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#i don't know man I'm just thinking about coffins now
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will you write something vampire themed for spooky season?
The coffin was luxurious, as far as coffins went. The protagonist had half-expected just a plain wood box, scratchy and full of splinters. They supposed, if they had to die, they could at least do so in style.
It didn't really make them feel better.
And it didn't make the coffin fit two people any better either.
"Stop squirming," the secret love of their life snapped. "You're just going to get us more stuck."
"I don't think it's possible to get more stuck." Their voice was only a little, reasonably, hysterical. "We're buried alive in a bloody coffin!"
The secret love of their life looked awful beneath them. Pallid, even in the crowded gloom of their shared grave. They felt clammy and cold beneath the protagonist's limbs.
The protagonist swallowed. They tried to stop squirming. There were no comfortable positions.
The love of their life hissed between their teeth with irritation, and if the protagonist could see properly, they were sure that a terrifying and wrathful and gorgeous glare would be pointed in their direction.
"I'm sorry," the protagonist said. For the squirming, sure, but mostly for everything else. For somehow getting them into this mess. For being the last idiot that the love of their short life would ever see. For not knowing how to save either of them.
"You should stop talking and conserve your air."
"You should stop talking and conserve your air," the protagonist mumbled. They closed their eyes. They tried not to panic. The panic closed in on them on every side, just like the too close suffocating padded walls, and the steady weight of six or so feet of packed soil crushing them on all sides.
"Someone's going to rescue us," the love of their life said. "Your friends - someone - will figure out where we are."
"Coffin. My first guess too."
"They'll get us out." The growl in their friend's voice was almost inhuman. Quite impressive.
The protagonist bit down hard on their lip, and the rather unhelpful response of 'before or after we die from the lack of oxygen? Because, you know, I read that people can survive five hours locked in a coffin. Tops. If they're not hyperventilating. But who's hyperventilating! I'm not hyperventilating! Are you?'
Their friend drew a sharp breath. Then they squirmed, hypocritically, before managing to place cool hands on either side of the protagonist's whirling brain.
"Easy," they murmured, abruptly far more gentle. "You're okay. You're going to be okay. I'm not - I won't let anything bad happen to you."
The protagonist felt tears prick the corners of their eyes. Absurd.
One of their friend’s thumbs grazed over their lip, wiping away the bead of blood there.
"Match your breathing to mine," their friend murmured, voice a little hoarse and trying-to-keep-it-together. "Concentrate on me."
The protagonist did their best. Their friend breathed very slowly, admirably calm really, given the circumstances.
"I won't hurt you," their friend said. "I love you. I won't."
"It's not you I'm worried about. Wait - you love me?"
It was impossible to see the love of their life's face, and really, a coffin was the worst place for a confession. Because the protagonist would very much have liked to have seen their face. At least if they were hanging over a lava pit, the protagonist would have been able to see their face, and make a judgment on if they meant that platonically or romantically.
God. They hated their brain.
Their friend didn't say anything and the silence was surely almost as agonising as dying. Almost. They brushed a tear away from the protagonist's cheek, feather-light.
"More than anything," their friend said. "Now shut. up. Please. And please, please, stop moving."
The protagonist shut up. Somehow. They rested their head against their friend's chest, letting the knowledge of that confession fill them with warmth, or try to.
At least they were dying in a coffin with someone they loved. Who loved them back. Someone's whose heart was so...
The protagonist stopped. It was a trick. A mistake. Something. But it felt, beneath their ear, like their friend's heart wasn't beating. Actually, when the protagonist really thought about it, now that their breathing was more or less steady, even in the squashed space they couldn't hear their friend's breathing at all. They couldn't feel it against their cheek and...
They didn't think the love of their life had always been so cold.
"Why." The protagonist resisted the urge to shift again. "Why do you think you're going to hurt me? Worst you're going to do is elbow me in the face?"
Their friend was silent a second time.
"Right?" The protagonist pressed.
"Someone will find us. They'll get us out. It's not a problem. It won't be a problem."
"What...what won't be a problem?" But the protagonist, with a dreadful twist in their stomach, knew. It should have been obvious, maybe, in the last twenty four hours.
The stomach bug. The dark glasses. The cringing from the sunlight.
"I won't hurt you." A mantra. Not a reassurance; a mantra, a plea. "I love you. I won't hurt you. You're going to be fine."
Five hours, suddenly, seemed like a lifetime.
The coffin was luxurious, as far as coffins went. Excellent quality. Top notch.
Nothing else, after all, would keep in a newly turned and starving vampire locked up.
"Shit," the protagonist whispered.
And that about summed up their current predicament.
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hairmetal666 · 9 months
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Steve has this bar he loves in Chicago. It's a little bit dive-y, a little bit dirty, but it's quiet. A good place for when he needs to clear his head.
Only, tonight, the place is packed. Music pounding from the jukebox, no space at the bar, patrons at the dartboard and pool table. In three years he's never seen it like this.
He has a second to wonder what's going on before he sees exactly who is going on, and for him to catch Steve looking.
"Stevie!" Eddie Munson cries. He leaps from the bar top, the people below scrambling away from the stomp of his big black boots.
He hasn't seen Eddie in years. Can't actually remember the last time. Max and Lucas's wedding? Robin and Nancy's baby shower?
Steve considers booking it out of there, escaping in the crush of the crowd. By the time he has the thought, though, Eddie's already pulling him into a hug.
He's excited to see his friend. He is! Really. He loves Eddie. But that's kind of the problem.
Steve fell in love and Eddie left town.
Well, maybe it wasn't so dramatic as all that. It wasn't until six months after they packed the last box in the back of Eddie's van that Steve could name his feelings for what they were. And by then, Corroded Coffin were building buzz and Eddie had a huge whole life outside of the people he saved the world with.
Over the years, as Eddie's fame grew, he came around less and now they hardly see each other. They still talk from time to time, Steve still buys all the band's records, and Eddie's still close with all the kids, Nancy and Robin too.
Eddie releases him, those big eyes bright, a pure and genuine smile stretching his face. Steve's stomach twists, heart skipping a beat.
"Gotta be honest with you, man. Never expected to see Steve Harrington in a place like this."
Steve snorts. "There's lots of place I go you wouldn't expect."
Eddie's smile wobbles, Steve thinks. It's gone in a blink, though, and Eddie laughs. "I'm sure you do, sweetheart. Have time for a drink with me?"
Eddie navigates to the bar, returns with two beers in hand. He presses his palm to the small of Steve's back, directing him to the single empty table in the corner as far from the jukebox as possible.
"How's life treating you, Stevie?" Eddie asks after a sip. "Nance told me the store is doing really well."
"It's good, yeah. Finally turning a profit. Wasn't sure about Dustin having us add a game section, but he was right. It's really taken off."
"Oh, he told me," Eddie smirks.
Steve rolls his eyes. "I'm sure that he did. He hasn't let me hear the end of it."
"That tone," Eddie says, voice soft.
"What brings you to Chicago?" He asks to hide the way all the fucking love he feels for this man is bleeding out of him.
"Not really supposed to be," he laughs. "Flight got diverted to O'Hare, can't get another one until tomorrow. Have to make it to LA in time to play a show."
They both know Eddie loves it; the rush, the adrenaline, that comes with performing, to making it to shows at the very last minute. It's how they got here in the first place.
"Working on new music?"
Eddie leans back, dimples popping with the pleased lift of his lips. "Oh, Harrington, you don't even know what we have in store." He leans over the table and launches into tales of rehearsals and writing. Steve drinks his beer and can't take his eyes off his friend, Eddie the sun Steve orbits around, helpless to his gravitational pull.
"So, Stevie," Eddie says, once there's no more to tell about music. "You seeing anyone?"
Steve hides his cringe with a chuckle. Picks up his beer to buy time and finds it empty. "Not anyone of note."
"C'mon, how is that possible? You're easily the hottest guy in this place."
He grimaces. "That's a low bar."
"Oooh, still bitchy after all these years." Eddie snickers, takes a swig from his bottle.
"Shut-up."
"Seems like it's been a while since you dated."
"You interrogating my love life now, Munson?"
"No, not at all. Just curious."
"Okay, who are you dating? Still that guy from People?"
"Gossip," Eddie frowns.
"Anyone else you got your eye on?"
"No one new," Eddie says. He stares at Steve hard for a second, like he wants to dig into his brain, like it holds the answer to all life's question.
"There is someone, then." Steve tries to ignore the jealousy licking down his spine. Eddie isn't his and never will be.
Eddie picks at the label on his now empty beer. "Not--not really." He licks his lips, leaning over the table again. "Is there a reason you don't seem to date anymore, man? It's just--you wouldn't hurt for options, right?"
Steve freezes, trying to figure out a way to answer that won't end up breaking his own heart. "Ah, it's--you know, things got busy with opening the store and everything. Stopped being a priority."
"Are you lonely?"
"Are you?" He snaps before he can stop himself. "Sorry, I'm--sorry."
"Yeah, man. I'm lonely as hell." Eddie answers as though Steve didn't give him an out.
"I--you ever have someone where the timing is always wrong?"
"Think it's a hazard of my profession. Who's yours?"
"What?" Steve clunks his bottle too hard against the table.
"The one that got away?"
"It's--it--I--it doesn't matter."
Eddie's smile is all jagged edges. "Nancy?"
"God, no. Nance and I are good with being friends. No lingering feelings there. Who's yours?"
"Ahh," Eddie sits back a little, eyes glittering with an emotion Steve can't place. "The best boy I ever met. Can't get over him, can't forget him. I think they guys are going to start banning my 'pathetic gay yearning songs'. Gareth's words."
Something in Steve's chest crumbles to dust. There's someone. Has always been someone. Of course. Eddie is beautiful and hot and charismatic and fucking famous. And Steve is--just a guy who runs a struggling bookstore with a couple of his best friends.
"That's--I'm sorry it didn't work out." He's trying to stop his voice from breaking, from giving Eddie any hint of what he's feeling, just knows he has to get out. "Listen, man, thanks for the beer. Great to catch up. You should hit up Robin and Nancy the next time you're in town. I gotta get going."
"Wait, Steve--"
"See you around."
He doesn't wait. He pushes through the people, and races out the door, into the crisp Chicago fall air. He squeezes his eyes closed, practices his breathing exercises, tries to relax the clench of his teeth, ease the screaming in his lungs.
Three steps away from the building is as far as he gets before he hears, "Steve, please wait." A hand catches his hip, holding him in place.
"Eddie, I don't--"
"It's you," Eddie says. His face is pale, stricken. "You're the one who got away, Steve."
"What?"
"I've never been able to work up the nerve to confess. I've been trying for years, but. Too afraid of losing you to tell the truth."
"Years?" Steve's brain is trying to wrap around what's happening. That Eddie has feelings for him? That he's the source of the pathetic gay yearning?
"God, since 1986, at least."
Steve doesn't know what to say; what to do. He's been waiting for this moment so long, and his brain goes on pause.
"It's okay if you don't feel the same," Eddie rambles. "Hell, I'd be surprised if you did, but--"
"You're mine too," the words tumble out.
"What?"
"You're the one who got away. For me. You're mine."
"Steve," Eddie breathes. "Is this--are you serious?"
"Pathetic gay yearning and all."
Eddie's laugh is a bright spot in the darkness, relief and happiness mixed with the hope of what's next.
Steve can't help but giggle. "We're so dumb," he says.
Eddie looks at him with a raised eyebrow before bursting into giggles of his own. "So dumb, Steve, oh my god."
"It's been a decade!"
"Fuck," Eddie cackles.
They collapse against each other, chests heaving with their mirth. As they catch their breath, Steve nuzzles against Eddie's neck, relishing the closeness. It's easy for him to change the angle so their lips meet in a kiss frantic with ten years of longing.
"Your place or mine?" Eddie asks once they part.
Steve laughs. "You think I'm that easy, Munson?"
"Oh, Steve," Eddie smirks. "I know it."
"Asshole." Steve presses a kiss to his jaw. "How many songs did you write about me?"
Eddie smiles so hard his dimples pop. "All of them, baby. Every single one."
Steve rests their foreheads together, body fizzing like freshly uncorked champagne, "Take me home, Ed."
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star-sim · 3 months
Text
"cheater!" ☆ enha hyungs
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☆ non-idol! bf! enhypen hyungs x fem! reader ☆ summary: that one time you mentioned another guy's name, and he gets jealous (and he's dumb). ☆ genre: fluff, humor, dumb dumb boys, very minor angst/hurt/comfort in jay's part, cross between short scenarios and bullet points ☆ warning(s)? mentions of cheating obv, misunderstandings, ☆ not edited lolz also if ur @/archlstarvlle get off my dick again and stop plagiarizing me (and other authors bruh)
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heeseung ☆
poor guy
you and him were going to a party later
and you were planning on putting ribbons in your hair
except you didn't have ribbons!
time to go to your nearest craft store: michael's.
"Baaaabe," you whined, prying Heeseung's grabby hands away from you. "I need to go."
Heeseung kept his arms wrapped around you, pressing his cheeks into your back. He threw his leg around yours, pulling you ever closer to him.
"Nooooo," he drawled, and you could feel his lips forming a little pout. You were just so warm and soft and comfortable. "Stay."
You chuckled at his childishness. You needed to go buy ribbons for later, since you ran out of them.
"Baby," you pecked his forehead, trying to shake yourself free of your clingy boyfriend. "I need to go to Michael's."
You felt Heeseung's body go frigid for a moment, before his arms loosened altogether around you, allowing you to escape his grip.
When you pulled away, while you continued to happily chirp about whatever was on your mind to your boyfriend, your words fell upon deaf ears.
Heeseung pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing on it pensively.
heeseung was actually going insane
WHO IS MICHAEL??? AND WHY ARE YOU GOING TO HIM??
heeseung swears he's never heard you talk of someone named michael, let alone a friend named michael
how could you drop the name of some OTHER MAN so casually???
and the nail in the coffin was what you said next
"Michael's has some pretty cool things," you chatted, your back turned to your boyfriend as you fixed your lip gloss. "So, let me know if you need anything from there.
michael... cool... things....
if heeseung wasn't already fighting for his life, he was now fighting a million wars at once.
you told heeseung that he was cool and handsome and cute and all the words in the dictionary all the time.... and you made sure to let him know that your words were exclusive to him
so for you to say that SOME RANDOM DUDE NAMED MICHAEL WAS COOL?????
"I don't think you've ever been to Michael's, so I think—"
Heeseung abruptly stood up from the bed that he was lying in, in such a sudden and dramatic way that you snapped your head over to him, as he was quite loud with it.
There your tall boyfriend stood, completely still, with a deep frown on his face.
"Babe, are you okay—"
"I'm going with you," Heeseung announced, his voice filled with such a passion and vigor that it nearly shook. He looked so indignant and solemn, you almost felt worried. With finger air-quotes, he said with a subtle eye-roll, "I will go with you to this 'Michaels.' "
You blinked at him obliviously, before a smile grew on your face. You didn't know that Heeseung was so curious about the local craft store called Michael's, but you were not going to question it.
"Okay!"
heeseung was just WAITING
he let you take the wheel and while he sat in your passenger's seat he was rubbing his knuckles, WAITING TO THROW A FIST AT THIS MICHAEL GUY
would a black eye suffice? or maybe a broken nose....
he glanced over at you
you were just humming to yourself to the music (you let heeseung take the aux)
sure you looked so cute and innocent right now... BUT HOW??? HOW COULD YOU BE SO CASUAL ABT IT???
heeseung was expecting for you to pull up to a neighborhood, or an apartment complex, ready to feel his entire world crash down before his feet as some guy named michael emerged from the doorway
his heart plummeted at the thought of this 'michael' pulling you in for a hug, with you greeting him back brightly
no!!!! he couldn't let michael win!!!
you were his!!
.
.
.
except, you simply pulled up to a parking lot
to a massive store, with white walls and a giant brown sign
reading
michael's craft store
Heeseung flopped over in relief.
"Hee...!"
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jay ☆
i think at this point in time you and jay aren't DATING dating, but definitely an exclusive pair that's BASICALLY dating
all your friends know about him and you report to them daily about him (theyre tired)
except
before you and jay became an actual pair
you used to call him a code name with your friends
the code name in question?
hamilton
named after your friend's hamilton beach flexcut cordless can opener, aka the first thing that you saw when you were coming up with a code name
Your heart was pounding in your chest.
Today, you and Jay decided to have a study session in the library. Although you knew that he'd be true to his word and would actually help you study, you hoped that the two of you could do something more.
Maybe he'd put his hand on your thigh, or maybe you'd have the opportunity to cut him off with a kiss. Just the thought made your stomach do flips.
As you waited at the library table, with your heart in your hands, your phone rang. It was your friends. Noticing the dirty looks for such an obnoxious ringtone, you stepped out the library to take the call.
meanwhile jay was pretty much shaking with each step he took to the campus library
an entire two hours with you? you, who needed his help really badly? you, who he wanted to kiss so badly? yes please!!!
boy was he excited
but as he rounded the corner to the library.............
he spotted you..... on the phone with someone.....
"Hamilton is so handsome!" he heard you squeal into your phone, and Jay's heart stopped. "I hope Hamilton comes soon, so that I can kiss him."
ham...il...ton
who is that....
jay knew that you and him weren't officially dating but he didn't expect you to do him dirty like that :(
as you continuted to giggle and coo about this hamilton guy, jay couldn't help but feel his heart ache
he really thought you were the one :(
except he was so caught up in his thoughts that jay tripped over his feet, making you whip your head around to him
Your expression was horrified, which only only confirmed his worst fears. Still, you stepped toward him, your face painted with embarrassment.
"Oh, hi Jay," you said bashfully, unable to meet his gaze.
Jay, even when he was hurt, didn't have it in him to be rude to you. He wanted to run away (and cry), but the way you gave him a small, sheepish grin made his heart flutter.
He planned to sit through this session, and excuse himself after 30 minutes. Keep the relationship civil, he thought.
on your end
you were mortified!!!
did jay just hear you talk about him to your friends?
although you had a code name for him, it wasn't like what you said was completely discreet
you dropped pretty obvious context clues that pointed to who hamilton was
things like "i love hamilton's heart-shaped birthmark on his neck, do you think he'll let me touch it?" and "i hope hamilton takes me out on a date after today's study session"
you were embarrassed
and it didn't help that jay was being quieter than usual... did he think you were weird?
but to jay, that embarrassment translated as the shame of being caught
the entire study session thus far, you didn't even meet his gaze, always looking away
Jay was hurt. Really hurt.
By the way you were acting, he was hoping for an apology, or some quick explanation, even if it was short and half-assed. At least you could've tried. But you said nothing.
Jay himself had questions that he wanted to be answered: how long has this been going on, if you were lying when you told him that you loved him, etc.
His lips moved faster than his mind could catch.
"So, who's Hamilton?" he blurted.
shit shit shit
he KNOWS RIGHT?
HE KNOWS THAT HE'S HAMILTON
RIGHT???????
you felt your neck and cheeks heating up
and by the way he looked solemn, you were sure he was mad at you
You froze, before all of your words spilled out of your mouth.
"Oh my god, Jay, I'm so sorry. You must be feeling so creeped out and disgusted with me and—"
from your body language to the panic in your expression
jay thought that his suspicions were confirmed
the moment that you began speaking he was ready to break down sobbing
but your next words made him stop
"— And I know that you think I'm weird for using a code name as stupid as 'Hamilton' for you, and I'm so sorry for that, but—"
wait a minute............
code name
hamilton
for him
.
.
.
"Wait, I'm Hamilton?!" Jay cut you off, his face pinching.
You let out a weird sound, an awkward expression spreading across your features.
"I-I mean, yeah..." you hid your face in your hands, "Ughhhh, I'm so sorry, that's so weir— Jay?!"
Jay was slumped over the table in relief, his face buried in his arms. He let out a loud groan, before lifting his head to look up at you. You couldn't help but notice the little glassy sheen in his eyes, almost like he was going to cry.
"Jay..."
He quickly wiped the little tears forming in his eyes away, sniffling before sitting up completely, averting his gaze from you.
"It's nothing," he murmured.
He was relieved. No, beyond relieved. He was ecstatic that this entire time you were talking about him. He couldn't believe that he would think of you in such a poor light.
He kept his eyes away from you, too shy and embarrassed to look you in the eye.
You poked him, and he didn't respond, so you poked him again.
"Jay."
"Hm?"
"Do you think I'm weird?"
He snapped his head over to you.
"What? No, of course not!"
You frowned. "Then why aren't you talking to me?"
Jay sucked in a sharp breath. "It's nothing."
He finally met your gaze, his lips helplessly cracking into a grin just as the sight of you perplexed expression.
He clutched your chin, tilting it so that you would look at him. He leaned in to give your lips a peck.
"I promise, it's nothing, Baby."
You leaned into him, giving him a peck, too.
"Okay," you nodded, biting back the giddy, lovesick grin that fought its way onto your face.
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jake ☆
one day youre hanging out w your friends
and ygs go to a dog cafe
so cute!!
and theres this one dog that's just practically CALLING FOR YOU
he's just this little maltese named enzo and he's so cute
the two of you cuddling on the floor, giving him good head rubs and laughing as he licks you
you love enzo the maltese!
anyways so you take pictures ofc and post it to your private instagram
Jake narrowed his eyes at his phone.
He was deep.
Deep in the goddamn trenches.
He was excited to see the cute pictures you took of your day out with your friends. When you said that you were going to a dog cafe, Jake was so ready to use a picture of you and a pup (two of his favorite things) as his new phone wallpaper.
But that wasn't going to happen.
Because all of a sudden, his Wi-Fi decided to be poor all of a sudden.
Although he got the notification that you posted something new on Instagram, when he checked your account, none of you pictures loaded. All he could see was a black loading square, and the caption to the post.
at first jake was like
"its ok i can wait" even though he REALLLLYYY wanted to see your pictures
he couldn't see any of the pictures you posted, but he could still see the caption
and that's what caught his eye
you liked to have an individual explanation for each picture in the post, so your caption read as follows:
pic 1: me and enzo
pic 2: enzo kissing me
pic 3: holding enzo's hand
pic 4: enzo and me cuddling
and that's when jake stopped reading
Jake was going to start losing hair, because who was Enzo? And why was he kissing you? And cuddling with you?
He'd never heard of an Enzo. Poor guy, Jake kept refreshing your account in the hopes that your pictures would load, so that he could see this Enzo guy face-to-face. But that didn't happen.
It didn't help that your Instagram notes read, "enzo <3."
seriously
WHO IS ENZO
jake paced back and forth around his apartment, trying to scroll back in his memory for anyone named enzo
but alas
no one
all he knew was that whoever enzo was, he was about to get a broken jaw
a little frown formed on his face, as he rubbed his knuckles
were you going to leave him from this enzo person?
was enzo better than him?
how come jake never heard of an enzo before?
Jake's head perked up the moment his apartment door cracked open, revealing you. He rushed straight to you, expecting to hear you say, "I'm breaking up with you for another man named Enzo," completely taken aback when you simply threw your arms around him.
"Hi, Jakey!" you simply exclaimed, holding him tight.
Jake stood still, eyeing you for a moment.
Were you not going to break up with him on the spot?
The next thing he knew, Jake was pulled into his room, thrown on his bed, and cuddled up against you.
"I'm so tired," you breathe, snuggling your face against his chest. "I couldn't wait to get home to you."
Jake blinked.
"T-Tell me about your day," he gulped.
and you happily did so
animately, you told all about your day
what foods you tried, what you and your friends did, how much fun you had
you even told him about a cute little maltese that you couldn't remember the name of at the dog cafe...
and at last
no mention of enzo
"How's Enzo?"
Jake didn't know why he asked that, but when he did, you perked up.
"Oh!" you clapped your hands. "That's his name!"
"Wh-Who's name?"
You laughed. "The maltese at the dog cafe! His name was Enzo— He was just the cutest little thing!"
Enzo is a... dog?
Jake suddenly hoisted the two of you up, so that you were laying flat on your back. He plopped his face onto your chest, putting your hand in his hair.
"I don't like Enzo," Jake murmured against your chest. You chuckled, playing with his hair slowly.
"You didn't like the pictures of me and Enzo?"
"No," Jake shook his head, his hair cutely bouncing with each movement. "I don't like a dog trying to take my girl."
You laughed, calling your boyfriend silly, but completely oblivious to the fact that Jake was now making plans to go to that dog cafe to have a man-to-man talk with a dog.
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sunghoon ☆
a man of a few words, gotta love it
this is very niche but you have a habit of making very obscure and dumb and completely nonsensical nicknames for people
like jake becomes jacobsongerald and jay becomes jameslynner the third
one day you and sunghoon are just having a lazy day
It's a quiet morning. Slivers of sunlight are peeking from the kitchen blinds, while birds chirp their hearts out outside.
While you look through the fridge, Sunghoon sits at the kitchen table, notepad and pen in hand.
"Do we need eggs?" he asked.
You glanced down at the egg compartment. "No, but I think we're running out of butter soon."
Sunghoon nodded, jotting down 'butter' on the notepad.
Every week or so, you and Sunghoon liked to have a morning like this, where you went over your grocery list.
sunghoon loved mornings like this
seeing you in your cute pajamas, your raspy morning voice bouncing off the walls as you listed to him what the two of you needed to buy for the week
the way the sunlight bounced off of you just made you look so ethereal, in your early morning glory
"Sungerson, can you write down milk?"
Sunghoon's face contorted immediately.
pardon....
WHO???
sunghoon couldn't tell if he was appalled because you just called him the WRONG NAME or because 'sungerson' is actually such a ridiculous name
WHO IS SUNGERSON THAT'S SO STUPID OMG
wait a minute....
sunghoon's heard horror stories like this before
where if your significant other accidentally calls you by another name, it's a sign that they're seeing someone else
"Oh, and can you add canola oil to the list?" you asked, not really checking to see if he was writing it down due to your trust in him. But when you didn't hear any pen scribbles, you turned over your shoulder. "Sunghoon?"
see?
you called him sunghoon just then
and this entire morning you'd called him sunghoon
but then you call him a different name out of no where and act like nothing happened
you weren't seeing someone else... right?
like...... you wouldn't do that to him
the way you acted like nothing happened made sunghoon think that you probably didn't notice your slip-up
"Sungerson?"
You looked confused, your brows furrowing. "What?"
Sunghoon looked up to meet your gaze. "You called me Sungerson. Who is that?"
"Oh." You shrugged. "It's just one of those dumb nicknames that I make up for people."
"Okay."
that made sense
completely
he shouldn't have doubted you
"Sunghoon, what are you pouting about?"
okay, so maybe the thought of you with someone else made him upset
even if you weren't
and reassured him that you weren't
You huffed, shutting the fridge door before coming over to wear Sunghoon sat at the kitchen table. You grabbed his head, leaning down to give his forehead a kiss.
Sunghoon whined, taking your arm as you pulled away from him. He leaned back in his seat, patting his lap for you to sit. When you did, Sunghoon immediately pushed his face into the crook of your neck, whining again.
"What is it, you big baby?"
"You're mine, right?"
You blinked. It wasn't every day that Sunghoon was clingy like this.
You chuckled, flicking his forehead.
"Of course," you said.
"Okay," Sunghoon let his eyelids fall shut, taking a deep breath before sinking into your warmth. "That's good."
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apomaro-mellow · 5 months
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Every Baby Needs a Daddy
Part 1/?
Modern au rock star!Eddie & sugar baby!Steve; alpha!Eddie/omega!Steve
Fall was in full swing and a chill was officially in the air at all times. Most especially as the sun started to go down. Eddie was warm in his leather jacket but for a brief moment his heart went out to the guy standing outside the bar, arms bare to the wind. He was dressed in a striped polo shirt and jeans, not quite what one might see in a dive bar like this.
But he was probably waiting for someone, so Eddie went inside without another thought, catching just the smallest whiff of his scent as he walked by. An omega. He was definitely waiting for someone then. No one kept their omega idling for long. Once inside, Eddie took his shades off, the lights low enough to keep most from recognizing him.
It helped that he was flying solo tonight. No band members or bodyguards in sight. It was nice to be anonymous sometimes. Not that fame and fortune ever got tiring, it was just a good change of pace. He posted up to the bar, ordered a beer, and got comfortable. He was right in the middle of a conversation with another patron about the current season's fishing prospects when that scent washed over him again something like lavender and petrichor.
Although, when Eddie looked over, that second part might've just been the scent of actual rain. The omega from outside was sitting next to him. The tops of his shoulders and head were damp.
"Was wonderin' when you'd come in and grace us with your presence", the bartender said.
The omega simply rolled his eyes and didn't order anything. Eddie saw him shiver and without thinking, took off his jacket and placed it over his shoulders. He realized what he'd done when the other man froze.
"Sorry you just looked cold and maybe you were but I shouldn't've just done something like that I can-I can take it back", he reached out.
"No", the omega held onto the jacket. "No, it's fine. I was cold. Thank you."
"I uh, saw you outside. Boyfriend making you wait?" Eddie inwardly cringed. He meant to be more subtle than that. Meant to say something anything else.
"Don't have one." The omega got a strange look as he finally looked Eddie square in the face. "Have I...seen you somewhere before? Sorry", he shook his head and let out a breath of laughter. "What I line. I swear I'm not-I'm not trying to come on to you or anything, I just know I've seen you on like tv or something."
Eddie couldn't judge on pick up lines after what he said about a boyfriend. "You...you might've." He looked around and contemplated for just a second before he continued. "Ever heard of Corroded Coffin?"
"They're a band, right? That's where I know you from?"
Eddie grinned. "Yeah, that's where." He could tell this guy just barely recognized him and that it wasn't an act.
"God, Dustin would kill me. I can hear him now. Sorry, I'm probably not the kind of fan you like running in to."
"I'll take polite conversation over groveling any day. So do you know any of the member's names?"
"I know there's the guy Dustin likes the most because he can play drums and the bass. He admires talented people like that. And he goes on and on about this Eddie guy, but I can never remember which one-you?"
"Me, handsome", Eddie grinned. "And your name?"
"Steve. But I also answer to 'handsome'."
Steve. Eddie had to taste it on his tongue. "Steve. And were you waiting for Dustin before the rain brought you in?"
Steve smiled now, adjusting Eddie's jacket across his shoulders. "No, I wasn't really waiting for anyone. And before you ask, Dustin is definitely not my boyfriend. I'm completely untethered." Steve ran a hand through his hair, not so damp anymore after they had been talking.
"You gonna order something or keep taking up space at my bar?", the bartender asked.
"What's your poison, Steve?"
"Oh, I can't pay you back", Steve said.
"Then don't. Order something."
"I mean I really can't pay you back, Eddie. I was hanging around outside because I...because I'm between paychecks right now. And I'm not that kind of omega." Steve's shoulders hunched up in shame and he looked like he was about to remove Eddie's jacket.
"I didn't say you were. You don't have to pay me like that. I take many forms of compensation. Including sparkling dialogue with gorgeous men."
"Really?", Steve asked, voice flat in disbelief.
"Really."
Steve turned to the bartender. "Whiskey sour please."
Eddie smiled. "So, what's your opinion on farmed fish versus wild caught?"
---------------------------
Steve had been going through the worst day of his life. Work had been awful and he had wanted to scream. He ran out so quick that he forgot his jacket and was already halfway home when he remembered. He kept going. He wasn't going back there today. He got to his apartment, ready to fill his empty stomach with something only to find he was devoid of food.
Of course. He'd cleaned himself out with his last heat and hadn't gone grocery shopping since. He'd been eating out for the past week. And if he checked his bank account....
$10.43
And pay day wasn't for another three days. Steve was desperate. It was plenty of money if he went to the convenience store right outside his apartment. But the cashier there always gave him odd looks and he just didn't have the energy for it. He contemplated sending someone in to buy his stuff, but he wasn't feeling very trusting right now.
Which was how he ended up at the bar. The dollar store would've been an option last week, but it was a couple of miles away and his car was in the shop. He didn't even know what his plan was. Buy the cheapest drink and fill up on pretzels and nuts? It was why he was standing outside as the sun got lower, just feeling sorry for himself.
He just wished someone would take pity on him. Would see how hard he had been working and told him it was okay, he could take a break now and they'd take care of him.
Hell would probably freeze over first though.
Then the rain started and he couldn't waste time out here any longer. At least inside the bar, it was warm. Steve already wasn't looking forward to the walk home. What if it was still raining? He couldn't afford to get sick right now. He sat at the only empty seat at the bar and thought of the least pathetic way to ask for a cheap drink when something warm came over him.
It smelled of ginger and cinnamon and for a moment, Steve was drowning in it when he heard the owner of the jacket try to apologize for it and then take it back. Instinctively, Steve held onto it tighter.
"No, no, it's fine. I was cold. Thank you."
The alpha next to him said something about a boyfriend that Steve barely registered but figured out by context what he was asking.
"Don't have one." He shook his head and then actually looked the alpha up and down. Curly hair spilled over his shoulders and he looked smaller without the leather jacket that was currently over his own shoulders. There was something oddly familiar about him. Like he'd seen that face on his social media feed or something.
When Steve asked, he realized he was talking to a guy in Dustin's favorite band. He felt like an idiot. This guy was probably used to starstruck fans bowing at his feet and here Steve was, just treating him like a nobody. But try as he might, Steve couldn't pretend like he was some big deal, even imagining Dustin's lecture on proper celebrity sighting etiquette later didn't change things.
Then the alpha, Eddie his name was Eddie, introduced himself and then asked for his name, tacking on a compliment at the end of the question.
"Steve. But I also answer to 'handsome'." He couldn't help being a little hungry for some positive attention right now.
Then Eddie asked a very unsubtle question about Dustin, insinuating that he was some kind of boyfriend and Steve wanted to laugh. The little kid he had babysat that had been like the pain in the ass brother he never asked for definitely wasn't that. And he let Eddie know that.
"Dustin is definitely not my boyfriend. I'm completely untethered." He didn't know why he said it like that. He might as well have spread his legs and held up a sign that said 'open for business'. This guy was a literal rock star, he must have lustful groupies throwing themselves at him all the time. Wording it like that absolutely wasn't Steve intention. Even if his scent was so comforting and intoxicating.
Then the bartender urged them to order something and Steve felt his empty stomach drop. Eddie insisted on buying him a drink and Steve really wished he had the money for it because there was no way he was paying in any other way. And if Eddie was expecting that, he'd just as soon go back out into the rain, leaving the warm jacket behind.
"You don't have to pay me like that. I take many forms of compensation. Including sparkling dialogue with gorgeous men."
Steve searched his face for a bluff, any sign of dishonesty. But he saw none.
"Really?"
"Really."
So Steve ordered just as Eddie asked him something about fishing and clearly this night was not going to go the way he planned.
--------------------------
Eddie was halfway through his second drink and knee deep in a conversation about the pros and cons of fishing compared to hunting. Apparently Steve's dad took him out hunting before he presented and afterward, his grandfather took him out on a couple of fishing trips.
"One just seems more fair, is all I'm saying", Steve said, still nursing his first drink. "One has you sneaking up on an unsuspecting animal. The other one you're just luring them. Fish know what they're getting into. Deer don't until they're already in your sights."
"You think very highly of fish intelligence", Eddie noted.
"I once had a year long beef with a friend's pet fish. Long story. But fish are smarter than they look." Then Steve's stomach growled. Very loudly. Embarrassingly loud.
"I don't know about you, but all this fish talk is making me hungry", Eddie said. "Can I buy you dinner?"
"I suppose I've got about twenty bucks worth of more conversation in me", Steve smiled, appreciating what Eddie was offering.
Eddie paid the tab and Steve put his arms into the jacket, then remembered Eddie might want it since it was cold outside. "Did you want-"
"Keep it on. I run hot anyway and we just need to make it to my car." That was a lie, Eddie had the circulation of a failing newspaper but he liked the look of Steve in his jacket too much to give it up. And the rain had stopped so now it was just damp and cold outside.
Steve thought he should feel wary of getting into a car with a stranger, especially a famous one. But he had his phone on him and Eddie was taking him to a place with a lot of people, so it was fine. Eddie put his sunglasses on as they went inside and asked for a table in the back, which the person up front gladly accommodated.
"Not to toot my own horn", Eddie said as they were seated. "But I can never tell when and where I'll get recognized. And I don't want any tabloids tomorrow morning." Because right now, Steve didn't just look like some random guy that Eddie was wining and dining. Right now, he looked like he belonged to Eddie.
"Got any funny stories?", Steve asked.
Eddie grinned and rolled his shoulders as he got comfortable in his seat. "Well, there was the one time I was literally in a tv studio about to be interviewed with the band and someone thought I was the boom guy."
"If I was dressing up on Halloween as a boom guy, I think I'd put on this general look", Steve said, gesturing to Eddie's whole body.
"And there was the time I got recognized while at a fabric store. I'm standing in line, basket full of sewing supplies and a bunch of floral fabrics, and this woman in her sixties asks for my autograph."
"Aren't you in a metal band?"
"Yeah and some of our most hardcore fans are women over 40", Eddie said. "Don't underestimate 'em."
A waiter came by and took their orders and they kept talking. Steve couldn't believe how badly his day had started because now it felt like he was flying above the clouds. Eddie actually seemed interested in what he had to say. And Steve was constantly thrown by the different directions Eddie took the conversation. From fishing, to getting recognized stories, to horrible customers, to the perils of sailing a boat.
"Never?"
"I remember going once as a kid and was scared shitless the whole time", Steve said. "Whoever decided it was okay for me to watch Titanic in kindergarten really messed me up."
"So besides that one time you've never been on a boat?", Eddie asked.
"My parents tried getting me on a yacht once and I started hyperventilating on the dock. I stayed on the boardwalk", Steve said. Just one of the many ways he'd been a disappointment.
After the meal, Eddie offered to drive Steve home. He wanted to. But after drinks and food and talking to Eddie for so long about nothing at all, Steve felt cautious. Had his guard lowered? If he let Eddie see him to his door, would Eddie be expecting something? What made him even more hesitant was that he might let Eddie get away with it.
He was handsome and charming and had alleviated Steve's worries for a few hours. He was even going home with some leftovers in a box. For a second, Steve wondered if food was all it took.
"Hey, look, I understand if you don't want some strange alpha taking you home. What about if I just order you a ride?", Eddie suggested.
"You can take me home", Steve said quickly. "Just don't expect any dessert."
Before leaving, Eddie excused himself to use the restroom and Steve used that opportunity to do something that was probably really stupid. It was certainly pointless. But he could take a risk every now and then. He tore off a piece of the menu and used a pen at the podium up front and that was how Eddie found him.
"Ready to go?"
"Ready", Steve smiled.
The car ride was a little more quiet, both of them digesting both the food and what had happened tonight. Meeting a stranger that you clicked with, it didn't happen every day. Steve gave him his address and Eddie pulled up to the building.
"You should walk me up", Steve said. "Make sure I get there safe."
"Y-yeah, I can do that", Eddie stuttered, struggling with his seatbelt while Steve was already out of the car.
Eddie followed him to his apartment, glad now for the chill outside because otherwise he'd be sweating watching Steve's ass for so long as he walked in front of him.
"Well, this is me", Steve said.
"I had a great time tonight", Eddie said.
Steve laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Can we come up with anymore first date lines?"
"Hmm, how's about I'd love to do this again soon?", Eddie smiled, leaning in a bit.
"I'd like that." Steve took Eddie's jacket off his shoulders.
"What if I want you to wear it for our next date?", Eddie asked.
"If you want me to wear this, you better scent it properly", Steve goaded.
Eddie pinned him against the door and smashed their mouths together. His jacket was trapped between their bodies. Steve let out a soft sound and brought a hand to Eddie's cheek.
"We can't go on a second date until the first one is over", Steve said when he pulled back. He curled a lock of Eddie's hair around his finger just because he couldn't help it.
"Your number?", Eddie asked, licking at Steve's lips.
"Check your jacket", Steve breathed.
Eddie didn't take his eyes off Steve as he went through his jacket pocket and found what Steve had been scribbling on earlier. It was a ripped piece of the menu. And it had Steve's number on it.
Part 2
If I had a nickel for every time I steddified a Marilyn Monroe song I'd have two nickels.
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stevesbipanic · 2 months
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For the lovely @withacapitalp happy birthday Liam hope you have the best day today!!!!
Steve had been pacing around the apartment all morning. Well, pacing wasn't really the right word, Eddie would describe it more like having the same zoomies their cat Toothpaste has at 3am.
You see today was–"It's Robin Day, Eds!" As his lovely boyfriend had practically screamed in his ear at 5am. "And it will still be Robin day when you return from your job at a normal waking hour, babe."
Eddie had hoped the jog would've gotten some of the energy out of Steve's system but he seemed more hyper on his return, at least he'd brought Eddie coffee.
"Love, Robin isn't even on the plane yet."
"I know, but it's today, Eds."
Steve looked so bright it made all of Eddie's sleepiness fade away. It had been hard, living away from Robin. They'd all shared an apartment when she went away for college but by the time she got a job in New York, Steve and Eddie were not only dating finally but settled into Chicago life.
They spoke every day of course, Robin and Steve never missed a nightly catch up of the day's events, Eddie didn't even know what they'd talk about once they were in the same state again. Eddie knew Robin would always be Steve's number one and he loved that about him.
There was one other thing about today though. "Sweetheart, you know it's not just Robin Day, right?"
Steve looked confused at his boyfriend, kind of like the way a puppy looks when you move his toy.
"What could be more important about today than that."
Eddie began humming a specific tune wrapping his arms around Steve's waist. "Oh, right, my birthday, 24 isn't exactly a big deal Eds," Steve said rolling his eyes.
Eddie laughed, "Your birthday is the reason Robin's coming, sunshine, plus after the number of times we've both almost died I think every birthday is a big deal."
Steve nodded his head and returned the embrace Eddie had been giving him, "True, you think you're gonna have a quarter life crisis in August, Mr 25?"
Eddie grinned, "Oh yeah, I think imma buy a guitar and start a band." Steve laughed, while Corroded Coffin never got famous they got relatively well known in the local scene, Tuesdays were now a regular gig at The Squire downtown.
"Four hours til she lands," Steve said kissing Eddie's cheek and running upstairs to make sure the guest room was ready for the tenth time. "Still not on the plane yet!" Eddie called up laughing.
Four and a half hours later their loving room was filled with laughter and joy once more. "And then the guy asked the flight attendant for another ginger ale and Steve this man was looking green and you know how I don't deal with sick people well I'm surprised I survived the flight at all," Robin rambled filling Steve in on her flight from hell.
"Honestly, you should just move back here, save yourself the flight," Steve joked. Robin glanced at Eddie, one little birthday surprise they hadn't told Steve yet.
"Actually, my contract is ending in two weeks, and um, they offered to extend it at...their Chicago office."
Steve was frozen, if Eddie didn't know better he'd think Vecna had returned from the dead to finish them off after all these years. Then the screaming started.
"YOU'RE MOVING BACK TO CHICAGO!"
"I'M MOVING BACK TO CHICAGO!"
Pretty soon everyday would be Robin Day and with his boy looking that happy Eddie wouldn't want it any other way.
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findafight · 1 year
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Okay I kept thinking about this post and Steve being a BNF of Corroded Coffin message board of the internet of yore.
Alright so way back in the nineties Suzie hooks everyone up with the internet, yes? Yes. Eddie and Steve got together in '92 after some mutual pining and a few disastrous relationships that couldn't handle 1) Steve and Robin's general QPR clinginess 2) Eddie's intensity 3) the secrecy required if having multiple years of monster fighting and subsequent NDAs and the trauma associated therein. They're older and more settled and ready for an Adult Relationship.
Corroded Coffin is gaining traction and doing really well and the internet is still a brave new frontier, so Steve says to Eddie something like "I'm going to see if there's some message boards about you 🥰" and find them he sure does. So he makes accounts and posts under the username EddiesOnlyGroupie because he's hilarious and also the mods banned him from using EddieMunsonsHusband (he figured it was fine on the internet because nobody actually knew who he was but APPARENTLY NOT homophobia lives on in the digital age). He gets pretty well known in the Corroded Coffin fandom, most assuming he's a woman because he will go off on how hot Eddie looked at a gig. Like. Saying unhinged internet shit because 1) true and 2) he and Eddie think it's so funny. Everyone kinda believes the groupie thing too because of all the performance pics he's able to post and how he'll sometimes offer tidbits if knowledge about the band.
When they transition from chatrooms to livejournal etc he follows, with the same username. He's kind of a legend by the mid aughts. EOG is the acronym people use when discussing theories on his identity, and he's like "guys I'm literally his only groupie it's self explanatory. Guys why don't you believe me Eddie hasn't slept with anyone but me since 1992. We're basically married". He goes "it's not a mystery we literally are in love and Jeff and I go to Cubs games and cry when they inevitably lose together. Gareth is Godfather to my cats" (Eddie is still offended that he was not named Sassafras and Moonshine's godfather when Steve and Robin adopted them in '89). No one believes him.
Possibly because he still thirsts after Eddie and whenever someone posts a new Eddie pic those in the know wait for him to pop up with comments like "I want to bite his neck omg" "he has no ass but nobody is perfect I'll settle between his thighs anyway" and "literally a crime I am not married to him right now what the fuck" As twitter grows he swoops in to grab his handle, and follows a bunch of other CC fan accounts (some of them old friends, some of them new to the scene)(EOG 100% has his own fanlore page, which also has speculation on who he is and how he gets all the bts pics. It also doesn't believe when he says what it says on the tin. He's Eddie's only groupie.)
tumblr and tiktok come round and Steve is like. Openly horny on main. He's seen some shit go down on the internet but he's still commenting on Eddie fan edits that are title shit like "why am I attracted to this middle-aged white man" and "retro cc fancam" with things like "I'd let him lick the inside of my ear and only bring it up to tease him on special occasions" "his FINGERS" "back in '89 Jeff and Howie and Claire staged a mutany over this song because they were 'sick of Eddie only writing about biting bats' lmao" and "Jeff is my favourite member of cc"(just to stir the pot)
Eddie comes out in the 2010's and he's like "yeah I've been in a long term relationship with someone who is usually mostly a man kinda (gender is fucky) for the past twenty years, lol. His name's Steve. I love him a lot even if he mocks me online." and of course EOG comments "the mods of that old message board should have let me keep my original handle of EddieMunsonsHusband. When're you gonna make it reality, Munson? smh" and everyone is like Huh?? EOG is a MAN? And he's like yeah? Sometimes?? Not always?
(He 100% thinks this is him telling people he's Eddie's Steve. They don't get the message)
Anyways life goes on Steve continues to thirst under pictures of Eddie, he has his pronouns and name in his bio on twitter (Steve, he/him, she/her, Eddie Munson's first and only groupie 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ ) and continues to post behind the scenes photos that shockingly few people question (she always says "because I'm his groupie" though. He and Eddie think this is VERY funny and also true. Robin groans. They've been making the same joke for two decades.) and people believe it because Eddie has interacted EOG sometimes, liking photos or videos, commenting sometimes. (Steve has a more professional realname account that he rarely uses but Eddie usually tags Steve there)
And THEN Internet user EddiesOnlyGroupie says he's taking a few weeks off for her honeymoon because "I'm finally marrying the man of my dreams!" And people are happy for him but also bummed because Eddie is also taking a two week hiatus but EOG promises wedding and honeymoon photos. (Face reveal! Sorta!)((he doesn't get why people are excited because he's pretty sure he's been in a lot of Eddie's recent pictures, but whatever)
Imagine the Internet's surprise when Eddie Munson posts a collection of pictures spanning '86 to his 2016 wedding of him and Steve, including one of Steve looking seriously at an old desktop computer, captioned "Steve starting his internet career" and tags EOG.
Steve qrt with "I told yall. I'm his only groupie, and they should've let me keep EddieMunsonsHusband even if they WERE homophobic. Because now it's TRUE"
Niche internet community drama chaos ensues.
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exhaslo · 6 months
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Kinktober Day 22- Leona x Reader (Dry Humping)
*Requested by Reader, I only just started Twisted Wonderland, so I hope to every god I got his character right. Sorry in advance if anything is wrong!!!*
        It was a mistake. A huge mistake. You had convinced yourself that everything that was happening was a dream. The fact that you had been kidnapped and brought to this so-called college for magic; the fact that there was no way for you to return home; the fact that you were scared and alone; and the fact that you were now the only female at the college. It had to be a dream, no a nightmare! What were you to do if you could never return home. Sure, the Headmaster was nice enough to let you stay in an abandon dorm and that he would let you study in private, but it was still wrong!
        You were currently sobbing in your room as you stared at the magic books in front of you. You were deemed a 'Beast Trainer' or something along those lines. It was all a blur. The weirdest thing about everything was that all of the students here reminded you of Disney characters, but they also didn't? It was a weird state you were in. All you wanted to do was go home, lay in your own bed and probably eat your favorite meal.
"And I have to join their classes? I was working...My bills....My apartment," You whimpered.
        The only light in this whole mess was that all of the men were hot. Yes, it was something small, but it kept you going. One person caught your eye in particular. You were still getting to know the dorms and the student leaders, but you could have sworn the man had ears. Once you saw the statues of the 'seven greats' you immediately knew it was Scar. Or, at least what you wanted to believe was Scar. You were still confused and still unsure of anything yet.
-----------
        You were a special Herbivore. Leona had taken an interest in you when you first fell out of that coffin. A female at the college. There were a lot of special rules in place because of you. It was fascinating to watch you. Whenever you entered the gym in a hurry, Leona kept his eyes on you. He made it seem like he did not care, but he did. He was waiting for his turn to get to know you. 
"Oof, this sucks!" You whined as you tripped over your own foot, "Why do I get stuck jogging around the track while everyone gets to practice broom flying?!"
"Because you have no magic," Leona said with a yawn, hiding behind the benches. He watched as you flinched, "Back here."
"Uh, I don't think the teacher would like you sleeping during class."
"I'm doing yoga," Leona lied as he closed his eyes once more. You glanced back at the others before sneaking behind the benches,
"I don't think we properly met. I'm (Y/N), I think I remember you were napping in the greenhouse, right?"
"Hmm....That's right, you were with those fools," Leona muttered before slowly sitting up, "So, in your world, do you always approach strangers?"
"Huh?" You grew flustered, "I mean, it's not...safe, but well...I'm not exactly in my world and this is all super interesting." You explained. Leona was observing you,
"Likewise." He yawned, laying back down, "You seem like a tolerable herbivore."
"Haha, that's different, but I'll assume it's a good thing," You noticed his ears and tail. This was Scar, "Is it okay if I visit? I'd like to get to know more about you all and this place."
        Leona resisted a chuckle as he replied with a simple, 'sure'. He wasn't going to admit that he was interested in knowing more about you. Perhaps you would entertain him.
-------------
        Eventually you got to understand more of this world you now lived in. Everyone was kind enough to talk to you and help you with classes, everyone expect Leona. He always brought out the worst of you. Leona was smart, but he always managed to convince you to laze around and worry about stuff later. It was hard because you liked him. You easily listened to him and did what he said.
        Just like now. You had some questions about a certain dream you had about Leona's world, or at least the Disney world you know of. You wanted to ask him some questions, but here you were, sitting on the floor. Leona was on his bed, snoring away. He had, once again, convinced you to be lazy and sleep.
"Leona," You whispered, leaning against his bed.
        Leona let out a grunt, turning towards you. His bright emerald eyes made you melt. Leona was so beautiful. Sometimes, you were lucky that you were the only female on campus. You watched as Leona gave his usual irritated look. He reached his hand out,
"I'm trying to nap," He grumbled. You gave him a soft pout,
"But-"
"Nap with me." 
        You immediately felt you cheeks burn. Leona must have read your mind because he snickered. He pulled you onto his bed, holding you on top of him. You could feel your heart racing a mile a minute. There you were, sitting on Leona's lap. He just stared into your eyes.
"Well, aren't you brave for a herbivore."
"Y-You're the one who pulled me up here!" You huffed. Leona hummed tiredly, rubbing circles around your waist, "H-Hey....that..."
"I quite like this reaction,"
        Leona kept his eyes on you as you began to tremble from his touch. This was something he could get used to. Something that was new. He was already enjoying the fact that you were breaking one of the rules for him. As the only female on campus, you were not allowed to go to any of the other dorms alone. It was deemed too dangerous, you had to have Grim or one of the teachers with you. So the fact that you kept coming alone to see Leona was enough for him to want to keep you.
        You were a pleasant part of his day. Leona actually enjoyed your company. You were also one of the only people to actual allow him to do what he wanted. It was a nice change of pace. Returning his attention to you, Leona was enjoying your expressions. Perhaps this would be a good time to make you his. If you could not go back to your world, Leona would be more than willing to take you back to his.
"You're not stopping me," Leona whispered. You glanced down at him, avoiding his stare,
"W-Well.,..It feels good," You muttered under your breathe.
        Leona chuckled lowly as he started to grind his hips against yours. You gasped lowly, biting your lower lip as you moved along with him. How lovely. Leona glanced down at your skirt, feeling his pants getting damp. Now this was entertaining. Leona held you hips and motioned you to get closer to his face. You, being his cute obedient partner, did so.
"You like this too?" He whispered. You muffled a moan, your damp panties rubbing against his bulge,
"Y-Yes,"
        You gasped as Leona held your waist down. You leaned towards his lips, giving him a light peck. It wasn't fair how he got to have his fun. The least you could do was steal a kiss from the so called King. Leona seemed to have liked your reaction. He immediately reached for your head and kissed you again. It felt like you hurt his pride when you went to kiss him first. Leona would never admit it, but he hated stuff like that. It was cute.
        Leona sat up with you, licking the inside of your mouth for dominance. He easily won due to his strength. You whimpered a moan into the kiss as his grinding got faster. The pool between your legs staining his pants. Each time the tip of his bulge rubbed against your clothed pussy, you felt another jolt travel up your spine. You were getting close to the knot in your stomach to blow. You needed that release. Leona must have sensed it since he started to dry hump faster.
"If I wasn't so tired, perhaps we can be a little more...intimate," He said, thinking about his words carefully. You moaned lowly, not wanting anyone in the other rooms to hear you,
"T-This is you tired?" You buried your head into his shoulder. Leona licked his lips as he bit down against your neck,
"You interrupted my nap."
"L-Leona," You moaned, reaching your orgasm. Leona held your hips tightly as he shook for a moment,
"Interrupted my nap and made a mess," He grumbled, sucking on your neck, "You owe me,"
"Haha, yes your highness," You teased, panting softly for air.
        Leona fixed your hair, laying back down with you in his grasp. He inhaled deeply, nuzzling his head into your neck. You tried to escape, complaining about washing up, but Leona ignored your cries. Instead, he reached down and pulled your panties off, throwing them across the room. You squeaked in response and grabbed his blanket to cover your skirt. Leona chuckled lowly, closing his eyes for a nap. He was going to enjoy having you by his side.
525 notes · View notes
allysunny · 8 months
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Hello. Can I request a fic with Nanami and the reader? The reader has a toxic family and asks Nanami to be her fake boyfriend at the family meeting. If possible, it could be comforting.
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Faking it for the Family | Nanami Kento x Reader
Words: 5.5k
Warnings: Toxic family, mentions of weight (as in, berating and telling someone to watch what they eat), very rude comments from Reader's family, maybe some OOC Nanami? I don't know, you tell me! And please do warn if I forgot something :)
A/N: Aaaa my first Nanami request! I'm so excited about this! I love this man with my whole heart, he's my biggest anime crush of all time! Now, I do warn you, it's been a while since I've touched jjk (it was a traumatic experience, shibuya is my canon event), so if you think Nanami is OOC, then that might be why. But I can also see him being vocal when it comes to someone he cares about, protecting them and expressing his feelings - or at least trying to.
I hope I did your request justice! I'll be honest, I'm very fortunate to come from a very healthy and loving family, and don't quite know the dynamics a toxic one would have. Nevertheless, I did some research, and I hope you're happy with the final result! I also stayed up until like, 2am because I wanted to post this one before I went on a small vacation and stopped writing for a few days! Totally worth it!
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“Your what?”
“My boyfriend.” You repeated firmly.
Scratch that, you were scared shitless.
A few days ago, your mother had called you, asking (more like demanding you) to come see her. According to her, only “bad, ungrateful children” abandoned their parents. According to her, you were turning into a “bad, ungrateful child”.
“You don’t call, you don’t visit. It’s like we never did anything for you, is that how you treat the people who brought you up?” She nearly cried into the phone. Victim-blaming was along your mother’s strongest talents, it always had been.
She’d also reminded you that it would be a shame if you showed up single. She gushed about your cousins, how lovely their wives and husbands were, and how you clearly weren’t working hard enough to find a man.
“It’s not like you have much to offer, dear. The least you could do is prove yourself to be useful, make sure you find a nice man and snatch him up. Perhaps if you learned how to cook properly instead of pursuing that silly passion for books… And you need to start putting some effort into your appearance! No man wants a dishevelled woman – look at how well your cousins are doing!” Then, dismissing her whole behaviour, she’d go, “You know I’m only saying this because I care about you, right? It’s for your own good.”
It made you shudder just from thinking of it.
You’d nearly glared a hole into your phone that night, considering cancelling.
You ran all options through your head.
If you pretended you were sick, your mother would just assume you couldn’t take care of yourself and visit you to do that herself.
Hard pass.
If you said you had plans, your father would tell you to prioritize the family who had sacrificed so much to give you a good life, and to stop being so selfish.
Hell no.
No option seemed good enough.
In the end, your parents would always find a way to make you feel inferior and blame you for not being able to attend. You wouldn’t hear the end of it for at least a few months.
That’s not something you wanted for yourself.
You considered your mother’s words.
Going alone seemed like a nightmare alright. But perhaps if you found someone to attend with you…
There was no significant other in your life (the nail in your coffin, just another reason for your parents to berate you, and you it’s not like you could fall in love with someone in a span of 4 days just to introduce them to the family.
And then, an e-mail from a coworker gave you a brilliant idea.
Nanami Kento was one of your coworkers.
You weren’t the closest offriends, but still – friends.
You two went out for drinks after work every so often, sometimes ordering a box of pizza to share while working overtime at the office. God knew how much you hated it, being forced to work longer than expected, but Nanami shared the same sentiment, and it made work more bearable for you.
You didn’t talk much outside of work – Nanami was a private, reserved man, and you never did have the courage to seek him out. So you settled for a few jokes at the office here and there, the occasional smile, and bringing him bread and pastries sometimes. Nanami was quite the foodie. Outside office hours, maybe a “Have a nice weekend”, or if you were feeling brave enough, a meme – it took him a while to get them, but it was amusing to get his reaction through text.
He was smart, kind to a fault, and handsome. Very much so. You knew he was single, and to be fair, you had no idea why. With those lovely, warm chocolate brown eyes and golden hair, he could get any woman he wanted. And God, his physique… You had once tripped and held onto his arm – the man was made of rock. He was a total catch, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t fantasized about your little overtime endeavours to end up with a goodnight kiss, or perhaps something more. In fact, you’d developed a little crush on him, sneaking away during lunch breaks to try and talk to him, catch up, or just know how he’s doing.
That’s why he was perfect.
Your parents would be appeased, and the family gathering would be much more bearable.
“It’ll just be for a night,” You continued, trying not to sound very desperate. You weren’t sure where you stood with him – were you two close enough to ask such a favour? “We don’t have to do anything physical – just maybe hold hands so they can get off my back. I’ll be forever in your debt, please. I need your help.”
Nanami looked at you curiously. You could see his eyes clearly – Nanami had foregone his glasses during lunch break. What was he thinking? Perhaps he was reconsidering his whole friendship / acquaintanceship. Maybe he was simply coming up with a way of politely declining. Nanami had always been to kind to trifle with you or mock you, God, you’re so stupid, why would he go out of his way to help someone he’s not that close with? It was idiotic to ask.
“Never mind that.” You mumbled, quickly shaking your hand, and dismissing the idea. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a weird request and we don’t know each other that well, and – “
“Sure.”
Your eyes must’ve turned as wide as saucers. Sure?
“If it would help you out and ease your mind, I don’t mind it at all.” He replies, the soft lull of his hypnotising voice making your heart skip just a bit. “I do know what it feels like to be surrounded by people you’re not fond of.”
You suppose he’s right. Every year when the company dinner takes place, you find yourself sitting in a corner, hidden from everyone else. It’s the one time of year where you two can actually talk and consider each other more than simply two coworkers. Maybe even relatively good friends.
You beam at him, bowing profusely. There were no words to describe what you felt – this man was willing to be your fake boyfriend for a whole evening?
“Thank you so much! This means so much to me, you can’t even imagine it!”
Nanami simply nods.
“Shall I pick you up at seven?”
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Most often, people stared at themselves in the mirror to check their appearance, try on clothes, maybe give them an ego boost. You? You were practicing facial features.
A hard smile for when your mother told you to “Eat less – you’re gaining weight.”
A polite nod for when one father eventually said “You need to give up those silly hobbies of yours – become a real woman, a good wife.”
A dry chuckle for when one of your many cousins gushed about the wonders of marriage, and how amazing it is they got married so young, to fully explore all romantic bliss and life alongside your soulmate – or something. You never made it twenty seconds without appearing bored of your mind and making your way to an empty chair away from others.
You just hoped they’d leave you alone for tonight, or at least stop with the comments. You wouldn’t be able to handle being humiliated in front of Nanami, of all people.
Speaking of, it’s nearly seven, so you grab your purse and make your way downstairs. Your outfit is nothing bland, just like how your parents would like it. A simply yellow jumper and denim jeans – God forbid you wore a skirt too short, or a shirt too flashy in front of your family. You’d be sure to burn at the stake for that one. This outfit was simple and modest and was sure to keep them quiet for a few minutes.
A little ring from your phone broke your line of thinking.
From: Nanami Kento
I’m outside.
You quickly spotted him in his car, and your jaw hung.
He swiftly exited the vehicle, walking towards the passenger’s side and opening the door wide for you.
You don’t know what to say.
So, he does it for you.
“Good evening.” He’s looking extra dashing, with a dark blue polo shirt that hugs his figure ever-so-perfectly, and slacks. His hair is parted as usual, but it seems much more casual, less uptight, less professional. He’s once more refused to wear his glasses, so you can see his beautiful face up close.
His strong jawline, the strong planes of his face, the thin eyebrows that never did much to conceal his eyes – he looked straight out of a fairytale. The fact that he looked so relaxed, out of his business attire and clad in casual clothes, made this vision much more alluring.
“Hey,” You answered, giving him a soft smile. “You didn’t have to do this; I could open the door by myself.”
“Nonsense.” Nanami shook his head, gesturing to the inside of the car. “Shall we go?”
As soon as you buckled your seatbelt, he left the driveway. You’d sent him the coordinates before, so there was no getting lost as long as you followed the GPS.
There was a small awkward silence between the both of you – it was only normal. You and Nanami didn’t hang out that much after office hours, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you would have no topics to discuss.
“So…” You started wearily. Might as well warn him about your family. There was no way you were letting this man meet them without being prepared. “I should warn you in advance – my family is…. Well, they’re not conventional.”
“Hm? How so?” He questioned you, quirking an eyebrow yet never taking his eyes off the road.
“They… They might make some rude comments. Or say things that make you uncomfortable. I know I told you about it the other day when I asked for this favour, but I just want to reiterate it. They’re… Well, they’re hard to deal with.” You finished. There was no other way to describe your family.
Growing up, they’d been all but supportive. Berating you left and right, making you believe you were as worthless as the trash on the street. Nothing you did ever amounted to anything. Your grades were never enough. Your passions were always overlooked – the books you read “filled your head with crazy fantasies”, the music you listened to “polluted your mind”.
If you left the house with no makeup on, your mother would assume you weren’t trying hard enough. Would say you looked sloppy and dirty, and that it was shameful to see you not even attempt to pull yourself together. And when you did leave the house looking pretty and proud of yourself, your parents would break down your confidence once more, assuring you that you’re clearly trying too hard, and that men don’t want woman who paint their faces as if they were clowns and dressed in skirts so short, they barely earned the name.
Your achievements didn’t matter. Not when your cousins earned scholarship after scholarship, brought home successful, handsome men or women, assuring the family they were well off and didn’t need to worry about much.
To your family, all it mattered was your image. To them, you were the black sheep of the family. No partner, no children, no high paying job, no success. Considering their mentality, how they still associated themselves with you was a puzzle.
Not even once did they stop to consider your feelings.
Moving out had been the best thing that happened to you.
Sure, it was hard at first.
You spent too long in front of the mirror, wondering if you looked good enough. While conversing with others, it was difficult to open up about your passions and hobbies, for fear of being shut down and dismissed.
But slowly, you’d regained control of your life. You went out when you wanted, with who you wanted. You wore the clothes you liked, without worrying about your parents’ hurtful remarks.
Nowadays when you looked in the mirror, you saw a proud young woman, as opposed to the scared little girl you saw in your early years.
Which made returning to them ever so difficult. They managed to turn you back into that frightened little girl you once were, always so afraid of saying the wrong thing, of doing the wrong thing and making them look bad. They managed to destroy all of the confidence and self-love you’d built for yourself all these years.
“I’m sorry.”
It was Nanami’s voice that brought you back to reality.
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry. Clearly, a family that treats you that way does not deserve you.” He said, matter-of-factly. Like it was the easiest thing in the world, to admit the family that spent years breaking you simply wasn’t worth your time and thoughts.
“Yeah, well.” You mumbled, looking out of the window. What could you say? In theory, you knew he was right. He had to. Other friends who knew about your past told you as much. But it was a completely different story to put that into practice.
For the rest of the ride, a silence fell upon the both of you. None attempted to break it.
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“Remember our story, right?” You questioned the man next to him. He stood right next to you, tall as a tower and just as unmoving. You could never guess what was going on in that beautiful head of his.
Nanami nodded silently, turning to you.
“Are you sure you want to do this? We can make up an excuse and leave, if you want to.” He said, and for a while, you considered it. It’d be nice to ditch on your family and spend some time with your coworker. But once again, you knew how this movie ended.
Sighing, you shook your head and gave him a weak smile.
“It’s okay. It’s just for one night.”
He nodded once again.
You took a deep breath and stepped forward, ringing the doorbell.
Almost immediately, the door opened, making way for a woman none other than your mother.
She looked so… so… perfect. Annoyingly so. It made your blood boil. It reminded you of how, in her eyes, you were most definitely not perfect.
Nanami glanced at the woman in front of you. She looked like a perfect copy of you. Or rather, you were a perfect copy of her. But there was a clear difference between the two: While she looked uptight, abnormally prim, and proper, way too polished, you looked, well, natural. This woman looked like her only job was to look good, while you were an effortless beauty. He can only imagine what kind of things a woman like this could’ve told you all your life to make you so nervous back in the car.
“Honey!” She chirps in a voice he can only describe as fake. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” She pulls you win for a hug, mumbling and muttering about how long it had been since you’d last seen her, how unkind of you that was, how you had no consideration for your family. Ouch.
“Hi mom,” Was your hushed answer as you tried your best to hug her back. And then just as quickly, tried to get away from her bone-crushing embrace. “Y-You can let go now.”
And she did, staring right at Nanami.
“Oh.” She very obviously stared at him up and down. There was no subtlety to the way she ogled him, and you felt some strong second-hand embarrassment from her actions. “And who might this fine young man be? Did you finally step up and get yourself a nice man?”
You sighed. This was going to be a very, very long night.
Nanami stepped forward, placing a warm hand on the small of your back, a hand that slowly brought you closer to him.
“Good evening, Mrs.” He said politely, offering his hand for the woman to shake. She did so gladly, showing him a perfect smiled. A perfectly forced smile. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Mom, this is Nanami Kento. He’s… He’s my boyfriend!” The words felt nice in your mouth, natural. It’s like he was meant to be your boyfriend. Boyfriend. That’s nice.
“Boyfriend! Oh! It’s so nice to meet you!” The woman exclaimed, pulling him inside. “Come in, come in! Of course, you’d be late – We were all waiting for you!”
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When you told Nanami your family was harsh, he was picturing something very different. Maybe some unwanted jokes here and there. A comment about your major, a joke about your driving, maybe even some embarrassing childhood stories.
He wasn’t expecting this.
“It is such a surprise that our dearest [Y/N] has finally brought someone home!” Your mother announced, sending her daughter what Nanami thought was a rather sheepish smile. “I mean, at some point we thought we would be the family’s spinster, ha!” And then she sent you the most condescending smile, one that made you want to crawl into a hole and cry. Not even after discovering you have a boyfriend (well, a fake one, but she doesn’t need to know), your mother could be supportive.
“Well, I’ve always been full of surprises,” You retaliate bluntly with a tight-lipped line. Nanami slowly brought his hand under the table to squeeze yours, and when you faced him, you were met with a look that meant more than a thousand words. Stay strong. I’m with you, he seemed to silently say.
“Kento – mind if I call you Kento?” Your father interrupted loudly, not sparing you a glance. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a salaryman. I work in the same office as [Y/N].” Was Nanami’s response. You cringed at your father’s attempt to talk more familiarly with Nanami. It felt odd, it felt rigid, and you just knew what question would follow.
“Ah, I see. Well, I sure do hope you’re at least winning more than our [Y/N] here!” The older man blurted, shaking his head in disappointment. “We told her to focus on her studies, make sure she has a nice paying job by the time she finds a husband, but she instead decided to pursue those… hobbies of her, and ended up with a mediocre office job.” Then, as if his rude observation meant nothing, he added, “No offense. I’m sure you’re a hard-working young man, you should aim higher and consider a career in a more lucrative field. Have you tried investing, or finances? If you want to provide a better future for my daughter, you should be prepared.”
Great, now not only was he making rude comments towards you, but he was also making rude comments towards your “boyfriend”. When would this end?
“Dad.” You cut in, scowling at him. How dare he ask such questions?
“What?” He asked, shrugging. As if these types of discussions were as casual as small talk or mentions of weathers. “I need to make sure that this man will provide for you. After all, you refused to go and do something useful with your life – “
“I think what [Y/N] has done of her life is for her, and only her to decide.” Nanami chimed in. “And as her parents, you should be nothing but supportive. It’s not up to you to decide what’s useful or not.” Your cheeks warmed at that. He sounded so clear and straightforward. He managed to do, within minutes, what you had been too afraid to do your whole life.
Your father seemed to dismiss what Nanami had said, waving his hand about and muttering some incomprehensible gibberish.
While your mother fetched the main plate, the room was filled with light chatter. Nanami leaned towards you, lips softly brushing the shell of your ear. It made your heart leap to have him so close.
“You’re right. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it through the whole dinner without throwing a plate at any of their faces.” He mumbled, hand still squeezing yours tightly. This small comment earned a chuckle from you, and Nanami smiled at the response. To anyone else watching, you two looked like a lovesick couple engaging in some light banter and gossip.
“Ah! Here it is!” Your mother gleamed, bringing in pots and pans full of curry rice, udon noodles, miso soup, and some other side dishes you couldn’t see. For all you disliked your family, you couldn’t lie – family gatherings had the best food. You had once tried to learn how to cook from your mother, but after two failed commands (in her opinion) and a whole lot of yelling, you gave up.
“You should try the curry,” you told Nanami, holding your plate securely to pour some of the food on it. “She might be a witch sometimes, but her curry is to die for.” This last part was only but a whisper, and it got Nanami to smile crookedly.
God, you loved to see him smile.
At the office he always looked so serious, so tense. Nanami hated working overtime, and no matter how nice the company you kept each other ways, you could still see the exhaustion taking over him most days, rendering him cold and distant.
Here, though?
He seemed relaxed to a fault. As relaxed as he could be in a situation like this.
“Honey!” There was your mother again. Great, you were starting to miss her unnecessary statements! “Are you seriously going to eat all of that?” She inquired, looking particularly scandalised and attempting to reach your plate.
“Yes, I am. Why? Is there a problem?” You tried to sound brave, but Nanami was quick to notice the shake in your voice and the way your hand trembled in his.
“Oh, well, honey, I just think you should be careful! Don’t wanna put on any weight, do you? I’m sure Kento here wouldn’t want you to gain some extra pounds.”
Ah, this woman clearly made a mistake.
Nanami cleared his throat and made a poor attempt at trying to conceal the anger in his voice.
“I assure you ma’am, that is the least of my concerns.” He asserted and removed your plate from the woman’s hands. “Your daughter looks amazing, and if she’s happy with herself, so am I. In fact, I think she looks particularly breathtaking this evening, don’t you? You must be so proud.”
He’d pushed your parents into a corner, and all they could do was stammer and babble and look around for any help from their relatives – help that did not come.
“I’m quite the lucky man.” Nanami gave your parents the same kind of pretentious, fake smile they gave to him, and dug into his food.
And what else could you do but smile? Mouthing a quick “thank you”, you decided to get to eating as well. Seeing your parents so flustered had given you a kind of confidence you hadn’t felt in years, not in front of them, and it felt good.
For a few godly minutes, everything seemed to go well.
You were enjoying your food, and Nanami was exchanging pleasantries with some of your cousins. It seemed almost normal, the way it was going. Your cousin Ichigo and his wife, who were both ten years older than you were particularly interested in discussing the best kinds of liquors with your friend. Hiroshi tried to rope him into a talk of cars, and Makoto expressed his hatred towards overtime.
It felt too good to be true.
Probably because it was.
After dinner, you were the first to get on your feet to help clear the table. The quicker you did it, the quicker you could get the hell out of that place.
You were loading the dishwasher, distracted by the background noise of the chatter and the news that played in the television, when your cousin Emiko approached. Emiko was her parents’ pride and joy. Unnaturally beautiful, she had no real talent other than looking pretty and finding a rich man. It didn’t matter – the family loved her for it, and you’d spent your whole entire life being compared to her.
“So! ‘Cus, do tell us, how much did you pay for him?” She asked coyly. There was something poisonous laced in her words. You supposed it was jealousy – despite being seated near her husband, Emiko had spent the entire evening studying Nanami, running her eyes through his broad shoulders and sharp cheekbones, no doubt drooling.
You sighed. There was never much you could do about Emiko. You either ignored her words or played into her traps, and both options tested your patience gravely.
“I did not pay him, Emiko. Nanami and I have been dating for a while now.” You replied casually. Somehow, you could still feel tingles where his hand had previously been. On your hand, on your waist. The memory of his lips against your ear elicited a full-body shiver from you. “And I’ll remind you that he’s just next door, so please be considerate.”
“Come on, no one else’s in here, you don’t have to pretend.” Emiko peeked at you. When she saw no visible reaction, she sighed, waving her hand around dismissively and rolling her eyes at you before turning to face the kitchen door. “Come on, lighten up. It was a joke. But you have to understand – you were never something to look at, were you?” She snickered, taking a big gulp of her wine right after. “How’d you manage to snatch up a guy like this?”
You were done.
This comment had been the final straw.
You knew Emiko to be mean, but this? Assuming you had to pay for a handsome man’s company, simply because she didn’t deem you as attractive? As interesting?
Were you simply not worthy of love?
You felt tears prickling at the corner of your eyes, but before you could try to come up with a reply, a familiar voice interrupted you.
“Actually, it was I who managed to snatch her up.” Nanami was standing by the doorframe, casting you the warmest, most lovely, most caring gaze ever. You felt warm to be looked like that, like you were the most precious thing in the world to this man. “I got lucky. When we first started dating, I wondered how the hell such an interesting, beautiful woman would ever look at me.” A small chuckle. “I still do – I don’t feel like I’m worthy of her.”
Emiko was speechless. She just stared from you to Nanami, from Nanami to you, her words somehow losing their power after this confession.
You looked at Nanami and quickly wiped away the tear that threatened to spill. Seeing this, he walked over to you, pulling you closer by the waist.
“I think you’re wrong, Emiko.” He continued, not even sparing her a second glance as his hand lifted your chin up with the gentleness of someone who holds the entire world in their hands. “Not something to look at? I mean… Look at her. How could I ever be deserving of such a beautiful woman?”
You felt heat radiate from his body, and as if it was second nature, you cupped his jaw with your hands. He was so close, so impossibly close. You could make out every single one of his eyelashes, the bags under his eyes caused by sleepless nights working, the eyebrows that were usually furrowed and deep in thought – Nanami Kento was beautiful.
And according to him, so were you.
He searched in your eyes for any kind of signal. A yes, a no. A simply gesture that could change the rest of your night (and perhaps the course of your, well, relationship forever).
It was almost imperceptible when you nodded, meeting his gaze through lidded eyes.
So he dipped his head, and softly caught his lips with yours.
You’d fantasized about this once or twice. But nothing could’ve prepared you for the real deal. Nanami was a good kisser. His lips moved effortlessly around yours, molding like he had been kissing you for years. The hand at your waist brought you close, close, impossibly close, so close that you couldn’t think of getting away – good. Nanami didn’t want you to ever leave his side.
And you kissed him back just as tenderly, afraid to ruin the moment. Your tongue swiped shyly across his bottom lip, and he gave you one of his signature smiles – reserved, contained, but 100% him.
Behind him, he could hear Emiko scoff and leave the kitchen. Perfect. He didn’t want a crowd anyways.
After pulling away for air, Nanami studied your face attentively.
Your eyes were wide and bright, sparkling with what seemed like magic. He wanted to kiss every inch of your face – your forehead, your cheeks, your nose, your lips. He wanted to kiss your soft, plush lips again and again and again. Thank God you’d invited him to be your fake boyfriend. Nanami had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask you out, and while this wasn’t the most conventional date, he was known for being efficient and straightforward.
“Let’s get out of here. You deserve to be kissed somewhere else.” He mumbled in that raspy voice of his that did things to you. You nodded and held his hand as he led you through the corridors.
The goodbyes were ushered, and the promises to call and come back soon were very blatantly fake. Your parents, however charmed by this man at first glance, refused to hide their scowls at this point. They did not like being contradicted. Neither did your cousins – or rather, the ones that had giggled and whispered and made smaller comments at the beginning like “Wow [Y/N], such a miracle, you finally found someone!” and “Oh, Nanami-san, when you get tired of her, please do call us – we’ll be waiting! What? It was a joke, don’t be such a downer!”.
The ride home had been quiet. Peaceful.
You refused to let Nanami go, and he refused to let you go, so you couldn’t find it in yourself to complain when he placed his big palm on top of your thigh as he drove.
Then, as you arrived to your place, he walked you to the door, silently holding onto your hand.
You gazed up at him, and then at the floor.
“So…” Why were words so hard?
You wanted to ask him a million questions. Why had he kissed you? Had he liked it? Did it mean something to him? Was it just a distraction? Is your friendship ruined?
“I hope you know it is not true.”
“Huh?” You met his eyes.
“Everything they said.” Nanami refused to let go of your hand, drawing slow circles with his thumb. “It’s not true. You’re the most fantastic woman I’ve ever known. You’re beautiful, and smart, and talented, and kind, and so many other things that I want to say but can’t find the words to.” He’d never been good with his words. But you thought he was doing a pretty good job.
Then, he shook his head, running a hand through his now slightly ruffled hair. “I wish I was better at this. My point is – you’re remarkable, [Y/N]. The way you care for others, the way you’re so unapologetically you, the way you’re not afraid to speak your mind and be heard. Those are all admirable qualities. If your family can’t see that, then it’s their fault.”
You could just stare at him in awe.
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take you out. On a date, an actual date. Not just some simple last-minute overtime office dinner. A proper date, just you and me.”
A date? With him?
“You can say no if you want to. I won’t force you. But I’d like to take you out for dinner. Or lunch. Or anything you want, basically, I –“ He sighed once again. “Point is. I really like you, [Y/N]. I know, I know, we don’t know each other that well, and I don’t expect you to return my feelings, but –“
“I really like you too.” You blurted out without thinking. So, all of this time, your feelings hadn’t been one sided? He too felt the same as you? All those nights at the office, all those small interactions, making the workplace an easier place to deal with, all of the jokes and giggles and antics – he cherished them too? “And I… I’d love to go out for dinner. Or lunch. Or whatever you want, really! The point is,” You gather yourself, smiling like a fool. “I’d really love to go on a date with you.”
In that exact same moment, while you and Nanami smiled at each other like two shy teenagers, the only witness to your awkward confessions being the moon and the lights from the city above you, you didn’t think of yourself as unworthy, as dumb, and useless and a no-good child. The hurtful comments made by your family were far, far away, like they’d happened a lifetime ago.
You saw yourself the way he did. Remarkable. Kind, talented, beautiful, and oh so worthy of love.
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A/N: That's it! I hope you liked it! I love this man so much hehe he deserves all the fics! Thank you for the lovely request, I'm so glad I got to finally start writing for Nanami instead of simply reading!
Have an amazing day everyone! <3
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rogueddie · 2 months
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Lost in You T | 1,247 words Prompt for @steddielovemonth: Love is when you look at his lips for half the conversation because you can't stop thinking about kissing him
Steve had a problem.
Or, no- Steve has a problem.
He did think it was a one off issue, something that would sort itself out if he just ignored it for a while. But, instead, it only seems to have gotten worse.
He really, really wants to kiss Eddie.
At first, he didn't think anything of his staring problem. The world was ending, people were dying, there wasn't time to worry about small things like that.
Although, even after they defeated Vecna, Steve continued to stare. He continued to dismiss it as a normal, totally platonic thing.
As Robin said; "it's almost embarrassing how long it took you to realize".
But, at the time, it had felt so normal. It still does.
Eddie's a good looking guy and Steve has eyes. Of course he's going to look at his best features. His lips just... are the one that draws his focus most of all.
He's sure that no one would blame him, either. With how full Eddie's lips are, how he tends to bite his lower lip when he's stressed, how he pouts so much when he's asking for favors, how he licks his lips whenever he looks Steve over, looking so plump and pink and-
... well. At least he knows he has a problem.
For a while, he thought that it was that simple. He had thought that he was doing a miraculous job of hiding how distracted he always gets, how he gets lost in the daydreams.
"And I know I'm boring," Eddie says, casually. "But-"
"Wait, what?" Steve interrupts, confused. "You're not boring, who said you're boring?"
"C'mon, don't lie to me, man. I know you hate how much I drone on about shit."
"No, I don't? If I didn't like hearing your rants and that then I wouldn't ask about those things."
Eddie huffs, looking always, shoulders hunching as he mutters, "coulda fooled me."
"Eds, where the hell is this coming from?"
"You don't listen to me!" He explodes. "You just- I don't know. Your fucking eyes glaze over half the time- and I know you don't care about this shit but could you at least pretend?"
"Wh- oh. Oh, no, that's... that's not because I think you're boring, I swear."
"Why then?"
"That... I don't know if I should say."
"Right," Eddie mumbles, shaking his head. He gets up, grabbing his jacket off the armchair next to him. "Of course you can't."
"Wait, where are you going?
"Away from you."
"But- I just don't get it right now. Like, I need time to figure some shit out, you know? I don't wanna tell you one thing now and then have to take it back later. You know? It's... complicated."
Eddie pauses, before slowly turning back to look at him.
"You just need time?"
"Yeah. That's it, I swear."
"And then you'll tell me what the fuck this is about?"
"Promise."
But, uncomfortable and uncertain, Eddie keeps his distance after that. He is careful to avoid group hangouts, using Corroded Coffin or Hellfire or his uncle as an excuse when needed.
He even lies about being ill one time.
It only serves to make Steve feel guilty about his own confusion. Especially considering he's no closer to figuring his mind out than he was when they spoke.
He has to get it right though. He's not sure they'd be ok if Steve assumes he wants to kiss Eddie because he wants to date him, only to later realize it's only lust.
Steve's sure that it would sting just as much to assume that it's only lust and later, when it's too late, to realize it's love.
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Lucas points out.
Out of everyone Steve thought would figure out why Steve and Eddie were so tense all of a sudden, he didn't think it would be one of the kids.
"It's the best thing I can do right now," Steve points out.
"No, it's not?" Lucas frowns at him, expression a mix of frustration and disbelief. "The best thing you can do right now is talk to him. Actually tell him why you need time. Tell him that you're worried about disappointing him."
"I'm not gonna dump all this shit on him."
"Jesus, you're worse than Mike."
"Hey-"
"He doesn't know any of this, Steve. He's probably thinking of the worst case scenario. What if he thinks you're going to kick him out the party?"
"I can't do that," Steve can't help but snort. "Even if I wanted to, I don't have that sort of authority over you brats."
"Steve! He doesn't know that! You have to talk to him, soon. He's not going to wait forever when he doesn't even know that he's supposed to be waiting or what he's waiting for!"
"But what if-"
"No."
"What?"
"I have to pick up Erica. I've told you what you should do, so do it."
Lucas makes a shooing gesture at him once he's out the car and, reluctantly, Steve turns the car around.
He heads to the trailer park.
"Hey," Eddie greets, looking him over. "You had enough time now?"
"Sort of," Steve winces. He shifts, glancing behind Eddie. "Is your uncle home? We should... talk."
"He isn't," he steps back, gesturing Steve inside.
Steve steps inside, hovering in the middle. He turns when he hears the door click shut.
"I have a problem," he blurts. "I mean, uh... Robin has always teased that I never know if I love a girl or just want... but that's- I was worried that I was, uh, maybe doing that with you? And I don't want to rush into anything or have this turn out like-"
"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, big boy, you've already lost me. What does this," he waves his hand between them, "have to do with the girls you date?"
"Everything. Eddie, I'm not ignoring you because you're boring, I can't stop... I can't stop thinking about you."
"What?"
"You've got really nice lips, dude."
Eddie blinks at him, eyebrows disappearing behind his fringe. "What?"
"What do you mean, what? I know you like me, it's why I don't want to rush into anything and then later realize it was just, like, lust. I can't do that to you, Eds."
"So, wait, ok," Eddie waves his hands around, face scrunched and voice high. "Wait. You've known that I like you this whole time?!"
"Yeah? It's fine, I don't mind, it's no big deal."
"It's no- what the fuck, Steve!"
"Was I supposed to tell you that I knew?"
"No- or, yes- but not- ugh!"
"Whatever, ok, that's not the point! I just- I don't want you worrying and thinking this is because of anything bad. I still need time to figure this out."
"To figure out if you want to fuck me or not?"
"Oh, no, that's not a maybe, I definitely do. I just don't know if I might, like, love you too." Steve scratches his jaw, pondering on that while Eddie flails. "Well... I'm pretty sure there's a crush there at least. I don't usually get so distracted by the idea of just kissing that I check out of conversations."
"Fucking hell, Harrington, you're ridiculous."
"What-"
Eddie strides over to him, taking his face in both hands, cutting him off with a kiss.
It's barely more than a press of lips, but Steve feels alight.
It's better than his daydreams could have prepared him for.
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meldarkthrop · 24 days
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"I don't see how people are telling Azriel only lusts after Elain, there are fOuR boOks of—"
Reminder, this is a direct quote from Azriel's POV. We are IN his head, and hearing his thoughts:
Context - Rhys is aghast at Azriel's actions and questions if he would seduce Elain AWAY from Lucien.
Azriel's thoughts, quoted verbatim:
"He hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to."
/end
Now, what's so complex here? We are literally in his thoughts, since it's his POV and he admits that he hadn't planned anything beyond his sexual fantasies.
There is no interpreting this differently, or distorting it by saying "No, my poor bb finks he is unworthy of her so he didn't think 🥺—"
I'm going to stop you right there. If he had thought "He hadn't let himself think beyond..." or if he argued even in his head "Rhys knows nothing about my feelings regarding Elain", you could make that argument. Man clearly says that he hasn't planned beyond his lusty thoughts. There is the word 'certainly', which nails the coffin shut. Period.
Sure, fans can write fanfictions and insert their own thoughts in the character. But canon!Azriel certainly hasn't thought any romantic thoughts about Elain — true mate romance? Azriel doesn't think so. Forbidden romance? Azriel would disagree, because there's no hint of romance in his thoughts.
There were many places in the BC where he could've defended himself, or SJM could've added an internal dialogue conveying his angst and alleged feelings. He didn't have to state it out loud, he just had to think it. But there were zero hints. The BC makes it glaringly obvious that what Azriel desperately craves is a mating bond, and he's fixating on Elain because of the 3x3 math— much like a certain section of the fandom.
And SJM basically replied to them saying "Lol no."
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nautilusopus · 1 year
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okay FIIIIIINE i'll throw my hat into the Goncharov ring
Been a while i've done a proper movie breakdown, may as well be this one.
Rather surprisingly (but perhaps not too surprisingly given the unexpected renaissance of things like the original Dracula and Breaking Bad on this website out of seemingly nowhere and with very little prompting), I'm seeing a lot of new people suddenly interested in Martin Scorsese's seminal film classic Goncharov, originally released in 1973. Obviously a movie like that doesn't make it coming up on 50 years without generating a lot of discussion about the different ways the movie resonates and why, but coming into it in 2022 there's been so much cultural cruft that's collected around Goncharov that (similar to stories like Fight Club and Scarface) it's a little hard to parse what it's actually about with all the mythologising that's gone on around the characters.
Those movies, in one way or another, are about portraying the downfall of their protagonists -- Fight Club's after ironically creating another system of control and dehumanisation and becoming what he sought to destroy, Scarface's after being consumed by the wealth and power he's amassed. A lot of people assume it's that kind of story, because aren't most well-loved movies? However, I think this is ironically an assumption made because of the genre of film it is. All the people that aren't going, "OMG Goncharov is so cool and badass and fucks bitches," are going, "WOW I can't believe Goncharov is a cautionary tale about power corrupting," and in the process people miss that Goncharov is first and foremost about loss, in all its different forms.
I'm both kind of surprised and frustrated people miss this, given how utterly pervasive the movie is with its clock symbolism -- it's the one thing everyone remembers about it, it was in all the tie-ins. I dunno, maybe that got funneled back into the theory where they're meant to reinforce how Goncharov is just a mortal man at the end of the day, which is fine I guess, but the movie overall becomes a lot clearer when you interpret it through the lens of, "These things are gone and you can never get them back; clocks don't go backwards."
One of the most fascinating things about the movie is how every character embodies a different kind of loss. I'm gonna ease into this and start not with Goncharov but with:
Rybak, who is usually associated with loss as we typically think of it, i.e. the loss of loved ones via death. This comes up all the time, either in his trust issues (why he's being such a prick at the wedding), in the card game (he never bothers to bet much money, knowing he's bad at poker, and still loses all the same). Rybak is terrified of loss, cannot manage it, and ultimately is punished by losing what few people he had left and then being spared by Lorenzo who deems him punished enough, and is forced to survive, to grapple with what his life is now without them.
Goncharov's is actually more subtle, and it's loss of small, insignificant things as a result of the larger losses he believes he's processed. This is something that's frequently contrasted against Rybak. The pawn shop going under is actually a microcosm of this whole thing. Goncharov anticipates that this is obviously going to lead to financial issues for him, plans accordingly to deal with this, and... it works! He's saved! Except that means card games can't be hosted at his place anymore, given it's burned to the ground. Does this matter, in the grand scheme of his life? No, of course not. Poker night still gets had all the same. But it is different now, and always will be. Little things like this continue to add up, until something as insignificant as a towel -- a towel that never should have been in his room, but Sofia is no longer there to drop off his laundry and chat with him -- is ultimately the final nail in a coffin built of insignificant splinters, each one an imperceptible change underneath the much more larger, noticeable story beats of things like grief.
Otto is the big obvious one I'm not gonna linger on: loss of his youth, moments in the past that he wants to redo but can't. Most people at least seem to have gotten this one.
(This is also what the clocks get associated with a lot, which again, doesn't NOT make sense but also if it were just for this one character that, while thematically important, was honestly just a side character with limited screentime and only two scenes, would they really be all over the movie before Otto's name is even mentioned?)
Sofia's a bit abstract, and is the loss of self -- of the familiar anchors we have to who we are, what we think our core principles are, our place in society, who we want to be to our loved ones -- and by the time she dies she is rendered utterly unrecognisable to herself, and is horrified by it. She grieves herself the same way Rybak grieves his wife (even gets a direct visual callback via the way her face is lit when she's burning Lorenzo's check). You see echoes of this in Goncharov as well, but while Sofia is grieving the person she used to be, Goncharov is grieving the world around him (even though really, it's the same world it always was -- time keeps ticking on, one second per second, and neither one of them can ever un-fire that gun).
Lorenzo, tragically, gradually loses his freedom (and maybe in a parallel world would actually be the protagonist of a movie where he chokes on his own hubris like everyone seems to think Goncharov is GRUMBLE GRUMBLE). As he comes into his own more and more by his family's legacy, he is afforded fewer and fewer options about what decisions he can even make. Arguably he was doomed from the start, but the further he clings to power as a means to freedom, the more it drives him to destroying everything he ever (thought he) cared about. The tragedy of his character, and what makes him a good villain, is that he can clearly see what he is doing to himself and he absolutely hates it (his walking out early at the wedding is a tacit admission of this), but his absolute refusal to accept loss, to accept grief and pain and all the awful shit that comes with the human condition, is what causes him to toss aside every out he has because if he has enough CONTROL over his situation, surely he will never have to lose anything ever again. But, really, he already has.
I dunno. Goncharov is one of those movies that is great, and everyone seems to realise it's great, but nobody ever really puts into words why, and that's how you get Fight Club fans lmao. And it sucks because the actual discussion around the movie beyond "it's another hubris story but REALLY GOOD guys" is so much more fascinating and a much more earnest emotional truth that just never gets talked about.
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kritzel · 3 months
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Adams Past Thoughts
(English isn't my first language so sorry if I make mistakes)
After finishing HH I got to thinking, was Adam always the way that we see him in the show.
Because he, Lilith and Eve were created without original sin. So it wouldn't make sense for him to be a complete idiot from the beginning.
Here's what I think could be a possibility on what happened (after all we don't know how biased Lilith's book is):
First he and Lilith are created
Maybe he didn't really boss her around and it was more like a situation of a sibling telling the other sibling what to do (I know they where married but it's the only example I could think of)
"Just because you're older doesn't mean you can tell me what to do" kinda way (since Adam probably was made first)
But it was not supposed to be an order from Adam more like a suggestion
So Lilith walks of and meets Lucifer
Heaven realises Lilith won't work as a wife and they create Eve from Adam
Eve is a lot more naive than Lilith
Adam is explicitly told to look after her and make sure she is alright
He does just that and they both are happy together
Lucifer and Lilith create the fruit
And in a rare moment where Eve isn't with Adam she finds the tree
Eve eats the fruit
She gives it to Adam
He eats it too because he loves Eve and doesn't want her to endure the punishment alone
Everything goes downhill from here
I believe they were not really capable of feeling negative emotions before they ate the fruit
Eve being the first to eat it develops a lot of doubts towards Adam
Why wasn't he looking after me? That's what he was supposed to do now we are stuck in a world filled with danger and death
Adam ,who before the fruit didn't care about Lilith leaving him, was now starting to yearn for the woman he never had. She was supposed to be his and now she is with the most hated being of all creation.
They never really expressed the thoughts they had after eating the fruit with eachother
Resentment started building up without them really noticing
They still held love for eachother and tried to survive in a world full of danger
It went alright in the beginning
They had two kids
Everything seemed to look up
But of course Cane kills Abel
And that was the last nail in the coffin
Adam and Eve could not cope with the loss of both their sons (let's pretend Seth never becomes a person in this story)
They still tried to stay together
But the resentment grows bigger
Love turns into hate and a lot of hurtful things are said between them
They separate and go there different ways
And lets pretend Eve really did have something with Lucifer
As soon as Adam hears about that his hate for Lucifer and Eve just grows bigger
What is wrong with these women? What is it about this Lucifer?
He develops a lot of doubts about himself in his living life. Which causes him to develop the fear of being left by anyone who he lets into his life.
After he died he hears all about how great he is being the first man and all
And over the years he starts believing that he can do no wrong and it was only his wife's and Lucifers fault that everything went to shit
And even though deep down he wants a meaningful relationship he opted to just go for hook ups in fear of losing someone again
And after a few thousand years those things develop into the kind of person we see in the show
But this is just one possibility
I hope it is understandable what I'm trying to convey
Please share your thoughts with me.
What do you think happened all these years ago?
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edelgarfield · 4 months
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gods i haven't seen this parallel drawn before but it is something that drives me insane
everyone knows gortash was sold to raphael by his parents and one can only imagine the awful things he went through. and like i don't think it's too far of a stretch to think that abuse plays a heavy role in what led him to bane, how do you avoid being owned and used for other people's gain? by being the one with all the power and bringing them under your heel.
which is the exact same logic that drives astarion towards ascension. hells, the rite is a contract with mephistopheles, raphael's DAD.
imo gortash is a glimpse of exactly what lies in ascended astarion's future. he's the most powerful man in baldur's gate but he's completely alone. he's sold out and alienated every single person that ever cared about him, his power is the very thing that keeps him from ever being able to trust anyone else, all his allies are transactional and based on mutual gain, and one slip up means a knife in his back. durge, seemingly the one person he genuinely cared about, was taken from him because of the power they held. their affection for him put a target on both of their backs. he had all the power he could ever want and it did nothing to save the person he cared about most.
by the time you meet him, he is far far far too gone imo. i'm not even sure whether he cares about how isolated he is, or if he sees it for the weakness it is. if there was ever a time to convince him to choose another path, it is long gone, now he's too entrenched in his own schemes, that even if he WANTED to change (unlikely), it would spell his death.
if you don't ally with him, his isolation is the very thing that kills him; he believes he has no need of flesh and blood allies bc he has an army of tin soldiers to keep him safe. but once you take out the steel watch he's practically defenseless. he's the most powerful man in Baldur's gate, but you can literally just stroll up to his office and kill him on his own turf and no one comes to his aid. if you do ally with him, it's his ambition that puts the final nail in his coffin, his means to dominate the world turns on him and spells his doom.
and this is exactly what we begin to see happen with ascended astarion. his obsession with power and need for control makes him turn a genuine partnership based on love & mutual respect into one based on control. from party banter, we see pretty much all the companions immediately turn on him. these are people who genuinely cared for him & fought for his freedom, but after watching him ascend they wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. and he doesn't even care! he's so entrenched in his own misanthropic worldview that he only sees the power he's gained & not everything it cost him. the cost of ascension isnt just 7000 souls, it's 7000 souls and the love of every single person who could have ever cared for him.
if astarion ascends how long until he bites off more than he can handle? how long until his enemies realize the best way to get to him is through you? how long until all his allies turn on him? (if you choose to control the absolute, the answer is somewhere between a few days and a few weeks). all the power in the world can't protect you from your own hubris and astarion has it in spades.
whether you view durgetash & durgestarion platonically or romantically I see it as two opposing narratives held together with Durge as the lynchpin. durgetash is abt being doomed by that narrative, two people who genuinely cared for each other but were the wrong people at the wrong time to save either of them. had they met earlier, if one of them had been slightly less entrenched in their roles, perhaps they could have been saved, they could have lived and had something real.
& durgestarion is the opposite, had they met any earlier, they would have brought each other to ruin. two doomed people, once beyond saving, meeting at the perfect time and finding the strength in each other to break their chains, to choose a path for themselves. where before durge failed to save gortash (& every person they ever cared for) they can save astarion now (& all their other companions).
& the real tragedy is by the very constraints of the narrative, you cannot save them both. if durgetash hasn't been the people they were, Astarion would never have his chance at freedom, he would've been consumed in cazador's ritual with no one to mourn him. but in order to orchestrate the events that allow astarion his chance at freedom, gortash is long past the point of no return. it takes MULTIPLE extremely unlikely events and literal divine intervention to free Durge from Bhaal's clutches. The chance of the same happening for Gortash is infinitesimally small.
it's abt the cruelty and chaos of the world, how fate, destiny, and chance intersect to either bind us or set us free. it's abt second chances, walking through the ruins of your past mistakes & choosing to build something from the rubble, it's abt how love & loss are two sides of the same coin, how sometimes the only choice available is to love, & that love won't save you, but it's there and it leaves its mark.
thank you for coming to my tedtalk.
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libraryofgage · 8 months
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Spiderpool Steddie Part Two
Part One
This series is about to become secret identity shenanigans lmao
As always, if you see any typos no you didn't ^_^
Between Steve's glasses, the crowd surrounding him on the subway, and the rattling of the train against the tracks, a killer headache is starting to form, pressing relentlessly behind Steve's eyes and the bridge of his nose. He shuts his eyes, trying to take a deep breath to calm his senses, but he's just hit with the horrific and confusing smell of multiple bodies pressed together in a small space. Steve grimaces, opening his eyes once more. He considers removing his glasses, but he'd rather not risk losing them.
A garbled, muffled voice echoes through the train, the presence more than the words announcing the approach of the next stop. Steve sighs with relief, determined to get off the train ahead of time, and starts to awkwardly push his way toward the doors of the train. He's just two more muttered apologies away from them when he tenses, his nerves dancing with warning of an inconvenience about to come. Steve doesn't know what that inconvenience is, though, until someone else moves and their over-stuffed backpack smacks him in the chest.
Normally, it wouldn't actually have any effect on Steve. But now, between the headache and being mid-step and trying to breathe through his mouth so his nose isn't further assaulted, Steve loses his balance. He braces himself to fall on his ass (somehow, people on a crowded train in this city seem to have a sixth sense for getting out of the way of someone falling) but finds himself being caught around the waist, instead.
A strong arm holds him steady and the smells from the train are muted by the overwhelming scent of smoke and denim and something metallic. Steve blinks, tilting his head back to look at the person who's still holding him with no sign of letting go. He's met with a playful grin and amused eyes framed by untamed hair.
"Eddie?"
It's a question, but Steve knows it's him without a doubt, especially when Eddie raises an eyebrow and asks, "Have we met before, big boy? I think I'd remember if we had."
Steve tenses, pulling away as much as he can before turning around. They're still too close because of the crowd around them, but just a tiny bit of distance helps. "I, uh, I'm a fan. Of your band. Corroded Coffin," Steve explains, wincing at how stilted he sounds.
Eddie slowly looks Steve up and down, taking in the soft yellow sweater with a white collar peeking out from underneath, skinny jeans, worn-out messenger bag, and dirty high-tops. His gaze travels back up, lingering on Steve's glasses before saying, "No offense, but you don't look like you listen to my music."
"Well, I do," Steve replies. It's true enough. He did spend a whole day researching Corroded Coffin and listening to every song he could find. Some of them were way too loud for him, too much chaotic music clashing together into something his overly sensitive ears couldn't actually process. But he'd found the lyrics online with fan-made sheet music and, using the older-than-him keyboard in his older-than-his-father apartment, he'd recreated the melodies and found himself appreciating the music.
Eddie raises his hands in surrender, flashing a slightly apologetic, slightly playful smile. "I believe you," he says. "So, what's my number one fan's name?"
Steve tenses once more, reaching up to grip the strap of his messenger bag as his brain speed runs the risk of telling Eddie his name. They've met once while he was in his suit, but Eddie doesn't seem to recognize his voice or body or anything else. It probably wouldn't hurt to offer his name; Eddie will probably write this moment off as meeting a fan and never think about Steve again. In fact, Steve would wager that there's a 79% chance Eddie will never see Steve again.
He won't even bother wasting energy on trying to figure out the chances of Eddie seeing Spider-Man again. The likelihood is high, considering Steve likes relaxing on Sister Margaret's roof.
"Steve. Harrington. Steve Harrington."
Eddie's grin becomes a bit more genuine, his hands shoved into the pockets of his vest as he leans forward slightly. "Nice to meet you, Stevie," he says, his voice soft and just barely audible even to Steve's enhanced hearing.
Heat surges across Steve's cheeks, his heart picking up speed, and he silently curses how much of a sucker he is for pretty brown eyes. "Yeah, nice to meet you, too," he mumbles, glancing up when that garbled voice once announces the approaching stop. "That, um, that's my stop," he adds, a nervous laugh following the words as he keeps himself from meeting Eddie's eyes once more.
He sounds like a blushing virgin, and Steve wishes he could bash his head against the side of the train. He's far more confident when he's wearing the mask. If he were Spider-Man right now, they'd be bantering with playful tones and clever quips.
Well, if he were Spider-Man right now, he wouldn't be riding the subway in the first place.
"Oh," Eddie says, frowning slightly. He's silent for a few seconds before grinning once more. "You wanna get coffee sometime, sweetheart?"
The question is so sudden that Steve's brain grinds to a complete halt before rebooting itself. He should say no. Just meeting Eddie by chance has threatened his secret. So, Steve should absolutely say no.
But he likes Eddie. Steve thinks he's funny and pretty, and he knows they would have a good rapport if only Steve could get his head out of his ass and communicate like a normal person. And it's just one date. There's no guarantee it would even go anywhere or that Eddie would even show up. Besides, if he plays his cards right (bats his eyes just right, brushes his fingers along Eddie's arm, laughs at his jokes), coffee could become a free lunch, and Steve isn't going to say no to potential free food.
"Sure," he says, an eager smile that he can't help tugging at his lips.
Eddie lights up, holding his hand out to Steve as he says, "Lemme see your phone. I'll put my number in."
Steve nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket and opening it to create a new contact. Once he's typed Eddie's name into the proper field, he passes it over, watching as Eddie puts his number in, double-checks it, retypes something, and then passes it back.
A quick glance at the now-saved contact shows that Eddie has added a bat emoji to his contact name. Steve snorts and sends a text message to the number, glancing up as Eddie's phone pings at full volume. It's muffled and blends right in with the chaos of the train, but Steve still raises an eyebrow at him.
"Listen, I'm in loud places constantly," Eddie says, tugging his phone out with a grin. "How else am I gonna hear when cute boys text me?"
"There are other cute boys texting you?" Steve asks, feeling a little more at ease. What was he so worried about before? It's hard to remember when he's focused on Eddie.
"Well, no, actually, but a guy can hope, right?" Eddie asks, winking playfully. "Besides, now I've got a gorgeous boy texting me. It's even more important to hear when your messages come in."
Steve rolls his eyes at Eddie as the train comes to a stop at the station. "Yeah, sure, gorgeous," Steve says. He knows he looks good (a person can't spend so much time on their hair alone without knowing it, he thinks) but "gorgeous" is probably going a bit too far. "This is my stop. Text me."
Eddie nods. "Assume I'm dead if I don't text you within two hours," he says, utterly serious, and Steve laughs.
He shakes his head at Eddie, waves to him, and then starts pushing his way toward the slowly opening doors that will let him into the station. Steve sighs with relief once he's off the train, and the somewhat fresher air makes him realize what he's just agreed to.
He doesn't regret it, not at all, but he suddenly can't shake the feeling that his life is about to get...chaotic. Even more chaotic than being Spider-Man makes it.
-----
Steve carefully sets the bag of tacos down on the roof before collapsing and leaning against the walled edge. He sighs, pushing his mask to the bridge of his nose, and lets the vibrations of the building soothe his adrenaline-spiked nerves.
The music plays uninterrupted for a few minutes before subsiding, the building going still despite Steve still being able to hear the crowd inside. A few more minutes pass before the music starts up again, but Steve can tell there's something different about it. Before he can figure out what it is, the door to the roof flies open.
"Spidey!"
Steve huffs out a quiet laugh, waving at Eddie as he walks over. "I got tacos," he says, gesturing to the bag.
He feels weird seeing Eddie as Spider-Man just hours after he'd been texting Eddie as Steve. Actually, the only reason they'd stopped texting was because Steve lied about going to sleep, wanting to ensure he wouldn't be distracted by his phone while patrolling.
Eddie grins and sits on the other side of the bag. This is only the second time they've hung out on the roof together, but Eddie snatches up the bag like he's done it a million times before. "Where from?" he asks, pulling out three tacos before placing the bag back down.
"Taco cart on 7th," Steve says, grabbing a taco for himself.
A comfortable quiet settles between them as Steve takes a bite of his taco. Eddie somehow inhales two of his three in less than a minute, making Steve wonder if he's even breathed or tasted the tacos. Before he can jokingly ask, though, Eddie suddenly says, "I've fallen in love."
Steve chokes on his carnitas, eyes watering as he coughs through the sudden, cilantro-scented ache in his throat. A steady hand pats his back, helping him through the coughing fit. Once he's finally able to breathe again, Steve looks at Eddie and asks, his voice rough, "You what?"
"Fell in love. Been hit by Cupid. Seen the fucking light, even."
Steve almost asks if their coffee date is canceled. It was supposed to be that weekend at a tiny hole-in-the-wall shop Steve had never heard of before. And then he remembers the mask he's wearing and the whole "secret identity" thing. He pushes down that question and asks a different one instead. "Oh, uh, congrats. What's their name?"
Eddie gets a dopey smile. "Steve. He looks like a stereotypical prep, but apparently, he's a fan of the band."
For a brief moment, Steve wonders about the ethics of discussing himself with Eddie. Then again, it would be more suspicious if he didn't, right? And he has to keep his secret identity intact. Steve clears his throat, wincing at the dull pain before asking, "Where'd you meet?"
"Subway. Some asshole hit Steve with their backpack and I caught him."
Steve can't help snorting when he hears it from Eddie. "How chivalrous of you. What, are you gonna say he literally fell for you next?" he asks.
Eddie's grin tells Steve that, yes, he was going to say that. Since Steve beat him to it, though, he just says, "He was so cute and flustered, Spidey. And sweet fuck, his hair? His hair is incredible. I wanna know how long he spends on it so I can really appreciate messing it up when we make out. He's got, like, moles and freckles, too, right? And they're so fucking cute. I wanna play connect the dots with them. We didn't get to talk much on the train, but I can tell he's sarcastic and funny. Plus, like, he gives off this really caring energy? Like, hand Steve a baby, and he'd be in his element."
Okay, hearing Eddie talk about him like this is weird. Steve's mouth feels dry and he shoves the last of his taco into his mouth before pulling his mask down. He's lucky Eddie is looking away, otherwise, he'd see the bright and obvious blush spreading across Steve's cheeks and down his neck.
"He sounds great," Steve manages, relieved his voice doesn't sound as strained as he feels. "Maybe he used to babysit?"
Steve did, in fact, used to babysit. He still babysits, actually. Granted, not as much as before, but there are a few single moms in his building that he helps out whenever they need.
Eddie nods in agreement, his smile becoming smaller and more genuine. "Yeah. I can't wait to get to know him," he says, his voice softer, and Steve thinks he might be jealous of himself if he wasn't so fascinated by seeing this side of Eddie.
"So, uh, when's the date?" he asks.
"Saturday. We're gonna get coffee, but if I play my cards right, I bet I can take him out for lunch, too."
A laugh manages to escape Steve as he wonders if Eddie read his mind on the subway. "If you do, there's a good Thai place by the park," he suggests. "It's called Thai Cottage, I think."
It's Steve's favorite place for Thai food, actually. But Eddie doesn't need to know that right now. He can just find out when Steve tells him on Saturday.
Steve once again finds himself wondering about the ethics of telling Eddie how to make the date go well when Eddie doesn't know Spider-Man and Steve are the same person.
Eddie grins brightly at him, and Steve finds he doesn't care about the ethics. "Thanks, man," he says, elbowing his arm gently as the watch on his wrist beeps twice. "Ah, fuck, break's over."
Eddie pushes himself up, stretching his arms above his head, and Steve hears several pops along his spine. "Time for the next set?" he asks.
"Yep. Still gonna be here when it's done?"
"Nah, I've got plans tomorrow, but I'll listen to the first song at least," Steve promises, hoping his smile is obvious enough despite the mask.
Eddie nods, looking like he doesn't mind at all. "No worries, man. I'll see ya next time, Spidey," he says, waving over his shoulder before heading to the stairwell again.
Steve watches him go, waiting until the door has shut before he sighs and slumps against the edge of the roof. He stares at the sky for a moment, briefly prays that he'll be able to juggle Eddie knowing Steve and Spider-Man, and tries to ignore the impending sense of chaos that has taken up residence in the back of his mind since he walked off the train.
---
Tag List (please let me know if you'd like to be tagged, too)
@soaringornithopter, @suikatto, @murdblurdock, @starman-jpg, @somegirlsomewhere, @heaven428
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steddieas-shegoes · 5 months
Text
stumbling into you
for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'meet-cute at work' rated: M wc: 999 cw: sexual innuendo, semi-public handsy making out tags: making out, getting together, rock star Eddie Munson, modern au
a/n: let me just say getting this under 1000 words took longer than it took to write the original 1484 words it was 🙁
🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢🏢
Steve's first day was going better than expected.
He'd admittedly lied about his skills to get this job, but how hard could it be to run errands?
A metal band in need of throat lozenges and hot tea was in the studio now.
Easy enough task to do.
When he walked into the control room, it seemed empty.
He looked back and checked the room number on the door.
"Let me help."
Steve turned to see the hottest guy he'd ever seen standing by the mixing board starting to walk over to him.
"Oh. Okay," Steve stuttered out.
"Let me grab the teas," the man said, his hand brushing against Steve's.
"I can just-" Steve let him, flushing when he smiled at him. "I could have set them on the table."
"It's okay, you've got your hands full..." he looked at the badge hanging off his lanyard. "Steve?"
"Yeah, sorry. First day."
"Really?" The man took the pack of throat lozenges from him, opening the bag and popping one in his mouth. "Welcome then. I'm sure we'll see a lot of each other over the next month or so."
"Do you record here a lot?"
"Yeah. We've got this studio booked solid for the next three weeks. Album needs to be perfect and we always get the best quality here."
"So do you sing?"
"I sing. Lead guitar, too."
"Is it a band I know?"
The man looked him over, taking in his business casual appearance, glasses slipping down his nose.
"I don't think we play anything you've listened to. Corroded Coffin?"
"My little brother listens to you! His mom never let him go to a concert though, said it would be too rough on him. He's kinda small for his age and she worries." Steve bit his lip. "Sorry, rambling."
"Cute, Stevie."
Steve blushed.
"I'm Eddie."
"Steve."
"Yeah, Stevie, I got that. You like any metal?" Eddie was clearly trying to have a real conversation with him, but Steve was drawing a blank on what the English language was.
"Never listened to any."
"You wanna listen? Something's off, but I can't put my finger on what. Maybe you could give me an idea."
"M-me?" Steve's eyes went wide.
"Yes, you," Eddie nudged him and tipped his head towards the mixing board. "C'mon, honest opinion."
"I-"
"Pleeeease?" Eddie pouted.
"Okay, but I don't really know what good is supposed to sound like," Steve agreed, walking to the board.
"Good is relative. If you think it sounds like metal music should, that's at least on the right track," Eddie pushed a couple of buttons and flipped a switch.
A surprisingly soft guitar melody filled the room, followed by a husky voice singing.
"This sounds..."
"Sounds?"
"You sound sad."
"Well, that's kind of what I was going for, so I guess that's a good thing."
The music cut off and Steve immediately wished he could hear more.
"Do you have other stuff recorded?" Steve suddenly needed to hear more of Eddie's voice.
"You wanna hear more?"
"If you want?"
Eddie flipped another switch, pressed a button, and a much faster guitar started playing, followed by heavy drums.
"This one doesn't have vocals."
Steve wouldn't listen to this regularly, but he could admit when people were talented, and it was very clear that Eddie and his band were talented.
"You're really good," Steve smiled at him.
"Thanks, sweetheart."
Eddie shut off the music and stood up.
He leaned closer to Steve, playful smirk on his face.
"You wanna go in the booth?"
"I'm not allowed."
"I'm allowed and I'm asking, so." Eddie wiggled his eyebrows, making Steve giggle.
"Okay, sure."
Once in the small booth, Steve felt overwhelmed with Eddie's presence.
His body heat was enough to make Steve sweat.
"You do all the lead vocals?" Steve asked.
"Yeah. Since day one," Eddie said from right behind him, so close his breath hit the back of Steve's neck.
Steve shivered, closing his eyes as he felt Eddie's hand rest on his lower back.
"Tell me to stop if you want me to," Eddie whispered against his shoulder.
"I don't," Steve gasped.
Eddie turned him, pushing him against the wall behind him.
"Can I kiss you?" Eddie breathed against his lips.
Steve nodded, a whimper escaping his mouth as Eddie's lips touched his.
Eddie was a soft chorus, a soft kiss.
A soft moan when Steve wrapped his arms around Eddie's neck.
Eddie's fingers gripped Steve's hips, tugging him forward so their hips met, both already half hard.
"Wait," Steve said when Eddie started kissing down his neck. "When will they be back?"
"Don't know." Eddie nipped at one of Steve's freckles. "Don't care."
Steve moaned again when Eddie's hand found the front of his pants.
"What if-"
"Don't know. Don't care."
Steve threw his head back as Eddie's hand cupped him over his pants.
"Fuck, feels good."
"How fast can you come?" Eddie's hand squeezed, almost making Steve's legs buckle.
"I-"
"Eddie! Thought you were joining us!" A voice yelled.
"Be there in a few! Just wanted to check something!" Eddie yelled back.
"You're a workaholic!"
Eddie checked through the crack in the door to make sure the person left before he turned back to Steve with a sad smile.
"I probably should join them." Eddie cupped the side of Steve's face in his hand. "Maybe after your shift we can meet up?"
"Really?"
"Really, sweetheart."
"Oh. Um, I guess. I mean, it's probably against the rules, but I can give you my number?"
"I won't let them fire you. I made the move, right?" Eddie dipped his thumb into Steve's mouth for just a second, teasing.
Eddie may have made the first move, but Steve was quick to make the next one that night, not giving Eddie a second to say hi before he was in his lap in the backseat of a hired car.
Steve's job had a lot of perks, but gaining a boyfriend was definitely the best one.
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sam-loves-seb · 1 year
Text
thinking about eddie, a decade later, maybe two, and corroded coffin has gone on to be a world famous metal band and eddie gets recognized as their front man everywhere he goes. he loves it, for a time, creating joy with his music, having fun on tour with his friends, listening to entire stadiums sing his words back to him. it's the life he always wanted, and he's grateful.
but it's not 1986 anymore, he's not some twenty year old kid with energy to burn. none of them are. jeff has two kids at home that miss him terribly when the band's on tour, and gareth is married now with a baby of his own on the way. they all still love the band that changed their lives, and the shitty lyrics from their first album they wrote in gareth's mom's garage back in hawkins, and all the music that came after. but now--it might be time for a break.
"We're not breaking up," Eddie announces at their last show. "Far from it. We just--we need a little time to be normal again. To enjoy this part of our life before it's gone. We'll be back, someday, I know we will," he says, and the band nods along with him, their hands held over their hearts as the stadium cheers around them. "Consider it a hiatus. And don't even think about forgetting us while we're gone."
So, Jeff flies home and gets to go to his son's first t-ball game, and Gareth heads back to LA to finish setting up the nursery before his wife goes into labor. And Eddie?
Well, Eddie goes home.
To a little house just outside of Indianapolis, bought in 1989 after they signed their first record deal. Three bedrooms, two car garage, one husband waiting in the driveway when his car pulls up.
(That last one didn't come with the house, but it is what makes this place a home. Eddie's home.)
It's not until Eddie collapses in Steve's arms does he realize how much he needs this. That he realizes how tired he is, and just how homesick he's become.
"I missed you," Steve murmurs into his hair, arms wrapped tight around his waist.
"I'm never leaving home again," Eddie whispers back, clutching onto Steve's polo shirt and letting the tears start to pool in his eyes.
"We both know that's not true," Steve teases, pressing a kiss to Eddie's temple.
"Not for a long while, then," Eddie tells him, lifting his head and cupping his husband's face.
Steve tilts his head, his brows furrowing a bit in confusion, a single crease forming between them. It's deeper than it was when they first got together, back when they were all still kids. His hair is different too, still floppy and styled and perfect, but shorter, only a little bit, and just starting to salt and pepper near his temples. It's barely noticeable, unless you're Eddie Munson and you spend every moment you can studying the planes of Steve Harrington's face.
"I'm retired," Eddie tells him, only half joking.
"You're thirty-nine."
"Semi-retired," he rolls his eyes, takes his husband's hand, and leads him into their house where their two cats are waiting for them. "And making the most of it. Starting now."
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