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blueberryarchive · 9 months

Text

—the sketch and the smaller eye; kth

Lonely man Kim Taehyung leads a fairly stable routine in his life away from civilization affected by an infection without a cure. Stability ends the day you arrive, no one knows how you got there, but one thing is for sure: Taehyung won't let you go.

🌿pairing; Artist!Taehyung x Fem!Reader

🌿word count; 8.1k

🌿tw; widower!tae, post-apocalitic scenario, mentions of disease, weight loss and death, very brief mention of arms, age gap (21 & 30-ish), smut (manhandling, whiNY Taehyung, edging, spanking, oral (f. receiving), creampie, dirty talk), gruesome details of the virus.

🌿themes; strangers to lovers, slow burning, cottage-core.

🌿inspired by; ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

ᵗʰⁱˢ ⁱˢ ᵐʸ ᶠⁱʳˢᵗ ˡᵒⁿᵍ ᶠᵃⁿᶠⁱᶜ ⁱⁿ ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ ᵖˡˢ ᵇᵉ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳˢᵗᵃⁿᵈⁱⁿᵍ

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The walk all the way home was always one of his favorite things to do when it was hunting day, the way the wind danced between the dying leaves and made music inside the hollow trees, the sun setting with the most beautiful tones of pink. It always reminded him of the times he spent just drawing all alone until you came into his land.

The day was August 8th, the heat was overbearing and like all of the other days around the same time, probably four or five (he wouldn't know because his only clock died a year ago), Taehyung sat down in the shadow of an old oak tree that has been his only friend, besides his dog, since he came to this lonely and God-forgotten place, were he was blessed and cursed with solitude and the cruel nature.

He had a small tin box with all of his drawing supplies, broken pencils, a piece of eraser gum the size of a nail, and a reddish tint drying up in a baby food crystal jar. Every day he told himself that he was making more yellow with the few sunflowers in his backyard, but today of all days he actually stood up to look for the petals.

The flowers were right outside the kitchen window, the sun was going down, and they were hunched over, withered, and full of little flying butterflies. His calloused hands took a pair of petals, the most vibrant and alive.

The sudden sound of cracking leaves and the barking of his dog disturbed him.

Taehyung perfectly remembers the moment he saw your frightened eyes, the color of the sunset over your weak body clinging to a log, an improvised cane. Torn clothes, dry mouth like a corpse, wet hair for some reason. Did you cross the river?

The first reaction of both was primal, like two animals that didn't plan to meet. Taehyung only turned on the fireplace at night, only for a couple of hours, so as not to attract attention.

So what were you doing there? Were you lost? Impossible, he was too far from civilization. Were you infected? The wolves would've eaten you by now. Either way, he didn't like the idea of someone new.

The petals sweated their amber ink on Taehyung's hand, you tried to maintain your position, your gaze... almost afraid to blink. The man was not afraid to take action, hand already inside his overall pocket. Without much, his hand raised a pistol, sleek and silver. He was pointing straight at your face, your hair in a ponytail revealing your exposed forehead, like an invitation to explode it with a bullet.

"No, please." You muttered. So soft and yet, Taehyung got scared hearing someone else's voice. It wasn't a growl, nor the crash of stones from the river, nor the rain, nor the cawing of crows, nor his own grunts when chopping wood, nor the barking from his old dog. "I'll go." You begged again, letting go of the log. Taehyung tensed, even more, hearing you again.

So soft and sad. So delicate when the world around was burning.

"Are you coming with someone else?" he growled, getting closer and looking around. The forest seemed quiet, and his dog would have warned him.

"No, just me."

"If you lie it'll be worse for you."

"I know." You lowered your head to avoid the black eye of the gun.

"Are you sick?" the question was simple. Taehyung was trying to look for signs of infection. He hadn't felt this fear since the last time he lost his wife to that fucking disease.

You denied it, slowly.

"Show me," he said with a lowered tone, calm eyes as you undressed as quickly as possible. No marks. Elbows, hands, neck, eyes. All clean. With a sigh from both, the barking stopped.

"Walk to the tree over there, and if you try to do anything funny I'm going to put every fucking bullet in your head," he said giving a simple condition. He started moving with you in front.

Without saying anything else, you both walked slowly to the trunk. The afternoon was already turning blue, cicadas were playing a tense melody. Your bare back revealed your vertebrae, hard balls under your skin looking as if it was going to break. You hugged yourself, trying to keep the heat of your body, perhaps even your modesty.

With a whistle, Frank appeared: an old dog with red eyes and floppy ears. Seeing the naked stranger, he growled loudly. Your hands began to tremble, the weapon and the animal made a cry of pain come out of you, a plea with tears falling down your ashy cheeks. But you didn't see a drop of mercy in Taehyung's eyes, you knew that having this kind of loneliness was not achieved without having to kill several from time to time.

The eyes of the man in front of you were unbending and cold, lips pressed into a thin line, thick hands gripping Frank's chain and his gun. Stains of watercolors and charcoal on his fingers.

"C'mon, buddy," he whispered and the dog came closer little by little to sniff your body. "Bend down." You obeyed.

The animal took its time sticking its wet nose into your hair and skin until it snorted as it sat down. Taehyung lowered the gun.

That was the beginning of your recovery, long days lying between rough, thick sheets. Yellowed pillows that smelled of Taehyung's hair, hand-rolled cigarettes on the nightstand. Every morning he would get up before the sun came up and carry his hunting artifacts over his shoulder. Frank stayed with you while you tried to kill time in the cabin.

You learned how to garden and cook, roll the cigars, and dry the tobacco in the sun. The books were plenty, but reading was an activity you only did if Taehyung was the one reading to you, he did it every night. Even when the fever was so high you couldn't keep up with the story.

When you were at your worst, he held your head to put you in one of his sweaters, and even left the crackling fire all night to keep you warm in the cold.

Every night he started, with a rough and tired voice, around 8 o'clock, to read you a chapter from a book of poems or letters; or the list of lost people in the old newspaper.

"I do it to keep me sane," he said. "I went a long period without saying a word, and I started to forget how to say them, my tongue used to get jammed." He explained to you while drawing an empty cup of tea next to you.

You could only tell him a couple of questions each night, he used to get tired very easily. The first two weeks you couldn't even pronounce two words before he started to lose his patience.

"You don't have to know anything about me," his eyebrows locked in a frown. "When you get better, you can go and it will be like we never met."

But now it has been three months, you think. You recovered pretty well, and you can do the chores while he's out. You try your best every day so he notices that you won't be a bother if he lets you stay.

He doesn't ask questions about how you came to be on this side of the river, and you thank him for that. The memories blurred in your mind, like a sketch that's been erased again and again.

Taehyung get's home at sunset, you are outside breaking some newspapers into pieces. The notebooks he used to draw in were already full, so you decided to make him a new one.

You are wearing a dress he found in an abandoned house, it was a teen size but he loves it. He doesn't know your age yet, but he knows you're probably in your early twenties. He loves when the sun is scorching hot and your only choice is to let your thighs and shoulders out while you cook and clean. The hem flows with the wind letting him see your bare ass while you put the paper to dry.

You two haven't had sex, you never gave him signs, maybe because he looked a little bit older. He never felt like he had to hide an inexistent lust, until a few weeks ago.

Two, to be exact.

You were in the nearest river. A flimsy white t-shirt, wine-drunk, and talking so much. You were so irksome with your questions. The cold water sticking the fabric to your body like marble while you asked about Taehyung's boring routine. Your babble was such, you started asking about him jerking off and how sex works in solitude.

The way you laughed made him blush with anger. Sketches he was trying to make from the water lilies turned into ones from your eyes.

That day he had to take a cold shower in the river after leaving you by the fire in the house. His face was boiling red, tired of your babbling and hard as a log.

The idea of you making him horny made him mad for some reason; it made him feel like a high school boy, but it was natural. He had years without seeing a woman. And you were pretty. So pretty for no fucking reason.

He knew that being in his early thirties probably made him less attractive to you, he was a grumpy man, almost a caveman how he reacted to your ways. That's why he didn't try, not even think about it... not always.

Now you have him going to abandoned houses on the other side of the river, looking for things for you: like a small bottle of perfume, a broken mirror, and old photos of people who are probably dead by now. A way to show he cared without using words.

When he got to the rock path, the crackle made you turn around, you were smiling like always, and his heart felt warm.

"I told you to do that earlier. The paper won't dry today," He grunted, acting more tired than he was so you leave everything behind and get near him. You get a cigar from a basket near you and light it for him. You pass it to him after taking a puff.

"But you can draw on one piece of paper."

"That's not how it works."

"It'll have to work."

Taehyung pressed his lips together, he knew you enjoyed arguing with him, but more than those few words would not come out of him. You rolled you eyes going back to hang the wet paper.

"I'm making dinner tonight," he muttered like ten minutes later and then silence again. Another cigar, the old Frank by his side while he watched the sunset disappear.

The reading hours were around six to seven, right after dinner. It was the same routine when you first stayed, and it is the same now: After dinner, he gets comfortable in bed, takes a cigarette from the nightstand, and with the gas lamp he lights the tip. Book in hand.

The words he didn't say all day would overflow as he read chapter by chapter. In an appropriate tone, pauses at the commas, giving life to each character. A treat for the ears.

After looking for a book on the first floor, he entered the room and stood up, his eyes went to the corner where there was a broken mirror, and in its reflection, you were, combing your hair in a ponytail, so poorly done that it was better to leave it loose. But the strands that were floating in the air, in front of your eyes, made Taehyung's fingers tingle, wanting to take every strand and pull it towards him.

There was a heaviness in the air that early autumn night. The silence was thick, and the yellowish lamplight cast heavier shadows on every piece of furniture. Abrupt and defined as in a baroque painting.

The curve in which his eyes concentrated more were the ones that defined your waist and your stomach, how it bulged slightly like a hill stamped with the flowers of your skimpy dress.

"Turn around," you muttered, like you didn't care if he did it or not, as you started to remove your dress; snapping Taehyung out of the sketches he was drawing in his head. He went to open the window to let some of the heat out of the room, letting the smoke creep through the curtains.

"I think I know what I'm going to read to you today," he cleared his throat, looking down at his bare feet pacing anxiously across the room. The shadow of your silhouette moving on the floor, the bone-white nightgown falling on your curves, exposing one of Taehyung's weaknesses: the connection of your neck and your shoulders, subtle but lethal.

He wanted to press his face between and close his eyes, inhaling the scent of your skin. Rich and peachy, like when the trees have so much fruit that they start to ripen on the same tree.

"You haven't finished showing me the stamp book yet." You dropped on the bed.

"I'm already bored of it."

"Odd." you noticed, watching him bend down and open a suitcase under the bed. "And those?" As you approached you saw a collection of books.

They were small, wrinkled, and minimalist in cover. Some were yellowed papers seized by the red wax on the spine.

Taehyung snorted at the question and looked up, daring you to keep acting innocent. He knew that you knew every corner of the house.

"I want you to say it," you smiled.

"Force me."

"I want you to say that Taehyung, the hard-faced man, has a collection of erotic books under his bed."

"You already said it. I don't have the need."

"Why do you have it under the bed?"

"What are you talking about?" Taehyung moved the books until he found a small book in Spanish. The pink cover with a painting of a mischievous Renaissance woman smiling.

"Kept under the bed, in a suitcase. Like a secret."

"I'm not ashamed of reading erotica if that's what you assume." he closed the suitcase and dropped his body next to you. His head near your legs, yours lying on the opposite side.

"And why do you have it like they're illegal." you held the cigarette he offered you.

"Habits of a human who lived in a society, I suppose."

You inhale the cigarette while he searched for the short between his long fingers, the book opened softly. His thumb pressed down the middle of the pages.

The glass of wine had you sparkling, you still hadn't gotten used to the alcohol. You had not drunk in so long that you did not remember its effects. There was something on the tip of your tongue, a confession that couldn't wait, an itch that needed to be scratched.

Before you could speak, Taehyung let out a soft "Ah" as he found the story for the night.

"A man who came about five years ago translated this story by Anaïs Nin for me. When he found out that I painted, he told me that he had a story for me."

"What's it called?" Without realizing it, your hand began to caress Taehyung's leg.

"La Maja," he pronounced. "Like Goya's painting"

Your head fell back on the stacked pillows, Taehyung's lips moved as he read a homemade translation of the story.

"He pulled back the sheets that covered her and slowly lifted the silk nightgown. He was able to lift it over her breasts without her giving the slightest sign of awakening. When it was uncovered all over the woman's body, he contemplated it for as long as he wanted. Her arms were detached from her body; her breasts stretched out before his eyes like an offering. He was aroused by his desire but he did not dare to touch her. Instead, he brought paper and pencils, sat by her bedside, and took notes. As he worked, he had the sensation of caressing each of the perfect lines of the woman's body."

Taehyung's eyes would lift to yours after reading the paragraph, turning back to the page with embarrassment flushing his cheeks. The human habit of blushing when you want things so badly, he thought.

The smoke from the dying cigar between your fingers snaked through your hair and the softness of your chin. Taehyung was never more jealous of something so ephemeral.

He couldn't find where he had stayed and the silence became so loud that you could only do what was right.

"I followed you today."

"What?" Taehyung didn't understand, you had spoken so low that he almost didn't notice it.

"To the woods, when you left this morning."

When he closed the book, you knew that what little sweetness Kim showed you turned sour.

"I have told you that you must stay here, with Frank. Safe." You both got up at the same time, you followed Taehyung looking for his gaze which he averted.

"I'm not asking you to keep me safe, Kim" you replied.

There was a pause as he pricked at his bottom lip. Was that in his pupils the sign of an offense? Taehyung clucked at you, turning around.

"Kim," you tried to fix it by brushing against his shoulder. "It's not that I'm a helpless deer, I know how to protect myself." You laughed to lighten the mood. Bad idea.

A question, like a small forgotten flame, reappeared in Taehyung's brain. Out of courtesy when you got sick in the first few weeks, he didn't ask where you came from, why you were alone, or how you came to cross the wide river that divided a civilization almost thousands of kilometers to the left. When politeness turned to infatuation, the question was no longer so important. He felt that he could trust you and that he had a new purpose besides survival: to keep you safe.

Fallacies.

"How did you come to find me?"

"What?" the smile faded from your face.

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

Your eyes moved erratically in his gesture, a frown. Just like when you came in drenched that August. No trust.

"Don't know."

He just snorted denying, he didn't believe you, and that irritated you.

"Sure, of course."

"Do you think I'm lying to you?"

"I don't believe it, I know." His body moved from side to side, arranging books and picking things up off the ground.

Your flushed face and clenched fists. Boiling alcohol in your veins.

"Well, you can go to hell with your lonely man farce."

"OK." Taehyung sighed daring you to continue insulting him.

"You do know that things aren't as horrible as at the start of the pandemic anymore, right?"

"Oh yeah?" His eyes widened in theatrical surprise.

"The infected are controlled and-," Seeing how he continued to feign interest, you pushed him aside and grabbed your dress from the floor, beginning to change. Tears accumulated without permission in your eyes. "Whatever," you mumbled.

"Then you do know something about your past."

"Fuck you, Kim."

"No, because you lied to me and now you say things like how you know how to defend yourself in a forest full of wild wolves and that you traveled several kilometers by water and land to get here. And you want me not to ask questions about it." He moved closer to you so close that he could see the torment in your eyes.

"Exactly." You muttered putting on your garden boots.

"That request is absurd and you know it." his laugh was careless. He was drunk too.

"I know."

You both stared at each other, your hair was no longer tied up and its shadow hid both of your features under its shadow. Your lips parted at the sight of his.

"I don't remember how I got to this place," you whispered, a tear fell to your cheek and you cursed how sensitive alcohol made you. You saw how Taehyung's face softened in the presence of your pain. "I swear I would have told you if I knew."

Taehyung swallowed hard and looked out the window. He hated seeing others cry, he hated when his wife did it, and he hates seeing it now in your lost gaze. There was something in the way you were, in the quality of your emotions and your hope in everything that reminded him so much of her. His wife died at the same age you were.

Taehyung and her were both idiots and thought that living far away was all it took to escape the infection.

It was stupid of him to let her go hunting alone that day, he shouldn't have let a simple fever keep him in bed when she was out there.

He spent years waiting for her to come back. Waiting for some afternoon that he will hear her quick steps coming down the gravel road. Much later, he found a piece of her shirt floating on the bank of a river.

Taehyung closed his eyes and nodded. It was dangerous to let you stay, he still didn't fully trust you. But what was the use of being alone so much when he only waited for the next day and the day after until one day he could die naturally?

Your body tensed as his hand rose to sink into your hair and kiss your forehead. So delicate, without causing any noise.

"Sleep well," he whispered leaving the book on the table. His chest hurt with the immense amount of feelings you make him feel in one day.

It's overbearing and he loved it. But his poor soul needed time.

For the first time in all that time together, he decided to sleep on the first floor.

You didn't know what to say, you were already ready for him to just ask you to leave. So you were thankful he actually just…left.

When the door creaked shut, you let loneliness engulf you. You cried, glued to the pillow like a child. Of relief, of uncertainty, for that kiss.

The days are long when there is nothing to say. When you don't look at him, when you ignore him with your unsubtle ways: you leave your clothes poorly folded, you don't finish the dishes he makes for you, your cigarettes are badly rolled, and you punish him by wearing those shirts that reveal your cleavage.

If you knew what you did to him, would you take advantage of him? Would he hate it?

Taehyung can feel your eyes on his back as he tries to light the fireplace at night, the cold is cruel in the mountains, even crueler than the tension in the small living room. You find yourself sitting watching the flame grow and grow, Taehyung trying to appear as calm as possible as if he didn't have the gears of his brain fed up trying to figure out how to talk to you.

Apart from a 'what do you want for dinner?', a 'yes' or a 'no'.

He felt he talked more with poor Frank, who slept about eighteen hours a day.

He cleared his throat at the smoke and held up his hand for more newspaper. You gave it instantly. And suddenly, a miracle: for the first time in weeks, your voice.

"Tomorrow is my birthday," you said embarrassedly, arms crossed.

With a tight-lipped smile on Kim's mouth, he nodded and looked into your tired eyes.

Your voice was still just as sweet and calm, you wanted to try to sound weary. But he noticed every afternoon when he came home from hunting, the way you moved through the little orchard and sang while you bathed Frank. Your laughter was his antidote, it healed his tiredness and the ache of his soul.

"We should celebrate it." He proposed, but you instantly denied it.

"I want you to take me."

"What do you mean?" he blushed, looking deep into your eyes.

"Take me somewhere."

Taehyung dropped the newspaper on the fire. He sighed softly, (not in relief, but disappointed) and sat in the old chair in the corner, legs apart as he rolled a cigarette.

"Where do you want to go?"

"To the house on top." you pointed east.

"How do you know there's a house on top?"

"Because I saw it in your drawings." your pupils let you see its shine for the first time in weeks. The cold made you look so beautiful. The little contact he had with you, he missed it so much.

Your cheeks took on color with the coming of winter, your lips like two slices of ripe fruit, red and full of juice. "And I found your binoculars in the warehouse."

"Mm," he couldn't even get mad at you and your insatiable curiosity. He was glad to hear you. Besides, who was he to deny you going up to that abandoned mansion, even when fear consumed him that they would attack you?

"Sure, we'll go." you let the corner of your lips rise, Taehyung feigned seriousness. "But it can't be tomorrow. We need at least two days of walking to get there, and we have to prepare."

You licked your lips and got up, letting the cloth that wrapped you from head to toe fall to your shoulders. You raised your arms, and Taehyung frowned, not understanding the gesture.

"Come here, it's almost twelve, and I'm going to be twenty-one."

Although they both knew that no clock gave them a certain time, Kim didn't care and you less. Leaving the cigarette next to him, he stood up and awkwardly let his strong arms swallow you, your head on his chest.

The hug was a thank you from you, but with just a few more seconds, you realized that Taehyung didn't want to let go. You opened your eyes, he could feel your confusion.

"Just-" he stammered, tensing his arms a little more to bring you closer to the warmth of his body. Silence.

Rich and peachy.

"What?"

"No, nevermind."

"Kim." you wanted to look at his eyes but didn't let you.

"I haven't hugged anyone in years." he murmured, a sigh of relief.

The confession made your chest sink. The breathing of the man in your arms was soft and ragged. As if he was nervous.

"Can you play with my hair?" he hummed, timid and needy, warming your shoulder with his breath; chills covering your skin.

You let your fingers explore his fluffy hair, the little ripples covering your palm and fingertips. You heard another sigh from him and felt how his arms slid to hug the sides of your waist.

"Feels good?" you dared to ask, breathing the musk on his jacket. He just nodded longingly, closed eyes and brows knitted; the crackle of the fire in the fireplace melting his heart.

Your throat was dry, and your lips parted, God knows you wanted to enjoy that hug, how Taehyung bent his body slightly to hide his head in your neck. Perhaps it was the lack of contact or the fire in the fireplace, but your body bubbled over a slow fire with each exhale that collided with your neck.

"Tae-" you swallowed and grabbed his shoulders so he could see you.

The drunkenness in the eyes of the man in front of you was so short but so sweet. Discovering his attitude, he pricked the bridge of his nose and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, don't worry about the trip. We can start packing tomorrow."

"I think I remember some of what happened to me."

"Oh." His eyes widened, gesturing as he tried to ask you to explain. You loved the gestures that came out of Taehyung when he didn't know the protocol of conversations. It wasn't 'thank you', but a tightening of the lips into a brief smile; no 'Don't move' when he painted but a little grunt and a deny.

You both took a seat on the furniture and got as close as possible, there was no one around, but this was how both of you got used to talking to each other. Whispers, watching each other's lips and laughter, when it was intended, with the hand on the mouth.

"I remember a boat, I remember several women and two men," you murmured, your eyes tilted into the fire. "A group came on another boat and threw us on the shore, they beat the men so much that they died and left the women to suffer."

Kim bit the inside of his cheek, he knew the day you would remember your past would be difficult. The beginning of the lethal virus was so surreal for him.

"I don't remember their faces much, just their hair. I remember…one feverish night, the women covered me with a blue coat that they had taken from one of the men." your hand trembled, and Taehyung took it without hesitating. "When I woke up, they were all in stage two."

Stage two of the virus was when their bodies began to slow down, sleep being the main activity, even at times when they needed to urinate. Your body didn't feel like getting up.

Taehyung remembers how one of his college classmates slept fully for two days, he opened his eyes when called but closed them instantly.

"When I saw them I thought the same thing was going to happen to me, apparently they killed an infected animal and ate it among themselves without giving me a piece. I don't blame them. I also thought the fever was going to kill me that night," you shrugged. "When I woke up I found trash, fruit, and headless bugs on the floor. The virus searched for everything it could to feed before going into coma…, and then, um-"

Your gaze drifted away, as if you saw the women sprawled on their backs with their mouths open and sunken eyes on the cabin rug.

"Their bodies started to swell, their chests and stomachs and throats. The eggs-" you denied and Taehyung felt chills. "They began to grow and incubate, I cried for hours and hours in silence, sitting on a log." your voice quivered. "I crossed the river at low tide, and stayed on the rocks to wait."

"You were sent to explore the area. You were the same as I was years ago." Taehyung bit his lip, squeezing your hand.

"I don't understand."

"I thought they didn't send scouts to this area anymore. The infection is so old I thought they wouldn't need any more information."

"What do you mean when you say you were the same?" You frowned and stared at him.

"I was a soldier, my family needed money, and the doctors found a way to make us think they could save my dad from the virus." the memories made his tense neck move involuntarily. "They sent me to this side to find information about the virus, the source."

"You and how many others?"

Taehyung shook his head with a sad smile. Maybe he was even making up the story of his father getting sick, who knows at this point?

"I still don't remember. I just know that I kept walking and walking wit this girl by my side,until we found this hill, and even she disappeared."

They both fell silent. Taehyung had already told you about the disappearance of his wife, unlike other topics, this was the one that seemed like a fable. There were no traces, like smoke that vanished on a sunset.

You can see on his eyes that ache every time he mentions her; you wish you could lick his old wounds, not to cure them, but to soothe the pain.

The way he was holding your hand and the fire trembling on his tan skin made him look like an angel. An untamed one leaves instead of feathers, strong arms to carry the world around him.

You couldn't take it anymore.

"Taehyung," you called, and he didn't have to move because your hand took him by surprise. Guiding him to your hungry lips.

He moaned lowly, making his free hand into a fist to control the euphoria that was running through his body. The wet sound of your mouths devouring each other, he didn't know how much he needed that, the warmth of your tongue licking his lips, the little pant coming out of your strawberry lips.

Oh, how much he hated the fact that he was getting hard just from a kiss, but how couldn't he, good God? You were so delicious.

He snatched his hand from yours and took both of your hands to squeeze above your head. Your back arched, and you mewled as you felt his hand squeeze your wrists.

Taehyung's eyes flickered to your face. Was he doubting what he was doing? Did you do something wrong?

"If you want to stop-"

"No," he growled desperately. With ease, his free hand grabbed the hair at the nape of your neck and kissed you again, clashing teeth.

"Slow down, Kim." you gasped as he devoured your neck, covering in saliva the fabric of the coat that covered you, almost tearing it apart.

Your hand explored his corduroy pants until it reached the tight bulge against his thigh.

"No. I don't want to," he screeched as he watched what you were doing. "Please, I'm too sensitive right now." It was a plea for you to let him enjoy touching you for a few more minutes, his glassy eyes and red lips.

You were cruel, and God, how he hated you for that. You chuckled low and spread your legs to climb into his lap. The sudden movement knocked the air out of him, hands on either side of the couch.

In one sitting, you were pressing his cock against your clothed pussy.

"Oh no, please. Let me-," his hands went to his mouth, squeezing it hard, the words coming out muffled.

With so few moans he had you addicted to his susceptibility. To his droopy eyes and his angelic whimpers over every little thing you did.

"Please," he asked again but it was in vain when you started moving back and forth and licking his neck. "Fuck me, i can't. Baby-" he mumbled rolling his eyes, reaching heaven with so little. The 'baby' scaped again and again from his lips until it died out.

It was embarrassing, but so sublime.

You loved it. No. You became obsessed.

When he finished, you could feel the wetness on his thigh. You laughed again, taking his face in your fingers; he hung from your fingertips like a puppet. His chin resting on them.

"You look so cute when you're sweaty in the middle of a blizzard," you said. He closed his eyes, enjoying the compliment.

Without saying anything else, leaving a wet spot on top of his zipper and his mouth open; you got up and went up the rustic stairs.

You were going to be the death of him.

The morning arrives quietly and with the sun coming in gently through the windows, you are grateful that the snow has stopped as you get up to put on your socks. Frank was sleeping between woolen sheets in the closet. When he heard you calling him he opened his eyes and lazily moved his thick tail.

The bed was made on Taehyung's side. Last night you hardly slept thinking about what you two had done in the living room, you waited anxiously for him to go to the room to finish what you had started, but you fell asleep waiting for him.

Maybe he was upset because you rushed him or he was embarrassed. Either way, you could still feel the moisture your pussy had let out just thinking about his face coming. Like a broken record, just as his pelvis raised to make one last contact with your clit.

You sighed and let the cool water calm your arousal. The small mirror showed your reflection, you were pale. Since the sun doesn't rise so often, you feel like you're withering. The tinting of your cheeks was already disappearing.

Your eyes were guided to the small photo pasted on the mirror, it was an ID with your face. The ink on the image was fading, with your name and date of birth right next to it.

It was the only thing you had for sure, maybe your face wasn't even that one. You returned to your reflection and began to notice every little detail: the dark circles under your eyes and the dry lips from biting them so much, the slightly yellowish teeth, and the eye that was smaller than the other.

That's new, you thought. Only if you looked hard enough could you see how your right eye involuntarily closed a little more than the other, the more you looked at it in the mirror, the more obvious it was.

The sound of a pot falling followed by a grunt made you snap out of your morning exam. You walked quickly to the stairs going down in a hurry.

You were surprised to see Taehyung in the kitchen, his hands covered in whipped cream and the sweet smell of freshly baked bread. A small tight smile apologizing for waking you up.

"Uh," he wiped his hands clean and leaned closer to you, placing an awkward kiss on your forehead. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you." You smiled softly, his hand found yours to guide you to the rustic table that he had made years ago, it was heavy and robust. It combined with everything that was seen in that kitchen, small details you had done here and there, but the smell of oak and the thick fabric of the curtains and the tablecloth were essentially Taehyung.

"I made you breakfast. You must eat it all or I'm really going to stop talking to you for a month."

As if he could.

"Because?"

"I spent all night trying to make whipped cream, found a book in the stack and it took me almost a dozen eggs to get it right."

"That's where you were last night." You smiled and he tensed, embarrassment painting his cheeks red. "Did you need a book to know how to follow our...?" You made an obscene gesture that made Taehyung turn to finish breakfast.

"You are so intense in the mornings."

"You've stopped smoking in the morning, have you noticed?"

Taehyung frowned. "It's true."

"I annoy you so much you don't need the nicotine to wake up."

"If that achievement makes you happy, go ahead." He crossed his legs as he sat down next to you. "Bon appétit."

You looked in front of you, on your plate was a piece of freshly baked bread toasted in the color of the sun. The whipped cream was smooth and slightly eggy, with peach slices decorated on top creating an attempt at a flower. The smell was intoxicating and your mouth watered from it.

Taehyung's chest swelled with joy as you took the first bite and inhaled. You looked at him tenderly. That human habit of food being the perfect language to show love without touching.

"It's good," you agreed taking another bite. "Did you try it?"

Taehyung denied raising his hand to ask you to continue tasting.

"I have something else for you," he said before you took another bite. You could see and hear in the silence of the kitchen how his foot bounced with eagerness to show you the other things.

Taehyung took a paper bag from his jacket hanging on the door and put it on your lap. His hands didn't let you open the material, kneeling on the floor in front of you.

"Slow down, Kim. For God's sake." you laughed looking at him. He imitated you.

"Sorry, it's just that I've been saving this for a long time."

You couldn't stop seeing him, it was impossible how much you loved him in such a short time. You looked down at your lap as he lowered your chin with his hand.

Inside the paper were many trinkets, colorful and very varied. Buttons, an old lighter with a rose carved on it, a ring in the shape of a butterfly, a deep red dried ink, and underneath it all the pale lace of a lingerie set.

You smiled as you put everything else aside and looked at the pieces in detail.

"Isn't there a more subtle way of saying you want to fuck me?" you joked

Taehyung didn't laugh, again he was looking at you with nervous eyes.

"I want to give you a portrait."

You put the lingerie on the table and looked at him. You knew that his painting materials were becoming more and more scarce. You denied it instantly.

"Don't worry, I'll use some oils that I have saved, they are in perfect condition and I want to use them with you." he rose clutching your face in his hands, like something ethereal. How could he see you in the morning and make you feel so lovely?

"I want to paint your lips," he ran his thumb over your bottom lip, "And your eyes."

"Even when one is smaller?"

He chuckled slightly at your sweet question.

"Especially the smaller one."

His hand grabbed the last bite of toast and opened your mouth with his thumb, delicately inserting it. "I told you to eat it all." his face was serious.

His thumb began to smear all the cream that remained in the corners of your mouth, pressing your lips while your tongue tried to lick his fingers.

"That is my girl." he hummed cocking his head at you.

Your toes tensed when you heard him say that.

"Open up," he commanded and you obeyed, opening your mouth to remove the sticky cream from his finger. He swallowedwhen he saw you lick every drop.

Your beautiful face, your messy hair, and your mouth covered in peach juices and whipped cream. So sweet and erotic that it made his stomach clench with the urge to eat you.

"I would like you to paint me in the summer, though."

"Because?"

"Because that way I could return the color to my cheeks, to see myself more..." you didn't know what the word was.

Taehyung could have cared less.

"Fine." he sighed and tossed the plate to the side with a crash. Suddenly, you were in his arms, he laid you down gently on the wood of the table.

"Tae?" a squeal came from you when you felt the cold in your pussy, Taehyung ripped your panties and began to rub his digits on your clit with such delicacy.

"Shh," he responded, grabbing the chair to walk over to the table and sit down. With one hand he brought your body closer to his face and began to run his tongue through your folds.

This is what he wanted to do last night and you didn't let him.

Your legs began to shake and he looked up through narrowed eyes. Your surprised face was so funny, it almost made him want to let you cum as fast as you let him.

"Spread your legs, let me see you." there was something so obscene about the way his voice deepened. He embarrassed you. "Aren't you going to let me eat you?"

You didn't know what to say.

"What happened that pretty girl who wouldn't shut the fuck up, huh?" His wet lips kissed your entrance with each word. "Where are your smart answers and the fucking questions about how I jerk off?" With one hand he hit your clit and you whimpered. "There it is." he smiled.

"God," you moaned so loud trying to get your nightgown down, it hurt so good. Taehyung squeezed your wrists with one hand and started devouring you again, your juices flowing on his nose and his tongue and you knew how much he liked it by the way he growled and bit the inside of your thigh.

It hurt but you couldn't stop moaning, your hands turning into claws from the tension wanting to grab his tangled hair, to see his face covered with it in a transparent and shiny layer.

"Atta, girl," he inhaled, snapping back. "Look at you," he smiled at you as he licked the edges of his lips. "The color is returning to your cheeks."

"What?" You stuttered before you felt how his hand collided with your ass. You screamed biting your lip.

"Come here."

His hand carried you to help your weak legs. With his hands under your armpits, he led you to the nearest wall.

"Get naked, pet."

"It's cold."

"Still?" Taehyung asked confused and piled the fabric of your dress in his hand until he found your wet pussy again. Without saying much, he inserted two fingers, curling the tips.

"More," you whispered, you were short of breath and you felt like you were in another cosmic plane with the long fingers of the man behind you.

His other hand began stroking your tummy until it reached your neck, squeezing gently. Hearing your sweet request, he laughed.

"You're a mess and I haven't even fucked you. Are you sure?"

You nodded awkwardly, your head pressed against the wall. A third finger was unexpected and burned.

"You're so wet, it's not fair." Kim sighed. "I want to do everything for you but you won't let me with that little body of yours."

"Mm," was all you could answer, your tongue was heavy and the knot under your stomach had you seeing stars.

"Those short dresses and the laughter and the erotic books and your perfect tits." he moaned turning you around to remove your dress.

Seeing your face again, Taehyung made up his mind; he couldn't take it anymore. Whipped cream decorated your cheek and your open mouth.

"Are you still cold?" His eyes saw you straight into your soul. You denied hugging his neck, hitting your lips with his.

If you didn't kiss him you felt like you were going to implode. His furrowed brows and his broad shoulders, the way he'd talk dirty to you but he'd kiss your shoulder calming your nerves.

There it was again, that tickle in your throat of saying things at the wrong time.

Shut me up with kisses, you thought, shut me up by sealing your lips with mine.

"More." Now it was Taehyung's turn to ask, moaning as he felt how your naked body hung from his waist.

He quickly lowered his pants until he took it off completely. Then his coat.

"Down," he murmured kissing you one last time crashing your body into the wall.

With one hand you grabbed his cock and started to move your hand. A cry came from him and you both nearly fell to the ground in a crash. Taehyung's legs failing from the sudden touch.

You laughed at Taehyung's irate gesture.

"In four. Now," he barked, after kissing you softly. "I want to fuck you, I don't want games anymore, 'kay?"

You nodded drunkenly at the way he spoke to you.

You stopped smiling when he repositioned you like a doll on your knees and hands.

You arched your back as you felt the tip stretch your entrance, you closed your eyes in pure pleasure. The sting was unbelievable, perfect.

"Mmhm," Taehyung ran his finger down your back, "Let me listen to you, love."

How can he call you that without melting?

You pushed yourself into him until your ass touched his pelvis. You both moaned each other's name.

"Fuck," he mumbled, grabbing both sides of your waist to guide your movements. The sounds that filled the kitchen were indecent, your cream accumulated at the base of his cock and your moans drove him crazy.

Yes, he was like a schoolboy when it came to you, he couldn't see your cleavage without wanting to touch himself or look at your lips without wanting to bite them so badly that they bled. You were in addition to his antidote, his new favorite morbidity.

"Atta girl, squeeze me more," he hissed at you slowing his pace down. His moans turned to whimpers as you began to feel the cum dripping down your thighs. You were about to cum and he could feel it. "Let me feel those walls, baby. Cum for me."

You lifted your upper body so you could move against him and with two brushes of his fingers on your puffy clit you began to scream his name letting your face fall into your hands.

You both panted hard, abruptly, Taehyung pulled his cock out, revealing how his cum came out of you. God, he prays that this is the one that knocks you up.

Getting up, he grabbed your delicate body and took you to the sofa, lit the fireplace, and left you alone for a few minutes. When he returned he brought with him a blank canvas the length of his forearm and a couple of charcoal pencils.

The afterglow had your cheeks with the most beautiful tint. Flushed and plump lips from biting it so much. You let your hair do what it wants, just how he likes it and you smiled at him when he sat down in front of you. You squinted your eyes when you smiled and his shoulders relaxed.

"Stay still, please," he whispered while he took a pencil in his hands.

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lady-ashfade · 7 months

Text

Day 4 Of Fictober

Vampire Au

Yandere!VampPrince!Jacaerys Velaryon x Fem!Human!Reader, X Platonic!Yandere!Vamp!Queen!Rhaenrya Targaryen

Ask: can I request yan vampire Jace? And platonic Yan Rhaenyra.

Hope you like it, my little darlings. I worked really hard on this.

Warnings: Kidnapping, ropes!being tied up, Collars, Blood, Blood drinking, Yandere tendencies, Controlling behavior, slight!primal chase, Over all some dark themes, and vamps having lightning speed.

The rough ground made your feet ache as you raced through the woods without shoes on your feet. Mud stuck to the ends of your feet and the rocks hurt to step on but you had no choice but to. There was no path, no grass patches to step on that weren’t covered in sticks and other small things. It seemed as even the trees were against you every turn you took with another one making you almost crash into it. Panting you tried to keep the ends of your dress from getting caught on anything else so it wouldn’t slow you down.

The blue dress you had on has tares and dirt all over it. It was ruined. Steaming from your eyes and down to your cheeks were tears of fear, of death and the thing chasing you. The night was always scary for you since childhood with stories of monsters that only come out in the dark. Growing up you forgot all about those stories and feared your own kind or the silence that came along with the stars. Now you wished to be back at home and afraid of nothing.

Focus. You had to just focus on getting away and safely out of the woods to find someone to help. Screaming you called for help for anyone to hear you, hoping at least one person would.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen dear,” your legs hit something and your body came chasing down on the ground and your body ached at the pressure. A sinking feeling made your stomach made you feel like puking out your insides. From the ground you looked up to the man you had been running from. Red eyes stared down at you, they stood out in the darkness from their glow.

“Please- Let me go, I’ll never come back.” Sobbing you back up with your legs kicking and arms crawling backwards. The beast only titled his head and watches you closely as you plead for your little life.

“But that’s not what I want,” the bark of the tree hits your back and makes you itchy. He could hear your breath so loudly as your chest raises up and down at a rapid pace. Your eyes full of terror, your body tensed up at the fear of death, and the smell of sweet blood coming from your veins. Pushing out of his gums his fangs emerged.

“You’ll stay here forever, with me- With our family. I never expected you to be a human but, I’ll take anything.” As he inches closer you tried to get away from him, to run free. But you had no chance and his speed bet you to it and pinned you against the tree with force. His hands squeezed your wrists and you already felt them bruise.

“Silly little human, running from a prince?” His head lowered to your neck and you tried to fight it but he wasn’t moving. “I can- I will give you everything you deserve. Just sit still and this will be over soon” his lips kissed his favorite area on your neck to prepare you for what he was about to do.

You whined and struggled against his hold and cried you heart out. “Please.” You sob but he only smirked at your small voice. He knew humans were weak and fragile but you were so much different then all the humans he’s killed. So much sweeter, so much prettier and warm. Maybe that’s why you two were destined to be together because he could protective you from everyone else.

His eyes flashed before black started to cover the glow, his mouth opened with a wicked smile.

“It’ll be only a bite,” your neck was pushed to the side and taken into a tight grip as you whimpered. “Goodnight, my darling.” He spoke before a sharp pain in your neck made you cry in pain. You could feel the blood leaving your veins and you started to get lightheaded after a few seconds of him sucking aggressively. Then your mind started to shut down and your eyes closed slowly, your body giving up and you passed out.

It felt so cold.

A stone floor against your legs and feet made you toss awake from your sleep. The moment you were awake you could feel the aching feeling in your head and your body feeling too tired to move. Moaning you open your eyes and blink at the lit up room with nothing around you, it looked like a cell. You tired to call out for help but your voice gave out and felt raspy. A knock at the door made you jump out of your skin and move back.

“Stop screaming.” A male voice that was deep called from the other side. The sound of the lock being fiddled with made you looked around the room once more to see if you could find anything. So you cling your fists together in fear.

When the door opened two men with the dark eyes and a guard like outfit that matched each others stepped into view. In fear you push yourself back, “Queen says not to hurt you, so don’t be afraid.” The taller one smiled and the other took out rope from his belt. No matter how much you plead you couldn’t get out of their inhuman grip and hold.

The rope on your hands scratched your wrists as they pull you out of the cell and into the hallways. After a while you realize it was a castle you were in and a beautiful one at that, but it was much darker then anything you’d been in. Everything was red or black and the paintings creeped you out.

As soon as you came to a stop your throat began to close and your stomach became sick. When the doors opened you took a glance in the room that opened. A large room with pillars, a red carpet leaning up and the most important part. A Throne. Sat on top of the throne was a beautiful woman with pale skin and with the whites hair you’ve ever seen. You knew those eyes.

Just like his.

“Bring her forward.” Her voice echoed off the walls and the men obliged and tugged you forward. You couldn’t move at all as her eyes had broken you. The woman watched as they tugged you against and you pulled against their hold and tried to get away. A poor little thing you were. You looked so scared and hurt, even if you were so weak from having your blood drained.

“Pull her again and I’ll have you beheaded.” You all stoped and look at the woman on the throne. They had mentioned a “Queen” earlier and her place… it was her. “Now, little one. Walk to me.” She waves you over but her voice deepens at the command. Looking at the two guards you pull your rope away from them and take liberty to do it on you own. So you walked to her and stop a few feet away from her. You looked at the ground and to afraid to meet her eyes.

“I apologize for my sons actions…He’s never smelled your blood before, but I can promise you now he’ll be well behaved.” Stepping back as you saw her shadows stand up off her set. She sighed and walked down with her dress in her hands.

“You’re very beautiful, a fine mate for my son. A queen to replace me one day.” Your looked at her and your cheek was instantly cupped. You didn’t even see her move to you until you looked up. She could hear your heartbeat speed up and your veins pulse. It made her smile.

“He will never hurt you again. Just needed to claim you is all he did.” She rubbed your skin sweetly and you felt like mush. “Sorry for keeping you in a cell, I’m having everything prepared for you.” Her hands came down to rip the ropes off of you so hard they snapped.

“You’ll learn to love it here, with us.” Gasping your neck was grabbed ever so lightly and something cold pressed against the skin. You heard metal hit each other and a snap at the back of your neck. Your throat felt almost suffocated at the new feeling, “What-” you tried to speak but she hushed you by putting her finger on your lips, her nails so sharp.

“Silver suits you well, and red gems are beautiful as well.” You moved up to touch the thing around your neck in a panic. She watched your eyes tear up and heavy breaths leave your lips. “Don’t look so sad.” She looked over at the servants in the corner. “Get her something to eat.” And they ran off quickly.

You tried to run it all over in your head and it was too overwhelming that you couldn’t breath. You started to cry and grab onto the air and your chest for relief.

“What have you done?”

His voice made you turn and you fell to your knees, he was quick to be at your side within less then a second to catch you. “Go- Let me go.” He could barely understand your breathless words but he could guess them by the way you tried to break free.

“Awe, don’t cry. My human is too pretty to cry,” his fingers wiped away your tears and you closed your eyes not to get them scraped by his nails. He only smiled and pushes you into his chest. “You can get used to it, I’ll get you everything you want…” he leaned down to place a kiss on your forehead.

“You’re mine now.”

#jacaerys velaryon #yandere rhaenrya targaryen x reader #yandere jacaerys velaryon x reader #jacaerys velaryon x reader #rhaenrya targaryen x reader #yandere house targaryen x reader #yandere house of the dragon #house of the dragon x reader #yandere house of the dragon x reader #house of the dragon #yandere jacaerys valaryon #yandere rhaenyra targaryen x reader #yandere rhaenrya targaryen #fictober #fictober 2023

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puzzled-pegasus · 1 month

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On the ADHD demigods' stim habits (headcanon list)

Percy

He talks and mutters to himself a lot and he also paces around his cabin

Restless Leg(TM)

He used to chew on things a lot but adults told him that he was Not Allowed to bite pencils or shirt sleeves or paper or anything so his outlet is mostly snacks, chewy candy is the best for this

Someone get him a seashell chewy necklace please

Oh you know what they should have stim toys at the CHB gift shop for all the ADHD kiddos

He also probably cracks his knuckles and joints a lot

He hums when there's a song stuck in his head and it's really annoying but he can't really stop it cause he doesn't notice until someone gets mad at him and then hes like ??

Annabeth

Annabeth tends to chew up her pencils a lot

She also compulsively daydreams and builds designs of buildings in her head and reviews lists of stuff she wants to remember

She finds herself doing random math while she's supposed to be paying attention. Like if someone is telling her something and her brain drifts off more often than not she's looking at something around and being like "let me just calculate how many bricks are probably in that stack over there" or "hmm i wonder how many gallons of water are in the canoe lake"

She also gets distracted if there's any other social interactions of people around her and she just people watches and makes inferences about what people are feeling and whats going on in their lives

Also she chews her hair and sometimes puts little braids in it

She picks at her skin too a lot and sometimes pulls out strands of hair

Piper

Piper flaps her hands a lot especially when she's excited

She flips and braids her hair too

If she has feathers on her she will sometimes take it out if she's bored and either preen it with her fingers or use it to tickle someone to annoy them

She sings a lot but mostly to herself and sometimes she can be heard humming or softly singing without noticing

If she has any kind of paper available, like notebook paper or napkins or maybe candy or gum wrappers, sometimes she'll make little origami things

She also picks at her nails quite a bit

Leo

Leo has the most stims that he's unable to mask, as we know already.

He taps on surfaces and messes with his clothing a lot

He also whistles sometimes which can get annoying to people around him so he tries not to do that but if he's alone or really concentrating on something he will

He will also play with pretty much anything he finds on the ground like paper clips and those office clamp things and he'll take apart mechanical pencils and pens and put them back together and if he finds a tack or a safety pin or something there's a 90 percent chance he'll stab it through the skin of his finger(s)

If he's outside he'll pick up leaves and flowers and shred them or pick up sticks and break them

He was also probably one of those kids who would put glue on his hands so he could peel it off

Jason

i wasnt sure if Jason had ADHD but I looked it up and it said he did so oh well lol

Hes like. Freakily good at masking stims and it kinda creeps everyone out especially the CHB demigods

BUT he still has them

He have the restless leg

He also does like random stretching sometimes

When he's standing in one place for a while he kinda stands on one leg or bounces his heels

Sometimes he'll pick up objects from the ground or something and play with it like Leo does, especially if he's outside and there's like rocks or something

He does a similar thing to Annabeth too but instead of math he'll try to identify any animal noises or animals he sees like birds in the sky or like if he hears a dog bark he'll try to figure out what kind of dog

Hazel

Hazel's stims are the least obvious but they are definitely there.

If she has a view of outside she will gaze out of the window or look around her and figure out how many types of trees or whatever that she can see

She will also mess with the seams or edges of her clothing

If she has paper around she'll draw horses or other animals or sometimes people or she'll practice her cursive letters and make them fancy

She picks at her skin and her hair as well

Frank

Frank does not have ADHD. He sits there quietly and everyone thinks hes weird. Sometimes he gets wiggly if he's nervous but otherwise nah

#heroes of olympus headcanon #heroes of olympus #pjo hoo #hoo #the seven demigods

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macaroonff · 2 months

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This Autumn, - Shin Ryujin

Genre: Roommates x lovers, College +Domestic Au, Autumn feels Pairing: Shin Ryujin x fem! Reader ↪Content warnings: Mentions of a dysfunctional families, slight angst, mentions of homophobia, mention of insecurities Word Count: 7k+ words Suggested Songs: We found Love in October- Girl In Red I wanna be your girlfriend- Girl in Red Bubble gum- Clairo Duvet- Bôa October Passed Me By- Girl in Red Girls-Girl in Red Softly- Clairo You know where this playlist is heading- feel free to recommend more ↪not proofread

Sometimes fall meant that the clarity of summer had ended, and that the dryness wasn't accompanied by sweat, but by the heaviness of hoodies and the bareness of barks. A bore compared to the freedom and excitement that summer offered; a dispirited time when you look back to the last three months.

Of course autumn wasn't all bad. The colours took on a warmer palette as the trees bore themselves devoid of its warmth: warmth which could be found in campfires and cosy sheets; in people's hugs and weighted blankets; in hot lattes, crunchy leaves and early sunsets.

But when assignments piled up from the start of the season, finding opportunities to revel in such warmth seemed unsuccessful. You hurriedly tried composing yourself from last month's activities: internships, staycations and pool parties, returning from a whirlwind of adrenaline. It was exhausting, and you were burnt out before the semester even started.

But a student you were; a decent one you tried to be, as you file your assignments, albeit slowly due to sleep deprivation. The first week of autumn went by with professors dumping assignments immediately as you try to ease the pace at which you deal with it. Clearly, autumn had you drained from day one.

Autumn hated you more than you hated it.

Autumn, two weeks in wasn't too bad. You took time to catch up on deadlines, you made plans with friends, went on walks and you got especially close to your new roommate. Her name was Ryujin, a dark haired divinity with prominent features that meshed gently. Someone who never forgot to get you your daily dose of iced latte and her favourite mocha bread from the café opposite your dorm.

It started when she came back from her evening lectures on a Thursday, holding one mug in her hand, a woolly scarf tucked into her shirt. She came in to see you with hands knitted in your hair, frustrated at the work you had, feet bobbing in concentration.

A small 'hi' was all that you returned when you noticed her presence.

"Another stressful assignment?," she asks, concerned. Her low timbre is soothing and takes you out of your sums for a brief moment, a sigh escaping your chapped lips.

"It’s calculus." You make eye contact for the first time since she entered, a polite smile greeting her, though the frown almost tilted the other way.

She waved her hands in a light motion acknowledging your concern, the room key in her palm dangling in it to make a soft clack.

"Understandable, it's a real headache, especially since you're in Mr Lee’s course. Anything I could help you with?"

"I just need a break," you reply dejectedly, hoping to get away from your monotonous, monstrous tasks.

"Wanna watch a movie?" she asks, a soft grin hiding on her face. She watches your ears perk up and your eyes shine at the suggestion, to which a chuckle remains stuck in her throat.

"Why don't you choose something and I'll join you after I'm done freshening up." she hands you the remote before walking into her room, grabbing her white towel from the laundry rack.

You sit in silence and wallow in contemplation. Choosing a movie, should be easy.

Would a sappy rom-com distracting you from your lamentable, gapingly non-existent love life suffice? Or did you need another of those poorly directed and filmed action ones, which would, undoubtedly help you fix your sleep schedule. But then again, would Ryujin watch it? What’s a movie she’d like? Slice of life? Coming of age? Horror?

A change in the lighting of the room, and Ryujin’s tap on your shoulder was what eventually brought you out of your dilemma, and you take your vacant stare off of the blank tv screen towards your roommate instead.

The warm lights had blurred everything in the background in a way that it brought Ryujin’s face into focus, a soft glow emanating from her cheeks. Her hair was wet, the towel lazily wrapped around her supple hair, doing a measly job at keeping it from seeping into her t-shirt. Her oversized black t-shirt had patches of darker spots that clinged to her because of it, making you worried she might catch a cold. You rush to hand her a new towel, one that would actually help.

“Don’t catch a cold, not the best time of the year to fall sick.” you whisper.

She smiles in appreciation and holds your arm, accepting the fabric for you. "You're cold too y/n. It'd probably be best for us to grab some blankets."

After ten minutes of rummaging through your creaky cabinets and five minutes of popping corn, you were ready to distance yourself from your headaches, with new-found warmth in your newly washed duvets.

Snug and pressed against the cushions of the sofa, with your head on her shoulder. Snug as she pats your back until the television's whisper no longer has your attention and you find your heavy eyelids closing on their own.

Snug as you embrace sleep after months of running away from it.

Snug, however, wasn't what you felt when you woke up in the morning, blankets tangled between your legs, and an annoying ache in your ribs, due to the crushing weight of your favourite cushion.

Snugness was replaced by the bitterness of another new day, and your long forgotten assignments weighed heavier than they did before.

All of a sudden last night's peace was something you regretted. And you regret having been swayed by someone you considered an acquaintance.

If Shin Ryujin hadn’t offered, you'd never have taken a break. You'd never have given yourself the opportunity to be wasteful with time. You shouldn't have been tempted by the thought of a moment's freedom.

Freedom that remained a mirage. A mirage that showed you a time of comfort. Comfort that would last one evening until you'd have to revisit everything you ran away from.

What's the point in having comfort if it's given by someone you interact with for three hours a day? What was the point in comfort if it was momentary?

Shin Ryujin was a roommate you'd have for only two more months until her grandparent's apartment was done with renovations.

Shin Ryujin was temporary.

Autumn three weeks in, was no different. Except that your backlog had increased, your sleep schedule got worse and all that you cared about was getting over with your to-do lists. How you had energy to do everything one by one remained a mystery, but you soon realised that it wasn’t energy that drove you to finish work, but the fear of running out of it sooner or later. As if it wasn’t already obvious, you were on the brink of burnout.

Not that you hated burnout. For some reason being burnt out meant that you'd be forced to take time out for mental health sooner or later. You would be forced to slow down like you did last week.

Sitting down and finally looking back, last week felt like a distant memory so far away from your reality. It was a privilege you gave yourself, and it was so worth it, contrary to what you felt immediately. She was right, the movie did help, the movie did get you back into a safe space from your anxiety; and you never cared to thank her for it.

You’d do it today. Thanking her. You absolutely had to.

You spent the next ninety minutes planning the best way to return the favour. Essentially, you spent the next ninety minutes going back on all the little things Ryujin did for you. Which led to the realisation that her love language was a careful amalgamation of acts of service, quality time and physical touch.

“Maybe I’ll just bake mocha bread. I couldn’t go wrong with that,” you contemplate. You weren’t the best baker on earth, however you had enough experience to go ahead with it.

All you needed was milk, eggs, flour, yeast, sugar and coffee. Everything you had at home, really not much could go wrong.

Until it did. There was no way the universe would let you have anything good before your semester tests. Of course it had to sabotage you when you tried to do one thing with actual love behind it.

The microwave oven she brought in with her beeped once before a loud pop stopped you in your tracks. It was overheated, and nothing you did brought the irksome device back to life. No matter how many buttons you pushed vigorously, or hit the back of it tiresomely, the empty black box on the door showed no sign of the tiny numbers signalling time left.

Time left. You look at the Ikea clock hung on the wall. Ten minutes more for the bread to be baked until completion, and thirty minutes until she’d come back and discover this mess and the damage to her microwave.

And boy does she love that microwave.

Shin Ryujin knew something was wrong when she entered later at night, almost too late for you to be up right now, just a little before midnight, the smell of sweet coffee greeting her. She’d gone to visit the apartment her grandparents had bought for her, a half hour from here. She was so caught up in finalising the layout that she forgot to mention that she’d be late home. What’s worse was that she had got caught in heavy traffic, and her phone lost charge in the middle of dialling you.

And when she got up here, completely spent from the work, it took very little for her to be consumed by frustration. Not particularly because of you. None of it had to do with you. She knew that the tedious microwave was ancient and that her parents only gave it to her to get rid of it. She also knew that she should’ve told you about it sooner, before it actually became a problem. So no, in no way was this your fault.

She looked at your head buried under your arm on the dining table with a mitten on one hand and a post-it under your elbow. The post-it didn’t say much, just scribbled and crossed out words that all seemed to resemble different “I’m sorrys" and “microwaves". You had multiple other post-its crumpled nearby and she picked all of them up and carefully opened them one by one. Between the creases, one said, “I’m so sorry for the microwave Ryujin, ik you treasure it because your parents lent it to you. I just wanted to thank you for last week and I thought I’d bake your favourite but -” it stopped there at which point you must’ve crumpled it.

Ryujin let her sight wander across the baking utensils washed and stacked neatly on the drying rack and a box of half baked, burnt dough nearby. She smiles, both grateful and apologetic, an urge to caress your head settling in. She takes a closer look at you, trying to figure how she could deposit you to your bed.

She slowly lifts your head up, wiping excess dough from near your frowning mouth, and her eyes wander up, to your slightly fluttering eyelids facing the yellow lights. It was then under the warm lights that she noticed semi-dried tears under your lashes. Another surge of guilt ran through her, thinking of how worried you must’ve been.

In the cold kitchen, she lifts you off the chair as carefully as she can and gently drags you across the living room. It was when she’d propped you against the headboard that you stir awake.

Through half-lidded eyes, you take in whatever you can. Ryujin was holding on to your hand gasping slightly.

“Ryujin?” you whisper.

“Shit I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she looks at you a little surprised.

“I’m so sorry-” you mumble in desperation.

“Shh," she places a palm over your eyes, "don’t worry about it love. Go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning”

You aren’t convinced but you also realise that now isn’t the best time to talk. Ryujin’s eyebags seemed deeper in the warm light and you knew both of you needed a decent rest. It had been a hectic time for the two of you, and all you needed was sleep.

Ryujin still had the benevolence to pull the blanket over you and stroke your hair until you fell asleep.

It was the second time you fell asleep in her arms.

The following weekend you were on a shopping trip.

At a semi-large Ikea warehouse about forty minutes away from the campus. It was Ryujin's idea to come out here despite you convincing her to find a shop closer, but she insisted.

"Trust me, it'll be fun. We can look at furniture too."

Of course, she needed new furniture. It slowly dawns on you that you have very little time to spend with her in your home. Home.

You don't remember the last time you called your dorm a home. For all that you knew, it was a messy damp space that you couldn't wait to escape from, an absolute nightmare with it's cramped furniture. But it was cosy, something you couldn't deny now.

Maybe because you were with her. All her little habits that grew on you, her impeccable daily routine that had become a source of stability in your life, even her lesser known quirks such as keeping a picture of her two cats at home framed on her desk and kissing the before going to her classes in the morning.

You admired all of it, and it wouldn't have been the same if it were someone else. You never felt like this with your previous room mates. They were just people who lived in their own solitary spaces. But with Ryujin, somehow you were involved in most housework together. You felt involved, and somewhere more loved than in your own home.

Your family wasn't bad, at least on the surface. They never compromised when it came to your education or your standard of living. But somewhere between those lines were impossible expectations they wouldn't hold themselves to either. And you got tired of them easily. They hid toxicity behind "criticism", where criticism only meant negatives beyond your control. Your last year of high school, particularly faced extreme criticism, and you felt your confidence dipping. You managed though. You're not entirely sure how you coped, but with support from school, you managed a scholarship, a meagre one but still enough to get away from your family.

You hadn't seen them in three years.

Ryujin, on the other hand, had a lovely family, and you were, at times jealous of how perfect she seemed; how perfect everything around her seemed.

She seemed to have every aspect of her life in order. Whether it be top of the class majoring in Business, or being captain of the girl's football team, or the fact that she could spare three hours to stay with her paint brushes and that they would come out having the entire beauty of the universe encompassed in them. She could manage being both a homebody, while still being popular in school, she could be assertive when she needed to be without actually disturbing the fragile ego of most in her class.

She surpassed every definition of balance mentioned in the dictionary. She was living it, breathing it. Stability.

You admired her, a lot, but you couldn't stop this ridiculously miniscule base of malevolence in your heart. And every day you were scared it would become worse.

Especially now, when all she wanted was to spend precious time with you, constantly putting effort into your friendship whereas you were held back by bitter thoughts. And you hated yourself for it.

You force back your envy, distracting yourself by browsing through the shelves of cutlery displayed. You notice the absence of Ryujin's presence, and slowly find yourself lost in this maze of a shop. Maybe it was better that she wasn't in this aisle now, or else you wouldn't be able to face her with the guilt of having thought of her so poorly.

You find yourself interested in the array of pretty pink melamine plates stacked in front of you, in the stainless steel spoons with animal handles, and little napkin holders shaped like boats. You pick up different pans, weighing how heavy each is, looking to keep your brain unnecessarily busy. If you spend a second more comparing yourself with Ryujin, you knew you wouldn't be able to think of anything else for the entire day, or week.

You remember what your therapist told you, all the comfort and validation that you needed pouring in through words. You open up your notes, all the affirmations typed out one by one. You repeat them in your mind, with a new goal in sight.

You wouldn't let your insecurity ruin another good relationship. Especially not with Ryujin.

She emerges after some time, holding in her hand, a grey device, and a grin painted on her face. "I think this is the one. It's a cool toaster cum oven sort of thing, and it's cheap," she winks at you.

How was she so decisive? you think again. It had only taken her fifteen minutes. If it were you, you'd have taken forty minutes more.

"I trust your decision," you reply, giving her a soft smile. You notice her eyebrows raise a little. "You sure?," she asks. "You usually don't agree this fast. You have this terrible habit of sitting on decisions for ages." she rambles on.

You take a moment to process this. You knew it was true, and she probably didn't mean malice, but it was not something you'd accept easily.

Ryujin never had to think twice about what she wanted. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she always got it. Whereas every decision you seemed to make bore consequences you didn't want. And often, the times you didn't heavily weight them out was when things backfired. The last time being with the microwave oven.

It was the only way you knew to trust yourself.

So it irks you greatly when Ryujin calls it a "terrible habit". Because for you, it was a habit that gave you security. Certainty wasn't achievable, but you'd try as fucking close as you could get, and Shin Ryujin won't tell you otherwise.

She'd never understand how imperfect you were. She'd never understand the little complexities that hold you back. For the most part, she had life easy. What would she ever understand?

You ignore her comment, instead picking up a ceramic mug from the shelf, thumbing on the floral patterns glazed onto it.

Ryujin barely senses your predicament, instead grabbing onto the mug placed besides the one you hold onto. "These are pretty, it's like a cute matching set. We should get them," she winks.

The rest of the day follows with more furniture in your cart, and mostly unnecessary plushies plaguing your living room. New pillows, potted plants, wardrobe organisers, a work desk and the biggest Djungelskog bear lying near the couch.

It dawns on you the next morning, after waking up to the chaos, that she was shifting out in two weeks.

On the first of October.

All of a sudden she was busy, very busy, and the two of you barely met, with bigger gaps in your schedule. Part of it was because of Ryujin arranging her main furniture in her new house, and part of it was because you were busy with academics, only that it was voluntary this time. It just so happened that you needed a few more credits to retain your scholarship, the only thing weighing your new found freedom. Along with that, you busied yourself so that you didn't have to face Ryujin later at night.

You were scared. Other than the obvious rent that you'd have to pay by yourself, you also avoided other parts of this change that bothered you. Which was spending time with her. You were scared you'd miss her a bit too much.

Sure, you were friends who were only half an hour away, but now that her colourful room started fading into a bleak white, the emptiness of it reminded you of why you hated autumn. The fall orange left you feeling lonely, and like the very leaves that craved pigmentation, you craved more life. Regardless of the minimal time you spent with her in the evenings, she slowly integrated herself into your life in the smaller ways.

Now they weigh too much in your life for you to be able to cope without it. You ended up distancing yourself from her, in a pathetic attempt to cope with the anticipation of absence. Maybe you just needed more friends, the thought crossing your mind a lot more these days. But you had plenty of them at uni, most of who you loved. But none of them were Ryujin.

None of them cared for you as much as she did. None of them taught you how to care for yourself like she did. None of them held you in their arms throughout the night, until you felt rested and loved. Nobody inspired you as much as Ryujin did.

Maybe Ryujin wasn't just a friend, something you were scared to consider in the past few weeks. It was a feeling completely new. Other than a failed situation-ship in high school, you never considered the possibility of a relationship, much less exploring your sexuality.

It was an intimidating prospect that you hadn't considered. Something that initiated urgency more than curiosity. Unlike the diverse spectrum that your feelings for Shin Ryujin belonged to, your thoughts focused on just one. She was important in more ways than platonic, and the distance that was to be would be extremely difficult to cope with. The distance that you had created seemed silly, but at the same time there was nothing you could think to resolve the conflict. You were going against this wall you'd built for yourself, and the facade of distance only grew day by day. So much so that at one point, Ryujin stopped approaching you first.

In a way, you deserved it. For someone who had been so unreceptive to her life as a coping method, this is the least you deserved for being a little jerk. Why would someone pursue any relationship, even platonic if you'd put yourself back into the mega cage you thought you'd escaped from. Something you'd escaped from only temporarily in her presence. Something you're going back to by the next week when she's gone.

You suffer multiple sleepless nights, the mid terms only a catalyst to your loneliness, when all you remember is Ryujin and her quirks.

You do accept another roommate later on, a mutual contact in your friend group, someone who was introduced to you by Ryujin herself. She'd dropped in a small text at 8 in the morning, on the way to class, you'd assumed. All it did was talk about how a common friend, Yeji needed a room to stay.

You accepted it of course, because you didn't have to foot the entire month's bill but also because you thought having someone else would curb your loneliness. And this loneliness was stupid. Ryujin wasn't the only thing you had in your entire life, and she should've been inconsequential, the same way the daylight hours gradually decreased. But it isn't too hard to notice once the sun's gone down.

The new roommate was like a transition from summer to winter, but unlike Ryujin , who helped ease the transition between the seasons, this one only reminded you that it would be cold. She wasn't a bad roommate, no she was perfect, did the laundry on Wednesdays, did the evening dishes at 6 and gave you lots of personal space. She was nice, but not like Ryujin.

You hated how you compared her to Ryujin, how you compared everything to her. "She isn't your entire world," you remind yourself. "Shin Ryujin was only temporary."

You'd decided that your feelings for her were only a means for you to be validated. That was all you'd craved from her, and that was all she'd given you- validation.

On October 15th, you feel relieved. Your mid terms were over with and you had a little bit of free time. Were you going to spend it wisely? Of course not.

You were going to sit in bed all day, scrolling through Youtube, a luxury you'd afford yourself rarely in the last month. You went home early, to a somewhat excitable Yeji. Another rare sight.

"What's up?" you ask her, noticing her vibrant demeanour.

"Nothing much, Ryujin's coming over today."

You're surprised to hear this, and a little disappointed that Ryujin never told you herself. Or maybe there was no reason to, it's not like you kept in touch with her.

"That's cool, are you guys ordering something? Or should I make food for you two?" you offer, realising the amount of free time you had.

"We'll just order pizza," she replies. She hesitates for sometime, as if she has something to say. "Y/n?" she calls out slowly.

"Hmm?" "...you're nothing like what Ryujin described you as."

You still in your spot.

"It's just that you're really kind you know. I thought you'd be more distant, and cold."

"Ryujin said that? About me?"

She nods her head.

Is that really how she saw you? Distant and cold? Sure you were closed off towards the end, but is that really who you were to her? After all the good memories? You weren't sure anymore, insecurity creeping inside you.

It hurt. Was it this easy for people to be unforgiving? But then again, you never apologised, so in a weird way what Yeji relayed sounded justified.

You offer her a stiff smile.

"I'll be in my room then, tell me if you need anything."

Dejected, you go back to your blank room, where even the orange of autumn feels comforting, something you hated previously. You stay inside the entire evening, occasional sounds of muffled laughter behind your walls being all that you focus on for the duration. Every time you heard her laugh loudly from behind the door, you wondered if she ever laughed like that in front of you. Did you ever make her feel happy? The same way she did to you?

You want to go out and say hi, but after what Yeji said, you stop yourself. She must hate you now, there was no other way.

It isn't later at night, after you're sure the laughter was no more, and only when the silence of the room becomes comforting, you step out to see a dim blue light in the darkness of the living room, Yeji working on the dining table. "Y/n, didn't come out to say hi to Ryujin?" she asks, with pity that sounds forced.

"Yeah, no I was just napping," you lie, "did anything fun happen?"

"Mhm, we were discussing Ryujin's blind date tomorrow with a senior from the engineering department. Apparently, he's handsome," she shrugs her shoulder.

"Ryujin likes boys?" you ask without realising.

"Hmm, I'm not sure actually."

A small part of you feels dejected as you get a glass of water, all while contemplating if you should have reached out.

"You like her don't you?" Yeji whispers, looking up from her laptop.

It's the second time you still in your spot. Yeji had brought up something you never thought was prominent.

"Your lights were on, I could tell from your slightly ajar door. You weren't sleeping were you?" she gives you a knowing smile.

"I'm not judging you- it's just that it's obvious that you miss her. It may or not may be romantic- but you do miss her don't you?". You don't know how to reply to her. You barely knew Yeji, but somehow she very accurately read your emotions.

As if she knows what you're thinking, she continues.

"You know, every time that I've tried bringing up Ryujin, you've always changed the conversation, instead isolating yourself in your room."

Looking back, it made sense. You didn't want to think about her anymore. Your meeting with Ryujin's was temporary and never mattered. It was almost crazy how dependent you were on her within just a few months.

" I realised that I don't know much about Ryujin, nor does she about me. Sure I know she loves mocha bread, she loves her big Ikea Djungelskog soft toy, that she's watched the perks of being a wallflower more times than she can count; but I don't think I could be truly vulnerable with her. I'm scared to be vulnerable with her."

Yeji sighs, almost disappointed. She went back to working, despite her twitching lips, like she had more to say.

That night, you reflect for longer. Why was it that you felt scared to lean on Ryujin? Technically you told her about troubles with academics, problems with some of your classmates- that is considered being vulnerable right? Then what was it that you wanted her to know, but you never wanted to admit? Was it your insecurities? Was it the thought she'd never understand it?

It was like your mind had accepted that you and Ryujin had come from two different worlds, and if you invited her into yours, she would run away, like your family. Despite you coming to terms with it, the distance with your family was a wound still fresh. And nothing would change, until you could put it behind you.

25th October, Yeji handed you an invite to one of her friend's Halloween parties.

After your confession, she'd been a little nicer; she was more active in initiating conversations, and you realised she was more extroverted than your first impression. Eventually, you did watch the Maze Runner with her again, and you appreciated how she gushed about Dylan O'Brien throughout it, dispelling any awkward moments.

"I designed this invitation by the way, cool isn't it?", she asks about the party invitation in your hand. It had black bat details engraved in a glossy reflective paper. "Please come, we've had a difficult week, one party won't hurt will it?" she states, the question more rhetorical.

You agree quietly, excitement bubbling in you.

Until it did hurt, a week later.

Barely five minutes after you enter the loud, congested apartment, with strangers in costumes, you felt a part of your heart drop. There was a tight feeling in your chest, something you were sure wasn't because of the new corset you wore. Because you felt comfortable seconds before you saw Ryujin with her hands wrapped around this guys neck, kissing him on the couch as if he were her entire life. At first, you weren't even sure it was her- her hair was shorter, dyed a platinum blonde. She wore a leather jacket and a white skater dress, dressed so differently than what you were used to seeing her in.

You weren't able to comprehend how good she looked in his arms, with all her attention focused on him, smiling. The same smile that you'd missed for a month. When she does look away from the vampire- you assumed was her boyfriend, her eyes scan the crowd and she almost looks bewildered. You were stood so motionless near the entrance from where you could see them, that even the crowd that pushed past you couldn't bring you to move. It was suffocating, and unconsciously you head for the exit, looking to get away.

But fate wouldn't be so kind would it? The universe wouldn't just let you be would it? "Are you leaving already y/n?" Yeji screams from across the room, which you were sure was audible to everyone. She finds her way to you, a smile on her face. "You just came in, why are you leaving? Cool outfit by the way."

"Thanks," you offer her a stiff smile, eyes going back to Ryujin, who because of Yeji, had finally found you.

Yeji, who just noticed the tension, holds your hand and pulls you towards Ryujin.

"Atleast say hi, y/n, it won't hurt."

Yeji's assurance of "it won't hurt" was what brought you here, it was indeed what hurt you. Her saying this now wasn't helping, and you scoff. It was almost like Yeji knew this was going to happen. It was like she knew how much it hurt you, and may even enjoy it.

"Why did you invite me Yeji? You knew about this didn't you? It hurts, I..I shouldn't have come." you spit out, trembling.

"Y/n, there's something you need to know."

"What? that she has a boyfriend?" you spat, annoyed by her deception.

Yeji sighs, holding onto your shoulders, somewhat urgent.

"No, it's something only Ryujin can tell you. Please, just talk to her. This once."

At this point, you couldn't trust anyone, neither Yeji, Ryujin, nor yourself. It was like you were at different crossroads- to run away, or to confront her again. She hadn't even done anything wrong, all she did was kiss a guy. She didn't owe you anything.

You choose to run away, until you notice Ryujin approaching you with her boyfriend. It's like she withheld any decision you make, with her forcing you into a circumstance you would not choose for yourself.

"Y/n?" she asks softly. Her otherwise comforting voice now made you uncomfortable, almost bringing you to tears by how much you missed it.

"It's been so long," she holds your hand gently.

Her hands felt colder than before, and before you could say anything, the tall, matching vampire spoke up.

"Hi y/n, I'm Jason, her boyfriend. I've heard a lot about you." he looks friendly, and he doesn't seem to hold any malice. But you still hated this guy.

"You have?" you ask saltily. "...good things I hope." you couldn't help but say drily, hands fiddling with the witch hat you'd worn.

"A moment please love," Ryujin signs to her boyfriend, who goes towards the bar with Yeji.

Ryujin takes your hand and drags you towards what you assume to be the bedroom, away from the crowd.

You enter the bedroom with her, with your head ringing because of the way she called him love. You remember how she'd called you love the day you'd tried baking, the day you'd fallen asleep in her arms. You thought the word "love" meant nothing, that it was an endearing term with no implications. But if that was the case- why did she address him as love?

Jealousy eventually overrode the confusion, and the hurt that stained you previously had multiplied. You couldn't feel more stressed, it was so much more than any calculus assignment you'd ever come across.

"Are you crying?" she eventually speaks, eyes concerned. You didn't even realise the visible tears falling down your cheek slowly, your mascara ruined in the reflection of the mirror behind her.

"What do you wanna talk about Ryujin?" you huff. "Y/n, do you need time to calm down? I don't think you're in the mood to talk."

"I'm fine. Just get to the point please." you say, barely concentrating on what was going on. She comes in to hug you, but you step back.

She looks upset by this, seemingly as confused as you. "I...I thought we were friends y/n," she whispers in the same tone she'd always used to comfort you. "We weren't this far apart were we? Why do you hate me?" she raises her voice in desperation.

This was an accusation you could not believe she had made, hate was too strong for what you felt for her.

"I don't hate you Ryujin." you speak, resigned. "Then why do you look so upset, why can't you even say hi?" she emphasises, her voice breaking in between.

"Because it hurts... I can't"

You fall against the bed post. Eyes finding the bear plushie you bought her. You slowly realise that this is her bedroom, and that you were in her new house- the apartment you'd never come to before. You were barely able to process all of this when she speaks up again.

"You can't what y/n? You can't accept the fact that you like me?" You look back at her, eyes widened, as though whatever little sanity you had remaining was destroyed like the branches of an autumn tree- fallen, and weak. It was almost humiliating.

"I don't like you Ryujin," you hide behind your words like a coward. "Don't lie to yourself y/n, is it that difficult to accept that you like me?"

You don't know where this was coming from. If she knew you liked her, couldn't she just let you down gently?

"What does it matter? You have a boyfriend. Even if I did like you; no even if I loved you, nothing would change." you say dejectedly. It must have been true, because there was silence that persisted for longer than you wished it would be.

"What if it did change? What if I said I liked you too? Would you believe me?" she asks quietly, reverting back to her calm persona as she takes a big breath. You scoff, noticing how different she had become in a month. The audacity she had to ask you if you believed her, right after making out with her boyfriend in front of everyone in the room disgusted you, something you don't think you'd ever be able to comprehend.

"Why would I believe you? I saw your boyfriend. Besides, if you did like me, you'd be honest with me. I think that's the least I'd expect from you, so don't play with my feelings; because unlike yours, I can say with conviction that mine are real."

You see her expression change, her eyes becoming teary.

She sits beside you, against the wooden footboard. "I can't be honest, because I'm scared. There's so many people watching me- so many people who my family knows. I barely had, or still have any privacy in my life. Do you know why my grandparents left me this apartment? Because they don't trust me." she pauses for a minute. Taking another deep breath, eyes now fixed on to the floor.

You don't know where she's going with this, but don't say anything because this may be the last time you'd get any closure.

"There was a girl I really liked in high school, but we could never be together, because my family refused to let me meet her. They pretend to be liberal in their thoughts- but they're as homophobic as they get. There's no way they'd understand. The only time I felt safe was in our dorm, because there was no one who would snitch on me, nobody who cared. It was utopia- where you were my solace, and I just basked in the temporary peace.

But when my grandparents asked about you, they'd worry I'd gotten too close to you, refusing to believe you could be just a friend. Two months after I shifted in to our dorm, they made preparations to isolate me in this house of theirs."

She couldn't continue, as tears you'd never seen from her before, collected as a tiny stream between the cracks of the tiles on the cold floor. You understood what she meant. In an evening's moment, you realised that she wasn't this perfect being that she always projected. Yes, she was amazing, but she had her own challenges, something you thought she'd never had. Unlike the two different worlds you thought you were in, your access into her world made you realise you were more similar than you could've imagine. All of a sudden you hated your past self for being so mean to her, for harbouring insecurities that in hindsight were not worth the pain.

"Jason, is my neighbourhood friend, and he's the one of the few people I can trust. He's pretending to be my boyfriend, so that if my family ever found out, they wouldn't doubt me." she explains, trying to resolve your distrust.

"I'm so sorry," you whisper, leaning your head against her shoulder, gently holding onto her hand."

The two of you sit their in silence, reflective, though relieved.

She gently kisses your forehead, arms wrapping around your waist.

"I missed you y/n. So much. But I'm also scared to go back to you, to our place. I don't know what we're going to do. I'm sorry too, for the situation I put you in. For the situation I've put both of us in."

You rub her arms gently,

"It's ok, we'll figure it out slowly. I'm sorry too . You were always there for me- and I, like the coward I am was scared of being attached to you, your generous love . I was also so insecure of how perfect you were- but now it's all so inconsequential."

To this Ryujin laughs, and she wipes her tears. "It's funny how both of our insecurities hurt us in the end. I promise, I wont' let it affect us in the future. I won't ever hurt you again y/n. I love you, so much."

"I love you too Ryujin."

You know that it's going to be a long road ahead of the two of you, but you'll be alright. You comb through her hair, leaning in to meet her lips. Her quivering lips are not soft as you expected, but slightly chapped, brushing against yours. She drags a cold finger down your spine, causing you to lose your breath. Her pulling you closer, slipping behind your corset, unzipping it. Your hands are tangled in her short locks, and you pull away in between to breathe.

With the kiss, and this new path, the autumn you hated so had come to an end. Autumn had become easier to think about, among the loneliness of the dry leaves and the warmth devoid in the air, you'd treasure the warmth that she provided. Shin Ryujin, unlike autumn wasn't temporary. Autumn will come and go, but Shin Ryujin would always stay, and you'd treasure her in every season. In the end, autumn didn't hate you as much you did, because despite everything, autumn gifted you Shin Ryujin.

Am I actually posting an autumn fic when its almost summer? Yes, yes I am. This is long overdue and idk why it took me this long to finish it ahhhh.

I appreciate any feedback, feel free to interact with this post!

Thanks for reading <3

-Macaroon

#itzy fanfic #ryujin x reader #ryujin x you #ryujin fanfiction #shin ryujin imagines #shin ryujin x reader #itzy fanfictions #itzy x reader #itzy x yn #itzy flf #itzy imagines #kpop imagines #shin ryujin fanfic #ryujin ff

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darkestprompts · 9 months

Note

What do you think everyone’s “Beast” form would look like if they all had Bigby’s curse?”

You mean if they were all fur-- *shot*

Bonnie: a type of salamander creature. She would literally eat fire to survive, as it was though salamanders did back in the day. Not very strong, but with impressive regenerative powers.

Paracelsus: a mix of a ghoul and a shrieker. Her beak is long and thin to pick apart bodies with impressive precision. Bulbous sacks on her back that burst and spread blight. Pincers instead of hands.

Sarmenti: overly long bones that force him to bend forward, often on all fours. A long neck with a smooth, mask-like face. Can produce all sorts of strange sounds from its throat. They are strangely beautiful and melodic, yet ominous and chilling to the point of madness. Erratic behavior, difficult to predict or understand.

Tardif: his face would look much like a barn owl, but the apparent beak would open to reveal a huge jaw with many small, razor-sharp teeth. Padded paws and retractable hook-like claws for silent movement. The feathers fade into scales near his torso.

Missandei: Many eyes that shift, move and adapt to any conditions. The flexible mass of her head allow them to take any position, grow, reform, shrink. Darkness, light, long range, wider area, she can see all. Possesses a long tail with a needle-like appendage that she uses to strike at the enemy's vulnerabilities.

Reynauld: Part arthropod, part dragon. A combination of plates of silver chitin, curved horns, spikes down his spine and tail, mantis claws, crocodile teeth. Shows traditional draconic traits as well--greedy, territorial, clever in a savage, wicked way.

Amani: yeah, she's an easy one. Take the notion of Amani showing snake-like traits while using Aegis and turn it up to eleven. Her skin hardens, her eyes turn yellow with vertical slits, her fangs grow, her stump drips poison, she develops extra joints. Extremely lethal.

Audrey: a shadow creature, dissolving and reforming in darkness as needed, barely physical in the shade. Has a habit of consuming bones. Her skin now burns in the light even in her normal form, which is why she keeps the big hat.

Baldwin: a towering, eerie being that bears resemblance to a knobbly, rotting tree. Antlers resembling dry branches. Think of Over The Garden Wall's Beast, only with a much broader sillhouette and no ability or desire to reason. Sheds pieces of bleeding, bark-like skin.

Dismas: serrated claws and teeth made to mangle flesh and cause copious bleeding. Short, dense fur and loose skin that make it difficult to actually hurt him (think wolverines and badgers). Large bat ears that allow him to detect the slightest movement of prey.

William: close to a classic werewolf, with something of a broad mastiff head and neck, and very hard, stiff fur, almost like pine needles. One of the easiest to communicate with and handle, as his form is based on a fundamentally social creature. Fergus recognizes it well and does not fear it.

Alhazred: very similar to the DD2 evangelists or the ascended cultists in DD1. Unlike most transformations, he is still very much rational, but his conscience twists into something so inhuman that he becomes nearly impossible to comprehend.

Margaret: Thin body with an elongated snout reminiscent of a greyhound. Whiskers that detect movement. Straight horns that are followed by lines of quills along her body that can be used as projectiles.

Junia: think of a beastly ghost-woman, shambling forward and hissing through piraña teeth. A head of "hair" that covers her face but is actually a bunch of very thin jellyfish tentacles with the ability to provoke paralyzing stings. Her skin has a bright sheen and her eyes glow.

Damian: an ever-changing creature that continuously claws and bites itself, shedding acidic blood and growing new natural weapons out of shattered bone. When it bites, it leaves its teeth deep in the wound as his gums immediately regrow new ones in different sizes and shapes. One wonders how its form holds together.

Boudica: a terrifying combination of predator animals, harpy eagle claws, sabertooth fangs, enormous size, horrific roar and a shark's ability to track blood. Probably the most violent and overtly dangerous transformed hero.

Josephine: a sleek creature of many extra arms and eyes that releases a toxic breath. Beautiful iridescent feathers like a magpie. Fast, precise, often nervous in a defensive way. Tends to attack only in ambushes.

Barristan: thick skinned like a rhino, tusked like a boar, big heavy hooves, buffalo horns. Rarely needs to do much more than charge or trample an enemy. His bellows sound like they come from some otherwordly abyss.

#darkest dungeon #dd lists #dd ensemble #asks

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theladycarpathia · 2 years

Text

“This is invite only, Hargrove,” Robin says, firmly planting her feet in the middle of the door. The general appearance of Family Video is putting out signals that they are shut up for business. The blinds are closed, the lights are off and the sign on the front door clearly states ‘Closed for Private event.’ Keith was finally cool enough to let them use the back room of Family Video for a movie night, providing that he could come and Robin introduced him to the girls from Band. Whether any of them will be interested is another matter.

“I’m aware,” Billy says, chewing lazily on a piece of gum. Christ, he’s not even closing his mouth as he chews. Fuck knows why half the girls at school found him attractive - they’ve clearly not seen the white glob of gum being mashed between his teeth. “I was invited.”

“Oh yeah?” Robin challenges, because to her knowledge you had to be invited by either Keith, Steve or herself. They’d kept the list relatively small - Vickie, Lucy and Anna from school, Nancy and Jonathan, Eddie and Chrissy, Heather, Barb, and a few others from their collective high school years. She’d seen the list. She’d written the list. No way was Billy Hargrove on it. “By who?”

Billy’s shit-eating grin widens.

“By Harrington, of course,” he purrs, as though she’s one of those moms that used to lounge by the pool or book his lessons at the club. She can’t quite picture Billy teaching people tennis, not anymore than she could picture him teaching kids to swim. But apparently the white shorts have the same effect as the little red lifeguarding ones on the housewives of Hawkins. Gross.

Then his words register and she gawps at him.

“I really don’t fucking think so,” she says bluntly, because she’s heard enough about Billy and Steve. The Halloween party, the car race that ended up with both of them in jail, the scuffle at the basketball game, despite them both being on the same team. The two have a long and complicated history, and Robin knows this because she’s worked with Steve at various jobs for the last year and a half. Which means all she’s heard is bitching about Billy Hargrove for the last year and a half.

She’d heard enough even before she and Steve were friends. The dethroned King and the new kid on the block, having it out in a fight that ended with both of them bloodied and unconscious. Even she’d heard the whispers and discounted almost all of them immediately. It was a fight over Wheeler. No, it was a fight over another girl. No, it was definitely over Wheeler, because they were at the Byers place. Jonathan actually defeated both of them, leaving them passed out on his living room floor. There was so much shit and Robin had pegged all of it as untrue.

She knew enough of King Steve, the hair, the mouth, the legend. She’d vaguely seen Billy in the halls and at games. It wasn’t until he hung over her counter, a challenge in his eyes, that she’d realized some of the truth behind that fight. Realized a few things about Billy Hargrove that most of the kids at school wouldn’t.

She’s not sure Steve knows.

She thinks that Billy knows about her.

“I was invited,” he insists, casually leaning on the door-frame. He still dresses like a whore, Robin is amused to note. He’s wearing a shirt, if you can call revealing both tits and a hint of belly button ‘wearing.’ He’s wearing a pair of jeans so tight that they could be painted on, which is no improvement from the obscenely white shorts he wears at the club. Where teenage girls and suburban moms flock to in droves, just to adjust their tennis whites and hope to catch his eye.

Robin really wishes she could tell them that they’re barking up the wrong tree. She’s had Billy pegged since the day they opened Scoops and he turned up in a tank top and jeans, just to lounge in a booth with his cantankerous sister for half an hour. She didn’t even seem to want to be there, which had made Robin think.

He pulls out a cigarette and a lighter, even though he still has gum in his mouth. She sincerely hopes that he’s not the kind of person who just drops his old gum onto the sidewalk. But to her relief, he sticks it into the wrapper and stashes it in his pocket, cigarette dangling from his bottom lip. “Old Stevie and I are good pals now, haven't you heard?”

“No,” Robin retorts. Steve is her best friend, a fact that still baffles and delights her. Pitching up at Scoops last summer to find that the king of Hawkins High was her coworker hadn’t exactly filled her with joy.

But as it turns out, Steve is pretty cool. And they don’t keep secrets, which is why Robin is so sure that she would have heard about this little development.

Alright, so she’s kept Billy’s rather obvious crush secret, but that’s not hers to tell.

“Well, we are,” he says, shortly, exhaling a stream of smoke. His cool blue eyes flash briefly, a little of that hot temper making a reappearance. Robin smothers a grin.

“So,” she says casually, making sure she takes up as much space in the doorway as possible. It’s fucking freezing, because it’s November but she’s not about to miss the opportunity to mock him. “If I go and get old Stevie…he’ll totally say that he invited you because you’re such ‘good buds’. Did I get that right?” She watches his jaw clench, a familiar enough motion. Billy Hargrove is all coiled heat, an explosion just waiting for the right spark.

“That’s what I said,” he says, stubbing out his now smouldering, barely used, cigarette on the side of the building - thank fuck Keith isn’t out here to see this - and flicks it away. “Now can you go and get him before we both freeze our tits off out here?”

“Hey!” Steve appears behind Robin, bright in his favorite yellow sweater. He spots Billy in the doorway and fucking beams. Robin moves from feeling like she’s missed a step to feeling as though she’s just tumbled down the entire fucking staircase.

“Hey, Bambi,” Billy says easily, and nudges Robin out of the way, slipping inside the warmth of Family Video. He just…softens the moment he sees Steve, all of his previous aggression seeping away. Robin stares.

She doesn’t get it personally. Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington is just like any other guy. Nice enough hair, big dark eyes, pouty mouth. He’s not bad to look at. But she never got why it sent all the girls at school into raptures when he walked by, and she really doesn’t get it now.

“You made it!” Steve says, tugging awkwardly on a strand of hair that’s fallen in front of his eyes. “I didn’t think you were going to come.”

“Nearly didn’t,” Billy comments, flicking a disdainful glance at Robin. “I didn’t know your bouncer was going to be so effective.” Steve has the decency to look sheepish.

“I forgot to add your name to the list,” he mumbles, and Robin can smell the lie on him a mile off. He didn’t add Billy to the list on purpose, knowing full well he’d have to explain why he was inviting an asshole to their movie night. “Go in, I just have to…speak to Robin.”

Robin closes the door on the cold Indiana air and folds her arms across her chest. Steve waits until Billy has vanished behind the Employees Only red curtain.

“What the fuck, Harrington?” Robin demands, feeling unsettled and embarrassed. She hates that Billy has managed to show her up, but the core of her hurt lies in that Steve didn’t tell her. Actually willingly kept something from her. They’ve never done that, not since that night at Carol’s party where they both got totally wasted on some kind of punch and she told him about Tammy Thompson. Sharing secrets and a toilet bowl is what made them best friends.

“I’m sorry!” Steve pleads, an upset flush to his neck. “It was a last minute thing and I thought you wouldn’t approve. I mean, it’s Billy.”

“Well, yeah,” Robin says, flicking the lock on the door. Short of any more surprise visitors, everyone is here. They probably don’t have long before Keith demands they start the first film. “But I thought we hated Billy. You hate Billy. All I’ve heard for nearly two years is that he’s an asshole with stupid hair and stupid tight jeans and…” She trails off. Now that she’s said it all aloud she can hear herself. Can hear how Steve’s words sound, how familiar they are because she’s said things like that herself. How Becky Orchard thought she was all that in her training bra. That Beth Larsen’s new red lipstick was too bright and Robin couldn’t stop staring at it. That Tammy Thompson’s stupid perfume made her gag.

Oh yes. Robin’s said things like that before.

“Steve,” Robin says, slowly. “Do you have something that you want to tell me?”

Steve promptly looks terrified.

“It was dumb,” he mutters, eyes flicking down to the floor. “I don’t really…”

But what he means to say is lost as Keith barrels back through the curtains to demand that they start the film now because people have curfews (Keith has a curfew) and it’s inconsiderate to not start promptly (Keith is terrified of his mother) and who the fuck invited Billy Hargrove (and whoever did so is fired, because Keith is also terrified of Billy.)

“Coming,” Robin calls merrily and then digs her fingers into Steve’s arm so he can’t run away.

“I will let this go for tonight but you are taking me home after shift tomorrow and buying pizza and telling me exactly what the hell is going on.” Steve nods mutely and flees the moment she lets go. How much of an answer she’ll get out of him tomorrow is debatable, which is fucking wild given that she’s heard every gory detail of his love live, from Heidi, to Janine to Daisy.

Robin doesn’t follow him in just yet, needing a minute to tip her head back against the door and take a deep breath. Holy shit.

She’ll have to go in soon and endure yet another rewatch of Fast Times, and Keith’s awkward conversations with her friends and as she’s not sure how far along Steve and Billy are, there’s a chance they’ll sneak off to the closest to make out which really ruins her plans with Vickie. They only have the one supply closet.

Man, Steve really can’t give her shit over Tammy Thompson now.

Cheered by the thought, she slips into the back just as the opening credits roll up, and slides into her seat next to Vickie. But she doesn’t look at the movie right away, instead watching the barely visible space in between Billy and Steve and wonders how she didn’t see it before.

#harringroveweek #harringrove #Steve Harrington #Billy Hargrove #I'm very soft for billy being a dick to everyone #but steve #the boy has it bad #modern au #no upside down au #prompt: invite only #family video #robin buckley #robin missed a few things #and steve and billy will go make out in the cupboard #Luna add to masterlist

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articskele · 17 days

Text

CONFNEECTION BUILDING I LOVE YOU CONFNEECTION BUILDING............

YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A WHOLE DEPARTMENT DEDICATED TO FOOD. SWEETS EVEN. AND NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT

If the thneed-making part of the factory has these giant spools and such, I wanna see what kinda machinery the confneection building has- Giant mixers and rows of ovens and super tall rolling ladders! Using rollerskates to get around faster! PASTEL DINER AESTHETIC

And you already KNOW it smells amazing in there- I wonder what the uniforms look like!! The possibilities are endless and I love it sooo so much

Thneeds aren't just selling like hotcakes, sometimes they ARE the hotcakes! Butterfly milk frosting and ice cream and gum, truffula fruit pies and syrups and wine and lemonade and jelly filled donuts!!

WAIT if cinnamon comes from inner tree bark then what if there's a spice you can get from truffula bark- WHAT IF IT TASTES LIKE BUTTERSCOTCH

#GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH #CONFNEECTIONERY BUILDING I LOVE YOU #to say nothing of the savory food possibilities!!!! thneed burgers are canon and i need to know which part is made of thneed #do they use thneed patties as like a meat substitute #the lorax #lorax 2012 #my nonsense

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batty4steddie · 2 months

Text

Can I Keep It?

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and on AO3 see full cw's there. Written with @spicycinnabun ❤️️ We have a playlist. 🦇

Chapter 8: The Prince of Demons’ Offspring

Once the car was parked in a shaded area beside the fence, Eddie grabbed the walkie from the glove box and practically jumped out of the car, shaking his limbs out and rolling his neck with a groan. He put the walkie on the hood so he could shrug out of his jacket, holding it out to Steve. “For your head.”

He’d need as much sun protection as possible and could use it like an umbrella. It was a bit of a chilly morning to wear just a Ghostbusters t-shirt, but Eddie was a bit hot under the collar anyway, and the cold air was doing wonders for his fragile self-control.

“Who’s got the partner to that walkie?” he asked. He spat his gum out in the trashcan and opened the wrought iron gate for them, which was rusty from poor maintenance and squeaked on its hinges. Was it one of the kids? Dustin?

“Dustin. It’s his perpetual lifeline to me,” Steve said. It was convenient when they needed to get in touch, like now.

Steve wasn’t afraid of the sun, but he wore Eddie’s jacket over his head until they got to the shade tree, then gave it back. Eddie looked visibly cold. Steve could totally see his nips poking through the thin fabric of his shirt.

Steve snatched the walkie-talkie back from him, sat down under the tree and extended the antenna. He pushed the sunglasses up to rest in his hair while he looked at which button to press to get it to work. “Dustin, it’s Steve. Are you there?”

When Eddie’s butt hit the soft grass, which was dewy and cold, all his energy seemed to zap out of him. The tree bark at his back wasn’t even uncomfortable. He huddled under his jacket and tried hard to focus, but every part of his body felt heavy. It was impossible to keep his eyes open anymore. They fluttered closed as he and Steve waited for Dustin to come through.

Dustin’s voice came over the line. “Steve! Where are you? How’s Eddie?”

Steve laughed. Of course, Dustin was still concerned about Eddie.

Eddie smiled a bit. He didn’t understand why Dustin idolized him. That starry-eyed worship would wear off pretty damn soon when he realized who Eddie really was, but it was nice to have a little brother from another mother for now. Eddie had always wanted a sibling. If he made it out of this, he hoped he got to see the little squirt graduate and go on to do great things.

Steve shook his head but pressed the button down to answer. “In his own words… He’s just dandy.” Eddie had said that about Larry last night, so surely, he was doing about the same as Larry right now.

"Not dandy, just peachy fucking keen," Eddie mumbled as he slumped tiredly, unheard by both.

Steve continued, “In case you’re curious about me, though…”

Since they were talking over the walkie, he couldn’t get into everything that had happened—just the basics, like they didn’t have to worry about Jason anymore—without elaborating on why. He told Dustin where they were and asked if he could get Nancy to bring the whole gang there. Dustin agreed since he was determined to come and help.

Steve ended the conversation by saying, “Watch out for zombie vampires,” and tossed the walkie in the grass.

Eddie was asleep. During Steve’s conversation, his head had slowly fallen sideways until his cheek met Steve’s shoulder. He looked so peaceful. Steve didn’t want to disturb him, but he could make him more comfortable.

Carefully lifting his arm, Steve let Eddie slide down and pillow himself against Steve’s chest. Steve wrapped his arm around him securely, and Eddie snuggled right in and immediately started snoring. Steve wished that he could sleep, too. He didn’t feel tired, but he missed being able to turn off his mind and body. All his senses were on high alert.

While he could hear Eddie’s heart beating and blood flowing strong and steady, he could also hear leaves rustling and animals scurrying around them. He hadn’t felt this peaceful in so long. He couldn’t even remember the last time.

Steve looked down at Eddie, who looked equally at peace. He hadn’t seen Eddie without a worried brow since their encounter at the video store. From this angle, he looked so pretty. Steve’s gaze lingered over his features, and he felt a tiny ache in his chest.

He stopped and rested his head back against the tree trunk. Steve looked out over the cemetery and thought about how actually fucked he was over Eddie. Then, he thought about how glad he would be for some backup for whatever was coming for them next.

Eddie suddenly moaned. Steve looked down, concerned, but Eddie was smiling. He looked ridiculously happy for someone who had been completely traumatized. Maybe Eddie was having the kind of fun in his dream that Steve had wanted to have in the car. He was mid-huff, wanting to continue his pouty party, when his ears picked up on a noise.

Someone was coming.

Robin was the first to arrive. Nancy Wheeler had called her, of all people, to tell her that Steve and Eddie were at the cemetery and they needed to meet them there now. Which, okay , was not alarming in the slightest. And the fact that she could hear Nancy’s heartbeat over the phone, and it kind of sounded like it was playing her a little song? That was not alarming either.

Robin had gotten over all the alarming things hours ago. She was so ready for whatever had happened to Steve and Eddie. (Yeah, right.)

Carrying her mother’s floral umbrella like a parasol since, apparently, the sun was out to get her now, she shot from street to street. Then she jumped the cemetery gates, already well-acquainted with her new abilities. She actually would have enjoyed them if they didn’t come with murderous blood-sucking urges.

She heard the boys’ heartbeats long before she physically found them.

“Hey, dingus,” Robin said, appearing at their feet. Her nose twitched, and her eyes flared red, the bite mark on her shoulder where the bat fangs were lodged pulsing with hunger.

She’d never wanted to eat a guy before, but Eddie smelled kinda good. Steve, on the other hand, did not. He smelled like… Her nose wrinkled. God, he smelled terrible.

Her eyebrows shot up at their intimate position, but she couldn’t say she was too surprised.

Steve felt caught and probably would’ve blushed if he could’ve. He discretely loosened his grip on Eddie when Robin gave him judgy eyebrows but then tightened it again when he got a whiff of her scent.

She was a vampire, too. Paler than usual, veins dark and dilated. She stank badly. Part of him wanted to bury his nose in Eddie’s hair because he already knew it smelled good. Their collective vampire stench was probably so pungent to let them know that they shouldn’t fuck with each other.

“Hey,” he said.

“Man, what a cuddle monster.” Eddie really was clinging onto Steve like a limpet. Robin tilted her head, watching him nuzzle into Steve’s chest with a dreamy little smile. He looked so happy.

“So, uh, something happened last night, and I’m kinda a gross bloodsucker now?” she said in a rush. She followed the direction of Steve’s gaze. There was a red stain on the collar of her shirt. “Oh, this? Not human, no, just a mess from a chipmunk.” She grimaced. “God, poor little Alvin. You’re not gonna believe this, but a bat flew into my bedroom…”

Steve had to laugh. He pulled his collar to the side and showed her where he’d gotten bitten, then flashed her his fangs, eyes going red briefly, too, before the fangs retracted and his eyes went back to normal. “The same thing that bit me must’ve come and bit you. Last night, the Upside Down opened a gate at my house, in my parents' bedroom. My dad got wrapped up in vines, and it swallowed him whole. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Steve,” Robin said. She knew Steve wasn’t that big of a fan of his dad, but still, he probably hadn’t wanted him to be killed .

“My mom's safe, but all these… bat things came into the room from the gate. Me and Eddie tried to fight them off, but one bit me. It died, but the rest of them flew out the window before the gate closed.”

“Great. So, there must be a lot more of us now. At least it only seems like they make one vampire per bite. The one that bit me died, too. Like a bumblebee.” Robin snorted. “A really fucking ugly bumblebee.”

Eddie was dreaming of being on the beach. He was lying on a warm towel decorated with bats, and Steve was sitting in a red lounger, his skin smoking.

“I think you’re burning,” Eddie said, sitting up.

Steve didn’t seem concerned. “What are you talking about, Eds? You’re protecting me.” He lifted his hand, and Eddie’s ring caught the sunlight, showering them in ruby glitter that danced around the sand.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie replied. He gulped. “ You’re just smoking… hot.”

Steve smirked, his fangs extending. He grabbed something from beside the lounger—a coconut. He pierced the coconut with his right fang and used it like a can opener. It smelled so good that Eddie swayed forward. Once Steve was done, he held the coconut out to Eddie and poured the water down his throat until he got his fill.

Eddie licked his lips and knocked the coconut away, feeling intense desire.

The world shifted, and he had Steve underneath him, arching up from his touches and panting as Eddie moved inside him. Steve’s legs locked around his hips with supernatural strength and drove him in harder, forcing his hips to move faster. His eyes were bright and focused on Eddie.

“ I want you.”

“Fuck, Stevie,” Eddie moaned, “is this real?”

“No.”

The world shifted again, and they were at prom. Class of 1986 was written on a banner hanging up. In the real world, Eddie knew Steve had graduated, and there was no way this was possible, but in the dream, Eddie didn’t question it.

Steve and Nancy were spinning around the gym floor, a crown on Steve’s head and a tiara on Nancy’s.

Eddie was part of the crowd surrounding them. Everybody was cheering them on except him.

Something didn’t feel right about this. Neither looked as happy as they should have for being Prom King and Prom Queen.

The truth was that Steve should have been dancing with him .

Eddie parted the crowd and walked over to them with purpose. His dress shoes were pinching his toes, and his tie was too tight around his neck, but this was important.

Steve and Nancy stopped spinning and broke apart. Steve looked at him wide-eyed, and the crowd stopped cheering.

Eddie offered him his hand, heart pounding.

Then he opened his eyes.

“Hey, Edwardo,” said Robin, saluting him. She was hanging upside down from a thick tree branch, watching him with amusement. Her smile looked like a frown.

Eddie lifted his head from its comfy resting place and froze in horror when he realized his position, who he was on top of, and whom he was holding. He scrambled away from Steve, who looked way too calm for someone who had just been treated like a human teddy bear. “Sorry, sorry, man. I fell asleep.”

And Eddie’s dream. Jesus Christ, had he done anything? He knew he talked in his sleep sometimes. He sleepwalked fairly regularly, and Wayne told him he’d had full-on conversations with him multiple times.

There went his cuddly Eddie bear. Steve sighed, “I know. It’s alright, man. Nothing to apologize for.” Steve got up and dusted himself off.

Robin cracked up, and Eddie shot her a look before he noticed her fangs. Well, and she was hanging like a fucking bat, all casual-like. “You got turned too?”

She nodded. “‘Fraid so.”

Eddie was saved from the continuation of his flusterfuck when they heard car doors slamming. He stood up, too.

Dustin ran up to them first. He had a few cuts on his face, but apart from that, he looked no worse for wear. “Man, am I glad to see you guys.” He panted. “A Demovambat attacked us and got Max! She’s a vampire!”

“Demovambat?” asked Eddie, taking in the news.

“Yeah, we believe this bat is a mutant descendant of the Demogorgon, so I named it a Demovambat.” Dustin looked incredibly proud of this name.

It sparked Eddie’s attention. “The Prince of Demons’ offspring?”

Dustin nodded excitedly.

“Interesting.”

Suddenly, Steve didn’t feel so alone. Robin and Max were vampires, too. He felt bad that they had been attacked. As badly as he wanted to contain it, the whole situation was out of his control. Both of Steve’s bites had created vampire zombies. He didn’t want that for the others. Steve only wanted to nom on Eddie because he was horny and Eddie was cute, not because he wanted to kill him and turn him. Together, maybe they could defeat Vecna, especially if they agreed not to bite their friends.

When Nancy approached them, she had a clear effect on both vampires. Steve and Robin both breathed in deeply, like her smell was intoxicating. Eddie tried not to feel jealous, but he failed.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Nancy said, wrapping her arms around Steve in a rush.

Evidently, they were still on good terms. Eddie averted his gaze, smoothing some invisible lint from his jacket until they let go of each other.

Nancy’s familiar scent was amplified ten times by Steve’s new senses. He wasn’t expecting her to be happy that he was okay. He thought she didn’t care about him anymore. When he returned the hug, Robin looked at him with daggers in her eyes. Steve knew that Robin had a massive crush on Nancy, and he was sure that she wanted to bite her as badly as he wanted to bite Eddie. They’re off-limits, he mouthed to her over Nancy’s shoulder.

They stepped back from each other, and she gave Steve a stern look, all softness gone as quickly as it had come. “Dustin said you took care of Jason. What the hell does that mean?”

Steve didn’t want to answer. He was feeling bashful about it. He ran his hand through his hair and looked down. “He was out looking for Eddie and found us. He was going to hurt him. I had to protect… us. I bit him.”

Steve still wasn’t comfortable saying that he’d killed someone. Technically, he had killed twice , but he had to stop Jason and had done it the only way he could as a vampire. When he looked up, afraid of what he would find on her face, Nancy didn’t seem that troubled by the news. She just nodded and said, “Good, one less thing to worry about.”

A question from Dustin tore Eddie’s attention away from Steve and Nancy.

“What happened to your hair, man?” Dustin’s nose wrinkled. He made a shrinking motion with his hands. “It’s all… tamed and stuff. And shiny. ” He leaned closer to inspect it, thoroughly invading Eddie’s personal space.

“Hey,” Eddie said, pulling Dustin into a rough noogie that made him cry in both complaint and laughter. “What happened to your hair, Dusty?”

“Ah, stop!”

Eddie released him once his hair was thoroughly disheveled, stepping back with an eyebrow lift and a grin.

“That was rude,” Dustin said.

“No, that was called for.”

Max shuffled forward. She was wearing a baggy hoodie with the Hawkins High emblem that looked like it belonged to Sinclair, hood pulled over her head, and hands shoved deep in the kangaroo pouch. She didn’t say a word to them, keeping her gaze on the ground as she went to sit in front of a headstone a few feet away.

It was William Hargrove’s grave. Billy’s grave.

She pulled out a piece of notebook paper, unfolding it. The skin of her fingers started to burn in the sunlight, crackling pops of smoke trailing up into the sky. She shot Lucas a hot glare when he made like he wanted to stop her.

“Back off ,” she said, fangs piercing her lower lip.

He backed off.

Max leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the top of the stone as she read the letter in a soft murmur, ignoring them all. Her hair was loose and cascaded down the side of her face, hiding it.

They moved away to give her some space, except for Lucas, who stayed closer by but still at a respectful distance, sitting on a bench while he waited her out.

“Dude, can you show me your fangs?” Dustin said, cutting the tension and laughing in delight when Steve rolled his eyes and extended them, letting out a half-hearted hiss. “You’re really getting the fang of those, aren’t you?” Dustin quipped. “Awesome.” He backpedalled, “I mean, not awesome because we gotta get you turned back, but do you think you’ll get to keep them?”

“I don’t know, Dust,” Steve answered, exasperated. He attempted to retract his fangs, but they stayed put when he heard what Max was saying. His head whipped in her direction.

She was trying to communicate with Billy, and fuck no. He didn’t want Billy to come back and take over his body again. He would hurt everyone around them and use him to do it. Not again.

“ No ,” Steve growled.

One second, Steve was showing them his fangs –

– and by the next, he was halfway across the yard in front of Max.

Dustin gaped. “So cool. He was just a blur!”

“Shh,” Eddie said distractedly, watching the exchange between Steve and Max. Alarm bells went off in his head as he took in their expressions.

Steve ripped the paper away from Max, and that stopped her mumbling. It was some sort of spell she was reciting. He started to tear up the paper, but it was too late.

The ground began to shake.

Eddie and the rest of the group ran over to them. Eddie almost lost his balance on the way, grabbing Steve’s shoulder to stay upright. He had to yell to be heard over the rumbling noise. “Please tell me this is a regular fucking earthquake!”

Not that that was any better than something else making the world shake.

Steve’s eyes were glowing blood red. If Dustin hadn’t distracted him, he could’ve stopped Max sooner. “No such luck,” he responded.

What was happening wasn’t a natural disaster, although it sure seemed that way. Steve looked reassuringly at Eddie as they all braced themselves.

“What did you do?” Lucas asked Max, panicked.

Max stood up, hands balled into fists at her sides. Her eyes were flaming, fangs out. “I did what I had to do to bring Billy back. I can get him to reverse this. I need to talk to him.”

Lucas shook his head. “He’s not Billy anymore, Max!”

Max gave them all a furious look just as the sky clouded over and Billy’s headstone broke in half. The weather seemed to be going in fast-forward. Thunder boomed, and then rain pelted from above, soaking them all.

The earth shook hard, and they all held on to different things to keep their footing. A deep crack formed right where Billy had been laid to rest, opening wider and wider with each tremor. When it finally seemed to stop, there was a deep, crater-sized hole.

They all stepped backward as a giant, dark red tentacle slithered out of the darkness. It looked exactly like the tentacles on the Demovambats but about thirty times the size. Seven more followed the first, gripping themselves on each side as the creature ascended from the hole.

“Ugh,” Robin said. “ Disgusting .”

It said something about her character: she didn’t seem too phased, just grossed out. This group had really gone through some shit.

Billy rose so slowly that Steve had time to get the sword out of the car. He returned like the wind, nearly knocking Eddie over from the breeze he’d created. Steve handed it to Eddie since he was confident he could handle Billy without it. Eddie needed something since he didn’t have vampire powers.

Billy emerged. Despite the oozing spaghetti-like appendages, the creature looked like Billy Hargrove from the waist up. A bit on the demonic side, what with the pulsating black veins and the black eyes, but still half-humanoid. Two gigantic bat wings emerged from his back, their span so wide it plunged the group into shadows. Steve couldn’t have dreamt up a more repulsive form.

While they all stared in shock, Billy’s black lips curled into a smirk. His tentacles rippled, moving like they each had a mind of their own. “Thanks for the lift, Maxine.”

His voice made them all shudder. It sounded staticky, like a damaged recording.

Due to how he’d reacted the first five times something terrifying had happened, Eddie should have been scared this time, too. This wasn’t just a nightmare or a hallucination. This was a real, live monster right before his eyes. And while his heart was pounding like a jackhammer again, his feet didn’t immediately turn in the opposite direction and start running for the hills as he stared at Billy.

He felt a stab of vindictiveness, instead, because this pile of haunted spaghetti had mind-raped Steve, God damn it.

Steve, who had handed him the sword. Eddie wrapped his fingers around the hilt and gripped it tightly. He wasn’t going to drop it. He wasn’t going to cower this time.

“Billy, you can stop this! Put Hawkins back the way it was,” Max pleaded. “Turn me, Steve and Robin back and defeat Vecna. He’s the one who killed you and turned you into this. You and everyone can regain their lives if you decide to make everything right again. I know you want to!”

Billy stared at her. “Max, don’t you get it? There’s nothing I can do.” One of his tentacles betrayed his emotions, flicking erratically, the movement reminding Eddie of an upset cat. “The plan is already in motion.”

Max’s intentions were understandable. Pure. Steve would even go as far as to say noble. She missed her step-brother and wanted his help—for him to use the good she knew he had deep inside—the good that had made him sacrifice himself at the mall. Steve had just escaped Billy’s control at Skull Rock, but deep down, he’d known Billy would be back.

“Billy,” Max repeated. She stepped closer, right up to him, and his tentacles thrashed warningly. “You can do it. I know you can. I know this isn’t what you really want. Come back to our side. Please .”

Her eyes were shining with tears of blood, her expression open, desperate, and painfully hopeful.

Billy’s face froze for a moment before it suddenly crumpled, and he turned away fast, tentacles coming up and enshrouding his upper body from view. He convulsed a few times before his tentacles slammed down on the ground, and he let out a huge, staticky roar.

“It’s too fucking LATE for that! I belong to him. I can’t come back.”

Before Max could say anything more, one of the tentacles lashed out, lifting her and pinning her to the tree. Leaves and branches rained down from the force. She screamed, fangs extending and eyes turning red as she struggled.

“Max!” Lucas yelled. Eddie held Dustin back when he made like he was going to pounce over there, too.

Eddie guessed this was his moment to intervene. He was the one with the sword. Fuck.

Taking a deep breath and not considering the consequences, Eddie charged forward with the sword above his head. With all his might, he axed the blade down onto the tentacle holding Max.

Billy let out a pained growl that was mostly static as the tentacle sliced in half, but as Max fell to the ground, he started laughing again. His wings, huge, dripping masses of blackness, lifted and spread even higher into the sky. Each wing had to be about as big as Eddie’s van. “You think that’s enough to defeat me, cafeteria food?”

Again, Eddie was reduced to cafeteria food. Steve disagreed. He thought Eddie was a damn good snack and was offended on his behalf.

Two more tentacles shot out, whip quick. One wrapped around Eddie’s neck and started dragging him forward. The grip was so tight he couldn’t scream, and his breath was lost. He choked, free hand scrabbling at the slippery appendage and his other hand still determinedly gripping the sword. The tips of his toes dragged along the ground until Billy lifted him in the air. He kept fighting, black spots dancing in front of his eyes.

To the group’s horror, the same thing was happening to Nancy a few feet away.

Steve quickly looked from Eddie to Nancy, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

Robin gave Steve a look, one that told him Chillax, I got her and also, Go save your metalhead, dingus.

Steve nodded at her, then he ran and leapt, latching onto the slimy tentacle choking Eddie. Steve locked his arms and legs around the tentacle, but it was so slimy and slippery that he had to use his nails to climb up it. “ Harrington, I can’t believe you’re risking your life for this freak! What about your one true love, Nancy Wheeler? You’re really making me think I would’ve had a chance. Maybe after all this, I still will .”

Steve cringed as Billy taunted him. “Shut up ,” he growled, continuing the climb.

Billy cackled and swung the tentacle they were dangling from, making Eddie gag harder, and Steve nearly fall.

Robin may have had a huge lesbian crush on Nancy that prevented her from talking to the woman like a normal, sane human being, but thankfully, it didn’t stop her from coming to Nancy’s aid when Billy was strangling her half to death.

Being into her best friend’s ex was a very guilty pleasure, but they had been broken up for a while now, and it seemed like Steve was moving on to geekier pastures with Eddie Munson, of all people.

Using her vampiric agility, Robin took a running start and jumped, grabbing onto one of Billy’s appendages and swinging from tentacle to tentacle like she was Jane of the Slimy Jungle. When she reached the one where her dream girl was hanging, somehow Nance (was Robin allowed to call her that yet?) looked pissed as hell, even partly unconscious.

God, she was beautiful. And Robin had to save her, stat.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you down,” Robin told her while Billy was busy goading Steve.

Hanging upside down from the end of one tentacle, Robin tried not to vomit when it whipped her around a few times. When it whipped to the left, Robin managed to grab hold of the tentacle that had Nancy.

Letting out a roar of her own, Robin wrapped both hands around the thing and extended her claws to their full lengths, gouging them deeply through the tentacle until it began to break apart. Nancy started falling to the ground as the tentacle snapped from the weight.

“Crap!” Robin panicked—but then remembered she had fucking super speed and dove to the ground first.

She was impressed at her own reflexes as she landed on her feet like a cat and caught Nancy in her arms. Robin gently lowered her to the grass and unwound the tentacle from her neck. It was already greying up and turning into dust.

Nancy was frighteningly silent for a few seconds as she caught her bearings, and Robin could hear her heartbeat palpitating as blood flow returned to all the necessary places.

Finally, Nancy groaned, eyelashes fluttering. Robin sighed deeply in relief.

Eddie was going to free himself, get back to fighting, and protect the kids and everyone.

The likelihood of that happening was dwindling by the second. His grip on the sword was weakening, and whenever he thought he had the strength to lift it up, his fingers went slack.

Eddie was just about to drop it when Steve—Sir Harrington, knight in shining armor—appeared and grabbed it from him. With mixed emotions and little air in his lungs, he returned Steve’s gaze.

Eddie braced himself for impact when he was cut free, but Steve caught him by the hand first, stopping him from plummeting to the ground. Eddie looked up at him and let go.

He didn’t land very hard, but since he was barely conscious, as soon as he landed on his feet, he was on his ass. Dustin ran over to him and crouched down beside him. “Eddie! Dude, shit, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

He sounded panicked and scared. Eddie tried to reach out and ruffle his hair. He wanted to reassure Dustin that of course he was okay, but he could only keep sitting on the ground for a full minute while his body recovered.

Tentacle pieces were falling all around them. Steve was going full-on monster barber with Billy until he had the tentacle equivalent of a bowl cut. He couldn’t use them anymore, but Eddie knew it was probably just a matter of time before Billy regenerated them.

Eddie forced himself to stand, with Dustin’s help, as Steve came over. Somehow, he’d lost his jacket and ripped his shirt. His hair was mussed from fighting, his cheeks were flushed with (Jason’s) blood, and the muscles in his arms were standing out from being flexed so hard with the sword. He was also covered in monster slime.

“Sorry… you have to… keep… saving… me…” Eddie said, struggling through each word. His voice was barely more than a wheeze.

He was the most useless hero. Well, he wasn’t a hero at all. Just the sidekick who kept fucking things up and getting himself into trouble. Steve was the real hero.

Steve started to shake his head. He went over to hook his free arm under Eddie’s since he still seemed weak and hadn’t caught his breath yet. He didn’t understand why Eddie was apologizing. “You saved Max,” he pointed out. He was proud of Eddie. He didn’t know why he was beating himself up.

Loud music started blaring from the gates. It was coming from Steve’s beemer.

Had Eddie left the keys in there? Jesus Christ. Steve looked up at the dark sky so he didn’t give Eddie the dirtiest look he could muster. While he was doing that, the song's lyrics hit him right in his heart.

“Max, what are you doing?!”

They all turned their heads at Lucas's yell. Max was standing in front of Billy again. She ignored Lucas, which Eddie noticed seemed to be a trend with them.

“Do you remember this, Billy? This cassette. You used to play it in your room when you thought nobody was listening to you, especially track number seven. Over and over again.”

Billy looked furious but also like he was about to cry. His wings shuddered, beating behind him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Turn that off!”

Max moved closer to him, imploring. “Your mom used to listen to this, didn’t she? Remember who you were before, Billy. I know you can.”

Billy let out a roar, black tears streaming down his face. It nearly broke all their eardrums. He turned ashen grey and then exploded. Viscera flew everywhere, and black smoke blanketed them.

The song continued to play, the only noise in the ensuing silence.

Steve took that as a sign that they needed to get the fuck out of there, “Let’s fucking go. Now .”

He handed Dustin the sword and was about to help Eddie to the car when Max cried Billy’s name and dove into a large pile of ash that had formed once the smoke had cleared. She came out of it, pulling a coughing, very human form of Billy out of the rubble. He was covered from head to toe with ash.

Billy pawed at his face, and Max dusted off his clothes before embracing him in a tight hug. “Billy, you’re back! I can’t believe it, it worked!”

Steve looked at Eddie. He felt queasy; all his vampire energy had gotten zapped. He felt his knees buckle.

Everyone was in shock over Billy's reappearance. Billy looked like he’d just been used as a chimney sweep, but other than that, he looked like his typical self. His eyes were no longer a demonic black, and he seemed almost small, at least in comparison to what he was before.

Eddie was so distracted by the transformation—Billy was like a literal phoenix who had risen from the ashes—that he didn’t notice Steve looking at him until he was collapsing against him.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked him sharply. He wrapped his arms around Steve. By now, he had regained enough strength to be relatively steady.

“Thirsty,” Steve groaned.

Of course he would be, after all that hero-ing he’d been doing.

“Okay,” Eddie said, feeling his heart thud. “I can fix that.”

Even if it meant turning himself into a blood buffet, he owed it to Steve, especially after he had saved his life not once or twice but three goddamn times.

Steve wasn’t stable enough to walk on his own. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being carried like a bride, so Eddie half-turned, bent his knees and leaned forward. “C’mon, you’re about to topple over.”

When Steve relented and climbed onto him for a piggyback, Eddie straightened and secured his arms under Steve’s legs, taking him to the beemer. Steve held onto his shoulders. Eddie could feel the poke of his claws through his jacket and Steve’s nose pressing against his neck. He told himself the noise he made was because Steve had touched his bruises.

He let Steve down and opened the passenger side door for him, holding his clawed hand so he didn’t fall. The song ended right then, much to their relief. The volume was probably killer on a vamp’s eardrums. Eddie waited until Steve was settled. “Be right back, okay? I’m going to go talk to the others,” Eddie said.

After one last look at Steve, he shut the door gently and returned to the scene.

Most of the dust and ash had cleared from that epic explosion, but there was still a light coating all over the grass, giving the already bleak graveyard an even more depressing ambiance.

Billy wasn’t looking at any of them, his head hung low and his eyes on the ground. Eddie guessed he had a lot of feelings going on inside right now after everything he’d done.

“He needs to be taken to the hospital for observation,” Nancy was saying, diplomatic towards the situation even after the guy had tried to kill her. “Or at least somewhere safe where he won’t be able to hurt anyone.” Her eyes flashed, and Billy flinched. “We don’t know if he’s really human. This could be another trick. We need to make sure he’s not dangerous.”

There was a murmur of agreement from the group.

“Billy’s room has a lock on the outside,” Max piped up. When widened eyes followed her statement, she squirmed a little. “I know where the key is. Neil set up all the bedrooms that way so he could…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone had a similar, uncomfortable reaction to it. Especially Billy.

“Max,” Lucas said softly.

Max shook her head, but she let Lucas hold her hand. “Neil isn’t there. He’s been staying with us at the trailer park, trying to win my mom back.” Her expression darkened, showing just how happy she was about that. “We can take him there.”

“Fine,” Nancy said.

Some of the others nodded.

“Is Steve alright?” Dustin asked, brows pinched in concern as he looked at the beemer.

“He will be soon,” Eddie answered. He didn’t know if that was true, but he was optimistic that giving the guy a good feed would perk him up again. I know we were all hoping this would reverse the curse,” this being destroying Billy, “but it looks like it didn’t.”

Robin rubbed one of her fangs, sighing. “Unfortunately, no. I don’t feel cured. I am starving .”

“Same,” Max said.

“Right,” Eddie agreed. “So, I’m going to help Steve out, and once he’s feeling better, we’ll meet you guys at Hargrove’s.”

“How are you going to help?” Dustin asked before a lightbulb went off in his shrimpy little head. “Oh, gross , dude. Don’t tell me you’re going to let him—”

“Time to go!” Robin interrupted. She herded them towards Nancy’s car, casting a glance at Eddie that told him she knew exactly why he was going to let Steve slurp him up like a juice box.

Nancy gave him a shrewd look of her own that made him feel like a bug under a microscope but didn’t comment, turning on her heel and heading directly for her car.

Eddie bristled a little bit as Billy walked past him, but Billy didn’t do anything, shoulders hunched like he was trying to disappear. He didn’t even jostle Eddie or shove him like he did with everyone he considered beneath him.

Frowning slightly, Eddie returned to the beemer.

#fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie #steve x eddie

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