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fawnforevergone · 9 months

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The Ultimate List of Dante References in Hozier's "Unreal Unearth" !!

Hello and welcome to my new-and-updated ultimate compilation of all 'Inferno' references I found in Hozier's new album! If I think of anything else, or if anyone else suggests something, I will be sure to add it, but, for now, enjoy this ridiculously long (you've been warned) list I made!

Since I didn't wanna make a post for every individual song and spam you all, the songs are separated by their respective circles! I hope that organises stuff a bit more :]

Usual disclaimer: I could be wrong about some stuff! I've read 'Inferno' and try to stick to the objective references, but sometimes I let subjective interpretation bleed through. If anyone has any corrections for anything, just lmk!! Okay, cool <3

DESCENT:

"De Selby (Part 1)"

We start the album not in the circles, but instead at the Gates of Hell. One of the main themes of Inferno is darkness, and these first two songs are embodiments of that.

The lyrics mention the idea of this being a "new empty space", suggesting that Hozier is being introduced to the feeling of Inferno through the relationship he's singing about, and, so, we begin the descent.

"The likes of a darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear." God is obviously a large theme of Inferno and is, biblically, the creator of light, hence the absence of it in Inferno. In fact, the first three stanzas all reference the heavy darkness of the threshold and its estrangement from God.

The Irish/Gaeilge lyrics roughly translate to: "Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. You and I, together. You and I, metamorphized. Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. The art of transformation is a dark art." The imagery of light and dark mixing together mimics the idea of walking from the brightness of Earth into the darkness of Inferno.

This entire album appears to be the recounting of a relationship and how it feels like walking through Inferno. Here we see the beginning of this relationship, of Hozier losing himself to the threshold.

"De Selby (Part 2)"

Part one appeared to be the step through the gates, whereas part two seems to be Hozier being enveloped by the threshold. In 'Inferno', Dante says the entrance to Hell is a darkness that no stars could shine in. We hear this shift from Earth to Unearth through the production alone; the weightlessness of part one falling into the heavy grunge of part two.

"Your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room." The theme of dark continues, as it will through the entire album, but, this time, Hozier feels it radiating from within his lover rather than the space around them. Though, him saying his lover carries darkness is not an insult. This extra depth to his lover is something more to know, something more to love. This idea actually differs from Dante, who sees the darkness as deceitful.

"I want to be so far from sight and mind." Inferno is a lawless place. He would be far from sight due to the darkness, and far from mind due to the insanity that persists within the circles.

"Let all time slow, let all light go." This lyric shows me that he has been submerged in the threshold. Again, the lack of light, but also the slowing of time. Punishment after death is eternal, something that time has no grasp on. Hozier is willing to let these aspects take a hold of him.

"I'd still know you not being shown you, I'd only need the workin' of my hands." Christianity is a heavy theme of Inferno, and this lyric plays on the proverb 'Idle hands are the devil's workshop', a proverb Hozier also hinted at in his song "No Plan" (from 'Wasteland, Baby!') - "My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand."

Now, though, Hozier's hands aren't idle, instead the opposite, his hands are working as God intended. Drawing us back to that idea we were given at the end of part one, we get the feeling that Hozier is bringing something light/Godly to Inferno, and he and his lover are fusing the ideas of Heaven/Earth and Hell.

FIRST (LIMBO):

"First Time"

We now enter circle number one, 'Limbo'. Limbo is an uneventful circle for those not worthy of punishment but also not fit for Heaven. It is mainly for those who do not believe in God, the unbaptised.

Firstly, to get to circles, Dante and his guide, Virgil, must be chaperoned by the Greek Psychopomp Charon down the river Acheron, and we see that in Hozier's first couple stanzas.

"And the soul - if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body - felt nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." This appears to be Hozier mentioning the river Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Underworld that surround Hades, and, in 'Inferno', are used to transport the souls of the dead to their respective circles.

"The first time that you kissed me, I drank dry the river Lethe." The river Lethe is another one of the five rivers, and is one that causes anyone who drinks from it to forget everything they know. Hozier is simply saying that kissing this person wiped his mind clean, similar to the end of "De Selby (Part 1)" where he mentions partaking in a transformation.

"Some part of me died / Some part of me came alive the first time that you called me 'Baby'." Relating to the previous quote, souls that drink from the river Lethe usually do so before being reincarnated, so they forget their past life. Hozier seems to experiment with the idea of being reborn by his partner's love for him - an idea prevalent throughout his entire discography.

"To share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off - like all creation - the absence of itself." This lyric tells us that we should not ignore the privilege of living just out of the fear of dying. This lyric is reminiscent of "All Things End" and the circle of Heresy. Since Limbo is home to those who don't believe in God, the theme of Heresy is a very fitting one.

SECOND (LUST):

"When I was young, I used to guess 'Are there limits to any emptiness?'" The punishment for those in Limbo is to exist eternally with the curse of a hollow, empty feeling meant to represent the lack of God in their lives. This punishment seems referenced in this lyric.

[ i ended up thinking about this song more so if you want even more "first time" content, here ya go: "first time dante references." ]

"Francesca"

Into circle number two, 'Lust', we have the story of Francesca Da Rimini, a woman Dante spoke to during his visit to circle two. Francesca fell in love with her husband's brother, Paolo, and when her husband discovered the affair he murdered them both.

Hozier seems to be singing from the perspective of Francesca/Paolo but throughout the album we see Hozier liken his lover to aspects of Inferno - darkness in "De Selby (Part 2)" or Lucifer in "Unknown / Nth" - so the story of Francesca and Paolo is fitting as another metaphor here.

"Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me?" Even in Hell, Paolo and Francesca physically cling onto another. They do not let their death affect their love.

"My life was a storm since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane?" The punishment in Lust is an eternal storm meant to replicate the throws of passionate love - a storm also depicted in the production of the end of this song. Hozier/Francesca/Paolo says that it's impossible for them to care about this punishment when life was already as treacherous as it was.

The whole chorus emphasises the imagery of Francesca and Paolo not being able to let go of each other.

"When the heart would cease, ours never knew peace. What good what it be on the far side of things?" Francesca and Paolo lived their love secretly and anxiously, so what good would peace be in the afterlife when they've already become accustomed to difficulty?

"Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I." In the opening songs of the album, Hozier describes his lover as darkness, akin to something God cannot bear. Due to the depth of his lover, the mix of light and dark they've made, he believes Heaven would crumble beneath the weight of their relationship. That something as corrupt as Inferno is the only place suitable for them to live.

"I, Carrion (Icarian)"

Still in circle two, Hozier plays on Dante's own metaphor. In Canto 17, Dante refers to his own dread of descending Inferno to the same dread that the 'ill-fated Icarus' must've felt on his fall from the sky.

Hozier twists this, instead comparing his love to the hope Icarus must've felt as he flew towards the sun. He said, during a live show, this song is based on the idea hat Icarus never realised he fell, and woke up dead, too clouded by joy to realise what had happened.

"If the wind turns, if i hit a squall, allow the ground to find its brutal way to me." Again, we mention the storm of circle two. Lust is also said to have treacherous terrain - sharp rocks and jagged stone - that seems to be hinted at in the second half of this lyric.

"While you're as heavy as the world that you hold your hands beneath." This imagery seems reminiscent of the Greek Titan, Atlas, who holds up the Earth on his back. Dante talks about seeing Titans and Biblical Giants at the transition point of circle eight to circle nine, 'Fraud' to 'Treachery', which makes this lyric a sad hint to where Hozier will end up finding his lover; Taking the place of Lucifer in the deepest part of Inferno.

THIRD (GLUTTONY):

"Eat Your Young"

We enter the third circle of Inferno, 'Gluttony'. There are no specific references to Inferno, but the concept of gluttony is apparent. Hozier does what he frequently does throughout this album; He refuses to see the sin as "right or wrong" as Dante so stubbornly implies.

Hozier often divulges in a grey area, a spectrum or sale of severity, when it comes to the sin. Hozier's perspective seems more nuanced than Dante's, seeing sin as layered rather than objectively bad. In this specific song, he displays the different sources of hunger in humans, and where the line should be drawn.

"I'm starvin', darlin', let me put my lips to something, let me wrap my teeth around the world." We start, and reference back to in verse two, a sexual hunger, a harmless passion between two people. This is an innocent side of the sin, not deserving of the punishment of Lust which is to be ripped apart by Cerberus (the three-headed dog from Greek mythology) for all eternity.

However, Hozier moves onto the hunger of politics.

"Pull up the ladder when the flood comes." The government refusing to help the people when the sea levels rise.

"Throw enough rope until the legs have swung." When you don't have a ladder, you use a rope. This lyric plays on the notion of when governments give the impression they are helping, but are only making things worse - a take on the saying 'Give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves', since what else are they meant to do with it?

"Skinnin' the children for a war drum, puttin' food on the table selling bombs and guns." The hunger for power manifests in war.

"It's quicker and easier to eat your young." Here, Hozier uses the common saying in a more literal sense, saying that if these politicians are hungry enough to destroy the world, they may as well physically eat their young, since it'll have the same effect.

FOURTH (GREED):

"Damage Gets Done"

This song takes place in circle four, 'Greed'! The title of the song alone is already very meaningful. In circle four, the main punishment is that the inhabitants are split into two groups and are forever forced to charged into each other and fight. Dante describes them are being so injured and damaged that they have become 'unrecognisable'.

The song is about greed within the changing of the world. It's about growing up and losing the naivety and innocence you once had, no longer able to ignore the burden of politics and money. Hozier and Brandi sing about the excitement of being young and in love, but, with the rise of inflation, it's hard to exist like that anymore - You need greed to survive.

"Wish I had known it was just our turn being blamed for a world we had no power in." This seems to be a reference to two things. One, the idea that governments blame the people for their own poverty, and Two, the idea of arriving in circle four by no fault of your own. It's not their fault they wanted more money with the world being how it is, but, nevertheless, they're being punished for it.

"I haven't felt it since then. I don't know when the feeling ended, but I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done." They talk about the enjoyment of the love they're singing about fading, and how they miss that, but they know that, again, this is not their fault. They know they didn't change, the world did, and they won't take responsibility for their 'sin' when all they did was adapt.

As aforementioned, the inhabitants of the fourth circle suffer extreme injuries, so Hozier saying "I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done" is him saying "I know that we are not at fault for being served the punishment of Greed."

FIFTH (WRATH / ANGER):

"Who We Are"

We enter the fifth circle, 'Wrath', where the inhabitants spend their time fighting to stay at the surface of the river Styx, another one of the five rivers of the underworld.

"Falling from you drop by drop." / "To hold me like water." These lyrics obviously give the idea of water, representing the river Styx.

"Or, Christ, hold me like a knife." This lyric comes in quite loudly, Hozier's voice strengthening with it. The subtle blasphemy of "Christ" and the violent imagery of "knife" comes across as a sort of anger. Being held "like a knife" is representative of how those is Wrath must feel - like they are something particularly dangerous, but still desperate to be held.

"We're born at night, so much of our lives is just carving through the dark to get so far." Again, this theme of darkness that is so frequently displayed in Inferno is mentioned again. After this song comes "Son Of Nyx", which Hozier said was the transition into the darker half of the album, and Nyx is the Goddess of the Night. Being "born at night" would make Hozier the son of the night, the son of Nyx. This gives the impression that, if the album is following on chronologically, this is the point where the relationship portrayed in the album begins to fray as Hozier starts to be consumed by the darkness.

"And the hardest part is who we are." Those in the circle of Wrath possess a 'savage self-frustration' that Hozier seems to represent throughout this whole song - A fierce annoyance with the way he and his lover let things go: "We sacrificed, we gave our time to something undefined", "Chasing someone else's dream", Etc.

SIXTH (HERESY):

"Son Of Nyx"

We have no lyrics for this song (though you can hear him faintly saying some things, one of which is him saying "who we are...") but we know it takes place in circle six, 'Heresy'. Heresy is a belief or opinion that is contradictory to religious doctrine, especially Christianity. As aforementioned, Hozier said this track is a transition song meant to replicate a descent into the darker half of the album.

Nyx is a Greek Goddess and is often known as the personification of night. She had many children all representing different things but the title would essentially mean 'The Son Of Night', and, as dissected in the previous song, we can see that Hozier sees himself as reborn into the darkness.

Once again, darkness is a large theme of Inferno, but Hozier saying in circle six that he is the Son of Night is particularly meaningful due to the association of light with God. He has been reborn as something that could not be further from God, something that opposes the idea of God, something of a Heretic.

Nyx was feared and respected by all, including Zeus, and, though I believe there is no reference to her in Inferno, she was described as residing in the dark recesses of the Underworld, which is heavily incorporated into Inferno.

"All Things End"

This song does not have many overt references to circle six but definitely incorporates the idea of heresy. As mentioned, heresy is an idea that contradicts (especially, but not always) Christianity. In this song, Hozier talks about the ephemeral nature of all things, particularly romance.

"When people say that something is forever, either way it ends." Whether it be death or a break-up, God doesn't plan for you to be able to spend eternity with your lover.

"Movin' on in time and taking more from everything that ends." Hozier, however, argues that things still have meaning beyond their end. That, even after moving on, we will remember and learn from the things we have lost.

"Just knowin' that everything will end should not change our plans." Throws back to the idea of the second verse of "First Time". If you avoided something just because it was going to end eventually, you would never achieve anything. That's like refusing to finish a movie just because you don't want to get to the credits.

When this concept of ignoring the end comes to death, we ultimately cross the concept of God. There are many rules people follow in religion, avoiding certain things because they are against 'God's Will'. Although this practice can be kept in moderation, it can quickly become self-imprisoning.

Not living your present life out of fear for an unproven afterlife can be limiting, especially if you dictate who you love due to what supernatural punishment may or may not follow. Hozier sings that we should not let God's plan interfere with what we need from life, allowing ourselves to indulge in love even if it will end - ultimately, Heresy.

SEVENTH (VIOLENCE):

"To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)"

This song places in circle seven, 'Violence'. Violence is split into three subcategories, or 'rings'; Violence against others, violence against self, and violence against God. I believe this song gives an overview of all three.

With this song, we recognise that the title says "To someone..." and Hozier said this song was a gift to someone who was from a geographical warm climate, but there is also a lot of heat in circle seven.

"A joy, hard learned in winter, was the warming of the bed." Throughout this song, Hozier describes himself as cold, and his lover as warm. The idea of warming the bed is a concept Hozier mentioned in his song "Nobody" (From 'Wasteland, Baby!') where he sings that, if he had a choice between the warm bed of his lover or performing on stage, he'd go home to the bed. Since this song comes after "All Things End" (the break-up song), this call back to "Nobody" could be instead referencing a permanent distance, rather than a temporary one (like the temporary distance in "Nobody").

"And, darlin', all my dreaming has only been put to shame." This could have two meanings. One, Hozier waking from a dream about his lover to find them not here. Or, two, Hozier's expectations of his lover falling short as their relationship has finally fallen through. These expectations could be a form of violence against self, the second ring, as he set himself up for heartbreak.

"And I wish that I could say that the river of my arms have found the ocean. I wish I could say the cold lake water of my heart- Christ, it's boilin' over." As mentioned, Hozier is cold, his lover is warm. His wishes he could find something to to fill the loss of his relationship, but he still feels the heat from his lover in every part of him.

"It's boilin' over." References the river of boiling blood in the first ring, violence against others, Hozier could be talking about the way his partner loved him, how that was almost an act of violence with how hard it is to now let go.

"Butchered Tongue"

This song has less references to 'Inferno', and is more of a commentary on the act of violence itself. Hozier sings of places and cultures lost to the violence of man, and he mourns this deeply.

"To say 'Appalacicola' or 'Hushpukena', like 'Gweebara'. A promise softly sung of somewhere else." This grieving for a time when native land wasn't colonised and culture wasn't violently erased is prevalent throughout the song.

In the second verse, he sings very strongly of the brutal acts inflicted upon Irish rebels by the British forces in the Wexford Rebellion of 1789. As we know, Hozier is from Ireland, and he incorporates both the Irish language and history into this album, and recounting such violent acts for this song feeds into the grieving of what has been lost: "Between what is lost forever and what can still be known."

In the context of 'Inferno', it feels as though Hozier is listing the sort of actions that would land someone within the circle of Violence whilst also appreciating the efforts those above ground take to preserve erased culture. Altogether, the song is a very moving commentary on modern violence.

EIGHTH (FRAUD):

"Anything But"

The eighth circle is 'Fraud', split into ten subcategories that are positioned around the circle in trench-like ditches, known as 'Bolgia'.

"I wanna be loud, so loud, I'm talking seismic," follows up with, "I want to be as soft as a single rock in a rain stick." Who he wants to be fluctuates between moderation and severity. He is changing, unreliable, possibly referring to bolgia one, Panders and Seducers. Seducers tend to 'lead astray', as Hozier's unreliable narration does.

The punishment of bolgia one is to be marched backwards and forwards rapidly whilst being whipped, very much evoking the imagery of a stampede: "If I were a stampede, you wouldn't get a kick." This alludes to the fact that if Hozier were sent to hell for the various sins he commits for his lover, he wouldn't resent them for it at all.

"If I was a riptide, I wouldn't take you out." The second bolgia of Fraud is for Flatterers, 'the act of giving excessive compliments, sometimes for romantic courtship'. Obviously, the song is filled with these compliments.

"I hear He touches your hand and then you fly away together. If I had his job, you'd live forever." The imagery of "fly away" gives the idea of ascending, perhaps to Heaven, as hinted at again by the idea of the longevity of living. Bolgia three is for Simoniacs, those who would sell church roles, offices, or sacred things. This seems to fit with Hozier saying that if he had a divine role, he wouldn't follow protocol, he would allow his lover immortality.

Simoniacs were sinners because they were disobeying God's trust, because the selling of divine roles would lead to corruption in the Church. Hozier is using this hyperbolically, saying that if someone were to sell him the role of God, he would most definitely be a corrupt power.

"I'd lower the world in a flood, or better yet I'd cause a drought." In bolgia four we have Sorcerers. Although Dante used this term in a more logical sense for fraudulent sorcerers - false prophets, fortune tellers, those who lied about the plans of God - Hozier uses the term in a supernatural sense. Sorcerers were punished for trying to interrupt God's prerogative, whereas Hozier is blatantly saying he would summon another flood, usurping God's plan overtly.

"I'm talking seismic." The bridge that leads to bolgia seven was collapsed by the great earthquake and, as we know, seismic activity leads to earthquakes.

"Worry the cliff side top as a wave crashing over." There happens to be a cliff near the entrance of circle eight that a large waterfall plunges over.

"Abstract (Psychopomp)"

This song appears to be the crossover point from circle eight to circle nine that I mentioned when discussing "I, Carrion (Icarian)". Before we get to that, the title itself is significant.

A psychopomp is a chaperon of death; Someone like the Grim Reaper, or Charon from "First Time", or Dante's guide through Inferno, Virgil. Here, Hozier is describing the act of hitting an animal with your car as taking on the role of a psychopomp, whilst also relating this idea to the act of letting a relationship die, leading it from life to death.

In the crossover point from eight to nine, Dante and Virgil stand and look at the large well that leads down to circle nine, 'Treachery'. The Titians and Giants burst out of the well, to big to fit, but their feet stand stubbornly in Treachery. I believe that, at this point in the album, Hozier stands here, too. He's visited all eight circles, and has one last place to go before he leaves Inferno, and ultimately his lover, behind. This song is him realising he has to let his relationship end, he has to act as a psychopomp for his love.

"Sometimes it returns like rain that you've slept through." Circle nine, 'Treachery', is a frozen over lake, aka a memory of water, similar to the residue of rain. With viewing this song as the predecessor to "Unknown / Nth", we can take this as a hint of what's to come.

"The Earth from a distance." Since Inferno is arranged in rings (like a circular staircase), Dante could feasibly look up and still see where he started his journey. The same way Hozier could look up and see where his relationship began, "De Selby (Part 1)", The Gates.

"Streetlights in the dark blue." We have the mix of light and dark again, as mentioned in the opening track, referencing back to Hozier and his partner falling in love.

"Darling, there's a part of me I'm afraid will always be trapped within an abstract of my life." Of course, Hozier is talking about the memory of the animal hit with the car here, but the way this relates to circle nine is beautiful. As we'll properly dissect with "Unknown / Nth", sat within the most central point of circle nine, the deepest part of Inferno, is Lucifer, the fallen angel. Lucifer was thrown down to Hell from Heaven, and found himself trapped in Treachery, his body too big to escape. Dante says that the more he struggles, the more stuck he becomes.

That moment he was struck down to hell is a moment he finds himself forever stuck in, just as Hozier is saying here. In the next song, Hozier relates his lover to Lucifer, but these lyrics are a gorgeous mirroring of Lucifer's experience, and another hint at the final circle we will now head to.

NINTH (TREACHERY):

"Unknown / Nth"

Okay, buckle in.

The ninth circle, 'Treachery', is also one split into subcategories, yet Hozier appears to be singing about the centre. The frozen over lake of Treachery gets more frozen the closer you get to the centre. The inhabitants start half-submerged in ice to fully plastered in it. Throughout Inferno, and the deeper we descend, a soft breeze becomes a strong wind, that, as we reach the centre, we find is caused by the violent flapping of Lucifer's wings. Here he sits, stuck and chewing on Judas, another one of God's biggest betrayers.

After "Abstract (Psychopomp)" Hozier is now exploring the final stage of his relationship. The circles of Hell had mirrored the love he once had, and Treachery is where it shall be buried. He also represents his lover as Lucifer, though not maliciously. In interviews, Hozier spoke about the song being about a heavy betrayal he suffered from someone he truly loved, and likening this to God and Lucifer is just heartbreaking.

"You know the distance never made a difference to me." The song is about knowing someone in their entirety, discovering their best and worst parts. Hozier uses Inferno to talk about the tiresome journey of finally knowing someone. He says he would've made the trip all the same, that he would've walked this far for his lover no matter what.

"I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea." This mirrors the previous lyric, but also references specific parts of Inferno. The are many fires in Inferno, particularly in circle seven, 'Violence'. The sea floor lyric reminds me of the lake of Treachery. Though a surface, not a floor, the lake would still be below any seabed, since Inferno is geographically below the Earth.

"Funny how true colours shine in darkness and in secrecy." You guys are probably sick of hearing me say it but... Darkness is a big theme in Dante's Inferno. It is meant to represent the deceiving nature of humans when light is not being shone. Secrecy is a running thread through 'Inferno', too, as Dante finds many people he thought had done no wrong residing there. Hozier is simply saying how (sarcastically) funny it is that he only truly knows his lover in the remains of their relationship; How he only knows them after seeing them in their cruellest form.

"Where you were held frozen like an angel to me." There are many angel lyrics, but this one specifically references the ice of Treachery. The fallen angel is indicative of Hozier's experience: Seeing someone he regarded highly, even heavenly, falling from that pedestal and turning into something that couldn't be further from God's work.

"You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me. You smile, now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth, and, what's left of it, I listen to it tick. Every tedious beat going unknown as any angel to me." Hozier references his ex-lover chewing on his heart the way Lucifer chews on Judas. He listens to it somehow still ticking, however slowly, and at the end of the song we hear something akin to a heartbeat. The beats are "going unknown as any angel to me" since he can no longer recognise his own heartbeat after it has been mangled by another, and, since he mistook someone alike Lucifer to an angel, the idea of angels must be "unknown" to him.

"Do you know I could break beneath the weight of the goodness, love, I still carry for you? That I'd walk so far just to take the injury of finally knowing you?" We again have this imagery of walking far, referencing the journey of Inferno, and, even though he's aching with the realisation of who his lover truly is, he can't help but be grateful that he does now know them, no matter how painful that may be. That he would do this all again if it meant he at least got to the answer of who they are.

His weak heartbeat follows him through to final track as we begin the Ascent.

ASCENT:

"First Light"

The title is very meaningful for the Ascent. The song references both Dante and Virgil's ascent and the creation of light by God himself. Dante and Virgil leave Inferno through a tunnel that Lucifer left in the Earth as he was thrown down to Hell, and they emerge on the other side of the hemisphere. This song signifies Hozier stepping away from the relationship as he also makes that journey out.

"One bright morning changes all things." Dante is disorientated when he exits Inferno. He'd become so accustomed to the darkness that he asks Virgil, 'How is it that the sun progressed so rapidly from evening to day?' Hozier seems to recognise here that his relationship is no longer fit for him, that the darkness has become too encompassing, just as Dante realises on his ascent.

"The sky set to burst, the gold and the rust, the colour erupts...the sun coming up." Not only does this give the imagery of the birth of light, but it also represents Dante's view on his exit: 'Until...I saw the lovely things the sky above us bears. Now we came out, and once more saw the stars.'

"Like I lived my whole life before the first light." Hozier says that the darkness from his lover was so overbearing that it was hard to believe he'd ever felt light before - that light could not have exists with a darkness this heavy alongside it. It is a call back to "De Selby (Part 1)" - "A darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear."

"One bright morning comes. Darkness always finds you either way, it creeps into the corners as the moment fades." He speaks of bringing light to a moment between them, but has it quickly smothered by the darkness inherent in his partner. Another call back, this time to "De Selby (Part 2)" - "And your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room."

"After this I'm never going to be the same, and I am never going back again." This lyric is heart-breaking. Hozier states that Inferno has changed him, but he has no wishes to re-enter it. At the beginning of this album, he was begging for the likes of Inferno - "De Selby (Part 2)": "Let all time slow, let all light go." - and now he is desperate to get away from it. In "Francesca", he said, "At the end, I'd tell them, 'Put me back in it.'", yet, now, he's at the end, he's ascended, and he has no desire to go back at all.

He is letting go of his lover because he recognises that this pain was not worth it, that this love was not worth the punishment he received, so he leaves.

---

That was Hozier's Inferno !! I hope this was helpful to some people since it was very fun to make (I'm exhausted) and it's very enlightening to see how these lyrics relate to Inferno (I'm heart-broken) !! Okay, wooooo !! Enjoy !!!

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 17 days

Note

Tagging @aitathrowaway1234 to know when it gets posted

AITA for trying to set a friend up with her crush (and having it backfire horrendously)?

I (F28) am married with my wonderful husband Lucas (M31) for eight years now and I'm convinced he is my soulmate. I am as in love with him as I was all those years ago and I'm convinced I'm the luckiest woman on Earth for having him in my life. Yes, I'm cheesy like that.

Thing is, because I'm so happy with Lucas, I want to see all of my friends equally happy and in love, so I have a tendency to play matchmaker sometimes (only with their permission, of course). A lot of these friends are in happy relationships with the people I set them up to, so I can say confidently I'm good at matchmaking.

Recently my friend Darcy (F32) commented on how she had this huge crush in one of my husband's friends, Peter (M30). I got super excited because Darcy went through a bad divorce around 5 years ago and she haven't expressed an interest in anyone since then. Since Peter always seemed to be a cool guy, I asked her if she wanted my help to get closer to him. She said yes.

For context, Lucas was never a fan of me playing matchmaking for people, mostly because he thought I could get in trouble for it. He knows it's something I like to do, though, so he never tried to make me stop it, he just always made it clear he wants no involvement in this. Since I knew I would have no help from him, I started to invite Peter myself to hangouts with me, Lucas and Darcy, and I would go out of my way to talk to him and compliment Darcy in our conversations, saying how amazing she was and listing her qualities etc. In our hangouts, Darcy and Peter would talk nonstop and, in my head, my little matchmaking plan was going smoothly.

Until this one night last week when we went out for a bar. Lucas had a long day at work and was feeling really sore (he has a bunch of disabilities that make him stay most of his time on a wheelchair and also make him feel a lot of pain), so he decided to stay at home, but encouraged me to go out with Darcy and Peter as planned. I didn't want to leave him alone, so it was then that I had an idea: I would go out with them, stay half an hour and leave, saying Lucas wasn't feeling great and I didn't want to leave him alone, which wasn't even an excuse. So I could go home and cuddle with my husband on the couch watching some Netflix while Darcy and Peter would be out just the two of them for the first time. Perfect plan, right?

So I went out with them and, around ten minutes after we arrived at the bar, Darcy went to the bathroom and that's when things started to get weird.

Peter was very straightfoward; he said he knew what I was doing and that I was very smart to keep inviting Darcy to have an excuse to be around him, and now that Lucas finally wasn't with us we could "get rid" of Darcy somehow and go somewhere more private. I was so shocked that I started to laugh and I think he saw this as an encouragement, because suddenly his hand was on my thigh and he was way into my personal space. I pushed him off, kind of screamed "What the fuck?!", got up and left. I was in my car on the way home when I remembered of Darcy. I don't know why she left my mind like that, I guess I was too shocked to think of anything else at the moment, but when I parked at home my phone was full of texts from her, asking what was going on and why everyone had left. I just texted her an apology and promised I would explain everything to her on the following day, because I wasn't in the right headspace at the moment.

When I went home Lucas asked me what was wrong and that was enough for me to start to cry. I told him everything and he just held me and comforted me, he didn't really say anything because he knew I just needed him to be there for me at that moment, I guess. On the following day, thought, we talked a lot about what happened and I could see he was really upset about Peter. He reassured me I didn't do anything wrong, though, but he confessed he didn't like my matchmaking habits because he knew this could happen and he didn't want to see me hurt like this.

After that, I texted both Peter and Darcy. To Peter I simply said I never had any kind of interest in him, that I was simply trying to help a friend out because I thought he was a good person but that was clearly not the case. I also told him to stay away from me and my husband and blocked him. To Darcy, I just told her what happened and apologized. She never answered me, so I guess she blames me.

Lucas keeps insisting this wasn't my fault, but I can't help but think that, if I didn't got involved, this would never have happened, and maybe I should stop meddling in other people's love lives, even if they want me to do it.

So, AITA for trying to help a friend out?

#aita #am i the asshole

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thecruellestmonth · 1 year

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Bruce & Jason fic recs: sweet and bittersweet

Some of the best sweet and sweet-and-sad fan fiction featuring the bond between a Good Batdad and his scrappy birdson.

>Sweet - light and fluffy, minimum hurt with maximum comfort

"Call Me Hopeless" by incogneat_oh - Bruce says good night to Jason and Dick.

"Alternative Means of Acquisition" by Imbecamiel - In which Bruce Wayne arm-wrestles Lex Luthor.

"home is such a lovely place" by evanescent - Jason's first time sneaking out to patrol doesn't go as planned. (He didn't mean to get sick, alright?)

"White Christmas" by LemonadeGarden - Jason's been in the manor for a few months now. Bruce is a pretty cool guy, sure, but he's not exactly sure what to expect from him. And then they go to Siberia in the winter on a case. It goes horribly wrong, and then pretty well.

"Not Guilty, Sir" by incogneat_oh - Robin smoked.

"Safe Space" by Cerusee - Turns out, Bruce and Jason aren’t quite on the same page about who’s parenting whom. Bruce is going to need to clear some things up.

"Sold to Wonder Woman (by my evil adoptive father Batman)" by JeanjacketCarf - Jason writes some fan fiction. It's totally not a self-insert.

"Mint Chocolate Chip" by LemonadeGarden - Summer vacations have been going on just long enough for Jason to start getting bored, when he gets an unexpected visitor. From the future.

"Cookies And The End of The World" by AnActualCrow - Jason has a bad day at school. Alfred and Bruce make him feel better.

"I Love You" by DetectivePrettyBoy - Jason wants to tell Bruce that he loves him.

"don't take your guns to town" by kreestar - batman comes home from a night patrolling to find a 10 year old jason todd waiting for him in his kitchen. across gotham, at the same time, red hood is stopped by a 25 year old bruce wayne.

"The legends and the myths" by orphan_account - Jason Todd is the best liar Bruce's ever met. Jason Todd is the worst liar Bruce's ever met.

"Growing Like A Breeze" by whaleofatime - April 27th isn't anyone's favourite date, but it's somehow worse than usual today when Bruce gets his car stolen. It's nice of Red Hood to come to his rescue. Nicer even that Jason keeps him company afterwards.

"Rise Up With The Sun" by blacklettered - His son came home on a Wednesday evening and Bruce did not call for the slaughter of the fattened calf but it was a close thing. Jason quietly decides to come home, and Bruce is quietly delighted. (Also there's a bunch of freaky Edgar Allan Poe shit happening in the background because lowkey Jason Todd is a revenant who walks the earth as if living and yet remains irrevocably connected to the forces of death and decay—but that's not as important.)

"Bet on it" by Lysical - Damian asks Jason for a favor.

"homerun" by someplacewarm - Bruce backs out from a baseball game with Jason last minute. They handle it just about as well as they handle anything else: bad, then better.

"the reflex" by TheResurrectionist - Jason takes a smoke break.

"Boof" by strikeyourcolors - When Bruce finds Jason turned into a dog in an alley, he tries to take care of him. He didn't plan on getting along so well with this canine form…or getting so emotional.

"Late Night Langoustining" by whaleofatime - Jason steals a live lobster from a supermarket.

"bred in decency and order" by OkayAristotle - Bruce cuddles his giant son. (Contains brief vomiting.)

"Sealing the deal" by orphan_account - In which Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and it’s somehow not the most difficult part of anyone’s day.Or, in which Jason Todd is a selkie.

"Plus-One" by Goldmonger - All the kids were permitted to bring a guest to the gala. Dick brought Barbara, Tim brought Bernard, Duke brought Ana, Cass brought Steph, Damian brought Jon, and Jason brought a forty-year-old 6’6” man with no sense of personal boundaries. Bruce is getting too old for this nonsense.

"the road home" by drakefeathers - Set during Lost Days. An injured and exhausted Jason succumbs to homesickness.

"the clay steals the clay" by zipadeea - Bruce discovers that Jason is alive in the sweetest, funniest way possible.

>Bittersweet - sweet mixed with melancholy, lots of hurt with some comfort; may contain mentions and depictions of child death

"Beneficiary" by sirsparklepants - The beneficiaries of the estate of Jason Todd.

"bird of winter" by knowsphere - Damian meets a ghost. Based on the short story "The Delusions of Alfred Pennyworth" at the end of Batman: Gotham Knights #34.

"A Proper Goodbye" by ceemobster - The emergence of the Red Hood throws Bruce into disarray, and then Jason pays him a visit. The epilogue of the "Under the Red Hood" story... set after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

"this gun needs no bullets" by sacrr - A true Knight is made, not born. Or: the story of Jason Todd. [Batman: Arkham Knight]

"when you were young you used to dream about fires" by someplacewarm - Bruce travels back in time and finds himself in Jason's childhood home. Things aren't easy, but they were never this hard.

"through the valley of the shadow" by Goldmonger - Jason gets kidnapped and tortured. He rescues himself, partly.

"a little bit louder now" by mx_chrx99 - A mission gone awry, too many memories, too much blood, and not enough time. Bruce races to save a son he couldn't save before.

"Haunting" by the_authors_exploits - A child dies of neglect on the streets of Crime Alley; even then, the Batman won't give up on him.

"rip up the floorboards" by orphan_account - Content warning for non-graphic discussions of past CSA. When Jason was young and starved, he hid something like a corpse in his own body. Hurt/comfort.

"Wayward Birds" by LanternWisp - Featuring hilariously crunchy overbearing parent Bruce, who forbids his kid from consuming coffee or dairy.

"Moderation" by orphan_account - In which the Riddler accidentally saves the city a few years early by helping rescue Robin II from Joker’s clutches. Out of pure and vicious spite. [Arkhamverse]

"You're Just A Baby, You Can Not Fly" by BabblingBookends - Batman visits Jason's grave to say goodbye to his partner.

"To See the Stars" by lurkinglurkerwholurks - Jason and Bruce go for a hike.

"Younger Bruce, Older Jason - Shorter Fic" by whatomen

"Knock On Death's Door" by CastleGachi - Red Hood rescues a wounded Batman.

"here in our house, reminders of you" by jesamnelovelace - A Christmas present from Jason becomes Bruce's closest connection to his son after his death.

"a broken piece of what we used to be" by Cerusee - Bruce and Jason messily yet lovingly deal with the ramifications of Damian's resurrection and Nightwing's supposed death.

"Mask Of Blood" by Kieron_ODuibhir - When Jason is trapped in the past, Bruce turns to Jason Blood for help.

"By Any Other Name" by ManURonaldo - Jason thinks of Bruce and Batman as separate people.

"Someone That Hates To See Me Go" by AutumnHobbit - Or, how Jason realizes his family wants him to live, and how he realizes he does, too. (Oprah voice) Your fave gets hurt/comfort! And your fave gets hurt/comfort! They all get hurt/comfort!

"through death and time" by sparkycap - After a mission that takes Batman and Nightwing back twenty years in the past, they end up with time to kill. Bruce does what he does best: he finds a kid. Luckily this one is already his.

"Mighty" by Sparkypants - Five things Bruce taught Jason when he took him in, and one thing Jason taught Bruce.

"it's always sunny in coast city" and "the alignment of the planets, and of you and i" by atlasky - In which Uncle Hal Jordan loves Jason, but Bruce absolutely adores him with every fiber of his being.

"Trapped" by lurkinglurkerwholurks - Bruce and Jason end up trapped in a collapsed building. Jason really dislikes being buried alive.

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lunels · 11 months

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with dating ellie comes with…

dating ellie williams !!

♡ - decided to write this on a whim when i woke up from a short nap today. was kinda reluctant to post this cause i know there are a lottt of these out there buuuttt, this was fun 2 write. anywayyyy, enjoy < 3

with dating ellie, comes with…

her iconic and award-winning journal. that thing has documented just about everything in her life over the years annddddd before dating U she would write about you in it constantly. even b4 she realized she was crushing. just saying how cool you are and she loves being your friend. im talking before bed, having breakfast, after talking to you, after hearing you laugh. she’d draw you too. jot down little details ab you. you name it, it’s journaled. you’d come across it one day and see a few pages written about you, all smiley like awwweeee ellieeeeee, you reallly love meee and she’d be soo embarrassed, like yeah.. just a little bit.

which takes us toooo…. her episodic memory! (😱it’s true! jk.) but nah actually this girl’s memory is hit or miss. in terms of you though she remembers a lot of things…. like how you get grumbly when you’re hungry or how you prefer sitting down to wipe instead of standing up orrr how your first kiss with her was on a wednesday at 6:54pm. the weird little things you know!? other times…. information goes through one ear and out the other. you ask her what she did 10 mins ago & she’s stuck sitting there trying to recall. sometimes you wonder if you were to knock on her head if it would feel hollow or not.

her unusual appetite… i think she’s a picky eater and LOVES to eat but LOVES……. finger foods. what you would consider snacks would be breakfast lunch and dinner to her. one day you'd be in the store by the freezers & she'd dramatically gasp, ....dino fuckin nuggets? they had these the whole time?! aw man.. and she's just holding the box while reading the ingredients like its the most interesting discovery. babe do you SEE this??? did you know????? and you’re like noo… whaaattt! that’s crazyyy! knowing she won’t eat anything else & it would be her favorite hyperfixation of food til like. death. ellie is not going to dive into a 5 star meal. i mean, she would... but it's not preferred. if you’re having a date night she will happily order chicken tenders and fries with a side of ketchup. hell if she’s feeling a lil healthy that day a cup of grapes too. meanwhile you have… not that. your plate consists of five cheese ziti with a buttered and crisp breadstick on the side with garlic parmesan marinara sauce for dip idk. she'll just look at your plate like "okay! if that's what you like babe......if you like it go ahead…" while munching on a piece of chicken. you'd shrug, "least i don't eat like a toddler." the contrast in plates is horrificcc

her lowkey cocky and competitive nature. don’t get me wrong she’s default awkward and nervy but does have a bit of an ego. her vocabulary consists of alot of “yeah?”s and shit that makes you nervous but as soooonnnn as you hit back with the same energy she’s shying away and stuttering. because she’s like damn that made me feel something. uh oh. dating her would consist of a lot of races and competition over simple things….. such as seeing who could get to bed first, orrr race u to kitchen! when you two first started dating she would tell you lots of facts (still does) ab space/dinosaurs and be like “a million earth’s can fit inside the sun. did ya know that babe??” “i bet you don’t know why this dinosaur poops in pebbles…” why would you??? now it's just a regular occurrence. she’d feel so smart and brainy knowing you don’t know a thing she’s talking about. with her competitive side she’s also kinda sore loser too. you beat her in a video game, she’s moping around the entire day until you finally give in to a rematch… mumbling ab how that was just a warmup. and she hasn’t played the game in a while. yeah ok. but best believe she’s shit talking the entire time and finally boasting ab her longggg overdue win

her nerdy dorky loser side. she’s a nerd. she’s a dork. she’s a loser!! idc what u say that’s her. everyone should know this. the girl is in love with space and dinosaurs and reads comics and is technically a pro gamer. like that’s her shit. what does that say?? & the pun books?? come. on. being her gf would mean that there wouldn’t be a day that’d go by that you wouldn’t hear about a fun fact ab space or how something reminded her of a particular dinosaur that lived 19356827.9999 years ago. if you ever touch one of her collectibles or pick up those little trading cards or highly rare action figures she'd immediately run over and swat your hand away, lecturing you about how they haven't sold this character in years and she found this at a garage sale 5 years ago.... how could you- why you do such a thing??!?!? like babe… i love you… so much. but. don’t touch my shit ever again. yeah. it's that serious.

sleepless nights!!!!! she’s pretty much an insomniac. lowkey, but highkey. like, she sleeps, obviously, but she can’t sleep. which would often lead to you waking up in the middle of the night to find her re-building a jurassic park lego set orrrr playing one of her little video games. maybe jamming out to some music as she draws. (bonus if she's drawing your face cuz she can’t you outta her head) and all u hear is her humming along, music blasting out of her headphones like drrrrr dodododoo yeAhhh ooOooO or times if you can’t sleep either, the two of you would be up talking and goofing off w hushed laughs over nothing but it’s really everything to her and she just looks at you with her pretty eyes like... this person is really my whole world.

her guitar skills!!! how could i forget!!!! she plays, like a lot, and anytime you’re over that’s the one of the things she’s doing. most likely playing along to her fav band or practicing a song you suggested once. she’d always wanna play for you and show you a new trick she learned or play you a song she wrote. (bonus if it’s about you<33) if she’s sooo in love with you she’d def wanna teach you a few things:)) sometimes if you can’t sleep she’d be like babe gimme a song. any song and i’ll play it for you. and you’re likee glue song:))) then… there u go. she’d do all the little tuning stuff & you can’t help but feel mesmerized by the way her pretty hands pluck the strings or how she hums the lyrics on some parts. glancing at you every while to make sure you're still listening. she’s just sooo… *prettily sighs*

comic con. anime con. gaming con. YOU NAME IT. shes at all the cons!!!! she’s there and flourishing like a little butterfly. best believe she is dragging you to every single one (for support and comfort cause she wouldn’t ever go alone) and showing you eve-r-y-thing. everything? everything!!! she’d be genuinely excited. all smiley and jumping from place 2 place, pointing at all the characters she recognizes. like babe that's the wizard guy!!! remember him??? and then that's his buddy who’s like a thousand fuckin years old! look at him!!! never knew dude was so wrinkly in person though...yeesh. and you're like ohh… yeaahh☺️ so overwhelmed and very much confused and getting characters mixed up w others from her little rants but she's happy so you're happy n that's all that matters right? if you can't show up for some reason, her gf, who she forced to have on her arm, then jesse because he was the next person actually down to go BUT she would make him take a bunch of pics just to personally send to you. like waitwaitwait she's gotta see this—jesse where's my fucking phone?!? okay whatever just use yours. hurry up before they leave! spamming you left & right with all these attachments of her posed w her favs or pics of her at the different events there. she’d look so cute that you’re like okaaayy…. maybeeee i’ll go w her next time :)))

okay that’s it! this was rly fun to write!! i hope someone out there liked this and maybeee i'll do a prt 2 :) all loveee < 33

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams fluff #ellie williams headcannons #idk if these r considered headcannons

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numptypylon · 10 months

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Carry the One, part 1

“Rayla, please. You, Soren, a bale of hay, a horse with kind eyes and a keg is not an afterparty anyone will blame you for leaving. Only if you leave early, so you have to hurry, alright? Because it’s actually so late it’ll soon be early.”

“But Callum! Don’t you want to hear about this restaurant concept Soren and I came up with! It’s ‘a vanguard’, Soren says, and that means awesome and cool and never been done before-“

“It’s 4am.”

“I sure know a ‘yes’ when I hear it! And oh, we’re gonna need you to tear apart the fabric of space again, to add the fizz to our signature cocktail! So, we were thinking, what if all the courses were bread? And the cocktail was like… fizzy bread- Wait. That’s just beer. Can a signature cocktail just be beer, in an a vanguard restaurant? You’re our cocktail expert, so it’s kinda your job to know this stuff…“

“Rayla… again… it’s 4am.”

“I know! That’s what I’ve been saying! Your 4am attitude needs more fizz! That… was what I’ve been saying, right?”

“No! Not at all! Not even a little bit! And this is the last time I’m taking you to bed! Three times is a fair limit for anyone!”

“Okay.” But she paused, and her happy face fell a bit. “That’s… fair. Like you said.”

“It’s wrong, too. You know that, right? I also said… I’d do anything for you. And anything… is a way higher number than three.”

You can see all the variants of this drawing here and find other drabbles in this series in the [#drabble series: carry the one] tag, when I write more, which will probably be soon. (The fizz is a reference to my fanfic S4-5, Down to Earth and Down Below the Ocean, wherein Callum invents soda by way of pulling carbon dioxide straight out of the air)

#rayllum #rayla #the dragon prince #tdp #callum #numpty art tag #numpty fic tag #drabble series: carry the one #tw: drinking

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ynscrazylife · 5 months

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I love that you’re going to try some writing for JJ! She’s one of my biggest comfort characters and youre like a comfort blog so like this is so perfect. I know it’s not quite a fic idea but do you think you would want to write some headcanons or something about JJ being your mom (assuming reader is a teen girl going through typical teen girl antics) thank you!!!

jj being your mom (jennifer jareau x daughter!reader hcs)

JJ would literally be the best mom ever. She’s so supportive and is always there for you no matter what. Even when she’s away with the BAU, she’ll stop whatever she’s doing to answer your phone calls, even if it’s over something trivial like you’re wondering where one of your books is. She definitely puts her family first. You’re the most important person in her life (along with her sons of course).

You and JJ often do a really bad country/southern accent to tease your dad, which often results in him finding a way to tease you back.

She is incredibly proud of anything that you do and will make sure everyone knows it. She does not care if it embarrasses you — she’ll tell everyone about your accomplishments.

Everyone in the BAU absolutely adores you. If JJ’s running late, she’ll often say that you needed help or something, and Hotch has a soft spot for you, so he won’t care (this leads to the others also trying to use you for excuses when they’re late/they mess up, then it doesn’t work as well).

JJ attends every one of your school events, sports games, concerts, etc. She’s always prepared when it comes to her children, so she’ll get there early and gets the best view.

She’s the type of mom to practically have a magical purse. It has everything you could need at any given moment. Water, snacks, tissues, a pen, advil, hand sanitizer, you name it.

JJ is also a big mama bear. She’ll do anything to protect you. Someone says something bad about you? She has it handled. Someone dares to lay a hand on you? Well . . . JJ becomes quite a scary sight. She won’t tolerate anyone mistreating you at all.

Her loyalties also always lie with you. If someone says that you’re lying about something, she’ll always believe you over them, no matter what.

Going through teenager-hood is hard! JJ’s not phased at all, though. She’s always around when you want to talk and when you need your space, she respects that and gives it to you. I think respect and boundaries would be a big thing for her.

If you need help with homework though . . . You might have to go to Uncle Spencer for that (which he’s more than happy to assist in).

JJ has a bit of a rough relationship with her own parents so she’s always making sure that you know that she loves you. She doesn’t care if saying “I love you” all the time is cheesy, it’s very important to her.

She tells you all about your aunt and eventually passes on to you the necklace that her sister gave to her <3 Although sometimes painful, JJ wants you to know about your aunt and she encourages you to ask any questions you have.

Going on BAU cases can be hard. She doesn’t like being away from you and will always call to check in. She also keeps a photo of her family with her at all times.

JJ loves to surprise you by coming home early. Seeing the look of sheer happiness on her face is everything to her.

You really can talk to her about anything. She’s very approachable and down to earth. The cool mom for sure.

Sometimes her patience can be tested, but JJ is more concerned about working things through with you and talking rather than immediately punishing you for something wrong you did. She wants to understand what happened and treat you respectfully, making sure you understand where she’s coming from too.

JJ tries not to spoil you a ton (Penelope seems to have that covered) and isn’t the type to give into puppy dog eyes, but sometimes she can’t help herself.

She’s also not obsessed with you getting the very best grades! As long as you’re doing well and trying your hardest, she’ll understand if something comes up.

I feel like she’d be the type of parent to want you to go to college but if you have a different plan in mind, she won’t immediately put you down for it. She’ll talk with you first to get the full picture.

You definitely inherent sarcasm from JJ too. It’s a battle of the wits, you give her a run for her money. She LOVES your jokes and hearing you laugh. She’ll often say that your laughter is her favorite sound.

Ultimately, JJ tries her hardest to be the best mom and role model for you :) and you make sure she knows she’s appreciated, just like she makes sure you know that you’re appreciated, too. The two of you are a team, you’re partners in crime. She’ll always be there, even if she’s mad, or not home, she’s by your side.

#jennifer jareau #jennifer jareau x reader #jennifer jareau x you #jj x reader #jj x you #jj x y/n #daughter!reader #criminal minds jj #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds headcanons #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #jennifer jareau fanfiction

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emeritus-fuckers · 1 year

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How do you do, fellow simps?

We are Nosferatu (also known as Mary, Elizabeth or Rat; xey/they; main @nosferatu-inside-of-me), Nyx (she/her; main: @christie-r0ad), and Death (she/they; main: @deaths-reign02) and we have decided to do write horny shit here. This sideblog will mostly include anything Ghost and Repugnant related, with some occasional Gorillaz. You can learn more about us here.

We also have a discord server for the Ghesties and Repugnant fans to chill and vibe together! You can join the server here.

We provide content fot the entire Emeritus bloodline and some personal favorites, which means we write for:

Papa Emeritus Zero/Papa Nihil (both young and old because we're filthy simps)

Papa Emeritus I/Primo

Papa Emeritus II/Secondo (biblically accurate because y'all forget he's a party animal)

Papa Emeritus III/Terzo (he/they)

Papa Emeritus IV/Cardinal Copia

Sister Imperator (both young and old because, as written above, we're filthy simps)

Mister Saltarian

The Director

Father Jim Defroque (because y'all are sleeping on daddy Jimmy fr)

Here you can find out more about our headcanons about their identities!

Multicharacter human masterlist (more than 3 characters) can be found here.

As well as all the Ghouls:

Fire Ghouls

Alpha (he/him)

Ifrit (he/him)

Sodo (NOT Dewdrop; he/him)

Blaze (Papa Nihil's Ghoul; he/him)

Water Ghouls

Chain (it/ghoul)

Lake (he/him)

River (they/them)

Cowbell (headcannoned by us as a water ghoul; they/it)

Mist (he/she)

Rain (he/she/ve)

Storm (Papa Nihil's Ghoul; they/he)

Earth Ghouls

Cliff/Big Earth (first Earth Ghoul; they/he)

Pebble (he/him)

Ivy (he/xe)

Mountain (he/him)

Quake (Papa Nihil's Ghoul, they/them)

Air Ghouls

Eurus (first Air Ghoul, they/she)

Zephyr/ChAir (they/he)

Cirrus (she/ze)

Cumulus (she/her)

Tornado (Papa Nihil's Ghoul, ze/zir)

Quintessence Ghouls

Omega (he/him)

Delta (transelemental Water-Quintessence; they/it)

Aether (he/him)

Phantom (he/they/xey/it)

Chaos (Papa Nihil's Ghoul; he/she/they/it)

Multi Ghouls

Swiss (he/it/xey)

Phil (he/him)

Sunshine (she/her)

Aurora (she/they/fae)

Here you can find out more about our headcanons about their identities! (Ghoulettes/Ghouls/Papa Nihil's Ghouls)

Ghouls masterlist can be found here.

Other Ghost headcanons (mostly world-building) can be found here.

We also make content for the following members of Repugnant:

Mary Goore (they/them. i will not answer anything where mary goore is regrded as a he/him.)

DD Sars (he/him)

G. Grotesque (he/him)

E. Forcas (he/him)

Tom Bones (he/him)

Sid E. Burns (he/him)

Carlos Sathanas (he/they)

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agoodfictitle-shadowban · 8 months

Text

From Vormir, With Love - Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Tags: strangers to lovers, love in space angst on earth, slavery mention, alien abduction, post Endgame, will add as we go on

Summary: As you're being chased you crash on Vormir. So far, so bad. But things take a turn when you come face to face with a marooned Black Widow.

Word count: 2.2k

A/n: The number of words get progressively shorter sdhbfuihfui welp hope you still like it guys!

It takes little time to tell everyone that Carol Danvers is on her way, and they look so happy. Tim's ears are all perked up, and the Mantis lady's eyes are all bright with… joy you guess, not knowing better. Even June grumpily admits that she's glad they're out soon. She's been feeling uncomfortable staying here; not because of the accommodations, mind you, but because of the constant rounds around the room from the soldiers that made her feel more in prison than anything else. It was understandable, but you keep reassuring her it's probably an effect of her trauma, and that you were safe.

Afterwards, and once you're sure your friend is feeling better, you go back to simply waiting, sitting next to Natasha who is keeping her cool facade but you can feel that she's impatient to get home too. You talk a bit, and share a meal with everyone when food is brought to you - along with the other people. You feel relaxed for the first time in five years, if you have to be honest, and your laugh when Tim dances around to catch his bread after losing his grip on it manages to get a small smile from Natasha.

But those good times don't last when three soldiers approach you. You can see how tense they are, the way one of them has their hands hovering their weapon, and the others have no warmth in their voice. Maybe it's just your imagination, but one look at the others tells you it's not.

"We've seen Captain Marvel's heat signature on our sensors, she'll be there soon, please come with us."

You feel like you don't really have a choice, so with a nod, you agree. Before you can pick up your weapons, they signal to you.

"Leave those, you won't need it."

You share a worried look with Natasha, and she shakes her head to signal you not to grab it. She knows something is wrong too, but with all the civilians around, she also knows better than to put them in danger.

With that in mind, you all stand up and follow the soldiers. They guide you away from the mess hall into corridors until you reach one of the numerous landing bays. There, more soldiers are waiting for you and some train their weapons on you as soon as you walk in. A few feet away from you a woman in a suit and with blond hair was standing up proudly, also with weapons trained on her.

That was Carol Danvers, you guessed.

"See, your friend is here," the general said. "Now, surrender to us and no harm will come to them."

The brown eyes examine your group and upon falling on Natasha goes wide. There is a question in her eyes, and the answer comes in a nod from the redhead. It's her, she's alive. She's back. There are a lot of emotions in the eyes of the blonde, but mainly she stays serious, and nods back.

"What's going on?" You whisper towards Natasha after their silent conversation, and with the whole situation.

"Best guess? Carol and those guys aren't on the best of terms." This is rather obvious.

"And here I thought they were best buddies," you nervously joke.

"Just get ready to fight." You're about to protest that you're barely a fighter compared to those guys, but she shakes her head. "Just do what you did when we met."

Slowly, you nod. You held your own that day, and the past five years. You know you can be dangerous when provoked. You can do it.

Meanwhile, Carol is being her usual cocky self.

"You know, I could pulverize all of you easily, why should I surrender?"

"You could, but one of us would have the time to put down one of your friends."

"I barely know them," she shrugs, and Natasha knows it's a stratagem to destabilize them.

"Not even her?" One of the soldiers comes behind Natasha and pushes her forward with his weapon - something that resembles a rifle. Danvers frowns as the Avenger is brought in front of her. You can see cogs turning in her head, and she eyes your group before she makes a decision.

"Okay, I surrender." She puts her hands up in the air, just as her eyes stop on you, like she was talking to you, and you nod. You don't know what you agreed to, but you did. You exchange a look with Tim. You're both on each side of the group. If things go south– no, when things go south sounds more likely, you'll have to disarm three soldiers or at least make sure they can't shoot anyone. You just need a signal.

They put cuffs on Carol. Not yet. You hear the click. Not yet. The soldiers relax in a collective sigh of relief.

Now.

Natasha turns and kicks the rifle from the soldier behind her in the air, and you charge with all your strength against the closest guy, his rifle flying away, before kicking the weapon of another one away. Tim takes one of the soldiers in his massive hands and throws him in two others, stopping them from retaliating.

In this time, the redhead grabs the rifle she sent in the air and shoots the handcuffs from Carol's hands.

From there, it was a debacle for the enemy. Carol was shooting with her powers left and right, causing damage not only to the enemy but to the structure too. In the chaos, it was easy for you to grab a weapon and take care of any threat coming your group's way. When no one is left standing, Carol turns to Natasha.

"Where's your ship?"

"Bay E-12!" She answers and quickly you start making your way there. Now that you're armed, and with Carol, it's easy to make your way through the station. Although, as you pass the mess hall, Tim stops and look in the direction of your bags.

"We should grab our stuff before we leave!"

"We don't really have the time for that," Natasha protests, and Carol groans.

"You go to the ship, I'll grab your stuff. You, with me!" She points at you, and you can only straighten your back before you follow her. People are avoiding you and even make themselves small as you advance. Once there, you get your backpack and Junes, and then help move everyone else's. Luckily, no one had a lot.

You bring back everything to the ship, where Natasha already started the flight procedures. Apparently she could also learn just by watching. Still, when you arrive, she gives you your seat.

"Alright everyone, buckle down, we're going 0 to a 100 in a second."

"A 100 what?!" Tim asks at the expression, and you almost find yourself explaining before Natasha focuses you on the command board in front of you.

When the ship leaves, you're followed by Carol outside, guiding you. She's easily as fast as the ship. No wonder she barely took any time to reach you. It takes little time for the ship to get to the hexagonal door, and luckily, no one is following you when you get through and arrive somewhere you've never been, according to the star chart. You stop the ship a bit further away from the arrival point and June takes care of letting Carol inside via the depressurized locker. She is barely in when she throws herself around Natasha.

"You're alive! How?" She takes a step back and looks at the redhead, making sure she's not hallucinating.

"I don't know. I woke up… I was at the bottom of the cliff."

The exchange tickles your curiosity; you still had no idea what Natasha was doing on Vormir at the time, nor how she ended up there alone. You frown, but don't interrupt as you listen with rapt attention.

"I have so much to tell you, you need to know what happened." The joyful reunion suddenly feels much more serious, and like you're intruding. You turn to everyone and grab the bags Carol brought back inside.

"Okay everyone, get yourself set up," you half order everyone to disperse them and give Carol and Natasha a bit of privacy. You give them one last look before you leave them alone.

You are en route to the next jumping point and after your adventures most of everyone is sleeping. Carol and June are awake, swapping stories in hushed tones - turns out Carol is immune to June's caustic remarks -, so you decide to go to the cockpit to check on the ship. When you arrive there, you're surprised to find Natasha sitting in the pilot seat, her knee under her chin and her eyes red from crying. You approach slowly, like you would with a predator, and gently grab her shoulder with a soft hand.

"Natasha?"

"Y/n. Sorry, I didn't see you there." She starts unfolding her body to stand up, but your hand makes itself firmer and forces her to stay in place.

"Don't worry about it." You let go of her, only to sit in the co-pilot chair. "How are you doing?"

She snorts and sniffles. "I think it's obvious."

"I don't know, you could be overjoyed," you joke, and she rolls her eyes before you ask more seriously:

"What's happening?"

"There was a battle for the stones, and Tony sacrificed himself." You only vaguely understand what she was talking about, if you have to be honest, but you feel for her. "He is such an overzealous idiot. Or was, I guess." She snorts. "But I'm one to talk."

You have no idea what she means by that, so you simply take a deep breath and slowly rub her back. "I'm sorry." Your hand moves from her back to her shoulder and she takes it without thinking much.

"Thank you. It's hard to wrap my head around it."

"Of course. Is there anything you need?"

She shakes her head. "No. Just… stay her?"

You nod and adjust your hand position so you're slightly more comfortable. Her grip tightens, and you get the type of support she's looking for; silence, understanding, kindness. Someone's simple, soft presence.

And you do your best to be that someone.

It only takes 24 hours to arrive at the next jumping point, the one leading the Earth. Before you press the button that would make you go through the hexagone, you turn to Carol.

"C-53. You're sure?"

"Let me think." Her eyes squint and she pretends to think. "Yep, pretty sure it's the good one."

"Okay. Everyone takes a seat, we're taking the door." You take a deep breath and gets the ship to speed before you go through the jumping point.

And see Earth appear in front of you.

A tear rolls on your cheek.

After five years, you're finally home. You power the ship to approach the blue planet, emotions swelling in your chest. You hear people talking in the background but all you can focus on is the approaching land, until Natasha puts her hand on your shoulder.

"I know a place where we can go."

You nod and take the coordinates she gives you, following them until you're above the trees' limit. There you're able to see a house next to a barn and from there it's easy to find a place to land. Once you land, you turn to everyone with a smile.

"Welcome to Earth."

An unusually emotional June wraps her arms around your neck and you hug her back with a smile.

You are finally home.

Natasha smiles at the display, in that brief, tender way she reserved only for some special people. You notice, your heart skipping a beat, and mouth a 'thank you' to her with emotion in your eyes before June releases you. Without her, you would still be looking around in space. You could kiss her. You want to kiss her, you realize, and look away.

Oh no.

You want to kiss her.

Carol is the first one to touch the ground, followed by you. When you do, you notice a man approaching the ship with his arms pointing at it.

"Carol! What is this in my backyard? Who is this in my backyard?!"

"Sorry birdie, not my fault." She smiles and looks back towards the ship, Natasha finally appearing in turn after almost everyone came out.

"Then who–" he starts before he can stop, and Natasha is in front of him.

Natasha, who he thought he had lost. Thought he was responsible for losing. But no, she was right there. Right in front of him like nothing had happened, like he didn't lose his most important battle on that cliff.

"Nat–" he can't even manage her name before he runs at full speed towards her and crashes in her arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, it should have– should've been me. But you're here. How are you…?"

"I woke up on Vormir, I don't know…" She hugs him back, without a hint of hesitation.

"Tony, he tried to bring everyone back. I guess it worked to some degree." He finally let go of her, his eyes red with unshed tears. She doesn't look any better, only imagining what it must have felt like for him. "Shit… Tony–"

"I know. Carol told me everything."

He nods, then finally looks at everyone else. You give a small wave as a form of hello, as a chorus of mumbled hellos come from the rest of the group.

"We're going to have to bunk, won't we?" Natasha asks jokingly.

He looks at her and smiles. "Yeah. Come on everyone, let's get you settled."

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #natasha #fvwl #natasha imagine #idk how to tag

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fanfics4all · 8 months

Text

Fungi

Request: Yes / No Request: Yes / No Day 4 of Halloween fics! (This is based on a Drawlloween made by RikiSayPOOF I believe)

Requests are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Jasper Jordan x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1401

Warnings: A bad drug trip

Y/N: Your Name

Song: Sunset Lover by Petit Biscuit

Prompt(s):

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Being on the ground was the best thing to happen to us. We were free from the Ark and I couldn’t be more excited. Being back on Earth was a million times better than being in the Skybox. I was finally able to be with my boyfriend and friends again. Jasper and Monty were a bit popular considering they made some pretty awesome alcohol. I was just another face in the crowd compared to them, but I didn’t mind.

It was currently Fall and the air was starting to get chilly. We were all in long sleeves and jackets to keep warm. Everyone was huddled up the fire a lot more than normal. I didn’t mind the cold, I mean we lived in space for years and it could get really cold up their sometimes. Since it was Fall, I wanted to explore the forest a bit. I read that the people that lived on Earth before it was destroyed for years to come, ate some stuff they found in the forest. I heard they had mushrooms that that could get you high! I really wanted to try one and see how it works, so I ran over to Jasper.

“Jas! I need you to come with me.” I said with a smile.

“Why? What’s wrong?” He asked concerned.

“Nothing’s wrong, just come on.” I said and started dragging him to the back of the dropship.

“What are we doing, baby?” He asked.

“We’re going into the forest, I wanna look for something.” I said and his eyes widened.

“You wanna leave the safety of camp just so you can look for something?” He asked and I sighed.

“We’ll still be safe, we won’t go too far.” I said and he frowned.

“Y/N, baby, I really don’t think we should…” He said and I groaned.

“Please, Jas! I promise everything will be okay.” I said with a pout. I gave him my best puppy-dog eyes and he sighed.

“Fine, no more than ten minutes.” He said and I smiled brightly.

“Deal!” I said and dragged him into the forest. We walked a bit in and I kept my eyes on the ground. That’s when I saw them. I ran over to them and dropped to my knees. I picked up the small brown mushrooms with a huge smile.

“Jas, I found them!” I said as I stood up. I turned to face him and he gave me a ‘really?’ look.

“We came out here for some mushrooms?” He asked.

“I read these can get you high.” I said and he looked at me warily.

“I think you can do them yourself, I don’t know if I trust them…” He said and I shrugged.

“Suit yourself.” I said and popped one into my mouth. My face scrunched up from the taste, but I managed to get it down.

“Come on, we’re going back before you get too high.” He said, grabbing my hand. I placed the other ones I picked into my pocket incase I needed more. We snuck back into camp and I started to feel floaty. The colors were getting brighter and everything looked beautiful. I looked over at Jasper and he looked like he was glowing.

“Whoa… you look so pretty.” I smiled. He chuckled and shook his head.

“What do you see?” He asked and I smiled.

“The colors are so bright and you’re glowing!” I giggled. He smiled at me and led me over to Monty, he was also glowing. Jasper sat us down next to him and Monty gave me a weird look.

“Why do you look high?” He asked and I just smiled.

“She had us sneak out of camp to go look for these mushrooms that get you high.” Jasper answered.

“Really? You ate some random mushroom? Are you even sure it was the right one?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah! All the colors are bright and you guys are glowing, that sound like a high to me.” I said and he shook his head.

“You know trips like that can turn bad, right?” He said and I just shrugged.

“How bad can something like this get? I mean it’s making everything so beautiful.” I answered and he just sighed.

An hour or so later I was still high as a kite. Anything that moved left trails behind them, and if I closed my eyes I could see colors and shapes melding together. I felt so relaxed thanks to Monty and Jasper. Their jokes were making me laugh harder than they normally would. I noticed Jasper had a smile on his face as he looked at me. I was resting my head on his shoulder and sighed with my eyes still closed.

“How you doing baby?” He asked and I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

“Goood.” I whispered and he kissed my forehead.

“Do you know how long the high lasts?” Monty asked and I shrugged.

“You don’t know?” Jasper asked with wide eyes.

“Nope.” I said, popping the p.

“That’s not good… if Clarke or Bellamy see her like this they’re gonna flip.” Monty said and I giggled.

Another hour pasted and things started getting weird. The colors were starting to melt along with whatever was around us. I felt my heart start beating faster and my breathing picking up a bit. The sounds were getting louder and I covered my ears as I closed my eyes.

“Y/N? Hey, are you okay?” Jaspered asked with a concerned tone. I shook my head and shut my eyes tighter. The colors continued to melt and everything felt so overwhelming.

“Baby, hey, look at me.” Jasper said as he pulled my hands away from my head. I shook my head again, but he gently cupped my cheek.

“Look at me, Y/N.” He said. I slowly opened my eyes and Jasper was melting. I gasped and tried to back away, but Jasper was holding me in place.

“It’s okay baby, you’re okay.” He said. I shook my head and felt tears falling down my face.

“Talk to me baby, tell me what’s wrong.” He said.

“E-Everything’s melting…” I whispered. His eyes widened and he looked over to Monty for help.

“Take her to your tent, maybe if she’s alone with just you it’ll calm her down.” He said and he nodded. Jasper helped me up and quickly led me to our tent. He sat me on our makeshift bed and held my hands in his still. Everything sounded a little quieter, but things were still melting.

“Okay, close your eyes and take a deep breath.” He whispered. I did as he asked and gripped his hands a little tighter.

“Just focus on my voice and try and relax.” He said. I nodded slowly and took another deep breath.

“You know that place up on the Ark that you love? That abandoned office you found?” He asked and I nodded.

“Picture that with your music playing in the background. No one can get to you there.” He said and I started picturing it. Everything was slowly swirling to a stop, but things in the room were still swaying slightly.

“Ha-ah-ah-ah, meet me there, Ha-ah-ah-ah, meet me there, Ah-ah, me there, Ha-ah-ah-ah, meet me there. Ha-hallelujah, oh I’m down on the beach, Ha-hallelujah, oh I’m down on the beach, Ha-ah-ah-ah hallelujah, oh, I’m down on the beach, Ha-hallelujah, oh I’m down on the beach.” Jasper sang one of my favorite songs quietly. I felt myself relaxing slowly as he sang to me. I started leaning against Jasper and he wrapped his arms around me.

“How are you feeling?” He whispered and I smiled up at him.

“Way better.” I whispered back.

“Are things still melting?” He asked and I shook my head.

“No, but the colors are still bright and leaving some trails if I move my head too fast.” I answered.

“That’s good. Maybe you should go to sleep.” He suggested and I nodded.

“That sounds like a good idea.” I agreed. He pulled me down on the bed and held me to him.

“You’re not eating anymore of those.” He said and I pouted.

“But-”

“No, I’m not watching you go through that again. This better wear off when you wake up.” He said and I sighed.

“Okay…” I mumbled. He kissed the top of my head and held me closer.

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steddieassheg0es · 2 years

Text

Not So Unrequited

Steve Harrington wasn’t the douchebag people thought he was.

Well, most people wouldn’t see it that way anyway. But he wasn’t the façade that most people couldn’t see past.

Eddie’s always been a bit of a wild child. Reckless and with a dangerous lack of self preservation instincts, it got him into many a rough spot over the years.

One such rough spot was back in middle school. He’d stupidly flirted with the wrong boy. He didn’t even like him, hadn’t even fully realized that he liked boys Eddie just didn’t always know when to turn his mouth off, or where the line was until he’d already crossed it. But that didn’t matter. It was enough for a group of boys to track him down and beat him up.

He’ll never forget that day. The day he realized being different meant being hated. The day he realized that that liking boys wasn’t allowed in Hawkins.

But also, the day that he met Steve Harrington. He’d apparently heard the hateful words that had been thrown at Eddie as those bigots left him to bleed on the pavement. And he’d crouched down next to him, reached out to gently rub his back.

“Are you ok? Do you want to me to get someone?”

Eddie lifted his head from where he’d buried it in his knees, looked up into those pretty hazel eyes. He shook his head, not sure who he’d even ask for. His dad wouldn’t care, and Uncle Wayne was great but Eddie tried not to burden him with his problems too much. He needed that safe space to run to too much to ruin it.

“Ok…well, I can stay with you. Don’t listen to those guys, they’re jerks. They don’t know anything. I think it’s ok for boys to like boys.”

And just like that Eddie was sure he liked boys. He thought he very much liked this boy.

So yeah. Steve Harrington wasn’t who people thought he was. At least not completely.

—

Once Steve’s graduates, there’s a change in him. He’s…softer somehow. Like he’s let that carefully constructed mask slip. Maybe getting out of school was enough. Maybe his relationship with Wheeler, or said relationship going down in flames, did him some good. For all that it made Eddie want to hurl. Maybe it’s his affection for the group of kids he’s inexplicably pseudo adopted. Whatever it is, it’s nice to see.

Even nicer when Steve starts talking to him.

It starts because some of his kids joined Hellfire and apparently he’s their permanent ride. First just a friendly nod as the kids scramble out of his fancy car. Then he’d smile and wave. Eddie’s embarrassed by how much those stupid little smiles made his heart flutter.

Finally one day he steps out of the car with the kids. Just leans against the roof at first, watching them run into the building with affection. Then he’s turning those eyes to Eddie.

“I hope they behave themselves for you in there.”

“Uh…” Jesus Eddie pull it together. “Heh, yeah. They’re good kids, man.”

Steve’s face is all soft fondness. “They really are. But they can be little shits when they wanna be. If you ever need any help…or, I mean can bring some snacks and shit if you want. Whatever.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. Like him even talking to Eddie at all is totally normal.

“Y-yeah sure. I don’t think they’d ever say no to more food. And you, uh…” Eddie can feel his cheeks heat up, “you can probably afford better shit than I can anyway.”

“Oh I wasn’t-Shit I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted…”

Damn it. Two sentences in and he’s fucked it up. Steve’s giving him big sad eyes like he feels just terrible at the thought of offending Eddie.

“No! I uh…I know you didn’t. Forget I said that. It’s cool of you to offer to help. I know this isn’t exactly your scene.”

Steve laughs. “You’d think that, huh? But the kids love it so what can I do? I gotta admit I was a bit jealous at first, you know?”

What on earth could Steve Harrington have to be jealous of? “Of what?”

“You. Those kids, they worship you man. But then I figured, I don’t know shit about this stuff and it means a lot to them. And they still seem to think I’m not so bad. So I’m just glad they have you.”

“Steve…they’ve been singing your praises since the moment they joined Hellfire. Especially Dustin. You’re their hero.”

Now it’s Steve’s turn to go pink in the cheeks. It’s a good look on him. But then again, what doesn’t look good on him?

They’re interrupted by a loud bang from inside. Eddie just sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I should probably get in there before they burn the place down…” It’s true, but he’s reluctant to let this moment end.

“Yeah. So I’ll be back in like an hour, pizza sound good?”

Eddie blinks at him, confused.

“I mean…snacks yeah? I can grab a few pizzas and some sodas. If you don’t mind me crashing your nerd fest, that is.” He says it with a grin, but his eyes show a hint of worry. Like Eddie would ever say no to him.

“Right, yeah! Yeah pizza’s good.”

With that Steve is off, apparently to fetch Eddie Munson snacks. Well, not him specifically, but he’s included…He feels off kilter, not sure how to deal with this sudden shift, but also a little bit giddy. The kids all tease him about the daze he’s in when he joins them, but when he sits in his makeshift throne he’s in Dungeon Master mode and the game commences.

—

It turns into a semi regular thing. Steve can’t always hang around, but most nights when the club meets he’ll come back by after with food to share before hauling the kiddos back home.

Eddie thought he’d had a crush before. Now that he actually talks to Steve somewhat regularly…the guy is just so fucking sweet. He’s surprisingly dorky, and generous, and he’s so damn good with the kids. Eddie’s heart never stood a chance.

One night he hangs back as the kids pile into his car, slowing when Eddie stops to wave them off like he usually does.

“So…Me and Robin, Robin Buckley? We’re gonna go see a movie tomorrow. Probably get some food.”

“That’s nice.” Eddie says with an unmistakable tone of confusion. Is Steve trying to talk to him about girls? He desperately wants to keep this thing going, their almost kind of friendship, but he’s pretty sure listening to Steve go on about hookups or whatever will actually kill him.

“Yeah…and I figured, she’s kind of a nerd too. Seems like it doomed to surround myself with them. But I think you two would get along. If you wanted to join us?”

Steve has this adorably shy look on his face that makes Eddie’s heart thump almost painfully in his chest. How can a full grown man be so fucking cute? God he wants to say yes so bad, but…

“I don’t know that bringing a third wheel to your date would make her very happy, man.”

“Huh? Me and Robin? Oh god no. We’re, uh…just friends. ‘Platonic with a capital P’ as she puts it. I’m uh…not her type.” He says with a secretive little smirk. Oh no. This might even be worse.

“Not really looking for a set up…”

“Dude. No one’s hooking up with Robin in this situation. I just thought it would be fun and you two could be friends. But it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.”

Shit. Well now he just feels embarrassed. And a bit like a dick. Steve starts to head back to the car and it’s a sad little wave over his shoulder and Eddie panics.

“No! I mean, yeah. I’m free. Tomorrow.”

Steve turns back and looks up at him from under his lashes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah…I’ll uh…meet you guys there?”

“That’s silly, I can pick you up. No need to waste the gas. I gotta pick Robin up anyway. She doesn’t drive. So I’ll come by tomorrow at like 6?”

Eddie nods dumbly. With a satisfied smile and a nod of his own, Steve finally gets in his car to leave. Eddie hears Dustin’s judgmental “Dude” from the back seat as they pull away and he’s not sure what to make of anything that just happened

—

He spends the next morning on the verge of panic, fidgeting and occasionally pacing. He’s being manic enough that Uncle Wayne shoots him a few concerned looks, but not enough for him to actually confront him which is nice.

Eddie’s not sure what he would say. ‘The painfully straight boy I think I’m a little bit in love with asked me on a not-date with him and his platonic gal pal and I am freaking the fuck out’? Yeah, he’ll pass on that conversation. Wayne may be incredibly chill about the whole gay thing, but Eddie doesn’t think he’d have any clue what to do with that. Eddie sure doesn’t.

Finally there’s a knock at the door (at 6 PM on the dot) that stops his restless motion. For a moment he’s completely, utterly still. Then all that frenetic energy rushes back and pushes him to the door so fast he almost face plants right into it.

When he gets it open, his breath catches in his chest. Steve has traded his dorky little polos for a black button up, top two buttons undone flashing a tantalizing peek at his collarbones. His dark wash jeans are snug in all the right places, and he has on a pair of combat boots that Eddie would’ve thought he’d never be caught dead in. He looks…fucking delectable.

“H-hey. I uh…should I change?”

He hears Uncle Wayne snort from the kitchen and dies a little inside.

“What? No, you look good man. You ready? Robin’s waiting for us.”

Shit did Steve just say he looks good? In his ratty torn jeans and metal band shirt under his usual leather jacket and battle vest, he feels utterly unremarkable. He shudders to think at what they look like next to each other. Too late now, though.

“Yeah, yeah let’s go.” He pokes his head back through the door to see his uncle smirking back at him with one eyebrow raised. So much for not saying anything.

“See you later asshole!”

—

It takes him all of five seconds to figure out why Steve isn’t Robin’s type. He’s pretty sure she clocks him right back, especially once they get out and she eyes the black hanky in his back pocket. He’s dying to ask if Steve knows, but if he doesn’t…

Anyway she actually is a cool chick, if a bit weird. Not like he has any room to talk on that front. They decide to grab food first so they can get acquainted. As soon as they’re seated she’s talking a mile a minute and Eddie struggles to keep up with he lightening fast change of topic but he thinks he’s holding his own pretty well.

Seeing Steve around her is fascinating. For all their differences, Beauty and the Band Geek, they seem to operate on the same wave length. He catches glimpses of silent conversations happening entirely with eyebrows and subtle lip movements. Steve doesn’t say much out loud, seeming content to watch them with a pleased little smile for the most part.

When the check comes, Steve takes it before either of them have a chance to even move.

“I forced you both out tonight, so it’s my treat.” Eddie tries to protest, as does Robin before she shares another eyebrow conversation with Steve and gives in. Then he turns to Eddie with his puppy dog eyes. “Please Eddie, I really want to.”

God damn it, not being able to say no to this man is going to get him in trouble.

“Fine! But I’m getting you back for this.”

The dazzling smile he gets in return makes his heart skip a beat. He’s so utterly fucked.

—

When Uncle Wayne asks him later than night how the movie was with a knowing smile, he just shrugs and says it was fine. The truth is he couldn’t tell you what movie they even picked, never mind how it was. The lights dimmed and he was hyper focused on the man next to him. Their fingers brushed as they both reached for the popcorn, their legs were almost touching, and at one point Steve had leaned over to whisper some comment into his ear and he had to bite his lip to stop any sound from escaping him.

He caught Robin’s teasing grin on their way out. At this point he might as well have “gay for Steve Harrington” stamped across his forehead, he was so transparent. At least the man himself seemed oblivious.

—

Billy Hargrove is exactly the asshole everyone thinks he is. Eddie sees how weirdly focused on Steve, in a way that make his stomach turn.

Eddie’s pretty sure the guy’s queer, but definitely the self hating kind. He looks at Eddie with disgust, calls him a slur a time or two. He knows Billy’s caught the way he looks at Steve and hates him for it. Thinks maybe he’s jealous of it as much as he is disgusted by it. It’s a weird, twisted rivalry over a boy neither one of them could have.

It wasn’t like Eddie thought he had any kind of claim over Steve, he just didn’t like the dark twist to the lustful way Billy looked at him. It scared him. He wasn’t quite sure what Hargrove was capable of or willing to do.

Now that Steve came to his place sometimes, he catches Billy outside his own trailer with a murderous look in his eye. He knows he has to keep a close eye on Steve anytime he comes by, makes sure he leaves safe. He watches his car until the taillights fade, then looks across at Billy’s trailer. He doesn’t think he’d have the guts to try to come after Eddie, Uncle Wayne may be soft spoken but he’s ex military and everyone knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone who hurt Eddie.

But Eddie would have to be the one to protect Steve.

—

So they’re friends now. Like real friends. They don’t just both hang out with the kids at the same time. Sometimes Robin joins them for whatever they decide to get up to, but not always.

The first time he visits them at Scoops Ahoy he nearly chokes on his own tongue. Why would you need shorts that short to sell ice cream?

Then again…if they weren’t friends, Eddie would probably spend a small fortune just to have an excuse to come stare.

He lets out a low whistle. “Helloooo sailor.”

Steve turns a lovely shade of pink and scratches the back of his neck.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up. Totally lame uniform, I know. But what are you gonna do? You here to take advantage of my perks like the kids?”

“Well I was just gonna hang around and see if you wanted to do something when you got off, but what kind of perks we talking about?”

Steve laughs. “Free ice cream, man. Whatever you want. And yeah, sure. I’m off in about 20 minutes. Robin’s stuck closing so it’ll just be us.”

Eddie feels a little bad being so happy Robin can’t come. He loves hanging out with her, and he loves her dynamic with Steve, but…alone time with Steve.

—

“So when you said ‘do something’, did you have something in mind?”

It’s hard to focus when Steve is still in those shorts. Especially because he’s walking slightly ahead of Eddie, leading the way to where the van is parked beside his car, making it far too easy and enticing to keep stealing glances at just how good his ass looks in said shorts. “Whuh? Oh, uh, no not really. I figured I’d be crashing you and Buckley’s plans so it didn’t really occur to me to think up my own.”

“K, well I don’t know about you but I would kill for some Chinese food right now. I could pick some up and meet you back at yours?”

It occurs to Eddie, not for the first time, that Steve never suggests his own house. He’s not sure what to think of it, but he’s not sure if Steve’s comfortable enough with him for him to ask.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m not picky so whatever you wanna get is fine, we can just share?”

“See you there then.”

—

He loves his uncle, but Eddie’s grateful he has the graveyard shift tonight. He doesn’t need to worry about making a fool of himself with an audience. He scrambled around to clean the place up a bit, even changing his sheets then feeling incredibly stupid for doing so.

When he hears a car door slam, he peeks out the window in excitement only for his heart to drop. Billy’s home, and from the looks of it he’s pissed about something. He stomps inside and Eddie decides now is a good time to go out for a smoke and wait for his guest to arrive.

He’s not waiting long. He greets Steve with a smile, trotting over to grab the bag out of his hand so he can get the beer he also picked up and close his door without a struggle.

Steve smiles at him gratefully. “Aren’t you chivalrous?” His voice is teasing, but Eddie still feels his face heat.

“Only the best for you, my king.”

—

Eddie decides it’s time to start Steve’s musical education, so he puts on some Metallica as they eat.

He tries to focus on the music and not stare at Steve’s mouth as he wraps his lips around an egg roll. Or licks a bit of stray sauce from them. He’s not very successful, but what else is new.

When the food is gone and they’re a few beers in each, they lay on the floor of the trailer. Bodies facing opposite directions and their heads side by side, just listening to the music.

“You play guitar, yeah?” Eddie startles out of his daze.

“I do. Even have a band. We have a standing gig every Tuesday.”

“Could I…could I hear you play? I know music is super important to you and uh…shit if it’s totally personal that’s cool, I just thought I could understand it better if I could hear it from you, but really it’s fine-“

“Steve. Chill, it’s fine. I don’t think The Hideout is exactly your kind of place, but I could be persuaded to give you a private show.”

“Yeah?” He looks so pleased that Eddie’s heart stutters in his chest.

“Sure. Maybe not tonight though. I’ve got a decent buzz going, and my coordination’s not the best. I’d hate to make a poor first impression.”

Eddie turns his head to find Steve already facing him. Those pretty hazel eyes blink sleepily back at him.

“You’ve already made quite the impression, I don’t think you could mess it up now. But that’s ok, I can wait.” Then he’s turning his head to let out a jaw cracking yawn. “Sorry, I forget how tired drinking makes me.”

“You a lightweight Stevie? It is getting pretty late, you could…you could stay tonight, if you wanted.”

“I’d hate to impose.”

“I’d hate to wake up to finding out you’ve wrapped your car around a tree. Seriously. Stay.”

Steve giggles, closing his eyes. “So bossy. Whatever you say, Eddie.”

“Alright Sleepyhead, come on, let’s get you to bed before you pass out on my living room floor.”

—

Eddie lends Steve some sweatpants and a well worn band t to change into. He sits on his freshly made bed and ponders if he should sleep on the couch or set himself up on his floor. He doesn’t think Steve is that drunk, but he’d still feel better close by just in case. At least that’s the excuse Eddie would use if anyone asked.

Steve comes back in while he’s laying a blanket out on the floor. Seeing him dressed in Eddie’s clothes stirs a possessive glee in his gut. Apparently that really does it for him.

“What are you doing?”

“Hm? Oh. Setting up on the floor, you can take the bed.”

“But the bed’s big enough…unless you’re uncomfortable sharing?”

Uncomfortable? Kind of…but not for the reasons Steve thinks. More worried that sleeping next to the source of his unrequited love will kill him, or at the very least be an exercise in sexual frustration. He can’t very well say that though.

“No, that’s…I mean yeah, we can share.”

He quickly rushes into the bathroom to change his own clothes and take a moment to collect himself. After a few minutes of deep breathing, he makes his way back to his room to find Steve already curled up under the blankets.

Eddie takes a deep, centering breath before climbing in next to him. He turns out the lights and settles in, leaving as much space between them as he can. Apparently Steve had other ideas though, because suddenly he’s pressed right up against Eddie with his arm thrown around his waist.

“Uh…”

“Oh, shit, sorry man. I’m uh…I get kind of touchy when I drink. I’m a snuggler. But I totally should have asked.” He goes to pull away and before Eddie can think better of it he grabs Steve’s wrist.

“I…I don’t mind. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Go to sleep, Steve.”

He hears a giggle in the darkness before Steve settles back in, this time resting his head on Eddie’s chest. There’s no way he doesn’t hear how fast his heart is beating, but luckily he doesn’t mention it.

Eddie thinks it’s going to be a very long, torturous night, but soon enough he finds himself lulled to sleep by Steve’s deep, even breathing.

—

He wakes to the front door closing, and would’ve paid it no mind if it weren’t for Steve. The other man jolts upright with a look of panic.

Eddie sits up next to him and rubs a soothing hand down his back. “Woah woah, hey, it’s just Uncle Wayne coming home from work. It’s alright.”

For a second Steve looks right through him before blinking into awareness. Then his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just uh…startled me.”

Eddie continues the gentle patterns his fingers are tracing along Steve’s back. He can’t shake the concern, that reaction too much for just a slight scare. He doesn’t want go jump to conclusions but he has to ask.

“Steve…you can tell me to fuck off if you’re not comfortable answering, but…Why do you never want to go to your house?”

Steve furrows his brows in confusion, clearly not having expected the question. “Oh, uh…shit I’m sorry, of course you’re welcome to come over if you want.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why do you never want to be there?” A little bit of the panic returns to Steve’s eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry. Seriously just tell me to fuck off.”

“No, it’s…it’s fine. No one’s ever asked me that before. I don’t think anyone’s noticed, I try not to make it a big thing. I mean if anyone asks to come over I let them, I just…prefer to be somewhere else.”

Steve pauses, then takes a deep shuddering breath and continues. “My parents…they had a kid because it’s the proper thing to do not out of any actual desire to be parents. So I was meant to be seen but not heard. Always be on my best behavior. Do all the right things, get the perfect grades. Be something they could show off to their friends. I wasn’t very good at it though. I was a sensitive kid, always wanted hugs and cried too easily. Stupid. Always fucking up somehow.”

“Steve…you’re not stupid. You’re not fucking anything up.”

He gets a sad little smile. “Yeah well, they certainly didn’t see if that way. And I guess my dad figured he could beat the stupid out of me. When that didn’t work they left. Traveling. They’d pop in now and again for appearances and to remind me of what a failure I was. Now they don’t come at all. They signed the house over to me. Made a big show of it to their friends, how their son was all grown up and they were so generous to give him a house as a graduation present. I haven’t seen them since. Which is good, I’m glad, I’m tired of trying to be someone I’m not so maybe they’ll finally love me. But I fucking hate that house. It’s huge and empty and filled with bad memories. Sometimes it’s nice when other people come over. Fill it with laughter, make good memories.” He looks up at Eddie through his lashes. “But I didn’t want you-I hate the thought of you in that house. It just doesn’t fit. You’re too fucking good for that place, man.”

Eddie feels his hands shaking with rage. He wants to find Steve’s parents and knock some sense into them. He wants to destroy them for making this amazing man feel like he was worthless.

He also falls even deeper in love. How Steve had managed to stay so soft, so kind in the wake of all of that…sure he’d made himself a mask but underneath it was the man Eddie knew now. The man he’d always known was beneath it. He hates those people so much for making Steve think he had to hide away the best parts of himself.

He throws his arms around Steve, the angle awkward but he doesn’t care.

“Steve…fuck. I need you to hear me, ok? You are the best person I know. You didn’t deserve any of that. You deserve to be loved, to be taken care of.”

He hears a broken sob as Steve’s arms tighten around him and he vows to himself that he will do whatever he can to make this man feel loved.

They stay like that for a while, Steve shifting at some point to basically curl up in Eddie’s lap and just lets himself be held. The quiet little whimpers stop after a while and they just cuddle.

—

They eat breakfast with Uncle Wayne before he heads to bed. Eddie worries that it will be awkward but they seem to get along really well. He can feel his uncles eyes on him more than once, but is too scared to meet his gaze.

Soon enough Steve needs to go get ready for work. It dawns on Eddie that Steve isn’t the rich kid anymore. He has that huge house, but he’s all on his own and has to support himself.

“I’m uh…sorry for crying all over you, man.” He pauses before look at Eddie cautiously. “Please don’t tell anyone. Not about the crying thing, I’m pretty sure everyone’s seen it at some point by now, just all the other stuff.”

It breaks his heart to think how Steve takes such good care of everyone else while no one takes care of him. He doesn’t want to burden the people in his life even though they love him. But Eddie’s here now and he’s going to change that.

“Of course. Your secrets will always be safe with me.”

He walks with him to the door, stopping to lean in the entry way as Steve continues down the steps and to his car. Eddie can’t help but smile at his dorky little wave, but his face drops when he looks up to see Billy watching them, furious. He must know Steve spent the night, clearly he’s making assumptions. A part of Eddie wants to grin lasciviously. To confirm what he only wishes were true. He thinks the better of it, and goes back to watching Steve’s car pull away.

But he can feel those hateful eyes on him until he closes the door.

—

Eddie considers heading up to Scoops a few hours later, but then figures after this morning he should probably give Steve a little space to breathe. He may be desperate to spend every moment in the other man’s presence, but that doesn’t mean the feeling is mutual.

So he ties his hair back into a low, messy bun and tinkers with the van for a bit. She was due for a tune up soon anyway, and getting his hands dirty has always been a good distraction for Eddie. Though today it’s not as successful as it usually is.

His thoughts wander to the place, or person rather, they always do lately. The conversation they had this morning weighs heavily on his mind. He can’t get the image out of his head, of Steve all alone in his way too big house. Or worse, bruised and bleeding at the hands of the ones meant to love and protect him. Eddie’s father was a piece of shit but even he’d never laid a hand on his kid.

Eddie hopes they truly stay gone for good. He’s not sure what he’ll do if he ever sees them.

Once he’s taken care of all he can in the van, he cleans his hands off with an old rag and heads inside. Just in time for the ringing phone to get sent to the answering machine.

“Hey Eddie, uh…it’s Steve. I’m off work soon and I just wanted to see if you were busy. Which clearly you are. So I’m not sure why I’m leaving this message. Shit. Sorry-“

Eddie trips over his own feet in his rush to grab the phone. “Steve! Hey!”

“Oh…hi. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bug you, if you’re busy I can just call back some other time it’s no big deal.”

“Nah I’m never too busy for you. What’s up?”

“Well I was just…Robin’s got a hot date tonight so she’s blowing me off. I thought maybe you’d wanna do something?”

Eddie grins, tries to keep the joy out of his voice. “Ouch, Harrington, I’m the second choice huh? The back up plan?”

“What? No! No of course not!”

Steve sounds so distraught, Eddie can’t help but laugh.

“I’m just fucking with you it’s fine. Yeah man, wanna come over? I can give you that private concert if you’re still interested.”

“Yeah, that would be great!”

Robins voice interjects in the background, he hears a muffled “stop flirting and get back to work, Dingus, you’ve only got an hour left.”

“Shit, sorry, gotta go before Robin kills me for hiding in the back. I’ll see you in like an hour and a half?”

“Sounds good.”

If Eddie’s heart skips a few beats at the thought that Robin even teasingly saying Steve was flirting with him, that’s no one’s business but his own.

—

Uncle Wayne is up and about when he gets out of the shower. Takes one look at Eddie all clean and fidgety and sees right through him.

“That Harrington boy coming over tonight?”

“Is that…is that alright?” He’s never had to ask to have any company before, but then again the boys he’s had over don’t make repeat visits.

“Eddie, this is your house too and you’re grown. You can have whoever you want come over. I just…you been real happy lately Ed. That boy’s not gonna break your heart, is he?”

Well shit. Eddie doesn’t know what to say.

“We’re just friends.” He hedges.

“That’s what I’m worried about. You’re ‘just friends’ to him maybe. I seen the way you look at him Eddie, you don’t wanna be just friends. Shit I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so gone on someone. Look…I’m not tellin’ you want to do. All I’m saying is be careful.”

“Uncle Wayne…I’m not gonna say I’m not gonna get my heart broken, but I promise it won’t be his fault. He’s not leading me on. Whether I want it or not we are just friends. And I’m ok with that. If he knew-if he thought for a second he was hurting me he’d hate himself for it. So if I’m stupid with my heart and it gets broken, it’s on me, not him.”

His uncle just looks at him searchingly for a long time. Then he shakes his head. “I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. I actually like the kid, much better than anyone else you’ve ever brought home. I’m saying don’t be stupid with your heart. But for what it’s worth, son, that boy looks at you like you hung the moon. So yeah, I know he wouldn’t hurt you on purpose.”

Eddie feels his face flush. He tries so hard not to get his hopes up, he knows Steve is straight, but he imagines him looking at him like that. For a moment he lets himself live in the fantasy where this isn’t one sided. He shakes his head to clear it.

“Thanks Uncle Wayne. Love you.”

His uncle pats him on the shoulder. “Love you too kiddo.” Then he heads to the door to head out for another graveyard shift. As he opens it he smiles. “Hey son, go on it he’s expecting you.”

—

Steve must have stopped at his house before coming over, as he’s no longer in his uniform. He’s forgone his usual polo in favor of a tight black T-shirt with a dark green jacket. He’s also got on dark grey jeans. Eddie can’t help but notice his color pallet has shifted darker in recent months, wonders if it’s his own influence that’s inspired the change.

In any case he looks enticing.

“So I know you said you’d play for me, and I really want you to. But maybe after…Nancy’s throwing this party and that’s what me and Robin were gonna do before she got a better offer. Rob said you probably wouldn’t want to go, but I think the kids are going to make an appearance early on, so I thought maybe…?”

Eddie hesitates. “That wouldn’t be awkward for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Going to a party hosted by your ex. With her new boyfriend.”

“Oh. No. Nah man me and Nancy are over. Like way over. But she’s a cool chick, and Jonathan’s not a bad guy, so we’ve stayed friends. I’m happy for them.” His cheeks are a lovely shade of pink. “I’ve got my eye elsewhere anyway.” He looks up at Eddie with his pretty hazel eyes and smiles.

Eddie tries to smile back. Thinks he should probably ask who, be a good friend and encourage Steve to go for it. Doesn’t matter who it is, of course they’d say yes. But he can’t. He allows himself to be selfish in this, to protect his heart as much as he can.

“Oh. Cool, then, yeah we can go I guess. We can just head over, I can play my guitar for you any time.”

Steve’s face falls a little, and Eddie tries not to feel guilty.

“Oh…yeah, ok.”

The van is still a bit deconstructed, so they climb into Steve’s car and make their way to the Wheeler house.

—

Eddie’s never been much of a partier, despite what people may think of him. He’s more inclined to smoke and chill at home, or hang with a few friends, than to go to some rager. He’s pretty sure Steve is much the same, at least the Steve who’s let go of his mask.

Needless to say he’s surprised and a bit concerned to see Steve dive headfirst into the alcohol.

“Hey buddy maybe you should slow down a bit? Pace yourself?”

“But it’s a party! Time to drink your troubles away!”

Eddie just shakes his head. Decides he’ll be sober tonight, watch after his little lush.

He chats with the kids for a bit, then mingles about trying to make friends with the other people Steve cares about. Eddie keeps one eye on him as he chats, highly entertained by a man he’s never seen before named Argyle. Then Nancy approaches him when Steve’s more than a few drinks in, all careful concern.

“Is he ok? I’ve never seen him like this.”

Now Eddie is worried. He’d hoped maybe he just didn’t know this side of Steve, but if Nancy thinks this is abnormal behavior…

“I’m not sure. He seemed fine earlier. He uh…he mentioned he’s into someone, maybe he hoped they’d be here and he’s disappointed?”

Nancy shoots him a look of surprise. “Oh, you’re not…huh. Ok. You should maybe talk to him about that. When he sobers up. But for now he’s going outside so you might want to keep an eye on him.”

Eddie looks around, finally spotting Steve slinking out the back. He looks back to Nancy, not really sure what to say, or what she’s trying to say. He settles for a nod before following the other man.

He finds him swinging on a porch swing.

“Hey, whatcha doing out here on your own?”

“S’too loud. Couldn’t find you, so I came out here to get away from the loud. You wanna sit?”

Eddie grins, then joins him on the swing. He kicks off the ground, sending them into a gentle sway.

Steve looks over at him and smiles. “You’ve got such pretty eyes. They’re so big. It’s very distracting. S’hard to think when you look at me with your big doe eyes all soft and pretty like that.”

Eddie has no idea what to do with that. He tries to tease. “Are you flirting with me Harrington?” He gets a manic little laugh in return.

“Have been for months, thanks for noticing!”

“I-What?” Before he can begin to process what Steve just said, he hears a voice that quickly turns the heat in his veins to ice.

“Aww Munson finally got himself a girlfriend. Careful though, that one’s got quite the reputation. But hey, if you don’t mind used goods…”

Steve curls in on himself, looking ashamed and miserable. Eddie curses himself for coming out here alone with just an intoxicated Steve. Friends party or no, they’re still in Hawkins.

“Fuck off Hargrove, go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”

Billy keeps talking like Eddie hadn’t said anything. “He does have quite the pretty mouth though. What do you say Munson? We can share. I’ll let you fuck that tight little ass while I take his mouth. Bet he’d love it wouldn’t you Stevie?”

Before Eddie consciously realizes he’s decided to move, he’s got Billy on the ground. He’s not a fighter but fueled by protective rage he lands a few punches.

Billy gets his hand on a small potted plant and smashes it against his head and then Eddie is shoved on his back. He blinks the blood out of his vision to see the other man approaching Steve, and one glimpse of those terror filled eyes has him stumbling back to his feet.

As he stands he sees the trowel laying in the garden. He uses it to hit Billy in the back of the head, and as the man falters Eddie knocks him to the ground. Quickly hovering over him, he holds the trowel like a knife against Billy’s throat.

“If you so much as look at him again, I will kill you, do you understand me?” He pauses while Billy just stares at him, face blank. “Do you understand me?!”

“Yes! I understand.”

He stands, still gripping his makeshift weapon, and lets Billy scuttle away. He watches until he’s sure the creep is gone before he lets himself relax, swaying on his feet.

Steve is immediately at his side, tears streaming down his cheeks. He lifts his hand to brush the wetness away. “Hey, you’re ok sweetheart, please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying for me you idiot! You’re bleeding. Jesus Eddie, I was so scared. I thought he was gonna kill you.” Steve buries his head in Eddie’s shoulder, shaking with sobs.

Eddie shushes him, cradling the back of his head. Thinks back to the moment before Billy interrupted them. He wants so badly to ask if Steve meant what he’d said, but he knows this isn’t the time. Between what just happened and Steve still being drunk…if they were going to talk about this, he needed to be sure it was real.

So for now he just presses a kiss to the top of Steve’s head and holds on tight, reassuring him that they’re both safe now.

—

Once the adrenaline wears off, Eddie becomes aware of the pain. His head is throbbing, there’s a decent chance he has a concussion. Definitely some busted knuckles. His hip aches from where it hit the ground. Could be worse.

Steve may be drunk, but he’s still Steve. He’s unsteady on his feet as he leads Eddie through the house, confidently finding the first aid kit in the bathroom. He sits Eddie down on the toilet and carefully cleans the gashes on his head, bandaging them and giving them each a sloppy kiss when he’s done. Eddie’s hand gets the same treatment, and the sight of Steve gently cradling his hand for a kiss makes his heart ache with want.

Eddie takes his other hand and wipes the tears that start leaking. “It’s ok. I’m ok. I promise it’s going to take a lot more than one slimy creep to take me away from you.” Steve giggles in response. “There’s that pretty smile, much better. No more tears. You wanna head home or do you wanna stick around for a bit longer?”

“Home. I mean…can I stay with you tonight? I know I was just there last night it’s ok if you want your space I don’t mean to be clingy-“

“Steve. You will always be welcome wherever I am. You don’t even have to ask. And there’s not a chance I’d let you go be in that house on your own, not after tonight. Besides, someone needs to make sure you don’t choke on your own tongue in the middle of the night, boozy.”

He stands and keeps Steve’s hand in his bruised grip, leading him out. Nancy spots them and shoots him a questioning and worried look, but he just waves her off. They can explain later.

He get Steve settled in the passenger seat of his own car, before holding his hand out for the keys. Steve just squints up at him, adorably confused, before reaching out to hold hands. Eddie snorts.

“No, you goof, the keys. Unless you want to sleep in your car you’re gonna have to hand ‘em over so I can get us home.”

Steve smiles fondly. “Home…that sounds nice. I wish. But my home’s no good. And I don’t think your uncle would want me to. But it’s where the heart is right?” He clumsily fishes the keys out of his pocket and hands them over. “So m’already there I guess. Don’t think you are though, which sucks. Your house is nice though, so we can go there.”

Eddie laughs. “I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say sweetheart, maybe you can try again in the morning, hm?”

As they pull in next to the van, Eddie glances cautiously across the to the Mayfield/Hargrove home to find it dark and silent. He’s pretty sure Billy won’t bother them anymore, but he won’t be letting his guard down any time soon just the same.

Steve has been drifting the whole drive over, so Eddie gently shakes his shoulder. “Come on pretty boy, let’s get you into bed so you can sleep nice and comfy.”

He groans and grumbles, but he gets out so Eddie counts it as a win. Until he tips dangerously close to face planting. Steve pouts at him like it’s Eddie’s fault he can’t stand up on his own two feet. Eddie wraps Steve’s arm around his shoulder to steady him and tries to shuffle them both forward.

Unfortunately Steve’s feet seem completely unwilling to cooperate. With an eye roll and a heavy sigh, Eddie bends down and scoops his legs out from under him. Steve squeals and almost flails right out of his arms.

“Shhh you’re gonna wake the whole trailer park!” Eddie whispers.

“Sorry, sorry” Steve giggles, “I wasn’t ready. My hero.” He swoons dramatically, then grins and wraps his arms around Eddie’s neck.

Once they get inside he gently places Steve down on the bed. He makes him drink some water, then throws the sweats from the night before on the bed and heads to the bathroom to change into his own.

He comes out to Steve curled up under the covers peeking up at him, suddenly looking shy.

“Eds…thank you. You really are my hero.”

Eddie laughs as he crawls into bed next to him. “I don’t know about that, but either way no thanks needed. You just keep smiling for me pretty thing, that’s all I need.”

Steve lives up to his word and remains a snuggly drunk. As soon as Eddie is settled there’s a body draped across his.

He knows tomorrow they have to talk and he has no idea how it’s going to go, so he enjoys this while he can.

—

Eddie wakes long before he opens his eyes. He can feel Steve’s steady breathing against his neck, an arm draped across his chest. He just wants to stay in this moment as long as possible. Live in this domestic little fantasy of waking up next to he man he loves.

But eventually he feels Steve stirring and knows he can’t delay the inevitable much longer. He opens his eyes and looks down to see Steve already looking back.

“Morning beautiful. Sleep well?”

“Mmm. Feels like I got hit by a bus.”

“That’ll be the hangover. Not too surprising considering how much you drank. You remember much about last night?”

Steve blinks through the haze of sleep and alcohol before his eyes widen.

“Billy. Shit Eddie, are you ok?” His hands come up to gently touch Eddie’s bandaged head.

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse. I may be a lover not a fighter but that didn’t stop the meat heads at school from playing ‘hunt the freak’. Anyway that’s not what I was talking about.”

“What’s more important than some psycho attacking us?”

Eddie hesitates. He’s not sure Steve will want to be snuggled up in bed after he says what he needs to say. “You know what? I can’t have this conversation like this. Come on time to get up. I’ll make you a nice greasy breakfast and get you hydrated. I need coffee.”

Steve gets up, casting nervous glances at Eddie as he heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He’s already claimed the spare toothbrush as his, because of course he has. Eddie swipes his own and brushes his teeth at the kitchen sink.

He hears the shower turn on and a part of him relaxes, glad that Steve feels at home enough here to do so.

Eddie may not be a great cook in general, but one thing he does right is breakfast. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, French toast…the works. Today he settles for bacon and eggs with some toast. Just as he’s finished plating everything he hears the shower turn off. He gets gets the coffee for himself and puts out orange juice and a Gatorade for Steve.

Steve’s decided to stay in Eddie’s clothes from the night before. He sits across from Eddie looking like he may throw up, but more from nerves than the hangover.

“Eddie…look, I know what this is about and we really don’t have to do this. I can take a hint, it’s fine. I just…I really don’t want to lose you, ok? So it’s fine. We’re good.”

“I uh…I’m not sure we’re having the same conversation here Stevie. Because I have no idea what hint you think you’re taking.”

Steve laughs, but it’s a sad little thing. “Come on Eds, I know you heard me last night. I mean I lied a little, I’ve been trying not to flirt with you for months. But when I told you I had my eye on someone you shut down, you clearly didn’t want to talk about it. And when Billy called me your girlfriend you were mad. Like mad mad.”

“Jesus H Christ Steve you cannot possible think that’s what I was mad about.”

“…What?”

“The implication that we were together, that’s what you thought pissed me off last night? Fucking hell Steve. I was furious because of how he talked about you, because he said we should fucking share you. I wanted to fucking kill that little creep because he was talking about using you. Assaulting you. Jesus. The thought of him looking at you never mind touching you makes my skin crawl. Who cares if he thinks we’re together? I know you were drunk but shit, how the fuck could you think I cared about that?” He’s running his hands through his hair so hard he’s pulling strands out.

“I just…I said I was into someone and I thought you knew I meant you and you were upset, and then that happened and you were even more upset I just thought…”

“I was upset because I thought you were into someone else! Fuck Steve I thought you were straight, I thought you’d found someone and I was going to have to watch someone else make the the love of my life happy and it was going to slowly kill me.”

Steve’s head jerks up so fast from where he’d been staring at the table, it’s a wonder he doesn’t get whiplash. Eddie replays his own words in his head and realizes with horror he said more than he meant to.

“I’m the love of your life?”

And fuck, there’s this soft awed look in Steve’s face. It cracks Eddie right open.

“Fuck it.” He takes a deep breath to steady himself before he closes his eyes and dives head first. Reckless as ever. “I love you. I’m in love with you. Pretty sure I’ve been half in love with you since the day we met, but now? Yeah Steve, you’re the love of my fucking life.”

Before he can steel himself to open his eyes and see the reaction, he feels a hand on the back of his head pulling him and suddenly there’s a mouth against his. Oh. It’s soft, and sweet, and everything he’d ever hoped a first kiss with Steve could be.

It’s over as fast as it began and he leans forward to chase those lips. He feels Steve giggle before a hand at his shoulder stops him. He opens one eye to see Steve all soft and shy.

“You remember the day we met?”

“How could I forget? You were my gay awakening.” He opens his other eye and grins. “Pretty boy like you came to my rescue? I was gone.”

“You’re one to talk. My knight in shining armor.” The hand on his shoulder drops to his own bruised hand, thumb rubbing gently across the still bandaged knuckles. “Shit Eddie you really didn’t know? Everyone knows!”

“Wait what? What do you means everyone knows?”

“Eddie, everyone knows. The kids give me shit all the time. God the first time I tried to asked you to hang out with me and Robin they mocked me the whole drive to Dustin’s because I couldn’t just suck it up and ask you on a proper date. Robin also mocks me because I dressed up and paid like it was a date anyway. Hell Nancy knows….and also mocks me, Jesus I need better friends.”

Eddie laughs a little hysterically. “That explains why Nancy said I should talk to you when I told her you said you liked someone last night. Steve I thought you were straight. Why would I ever think I had a chance?”

“Well I’m bi, for the record. I mean it was me coming out to my parents that was the final straw for them leaving. I just thought you knew. Robbie said you clocked each other from day one. And she knew about me right away so I figured you did too and you were just too nice to say anything about my glaringly obvious crush. But everyone kept telling me to go for it so I thought last night I’d kind of open the door a bit and you slammed it in my face. So instead of having you serenade me and then maybe make out a little at the party I got spectacularly drunk in self pity.”

Eddie grins beatifically. “I can serenade you, baby.”

“Ugh god then there was that. Last night you called me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘pretty’ and I was so confused. You’d never called me pet names before.” He pouts adorably.

“I’ll call you whatever you want, gorgeous, as long as I can call you mine.”

“Oh Eddie, I’ve been yours for a long time.” Steve closes the gap between them once more.

I’ve had so many fic ideas in my years in fandom, but this is the first one I’ve actually written. I have like 3 others in progress, all Steddie, so there’s that. Anyway, be gentle. I’ve been writing for forever but this is the first fic and also the first story I’ve ever shared publicly.

I may write a follow up to this one too. We’ll see.

Find me on AO3

#steddie fic #steve x eddie #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fic #my fic #good uncle Wayne Munson #idiots in love #Eddie Munson has a crush on Steve Harrington #Steve Harrington has a crush on Eddie Munson #bisexual steve harrington #gay eddie munson #au: no upside down #steve harrington needs a hug #Steve Harrington has bad parents #no beta we die like barb #my stuff

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five-rivers · 11 months

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Life's Great Lie 17

AO3

“Oh, thank God,” said Tony, “Bruce is here.” All the other green, angry looking people were secondary, as far as he was concerned. Having the Hulk on hand meant that he didn’t have to play Jonah again. That had been. Unpleasant.

A dart of red broke off the crowd of ghosts and angled towards Tony. Valerie Gray. And Bruce, too. As Bruce.

“Where do you want us?” shouted Valerie.

“Take your pick!” shouted Tony, even as he lined up more shots. He was going to be running out of all but the special anti-ghost ordinance soon. “But—Bruce, you’re going to have to suit up.”

“Of course,” said Bruce, rubbing his face. “Yeah. Okay. You would call it that. Miss Gray, if you could take me up towards one of those… big things…” He gestured vaguely at the space whales.

“Cool!” said Tony, giving them a thumbs up. “Now, all we need to do is get a shield around the portals, and we can roll up the streets. No problem!”

“Sir,” said Jarvis. “You may want to look at the Ops Center.”

What was going on now? He turned and watched the shield around the airship flicker once, twice, and then go out completely. The chitauri, who apparently were smart enough to smell blood in the water, regardless of any other tactical deficiencies, changed direction.

“Well, that’s not good. Anyone want to fill me in on what’s going wrong?”

“Well,” started Jasmine Fenton.

“What happened to the thing being self-sustaining?” demanded Natasha as she punched out another mercenary. Where had Loki even found these guys? They weren’t even mind controlled. Who in their right mind signed up to fight for the aliens in a literal alien invasion?

“Listen,” said Maddie Fenton, a little testily, “we quite literally built it on the fly. It isn’t operating at peak theoretical efficiency, but it’s a testament to Jack’s engineering skills that we got it to work at all, much less while also trying to come up with a workable solution for the shields. Be glad we have enough power to keep the portal open, even.”

“Forget the shields,” interrupted Tucker, his voice crackling slightly. The Fentons’ communicators weren’t bad, and apparently they worked through the ‘spectral noise’ associated with ghosts, but they left something to be desired in comparison to the crystal-clear communications Natasha had gotten used to while working for SHIELD. “Well, no, don’t forget them, forget them, we might still be able to—I’ve got— What’s your name again, dude? —I’ve got Selvig up here, and he says that if we can get Loki’s staff, we can shut down his portal.”

“Great!” shouted Steve. “Anyone have eyes on Loki?”

The answer to that was, of course, a resounding no.

“Oi, Tucker, you want to run by that thought you had about the shields again?”

Under other circumstances, Tucker might have been over the moon. Tony Stark, asking him about something technical! It was like a dream come true!

But between the mind control, the alien invasion, and whatever was going on with SHIELD and HYDRA, Tucker’s enthusiasm for anything was pretty much nil. So.

“Uh,” said Tucker. He and Selvig were standing in front of Loki’s portal device. Well. Tucker was sort of crouching, and Selvig was… sprawled. That couldn’t be a good position for a guy that old, but whatever. “So, Loki got the startup power for this thing from the, uh, the tower’s arc reactor, right? So, it’s still plugged in. The connection is live, and it looks like he used standard connectors. Not, you know, a twelve-gauge extension cord, but Earth-made. I think maybe we can use it to charge up the shields and use one here as the centerpiece – the power source – instead of the one in the Ops Center. If it’s, like compatible. Is that a thing we can do? Mrs. Fenton?”

“Well, it isn’t impossible,”she said. “But those portable shield relays – they weren’t made as independent shield generators, and for them to run on something other than ectoplasm – Jack, sweetie, do we still have those blueprints? – Thanks. Alright, Tucker, you’ll have to make significant adjustments to the shield relay, probably even cannibalize one of them. Are you able to do that?”

“Well,” said Tucker. “Maybe? I’ve got a lipstick laser and…” He looked over his shoulder. “Selvig. Sort of. But if it’s anything more complicated than rewiring the Speeder’s main gun to fire from the backseat window console, I’m going to need a bunch of tools and a science guy who isn’t dead on his feet. No offense.”

Selvig waved him off.

“You’re the one who—? Never mind. It is more complicated. Quite a bit more complicated.”

“I’ll also need, you know, the generators. Relays?”

“I’m still on my way,” said Romanov. She sounded… upset.

“And so am I,” said Iron Man. “Kid, I’ve got all sorts of tools in my apartment. And dummy, too.”

Okay. Cool. Also, what did dummies have to do with anything? Was that rich people code for something?

“Okay, want to give me directions, or am I supposed to just start pulling out drawers?”

“Hey! Where’re you going?”

“You need more cover,” said Sam. “This is what I have the jetpack for, remember? Arrow boy isn’t going to get all of them, and they do have ranged weapons.”

It was true, one well-aimed shot through the Ops Center envelope could send the whole thing down. They weren’t using hydrogen gas, of course, but an ectoplasm-nitrogen mix, so there was no danger of becoming Hindenburg Mk II, unless the aliens’ energy weapons reacted really badly with ectoplasm, but there hadn’t been any evidence of that yet, so…

Anyway, it didn’t matter. Jazz was too busy keeping the Ops Center and the portal steady to do much else.

“Be careful,” she said.

“Can’t make any promises!”

Fury was having a bad day. A really, monumentally, bad day. One that was part of an already awful week but still managed to go above and beyond in terms of how completely awful it was.

Primarily, he blamed HYDRA. They were very easy to blame and were, in his opinion, responsible for at least seventy percent of the metric ton of crap he was currently wading through.

But then, then he got a call.

The call.

Which meant that he had to take this boat riddled with snakes to fight off an alien invasion over New York. Peachy.

If ever he’d been tempted to give old friends a call… But he wouldn’t. Not yet.

“Sir,” said Coulson, joining him smoothly as he walked down the hallway toward the main bridge.

“What’d you find?”

“We have problems, sir. Using the head start we were given, I’ve found no less than seventy problem areas on this ship… and some indications that the World Security Council may have similar issues. We also have to assume there are unseen variables at play.”

Fury did not miss a step. Benefit of being a cynical bastard. The WSC was a shock, and a disaster on multiple levels, but the other number was… livable. “Are there any particular personnel involved in these problems?”

“STRIKE teams seem to have an unusually high number of incidents. Upwards of ninety percent.”

Fury strode onto the bridge. “Tell the STRIKE teams to prepare to mobilize and pilots to scramble.” Uriah gambits were unpleasant… but if he could kill two birds with one stone, he would, and he wouldn’t feel bad about it. “What kind of air power are we looking at?”

“Significant,” said a comm. tech who was flipping through different news programs. “They seem to have biologically based technology of some kind, weaponry is mainly energy-based, propulsion… unclear.”

Wonderful. Fury scanned the other screens, trying to get a better picture of what, exactly, was happening in New York. What tactics the enemy was using, what numbers they had, what resistance had been put up so far and by whom.

“Sir,” said Agent Hill. “The council is on.”

The council. The same one Coulson had just told him was infiltrated by HYDRA. The same one that would probably find a way to make their present situation all the more untenable and Fury’s day infinitely worse.

It was a pity he couldn’t ignore them.

“Put them on.”

Pandora hissed at the sting of the enemies’ weapons. They were not ectoblasts, no, but there was the taste of something like magic to them, and energy was energy. Still, they were not enough to damage her unduly, although they might prove troublesome, dangerously so, for the weaker ghosts of their force.

But that was the nature of war. Few battles were won without bloodshed.

Her warriors should otherwise be a match for the chitauri. The chitauri had numbers, doubtlessly, but her warriors had experience. And once Frostbite and Dorathea lead their forces onto the battlefield, well… She could not estimate the number of enemies. She had been told that they came from the stars, and those lands were numerous to the point of being innumerable. Even so, there was a limit to passage through a choke point, and even the stars themselves may not turn things in the favor of a commander caught in one, no matter their numbers.

But the ghosts, too, must pass through a portal. Pandora eyed the slight waver in the portal’s outline with disfavor. She was no expert in such matters, but many years of existence had given her some intuition for how portals should behave. This one was stable enough, but not for long.

All the more reason to resolve things quickly.

“Hunter,” she said.

“What?” snapped the mechanical man, the burnished plates of his armor flashing in the Sun.

“Your task. Find Phantom. Free him from whatever compulsion he is under.” Although Phantom still had much to learn, he was undeniably powerful. Returning him to his proper allegiance would

Skulker looked away from the beast he was dismembering with some reluctance. “Fine. Dog. Come here.”

The dog ignored him. As it was Phantom’s, and Skulker hadn’t made the effort to learn its name, that was really no surprise. Still, Skulker gestured at it. It, in turn, bounded away, yipping.

“Are you, or are you not, the greatest hunter in the Infinite Realms? Find him with or without the dog.”

Skulker grumbled but flew off. Good.

Pandora manifested a joint in her neck just long enough to crack it and drummed her fingers on the lid of her box. It had been too long, far too long, since she had engaged in a proper battle against evil, and the more vicious of the leviathans flying through the air looked like they would, at least, give her a challenge.

Thor had become more open-minded since his short stay on Earth, with Dr. Selvig, Darcy, and… Dr. Jane Foster. Truly. But he had to admit, these ghosts were unnerving. Too similar by far to the draugr that had ofttimes haunted the stories of bards – the ones that made his father glare and try to shoo away both Thor and Loki.

He had to find his brother. Soon. With all that had happened, with how, exactly, Loki had behaved, he believed, truly believed Daniel Fenton’s assertion Loki was being controlled, somehow.

It was a foul thing, to put such a geas on a prince of Asgard… Although, to be fair, putting a geas on anyone was foul. It just seemed especially foul to Thor, that someone should do it to his brother.

Loki had, perhaps, never been quite so good as one might hope, but he had always been… himself, as vague as that description was. Even when he’d been consumed by madness, letting jotnar into Asgard, sending the Destroyer after people on Earth, he had still been himself.

Thor did not like this new version of Loki, who was very much… It was like seeing his brother through a warped pane of glass, or in a reflection. In fact, he liked it so little that he couldn’t even enjoy the utter destruction he was wrecking on the chitauri, lightning, head-crushing, and all. Not that he had been enjoying combat quite as much as he once did in general.

The price of being worthy, he presumed.

Alas.

A bright green flying dog whipped past him at speed, heading towards the tower. He narrowed his eyes at it. Most of the ghosts had stayed concentrated around the portals. What cause had this one to stray?

But he could not go investigate. He could still hear the screams of the civilians cornered in the buildings nearby. He would not leave them to fend for themselves until he had cleared this street.

Danny and Loki would both have preferred to use the elevators. Unfortunately, significant parts of the main upper elevator shaft had been repurposed for extension-cable-from-hell-powering-up-a-doomsday-device purposes, and no one wanted to mess with that, and the military-type guys they still had with them recommended shutting them off from a tactical perspective of ‘there’s more of them then there are of us, and we don’t want to guard them all.’ So. No elevators.

Danny could have just dropped them through the floor instead, but Loki seemed concerned about the effect serially dropping through floors had on Danny.

Or, well, the effect that the effect it had on Danny was having on him, in any case.

“I refuse to get stuck in a ceiling again. I am a god. I am to be treated with some degree of gravitas.”

“It was one time. You should’ve seen what I was like when I first got my powers.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Year and a half ago, about.”

Anyway, they were taking the stairs. Danny wasn’t really upset about it, because it gave him more time to be annoying. Right now, he was in the midst of a recital of all the ‘annoying younger sibling’ noises he had ever made. Right now, he was working on ‘long drawn out sighs,’ which had really been a hit with Jazz, when he’d been eight. Which was to say, she hated them. A lot.

And Loki didn’t seem to a have a lot of tolerance, either.

“What,” he snapped, “are you doing?”

“Nothing,” said Danny, enjoying the way Loki’s face pinched up, as if he were searching for a way to order him to stop without really screwing up his other orders…

… speaking of which, could Danny have interpreted ‘get me out of here’ to mean ‘get me out of New York?’ Maybe. But at this point, there were plenty of reasons to want them both in New York, including--

Danny’s train of thought derailed as he noticed the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairwell. He looked down and then threw himself backwards as a redheaded woman – Romanov – brought a gun to bear on him. She fired, twice, in quick succession. Wow. Rude. And pretty brutal, too, but then again, New York was being invaded by aliens. And she knew about his powers.

(Hecking Fury, telling people about his powers.)

Although, considering trajectories… no, he was too sleep deprived to consider trajectories.

He grabbed Loki’s arm, intending to drop them through the floor.

“No, wait,” said Loki. “Let’s see what the Widow wants.” There was a malicious, almost cruel, edge to his voice, but there was a hollowness underneath it. He did want to see why Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, was here, but the tone, the phrasing, was just to rile her up.

Or to appear as if he wanted to rile her up. Danny hadn’t listened to all the things Barton and Loki had discussed – too busy freaking out about the whole situation vis a vis mind control and alien invasions – but he hadn’t gotten the impression she was all that easy to rile up.

But Danny had his orders. And he still had to defend Loki. Ice began to spread out from under his feet. It was a bit sluggish, but it would give him the terrain advantage as far as maneuvers went. The Widow kicked open the door on her landing and rolled out, into the floor beyond, staying more or less out of direct line of fire for both Danny and Loki.

“I have eyes on Loki,” she said, out loud.

“Crap,” said Tony, tossing the box to the Foley kid. “Sorry, got to go, but hey!” He was already heading for the edge of the roof. “Maybe we won’t even need that if we do this right!”

Black Widow definitely been looking for them, which wasn’t surprising, but what was she carrying? The bag was bulky and angular. A weapon? If so, why hadn’t she used it?

Loki stepped out past Danny but stayed well within Danny’s ability to grab – or drop through the floor, if necessary. Making the floor intangible instead was a valid strategy.

“What is it you want, Widow? Natasha Romanov?”

Romanov, meanwhile, had disappeared, almost as thoroughly as Danny could. He tilted his head to one side, listening. This floor, it seemed, had been imagined as semi-open lab space. There were long work benches, empty places for equipment, some kind of robotic arm in the ceiling, and a cart full of plastic-wrapped computers, monitors and towers together.

It was kind of cool. There were a lot of places to hide.

“Is this… revenge? For Barton?” Loki’s smile was sharp. “He told me much about you, and I suppose Stark mentioned avenging this place.” Two false images split off from Loki to prowl among the lab tables. “It suits you better than it does him. But don’t you think it somewhat… hypocritical?”

“Okay, Romanov, here’s how it is. Loki likes illusions? Let’s give him an illusion.”

Danny saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and angled himself to intercept, but no attack came.

“After all… you’ve done so much… so much that others would be more than justified retaliating for, don’t you think? All those regime changes, shall we call them? And Barton’s no better, really.” He hummed. “The things you two did together. Drakov’s daughter? Sāo Paulo? The hospital fire? And you think taking vengeance on me will change anything? You think it will make you some sort of hero? Give you peace? When you—”

One of the doors flew open, revealing Iron Man. Who plowed through one fake Loki (Faki? Fauki? Fauxki? Meh, he’d workshop it.) and swerved to shoot one of his repulsors at another. Romanov popped up from behind a table and threw something at the feet of the real Loki, who crushed it with his heel, ignoring the sparks of electricity that flew up off of it.

Danny batted Romanov back with a shield, straight into the cart of computers, which fell down on her. Ouch. But she’d be able to get back up and into the fight. The important thing was that, right now, she wasn’t an immediate threat, which meant he could ignore her.

Give her time.

If she hadn’t wanted something, she would have run, kept hiding. Just these few minutes – She was a shield agent, sure, but she had to have some kind of specialty in—

Anti-ghost missiles were a lot harder to avoid in such a small place, especially when distracted. Danny hissed as one impacted his shoulder and splattered green all over his shirt, but he caught the next, and threw it back at Iron Man. He tried to phase off the green goo, but it wouldn’t go. It had to be some of that phase-proof stuff his parents had been working on. Nasty stuff.

Although, he had to be grateful it had only given him a bruise and hadn’t been mixed with something that would melt him. It gave him hope for his future relationship with his parents.

In the meantime, it definitely limited his options regarding protecting Loki and just removing themselves from the situation without getting into more destructive behavior.

He hoped Iron Man knew what he was doing… for everyone’s sake.

The missile exploded right in front of Iron Man’s mask, splattering him with green goo. Danny had no idea what kind of sensor array he had, but that would probably buy at least a little time as he adjusted it to compensate for the eye-holes of his mask being covered up.

He turned back to Loki, only to see another Iron Man grab the staff from him.

Only for that Loki and that staff to dissolve into the air.

Loki, the real Loki, stopped being invisible and laughed. “Oh, that was good, that was very good.” Not only was this Loki real, his smile might have been as well. “But you didn’t think you could fool me, did you?”

Danny flicked invisible, noting with disfavor that the green goo stayed visible when he did so, and moved closer to Loki, fending off attacks. Two Iron Men – Where did the second person come from? Was it Barton, in a suit? Someone else entirely? The War Machine person? Danny couldn’t remember his name. – and Romanov together was a bit of a challenge for Danny to keep track of, given his present mental state.

Luckily, however, one of the two suits, the first one, didn’t seem to have nearly the tactical awareness of the other. He’d say it was Stark in the second suit, the fresher-looking one… the one without any form of ghost proofing Danny could detect.

Danny swiped an intangible arm through the suit, cleaving through delicate wires as he did so, but leaving warm, human flesh untouched. Several pieces of armor fell away, revealing a band t-shirt, but not the whole thing. Interesting.

Romanov threw a Fenton Ghost Zapper at him. Loki knocked it out of the air, the sharp end of the scepter cutting it in two as he did so. Iron Man – the one he was pretty sure was Tony Stark – tried to grab it again, even as Loki pivoted to try and catch Black Widow with it. Danny used that as a pretext to pull Loki back, away from Black Widow. They did not need her under control. Nope.

But… they wanted the staff. They wanted the staff now.

Selvig must have gotten knocked free. He must have told them, one of them, about his safeguards.

If one of these three could get the staff, get back to the top of the tower… Then it would be over. They’d have won.

“Director Fury, the council has made a decision.”

Fury flexed his fingers behind his back. “I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.” It’s what he’d say if he hadn’t learned what he’d just learned. If HYDRA wasn’t threaded through every element of SHIELD like a deadly parasite. If this sounded more like a simple fear-driven overreaction and less like a way to destroy one of HYDRAs most famous enemies and his new and very powerful allies?

“Director, despite your shocking negligence, bordering on dereliction, you’re closer than any of our subs. You scramble that jet—”

“That is the island of Manhattan, councilman.” Although considering that HYDRA, in the person of Red Skull, had tried to blow it up in the past, he wasn’t sure that would sway them. Until I’m certain my team can’t hold them—”

“There are two armies of alien origin, emerging from portals above that island. If we don’t—”

“I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population, much less the densest population in the United States. And the other army is an ally.”

“Based on what intelligence? Based on what invitation? That of someone already suborned by Loki?”

“If we don’t hold them in the air,” added another councilmember, “we lose. We lose everything.”

“If I send that bird out, we already have.”

“Director Fury is no longer in command. Override order, seven, alpha, eleven.”

“Sorry, sir,” said the pilot, who had just taken his seat. He watched with some trepidation as Agent Coulson led a pair of his colleagues away. This was all very irregular. “I’m not familiar with that code.”

There was a pause. “What’s your name, son?”

Cujo frolicked through the city. It was loud, yes, but nothing he hadn’t been in training for while alive, and nothing he hadn’t experienced while dead. So, a non-issue, obviously.

The actual issue? His person had just thrown a stick. Obviously, Cujo had to go fetch it.

#danny phantom #dp/mcu #dp/marvel #op!danny/marvel #life's great lie

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my-soupy-brain · 16 days

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hello! i found your blog cause my jason sudeikis obsession has been insane as of late, especially last man on earth as that's what i'm rewatching rn (it's such a small fandom and you're the first person i've seen make mike miller content i am so grateful 🙏💙) i wanted to ask for another mike fic please if you'd be up to it (i understand how fandoms and interests fluctuate, happens a lot in my own art so it's totally cool if not!) i don't really have any specific requests, i've enjoyed all your fics so just anything with mike would be really cool! (also i apologize if i'm requesting this wrong) ty for all your fics, i love and appreciate your writing so much!!

OH YES MY UNICORN! Mike Miller fun coming up. I'll keep writing for him too because he's my favorite character behind Ted. I just loved that show so much and I'm sad it's over. So let's fill in the blanks with Mike's life -- and his quest for love, shall we?!

---

Relationship: Mike Miller x reader (F)

Warnings: As with all Mike content, cute + smut ahead

---

Mike stopped and stood slightly behind a tree as he watched you.

You were on your knees in your garden, plucking up some vegetables from the earth, knocking off the dirt, and placing them in a basket.

You moved to the tomatoes next, yanking them off the vine, smiling at how red and juicy they were in the kind heat of the West Coast.

The home behind you looked to be yours, he guessed. A beach-style mid-century modern bungalow. Based on the wild wind in your hair and the round sunglasses perched on your nose, you and the building looked to be a good match.

He knew he had to approach carefully. He didn't want to startle you. And hell, you might not even be alone.

So he walked. Slowly.

"Ummm..."

You jumped at the sound of a...voice? A human voice?!

"OH MY GOD WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

You were startled, hands held up in front of you as if you were expecting to be harmed.

Mike quickly shook his head, his eyebrows bunching as his hands went up defensively, too.

"No, no! Not like that, no, I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Mike. Miller. Mike Miller. And I... I've been on my own for... a while, and umm..."

He's stumbling. He's watching your pretty eyes relax, your mouth loosen, your shoulders drop.

You nod quietly and smile gently.

"Mike... it's nice to meet you. You... you've been on your own? Me, too. I'm Y/N. I'm so sorry to be so frightened."

Mike shakes his head.

"Oh, God, don't be. I'm sorry I frightened you. You're the first person I've seen in a... a long time. It's... it's nice to meet you, Y/N."

Mike offers a strong hand, vascular, with toned forearms. He's got a sturdy build to him, broad shouldered and broad chest, soft but sculpted. His long, brown-auburn hair is a bit shaggy on him, maybe starting to curl on the ends. He's got a scruffy, short beard growing in with specs of gray.

"You, too...Mike. Would you...like to come in?"

Mike nods. "Love to."

...

Mike watches as you rinse the vegetables from the garden. He takes in your bare feet, the hippy-style skirt, the baggy shirt knotted in the front.

You turn to look at him while you wipe down the tomatoes.

"So, tell me all about yourself, Mike."

He smiles, because you smile. Genuine. Happy. Lovely.

He tells you how he was on the space station. Came back to Earth alone. Plopped into the ocean. He talks about finding his brother, and the group. He sighs sadly as he says Phil's name, but adds he wanted to go out on his own. See if he could find others.

"And I found you."

You smile, squeezing his shoulder as you walk behind him to the other side of the kitchen.

The contact from you felt...

electric.

You tell him about your journey -- making your way west where you could actually plant and rely on weather. Losing your family, your divorce before the pandemic took everyone away.

"So you're here alone?" Mike asks, taking a sip of the tea you made him. You nod.

"I'm sorry it's been so hard for you," he adds quietly. You smile softly.

"I'm sorry it's been hard for all of us.

...

By evening you're making dinner. Fresh pasta with vegetables and a garlic lemon sauce, thanks to the lemon tree out back.

Mike marvels at the way you work and helps you roll out the pasta dough to slice thin. He likes to watch the flour on your hands, up your arms, even on your cheek where you scratched an itch.

He wants to touch you.

In the time you've worked together at the counter, you've learned each other's favorite music, favorite movies, likes and dislikes. You have a lot of the same, and a lot of differences, too.

You like him.

Mike likes you, too.

When you serve up his plate and pour him a glass of expensive wine -- because who else is going to drink the remarkable vineyards left behind? - he could melt.

Dinner is delicious, of course, and he's grateful for the hospitality.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like," you offer, cleaning the dishes in the sink. "I don't have anyone else here and it's a good sized house."

Mike smiles softly. If it's up to him, he wouldn't be in his own room for long.

If it's up to you, you don't want him to be, either.

But you don't say that, and neither does he.

Mike stands to help you at the sink, grabbing a dry towel to wipe down the plates and dishes.

"Thank you," you offer, turning to smile at him. He smiles back, getting lost in your eyes.

"You're welcome. Oh..." he murmurs, leaning closer. "You have an eyelash on your cheek. Make a wish," he offers, his warm, masculine finger swiping the black crescent from your face and holding it out on his fingertip.

You giggle and close your eyes, blowing gently.

He can't wait a second longer. It's been too long. Everything feels too right. You're here, he's here. You found each other for a reason. And he wasn't a guy who believed in star alignment and all that mumbo jumbo.

He tugs you toward him with one hand, low on your waist, his lips finding yours effortlessly, as if...as if...

As if that's exactly what you wished for. Because it was.

Your hands go around his neck to kiss him back. It's like the first time you've ever been kissed, but a million times better. Because you both know what you're doing.

Deep pockets of air go through your noses, his other hand cups your face gently, like a goddamn romance novel.

The moan that escapes your chest has his blood humming with desire, your tongues meeting more aggressively, full-on making out like teenagers with parents out of town.

He cages you against the counter a little, and you're tempted to hop up and let him between your legs. As you start to edge up to the counter, Mike stops you.

"Bedroom?" he asks, your chest rising and falling fast with adrenaline. "I want you, I want...you... in a bed..." he adds, making your knees knock together.

Your cheeks blush crimson as you take his hand and walk him to the bedroom, not far away. He doesn't waste a minute taking in the beachy coziness of the king bed and the duvet and the flowers you've got in vases...

He's too busy finding your lips again, his hands touring your body, moving the two of you toward the bed.

God, it's been so long. So fucking long.

Instead of pushing your skirt down, his hands slide up against the fabric, bunching it as he goes, finding your ass and grabbing it, running his palms over the fleshiness of your hips.

Despite the state of the world and your change in diet, you never lost some of the softest parts of you - which you thought were unfortunate but Mike...

"Goddamn," he mutters, practically growling. "You're fucking beautiful."

You shiver at this, and he smiles, his lips going down your neck now, his hands on a running journey over your body as you back up toward the bed and lean down, bringing him over you.

His knee between your legs gives you ample opportunity for friction, your hips swirling against him, letting the throbbing core of you get some relief.

It makes you fucking shake.

It's been years since you've made love... truly, really, made love. And this is blowing your fucking mind in a thousand directions.

He likes how you feel when you move against his knee, his thigh, and he pushes against you to help you along.

"Oh, oh fuck..." you murmur between kisses. Mike can tell by your trembling what's happening.

"Let it happen, it's okay. I want it to happen," he whispers. "Good girl."

Boom! The cord snaps, your body shakes and convulses, your come slicking your panties and probably through onto his jeans. His hands touch you gently, your body so sensitive like a firework.

"Mmmm... that's it," he whispers, your hips still moving slowly against him. "Get as much as you want."

Your breath is catching as you look back up into his dark-hazel eyes, his lips smiling at you. His hand gently cups your face when you kiss again, and he pulls away.

"That was one of the hottest things that's ever happened to me," Mike adds, chuckling so softly into your hair that you can't help but join him.

Your hands roam down his sturdy chest and to the front of his pants and he groans a little louder.

"Been a long time for you, too?" you ask softly, and he nods quickly.

"Way, way too long."

You smile brightly and kiss him again, sliding his open button-down off his arms, letting it fall to the floor. His tshirt goes next, and your hands can finally touch the masculine length of his stomach and chest and that beautiful pattern of chest hair all over.

His own hands get to work sliding your skirt off, then your shirt. Rolling to the center of the bed you have plenty of room to explore and play.

You smile at him, kissing him.

"Are you sure?" you ask quietly, taking him by surprise. A beautiful smile curls his lips, a dimple in his cheek.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because... I'm just the first gal you've seen since you left your group. What if there's someone else?"

Mike looks down at the rise and fall of your chest, the glow on your face, the blush of your cheeks. His mind goes back to the dinner, the conversation, how right it all feels.

"Not a chance I'll want anyone but you," he whispers, leaning in to kiss you. When he kicks his pants away, he pulls the cover up with him and you both smile, kissing, while his cock pushes into you.

Slow. So slow.

A gentle tug, a tight squeeze. It's been a while for you both. And his own low growl indicates it feels just as good for him as it does you. So you nod at each other with a smile, moving slow together first, then a little faster, then a little harder and deeper.

Hands pull and squeeze and grasp, and you get a little louder.

A lot louder, because who's here to hear you? No one.

Your legs wrap around him, his body buried inside yours, nails scratching down his back gently, moaning... panting... chanting...cursing.

"Never...felt...so good..." he musters with a heavy breath. "Oh, fuck..."

His big hand holds your thigh, grabs your ass, your breast, then cups your face as he kisses you.

If this is what making love is, well, you've never had this before. So you let your bodies moan, you let the sweat come together, you make each other see fucking stars.

His fingers lace with yours, your lips meet and your body shudders under him, the romance of it all, the tender touch and kisses he gives you...

"Oh, my God..."

Mike smiles to himself, kissing your neck, whispering: "Yeah, that's OK. I want to feel it."

Your body unleashes and you tuck your lips against his neck, your hands clutch his back...and just before he meets you over the edge, he pulls out and comes on your stomach.

His breath is panting, your breath is panting, and without a care, he leans back over you to kiss you.

"I wanted to go longer," he jokes, chuckling a warm fan of air over your lips. You smile and hold his face sweetly.

"I don't think we could've done that no matter how hard we tried. It was too..."

"Perfect."

He kisses your lips again, his fingers and palm brushing the hair off your face. And then you're both giggling like high schoolers.

"So... are you...um... gonna sleep in my bed?"

Mike looks at you with a playful smirk, and then around at the king-size bed.

"If that's OK with you, I think there's plenty of room..."

You laugh again and he smiles, nuzzling against you.

"There is definitely room, but I bet we don't drift too far from each other."

A soft smile is exchanged between you and he raises your knuckles to his lips to kiss.

"I don't think we will, either."

---

That was way mushier/romantic/sweet than even I expected it to be but I'm in such a "oh, I need touch and love and adoration" type of mood lately. Loneliness? I don't know. Whatever it is, this. I want this. Please. And with my own Mike Miller. Also, please. :) Thanks for the prompt, friend. Keep sending Mike stuff my way!

#mike miller x reader #mike miller x you #last man on earth fanfic #last man on earth fanfiction #jason sudeikis #characters i insist on writing for

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