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#writing prompt fills
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A Week (He Will Take You)
~
Danny moved to Gotham for school, while there he noticed that Gotham's ambient ecto was really murky for lack of a better word.
This didn't really affect him too much besides a mild headache every once in a while but that also just might be stress from all his school work so maybe not.
Anyway
This murky ecto seemed to effect the people who lived there or more importantly the ghosts,
They were visible to the human eye like most ghosts back in Amity but instead of looking very much like a ghost they still looked like humans if a bit off putting.
They all seemed to be continuing their normal lives as if still fully alive, with the people around them none the wiser.
Danny noticed this and began approaching them to figure out what was going on.
Apparently the murky ecto in the city had made it so that they were strong enough to still continue a somewhat normal life but not be able to cross over to the GZ.
In other words they were stuck in Gotham
Danny was the Ghost King so he could easily fix this problem, all he needed to do was give them a bit of pure ecto for around a week to fully stabilize them them then he would just open a portal into the GZ and they could cross over with all their things also transferring into the GZ for their new haunt.
Unfortunately this looked rather worrying to an outsider,
Imagine you're used to your neighbor being very outgoing so you and others see them a lot suddenly this man seems to appear in their life out of nowhere an at exactly one week, your neighbor and all their belongings in their home disappear no trace to be found.
You tell people and they begin saying the same story they knew someone and them a man with black hair and blue eyes appeared in their life, then they and all their things disappear in exactly one week.
Of course the police in Gotham do the bare minimum so they're no help.
But it starts to begin a trend, especially online.
"Oh careful or the blue eyed man will make you disappear in a week"
This of course after time catches the bats attention, Gordon had already given them all the information he had.
"Young adult early twenties, dark hair, blue eyes"
That was it.
The bats look into it and from their point of view Danny is a serial killer.
But they can't find the connection between all of his victims, they range from young children and the elderly from different backgrounds absolutely no connection,
Worrying enough he doesn't just make one person disappear he has taken entire families up to over a dozen, without anyone figuring out how he's doing it or why at all.
The disturbing thing also being that he seems to take everything in their home, leaving it like it has always been empty
Like no one had been living in it.
People have tried to take photos of Danny get some kind of evidence of his existence, but when they try to do it, it either comes out completely corrupted or their devise simply shuts down fully.
Danny of course has no clue what is happening he's just happy that he's able to help so many ghosts, and is trying not to fail his exams.
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Danny leaving the house he just helped: "That went easier than I expected!"
Neighbor peeking from the window: "Shit it's that guy! "
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Red Hood marching down into the cave: " The fucker took many from my territory without me even realizing it!"
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Tim: "I'm pretty sure his kill count is nearing the hundreds and he just started like maybe 4 months ago, this is bad."
Barbara: " I think I got a theory, this matches up with the new school year beginning so maybe their not a Gotham native which narrows down my suspect list."
Bruce: "Hn."
Tim: "Yes thank you B for the insightful commentary"
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Danny trying not to fall asleep while on his way to class: "Strange I keep seeing shadows following me, oh well must be the stress!"
Bats who are pretty sure Danny is the killer: "Has he done anything suspicious yet?"
~
Just an Idea
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luxaofhesperides · 3 months
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Soulmark AU + Sleeping Beauty ; requested by @candeartist422!
For the last few years, Duke’s been waiting for his soulmate to die.
It sounds cruel to say it that way. But the waiting is more painful, he thinks, than just mourning a lost love. It’s not like most people ever meet their soulmates anyways; his parents weren’t meant to be, but they still loved each other and had a life together. He wishes he could turn his focus away from his soulmate, but Duke is a romantic at heart and has always wanted to find the other half of his soul.
But since he was fourteen, his soulmark has dulled, fading in and out of color. What was once a vibrant blue crystal star, with eight points and a swirl of watercolor hues around it, dimmed more and more until Duke was sure he was watching his soulmate die slowly. 
His soulmate didn’t die then. Whoever they are got better, his soulmark gaining color, but it never went back to the way it was. For years after, Duke would check at the beginning and end of each day, keeping track of when it faded and when it regained its color. 
He thought his soulmate was sick. In and out of hospitals, fighting to stay alive.
And then it went nearly colorless. 
Duke doesn’t remember much about that day. He knows he woke up, brushed his teeth, the lifted up his shirt to check his soulmark in the mirror. The blue was almost completely gone, the star on his left hipbone nearly gray with how colorless it was. He started at it for a moment, shocked, and reality slid away from him as he retreated into the safety of his mind, fully dissociating. 
Bruce had found him when Duke didn’t show up for breakfast. He held him and offered quiet words of comfort that Duke couldn’t understand, but just having someone with him lessened the hurt of losing his soulmate. 
Seeing the color come back the next day, faint as it was, hurt even more.
A year later, Duke still can’t break the habit of checking his soulmark twice a day. It hasn’t changed at all, still faint and dim, but carrying just enough color to show that his soulmate was still alive. At the very least, they were still breathing, but his chance of ever meeting them is basically zero. Still, he can’t help but hope, wishing that he could meet them even once before they die and leave him forever. 
“Same as ever,” he murmurs to himself as he brushes his thumb against his soulmark. He’s terrified that he’s forgotten how beautiful the blue of it was when his soulmate was healthy. 
Duke doesn’t let himself think on it too much anymore. Though his thoughts often turn to his soulmate during quiet moments like these, the busy nature of Gotham is usually more than enough to pull his attention back to the here and now. There’s no use in obsessing over his soulmate anyways; they’re just going to die, sooner or later, and Duke knows he’ll never get to meet them. They’ll just be another empty space in his life, right next to his parents. 
“Come on, Thomas, focus,” he tells himself firmly, then gets dressed and heads down to the kitchen for breakfast.
The manor is quiet. It usually is in the mornings, with everyone from the night shift dead asleep and trying to get as much rest as they can before they have to start their day. Not that many of them stay in the manor these days; Duke and Damian are the only permanent residents at the moment, but Steph usually stays half with her mom and half in the manor during the summers when she’s home from college, and the others drop in whenever they feel like it. 
Bruce lives more in the Batcave than the manor, so he doesn’t really count. It’s also why Duke is surprised to see Bruce awake and dressed like a normal person, drinking coffee in the kitchen as if this is a normal occurrence. 
“Morning,” Duke offers.
“Good morning, Duke,” Bruce replies. “Sleep well?”
“Well enough. Alfred out or something?”
“He may have kicked me out of the Batcave to clean it up a bit,” Bruce answers tiredly. “Want me to make breakfast?”
Duke has heard the horror stories of Bruce’s attempts to make edible food in a kitchen. In the interest of not dealing with food poisoning, Duke shakes his head quickly and says, “Nah, it’s fine. I was kinda wanting to eat out for breakfast. Get out there as me, and not a mask, you know?”
“Mind if I join you? Alfred may forgive me for not sleeping if I willingly go outside.”
Duke laughs. “Sure man, as long as you pay.”
“I’ll drive, too.”
“What, don’t trust me behind a wheel?”
Bruce gives him a tired look, eyes dead and dull. “I have taught all my children how to drive. The day I willingly let them take the wheel when I am not actively dying is the day I’ve been replaced by a robot clone of myself who doesn’t know better yet.”
“That is… very specific. Is that a thing you usually worry about?”
“I’m Batman. I have to worry about everything.”
Yeah, that tracks. Duke wouldn’t be surprised if he has at least five contingency plans for that scenario, should it ever happen. “Well,” he says, “Right now, all you need to worry about is having your wallet and driving us down to The Foodie Nook. I’ve been craving their breakfast plates for ages.”
Bruce doesn’t object to his choice of restaurant and follows Duke down to the garage, grabbing a random set of keys and pointing it out to the many cars he owns. One near the front blinks its lights as it unlocks and Duke cheerfully tosses himself into the passenger seat as Bruce opens the garage door. 
The drive into Gotham is smooth. They don’t hit traffic until they reach the bridge that leads into the city proper, taking them away from the quiet of Bristol. The morning is busy, but not enough that Duke worries about being out as the Signal to help keep the peace. It’s a normal type of busy, one borne from people going about their lives, feeling safe enough to go out. 
The Foodie Nook is entirely local and very popular, so the parking lot is nearly full. But they expanded their space last year, which means he and Bruce don’t have to sit outside while they wait to grab a table. Bruce keeps conversation light and casual, well aware of the many listening ears around them, and it’s nice, feeling normal for once. 
Well, as normal as life can be with Bruce Wayne™. The server who comes to lead them to a table realizes who she’s talking to after she gets a proper look at them while holding open the door and promptly stutters over her words. 
“No need for any special treatment,” Bruce laughs lightly, “We’re just here for breakfast. Nothing special.”
“Of course,” she replies, cheeks red. “Um, right this way! We’ve got a table by the windows for you. Just two, yeah?”
“Yup! Just two. Thought this was a good day to spend some time with Duke. He’s a great kid, you know, I’m glad I was given the opportunity to foster him.”
The sunny, cheerful Bruce Wayne persona is so different from the usual Bruce he works with that it feels like he’s standing next to a stranger. But his words are sincere and warm his heart, filling up the gaps that his soulmate has left. 
“Here you are!” their server announces, showing them to their table. “I’ll be right back with some menus.” She’s gone in a rush, and other customers glance over before quickly averting their gaze. 
It’s one of the unspoken rules of Gotham: give the Waynes their privacy while they’re out in public. Questions and conversation are for public events only, but if they see a Wayne out and about during a normal day, everyone leaves them be unless spoken to first. Duke used to follow those rules as well when he was just another Gothamite. It’s strange being on the other side of that now that he’s in with the Waynes.
Duke barely has to look through the menu when it’s handed to him. The breakfast plates are his favorites and he gets one every single time he comes to The Foodie Nook; stacked full with breakfast foods from around the world. As a kid, he loved the Mexico Plate, but these days he’s craving either the Brazilian Plate or the Vietnamese Plate.  
He can’t decide on which one and thinks about tossing a coin to decide, but seeing how that’s Two Face’s whole thing, he decides to hold off and settle the matter with eenie-meenie-minnie-mo. 
He gets the Vietnamese Plate.
Bruce, on the other hand, reads through the entire menu like it’s a novel, then leans over and says rather loudly, “Duke, what’s a tort-illa.” 
The pain he feels hearing that is only worsened by the amusement in Bruce’s eyes. He’s doing it on purpose, playing up the Brucie act for the public so he can psychologically torment Duke. A few nearby customers choke back laughter, turning away to hide their smiles. 
Duke shakes his head and says, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just food. Don’t ask any more questions, I just want a peaceful breakfast.”
“Well then,” Bruce replies, “I suppose I know what to order now.”
As if she was summoned, their server reappears before them, cheeks still looking a little flushed. “Hi! Ready to order?”
She writes down their orders quickly, valiantly keeping a straight face at Bruce’s mispronunciation of tortilla, then heads off to deliver their orders to the kitchen. 
Rather than draw out a conversation with Brucie Wayne, Duke settles for playing a few idle games on his phone; his current favorite is one quiet cat cafe game where he directs cats into fulfilling cafe orders. 
Bruce, despite being out in his civilian identity, is working. He’s on his Batman phone, which looks the same as his other cell phones except this one has a bat symbol sticker just barely hiding a Superman sticker on the phone case. His brow is slightly furrowed as he reads whatever file he’s accessing from the Batcomputer. It’s a little worrying but it could be anything. Bruce makes the same expression when he reads one of Tim’s snarky comments getting quoted in the news.
But that’s not Duke’s problem! He’s here to enjoy his breakfast and it will take the end of the world itself to remove him from his seat before he’s done eating.
The game takes most of his attention until their food comes out, and by then Bruce has tucked away the smallest of his Batman mannerisms. They enjoy a normal, peaceful breakfast. Bruce ends it by asking their server if she has any debt that’s weighing her down, then giving her a tip that’s at least five thousand dollars above that. 
She does cry and Bruce hugs her. It’s very sweet. 
As soon as they get back into the car, his easy going smile drops and Duke knows some superhero nonsense is about to take over his day. 
“Duke,” Bruce starts, seriously, “I received a message from Zatanna.”
“Don’t drag this out,” Duke says, “Just give it to me straight. What terrible thing is about to happen to us?”
“It’s nothing too big. They just recently defeated a magical being who had been tearing apart secret government facilities in Illinois. He had both magic and a high tech weapon, which they confiscated and are delivering to me. The government agency he was fighting was suspiciously interested in the weapon, and based on their behaviors and newly revealed work, Zatanna made the decision to turn the weapon over to us so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”
Bruce smoothly merges into traffic as he speaks, getting them onto the road back to the manor. There’s a look in his eyes that means he’s keeping a lot unsaid, and Duke knows without a doubt that whatever this government agency was doing is bad if Zatanna needs Batman to act as extra security. 
He’s not sure about her decision to trust the weapon to be safe in Gotham, either. Sure, Batman will keep it as safe as he can, but with their luck, it’ll end up in the hands of a Rogue and lead to a lot of death and destruction. 
As soon as they cross the bridge and return to Bristol, Bruce steps on the gas and the car tears down the road. Without any other cars to worry about (or traffic laws), it takes barely two minutes to reach the manor, when the gates open for them and let them into the garage. 
Alfred waits for them by the door, looking them over with a critical eye. “I see you have managed to go outside, Master Bruce. What’s the special occasion?”
“Just breakfast,” Bruce answers. “I’m heading back down to the Batcave. Zatanna will be here soon to deliver a weapon.” He’s gone before Alfred can say anything more, hurrying down the hall and turning the corner, disappearing from sight as he heads towards his office. 
“I see we have yet to break that bad habit of his. Did you enjoy your morning out, Master Duke?”
“Sure did, Alfred. I’m, uh, also going down to the Batcave. He’s definitely not telling me a lot about what’s going on, so I’m just going to read about it over his shoulder. I’ll be back up for lunch, though!”
“And perhaps you’ll be able to drag Master Bruce away from that cave of his,” Alfred comments wryly as he walks with Duke towards the office. He gives Duke a nod, then splits away from him, returning to the kitchen where Duke can hear Damian speaking to someone, probably Tim by the annoyed tone of his voice, and mentally wishes Alfred luck in handling them.
Duke sets the correct time on the clock in Bruce’s office and heads down to the Batcave, taking the steps two at a time. 
Bruce is already at the Batcomputer, shoulders tensed, when he arrives. 
“More bad news?” he asks as he makes his way over.
Bruce doesn’t bother looking away from the screen as he says, “More details about the fight. It seems the magical being called himself a ghost and was going on a rampage due to a betrayal. He says they nearly killed his son.”
“Oh, yikes.”
“And two of the scientists working with the government agency said that he stole their son and is keeping them from saving him.”
“Yikes,” Duke says with more feeling.
He doesn’t get to hear anymore details about JLD’s fight with this ghost when he catches a flicker in the corner of his eye. Duke turns and stares at the empty space in the Batcave near the medbay and watches as colorful magic gathers and swirls in dizzing circles. The portal opens a moment later and Zatanna steps out, looking exhausted and lightly singed. 
“Batman,” she greets, holding a white gun that looks like it belongs in an early sci-fi movie from the 60s. “The GIW is trying to arrest us. Constantine keeps burning their badges and documents so it shouldn’t be a problem, but they are determined to get this back. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came after you next. They’ve got some way of tracking things, but I didn’t have time to get any details before I had to leave.”
Bruce takes the gun from her hands carefully, looking it over with a sharp gaze. “Why would a ghost want to use a gun?”
“I don’t know. He had a variety of powers, too.”
“What does this do?”
“Shoots ice. He never let it go and nearly burned me alive for taking it before we subdued him.”
“We’ll keep it locked up,” Bruce promises. 
Zatanna sighs. It looks as though a physical weight fell off her shoulders. “Thanks. I’m going to head back to stop Constantine from getting into a fistfight with the GIW agents.”
She opens another portal with a waved hand and a muttered spell. Bruce is already walking away to set the gun down on a work station, so Duke is the one to wave Zatanna goodbye. 
By the time he reaches Bruce’s side, the gun is already dismantled, all pieces neatly set aside. Sticky notes denote which pieces go together and in what order. It looks the same as most guns, save for the aesthetic, but the heart of it is a glowing blue orb, large enough to cover the entirety of Bruce’s palm, and it brings a chill to the air.
Duke stares at it and feels his soulmark burn ice cold.
“Duke?”
It’s in his hands. He doesn’t remember reaching out to take it, but it’s in his hands. He can’t take his eyes off of it, cradling it gently and bringing it closer to his chest. 
It’s the same blue his soulmark once was. Before his soulmate began to fade, before every day became a waiting game to see how long his soulmate will last before they die. 
This has something to do with his soulmate. He’s sure of it. 
He won’t let anyone take it from him. 
“Duke. Give that to me.”
He doesn’t feel like he’s in his body. He’s detached, floating somewhere outside his body, puppeteering his limbs, making them move without feeling the motion. Shadows condense around his feet and Bruce takes a step back, wary. 
“Duke,” he says again, but Duke can’t find any words, can’t draw on his voice, can’t even look away from the bright, bright blue of the orb. It pulses lightly in his hand like a heartbeat. 
Bruce reaches a hand out. 
He’s pulled back by shadows before he can get close, and Duke holds the orb against his chest, right against his heart, and feels the cold seep into him. 
“Duke. I need you to look at me.” This time, Bruce’s voice has Batman’s growl in it, a heavy command that he can’t help but instinctively follow. He looks up and meets Bruce’s eyes, but he can’t focus. All his awareness is in his hands and the heartbeat of the glowing orb.
“I have to protect this,” Duke manages to whisper. “I… I think it’s alive.”
“Okay. Let’s get you to the medbay so you can sit down. We’ll figure this out, Duke.”
Bruce slowly, carefully, sets his hand on Duke’s shoulder. He keeps his attention away from the orb, so Duke allows it and lets Bruce guide him to the medbay and onto one of the medical cots. Bruce leaves him after a minute of quiet fussing, muttering about calling Zatanna.
Whatever. None of that matters when the heartbeat of the orb grows stronger, steadier, and Duke feels it match the beat of his own heart.
Time slips away from him. Distantly, he hears people move around the cave, speaking in low tones. A hand presses against his shoulder, warm, then moves away. 
The orb in his hand moves. 
Duke blinks slowly, then claws his way back to awareness, pushing past the haze that’s fallen over his mind. The orb turns over in his hand, then cracks right down the middle. The glow grows stronger, washing the medbay in blue light and a symbol appears on the orb.
It’s his soulmark. 
Later, he won’t be able to say why he did it. There were no thoughts, no reasonings, no explanations. Duke simply moved on instinct and lifted the orb up to his face and pressed a soft kiss against it. 
One moment, the orb was still.
The next, it had burst in a flash of light that blinded everyone in the Batcave, and then a thin, injured teenager had fallen into Duke’s lap. 
Hands immediately grab him, pulling him away from Duke. The teenager puts up no fight, eyes barely open, but he reaches for Duke weakly. On his wrist is the bright blue snowflake, the color strong and vivid. 
“That’s me soulmate,” Duke whispers as he watches Bruce and Tim set the boy down on another medical cot. 
“What?” Tim says, turning to face Duke, concern clear on his face. 
“That’s my soulmate,” he repeats, louder. Then, panicked, he pulls up his shirt enough to see his own soulmark; the color is still dull, weak, barely there, but it’s more blue that it has been in a while. He doesn’t need to say anything. Tim sees the dullness of his soulmark, looks at the boy, and puts the pieces together on his own.
“I’ll call Doc Thompkins,” he says, already moving to fix everything. Bruce remains where he is, making sure the boy is tucked in and breathing steadily before he returns to Duke. 
“Are you alright?”
Duke swallows roughly, unable to tear his eyes away from the boy. He’s pale and thin, as if he’d been starved, and there’s frost beginning to spread on the bedsheet from his fingers. “He’s my soulmate,” Duke manages to say. “He’s been dying for two years.”
Bruce’s eyes a hard, a determined light in them. “We’ll save him,” he promises. 
If anyone can, it’s Batman. 
If anyone can, it’s them, Batman and the Signal, and their entire network of family and friends. 
Duke’s been waiting for his soulmate to die all this time. Now, he’s going to save him.
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caffeinewitchcraft · 2 years
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Prompt: After a lackluster 1st year as a Hero, you’re ready to go rogue. The problem is that the new guy in the team is definitely onto you.
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minty364 · 3 months
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DPXDC Prompt #128 part 1
Danny wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but one moment he was hiding out in an alley trying his best to wrap the bandages around his torso and the next he found himself in front of a clown. His thoughts began to blur further as he began to panic. His first instinct was to tighten his fists and move into a defensive position but when he tightened his fist something happened. The clown that had been right in front of them was there and then he wasn’t. The gun he was sure he wasn’t holding before fired and sent the clown away from Danny.
Shock began to set in as he looked down on what he had done. Everything had moved so fast he couldn’t even comprehend it, he didn’t even get a good look at the one he so swiftly ended. The force of the gun caused him to fall back, breathing heavily he stared at the gun before quickly setting it down on the ground making sure the safety was on, he wasn’t risking another death. With the weapon safely placed on the ground he finally decided to take in some of his surroundings.
His soulmate was wearing a helmet and what looked to be some armor, they were in a warehouse of some sort. Danny had forgotten what it felt like to be human and he’d pay a lot more attention if the panic from murder wasn’t setting in. The clown wasn’t moving, they layed there a heap on the floor… Danny really murdered someone. Okay, he could deal with this. 
Who was he kidding what the hell was he supposed to do? It was then that he saw movement from the corner of his eyes and he truly knew he was fucked. Someone was right by his soulmate while he had his gun pointed at the clown, did his soulmate want the clown dead? His mind was still racing incoherently as he tried to piece together what exactly just happened. 
A minute passed  or what felt like one, Danny swore Clockwork messed with his sense of time sometimes. He slowly raised his hands after he realized the other wasn’t going to speak, he slowly turned to see the absolute worst person to help in this scenario. 
Batman, Danny was pretty sure he was fucked. He was so entirely fucked and it was then that he realized how truly he messed up. His head snapped back over to the clown and yep that’s the Joker, oh he just killed the Joker in front of Batman in his soulmate's body. Did that mean his soulmate knew Batman? Danny was absolutely stunned into silence, he had nothing he could say, who knew his soulmate would have a life probably just as messed up as his.
“Jason…” Batman’s gravelly voice broke Danny out of his thoughts, oh his soulmate's name was Jason.
Danny who finally finds his voice says, “My soulmate's name is Jason?” The voice modulator startled him and it was then that all hell broke loose.
Voices started crackling into his ear with several different people starting to speak at once.
“Did he just say soulmate?”
“Jason this better not be a prank”
“Wait, who pulled the trigger?? I heard that gunshot”
“Enough, keep coms clear” Batman commanded and everything went silent he then turned to address Danny, “come with me, we’ll need to find Jason so you and him will be alone to switch back. We’ll talk about that after.” He didn’t motion with his hands or jerk his head or anything but Danny knew exactly what he meant. 
He swallowed harshly and then followed. 
—————
Jason found himself no longer holding his guns, no longer in front of the damn clown, and his armor and helmet were gone. He was wearing clothes closer to rags than street clothes and his entire body seemed to ache. This must have been his soulmate's body and they were having a way worse time than Jason was at the moment. There seemed to be hastily done bandages around his waist and he honestly felt like he’d been hit by a truck. He was in an alley thankfully although that also meant he triggered the switch. Everyone knew when you got close enough to your soulmate you switched bodies.
Jason had to get to the closest safe house and hopefully he could do some proper first aid on his soulmate. He stumbled to get on his feet and began to make his way out of the alley. 
Im going to update the original post as the master post and you’ll be able to find all future parts there.
Master Post:
next :
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thefatedthoughtofyou · 6 months
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{ @devondespresso it took me a bit cuz i got a cold but i did it!! Thank you soooo much for the prompt i LOOVVEEDD it!!! It got away from me but i'm really proud of this one!!! }
It's sort of an au mixed with canon. Set after s3 and there's no vecna, so all the upside down stuff is settled and this is where their lives are going (and a little bit of where they've been 😉)! Eddie works at an outdoor haunted house as a scarer in the cornmaze! Steve has a brief panic attack.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!!!
Steve knew it was a bad idea. Going to a haunted house on a blind date. It's technically not a house, and he vaguely knows the date. Or knew the date. Before she'd ditched him. For her ex. Whom she'd apparently just been using Steve make jealous.
So now here he was. Wandering around a corn maze in the middle of fucking nowhere. In the dark. Surrounded by screams. Of laughter. And terror. And he's taken four right turns now and that can't be right. His chest is feeling a littl tight now. His fingers tingling.
He's not a fan of the dark. And the screams aren't helping. He's fine when he's with people. But the person he'd come with had left him, had had no real interest in him. Just using him. Like always. Who the fuck would have genuine interest in Steve Harrington these days.
He clenches his fist when he sees something in the shadows ahead. It jumps out at the group of girls about 20 feet in front him. They scatter and scream, laughing as they run away hand in hand. The shadow, some creepy fucking scarecrow thing, chases them for a few feet and then stops.
Steve freezes. The scarecrow turns, twitches really, in Steve's direction, arms held out like he's out guarding a field, and then stops moving again. Steve takes a hesitant step. The scarecrow's head twitches, but it stays still. Steve can feel his heart beating in his ears, loud, like a drum. His hand twitches, he wipes it on his thigh and takes another step.
The maze is empty is now, in this area at least. The silence pounding in Steve's ears louder than his heart. He takes a few shallow breaths and starts walking. The scarecrow drops its arms. Steve keeps walking, until his foot hits a root and he trips. His hands hit the ground hard, dirt digging into his palms. A strangled noise crawls out of his throat.
He hears footsteps running toward him. From the direction the scarecrow had been. His heart hammers louder, fingers dig into the dirt as he curls into himself further.
"Please don't- I'm just- I can't-" Steve pants, trying to fend the thing off.
"Whoa whoa hey. It's okay. You're okay. Are you okay?" A gentle, hesitant, hand falls on his shoulder. Steve flinches away, involuntarily, the hand disappears.
"Okay no touching. That's okay. Can you stand? Or like.... sit back maybe? You arm's are shaking pretty bad man. Just try to breathe." A voice says, steady, to his right.
Steve's eyes move in that direction and he sees something on the ground by his hand. Something almost the same color as the dirt he'd fallen in. Steve's blinks, hard, sucks in a few deep breaths. It's a mask. A straw mask. Steve lets out a shuddering breath, lets himself fall back onto his butt in the dirt.
"There we go. Okay. That's better." The same calm voice. And then,
"Harrington?" The voice says, full of disbelief. Steve looks to his right and sees a mop of dark hair and pale skin above an incredibly detailed scarecrow costume.
"Eddie?" Steve feels the tension leave his body almost at once. Eddie says nothing. Just stares at him.
"What?" Steve shakes his head a little, looks into his lap.
"Wha- nothing, sorry. I just- I uh... just a little shocked you remember my name." Eddie says, and it sounds almost like a laugh. Steve frowns, looks at him again.
"We went to school together for like... ever, man." Steve says, still frowning. Eddie shakes his head, wraps his arms around his knees where he's crouched next to Steve.
"No yeah I know. Just... we never talked really. Or anything." Eddie shrugs, he doesn't seem mad. Maybe even seems a little amused.
"Right." Is all Steve can think to say.
"Hey. You think you can stand now? There's some picnic tables right outside here. I can take you. Make sure you make it alright." Eddie pushes himself to his feet, holds his hand out to Steve, smiles when Steve looks up at him. His eyes wide, waiting. Steve swallows heavily, reaches up, takes Eddie's hand, and let's him pull him to his feet.
Eddie guides them out of the corn easily. Let's Steve sit for a minute before going to grab them some water. He comes back with two bottles of water and two corn dogs.
"Thought maybe eating might help." Eddie throws himself onto the bench across from Steve, grabs one of the corndogs and takes a huge bite. Steve snorts a laugh in suprise and grabs the other one, takes a much smaller bite. He watches Eddie eat, his cheeks poofed out like a chipmunk.
Steve waits for Eddie to take another bite, lets him chew as they sit in amiable silence, before he says,
"We have talked before." Steve says, quietly, and takes another bite.
"Hmm?" Eddie hums, his eyes wide, cheeks full, head tilted, he looks a bit like a puppy.
"We've talked. Before. I mean." Steve takes a sip of water, tucks his free hand under his thigh.
"You said we hadn't really talked. But we did talk. A few times." Steve elaborated, smiling down at his lap at the memory.
"Umm. Yeah. Yeah no I know we did. I just-" Eddie swallows, hard, he looks a bit... guilty. He shrugs, takes a drink, picks at the table top with his fingernail.
"I just didn't think you'd remember." Eddie shakes his head, his brows furrowed.
"Didn't think I would remember which one?" Steve asks, trying to coax Eddie out of this shyness. Eddie scrunches his face though, shakes his head again.
"Doesn't matter." He mutters.
"Didn't think I would remember buying weed from you after Billy beat the shit outta me? And the way you gave me a handful of free pain meds?" Steve says, Eddie glances up at him, eyes shining through his bangs.
"Didn't think I'd remember you helping me save a kid from drowning at the pool that summer?" Steve asks.
"He was fine. Just panicking. You did most of the work." Eddie mumbled, his eyes locked on Steve now. Steve nodded, hummed.
"And what about the other time? The first time we talked?" Steve bit his lip, took another sip of water, Eddie staring at him the whole time.
"The- the first time? When- I mean... back then?" Eddie takes a shaking breath, sounding winded the way Steve had been about an hour ago.
"Mhm. Back then. In the woods. At the creek. With the turtles and the crawdads." Steve says, smiles softly at Eddie, watches Eddie blush and look away.
"Kinda hoped you'd forgotten about that one I guess." Eddie whispered, his voice so low Steve barely hears him.
"I didn't. Don't think I ever could. I definitely wouldn't want too." Steve bites his lip, worries it between his teeth. Eddie blinks at him.
"W-why not? I mean you could've-" Eddie snaps his mouth shut, his eyes looking a bit watery as he looks at Steve.
"I'd never do that. I'd never tell anyone. We made a promise remember?" Steve sits his elbow on the table, holds his pinky up, and feels relief wash over him when Eddie smiles.
"Yeah. Just us and the turtles and the crawdads. Just between us." Eddie sets his own elbow on the table and hooks his pinky with Steve's.
"I think about that day a lot. Is that bad to say? Weird I mean? I don't wanna make you uncomfortable." Eddie says in a rush, Steve tightens his pinky around Eddie's, hold it fast.
"You don't make me uncomfortable. Kind of the opposite actually. It's always been that way. I feel... nice. When I'm around you. It's like you clear my head." Steve shakes his head, smiles down at his lap. A group of girls run by laughing, hand in hand, stopping by the concession cart. Eddie tries to pull away, tries to hide. Steve keeps their fingers hooked but lowers their hands to the table, out of sight in the dark.
"That's a new one. Usually I just annoy people. Kinda why this is the perfect job for me. I get to annoy people all night." Eddie teases, wiggles his wrist so that he and Steve's hands shake. Steve snorts, shakes his head.
"And yet. You still calmed me down." Steve bites his lip again. Watches Eddie do the same across from him.
"I guess. We keepin this one a secret too?" Eddie asks, his eyes on their linked pinkies. Steve unlinks them, slides his hand into Eddie's.
"I dunno. No turtles around." Steve says, tapping his fingers against Eddie's wrist.
"No crawdads either." Eddie says, his lips tilting at the corners.
"Nope. Just us." Steve confirms.
"Well maybe we should... have a meeting?" Eddie wonders, his voice going a little high.
"A meeting?" Steve asks, frowning dramatically.
"Mhm. At the creek. Get the turtles and the crawdads up to date. Keep them in the loop an all." Eddie explains, his fingers curling up around Steve's wrist, his eyes darting around Steve's face, like he's looking for something.
"We wouldn't want them out of the loop. That'd be terrible." Steve agrees, nodding and wiggling their hands like Eddie had done.
"Mhm. Yeah." Eddie hums, his teeth sinking into his lip to stop the smile threatening to spread.
"EDDIE! BACK IN THE MAZE! NOW!"
Their hands fly apart, Eddie nearly falls off the bench he'd been sat on. He stumbles to his feet and spins toward the shout.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT I WAS HELPING A GUEST IN NEED!" he shouts back, arms flailing dramatically. He turns back to Steve, cheeks flushed red.
"Heh. Sorry. I have to... go. Back to work. But um... we could... I mean if you want. If you were serious. I could- or you could? If you want." Eddie stammers, grabbing for his mask and holding it to his chest as he slowly backs away, step by swiveling step. Steve smiles at him, brightly.
"I'm free on Thursday." Steve says, cheeks hot.
"I love Thursdays!" Eddie yells, looks around, laughs breathily.
"I can pick you up at seven."
"Seven's great! Love seven!" Eddie calls, waving his mask over his head.
"EDDIE! NOW!"
"I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION AND AM GOING OH MY GOOOODDD!" Eddie screams into the dark toward the shouting voice. He waves to Steve, yanks his mask back on over his head, and runs toward the maze.
"See you Thursday!" Eddie yells, turning to wave at Steve before ducking back into the corn. Steve laughs, drags his hand through hair, his palm and wrist missing the touch of Eddie's skin.
He walks to his car slowly, a smile on his lips as he remembers that day in the woods, by the creek, where he met a boy catching turtles and crawdads. The day they played in the water til the sun began to set, catching critters and setting them loose again. The day two sad boys found each other, and shared their first kiss in the creek before running home, laughing into the dark.
715 notes · View notes
wynnyfryd · 9 months
Note
Since you asked so nicely…and I’m nothing if not a giver… Steve very seriously saying to Eddie “That’s rich coming from the guy who tried to kill me less than two hours ago” in whatever scenario your Big Brain can come up with (ily ur amazing btw)
“Can’t believe you let a twelve year old drive off with your car,” Eddie snorts as he tosses another bottle cap into the hole in the floor of the boathouse.
“Can you stop that?” Steve clips. He doesn’t understand why Eddie’s bothering to do it, anyway. It’s too fucking dark to see the caps once they hit the water, but the steady plunk plunk plunk is starting to drive him a little nuts. Eddie is starting to drive him a little nuts.
You have to stay with him, Steve.
No one else is strong enough to protect him if someone comes looking for him, Steve.
Goddamn horseshit, is what it is.
Without Eddie’s little game of toss, the boathouse is… really creepy, actually. All creaking wood and nocturnal animal noises and Eddie’s shaky, rattling breaths.
“She’s fourteen,” Steve says to fill the silence he regrets asking for.
“Huh?”
“Max. She’s fourteen, not twelve.”
Eddie scoffs, lets his head drop again, hiding behind a curtain of hair. He brings a strand up to his mouth, mumbles, “Like that makes it any better.”
Okay, you know what? Steve doesn’t need this. He just does not need this. Not from the fully grown drug-dealing goth weirdo he’s being forced to babysit.
Seriously, who is Eddie Munson to go questioning his judgement when he’s trying to do the guy a fucking favor?
“That’s rich coming from the guy who tried to kill me less than two hours ago,” he bites, rubbing at the spot on his neck where the jagged glass pressed in.
“Oh, fuck off, man,” Eddie rolls his eyes. “I didn’t try to fuckin’- I wouldn’t… w-wouldn’t-”
Oh, no. Goddammit.
Eddie’s eyes go all wide and wet, his lip quivering around the word ‘kill,’ and Steve can just hear his mother tutting about his lack of decorum. The boy just witnessed a murder, Steven.
“Shit, man, Eddie, I’m-”
Eddie makes this sound — this pathetic thing, stuttering and damp, like mildew in his lungs, and his cheeks burn red as a tear tips over his lashes. Shit.
Shit.
“Hey,” Steve tries, reaching out to clap a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, but Eddie rears back, voice cracking as he snaps, “Don’t touch me!”
Eyes hot. Breath wet and heaving.
Steve’s gonna get decked for this.
“I’m- just… Just come here, man,” Steve says, wrapping an arm around Eddie, pulling him in, and Eddie folds like crumpled paper, collapses into Steve’s side and sobs, shaking them both so violently that Steve scoots them back a little from the edge of the hole in the floor just to be safe. He wraps Eddie up with both arms, and Eddie slumps down into his lap, and they’re-
Jesus. They’re cuddling. Steve Harrington is cuddling with Eddie Munson. What the fuck. What the fuck?
“You’re okay,” Steve murmurs, rocking them gently and brushing damp curls out of Eddie’s eyes, because, like. Might as well, right? This is already so weird.
719 notes · View notes
metalhoops · 1 year
Text
“I think I’m seeing things, man,” Eddie spoke from his spot on the Harrington’s couch. His white skin appeared paler still against the brown leather. 
Steve didn’t blame him. He was on all kinds of painkillers. It’d been two weeks since the world fell apart. Two weeks since Vecna disappeared. Two weeks since Eddie almost died. 
Steve liked to treat those memories as others treated head-on collisions. It was better not to look at them directly. It was better to treat it like it’d never happened. 
“What’re we looking at?” Steve asked from his spot on the floor, following Eddie’s line of sight to the gap in the curtains. 
“Don’t know. Thought I saw somebody outside,” Eddie confessed. 
The Harrington house had always been filled with spectres, whether that of partygoers, like front lawn flamingos in need of an exorcism or the body in the backyard pool. But those were Steve’s hang-ups, not Eddie’s. 
If all it took to be a ghost was to haunt, Eddie might be included in the ranks of his own private phantasmagoria. He kept checking each night to make sure the boy was really there, that he’d really gotten out. People shouldn’t have that much blood in them, and they definitely shouldn’t have that much blood out of them. 
Steve went to the window because that was something he could do for Eddie. He wasn’t sure why he kept feeling the need to apologise. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but hell if Steve knew if he’d done anything right either. He’d gotten Eddie out of the Upside Down. He’d put his hands inside the boy’s body, shoved his shirt beneath his skin and held it in the dark cavity that oozed and throbbed warm blood like the rise and fall of the tide.
Don’t think about it. Check the window. His hands at his side felt cold. He wondered if they’d ever be warm again. There was a figure across the street. 
A boy in a basketball jersey circled passed the house. 
Things never ended smoothly. Steve liked to think once Jason went down the rest of the vigilante crew would stop looking for Eddie, but there were some stragglers who hadn’t got the message. 
Hopper had his hands full trying to clear Eddie’s name. Eddie’s uncle was still looking for him. The whole town was holding their breath in the midst of destruction, waiting for someone to blame. Steve shut the curtains, turned the lights off and moved to Eddie’s side in the darkness. 
“Hounds of hell still circling then?” Eddie guessed after one glimpse at Steve’s face. 
“I’ll call Hopper,” Steve reasoned, reaching up to squeeze Eddie’s knee. He wasn’t sure why he’d done it. Maybe to make sure he was real. Maybe to tell him he was sorry. 
“Don’t worry about it, Steve,” Eddie spoke, reaching out and snagging the hem of Steve’s sweater.
“No one thinks I’m here. If the cops show up at the Harringtons’ it’s going to turn some heads,” Eddie reasoned, and he was right.
So where did that leave them? Sitting alone in the dark with Eddie fading in and out of sleep and Steve watching car headlights dance across the curtains, waiting for the moment everything went wrong. 
“Steve?” Eddie breathed beside Steve’s ear in the blackness. He hadn’t realised they were so close. 
“Yeah?” Steve moved his eyes from the window to look at Eddie. 
“I think I’m crashing,” he noted, a grimace dancing across his face. Steve had never felt smaller. 
“Doc said we’ve gotta wait six hours,” Steve replied, hoping he didn’t sound as worried as he felt. 
“How long’s it been?” 
“Three.” 
Steve always wanted to appear cool in times of crisis, but he had no idea what he was doing. Some of the government agents Steve had signed countless NDAs for over the past four years had patched Eddie up as best they could and had started scrambling for a cover-up. 
In the meantime, Eddie would stay at Steve’s place. It made the most sense. Eddie was nobody to Steve. No one would go looking for Eddie at the Harringtons’, and unlike the other older teens, he didn’t have parents to answer to. Big house. No parents. Perfect place to lie low. 
Steve was nobody to Eddie and yet for the past week, they’d been an island unto themselves, trapped indoors together, watching shadows on the walls and trying to keep each other alive and sane. He felt completely unprepared. 
“Alright. Come on. Let’s go to bed,” Steve muttered, kneeling in front of Eddie. He watched the boy rise to a sitting position over his shoulder. Eddie snorted.
“What exactly is the plan here, Steve?” 
Eddie had been stuck oscillating between the living room, kitchen, and downstairs bathroom for days. They could both use a change of scenery. 
“Piggyback,” Steve spoke, trying not to think about the connotations that the word had garnered. He wasn’t going to think about Vecna. Not today. 
He expected the boy to argue, but instead, he felt Eddie’s arms snake around his throat. He held tight, but not as tight as he should. Steve had to hold on to his forearms like backpack straps as he stood. Eddie’s legs were stronger. They held firm around Steve’s waist. 
Eddie’s head flopped against Steve’s shoulder blade, nuzzling into the space. He was warm as the sun. Too warm. He was running a temperature. Steve tried not to think of the last time he carried Eddie. The boy was uncharacteristically quiet. Steve needed to do something. 
“Saddle up, buckeroo,” Steve spoke, hoisting Eddie further up his back. He felt a puff of air against his neck, a barely there laugh. 
“Hi-yo, Silver,” Eddie grumbled against Steve’s skin. 
Steve moved deftly through the dark, taking the staircase slowly and methodically. The last thing either of them needed was another broken bone. 
“I think I owe you one once all this is over,” Eddie noted. Steve was already shaking his head.
“You stick around, and I’ll call it a favour. I think Henderson would kick my ass if you died.” 
“The kid’s got spunk. I’ll give him that,” Eddie noted as the two reached the top of the stairs. 
“He’s got an attitude and a problem with authority,” Steve corrected, taking Eddie to his bedroom.
He moved to the edge of his bed and let Eddie extract himself. When they broke apart, Steve felt cold again. 
“That’s our boy,” Eddie chuckled, shooting Steve a lopsided smirk. He was definitely still high on painkillers.
Steve rolled his eyes and helped lower Eddie down onto his favourite pillow, the one worn down with age but all the more comfortable for it. He pulled the covers up around the boy’s shoulders.
“Yeah, our boy,” Steve echoed in a too-fond tone. 
He’d never let Henderson hear the term of affection. The kid had a big enough head as it was, but in the too-quiet world of just himself and Eddie, he felt okay admitting it. Once it looked like Eddie was settled in, Steve sat on the edge of his bed, feeling as he always did, like a stranger in his own home. 
“When did you last get some shut-eye, boy wonder?” Eddie asked, his foot tucking beneath Steve’s thigh.  
Friday. What day was it? Sunday. Not good. 
“Well, come on then, don’t make a guy beg. Lay down, Steve. It’s your bed. I could sleep in the spare room if it’s a problem.” There was something cautious about the offer Steve didn’t understand. 
He flopped down beside Eddie, so close the two shared a pillow. It changed the shape of the thing. It made the familiar strange. 
“You know, I had this dream last night,” Eddie began, his dark eyes still open, glued to the ceiling. He cringed, knowing all the ways dreams could go bad, but Eddie shook his head.
“Not that kind of dream,” He insisted, his hands balling into fists on the bedsheets. 
“I had a dream I was a pinball machine,” the boy stated plainly. The absurdity of the statement shocked a laugh out of Steve. 
“These painkillers are legit, Harrington,” Eddie spoke, shooting Steve a sidelong glance. 
“What kind of pinball machine?” 
“You know the Centaur one? It’s black and white, mostly. The arts got this topless guy who’s half man, half motorbike,” Eddie explained. 
Steve had no idea what he was saying, but it was nice to hear him talk. 
“Wait, if you were the pinball machine, how did you know what you looked like?” 
“Great question Steven. I’ve got no clue. Dream logic,” Eddie reasoned.  
Steve screwed up his nose at the use of his full name. Only his dad called him Steven. Eddie raised a brow, seeming to take note. One of them had shifted closer. Steve wasn’t sure who. Eddie’s hand brushed against his side as he played with the sheets. 
“Remind me again why I needed to know about your pinball dream?” Steve asked. The sound of the wind in the trees outside his bedroom window set his teeth on edge. 
“Because you’re too damn serious and I thought it’d make you smile... Which it did.” Eddie added the last part in quietly and Steve rolled his eyes. 
Eddie craned his head to look around Steve’s room before screwing up his nose. 
“Anyone ever told you your wallpaper is gaudy as hell? Your curtains match your walls. Dude, I thought rich people were meant to have taste,” he observed, the boys’ shoulders pressed together. 
“This coming from the guy who eats cereal out of the box with his hands,” Steve countered, no heat in his voice. 
“Are you still mad I used to stand on your lunch table?” Eddie muttered, shoving Steve’s shoulder before tensing. When had Steve last checked his dressings? 
He flipped the bedside lamp on, leaning over Eddie to do so. He’d been helping the guy shower for days now. Privacy was a word reserved for other people. Intimacy was a necessity.  
“Once you stood in my mashed potatoes. It was disgusting,” Steve uttered, gently peeling up the hem of Eddie’s tee shirt. Really, it was Steve’s, but it seemed strange to make distinctions. 
Eddie’s eyes trailed down to Steve’s fingers, half-hooded and slowed with sleep or inebriation, Steve didn’t know which. He wondered how much of all this Eddie would remember when he got better. He would get better. 
“You never ate the potatoes. You’d bring your stupid bagels from home,” Eddie remarked, as Steve carefully unwound the bandage and gauze. It was stained brown with dried blood, but it looked better than it’d been a few days before, no longer as red or swollen.   
The bagel comment made Steve look up. Seemed like Robin wasn’t the only one that’d been watching him. Maybe Eddie had a crush on Tammy Thompson, too. Maybe it was something else. Steve’s friends had crappy taste in women. Eddie could do better. 
“What’s the verdict, doc?” Eddie questioned, noticing Steve’s sudden silence. 
He cleaned the wounds as best he could. Eddie’s fingers had found their way to Steve’s thigh, gripping so tight he thought it would bruise. It would be another to add to the collection. Steve hadn’t been thinking of how his battle wounds were healing. He was in triage mode. Eddie’s wounds were worse than his. 
“We're going to have to amputate,” Steve deadpanned as he found the first aid kit he’d hidden beneath his bed years before, starting to redress the wound. 
“How the hell can you amputate a side?” Eddie asked with a shaky laugh, his breathing more ragged again. 
“Well, you see, there’s this new experimental procedure that lets you transplant your brain into a pinball machine,” Steve began and felt Eddie’s elbow in his side. 
“Screw you.” 
Steve laid back beside Eddie, less space between them than before, if it was at all possible. They braced against each other, the contact grounding Steve. Eddie was alive. He was alive. Maybe one day they could look at each other and not think about death. That day wasn’t today, but Steve could hope for it. 
As Eddie drifted to sleep, his head fell on Steve’s shoulder. He wouldn’t sleep for long that night, but he was used to that. He knew the weeks and months after a run-in with the Upside Down were full of fitful sleep and nightmares, but they never lasted. 
On a long enough timeline, you could get used to anything. It was strange how short that timeline was when it came to getting used to Eddie. 
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More days came and went with the same imperfect routines. The two boys woke at all hours of the night and spent the daylight hours behind closed curtains, trying to heal. 
By the third day, Steve got sick of the quiet. A sombre mood hung over them, shifting and changing like the phases of the moon. It never entirely disappeared, but there were moments it seemed almost absent.  
One of these such moments arose when Steve hijacked the boombox from the living room and dragged it upstairs to his bedroom, where a slowly healing Eddie sat bored out of his mind, aching and itchy. Steve knew the feeling. The wound on his neck had scabbed and begun to fade into a scar. 
“Hey, Munson?” Steve spoke, sitting beside Eddie, spreading his tape collection between them. 
“You wanna hear some real music?” He asked, watching Eddie’s nose scrunch and his teeth worry away at his bottom lip.
“These are all horrible, Harrington.” 
Eddie turned over several cassettes in his hand, treating them gently as though they were something special.  
“You have every WHAM! album, dude. The Outfield. Halls & Oats. Tears for Fears,” Eddie listed off, his tone one of disgust. 
“You’re going to have to pick something, or I’ll pick WHAM! out of spite.” 
Eddie rolled his eyes and shuffled through the tapes, tossing one Steve’s way. 
“Bowie isn’t horrible,” Eddie mumbled as Steve placed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, into the player. 
The two sat shoulder to shoulder, as always, listening to the quiet swell of drums. Steve realised too late it was a song about the end of the world. He realised, later still, that it was a love song. Eddie’s fingers drummed against his knee. Steve tried to ignore the way the action made his heart swell. 
Steve couldn’t sit still any longer as Moonaged Daydream began. He remembered another life in Nancy Wheeler’s garage, asking her to pretend things were normal for a couple of hours. God, he wanted that. He needed a few normal hours.
He wasn’t the same person he’d been back then, but parts of him had stayed the same. He didn’t know how to change them. Nancy Wheeler faced problems head-on, but Steve? The passage of time had taught him how to stand his ground in the face of danger, but he hadn’t yet learned how to stop being chased. 
He caught Eddie’s eye and watched as a wicked grin spread across his face. Without words, he knew exactly what Steve was about to do. He grabbed the nail bat he kept by the bed, the same one from the Wheeler’s garage and sang, using the gnarly weapon as his makeshift microphone. He was a little too loud and a little off-tune.  He sang about alligators and space invaders, lyrics he knew off by heart, without understanding them.
He watched as a grin threatened to crack Eddie’s face in two. There was a reckless abandon to his smile. It was different from the glazed-eyed, half-high smiles of the past week. His eyes were keen and sharp as he watched Steve fling himself across the room in the way only someone who’d learned to dance drunk could.
By the time the album finished, he’d worked up a sweat. Eddie joined in, singing a couple of lines when he could before tugging Steve back to bed, his hand in Steve’s hair, smoothing it back in place. The action was intimate, yet familiar.
“Alright, Starman. Maybe Bowie doesn’t suck so hard, but when I’m not on the run from the law, I’m going to show you what real music sounds like.” 
“Promise?” Steve asked, his chest heaving. 
Then, Eddie did something so unlike anything the populous of Hawkins would expect. To them, he was a Satanist and a murderer. Steve had always known better, but he’d seen Eddie as a wildcard. He was loud and rough around the edges, but he also had the capability of being endearing when the moment called for it. Still, Steve had never expected Eddie to roll over, extend his pinkie and link their little fingers together. 
“I promise,” He assured, placing his lips to the knuckle of his thumb as though sealing the deal. 
The action was equal parts childlike and intense. Steve looked down at their interlaced fingers and knew he was in over his head. Warmth pooled in Steve’s fingertips. 
“Eds, I—,” A knock at the downstairs door made the words die on Steve’s lips. The boys pulled apart. Steve was cold. 
“I’ll get it,” Steve spoke, picking up the discarded nail bat and trudging down the stairs. 
He hoped it was one of the door-knocking jocks. Some primal part of him felt like hitting something. Years before, he would have questioned if he was the kind of person who could do it, but now he knew he could. 
Steve clutched at the bat hidden behind his back as he swung open the door, coming face-to-face with an older man dressed in too-short jean shorts, holding an armful of paper bags. He looked familiar. He’d seen the man with Hopper. A furrow etched its way onto his brow. 
“Aren’t you going to let your beloved uncle in, Steve?” The man spoke, loud enough for the people in the next neighbourhood to hear. 
“Right,” Steve mumbled, pushing the door open and stepping to the side. 
The man walked through the house as though he’d grown up within their walls, dropping the paper bags on the countertop, switching on the lights and examining the space. 
“Hopper sent me with supplies. It’d draw too much attention having the feds at your front door, but a visit from your favourite Uncle Murray? That’s incognito. I’ve got groceries and painkillers, slipped in some vodka too, on the house. Personally, I was thinking of making my homemade ravioli for dinner. Trust me, it’s to die for. Where’s the other one by the way?” The man, Murray, breathed, spinning on his heels to examine the interior of the house.  Steve let his nail bat fall to the floor.
“You really should invest in a gun, kid...Was I interrupting something?” The older man asked, gesturing absentmindedly to his balding head. Steve touched his hair and found it still out of place. He ran his fingers through it in an attempt to tame it. 
“No, we... I was sleeping. Eddie’s upstairs. I think he’s okay, but I could use another set of eyes. I don’t know exactly what I’m doing here. Are you staying?”
“I’m just staying for dinner. It’d look strange if your uncle only showed up for a few minutes, wouldn’t it?” Steve didn’t dignify that with an answer. 
“There’s the man of the hour,” Murray spoke, glancing up at the top of the staircase where Eddie stood, leaning heavily on the banister. 
“What happened to staying up there?” Steve spoke through gritted teeth, making his way back up the stairs. 
“You were taking too long,” Eddie muttered with an unbothered shrug. 
“And if it’d been one of Jason’s asshole friends, we’d have been screwed,” Steve rebutted, letting Eddie lean on him as they made their way to Murray in the kitchen. At least he could walk.
“But it wasn’t,” Eddie huffed, his breath warm on Steve’s neck. 
Steve kicked out one of the kitchen chairs and lowered Eddie into it. The older man watched them as a scientist observes a specimen. There was a morbid fascination to it.
“I see you two are getting along well,” He spoke. 
He’d found where Steve’s mother had stored their pots and had begun some strange kitchen alchemy. Steve had made risotto. This guy looked like he was completing a summoning ritual. The ingredients were splayed out on the countertop like objects of adoration. 
Steve sat down in the chair beside Eddie. It felt strange having someone else in the house. For what seemed like a lifetime, his world had consisted of one other person. He missed Robin, Dustin, and the rest of the kids, but he hadn’t let himself dwell on it. He’d known their isolation couldn’t last forever, but he’d never have guessed Murray would be the first person he’d see.  
“Tense mood. Why is it I always end up in the middle of couples in denial?” Murray breathed to himself. 
Eddie’s head snapped up with a speed Steve hadn’t seen him manage all week. Steve didn’t look at Murray, he was too busy trying to unpick the pained look on Eddie’s face. His eyes searched the boy’s body for some torn open wound he’d missed. 
“What? Don’t look so surprised. Contrary to what kids these days think, we did have homosexuality in the sixties,” Murray informed before pausing. He gave Steve a once-over that made his skin crawl. He felt as though he were a bug, pinned beneath a glass plate. 
“And bisexuality,” He clarified. 
Steve averted his eyes and reached over to squeeze Eddie’s knee. He was hopelessly lost in the conversation, but he knew something was wrong with Eddie. The boy jumped at the sudden contact and Steve pulled his hand away as though burnt. 
“So, what’s the problem? Still in denial?” Murray asked, levelling Steve with a knowing look. He scowled back at the man, ready for him to leave. 
“No. I think you know how you feel, maybe even how he feels.” Steve didn’t know how to respond. 
“You, however,” Murray continued, turning his attention to Eddie, the boiling pot on the stove, forgotten.
“I don’t think you have a clue. Self-esteem issues, maybe. You try to hide it, but you couldn’t imagine that someone in a house like this would look at you twice.” 
“What the hell, man?” Eddie breathed with a huff of indignation. Murray showed no signs of stopping. His eyes were back on Steve. 
“So, what’s holding you back? You got your heart broken after Nancy Wheeler. Let me guess, you keep saying how much you want commitment, but you keep dating the wrong people, people who don’t want to be tied down. That, my boy, is self-sabotage and him,” Murray spoke, indicating Eddie with a wooden spoon he’d been using to stir the rice. 
“He looks like a long-haul kind of guy.” 
“Dude,” Eddie interjected. 
“What? You’re both obviously attracted to one another. Don’t lie. I have eyes. You’re telling me that all this near-death stuff hasn’t made you re-evaluate your life a little? It’s just been you two, locked away together at the end of the world, helping each other heal. Seeking comfort in one another. You’ve got shared trauma. That kind of thing bonds you for life.” 
“Leave it alone,” Steve said, standing as he spoke. The chair scraped on the tile floor. A nails on a chalkboard kind of sound. 
Steve pushed past the older man, pulled the pot off the stove, and let a tense silence settle over the three of them. The subsequent dinner dragged on in uncomfortable silence. Steve and Eddie kept their eyes glued to their plates. Murray talked but neither paid attention. He gave Eddie’s wounds a once over, appearing as lost as Steve. He didn’t seem concerned, so Steve took it as a good thing. 
He thought he’d known what tense silence between himself, and Eddie felt like, but he’d known nothing compared to the moment Murray left. His whole body was on edge. Eddie wouldn’t meet his eyes. They needed to talk, but neither wanted to be the first to cave. 
“I was thinking of turning in early,” Steve spoke, not knowing what else to say. 
“Yeah. Me too.” 
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The boys lay side by side, but sleep didn’t come. Eddie’s body was wound tight as a tourniquet. This time, Steve was the one bleeding out. 
He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what. Maybe that he was sorry. Murray was right. Steve had known Eddie liked him and he hadn’t said anything because it wasn’t a problem he could throw himself in front of. It’d be easier if he thought telling Eddie would end up with him getting hit. There were worse things. 
Eddie’s feelings had become more apparent as their time together wore on, but on some level, Steve had known long before. When Eddie had leaned over into his space smelling of cigarette ash, dried earth and sweat and called Steve some god-awful pet name, he’d known. He also knew the feelings weren’t one-sided. 
That revelation came later. Eddie had been fading in and out of consciousness. Steve had shaken him awake to redress his wounds when it happened. The boy awoke, shooting him a lopsided grin, gazing at Steve with his drowsy, doe eyes.
He’d crooned, ‘Good morning sunshine’. And that had been enough. 
Steve’s heart had stuttered to a halt as it had all the times before when a pretty girl had called him a prettier name. 
As much as Steve hated to admit it, Murray had been right about a lot of things. There was one thing Steve desperately wanted him to be wrong about. 
He and Eddie were bonded because of what they’d been through. That’s what the man had said. Shared trauma. Was that all they were?
Steve was back in the bathroom with Nancy, her white shirt, red. The whites of his eyes the moment she left, red. 
He knew where shared trauma got him. He’d try to bury it. To move past it. He wanted to be more than what was done to him. People would say he was running. He was bullshit. 
How was he meant to sit with the kind of stuff he and Eddie had been through? How was he meant to fight it? Would Steve always look at Eddie and see his death? Would Eddie always look at Steve and feel like dying? 
“I wished I’d met you later,” Steve spoke to the dark room. Eddie’s locked body loosened, and as it did, he started to shake. In a moment, he’d start to bleed too. 
“You know, normally people say they wished they’d met you sooner.” 
“I mean... I wish we’d met after everything with The Upside Down. That you hadn’t gotten dragged into it. I wish that we’d gotten to know each other the normal way,” Steve explained. Eddie snorted. 
“Can you imagine me doing anything the normal way?” He had a point. 
Steve didn’t know how to say what he wanted to say. The silence was back, looming large as a lunar eclipse. 
“You aren’t... weirded out by what he said? About me liking you?” Eddie’s voice was small. The only time Steve heard Eddie whisper was when he was dying. 
“I think he also said something about me liking you back,” Steve replied, glancing at Eddie’s profile only to find the man was already watching him. His face was contorted in confusion. 
“Then... what’s the problem here, Stevie?” 
Steve had never been good with his words. 
“What if we’ve ruined it?” He tried. At seeing a frown cross Eddie’s face, he knew he hadn’t done a good enough job at explaining. 
“With what’s happened between me and you. You never would’ve looked at me twice if I hadn’t saved you, and what if that’s all we’ve got? Shared trauma.” 
Bullshit. What if all they had was bullshit? Eddie finally understood.
“I don’t like you because you saved me, Steve. I like you because despite all the terrible shit you make me want to laugh.  I love that you’re shit at dancing, but you do it anyway. Also, screw that guy your risotto is better than his. You’re a good cook. Your stupid hair makes me want to slam my head in a car door and before you say anything, that’s a compliment. You care so damn much about everyone.” To Steve’s surprise, Eddie’s hand reached up to touch his cheek. 
“I don’t like you because we’ve been through bad shit together. I like you because you make me feel like one day, we’re going to get out on the other side of it, that things aren’t going to be like this forever,” Eddie finished.
Steve’s heart was a cardinal, beating itself bloody against a windowpane. 
“Can I kiss you?” Steve breathed. For the first time in a long time, he was nervous. 
Eddie’s smile was a lightning strike, bright, beautiful and something they’d shape gods after. 
“I thought you’d never ask.” 
Eddie’s lips were warm. 
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stillnotyourmusebitch · 2 months
Note
Feel free to ignore! Sinner!Adam x GN!Reader where Adam sucks up his pride, goes to the hotel, and although practically nobody wants him there, Charlie gives him a chance for redemption and puts Reader in charge of watching over him and helping him adjust because they were mostly neutral with him. So maybe just some moments of them bonding and actually becoming close?
OH MY GODS!!! I am so sorry this took me so damn long. I really wanted to make this fic the best it could be. I really hope you like it. Again I feel like I might have slighlty strayed for the prompt but I really do hope it is what you wanted Nonnie
The small things - Sinner!Adam x GN!reader
Warnings Angst-Hurt/comfort-fluff
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When Adam woke up in a shit stained back alley of Hell, oh how he screamed an extremely blasphemous bloody murder for hours upon hours upon . . . well you get the idea. The other demons that happened to be walking past carried on by unphased. Yes, some did take a sneak peek of the newly fallen angel throwing a massive child-like tantrum, but most didn’t give a rat’s ass about what he was going through. This is Hell after all, everybody’s got problems.  
Adam finally calmed down enough to crawl out of the rancid gutter. It took a moment for him to gain his bearings, seeming to have found himself in the pride ring. Which meant he was in the same rung of hell as that fucking hotel. Whoever's idea of this sick fucking joke was going to get ripped a new one. He shouldn’t be here. Why was he here?
He doesn’t remember walking but soon he found himself in front of the shadow of a much larger and grander looking Hazbin Hotel.  
He seemed to snap back to himself. Why the fuck did he subconsciously walk to the threshold of the one place that would most likely give him his second death on the spot? But that doesn’t stop him from raising a fist and knocking obnoxiously loud. He’d been in Hell for all of about 5 hours now and it was hard to tell what time of day it was down here without a watch. He didn’t have jack shit on him when he woke up, just a grubby, ripped up pair of sweats.
The door finally opened up to Lucifer’s yawning brat. Her eyes went wide seeing him there.
“Adam?” She was more confused than he had been as to why he was down here, let alone in demon form. “What. What are you doing here? I mean you’re, you, but you’re not. I mean why are you . . .” Charlie stumbled over her words.
Vaggie arrived behind her while she was stammering. It took a split second for her to knock him on his ass, her angelic spear aimed at his throat.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t end your worthless life again right here and now.” She growled out.
“Hey, Woah now. I mean no harm this time honest. I’m just as confused as you are as to why the fuck I ended up here but I have nowhere else to go and . . .” Adam shuffled further away for the spear’s tip.
“Vaggie stop. Let’s just talk about this.” Charlie tried to shimmy in front of her girlfriend. “I know he is the main reason for so many very bad things but we need to take a breather. Look, it’s 3am and we won’t be thinking straight at a time like this. So let’s put a pin in this extremely weird conversation for now. We can put him up in a room on the second floor and then take this all from the top in the morning.”
“I don’t know about this.” Vaggie side eyes Adam but he can see her very slowly caving to Charlie. “UGH! Fine. He can stay for one night. Just one but as soon as we figure out what is going on he is out on his ass.”
 Charlie squeezes her partner in a tight hug before turning and holding out a hand towards Adam. He glares at it for a moment before grabbing it. She hauls him back to his feet and shows him inside. His eyes flick all around the lobby area, clocking a bar on the far left, the elevators to the right and of course a grand staircase up to the first floor. He was shown to his room on the second floor. Charlie chose to take the elevator, Vaggie standing firmly in between them, her hands clenching around the shaft of her spear. Adam shuffled as far to the side as possible he knows about the short temper of his exorcists, even the ex-ones.
“Here we are 224.” She opened the door, flicking on the light switch and letting Adam walk in. “You’ll find towels in the bathroom and fresh sheets already on the bed. Just please wait until someone comes to collect you in the morning. Now get some sleep, lord knows we are gonna need it.” She said the last part more to herself as she left with Vaggie.
Adam let out a deflated sigh, he wasn’t sure that he would get any sleep, no matter how exhausted he felt. So, he went to look at the ensuite, maybe taking a shower would help put him in a sleepier state, true to her word clean red towels were waiting on the counter by the sink. Adam stripped and threw the grubby garments he’d had on into the corner of the room.
He turned the shower up high and climbed into the scolding spray. As the water rained down his body, only then did he see how his heavenly body had really changed into this disgusting new demonic form. Hatred bubbled beneath the surface of the dull grey-coloured skin, he scrubbed as hard as possible in a vain attempt to try and find the person he was under all this ‘fakery’. He still held onto the belief that this was an incredibly vivid nightmare and he was going to wake up safe and sound in his plush king-sized bed in heaven.
He can’t be a demon.
He wasn’t a sinner; he was a winner. This had to be all a lie. It just had to. He wanted to scream, cry or something. Everything was getting to be too much. Turning off the water he stepped out into the steam-filled room and stared at the large fogged over mirror above the sink. Adam knew when he wiped away the condensation he would see himself.
He knew he had to talk himself into looking at what he’d become.
‘Come on. You can do this. Stop being such a fuckin pussy.’
Slowly he raised his left hand and wiped at the mirror.
‘Fuck’
There staring back at him was his worst nightmare. Dark brown horns curled out of his skull through damp blackened hair clinging to his scalp. His skin now he looked closer It was really more of a short fur coating than human skin. His teeth were razor sharp and his tongue was yellow. He was slightly rounder than he was before, his feet were now coven hoofs. How he didn’t clock this fact before scared him slightly but the one thing that stuck out to him the most were his eyes. He blinked a few times but nothing changed.
He still had those golden irises that heaven gifted him.
Adam stood and stared.
He was an abomination. There was no removing this mask at the end of a long day.
Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. Shame gushing to the surface. He angrily swiped at the tears trying to stop them at the source. He was a man. They don’t cry or show emotion. They bottle it up inside or channel it into something else. Yet here was crying like a hormonal broad.
He blindly grabs for a towel, bunching it up in his dark clawed fingers and screaming into the fabric.
He let everything out. Screaming out all his hatred, pain and anguish until his throat hurt from the exertion. The towel got thrown into the corner. Switching the bathroom light off, he walked slowly over to the soft looking bed and crawled under the covers. He didn’t care that he hadn’t dried himself off properly, full body exhaustion had taken hold and he welcomed the dreamless sleep that often always followed.
----
When the knock came what felt like mere minutes after he had passed out. He slowly sat up in the bed, the covers pooling around his hips. He wiped the partially dried drool off his chin, blinking a few times before acknowledging the person knocking
“Whatduyawant?” he grumbled.
“You decent?” the voice behind the door was not one he recognised.
“Yeah sure, whatever.” He yawned and stretched out his back. The door opened and in walked a sinner that Adam definitely didn’t remember from the final battle at the old hotel. They held a clean pair of clothes and a small set of toiletries that was clearly for him.
“Afternoon. Charlie said to let you sleep in a bit.” You seemed completely unphased by the half-naked demon before you. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” You stood at the end of the bed.
“Urm, good I guess.” Adam reaches out for the clothes you have.
“Well, good news is you ain’t getting thrown out just yet.” You drop the clothes into his hands and went to put the toiletries in the ensuite.
“And the bad news is?” He tugs on the clean pants. You turn and lean against the door frame. Your eyes flick up and down before smirking.
“Bad news is I’ve been stuck with babysitting your ass.” You push yourself off the frame with your hip. “So, I’m setting ground rules right here and now. You are only allowed to stay here if you play ball. Nobody wants to deal with your egotistical bullshit. So if you piss me off, I’ll go straight to Charlie. If you threaten anybody, I go straight to Vaggie and if you harass any of the other patrons. I will go and find Niffty because I’m sure she will be able to get her point across. Do you understand?” You stand tall with your arms crossed over your chest.
Adam is stunned by your strictness but finds himself nodding. Not trusting his words right now.
“Good. Now get yourself ready there is an activity planned for 3:15pm.” You walk away. “Oh and Adam. I want you to at least try okay?” You throw a soft smile back at him before leaving him to finish getting ready.
Adam sat on the edge of the bed staring at the closed door. Something inside him sparked briefly. He pulled on his shirt. ‘What the hell was that?’ He thought to himself.
-----
It had been 4 weeks since Adam had shown up at the hotel despite this stupid buddy system that Charlie had in place. Adam was kinda glad he was stuck with you. Something about your snarky attitude, the fact you always called him out when he brags about being who he was before but most of all the very rare soft acts of kindness towards him.
He didn’t realise it yet but you actually made him want to do better. He wants to be better and if that gave him a chance of gaining his wings back then he was sure as hell gonna try.
-
Adam hadn’t realised that he was doing good deeds at first. But seeing Charlie beam brightly when he would raise a hand before talking in the group sessions or the way he held the door for other patrons before heading off to do what he pleased.
Adam was really trying. But you knew that if you brought it up he would immediately call bullshit. Then would act out just to reclaim his cool guy image.
-
“Hey wait up,” Adam called out as the elevator doors started sliding shut. You held out a hand reopening the doors so he could hop in and ride up to the second floor with you. “Thanks.” He leans against the back wall. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He handed you a bag with something wrapped up in a lot of toilet paper.
“Gee, thanks.” The look on your face made Adam laugh.
“It’s not whatcha think it is. Just a little something to thank you for putting up with my miserable ass.” The Elevator chimed on the second floor. “After you.” He let you walk out first before following. “Are you gonna open it?”
The look on his face was a mix of excitement and worry. You decided to humour him. Reaching in you grabbed the poorly wrapped gift. He took the bag off you so you could peel off the wads of toilet paper.
It was a coffee mug.
“Since I accidently broke your favourite mug a few days ago. I thought I should get you a replacement.” His fingers crumpled the handles of the bag as he waited for any sort of reaction to the gift.
You turned the mug over to see the words on the side better.
‘I work with absolute legends’ was written on the side surrounded by little black stars. Your thumb traced a star or two. Still staring at the present in hand you felt a smile tug at the corners of your lips.
Not knowing how else to thank him. You rushed forward and embraced him tightly. Making sure not to drop your present.
“I take it you like it?” He drops the bag and folds his arms around you.
“You didn’t have to do that.” You rested your forehead against his shoulder. Neither one of you is willing to break the hug first.
“I had to do something. You looked so sad when I broke it. That didn’t sit right with me. Charlie explained that I was feeling guilt and  . . .”
You pull away slightly to look at him.
“Adam. The first man Adam, went to consult ‘Miss Feels-too-much’ about an issue completely unprompted!?”
Adam dropped his arms and started getting all defensive again.
“Why’d ya gotta say it that way?” He whined. You pull him back in for another hug which he willingly allows.
“Sorry big guy. I’m just really impressed is all. You have come a long way in such a short time. I’m so proud of you.” You squeezed tightly before letting him go. “I could actually go for a coffee right now. Good thing I got a brand new mug to drink from.”
He groans at your cheesy words before picking up the bag off the floor he hooks an arm around your neck and pulls you along back into the elevator to go and get that drink.
-----
This fic became longer than I thought it would.
My Ask box is still open if anyone else has a Sinner!Adam prompts they want to send in.
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atrueneutral · 2 months
Text
Bath, Bed & Beyond - Raphael x Tav
After weeks of constant battles and near-death-experiences, it was a slap in the face that the Crown of Karsus ended up in the Chionthar.
It could have fallen anywhere else but in the river.
It could have been easy.
Had it landed on the docks, Tav would have plucked it from the ground like any other item she pilfered. She’d have put it in her pack and would have promptly gone off to deliver the all-powerful Netherese artifact to Raphael - satisfying the terms of her contract.
But no! Nothing was ever as easy as it could have been; it wasn’t easy convincing Rolan to spend time on the docks casting spells on her and supplying her with potions; it wasn’t easy deep diving into the murky river waters for days on end; and it certainly wasn’t easy finding the godsdamn Crown of Karsus!
Bloody thing was a pain in her ass…
She should have listened to her friends, and she shouldn’t have made a deal with a devil…
Much to Rolan’s chagrin, Raphael had shown a number of times over the course of her search. He, apparently, “wanted to see how she was faring”, and, according to the wizard, seemed to find amusement in her desperation of trying to find the object that would see him rule the Hells.
One night, after failing to find her missing treasure, Tav wondered out loud why Raphael didn’t help her; it didn’t make sense that he’d prolong his ambitions after all of the salivating he did whenever he spoke of the Crown. 
Rolan suggested maybe there was a secret time limit buried in the nooks and crannies of her contract. Maybe Raphael wanted her to fail because he wanted her soul.
“He’s waited this long, I’m sure he can afford to wait a bit longer to ensure he gets both you and the Crown of Karsus. He’s a devil - are you really so surprised that he’d desire to keep you as well?”
To that, she called Rolan crazy, but Tav searched harder in the days that followed (out of fear that she was racing an invisible clock), and she eventually found what she was looking for.
Tav entered the Devil’s Den without knocking. She cared not that it was rude. She cared little about anything outside of fulfilling her contract, taking a bath, and sleeping for a very, very long time. Fatigue wreaked havoc on her body after recent events and days of stressful swimming, and the too long of a walk that brought her to Rivington drained her to the brink of wanting to fall over.
She ambled into the suite, and Raphael’s mortal visage made a face at her appearance - namely her water-logged countenance of damp hair and damp clothes that reeked of river water.
She hoped her exhaustion came off as apathy.
“Your message stated you had something specific for me?” he asked.
He was referencing the message she sent with a Scroll of Sending roughly an hour and a half ago. With it, she said: “I have your stupid Crown. Where should I meet you? Are you coming to the docks? Please come to the docks.”
Panting had, unfortunately, been included in-between some of her words.
Tav blinked, and her eyes went from staring longingly at the steaming bath littered with flower petals to the cambion who appraised her with a raised brow.
“I do,” she answered, and Tav reached into her pack for the Crown. She crossed over to him, revealed the artifact, and Raphael’s mask of composure cracked. 
Ambition bled from the fissures - his dreams would not remain dreams much longer…
With the current most important dream realized, a shaky breath left Raphael as he accepted and held the Crown in his hand. Tav rummaged around for the Netherstones, and she placed them on a nearby desk when it became clear that Raphael was having a moment between himself and his new shiny and dangerous toy.
She glanced down to see if he had an erection, and sure enough, a bulge was forming from inside his pants.
“Raphael?” she prompted.
“Hm?”
The Crown and fantasies of grandeur had successfully enthralled him.
“Is my contract fulfilled?”
“Yes.”
When he did not procure said contract, Tav sighed.
“Can I trust that you’ll see to completing my contract… when you’re done?”
“Mm, yes.”
Rolan was wrong; he did not want her or her soul. Raphael’s interest in his little mouse was purely in being a delivery tool for his precious artifact, and Tav found herself feeling oddly crestfallen at the verdict. It was nothing more than devilish amusement (or a form of punishment) that kept him from helping her fetch the Crown from the Chionthar.
“Great, thank you. Goodbye, Raphael.”
She turned and took a step for the door.
“Leaving so soon, Little Mouse?”
The rich purr of his voice stilled her.
“The delivery has been made, and you are preoccupied,” she answered, facing him again.
“Pardon my momentary lapse - I assure you it won’t happen again.” As if to make a point, he went to where the Netherstones were gathered and placed the Crown beside them. He leaned against the desk, blocking the artifact’s view from him and her. “Thank you for bringing me the Crown. I knew you wouldn’t fail - just as you knew failure wasn’t an option. You must regale me what the depths of the Chionthar look like sometime over dinner. The smell of the river, however, I could do without.”
Understanding his insinuation that she smelled, she gave him a thin lipped smile. “Then I shall be on my way...”
“You misunderstand, my dear!” Raphael gestured theatrically for the bath, and his features became predatory. “Stay awhile, won’t you? I will fulfill your contract before your very eyes, and you will sleep soundly tonight knowing you made the right choice in bargaining with a devil.”
The bath did look inviting…
“If you’d like, you have my permission to rest your weary head in this room,” he continued. “The bed is quite cozy - not nearly as comfortable as the bed in my House of Hope, but you know that already, don’t you?”
Tav’s blood went cold at his mention of her uninvited visit.
“Sorry about that…” she offered sheepishly, meaning it. Haarlep’s use of her body had become a nuisance, yet it often aroused her to think it was Raphael who benefitted and used the unintentional gift she left behind.
Based on the look in his eyes, he did.
Snap!
A contract materialized from within a plume of smoke and embers, and the infernal words etched into the parchment glowed. At Raphael’s behest and a wave of his hand, a new emblem-like symbol was magically inscribed before the parchment went up in flames.
“It’s been an Absolute pleasure doing business with you, Little Mouse.”
Oh no - his stare was making her feel warm in places.
Maybe Rolan was right in some regard.
Maybe Raphael did want her.
“Likewise,” Tav responded. “And I appreciate you loaning me the room.”
She waited for him to leave.
She expected him to leave.
Oh no.
He wasn’t leaving.
“Aren’t you leaving?” she questioned, intending on taking advantage of his offer to stay and use the room’s bath and bed.
“Leave? And miss the sight of you bathing? I think not.”
She flushed. 
“Ah.” Tav peered at the bath, then back at Raphael. “You’re not planning on joining me are you?”
He smiled devilishly. “Would you like me to?”
Yes.
“No, that’s alright.” Tav went to the bath and began to shed her pack and gear. When it came time to remove her boots, she decided to test the waters by turning the act of undressing into a show. She sat upon the bath’s edge and, with deliberate slowness, gracefully peeled away her footwear. “Are the flower petals your idea or are they an added flourish from the staff?”
“Do you like them?”
“I do.”
“They are my personal touch - just for you.”
The expression she threw at him while she undressed was filled with skepticism.
“You can stop trying to charm me, Raphael. The contract is done, you got what you wanted, and I’m in the middle of taking my clothes off.” Somewhere along the way her voice became decidedly more… seductive. “I wouldn’t normally allow you to watch the latter, but it’s conjecture to think that you’ve already seen me naked.”
It was thrilling to see that she enthralled him just as much as the Crown of Karsus. He was silent, his eyes blazing as he watched her stand and push her breeches down. Tav’s thumbs next hooked into the top of her panties and she slowly, teasingly, shimmied the undergarment past her thighs. They pooled at her feet, and she stepped out of them and her breeches, pushing both aside to be with the rest of her stripped attire.
He could not yet see her sex, as it was hidden by her tunic, but the shirt was soon gracefully pulled over her head and thrown onto the pile.
Raphael visibly swallowed.
Tav reached around to undo the fastenings of her brasserie. The undergarment went slack, and she quickly held the front to her with a hand before it could fall away.
She turned to face the bathwater and discarded the top with a flick of the wrist. 
The cambion let out a low hum. Whether in approval of seeing her bare backside or in disapproval or not seeing her nude state in its entirety, she couldn’t tell.
“Was this your plan?” Tav asked innocently as she bravely stepped into the steaming water. It was hot - excessively hot, but after waging and winning a war against a Netherbrain, after spending too long in the cold Chionthar, and after completing a deal with a devil…
It was heaven.
“What plan are you speaking of, my dear? I have many.”
Tav waded to the center of the bath, water rippling up to her thighs. She glanced at the cambion from over her shoulder with a smirk, and then rotated to give him a full-frontal view.
A deep-rooted hunger befell Raphael, and Tav mentally marked a point under her name: where the Crown failed in fully arousing him, she succeeded.
“When I sent my message to you, you sounded insistent on meeting here and advised that I shouldn’t tarry. You could have come to the docks, which, by the sound of things, you were fond of doing.” Tav lowered into the water while wincing and biting her lip at the temperature. “I was going to accuse you of wanting me smelly and exhausted so you could easily persuade me to take a bath as you watched, but, now that I’m thinking about it, I do recall there being a full bath and a smattering of flower petals when I initially met you here and signed the contract. Who was the bath for then? Voss? My companions and I?”
“I was merely setting the scene for my most important client of the day! I would never go to such efforts for Voss, nor your companions - nor for any other mortal whose name is but a tiny drop in the ocean of souls I’ve collected. It was all for you, Little Mouse.” Raphael crept towards the bath - a predator moving in on his prey. “Today I wished again to set the scene - with a reward. Now that you are without your troublesome friends and an even more troublesome tadpole, you can relax and enjoy without impediment! Soak, my dear! Soak and be content in your hard-earned and well-deserved bath, then off to bed with you…”
Tav reached for a fresh bar of soap that smelled distinctly like cherries and she ran it across her chest after wetting it. She batted eyelashes that suddenly felt heavy due to the talk of bed.
“Are you going to tuck me in, Raphael?”
His chuckle was downright sinful.
“Yes, I’ll even read you a bedtime story.”
“Oh?” Tav languidly rubbed aromatic suds into her skin. “What’s the story about?”
His eyes followed her hands.
“A fox who secured all that he wanted.”
Tav smiled and she briefly submerged herself.
“Did the fox secure the woods?” she asked after breaking through the water’s surface.
“He did, and the neighboring woods.”
She placed the bar of soap back onto the edge, and Tav scratched at her scalp and combed fingers through her hair.
“I presume he secured the animals inside of the woods as well?”
“Every single one.”
She made a point to stare into brown, dilated eyes.
“Including the mouse?”
“You’re going to spoil the story for yourself…”
It was at that moment that a yawn formed in her throat. She did her best to ignore the symptom of drowsiness (things were becoming interesting), but the yawn was persistent enough to force an escape. Tav covered what she could, but it was the kind of yawn that made her eyes water. When she blearily looked at the cambion, the desire on his face had been replaced with warm humor.
“I was wondering how long you would be able to keep your guise up,” he remarked.
Another smaller and shorter yawn broke through.
“Finish up,” Raphael ordered, and he walked away - disappearing to the other half of the room.
Tav complied. She rinsed out her hair, finished scrubbing in all the necessary places, and by the time she was done, Raphael had returned. He held out a plush red towel for her to take when she moseyed to the bath’s edge and climbed out.
“Thanks,” Tav said, fighting back what could possibly be an endless string of yawns. The towel was soft and thick, smelled like Raphael, and she made a note to steal it in the morning as she wrung out her hair and dried herself off.
“I won’t miss it,” Raphael said knowingly.
“How - I don’t steal everything, you know,” she scoffed.
“I am aware.”
Tav made a new mental note - to not steal the towel in the morning.
Sufficiently dried, she cheekily dropped the towel to the floor and peered at a bed that had been prepped for sleeping.
The urge to sprint and throw herself into the covers was extinguished when she was unexpectedly scooped up by arms and swept off her feet.
“This is becoming ridiculous,” Tav muttered. Despite her tone, and against her better judgment, she foolishly liked the feeling of being held by the cambion - the feeling of his hands on her...
“Did you not ask to be tucked in?” Raphael retorted, carrying her naked body up the couple steps that led to the bedroom portion of the suite.
She was too tired to think of a witty comeback, so Tav stayed silent while Raphael transferred her over to the bed.
“What do you normally sleep in, Little Mouse?”
Usually just her smallclothes.
Tav glanced up at him. “I sleep naked, of course.”
His eyes flared, and she could read that he wanted to do far more than simply tuck her in.
He gently laid her upon the satin bedding. A fluffy pillow was beneath her head, and the sheets were smooth against her skin. Raphael reached over to draw the top sheet and comforter over her, and Tav was enveloped by heavenly, toasty warmth.
“Would it be possible to have the room for the next day or two?” she murmured, making herself snug under the covers.
Her eyes closed as the fox smiled brightly.
“Oh, my Little Mouse, stay as long as you’d-”
And she was out.
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tizniz · 3 months
Note
Ooh you're taking prompts 👀👀 if this doesn't spark joy, you can ignore it! No worries❤️❤️❤️❤️
But if it does...
Prompt: "Damn, you look good with my name on you." Or something similar to it. Of course you can change it to whatever you want or fits better
Hi Jules!
I absolutely am taking prompts. I only have the one WIP currently *glances at my big bang fic tucked away in the corner and then ignores it* so I'm happy to take prompts or ideas :)
Yours was so fun. Hope you like it!
Buck glances at Hen and Chimney as the two paramedics giggle to themselves, both attempting and failing to straighten their expressions when they notice Buck watching. “What?” “Nothing.” Chimney replies, a shit eating grin on his face that does nothing to ease Buck’s confusion. “All good here, Buckaroo.” Hen adds, her voice oozing faux innocence. He narrows his eyes, ready to make a retort but then Bobby is calling him over, and well, they are at a call so he can’t exactly ignore his Captain. At least it’s a small call, with no real big issue occurring. A teenage boy had been trying to impress his crush by grilling some steaks, but apparently he had impressed his crush too much, because the two of them got caught up in making out and didn’t realize that their steaks had caught on fire. A peeping neighbour certainly had though and called 9-1-1. The two flustered teens had already put the fire out by the time the 118 had shown up, but Bobby was insisting they do checks and had been lecturing the two boys when Buck had left him and Eddie to go report to Hen and Chimney that there were no injuries.
“What’s up, Cap?” Buck says as he joins Bobby. “Grab Eddie and tell him we’re good to go.” Bobby tells him, half turned away from the neighbour that had made the call. Her beady little eyes moved up and down Buck’s length, making him shift uncomfortably. She gave him some not nice vibes. “I’m just finishing her with Mrs. Norbit.” “I hope you told those boys to be smarter.” The lady, Mrs. Norbit sniffs, crossing her arms tightly across her powder pink cardigan. “And that they shouldn’t be doing such sinful things outside.” Bobby sighs, turning his focus back to the older lady, “Ma’am, they were both well within their rights to be doing what they were doing.” Before Buck can hear anything more from the clearly homophobic neighbour, he spins on his heel and hurries up the lawn towards the gate. But before he can step through he hears Bobby call his name once more. Buck pauses, looking over his shoulder. His Captain is looking at him with an amused expression on his face, mouth open as if to say something else, but when Buck cocks his head, waiting for more, Bobby shuts his mouth and shakes his head. With a wave of his Captain’s hand, Buck shrugs and heads into the backyard.
He finds Eddie talking casually with the two boys, their hands clasped together between them, both looking sheepish. Eddie has his hands on his hips, clearly in his ‘lecturing dad’ mode, but there’s also a fond smile on his face that has Buck smiling in turn. Walking up to the other man, he knocks into his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Cap says we’re good if you’re done giving the dad lecture.” Eddie turns to scowl at him, “I was not giving a dad lecture!” One of the teenagers clears his throat lightly, “It was a bit dad-like.” “Be nice.” His crush hisses, glancing at Buck and Eddie. “Don’t worry,” Buck grins back at him, “He’s harmless. Usually.” “Buck.” Eddie sighs in that way he does with only Buck’s name. It’s a bit endearing. “Come on,” Buck knocks Eddie’s shoulder once more, “Let’s go!” He gives a wave to the two boys and spins on his heel, heading back out of the backyard. A choked sound catches his attention, and he goes to turn to check on Eddie, but there’s a firm grip on his elbow, keeping him from doing so and then he’s being hauled out of the backyard by his boyfriend.
Just before the gate, tucked in a pocket of shadow, Eddie is shoving Buck against the wall, one hand cradling the back of Buck’s head while the other sneaks under his turnout coat, and then Eddie’s mouth is crashing down against his. Immediately Buck sinks into the kiss, mouth opening around a moan that Eddie wastes no time in swallowing, sucking Buck’s tongue into his own mouth. Buck scrambles to find purchase on Eddie’s body, the other man having already removed his turnout coat. Buck manages to find Eddie’s suspenders, gripping tightly onto them as Eddie slots a leg between Buck’s, either to help him stay standing or to torture him more. Buck isn’t entirely sure and doesn’t have the brain power to think about it. Eddie pulls back just as suddenly, and Buck chases after the warm mouth, blinking heavily at the heated look being sent in his direction. “Huh?” Brown eyes study him for a moment, allowing Buck to try and gather his scattered thoughts together once more. Then Eddie’s smirking, thumb stroking along Buck’s jaw, causing him to shiver. “You don’t even know, do you?” “Know what?” Buck mutters, tilting his head forward to try and catch Eddie’s lips in another kiss. His boyfriend chuckles but obliges, biting down lightly on Buck’s bottom lip, drawing a small whine from him. “Eddie.” “Baby,” Eddie says against his lips, “You’re wearing my name.” That has Buck pulling away this time, blinking rapidly at Eddie. “What?” Eddie gives the turnout coat Buck’s wearing a tug, “This is mine, mi amor. You have my name on you.” “Oh.” Buck exhales, everything slotting together suddenly. That explained Hen, Chimney, and Bobby. And it certainly explained Eddie jumping him in the shadows while in the middle of a call. "And damn, you look good with my name on you." Eddie mutters, pecking Buck once more before stepping away, “Might have to make it permanent.” He finishes with a wink. Buck watches, gaping, as his boyfriend turns and leaves him there. Oh, he is so paying for that later.
Tagging for sharing because it's fun: @hippolotamus, @diazsdimples, @disasterbuckdiaz, @spotsandsocks, @fortheloveofbuddie, @bucksbackwardcap, @actualalligator, @actuallyitsellie, @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove, @theotherbuckley, @daffi-990, @jesuisici33, @cal-daisies-and-briars, @exhuastedpigeon, @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming, @monsterrae1, @epicbuddieficrecs, @elvensorceress, @eddiebabygirldiaz, @shitouttabuck, @spagheddiediaz, @wildlife4life, @evanbegins, @devirnis, @buckaroosheart, @perfectlysunny02, @nmcggg, @watchyourbuck, @loserdiaz
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wreckedandpolemic · 25 days
Note
6,98,99. Sorry for the multiple numbers, they just work so well together.
Also love your work!💜
my kink is karma - matty healy
(mdni) in which your ex wants to give you a birthday treat. too bad for your boyfriend. 2099 words.
warnings: cheating, semi-public sex, daddy kink
Firstly, you’d like to say that you’re not a spiteful person, thank you very much. But fuck if it doesn’t feel good to run into your ex drinking alone while celebrating your birthday with your friends and your shiny, new boyfriend. Matty salutes you with his glass when you spot him, and you ignore him pointedly. He won’t fucking leave it alone, though — that’s always been his problem.
“Of all the gin joints in all the world, she walks into mine,” says Matty, low in your ear as you go to order yourself another drink at the bar. You hope he doesn’t notice the shudder that runs through you at the sound of his voice. “Whatever she’s having on my tab, yeah?” he adds smoothly, and you roll your eyes. 
“Oh, well, in that case, I’ll have a bottle of the most expensive champagne you’ve got,” you grin. What? He’s got the money for it, and you aren’t going to turn down a free drink on your birthday, of all days. Matty shrugs when the bartender looks at him to confirm, and she hands you the bottle in a cooler.
You turn to leave, go back to your friends, but Matty takes hold of your wrist, gentle enough that you could break out of it. Something stops you, though. “Happy birthday,” he mutters. “Thought about callin’, but…” he blows out a breath. “The way we left things, I didn’t know if you’d wanna hear from me.”
Feigning casualness, you shrug, pretending like the reminder of your heart-wrenching breakup doesn’t tear at you all over again. “Yeah… Well, you’re here now,” you say matter-of-factly. “How’ve you been?” you ask, despite knowing the answer. Over the last six months, you’ve taken some kind of twisted pleasure in keeping tabs on him, in watching his life fall apart.
The two of you split in April, leaving you forced to move out of the apartment you loved that was in his name, nine days after you’d paid your half of the rent. June, he got arrested in a drunken bar fight; July crashed his car, the car he loved more than almost anything, leaving it completely written off; August, the girl he’d been seeing since suspiciously soon after your breakup left him with no warning. Meanwhile, you’ve had a promotion, gotten into the perfect relationship and everything is falling neatly into place.
Your reaction to him being around is involuntary, you tell yourself, fucking Pavlovian. You were together for three fucking years, of course your body still responds to him. It’s still learning what it’s like to live without him. Matty sighs, and you jolt out of your reverie as you remember you asked him a question. “Not great,” he admits. “Drinkin’ alone on a Friday night not tip you off?” he says, bitterness tracing his tone. “And yourself?”
“Oh, I’ve been great,” you say blithely. “I’m making great money, I’m in love, properly this time,” you can’t resist adding. “And you just bought me a bottle of champagne and told me everything sucks for you! What more could a girl want on her birthday?”
Matty scoffs. “You’re still the same,” he says coolly. “Bratty when you’re not getting fucked right, huh?” he adds, your stomach swooping at his words.
You don’t know what makes you admit it, some heady combination of mixed drinks and Matty’s presence for the first time in months overcoming all sense, but you murmur, “M’not. He’s not as good as you. S’the only thing I miss.” You try to weaken the admission.
Matty’s eyes light up, and you groan internally. “Is that so?” His grip tightens on your wrist and you stumble towards him when he tugs on it, a sickening pulse of arousal dripping down your spine. “Got everything you want, huh? Even down to your perfect little boyfriend. But you think about me when he’s fucking you, don’t you?” he breathes, something hard and dangerous in his tone, your heart thudding traitorously as he leans closer. 
“I… That’s not true.” you say, but the wavering of your voice betrays you, and he smirks wickedly.
“You can’t lie to me, baby. I know you too well.” The statement lodges in your throat like you’ve dry-swallowed a pill, the truth ringing disgustingly clear. “What do you say? You want one last good fuck, for old times’ sake?”
You should pull away. You need to pull away. You have to pull away. But you can’t. “Once a cheater, always a cheater,” you say. Matty’s eyes darken, but you know he took note of the most crucial element first: it wasn’t a refusal.
“I never cheated on you,” Matty says seriously. “I did a lot of other shit, I know I did, but not that. Never that.”
You swallow hard. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“One more time. One more fuck. I need you out of my system,” you breathe, and you could almost cum from the filthy look on his face. Guiltily, you slink to the bathroom, casting furtive glances around and praying nobody spots you trailing after Matty and slipping behind a locked door.
Matty slams you against the door the second it shuts, devouring you in a harsh kiss, teeth and tongue sliding together almost violently. Having his hands on you again feels horrifyingly good, nauseatingly familiar. He’s hard, you can feel as he presses his body against yours, and you whimper pathetically into his mouth. “God, you’re so fuckin’ pretty,” Matty groans, like he can’t help himself. “Makes me sick. Been fuckin’ dying for you, baby.”
“So hurry up,” you snap. “I know you’re here alone, but I have people who care, and not much time before one of them notices I’m missing.”
“Such a brat,” Matty teases. “Need a good fuck to shut you up, yeah? S’alright, baby. Daddy’s here now. Gonna give you what you need.” The bottom falls out of your stomach and his words, a helpless, strangled moan escaping you. “Oh, missed your Daddy, have you, darling? Not given your little boyfriend my name, right?”
“N-no,” you stammer. “He… he wouldn’t understand. You’re my Daddy, couldn’t replace you.” Your skin feels like it’s on fire, your mind dizzy with desire, the words spilling from your lips without permission.
You’d forgotten how it feels with him, how Matty gets you sick with lust, thick and palpable in the air of the small room. “Good girl,” he croons. “Bend over for Daddy, yeah? I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”
You obey, the sight of your reflection sickening. You look fucked-out already, flushed red and panting. Matty’s hands come to rest on your hips, stroking appreciatively over the curve of your ass and pushing your too-short dress up around your hips. Torturously slow, he pulls your panties off, motioning for you to step out of them when they hit the floor. “I’m keeping these,” he says, slipping the scrap of lace into his pocket. “Something to remember you by, yeah?”
Wrapped up in his touch as you were, the reminder that this is a one-time thing shocks you like you’ve been doused with ice water. Right now, you don’t have a fucking clue why you even broke up, not when his fingers are so achingly close to your dripping core. “God, Matty, please!” you choke out, widening your legs desperately. 
“Give me a minute, baby. Missed this pretty cunt so much. Gotta make sure I don’t forget a thing, if this is the last time m’gonna get to have you.” He brushes his fingers through your folds, your body jolting at the barest touch over your swollen clit. Meeting your gaze in the dingy mirror, Matty wraps his lips around his wet fingers, moaning exaggeratedly as he sucks them clean. “God, missed the way you taste, darling. Sweetest fucking girl I’ve ever had,” he promises, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his jeans.
You squirm, cold porcelain biting into your thighs. You hear the sound of a foil wrapper tearing open, and before you can process, Matty slides into you, your knees buckling at the sudden fullness. “F-fuck,” you whimper, the feeling of being wholly surrounded by him familiar as he thrusts deep into you, pleasure cascading over your bones.
“God, you feel so fucking good, baby. It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ve got you. Daddy’s gonna fuck you until the only word you remember is my name,” Matty promises, shushing you soothingly as you whimper. His hips slam against yours, ecstasy flooding your veins as your thighs bash against the sink. He fists a hand in your hair, dragging you up to meet your own gaze in the mirror. “Look at yourself, baby. Look how gorgeous you are, falling apart on my dick. Right where you should be, hm?” he murmurs, heat flooding your belly as you watch yourself take his cock over and over. “He could never fuck you like this, huh? Whose girl are you, really?”
“M’yours, Daddy. Yours, still yours, all yours,” you babble, cunt clenching wantonly around him as his smirk grows and his pace speeds. You moan horrifyingly loud when he hits that spot inside of you, too dizzy with desire to control your noises.
“Shh, baby, shh. Try not to be so noisy, yeah? Can’t let anyone know what we’re doin’ in here, that this lying fucking bastard has you split open and begging on his cock.” He throws your words from your final fight back in your face, pinching your clit meanly and fucking you deep. You can’t hold back another whimpering scream, and he scoffs. “Needy little whore can’t keep quiet, huh?” he murmurs, sliding two of his fingers into your mouth. Eagerly, you suck on them, your moans muffled as saliva pools under your tongue.
Heat scorches through you, every thrust of Matty’s hips and grunt that falls from his lips sending an illicit spark of pure pleasure racing up your spine. You can’t think, can barely breathe, choked in desperate lust that drips out of you and soaks him. He’s right, you can’t remember anything but him, his name circling your head, denting your brain out of shape. Nothing but Matty, Matty, Matty. “This fuckin’ pussy drives me insane, baby. Always so wet for me, so wet for your Daddy. Could have this all the time, if you wanted.”
His words cut through the fog in your mind as Matty slides his fingers free from your mouth to let you answer. “What do you mean?” you stammer, your disloyal heart skipping a beat.
“We had issues, yeah. But we were good together,” Matty murmurs, rubbing distracting circles into your clit, training you into giving the right response. “I’ve had a lot of time to think over the last six months. About us.” He slams his hips against yours on the final word, pleasure roiling in your stomach, every muscle in your body stringing taut. “I want another try. I know it would be better this time. I’d be better,” he promises, nails digging possessively into your hips.
“Matty, I–” You’re at a loss for words. His face crumples almost imperceptibly; if you weren’t so attuned to him, you wouldn’t have known.
“S’okay, baby. Fucked you too dumb to answer, I get it. You wanna be a good girl and cum for Daddy?” You nod wildly, his circles over your clit getting tighter and faster and you whimper helplessly, but you don’t miss how he’s stopped meeting your eyes.
Ecstasy winds around your veins, sticky, hot desire pinning you still as Matty fucks into you. “Fuck, Daddy, m’gonna–” you gasp out, the tension in your body finally breaking, stars going supernova behind your eyelids. Your legs tremble, your entire body going limp as waves of pleasure swirl in your stomach and buffet your organs.
“I’ve got you, baby,” Matty murmurs soothingly. “Daddy’s got you. Whenever you want, I’ll be here,” he promises, and a split-second later you feel his cock pulsing inside of you, the feeling of his cum spilling in your cunt sorely missing.
It takes a few moments before your legs have stopped shaking enough for you to stand, Matty supporting your waist as you clutch your abused muscles. “We should… I should get back out there,” you say, raking your fingers through your hair in an effort to tame it. You both look well-fucked, the question of how you’re going to explain your absence rattling around your mind. Matty meets your eyes one last time, looking over his shoulder as he unlocks the door.
“When you get bored of him, call me. I’ll be waiting.”
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Text
Food is Good for the Core
~
Jason met Danny months ago when he stopped by one of the diners,
Danny was on his lunch break about to eat his ecto infused food when he felt someone with a starving proto-core enter his dinner, his head snapped towards the entrance his gaze locking onto a rather tall man with the expression of someone who was hangry for lack of better words.
His core chirped a greeting, he felt the mans proto-core rumble a barely there response.
The man stumbled towards him his eyes flashing green
"Wha-who are you?"
Once he was close enough Danny grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down onto the seat next to him, pushing his food towards him.
"There you go Firecracker, you look like you really need it"
Jason was about to protest not sure what was even happening when the smell of the food hit him, next thing he knows he's swallowing the last bite.
He leaned back staring
Just staring
He had't felt this satiated and calm since, well since a very long time.
"My name is Jason not Firecracker , now what the hell was in that? Why did I react like that?"
"Well Firecracker, my name is Danny and please tell me that you know that you ..uh died?"
-Time Skip-
"-And so basically you need ecto to be healthy and happy, did you understand all that?"
"Where will I need to go to find that?"
"No worries big guy, I'll make you the food free of charge and in the future I'll start showing you how to properly make it. Also you need to be careful with the ecto food, normal humans tend to act weird even with just a little taste to our foods."
~
Danny & Jason eating together getting along
Dick: "My baby brother has a friend and didn't tell me!"
~
Danny & Jason cooking together: "Oh that's why they say food is the way to a man's heart"
~
Danny & Jason being smitten with one another & starting to unconsciously do ghost courting things.
Oracle watching from the cameras: "What the fuck?!"
~
Dick being nosy realizing that Jason's new boyfriend is putting something into the food Jason and he eat that goes into an extremely secure case.
Dick being suspicious and investigating, manages to steal a bite feels super loopy and weird for the next few days
Dick: "I've connected the dots!"
Jason: "You didn't connect shit."
Dick: "I've connected them!"
Dick thinks they're doing drugs
~
Dick slamming the door open: "Jason is doing drugs!"
Tim: "That doesn't sound like him are you sure?"
Dick on the ground wailing
Tim: "..."
~
Just an Idea
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luxaofhesperides · 6 months
Text
Danny accidentally appearing out of Duke's shadow. And doing it purposely every time after that. ; requested by @kyrianclawraith! (deviated from your original prompt a bit, sorry! the ghostlights brainworms got away from me)
Traveling through shadows has become second nature for Duke after using them so extensively over the years. He even uses them as a civilian, hopping between shadows when he’s running late to class so he doesn’t have to stress out over traffic. 
Not even Batman’s scoldings can stop him from making it on time to his classes. Risks need to be taken for the sake of his education!
The shadows are comforting. They hide him from sight, get him to where he needs to go, and gives him the alone time he needs when he’s been around people for too long and desperately needs some quiet to recharge. Duke would say that he’s well versed in the shadows at this point, no longer stumbling out into the light.
Even with all his practice and confidence, he still can’t prepare himself for tripping over someone in the shadows while he’s trying to escape some of The Riddler’s goons. 
They both go tumbling out of the shadows, landing in a corner hidden by storage shelves. The poor tripping hazard of a person is under him, groaning lightly as he reaches up to press a hand to the back of his head, where he hit the concrete floor. 
“Oh, shit,” Duke whispers, “I’m so sorry. What are you doing here? How are you here?”
“I was hiding,” the guy hisses back at him. “I wanted to get out of the rain and dozed off and when I woke up, guns were being shot! I was up in the rafters, so excuse me for thinking no one would find me up there!”
Another gunshot rings out, alarmingly close to where they are.
Duke curses under his breath, then picks up the guy and hauls him over his shoulder. “Time to go!” And then he’s disappearing into the shadows again, following the line of them outside the warehouse and down the street. 
As soon as they’re safely away from the goons, Duke steps out of the shadows and carefully sets the civilian back onto his feet.
“So sorry about that,” he says, “But I need to get back and deal with them. Stay safe!”
He’s gone before the civilian can say anything else, and though it’s embarrassing that he tripped over someone while shadow hopping, at least it ended relatively well. It’s not like it’ll happen again.
Duke, sweet, naive Duke, doesn’t think much of the civilian again. He’s a busy guy with a busy life! Lots of things to do! Lots of embarrassing moments to keep secret from the other Bats! No one has mentioned it at all, so he thinks he’s safe from being teased about it.
That is, up until he’s training with Dick and a hand pops up out of his shadow.
“Um,” Dick says, backflipping away from Duke’s punch. He lowers his escrima sticks and squints at the space behind Duke. “Are you… trying something new with your powers?”
“...No? I’m not using my powers right now.”
Dick looks more and more alarmed. He won’t look away from the space behind Duke, and it’s making him nervous. He doesn't want to look, but he knows he has to. 
Steeling himself, Duke takes a deep breath, then turns slightly to see what’s behind him.
Nothing. 
His gaze goes down, and he sees a pale hand sticking out of his shadow, moving back and forth. It then comes out some more, up to the elbow, and the hand pats the ground Duke’s shadow lays on, a stiff mat perfect for sparring.
Behind him, Dick turns on his escrima sticks, the electricity crackling through the air.
The hand disappears for a moment. 
Then two hands appear and grab the ground, hauling up a body from Duke’s shadow.
Duke is very well versed in shadows. He travels through them almost daily. He thinks he would know if there was some strange netherworld hidden in the shadows where other beings could pop out of shadows like portals. This is alarming, to say the least.
“Don’t move, Duke,” Dick warns, creeping closer, ready to attack.
A head pops out of his shadow. Whatever it is glows and their white hair moves softly as if underwater. They’re facing away from him, so he can’t see their face, but he can see the black, skin-tight suit their wearing as they float up from his shadow, no longer needing their hands to pull themself out. 
“Huh,” they say, looking up at the ceiling.
Dick grabs Duke’s arm and pulls him back, shielding him with his body. “Who are you?” he demands, voice cold. 
The creature/person startles and whips around to stare at them with wide green eyes. His gaze darts down to the electrified escrima sticks, then back up again, visibly nervous.
“Um, hi! Sorry, I didn’t know anyone would be here. Wherever this is.”
“How did you get here?”
“I was practicing a new portalling method. I found a ghost to teach me how to move through shadows, since my usual portals are very bright and noticeable. Not great when you’re trying to be stealthy! I did not mean to end up here.”
Duke stares at him. “You came out of my shadow.”
“Sorry,” the guy repeats. Then he squints at Duke. “Hey, didn’t you save me the other day? From the warehouse?”
It’s been a while since Duke’s saved anyone from a warehouse. Criminals and goons have moved on to condemned apartment complexes and the back rooms of bars. The only person he’s saved is the tripping hazard…
“Man, what is up with you and getting caught in my shadows?”
“This is your fault!” the guy insists. “I associate shadows too strongly with you! That’s why I’m here! Probably. I don’t actually know how this works.”
“You don’t know how it works but you did it anyways.”
“It sounds bad when you say it like that.” The guy floats down to the ground and offers Duke a hand. “I’m Phantom, by the way! Figured I should introduce myself because this will happen again.”
Duke considers introducing himself as the Signal, but Danny is looking directly at his bare face, so it’s lost cause. Talk about an unexpected security breach. “Duke. You looked a little different when we first met.”
“Yeah, that was my human form. This is my ghost form.” A watch on his wrist, some clunky looking thing that looks like it came from the early 2000s, beeps and Phantom frowns at it. “Shoot, I need to go. I’ll see you later!” And he dives right back into Duke’s shadow, disappearing.
Duke blinks at the empty space where Phantom used to be, still reeling from the shock of it. He’s so busy processing the last few minutes that he doesn’t hear the escrima sticks turn off until Dick is dropping a heavy arm around his shoulders, holding him in place. There’s a smile on his face, but it’s not happy; it’s a warning that he’s at his limit and is barely hanging on to niceties.
“So,” he says as Duke cringes, “Looks like we need to have a talk about the things you’ve been hiding from us, Duke.”
He can’t do anything but resign himself to his fate.
After that conversation, he’s instructed to let them know when Phantom pops up. Which is fine until he realizes that Phantom really did mean it when he said that it’ll happen again. 
Phantom pops up constantly. Most of the time, Duke is lucky enough to be at home, or in the Manor, or in the Batcave away from the public where no one will freak out about a glowing boy popping out of his shadow. Sometimes, he’s in the middle of the street as a civilian and has to sprint away, ducking into the first empty alley he can find in order to climb up onto the rooftop where no one will see him.
It’s stressful and confusing and he wishes he could be more upset about it, but Phantom is fun. He’s funny and charming and tells the craziest stories about ghost fights that Duke can’t help but hang onto every word.
He dutifully updates his Phantom Log, noting each time he’s portaled through Duke’s shadow, any information he’s revealed, and an injury count after Duke noticed a concerning pattern of Phantom often showing up after he’s been in a fight.
Duke begins to get a feel for when Phantom is about to show up. A shiver runs down his spine and his awareness of the shadows around him grows. Sometimes, he could swear he could feel something tear apart in his shadow. He feels it then, a tear that stitches itself up almost instantly, a ripple in the shadow, before that familiar hand pops up again and Duke grabs hold of it to haul Phantom out into his bedroom. 
He is, once again injured. There’s a large gash running down the length of his other arm, bleeding a toxic, glowing green. 
“Dude,” Duke says, unable to keep the judgment out of his voice.
“You should see the other guy,” Phantom snorts. “I slammed him through five streets, then ripped his limbs off.
“Dude…”
“Just to be clear, they weren’t his real limbs. He has a robot suit he uses like a body because he’s like a tiny little bean.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how to take that. Anyways, have you still not figured out how to open portals that aren’t connected to my shadow?”
Phantom shrugs. “Nope. And I’m not really trying to figure it out. I like hanging out with you. Plus, it’s nice to see a friendly face after a fight.”
“Can’t you like, go home and have your family take care of you first.”
“Uh, better not,” Phantom laughs nervously. “They’d probably kill me for real if they saw me like this.”
Duke quietly notes to himself to add that statement to the Alarming Things Phantom Says list. 
“Does it… bother you? Me always coming to you?” There’s a smallness to his voice, a fragility that makes Duke want to beat himself up for making Phantom feel like that.
“No! No, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t keeping you from anyone else.”
Phantom brightens. “Oh! Well, no need to worry about that. No one’s worried, back home. They know I disappear sometimes.”
…Another concerning thing. Duke is considering bribing Phantom into staying in Gotham forever, living in his shadow, just so he can take care of him. Just to be sure Phantom’s safe. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asks, eyes flickering down to Phantom’s bleeding wound.
Phantom futilely tries to hide the wound with a hand. The green blood leaks out from between his fingers, and he applies more pressure to the wound with a faint wince. “Nope! All good here. I’ll heal in no time, honest.”
“Then, do you want to just hang out? I really don’t know why you’d chose to keep coming to me.”
“You’re good company, dude. Very chill. Very fun. And you’re a hero! That’s so cool. Why wouldn’t I keep coming back?”
Duke shrugs, not sure how to put his insecurities into words. He’s already starting to get the Bat-specific inability to communicate emotions, which is definitely a problem. He’ll need to spend time with other people to be normal again. 
As if sensing that Duke’s mood is falling, Phantom launches into another tale, complaining about people who bother him, teachers who are terrible at teaching, having snark-fights with the embodiment of Time itself, and so on. He always has the craziest stories, and he tells them so casually that Duke has to second guess himself, wondering if he’s overreacting when he’s shocked by what Phantom tells him. 
He starts telling his own stories as well, mostly fun civilian interactions he’s had since they last spoke, villain fights, the ever changing theories on the ‘Who is Batman Sleeping With Now?’ shared document all the other Bats have. By the time an hour passes, Phantom’s arm is fully healed and he’s flying in lazy circles above Duke.
His watch beeps again in the middle of him recounting the insane drama happening at his school. Phantom sighs and sinks back to the floor, hovering just above Duke’s shadow.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” he says, voice warm.
Duke shrugs. “You’re good company. I like when you visit.”
A slow, soft smile spreads across Phantom’s cheeks, making him glow even brighter. “Sweet talker,” he accuses fondly, then flies in for a quick, tight hug. He pulls back before Duke can reciprocate, and salutes him with a cheeky, “See you soon!” and is gone, flying into Duke’s shadow before he can respond.
Shaking his head fondly, Duke falls back against his bed.
Despite how unconventional their friendship is, he is glad Phantom keeps coming back. He hopes he’ll get to see Phantom’s human form again.
…And get more used to the horror movie scene that is Phantom clawing his way out of his shadow. No matter how many times he sees it, the sight still makes him jump.
Not that he’s ever going to admit that.
If Phantom thinks he’s cool, he’s going to do whatever he can to keep that impression from changing. It’s only reasonable, really.
(“Shut up, Dick,” he says later when he recounts this encounter with Phantom. Dick just keeps laughing, endlessly amused that Duke got ‘jumpscared into a crush’ as he phrased it. That’s definitely not what happened.
Next time, he’s definitely convincing Phantom to scare Dick with him. 
Revenge will be his.) . . .
[send me ghostlights prompts! one day left before they close on 11/17]
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seiya-starsniper · 4 months
Note
"Oh I'm dreaming of you again. If I wouldn't be dreaming and if you would be really here, then I would tell you I love you."
*slides $5 across the table* dreamling. you know what must be done.
Ayyyy I FINALLY got around to doing this one! 😅😅 Starting my birthday off right with a present for you! 💖💖
[AO3 Link Here]
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When war comes to the Endless Empire, Ser Robert Gadling, known simply as Hob to his men, is on the front lines of the defense effort, fighting for his monarch and the love of his life. The second title is a secret he keeps close to his breast, for there are no scenarios in which a Knight would be deemed the type of lover fit for a King. 
The war is long and brutal. The Morningstar Kingdom had timed their invasion well, choosing to strike in the heat of summer, ideal conditions for soldiers who were born and raised in lands far hotter and more unforgiving than Hob had ever known. Their forces are fierce, but Hob’s are fiercer, for they have something to protect, mothers and wives, sons and daughters.
Hob only has his King. Orphaned at a young age, Hob was recruited as a foot soldier into the royal army as soon as he was of age, and his quick thinking and heroics on the battlefield earned him a coveted place in the royal court, right as the Endless family had established themselves as monarchs of the realm. 
Try as he did to be polite, Hob did not fit easily into a life of court politics. He could not hide his brusque mannerisms, his frank manner of speech, and it was that attitude that endeared him to King Morpheus years ago, establishing a unique friendship most other nobles would sneer at.
Hob never cared for noble opinions before King Morpheus, and to this day he still did not. It is his king’s face that he sees in his mind’s eye as he cuts down the Morningstar’s soldiers, pushing their forces further back. It is his king’s voice that rings in his ears as he and his men march through the pouring rain, caked in mud, blood, and sweat. It is his king’s eyes that Hob sees in the moments after an arrow pierces through his armor, knocking him off his horse and rendering him unconscious.
-----------------------------------------------
When King Morpheus receives word that the battalion Hob was leading had fallen in battle with no known survivors, he nods solemnly and dismisses the messenger, along with the rest of his court to give those who had lost a son, brother, or lover, time to mourn.
What his court does not know, however, is that once the throne room is empty, Morpheus collapses to the floor and weeps. He weeps for his fallen people, for the lives that this pointless war has cost his kingdom, but in particular he weeps for Robert—no, Hob Gadling, his oldest and most treasured friend.
Hob had been one of the only members of Morpheus’s court that did not treat him like the outsider he was when he was appointed king. When the Endless came to power, they divided the small municipalities into their own kingdoms, placing each of their seven children as the reigning monarch. Dream had suffered many cutting remarks and passive aggressive attacks, but Hob had been open and honest with him, even if their relationship did not start off in the most positive manner.
To know now that Morpheus would no longer hear Hob’s laugh, would never again be able to break bread and share stories over a warm open fire with him, that he would never feel the warm touch of the other man’s hand upon his shoulder, was more than the king could bear. He retires early to his bed, and spends the next days alone in bedchambers, claiming a sudden illness, but in truth, he is mourning for what could have been, what he was too cowardly to reach for, what he could have had, if only he’d been brave enough to confess how he felt.
And now, it was too late. 
-----------------------------------------------
When Hob finally escapes his imprisonment behind enemy lines, he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake, including the head of the Morningstar King. He steals a horse and rides away into the night, desperate to return to his men and tell them that everything is over. The war is over. The Morningstar and their warriors will trouble them no longer.  
When he comes across the nearest army camp flying the Endless flag, he heads immediately for the general’s tent. But instead of finding his second-in-command, he finds King Morpheus there, sprawled across what was once Hob’s bedroll, a cup of some unknown liquid in his hand. When he sees Hob enter, he freezes and drops the cup immediately, and the smell of cheap liquor fills the air between them.
“Oh,” King Morpheus whispers in a broken tone that absolutely breaks Hob’s heart. “I'm dreaming of you again.” As Hob steps further into the tent, he can see the king’s brilliant blue eyes are stained red from crying, and his cheeks too are covered in tear tracks that criss-cross along his face. It is breathtaking and beautiful, agonizing and unbearable, all at once.
“I am no dream,” Hob says softly as he approaches his king. Had he put those tears on his lord’s face? Had Morpheus thought him dead the entire time he’d been imprisoned?
“Oh but you are, for why else would a dead man stand before me and haunt my grieving heart so?” Morpheus replies, his breath hitching now as his body threatens to start sobbing anew. “Why else would I see you, if not as a reminder for every unspoken word, every regret I hold for not confessing to you you my deepest desires?"
Now it is Hob’s turn to gasp, his heart beating wildly in his breast. Surely there was no way that Morpheus was alluding to sharing the same desires as Hob. But then, why else would his king be here, in Hob’s tent, laying amongst Hob’s things, acting as a grieving widow, if he didn’t not feel like one himself? 
Hob takes another step closer, and though Morpheus startles, he does not flinch back from him. Hob then kneels down in front of his king so that they are eye to eye, and steels his nerves for what he plans to say next. 
“What would tell me, my liege, were you not caught in the thrall of a dream?” Hob asks. “What words do you hold in your heart that you could tell me before?”
Morpheus chuckles, and it sounds like shattered glass. 
“If I were not dreaming?” he asks. “If I wouldn't be dreaming and if you would be really here, then I would tell you I love you, Robert Gadling.”
Hob he gives up all semblance of self control and brings his hands to his king’s face. Morpheus gasps at the touch and Hob wants to kiss him, wants to pull this beautiful, wonderful man into his arms and never let him go.
“You’re—” Morpheus breathes, his eyes filled with tears once more. “You’re alive.”
Hob nods. “It is not a dream,” he says. “Touch me, and feel that I am real.”
Morpheus lunges towards him and seals their lips together in a kiss. Hob kisses him back, uncaring of the fact that any random soldier could walk in at any moment. All that matters to him now is that he and Morpheus are reunited, that he is alive, and in love with someone who loves him back. That is all that matters, for tonight.
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wolfjackle-creates · 9 months
Note
Ask Game:
8. "Who did this to you." and 24. Showing up at friend/mentors house.
With hurt Danny and any/all of the Bats.
Okay, but holy shit, you have no idea how perfect this one is. I was imagining a scenario with both of these earlier today. This is an alternate version of Bring Me Home where Danny and Tim were online friends from the time they were preteens. The actual fic will not go this way, so I'm so excited to have an excuse to share this version with y'all.
Nonny, I absolutely love you for sending these two in (no romo).
For those who don't follow Bring Me Home. Tim's username was IKnowYourSecrets and Danny often calls him "Secrets." Danny's username was -xXPolarisXx- and Tim will call him "Polaris."
And for everyone, Sam and Tucker ended up with codenames after all their adventures in Amity. Sam is referred to as Regrowth and Tucker as Pharaoh. This will come up later in Bring Me Home, but hasn't yet (mainly bc what I'm writing now takes place before those events).
Word Count: 1.2k
-----
Danny's vision blurred and he felt himself fall a dozen feet. He clutched his stomach tighter and grit his teeth against the pain.
He was almost there. He could make it.
With the last of his strength, he shot an ectoblast into the sky and fell a few more feet, hitting the roof of a building. He scrapped along the rough surface and the only reason he didn't scream was because he couldn't catch his breath enough to. Everything hurt.
He couldn't even push himself up and so just lay there, trying and failing to catch his breath. Not even when he heard a strange noise and footsteps behind him could he move. He tensed as much as possible.
"Who are you?" asked a man.
Danny just groaned. He hurt. He needed Tim.
The footsteps got closer and Danny opened his eyes. When had he closed them? He saw black boots and skin-tight leggins.
Then the man was kneeling. Blue accents on his chest, a domino over his eyes.
Danny let out a sigh. It tasted of ectoplasm. "Ni-win," he slurred.
"So you know who I am, who are you? What happened? How can I help?"
"R— R'bin. Know me."
"You're looking for Robin?"
His vision was going dark. "R'bin. Yea. Secrets. Friends."
"I'll get Robin here. Can you tell me your name?"
"Polaris. Tell—" Danny coughed weakly and spat out more ectoplasm. "Tell 'im, 'M ready to accept 'is offer."
"I will," promised Nightwing.
The blackness crept in further. Danny could hear Nightwing still talking, but couldn't make out the words. Everything was getting fuzzy. But he was in Gotham. Tim was here. Tim would make it all better. He let go.
---
Despite the quiet night, Tim was tense. He couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. So when Dick's panicked voice came over the comms asking Damian about a secret friend, he was already pulling up Dick's location.
He was on the roof of Tim's civilian apartment building. Which, what?
"I do not have any secret friends," came Damian's reply.
"He's a meta. Caucasian with white hair. He's hurt bad, bleeding everywhere. Lazarus green blood—"
Tim's blood ran cold and he wished he could grapple faster. "Fuck! I'm heading to your location now. He's my friend, not Robin's. Bring him into my apartment. He needs specialized medicines and I've a supply."
"He called himself Polaris. Said he's ready to accept your offer," said Dick.
"Shit. Fuck. Okay. Eta, fifteen minutes."
"I'll get him inside."
"Don't try to treat his injuries," Tim ordered. "Human treatments won't work."
"Understood."
"And..." Tim hesitated, "Did he say how he was injured?"
"No. He passed out before he could."
Tim cursed again, but didn't reply further, despite the way the rest of his family demanded information. If it was the GIW, he'd need to arrange extraction for Sam and Tucker. But if it was Danny's parents... Well, he might just cross a line he swore he'd never cross when he first put on the Robin suit.
Fifteen minutes later, he was sliding the window to his apartment open. Dick had Danny laid out on the floor and was stripping him and pulling away loose bandages, revealing a large Y-shaped incision on his chest.
Dick looked up at him, face grim. Tim didn't let himself pause to look and ran to his bedroom and threw open his closet door. He slid open a hidden compartment revealing a safe and, with shaking fingers, punched in the code. The door swung open and he grabbed the silver-and-green case inside.
He rushed back to Danny's side. "Who did this to you?" he mumbled as he took stock of the injuries.
"Do you have any idea who might've wanted to hurt him?" asked Dick.
"With these wounds, it would be either the GIW or his parents." Tim bit back a hysterical laugh. "Been trying to get him away from them for three years now, but he swore they'd be okay once they realized who he was. Idiot." Tim bit his lip. He couldn't cry right now. He opened the case and pulled out gloves and antiseptic and began cleaning the wounds. "Dick, I need you to contact Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl. Tell them Phantom's hurt bad and Regrowth and Pharaoh may need immediate extraction."
"Okay." Dick was already typing away on his phone. Moments later, it started ringing and Dick answered it on speaker.
Cassie's voice came over, "Red Robin, what's going on?"
"Phantom's been vivisected. He passed out before he could share the culprits. We're at my apartment in Gotham. If it was the GIW..."
"I'm sure Impulse is already there. I need to go home and grab my deflector first, but I'm going to get to Amity as soon as I can. We'll keep you updated."
"Thanks. Phantom's in bad shape. I don't..."
"Rob, you know what to do. We've known this was a risk for three years. You've talked to Frostbite and Regrowth and Phantom about how to best care for traumatic wounds. You're going to make sure he pulls through this."
Tim's eyes burned, but he kept working. Almost done and then he could start with the stitches. "Thanks."
"Anytime, Rob."
The call disconnected and Tim took a shaky breath. Time to start the stitches. They'd come directly from Frostbite and the thread glowed a bright, ectoplasm green.
"Tim," Dick's voice was tight, "Why do you have a case filled with Lazarus water and Lazarus-green supplies?"
"Not Lazarus water." He didn't bother explaining more. He laid the thread along the wounds and willed it to close the wound.
The thread obeyed, breaking into small pieces and sewing the skin together on his own. For the first time since he realized Danny was hurt, he smiled. Ghost medicine definitely made this part easier.
With the major injury taken care of as best as possible, Tim began checking over the rest of Danny. He had a bad burn on his left thigh, new electricity marks on his right shoulder, and his right ankle was either badly sprained or broken.
So he set to cleaning those as best he could. Creams then bandages covered the burns. The splint he laid along the ankle set itself just like the stitches had.
Dick tried to help, but Tim brushed him aside. It'd take too long to explain what had to be done.
Eventually, Dick got up and walked away. He could hear him in the kitchen area messing around in the fridge and reporting the situation over the comms, but he ignored it.
Finally, everything was categorized and bandaged to the best of his abilities. Now, for the final step. He pulled out a syringe shining bright with ectoplasm and stabbed it into a mostly-uninjured area of Danny's thigh.
Danny's back arched off the ground and he gasped, eyes flying open.
Tim leaned over him, "Danny, it's okay. You're safe now. You made it."
"Tim," gasped Danny.
"Yep. You made it. Can you tell me who did this to you?"
Danny closed his eyes and breathed out. "Mom and Dad."
Tim grasped Danny's hand. "Danny..."
Danny squeezed back. He opened his eyes and met Tim's gaze. "Still have that spare room for me?"
"I've had it since the day you died, idiot. Welcome home."
Danny gave a small smile even as tears tracked down his cheeks. "I'm home."
-----
Okay! That ended up being both longer and shorter than I thought it'd be. Hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for sending the prompt, Nonny! And the rest of you, feel free to keep sending some in. I'm off tomorrow and should be able to fill one or two. Any others I can work on over the course of the week.
For now, it's bedtime.
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mcdynamite · 1 year
Text
If you asked most people who know Eddie Munson, they’d tell you that he's a loud, theatrical man. They might tell you that he's always bouncing around, full of chaotic energy and wild ideas, eager to share what's on his mind with anyone who will listen.
And for the most part, they would be right.
But Steve Harrington knows that there's more to it than that.
Steve knows that Eddie is loud, most of the time, except for when he feels most comfortable.
It's a realization that comes to Steve slowly in the weeks following their final battle against Vecna and the Upside Down, during the time they spend sharing a hospital room while they recover from their bat bites.
Steve is there to witness Eddie's cacophonous reunion with the kids - rife with hollering and boisterous laughter and some very stern (if relieved) scolding from Erica Sinclair. But he's also there to see the way Eddie motions Dustin over once everyone settles down and begins to trickle out of the room. Steve watches as Eddie pulls Dustin into his arms and mutters something Steve can't hear into the kid's ear - something that makes Dustin smile with teary eyes.
It's the first time Steve has seen such a soft display of emotion from Eddie Munson, and he finds it strangely fascinating.
Then, it's the same with Wayne a few days later, when he's finally allowed to visit Eddie in the hospital. Steve expects something a bit dramatic from Hawkins' most notorious Dungeon Master, to be honest, but it's not dramatic at all. The reunion between the Munson men is soft and subdued, nothing but quiet sentiments Steve can't quite make out. Eddie is still as full of energy as ever, but with Wayne around, he loses that frantic edge. And so Steve eventually realizes...
The more comfortable Eddie is, the less jagged his edges get. Loud, raucous laughter becomes soft chuckles. Booming declarations give way to quiet promises. Eddie Munson is softer when he feels safest, and Steve quickly decides that while he likes any and all versions of Eddie, he's particularly fond of this one - the one who's shed his emotional armor in favor of comfort, and perhaps a little vulnerability.
He wants to see more of this Eddie - the one who seems closest to Eddie's truest self.
And overtime, Steve gets his wish.
It starts with quiet, late-night conversations filling the space between their beds in the hospital, when they finally begin to dismantle every misguided preconceived notion they've ever had about each other in order to forge a friendship from the ground up.
Once they're released back into the real world, it continues. There are soft, amused comments murmured into Steve's ear during movie nights, and cheeky observations about the kids they practically share custody of on days at the arcade. There are relaxed conversations over a joint passed back and forth on nights when neither of them can sleep at three in the morning.
The closer they get, the softer Eddie becomes, and it only becomes more obvious when they finally stop dancing around each other and start dating.
Eddie's voice is careful and kind when he asks, "Can I kiss you?" for the first time.
He's practically whispering a week later when they both admit to wanting more than just a casual fling with each other.
When Steve makes him come for the first time, Eddie is all soft gasps and quiet whimpers... breathlessly chanting Steve's name like a prayer. And when Eddie returns the favor later that night, it's with the sweetest, filthiest things whispered into Steve's ear, working him into a frenzy until it takes him over the edge.
And four months into their relationship, one of their most important milestones is said so quietly, Steve almost misses it entirely.
They're laying in bed together, chatting away just like they do almost every night. Steve is basking in the feeling of Eddie's arms around him...of Eddie's bare chest against his back as they trade warmth back and forth. He always loves cuddling with Eddie, but he thinks these nights are his favorites. The ones when he gets to be the little spoon, tucked safely into the arms of the boy he thinks of first every morning and last every night.
Eddie tells him about the way Mike wouldn't stop bitching about his sunburn during the D&D campaign Eddie ran with the boys earlier today, and Steve can't help but roll his eyes.
"God, I told him to use sunscreen yesterday!" Steve insists. Behind him, Eddie snorts. "I did! I told all of them to use it, and most of them listened to me, but did Michael Wheeler? Of course not, because that little shit is hellbent on giving me grays before I turn thirty!"
There's another snort from Eddie - this one louder than the first - and Steve playfully smacks his arm where it's wrapped around Steve's abdomen. Eddie just catches his hand and traces circles across the back of it with his thumb.
"This isn't some laughing matter, Munson!" Steve hisses. "We're talking about my hair, here!"
"Oh, woe be upon he who dares threaten the integrity of your glorious mane, my liege," Eddie drawls dramatically. He nuzzles into the aforementioned mane and presses a soft kiss to the spot just behind Steve's ear.
"Exactly, see? You get it," Steve scoffs, choosing to ignore the sarcasm in his boyfriend's voice.
Eddie buries his face in the crook of Steve's neck and makes a vague humming sound.
"Seriously, though, next time, I'm putting sunscreen in a spray bottle and ambushing him with it, or some shit. I’ll be damned if he survived the apocalypse just so his pasty ass could be taken out by the sun," Steve continues to vent.
Eddie just laughs softly. "You're ridiculous, sweetheart," he murmurs. Steve feels him brush his lips against Steve's pulse point and has to suppress a shiver.
"Yes, and?" Steve huffs, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.
"You're ridiculous," Eddie repeats. Then, his voice goes impossibly soft - barely a whisper, and a bit hesitant - but Steve feels the words ghost over the shell of his ear. "And I love you."
Steve's breath hitches just as Eddie seems to realize the gravity of what he's let slip. Eddie's thumb, which has been rubbing gentle circles into the back of Steve's hand ever since he grabbed it a minute, suddenly pauses. For a moment, neither of them move.
It's Steve who unfreezes first, slowly rolling over until he's facing Eddie, still wrapped in his boyfriend's arms. He takes in Eddie's wide eyes and vaguely anxious expression before reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair out of Eddie's face.
Steve's voice is raspy when he finally manages to speak.
"You love me?" he asks hesitantly, hating the half of himself that's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe he misheard. Maybe Eddie said something else. Or worse, maybe Eddie changed his mind immediately after saying it and is now regretting saying it in the first place. It wouldn't be the first time someone changed their mind about loving Steve, after all.
Eddie doesn't correct him, though, or take it back. Instead, he nods hesitantly, as though he's afraid Steve will hate him for it, and bites his lip.
"I- yeah," he says, still whispering. He looks terrified, and it makes Steve's heart ache. "Is that...okay?"
Steve wants to laugh. Or cry. Maybe both. Mostly, he wants to tell Eddie that it's more than okay - that he loves him, too, and has for a while now.
"Say it again," Steve begs, instead.
Eddie blinks, his gaze transforming into something so devastatingly tender that Steve doubts he'll ever recover.
"Stevie..." Eddie murmurs, bringing their foreheads to rest against each other. His lips curl into a smile. Steve smiles back. "I love you."
Steve is only slightly embarrassed by the way his heart is rabbiting against his ribs, surely loud enough for his boyfriend to hear.. "Really?"
Eddie smiles and lets their noses brush. "Yeah, baby. I really do."
"Oh," Steve breathes. His disbelief finally gives way to wonder as he allows his hand to move on its own accord - fingertips brushing against the soft skin of Eddie's cheek. Reverently, he traces the shape of Eddie's nose, of his eyebrows, of the little scar on Eddie's temple that's only just begun to fade.
Eddie presses a barely-there kiss to the pads of Steve's fingers when they finally drag across his lips. The action leaves Steve feeling so fond it aches.
"I love you, too," Steve whispers, because it's the truth. He's not sure exactly when he started to fall in love with Eddie Munson, but he does know that he's never stopped. He thinks he'll probably keep falling in love with Eddie until the day he dies.
It's a disgustingly sweet sentiment, and Steve can't bring himself to care.
"Fuck, Eddie," he laughs, breathless. Eddie's eyes are shining with joy. With love. Steve moves closer, until their lips brush against each other when he murmurs, "Love you so much."
Steve's heart has never felt as full as it does right now - as it continues to feel when they collide in a flurry of heated skin, soft lips, and quiet words of adoration. It's not the first time they've had sex, but it's the first time it's felt like this - like being wholly and completely cared for, for the first time in his life. Steve has tears in his eyes by the time they collapse against each other, sated and utterly in love, and Eddie devotedly kisses the tears away when they begin to fall.
In the aftermath, once they've both been cleaned up and caught their breath, Eddie pulls Steve into his arms so Steve's head can rest on his scarred chest. The soft thump of Eddie's heartbeat beneath his ear - proof that they survived everything they've been through, and that their reward is this beautiful, brilliant love - brings a smile to Steve's face.
He turns his head and presses his lips to Eddie's chest, just above Eddie's heart. Eddie's arms tighten around him.
"Love you, Eds," Steve murmurs, settling in and closing his eyes as sleep begins to beckon.
Eddie just holds him and runs nimble fingers through Steve's hair, bending to press a kiss to Steve's temple.
"Love you too, Stevie," Eddie whispers in his ear, voice perfectly, beautifully soft.
Written for the prompt "things you whispered in my ear" from this prompt request list I posted a couple of months ago! If you want to request another one of the prompts on the list, drop me an ask and I'll write it as soon as I can!
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