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athousandbyeol · 9 months

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discussion #10 (only friends): topboston's car scene is proof that mew IS top's ultimate weakness [episode 3 recap]

it was devastating. that car scene. but aside from the hot and steamy exchange topboston shared in the now-broken car, there are a few things i want to point out in episode 3 (in general), and also the important topboston scene that is the start of top and boston's downfall.

this post was written right after i woke up. therefore, i apologise for the incoherence.

as always, please take my discussion posts with a grain of salt.

let's begin.

mew could've saved top from a (destined) rebound of insecurity

i think mew could've prevented the topboston car sex from happening if he let top stay the night, or at least let him in his room for a while. because we know top was willing to go to lengths just to be the best version of himself to mew. he was willing to change and serve mew whenever he could.

i think, at this point, top's feelings for mew have grown into something quite complex and profound, but his approach is somewhat hesitant and a bit forceful (?) as he insists mew is his boyfriend even though they haven't gone official, especially since mew said they 'aren't boyfriends yet.' nonetheless, it's sad to see top's persistence is only valid when he's trying to prove a point to everyone else but mew. he tried showing this 'mew's my boyfriend'' agenda to mainly, ray, his sole opponent, the trigger of top's insecurity and fear.

however, i also believe, along the line, mew has developed trust in top, possibly thinking top might've become a better person and sensed top's behavioural change (mainly sincerity) after they spent more time together. the silent disco scene was very crucial as the lyrics are a foreshadowing to many things: 1) mew isn't the good guy we (the audience and the friend group, top included) perceived him to be (he didn't sing some parts of the song, will be explained after this), and 2) top's death, even though i despise entertaining the idea there will be main character death in p'jojo's works, instead of thinking of this as literal death, i want to believe (for now), it's the 'death' of top's egoistic/confident/brash personality and his previous lifestyle. at the end of the drama, he might no longer be the villain as he finally accepted and embraced the better side that mew helped top discover.

sidetrack: a foreshadowing of topmew's future dynamic?

top sings this line;

this line;

and this line;

mew sings only this line (sorry because this screenshot isn't doing the scene justice);

and topmew sing this line together;

who's the he in this context? i don't have the slightest idea. it might be the 'new' top, or it's just mew finding/taking comfort in celibacy again (i wrote a prediction post for every pairing's ending here if you're interested to read it).

anyway, this is something we have to keep in mind. the foreshadowing in this scene alone is INSANE. but i regress by saying they're the absolute cutest and fluffiest doofus in this scene. top was having so much fun with mew and vice versa. they're enjoying each other's company. the smile on top's face was so bright, and the glint in his eyes was so vibrant. top looked sincerely happy with mew, and i like that a lot. //yet this scene teared me up when i was retrieving the screenshots. it broke me again. they could've been so happy without anything else coming their way. :( can't my babies be happy for once? goodness.

discomfort and distrust; top lost the battle with himself

in the car, top looked queasy. he was anxious from the small talk he had with boston in the kitchen. and he projected that frustration to ray as he insisted on taking his boyfriend home. in one way or another, top might not want mew to mingle with ray any longer, especially since mew was a bit tipsy and he was afraid that mew and ray would do something more than just acts of friendliness. however, top didn't save himself from the cunningness of boston's trap as he thought he had things under control.

again, as i mentioned in many of my discussion posts, top takes immense pride in himself and he won't let anyone topple that ego of his because he's the fcuking top tanin- everyone bowed down to him and worshipped him because of his impeccable skills in bed.

side note: this truly breaks my heart because it seems everyone only sees top as one thing: a sex God. that stranger (i don't want to address him by his name because i'm just very petty) who walked to top and freaking said all those bullshits in front of mew— in my eyes, top appeared guilty almost, and uncomfortable for letting mew witnessed and listened to 'the real' top from a stranger that once accompanied his sleepless night.

top was fidgety and tried to invert mew's attention elsewhere, not on him—

—which is ironic, considering he always enjoyed the attention/interest people have in him. but with mew, it's always different.

side note (2): again, why the hell does everyone think they know top better than he knows himself? this somehow shows top's struggle of understanding/determining/differentiating his truest identity as people only perceive him as a pleasure-giver and NOTHING more. what people say tends to get into our heads, and it's not weird if top believes that he's just this and nothing else.

but mew helps him see that he's capable of making mew happy, of taking care of mew and being the best version of himself; this assumption is waiting to be proven when top says, "but with mew, i just want to make you as happy as possible." it looks like top has found a purpose in life— he wants to make mew happy. he wants the person he loves to be happy. //that's so heartbreaking just to think of it...

back to the car scene, i don't know how the hell boston got that video of mewray (possibly) kissing, but that was just a nominal and lowly move from boston.

that was disgusting (insert the lee minho meme), and it showed just how evil boston is. he didn't care if mew and ray were his friends or whoever, as long as he got what he wanted— top's attention/trust/d*ck— he was willing to backstab his so-called-friends. he really used the one thing top was afraid of— the truth behind mewray's closeness— to manipulate top.

additonally, as mew had this vision of top in mind (confident, self-centred, etc), top also had this image of mew in mind (nice, helpful, etc). i guess he had always seen mew as the kind/naive/innocent type, especially since he wore that white wristband (a potent indication that mew was never really interested in romantic relationships and anything messy)—

—the first time they met. so top was afraid of the allegations coming true— perhaps mew wasn't a virgin, after all. it was all a lie. was mew lying to him all along?

notably, this also didn't come from mew's mouth— his virginity.

it's always the topic that BOSTON and mew's friends (chueam, i love you, but this shouldn't be a concern to you, really) brought up, showing just how insecure he was in that one thing mew STILL possessed, a charm that lured top into wanting to have a romantic/steady relationship with mew and ignored boston's constant cry of convincing top 'they are the same'. and how contradicting? boston said himself— mew is a 'sweet' virgin (retrieved from episode 1 part 1). so the video he showed to top can possibly be edited. //if it's true, fcuk you, boston. fcuk you.

when he saw the clip, top asked when it happened, and boston answered 2 years ago. here, we can already draw a conclusion that (if it was legit), it happened ONLY ONCE, and it wasn't a recurring thing because, a throwback to ep 1, mew clearly said, "i'm not someone like boston."

if mew was boston, it would've been more than just once— whatever mew was proclaimed to do with ray. but we know mew is a man of his own. he has always been so comfortable with celibacy. however, top's judgement was rather clouded and bugged because 1) he didn't trust mew fully (as mew didn't trust him previously), 2) he was insecure because mew might still choose ray over him, and 3) the idea of mew doing it with ray while being in this undefined relationship with top was bruising his ego/pride. so he allowed boston to do his way with top, because top felt he was losing control of himself. and the only thing that could help top regain that power was through boston.

(he lost the battle with himself. really. it was just top and the demons in his head. the devils won. top gave in. again, fcuk you, boston.)

in this post, i mentioned that boston was always susceptible and open to top. he liked it when top caved into him. but the idea was top has always been using/thinking that boston could help him retrieve composure because boston was so easy to get— boston was always ready to be controlled and handled by top. but, when top met mew, he was interested and determined to win mew over becaue he was tired of 'people who already knew too much in bed.' and always, this was the sole reason of boston's anger and annoyance— mew has something desirable that boston no longer possessed— virginity/decency.

so top resorted to boston because he couldn't take the confirmation that mew— the person he was starting to (genuinely) like— wasn't the person he had in mind. so the car scene is proof that yes, mew is top's ultimate weakness. and in episode 3, it wasn't about mew manipulating top or anything; it's boston using mew as a tool to convince and influence top into believing that mew isn't who top believed he was. boston played with top's only weakness— mew.

however, top could've stayed. he could've put a stronger fight. i think the old top— the confident top— would insist on taking mew home. he wouldn't back away this easily (throwback to ep 1 when mew said he couldn't do this with top, but top said they didn't have to know each other to have sex. after that, he kissed mew again to keep the mood going, but mew pushed him and stopped top from continuing).

side note: i think top really wanted to stay because he knew what would happen if he went to boston. but mew said he was fine and top respected mew. he didn't want to argue or make mew unhappy. mew was his priority, and he abided by the boundaries set in this relationship. this has already opened up a new horizon to us; this is what top could be if he's allowed to have a morsel of true love. he trusted mew (although it had wavered) and went to boston.

top was known to be persistent, but he gave in so quickly when mew said he was fine alone. looking back at this, i believe now that top really likes mew. that's why this killed him— the idea of mew having a secret relationship with ray behind top's back.

additionally, it breaks my heart after witnessing the hurt in top's eyes once boston leaned closer and kissed his neck. he was on the verge of crying. he seemed a bit lost, helpless and hopeless. i guess at that point, top was trying to think wisely, to make a final judgement/say to the ideas he had in mind and the verdict(s) boston showed him. he was trying to hold onto that thin slither of hope that it wasn't true because mew couldn't have done that, could he?

but i guess top didn't consider or remember mew saying so blatantly, "i'm not like boston." because it's true— mew is never boston. unlike boston, who's insecure and pretty much volatile and a narcissist, mew is empathetic, understanding, kind and has his own set of flaws, but rather a decent human being. he's so different from boston. sadly, top couldn't differentiate that stark disparity, that one thing top liked about mew when he first saw him— mew's solitude.

conclusion

i said in this post that topmew will have their first time in episode 4, and it's happening. it fits the timeline of their budding relationship really well, as they now have reached equilibrium. top will confront mew in episode 4 and ask him about ray. mew will tell the truth because he's never a liar. possibly, that will make top trust mew again.

possibly, next week, we will see top distancing himself from mew at the start of the episode, and mew might feel sad/confused about it, so the first confrontation ensues— topmew sorting out their feelings for each other. mew willingly wants to have sex with top, an indication that mew is ready to fully accept top into his life— to be all over top as he genuinely likes top now (and this can be the start of mew's transformation from good to evil)— to admit he loves top and top is his boyfriend. they're finally on the same page.

however, things will go down the gutters in episode 6 since forcebook said it's the story's climax. yet, i believe episode 5 will be their 'honeymoon' phase, and i personally want that to happen. it'll make the pain of separation even more delicious as we have happy memories of them in our riverbank of recollections.

i'm sorry for this incoherent and messy discussion. i still have so many thoughts in mind, but this is the only thing i can pen down as of now. the car scene is still breaking me, and i just don't know. (I wrote this as soon as i woke up. therefore, i'm sorry. again.)

anyway, thanks for reading this post. :)

//btw, i watched dangerous romance yesterday, and i'm in love. that drama is easily one of the best series of the year for me. it's so good.//

[1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (i) | 4 (ii) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12]

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eriexplosion · 2 months

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Here's How Shrimp Trooper Theory Can Still Win

This is as fringe as it gets folks.

I've done my very serious Tech lives essay now it's time for my actual wild theory. Plus @katara-stan-club wanted the shrimp trooper essay and I will take any opportunity to yammer. Please don't take this extremely seriously as it is just something that I'm spinning up for entertainment and is almost certainly not true. (Unless!)

So the opening to Confined is... Odd to me. I've mentioned this in a post before but just to recap, it is definitely the odd man out of the three season starters.

Season one of course we intro with Caleb, who then leads us directly to meet the batch and get our first character appearances, along with convenient introductions. A fun, action packed little scene before things immediately go to hell.

Season two we intro with the batch in the middle of a job, which gives us another fun action scene that shows us how much Omega has grown, as well as the current status of the batch itself.

Season three though? Season three starts us off with a ship going down in a lightning storm and all the stormtroopers inside assumed to be eaten by the giant monsters that lurk in Tantiss' jungles. (Going by Omega's tally marks later in the episode, we're about 20 days post plan 99.) Nothing to do with the batch at all, though we do get a glance at what's in the jungle, and a tiny bit more of Hemlock being a bastard of course.

Now, seemingly, this scene is the set up for episode three, when they make their escape and head for the downed ship.

Except it's completely unnecessary. When they get to the ship, it turns on but it's incapable of flight and the comms are still down and non functioning. The ship they end up taking and using to escape is the ship that came in pursuit of them. The plot would have gone down exactly the same if they had just picked a direction and fled without the downed ship. It's a complete red herring for how they ultimately end up escaping.

So why is it important enough to open the season on if the ship essentially functions as nothing more than a destination point?

Enter Shrimp Trooper Theory.

Going back to the stormtroopers. We have four of them inside the ship, the pilot and three others. We're going to be focusing on our boy on the far right of the second picture.

The pilot speaks before the ship goes down so we can confirm he's a rando. Our fellow in the middle speaks next, identifying himself as TK-343, another rando. The one on the far left talks about wild beasts proving himself, you guessed it, a third rando. But our boy on the far right doesn't talk at all through this whole scene, leaving his identity up in the air.

So we'll take a closer look at him and brighten the scene up a bit.

Now, seeing this guy hobble his way out of the ship, I thought that he looked somewhat familiar. Specifically.

That shitty ass posture. (Forgive the sloppiness of the edit I did this comparison once before and I am not remaking it)

We do not actually see the troopers all get eaten, we cut to the interior of Tantiss before it happens. Theoretically there is nothing stopping this shrimp shaped man from being Tech.

The timeline of shrimp trooper theory:

Tech falls from the rail car and manages to survive the landing but he's severely injured. He crawls away/gets scraped off the ground by Saw.

Roughly 3 weeks pass in which he is recovering and healing yet unable to comm out as, per episode 4 of season 3, Imperial planets monitor long range communications. But, he is able to gather information from the flights going in and out of Eriadu to determine which ones are being assigned to Hemlock's secretive lab. Once he is able to confirm this, he steals some stormtrooper armor and boards.

Ship goes down because gravity hates him in particular and he is almost eaten by a Beast.

Now stranded in the jungle on Tantiss, Tech finds his infiltration plan foiled by the fact that he is being continually hounded by even more Beasts.

Several months later, Batcher is released and for some reason goes straight for the wrecked ship. Somehow she survives out here, but we're not sure how - potentially she had help?

Tech IS the mystery clone X that we see but rather than being brainwashed he has finally managed to get inside Tantiss and yet again begins to Steal Clothing from others.

Crosshair and Omega immediately break out without him leaving him stranded in Tantiss where he presumably still is, attempting to avoid detection and continue to gather information that will aid in the eventual liberation of the other clones.

Is this unlikely? Yes! Is it overly complicated? Absolutely! Am I endlessly entertained by it anyway? You bet!

Benefits of Shrimp Trooper Theory include, but are not limited to:

A living, non brainwashed Tech! The most important feature one could have!

An extremely ridiculous Only In Star Wars series of events!

Retroactive explanation for why the ship going down was an important scene to start on.

Hemlock ruining his own life by not sending someone out to recover the team and just assuming they'd totally be taken care of by the wildlife.

More giant monsters than Wrecker could shake a stick at.

The possibility of Tech and Batcher offscreen shenanigans.

Tech thinking he's finally found Crosshair and making plans to retrieve him when, SURPRISE, OMEGA'S HERE TOO AND THEY'RE ESCAPING. RIGHT NOW.

Seriously just imagine the epic sigh Tech would let out as they flew away completely unaware of his presence. His life is a series of difficulties.

He can simply turn up with the coordinates to Tantiss because god knows how else they're going to manage to get them.

This is my conspiracy theory that I'm allowing myself to believe in as a treat. It will almost certainly not be what occurs but the thought of it makes me happy.

#the bad batch #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers

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campbyler · 1 month

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mmm what the fuck?

how am i supposed to live like a normal functioning person after experiencing the full range of human and Inhuman emotions?

thea i love u i promise but i also want to kill u in the most cruel way possible.

i was trying to read 32k words one hour before the work and failed Miserably 😭 i only get through driving lesson part. can u believe i had to do actual work the entire day instead of reading my gay fanfiction? 💔heartbreaking misogynistic And homophobic if u ask me.

anyway. i know im going to forget something. it always happens and then im too shy to send other asks so let hope it doesn’t happen this time.

driving lesson.

don’t worry about ur manual transmission description. i’ve changed three instructors in the span of year and a half and all three of them told me different things. i didn’t notice any Big Serious issues that would be at odds with driving mechanic.

to the other news. will sucks 😭😭 not his fault Obviously. he’s naturally anxious and tbh mike didn’t give him any hints about how to feel when the car is ready to go. not mikes fault too. i bet he doesn’t even think about this little thing anymore (and cause u don’t know about them either. which is ok don’t worry about it. u probably just need to experience it ti fully understand). i was so happy when will finally manage to get the car going 😭😭 i probably called him baby too.

and then i literally passed out when i saw the mike called Him baby?? first will’s brain in denial made me questioning was it really for him or for the car. cause mike Loves that car i wouldn’t be surprised if he really call it baby from time to time. but then i remembered that we know how mike feels thanks god and i became like 85% sure that it was for will. (i also Run to check playlist right after this line. yeah i found “king of my heart” there. u make the impossible possible cause why am i listening to two of my least favorite reputation songs and genuinely enjoy them?)

i mentally add the keychains to the list of things we need to know more about. but i think it’s cute that they both not only save them but also use them almost daily. and they both choose car keys to hang the keychains on. dare i say soulmates.

*two weeks later*

also i think it’s funny they consider each other hot while driving.

and of course mike is obsessed with old expensive cars!!

are the malls in the us exactly dying? my office building is near the mall and i can guarantee u that in my country they r super alive.

ok i might be wrong but i think that the deleted scene is from bookstore part idk.

i think it’s cute that they trust each other enough to allow to choose as significant item as journals concerning that they really picky about them.

and i loved that mike blushed over a simple kiss 🫶🏻🫶🏻

(i feel like i want to catch up on everything and it’s killing me cause i write down one thing and immediately remember the other 😭)

THEY WERE SO BOYFRIENDS IN DINER!!! i don’t think i will ever recover from how cute they r and how much they actually like each other (and how single i am. as the classic said “when someone will prey on my neurodivergency….” and so on and so forth). i love that everyone can see it and im obsessed that boys don’t even want to deny it. i think a lot about the fact that mike said that they middle school sweethearts like he regrets about the missed opportunities (but also he doesn’t regret cause the thing they have now (at this exact moment. cause i still have bad feeling) is like that Because of years of semi-friendship and rivalry and unsaid confessions).

and i think even more about the fact that mike didn’t want to talk about his pretentious ivy league college. squinting so hard and taking a lot of notes (in fact writing paragraphs of analysis to my friends who has no idea what acswy).

the photobooth scene!!! omg i can’t believe u almost deleted it all??? suni is our hero! lots of hugs and kisses and thanks to them!!

i can’t believe mike talked about showing pictures to their friends in one minute and literally kissing will on them in the other. i love them they r so silly and in love and can’t get enough of each other. u can feel how close they become and that the air is thick with the newfound (and rediscovered) feelings. and they can’t live without touching and the hold hands constantly!!! all day long!!! and it’s not enough!!! and oh. i think it wasn’t the last time we saw pictures (squinting even harder).

the way max immediately cut the bullshit and asked about swearshirt. i need to know what lucas wrote to mike.

he likes him!!!

i love the difference between mikes “i know i like him but i won’t do anything about it” and wills “i need to kiss him to death right now!”

and the kiss on the backseat of mikes stupid mustang!! we were all waiting for it!

i think i reread and memorized the last part and in still shaking whenever i think about “nervous” part. mike makes will nervous!! and he makes him shake and do stupid stuff like kissing and blushing and thinking to add heart next to his name and call him his boyfriend!!! omg!!

“I’ve got you, baby” WHO WILL GET ME??? im the one who is going insane??? it’s so tender. my boys 💔💔💔

(the second time. my eyes r hurting from squinting that much. and i feel like we’ll have “el’s not stupid” kind of scene in the flashbacks)

this character hits so hard!! i’ve never doubted any of u but i can see why this one is one of ur favorite thea!

thank u so much for ur hard work. if i could draw i would to the whole ass animation of this chapter (and any other too).

love u. thank u for reading all this rambling

mmm what the fuck is RIGHT alya bc this is how i feel every time i read one of ur lovely essay comments. bc whaqt the fuck. why do u want me to CRY ALL THE TIME. (i guess it's fair considering we are making u cry with the fic itself but still . Rude)

you are so real for trying to read 32k in one hour and also so me . rly fucked up and cruel that you would have to work (even tho u threatened to murder me)...i hope you are freed from these perils Soon. don't ever be too shy to send more asks tho every ask from you is a BLESSING and a TREAT!!! EVEN WHENTHEY ARE LACED W THREATS!!!!!!!!!!!! and also tysm for validating my manual driving lesson description bc fr every video i watched was different and i was so stressed but it's FINE. ALYA SIGNED OFF ON IT SO NO ONE ELSE MATTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! DEAL W IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! will Does suck and that's one thing we can all agree on 💗💗💗 i was going to include a bit about likee what the engine Sounds like bc i know it sounds different when you're ready to switch gears but honest tbhly the driving scene alone is like 12k and i was super losing steam by the time i thought of it so i didn't <3 he is def a baby and mike def refers to his car as baby so he is right to be confused. but it WAS for him!! we actually aren't 100% sure of mike's feelings Yet (ch08 is meant to be the precipice of a realization, not an actual one) but obviously . we do have a pretty good idea of how he does feel. teehee. also i am glad you are enjoying komh now bc wtf......how is it one of your least faves................i support you but i am also judging u a little alya .

i think keychains will be included in one of the companions :o) also OBVIOUSLY they find each other hot while driving. they're both annoying and down bad 🙄🙄

malls here are super dying!! i think the only ones that aren't are ones in Major Cities (there's two nearby me that are pretty popular, but the other ones are mostly closed, and it's definitely been a phenomenon in the us over the last few years thanks to online shopping)!! the deleted scene is actually from the driving scene, but the bookstore scene Feels shorter bc i was truly at the point where i had nothing left to give when writing it (it was the last part of ch09 to be written), so it definitely suffered from that. if we ever do Huge post-mortem edits once acswy is over, i might go back and add to it, or write a deleted-scene-type companion, but tht's the tea w the bookstore scene <3

the diner scene was SOOOO fun to write and it had me blushing frfr. i answered this in another ask but the middle school sweethearts comment was Definitely the most insane thing that i thought of for this chapter and to me it was for sure the nail in the coffin for will of like damn. ok. he's Serious abt this. bc i think with their #history that will has trouble admitting even to himself that he likes mike, and so he'd need to feel pretty certain of how mike feels first, and after processing the middle school sweethearts comment later in the car that's what made him realize like oh damn. i Do like him. SO MUCH. and we all nodded and patted his back and said yeah baby we know. but what you described mike thinking is absolutely exactly how he feels 💗 very reminiscent and wistful, even.

LOL LITERALLY THIS HAS BEEN A UNANIMOUS COMMENT ACROSS THE BOARD OF "THANK GOD FOR SUNI" (INCLUDING MYSELF). to Explain the way i was feeling about it -- i did not initially mean to have that be a Spicy make out moment! it was supposed to read more along the lines of the thrift store scene, or even the kiss after will finished driving the mustang, so very sweet and soft and Romantic. it just didn't come out that way once i was actually writing it, and so i was nervous that i was toeing the line too heavily, or tht it was out of place with the rest of the vibe i had constructed for the chapter. a combination of suni (and abby, who got early access and acted as our second beta) being adamant that it Did fit and worked well, and me being too pressed for time/not having enough energy to rewrite that saved it from the deleted scene graveyard <3 thank god fr. they are both so fucking stupid.

the entiiiiire realization scene up from will realizing he likes mike to the very end of the chapter is my favorite thing that i have ever written i think 💗 i am just so happy with the way it turned out, especially with it being at the point in the fic that it's at!! it felt rly right for will :') also mike calling him baby!!! that was such a last minute decision but i'm so glad i went for it!! the original line was "i've got you, yeah?" but baby hit So much harder so shout out to editing thea for making that change 🤸 will wants to add a heart next to mike's name in his phone SOOOO BAD!!! WHEN WILL HE GET TO!!!!!!!!!!!

your second ask SO TRUE SO REAL. TEEHEE AND MWAHA AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. also you're so right jonathan is so fucked up for stealing steve from will like that 🙄

tytyty as always for your novel length comment alya 💗 really and genuinely and truthfully the thought of getting to read ur reactions is one of the most exciting parts of uploading a chapter!! i eagerly await all of ur other reactions <3333

#asks #ch09 #acswy spoilers #fave

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lovemewednesdays · 1 year

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jamie tartt needs a hug (a missing scene).

Jamie was exhausted as he opened the door of the clubhouse. Training was brutal today, and he was being totally honest, Little Jamie still hadn't fully recovered from the fucking red string incident.

"Roy fuckin' Kent, man," he muttered to himself. "Fucking sadistic bastard."

He was looking forward to getting to his flat, opening a nice bottle of red, soaking in the bath, and maybe ringing his mum before going to bed. He used to go out after trainings. Not anymore. The four a.m. wake-up calls were hell without a good eight hours. Fucking sadistic bastard.

He looked up from his phone when he heard a throat clear.

It was Sam's dad. He was exactly like Jamie always pictured him, warm and inviting. Always ready for a laugh or to give some hard truths when you need it most. Now he knew where Sam got it from.

"Mr. Obisanya," Jamie said, doing his best to make a good impression. He didn't have the best track record with father figures.

Mr. Obisanya smiled and waved the phone in his hand a bit. "I just got off the phone with my wife. She wanted to make sure I arrived in one piece."

"That's nice. Me mum always worries about me traveling, too. It's...nice." Jamie bit his lip. He felt like a knob.

The older man just smiled again – it was funny, seeing Sam's smile on someone else – and held out his hand. Jamie took it. "You must be Jamie."

"I am, yeah."

"Samuel has told me a lot about you."

He tried his best to hide his wince. "I'm sorry."

"What for? My son says you are a very talented player. And a valued teammate and friend." Mr. Obisanya arched his eyebrows. "People are allowed to grow, you know. And it seems like you have."

A feeling like pride grew in Jamie's chest, and he immediately tried to tamp it down.

"Am I wrong?"

"No – no, sir. If you don't mind me sayin'. I don't think you're wrong."

Mr. Obisanya's smile doubled. "Good. I don't like being wrong. The only time I'm wrong is when my wife is right." A booming laugh followed, and Jamie couldn't help joining in.

"Well, I won't take up any more of your time. I watched all of you young men on the pitch today," he shook his head. "I do not envy you. It was nice to finally meet you."

"You as well, Mr. Obisanya. And please let Sam know that I'm here if he needs anything."

Mr. Obisanya tilted his head a bit. "You are a good man, Jamie Tartt. I am glad my son has someone like you in his life."

Completely unsure of how to respond to that, Jamie just nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing, and turned away.

As he walked to his car, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten something. That something was missing.

He chalked it up to exhaustion and drove home.

The feeling stayed all through the match with Arsenal – thank God he was able to say something; he was going to fucking lose it otherwise – and even as he in the rest of the team made their way to Ola's.

It was only when Mr. Obisanya – Ola, he told everyone to call him Ola – saw Jamie sweeping up glass and took him into a big bear hug that reminded Jamie of warmth and comfort and family and love, and then asked after his mum, that the feeling went away.

#ted lasso #jamie tartt #sam obisanya #ola obisanya #i don't know what this is #i just want my baby boy to have all the love in the world #nic writes

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dreadsuitsamus · 1 year

Text

Vegeta Comfort After a Nightmare Headcanons | Vegeta x Reader |

author's note: i had a bad dream that my sister died in a car crash and am channeling that energy into this 🥺 this is more of a story in headcanon form than true headcanons

pairing: vegeta x fem!reader

warnings: nightmares, mentions of death, saiyan!reader, planet vegeta au

In your line of work, there's death and destruction around you constantly

Even as a child on Planet Vegeta, you saw things and heard about things no child should have to even think about

As a Saiyan, you are strong physically, and by the time you reach adulthood, you're immune to many things that used to scare you

Your own death doesn't scare you, and for the majority of the men and women you've ever battled alongside, you don't fear for them either. It's in your culture as a Saiyan to respect it, after all, as a warrior's death is commonplace for a Saiyan

But, not that you would ever admit it, marrying Vegeta has softened you up a bit

Your greatest fear is to lose your husband, and after a particularly rough ambush on what was supposed to be a routine mission, it nearly comes true

He's battered and bloody, beaten to a pulp and hardly breathing. Your eyes sting as you look at the prince in the healing tank, unable to blink

Vegeta saved your life, and it almost cost him his own. Valiant on his part, foolish on yours. He's not just your husband, never has been. He's the Prince of all Saiyans, and to lose him would be catastrophic without an heir

He recovers of course, and proves to be stronger for it. He doesn't care for your apologies and tears; you are his mate, and to die for one's mate is honorable

You, however, cannot let it go

Shortly after he's recovered, he's back on field missions while you are ordered by the king himself to rest at home, in order to best prepare your body to produce an heir when the mating season comes

To stay home while Vegeta is gone is torturous, to say the least

Every time you close your eyes, the same scene ends up playing before your eyes. One moment you're with Vegeta, strolling through the castle gardens. He's giving you that occasional, secret smile he only gives to you, and you feel at home

And then in an instant there's wreckage, carnage from the other Saiyans on that mission, and Vegeta is dead at your feet

You scream and shake and shake and shake his body fruitlessly, and soon wake up with a scream that echoes in the castle

Your lack of sleep shows, and Vegeta notices the bags under your eyes when he returns from his mission

"When I said don't wait up, I meant it." He murmurs, cupping your cheek and examining your face

All you can do is hug him, feeling the rise and fall of his chest and the strong beat of his heart

You toss and turn beside him that night, silently willing yourself to just sleep. He's getting irritated, and when you hear the low growl in his throat, it's already too late

"Woman, if you move one more time, I will throw you."

he's always been bitchy when he's tired

You take a deep breath and stay as still as you can, and eventually sleep does claim you

Vegeta's slumber is interrupted by your movements after a few hours, and he's ready to make good on his promise

But then he hears you whimper, and his brows crease in confusion and worry

He's quick to light a candle and look closer, wiping sweat from your forehead and placing a warm hand on your tummy, shaking gently

"Wake up, you're having a bad dream."

You jolt at his touch, a tortured cry leaving your lips. "No... Vegeta!"

Vegeta only frowns more. What the hell are you dreaming about??

"Wake up, dammit!" He says with more force, gripping your shoulders and shaking a bit harder

A gasp rips out of your throat and your eyes fly open, met with your husband's concerned face. A sob leaves your lips and Vegeta finds himself pulled into a crushing embrace, tears on his chest

"What the hell...?"

"I-I'm so..." You can't even finish your sentence, and Vegeta takes a deep breath, pulling you into a sitting position with him

He fetches your robes and slippers, and then takes your hand, leading you out of the castle and to the gardens. It's quiet, minus your sniffling, and the gears in Vegeta's head turn for a while

"You've been having nightmares the entire time I was away?"

Your nod is accompanied by yet another sniffle. "It's always the same; I see you die."

Vegeta squeezes your hand and walks a bit longer before speaking up again. "I see. You still blame yourself for what happened to me."

"If I would've paid closer attention-"

"It was an ambush, princess. There is no blame, and I am not dead. Forgive yourself." Vegeta wraps you up in his arms, your face pressed in the gap of his robe to his bare chest. His heartbeat is stronger than ever

You close your eyes, relaxing with each inhale, the scent of your mate lulling the anxiety prickling your nerves

Vegeta presses the smallest of kisses to your forehead, holding you securely. His tail wraps around yours, nuzzling them together

One of those soft smiles comes to his lips when he hears your gentle, rhythmic breathing, and he carries you back to bed, laying you right on top of him and holding you for the remainder of the night, and well into the morning

He's awake already when your eyes open again, the sun high in the sky and lighting up your bedroom

You look at his face, your own clearly well-rested. He smirks softly at you, squeezing your body closer to his and closing his eyes again

You never have another nightmare in this bed again

Bonus: Comforting Vegeta After a Nightmare Headcanons

Vegeta wasn't the type to have bad dreams for the majority of his life

It wasn't until the entire planet was blown to bits that he began having nightmares

He could only thank a higher power that you were with him off-planet when Vegeta was lost

But when he would fall asleep, stuck in a cramped room with you on the main Frieza ship, his mind would wander in awful directions

He'd dream about you being on that planet that dreadful day. He'd feel absolutely gutted, his blood boiling with his wrath, and he felt so strong and distraught he wondered if he was on the precipice of Super Saiyan

You had no idea what he'd been dreaming of until nearly a year after Frieza's assault of your home

Vegeta turned in early that night, so you were focusing on your embroidery, which you'd taken up since Frieza permanently benched you from missions, which he used against Vegeta often via threats to kill you for your uselessness, should Vegeta not play along

You hear a soft gasp from him and the bed shakes at the way he jerks, and your chest fills with anxiety

You're quick to cross the room and kneel beside the bed. "Vegeta, wake up. You're having a nightmare." Your hand lays flat on the center of his chest

He begins thrashing, and your eyes widen when a crackle of lightning buzzes across his fingertips, his hair briefly glowing gold

cue intense shaking

"Wake up!"

It takes several more shakes for him to finally wake up, any lightning and golden hair ceasing instantly

He falls off the bed in his violent haste to sit up, crashing onto you

His reflexes are fast, however, and you're scooped in his arms and flipped around before you finish hitting the ground, Vegeta breaking your fall

You brace your hands on his chest, feeling how hard his heart pumps. His eyes are blown wide and your face softens considerably

"Vegeta... You had a bad dream."

His hand is at the back of your neck and pulling you down to his level, foreheads pressed together

"I will obliterate this entire galaxy if I lose you."

You're settled on the bed soon, back to Vegeta's chest and beginning a new embroidery piece while he holds you, hiding his face in your neck, eyes peeking out at your work

"What's that...?" He mumbles curiously, his iron grip still tight

You smile to yourself, gazing at the work. It's an outline of your husband's head and hair, in gold

"The man of my dreams."

Cue Vegeta's smirk on your neck, a devious plan forming in his mind

"Remind me to drink more juice."

#vegeta x you #vegeta x reader #vegeta #db #dbz #dbs #headcanons #fic #never gonna stop referencing dbza

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quinloki · 4 months

Text

Roronoa Zoro - Sweet

Requestor: @sunshinegat0r Reader Vibes Requested: AFAB she/her CW: Hospital, injuries, references to a car accident, loads of guilt

Notes: Ahhh... I'm realizing I wrote this in the Wrong AU - Gat0r I'm so sorry, I hope this is okay. I wrote this in the Mafia City AU, and not the Grandline Metro AU >.< Mega Oops on my part.

Please note in this AU the Reader is the adopted daughter of Edward Newgate (who is Law's Father's Father, making them Aunt and Nephew.) This AU was used in Family Ties and Family Practice (the reader is not adopted in that one, but it's the same world and Reader)

This is heckin' embarrassing I can't believe I confused my own AUs 😅😵‍💫

“Whaddya mean-!” Zoro couldn’t believe his ears, he pushed back on Law reflexively before he managed to calm down.

“… She… she doesn’t remember me?” The question is in disbelief, and Law’s never heard the rough-edged fighter sound so broken before, or look it.

“It’s barely been a full day since the wreck, Zoro-ya.” He answers, moving to physically put his face in front of Zoro’s and get his attention. “It’s a miracle she was awake in the first place.”

Understanding crosses his features and he steps back from the doctor and the door to your room. He’s quiet for a moment, taking in the sounds of the hospital, and the steady beep from your room.

“Is it… safe for me to see her right now?”

“Safe, how?”

“Will she… will it hurt her to see me?” He questions, brows furrowing. “I don’t want to go in there for myself if it’ll… I don’t know, upset her, to see me.”

“… She’s sleeping for now. If you don’t stay too long you can see her.” Law answers. “I can text you when she’s up tomorrow, I still have to break the news to her brothers.”

Zoro nods, stepping around Law and moving into your room. You looked peaceful, despite the bandages and wires hooked up to you. It was almost impossible to believe you were actually awake.

It was hard to believe you were alive.

You’d picked up extra shifts to help him with the busy season and the two of you were running solo for the last two weeks. Hell, all six drivers Zoro had were running solo just trying to keep up with the need for the holidays.

It was a hit and run, and he hadn’t been there.

He could have been, though. If he had been willing to have everyone work a little longer, he could’ve paired people up the way he preferred. It wasn’t the law to have two people in the truck, but it was the usual process for him - for his business.

And the one time he decides different, this is the cost.

Sitting by your bed, Zoro puts his head in his hands, trying desperately to keep his spiraling emotions in check. This can’t be about his guilt, not so soon, not until he knows. If you don’t recover properly, if your memory doesn’t return, then he’ll cut himself out of your life of his own will. He won’t let you risk yourself again, not because of him.

The burden of this will be his to bear alone.

He can take it.

He can’t trade places with you, so ensuring he’s never the reason you hurt is a small price.

You’ve got dozens of brothers, adopted darling of the Newgate family. No one in this city would purposefully hurt you, and hells, that might be the reason the driver fled the scene in the first place.

Not that such an act would save them. You made friends with Doflamingo accidentally, and there’s no way someone so well-connected would let the culprit get away.

If only Newgate and Doflamingo would turn their ire on him. Even if you recover fully what he did was-

“You’re ‘pose’ta read to someone in a coma,” you mutter, lips and body heavy from the aches and exhaustion. Zoro looks up, wide-eyed and agog to the point of it being comical. “Or confess about how much you love ‘em,” you add, giving him a weak smile.

“Wha-.” He stares. “Law- The doc said you’d be asleep for a while.”

“Docs worry too much,” you reply, giving him a small smile. “You okay?”

“Am - Am I okay?” He nearly barks. “Are you kidding me right now?”

You shake your head. “You look like hell, Marimo.”

“Have you seen- wait,” Zoro freezes, on his feet, hands on the railing on the side of your hospital bed. “Do you… remember me?”

“I’ve known you most of my life, how could I forget you?” You grunt, the words nearly a grumble.

“What… what do you remember?” He questions, sitting back down. You can see the blood already starting to drain out of his face.

“What do you mean, what do I remember?”

“You couldn’t remember your name earlier.” A gruff voice says from the doorway, as Law walks in. He seems to be glaring at Zoro, but Law’s default face was kind of glare-y. He covers the distance from door to bedside quickly and is already shining a very annoying light in your eyes.

“I don’t remember being up before now,” you growl, squinting against the light. “I should’ve stayed asleep if you were just going to blind me.”

Law moves the light away an frowns. “What’s your name?”

“… (Y/N), Newgate (Y/N) since Pops adopted me, making me your aunt.” You answer, flipping him off even though the action made your arm ache.

Law continued to ask you a series of questions, and you knew most of them were because he had to. You must’ve really worried him the first time you supposedly came around, even though you couldn’t remember it, cause he laid out all twenty questions.

Zoro went through an impressive number of emotions, trying desperately to maintain his composure and not interrupt Law. It was cute on the one hand, but if he had been afraid you’d forgotten him, well, that would explain his earlier behavior.

Law leaves the two of you once he’s satisfied, and even offers to have a cot brought in so Zoro can stay the night.

Zoro’s head is back in his hands, and you give him a few moments.

“If I hadn’t,” he starts, voice shaky. “We should’ve…” He shakes his head. “I shouldn’t had put one driver to one truck. This is my-.”

“It’s the driver’s fault.” You interject. “I had,” you wince a little trying to sit up and Zoro moves to help you, adjusting the bed as you talk. “My high-vis vest on and everything. They cut down the alley so fast, there was no helping it.”

You chuckle a little, pained and short. “If I hadn’t jumped,” you shake your head. “No, never mind. I’m here… so… stay with me.” You reach out and he takes your hand without hesitation. “I’m lost without you, Zoro, so please… please don’t take a guilt trip and leave me alone.”

Hanging his head he snorts, shaking his head enough his earrings chime. “That was terrible.”

You smile. “It was perfect.” You tighten your grip on his hand. “Promise me.”

“I promise.” He says, kissing your fingers gently.

“Every other delivery company runs one driver to one truck.” You continue to push. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“… I did one thing wrong.” He insists. “I should’ve hired on more help. I shouldn’t have compromised how I run my business.”

You sigh. “I suppose I can accept that.”

The two of you stayed that way quietly for a few long minutes, the steady beep of your heart monitor and the quiet din of activity in the hall the only sounds for a little bit.

“Zoro?” You prompt and he looks at you after kissing the top of your hand.

“Yeah?”

“If… If I ever do forget, don’t… don’t let me, okay?”

“Huh?”

“No matter the circumstances, promise you’ll help me remember.” You assert. “Everything. All of it, every time… please.”

“Every time.” He promises, kissing your hand again.

#Forget Me Not Event 2024 #reader insert #x reader #amnesia #one piece fanfiction #request event #angst #roronoa zoro

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coldgoldlazarus · 11 months

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After rewatching Into the Spiderverse last week, and my third viewing of Across the Spiderverse this weekend, a bit of a crack theory has been percolating in my head. Some spoilers here, so putting this under a readmore:

I think Doc Ock has a chance of returning in Beyond The Spiderverse. A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

Point A: Lack Of Resolution

This is pretty obvious so I won't belabor it; despite her role as a pretty significant villain in ItSV, along with Kingpin and Prowler, the mind behind the supercollider and given a pretty fantastic reveal, she also winds up getting hit by a truck during the climax and not being heard from again. The Prowler died, Kingpin got defeated and webbed up for the police, even Tombstone was seen getting arrested and shoved in a cop car, and the other henchmen like Scorpion also got pretty conclusive defeats at the hands of the 2D spideys during the fight itself.

But with Liv, there's no real confirmation of what happened afterwards; whether she got arrested, or ran off, or the impact was fatal and her body recovered, or what; no clue. (And if she did end up shoved through the Collider and landed in another dimension, she'd be subject to the same glitching, cell decay, and eventual death as the others, without the Spider-society tech to stabilize herself.) And like, that doesn't necessarily mean anything on its own, but at the very least the principle of "didn't see the body" is in play.

(Interestingly, I remember hearing somewhere that there was a deleted scene of her intentionally jumping into the collider portal while saying the "power of the [X] in the palm of my hands!" line that later went to Spot. Though idk where I heard it, so am unsure if this is actually legit. And even if it is, it was still a scene they chose to remove from the final film, so while it could mean that intent is still there, they also could have changed their minds on the idea entirely.)

On its own, I'd be willing to accept that that's probably the last we've seen of her... but as of AtSV, it actually isn't.

Point B: Aaron Haunts The Narrative

This part has no direct connection to her, but bear with me here. If you've seen it, (I hope you have) you know that AtSV ends with the reveal that Miles wasn't sent to his home timeline/universe, but a darker parallel version where his dad is dead but Uncle Aaron is not, and is working with the parallel version of Miles as the Prowler. He does say "I'm not" when our Miles refers to him that way, but the impression I got is that he's halfway-retired from the role but still acting as support for Miles G; the "guy in the chair" if you will.

I digress. Point is, it ends with a return for both Uncle Aaron and the Prowler identity, but this didn't come out of nowhere; all throughout the movie leading up to this, Aaron and/or the Prowler are brought up or indirectly hinted at on an honestly pretty frequent basis. Gwen's drumming recap at the beginning, the memorial grafitti on the rooftop, the Donald Glover cameo, the flash of him on the side of the building during Miles' breakdown sequence as he's rushing to get home, plus a few smaller mentions here and there. ("He takes after his uncle!" during the meeting with the guidance councilor, and a visual comparison with Uncle Ben during the "canon events" presentation, and I feel like there may be a couple others yet that I'm forgetting as well.)

The movie goes out of its way to remind you of him and his importance to Miles at every turn, and part of that is just inherently because he is so important to Miles. But it also feels like, from a writer-to-audience perspective, part of the purpose is also as a reminder; if anyone either saw ItSV but forgot most of it in the intervening time, or simply missed it altogether and for some reason decided to see AtSV first anyway, this makes sure they know exactly who and what he is, so the reveal at the end carries the full emotional weight it needs to. No matter what, you will have the proper context to appreciate Miles' reaction when Aaron steps through that door.

(Also, I just wanna say that I love that reaction in of itself; the hyperventilating panic at first, only to rush in for a tight hug. The mix of terror and comfort that comes with full awareness of both sides of him, and all the associated memories both good and bad, combined with this unexpected chance to see him (or at least a version of him) again. It's just a really great moment on that front.)

But anyway, I'm getting off track again, too many Prowler feels. ^^; What does this have to do with Doc Ock?

Point C: Aaron Isn't Alone In Haunting

This is admittedly both the key part of my theory and also the weakest one overall, so I will readily admit upfront that I may be reading too much into things, and Liv really did bow out for good in ItSV. That being said, here's my thought:

Even if a much lesser extent than Aaron, I couldn't help but notice a similar-seeming trend of brief reminders of her. On one hand, most of these can be fairly easily dismissed as simply maintaining continuity and connection with the first movie, as the bulk of them were in relation to The Spot's backstory as Jonathan Ohm; she was there for the flashback to the misplaced 42 Spider, and then seen again in a framed photo of him, when Gwen was inspecting the remains of his makeshift apartment lab. So while it's a neat inclusion, it doesn't necessarily mean anything more, right? Kingpin got mentioned too, during the Guggenheim fight with Vulture, but I'm pretty sure he isn't going to be making a comeback.

But there is one other instance that feels a bit more significant and out of place, and is what led to this theory in the first place. I mentioned this scene already in relation to the Uncle Aaron foreshadowing/reminders, but going back to it now, there is what I've dubbed the Falling Apart sequence. (From the score that plays during it.) Right after Gwen's talk with her father resolves, we cut back to Miles, swinging through the city in a desperate rush to get back home to his parents in time. (Unaware yet that this isn't his city, his home, his parents, because this isn't his universe.)

Tangential Gushing Over That Scene

It's sort of a dark parallel to the Leap Of Faith/What's Up Danger scene from ItSV, with previous bits of dialogue and past moments echoing in his mind again. There, it was all the inspiration pushing him to finally take the leap and truly become Spiderman; whereas here it's reminders of all the stress and uncertainty he's under as he races against time and possibly destiny itself, not to mention being plagued by doubts after Miguel revealed he possibly shouldn't have become Spiderman to begin with.

But what I especially love is the animation of this sequence, which on first watch I thought was stuff actually happening, but reads more on subsequent viewings like hallucinations during what's basically a panic attack. It's both gorgeous and stressful, with trains derailing and rerailing to chase Miles; the space between the skyscrapers growing narrower and more claustrophobic; and stuff like the 42 Spider, the Spot's arms, and Doc Ock's tentacles also appear briefly to hem him in even further until the end. He finally breaks free at the end, with Aaron's dying words to "just keep going" pushing him to make it the rest of the way 'home' unimpeded, a tiny bit of much-needed catharsis amidst all the overwhelming... everything else.

I really love this scene, in case it wasn't obvious.

Point C, Continued: Why Tentacle Happen?

But to get back on track, nearly everything about this sequence is mainly focused on ideas introduced in Across; the Spot, Miguel, Jefferson's predicted demise. The Spider is from the first movie, but still given extra context now; the first big exception is the reuse of Spider-Ham's line about how "the hardest part of this job is that you can't always save everyone" while images of him, Noir, and Peni appear on the glass building Miles is swinging past. Even that is still relevant to the current crisis, and their appearance there is further justified when they too properly show up again in Gwen's 'band' at the very end.

But then there's this:

The dialogue at this point is a line from Rio; while the appearance of the tentacles definitely further intensifies the claustrophobic crush of the city, it also feels like much more of a non-sequitor than even the 2D Spideys just a few shots earlier. Liv has had nothing to do with anything going on, (or at most, very indirect involvement like the displacing of the 42 Spider) has no dialogue called back to here; and heck, even in ItSV felt more like a rival to Peter B specifically instead of being especially relevant to Miles, compared to Prowler and Kingpin. So why call back to her here? It could indeed just be that the tentacles are good for adding to that entrapped feeling, but given how well-constructed the rest of the sequence was, and how deliberate animation as a process is in general, this would seem oddly careless to include so casually.

Conclusion

On the whole, I'll still readily admit that this is a pretty flimsy bit of 'evidence' (more just symbolism, really) to base a whole theory off of. Yet still, between that part of the Falling Apart sequence, the parallels to how Aaron and Miles G were foreshadowed, Liv's abrupt disappearance and lack of closure in the first film, and the knowledge that this is the first half of a split script, with all sorts of other setup in Across still awaiting payoff in Beyond, I do kinda at least feel like there may be something here.

(At the same time, the docket is already packed with a shitton of stuff that Beyond needs to be able to address and resolve, plus apparently some additional new stuff mentioned in interviews like another Gwen, Toei Spiderman, and Hobie's universe. So with all that going on, I'm not entirely sure they'd have the room for yet another returning character in amidst literally everything else.)

So while I'm not strictly counting on this to come to pass, at least for now, the basic idea is that Doc Ock got hit by that truck, fell through the collider portal and into another universe, (probably Earth 42, possibly elsewhere we may have yet to visit) and somehow found a way to stabilize her glitching to survive during the intervening time, set to make a dramatic return appearance during Beyond.

As to what role she may play, I'm not sure. I could see her making some sort of temporary truce with one of the main Spider-people for a common goal, without giving up on her evil mad science in the long run. Possibly with Miguel's group against the Spot, in exchange for freedom to keep experimenting with the Multiverse instead of getting sent back home, though I also don't think he would be willing to make that bargain unless things are truly desparate and he's fully lost the support of the rest of the Spider Society. So it could also be with Gwen or Miles, against both the Spot and Miguel; the former's more unpredictable tampering and newly eldritch nature getting in the way of her research, while the latter would of course want to put an end to her experiements and send her back home in his efforts to restore order, giving her reason to ally against.

On the other hand, her remaining entirely villainous and antagonistic would also make a lot of sense, if not moreso. If she landed in Earth 42, she could wind up as the big obstacle of the detour instead of Miles G, allowing the latter a more nuanced and dynamic role. Alternately, I could possibly see her further experimentation being connected in some way to the destruction of the universe Miguel replaced himself in, unknowingly sending him on his canon-hardliner spiral, which would certainly give her a lot more relevance to the current conflict.

But ultimately, all of that depends on whether she really would show up again, which as neat as it would be, definitely does feel like a bit of a long shot at the moment. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

#not a reblog #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse #across the spiderverse spoilers #beyond the spiderverse #beyond the spider verse #doc ock #olivia octavius #getting sidetracked by gushing over animation #theory #crack theory #spiderverse theory

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winniethewife · 6 months

Text

It's undeniably real (Layla El-Faouly x The Moonknight system x Reader)

Chapter 8: They're not enough

Warning: Angst, Hospital scenes, Hurt/comfort.

Last Chapter ~ Next Chapter

Words:1042

I wasn’t the same after that day, I wasn’t meant to be the same after…But will they ever look at me the same after this? Will they still love me the same? Knowing who I really am. Knowing the monster I could become? I feel like theres a bomb in my chest, any minute I will explode and hurt everyone I care about.

They sat in the hospital waiting room, Layla bouncing her leg as she stares at the doors to the surgery ward. Steven sits next to her, a bundle of nerves. The headspace unusually quiet as the moments pass, and they wait.

“Today is the beginning of your training, you will learn to be the greatest asset to the system, and you will learn to eliminate any target required of you. Is that Clear?” the headmistress spoke to me while placing the room.

“What is the system? I thought this was a school for advanced academics?” I asked confused. She gave me a glare, her ice blue eyes bore into me and I felt a chill creep over me.

“You will not question me, you will do as you are told. Is that clear?” She asked even more coldly than before.

“Yes…” I say. And that was the moment my whole life changed forever. Over the next four years I spent my weeks learning to fence, to shoot, to fight. I knew a thousand ways to kill a man, and there was no turning back. I never figured out what “the system” was or why we were meant to serve it. But I do remember the day it collapsed. The academy staff were panicking, it was days until graduation, a hundred of us trained to kill, now without purpose. I put on my uniform and walked out of my dorm. Just as I was turning the corner I hear the Headmistress calling my name…I turn as she Summons me to her office. I walk in and I take a seat in front of her.

“You know, you’re one of our best students of all my time here I’ve never seen a brighter woman and a more skilled combatant.”

“Thank you Ma’am.”

“I have to ask you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to forget, forget any of it happened.”

“What do you mean Ma’am?” I look at her confused. She held up this aerosol can

“I’m going to use this on you, It’s going to put you in a trance, at which point I’m going to have you forget everything from these last years. Before you say anything else I have to do this to everyone, but I wanted to tell you first…I am very proud of you, and I know you will be amazing.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Then time stopped and faded away.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around the hospital room, Layla was sitting on the bed holding my hand.

“Layla…” I tried to sit up.

“Shhh…woah there, Habibi. Don’t move, we’re at the hospital. They got the bullet out of you. You gave us a fright there…”

“I...Did you..?” I couldn’t talk as fast as my mind was running, I wanted to tell her that I remembered, I wanted to ask if they had causght the cult I needed to know.

“No, we haven’t caught them, you come first you know this. Steven is getting us a flight out of here in a few days, the doc says you should be fine to go home by then.”

“But…”

“But nothing. We can get this figured out after you recover. Hanukah is soon, hopefully over the holidays nothing will happen. You will get better, then we can take them down.” She insists. Before I can make any other argument Steven comes into the room and his eyes widen.

“Oh thank god love, you’re awake!” Steven exclaimed as he rushed to my side, his hand cups my face, pressing his forehead to mine as tears stream down his face. Those sad brown eyes look into mine. “We were so worried darling. You can’t do that. Ever again.”

“Steven it’s not like I tried to get shot!” I laugh slightly running my fingers through his hair as he pressed his face to mine, the look of worry and his quivering lip, I smile and I kiss him softly, he hesitates before kissing me back eagerly, like the only cure for his sadness would be found in my lips, after a moment he pulls away.

“Sorry, Lovey. I know, I just…We were sure we were too late. I was so scared…I donno what we would’ve done if…”

“Shh…It didn’t happen okay? I’m okay, I’m going to be okay.” I reassured him, glancing at Layla who was wiping tears from her own eyes, I take her hand again and squeeze it gently. That’s when I knew…I couldn’t tell them. Not yet.

Once we’re back home, I think that it’s all going to be okay the nightmares will pass and things will return to normal, But I’m quickly proven wrong. Sitting up quickly from the bed after experiencing another terrifying nightmare, one I can’t tell what might be a memory or a made up thought, I look around our bedroom, tears streaking down my face.

“Babe…Another Nightmare?” Marc sits up from where Steven had fallen asleep holding me on one side while Layla lay on the other. I couldn’t even speak, I just nodded. Marc hummed and put an arm around me, whispering softly comforting words that I wasn’t paying enough attention to identify, my heart couldn’t stop pounding. Even as he pulled me into a closer embrace I felt the numbness return, a feeling I used to just associate with this forgotten past now lingers in my life, making unwelcomed visits even in the most intimate of moments. Marc says something directly to me and I completely miss it.

“Hm? What?” I tried to shake off the feeling but it just sticks around. Marc chuckles.

“C’mon, let’s get back to sleep. No more nightmares. I’ll keep them away.”

“Okay…I love you.” I say softly as he pulls me back into bed.

“I love you more.”

“Impossible.” I sleepily mumble, getting another chuckle from Marc.

Masterlist

Taglist: @redeyerhaenyra @summonthesoups

#moon knight #marc spector #x reader #jake lockley #layla el faouly x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #moonknight x reader #steven grant x reader #polyamory #poly representation #moon knight system #moon boys #layla el faouly #Spotify #steven grant #angst #hurt comfort #tw hospital

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lou-iz-stat · 23 days

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So……. 2 MORE WEEKS!… and it still does not feel real to me that we are going to get season 2 so soon. I am sure it will destroy me and create an everlasting wound deep in my soul.

Anyway episode 6! I won’t lie this the episode that I have watched the most out of the rest. I have probably watched it over 15 times and that is not an exaggeration. It’s my fav episode because there are just so many iconic moments in this one.

Let’s not waste another moment. Get into this!

IWTV S1 E6: Like Angels Put in Hell by God

This ep starts with Louis looking real bad as he tries to recover from the drop inflicted on him by Lestat.

He definitely has PTSD from the fall 😔

At least we get the ‘cloud gift’ name drop.

We also have Dr. Fareed which is a character that is most prominent in the Prince Lestat trilogy I believe. I do not know if this is true I have not read that far yet.

We then go back to the story and Claudia is making Louis chase a goat for his recovery.

And here comes Lestat being where he is not wanted. The throwing of his coffin out the balcony is everything 🤣

When Lestat comes to give the car to Louis I must admit he looks so so good 😩 But I still don’t want Louis to let him back in! Because I know he has not changed even though he says so.

But I do believe that if Louis did tell him to leave and to never see him again Lestat would listen! But he doesn’t tell him that because he still can’t let Lestat go even after everything he has done. It’s too much!

Lestat is crazy for what he does with ‘Come to Me’ but I love when Sam sings it ❤️

And this what. I am talking about when I say that so much of this episode is so iconic! Swimming a dirty ass river to break into your exe’s place and telling Antoinette to leave HER HOUSE so that you can have violent hate sex while she is just outside listening to it all. It’s just so messy and insane! Gotta love it

Sam Reid is just so so good in the scene where they are questioning Lestat! His acting is just *chef’s kiss*

And everything he tells them of how he became a vampire is true 😭

“…I loved Lestat with a wounded one.” 😭😭😭

Yes Claudia you should baaaaaa at him!

Nooooo Claudia what he said about Magnus was true!

More Nicky name dropping this episode. And knowing the backstory with that I just wince at the whole conversation they are having. But what can I say she really is her father’s daughter

And of course he didn’t kill Antoinette being a brat so much so that he did not like being told what to do. And yes Louis he is ‘all kinds of fucked up’ and this why I love this show. Everybody is fucked up just some more than others.

Ugh the scene where Claudia tries to get Louis to leave with her breaks my heart.

Then we go back to modern day and this is where in the original interview Daniel wanted to be turned. And ohhhhh Armand is not happy that Louis offers to turn Daniel now hehe

The utter shock I had when Claudia is just sitting in the townhouse instead of on a train. 😱

But oh, oh! The train scene is everything. It is just so fucked up and scary! This show is in the horror genre after all. And that doesn’t stop this scene from being iconic.

From “Tickets, please!” To “Claudia, you left without saying goodbye…. Again” it just lives rent free in my head.

God he such an asshole to her!

And she defeats him at chess at the same time that she is plotting his murder! That’s some queen shit honestly.

When Lestat is shouting in French, if you ever look up what he is saying it is actually so unsettling

Awwww our boy (Daniel) is eeppy

I don’t care what anyone says I love the 70s flashback.

And boom! As we all know Rashid is actually someone Daniel has met before! Shocker! Yeah yeah it’s Armand we know this.

Yay! I got through another one! We only have one more rewatch then s2! I cannot believe it and again it does not feel real at all! I am sure by next week I’ll be able to write more since I won’t have as much school work left to do.

Thanks for reading

14 days!!!!! Life is worth living!

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv #iwtv spoilers #louis de pointe du lac #iwtv 2022 #iwtv amc #lestat de lioncourt #sam reid #lestat #jacob anderson #armand iwtv #assad zaman #daniel molloy #eric bogosian #iwtv claudia #bailey bass #just for fun

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carolmunson · 2 years

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starting from zero, got nothing to lose (eddie munson x ofc)

part I Eddie Munson makes it out of the Upside Down, and a year and some change later makes it out of Hawkins. Knee deep in the '89 NYC metal scene and working at a boxing gym in Brooklyn, Eddie wonders if he'll ever find his footing running from Hawkins. With only some phones calls to sustain his friendships back home, will he be able to let go for the long haul? Or will his past in Hawkins eventually catch up with him? AN: Back in June I started writing vignettes of this story as it came to me and am still developing it. I have plot ideas that need refining, but like, at least 20 pages of content for this story already. I've had to do a lot of research to make it as time period accurate as possible. I've lived in NYC for 12 years but wasn't alive in the 80s so I'm doing my best.

This first chapter is mostly exposition and background but our guy is a lil' sassy towards the end. The OFC does have descriptors, but whatever imagine her however you'd like.

I think the only TW is drug use and drug mention in this chapter but I'll be vigilant for any more. Lastly, if you're under 18, please don't read this shit.

New York City December 29th, 1989

It was a cold night. The subways were empty with holiday shopping finally over and the short lull between Christmas and New Years tourists had arrived. Eddie sat with his legs spread out wide on the bench of the train. One hand drummed out the beat of Dr. Feelgood on his knee, the other on the switchblade in his vest pocket. He only had to use it once since he came to the city, but it never hurt to have it ready to go.

He didn’t like the subway. Not because of the graffiti, that was metal. Not because of the homeless sleeping on the train cars or asking him for money. Not because he already had a beat up truck he could drive instead. It was because when it was late at night, and it was just him, the little flicker of the overhead lights made him nervous. Like once they shut off, they’d shut off forever and he’d wake up still stuck in the…

“Hey man, you got a dollar?” a raspy voice asked, holding a hand out. Eddie looked up and gave the guy a quick once over. He looked rough – hunched over and dried out. The dirt caked in his nails looked like it had been there for years.

“Sure man, yeah,” he fumbled a bit for his wallet, pulling at the chain on his pants. He slipped out a couple bills and handed them over, “Be safe tonight, okay?”

“God Bless,” the man murmured while shuffling away, “Happy New Year.”

Eddie looked out the window of the car, they still hadn’t pulled out of York Street. The trip from Gleason’s to Delancey was only a stop across the boroughs, but it sometimes felt like hours to make it into the city from Brooklyn. He caught his reflection in the window, still him – but a couple years weathered. The shine had dulled out of his eyes, only lighting up when the phone in his apartment rang because he knew it would be Dustin and the gang. His hair was the same curly, wavy, frizzy mess it always was. Calluses and scabs on his knuckles contrasted against his gun metal rings.

After leaving Hawkins in the Fall of ‘87, he spent a lot of time sleeping in his Uncle Wayne’s truck while working odd jobs in different Ohio and Pennsylvania towns so he could make enough money to head out to New York. He wanted to go to all the places he read about in Metallix, Rock Scene, and Punk Magazine. Maybe he’d meet the Ramones or something, or THE fucking Ozzy after a show. He wanted to get out of all the small towns so at least he could be a freak in a big city full of other freaks. But if you wanted to be a freak in Ohio and Pennsylvania, you needed to know how to fight.

It took him some time to recover after getting out of the Upside Down, he spent over a year in Hopper’s cabin in a makeshift hospital bed. The only good side about the end of the world in Hawkins is that everyone thought he was dead; so they weren’t looking for a satanic killer on the loose anymore. The downside was trying to figure out where they were going to find him a blood supply. It worked out but just barely. Then there was the whole, learning to be a person again. When he started getting stronger, he told Hopper his plan to leave, and Hopper taught him the basics. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. His stance, how to move, how to breathe, how to block. He was kicking himself for not learning sooner.

The kids were able to snag his school records, Wayne brought all of his cassettes, documents, and his guitar Lucy who survived the trip from another dimension. His uncle gave him $400 dollars, Wayne’s entire savings, and his beat up truck.

“Call when you can,” he said in a firm hug before Eddie left – but Wayne passed away a few months later from a heart attack. It killed him not to go to the funeral.

He ended up in the city around the same time last year, came across Gleason’s Gym during a fight and asked for a job as a janitor the same night. Something about watching boxing matches gave him the same excitement he got whenever he heard a solid guitar solo. He didn’t want to get in the ring or spar or anything, he just wanted to be around some of that chaos…and the girls helped, too. Girls always helped. Bruce, the owner, said he’d only let the manager give him a raise if he got his GED – and so maybe ‘86 wasn’t his year, but ‘88 had shaped up to be.

The pay wasn’t amazing, but he wasn’t sleeping in his car long. Eddie was good at a lot of things, cleaning up blood and spit, fixing cars, he could play guitar, and most importantly, he was really, really good at selling cocaine. He was quick to be picked up for selling, his look helped, but he made sure to find a supplier with quality. It wasn’t Hawkins, so there weren’t many positives in selling shitty drugs in NYC — just a lot of split lips and black eyes. He did his best in metal bars, music venues, and out of Gleason’s. A lot of the guys used it to stay lean and keep their weight class. This came in handy any time he heard a complaint in the men’s locker room. That’s where Tony came in the picture.

The train screeched into Delancey and Essex and he swung himself on the pole off the train, a patched up leather satchel slamming up against his hip as he did. The sound of pills shaking in the bag distracted a few passers by but he shook off the stares, it was nothing at this point. Eddie got out of the subway into the chilled December night, lit a cigarette, and made his way to his next job.

Tony Cardalino, or more affectionately known as Tone, came to Gleason’s a few months ago to train. Tone was like him: shaggy brown hair, bandana in his back pocket, battle jacket – the works. He was about five inches taller than him, built like a tank, a good fighter, and overall a lot more intimidating than Eddie ever was. Chrissy’s ‘ You’re not what I thought you’d be ,’ rang through his head the first time he had a conversation with him.

“Aw nice pin, dude,” Tony said one night in the locker room while Eddie took off his coverall at the end of his shift, “I feel like the new kids don’t give WASP their respect.”

That night they went through a pack of Marlboros together outside, talking about bands and Eddie still finding his footing in the city. He told him about the first time he went to CBGB and L’Amour, Tony told him all the good places to have sex with chicks there. He took the biggest interest in Eddie’s dealing. Tone’s second cousin was connected to the mob, a solid hit man, until he was the hit – so his bar ‘Skid’ on Avenue B needed a new supplier. Eddie wasn’t about to pass up another opportunity to make money, so he took him up on the offer. He’d go to Skid after Gleason’s and bring his inventory with him.

“Just don’t let Ron catch ya,” he confessed, “You’d think those bartenders and bitches are too busy, but they see everything .”

“Is Ron a pig, or a narc or something?” Eddie asked, a little flash of fear striking through his chest.

Tony laughed, “Nah, Ronnie’s just off that shit. Not really into the whole drug thing anymore and when Paulie got put in the river it shook everybody up. But Ron’ll deck ya if you get caught and it's a hell of an uppercut.”

Now, Eddie had heard of Skid, but it had been rumored among some metal heads that it was more of a hard rock bar than a metal bar so he hadn’t visited. There were places closer to his apartment he’d been hanging out at anyway. But ever since Tony’s uncle overdosed and it was left to Tony to run, things had taken a more metal turn… supposedly .

He pulled open the door, covered in stickers aside from the little opening for the ‘Come in! We’re open!’ sign. His hopes dashed a little as Led Zeppelin's ‘Black Dog’ blared through the speakers. In the ‘Is Led a metal band?’ debate, Eddie was staunchly against the idea – but all around Skid seemed like one of the places to be, even if it was a little quiet for a Friday. He guessed people were out of town or maybe still spending time with their families – whatever that means. He scoped the place out and saw Tony’s described ‘bitches’ manning the bar much to his relief. After finding a dark corner to settle in, he took a seat, keeping his bag open discreetly next to him.

All the booths, tables, and the bartop were dark cherry wood that looked black in the low lighting save for a little platform stage in the back, littered with amps and a drum set. Red leather upholstery looked worn and weathered from years of bar fights and the weight girls sitting on laps. Beer stains and cigarette burns. There were signed posters and photos all over the walls, two autographed Gibson’s hung over the bar with fishing wire. Ripped stickers and dollar bills with lipstick marks stuck to the back splash, lacy bras hung from the ceiling over the stage. It felt like a warm hug, he felt more at home than he had in months.

“Okay, well now that that shit’s over we’re gonna play Angel of Death by Suh-layerrrr,” a patron said lazily over the mic on the platform while his band set up. The crowd in the bar rowdily cheered. He had a beautiful Fender, Eddie almost purred in his throat when it glinted in the hazy red stage lights. He couldn’t pay attention long though, because with the band as a distraction, his customers slid by him one right after the other. The swap of baggies and bills felt like a waltz to him now he was so used to it, tucking the money into his sleeve and dropping it in the open satchel. He knew Tony had let word spread on who to look out for, but he wasn’t expecting this much in sales in one night.

To not bring too much attention to himself, he closed his bag up after a few songs from the band and maneuvered over to an empty stool at the end of the bar. He slung the bag on one of the purse hooks under the bar’s lip (which he was surprised they had installed) and turned his attention back towards the stage. Nodding his head in time with the beat, crossing his arms across his chest – he tried to catch a glimpse of Tony just about anywhere, but he hadn’t seen him since he arrived.

“You gonna order something handsome, or do ya just like the view?” he heard a woman’s voice ask over his shoulder. He turned on the stool, face to face with a barmaid who was leaning in close to hear his answer. He looked up at her, taking in her details. Little leather bustier, big denim vest riddled with patches and pins, jeans that were just tight enough. The standard type at bars like this, tits out and everything. She had brown eyes with too much mascara lashes and big brown Farah Fawcett hair. He could smell her cherry flavored Lip Smackers from the stool. Checked all the boxes, down to the Debbie Harry smoky eye.

“Oh,” he started, flashing her a smile and resting his chin on his hand, “Definitely the view.” Eddie had flirted his way into plenty of free shots with girls like her before, it was his favorite sport. She let a little puff of air out of her nose and leaned down onto her forearms.

“What can I get you?” she asked, matching his posture.

“I don’t know, what do you like?” he asked back, making a little show of slipping his eyes to her cleavage and then back up at her. She caught his stare and gave him a wink before slamming two tumblers down in front of them. I’m sure you do that to all the guys, he thought to himself. She poured two generous shots of Jack Daniels, picking up her glass and waiting for him to pick up his.

“I always like to toast before I do a shot with a stranger,” she flirted, “Especially ones like you.” He was so easily intoxicated by women these days and this was no exception, his mouth ran dry at her attention.

“What are we toasting to?” he asked in a low voice one hand on his drink and dropping the other down on the bar. With her free hand she reached slowly toward him, delicately placing his chin in her hand. He could feel the tips of her almond acrylics graze his skin.

She got nose to nose with him, Eddie could smell her perfume mixed with sweat and cigarette smoke. Her lips parted, hovering over his – his heart was thumping in his ears so hard it was drowning out the drums.

“To me never catching you slinging that shit in my bar again. I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you need to get the fuck out of here,” she hissed through gritted teeth. He blanched and sputtered. Was this a set up? Was he not at the right bar? Her nails dug into his chin as she threatened him, “Cause if not, I’ll call the fuckin’ owner out here and he knows the fuckin’ mob. Better yet, I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass myself.”

Eddie panicked, dropping the shot on the bar with a clink! Fuck, shit, shit, shit –

Oh.

Oh!

The ‘fucking owner’ that kne the mob was Tony. Eddie let out a snicker of relief, but it came out snarky. He took her wrist and pulled his face out of her nails, feeling the indents on his skin as he ran his other hand over his chin. He leaned onto his knuckles over the bar, looking down to face her directly,

“You must be Ron.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson au #eddie munson nyc au #eddie munson lives #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson x ofc #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eventually #eventual smut #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things au #stranger things fanfiction

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bengiyo · 11 months

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La Pluie Ep 10 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we wrapped up our time on the mountain and showed Nara more grace than I've ever seen an ex receive in any drama ever. Lomfon lurked in the background, and had a conversation with Patts that is going to blow up this week. Tai and Patts realized that they were the pen pals from when Tai's parents divorced when they went to recover Duer from Saengnuea. Through the power of grandma, these two have been connected for longer than we even realized. I'm obsessed.

Tai asked to stay over and my man Patts had to stop the car!! Now he's rushing through the streets!!!

Love that they're being very clear about what's about to go down.

"I am ready."

It's his first time!!! I knew it!!

We got all three scenes! The bed! The shower! The tub!

What is going on with Lomfon's symptoms?

Tien dresses like an early 00s lesbian.

THE PINKY TOUCH STILL BELONGS TO THE GAYS!!!

Here Lomfon go being as messy as possible.

Tai is finally recognizing Lomfon's crush.

Title is so pretty like whoa

Oh, no.... Tai just lied about hanging out with Lomfon.

Goddammit. Did the weather predict rain and that's why Lomfon wanted Sunday?

Welp, the vets have spotted them. It's over now.

Oh, Patts. I get the anxiety you're feeling.

No, Tai! Not more lies!

Oh boy. Patts and Tien team up time.

Fuck, it's about to rain.

Tai saved Lomfon's big ass from getting run over by a car.

Okay, so Lomfon can speak to Tai. Were we correct about being connected to Patts too?

Bro, don't just kiss him!

Okay, but this ass whooping is deserved.

It seems like the rain connection just broke.

Oh man. I'm going to need Tai to speak up this time. Patts has a right to be uncertain after you leaving that man on read for two years and then lying to him.

Poor Tien. Lomfon completely ignored Tien's feelings.

So, it seems clear to me that Tai's parents may have somehow also severed their connection.

The whole squad in crisis!

I feel for Patts on Tai's silence. I don't think it's fair to expect him to understand when he's never given insights in the first place.

Oh mirroring the parents divorce scene with Patts on the other side of the door is devastating.

We're finally getting back to the parents next week!

Absolutely phenomenal episode. Patts was finally allowed to be frustrated about the leash Tai has kept him on for two years. Lomfon got decked. We got to finally see them release the sexual tension. Everyone's feelings are in the open. The rain connection has a component of choice in it as well. Incredible.

I think the breakup is necessary, because they're both screwing up.

#la pluie #la pluie the series #la pluie meta #thai bl #bl series #Ben watches

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writer-in-theory · 1 year

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Midnight Rendezvous — steddie.

Summary: After Starcourt, Steve can’t sleep for fear of the Russians coming back for them. He finds help in the most unlikely of people. Prompt: A1 - Hunted Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley Rating: Teen Word Count: 8.6k Content Warnings: Language, Paranoia, Mentions of past torture (Starcourt), Sleep Deprivation Also Read On AO3: HereA/N: I was stumped on this one for a very long time, but I am so so proud of how it ended up. Huge thanks to @serenity-lattes for plotting some of this out with me and helping work through the writer's block, and huge huge thanks also to Serenity and @lcvingprentjss for beta-ing. This is also another fill for @harringroveson-bingo

SIX HOURS POST-STARCOURT

The man that hugged Joyce Byers in the Starcourt parking lot told Steve he should go to the hospital. He called himself Dr. Sam Owens and said that since the Russians had interrogated Steve they’d have to keep him later than the kids. Robin too. He said it would only take an hour tops, and how could Steve refuse when the US army was moving all around them? So sure, while all the kids climbed into their parents’ cars and drove off for some much-deserved sleep, he and Robin climbed into one of the military vans and let Owens take them wherever he needed.

Only once they were driving did it occur to Steve that the US government was partially responsible for the lab, for starting all of this. They were the ones that made him, Jonathan, and Nancy sign that NDA in ‘83 when they’d taken down a Demogorgon on their own. They were the ones who kept the lab open even after it killed Barb and nearly took Will from his family twice. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten in the van after all.

The questioning took five hours, in total. Steve had been guided into a room empty of anything except a table and a chair on either side of it. The scene looked scarily like something out of a cop procedural show, and Steve half-expected to be handcuffed to the table while Owens asked him questions about what had happened, about what he’d told the Russians.

Because that was apparently something he had to worry about now: leaking national secrets to their enemy.

They asked him about every second of that night, from the Russian radio message to how long they spent in the movie theatre, to every single word that Steve told the head Russian. “I just told them the truth. I kept telling them we didn’t know anything, we were just mall workers. They thought...they thought we were spies or something.”

The Russians weren’t going to stop until Steve told them something useful or he was destroyed, of that he was sure. As Owens kept pressing him—Are you sure? There’s no shame in telling them something—Steve wondered if the same were true of the Americans.

Owens took a blood sample too—said he wanted to run some tests to figure out whatever he and Robin had been injected with. The man said it was in the name of protecting their health, but Steve had a sinking feeling he was more interested in getting a truth serum for their own side.

After five hours, when Steve was nearly passing out at the table, Owens told him he could go. Said he’d called Steve’s parents but they didn’t answer, even tried to look apologetic about it like Steve hadn’t been expecting that exact thing. Robins parentsoffered to take him to the hospital to recover from the injuries he sustained in the “mall fire” as Owens was calling it. It would’ve been smart. His eye still felt like it might pop from his head at any second and he still couldn’t see clearly, his vision blurry and swirling if he tried to focus too much.

All he wanted to do was sleep. A hospital meant more questions he didn’t have answers to, and it meant the kids visiting the next day and looking at him like he was someone to be pitied. And how could he ever let Henderson look at him like that when he’d given his name up at the first opportunity?

So he asked the Buckleys to drop him off at home, lied and told them his parents would want to take him in the morning. Everyone in town knew by now that Robert and Linda Harrington were hardly home, but with one noise from Robin, the Buckleys were letting Steve out of the car with the promise that Robin would come by tomorrow to check-in. After just over a month of working together, it seemed Robin understood him better than some of the friends he’d had for a lifetime, knowing without even asking that he wouldn’t want the fuss.

Steve didn’t bother to shower, tend to his injuries, or even peel off his bloodied and stained Scoops uniform before he fell into bed and passed out, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon.

TWELVE HOURS POST-STARCOURT

Steve woke up to someone banging on his front door.

He always used to struggle to wake up in the mornings, head seemingly tied to the pillow and eyelids weighed down by lead stones. Now, however, he jolted awake, legs kicking out and arms tucking close to his chest as though ready to defend himself immediately.

Instead, he groaned and let his head smack back against the pillow as he heard a “Dingus! I know you’re in here somewhere! Why don’t you lock your front door?” rise up from the ground floor.

His head still ached worse than it ever had before, vision blurry from more than grogginess. The words seemed to pierce individually into his skull, adding to the stinging sensation that rose up from around his left eye.

“Buckley,” he groaned too weakly for her to hear, pressing one palm over his eyes in the hopes that if he didn’t move from the bed, she might leave.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her. On the contrary, the idea of spending all day alone in the house sent a chill down his spine. No, it was rather he knew what would happen if she saw him now—laying in bed wearing the same clothes they’d been interrogated in last night, topped off with blood and puke-stained Nikes that really should have never been allowed back in the house now tangled up in the comforter. But as minutes passed and Steve could still hear his friend making commentary from downstairs, he knew she wasn’t going to abandon him that quickly. So he pulled himself from bed to ready himself for the day.

The Scoops uniform got tossed along with the sneakers into a corner of his room to be thrown away later. He climbed into a pair of grey sweatpants and a soft pullover and grabbed an old washcloth to try and scrub some of the blood off of his skin in the sink. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but at least then Robin wouldn’t be as concerned when she saw him.

“You look like shit, Steve,” Robin called out the second he made his way down the stairs, sitting up on the kitchen island instead of at the barstools in front of it.

“Yeah? You don’t look so good yourself,” Steve tossed back, eyes checking for any injuries on her but instead seeing deeper fatigue that seemed more than a lingering hangover from the experimental Russian drugs had given them. She’d been interrogated too—in fact, she’d stayed with him when she could have escaped with the kids, resigning herself to a terrible fate simply so Steve wouldn’t go through it alone. In one night, she’d done more for him than anyone had ever done in his entire life collectively, and now Steve didn’t know how he was ever supposed to make up for the effects of it on her now. “Breaking and entering isn’t a good look on you.”

“It’s not breaking anything if the door was unlocked.” Robin gleefully snatched the box of Cheerios Steve handed to her, instantly diving her hand straight into it for a bunch instead of pouring them into a bowl.

“I think Hop would disag—” the words clung like glue to the inside of Steve’s throat, choking him off as the rest of their night flashed back in his head.

Billy fell dead, just like that, sacrificing himself for all of them. Lucas held onto Max while Mike held onto El, and Robin pulled Steve from the scene because he couldn’t stop staring at his classmate. The military stormed in not long later, pulling all of them out of the building before any of them could even begin to process what had happened. Joyce and Murray came out moments later, holding onto each other. Hop never showed. He never showed.

Steve dipped his chin down, letting his lips purse for a moment before re-schooling his features into something that might’ve portrayed that he was okay to someone who hadn’t watched him perfect that expression all summer.

“To the Chief,” Robin offered around her mouthful of Cheerios, holding up the box in a mimicry of a toast. Steve nodded anyway, lifting the jug of milk he’d grabbed from the fridge up before taking a long swig from it. He knew his mom would yell at him if she ever saw him do it, but luckily he couldn’t remember the last time she’d been home long enough to catch him in the act.

“To Hop,” Steve answered, dropping the milk on the counter with just enough force that a bit of it splattered out of the jug. “How’re you doing with all this? You know, evil Russians and freaky people-mush monsters?” He’d at least had a slow ramp-up into Russian interrogations and the literal death of people their age—though never once did Steve ever think he’d be thankful for the demodogs, he found himself grateful he hadn’t been thrown into this without any kind of warning.

“I’m fine.” Robin shrugged, abandoning her Cheerios and instead studying the chipped black polish on her fingernails. At first, Steve had thought it was strange—all of the girls he’d ever dated preferred soft pinks and neutrals instead of the harsh black that Robin liked to coat her nails with. It stood out and made her stand apart from everyone else. Now he just thought it was fitting for her—Robin Buckley did not deserve to be hidden away in the crowd. “I don’t think I slept at all last night.”

“I couldn’t have stayed awake if I tried,” Steve countered, still feeling that residual bone-deep tiredness he’s sure won’t ever fade away again.

“I know they’re gone, that Mrs. Byers and that weird journalist guy blew them all up or whatever, but I keep thinking about the fact that the Russians have our names, our faces. I mean, they could find us. If they wanted.”

And, well, Steve hadn’t had time to consider it before but it made sense. The Russians knew nearly everything about them by the end of the night, including the names of their middle school friends. At least Will would be getting out soon, escaping to California where the Russians wouldn’t think to look for him. But Dustin? Robin? Erica? They all still lived in Hawkins like sitting ducks, just waiting for the Soviets to remember that revenge was on the table.

“Owens figured everything out last time. He told us what to say and do to stay safe. It was shit, but it did work,” Steve told Robin, hoping that she knew better than to tell her parents that it hadn’t been a mall fire they’d been caught in. He was sure they had questions, namely why they were there so late when the mall was closed on the Fourth and why her coworker had looked beaten to hell. Unfortunately, though, Robin was added to the exclusive list of Hawkins residents who had far too many answers for anyone’s good, another protector of a town’s worth of secrets.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s making sure the Russians stay away from us. We’re not that interesting anyway.”

“Right. I mean, why’d they think we were spies anyway?” Steve returned, feeling the corners of his lips pull upward as Robin laughed. “What spies wear sailor costumes willingly?”

“They just didn’t want to hurt their egos by admitting two teenagers accidentally snuck into their super secret fortress,” Robin laughed, some of that exhaustion easing away with the ability to crack a joke. It reminded him of shifts at Scoops, the days when he thought he’d hate every hour of working but really came to look forward to them simply because she was there. She’d quickly become his best friend, someone who understood him in ways none of his other friends ever had before.

“Morons,” Steve scoffed, sharing a matching grin with Robin at the call-back to their night fighting Russians together. It had been the first time he thought they’d be okay, sitting there laughing as the drugs had begun to kick in.

And as he and Robin settled into the day together, Steve thought maybe they actually could be okay again now, too.

ONE DAY POST-STARCOURT—AWAKE TWELVE HOURS

The darkness that came with nighttime in a small town stopped feeling comforting right around the same time a Demogorgon killed a classmate in Steve’s pool.

He used to love sitting by his pool—feeling the slight chill of an Indiana summer night mixed with the humidity of the water vapor curling up from the pool’s surface. He’d roll up his pants and dip his feet into the water, leaning back on his palms so he could stare up at the twinkling night sky and think. Even as small as Hawkins was, the noise during the day was often too much for Steve to focus on much of anything except survival. It was why partying had once been his favorite activity—it gave him the chance to numb the feelings and bite off the circuit of racing thoughts.

Now, all he could imagine was how scared Barb must have felt in her last moments. He thought about how scared he’d felt when he faced down a pack of demodogs, knowing the bus was a hundred yards away and he was armed with nothing but a bat of nails. He’d just begun tackling those fears when Starcourt happened.

Robin was right. How could they think that this was all over just because they’d killed the Mind Flayer? Sure the immediate threat to Hawkins was gone, but what about the one to him and Robin? The fact of the matter was, they had only captured four Russian soldiers at the end of the night, and none of them had been willing to say anything about what they were up to or how much information they’d gained from the pair. For all they knew, the Russians knew everything about them and would be prepared to come after them for ruining everything.

After all, Steve had made it particularly clear to the one in charge—Commander Ozerov—that they’d be telling the US military about the Russian base, that they’d be the ones single-handedly taking down the entirety of the Russians’ plan for...well, whatever the fuck they thought they were doing with a Gate to Hell.

They could be in Hawkins already, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Robin had gone home well before the sun began to set, flashing him an apologetic smile and saying her parents were keeping her on a tight schedule now for her safety. Steve couldn’t even be upset about it either, because he understood. In fact, he felt better knowing that she had people looking out for her, a family who would pick up the phone when the military called to say she was involved in a fire so bad it burned the entire mall down. So he’d hugged her goodbye and waited until her parents’ car turned off of his street before he took off sprinting through the house, turning on each and every light on his path.

Steve sat in the living room for hours before he admitted that sleep wasn’t going to happen that night, not when every time he blinked Ozerov’s cruel expression flashed on his eyelids. He could still feel the way that man grabbed his chin, pulled at his hair, and threatened to add even more bruises to the mottled colors on Steve’s face. He could hear the laugh, the cruel way he’d called Steve Butterscotch before signaling for a doctor to torture him for information he didn’t have.

No, Steve couldn’t sit still in an empty house, waiting for someone to come pick him off.

So instead he grabbed his keys, immediately beginning to make the loop that he did when taking the kids to the arcade. He stopped by each of their houses, even drove by the turnoff to the Byers house out on the edge of town, to make sure there were no signs of Russians.

Because they had to be here. It couldn’t be over, not this easily. Not when Steve had given them names.

And when he’d passed by every house at least twice, Steve went back to the old train tracks where he and Dustin first tried to lure Dart into a trap. It hadn’t even been a year since then and yet it felt like an entire lifetime ago. Steve wanted to grab the old version of him by the Members Only jacket, shake himself and ask why the hell he was so hung up on a girl who never really loved him when he could be worrying about jobs, school, and monsters human and non-human alike who’d threaten to hurt him and his friends.

It was stupid to walk in the woods alone at night. Steve knew that. He knew that even with his trusty nail bat anything from the Upside Down or Russian could take him down easily. His head still hurt and he was sure he was concussed from the way he wobbled when he walked. His eyes could hardly adjust to daytime now, much less the darkness, so he spent his walk guiding himself mostly by the touch of his fingertips on tough tree bark.

Maybe that was what made him miss it at first. He didn’t know how long someone had been following him, but it must have been awhile. He heard footsteps not far behind him, maybe off to the left a little if his ears could be trusted. Had the Russians found him? Were they laughing at him now, wondering how Agent Butterscotch could be so stupid as to leave himself defenseless in the middle of the woods at night? The snap of a twig right behind him was his only warning that the man was gaining on him before Steve was lashing out, grabbing at the front of a shirt and slamming the body up against the nearest tree.

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!” a vaguely familiar voice was calling out, voice higher pitched in fear, shock, or some mix of both.

That was an American accent.

Immediately all tension left Steve's body, running as quickly as it had built up at the sound of footsteps. He let go of the man’s shirt but didn’t step fully back yet, eyes squinting as he fought to make out the features of the face in front of him.

He knew this guy.

Steve saw dark brown eyes first, wide and starkly contrasting the pale skin around them. Black unruly curls stood out next, tied up in a bun now but usually falling down by the man’s shoulders when they went to school together. He could just make out a t-shirt with some band’s logo, likely music that would make Steve wince.

“Eddie Munson?” Steve balked, fear and adrenaline turning to frustration the second he knew he wasn’t in any real danger—not unless Carol’s rumors that Eddie sacrificed people to the devil were true. “What the hell are you doing out in the middle of the woods, man?”

“Oh sorry, I forgot Steve Harrington owned the woods, too,” Eddie shot back without hesitation. “You crashed my spot, man.”

Eddie had always been a prick.

No, maybe that wasn’t quite right. Steve remembered a few choice words called between them in the cafeteria, could hear the irritating way that Eddie had made fun of every sport that Steve played. But Steve also remembered the things he’d said to Eddie in return, the harsh words about being held back like a fucking dumbass loser, as if he hadn’t been one bad pop quiz from the same exact fate.

Maybe they’d both been pricks.

“I’m just trying to think, I’m not looking for a fight,” Steve groaned, hoping that would be enough to flatten the hackles that had risen on Eddie’s shoulders.

“Looks like one already found you. You and Hargrove fight over the right to Nicole’s bed again?”

Hargrove. Billy Hargrove, who spent the last moments of his life not beating Steve to a pulp but saving his life. All of their lives, really. Steve wondered when Owens would release the official list of “fire” casualties. When the funerals for all the flayed would begin. If Max would let him come to the funeral, if only because Billy had protected the kids when Steve couldn’t.

Steve winced, physically trying to shake away the memories of black goo and even darker blood staining bright tiles. “No, it wasn’t a fight.”

Eddie didn’t say anything for a while. Steve tracked him as he slid out from between Steve and the tree, putting just enough space between them that Steve couldn’t throw a punch—that was scarily intentional like Eddie still wasn’t sure Steve wouldn’t fight him.

“I burnt down the mall,” Steve found himself blurting out before he could stop it. He wanted Eddie to trust him; didn’t want to spend the night alone after finding the one person who wouldn’t judge him for this. Because Eddie was the town freak, the guy that everyone avoided unless they wanted some half-decent drugs to take to the latest party. Eddie spent his entire middle and high school careers being laughed at and teased for being odd, surely he’d understand Steve doing the same now. Maybe he was the only one who would understand, not without being too concerned about Steve’s well-being, that is.

Steve couldn’t go to the kids or Robin, didn’t want to burden them after they’d all suffered just as much as he did that night. He didn’t want to see their worried expressions every time they hung out. But Eddie Munson? Eddie Munson hated Steve Harrington. That was just a fact of life. Eddie could hear whatever it was Steve had to say tonight and would never give him that look, would never hover like he was trying to figure out how to baby Steve.

No, they could just talk. In the woods. Then part ways like it had never happened at all.

“I didn’t, I didn’t actually burn the mall down. But I was in it, when it did. Got beat to hell trying to get out.”

“Shit, Harrington, that’s fucked up.” A pause. “I flunked summer school. Senior year part three coming to theatres this August,” Eddie voiced from somewhere to the left of Steve as Steve leaned his back on the tree he’d once slammed Eddie against.

“Well, you might be the lucky one, I’d go back to high school if I could,” Steve scoffed.

“What? Don’t like working for Harrington & Harrington?”

Steve rolled his neck so he could face Eddie, seeing the way the other guy had sat himself down on a large rock not too far from Steve. “You really don’t know? My dad didn’t want me working at his firm, so I worked in the mall, at Scoops Ahoy,” Steve deadpanned.

“The ice cream place?”

“Yep.”

“The one with the sailor’s outfits? The stupid little hat and those tight shorts? That Scoops Ahoy?” Eddie pressed, an amused smile pulling on his lips.

Steve rolled his eyes, reaching out to shove Eddie’s shoulder lightly. “Fuck off, man. Yes, the one with the sailor outfit.”

“I can’t believe I missed my chance to see Steve Harrington in a sailor costume,” Eddie teased, pulling out a cigarette from a box that had seen better days. “Still have it?”

“Sure,” Steve shrugged, thinking about the pile of clothes he’d tossed in the corner of his room, the same corner he hadn’t quite been able to look at since. “Covered in blood, but yeah I still have it.”

Steve looked ahead, eyes scanning the space between the trees for any signs of an ill-fitting shadow, anything that might give away one of the Russian soldiers who’d found him in such a vulnerable location. When Eddie didn’t say anything though, Steve tore his gaze from the trees to look to his side, finding Eddie just looking at him. It was hard to tell in the dark, the trees lit up only by the light of the full moon above them, but Steve could just make out eyebrows pulled close together and lips tensed around the cigarette, not breathing in but just letting it rest there. “What?” Steve finally pressed when he still didn’t speak.

“You really got messed up in that fire, huh, Harrington?”

It wasn’t expected, though Steve supposed maybe that was Eddie Munson’s whole thing. No one ever knew what to expect from him in school—he was loud, he antagonized all the jocks like if maybe he fought them first he wouldn’t be their target, he wore strange clothes and listened to loud music Steve had never heard of before. He wasn’t what anyone expected, truly, and maybe that was a good thing, now. Eddie’s brown eyes stared right at Steve, a heavy look in them with just enough hints of sadness that made Steve think the guy realized what happened was more than a fire.

So Steve huffed out a laugh, swiping his hand through his hair and only wincing a little when the finger that scary doctor had messed with caught on some of the strands. “Yeah, I did.” Brief thoughts of NDAs and not-so-subtle threats flashed through Steve’s mind before he considered that maybe being in military custody would be a good thing if only to be protected from the people who could be looking for him and Robin. “It sounds like bullshit,” he began, the word souring on his tongue, “I know that, but it wasn’t just a fire.”

“Fires usually don’t beat people up.”

“Yeah,” Steve chuckled, letting his head fall forward to stare at his hands, some of his untamed hair falling into his vision, “guess so.”

“I’m pretty good at keeping secrets, Harrington,” Eddie piped up. “People tend to trust the town freak. Who am I gonna tell?” In the same way Steve had cringed saying bullshit, Eddie’s voice seemed to curl around the word ‘freak’ like it was a fate he was simply resigned to.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Crazier than Steve “The Hair” Harrington working at a mall ice cream shop?”

“You’re not gonna let that one go are you?” Steve laughed, the sound vibrating in his chest and warming up the piece of him that hadn’t quite thawed from the chilled Russian labs.

“Not likely.”

Steve wanted to tell someone else. The words sat right behind his lips, aching to slip out. It would be so easy to turn to Eddie, this man he had no prior connection to, someone he didn’t have to worry about getting involved in any of this and let it all out. There were Russians in Hawkins. Robin Buckley and I were interrogated because they thought we were American spies. It could’ve been a lot worse if two middle schoolers hadn’t risked their asses to save us.

Yet. No matter how hard Steve tried, despite every time he parted and then closed his lips in an attempt to work out the words, nothing would come out. Eddie didn’t say anything either, sometimes looking over and watching Steve’s profile and other times leaning fully back against the large rock he’d found and tilting his head back to look at the stars. Steve found himself joining him, having to press close to Eddie to fit his back against the rock too. His entire left side was pressed to Eddie’s right, hands dropped loosely in his lap.

Neither of them spoke again, but Steve didn’t mind. After the heavy questioning from Owens and his team the previous night, from the talks with Robin about what they were going to do and how’d they’d be okay again, it was relieving to be able to turn his brain off for a moment. He could just relax, knowing there was another person beside him while he counted as many stars as he could before his mind lost track. It wasn’t until the dark sky began to brighten to a dim navy blue as the first signs of daylight peeked through that either of them moved.

“See you ‘round, Harrington,” Eddie spoke, both of them wincing and stretching out sore muscles and joints as they climbed to their feet.

“Yeah,” Steve echoed, “see you around, Munson.”

TWO DAYS POST-STARCOURT—AWAKE 36 HOURS

At first, Steve blamed his inability to sleep on his injuries. The entire side of his face burned from the number of punches that had been dealt by the Russians, and both his wrists were still rubbed raw from the restraints. Everything hurt, so Steve found himself avoiding the touch of sheets and pillows no matter the thread count.

It wasn’t the nightmares, no. It wasn’t the fact that Steve felt like he had eyes on him all the time—shoulders curled in and a nail bat clutched tightly in his hand the entire day. It only got worse when the sun finally set, when darkness shrouded the house and the artificial lights created nightmarish shadows that had Steve jumping when he caught them in the corner of his eye. Every sound could have been the click of a gun’s safety or the murmur of soldiers looking to take back their caught American spy. He could hear the commander’s words ringing clearly in his head, lobbing taunts of Well, Butterscotch? after each punch, each threat to his safety.

Steve knew it wasn’t over. Owens had admitted as such, giving him and Robin each a way to contact him if anything happened. If anything happened. Owens wouldn’t say exactly what could happen, but what else was there? When they hadn’t caught many of the soldiers at all, when there was no proof that the people who knew his identity hadn’t been destroyed in the aftermath of the machine’s destruction, how could anything but Steve’s recapture be the end result?

So Steve sat on the couch, leg bouncing rapidly as he looked around the room. He sat guard stiffly, every muscle in his body wound tightly, fingers curled around the nail bat.

It wasn’t clear how long he sat like that—the minutes and hours slipping together as his vision blurred out, his mind too focused to fall asleep but too exhausted to fully pay attention. When he finally clicked back into place, his eyes refocusing and his mind coming back to the present, Steve found himself standing. He started walking out the door, leaving the bat behind and instead grabbing his car keys.

He went through the same routine as the night before—driving past Robin’s house, Dustin’s, and Erica’s, all making sure that none of them were hurt while they got the rest they needed. Ultimately, though, Steve found himself back in the woods, blinking past the fatigue beginning to set in and carving a familiar path to that large rock he’d watched the stars with Eddie Munson with.

The next day, it almost felt like a dream. Like if he really focused in, there was no way that he could have spent an entire night with Eddie without either of them antagonizing the other. The old him might have laughed it off, might have made fun of him for even considering the idea. But Steve could still hear Dustin’s voice as the kid reminded him he wasn’t in high school anymore, Robin’s as she told him he’d been a dick in school but simultaneously trusted him with a major secret that she hadn’t told anyone else before.

And maybe it did make sense, a little. Because Eddie had been exactly what Steve had needed that night. He’d been patient, he’d laughed and joked and never pushed for more information than Steve was willing to give. It had been nice, not having to worry about how he was acting to not make the person he was with concerned.

Maybe that was why Steve found himself sitting leaning against that rock again, head tilted back to look up at the stars. He half-expected the Russians to jump him at that moment, for them to grab his ankles and pull, to wrench his arms behind his back and wrap heavy restraints around them again. Instead, he heard a familiar voice.

“No sleep tonight, Harrington?”

Steve shrugged, turning his head to see Eddie making his way through the trees to sit beside him. He was wearing a tee this time, imprinted with the logo of that weird club that Chrissy Cunningham said the cheer team thought could be a satanic cult. Hellfire Club. It wasn’t doing Eddie any favors with the town, naming his club that. Though Steve supposed it wasn’t likely the school would have approved anything dangerous. All the rumors, the whispers about rituals and fires and sacrifices, it was all like everything else from Hawkins High had been.

Bullshit.

“Maybe I’d rather spend tonight with good company,” Steve answered, grinning as Eddie pressed close the same way he had the previous night.

“Tell me when you find it, big boy,” Eddie laughed, also reclining his head to look up at the stars. “Still the fire?”

Steve turned his head, feeling the coolness of the rock chill his temple. “Why’re you out here?”

“Can’t sleep,” Eddie answered simply, shrugging a little and making one of the excess zippers on his jacket scrape harshly on the rock. “You’re the one crashing the party, Harrington. I’ve been coming out here for months.”

“It’s peaceful,” Steve replied, sneaking one more glimpse at Eddie’s profile lit up by the moonlight before looking back to the sky. “I shouldn’t like the woods. Used to be terrified of them, of what could be out here.”

“Scared of the big bad wolf?” Eddie teased, though the smile slipped slightly when Steve didn’t answer right away. “Let me guess, I wouldn’t believe you if you told me?”

“I should hate the woods,” Steve repeated instead of answering. “It’s better than being at the house, just waiting like a sitting duck. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I just keep waiting for them to come back.”

“Them?”

“The Ru—There were people at the mall. It sounds batshit, but I saw something I shouldn’t’ve. I think...I can’t shake this feeling that...” Steve tried, hands twisting in each other as he fought for the right words to hand Eddie.

Luckily, the man seemed to get it on his own. “Shit, Harrington. You in some kinda trouble?”

“Yeah, yeah I guess I am,” Steve laughed a little manically, running a hand harshly through his hair and trying to calm his heart rate again. “Every corner I turn, every shadow, everything, I think it’s them. I know it’s them. It’s not over.”

“These people, they’re the ones who fucked up your face?” Eddie asked, his head turned to fully watch Steve now. Steve still watched the sky, unable to bear noticing the expression on Eddie’s face now.

He could tell him everything. Eddie was taking it well so far, he could probably handle knowing about Russians and demodogs and secret middle schoolers with freaky mind powers. Except. Except Steve would never forgive himself if anything happened to someone else. He’d already roped Robin into this mess. She hadn’t been friends with him for more than a month before she was getting interrogated and drugged by fucking Soviets, what makes him think that letting Eddie in would end up any better?

So he sighed, shrugged again because that seemed to be all he was capable of anymore, and said, “Yeah, I guess.”

They didn’t talk for several more minutes, simply coexisting in this little clearing that seemed cut out from the rest of the world. Here, there were no demogorgons stalking his pool, no Russian soldiers who were out looking for him. Here, it was just Steve and Eddie, watching the moon cross the sky and ignoring the slight chill that rose goosebumps over their skin.

“You ever think of getting out of here?” Steve broke the silence, taking the offered cigarette from Eddie’s hand, fingers brushing over his in a way that definitely didn’t make Steve’s cheeks heat up. “Just packing up a car, driving without any real destination in mind? I mean, there’s gotta be some good stuff to see outside of Hawkins. This can’t be it.”

“Every day of my goddamn life, Harrington, look who you’re talking to,” Eddie laughed. “There’s nothing here for me, never has been. Except my Uncle Wayne, but I know he’d leave in a second too.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed a little mindlessly, voice softer as he considered it. It would be too easy to leave, packing only the necessities and taking off in the Beemer before anyone who would care was even awake. He’d call Robin and Dustin from a payphone, and let them know he wasn’t dead in some Soviet lab before taking off to...well, anywhere, he supposed. “Where would you go, if you could?”

“Seattle,” Eddie answered immediately. “Get far away from Indiana, find the music scene. You?”

“I dunno. Everywhere, I guess. Start here and just drive to the west coast. Hit all the silly tourist attractions along the way and end up at the ocean.” Steve turned to look at Eddie then, only to find brown eyes already looking at him. Their faces against the rock were so close to each other that Steve’s eyes went a little crossed, having to blink to refocus on Eddie’s features. “You could come with me, you know. Seattle could be fun.”

“You asking me to run away with you, big boy?”

“Only for practical reasons, of course,” Steve teased, unable to help licking his lips as Eddie’s eyes flashed down to them. “But we’re listening to my music.”

“Like hell,” Eddie protested, eyes lighting up like they had their own fire source within. “I’m not listening to Wham! and Tears for Fears on repeat.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know George Michael is a gift to this Earth.”

“Sure, you say that now until I show you real music,” Eddie pressed.

“Yeah? You gonna make me listen to Blacktallica and Metal Sabbath?” Steve asked, smirking as Eddie gasped and spluttered.

“What? It’s Black Sabbath and Met—you were joking,” he corrected himself as Steve burst out laughing. Steve sat up, hands wrapped around his middle as the laughs quaked through him. It had been since before he’d heard the Russian message Dustin had intercepted that he’d laughed this hard, the sounds jerking his body and tearing the breath right out of him. “C’mon, you could’ve been serious! I wouldn’t put anything past you, Harrington.”

“I’m not that out of touch,” Steve wheezed as the laughs began to finally die off, “I just wanted to see your face.”

“You’re an ass,” Eddie laughed, sitting up too and shoving Steve’s arm without any real force behind it.

“So I’ve been told.”

Eddie looked at him for a moment, eyes flicking down to Steve’s lips again—why does he keep doing that?—before looking back up to meet his gaze. “You’re better, like this. Man, if this is how you were in school we could’ve, I don’t know, been friends or something crazy.”

Steve huffed out a breath, forcing himself to not take his eyes off Eddie’s. “Hey, it wasn’t all me. You wouldn’t have befriended the varsity all-star, Munson. Admit it.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe I would’ve. Maybe I would’ve worn your varsity jacket to all your games,” Eddie teased, and Steve was sure he wasn’t imagining their faces getting closer, like some kind of force was pulling them together.

“Yeah? We can still make that happen, I still have it somewhere,” Steve answered softly, biting his lip once Eddie’s face grew so close he could feel the other man’s breath against his skin.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Harrington?” Eddie made the final move, pressing his lips to Steve’s. It was soft at first, barely there like Eddie was testing the waters, like he was waiting for Steve to return the gesture. And oh did Steve return it, surging forward to hold onto the side of Eddie’s face, where his jaw met his neck to press him even closer. It seemed to give Eddie all the permission he needed, because then Steve could feel ringed hands on his back, pulling him forward until he was practically in Eddie’s lap, legs straddling Eddie’s.

The kiss probably only lasted a few moments, but to Steve, it felt like a lifetime. This was Eddie Munson after all, this was a guy. This was the kind of kiss Steve had thought about for years, the kind of kiss he never thought he’d get but one he hoped for, someday. This was everything he could ever want and more, and Steve would sooner asphyxiate than end it.

Eddie pulled away first, looking as shocked and breathless as Steve felt. “Steve Harrington,” he mouthed silently like he couldn’t quite believe it either.

“Eddie Munson,” Steve whispered, dropping his head once the eye contact grew to be too much all at once.

“I should get back. Wayne’ll be wondering where I’m at,” Eddie finally spoke up once their breaths evened out. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be fine,” Steve answered quickly, automatically. He rose to his feet, spending his time worrying over a pull in his shirt rather than on Eddie also gathering himself just steps away. It was better that way than to consider what had just happened—than considering that Steve really wanted to ask Eddie to stay. “You should go. Yeah.”

“This doesn’t have to be—” Eddie paused, seemingly gathering his words before he finished. “You know where I am. You can always come by, if you need someone.”

“Yeah, of course,” Steve nodded, “You too. I mean, you know, if you happen to need someone too. Have a goodnight, Eddie.”

“Get some sleep, Steve, pretty boys like you need their beauty rest.”

As Eddie walked away, Steve couldn’t help but feel like he was on the verge of something big, something important.

3 DAYS POST-STARCOURT—AWAKE 60 HOURS

Steve Harrington was sure he was losing his mind.

Everything began to look like the Russians, shadows morphing into men with violent hands and cold stares. He’d hardly moved from the couch, hands gripping the nail bat like it was a lifeline. Robin had tried to come by during the day, knocking and asking about how he was healing. Steve hadn’t the heart to open the door lest she sees him as he was now—deep dark circles under his eyes, unruly hair he hadn’t tried to tame in days, wrinkled clothing he hadn’t changed since the last night he’d spent with Eddie.

Eddie.

Steve hoped the other man wasn’t mad at him for missing last night. He couldn’t bring himself to leave the house anymore, not when every step outside meant one step closer to the men who could grab him and take him across the world where no one would ever find him. People would eventually forget about Steve Harrington while he suffered, all because that commander wouldn’t believe he was just a mall worker.

It was too much for one person to handle, much less to burden anyone else with. Eddie had been looking for more, Steve could see it in those brown eyes after they’d kissed. He would’ve seen this eventually, would have to be told everything. And Steve, Steve couldn’t do that to him. Not when he looked so kind, not when his kiss lit something up in Steve that had laid dormant all his life. Not when he suddenly became important, special.

It was better this way. Eddie off making music with his friends, and Steve here, waiting for a fight he knew was bound to come.

The knock on the door signaled the end Steve knew was coming, the end he’d been waiting three days for.

His head whipped to the side, hands beginning to shake as his body pumped itself full of more adrenaline than it knew what to do with. He’d heard Hopper and Joyce’s brief recap of their fight with the Russians before everything went wrong, how Hopper had to fight some Russian assassin because he’d gotten too close. How he seemed normal at first, how he’d been stealthy and unassuming before it all turned horribly bad.

What if they sent another one?

Steve rose to his feet slowly, bringing the bat up ready to swing at a moment’s notice as he crept toward the front door. What would everyone say, when they came looking for him? Would it be Robin who found the scene first, looking for her coworker but instead only finding evidence of a fight? Would they know what happened or where to even begin looking for him?

The second he reached out to unlock the door, it was beginning to open. The person hardly waited, already moving to enter the house.

Steve made his move.

He screamed wildly, swinging the bat at the opening in the door with as much strength as he could muster from his exhausted and sore body. This was not how he would go out, not after everything they’d all survived through. It would not be Russians with some strange vendetta, some commander who thought he had more information than he did.

It would not end in this house, where Steve had already felt like he’d died several times over from the loneliness, emptiness.

No, here he would fight. He would make it hurt, and he would win.

Except, Steve was pretty sure Russian assassins don’t shriek like that—high-pitched and a little wild, shouting ‘Jesus H. Christ, Harrington!’ loud enough to alert the neighbors.

The shout tore Steve out of it, all adrenaline rushing out of his bones the second his eyes focused on who was standing in his house, beside a door with the nail bat lodged firmly in it.

He’d nearly killed Eddie Munson.

“Oh shit,” Steve gasped, heart rate picking up again as what he’d done finally seeped in. He’d nearly killed someone, nearly killed Eddie, simply because he’d been so fearful of the Russians hunting him down. “I’m sorry, I thought you, I, it’s, I’m sorry.”

“Why do you have that?” Eddie shouted, voice still raised up a pitch in his fear and shock. “What are you doing?”

“It’s—” Steve sighed, knowing there was no explanation worthy of what had just happened. “—a long story.”

“No shit, Steve!” Eddie paced the entryway then, looking up at Steve each time he passed. Steve let it happen, standing still and hardly daring to breathe as he gave Eddie the time to process his near-death.

Finally, Eddie stopped right in front of him, looking serious as he asked, “When was the last time you slept?”

And that, well, that was a good question, wasn’t it? Steve shrugged, looking up to the ceiling only long enough for him to find the answer. “Friday morning.”

“What?” Eddie shrieked, his nervous energy appearing again. “Steve, it’s Monday.”

“Huh,” Steve answered a little breathlessly, eyebrows lifting in surprise. Honestly, he hadn’t thought to keep track of the days, simply existing in the space of daytime and nighttime, the danger running constantly through each of them.

“You need sleep. Right now,” Eddie demanded.

“I’d love to, but it’s not that easy. I can’t.” Everything was happening all at once. He’d nearly hurt Eddie, and fuck what if that had been one of the kids? What if it had been Dustin or Robin? What if it was someone who wasn’t as fast, who couldn’t move out of the way before Steve’s strike found its way home?

God, he needed to sleep.

“I can’t stop thinking about it, Eddie,” Steve forced out. “They’re gonna, they’re bad, okay? Those people. They think I know shit and I don’t, I don’t know anything, and I can’t sleep because what if that’s when they come back?” Everything rushed out in one breath, Steve panting after the admission like it had sapped all energy out of him.

Eddie just looked at him for a long moment, considering. Then, quicker than lightning, he was grabbing Steve’s wrist and tugging him toward the stairs after kicking the front door closed. “C’mon.”

“Um.” Steve tried, not sure what was happening or why Eddie was seemingly ignoring his admission. He was sure Eddie’d never been in the house before, but the other man moved comfortably like he’d been here many times. “What are. What are you doing?”

“Which one’s your room?” Eddie asked instead, glancing back at Steve for the answer.

“Uh, second door on the right. Are you gonna tell me wha—”

“Bed. Now.” Eddie demanded once he threw open the right door, gesturing with one hand toward the unmade bed.

“What?” Steve asked, not moving from the doorway like he wasn’t meant to be in the house, like it wasn’t his own damn bedroom. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“You’re sleeping,” Eddie answered simply. “You’ll go crazy if you keep this up. Get some sleep, I’ll watch out for you. Nothing’ll happen, I promise, just rest.”

It was sincere in a way not many people had been with him as of late. Steve found his eyes began watering at the sentiment, wondering when Eddie had grown to care about him so much that he was willing to sit in an empty boring house just so Steve could sleep.

“I—thanks,” Steve answered softly, dutifully slipping off his shoes and climbing slowly into bed. “Can you...Can you stay?” He asked as Eddie began to slip out of the room. “Just until I fall asleep?”

Eddie’s expression softened then, cracking into something that almost looked like affection. “Sure, Steve. I’ll stay,” he answered just as softly, slipping off his shoes and walking over to the other side of the bed. His movements were hesitant as he got into bed beside Steve, resting his back on the headboard and looking to Steve as if waiting for some kind of permission.

And well, Steve might have been more subtle if he’d had more sleep and if his mind was able to think about anything except how exhausted it was and how comfortable Eddie’s stomach looked. But he didn’t, so Steve found himself snuggling further into the bed so he could rest his head on Eddie’s middle, feeling his head rise and fall with the even breaths Eddie took. He wrapped one arm and one leg over him too, like he was trying to keep Eddie in place.

“This okay?” he murmured into the other man’s shirt, already feeling his eyes drifting closed.

Eddie’s hand found Steve’s hair. It was gentle, careful at first before he gained more confidence, brushing through Steve’s hair in a soothing pattern. It was the safest Steve had felt in days. And sure, Eddie wasn’t anymore a match for a Russian assassin than Steve was, but knowing that someone was there looking out for him had Steve’s body finally giving in to the exhaustion it felt. He could trust Eddie to watch over him, to make sure he’d be okay eventually.

As Steve finally began to drift off, he thought he heard Eddie whisper, “It’s more than okay, Harrington.”

And then Steve slept.

TAGLIST: @alessiamargaux @minispice-1 @shadetea @emily19990 @alexxavicry @raven2008 @whoringrove @strangerleaves @blackpanzy @goodproofingwater @greetings-and-salutations @lesbianpinkhairedjughead @kerlypride @singmeyoursimpsong @im-sam-fucking-winchester @angel_wings_and_tattoos

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#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie fanfiction #harringroveson bingo #jay writes in theory

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ronanception · 2 years

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Robins coming out story because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Using Rebel Robin as context for her parents because I am a Rebel Robin is Canon truther 😔

1000 ish words

"How did your parents react when you came out?" Nancy asked quietly as they stepped into the crisp evening air of the Back Bay. Robin sighs and grimaces, her hands coming up into a shrug.

"My parents are like, pretty different from yours, Nance. My mom smoked pot. In the house. Like, all the time. They're ex hippies and only really settled down because my mom got knocked up."

She rambles, trying to keep her hands to smaller movements to avoid hitting anyone walking by them.

"I have this huge extended family of people all over the country, the world! We're not related by blood, but by friendship. Hippy family. Anyways, they were all part of the free love movement. But still, they’re ancient, and when Will Byers disappeared they went from letting me be a free range latchkey kid to actually worrying about things like, where I was at night, eating dinner as a family, you know - square shit. I didn’t know if something switched in their mind, maybe they were going to vote for Reagan next, it was all very up in the air. So I had been working it over in my mind for the better part of a year, and then I came out to Steve and that went pretty great and I KNEW Steve’s parents voted for Reagan so, like, he should be the last guy I wanted to come out to.”

Nancy allowed the ramble to continue, laughing at the images Robin spun with her words.

“So Steve and I are going back and forth and I’m just, convinced, that they’re going to disown me. Steve says no problem, you’ll come live with me, and his parents are never home so who’s gunna know? Ok so that didn’t sound so bad, so, that weekend I tell them I need to talk to them. I’ve already got the basics packed in a suitcase in Steve's car, and he comes with me, for support, and we sit on the couch - oh, thank you.”

Robin cracks open the can of cola that Nancy pressed into her hand with a smile.

“It’s a very serious scene now - stop smiling, very serious. My parents look angry already, sitting in their respective recliners so I’m about to wimp out, but Steve squeezes my hand and so I say in my most vulnerable voice, Melissa. Richard. I’m a lesbian.”

Robin pauses for dramatic effect and takes a long drink of her soda.

“It takes them a second to get there, but suddenly they realize what I said and my mom starts crying. I’m talking. Sobs. Can’t even talk. My dad looks so upset and I see Steve on the edge of his seat, about to throw down in the middle of our living room and then my dad looks at my mom and says

‘I told you not to get so invested, Melissa!’

and Steve and I look at each other like, what the fuck is happening right now, and my mom regains enough of the ability to speak to say”

Robin screws up her face in an imitation of grief,

“‘Oh Richard, but the wedding was going to be so beautiful and I already designed it based on their star charts’

and now Steve is looking at me like he’s just had a stroke because nothing my mom said even sounded like English and - oh my god stop laughing you’re going to make me drop my drink.”

Nancy is breathless with laughter as she realizes where the story is going, and grabs onto Robin's arm like a lifeline, doubled over and wheezing.

“Stop it she didn’t-”

“Nancy I swear to God herself, that woman had been waiting, just scheming about me and Steve getting hitched.”

That does it for Nancy, and she has to crouch onto the ground for a full minute, recovering from her laughter because of course the worst part about Robin being a lesbian would be that she wasn’t going to marry Steve.

“So my mom's sobbing her head off and my dad walks over and lays a hand on Steve Harringtons shoulder and shakes his head and says,

‘I’m really sorry about this son’,

as if Steve didn’t even know and Steve is looking at me like what the hell am I supposed to do here? And I’m just like ‘oh my god. Richard. Stop making this about Steve.’ and my moms still crying and she’s all,

‘But your babies were going to be so beautiful!’

and I’m running over to cover her mouth because, ew, gross, Melissa! That’s com-pletely inappropriate! And she just won’t shut up about how they would have had such great hair, and Steve looks like he’s about to launch into the upper atmosphere with how red he is and I just lay on the floor because I actually really was about to die in the living room, looking at the popcorn ceiling.”

Nancy is shaking her head and wheezing with laughter and people around them have been giving them weird looks for a while now, but she can’t seem to find a single fuck to give at the moment.

"But now my moms always telling me about her friends daughter 'Raindrop' who's single and bisexual, or 'Oh Robin, I saw that girl from your class, Jennifer Fields? Her aura is a perfect match for yours'" Nancy giggles behind her hand as Robin used an airy, hypnotic voice for her mothers impression.

"That sounds really hard for you." She teases with a nudge and Robin lets out an enormous sigh.

"Thank you, truly, it’s a great burden. Anyways I think the worst part about it is that they then decided they could point out which same sex partners they had 'back in the day' and, oh my god Nance, they told me there was a brief stint in the 70s when they decided to try swinging. The 70s!!! I was alive for that!" She groans, pulling at her cheeks in misery. Nancy pats her back sympathetically, saying a small eulogy for Robins Lost Innocence.

#ronance #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #coming out #this was really fun to write!#my writing #stranger things

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tomtenadia · 1 year

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Thicker than blood - Epilogue

Here we are with the ending. Hope you will love it.

A few more months had passed and Aelin was now on the tarmac of the family own airstrip at the airport, waiting to board a private jet with Rowan.

They had finally decided to go to Wendlyn and visit his parents and Rhoe had given them his private jet. Rowan had been elated and had confessed that he was going to fly it. His father in law had admitted he had a pilot on standby but Rowan had been adamant, so the man had caved.

Aelin was waiting for her husband to finish all his checks before he allowed her on board.

He came back twenty minutes later and finally deployed the steps “M’lady,” a bow, a deep grin.

She climbed in and dumped all of their bags while Rowan went to the cockpit.

Once the door was closed she joined him and stood behind his chair. He was chatting away with ATC to get his clearance and she studied him in his element. While she was still recovering he had taken the decision of buying a house in a mountain valley just like her parents had. Theirs though, was so deeply tucked away that an helicopter was the only way to access it. He had bought one and had been in charge of flying it. Her over three centuries old husband had been elated like a kid getting a new toy at the idea of being able to fly more regularly.

She had loved that side of him.

Rowan grabbed Aelin’s hand and pulled her to sit on the co-pilot seat “keep me company.”

Quietly, she sat and studied him as he played with switches and got the jet ready.

“We are on standby, Orynth airport has a bit of a queue, our slot is in about twenty minutes.”

Aelin smiled and brushed his long hair “I am glad we are doing this, I am looking forward to meet your family.”

After the night on the balcony when he had told her about his family she had been curious but he never said anything again but she never forgot. Aelin had brought up the subject again a while ago again and he had accepted. They got a few things in order at their jobs and then decided it was time for a well deserved holiday.

They chatted until Rowan resumed his tasks. He had been given the all clear for take off and she fastened her seat belt. As the jet sped on the runaway she could not contain her excitement. The view in front of her was amazing, they flew straight for a stretch and the white peaks of the Staghorns were kissed by the warm light of dawn, Rowan then banked gently and she spotted the Florine below them ran lazily. Her hand went on Rowan’s thigh and let him fly the aircraft while she admired the scene in front of her.

It was a good three hours later when the lights of Doranelle airport appeared ahead of them. The flight had been quiet and Aelin had eventually fallen asleep, her hand always on Rowan’s thigh.

Rowan had woken her five minutes before they were due to land. He put the jet down in an area dedicated to private and smaller aircrafts and a car was waiting for them. Apparently Rhoe had arranged their rental to be delivered directly on the airstrip. Rowan smiled and thought that having the Galathynius as in-laws had its perks.

Bags loaded, they jumped in the car “my parents live in the countryside about forty minutes away.”

Rowan called his father and advised them of an ETA and then finally set off.

When they arrived and got off the car Aelin looked up and was speechless. The Milky Way was prominent in the sky and although she had seen it a few times from their house in the mountains she was still speechless. All around them there were no mountains to obstruct the view and it just crossed the firmament.

“Stunning isn’t it?” Rowan stopped at her side.

Then a male voice broke the moment. They turned and a man with hair as silver as her husband was on the threshold “Rowan, Aelin.”

The man walked to them followed by a woman with dark hair. Alasdair and Eiddwen, Rowan’s parents. They both hugged their son and then enveloped Aelin in an even tighter hug “you made good time.”

Rowan nodded at his father “perfect conditions for flying.”

“Come on in both of you, we have your room ready.”

Rowan unloaded the trunk of the car, removing the suitcases and a big thermos box that contained Aelin’s blood supplies. He had told his parents that they needed space in the fridge for her supplies explaining that Aelin could not drink regular synthetic blood. He hadn’t gone too much in the specifics and was happy his dad did not investigate any further.

The two men then carried all of their belongings upstairs, while Eiddwen stole Aelin “I am so glad you convinced Rowan to come and visit. We haven’t seen him in a long time and when he told us his wife wanted to meet us ‘Dair and I were speechless. We had no idea he got married.”

Aelin sat on the sofa “ohh it’s a long and fascinating story, but yeah,” she showed her ring “we have been married for a while.”

Eiddwen patted her leg and smiled “He was always such a disaster with women. We are glad he finally abandoned his grumpiness.”

Aelin laughed “oh no, he is still brooding, but I taught him to crack a smile or two from time to time.”

Eiddwen relaxed “I am glad. We are a big clan and very family oriented. And now you are one of us too.”

Aelin almost squealed in delight. She had a good feeling about his parents from the moment they stepped out of the car.

“Also, Sellene is very eager to meet you. She is the head of the clan and thinks that having a Galathynius as in law is a great boost for relations.”

Aelin grinned “Dad is very eager too to work closely with the Whitethorn clan.”

The two men came back a while later and Eiddwen rushed to the kitchen, claiming that she had to prepare dinner.

Rowan laughed “my parents love human food. They don’t actually need it and still drink blood, but just love the taste and mum is an excellent cook.”

Aelin smiled widely “I love them already. Are you sure you are their son? You are too grumpy.”

His hands landed on her lips and his mouth claimed her in an hungry kiss “Only with people who do not deserve my cheery side.”

His wife pulled back “come, let’s explore the house. I want to see your room.”

Rowan grabbed her hand and they walked upstairs.

“I haven’t been back here in a very long time, but mum and dad left my room as it was.” Slowly he opened the door and Aelin followed him inside.

The first thing she noticed were the bookshelves against the walls, filled with books. The bed had a green cover that looked the softest thing ever. On an another wall there was a cork board with a lot of pictures and what looked like old concert stubs. She walked around in curiosity and then stopped at the window where a telescope stood, pointing out at the sky. “I should really take this back with us.”

“Or maybe you can buy a new one. Stop being stingy.”

Rowan grabbed her hips and pushed her against the wall “oh, so I am too thrifty?” She kissed him “I had to enter the scene for you to finally buy an helicopter and fulfil your itch to fly. You never buy much for yourself.” She kissed him deeply.

“I have you and I only want you.”

“Sex in your childhood room?” She joked teasing him “I bet young Rowan would have never thought you would have sex in here with your wife.”

“Young Rowan would never believe me if I told him I have the sexiest wife in all of Erilea.” Rowan lifted her in his arms and Aelin’s legs went around his waist “Old Rowan loves his wife very much…”

It was an hour later, when they dressed up quickly and responded to the summons from downstairs, trying frantically to look presentable and hide the proof of what had they done. Hand in hand they reached the kitchen and once inside, Aelin was speechless. The feast in front of her looked amazing and the smells were one of the most amazing thing she had scented.

They sat at the table and Aelin looked at the food. She had never tasted human food and no idea what to expect.

“Vampires here in Wendlyn are fully integrated in society and we have developed some interesting quirks like eating their food too. We still drink blood, the synthetic your family has created, but have started to cultivate the pleasure of sitting at a table while eating.”

Aelin looked at Rowan “Why don’t we do this back home?”

“I used to do it when I was back here ages ago.” He went quiet “In Terrasen never took hold and we know why. Maybe it’s something we can introduce.”

Aelin hummed and thought about the idea, it could promote further integration.

Eiddwen passed her a plate with food and Aelin inhaled the scent, then grabbed a spoon like Alasdair did and tasted it.

What she was not expecting was the explosion of flavours in her mouth. She took another spoonful and almost moaned in an obscene way “This is… incredible.”

Rowan kissed her head with love and tackled his food.

“How are things settling in Orynth?”

Rowan knew that Sellene was informed on what was happening overseas and had likely kept his dad informed.

“It’s getting better,” Rowan was the one who answered. Aelin was too busy eating, and also wanted to keep the topic on safe grounds. He had no idea how much his parents knew “It was a lot of months of hard work, but it’s now safer.”

“The news we heard from Orynth were quite dark. All those humans and vampires…” the comment had come from Eiddwen who looked quite distraught at the idea of the tragedy that happened across the ocean.

Aelin fell silent all of a sudden and Rowan worried. His hand finding hers under the table “we are healing.” Tenderly he kissed Aelin’s temple and her eyes closed at the contact. It had been a few months now and she had improved leaps and bounds but he knew that her trauma might live with her for a very long time.

“I think Darrow and Rhoe are planning on squeezing all of the knowledge from Sellene on how things are done over here and implement them back home.” He continued, while Aelin’s hand shook in his.

“My mum has created a foundation to help with junkies and addiction. It was… bad.” She stilled for a moment and stared at her in-laws “I was one too,” her voice low and Rowan worried but let her speak. If Aelin felt like she could open up it was her call. “I…” a deep breath to gather her resolve “It’s how Rowan and I met. He stopped from feeding on humans.” Aelin felt his arm sneak around her waist and tighten in support “I almost slipped.”

“It was not Aelin’s fault,” he added quickly and she smiled at him.

“I was experimented on and I am recovering.” The confession came in almost a whisper, still too hard to deal with.

Eiddwen stood abruptly and went to grab Aelin pulling her in a tight hug “my darling, I am so sorry.” Aelin melted in the woman’s embrace and let out a weak sniffle. She was afraid Rowan’s parents would judge her, but Eiddwen’s hug had been unexpected.

“At least you two can help each other,” added Alasdair with a warm smile, and Aelin’s eyes widened in surprise and looked at Rowan.

“Oh yes, they know my story before I became a cop.” “Yes, and we were mad at him for doing it all alone. He never allowed us to visit and help.” Aelin’s heart lightened. Rowan’s parents were wonderful people and she was already in love with them “Oh I see, so that’s where you learned to fuss.”

Alasdair laughed out loud “We Whitethorn love to look after each other. We fuss and I am glad to hear that Rowan does that too.”

“He is a pro,” she tenderly brushed his cheek and was rewarded with a warm smile “So buzzard, can you cook? Because when we go home I will want human food.”

Rowan flicked her nose “did I mentioned that I married a high maintenance woman?”

As a protest Aelin pouted and Rowan quickly removed it with a kiss on her lips. By the time they finished Aelin felt satisfied by the meal and volunteered to help Eiddwen to clean up. Rowan had offered but his mother had protested and almost pushed Aelin away too.

Rowan and his dad walked outside and sat on the chairs in the front yard admiring the sky ablaze with stars.

“Aelin seems like a wonderful woman.”

Rowan chuckled “she is brilliant and funny and I almost lost her.” He confessed, pushing back the pain of those three long weeks “Her aunt took her away and tortured her pushing her to the point of slipping. She wanted Aelin to slip but…” he looked at his father “Aelin and I are carranam and I have a feeling that is why she never slipped. Our bond kept her tethered.”

“That is very rare.”

“I know.”

Alasdair was silent for a moment “what about the blood?”

Rowan took a deep breath “the first time she was kidnapped, her aunt took her away for two years and she was used as a lab rat. They messed up her genetic code and gave her a super rare blood type. She can’t drink normal synthetic type. So her cousin, who is the scientist behind it, created a variety that she can drink without rejection.”

Alasdair’s hand went to his son’s shoulder “how is she dealing with all this?”

“Better, we had some tough few months. She is not fully healed yet, maybe she never truly will, but we are working on it. That’s why when she brought up coming here on holiday I agreed.”

“Your mother was delighted, especially when you said you were married.”

A low chuckle left his lips “believe me, I surprised myself too when I asked Aelin to marry me.” He admitted “It was all out of convenience. She was a junkie, so I offered her to marry so she could drink from me legally.”

“Then it became more…”

Rowan nodded deeply “she is my everything, dad.” Alasdair smiled and patted his son’s shoulder “Sellene will want to meet her and I have a feeling those two will get along like a house on fire.”

Rowan roared with laughter “I can totally see that.” A pause “How are her and Enda doing?”

“Enda has finally found a man who is worthy of him and we think this will be the one.” He listened to his father and relaxed. Enda had know quite early that he was attracted to men but had struggled for a long time and had very little luck “Good, I think he deserves it.”

“Sel is dating too, a vampire from Varese. He moved to Doranelle for work and he is really good.”

Rowan chuckled “Can we trust him? Is he good to her?”

Alasdair roared with laughter “Aye, he is a good man.”

Rowan and his father spent a little longer out in the yard until Aelin came looking for him.

“Did you have a nice time with my mum?” They were back in their room and were changing into comfortable clothes.

“I adore her.” Aelin dropped her t-shirt and jeans and stood naked in front of him, backing slowly towards the window.

“What are you doing, fireheart?”

“Sex under the stars…” she hooked her finger prompting him to follow her.

Rowan groaned and took a step while he pulled off his shirt and jumper in one fell swoop.

Aelin laughed and ran out on the balcony. When he joined her, stark naked, she was not there. Her wife was waving at him from the yard. With a jump he joined her and Aelin started running until they were further from the house and in a green field.

He ran to her and tackled his wife, both falling on the ground, laughing hard and freely.

“I love you, Rowan.” Aelin rolled on top of him and kissed her husband.

“I love you too,” he whispered against her lips “to whatever end.”

A year later, on the anniversary of the day they had met, Aelin and Rowan met again on top of the roof where it all started. They had dinner under the stars and reminisced of the year they had and joined under stars, whispering the eternal promise they had shared through darker times.

To whatever end.

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#rowaelin fanfic #rowan whitethorn #aelin x rowan #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin #aelin galathynius #rowan x aelin

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sobeautifullyobsessed · 1 year

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challenges met, while others remain

The good news - I’m physically recovered from the ordeal of last week, thank heavens. And thanks to laying low and keeping my feet elevated for the last 36+ hours, the terrible swelling is nearly gone. With five nights left of shelter (I took a pay advance to manage a brief stay elsewhere), I no longer feel like a decrepit, old crone, which is a good thing because my work schedule this week is going to be brutal.

However, I’m still looking at next weekend to once again have to stay overnight in my work breakroom--barring the miracle of finding another place to stay before then. Which means the misery is gonna return. I’d probably do better to sleep in my car, now that spring weather is here, but I need access to a bathroom, ususally a couple of times a night and there are no 24-hour restaurants in the area anymore (covid lockdowns did them in).

My ongoing plight was thrown into a stark llight on Friday afternoon by a terribly sad occurrence, with sombre timing enough to chill anyone's bones. A homeless man living in his car, had parked overnight in the Walmart lot, and the following afternoon, his friends came to check on him, and found that he had passed away. The police are treating it like a crime scene, though the cause of death has not been made known. It could have been natural causes; it could have been the unseasonable heat (90+ degrees) as he apparently had all the windows rolled up. It's not a leap for me to think, 'there but for the grace of God, go I'.

With this close in mind, I am going to ask for help again, as much as I loathe doing so. Even a few dollars can help stave off what awaits me next weekend, but I completely understand that I've become a broken record and that people may be tapped out. Still, I have to try. On Thursday, I'll be seeing my customer that was checking if his landlord has a vacant room to let. If so, he can attest to my character (I've known him several years), so that might counteract my current poor credit history, which has already lost me opportunities to rent a room.

As always, thank you most sincerely for your moral support and understanding.💙💗

my Ko-fi

#lessons in gratitude #coping with homelessness #tw: homelessness #tw: death

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swiftlymoniquesblog · 1 year

Text

Perfect Storm - Dean Winchester x Reader

A/N: Hi friends! I know I’ve been rather absent with posting stuff but life has been HECTIC! I work two jobs, seven days a week right now so it’s a lot and I’m exhausted. Anywho, this imagine is part of @supraveng ‘s follower challenge! I’ve been working on this since like August of 2022 or so and was supposed to be done by the first of September but she allowed me an extension. Thanks for that babe, and congrats on 500 follows!

Masterlist of all Masterlists| Supernatural Masterlist

Warnings: FLUFF! Breakdown, crying, comfort. Someone has a HUGE breakdown so if that’s a trigger for you, I am sorry!

Word Count: 5,887

Thanks for being patient with me friends! Love to you all!

It’s been six weeks since we’ve been on the road, trying to figure out where Chuck could be hiding. That asshat has been messing with Sammy and I for way too long, trying to take over the world. Sure, he’s God but that doesn’t mean he has to control every little thing and try killing us in the process! And since we have no leads, we’ve been trying to find other cases to work and more people to save. I was currently sitting behind the wheel of my beloved Baby, Sam beside me, scrolling through his phone, while AC/DC played from the car stereo and a pretty impressive drum solo came up.

“Dean, for once can we listen to anything but AC/DC?” Sam asks, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers as I continue my solo.

“Sammy, what have I always said? Driver picks the music,”

“Shotgun shuts his cake hole, I know,” he finished my sentence. “But what if I drove?”

“Oh risky question, little brother” I reply.

“I’ll drive when you sleep.”

“Yeah and how often do I actually sleep, Sam?”

Last time I slept without a nightmare was…well I don’t really know. The nightmares have been getting increasingly worse the last few months. Not that I’ve slept well before that but since Jack accidently killed our Mom, that’s been a struggle. I’ve watched her die twice now, something no child should ever have to see, especially at four years old. But even the second time, it's pretty bad. I still hate the kid for what he did but I’ve forgiven him…for now. Sam had a somber look on his face and knew I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“So get this, there have been an unusual amount of homicides in a small town in Northern Texas, more than they normally deal with in the year, in just six months.”

“Huh, doesn’t sound like our kind of thing. People are just nuts today, Sammy,”

“True, but there is something that seems like we would do. Each time someone goes to recover the body, there is nothing left.” Sam says.

“Okay that might be something we could work on but, I’m not convinced it’s a monster yet,” I say.

“Maybe not, but I think it’ll be worth checking out.”

Redirecting our path, I drove Baby in a U-turn and headed off to the nearest small town in Northern Texas, where these cases stemmed from. Several hours passed and we ended up in Wichita Falls and rolled into a small motel on the east side of town. Once we were settled, Sam pulled out his laptop and began typing away at the keys while I searched for a place to get a good burger by looking through flyers in the room. Sam tuned into a police scanner and soon enough there was a call in regards to suspicious activity near our motel.

‘”Dean, I think we got something,” Sam says, turning the volume up.

“All units, we have gunshots out by the WayfarerMotel. RP (reporting party) advised at least six shots were heard, no sound of vehicles but advised there were people arguing on the south side of the property near the freeway,” A female voice called over the radio and responses of “10-4” were soon followed.

Sam and I grabbed our guns, checking to make sure they were loaded and ready to go. We didn’t interfere with the police but did offer them assistance when it came to the investigation aspect. Looking out the windows, we watched as several vehicles had been on scene and officers were searching for the suspect. Soon after, more shots were fired, shouts of “he’s trying to run” and soon enough, someone was handcuffed.

“Wait, where is the body?!” Someone yells and a swarm of officers and other investigators gathered around to see if there was a victim. Sam and I took that as our queue to come on scene.

“Gentlemen, this is a closed scene” a voice said, turning to shoot us questioning looks.

“It’s okay, we’re from the FBI, I’m Agent Stan, this is my colleague Agent Lee,” I say flashing my fake badge, Sam following the lead.

“We didn’t call in the FBI,” another officer said.

“I’ll be honest, we were off duty and heard of the incident, wanted to see if we could help out.” I said, trying to ease the confusion.

“I’ll allow it,” one of the Sergeants on scene said, seeming to not care about the fight.

“So what’s happened? We’ve heard there’s been a string of homicides with no victims found?” Sam asked, pulling a notepad out of his pocket.

“Not a single one and this is abnormal for the city to have this many homicides in one year.” An officer, later introduced as Officer Hughes, explained the incident.

“Any leads on what is happening? Is any suspicious person found or any other activity that all the cases have had in common?”

“Well we did find something in each case that relates them together in some bizarre way. Each case has the same call for service. Caller calls in, advises of gunshots, hears people arguing, we get on scene and only one person is found. Aside from the callers, just one person is found. We handcuff them just for safety precautions but the majority of the time, we end up letting them go. In all my years I’ve worked in law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything like this. No definite suspect, no found victims. So we can’t fully rule them as homicides either because there is nobody.” Officer Hughes said.

“Well we might be here for a little while then so we can help out,” Sam said, trying to add a helping hand.

“That won’t be necessary gentlemen, we have enough people on this,” Officer Hughes said, dismissing us as he got back to his vehicle.

“Well that went well,” I said, sighing in exasperation.

“Come on, I bet if we head back to the police station, someone might be able to give us some information.” Sam said, settling into the passenger seat.

I grabbed a few supplies before I sat behind the wheel of my precious Baby and found the station was not too far from our motel. Pulling up, I find a parking space across the street from the building and Sam and I walk up the steps to the front doors of the station. It was the eerily morning hours, not too many people on the streets, the perfect time for people to commit crimes. Opening the large door, a young woman sat behind the desk, looking up at us when the door slammed behind us.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” She asks, eyes flitting between the two of us.

“Uh yeah, I’m Agent Stan, this is Agent Lee, we’re with the FBI,” I say and we both flash our badges.

“We were just on scene of the shooting by the Wayferer Motel and we weren’t able to get a lot of information. Do you think there’s anyone we can talk to about this?” Sam says, giving a small grim to the woman.

“Well given the fact that it's three in the morning, most people aren’t here and won’t be here until eight or so. Y’all might want to come back,” she says, looking back to her computer in front of her.

“Maybe you can help us. Do you know anything about the string of potential homicides that have been happening here lately?” I say, trying to turn on my charm as best as I could.

“No and even if I did, I’m not at liberty to discuss cases with anyone, even other law enforcement,” she says.

“Alright well, here’s my card, whenever someone is available, have them give me a call. You have a good rest of your morning,” I say, shooting the woman a wink.

The next morning, we headed back to the station to see if there was anyone we could talk to. “Good morning gentlemen, how can we help you?” Another lady at the front desk said as we walked to the window.

“Yeah we were here last night trying to see if we could talk to anyone about the shooting at the Wayfarer Motel.”

“Do you have any information about it?” The lady asked.

“No but we were on scene and we’re with the FBI,” Sam and I flashed our badges as soon as I said FBI.

“Let me call over to the detectives and see if we can’t find someone to come talk to y’all.”

“Thank you,” Sam says and we both start looking at the displays hung around the lobby.

“Agents.” A male in a black polo shirt and khaki pants with a badge around his neck walks to us and shakes our hands.

“I’m Detective Parker, follow me,” he says, leading us through a door and taking him into a room with a table and some chairs.

“So y’all were on the scene last night?” Detective Parker asked us.

“Yes we were staying at the hotel and we’ve heard about some of the incidents where someone is shot but there’s no body’s left,” Sam explains.

Detective Parker sighs and runs a hand down his face. “It made no sense as to what happens to the bodies after they’re shot. We have no answers and our citizens are getting frustrated as to why their family members’ bodies are not there to bury or cremate them.”

“And that’s why we’re here. Tell us everything you do know,” I say.

A few hours go by as we dive deep into the last weeks of the calls and cases from the City. I get up to go grab some coffee and stumble to an office where a bunch of ladies are sitting behind computers and answering phones.

“Well hello ladies,” I smirk to the room of beautiful women.

“Who are you?” One of them pipes up and asks.

“I’m Agent Stan of the FBI. I’m here helping with some of the shootings y’all have had here. Y’all know anything about those?” I ask.

“We heard about them but we don’t know anything. The guys don’t tell us anything, just what happened.” Another clerk said and she immediately caught my attention. She had long (y/h/c), bright (y/e/c) eyes, and she didn't bother looking at me much longer after that first comment. It seemed like she wasn’t impressed with me and that made me more intrigued by her.

“I see, is there anything you can tell me sweetheart?” I ask, trying to turn on my charm but again, she seemed unimpressed.

“That’s it now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to get back to,” she says, her tone harsh but I found it interesting.

“Pardon me ma’am,” I say using my best Southern voice but the look of annoyance on her face proved she couldn’t care less.

Most of the time, I can get away with some flirting with women, this one? She’ll be more of a challenge.”

“Agent Stan?” A voice called to me. I stand and follow him back to another room off set by the clerks area.

“So, what kind of leads do you have, if any?” He asked, Sammy was already in the room.

“Well, we kind of have a few ideas but you wouldn’t believe us,” I said, shooting a pointed look to my younger brother.

“Try me, I’ve been in this for a long time. I’ve heard just about everything,” the lead investigator on this and other shootings said.

“We think it might be a series of soul eaters” I say.

“What now?”

“Soul eaters, they are exactly what you think they are. Since all the bodies that have been killed here are basically hallowed out shells, we think there may be several around the area. Unfortunately, they are not easy to kill but we do know someone who can and can set the souls back to the bodies they were taken from,” I explained as rationally as I could but I knew it seemed crazy to those who were not used to hunting.

“Well that is definitely something I didn't expect to hear but it also isn’t the most out there answer I’ve heard either.”

“Alright, well let us call our guy and see what he says about it.” I say, giving a pointed look to the detective, wondering what other crazy things he’s seen but deciding not to ask.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and scroll down my contact until it stops on the name. I hate asking this guy for help but he’s our only source for this case so I push back my personal feelings and press the call button.

“Hello Dean,” his accented voice, full of entitlement, rang through my ear.”

“Ketch, we need your help,” I say.

“Well hello to you too,” he says and I can just hear the dumb grin on his face.

“Yeah hi, listen we’re out here in North Texas and we’re helping the local police on a case we think you may have experience in,” I say, getting straight to the point.

“Oh, where in Texas are you? My daughter happens to be out there and she works at a police department,” he says.

“Since when did you have a kid?” I ask.

“Oh, never mind that. Where am I going?”

“Wichita Falls.”

“That’s where my daughter lives!”

Oh crap, so Ketch’s offspring works at the police department here? Awesome.

A few hours later and we’re back at the scene of the crime. Ketch wanted the low down on what we’ve discovered up to this point so we decided to meet at the scene and go over what we know.

“So the bodies are never found?” Ketch asks.

“Nope they’re completely gone. Nothing is left behind but there’s always signs of some form of homicide,” Sam explains.

“And you lads are thinking its,” he trails off until I pipe in with our research.

“Soul eaters, except they’ve evolved so much over the years, they’re not just taking souls anymore.”

“Interesting, well you called the right person then,” Ketch says, standing up and heading to his car.

“So? What does that mean?” I say, Sammy and I quickly follow him.

“It means that I’ve seen it once before,” he said, Sam and I catching up with him.

“You have?” Sam asked.

“A long time ago, yes. It was a rather tragic event for the families but we were able to get the bodies back.”

“How?” I ask.

“Well it won't be easy but we have to…make a sacrifice of sorts,” he says, making his way back to his car. “Follow me back to the station and I’ll go over the details with detectives.”

We jump inside Baby and speed down the highway, much like Ketch had left. When we finally pulled back to the station, it was nearing five o’clock and a lot of the employees had been leaving for the day.

“Dad!” A female voice says, bounding over to Ketch and wrapping her arms around him.”

“(Y/N)!” he says, turning to the girl I noticed in the criminal investigation section earlier; no.

“Gents, I’d like for you to meet my daughter, (Y//N), (Y/N) this is Sam and Dean. They are friends of mine.”

“Oh the Winchesters? I thought you didn't like them?” She says and I chuckle; I like this girl.

“Well not at first, no, but we’ve all come to an agreement of sorts.”

“So, you’re Ketch’s daughter,” I say, looking at the woman.

“Not by blood. He adopted me when I was a kid. My bio parents died in a hunting accident when I was six and Ketch happened to be there, so he took me in,” she says.

“Well, we’re glad you’re here, (Y/N),” Sam says, reaching to shake her hand; I just nod at her.

I couldn’t believe it, even for a minute, I thought a girl related to Ketch was beautiful.

As our investigation went on, so did the opportunities for (Y/N) to show up unannounced, or so it seemed. Like, I thought she had a job at the department, but somehow she always ended up there, along with her Dad, to help assist us in our investigation. Not that I really minded her company but it was a little…odd.

“Don't you have something better to do?” I ask her as she’s going through some paperwork from the shooting.

She stopped flipping through the pages halfway between the pile and looked up to meet my gaze. “I’m helping on this case, y’all need some help sometimes, right?”

“Well yes but I thought you had another job to do?” I ask.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t want me around Winchester,” she says, now more frustrated with me.

“I don’t care what you do,” I say, trying to play off how I was feeling underneath the surface. To be honest, I did care what she did. I barely know the girl but she’s getting under my skin and inside my head. What the hell is happening here I have no idea but all I know is I like being around her.

“Well clearly you do otherwise you wouldn’t be asking,” she says, raising an eyebrow in a challenging way.

Shit that wasn’t supposed to happen. I thought to myself so I did the best thing I knew to do; I walked away. I don’t know what my problem was but this had to stop. I couldn’t like Ketch’s daughter, her father is literally the biggest douche I’ve ever met so no way could I get involved with her. But the way she moved when she walked, swaying in the slightest way, her head held high like she owned the place. She didn’t look a thing like her Dad but there was more to her than that. She had that long (y/h/c) that flowed past her shoulders and down her back. It was just a little wavy and seemed to have more than one color in it but it suited her well. And those big beautiful (y/e/c) and a perfect smile to match. In just the few short days we were working this case, she has taken over every thought of mine so naturally, I didn’t like her.

“Dean, are you ready to go?!” Sam yells to me from the other room.

“Yeah,” I called back and grabbed my gear before meeting up with Sam, Ketch and (y/n). “What is she doing here?”

“She is here to help. Believe it or not gents, she does know about this life and has helped me out more than a time or two,” Ketch explained.

“As long as she stays out of the way,” I say, throwing a duffle bag into the trunk before making my way to the front. I could hear her huff in annoyance but I could care less.

We drove around town for a while, trying to find the supplies we were going to need for our “sacrifice” before we headed back to the motel where the last body was supposed to be. Gathering everything together, we followed Ketch’s instructions and then it was time for the dreaded part.

“So what exactly do we need to sacrifice?” Sam asks.

“Well, that’s where it can be rather difficult. We don’t need an entire person or thing to sacrifice, but we need the blood of the pure of heart,” Ketch explains.

“Who would that be?” I ask before following his eyes over to his daughter. Her face turned a bit pale, knowing her blood was going to be nearly drained from her body but she didn't hesitate.

“Tell me what I have to do,” she says.

“I know this won't be easy for you darling, but I will be right here the entire time,” Ketch says, attempting to comfort his child.

“Dad, I’m not a child, I can do this,” she says.

“I know but you are my child, my only child for that matter and I worry about you,” he says.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve put myself in a little bit of a difficult place for helping you out and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” (Y/N) says.

As much as I hate to admit it, she’s incredible for doing this and doing it more than just one time. I’m not saying I care about (y/n) or anything but this is going to be a risky task. She’s going to need to give a generous amount of blood for this sacrifice and to see she’s okay with going in without a second thought; it's admirable. It was almost as if we were in a hospital; we had a needle hooked up into her arm and tube after tube of blood was being drawn from her. I could tell it was making Ketch uncomfortable because it was his child, whether biologically or not, so I escorted him out of the room.

“Here, let’s go get a beer or something,” I say, clapping my hand on his shoulder and walking out.

“I’m sorry Dean, I just couldn't stand to see that much blood coming from my daughter,” Ketch says, sighing in defeat as we sat across one another at the map table in the Bunker.

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize. I’m worried about her, too,” I say.

A moment of silence passed between us before Ketch spoke again. “You care for her don’t you?”

“What? No, I don’t care for her!” I say, suddenly becoming defensive.

“You do; I can see it on your face. I’ve had the same look before and it does not go away so easily,” he says, frowning and dropping his eyes to the floor.

“Okay so what if I do? Is that so bad?” I ask.

“No it's not, but since this is my daughter we’re talking about, it does make a bit of difference.”

“Look Ketch, I would never hurt her,” I say, trying to explain what I hope I can do for his child.

“I know you wouldn’t, Dean. In fact, I’m not worried about her dating you, if that is what she wants. I am worried about this life; hunting. She has had some exposure to it but I try to shelter from it most of the time. If she’s around you, I’m afraid someone or something will get to her and there would be no point for my life to continue at that point.” Ketch was being really vulnerable and I was surprised to say the least, but I respected it. Sure, we had our issues trusting him in the past but this is his kid and right now, she is all that matters.

“Dad?” A groggy voice calls to the room.

“Hey kiddo, your Dad went to get you some supplies for when you woke up. We all became worried when you went whiter than a sheet but we managed to get you back. You’ve been sleeping for the last few hours cause you did lose a lot of blood but we’ve monitored you,” I saw, looking down at the young girl on the bed in front of me.

“So did you get enough blood for the spell?” She asks.

“That is nothing you need to worry about. We need you to get back on your feet,” I tell her.

“But you don't need anymore blood?” I chuckle at her, not being able to believe she’s been so concerned with this, but it makes sense.

“No, we don’t need any more blood.” She takes a giant sigh of relief and slumps back into her bed. I smile as I watch her for a moment before I get called.

“Hey Dean, we need your help out here,” Sam calls to me and just as I was about to tell (y/n) I notice she had fallen asleep.

“Okay,” I call back and look down at the young Men of Letters’ daughter and lean down to press my lips on her forehead.

“What do we got?” I say, walking into the main room where the map table sat.

“We have the ingredients for the spell,” Sam says, adding everything together in what looked like a witches cauldron and an ominous purplish hue shown from it. We head out to the coroner's office and find one of the bodies that had their souls taken out and we tip the head back and pour the liquid down the throat. From the esophagus, we could see the hue shining from under the skin and soon, another blinding light encapsulated the room.

“How do you know if it worked?” I say, looking down to the body that seemed no different than a few moments before.

Cass places his hand on the body’s forehead and his eyes closed. He seemed a bit bothered by something but then his expression softened and he opened his eyes again.

“The soul is in there; I’m positive.” He says.

For the rest of the bodies that turned up recently without a soul, we were able to restore each one and bring some closure to the families of the victims. We contacted the families and had them come and see the newness of the bodies of their loved ones. Most people would be against this but because these bodies had been violated, family members wanted to make sure they’re loved ones were being honored as best they could.

“Thank you for restoring my Russell,” a lady said, leaning over to kiss her deceased husband. No one could say a word but a curt nod was all that could be mustered from any of us. This is part of cases we don't get to see. We meet family but we rarely get to see much happiness after the person is gone. Who knew a soul returning to a body could do such a thing?

Back at the Bunker, I go back to check in on Y/N. She was sleeping and I couldn’t help but watch the sore and almost voided women below me. She seemed less pale then when we first got her out of the process of taking her blood for the spell but she still seemed..hollowed in some places. Like her eyes, they were pushed back into her face and her arms and legs seemed as though they didn't have any muscle. How much of her blood did we take?

“Hey you,” she whispers, her eyes slowly moving to look up at me. I couldn’t speak and wanted so badly to kiss her but the way her eyes suddenly changed, I knew something was off.

“You get the hell away from her,” I say, leaning away from who I thought was (y/n) but I know better.

“Aw Dean, why can't we be friends or more since you seem to be in love with (y/n)?” I knew the voice well and just as I thought, (y/n)’s face morphed into him.

“You’re a real bag of dicks, you know that?” I say.

“Yes Dean, I’m aware of how you feel about me and I can’t believe you let this kid distract you from dealing with Daddy dearest,”

I hold back from killing The Trickster here and now and give him an opportunity to explain himself, against my better judgment.

“Well good ol’ Dad decided to send me to try and get you back on track. To bring something close to you to just take it away again.

“What the hell did you do to her?” I say, growing more and more irate.

“Oh relax, she’s fine, she’s just…tied up at the moment.” he says.

“I swear to God I will kill you if you hurt her,”

“Really? I think I can rearrange that since he’s my Father and all,” he says and freezes when I beg for her life again.

“Please, don’t hurt her. She’s all Ketch has anymore.”

“Yes but you don't like him either so why does it matter what happens to (y/n)?”

“Because we all need her on our team; she’s vital to helping solve cases.”

“Are you sure it isn't more than that?” A third voice says, coming into view.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Dean?” A small voice rang out into the silence that had surrounded me in the room. I don’t know how I ended up here but I do know, it wasn’t easy.

“Hey kiddo, you’re okay, it’s all over,” I say, looking over to her. She was much better now, away from the pain of blood being drained from her body, no longer in fear of who may be lurking around the corner.

“What do you mean?” She asks.

“Chuck, he's gone. Dead actually.” I say, still not fully believing it myself.

“You killed God?” She asks, a look of disbelief playing across her delicate features

“Well, not exactly. We killed the vessel Chuck but God himself, he swore he would leave the Earth and not bother Sam or I or anyone we love ever again.

“Oh, so, he can still come back though?”

“No, he can’t. Because I….” My words fade from my vocal cords and I cannot process any thought rushing through my mind at a million miles a second. This was it, this was why I did what I did. Her. She is the reason why Chuck is dead and God is permanently leaving us alone.

“I love you. I know it hasn’t been too long since you’ve been around us or me but I can’t help it. I love you and I want you to know that you are the reason God will leave us alone. If it wasn’t for you, we probably would still be fighting him and there wouldn’t be any peace….we’re free. Sam and I are free after all this time. We finally get to relax and be free to fight for people without having to look over our shoulders everywhere we go because I love you and he will leave us alone now because you are someone I love and….I’m free.” And for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I cried. Not just a small cry, a complete breakdown level of a cry. I guess I had years of pent up agony of having to fight and defend those whom I’ve loved finally come to a boiling point. (Y/N) did the one thing I needed in that moment, something I’ve lacked for many years; affection. She wrapped her arms around me, as tightly as she could, and held me close to her as sobs racked through my entire body. I began to shake violently and all she did was bring me in closer, run her fingers through my hair, and continuously try and shush me in that sweet, comforting way Mom’s do. I’m not sure how long we sat like that but we did until I was silent again. I slowly look up at her, through the tears still sitting in my eyes, and she runs her thumb right under my eye.

“You okay?” She asks, looking at me in a concerning fashion.

“I think so,” my voice was no higher than a whisper because I couldn’t trust myself. I surprised myself with the fact I cried as much as I did but I felt better.

“I love you too,” she says suddenly.

“You do?” I say, disbelief prominent on my face.

“I know it isn't long either, but I do have some pull to you and I cannot deny it. You are the only reason I’m here. I love my Dad, I really do but you are the one who I get up for day and day again. You are the one who protects me like no other. You are the one I want to keep giving blood away for whatever spells or anything else you need. I love your smile, your eyes, your laugh, the way you grumble about anything and everything because you’re getting older but it just melts my heart and I’ve never felt this for anyone.”

It may have seemed like a rather chick flick movie thing for me to do, and believe me, I kicked myself for it, but I couldn’t help it; I had to kiss her. Because for once, someone loved me and there was no way I was going to lose her. Well, aside from the traditional ways of losing someone but there wouldn’t be a douche who tries to take her away, which is way better anyways. Her lips felt so soft and natural when she kissed me and all I wanted to do was kiss her from now on. Who am I turning into? Maybe I’m finally able to learn what its like to care about someone and have someone care for me when in the past, we would have never gotten together or even thought about it but things with Ketch have been different and he hasn’t been after us too much since Chuck started. Now, I somehow ended up falling for his daughter.

“Oh, shit, damn it,” I say, pulling back from our kiss.

“What’s wrong?” She says. “I’m sure you’ve done this before,” she jokes.

“No, I mean yes of course but, you.” I say.

“Me?”

“You’re Ketch’s daughter.”

“We’ll he’s my adopted Dad,” she comments.

“Yeah but he still raised you. What is he going to think of this, of us?” I say, motioning between us.

“He won’t care.”

“Are you sure? I mean we've been fighting with him for years and we just got him on our side.”

“Dean, you’re overreacting. He just wants my happiness. He’s just going to have to deal with it being with you,” she says.

“Fine, then I say we need to tell him and everyone else about us before anything else happens between us.”

She suddenly gets up from where we were sitting in the common room and I jump up to follow her.

“Where are we going?” I say when I catch up with her.

“To tell my Dad.”

“Really?” I ask, not believing she wants to do this now but she stops and grabs my face and kisses me, for a long time.

“Really,” She says after she lets me breathe again.

I follow her into the other room where we see Sam and Ketch at the map table, Sam with a book in his hands and Ketch scrolling through his phone.

“Dad?” (Y/N) says when we are in hearing distance.

“Yeah sweetheart?” Ketch responds, looking up from his phone.

“I’m in love with Dean,” she says with such ease, it brings a smile to my face.

“Oh I know,” he says and goes back to his phone.

“Wait, you know? How?” I ask.

“Because, I see the way you look at her, Dean. And (y/n), I heard you talking to Sam about it.”

“Wait, Sammy, you knew how she felt about me?”

“Yes,”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.

“She asked me not to,” he says.

“So you’re okay with this?” (Y/N) asks Ketch.

“If he makes you happy, then I’m okay with it.”

“But you hurt her Dean and I swear,” Ketch threatens me.

“Don’t worry man, I couldn’t hurt her. She’s the best thing that ever came out of a perfect storm.”

#dean winchester #dean girl #dean girls #dean x y/n #dean x reader #dean x you #dean fluff #sam winchester #arthur ketch #supernatural family #supravenghit500

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