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edenesth · 2 months

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My Forever Valentine

Pairing: bf!Jaehyun x gf!reader

AU: non-idol au

Word Count: 2.6k

Summary: Throughout your years together, Jaehyun had consistently taken charge of organising your Valentine's Day celebrations, even though it was his own birthday. But as your fourth anniversary approached, you decided it was your turn to take the reins. Yet, in your attempt to plan the day, everything seemed to go awry. Or... did it?

A/N: It's Valentine's Day and Jaehyun's birthday, and since he's my NCT bias, ofc I had to write this.

MAIN MASTERLIST

Jung Jaehyun.

Your high school sweetheart.

He was the epitome of popularity in all your school years. Handsome, intelligent, and accomplished in almost every aspect of life, he seemed to effortlessly excel in everything he pursued. If anyone ever doubted god has favourites, they clearly have not seen him. He was the embodiment of perfection, and he was all yours.

But you? Not so much.

Unlike your boyfriend, you weren't a social butterfly, didn't hold the captaincy of any sports team, nor were you a contender for the valedictorian title. You were simply an average university student, striving to ensure you progressed to the next semester without the burden of retaking any courses.

And yet, Jaehyun seemed to see something in you that even you struggled to recognise.

Despite your enduring status as the quiet and shy girl since high school, you somehow managed to capture the attention of the basketball team's heartthrob of a captain. It was on Valentine's Day of your senior year that he confessed his feelings to you, and as a birthday gift to him, you chose to accept his confession.

As time passed, you found yourselves celebrating your fourth year together. Initially, you harboured fears that your seemingly perfect boyfriend would eventually leave you once he came to realise how ordinary you were. However, each passing year proved you wrong as he continued to demonstrate his love and care, meticulously planning unforgettable Valentine's Day celebrations, even when it was his own birthday.

On your first Valentine's Day together, right after you said yes to being his girlfriend, Jaehyun swept you off your feet with a heartfelt surprise. He took you to your favourite café, where you indulged in boba and shared laughter over cosy conversations. From there, he surprised you with a trip to the arcade, where you both embraced your inner children, playing games and capturing adorable photos together, photos you still keep in your wallets to this day.

For your second Valentine's Day, he went above and beyond to make it memorable. He planned a full day at the amusement park, starting with a thrilling morning at the water park, where you splashed and laughed together, enjoying the refreshing waves and thrilling slides. As the sun began to set, you ventured into the theme park, hand in hand, experiencing the exhilarating rides and magical atmosphere. The day concluded with a hearty dinner, where you toasted to your love and the memories you had created throughout the day.

On your third Valentine's Day, Jaehyun surprised you with a romantic mountain retreat, whisking you away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Surrounded by breathtaking views and serene nature, you spent the day indulging in multiple couple activities, from hiking hand in hand along scenic trails to picnicking by a tranquil lake. As the sun dipped below the horizon, you cosied up together by a crackling fire, cherishing the warmth of each other's company.

As your fourth anniversary and Valentine's Day approached, a newfound sense of confidence and assurance settled within you, bolstered by your boyfriend's unwavering love over the years. Slowly but surely, you found it increasingly difficult to imagine your life without him by your side, and you were determined to make this February 14th one to remember.

With a flutter of anticipation, you recalled approaching him with a gentle smile a couple of weeks ago, "Jae, I'd like to be the one to plan our Valentine's Day this year. Can I?"

Initially taken aback by your proposal, his eyes lit up with warmth and affection as he wholeheartedly agreed, "Of course, my love. We'll do anything you want." He responded with a kiss on your head, his reassurance melting away any lingering doubts.

Filled with excitement and determination, you spared no effort in arranging the perfect evening for him. After much deliberation and meticulous planning, you managed to secure a reservation at an exclusive restaurant facing a famous beach in Seoul. They offered a special Valentine's Day package, promising a lavish fine dining experience, captivating performances, and the opportunity to dance the night away under the stars.

During the dancing session, you had already made plans to express your desire to spend forever by his side. Tradition be damned, considering all he had done for you, you didn't mind taking the initiative to propose.

Getting home from your internship that evening, excitement bubbled within you and Jaehyun as you dressed in your finest attire, ready for a night of enchantment. You slipped into an elegant little black dress while he donned a sharp ensemble consisting of a crisp shirt, tailored pants, and a stylish blazer. The anticipation was palpable as you imagined the unforgettable evening ahead.

With his hand in yours and his other hand confidently guiding the steering wheel, you began your journey to the famous restaurant you had miraculously secured a booking with, "I'm so proud of you, my love," He said, his voice filled with admiration, "It usually takes months to secure a booking here, but you managed it in just weeks."

You couldn't contain your happiness, leaning your head against his shoulder with a grin, "I know, Jae. I still can't believe we're actually going there tonight," You replied excitedly, "Johnny is going to be so jealous! He's been raving about this place forever."

Or maybe he won't be jealous at all.

"We apologise deeply, miss! We were just about to contact you to inform you of the sudden closure of our restaurant!"

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

Your heart sank upon arriving at the restaurant, met with unexpected news. A sudden kitchen malfunction had forced the establishment to close for the evening, leaving both of you frozen in disbelief. The weight of disappointment lingered heavily as you stood side by side at the restaurant's entrance, all dressed up with nowhere to go.

It felt like all your efforts had been in vain.

Feeling a surge of frustration and helplessness, you cast a glance at your boyfriend, uncertain of your next steps. His expression mirrored your own, a blend of disappointment and disbelief evident in his eyes. Silence settled between you for a moment as you both processed the unexpected turn of events.

Unfortunately, leaving was definitely not an option. Situated on the outskirts of Seoul, the restaurant's distance from the city meant that returning now would consume too much time. Besides, the unpredictability of traffic congestion could potentially result in both of you arriving well past midnight if you were to depart at this moment.

Letting out a sigh, you reached out to grasp his hand, "Gosh, I-I'm so sorry, Jae," You murmured, the words tinged with regret, "The one time I took charge of our Valentine's Day plans, this happens."

His immediate frown of disapproval at your self-blame was evident as he gently cupped your face in his hands, "Hey, none of this is your fault," He reassured, his voice soft but firm, "No one could have predicted this. It's alright; we'll find something else to do here."

Ugh, can he be any more perfect?

He pressed a reassuring kiss onto your lips before scanning the surroundings, searching for a solution. Suddenly, a glimmer of hope brightened his expression as he spotted a 24-hour convenience store around the corner and the picturesque beach still stretched out before you.

"Perhaps a romantic evening is still within reach." He suggested, his optimism infectious as he swiftly removed his blazer and draped it around your bare shoulders, ready to make the most of the sudden change of plans.

Stepping into the nearby convenience store, you were both greeted by the inviting glow of fluorescent lights. The weight of earlier disappointment seemed to fade away, replaced by a sense of warmth and comfort as you watched Jaehyun move gracefully down the aisles, effortlessly selecting your favourite foods, snacks, and drinks. Each item he chose, each thoughtful gesture, further solidified your desire to spend the rest of your life by his side.

With each passing second, the idea of being without him became unimaginable. In his presence, you found a sense of belonging and home that you knew you never wanted to live without.

Lost in the moment, overwhelmed with gratitude for the man you called yours, you couldn't resist the urge to hug him from behind. His smile greeted you as he turned to look at you over his shoulder, "Everything alright?" You nodded against him, replying softly, "Just wanted to be close to you."

The both of you were completely oblivious to the cashier rolling his eyes at the display and glancing away. However, any traces of irritation dissolved as soon as you both politely completed your payment and even extended well wishes for the remainder of his shift. Maybe, just maybe, he found the two of you a tad cute.

Emerging from the store with your arms laden with goodies, you made your way back to the beach, the cool breeze carrying the scent of saltwater and possibility. Settling down on the soft sand, your boyfriend made sure to keep you warm, tightening his blazer snugly around your frame, "Can't have you catching a cold, my love. Just tell me if you're feeling too chilly, hm?" Despite your long history together, his thoughtfulness never failed to make your heart flutter.

As the sky shifted into a tapestry of vibrant hues, you shared a playful exchange about the potential teasing from your friends regarding the unexpected turn of your date as you ate, "Ugh, Donghyuck is never going to let me hear the end of this. I was boasting to him just yesterday," You lamented with a groan, eliciting laughter from Jaehyun, "I'll give him a piece of my mind if he dares."

With the stars twinkling overhead and the gentle lull of the ocean as your backdrop, you couldn't imagine a more perfect setting for your makeshift Valentine's Day celebration.

Finishing the last of your kimbap, you leaned into his embrace, watching the moon rise over the horizon, your heart warmed as you felt him tighten his hold around you before tracing kisses down the side of your face, "I still can't believe we came all this way, dressed up and everything, just to be told the restaurant's closed. I promise next year will be better, Jae."

"It doesn't matter what we do. All I need is you by my side, my love," He whispered, nuzzling his face against the crook of your neck. You felt a rush of emotion welling in your eyes, quickly blinking it away, "Okay, okay, it's time for your birthday cake."

Giving him a quick peck on his cheek, you reached into the bag of treats you had gotten from the convenience store earlier. Pulling out a colourful cupcake adorned with sprinkles, you carefully placed a candle on top and lit it, shielding the flame from the gentle ocean breeze with your hand.

Clearing your throat, you began to sing the familiar birthday song, your voice mingling with the sound of the waves crashing nearby, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Jaehyun..."

His grin widened as he listened to your melody, his eyes shining with affection. When you reached the final verse, you leaned forward, presenting the cupcake before him, "Come on, birthday boy," You teased playfully, "Make a wish."

With a nod, he closed his eyes and pressed his hands together, his expression one of quiet contemplation. After a moment, he whispered his wish into the wind, his words barely audible over the sound of the ocean.

Curious, you leaned in closer, waiting with bated breath to hear his wish. And when he finally spoke, his words filled your heart with warmth and joy, "I wish for you to be my forever Valentine."

Tears welled up in your eyes at his words, "No fair—I was going to ask you first. You're always a step ahead."

He chuckled softly, "I suppose you'll have to get used to it for the rest of your life. Are you up for that?"

Without hesitation, you leaned in to press your lips against his, "Are you kidding? Of course, I am."

As the moonlight cast a soft glow over the two of you, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small velvet box. Your eyes widened in surprise as he opened it, revealing a dazzling ring nestled inside.

"I've been waiting for the perfect moment to do this," Jaehyun confessed, his voice filled with sincerity, "I wanted to propose to you this year, regardless of who was in charge of our Valentine's Day plans. And considering you hinted at wanting to ask me first, I'm assuming your answer is a resounding yes."

Your heart skipped a beat as you gazed at the ring, the significance of the moment sinking in. Speechless and overcome with emotion, you nodded fervently, unable to find the words to express the overwhelming love and gratitude swelling within you.

Jaehyun slid the ring onto your finger, sealing your bond with a promise of forever. With a soft grin, he stood up from his seat, extending his hand toward you with an overdramatic bow, "Would you care to dance, my beautiful future Mrs. Jung?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with love and excitement.

Giggling softly, you placed your hand in his, feeling a surge of joy at the thought of the future ahead, "I'd love to, Mr. Jung."

As the two of you swayed clumsily along the shore, the diamond ring on your finger catching the moonlight, the rhythmic sound of the waves provided a soothing melody. Your boyfriend, now fiancé, held you close, his gaze locked with yours as he pulled you in, resting his forehead against yours.

"If you still have any doubts," He murmured softly, lips brushing against yours, "I want you to know that this has been my absolute favourite Valentine's Day and birthday celebration so far."

Your heart melted at his words, and you nodded, feeling a wave of emotion wash over you, "I believe you, Jae."

With a dimpled smile, he leaned in, his lips catching yours in a loving kiss that conveyed the depth of your shared love. As you melted into his embrace, you realised that sometimes the most memorable moments are the unplanned ones. Despite the unexpected change of plans, you were content with how the evening had unfolded.

After all, even if you had been displeased with this Valentine's Day, there would be plenty more in the future to make up for it.

He's mine, forever.

Bonus:

Glancing at the time, you both agreed it was time to head home. As you gathered your belongings and approached Jaehyun's car, you were surprised to see the cashier from the convenience store earlier emerging from the shop and walking past you both, seemingly finishing his shift.

"Hey there, need a ride home? It's getting late, and we're happy to drop you off anywhere along our way." Your fiancé offered kindly, motioning towards his car.

The young man, whose name tag was revealed as Jisung, shook his head with a smile, "Thanks, but I'll be alright. I live just around the corner. You two have a safe journey back to the city, though."

You nodded in acknowledgement, watching as he continued on his way before pausing after a few steps, turning back to face you and Jaehyun, "Oh, um... congratulations, by the way. I saw the proposal from inside the store." He mentioned, nodding towards your ring, and both of you blushed.

With a sheepish shrug, he offered a light smile, "Happy Valentine's Day, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world."

"Thank you, Jisung."

As he made his way home, the young man couldn't help but shake his head with a small smile. Alright, perhaps he did find the two of you incredibly adorable. A part of him felt a warmth within, witnessing such genuine love between you both. It left him hoping to find someone just as special for himself someday.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all, my lovelies! Just another self-indulgent piece HAHA this is what happens when you've been single for way too long lmfao I'll pretend this is exactly how my Valentine's Day is going to go :)

Leave a message or reply to lmk if you'd like to be added (or removed, I'd understand) from my master tag list! As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing all your thoughts! <3

Tag list: @cereal-simp @itstheghostofmypast @vantediary @green-agent @sharksandminhos

#nct #nct 127 #nct fanfic #nct fanfiction #jung jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #nct jaehyun #non idol au #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x you #nct fic #jaehyun oneshot #nct oneshot

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keeksandgigz · 6 months

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lavender syrup (part one of lessons in alchemy)

barista!eddie munson x fem!barista!reader AU

summary: Eddie is the owner of the most popular cafe in his small town, "The Mad Alchemist," you are the owner of the rival cafe "Daily Drug". You obviously hate each other, but when a pipe bursts into your cafe that might take months to repair, your contractor assigns you and your coworkers to work with Eddie in order to keep your job, just until "Daily Drug" is ready to run again. Is tolerating him really that big of a feat?

cw: 4k words, swearing, modern setting, allusions to smut but nothing explicit (yet), Eddie calls reader a bitch a couple times and he's such a condescending asshole but in a hot way, i feel like the sexual tension needs its own tw, Steve is also in this <3

a/n: pls like and reblog and feedback is always so very much appreciated!! my requests are always open if u wanna chat <3

divider by @benkeibear

Eddie Munson wasn’t the type to want much from life. He was content in his little town, managing the coffee shop that kept it alive. From the early morning crew of truckers, farmers, nurses and cops to the 9 am rushes of the corporate job workers from one town over to the yoga moms, the high schoolers after the ring of the last bell. Eddie Munson did not have any big plans for his life. The little coffee shop made him enough money that he was able to take care of his uncle, now retired, and live by himself in a small apartment with his roommate, Steve.

He got an associate’s degree in business, and after that he opened “The Mad Alchemist Cafe,” a DnD themed rustic coffee shop filled with beakers, lights and plants. The exposed brick the “interior designer” (it really was just a friend who had a good eye) begged him to paint over was instead littered with posters of announcements. He would host poetry slams, band performances, most importantly DnD campaigns he'd have to close down the cafe for in the evenings. For a few years he had also been hosting Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners for those who didn’t have a family to go home to for the holidays.

He hired his roommate and closest friend, Steve to be the baker. Straight out of cooking school, Steve Harrington took care of the sweet and savory. The thousand- layer croissants that would melt once slightly placed on the tip of the tongue. Airy, buttery pastry that made Eddie's customers sigh with every bite, as they lingered on the wooden bar, conversing with the baristas. The lunch hour crew, asking for meatball sandwiches and messy pasta bowls. He’d make turkeys for the dinners at the cafe, during the holiday season, along with insurmountable potato dishes and stuffing.

Eddie's life was littered with small sprinkles of joy. Everyone knew him as the kid from the cafe, with his long hair, sticking out of the messy bun he would wear to work. It started off as a joke in middle school, when Eddie's hair was buzzed due to a lice epidemic. Steve had miserably beat him at the arcade. He had grown fond of the long hair though, and added to the mystique of his coffee shop. It was also metal as fuck.

He felt like he was the main accessory to his lovely brick building; there would not have been “The Mad Alchemist Cafe” without Eddie Munson, something that both staff and customers knew. The cafe would also not have been the cafe without the three years long rivalry with the only other cafe on their side of town, “Daily Drug” that opened a year after Eddie’s. The brand new establishment that started taking customers from him, claiming that their chai lattes and breakfast sandwiches were to die for.

Eddie had not interacted much with you, the owner of the cafe. Your bossy, stuck up and overall terrible attitude were a house trade mark there. He had been in the cafe though, and understood why “Daily Drug” was such an incredible contender to his establishment. The ambiance was different, like a Pinterest board had come to life. The pink and blue tile that decorated the walls as well as the ironic bitchy posters that ranged from a snarky “What are you looking at?” to a direct and curt “don’t be an asshole” decorated the walls.

It was nothing like the cafe Eddie had imagined, the colorful palette contrasting with the caricaturistic mean and sarcastic ways of the staff, whose bitterness might have actually improved the taste of their coffee, as their lavender lattes tasted way sweeter, the syrup not overpowering the taste of the coffee, perfectly blended with the best milk for the beverage, which he found was almond.

You could have easily spat in his cup, but you serve him with feigned kindness as you make sure to make him hear a soundly “UGH could he be any more annoying?” to a blonde haired coworker, whose name he finds out later is Colette. Colette erupts in laughter as she serves his lavender latte with an egg and sausage burrito with a side of aggressive side eye. You had definitely spat in his drink.

A fifteen- minute car ride later, Eddie enters his cafe begrudged by his inability to master a lavender latte. The taste of his in- house lavender syrup is too artificial, while “Daily Drug”’s try as he might is a flavor that he had never encountered.

The lavender provides a sweet flavor to the drink that pairs perfectly with the bitter coffee and the creamy taste of the almond milk without the artificial aftertaste. He beelines to the back of the building, to the room he called his lab, setting down his bag on a stool next to him as he takes a bored bite out of the egg and sausage burrito. Hm. Steve's is better.

He jots down some notes in his journal. Try lemon for lavender syrup. Fennel seed in the sausage. Paprika maybe? Definitely garlic. He should have listened to his uncle and he should have gone to cooking school before he had opened the restaurant. He knew that he had the talent for it, Steve had even asked him to apply together, but he felt like it was not his true calling.

“Your true calling is bossing everyone around, Ed” said his uncle with a laugh, one of the many sleepless nights he had spent mulling over the cafe during its early days. A knock startles him from his reverie. It's Steve.

“Hey, didn’t see you come in. Are you still stressing over that lavender syrup thing?” he leans on the doorframe, half smiling at Eddie. He came in too early. Him and Steve were kind of the same in that regard, once haunted by an idea, they would not rest until it was executed.

“What was it this morning? Strawberry frosting on matcha rolls?” says Eddie taking another bite out of his stale burrito.

"Nah, it's for the Halloween special, I'm trying to figure out the menu. We need to remember to add more nutmeg to the pumpkin spice syrup this year" Steve says, crossing his arms.

"Shit, yeah, I almost forgot. Also, this" Eddie shakes his burrito towards his friend "does not compare to yours by, like, miles. The sausage is too dry and the egg too cooked" Steve shrugs and fixes his glasses with a smug smile.

"Knew it." Eddie laughs at that, then proceeds to scribble in his leather bound notebook. Then the phone rings.

"Hey Steve, do you mind getting that?" Eddie says, not moving his head from the notebook.

"You got it boss" Steve heads towards the phone in Eddie's office.

"'Mad Alchemist Cafe' Steve speaking...Mhm...yeah, Eddie's in...oh shit" at that, Eddie turns his head.

"What is it, what's wrong Steve?" his tone alarmed as he paces towards the phone.

"Yeah no he's here you can talk to him, Jim" Steve passes the phone, making a face, the corners of his mouth pulled as if he were in trouble. "It's Jim" his contractor. Fuck.

Eddie presses the phone to his ear "Hey Jim, what's up?" his tone tense and cautious.

"Hey, kid, I don't know how to tell you this, but a pipe burst at 'Daily Drug'" Jim sounds scared, but Eddie is still struggling to figure out what that had to do with him, other than the fact that he would finally get back his traitorous customers who had gone to the dark side when “Daily Drug” opened.

"Yeah, ok, and that's my problem because?" he's annoyed at the ominous way Jim called at 8 in the morning concerned for his rival cafe's burst pipes.

"Are you sitting down, kid?" Ed rolls his eyes, he's getting seriously pissed off at this whole mystery thing his contractor's getting at.

"Yeah, Jim. Fuck sake just spit it out"

"Alright, alright no need to get aggressive" Jim takes a deep breath in "In order for the girls at 'Daily Drug' to keep their jobs you need to hire them, at least until the shop is up and running again." Oh shit indeed. Jim trails off, waiting for a reaction.

"How long Jim?" Eddie's fuming.

"It could take up to six months, really, the pipe fucked up the whole kitchen so they need to redo the back and stuff, hell it might take a year knowing how slow these fuckers operate" Jim exhales, he's probably shaking. Eddie did not make his contempt for “Daily Drug” unknown.

“Jesus Christ Jim you can’t do this to me. You know how much that- that bitch hates me. Everytime I go there I'm pretty sure she spits in my coffee. I'm actually convinced they all do, Jim" he's spiraling.

"C'mon kid, don't be stupid. That would violate an incredibly long amount of regulations and they would need to close down if it were true. Which I don't think it is" Jim sounds like he's finding this amusing now.

"This is not funny. And- and then what? The owner just comes in here and she starts actin' like she owns the place? We start sharing responsibilities? That's real cute, Jim, y'know that? Incredibly cute." Only then Eddie had notices how hard he had been gripping the phone. And the armrest of his chair.

"Eddie, you're throwing a tantrum. The owner doesn't hate you, they're hired under the agency and I just pulled some strings because I know you and these girls- these girls have families to support and I didn't want to scatter them all across town. I know they will be in good hands, they're not your employees, Eddie. Get it in that thick skull or I'm closing your shit down" Fuck. He's backed up into a corner.

"Alright. When do they start?" He grabs a pen and a piece of paper and scribbles Daily Drug start dates.

"Okay, so we have eight employees. Four of them are going across town, I have that cafe there. The rest are going to you- Virginia, Colette, Chrissy and the owner are all going to your cafe. They start tomorrow at 9 am. Better brush up on those training books, kid." Jim snickers.

"You're hilarious, Jim y'know that?" he quickly jots down the names and the time, stopping at your name for a second, before putting an angry face next to it.

"Aw, come on, kid. Maybe it might be a great way for you all to bond and put this stupid rivalry behind"

"Yeah- yeah no, and then we're gonna ride on the rainbow towards a pot of gold and do a little jig. Of course, Jim. I am healed already. Listen, I'll call you tomorrow after everything- if that bitch doesn't put a knife at my throat, speaking of, I should hide them" he seethes.

"Don't stress Ed. You'll be okay, what matters is that-" Jim never gets to finish that sentence, blocked by the violent slam of Eddie's phone back into its socket.

"FUCKING SHIT" he yells, kicking the bottom of his desk.

"I take it wasn't good news?" Steve leans on the threshold of Eddie's office.

"Steve- God I want to punch something. The owner of 'Daily Drug' in here. She's gonna kill me. Hide the knives"

"If I didn't know you like the back of my hand I'd say you're a little scared of her, Ed."

"Have you seen her? She's terrifying. So mean. I'd be turned on if she wasn't my archenemy" and he does have eyes, he thinks you're attractive. He's fantasized about putting you in your place, sometimes. About shutting your mouth up, see how witty you were after he'd make you go dumb from a few rounds.

He shakes his head. He has to stop.

"Well, maybe you can be nice to her so we can steal her lavender syrup recipe" Steve suggests. And as morally wrong as that sounds, you've spit in his drink before, so what's a bit of foul play compared to an FDA violation?

"Steven you might be onto something, but for now let's just worry about surviving tomorrow- God I know it's gonna be awful" Eddie says. As he said that, one of his employees, Jeff, comes knocking at his office.

"Eddie, the owner of the other cafe is here, she's asking for you." Eddie's eyes widen. The fuck is she doing here?

"The fuck- Okay thank you, Jeff. Send her back here." He dismisses his barista and Steve follows him back into the kitchen.

There is no hiding you're angry. Starting a job at a place where you knew everyone hated you seemed a bit of a cunt move from Jim, and there you are. Heading towards Eddie Munson's office, walking like you own the damn place.

"You look a little too sure of yourself for someone who lost their cafe, sweetheart. What is it, hm? What are you doing here?"

His condescending tone only stokes your anger more.

"I just came here to see the place, see if I have to dumb myself down. Maybe you guys don't know what cortados are" Feigned pity in your face.

"If you've come here to be a bitch you can go right home. One call to Jim and I can end this arrangement as quickly as it started, let's not get like that, m'kay?" his smile is devilish and god it's so hard to not find him attractive even when you want to rip him to shreds for threatening you.

"I didn't come here to bitch. I wanted to pick up our aprons? You guys have cute aprons. At least you have good taste in something" you scoff, and he shoots you a look. Fucking brat.

"Yeah- um" Eddie stands up from his desk and reaches for a box in the corner of his office "I'll give you two each. Try to keep 'em clean, I don't like dirty aprons. I've seen how messy you guys are at the cafe, that won't fly here 'kay? We really value cleanliness and order here"

"How clean can a cafe run by a man really be, huh? that's probably why your lights are so dim" he wants to kill you, but also pin you against the wall and shove his tongue down your throat so you can stop talking.

"You've had a long morning, sweetheart. Why don't you go home and sleep it off? I'm afraid you're letting off all this negative energy here and we don't want that. Not here" his tone's more stern rather than joking "I'll see ya bright an' early tomorrow morning at nine. Please don't come late, yeah?" he winks at you, cueing you to leave.

As you cross the threshold of the cafe you cannot possibly fathom what was it that left you so flustered and with an insatiable hunger between your thighs.

You pick up your coworker Colette on the way to work the morning after, presenting her with a bagel and all your rage directed towards Eddie.

“No, Col, you don’t understand. He threatened to call Jim for a little remark. You know how insane that is? He’s gonna use whatever sick power he thinks he has over me to make me stay in line. Nope, no sir not with me” you say, turning into the parking lot of the cafe.

“This Eddie guy really is an asshole, huh?” Colette remarks, getting out of the car.

“You have no idea, it’s like he thinks he’s the shit or something just because the whole town loves him”

“Everyone does love me, sweetheart. Good morning ladies, I’d recommend getting in, you have five minutes.” Eddie's right behind you, closing the trunk of his van, wearing one of his dumb satanic shirts. It's black, arms covered by a ratty black leather jacket. His hair is down and a messenger bag littered with button pins is slung over his shoulder, resting on his hip. All it takes is one snide remark and then he's gone inside the shop.

You don't realize you're staring until Colette pinches the back of your arm, you reach for the affected area. “Babes, not him. Literally anyone but him, you have literally spent the whole car ride talking about how much of an asshole he is”

“I have eyes, Col. He’s hot, and as much as I’d love to sleep with him, my hatred for this asshole is a bit too strong. I’d probably punch him mid- act anyway” you snicker and follow Eddie inside the store. Virginia and Chrissy are already inside, you shoot them a comforting look and a light touch to Virginia’s arm, who seriously lookes like she's about to cry.

“You okay, Gin?” you ask, lightly elbowing her arm.

“No, I- I’m okay. Just nervous, also a bit scared. The boss seems mean” she trembles. She's only seventeen, after all. She's been working since she had been able to, if not before. Taking babysitting jobs until she turned fifteen, then just started taking customer service jobs, until she stumbled inside “Daily Drug,” with the extensive resume she had, she had been easy to hire.

“He’s an asshole, but don’t let him intimidate you. He can’t do anything without Jim’s approval, just remember that, hun” you squeeze her arm as Eddie enters, having shed his jacket, putting his hair up, and tying the purple apron around his waist. A small, golden tag says his name on the right side of his chest.

“Good morning, ladies. My name is Eddie, the owner of this fine establishment” he bows, smirking. “The crew at “Mad Alchemist” is deeply sorry about what happened at your cafe. We will do everything in our power to make you guys feel welcome for your short stay here” at the mention of “short” his eyes dart at you. You’re not the only one who hopes this bullshit will be short, dickhead.

You step forward, putting your best polite face on. “Thanks, Eddie. We’re extremely grateful for the opportunity to keep working, and we hope to learn from our time here” you say through gritted teeth. Even being that nice to him feels like nails on a chalkboard on your brain. “These are my baristas- Virginia, Chrissy, and Colette, my baker” you point at each of your girls.

“Oh Colette, you’re gonna want to meet with Steve, then- He’s my baker and pastry chef. I’m sure you both have a lot of things to talk about, and a lot of work to do since our Halloween special will be dropping in a week from today” a taut smile appears on his lips.

The guy in the back with the gorgeous head of hair and round glasses whom you assume is Steve waves his hand and Colette shoots you an assuring look before she runs to him, disappearing in the back, where you assume the pastry shop is.

No one to run to now.

"Perfect, shall we begin?" Eddie's voice feels muffled in your ears as he assigns each one of his baristas to one of yours for training. The cafe has just passed its early morning peak time, meaning that in a couple hours you will have a lunch rush. Everything feels like it's moving too fast.

The noises around you become clear again when Eddie grazes the bare skin of your arm. You shiver. Unbeknownst to you, his hand flexes at his side.

"Scared, sweetheart? You look like you've seen a ghost..." his mouth is moving, but you can't understand anything of whatever he's saying. You're unconsciously rubbing the area Eddie had touched, his fingers warm yet rough, from all the times he's had to wash his hands throughout the day.

You haven't noticed until now how thick his fingers are. Suddenly, the feeling of a phantom limb reaching out, wrapping a hand around your throat, gently feeling its way down your neck, your shoulders, your clavicle, down your stomach and into-

"You wanna follow me to my office or what? I have a couple questions for you" Eddie breaks you out of your sick reverie, leaving you a bit flushed in the face, afraid to look at him in the eye.

"Yeah-uh sorry. Lead the way" you say, and suddenly the floor becomes very interesting to look at.

Quickly, everyone gets to work. The girls being taught the house drinks by the guys at the bar, whilst you follow Eddie in his office.

“I just need to know if there’s any schedule preferences from the girls, just in case there’s any conflict. I was thinking, since the Halloween special will be dropping, one of these days you might need to sit in here with me and I’ll give you a proper training of what that entails. Y’know tastings and such.” His demeanor has switched from snarky to utterly professional, for which you thank whatever entity in the sky, allowing you a break from his abrasive behavior.

He sits down at his desk and pulls out a notepad and a pen. He looks at you with waiting eyes.

“Yeah, um, Virginia has school during the week and can’t work until after three and she can only work four hours on weekdays, three days a week and usually a full shift during the weekend. Chrissy and Colette can work whenever, but please don’t schedule Col at the early hours of the mornings, she actually cannot function. She’s more useful to you awake” you let out a breathy laugh, remembering Colette putting salt instead of sugar in a batch of banana bread muffins.

In the meantime, Eddie scribbles on his notepad. You feel uneasy in a room with him without the loud tensions of an argument looming, the blood booming in your ears.

“And you?” he raises an eyebrow, lifting his face from the notepad.

“Oh, I’ll just come in whenever you need me. I really don’t mind, I just need a good amount of hours. I um- I have my dad to take at the hospital on Saturday mornings, but I can come after” you say, your face tinging a bright red.

He scribbles that down, embarrassment visible on your face as the tension in the room becomes suffocating.

“Alright, I’ll have those schedules ready by the end of the day. I need you to come in tomorrow through Wednesday. Opening shift Monday and Tuesday, you’ll close with me and Chrissy on Wednesday. Sounds good?” he keeps writing down in his notepad, you nod. He tuts “I need words, I can’t see you nodding or shaking your head if I’m writing, can I?”

“Y-yeah, that sounds good. Sorry” You feel even more embarrassed, the tops of your ears tinging red.

“Don’t apologize. Just do better next time” Eddie thrums a ringed hand on the edge of his desk. He's never seen you this docile and it puts him off. He was hoping for some snide remark, but you're looking around nervously, playing with the laces of your apron, which he finds enhances the curves and features of your body. Wondering what you’d look like in nothing but that apron, all the exposed skin of your back, shoulders and–

“Are we done here?” there she is. The snarky question makes him jump, thanking the desk for covering the lower half of his body.

“Yeah, I can go train you now, just gimme a sec, I’ll meet you outside” I need to get rid of that boner is what he means, but you don't budge.

“Fuck no, you’re not training me. Gimme someone else” you remark, crossing your arms.

“God there I thought you weren’t gonna be a bitch today.” He exhales. “How many people do you see in the staff, huh? It's Steve, Gareth, Jeff and I. Not much of a merry group. You either let me train you or the door is that way.” you can tell he’s had enough of you, which only stokes your fire even more.

“Literally anyone but you. You can train Virginia, I’m sure you have a bit of heart to not be a dick to a literal child. Not that she even needs training, she has more knowledge and better work ethics than you assholes” you spit, and you’re sure Eddie wants to kill you.

“I don’t tolerate this kind of language in my store. I’m sure that’s what attracted all my customers to your store, but you can shut that filthy mouth in here. Now, you’re gonna go out and wait for me to train you, understood?” he's seething.

“Or what? You can’t do shit Eddie. I’m not your little employee, you can’t fucking threaten me” you're winded, this argument is stupid and you want to punch him.

“Alright” Eddie stands up abruptly and stalks towards you. “train yourself then.”

His tone is calm and collected, which makes you tremble. He's close. Really close.

“I wanna watch you crash and burn and struggle to make a dragon’s breath latte. You don’t want me to train you? Fine. Perfect. The less time I have to spend away from your bitch mouth the better my day will be. Recipe cards are on the counter. Have fun” he taps his hand on your shoulder and gives you a pulled smile, then walks back to his desk.

He's fucking brutal.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader fluff #eddie munson au #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 11 months

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i'm outta my head over you Pt. 6

prologue (Pt. 1) | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5 | AO3 | playlist

ok, i really love this one; i hope you guys do too!

today's @steddie-week prompts are: together and Hold the Line - TOTO

C’mon, Munson, get your shit together. You’re the music guy here!’ He tells himself. Okay yeah, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean he’s great about expressing feelings. ‘ That’s what the music’s for, dumbass. ’

Eddie spends the rest of the night and into the next morning pouring over what other songs he could add to the B side of Steve’s tape (and what songs he’s gonna use for the Party Tape…he’s gotta have a blank tape around here somewhere…).

He has a couple contenders, he just doesn’t quite know how they fit yet. Steve had a reason or an explanation for each song on his side, so Eddie wants to do the same. Only problem is that the songs that already do remind him of Steve, are ones Steve’s already put onto the A side.

Fuck, has he been telling him his feelings all this time? The first half of Steve’s side of the tape were his go-to songs whenever they’ve hung out together, while Eddie was recovering at his house.

He goes to sleep that morning with a handful of possibilities, but nothing concrete, then is awoken just before lunch by his phone ringing.

“Shit,” Eddie hops up groggy and disoriented with sleep, but scrabbles down the hall to the phone so Wayne doesn’t wake up.

“Munson residence, the fuck d’ya want?”

“Eddie! Ste– Ok, rude.”

“Rob? What’s up, Birdie?” Eddie scrubs his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Steve’s coming back a day early!” Eddie’s hand freezes. “Do you have the tape done??”

“N-no, no I only have three fuckin songs on it! Damn it, I thought you said he was coming back tomorrow!”

“Hence the call telling you he’s coming back early. He’s landing in Indy at noon, will be here by 3, and somehow Dustin’s already found out so now I’m roping you into ferrying Steve’s children to the arcade with us after he’s back.”

“Hey, they’re my children too!” Wait, what? “Wait, I didn’t say that. Why’d I say that? I don’t even want kids.”

“Nope, too bad. You already said it. You and Steve have joint custody of the shitheads.”

“We’re divorced now?”

“You were married in the first place?” Robin snarks back then mumbles, “Didn’t I just have this conversation?”

“What?”

“Nothing. You coming with or what?”

“No, Buck, I gotta finish his tape now!”

“Too bad, you’re coming. And I’m going to tell Henderson you are so he won’t let you back out.”

“Robin don’t you dare-”

What is with her and hanging up on him??

He’d just gotten back to his bedroom door when the phone rings again. Just barely stopping himself from screaming, he goes back to the handset.

“Hello..?”

“Dude. Would it kill you to sound excited?.”

“Henderson, your sarcasm is not appreciated this early in the morning. And why would I be excited about being volun told to pickup you hellions for the arcade?”

“‘Cause you like spending time with your friends, maybe? Now, do you and Max wanna come pick up me and Lucas? Steve will pick up Will and El at theirs, and pick up Robin and Mike on his way.”

“Sounds like you’ve already got everything planned out, Dusty.”

“Your exasperation is not appreciated this late in the morning.”

“...I don’t have to come, you know.”

“But you know you wanna.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. See you at 2:30.”

Just once , Eddie’d like to be the one hanging up on someone else.

Whatever. Looks like he’s got plans this afternoon.

Eddie looks at the clock on the wall above the fridge. Four hours. Now, does he nap, or does he eat and start getting ready?

They’ll probably grab pizza while they’re at the arcade…nap it is.

Eddie wanders back to his room and is out as soon as his head hits his pillow.

—

Miraculously, he wakes up exactly two and half hours later; just enough time for a shower and to get ready before picking up his half the goblins.

He showers, scrunches a majority of the water out of his curls (Steve’d shown him that little trick, would start on about “Eddie, we went over this! You gotta take care of your curls!" and, "They’re so gorgeous and you’re soooo handsome and hot and I totally wanna pull that hair when I fuc—” OKAY maybe that last part was just wishful thinking, but Steve’d definitely have a conniption if he shows up today with flat hair), and gets dressed.

From the extra spluttering their feeble A/C is doing, and the not-at-all refreshing breeze that crawls through his window when opened, Eddie can confirm that it’s definitely too fuckin’ hot out.

He pulls on his most ripped, well loved pair of black jeans, the holes in the knees long since flayed mid-thigh to mid-shin, a sleeveless cropped Metallica shirt, and his vest.

Grabbing up his rings and chain, he leaves a note for Wayne as to where he’s gone, slides his feet into his reeboks, and heads out the door, keys in hand.

He’s just got the back end of his chain hooked around his hip when he makes it to Max’s door.

“Y’ready Red?”

“Just a minute! It’s unlocked!” she calls back through the door (and slightly cracked window over her sink)

“Need any help?” he asks, closing the front door behind him.

“Nope, just gotta get my other shoe on and I’ll be good. Did you bring the van over?”

“I…did not. That’d probably be a good idea, huh?”

Whoops. He spins back around and jogs back across the street to hop in his van. By time he’s parked outside the Mayfield trailer, Max is hopping her wheels over the threshold onto the tiny step outside the door.

“Whatcha want me to do?” He’d learned real quick not to just start doing things for her, no matter how much he assumes they’d help. Max did not like anyone thinking they have to help her with every little thing, so now they all make sure to ask what it is she’d like them to help with before doing it.

“I just need to lock the door and you can help me into the van. You’ll probably have to come back for the chair though.”

“Of course, your highness.” he gives her a low bow while she locks her front door. “Your hand please, m’lady.”

She rolls her eyes, but takes his hand.

Max is able to walk across flat areas pretty well and for an OK amount of distance before getting too tired, but the breaks to her leg really did a number on her.

She’s got steel pins all through her leg, and has just gotten out of her cast so she wants (and needs) to walk more often to get her strength back up, but has her chair to get around much easier.

So until she gets stronger, she needs help going up and down stairs, and will need help getting up into Eddie’s van, but should be okay for a while once at the arcade.

Once she’s settled, Eddie goes back for her chair, loads it into the back of his van, and they’re off to Henderson’s.

He and Lucas are already waiting out front when he pulls up.

“About time.”

“Dustin. It’s literally 2:31. Calm the fuck down.”

“You guys better get all your swearing out before you see Steve again, you know he’ll go all mom on you.” Lucas laughs. “Here, I’ll start. Hey Max, how the fuck are ya?”

They’re all in so Eddie starts off towards the arcade.

“Hey, show some fuckin’ respect for your mother, Sinclair.”

“Shit Eddie, didn’t know you were our goddamn father.”

“Of course he didn’t fuckin know, Steve hasn’t gotten his shit together enough to propose.”

“Damn, alright, calm down”

“Don’t fuckin’ tell me to calm down! I swear, I’ll put my foot straight up your ass.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuckfuckfuck.”

All four bust out laughing at that, not quite able to catch their breath before one of them is saying some random curse.

They’re all red in the face from laughing so hard by time they pull into the parking lot between Steve’s beemer and Nancy’s station wagon.

Dustin runs in immediately after the van stops, and Eddie slyly leaves his keys with Lucas so he can lock up after helping Max, heading inside himself

Now, up until the exact moment he saw Steve (2 whole seconds ago), Eddie thought he was taking the whole “Steve Harrington has big sappy feelings for you” thing really well. Perfectly, in fact!

No freak out, no huge feelings of doubt, just full focus on ‘responding’ to him.

But now, seeing him again after finding this out…It’s a wonder he doesn’t collapse.

This beautiful, perfect, amazing man standing in front of a whole herd of teens (two of whom are at eye level or taller than he is now) with a scolding glare, hands on his hips, and flanked by the two most badass ladies he knows…wants him.

Eddie Munson.

It still doesn’t seem real.

Eddie immediately wants to be simultaneously on the other side of the planet, and wedged so close to him that they’re basically the same person.

“Pizza in an hour and a half!” Steve yells after the herd as they disperse. Even Robin and Nancy head off toward the skee-ball machines.

“You okay big boy? You look like that trip took a lot outta you.”

‘Wow, nice one. You just got here and you’re asking him why he looks gross? Great job, Doofus.’ Why does his inner voice sound like Robin?

He looks over, and Eddie sees his face light up. “Eddie!” he breathes, pulling him into a tight hug.

Steve lets him go, and reaches up to rake through his travel-mussed hair. “And yeah, it was fine, always nice to see my grandparents.”

“Yeah, Robin mentioned you needing to go over their will or something? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, they’re—“ he cuts himself off with a half-hearted chuckle, “They wanted to meet with my parents and I to let them know that their estate is being split 50/50 between us when they pass. Like, half to me and half to both of them.”

“Damn. It’s nice to know I’m marrying into money.” Eddie jokes, leaning into Steve’s side to whisper: “Max spilled your secret on the way here; I promise to act surprised when you finally get the guts to propose.” he whispers with a wink.

Steve’s face turns bright red, but he smiles all goofy. Fuck, he’s cute.

“Aw shit, I really wanted it to be a surprise.” He says, his voice getting gravelly with how low he’s speaking.

It most definitely does not make Eddie flush red himself, nor do his jeans start feeling tighter, thank you.

Steve gently pushes Eddie back, his hand lingering on the back of his arm a moment too long before his fingers trail down and off his elbow. He starts again, back at a normal volume. “But yeah, Richard and Denise were not happy; I was surprised, though. I’m really appreciative that my grandparents would do that for me.”

“Okay, so it was good news! Why the…” Eddie gestures to all of him. “…glum.”

“It was just the plane ride man, I flew from Cali to Indy with a screaming baby next to me. It was hell let me tell you.”

“I bet.” Eddie winces.

“Plus, Robin stole my favorite tape while I was gone so I couldn't even listen to it on the way here. And that’s been like, the soundtrack to my life lately. Felt weird coming home and then not having it in my car already.” he shakes his head “I dunno, it's dumb, but they are my favorite songs.”

“I know what you mean,” Eddie nods, his heart in his throat. “Can't you just like, go get it back from her house?”

“She’s ‘gotta find it’.” He sighs, throwing up air quotes around Robin’s flimsy excuse. “Which for her, is code for ‘I lost it.’. It's no big deal though, it’s just music.”

“Nah man, music is important, you can communicate a lot with it.”

Steve just shrugs again, a good ol’ ‘What can ya do?’ , so Eddie pats Steve’s shoulder sympathetically and walks over to the far wall of machines. He leans up against the one that Max is bashing away at and looks around the side, like he’s watching what she’s doing.

“What’re you doing over here? You’re not gonna beat my score, Munson.” she snarks from her perch on one of the arcade’s few padded stools.

“Huh?” He looks at the cabinet. Dig Dug. “Oh. Wouldn’t dream of it, Mad Max, just came over to try and look cool, scope out the scene,” ‘Scope out the scene’?? WHO ARE YOU?? “Don’t mind me.”

She just rolls her eyes, “For some reason, Steve already thinks you’re like the coolest guy in the world. You don’t need to fake it.”

Eddie blinks down at her. “OK, seriously, how do you know so much?”

“I dunno; something about losing one of my senses? Or maybe my brush with death left me wise beyond my years…” she sighs wistfully.

He snorts, “Oh yeah? Then I should be way smarter.”

“Yeah, you should be.” She fights to keep a straight face after that one. Damn that was slick.

“Good one, Red.” he pats her once on the shoulder, then goes back to watching her play. It’s actually pretty impressive being that she’s got brand new coke-bottle glasses she should be wearing.

“I’m not gonna wear ‘em. I look like a doofus when I do.”

“Aw, I thought you just said I was cool!” he pouts.

Her mouth twitches up at that. “No, I said Steve thinks you’re cool. I think you’re a Doofus.”

“Exactly! And if the big man himself thinks I’m cool, then you’d definitely be cool.” He leans in and looks around conspiratorially, “and I have it on good authority that the rest of these goblins think whatever he thinks is cool, is cool too.”

She smiles, and her game bleeps to an end. “Yeah, they all do think he’s like, the greatest ever.”

“And you don’t?”

Her face blushes a soft pink. “Shut up, Munson. How do you know so much?”

He stands up straight and grabs hold of his vest lapels like some stuffy professor. “I’m smart ‘cause I died,” he says in a haughty tone “...or something.”

A couple of unhinged barks of laughter burst out of her. “I’m gonna go with ‘or something’.”

Eddie spends the next hour trying to mess up the other shitheads’ games.

Smack a wrong button here, a poke under Dustin’s armpit there, general fuckery.

And every time he and Steve pass one another, there’s some sort of touch.

He didn’t notice it the first time, thinking Steve really did need to hold onto him while passing behind him. A classic midwestern “Ope, lemme just sneak by ya” just to get close to him.

When he looked back, there was no one at the cabinet behind him.

So Eddie gave it back tenfold the next time he encountered the party’s beloved babysitter.

Walked behind him on his way to where Mike and Lucas were now trying their hand at DigDug, and gently squeezed his hip.

Steve jumped about five feet, but it was worth it when Steve came up to his side later and wrapped his arm around Eddie’s lower back, settling his large palm briefly on the exposed skin of his hip and stomach where it peeked out from under the cropped shirt.

Eddie immediately felt the need to pull his hair up; Fuck is it hot in here?

Bun secured, and Steve gone off to bother Robin and Nancy at the air hockey table, Eddie knew what he was going to do next.

He left Wheeler and Sinclair to continue to lose to Max, heading toward the water fountain.

Steve’s standing with his back to Eddie’s path so when he passes, it’s just too easy to reach out, grab a lock of hair, and pull .

He’s rewarded with the sound of a poorly muffled moan (that he’ll be thinking about forever, thanks), and Steve is gifted an unobstructed view of his ass while he bends over to get a drink.

Eddie stands when he hears Steve’s panicked “Robin, can I talk to you a second?”

He comes back to take Robin’s place next to Nancy where they’d been playing two on one with Steve.

After a beat, Nancy says, “I hope you’re ready to have Robin as a permanent third wheel.” She’s still looking forward at the other end of the table.

Hah! That’s hilarious. “Won’t be as bad since you’re the fourth.” Eddie shrugs, then puts his fist out towards her, also looking off to where he can see Steve panicking at Robin.

Nancy’s knuckles knock into his, and he’s never felt closer to anyone in his life.

Only one half of the Harrington-Buckley twins come back, coming up to her girlfriend and linking their fingers behind the folds of Nancy’s skirt.

“Mama Harrington is getting the pizzas now; we’ll go get some tables pushed together, will you herd the cattle?”

“I feel like they’re more like cats. Especially that Max one, she’s got her claws out like, all the time.” Eddie says, half over his shoulder, as he heads off, hunting down the gremlins.

Mike and the elder Sinclair are still nowhere near Max’s high score, Dustin’s getting berated by baby Sinclair over how bad he’s doing at Donkey Kong, Will and El are together at the Polybius cabinet, Max in her chair now at El’s side.

‘ That’s all of them right? ’ Eddie counts them in his head while he looks around. Yep, that’s all of them.

He heads back to the little arcade pizzeria area, freezing in his tracks as he rounds the corner into the open arched doorway.

Every little thing he’s ever noticed about Steve Harrington over the last however many years feels like they’ve just been building to this moment.

Every damn day spent thinking he was the most beautiful person to ever grace the halls of Hawkins High (he is), every story he never believed about how badass he was from the mouth of his oldest adopted kid, every moment he spent shielding each of these people that have become so beloved in Eddie’s life.

Every painful scar, every dreadful day spent healing with Steve at his side, every. Single. Thing. Has built up to this one.

The most mundane of them all.

The nine most important people in his life, the biggest family he never wanted but now can’t even think about a life without them, sitting around three tiny tables and clamoring over one another for a slice of the pizzas in the middle of them all, being hovered over by Steeeeeve Harrington.

“Careful Mike, don’t put your elbow in Dustin’s face! That thing’s sharp…Max, do you want me to grab you some? What kind do you want? No, Ellie, sweetie, I’ll hand it to her, no powers needed today, okay? Will, which pop do you want, bud, you gotta speak up so Dustin doesn’t drink all the Vernors. Lucas, will you grab some more napkins—no arguments you little shits, everyone needs napkins. Erica, are you good? Okay, good. Ed—where’s Eddie, he needs to eat too…”

Oh.

Part 7 here!

yes, i did have the wonder twins playing Polybius.

also, mayfield/munson sibling vibes are so important to meeeeee.

also also, i love max getting adopted by steddie just as much as dustin BUT you cannot tell me she doesn't also have just a lil' crush on steeb.

tagging the lovelies: @hellomynameismoo, @messrs-weasley, and @manda-panda-monium

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fluffypotatey · 6 months

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heyyy isnt it wild how when characters say that mk "literally never listens" that is Also a case of unreliable narration. mk listens a lot actually!! he listens to macaque's "you don't use a weapon, you ARE the weapon" monologue in 1x09. he listens to mac again in shadow play (since he was able to quote back the "then be a warrior!" bit). actually now that i think of it there are a lot lot lot of times when mk deliberately echoes someone else's dialogue and clearly he had to have been listening to them and internalizing it bc otherwise he wouldnt be able to repeat it (things like "chose the wrong successor," "to pain," and "harbinger of chaos" come to mind). the thing is tho that mk usually tends to listen to + internalize things that hurt him or otherwise confirm his own fears. so its actually worse in the long run for him!! :D

imagine you are MK. most of your life before this whole story began was you working under Pigsy, your boss/dad, and hanging out with Mei, your best friend in the world.

constantly, you will have Pigsy screaming up a storm about employee etiquette and how MK should clock in on time and “if you ever come to work late again, i’ll fire you!” or you have Tang telling you beautiful stories in exchange for free food because every tale he spins is magical and adventurous. or you have Mei who is a little bit like the little devil on your shoulder egging you on to another game or arcade or movie or outing because both of you never truly had a friend until you met each other and never know when to end your time hanging out.

and we see this in the second episode of season 1, where MK feels pulled in every direction with his job, spending time with Mei, helping out Sandy, and training with the Monkey King. EVEN BY S1 HE IS AT THE END OF HIS ROPE!!! And did anybody truly notice????? DID THEY????

and yeah, Pigsy, Mei, and Minky King are the big contenders for telling MK he isn’t listening, and honestly MK does have a problem with understanding the intent and meaning behind what his friends are saying as he’ll only take in the superficial. however, when it comes to the most stressful and dire times, MK is all ears.

he absolutely understood LBD’s words when she put him and his self worth down, he understood Macky’s ire and vitriol (and was able to piece together that most of Macky’s words are a shield), he understood SWK’s aversion for allowing MK and the gang’s help with finding the rings because of their mortality

here is my assumption of what MK is learning from the people around him (bc my personal headcanon is that MK learns and understands how to behave and react from the people in his circle):

he’s learning that his friends’ needs are more important than his own

he has learned that a lot of his worries are meaningless because they typically get brushed off

in addition to that, he learned that if he has any issues, it would be better to keep them to himself because it truly is no big deal and will find some resolution eventually

he learns that nobody is fully certain he can do things on his own

he learns that many people (the villains) believe he’s someone they can mold into their own

MK is internalizing a lot of shit. and we see a snippet of that behavior I think in s3 where he bemoans about not being good enough for SWK and Pigsy’s is like “woah, wait a minute….did that asshole really say that to you???”

and the thing is, Wukong didn’t say that nor would he ever intend to say something that would make MK think little about himself; however, Wukong has his own issue of never elaborating on shit, so while he may have said “listen, bud, this journey is super dangerous and life threatening, and you’re still mortal so it would be best if you stayed here” what MK heard was “since you’re still a weak mortal, this mission isn’t cut out for you”

and yeah it just eloquently shows how MK internalizes the worst of people’s words (hey, like mentor like student, am I right? 👀) which is why it is so easy for the antagonists to creep into his head (LBD, Mac, Azure, Ink!MK, possibly PIF???)

but yeah, what you said, bestie

#my voice is gone T^T #caput #anyway #love when characters internalize their issues and words others have said about them #MK needs to talk it out #will he? idk #lmk #lmk mk #lmk qi xiaotian #asks

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pinkberrypocky · 2 days

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pmmm rewatch live notes: ep 6

my favorite part of this ep is kyoko playing ddr to the opening song (lies its all my favorite. this show is a masterpiece and every single scene, line, shot has meaning and adds to the story. literally this show is my everything)

Kyoko asks homura if they’ve met before when homura calls her by name and homura just says “perhaps, who knows” which should not be so funny to me

Homura tells madoka that if reasoning with a fool won’t work she’ll resort to more drastic measures which sounds like she is thinking about hurting madoka to meet her own ends but in actuality it means that she may be more forceful in keeping madoka out of magical girl business in order to save her

The opening ends with a scene of madoka and homura looking dramatically to reddish lighting

Kyubey eats the fully black grief seeds which makes him at the top of the food chain the kyoko referenced

Wild how no one in the show comments on the fact that they collect food for him

They are like livestock to him

But livestock that raise themselves

Magical girls becomes witches, different magical girls defeat the witches and fill the grief seeds with black, kyubey eats the grief seeds, and kyubey makes more magical girls

Kyubey even tells sayaka about how strong madoka would be and suggests that sayaka could ask madoka to make a contract to defeat kyoko for her which is so fucked up

Not important but it’s so silly to me how kyoko is dancing to the opening song at the arcade

Kyoko w a pocky stick in her mouth is such an interesting reference/allusion to cigarettes

She is corrupted, she is distinctly more adult (not age wise but mentally), she is a delinquent

Gold shines on the surface of the fight between kyoko and sayaka when sayaka returns the next day to try and track the familiar

Madoka is always trying to get the magical girls to talk and work things out between each other because she believes that each of them deserve happiness and life

Sayaka so quickly jumps to being willing to kill kyoko which shows the instability of her ideals and morals once she is faced with the reality of the adult world

In this way madoka is more naive since she never loses her sense that all people are good and deserve to live

The argument madoka and sayaka have at the site of the fight is the first time we see sayaka coming to terms with and addressing the severity of the situation

She is overwhelmed by the badness that she sees in the world and becomes jaded, contending that she and mami are exceptions

Madoka cries and i think this is because she sees how sayaka is being changed not because she’s hurt (which i do think she is)

When madoka comes downstairs that night to talk with her mom the lighting is green

A big difference between madoka and sayaka is that madoka believes that there can be multiple truths, both sayaka and kyoko can be correct and valid while sayaka believes that her view is the only morally just one

Which is why sayaka is so upset and spirals once she learns that not everyone ascribes to her philosophy whereas madoka continues to say that all the magical girls should try and work together

Madoka’s mom says that as you grow up the consequences for messing up get bigger and bigger which is ironic considering madoka is actually facing much higher stakes than her mom

The sky is yellow when sayaka goes to visit kyosuke and he is already gone from the hospital

The lighting is red as she walks away from the hospital sadly and contemplates visiting him at his house

Red lighting continues as kyoko confronts sayaka outside kyosuke’s house

Kyoko sas that if sayaka wanted kyosuke to have to love her she could just break his bones so he would have no one else to rely on

Objectively kyoko is right that it would be a more straightforward way to get kyosuke to be with sayaka but all sayaka sees are the ethical concerns

Kyubey gets madoka to intervene in the blooming rematch between kyoko and sayaka bc he knows there’s a good chance he can get madoka to make a wish if something goes wrong

Madoka panics and throws away sayaka’s soul gem to stop her from transforming and fighting

Homrua immediately panics and disappears to go after it bc she knows from past timelines that the soul gem is the entirety of their being

The shrillness and hoarseness in madoka’s voice as she begs kyubey to save sayaka is so painful

Homura has been a magical girl through all these timelines, does she even remember what it is to have a body and be human? No wonder she doesn’t feel or act human anymore

Madoka’s immediate reaction is sadness and crying, while kyoko’s is anger and violence

Highlights the coping mechanisms of the two of them

Homura silently retrieves the soul gem and revives sayaka

Just like she silently slaves away time after time to save madoka in every timeline

#puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #madohomu #madoka magica #holy quintet #madoka kaname #homura akemi #mahou shoujo madoka magica #google docs auto capitalization is gonna kill me #i feel so evil when all the bullet points start w a capital letter but i am not about to go through and change each bullet point #life is pain i guess #this ep is so fucking wild #my friends literally screamed when sayaka dropped to the ground

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kanaglows · 9 months

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Hello!! May I request smth? Maybe a one-shot, a Toya x s/o (I prefer a male if isn't a problem!) Playing at the arcade? Kinda cute, this idea just emerged on my mind! If you don't want to write it no problem!

Hope you're having a good day! I'm happy that new pjsekai writing blogs are coming!

Sure! Just something I'll have to let you know. I did try to make it a male reader but I couldn't seem to squeeze anything that could even hint that the reader is male so I decided to make it gender-neutral instead. I'm really sorry 🥲

Notes: Gender-neutral reader

Style: Bullets/hcs

Toya X Reader at Arcade!

You had always known Toya was good at arcade games. He always seemed to spend his free time there, it was natural that he would be, however, you didn't realise just how good he was until today.

You decided to stop by the arcade in hopes of running into him and possibly being able to hang out. Recently, there had been some subtle feelings growing between the two of you (they weren't subtle at all 😀), it was sort of embarrassing though, if your friends were to find out they would tease you relentlessly (they already know 😀).

You felt slightly let down when you realised he wasn't here, regardless, that didn't stop you from enjoying the games. You had made a couple friends while playing a few fighting games you were familiar with and quickly rose to the top, becoming known as the champion. You were unbeaten.

To be honest, all of your opponents were... pretty bad. Some guy managed to blow himself up (how?)

"Any more contenders?" you asked. You had a winning streak of 19, you would only need one more win to get to 20 and then you would end for the day, you had a curfew.

There was a silence. It seemed like everyone had already given it a go until- "I'll play," you heard someone say from behind you. It was a voice you recognised, a quiet, calm one; turning around, you saw that it was none other than Toya Aoyagi himself. You were done for- but also really happy that he was here.

"Oh hey, Toya! Nice to see you here," you grinned. "Hey," he smiled, "mind if I play?".

You thought for a second. You would undoubtedly lose your streak if you let him play but on the other hand, you would get to spend more time with him if you let him. A tricky decision indeed- but then you realised that you couldn't exactly say no; it would be rude 😕. Besides, even if he went against you there's still a chance you could win, he can't be that good, can he?

You were wrong. He was that good. You were dead within seconds.

"Wow," you breathed out, not knowing what to say, "you're really good at this." Toya nodded, "Thanks. Wanna go for another round?"

"I totally would if I could," you sighed, "I have a curfew, my parents would kill me if I was la-..." your eyes fell onto a claw machine, but not just any claw machine. This claw machine had something very valuable inside it, a limited edition (favourite fictional character) plush. You wondered if it would take up too much time to try and win it, but then again... (favourite fictional character) was worth the risk of getting grounded.

"Umm, I'm going to try and get something from that machine and then I'll get going, Toya," you said, slipping a coin into the small slot at the bottom. "Got it, it was nice seeing you, (name)," he replied with a smile before walking to another arcade machine.

20 minutes later...

You were about to commit a felony. You had wasted 2000 yen and were still yet to win that damned plushie. How long was this going to take exactly? You had to get home soon.

"Still struggling?" you heard Toya say from behind you. "Yeah, would you mind helping me out? I'll pay."

He nodded, "Sure, I don't mind."

Wow. There was no denying that Toya was definitely efficient when it came to these kinds of things, no doubt about that. It only took him one try.

"Here you go," he handed the plush to you. "Thanks," you mumbled, pretty much awestruck by his skills. "I guess you'll be off now?" he asked. You gave a nod. "Y'know, you're really good at fighting games, you should come here more often," Toya suggested, "it would be a lot more fun around here."

You laughed, "you think so?".

"Definitely," a faint smile growing on his face, "I'll see you later, (name)". You waved at each other as you took your leave. What a day that was. You were definitely telling (favourite fictional character) about this on character.ai.

#toya aoyagi x reader #aoyagi toya x reader #toya aoyagi #aoyagi toya #project sekai x reader #prsk x reader #pjsk x reader #project sekai

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worstvideogamesong-poll · 5 months

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Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 2 Match 10

Versus - Sonic Eraser

youtube

VERSUS

50m - Donkey Kong

youtube

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

Versus:

"It sounds like if the worst migraine ever to exist could speak."

"I was vibing to the sonic one a bit at first. And then it got worse. And worse."

"#[Versus] is like if you slammed down every key on the dreamcast soundboard at once with your ass"

"#GSJSGSJSHJSS WHY DOES SONIC ERASER SOUND LIKE THAT????????"

50m:

"Does this even count as music. I get things were limited with arcade machines but dfadsfd did they even try. i put the '94 version since it seems like they attempted to make it music instead of just background noise like it seemed to be in the orignal sdfsad but they didnt really try. they did not."

"#anyway 50m is a contender to beat crazy bus"

"#and 50m. beautfiul. showstopping. wow. so lackluster. the composers sat down for exactly 2 minutes before they were done. efficiency!"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!

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elvisgrace · 6 months

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People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

I was tagged by @paluding. Thank you!🥳

Last song: Alive With The Glory Of Love by Say Anything.

Favorite color: Black, but blue and purple are very strong contenders.

Currently watching: Bodies on Netflix.

Last movie: Nope, for the 100th time. Love the meta, love the details, love Jordan Peele.

Last reading: I am really into The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell at the moment.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Savory, because ridiculously saltpapery levels of salty isn't an option.

Last thing I googled: "NC indemnity bonds". Weird car transfer situation.

Current obsession: Cube Escape/Rusty Lake - I have so many opinions regarding the Vanderbooms et al.

Currently working on: An arcade set.

Tagging: @yakumtsaki, @lilsisterg, @the-gremlin-king, @notreallymagical, @lamare-sims, @plumbbobtoggle and whoever's reading this and wants to do this.

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icy-watch · 6 months

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Alright. Episode 13, the final episode of the season.

Garmadon has taken off with the weapons, Lloyd needs to train, dragons are back, Wu is alive, the Great Devour is gone.

I don't think they'll jump right back into the Garmadon vs the Ninja storyline with the next season. It's going to be a hot minute before that gets resolved.

The Serpentine are still an issue, so something has to be done there. That might be what they decide to tackle in the next season, but I feel like they'll step away until the last few episodes of season 2.

I'm genuinely surprised that I predicted that they would end the season with the Great Devourer creating an Ouroboros, while the Ninja played Snake. I actually laughed out loud at that. I don't think I would have predicted that if I didn't have some knowledge in alchemy and 80s arcade games. My childhood was weird but it pays off in the weirdest ways sometimes.

If you're interested, I'm going over what I predicted correctly and incorrectly.

Incorrect

Learn more spinjitzu to save Nya. I actually thought they would drag out the "saving Nya" plotline a little long.

Nya will join the bad guys. She will realize that she's being mislead during a big moment of betrayal. I was so wrong with this. So, so, so, so, so wrong.

Garmadon will attack a village to kick off the main series. I am disappointed with myself on this one.

The Serpentine will work with Garmadon. I could not have been more incorrect about this one if I tried.

The dragons will carry the boat around or they'll get to sea somehow. I was not expecting the boat to be able to fly like it would in Peter Pan if it had been made by Nicholas St. North from Rise of the Guardians (2012).

The boat will be important. It was the ninjas' home but not as important as I thought it would be.

The rescue mission for Lloyd will be the next episode. It actually took a couple of episodes.

Kai won't reach his full potential until the final battle. He reached it by saving Lloyd.

Getting the last fangblade will be a challenge for Pythor and the Serpentine. They managed to get it without the ninja interfering.

Correct

Sibling rivalry and tensions will be pervasive throughout the whole series. I haven't been wrong about this one yet.

Lloyd is the green ninja. While Nya was definitely in the top contenders -- even Wu thought so at one point -- Lloyd was always right there. He made sense.

Lloyd will join the group. He did. As the green ninja.

The samurai is Nya. This was very obvious to be once I saw her bangle on her arm. The only other person it could have been was Nya and Kai's mother, who hasn't really been mentioned at all in the show so it was doubtful that it would be her.

The boys won't get the next fangblade. They only managed to get them because they infiltrated the secret hideout and escaped with Garmadon and the Skulkins' help.

Pythor would raise the Great Devourer. With as much hubub as they made about bringing the Great Devourer back, I should have known there'd be a big battle.

Pythor gets eaten by the Great Devourer. He did and everyone celebrated.

Something bad will happen to Wu. He got eaten as well, but he's fine now.

Partially

Lloyd and the Serpentine will be the big bads this season and the next as well. I'm giving this one a partial correct. Lloyd started out being not so great and then grew as the season wore on. The Serpentine were bad all the way through. We don't have any confirmation right now whether or not they'll be the bad guys next season.

Cole being controlled by the Serpentine will be revealed at the worst possible moment. This one gets a partial bc it was at the worst possible moment, but I thought it would be later in the season. Not the very next episode.

Lloyd will free all of the Serpentine. He technically released 3 of the 5 tribes.

Pythor will either take the fangblades from them or they will manage to destroy the fangblades in Torchfire Mountain. I wasn't sure which way this would fall.

#liveblogging #ninjago #rise of the serpentine #season 1 #episode 13 #day of the great devourer #ninjago predictions #s01e13

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heycolorwind · 1 year

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New Arcade Contender! We go through arcade mode with Axl in Guilty Gear Strive!

#Guilty Gear Strive #gameplay #let's play #playthrough #walkthrough #Arcade Contender #Axl Low #GGST

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is-the-primate-vid-cute · 2 years

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Because it's pride month, I know you've spoke about gay primates.

But are there any "trans" primates? Ones that fill in roles of the opposite sex? (Like that one female lion who grew a mane?)

This is an interesting question, because even though there are sexually dimorphic primate species, the roles aren't really rigid in their binaries.

All sexually dimorphic species of primates, including humans, have sex characteristics on a spectrum. I have seen female proboscis monkeys with large noses that make them easily mistakable for their male counterparts. There is no shortage of variation in nature!

When it comes to gender, and even binaristic notions of sex? Well, we made that stuff up. These are human concepts that we apply to other animals because it's easier to contend with the complexities through a simple system, even if it isn't completely accurate or applicable. Though we might say that a female primate has certain characteristics or a male primate of whatever species tends to behave a certain way, it differs from individual to individual.

Remember Berani, the loving orangutan dad to Cerah? He is a mature, flanged male, yet after Cerah's mother passing away he took on the role of her mother and began caring for Cerah. Of course this doesn't mean that Berani is defying his assigned sex in any way that would translate to applying a human identity to him beyond "dad", but it is an example of a primate taking on the role of another sex. Applying any sort of binary to any species is going to be a generalization, so there will always be primates that defy our expectations. Even calling an animal male or female is just us having a shorthand to label the differences we observe.

Each species of primate is so complex and different from humans that I think it's a bit of a fools errand to apply gender and sexuality labels to them in earnest. I've heard bonobos reffered to as a bisexual species because they all engage in sexual interaction with each other and do not exclusively reserve these behaviors for one sex, but they really aren't bi in the way a person would be.

At the end of the day though, it doesn't really matter. Whether you interpret a bonded pair of same sex primates as a couple or best friends, whether you think of one with similar traits and behaviors to another sex as trans or gender non-conforming, it doesn't matter to them. To a certain degree, applying our ideas and identities to other animals is part of the fun of being human! If you can look at a gibbon and think "I bet this guy would love playing skee-ball" I think it's perfectly fair to look at a gorilla and think "That one is non-binary like me" if you want. Just promise that if you start a gorilla pride parade or a gibbon arcade, you'll send us pictures. 🦍🏳️‍🌈

#happy pride 🌈#inquiring minds want to know #mod j

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arcplaysgames · 1 year

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yo do y'all wanna see the most awkward conversation in the history of mankind

This fucking cafe date is like sitting with the two finalists for the Stepford Smiler competition. Also both of them have this nigh-identical false edge to their voices, like they both would rather be having a glass sundae than be sitting here. I have no idea what the fuck is going on but the vibes are Atrocious.

Anyway, Kasumi thinks that the Thieves are nice in theory but if they become a certainty in society, everyone will get worse because there will be no impetus to improve yourself when there's a phantom safety net.

Which I don't wanna be mean to Kasumi, she seems nice, but she sounds like a Centrist a bit lmao. The Thieves' actions in best case scenario would be propelled by failures in the system that necessitate extra judicial intervention. At the moment, that's not really the case and I think the biggest fault the Thieves have is their interest in fame and success. That in of itself is a very loud recurring drumbeat so I think the game actually intends to contend with that.

I'm developing a theory, and basically it's that Akechi closes his eyes and smiles every time he's Fucking Lying.

Speaking of, I got the arcade date and wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Eyes open.

Eyes closed.

You know, Adachi being Fuckt snuck up on me through P4G because at the start it manifested mostly as a hapless ditz who had a really weird mean streak.

Akechi tho. He is a walking alarm bell. I think if I was walking down the street at night and he was coming towards me, I'd walk to the other side. There is something deeply unsettling about him.

Also the joke about shooting Reverie. /sucks on teeth

What I know about Reverie's situation from the framing device and the cold open is that he was doing a heist and then he was betrayed and got captured.

There are still more party members incoming, i think Kiore said 3 or 4 more. However, I can't help but be fairly certain who did it already.

I just don't know why. He already has a quiet simmering hatred of the Thieves that I don't really understand yet. Unless he's working with Sae's boss and is part of this big conspiracy thing to do something.

Otherwise... I can see a situation in which Akechi baits the thieves (maybe baits them into doing that big casino heist) and his ulterior goal is to capture the Thieves? Bc he does seem obsessed with his Performance as the Detective Prince.

I don't know. All I do know is Akechi is the most Stepford Wife guy of all fucking time.

But also he def wants to tap dat ass. That too.

Now onto the OTHER siren alarm of a human being.

Maruki is actively a terrible therapist, it's kind of amazing. He's so intensely unprofessional all the time, he had a whole convo with Makoto where he kept making judgements on what she was saying instead of directing the session, he inserts himself into the conversation constantly. He's a BAD THERAPIST.

and THEN

WHO IS THE VILLAIN OF THIS FUCKING GAME

IS IT THE FUTURE PRIME MINISTER CONSPIRACY GUY

IS IT WHOEVER IS PRETENDING TO BE IGOR IN THE VELVET ROOM

IS IT AKECHI WHO HAS FUCKING VIBES

OR IS IT THE SOFTBOI THERAPIST WHO WANTS TO BRAINWASH EVERYONE INTO HAPPINESS BC BOO HOO PAIN IS SCARY

jesus CHRIST

at least I feel reeeeeeeeeasonably confident that this game isn't going to have an Izanami ass-pull eleventh hour villain reveal because they are setting up OPTIONS already

tho god i hope i haven't just jinxed it /knocks aggressively on wood

#p5 #persona liveblog

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angelofrainfrogs · 3 months

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Going Back: Ch. 11

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Things are looking up for Gregory. After putting the soul of a formerly-immortal killer to rest, he and his new family can finally begin their lives anew. Sure, Gregory might have been cursed with mysterious Remnant in exchange for being involved in this mess—not to mention his caretakers consist of sentient robots and ghosts… But there’s no doubt that the bond they share is unbreakable. They love him, and he in turn.

All in all, life is finally starting to go right for once.

…Unfortunately, true peace is a hard-won battle. There are other things to contend with besides William’s decrepit soul, and Gregory will learn that his role in the lives of the Aftons and Emilys is far greater than anyone could’ve imagined.

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

The old nursery rhyme, Grandfather’s Clock... It persisted and slowly grew louder and louder.

The vent behind Michael’s head echoed with the harsh memory-inducing sound. Not five seconds after it stopped completely, who else should fall into Michael's lap but Mari? The Puppet seemed just as alarmed as the guard was judging by her aggressive wiggling and thrashing.

Michael was embarrassed to admit that even after all they’d been through, his immediate instinct was to throw the Puppet off and try to kick her out the door, earning himself a few more seconds of perilous freedom from the vengeful bot and soul inside. However, this passing thought only lasted a millisecond—too fleeting for him to even consider acting on it. Instead of punting Mari like a ragdoll, Michael held her close in an attempt to calm her down.

“Whoa, whoa, relax!” he exclaimed, doing his best to pat her on the back. “Why are you so freaked out?! I can’t understand if you don’t chill!”

As the Puppet started to slow her wild movements, Michael gently held her by the shoulders at arm’s length as he tilted his head with a pinched expression of worry. “What’s wrong, Mari?”

Being addressed by her new name seemed to ground her enough. Puppet furiously tapped Michael's arms, then pointed to the security cameras with a thin finger. There was a threat inside the building—explaining how she knew would be impossible and time-consuming, so she sought to gently break free from one of Michael’s hands and finagle the controls for the monitors, head swiveling until she found the East Arcade’s security feeds.

Just in time, as they crossed over a camera where the shadow of a man snuck into a nearby bathroom, its door still shaking from the force he seemed to push it with. Repeatedly, Mari pointed to the screen, tapping it furiously until Michael got the message that she needed his help.

Michael’s mild concern instantly narrowed into sharp-focused fury. “Who the fuck is that?”

Someone was in the Pizzaplex after hours, and that meant that someone was near his family. Someone was a potential threat to everyone he cared about, who all happened to be in the building this very second. Even if it weren’t for Mari’s reaction, Michael could tell this stranger wasn’t welcome; no one would be sneaking around like that if they had good intentions.

With a cold jolt of fear, Mike also realized this uninvited guest was way too close to where Gregory and the kids were for comfort. Though he trusted Bonnie to look after them, there was only so much one robot could do when trying to keep so many kids safe from a currently unknown threat…

As if Michael had been in this scenario many times before, in one smooth movement he slung the Puppet around his shoulders and stood, patting his work belt down to assure he had his guard supplies. Upon exiting the office, he unclipped his walkie and tuned it into Sam’s. “Hey, Sam? Don’t freak out, but I think there’s someone in the Pizzaplex near the East Arcade. I’m going to check it out right now; I’ll keep you posted.”

The Puppet was quick to grasp on to Michael. If not only seeing a security guard was enough to scare whoever this was, the animatronic with the dead-eyed stare clinging to Mike's shoulder could help put some fear into the intruder’s heart. There were still children to protect, whether they were alive or not.

“Let me know if you need back up, Mike,” Sam answered after a beat, tone sounding worried as he’d just sent Freddy off with Gregory's tablet. He had a feeling that Freddy may react proactively should he see someone sneaking around the Pizzaplex.

Sam made sure to lock his office again, checking the hall corners as he jogged towards the security office. He could still do something—in place of Mike, he could check out the camera's feed and give him help where he needed it.

***

This wasn't happening the way Terry intended.

The sounds of kids playing had led the man with a sloshing beer gut towards the East Arcade. As soon as he caught sight of that mechanical rabbit he recognized as a character from many people in Hurricane's shared childhood, he dashed. Terry was smart enough to know those things had security features since the 90's; there was no way he could get close to his son with that thing around.

So now here he was, trying to call his wife for the tenth time in hopes of simply bailing on the plan to find Gregory. Who needed that little shit's government checks anyway? They already reported him missing, so the blame was hardly on them.

It was his fault for running off in the first place...

***

Michael was rushing towards the restroom he’d seen the man sneak into, face a mask of steely determination. On the way he ran into Freddy, who was expectedly concerned at the situation when Mike filled him in. Freddy wanted to help, but the guard said his assistance would be best utilized in the arcade with Bonnie and the kids.

With Gregory’s tablet clutched tightly in his hand, Freddy made a beeline for the game room. The kids were scattered throughout the arcade when Freddy arrived, but he didn’t want to call more attention to them by yelling out. Instead he rushed to Bonnie’s side, managing to snag a wandering Evan along the way and tuck the little ghost under his arm.

“Bonnie, help me gather the children and take them to the security office behind the prize counter,” Freddy instructed, still remembering the safe rooms. Even if he wasn’t connected to the Pizzaplex network anymore, his mental map of the building was still intact.

“Freddy? What’s happening?” Evan asked, instantly growing worried, though he allowed the fatherly figure to carry him around for now. With a hitch in his breath, he asked: “Did… did Puppet see something? Is she okay?!”

“She is with Michael; she is fine,” Freddy replied, not fully answering the boy’s question. To Bonnie, he urged: “Let us not waste time.”

Bonnie, who was the king of being nonchalant, came besides Hannah and scooped her up playfully into his arms at Freddy's request. Sure, he pulled her away from her game, but he distracted her by tossing her gently upwards in the air.

“Hoo boy! We gotta mosey for now. But we'll be back later!” the bunny loosely promised, glancing around as he began his search for Elizabeth and Gregory and gently bouncing Hannah in his arms; despite her ability to float or become incorporeal, he felt like it was important. Little things like that helped a kid like her feel normal, he assumed.

Gregory was spotted with Lizzie—the rabbit caught them in the act of trying to jump the prize counter in hopes of substituting their meager amount of tickets for a better prize.

“Hey, kids! We gotta go to the security room and get ourselves some snacks now!” he said, keeping his worry locked behind a mask, finding himself almost too good at pretending to be fine in the moment. He'd wave his free arm at the kids to make them follow him. “Quit all your cheatin' and come on! Freddy's waiting for us.”

Despite the annoyance of being pulled away from their games, it seemed the kids knew when it was time to go. Freddy’s concerned expression—not nearly as hidden on his human face—was the final prompting they needed to head to the security office without a fuss.

As they walked, Freddy allowed Evan to float alongside so he could slip his hand into Gregory’s, silently reassuring his son that everything would be alright. They didn’t know if this intruder had anything to do with his foster parents, but a twist deep in Freddy gut told him the timing was certainly a strange coincidence.

***

Along the way, Michael encountered another unexpected companion: Monty, emerging from Gator Golf just as the guard rushed past. He’d snagged the large robot and urged him to follow, feeling more confident with a bodyguard at his shoulder. Though Monty’s programming should be docile now, he was still an intimidating figure.

“Wait here, big guy,” Michael instructed in a whisper as they approached the bathroom. After being assured by Sam that the worst the animatronics would do was capture the threat and bring them to security—which, in this case, was standing right there—Michael opted to let Monty tag along as backup. The android was confident in his abilities to defend himself in a physical fight, but who knew if this psycho had any weapons on him? They couldn’t risk the kids being put in more danger.

“You got it, Mike,” Monty replied, flashing a sharp-toothed grin and punching a fist into his palm. “Lemme know if you need me to go after ‘em.”

Michael patted the gator’s arm and then turned to the bathroom, opening the door with a harsh kick of his heel. He stepped inside, calling out in a slow, deep voice tinged with barely-concealed annoyance: “Hello? Security! Look, I know you’re in here—we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

The jig was up—whoever was working here at night already saw him. So, hanging up the dozenth call he made to Rita, Terry sighed. What were his options? Security might let him go with a warning if he told the guy he was only looking for his son.

Looking through the cracks in the colorful plastic stalls, Terry gulped. There was a short pause before he surrendered, figuring that if he made himself compliant now, there might be time to slip away later. Terry didn't see this as an encounter that would hinder him; he always found himself worming his way out of messes and responsibility.

Slowly, he opened the stall door and put his hands up. Terry Smith had a seemingly permeant crease in his brows, glaring up to the perceivably younger man for having caught him.

“Alright—just be cool...,” Terry said, his voice like bike tires on gravel. Low and rough like you'd expect from the voice of a two pack a day smoker. For now, he'd bide his time. It wasn't like this guy was a real cop.

Good news: the man looked like a normal human, albeit a pissed off one. Still, Michael wasn’t going to take any chances. He was cinch his hands behind his back, holding his wrists together as best he could with one hand while reaching for his walkie with the other.

“I got him,” Michael said into the device, informing his boss of his success. “Let me know where I should meet you.”

As he waited for Sam to respond, Michael locked gazes with the man in the mirror. Clamping his wrists tighter, he narrowed his eyes. “Who are you? Why are you here after hours?”

Regardless of the fact he’d broken in, something about this guy just gave Michael a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Oh, come on! Really? I'm an old man, kid. I'm not going to do anything,” Terry fibbed, rolling his eyes with an annoyed glared pointed at Michael over his shoulder. He spoke down to the guard to cover up the fact that he was clearly up to something. He even tested Michael's strength, finding him much stronger than he looked. “My name's Terry—and I know I'm trespassing, but I have a very good reason for it.”

His explanation was cut short as a voice chimed in over the walkie.

“I'll come to you you—” Sam told Michael, noting everyone present and accounted for inside the nearby security office. “—you're in the East Arcade bathroom?”

“You can't detain me like this. You're not even a cop...” Terry rolled his eyes with a heavy loll in his neck. The more this man spoke, the more he couldn't hide his self-entitled personality.

“I can do whatever the hell I want to do,” Michael snapped back, grip tightening to border on painful. With his name revealed, it was abundantly clear who this man was: Terry Smith, Gregory’s foster father come to take his son back. Apparently, he decided to try a less savory route of doing so since his wife’s attempt failed.

“Don’t bother thinking you can slip out,” Michael remarked when he felt Terry start to squirm. Good—the bastard deserved to suffer as much discomfort as possible for the trauma he put Gregory through. The night guard wore a grin, though it didn’t meet his cold eyes. “I’ve got a biiig friend waiting just outside, and I guarantee he won’t be nearly as nice as I am if he gets his hands on you.”

Monty might be overtly docile now, but Michael knew how scary it could be to see a gigantic gator running at you. Hopefully that’d be enough to quell Terry’s thoughts of escape, since it was making Michael’s skin crawl the longer they touched.

“You’re lucky, though—you get to meet the CEO!” Mike spoke in an exaggeratedly excited tone. “Once he gets here, you can explain to both of us why you’re sneaking around the Pizzaplex.”

Terry's eyes had gone wider. There wasn't any way he could worm out of this right now, so he'd try getting sympathy from this aggressive night guard before the CEO dared show his face.

“Please—Sir, I'm looking for my lost son. He loves this place. I-I just want to get him home safe and sound.” He squirmed uncomfortably. This security guard’s hands were like a vice grip, tightening the more he threatened to wiggle loose. “Look... Understand it from my perspective. You've got a family right? Wife or... Or kids or something? I just want my son back...”

He attempted to illicit an empathetic response from the guy, but he wasn't entirely sure that he was dealing with the most empathetic person around. But Terry was a parasite at heart; feeding off of other's kindness was the only way he knew how to get by.

“Yes, I have a family,” Michael responded through clenched teeth.

Along with some good friends he had three younger siblings, two of which had been around since the 80s and one he’d acquired recently. Gregory was his brother, and Freddy was certainly a better father figure to all of them than William ever had been. The former co-founder of Fazbear entertainment had neglected his children due to his madness, which was certainly no excuse for his behavior… But Gregory’s neglect had been intentional, and that made Michael want to punch out the man he was holding.

“If you’re looking for your son, might I ask why you’re sneaking in at night to do so?” Michael asked. He could take an educated guess, but he was really stalling for time until Sammy arrived to give further direction. Although, if the CEO didn’t show up soon Michael was growing increasingly tempted to throw Terry out to deal with the likes of Monty and anyone else roaming around in wait for him to pass by.

The tense statement Michael made sounded so definitive that Terry clamped his mouth shut, more worried now that the security guard had found a hole in his plan. Though, to Terry, it sounded better than the situation looked at first glance. He swallowed, mouth becoming nervously dry as he went to explain.

“My wife—she came here a few days ago. W-We hadn’t heard anything from the CEO about our son. Rita, she uh—s-she has it in her head that our son’s somewhere in here,” the man explained, having to swallow again to lubricate his crackling voice. “I came here to put both our minds at ease and—HEY! You're hurting me, bud!”

Terry yelped dramatically, trying to wiggle loose just in time for a very tense looking Samuel to walk through the doors. Scowling, Sam crossed his arms and leered down at the intruder.

“Okay—what the hell is happening here?” he inquired. Where Terry went to explain, he was immediately silenced by the CEO, who held a dismissive hand to his face. “I'm talking to my guard, not you.”

“Says his name is Terry, and he’s looking for his son,” Michael informed, careful to leave out extraneous details. To Terry, they needed to make it seem like they only knew what he told them—they couldn’t let on that Gregory was a part of their wild, adoptive family. Mike raised a skeptical eyebrow at Sam as he continued. “He told me his wife—Rita, I think?—stopped by the other day and met with you, but you weren’t able to tell her anything.”

With a final warning squeeze, he slowly released Terry’s wrists, smirking with satisfaction as the man rubbed the now-tender skin. Michael’s violent temper had quelled with time, but seeing the man in clear discomfort gave him a sick little sense of satisfaction. Looking to Sam, the guard asked, only half-joking: “So, what do you think? Should we sic Monty on him for trespassing?”

“Rita...” Samuel blinked, fixing the round frames on his nose. If she had proof that Gregory was in hiding at the Pizzaplex, Samuel had a feeling at this point Rita might be desperate enough to call the authorities. However, without solid evidence they couldn't conduct a search without probable cause if Sammy pushed back hard enough. So, she must've sent the idiot she married to come and look for traces of Gregory himself.

“Yes, Rita Smith; I remember now.” Samuel's voice was calm, but the man wore his emotions on his sleeve just like his twin. With his nails digging into his jacket and a contemptuous gaze, he was much less friendly with the Smiths this time around. “Sir, I'm positive I already told your wife there’s no evidence of your missing son being in the building. The head of security and I were looking over the tapes day and night and found no trace of Gregory Smith.”

Well... More like doctoring the footage ahead of time. It was another white lie, and Sam felt his line of sight dither from Terry's. As a con man himself, Terry raised his hand and pointed a stubby index finger at the CEO.

“Bullshit, you must’ve seen him! This is the only place he could’ve gone! There has to be outside footage somewhere—” Terry shouted, argumentative and rude. “You can trick all the new fuckin' rubes in this town, but people like us remember what happened forty years ago! Weird shit happens here; kids go missing…”

“You shut the fuck up!” Michael hissed, overcome with a dark flash of anger that made him grab Terry by the front of his shirt. He lifted the man up on tip-toe as he sneered down into his face, much less obvious at lying than Sam. “You have no clue what you’re talking about. We haven’t seen your kid—if we did, we’d tell someone. Do you really think we’d still be in business if shit like that was still going down? And—”

“Hey, y’all good in there?” Monty’s voice cut through Michael’s rant, the gator’s protocol for protecting staff amping up along with the raised voices.

And not a moment too soon—the last thing Mike wanted was for his emotions to overwhelm him and let slip something that would prove they knew more than they were letting on. He took a deep breath, setting Terry back on solid ground as he let out the air in his artificial lungs.

“We’re fine, Monty; just stay put,” the guard called through the closed door. His eyes shifted to Terry, now even colder than before. “I suggest you get the hell out of our Pizzaplex before you really piss us off, got it? If we find any information on your son, you and your wife will be the first to know.”

Samuel looked rattled. The rant Michael was about to go on could’ve jeopardized everything. Thankfully, with Monty’s interruption Sam pulled himself from the shaken daze of Terry having touched a nerve and could now intervene. Standing at Mike’s side, he decided to play good cop.

“We'll gladly escort you instead of calling the police. I understand why you did what you did.” Samuel tried to sound understanding, taking Terry by the shoulder as he spoke. He began guiding them through the bathroom door to kick him out at the entrance, a slick smile pulling at his lips. “Do it again and I’ll be contacting the authorities to hit your ass with a civil suit.”

Michael had successfully intimidated Terry into a more passive behavior. It turned passive-aggressive when Sam mentioned suing him, but Terry lacked the resistance to fight either of them right then and there.

Especially when he saw just how big Montgomery Gator was up close.

“Monty, buddy!” Michael greeted the animatronic warmly. “Mind tagging along while we show Terry the door?”

“‘Course not!” the gator replied loudly, his long tail swaying slowly to and fro. To the inexperienced it might seem like just a standard pre-programmed movement cycle, but in reality it was a predatory gesture meant to keep Monty focused on potential prey. He wouldn’t seriously hurt the guy, of course—now that the malware was gone, he was physically unable to do such a thing. He could certainly intimidate, though… and even rough the guy up if Sam or Michael tweaked his aggression settings a bit.

Heavy footsteps shook the floor as Monty began following along beside the trio, his grinning maw widening when Terry spared a quick glance at him out of the corner of his eye. In his rumbling voice, Monty remarked: “I’d go along with whatever they say, if I were you—you don’t want to see anyone around here really mad!” His smile got impossibly bigger. “‘Specially not any of my friends…”

This isn't happening, Terry thought, trying to keep his gaze forward and to ignore the mechanical freak show that was currently following him and the CEO down the halls. I’m not being threatened by a fucking robot...

“Thank you, Monty,” Sam told in an appreciative tone as the gator held open a door for all of them to pass through. When Terry slowed, Sam was the one to nudge him into walking again. As they approached the exit, Terry attempted to plant his feet again in resistance.

“W-Wait! Could I come back when you're open again? Come on, this isn't fair...,” he practically whined, attempting to pull at everyone’s heartstrings—though maybe it was futile. That robotic alligator likely only listened to its masters without free will of its own.

“I'll think about it. Monty? Could you help our friend here get moving again, please?” Sam asked with another closed-off body stance, crossing his arms disapprovingly.

“You got it, boss!” Monty replied, taking a big step forward and hoisting Terry into the air by his underarms. The man was lifted like a pillow, clearly no match for Monty’s extreme strength. It was Michael who held the doors now so Monty could carry Terry all the way to the exit. Only when they reached the front entrance did Monty set him down with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest when the man scrambled away from the imposing gator. “Alllright, ride’s over! Time to go!”

“Remember—sneaking back equals instant lawsuit,” Michael piped up, glaring at Terry with hands on his hips. One set of fingers tapped the taser at his belt in a not-so-subtle threat. “And that’s only if I’m feeling nice.”

Sam relocked the doors as they slammed on Terry, leaving the man in a tizzy. Once out of earshot and only after lowering the exit shields, Samuel put his hands on the top of his head.

“You two—” he laughed, only able to breathe and joke about the situation now that it was over and out of sight. “—nearly made him crap himself. Wow... We need to be more careful with our security protocols.”

Sam rubbed his eyes as the stress of it all came down upon him. To completely fix the security systems, they’d need to being the rest of the Glamrocks back online. It was an upside and downside to having the walk-around characters themselves be a part of the security network. Having the gang wandering around to protect Gregory was their best option now that they knew the Smiths were actively sneaking. And with the souls of the dead wandering this place, Sam felt like they might not only have the police to worry about should Terry or Rita complain to them. If one of those cheesy ghost-hunting shows got word of haunted animatronics, they’d be all over this place…

Samuel begun to pull out his phone and send a text to the whole family:

Cost is clear. I put the front end on lockdown so no one set off the alarms, okay?

“Good thing all we have to do now is fix Roxy—then we can turn the system back on,” Sam remarked absently as he typed.

“That guy’s a piece of work,” Monty murmured, looking to the doors as he flexed his claws. Sammy’s last comment piqued his interest, and he turned to the men with a spark of hesitant hope in his eyes. “Wait, if y’all just gotta fix up Roxy… Does that mean Chica’s ready to go?!”

“She’ll be ready by the start of night shift tomorrow for sure, if not tonight,” Mike replied, running a stressed hand through his hair. The encounter with Terry really jarred him more than he’d like to admit, and he was mentally kicking himself for almost losing his cool.

However, Sam had a good point. Once all the animatronics were up and running, they could reactivate that mysterious “internal network” Michael had been hearing so much about and act as their own security/relay system.

“Actually, Sam, we should probably finish up with Chica asap,” Michael thought aloud. The faster they could move onto the wolf, the better. He opened his mouth to speak, when his phone buzzed with a text from Freddy responding to the group message.

WE WILL STAY CLEAR. I AM TAKING THE CHILDREN BACK DOWNSTAIRS FOR THE NIGHT AS AN EXTRA PRECAUTION. ARE YOU ALRIGHT? DO YOU NEED ANY ASSISTANCE?

Michael snorted, and indicated for Sam to check his phone when the man gave him a questioning look.

“Silly bear got stuck on caps lock,” Michael chuckled, replying that they were just fine and Freddy had a good plan. He paused, then glanced up at the gator. “Monty, mind going with them just for extra security?”

“Nope,” Monty replied easily, as if he could even deny such a request. “I’ve been meanin’ to take a trip down there to see where all the lil guppies hang out anyway. I’ll make sure nothin’ bothers ‘em.”

“Thanks; I’ll go back to the security office and watch the cameras while you work on Chica,” Michael told Sam, simultaneously relaying this plan to Freddy and Charlie. “I doubt he’d come back tonight, but we don’t know what this psycho’s capable of…”

Freddy Fazbear had no clue how to type on a phone and it was precious. The worried text message had stamped a smile onto Sam's mouth. He worked on texting back the group chat, but asked Michael: “You think you're going to need Charlie's help tonight? It could get hairy if Terry shows up again.”

Samuel brought it up, not meaning to rhyme as he spoke before going back to compose his text to Freddy. “We'll be fine. Gonna send Monty down with you. How are the kids?”

Before he could press send Charlie had sent them all something—a moving picture of a cat tackling a baby in a backyard. She captioned the oddly timed meme: The Cat is Sam and Terry is the baby lol

With a roll of his eyes, Sam ignored the text as he suppressed the urge to laugh at something that dumb. Michael snickered at Charlie’s message, texting back:

Lol so true… you want to stick with me in the security office for a bit? Mari’s welcome too but she might want to go with the kids

Aloud, he told Sam and Monty: “Yeah, I’ll hang with Charlie. Sorry this is such a huge mess—”

There he went again, apologizing as if all of this was somehow Michael’s fault. Charlie had been on his case about not doing that for the past week, though it was a hard, decades-ingrained habit to break. With a heavy sigh, Michael shook his head and looked to the pair.

“Anyway, we’re good for now; come on Monty, you and I are going in the same direction.” Before heading back into the depths of the Pizzaplex, Michael squeezed Sammy’s shoulder in friendly acknowledgement, his usual grin quirking up the corner of his mouth. “Thanks for the backup, boss.”

Sam didn't quite understand what Michael had even been apologizing for to begin with. But still, he was glad to give Mike a reassuring glance.

“I've always got your back, buddy,” he replied, waving off both Monty and his friend in favor of heading to his office.

So much to do, Sam thought, and only so much time. It was nearly the weekend, and their scheduled re-opening needed to have everything working again. Sam just had to keep telling himself that everything was going to work out in the end if he managed to work long enough...

***

Down below, the troupe of children had made it safely to the inner workshop and what Gregory had now been affectionately calling the Ghost Diner. In the darkness, Gregory made himself busy by showing the spirits how the drawing tablet worked. Currently, with Bonnie posing on the workbench in a thinker's position, Gregory sketched what he saw.

“Yeah, so when you want to color it, you can just switch to a new layer under the line art you just made,” he explained, making sure there was enough room to show the other kids as they all hid inside the burned out diner. Freddy didn't really want to leave them out of sight, but it was safer if Gregory and the others were completely hidden from view.

“Hey guys, I’ve got another friend for you to hang with!” Henry’s voice sounded bright and calm from the workshop entrance. A few minutes earlier Monty had appeared in the hallway just outside per Michael’s direction, where Henry happened to be keeping watch. After some introductions and brief marveling at each other—Monty in awe of his friends’ creator and Henry astounded by Monty himself—the old ghost led the way to where the children gathered.

“Hey, y’all!” Monty greeted with a wave, taking in the little band of kids. A quick health scan indicated that Gregory wasn’t distressed despite the situation, to the gator’s relief. He also noted that this scan only worked on Gregory, meaning all the others weren't quite human.

At this point, Monty had stopped questioning things in favor of trying to go with the flow, as was his usual nature. As long as everyone was safe and happy, who cared whether they had real heartbeats or not?

“Monty, thank goodness!” Freddy said, moving to hug his animatronic friend around the waist. “Thank you so much for helping.”

“Aw, no worries Fredbear!” Monty replied, throwing back his head in laughter as he ruffled Freddy’s hair aggressively. He acknowledged Bonnie with a wink through his purple shades, though he was quick to direct his attention to the kids. He was still a bit wary of the rabbit. “What’cha doin’? Hey, that’s a great drawin’, squirt!”

***

Michael just got to the office when Charlie and Puppet came banging on one of the security doors. After confirming their identities on the cameras Mike let them in, then sunk into the chair with a heavy sigh.

“Well, we guessed as much but I can now confirm: Gregory’s foster dad is a shithead,” he announced, drumming his fingertips on the desk in annoyance.

Charlie stayed by the door for a second longer, taking in what Michael said and silently wondering what had happened while Marionette quickly slunk inside. Mari was quick to curl up the length of the chair and flop her arms around Michael in a hug.

“What even happened? I was downstairs almost all night,” Charlie said, closing the door behind her as she joined the pair inside.

Henry asked that she stayed downstairs when the chaos began—something about Charlie rushing into danger set him off these days. While he worked on Mari's newest android upgrades, Charlie acted as his assistant despite her very busy mind. The fact that Michael potentially got to beat up Gregory's foster dad without her had put a deep frown on Charlie's face.

“Oh, you know—just gave him the ol' one-two,” Michael joked, as if reading her thoughts. He mimed punching an invisible person before settling back into the chair with a huff, wrapping an arm around Mari's plush frame as she hugged him. “Really, the coward was hiding in the bathroom—Mari caught him and ran to tell me, and when I saw him on the security cameras I alerted the others.”

He let out a humorless laugh, rolling his eyes. “Bastard tried to act like he was concerned about Gregory, and the reason he was sneaking in was because he and his wife hadn't heard anything since she tried to get info. We quickly showed him the door with Monty's help, so I doubt he'll be back tonight.”

Michael's gaze shifted to the cameras, nearly all of which were still and quiet since most of the members of the Pizzaplex were down in the basement where feeds wouldn't reach. The only movement he could see was Sam shuffling around with Chica's prone body, as well as Sun talking animatedly with his new friend in the Daycare. With a sigh, Michael added: “Still, it's not a bad idea to keep an eye out for the rest of the night... we need to be extra vigilant over the next few days, too. Sam's working to get Chica and Roxy fixed up so he can activate the animatronics' extra security protocols.”

It figured that both of the Smiths turned out to be giant assholes. Charlie and Michael expected nothing less from the people that wanted to take Gregory from them and back into harm’s way. While Charlie was the one that seemed to support others, the thought of others coming to take away their little brother had begun to really worry her. Charlie bit at the sides of her nail, following Michael's line of sight to the security feeds. She could sit here and worry, sure. Or she could help to keep Gregory safe.

So Charlie wandered her way to the desk, standing beside Michael as he performed his job. The security outfit certainly looked more familiar on him the longer she saw him in it. Before Michael could catch her gaze, she glanced up and watched both Ennard and Sun playing together. If only they could give Gregory that sort of carefree life...

Sighing, Charlie decided to voice her biggest concerns. “Do you ever wonder if we're going to mess him up? Like... He's going to be like us because of all of this?”

Charlie finally could look at Michael, hoping for reassurance from her friend as she gently worried the sides of her arms with a self-soothing hug. “I like to think we're helping him out by protecting him from everything. But, I don't know sometimes... I-I just know we can't lose him.”

What a loaded question. Michael stared hard at the camera as he gathered his thoughts, a heavy crease forming between his brows. Puppet was still clinging to him, though she'd moved to wrap around his neck in a backwards hug so she could watch the feeds, too. .

“Charlie... the kid decided that he'd rather have a robot bear as a dad over anything else,” he said slowly, gaze flickering up to his friend's for a brief moment. “I think he was already a little messed up before we found him. But...”

He paused, swallowing hard. Mike just wanted one sibling to have a normal life—extended family included. That's really all he'd hoped for. He'd always known it was a fever dream, but with every horrible thing that happened to Gregory over last weekend along with the foster situation, Michael was now a hundred percent sure he was a curse to anyone he chose to call “brother” or “sister.”

“If you mean 'is he going to be mentally scarred and would probably benefit from some serious therapy', then yes; absolutely,” Michael continued, knowing Charlie would understand the self-deprecation this time. “And I have no clue what that Remnant will do to him down the line... God, I wish I'd have saved him from that. Fuck, I'm such a—”

He broke off suddenly, the guilt and regret coming over him like a wave. He'd gotten good at pushing down the feelings over the past few days, for if he thought over everything that he'd been through Michael worried he might go insane. But sometimes, in moments like this, it was all too much. Blindly, he reached out for Charlie's hand while he used the other to furiously swipe at approaching tears.

“All we can do is watch over him and make sure he's as happy as possible, Charlie. I agree—we can't lose him. We can't lose anyone again. I... I don't think I can take it.” The confession was quiet, only meant for Charlie and her protective Puppet to hear.

The sound of Michael fast-approaching apathy and sadness pulled Charlie's vision from the screens to their connected hands. She refused to let Michael say horrible things about himself any longer. While of course she enjoyed poking fun at her friend with only the intentions of making him laugh, when he tried to do it to himself she was quite hard on him. Subsequently, Charlie was pulled closer and she rested her head on Michael's shoulder.

“I heard somewhere it's good to cry,” Charlie told him, shutting her eyes as she felt the same sadness for Gregory. “You can. I'm not going to tell anyone...”

They grew up in a time where crying too much got you yelled at—specifically, Michael's dad despised crying. All of them still had so much to work through, and Charlie knew it was silly to hope that all their shared issues would be solved overnight. It simply wasn't realistic. They would all deal with their personal horrors for the rest of their existences...

After pausing to think over the words without her voice being garbled by her own tears, she was able to tell Michael: “We'll do everything we can, but blaming ourselves won't help Gregory or the others at this point.”

“I know, I know, I just... it's hard,” Mike said, appreciating her presence after all these years of being alone. He let out a mirthless laugh that soon became choked up with the tears he'd been holding back for so long. “Man... our lives really went to shit, didn't they?”

Now things were finally starting to look up, yes, but they'd suffered for so many years trapped in their own physical and mental prisons. With this thought in mind, the stalwart Puppet wrapped around him, and his best friend's head on his shoulder, Michael finally allowed himself to cry.

It was quiet at first, still getting used to the fact that he could let the tears flow without anyone scolding him for not being strong enough. However, soon he was sobbing openly, the camera feeds all but forgotten as he slipped an arm around Charlie's waist to pull her closer. Puppet had to accommodate her reach to include Charlie who was now smushed into Michael's side, both of them apparently needing the comfort. Charlie felt like a pot of water about to boil over. The crying may not help every sad feeling automatically go away, though it was a relief to get every excess emotion out.

Something about watching the strongest boy you knew growing up—someone you had admired to an extent for their apparent bravery—break down sobbing... Well, it gets to a person.

Charlie couldn't help the few speckles of water she left on his shirt. When the two of them could breathe normally again, Charlie refused to leave his side. Pushing everything away and trying to forget was hard. Especially when everything reminded you of what happened. It was both her greatest comfort and heartbreaking to know that Michael felt the same as she did.

Before long Charlie was playing with Michael's hair in the way she found he liked, blankly watching the video feeds with Mari.

“Puppet—” Charlie said, trying to lift her friend's spirits now. “—if you tell anyone we were crying in here, I'll be sooo mad.” She spoke sternly, a smile cracking her lips as Puppet shook her head fervently. Motioning a zipper being pulled over her static mouth, Mari mimed throwing away a key to tell them that their little secret was safe with her.

“Watch her actually be a total chatterbox when she gets her new body,” Michael remarked with a small upturn of his lips, playfully jabbing Charlie's side. “Just like the one who designed her.”

His face felt heavy and splotchy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried like that, though it must’ve been decades ago. Even the minor breakdowns over the past weekend had nothing on what just transpired in this tiny security office. Despite this, after letting it out Mike did feel better in a way. Not great—he didn't think he'd ever feel great about things. But at least Charlie was here for him, and vice versa. They'd been ripped apart when they needed each other the most, and now they could finally make up for all they'd lost, no matter how slow the process was.

The guard let out a sigh, allowing himself to relax as Charlie continued idly messing with his hair. He was still on alert, but he really didn't think Terry would show his face around again tonight. Hopefully the man wasn't that stupid.

“...You think the kids are giving Freddy a run for his money?” Michael asked, if only for a topic change. “I know he's literally made to handle groups of them, but surely he wasn't designed for prolonged exposure to the likes of my sister and Cassidy...”

Charlie laughed at the sentiment, now sliding her arms around Michael’s shoulders to try and help dry off his face. All his tears seemed to collect under his chin, so Charlie whisked them away with the long sleeves of her shirt.

“Those twins, too—oh my god,” Charlie brought up. Nearly all of the children down there were a handful to take care of. The only one who you practically never had to worry about was Hannah; even Evan had his moments. After controlling her giggles, egged on by the quick jabs to her ribs, Charlie laughed: “He's got Bonnie and Monty! I'm sure they're holding up. My dad's patient but I doubt he's getting much work done.”

Still, it was her hope that once Mike's shift was over, Puppet would have a way to talk to them come dawn. Before when they shared a connected consciousnesses, Charlie was completely in sync with her toy friend. Now it’d become only slightly hard to decipher exactly what she meant all the time. And while Mari had personality, it would become much clearer with the ability to speak soon enough.

“Oh yeah, he's getting zero work done,” Michael agreed with a nod, leaning back in his chair to cross his arms over his chest and set his feet on the security desk. He grinned with the thought of wrangling all those excitable kids. “You're right, though—at least they've got help. Bonnie's good at entertaining, and I have a feeling Monty would just throw them over his shoulder if they get too obnoxious...”

As Charlie imagined the chaos happening below, a faint smile lit up her face.

“You'd do the same thing if you were watching all of them,” Charlie replied, as if she herself was a total saint. Whenever she babysat the little Aftons with Michael, she remembered it being an uphill battle for them to not mess up the house or have anyone actively hurt when Mike's parents came home...

***

Michael's guess wasn't too far off. By this point most of the kids had gotten tired of sitting around talking or watching Gregory draw and decided to pursue other venues of entertainment. Freddy chose to be a monitor, observing the whole room and being available to those that needed or wanted to hang out with him. His gaze was currently fixated on Monty, who much to the former bear's annoyance was currently tossing Cassidy, Cain, and Quinn as high as possible and seeing who could get the most air time. Freddy couldn't really complain, as if they got to close to the ceiling they could simply phase through it... However, the thought of Monty doing this with more corporeal children caused Freddy to let out a preemptive sigh.

Henry was actually able to get more progress made with Mari's android than he'd expected, despite being interrupted what seemed like every five minutes for a kid to show him something interesting or ask him a random question. The old soul loved the attention, though; it reminded him of the days back in the original diner when life was good.

In the bowels of the Pizzaplex, Gregory was helping Bonnie find a relic from the past. The rabbit could practically see the old guitar in his mind. It was technically his—just an older version of himself owned the thing. When a sooty, filth-covered Gregory emerged from the backdoor holding a guitar up by the neck, he flaunted it in front of the old rabbit and Hannah.

“Is this the one?!” Gregory called as he strutted for the rest of the group.

“THAT'S the very one! Here, here—bring it over so I can tune it,” Bonnie shouted excitably.

Running between his legs ducked Liz, who was currently playing a game of tag that'd lasted well over an hour now with Evan. The high energy of all the children was being handled well by all four responsible figures thus far. After Gregory handed off the instrument, Bonnie was quick to employ his automatic tuning system as he expertly plucked the strings.

“Here, Hannah!” Bonnie larked, handing off the guitar after making sure the strings wouldn't just snap on her from their age. “Why don't we practice chords? Maybe we'll learn a song tonight!”

“WHOA! Seriously?!” The sight of Bonnie's original guitar, even more special in Hannah's eyes due to its clearly old vibe was enough to send her into an excitable fit. She jumped up and down, unable to contain her glee as she reverently took the instrument from Bonnie's paws. After looking around for a moment, she settled against a wall in a quieter corner of the room, already re-familiarizing herself with the strings and few chords her brother had been able to teach her before her fateful trip to the Pizzaplex.

Gregory, having no real musical talent to speak of, ran towards Monty now with the full intention of being launched in the air.

“MY TURN! My turn, please!” he exclaimed, arms up in the air and waving to gain the gator's attention.

“Well hurry up, squirt, 'fore your dad freaks out!” Monty called, bending down to grab Gregory at the maximum throwing angle.

“Monty, do not even think about it!” Freddy warned sure enough, eyes narrowed as he took a step towards the rampaging gator. However, Gregory's speed was no match for his dad's, and before Freddy could blink he watched his son get launched high into the air, the top of his shaggy brown hair only missing the ceiling by mere inches.

“He's fine!” Monty insisted with a hearty laugh, backing away with Gregory clutched in his arms as Freddy started towards them with fire in his bright blue eyes. The gator knew full-well this could have dire consequences, but he couldn't resist adding on: “Get the stick outta your butt and loosen up, Fredbear!”

Being launched in the air willingly left Gregory shouting—a fun, carefree shriek that garnered the attention of the twins and Cassidy. They could relate after having Monty throw them for the last twenty minutes. When Gregory touched back down in Monty's arms he was giggling. His poor dad was going to blow a circuit, or have a simulated heart attack if Monty did that again. But Gregory felt the need to reach out and tell him: “Dad! I'm totally fine! Do you wanna throw me instead?”

Maybe the issue was that Freddy still didn't quite trust other people not to hurt him? The bear couldn't protect him forever; even Gregory knew that, but he loved his Dad enough to at least try not to give him a stress-induced coma. Which reminded Gregory to ask Henry later—could his robots get grey hairs?

“Y'all, let’s not fight! It's s'pose to be a little party down here!” Bonnie called, always the peacemaker, helping Hannah keep time with her chords as he tapped his foot to the beat.

Gregory's reassurance and smiling face worked surprisingly well to get Freddy off Monty's case tonight. Freddy knew he was being overly protective, but he couldn't help it—the whole situation with the foster family was something completely out of his knowledge base and left him deeply distressed, especially when he couldn't do anything but hide away with the kids. He wanted to go out and actively help, but he understood it was best to let Sam and Michael handle it. There was a whole other side to this slippery slope of their “adoption” of Gregory that Freddy hadn't the faintest idea how to work through, and he couldn't risk jeopardizing anything. Even so, taking a backseat after literally being the leader of a band for years was a hard concept for Freddy to wrap his head around...

But right now, Gregory was just trying to have some fun. He did trust Monty implicitly, despite how it seemed. Bonnie's words were the final trigger Freddy needed to snap him out of his seeing-red funk. He blinked a few times, then his expression softened into its usual kind smile. Instead of taking Gregory away, he leaned forward to press a quick kiss to the top of the boy's head, then backed off with a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, you two—do not mind me. Have fun! Ah, Monty, just... please throw him a little lower, will you?”

“Can do, Freddy!” the gator replied with a jaunty salute, then proceeded to toss Gregory again without warning, eliciting an even louder shriek than before. He was careful to make sure the boy's head didn't come nearly as close to the ceiling this time around, if only to save his old pal the stress.

Gregory had been taken off-guard and paid the price of trusting Monty completely. He yelled as he was thrust upwards, positive there'd be room for a flip—though Gregory wouldn't dare try it for fear of breaking his neck from the height. Falling back into Monty's waiting arms made him miss the ground after the second throw despite how fun it was, eyes squeezed shut as he laughed regardless; it was more adrenaline he felt in lieu of fear.

At the other end of the room, Bonnie was sure to give Fredbear a positive thumbs up. He wouldn't leave his friend hanging as he watched the two come to an agreement everyone seemed happy with.

***

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