stories of heroism and villainy in a world of their own creation. This box set game gives a gaming group everything they need to play the game, and to create their own consistent campaign that spans multiple comic book genres.

Through play, each copy of Spectaculars evolves into its own unique comic book universe; in essence, the players create, through play, a rich backdrop against which their heroes and villains clash. The nature of the setting is determined by the players. Spectaculars makes it easy to create a fully fleshed-out setting, guiding you the process of creating the setting’s major elements at the time they come into play.

This is another game that I’ve seen a new GM pick up with excitement - and continue to run! This is a superhero game that takes a lot of inspiration from recognized superhero media, so it’s great for folks who are looking to emulate what they’ve seen on television. This is a really big game, with a lot of tools to help the GM run the game - including adventures with plenty of places to slot in thematically relevant villains and obstacles. There’s also plenty of collaborative world-building, giving the players a say in what they want to see, while also taking the burden off of the GM.

The physical copy is also really good at making you excited to play. It comes with tokens, dice, character pads, and plenty of GM tools and toys!

If you’re interested in a similar game that uses the same system but takes place in a fantasy city of crime, then check out Dusk City Outlaws, which is by same publisher!

External Containment Bureau, by Mythic Gazetteer.

External Containment Bureau is a game of paranormal investigation and bureaucracy using a lightweight, hackable version of the Forged in the Dark design framework. You play as trained agents of the External Containment Bureau, an organization tasked with the study, identification, and containment of paranormal phenomena. The Bureau authorizes agents to make use of these phenomena to give yourself incredible powers (so long as the proper forms are in order). But take care: using paranormal energies inches you ever closer to joining the ranks of the paranormal yourself. Will you transcend humanity in the line of duty? Play to find out.

External Contaiment Bureau is great for fans of SCP or Control, and is also a sleek, simple introduction to the world of Forged in the Dark games. Your players will add dice to their pool from a list of resources on their sheet, whether that be from their background as paranormal academic, or their special weapon commissioned from R&D. It simplifies the Controlled, Risky, Desperate pool from Blades in the Dark, and also imports the Mystery Clock from games like Brindlewood Bay and The Between, which also have a good reputation for being beginner-friendly. There are also a number of adventures available for new GMs to run, such as the Sidhe Conservancy of Portland, which pits you against the Fae, or Checking Out, which places you in a hotel that slowly erases your memory.

Other Posts to Check Out

Top 5 TTRPGs for Beginners

Introductory Games

First Time GMs (repeat of the first link at the top)

Some Final Advice

If you have any regular GM’s who you’re hoping to introduce to new games, find out what pieces of media they really like. Then go hunting for games that fit that description. When it comes to picking up a new game, nothing is more motivating then finding out there’s a story you want to tell, regardless of whether or not it means learning a new system.

One of my friends started running a Pokemon campaign because he loves the games so dang much - and he’s got a dedicated party of players! Another friend found Mausritter and got really excited because he just loved the idea of playing tiny mice on adventures. A third friend is starting to determine if she wants to hack the Cypher System to make it work for Horizon Zero Dawn. If I can compare popular pieces of media to the games that I want to run, I get folks signing up in droves - I’ve advertised Studio Ghibli, Star Wars, Really Gay Teenagers, and Bloodborne to great effect.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dear Dapper - you're so great at helping me think through ideas and creative blocks, and you have such great thoughts about DnD religions, so I hope this question is perfect for you. (Forgive the length, feel free to trim in any posting).

Our campaign is set in a world where the gods found some "clay" and sculpted a world out of it. Most of the various plots stem from the earliest, most powerful creations having various emotions about this act (resentment and reformation, jealousy, an overextended sense of ownership, or feeling they can redo it better). In the past, the sense of resentment led to a war where the traditional, but respected, judge-like, ferryman-style psychopomp god of death was killed. He now exists as a partial remnant, God of Undeath - the dark moon. The other gods then fled, abandoning creation.

My character started as a cleric of the light moon goddess, and as perhaps the most mythologically invested player, I've been expanding to become pan-theistic - trying to round up what remains of divine power into beneficent hands (ie, against the bbeg). In a recent story arc, a part of his soul was stolen, then given freely to this God of Undeath.

The God's angry (presumably about being killed - the how is an upcoming plot point). He's viewed as asleep, and wants to 'wake' the living world into undeath. His worshippers are secretive necromancers and the undead. Otherwise his themes so far are generally gothy, macabre and evil.

I think my character's desire is to try to restore him in some way, or at least, 'wake' him into some element of his former neutral/benevolent self. As a player, I want to toy with the scary, gothiness of this change, and dance with temptation a bit. As both, I want to find some good or positive elements to the Undeath angle that I can spin.

What ideas does this generate for you? In particular, what are some positives from undeath that I could play with? Why would a normal living wizard fall into the necromantic worship of this 'deity' (other than the selfish desire for immortality as a lich or vampire)?

Thanks for any thoughts you might have!

Fundamentally any depiction of the undead are really a portrayal of our relationship TO death, and the many reactions we can have regarding it's suddenness, tragedy, and inevitability.

A god that's angry about their own inevitable demise strikes me as one that's stuck mid way through the seven stages of grief, a state not unlike undeath because it leaves those trapped in it unable to move on. Cultists might think they're gaining immortality through undeath but really they're trapping themselves in bereaved stasis.

The ultimate resolution then is taking steps toward catharsis and acceptance, of letting go, and coming to terms with the loss as a form of exorcism. Perhaps your character also had a significant death in their life and had trouble moving on, and wants to give this god the same hardwon peace they finally achieved, or achieve it by working things out through this god.

I find it interesting that "gothy" is a term that's brought up multiple times in your description, because one of the big parts about goth subculture (other than a kickass music scene) is a philosophy that asks us to not shy away from the fear of death but instead look at it head on, unpleasant as it is, and say " I embrace you and in doing so I acknowledge how great life really is"

[maestriovermind]

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Anons and DMs are always open! If you do want to directly message me, I highly recommend adding me on

my discord: mindgirl

I may occasionally edit this pinned post with new / remembered information to better express myself.

Beginning of bio for short attention span havers:

Names: Amaranth / Amy (please ask before using Amy)

My age, as of my birthday in 2023: 23 years old

My preferred pronouns: she/they/it

My preferred honorifics: Ma'am, Miss - Ask before using any others

Sexuality/Romance/Etc: Demisexual/Asexual, Panromantic, Poly

Likes, in no particular order:

TTRPGs, TCGs, Video Games, Writing, Art, Music, Theatre, Movies, TV Shows, Animation, Cooking / Baking, Computer Science, Psychology, Hypnosis, Learning, All forms of life, Defiance in the face of injustice, Kindness, Empathy, Therapy, Anything that pisses off my mother, Webcomics (yes including that one), Generally pretty much every form of telling stories available to me

TTRPGs that I play / have played or at least read some:

DnD 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Masks, Dungeon World, Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Favorite Foods/Drinks, in no particular order:

Takis, Raspberries, Blackberries, Crispy ginger beef, Broccoli with cheese, shrimp fried rice, Monkey bread, Catfish, Homemade kombucha, Dr. Pepper, Water, Sourdough bread

I will probably immediately like you in some capacity if you meet one of the following criterion:

Goth, Punk, current or former "Scene" girl, Woman (bonus points if your hair is short), Witch/etc, GNC, Using "She/Her, They/Them, She/They, or Fae/Faer" pronouns, Nice to me

Disclaimer:

I hold the stance that to believe every single cishet man to be a chaser or bigoted is bigoted in itself, so don't discount yourself if you are both a cisgender man and only into women, you still have a chance, even if I may be biased against you.

Dislikes, in no particular order:

Purposeful lack of empathy, Executive tasks, Purposeful ghosting, The USA, Law enforcement, Any form of purposeful bigotry, Gatekeeping, Calling anything/anyone "cringy," Myself, "cancelling" someone/something without significant evidence and reason to do so, deciding that something/someone is unequivocally good or bad, rejecting the idea that people change, Logical fallacies, the word "Lazy," Conflict, Rejection, Purposeful lack of honesty (especially in a relationship), excessive vegetables/greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, excessive onions, non-crunchy asparagus.

I'm just here looking for friends that enjoy similar things to what I also like to partake in, be they horny or not.

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Frequently used tags and what they mean:

#hypnosis, #cw hypnosis, #hypnok1nk

typically used as a trio when tagging hypnosis themed art, or any mention of hypnosis in an ask response or any post in general

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#brainwashing

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#maestri sub tag

Woag me? A bottom? Surprising right? Wrong. This tag is for all of my posts (after a certain point where I started using the tag, I'm not going to find all my older subby posts and tag them) in which I am being a complete and utter subby little bottom. Please don't make fun of me too much.

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If you read all of my pinned post, congratulations! I will probably like you a lot more because you are emotionally invested in me and learning as much as you can about me.

:>

[the-greatest-magic-of-all]

I know it's been months since you posted about it but. I want to hear about the Bad Moms.

No worries! I'm always happy to chat, no matter the time! This one's gonna be a long one though, so strap in!

First things first, all of the Bad Moms are at least 15th-level adventurers, if not higher. All of them, excluding Sklonda, have canonically either adventured or did something like it. And Sklonda is high-level because she's just that badass.

In order of first appearance, we'll start off with the imposing Hallariel Seacaster, who, side note, I truly believe is almost seven feet tall. Just a tower of a bored housewife who used to be the best swordswoman in Spyre (Think Morticia Addams but slightly less goth). This leads me to believe that she'd be a straight Fighter (all of the Seacasters are) with the Samurai subclass. A heavy hitter who just won't drop yet still smoothly transitions into being an elegant courtier when need be. Oh, and I'd love for them to bring back the sober trigger mechanic from Unsleeping City S2 for her! It'd also be a treat to watch her deal with other Elves who make pointed backhanded comments about her finally settling down with another Elf and how it's good to see that she's done playing house with that human husband and half-human son of hers.

Next up is Wilma Thistlespring! My most precious Artificer Bard! With the subclasses Battle Smith and College of Creation, respectively. Battle Smith because in "Family in Flames", while Digby had a Tesla-coil laser canon (a hallmark of an Artilerist), Wilma had a fleet of spinning gyros instead. It'd probably take a little reflavouring but I think she could have her Steel Defender be this swarm of bird-like constructs that fuck a bitch up. And for the College of Creation part, I mean... It's the Bard subclass all about having a Song in your heart and that Song being one of the most ancient and powerful magic of all. If that's not Wilma Thistlespring to a T then I don't know what is. Also, btw, I'd love for her to be played by Elaine Lee because, if I remember correctly, Brennan took inspiration for the Thistlesprings from his parents!

Next is Mom of the Year, Sklonda Gukgak, who is obviously a straight-up Inquisitive Rogue, just like her son! This one is one of the more obvious picks for her and one of the only ones really. None of the other Rogue subclasses fit quite right while still making sense for her character. Like, maaaybe she could be a Mastermind Rogue, but I think it's a stretch. And it's the only subclass that she could conceivably get to a high enough level without her being a straight-up adventurer. I honestly think it'd be so funny to watch her get pulled into an adventure. Because I think she's a lot like Carameldina and Steel in the way of absolutely hating that they live in a DnD world, but instead of being utterly baffled by why her son is acting like an adventurer, she knows. She knows she lives in a world where adventures happen and the Call to Adventurer is a real phenomenon that wraps people up with Quest Fever. She's been trying to keep Riz from it ever since Pok died. So getting to watch her finally get the Call herself would be fantastic.

Sandra Lynn Faeth, the messiest bench ever, is next up and she's pretty straightforward, just like Sklonda. She's a Beast Master Ranger and that's all she wrote! Obviously, most of the fun of watching Sandra Lynn take center stage would be in witnessing her past come back to haunt her and seeing how she deals with it. The most glaring plot hook for a Bad Moms season (as long as they don't do it in Junior Year) would be her serving justice to the older adventurer creep who got her blacklisted from adventuring! I want her to kick ass, take names, and call Jawbone whenever she wants to make out with someone because she's still too anxious to do it impromptu even though they've talked about it!

Second to last, we've got Cathilda Ceili!!! Fight me if you think she doesn't count as a Bad Mom!!! She does!! She and Roz are picking up the slack that fucking Arianwen and Donna are dropping, okay? Okay. Now, while her being a Swashbuckler Rogue is a given. What else was she going to be? I'm also kinda leaning towards her multiclassing into Banneret Fighter, is that crazy? It's just that it feels that she'd also have some support mechanics in her roster (like Rallying Cry) and having Action Surge and Second Wind could tie why her work ethic is so tireless. Plus, as a Fighter, she'd fit in with the rest of the Seacasters! Listen, i want to see Cathilda let loose for once. And I feel like the other Bad Moms could get her there.

Finally! Roslyn "Roz" Fukumoto! She's such a wild card because we literally know nothing about her, but I think it'd be fun to include her in a Bad Moms season. Getting to know another Aguefort Alumni like Sandra Lynn and learning about what life is like outside of Elmville in another small town in Solace. I don't know if there'd be any tension between her and Wilma, (mostly because Wilma's such a sweetie) but getting to see their dynamic would be a treat. Now, for what class she could be. Another spellcaster would round out the party nicely, leaning more toward like a Warlock or even a half-caster, like a Paladin. But if she'd had to be a martial, a Fantasy High hasn't had a Monk PC yet and they are always a joy to watch.

Whew! That's about it for the Bad Moms class wise. It's such a pipe dream but it'd be such a joy to watch a group of older women play DnD as this badass team of Moms. I hope this satisfies your curiosity, @deconstructthesoup!!

[livingbrother]

Hades Rewrite

His personality

Hades is known to be a stubborn and grouchy god. When he's with friends or family, he's a kind and inquisitive man who really enjoys philosophy and thrifting.

His fashion

He dresses very modern to fit in with the new souls coming into his realm and to ease them into death. He generally wears goth fashion or anything formal looking, most of what he wears is thrifted. His hair is usually long and worn up in a ponytail or bun, when short, he usually has it down.

His background

He and his brothers (Zeus and Poseidon) come from the titans Kronos and Rhea. He was swallowed by Kronos when he was a wee lad, and is forever (mentally) scarred by it. He later becomes king of the underworld. He has a strained relationship with Zeus and a neutral relationship with Poseidon, he's on decent terms with Hera, and is neutral to Hestia and Demeter.

Design notes

I wanted him to feel more lax. I also wanted him to be both feminine and masculine to offset what the hell we got in LO. The white streak in his hair is from stress. I also genuinely could not, for the life of me, decide what color his shading should be, so it's inconsistent as balls. His color scheme is primarily his holy colors and blood red. The Hades in the second picture will never be seen again with that hair cut because it's way too close to my dad's hairstyle and I don't want to think about that. Unless the people who love it beg me to keep it, it's never happening again unless I made it plot relevant. Fun tidbit: him and my DnD character share a design!

What else should you know?

He uses he/him and collects thrifted clothes like a crow with shiny things. He likes pomegranate wine, snowy evenings, and dolmades. Him and Kore are about the same age. His brothers also stressed him out to the point where he got his grey streak.

Thanks for reading!

[incandescent-creativity]

Thinking about the wider ramifications of my decision to color code schools of magic for my convenience in my dnd campaign

Honestly I did it bc it plays into my use of the Disneyland kyber crystals as dnd props, but then it became fun because I started thinking about wizards dressing up according to the color of the school of magic they study, or doing so to mislead people while secretly practicing another kind of magic.

But then I got to thinking about what the world would be like, not only to live in a world with magic but where magic has such clear organization and rules. It would probably make wizards smug as hell - even if a warlock or sorcerer didn’t get magic by studying, their conjuration spells still come out blue like the rest of us.

Like? Do people take it as proof of the gods’ goodness? They’re clearly so organized and made magic straightforward for us! Are there super complex dissertations on how the colors got assigned to each school of magic? Do people think they got assigned, or was it just an inherent part of the magic?

If people think gods assigned colors, do they agree on which god assigned what? I mean, probably not. You probably have entirely different sects that still worship the same god. “Oh you’re a Raven Queen follower, go talk to them.” “Uh, excuse you? They clearly think RQ is purple. I dress in all black for a reason.” “I just thought you were really goth.”

Or, since the gods clearly play favorites, do people see the colors of magic as immutable traits that not even the gods can change?

… much to think about.

Also in my notes I have that abjuration spells don’t have a color; they’re mostly protection spells, and so things like Shield are just clear invisible effects that just happen. What is THAT like for people? Are abjurers less trusted, because you never see them working their magic? How frustrating is it when you can see magical things happening all around you, but you don’t know you got Counterspelled until the effect doesn’t happen?

Actually, from a DM standpoint, that’s pretty great. How smart of me to work that into the world building.

[thekeeperof-thefandoms]

Fine. I need mutuals to lose my sanity with so I give you my Hazbin Hotel hcs based off my OCs.

Please I am so fucking abnormal about my OCs and would love to elaborate on them any time!!! Please if you want specifics about their interactions with their respective partner or character sheets (I cant draw vivzie style good and I have some generic AI art of them I refuse to post it because I don't believe in using ai art for anything other than private use. I paid money for the one that's my profile pic cuz its my dnd character.)

Vox with a big tiddy goth girlfriend reader. Short, chubby, v insecure. Also feral adhd gremlin who copes with dark humor. Makes Vox's ADHD worse. They give each other vocal stims. Call and response echolalia. Vox is constantly assaulted by memes now. Honesly they bring out the inner goblin in each other but it's fine cuz it helps Vox unwind and emotionally regulate finally. She's bi too so anytime Vox (who canonically is more into men) finds a guy he likes they can totally bring him in for a threesome. She leans towards women so it goes both ways. She's a sub for women but tops for men (especially Vox's bratty ass).

Alastor with a skinny non binary autistic person. People mistake them for a twink. Some days they're more fem cuz they want to be pretty. Usually anxious, quiet, enjoys reading and listening to Alastor's music or radio static. Then you get them to unmask and they're a barely stable perpetually exhausted creature thriving off of caffeine and memes. Alastor adores their chaos and listening to them ramble. Appreciates they try to find modern culture he'd relate to and enjoy. They spend time co-existing to bond, doing their own thing next to each other. No pressure to initiate intimacy or anything other than friendship. Autistic person gets a lot of Alastor's sensory ick (esp about touch) without being nosy and just accepts their murder gremlin radio friend. (Accidental platonic partners).

Valentino getting a fucking therapist (he needs one. I see the bi-polar theory and as some one who worked with bipolar people I can see it but he could just be a terrible person). That therapist having two main personalities after death (based on a book a read where a person's ghost was split into two people from before and after their trauma). Both are qualified therapists. One's a 2000s emo boy who's esthetic is Laughing Jack. Except plot twist they're from the south (based on a kid I knew in high school). Puts Vox in his place more often than not by just tying him up and whisking him away to have his tantrums in private (they probably [definitely] fucked.) Tough love kinda but in a way that actuall forces Valentino to confront his issues and deal with it. The other is basically if Harley Quinn got a Homestuck Trickster design. Very sweet. Very blunt. Chaos incarnate. Elaborately finds ways to put Valentino in situations that make him uncomfortable so he has to deal with them and then pavloving him with candy or sex when he's a good person. They're both helping in their own way because now Valentino has to think about his actions, emotionally regulate, and is rewarded for good behavior. The whole dynamic is cute and sexy but also kinda twisted.

Plot twist, Alastor's accidental QPR, Vox's chaos thicc witch, and the unhinged therapy duo are all besties from when they were alive and it means Vox and Alastor have to be civil to each other cuz their partners are friends and they don't wanna upset them.

Bonus points cuz they make friends with Angel and Angel gets to watch two candy themed clowns walk his boss's ass like a dog.

Lucifer gets the AUDHD diagnosis he didn't know he needed ("oh, that's what's wrong with me"), lots of comfort and validation, and a healthy dose of therapy as well.

[xxgothwhorexx]

Trailer Park Trash: Prologue

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader.

Reader: Trans Guy . Goth . Femboy . 18

Warnings: This takes place in my own version of Hawkins and ignores the canon timeline and events.

Summary: Reader has just moved to Hawkins, on the first day of school he meets Hellfire.

Authors Note: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic series, the pacing and grammar aren't perfect but I hope to improve.

First Person Perspective

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I moved to Hawkins for a new life, I'd spent far too much of mine pretending to be someone else. I had grown sick of people I no longer knew calling me by a name that was never mine, so I packed my bags and left.

Why Hawkins? It's actually very simple. I'm repeating my final year of highschool, I don't have the time to work a full-time job and it's suspiciously cheap to buy a place in Hawkins.

I decided to buy a trailer, it'd be easy to maintain and the initial payment wouldn't leave me broke for a month.

...

On the first day of school I walked in wearing my school-appropriate clothes. Based on the stares I was getting Hawkins hadn't seen many goths.

Morning classes went by sluggishly, I was met with snarky comments from my teachers in every class. The bell rang for lunch, I gathered my things and made my way to the cafeteria.

Walking through those doors was overwhelming, the room buzzed from all the chatter, a group of teens ran past almost knocking me over. My attention locked onto someone standing on a table. He's attractive, confident and making fun of social hierarchies.

"-BALLS INTO LAUNDRY BASKETS!!!" he shouts, after a brief confrontation with one of the jocks he sits down at the table, he's surrounded by an odd group all sporting the same logo on their shirt. Looking around the cafeteria it becomes clear that I won't be welcomed by most of my peers, I decide to try my luck with the hot guy and 'Hellfire'.

"Is this seat free?" I gesture to an empty chair.

"uh-" the group exchange glances then turn towards the guy sitting at the head of the table.

He smiles leaning forward, "You may sit" he makes a large sweeping motion with his arm.

I take a seat, without missing a beat the group resumes their earlier conversation. I want to join but decide to stay quiet, it seems like their friend had ditched them for the basketball team.

The guy stood up abruptly, "It seems luck is on your side little sheep, we have our replacement" all eyes turn to me.

...

And that's how I was indoctrinated into a Satanic cult...

Not actually, turns out Hellfire is just a DnD club. I filled in for their basketball friend that night, luckily I knew enough about DnD to get through the session without a hitch.

After the defeat of Vecna we decided that celebratory pizza was in order. Dustin called shotgun before we set foot outside, the rest of us crammed into the back of Eddie's van.

"BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP, IT'S GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE!!" Eddie yells over the music booming through his stereo.

When we arrived at Surfer Boy Pizza everyone was in a tangled pile on the floor.

"GET OFF ME!" Mike squealed.

"OUCH!!" Jeff squeaked.

"WHOSE ASS IS IN MY FACE!!?" Gareth shrieked.

Eddie was cackling from the drivers seat.

"GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND HELP ME MUNSON!!!"

...

We all stuffed our faces with pizza, I held the record of three whole slices in my mouth at once.

The guys were both horrified and impressed by my talent, Eddie didn't say a damn thing but the look on his face said it all.

Mike attempted to beat my record only to start choking on the second slice, thank the devil Dustin knew the heimlich maneuver.

After everyone had eaten more than their fill of pizza Eddie dropped them all home, I was the last stop.

"Where do you live pretty boy?" Pretty boy?! Jesus fucking christ this man was gonna be the death of me, my palms were so fucking sweaty.

"The trailer park, just go straight then make a left turn" I start giving directions only to be cut short.

"You're my new neighbor!" His face practically lights up.

"Wha- You live in the trailer park too??" How had I not noticed him??

"Hell yeah! Trailer park trash man!" He raised his hand for a high five, when our hands meet he intertwines our fingers.

I feel the heat rising in my face, my ears and cheeks burning. We remain holding hands for the rest of the ride, I never want this to end.

"Looks like we're here pretty boy" He turned to me, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Yeah I guess we are" He squeezes my hand before letting go.

"See ya tomorrow then"

"See ya then" I hop out of the van and go inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| Prologue | Part 1 | [updates in progress]

Thanks for reading!! Writing tips are welcome, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments :)

[skepsiss]

I am the rare mix of Jock and Goth that plays perfectly for me to write Steddie.

Did I play Baseball for 10 years? Hockey for 7? Track and Field for 2? (Plus Fencing, Soccer and a few others for 1-2 years). Did I grow up in a big ass house with parents that hated one another? Was I the first and only of my friends that could drive and had a car? Am I always somehow the group Mom (to a point where in Discord servers my role is literally "mom")?

Do I also write DnD books? Do I have an encyclopedic knowledge of LOTRs? Am I a weird little freak that has taxidermy in my house? Do I listen to true crime for hours on end and love horror movies? Do I listen to way too much 1980s Rock, Goth, and Metal music? Do I have nerdy ass tattoos? Am I a fruit?

Yes to all of the above.

[inquestorm]

Been getting a few comments on the latest chapter expressing their complicated feelings on the subject of Lanira, the token naga in the Twilight Gods cast.

I've only read a scattered few stories on AO3, none of them containing naga, so I'm not sure as to how they usually get shown. I suppose I'm just finding myself reminded of the classic "Always Chaotic Evil" tag from old DnD editions.

Edgy goth bitch that I am, I've always been fascinated by stereotypically evil factions. I still have a deep soft spot for Drow and I've several times tried to figure out how to batter the trashfire lore into a society that makes sense, but... they're not a monolith, even with all their matriarchal spider cult totalitarianism. The concept of an entire species being evil bothers me. It's just fucking lazy, apart from anything else.

I'm not even necessarily talking about Eilistraee or other renegade drow factions. Just the simple fact that the ordinary folk in one of these 'evil' realms aren't necessarily going to be baby eating stereotypes. Sometimes they're just going to be...

...well, to bring it back to where this started, sometimes they're going to be fundamentally nice and well meaning people whose society has imprinted values on them that will lead to trouble.

Even though the naga are a primary antagonist throughout Twilight Gods, I very much wanted to paint them as just another race of people. One whose ruler has been a narcissistic cult leader for ten thousand years. They can be good or bad.

And as I remarked to one comment... if you're left with mixed feelings about Lanira's current plight, then I consider my job well done.

[northeastartist]

{Updated picture background}

Have I mentioned I’m now a DnD nerd?

Meet Hemlock!

This is my current warlock (former sorcerer) Tiefling DnD character, in my current campaign. Their pronouns are they/them.

They have a rather grim backstory (failed cult sacrifice, brainwashed and tortured for 5+ years to the point their memory of their past is full of holes, they only have a silver locket around their neck that shows what their parents were (well known tavern keepers, where the father may or may not have made a pact to get his inn successful and ended up with Hem in the first place) and them, just before they were kidnapped. They woke up completely different, after the cult tried to sacrifice them for their own ill wants, and chose their new name as Hemlock, and have been wandering Faerun’s roads ever since.

They’re the goth wine aunt/uncle of the group, and are incredibly intimidating (may have made a child shit himself and scared the town mayor’s asshole thugman)

They unofficially speak and can translate kobold and basically tries to chill the barbarian out from his shenanigans (barbarian is kobold)

They will get into their own shenanigans soon, they are still mentally lost.

[one-silly-cart00nist]

Sunset after the Rain [Mark/David]

(because AO3 is down and I was planning to post the sequel to this fic soon so here you go tumblr: my ode to the creek and the start of my Elders brainrot)

Rated: G Word Count: 5k Pre-slash, Original Side Character (Jackie's gf for plot purposes)

It was a sunny afternoon at the creek the day when the Elder’s rock was busy outdoors. For the longest day of summer the three friends prepared a special celebration—a campfire and a sleepover under the rock with a few special guests to shelter. 

It was a sunny afternoon at the creek the day when the Elder’s rock was busy outdoors. For the longest day of summer the three friends prepared a special celebration—a campfire and a sleepover under the rock with a few special guests to shelter. 

Omar, despite being quite the youngest in the group, captured the hearts of the elders easily through his love of comics and videogames. Now that the Overpass didn’t need a guard and he had free time to spare, he found himself frequently showing up at the Elder’s rock borrowing manga and listening in on the DnD campaigns. He didn’t quite have the confidence to join in. 

David insisted Tabitha and Courtney would be invited to commemorate their friendship formed from sharing the pain of part-time at the smoothie bar. Mark wasn’t quite thrilled about it—and was still taking his time to get used to David’s new passion for the Goth lifestyle. But the wound of almost losing his friendship over a petty grudge was fresh and so he caved.

Then there was Annie. While her anime consumption was more casual than the elders, her passion for singing OSTs and her cheerful intrigue for all things nerd made her a favoured company. 

And wherever Annie went usually followed… Jackie. 

Currently looming above David who has just excitedly been telling Annie about the new shop he found online selling all kinds of clothes to fit his new aesthetic. 

Mark observed from a distance. 

The cold stare of his glasses that reflected nothing, the panic in David’s eyes as he trailed off mid-sentence, the smirk that bloomed on Jackie’s face at the reaction, and finally, how it faded into a much gentler smile when Jackie took the spot next to Annie. He extended his hand towards Annie, pinkie, pointer and thumb sticking out—Annie copied the gesture as she slotted her fingers alongside his. 

Mark didn’t understand what it meant. 

Correction: he knew exactly what Jackie was showing was jealousy. Admittedly, he was familiar with that, even though he didn’t have a cute date to justify it. He just didn’t know what the sign meant. 

He looked at David again. He recovered from the scare quickly and was now back on his excited monologue, fists held up and his whole body bouncing as he talked. It was less noticeable than what it used to be when they were younger but Mark knew what he was looking at to notice it. 

Past the logs they collected around the campfire, Barry has just emerged from the woods carrying a couple of sticks to roast on. Omar was right at his tail carrying rocks to circle the campfire. The kid was taking his contribution so seriously. 

Tabitha and Courtney arrived a minute ago with loads of snacks and cola. Now they sat across from Annie and David and chatted among themselves. 

Mark has tasked himself with tidying up the rock to welcome so many people—it was gonna be stuffy anyway but putting away some manga shelves and life sized replicas was the least he could do. Now that’s done he found himself watching the life around him. 

It hasn’t been that long since the fight after which he spent weeks alone at the rock before he packed up and started hanging out at home instead where his messy room and the internet would distract him from the sorrow and guilt eating him up. 

He was just going to the Elder’s rock to borrow the last volume of Two Piece when he found Barry sitting there all by himself. He feared the moment but found relief when Barry said he wasn’t mad anymore. Mark apologised regardless. Spending that afternoon with Barry gave him courage to reach out to David too. 

He didn’t realise how much he missed them both. 

---☀---

“As the good hosts we are,” David spoke with enthusiasm, “we should introduce everyone. I’m David and I work at the smoothies with Tabitha and Courtney. Who wants to go next?”

Barry took the spot next to him and greeted everyone, claiming his turn. Mark scanned the circle to see where he could sit—they prepared more logs than necessary to use them as spare tables for board games. The other side of David was still empty even though Mark would need to carry a log all the way over and he didn’t want to look that desperate. There was space next to Jackie on the fallen tree log but Mark wasn’t so fond of that kid. He didn’t even invite him. 

He chose to sit on one of the spare logs in between Tabitha and Jackie. It gave him a direct view of David… 

David and his ripped off sleeves and just one of many chokers Mark definitely hasn’t been keeping track of. His hair started growing out even more now that he didn’t trim it to fit under the old helmet, and Mark recalls how he mentioned wanting it pink eventually. 

It’s been weeks. It feels like they met again in college—it feels like seeing Kenneth on that phone call. He changed so much. He grew up to be popular and handsome and not into anime anymore. David grew up to be popular and handsome too. 

With pink hair and edgy clothes…? 

Maybe that too. 

He looked really happy and confident in his skin. Sure he had been before—walking around the rock topless despite not being the type to work out required that kind of confidence already. 

Ah. He never really cared for anyone’s opinion. David always cared about personal joy and harmony first and foremost. 

Mark had to admit that he was happy for him, seeing him like this. Even if he was in two minds about his own feelings towards the new gimmick. 

He still loved anime and Mark’s DnD campaigns. If he wanted to play as a sorcerer instead of a bard now, that was not Mark’s place to complain. 

He smiled to himself.

Then he looked up, disturbed from his thoughts by the sudden silence. He noticed David’s eyes on him. His heart skipped a beat. And then he slowly realised everyone had their eyes on him like they expected him to do something. For a brief moment he panicked if he wasn’t saying all that aloud, but David soon cleared the table, cheerful as ever: “It’s your turn!” 

“Oh,” he scratched his neck awkwardly as he willed away the scarlet of his cheeks. “I’m Mark. I am the expert of all things anime… and…” his gaze travelled to David who listened to him too intently for someone who already knew him. “And I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole to you David.”

“Aw… We’ve been over that,” David waved his hand in dismissal. “But your apology is appreciated. I’m happy we’re friends now.” 

Mark swore he heard coos from at least one of the girls present and felt his cheeks heat up at the attention. If either one of them decides to tease him about it, or about how he stuttered through his apology when his attention stuck on David’s eyeliner, he will consider drastic measures. 

Next was Jackie. He waved at everyone and pointed at himself. Then he gestured with his hand what Mark assumed was his name because Annie filled in the silence with a verbal introduction. He signed more and Annie translated that he likes swimming and baseball. 

At the end he turned to her with a sign akin to a blown kiss.

Mark never had a reason to learn ASL but he wondered how hard it is. If it was any different from learning Japanese like he did in his free time—a completely new sentence structure and a thousand of signs so unlike the english alphabet.  

“My name is Annie. I like to dance and sing and… a lot more things… but singing OSTs with the guys is what brings me here tonight.” She smiled and gestured at Jackie, as she continued to sign the rest of her introduction. “Jackie is my boyfriend, I hope no one minds him here. We’re both from the other side of the creek.”

“What is it like on the other side?” David inquired. “That’s where Kenneth is from.” 

The sudden mention of Kenneth’s name had unwanted thoughts flashing through Mark’s mind. His dyed blonde hair and blue contacts. His room, bare of any trace of his origins. He was almost unrecognisable. And the crushing reality of David keeping contact with him and yet he never reached out to the rest. 

It wasn’t surprising it was David whom he remained friends with. Who wouldn’t… It hurt nevertheless. 

“Pretty chill after King Xavior was overthrown.” Annie said, then turned to Omar, “We thank Omar and his friends for that effort.”

Omar set his can of soda aside and wiped his mouth on his sleeve while keeping eye contact with Annie, then her boyfriend. “We faced Jackie in combat back then. So pardon my uneasiness. It’s been a lot to get over after all those years.”

Annie tapped Jackie to make him focus as she signed what Omar said. She smiled as she watched Jackie sign back. “He says it was fun and that he will be better prepared for a future water balloon fight.” 

He smirked at Omar and nodded. “We’ll see that fair and square.” 

Annie continued. “It wasn’t a matter of choice to be on Xavier’s side. No one believed Xavier could be defeated. If Jackie turned his back on the king he would be in serious trouble afterwards. And being a champion wasn’t so bad—he could keep doing what he loved.” 

“Where were you during the war, Annie?” Omar wondered. “I don’t think we passed you in our search for the flag.” 

“I was casted out of the creek before the war began…” she laughed. “I might have punched Xavier. More times than I can count. It was… uh… deserved… but it wasn’t so bad. My only connection to the creek was Jackie, which allowed me to sneak in and before that, to get away with more than a regular kid could. I can’t blame him for sticking to the king to the very end.”

“Hold up— What?” Tabitha drew everyone’s attention to herself. “You guys had a monarchy in the creek? Dude that’s— What.” 

“It’s kinda been a thing for a decade now. We grew up into the system, messed up as it is.”

“Queen Cheyenne was chill.” Annie narrated Jackie’s signs again. “If there was a problem we sought help with, she would help, otherwise she was just a teen hanging out with her best friend at the royal tree house. She took her status seriously and wished to expand her rule across the overpass but she wasn’t that persistent about it. Xavier was crowned a couple of years ago and that quickly turned into a whole tyranny.” 

“What happened to that Cheyenne?”

“The worst possible thing—she concluded she was too cool for the creek.” Annie rolled her eyes. “Could never be me.” 

“No one is too old for the creek,” Barry exclaimed. A chorus of agreements came from everyone while Tabitha and Courtney shrugged their shoulders. 

“I can stand behind that,” Mark joined in. “Except for when we’re in college somewhere far away. Because you guys have plans or whatever.” 

Tabitha and Courtney exchanged grimaces. “Yeah, let's not talk about that.” 

“Let’s dive into the juicy part.” Tabitha cheered, getting up to pass around the plastic bag. She sat down throwing her legs over Courtney’s lap. 

Her girlfriend grabbed a can of cola from her hands and popped it open. “Literally, we bought smoothies. But you have to pay in gossip!” 

“Yeah. Barry—has someone captured your heart recently?” 

“Uh. No…” Barry scratched his neck awkwardly. “My heart is being crushed by advanced bio summer homework.” 

“Booring…” Tabitha complained with an exasperated sigh. “You guys really do your summer homework?” she shook her head in disbelief. “David, you tell us what you’ve been up to.” 

“Well… I’ve been experimenting with my clothes. I really like the stuff you picked out, I never thought I would be so comfortable in this.” He smiled bashfully as he twirled a hair between his fingers. “It’s really growing on me.” 

“It looks really cute on you,” Annie said. Jackie gave a thumbs up. Barry also muttered something encouraging. Mark felt his voice stuck in his throat. 

David curled into himself but despite that he glowed with all the praise. “Thanks guys.” 

Even when the rest of the circle shifted attention towards the next person in line, Mark’s eyes lingered on his friend. He had to agree with the compliments. 

“Annie, what about you and Jackie? How did you two become a thing?” 

Mark wasn’t particularly interested in that but he found himself following the story as Annie spoke animatedly. “To be honest… I was never gonna tell him that I liked him. I would say so out loud because I knew he wouldn’t hear but I couldn’t let him know.”

That made Mark pause. It was beyond him why Annie thought she needed to keep her feelings hidden. It wasn’t like it would be weird to like him. They have been friends for years and Jackie was clearly interested in her if he kept coming back. 

David never had to ask him to show up under the rock on his birthdays or to speed watch his latest anime favourites so they could spend the next few days discussing them. But they also simped for anime girls together. It didn’t make sense. It brought so many questions Mark didn’t have answers for. 

“…All until Elisa noticed my crush. She thought it would be fun to tease me, to make me insecure, that Jackie would never like me back. I was so frustrated and Jackie noticed. I had to tell him. I didn’t know how to sign it at that time, so I just drew a heart on his chest and he returned the gesture.” 

“Aww that’s so sweet!” Courtney cooed. 

Tabitha howled beside her. “That bitch can suck it! Look who’s got a boyfriend now!” 

“Language Tabi! There are kids with us!” Courtney calmed her down.  

“Huh?” Tabitha threw a look at the circle until her eyes landed on the hoodie kid. Her gaze darkened and her sharp teeth flashed in a dangerous smirk. “Oh. Omar?”

Mark watched in disinterest as the kid’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Nothing of that sort.” 

Jackie signed something with a snicker that only Annie understood and chose to not share. If Mark had to guess those two knew of some non supporting evidence for the kid’s statement. Not that he cared. 

Could kids like him already have crushes? 

Mark didn’t even remember when he… no, nevermind. That wasn’t a crush. Whatever it was, which he couldn’t name, it was not a crush. He would have noticed sooner. 

“Does David want to share his romantic discoveries?” 

Mark shot his eyes towards his clearly panicking friend. “No. David doesn’t want to.” 

That was both a relief and a concern. He was better off if he didn’t have to hear about whoever David was interested in but the answer made him wonder—what was the point of such defensiveness if there wasn’t someone in his mind? 

He really, really shouldn’t have thought of that. 

---☀---

Annie tore a pack of chips open and threw a couple into her mouth. “Should someone set up the games?” 

“Suit yourself. What are we playing?” Mark jumped to his feet, happy to distance himself from the conversation. He lifted the tower of board games he carried outside the rock for the occasion. “The choices are endless.” 

“David promised us he would show us your DnD business,” Tabitha shouted from the back. 

Annie shook her head as she mindlessly reviewed the game collection. “We should play something non-verbal. Like double.” 

Annie lifted her head with a grin as she signed her idea to Jackie who signed back quickly. “You’re right I’m unbeatable. Not even Keun Sup could outspeed me.” 

“What about uno?” Tabitha suggested. 

“Do we want to have a good time or do we want to scream at each other until sundown?” 

“We could play cards?” Omar tried. 

“Have any of you heard of Kent?” Annie asked then. A couple of people shook their heads while Jackie showed a toothy grin. “We send codes to our teammates when we have collected an all-symbol combination and try to not be caught by the other teams. Sounds good?”

An excited chorus followed. 

“Grab a teammate and come up with a secret code.” Annie instructed. “I’m with Jackie!” 

“Calling dibs on Courtney!” 

Mark looked around hesitantly. The choices were running out quickly. Even Barry already teamed up with Omar by the time Mark made up his mind to ask him. 

Which meant the only person left was… David. 

“So what code should we pick?” David beamed at him. His voice dropped into an excited whisper. “A wink?” 

Very predictable, the code and the mannerism that had Mark leaning away for personal space all the same. “Uh… oh… Sure. Yeah. A wink will do.” 

Annie and Jackie set up the cards while the rest of the teams were discussing strategies, likely already having a vault of different codes to switch between as they played. Mark expected no one could compete with the excited duo but he held some naive hope he could win at least a few games once he grasped the rules. He hadn’t spent his entire life playing games for nothing. 

The game itself was more about attention than the cards. 

In the first round Mark had his last ace snatched from under his palm. It meant two things—he was left to observe instead of collecting like all the rest, and that Omar who swept his card was out of the round with him. 

The game was also about knowing people. 

He called out Barry pretty easily when he rapped his fingers on his thigh out of nowhere. That was a classic impatient Barry thing. 

Annie fared just as well in terms of catching people red handed. 

“Courtney, your make-up is so pretty today.” 

“Out! Tabitha is out!” Annie would exclaim cheerfully. 

“What? Not fair! Can I not compliment my girlfriend?” 

Somehow the banter only added to the pleasant experience. It built Mark’s competitive spirit and brought laughs and had the time fly so fast. 

“What’s your code even supposed to be?”

“We will never tell!” 

---☀---

The sunlight soon faded too much to see the cards in front of them properly and so the group of friends moved on to the main event of the night. Barry and Tabitha crouched by the campfire with crumbled newspaper and a lighter. Omar sharpened the roasting sticks quietly in the corner. Annie and Jackie set up an actual table to place all their food on. 

David and Courtney sat back engrossed in a conversation. 

Mark stood there idly as he tried not to look at them too much. 

He spent most of his childhood with Barry and David and Kenneth. He never looked to make more friends—he already had company that shared his interest in anime so what more could he gain. Not like he expected to ever lose either of them. They were supposed to be inseparable, if not for their shared hobbies then for the fact there wasn’t anyone else they would turn to. 

Now David had actual friends outside of the Elder trio. Mark was happy for him. At least he tried to be. 

But… It seeded a worry that David would no longer need his old friends when he found another place to belong like Kenneth did, would no longer need to settle for someone who’d been so hurtful towards him without realising. Mark wanted to turn back time and make sure David didn’t set foot out from under the rock on that fateful day. 

Would that mean he’d still sit here in front of them shirtless with his cape warming him against the chill of the evening and his helmet set down on his lap so he could lean his forearms on it and support his head? 

The mental image competed with the sight before his eyes until they faded into one. 

David with one knee supporting his head, hiding his choker and the front of his shirt. His hair flowing down the sides of his face, untamed even as he tucked stray strands behind his ears. The eyeliner only made his wide eyes more noticeable. Like it wasn’t hard to look away from them already. 

---☀---

As darkness covered the clearing and dimmed the view, Mark found it easier to keep his eyes and thoughts away from David. The campfire added a nice layer of warmth to the summer night and the roasted bacon and marshmallows brought the same warmth to Mark’s stomach. 

There was program as well—Courtney and Tabitha telling spooky stories that allegedly happened in the creek. Mark knew half of them from his own childhood, being scared while Barry and David always rushed into the adventure of finding out its truths. It was mostly Barry. David was curious and eager to learn but not so much a brave soul, sweaty palms always enclosing Mark’s wrist or sleeve. 

An innocent soul, even now. He was so easy to push around that Mark hadn’t even realised he had been doing so. 

---☀---

At some point during the night David pulled out a ukulele. Mark recalled hearing him practise at the rock a few years back but David back then was terrible and he couldn’t stand the noise. He must have practised a lot since then because he was nothing like the awkward off key performances of ninth grade. 

He played a melody that everyone at the circle knew as they all hummed along but among all the voices only David stood out to his ears. That part of his performance was still… less than charming. 

Mark supposed that was good. It was familiar. It was his David. 

---☀---

First yawn of the evening and the emptied supply of food slowly moved the program inside. 

Jackie slid under the rock with ease and extended his arms towards Annie whose eyes were already falling shut as she crawled in. He took off his cap and glasses before he climbed into his futon. It looked like they were both done for the night. Not like anyone else here could use ASL to help him keep up with the conversations. 

Omar set his futon underneath the anime figurines shelf. He flipped through the comics scattered nearby as he waited for the rest of the group to settle down. It wasn’t long until he was snoring nose deep in the pages. 

Tabitha tried to play cool as she challenged the rest to stay up the latest but ended up falling asleep in her girlfriend’s lap early on as well. 

Soon it was just Courtney and the elders. 

They formed a much smaller circle and kept their voices hushed so as to not disturb the rest. It felt weirdly intimate to huddle up—especially with David leaned against the wall by his left, not exactly leaning into him but close enough to let his mane brush over Mark’s shoulder now and then. 

Speaking in a whisper, David’s voice was much more stable and calming. “Is this the part when we tell each other secrets?”

“I don’t know. This is the part for anything that felt too out of the left field in the sun.” Courntey replied and yawned. “If there are any thoughts you want to share, the floor is yours.” 

David seemed to think about it for a long while. His eyes always wandered off when he was deep in thoughts—a habit that was rare, for David’s mind usually worked at a speed unmatched by others, but prominent nonetheless. At one point it was clear to Mark he was no longer caught up in his thoughts. Rather, waiting for a cue to speak. 

When no one else took the spotlight, he finally spoke up. “I was really sad and hurt when I left this place behind. I feel that bitterness at the back of my mouth now that I’m back. It’s on my mind all day.” 

Mark averted his eyes in guilt. 

“But it’s being rewritten by new memories, both here and at the smoothie place. And it helped me push myself to meet new people and try out new things. I would have never dared to show up like this to the creek. At least… not now. I’m still exploring how I like to see myself.” 

He fidgeted with his sleeve. It caught Mark’s eye and urged him to reach out. He didn’t know where that action would have ended so he suppressed it quietly. Maybe he wasn’t quiet enough. 

David looked up at him. Mark swallowed. “When you walked up to the counter and saw me and still wanted me to come… I care about what you think. It frustrated me when I realised how much I let myself be stomped on because of it.” 

The lump in his throat grew more uncomfortable as he listened to David’s words. I care about what you think. That was a new one. Something he might have only figured out recently, or didn’t feel like saying when they first spoke about the argument. 

Mark had thought about his own apology too, how he could have been more open. “I never meant to make you feel… to hurt you. I was really happy that I had you by my side. I took that for granted.” 

The rest was a familiar tune on the tip of his tongue. “It felt terrible to be here alone too. Like when your favourite show never airs its final arc. All you’re left with are the hopes of what could have been.” 

And lastly, what fell out of his mouth when David reached out for his hand and he felt like he was staring for too long: “I don’t know if I like this… everything… but I’ll get used to it. I promise. It’s okay to change. Just don’t ditch me again. Please.”

“Listen to me when I tell you that you’re pushing too hard. Okay?”

Mark shut his eyes. “I will. I promise.” 

The silence was unnerving—so much so it led Mark to open his eyes again. He didn’t want to face David’s reaction but he couldn’t stand being left in the dark about it. 

David was looking at him with an expression he couldn’t read. It was uncommon, David wore his heart on his sleeve, or so Mark thought until now. 

Soon David’s gaze softened as he reached out with open arms. Mark was never so relieved to hear someone speak. “Come here, I missed you…” 

Everyone who grew up with Mark knew he wasn’t one for hugs, for any physical affection really. He didn’t like getting up and personal. Still he found himself clutching onto David’s waist and enjoying the warmth the simple gesture brought to him, like he was still at the campfire. 

As they pulled away their gazes lingered on each other. It was Mark who looked away first, weak against the gentle smile on David’s lips as well as suddenly aware of Barry’s presence. He looked at him but couldn’t think of what to say. The apology was meant for him as well… Mark was just completely scooted by the heat in his chest that he kept for his best friend. 

Barry seemed to understand what was going through his head, patting his shoulder and letting Mark’s palm rest on the back of his hand to thank him for the silent understanding. 

Mark’s heart soared with relief. Like they haven’t had the same heart to heart a few weeks ago. Like he hadn’t heard them accept his apologies half a dozen times already. 

David hugged them both back then, hesitant but earnest. It was the same and yet so different when he hugged Mark a moment ago. It felt intimate. Like it was meant for only the two of them. Like there was no one watching. 

David never cared about who’s watching. Mark had always adored that about him. How he existed in his own bubble sometimes, savouring happiness and completely oblivious to the world around him, by choice or otherwise. Mark felt being a part of that bubble just now. 

No one has spoken a word since David invited him for a hug. All the same people could be shouting right into his ear and Mark is sure he wouldn’t hear a word of it. 

He stared ahead until David’s cheeks gained a scarlet colour and he finally looked away sheepishly. Mark felt his face heat up as well. 

“Well, I’m out,” he announced abruptly, getting onto his feet. “Do whatever you want but I shall head to sleep.”

David leaned backwards. “O-Oh. Yeah. I’ll follow suit.” 

Mark felt his eyes leave a warm trace on his back as he walked over to his sleeping bag. He didn’t bother turning around even when he heard hesitant footsteps. 

“Okay, let’s tuck you in then…” that must have been a whisper by Courtney, probably awkwardly manoeuvring Tabitha off her legs. Not Mark’s problem. 

He turned to face the wall. He could hear the rustling of the sleeping bags and some whispers. It had never been this lively at the Elder’s rock before—not ever since the three friends used to stay the night from time to time in middle school. It certainly never was this crowded. Mark’s mind was never so restless.

He internally laughed at himself, at how the evening with friends and extended company and plenty of distraction still led his head to wrap around David. He probably thought about him so much he’ll think of him in his sleep too. For the better or worse. 

Probably for the better. If he had to admit to it—and if this was going to be a theme in his life now. Then he should look at the bright side. 

[liuvli]

Critical Darling

pairing: eddie munson x fem!goth!reader

summary: It's your senior year. You're a "goth freak" and you definitely stand out, but it doesn't bother you. You're proud of who you are, and nobody is going to change that. Not even the person that motivated you to be so proud in the first place. Eddie "The Freak" Munson.  

warnings: she/her pronouns, slow burn, cursing, alcohol, smoking, eventual smut, minor use of y/n, slightly bitchy reader, work in progress

tags: first meetings, pov second person, s4 doesn’t happen, goth!reader, tradgoth!reader, fluff, angst, eddie & chrissy friendship, reader is a little fruity

all fic chapters & ao3 link

chapter wc: 8.8k

Chapter Four: Lonesome Love

Sitting with your legs comfortably crossed over and under one another, your eyes remained focused on the item of clothing sitting opposite you at the end of the bed, the same thing you had been doing for the past 5 minutes or so. The black, leather jacket was folded neatly, its arms tucked under itself and shiny, somehow pristine zipper on full display to you as the low, warm light of your lamp ever so slightly reflected off of it. 

You sat unusually stiff, hands tucked into your lap as your nails picked at the skin on your fingertips, a substitute for the fact that you were no longer wearing your rings.

Why do I have this? Why did he give it to me? What the fuck?

Still slightly sore from scrubbing the makeup off your face not long ago, your eyes were wide with something, eyeing up every detail of the bulky jacket. With a sudden swift movement, you stood up and off the bed, looking down at the jacket with your hands resting on your hips like a disapproving mother. As if needing to solidify yourself in the role even more, you pointed a finger down at the garment.

“I don’t want this,” you chewed the inside of your mouth as you thought for a second, “I don’t want this in my home.” With one fell swoop, you scooped the jacket up from where it had been sitting for the past 30 minutes since you arrived home, waiting for your attention as you got ready for bed. 

As you let the jacket slightly unfold in your arms, you managed to catch a small whiff of the scent basically radiating out of the thick leather. 

“Weed and… cheap drugstore cologne. Of course. Why does Eddie Munson even know to use cologne? I'm surprised he even knows of basic…” you paused, thinking about what you were saying, “…hygiene.” Running a thumb over the thick material, you glanced around your room, trying to settle on a place to tuck the jacket away. It was late, and you wanted to sleep after the long day you were put through, so temporarily hiding the garment out of sight until you could gladly return it to its owner seemed like the easiest solution at your current moment. 

“Out of sight, out of mind,” you muttered to yourself as you hooked it onto one of the pegs on the back of your door. You made sure to go the extra mile to tuck it under a few other jackets and shawls of your own, ensuring that it was most definitely, ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Seeing as you didn’t really have a reason to have your bedroom door shut most of the time (apart from when April would be loudly talking to school friends on the house phone downstairs), keeping the obnoxiously large leather jacket hidden on your door was your best option at your current moment. 

Temporarily being rid of the sight of Eddie’s personal belonging, you finally felt like you were allowed to settle down and get some sleep after a long day of listening to DnD nerds do what DnD nerds do; talk about stuff you had absolutely zero knowledge on. 

Tucking yourself under the copious amount of blankets on your bed and grabbing a pillow to wrap your arms around, you switched the lamp on your bedside table off. You allowed yourself to finally get some shut-eye, listening to the trees outside creak and sway along with the October wind. 

After that Saturday, you spent the Sunday home alone (as always) with April watching her usual selection of cheesy, overplayed teen movies. You cleaned around parts of the house and cooked for you and your sister, not changing out of your pajamas once. It was a slow day and yet, before you could even have a second to breathe, Monday came just as quickly as the weekend left. 

The first day of the week was long, slow, and all in all, uneventful - as expected from a Monday. Tuesday, however, seemed to be taking the same course as its predecessor. That was until Kace caught you trying to leave your last class of the day. Pulling you to the side almost the second you stepped through the classroom door, you were immediately bombarded with a scramble of words. He was asking (or more appropriately, telling) you to accompany him in buying decorations for the party the two of you had begun planning the previous week. Seeing as you had arranged for it to take place on Halloween night, the boy had thought up the amazing idea to deck the house out in appropriately themed decor, a decision you’d soon come to regret agreeing to. Of course, the overly enthusiastic boy promised to assist in putting all the decor up, which was the only reason you even agreed to do it, but a part of you still knew it’d be a pain in the ass to clean up the day after, especially after hosting dozens of drunk teens all throughout the night. 

Alas, it wasn’t long before you found yourself trudging down aisles in Hawkins’ local department store, watching as Kace shoved almost every Halloween decoration that the store had stocked into the cart that you were pushing along. Black and white spider-web party banners, large, pumpkin-shaped candy bowls that he planned to fill with “alcoholic beverages of all kinds”. Truly exhausting. Again, he assured you he was paying for it all, so of course, you had to throw in a few things that caught your eyes such as bat-themed fairy lights (which you most definitely planned to steal for your own bedroom once the night was over) and an orange blanket with small, white ghost silhouettes on it, which you thought you would’ve had to beg for. Instead, Kace happily grinned down at you, smiling with scrunched-up eyes like a loving mother as he nodded, giving you silent permission for you to gently place the folded-up blanket next to a pile of tangled, slightly creased party banners at the bottom of the cart. 

With Kace’s car loaded up with bags of decorations and a few other things the two of you decided to grab along the way, you slumped down in the passenger seat as you heard the trunk slam shut behind you, Kace slipping into the driver’s seat just moments after. 

“We done for the day?” you asked, opening the glove box in front of you and rummaging around. Kace turned in his seat, placing a hand on the steering wheel. Not yet noticing his eyes on you, you continued to search through the glovebox, victoriously pulling a packet of cigarettes out. Removing one from the box, you finally turned your head to face the boy at your side, scrunching your brows in confusion as you lit the cigarette between your fingers, not understanding the look of… nothing(?) coming from Kace. 

“Yeah, absolutely not, love. I could do with a drink.” Inhaling a drag of your cigarette and trying your best to blow the smoke out the ever so slightly cracked open window, you locked eyes with Kace’s, your head tilted to the side.

“You mean at the place you started working at over the summer? Didn’t you say that place was kind of a shithole?” You tapped cigarette ash into the ashtray in the center console, Kace snorting at your comment.

“I mean, yeah, definitely. But they serve me on my days off and it’s a small crowd, so it’s not like anybody will recognize me. Money is money, darling.” You blinked slowly, not taking your eyes off the boy as you tried to think of a response.

“...Alright. But, Kace, it’s a Tuesday. You really wanna start weekday AND daytime drinking in our Senior year?” The boy gasped at your statement, taking you aback as you took a sharp inhale of your cigarette. 

“Shock horror, daytime drinking on a Tuesday is what you take from this? Not the fact that I’m proposing we commit the criminal act of underage alcohol consumption?” you roll your eyes, “you’ve changed, love. You’ve given into the ways of Lucifer. May as well call yourself the devil’s proxy at this point.” You shove Kace’s arm with the palm of your hand, cracking a grin at his stupid joke. 

Only really having to think about it for a few seconds, you nodded your head as you decided on his offer. 

“Right, let’s go. Start driving before I change my mind.” Kace almost jumped out of his seat as he enthusiastically turned to face forward again, immediately getting the car running and making his way out of the car park. 

As you walked into the bar, the same one you had passed every day to and from school but had never really paid any attention to, the smell of beer filled the room despite there only being a few customers around the fairly large room. The lights were dim, and barely any natural daylight from outside was creeping in through the slightly stained windows that were scarcely built around the building. Kace almost instantly made his way over to the bar, starting up a conversation with the bartender, someone he worked with most of the time so discounts were most likely guaranteed. After scoping out the general area, you eventually made your own way over to the bar, slipping into conversation with the two as your drinks were made. 

You ended up spending the next hour or so talking about school assignments (which you tried not to linger on too much, as the thought of anything school related made you feel nauseous), some more of the specifics when it came to plans for the party next week, and every now and again watching some unknown bands play on the stage on the opposite side of the room, Kace and yourself sometimes deciding to sing along to some of the covers the two of you knew as the alcohol seeped further into your systems. 

Eventually, after a long while of generic country rock playing quietly through the speakers at the sides of the stage and through speakers scattered around the room, another band finally appeared on stage, wasting no time to start setting their equipment and instruments up, a few drunks sat at tables closer to the stage cheering in a joint slurred manner. You lifted your head up to get a look at the band that was getting ready to play, your eyes squinting as your slightly fuzzy vision tried to make out the familiar faces across the room. 

...

Is that...?

“Kace, love. Light of my life. My handsome devil,” Kace looked up from where he was slumped across the bar, “why is Edward Munson here? You do see that, right? I’m not just imagining it.” The boy sitting to your left turned around to face the stage, laughing as he clacked his rings against the side of his glass.

“Did I not mention it at any point? Munson and his band, what is it… Corroded Coffin. They play here every Tuesday from what I’ve seen. They get quite the audience too… if five middle-aged drunks are what you call an ‘audience’.” 

Christ. Why did he have to be here? Right at this very moment. After a long day of doing basically nothing at school, shopping with Kace, and stressing over your grades, watching Eddie perform with his shitty band was the last thing you needed. You had never heard them play, let alone know previously that the band existed, but from your history with the group, or more so their own reputation, it wasn’t something you wanted to finally experience. 

“Can we head out now? I’m tired, man, and April is probably wondering where I am. I can call us a cab.” However, Kace didn’t respond. He was staring at the stage as one of the boys started strumming an electric guitar, Eddie fixing the mic to match his height in the center of the stage. From the lack of any sort of response or acknowledgment from your friend, you slumped down against the bar in defeat, accepting your fate. 

For the next hour or so, you watched in silence as Corroded Coffin played on stage. Strangely enough, you found yourself somewhat liking the performance, the boys’ confidence playing a large role in the quality of their set. As Eddie signed off to the crowd - now six drunks who seemed to of enjoyed the set too - you turned your head to look down at Kace, his head resting on the bar with a warm glass of nothing clutched in his hand. 

“He alright?” You slowly turned in your seat as the voice finally processed through your mind, locking eyes to the best of your slightly-intoxicated ability. The brunette’s bangs were sticky against his forehead as he removed the black and white bandana tied around it, scrunching it up and using it to wipe away some of the sweat from his skin. 

“Mm, yeah. Probably. He said he needed a drink but I forgot he was such a lightweight.” You placed a hand on Kace’s shoulder, gently rubbing your thumb against his leather jacket as a show of affection whilst his face was pressed firmly against the bar. Kace, however, lifted his opposite arm across his chest, placing a hand atop your own as he took a hold of it. 

“‘M not a lightweight. I’m fuckin’ tired.” Almost as if she was expecting it, one of the bartenders placed a glass of water next to the boy’s head, tapping his cheek as she did so. Kace snorted, lifting his head slightly to start taking sips from the glass.

“Yeah, so, how’d you two end up here? I know Hayes started working here over the summer, but what brings you two down this part of town on a Tuesday evening?” Swallowing the last sip of your beer, you placed the glass back down as you looked around the room with squinted eyes - anything to avoid eye contact with him. 

“Kace dragged me to the department store the second I got out of my last-period class. Barely got a chance to even-” As you were talking, Kace’s body became fully erect, holding a hand in front of your face as he swiveled in his seat to face the boy standing in front of the two of you.

“There’s a part she’s not telling you,” you groaned as you realized what he was about to say, knowing there was no chance of silencing him, “we’re hosting a party next week. A Halloween party. At her house. For the freaks.” As expected, Eddie raised his brows in surprise at the new piece of information, slightly tilting his head to face Kace more, yet letting his eyes lock with your own.

“A party, you say. For the freaks? Surely, that sounds like an invitation for me and the boys, yeah?” You inhaled, readying yourself to deny his proposal, but being cut off once again as Kace let his hand firmly rest against your mouth, his other hand supporting the back of your head as you tried to pull him away from you. 

“Yup, that’s exactly what I’m saying. We haven’t fully decided on a time yet but when we do, I’ll be sure to let you know, dear.” The damage was done. Eddie knew about the party, and he had received a formal invitation from Kace himself. There was nothing you could do to reverse the damage now. Except for maybe faking your death, meaning the party would have to be canceled- no. The damage was done. 

Now standing outside the building under the low light of the streetlamps, you shivered as you waited for the cab you had called using the bar’s telephone for Kace to arrive, clicking your nails together as your hands remained tucked under your arms. You didn’t want Kace driving himself home, let alone would he even want to (he was actually responsible), and Eddie had assured the two of you that the boy’s car would be safe being left in the bar’s parking lot overnight, a bit of reassurance that comforted a now mostly-sober Kace.

Eventually, and much to your relief, the cab finally arrived, Kace climbing into the back seat as you exchanged affections, waving him off as the vehicle exited the parking lot. You were about to head back inside the bar to ask one of Kace’s coworkers to call another cab for you as there was no way you were walking the entire way back to yours, but just as you turned to walk towards the door, Eddie walked out with a guitar in hand, passing it over to Gareth as the other boys loaded a drum set into the back of Eddie's van. You locked eyes with the brunette as he noticed you stood in front of him, looking around the area before deciding to say anything. 

“What are you doing?” You stood still, your shivering seeming to stop due to the pure confusion you felt as you tried to understand his question.

“Calling a cab for myself? I drank, too, and I don’t even know how to drive when sober. What do you think I’m doing?” Eddie crossed his arms, sucking in his bottom lip as he furrowed his brows at you.

“Yeah, no. I can give you a lift. I’m not letting you get another cab, let alone wait out in the cold for one.” As he spoke, he avoided your gaze at all costs, looking around the empty parking lot as the other three boys spoke amongst themselves next to the van. 

“What’s the issue with me getting a cab?” You squinted your eyes expectantly, waiting to hear whatever bullshit reason he could come up with. 

“I’m not letting a woman get a cab alone at this time of night, especially in this part of town. Who do you think I am?” A part of you wanted to answer his question, your mouth opening as you almost did, but you thought it was best not to. 

“What about Kace? You not worried for him?” Eddie snorted at your response, tilting his head from side to side as he seemed to weigh his options for a reply.

“Mm, no, not really. He looks like he could really mess someone up if need be.” Not quite understanding what he meant, as Kace was always such a softie in your eyes, you nodded in false agreement, taking the moment of silence to really think about your options.

He was right; either wait out in the cold for another half hour for a cab, or get a ride home from someone you were hoping not to see today, or any day, at that. Weighing your options, one seemed easier, but being tired and tipsy pushed you to lean to the other side.

“You still offering that ride?” Eddie’s expression as you finally spoke seemed to catch you off guard, almost as if he wasn’t expecting you to even consider his offer.

“Yep. ‘Course, I’d have to drop Gareth off first. Poor boy doesn’t know his left from his right so I wouldn’t trust him making his own way home at this dark hour.” The boy turned to face his bandmate, Gareth flipping him off as he slammed the van doors shut, the two other boys now gone as they had presumably started to make their own way home. Eddie laughed, turning back to face you.

“Eh, no, never mind. It’s fine. I can get a cab or walk. It’d give me a chance to sober up before going home to my sister, too,” you dismissed, Eddie deeply inhaling before loudly sighing.

“Nope, I’m not letting you do that. You’re either gonna freeze to death or end up drowned in a lake somewhere. And hey, cab drivers can’t be trusted either. You ever hear those stories of murderous cab drivers, preying on sweet girls like you?” You scoffed.

“I can handle myself, Munson. And ‘sweet’? Cyanide’s sweet, too, I’ll have you know. You should know the capabilities that shit has.” The way Eddie’s eyes locked with yours felt piercing in both directions, but neither of you were letting up. With a quiet chuckle, Eddie leaned down, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Exactly, doll. I know what I said.” 

What?

What is that supposed to mean- As your brain cycled through a dozen thoughts a second, you didn’t notice Eddie straightening his posture again, appearing as if that last sentence wasn’t even uttered.

“Nevermind that, I can hear you chattering again.” His voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“What? No, no you can’t. I’m not-” As you spoke, a gust of wind traveled up your body. The wind was, indeed, a paid actor. The sensation caused your entire body to shiver, perfectly proving the smug boy’s claim as he raised a finger, pointing it at you. 

“Right there, teeth chattering.” 

“I shivered, it wasn’t teeth chattering.” As he opened his mouth to bite back once again, the sound of the side of the van being slapped alerted both of you, Eddie turning his head at a speed that would give any regular person whiplash.

“We’re not doing this again, guys. Eddie, are we gonna get going or what?” Gareth held his arms out in offense as Eddie turned to face you again, almost completely ignoring the younger male’s query. Eyes back on you, the taller brunette decided to press only one more time.

“Yes or no, doll. Ride in the van, or end up dead ‘n’ floatin’ in a lake somewhere. Your choice.” You crossed your arms in thought, rubbing your damn near frozen fingertips against the lace thinly covering your elbows. 

“I think if I do decide to get in that van with you, I’ll still end up ‘dead ‘n’ floatin’’ in a lake somewhere. I’m tempted to go with the option that means I don’t have to be in the same vehicle as you, honestly.” Almost silently showing that he was nearing his final straw, Eddie sucked his bottom lip in, readjusting his posture to roll his shoulders back too, making you press your lips together in an attempt to stifle a snort. 

“Alright, alright, I get it. No more Mister Nice Guy. I’ll take the ride, Munson.” Eddie’s body released all of its tension as you gave your final answer, a tight-lipped boyish grin appearing on his face as he looked down at you. 

You began marching over to the van with Eddie jogging to catch up just slightly behind you. As you were just a couple of meters away from the vehicle, the boy started speaking from the side of you, sliding in next to you to open the passenger door. 

“Prepare for the ride of your life.” You grimace at the comment, unsure of any underlying innuendos he may have been making. It took a few moments more for Eddie to realize just exactly what it was that he had said, the grin dropping from his face as he clocked his own words. His head dropped, arm staying stuck out, hanging onto the van door handle.

“Ride. As in a car ride. That’s- that’s what I meant.” You couldn’t help but find the humor in his accidentally suggestive comment in addition to the way he was responding to your non-verbal reaction. Letting out a quiet chuckle as you climbed into the van, you subconsciously placed a hand on his shoulder for support. 

Getting comfortable in your seat, you quietly spoke into his ear, his curls just about grazing your cheek as you craned your neck down to him.

“I’m ready for the ride of my life, Mr. Munson.”

It wasn’t like you weren’t able to handle your alcohol. Kace had a somewhat lower tolerance than you, usually getting tipsy off of just a few shots, whereas it’d take you entire pint glasses to finally start feeling a noticeable buzz. You were always the designated “mom” of the group whenever you, Kace, and a few others went out for drinks or attended parties, as you were able to handle your alcohol the most (and also because you subconsciously made sure to hold back just in case April made a surprise visit home when she was supposed to be elsewhere). One thing you did know about your intoxicated self, however, was how you tended to thoroughly enjoy messing with people after a few drinks. You loved fucking around with people as it was but always refrained from doing so, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention from people you really didn’t want the attention of. A couple of drinks just let you forget about those types of people, though. It was nice. 

As you sat back down in your seat, facing forward and smoothing out the skirt of your dress, you looked to your right at Eddie, who was still standing next to the passenger door, hand still resting on the handle. His head was hung low, his knotted brown curls hiding his face from your view. You quietly took a breath in as you tried to think of a way to ask if he was okay without sounding like a complete loser, but before you could even start to think of anything, he lifted his head, his curls flailing slightly before dropping back onto his shoulders. 

“Right, let's get going, party people.” He slammed the door shut, startling you as the interior handle almost collided with your arm. 

After Eddie had finally gotten himself into the van and started leaving the parking lot, you kept yourself squished up against the side of the vehicle, not wanting to accidentally make contact with Gareth who was sitting in between you and the driver. Not like he’d even notice if you did, as he seemed to be too caught up in his conversation with Eddie, the two boys talking about their band and improvements they could make to their set, from what you could gather. 

A short 10 minutes passed before you finally arrived at Gareth’s house, Eddie and the younger boy hopping out to unload the drum kit into Gareth’s garage, ready for their next rehearsal day. Not knowing how long it was going to take as you were sitting alone in the van, you decided to look around at your surroundings. 

Eddie’s van had obvious wear and tear to it, a fact you noticed almost instantly. It still seemed to be in good condition compared to what you thought a vehicle owned by the infamous Eddie Munson would’ve looked like. There were a few empty cans of what appeared to be beer brands in the foot well of the passenger seat near your boots, the same cans that had been rolling around and clattering against the interior of the van the entire trip to Gareth’s. You wondered how the noise didn’t get on Eddie’s nerves each time he drove, because it definitely did get on yours in just a single car ride. 

With an idea coming into your head, you began looking around the vehicle, searching for something in particular as you dug through all the nooks and crannies in Eddie’s van, trying to avoid touching anything that looked off-limits or sticky (why things were sticky, you didn’t want to know). You opened the glove compartment just in front of you and began rummaging around as you pushed a stack of tapes to the side, your eyes catching a glimpse of a pink box. With squinted eyes and a short pause, you eventually recognized the packaging from the shelves of your local drugstore, slowly sliding the stack of tapes back to their original position to hide it. Making a quick awkward movement, you promptly clicked the glove compartment shut, making a mental note to not open it ever again, as if you were even going to be in Eddie’s van again.

Not knowing where else to look that you haven’t already, you leaned over the middle seat, stretching your arm to reach down into the door compartment next to the driver’s seat. Allowing your hand to dig for a couple of seconds, you almost gave up and pulled away as your knuckle touched something sticky, but quickly stopped as you heard that familiar crinkle. Victoriously, you pulled a black plastic bag out of the sticky, trash-filled compartment, holding it in the air triumphantly.

However, just as you did so, the driver’s side door swung open, your eyes snapping up at the disturbance and locking with Eddie’s own. The boy stood there, silent, as he looked down at you, your torso still stretching across the seats, seatbelt being pulled to its limit, and crumpled-up plastic bag still firm in your grasp. 

“What you doing, doll?” Eddie asked, leaning against the side of the open vehicle as his posture relaxed. You looked between his face and the plastic bag once, before leaning back to sit up straight in your seat, busying yourself with collecting trash from the front section of the van and shoving it into the black bag. 

“Cleaning. This thing is filthy, Munson. Like, honestly, it’s disgusting. Some parts of the van are sticky. Why are they sticky? Vans shouldn’t be sticky. What the fuck do you even do in here?” you replied, avoiding his piercing gaze as you frantically shoved empty cans and takeout boxes into the bag. 

The van shook slightly as Eddie climbed in, pulling the door shut behind him. He was silent, and you could see him staring at you in the corner of your vision. Being under his intense watch made you feel queasy. 

“You a clean freak all the time, or is it just when you’ve drank?” You rolled your eyes, settling the bag of trash in between your knees as you looked over your shoulder at him. 

“I’m not a ‘clean freak’, I just don’t want to sit in the middle of garbage. It’s fuckin’ gross. Do better.” Eddie snorted at the jab you made at the end of your sentence, and you just stared at him with a look of “I’m not joking, Munson. Sort it out.”. Surprisingly, Eddie seemed to catch your drift, pulling a blue plastic bag out of the side compartment in his door. 

Without even being asked to do so, the boy started shoving pieces of trash and chewed, discarded gum into his plastic bag. Strangely, as you attempted to watch what he was doing without making it obvious, you were somewhat endeared by his sudden actions, appreciating the effort he was putting in to tidy his own van. 

“She was due a deep clean, anyway. Not that I’m gonna deep clean her tonight, just gonna start by tidying up the inside a bit, if you catch my drift.” You side-eyed Eddie as you tried to understand what he meant by that last part, earning a slight shrug in response, shoving a glass bottle into his bag at the same time. You looked around the van, trying to see if there was anything else that needed disposing of. From what you could see with minimal searching effort, there wasn’t anything else you found, feeling happy with yourself as you realized. 

Tying a knot in your bag, you broke the silence again.

“What do we do with these bags? Should we just leave them tied up in the back until you get back to yours later so you can toss ‘em?” Eddie looked out of the side window for a second, before holding a hand out towards you and replying.

“Nah, hand it over.” He reached over to grab the plastic bag in your grasp, his fingertips slightly grazing the back of yours as he did so. The boy opened the door again, stepping out of the van as he made his way over to the trash cans outside of Gareth’s house, tossing the two bags in one of them. Brushing his hands off, he made his way back to the vehicle, hopping back into his seat and starting the engine as he slammed the door shut. 

“Won’t Gareth, or like, his family notice that you’ve done that?” you questioned, skeptical towards the choice he had made. 

“Nah, I toss beer cans and other shit in their trash all the time during practice. They never notice, but if they have, they haven’t brought it up to anyone yet.” Looking over his shoulder, Eddie cracked an aloof grin at you before promptly driving away from Gareth’s. 

As Eddie drove along, you finally started to sober up, and that’s when the questions started. 

“Where are you taking me?” Eddie didn’t respond instantly, as if he himself didn’t even know. And then he shrugged. 

“Dunno. What you in the mood to do?” He side-glanced you, your hands in your lap as you played with your rings, trying to think of something. 

“Preferably, it’d be going home. But I’m not sure I wanna go back while I’m still kind of tipsy. Don’t need my sister dealing with that.” You rested your head against your arm which was pressed up against the window, and you could see Eddie raise his brows in the corner of your eye. 

“You got a sister? That’s something I didn’t know about you.” You lazily shrugged at nothing.

“Yeah, she’s a freshman. She knows those two freshies that are in your little nerd club.” The brunette nodded, keeping his attention on the road ahead of him, yet making it clear that he was still listening to you. 

You weren’t fully sure of where he was driving to, but he seemed focused nonetheless. 

“Cool, cool. The more you know. I’m slowly learning more about you, doll.” The way Eddie’s chocolate-y curls dipped as he angled his head to face you sitting at his side made you feel a swell in your chest, the air in the van suddenly feeling stuffy. You sat up, beginning to roll down the window on your side, shaking your head as you spoke.

“I thought I told you not to call me that, Munson.” Eddie laughed at your comment, finding the humor in your sudden change of attitude. 

“Ooh, struck a nerve there, didn’t I? Sorry, won’t do it again, your highness.” His voice was riddled with mockery, and you rested your arm out of the open window, feeling the chilly air pleasantly nip at your flushed skin. 

When you didn’t respond, Eddie decided to fill the silence again. 

“Don’t get sour on me now. If you wanna get one back at me, why not come up with a name for me, huh? Then you’ll have a way to fire back instead of just calling me Munson. Get creative, yeah?” You turned your head, cocking it to the side with uncertainty as you looked at the boy who had brought his focus back to driving, his right arm now propped up to rest on the back of the middle seat. 

Slouching down lazily, you took a moment to think, giggling to yourself at your own mental commentary. Without looking away from the road, Eddie angled his head towards you. The way his brows knitted together in the middle of his forehead contrasted with the boyish, toothy grin on his face as he piped up at your sudden amusement. 

“Hey, what’s so funny?” Making an obvious gesture to slightly turn your body away from his, crossing your arms tightly across your chest, you shrugged.

“Nothing. I’m not laughing at anything, sweetheart.” The sickly cliche nickname had made you laugh quietly to yourself, the sheer sweetness of the classic pet name being something you thought Eddie Munson, local “satanist” metalhead, would’ve loathed entirely. 

Instead, the snort that erupted from him had you turning to face him in an instant. 

“Really? That’s what you came up with?” The snark in his voice made you huff, dramatically re-folding your arms across your chest in mock offense.

“Hush, Munson. It was the sweetest name I could think of in my current state. ‘S not good enough for you, your highness?” Again, the brunette let out a hearty laugh, causing a very subtle smirk to form on your face. 

Approaching a red stop light, Eddie brought the vehicle to a halt, turning his attention over to you as he leaned toward where you were sitting, his arm on the back of the seats giving him support as his face got uncomfortably close to your own. He smelt like cigarettes and sweat. Nasty. 

“Nah, it’s good enough. Just thought you would’ve tried to wound me a bit more, sweetheart.” The way Eddie’s large doe eyes burnt into your skin made you feel like shriveling up inside, imploding in on yourself. Somehow, you managed to slouch even further into your seat, keeping your eyes locked onto his as if he’d do something if you even looked away for just a second. There were a few beats of silence between the two of you before the stop light turned amber, a change you both seemed to notice as you finally let out a breath you didn’t know you were keeping in, and Eddie leaned back to sit up straight in the driver’s seat again, continuing the drive down the road as the light turned green. 

Okay. Good. Stay over there. 

After that last stop, the van remained in complete silence. Normally, Eddie could be seen (or heard) blasting his metal music through the school parking lot each morning and afternoon, but on this night specifically, any type of music seemed to not be on his mind. With your mind unoccupied by anything else, and with the gust of wind that spread into the van through your open window, you began shivering just as usual, your black lacey dress doing nothing to keep you warm. You pulled at the dress’ long sleeves to try and cover your hands more as if doing that would do anything for your situation. 

Eddie seemed to notice the way you were shivering in your seat in the corner of his eye, his hands fidgeting on the steering wheel as he finally broke the silence. 

“You not got my jacket or anything? I thought I let you borrow that so you wouldn’t freeze your ass off anymore. Do you just forget about the typical Hawkins weather each time you leave the house or something?” Instinctively, your shoulders relaxed once you picked up on the uncertainty in Eddie’s voice, the surprising absence of his usual snark tone making the atmosphere in the van feel a lot more casual. 

“...It’s at home. At mine. It’s at mine. Why would I have it with me?” He side-eyed you.

“Because I gave- let you borrow it so you wouldn’t freeze. I’ve already explained this, man.” You looked over at Eddie and he was firmly focused on the road ahead of him now. You looked down at your lap, your hands resting on your legs as you twisted and turned the rings decorating your fingers. The van was silent again. Eddie silently driving, you silently thinking. 

Looking up after only a few moments, focusing on the road ahead, you spoke. 

“I appreciate the gesture, Munson. I didn’t need the jacket but still, thanks. I’ll… I’ll make sure to get it back to you soon. I know you wear that thing basically all the time.” Eddie’s shoulders jolted upwards as he chuckled, tight posture coming undone at your words. 

“Yeah, that’s fine. And you’re right, I do wear it all the time. My outfits don’t feel right without my precious leather jacket. She’s a statement piece.” You turned your head to face Eddie again, a smile appearing on your lips. 

“She’s a she, yeah? Why does your jacket have a gender, Munson?” The boy looked over his shoulder, his head angled to look down at you with a smug look on his face. 

“Well, you know, the ladies love me. You should know this by now, doll.” With the return of his mocking voice, you roll your head back, groaning as he slapped the steering wheel with a burst of hearty laughter, the previously silent, awkward atmosphere in the van completely dissipating. 

“More like you love the girls, and they don’t want you within a fifty-mile radius of them.” As you sat back, proudly crossing your arms, Eddie held his hand up, making a talking gesture with his fingers to mock you. As he did that, you noticed how he had pulled up finally, the car stopping in front of what looked like just a bunch of trees. 

Looking out of the window, you tried to get a grasp on where you were, the unfamiliarity of your surroundings leaving you completely in the dark. 

“Yo, wanna explain where…” you waved your hand out the window into the darkness, “this is?” Eddie took the key out of the ignition and climbed out of the van, making his way around to the passenger side to open the door for you. 

“M’lady,” he said, as he bowed slightly, holding an arm out to his side. Not knowing what other option you had apart from flat-out refusing and just making it awkward, you climbed out of the vehicle, smoothing down and adjusting your clothes as you took a better look around. There was a road nearby, the one you had driven down to arrive at your destination, and the rest of the area was shrouded in tall, ancient-looking pine trees. 

You were really trying your best to figure out where the fuck you were, but it was a lost cause. It wasn’t like you didn’t know your way around Hawkins; you just didn’t venture down long, empty roads leading to murder-y wooded areas often. You know, for obvious reasons. 

“Answer me or I’ll kill you, dump your body, and use your van to take my ass home.” Eddie looked down at you, his arms crossed like a stern parent, but his smiling face gave the exact opposite vibe. 

“If you take my van and somehow figure out how to drive it to yours, wouldn’t that just incriminate you when my missing person case goes public?” You shrugged.

“Nah. No one will be looking for you.” The boy let out a breathy laugh, his eyebrows arched in surprise at your blunt statement. 

“Jesus H. Christ, doll. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Is he serious? Almost as if your face spoke the words you were thinking, Eddie unfolded his arms, turning his back to you as he slowly began walking towards the trees.

“Right, okay, come on. I’ll show you why I’ve brought you here.” You stayed planted where you were, not being fully sure about walking into a dark, wooded area with Eddie Munson himself. Noticing the absence of your footsteps following his own, Eddie stopped in his tracks, spun on his heel, and stared at you from a few meters away. 

“If you don’t follow me, I’ll be the one dumping a body.” Defeatedly, you dropped your arms to your sides, trudging over to him with a long, dramatic groan. 

As you reached his side, Eddie continued to walk again, and you noticed the way he was looking down at you from his side. Smug prick. 

“Whatever.” You turned your nose up at him, facing forward as you entered a gap in between the trees, making sure not to trip over any possible fallen branches on the forest floor.

After 5 short minutes of hyperfocused walking (ensuring to make it out the other side in one piece), and lighthearted banter between you and the tall brunette, the sight of a large body of water caught your attention, the moon above you reflecting brightly off of it. Eddie got ahead of you as he jogged to the edge of the lake, sitting down on the dry dirt with his legs crossed, knee protruding out of one of the rips on his dark, acid-washed jeans. You made sure to take in every detail of your environment as you followed the boy to where he was sitting, tucking the bottom of your dress inwards behind you as you sat down, keeping your knees tucked up towards your chest, a measly attempt at staying warm. 

There were a few long moments of silence before anyone spoke another word. The way the moon shone off the gentle ripples on the water caught your eye every now and then, the subtle swaying and creaking of the old trees behind you serving as the main source of noise in the area around the two of you. Now and again, you caught yourself looking to your side in the corner of your vision at Eddie, his hands nestled in his lap as his fingers played with his silver, chunky rings. You had taken note of that particular habit of his. 

The silence was deafening, but not uncomfortable. Awkward, definitely, but not uncomfortable. You didn’t feel like clawing your way out of your own skin and running off into the woods, never to be seen by anyone, especially Eddie Munson, ever again. You just felt like you needed to say something. But at the same time, you felt like you shouldn’t. Nonetheless, curiosity got the best of you. 

“So… why are we here, may I ask?” Eddie instantly started to shuffle out of his position as you spoke, his leg closest to you tucking against his body as he rested his chin on his knee, arms hooking around his ankle. 

“Thought you might want to sober up before heading home. Because, you know, your sister.” He turned his head on its side, allowing it to somehow comfortably rest on his knee, now facing you. You slowly nodded in agreement, taking it as a good enough answer. However, it wasn’t the kind of response you could also respond to, cutting the conversation short once again. 

A few beats passed before you realized that you and Mr. Munson had just been staring at one another, his face blank and unreadable as you suddenly felt small under his watchful gaze. In a matter of seconds, you scraped the bottom barrel of your mind to try and find some sort of conversation topic, figuring anything was better than silence with a side order of prolonged eye contact. 

“What did I do?” The extremely vague question had Eddie’s brows furrowing together under his bangs, just barely visibly due to the only source of light in the area being from lanterns hanging outside the nearby cabins. You managed to get the hint that Eddie didn’t have a single idea as to what you were on about, so you continued. 

“What did I do to make you dislike my presence so much? I mean, you can’t hate me that much if you took me all the way out here in your van with your spare time to help me sober up. It just doesn’t-” He held a hand up between the two of you, lifting his head from his knee with closed eyes before adjusting his position on the ground to allow his body to face yours. 

“I’m gonna stop you right there. You’ve got it wrong, doll-” the way your face dropped at the nickname made Eddie pause for a moment, “sorry, habit. But still, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t dislike your presence, I thought you disliked mine. Or, more specifically, me. I know we didn’t really speak, like, at all before your buddy Hayes asked to sub for Hellfire, but I just get the vibe that you feel like I’ve wronged you in some grand, unredeemable way. What’s up with that?” 

Did you really come across that way? You weren't exactly fond of Eddie due to the shit he’d get himself into in school and around town, but it wasn’t like you hated his guts for a personal reason or anything. Honestly, you saw him as mostly just like any other Hawkins-deemed creep; the same as you. A social outcast, a small-time pariah, and a full-time freak. You didn’t intentionally come across as hating every fiber of Eddie’s being, but you could admit there were times when you had been less than friendly to him, mostly during school if you had managed to run into him or vice versa. 

Still, Eddie thinking that you hated him didn’t sit right with you. You looked down at the dirt as you tried to think of the words for what you wanted to say.

“I don’t hate you, Eddie. I don’t think I ever have. I know we’ve clashed before and I haven’t always seemed the most approachable. God, you don’t even seem that approachable at times with the whole cocky attitude you flaunt around school, but I don’t have anything against you. Not knowingly, at least. I haven’t even personally known you for that long. I’ve known of you, I guess, but I haven’t known you. But I can say now that I think I know you somewhat better than I did, say, compared to last week. You’re-” You caught yourself mid-sentence as you finally looked up again to face the boy just sitting across from you, and when you did, the expression on his face had you completely stumped for words. 

It was a mixture of awe, and what seemed to be like him holding back on making a joke. 

“Carry on, doll. You were about to give me a heart-wrenching, lovey-dovey, diabetes-inducing compliment?” You sucked in your cheeks, rolling your jaw as you narrowed your eyes at the boy’s smug face, allowing yourself a few moments to think of the perfect way to fire back at Eddie, wanting to damage his ego more than you almost just did to yourself. 

Instead, all you could find yourself doing was extending an arm out to shove his shoulder, Eddie’s tucked-in sitting position coming undone as the slight nudge caused him to lose balance, his arms flung out to regain stability. The urgency in his movement had you laughing quietly, not wanting to disturb the serene peace of the lake and woods surrounding you. There was a moment where, after regaining stability and getting back into a comfortable sitting position, Eddie locked eyes with you, the smile forming on his face mirroring your own, only with the addition of his dimpled cheeks as you continued to let out a modest chuckle.

The air settled as your laughter died down and you found yourself idly dipping the toe of your boot into the most shallow part of the lake, careful to not dip too far. However, Eddie’s next words brought your attention back to him after only a few minutes of comfortable quiet between the two of you. 

“You called me Eddie.” 

...

“What?”

“You called me by my first name.”

...

“...So?”

“You’ve never done that before.”

Had I really not?

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize for it. It’s nice to hear. I mean, someone calling me anything other than Munson or… freak.” You stared at his face, and his expression was, once again, unreadable, his eyes trained on the gently rippling water beside the two of you. In the corner of your eye, you could see his ringed fingers tapping softly against his denim-clad knee.

“Gotcha…” you muttered, feeling slightly awkward and wanting to alleviate some of that tension, “...got it. I’ll keep it in mind, sweetheart.” His finger-tapping paused. Through his knotted brown curls, he locked eyes with you again, staring you down in a way that didn’t make you want to shrivel in on yourself for once. 

“Cheers, angel.” You scoff at the nickname.

“Not that one again…” Despite how you had negatively reacted to the nickname the first time he had called you it, the laugh you let out wasn’t one of annoyance or condescension, it was just one of genuine confusion in a soft moment that you didn’t want to ruin. 

“Hey, I mean it this time. Thanks, man. You’re a peach, even if you don’t look it.” Well, that wasn’t something you heard every day. Or, any day… ever, at that. It was nice being able to joke around with Eddie, and you wondered to yourself why you hadn’t tried actually talking to him ages ago. 

“‘M glad you think of me like that, Munson, even if you are the only person that does.” Eddie lifted his head from where it had been dipped down due to his, at times, awful posture, and he grinned at you as he, once again, fidgeted with the rings on his fingers, hands tucked into his lap to try and stay warm against the October chill. 

“No worries, doll.”