#and a dual-sided scoop

[foranicecupofcoffee]

#Mr. Coffee Iced and Hot Coffee Maker #Single Serve Machine with 22-Ounce Tumbler and Reusable Coffee Filer #Black #About this item #Brews in under 4 minutes: Quickly and easily brew refreshing iced coffee or flavorful hot coffee just how you like it in less than 4 minute #Easy measuring system: The integrated measuring system makes it easy to brew the perfect ratio of water and coffee and ice #for coffee that is always bold and flavorful—never watered down; the magic is in the measurements. #Pod-Free: Brew 6 #8 #12 #or 16 oz. of bold #pod-free hot coffee #and 22 oz. of refreshing iced coffee #with the single-serve reusable filter #All the extras: Includes a reusable tumbler #lid and straw #and a dual-sided scoop #For full product details #click on the link👉 https://amzn.to/3UDlu4W #owen wilson #robert de niro #ben stiller #meet the parents #la pavoni #espresso machine #coffee #coffee machines

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst

One of the great unknowns about the 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst is exactly how many cars were built. Estimates put the total as low as 485, and as high as 502 cars. Regardless of what the figure actually is, the car itself is a pretty special piece of machinery.

The 300 Hurst is a giant of a car at 19′ in length. All of the Hursts rolled off the production line finished in Spinnaker White. The cars were then shipped to the Hurst factory in Warminster, Pennsylvania, where a substantial transformation was performed. The first change to be made was the removal of the standard Chrysler steel hood skin, which was replaced with a fiberglass unit. This featured a decorative hood scoop and the obligatory set of recessed hood locks. The deck lid was also removed, and once again, a fiberglass replacement, complete with a spoiler integrated with the rear quarter panels, was also installed. The White paintwork was complimented by the addition of Satin Tan highlights and contrasting pinstripes, and the wheels were adorned with the same Satin Tan color in the centers. This Hurst is a clean car, with a small area of rust visible in the lower section of the driver’s side front fender, and surface corrosion present on the car’s underside. The Spinnaker White paint appears to be in good condition, but there has been some deterioration of the Satin Tan paint on both the hood and the deck lid. The exterior trim and chrome all look good, while the tinted glass is close to perfect.

The 300 Hurst was a premium car at a premium price, so naturally, it required a premium interior. In this case, seat upholstery was available in a single type and color. Continuing the exterior theme, the color is Saddle Tan, and the material is leather. The plush front seats are not standard 300 items but have been pilfered from the Imperial parts bin. While the original intention was for a Hurst shifter to be part of the interior features, this is something that never eventuated. The interior of this Hurst is close to perfect, with a single discolored spot on the dash pad being the most obvious fault. The rest of it presents in virtually as-new condition, and as befits a luxury car, it is loaded with luxury touches. These include air conditioning, power windows, six-way power seats, cruise control, a remote trunk release, and I think that there also might be an 8-track player hanging under the dash.

The 300 Hurst was the biggest of the muscle cars, and as such, it needed a big motor to get it moving. In this case, it is the TNT 440 engine, pumping out 375hp. The Hurst also features a 727 TorqueFlite transmission, a 3.23 rear end, power steering, power brakes, heavy-duty rear springs and front torsion bars, and sway bars. The exhaust was a full dual system, ending in quad tips. This Hurst hasn’t seen a lot of recent use, and documentation confirms that between 1986 and 2019, it managed to accumulate a grand total of 20 miles! Since being removed from its climate-controlled storage, it has undergone a meticulous mechanical check and recommissioning, and it is now said to run and drive perfectly. The owner does suggest that while the tires look good, they are pretty olds, and replacing them might be a good idea. He also says that the Hurst may need mufflers fairly soon. The car does come with a fair collection of documentation, including the original Build Sheet and Window Sticker, a pristine Certi-Card, Owner’s Manual, as well as dealer paperwork and other assorted items.

While there has always been some question surrounding the build totals for the 1970 300 Hurst, one thing is certain, and that is that there are less than 300 cars in existence today. Pristine examples can fetch sums in excess of $30,000, and even a rough example in need of restoration can still sell for anywhere around $13,000. This one doesn’t need a major restoration, but it does require some cosmetic work. I’m not sure where bidding is eventually going to go with this one, but I would suspect that it will be somewhere around the low to mid $20,000 mark. Even at that price, it probably wouldn’t be a bad buy.

#Chrysler 300 Hurst #chrysler 300 #chrysler #car #cars #muscle car #american muscle #mopar #moparperformance #moparnation #moparworld

[cambion-companion]

I have a request if you’re still taking them :)

Something with reader who knows how to fight and spars Aemond a bit and ends getting injured somehow (perhaps sparring Aemond 👀) and doesn’t tell him about it and he doesn’t know till reader collapses or something

Hope you’re having a lovely day! I love your fics :)

Hi guys! This is a great idea; hope you like what I made! ((His face in this gif hurts my heart))

Word count: 1156

Masterlist here

Aemond x wife!reader | Injury

You let out a sharp curse, throwing your body to the side as your husband’s sword arced down at you. Adrenaline coursed through your veins as your feet skidded on the soft earth, barely keeping your balance as you dodged yet another blow.  

“Seven hells, Aemond!” You half-shouted, backing away yet further as he advanced, his one violet eye calculating your defensive stance. “Why must you always insist on sparring with real weapons?”

“It.”

 You blocked a blow to your right side.

“Builds.”

You ducked another aimed for your shoulder.

“Character.”

Aemond accentuated each word with a flourishing attack, driving you back until you made contact with the stone wall of the courtyard.

Your swords met, with a ringing of metal, as you intercepted him yet again, your weapons scraping against each other as you struggled.  Grunting with effort, you raised a booted foot and kicked at Aemond’s midriff, pushing him away enough to get in a few attacks of your own, though each he deflected with ease.

“There won’t be character to build if one of us gets stabbed through the throat, not that it would be you of course.”  You eased up on your offense, panting to catch your breath.

“No better way to prepare for the actual experience of combat, Y/N.”  Aemond chided, twirling his sword expertly as he waited for you to recover a bit. “The harder we train, the easier to defeat an actual enemy.”

He rushed you then, catching you completely and literally off-guard.  Blood raced through your veins, your body hot and sweaty from the exertion of fending off his rapid strikes.  In desperation, you leapt toward him, casting yourself to the ground, rolling on your shoulder to come upright behind him, and taking a swing of your own at his unguarded back.

Your sword made contact, though you were sure to hit him with the flat of the blade.

“Very good!”  Aemond lowered his sword, giving you a cursory look of approval before returning it to the weapons table.  “You’re improving significantly.”  He spoke with his back still turned to you, his thick silver hair messily falling down his back. “Perhaps now you see the wisdom in training with sharpened weapons.”

“Aemond…I-”

“We can move on to dual wielding next, as you were so eager to begin last week.” Your husband continued, not hearing your small voice, wiping the moisture off the metal blade and sheathing it in a leather scabbard. “Would you prefer a shorts word to begin with, perhaps?”

“Y/N?”

He turned to see why you had grown so silent, his eye widening in alarm as he took in your blanched face.

“Aemond.  I don’t feel so great.”  You removed your hand from where it had been pressing against your thigh, your palm coated in your own red blood.  The sight sent your vision spinning, as you swayed alarmingly on the spot.

You registered the crunch of gravel as Aemond ran to your side, scooping you into his arms as your knees gave way.  

As he hurried up the stone steps to the Keep, pain began blossoming in your leg as the numbness from all the exercise began wearing off.  You began groaning softly as it mounted, Aemond soothing you as best he could while hastening to the maester’s quarters.

You looked down to access the damage, seeing the torn fabric of your tunic pants, the thick blood seeping across the fabric, dripping onto the stone floor.  That’s when you fell limp, you head lolling back, as you fainted, heedless of Aemond calling your name.

—

You were aware of soft voices, the feel of warm blankets cocooning you, a dull ache in your right thigh.  Your eyes felt heavy, your throat parched.

“She should be right as rain in no time, my prince, there is no cause for worry I assure you.”  You heard the voice of an elderly man speaking near where you lay upon soft cushions. “It was a superficial scratch, she’s lost some blood, yes, but I imagine the sight of the wound is what truly caused her to lose consciousness.”

“When will she wake?”  This time, it was Aemond’s voice, sounding strained with worry.  Something you’d never heard before.

You made an effort to speak, a garble of pain escaping your lips as you shifted, opening your eyes.  Aemond crossed to kneel by your side, his fingers intertwining with yours laying upon your belly.

“Y/N, how are you feeling?”  His eye roved your features, stress evident upon his angular face.

“Thirsty.”  You rasped out, grateful as the old maester handed you a wooden cup full of spring water.

Aemond helped you sit up as you gulped it down, feeling instantly much better.

“Water, food and rest will be the quickest way to recover.”  The maester refilled your cup. “The bandages will need to be changed twice a day; I’ll give you the healing salve in just a moment.”

You looked up at the wizened man gratefully. “Thank you.”

“Of course, my dear.”  He shuffled to a wooden table, corking a small glass bottle. “If I might suggest.” Turning to the prince, he placed the ointment in Aemond’s hand. “Training with blunted weapons from now on, your highness.”

Aemond nodded briefly, thanking the maester before escorting him out of the room.  He was at your side again in two long strides, bending to places a fervent kiss to your temple. “I was foolish, Y/N, and you paid the price.”  He pressed his forehead to yours, his eye fluttering closed, brow furrowed. “I cannot stand the thought of you in pain because of me, tell me how I can help you.”

You closed your own eyes, the salve that had previously been applied taking away the edge of the pain in your leg. “Perhaps a nice foot rub would be a good start to your penance, my husband.”

“Hmm.” Aemond pulled back to read your expression, a tentative smile tugging at his lips. “That seems a small price for me to pay. Perhaps you can come up with more ideas in the meantime.”

He pulled your stockings off, rubbing circles into your aching feet, his hands feeling warm on your chilly skin.  “You can bring me my meals, read to me…” You smiled slyly over at him. “Kiss me occasionally.”  

He shook his silver head fondly, smiling with you. “That all goes without saying, Y/N.”

“Telling me how sorry you are and that I am always right wouldn’t go amiss either.”  You hummed a contented sound, snuggling deeper into your blankets as Aemond began massaging up your calves.

He placed a kiss to your knee. “I’ll do all that and more, my love.  Again, I am truly sorry for being so reckless with the one person in this world I couldn’t bear to lose.”

The sadness in his voice had you sitting up, despite his protestations to remain reclined.  You leant forward, cupping his chin in your hand. “Oh Aemond.”  You ran your thumb across his full bottom lip. “I’m not going anywhere I promise you.  You’re stuck with me for a while yet, my dragon.”

#aemond angst #aemond x reader #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond x y/n #aemond targaryen x y/n #aemond x you #aemond fanfic #aemond targaryen x you #prince aemond x reader #pro aemond targaryen #prince aemond targaryen #prince aemond x you #aemond imagine #aemond oneshot #aemond targaryen #aemond fluff #aemond fanfiction #aemond x oc

[sungbeam]

𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

jung wooyoung x gn!reader

1.2k words, est. relationship au, low-key slice of life, kissing/making out, fluff, cheese :l

a/n: requests now closed! owjdkdjd i couldn't really make it suggestive cuz that wasn't the direction the fic was going, many apologies, chip !! >< hope u enjoy a slice of ur life w ur bf tho 😚

You could always pick Jung Wooyoung out of a line up. How could you not? The curtains of dual-dyed hair, the nose sculpted like marble, the smile—oh, his smile. His smile always had you tripping over your feet, faster than a crater in the sidewalk. And that smile was yours.

The bell above the door to the convenience store you worked at jingled a tinny sound and allowed the cool, night breeze to waft inside. You were stationed right beside it at the front counter, half a pair of earbuds in with a calculus textbook before you and a tub of ice cream for moral support. Your idea of a Wednesday night hadn't always been the midnight shift at the corner store, but it provided you with time needed to complete your homework since you barely experienced a rush hour.

The man in question waltzed through the door in a dark colored hoodie and a pair of old headphones draped around his neck. He sought you out immediately, beelining for the counter. "Now what's a sweet thing like you working in a dump like this?" He drawled as he leaned his side against the counter. There was a teasing glint in his eyes, something that came trademark to Wooyoung.

You offered him a spoonful of your strawberry cheesecake ice cream. "Some fella gon' done me wrong," you sighed to play along. "Just me and the ice cream." Your eyes skirted to the Lucky Cat figurine by the window, swinging around its tiny, white paw. "And the cat."

Wooyoung licked his lips as he savored the flavor of the ice cream. "Mm, that's good. Strawberry cheesecake?"

"Yup," you said, nodding. You scooped another bite for yourself. The carton was nearly as empty as the ice cream aisle was now. It always ran dry by this time of night. "That almost completes our world tour of the seventy-five flavors we sell, Woo. What's your favorite?"

Without hesitation, "You."

You choked up a laugh, your cheeks heating up beneath the fizzling fluorescent lights. Wooyoung's smile lit up the room and made the greenish tint of the store just a little warmer. He allowed you time to recover. "What? There's nothing sweeter than my baby."

He said it so easily. Your heart slammed against your ribcage and you wanted him to see it palpitate. Almost bashfully, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and ducked your head to fidget with your calculus textbook. "You're so—why're you so cheesy!"

"Me? Cheesy?" He scoffed and placed a hand against his chest in mock offense. "How'd you know?"

You grinned; he grinned back. "You're so silly," you said, softer this time, closing your book and tearing the earbud out of your ear. According to the digital clock to your right, it was about time for you to close up.

"At least I make you laugh," he replied. As if it was the simplest thing in the world. As if his only purpose was to make you laugh, see you smile.

You were left biting your tongue, unable to string together the words to make him just as speechless. He watched you with a fond look in his eyes, the mole beneath his eye tempting you in wanting to kiss it. You began to clean everything up—dumping your trash in the bin, packing your school materials away, sweeping around the aisles. Wooyoung struck up a conversation about something San had been up to earlier today, his voice somehow carrying through the store as he emptied the trash into the alleyway dumpster for you. You both worked like two cogs in a machine, in no hurry, just desiring to be in the other's space.

When the store was cleaned up, Wooyoung grabbed your backpack for you and slung it over his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around you then, tucking you to his side as you locked the store up behind you.

The city was barren at this time of night, the streets dark and littered with circles of amber light from the streetlights. The walk to the nearby metro station was not necessarily just around the corner, so you always appreciated when Wooyoung dropped by to hang out and walk you home.

"What are you up to tonight?" You asked him, leaning your head against him slightly as you walked. You knew for sure he would probably walk you home, then head out to somewhere else with his friends. He never had short nights.

He hummed. "Mmh… think I'm meeting Joong hyung and everyone at the ring. Mingi's on tonight."

You raised a brow. "Oh, really? I thought he was taking a break to train some more."

"Nah, I think he just got impatient," Wooyoung mused. "You can still come with, baby. I could keep you safe; they're all afraid of me."

"Always the joker, aren't you?"

"Hey!" He squawked, peering over at you with his eyes alight and smile wide. "I take offense to that."

You laughed, patting his chest. "Want me to kiss it better?"

Wooyoung simpered down. "Yeah, always."

With a playful roll of your eyes, you stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk and cupped his cheeks. You met his lips with a firm, but affectionate peck. When you pulled away, he had attempted to press onwards and coax you back to him.

"I think I'm a little more offended than you think," he said, voice breathy. His arms were around your waist and anchored you to him, but left you room to still back away if you didn't want this.

You grazed your thumb over his lips and felt the bite of his teeth for a split second. "Your ego bruises like a peach, Wooyoung."

"And this peach would love for you to kiss him better."

Your heart did a somersault or two before you obliged him. He lowered his mouth over yours again, and you claimed that smile of his for yourself, as you had always done. Your fingers grasped the sides of his face to pull him impossibly close to you. Everything was so quiet; the world became yours and his. It was like he had nowhere to be and you had nowhere to go, but this moment was good, and you could have him as much as you could.

Wooyoung's tongue swiped over your bottom lip in a plea for entry, to which you granted. His fingers dug into your sides and held on for dear life. There was a crease between his brows as he kissed you, bruising both of your lips like the peach you claimed his ego to be.

And when you broke for air, his lips moved around your face to fill every crevice with him.

Your voice was hoarse, but chest light at the smattering of kisses over your face. "Is that amendment enough?" You laughed.

He smiled down at you, tongue licking his lips. "For now," he said with a wink.

Wooyoung curled his arm around your waist and the two of you started back in the direction of the metro station. Your voices echoed contently in the barren street that you had made your own:

"What do you mean 'for now?'"

"Well, you can't expect me to not pick up where we left off once we get home?"

atz m.list

permanent taglist: @flwoie @vatterie @seomisaho @hqrana @ja4hyvn @outrologist @tinkerbell460 @meosjinn @hyunjaespresent-deobi @stayarmytinyzenmoa-l @floatingpluto @gyulfriend @jaehunnyy @shakalakaboomboo @soonyoungblr @justanotherkpopstanlol @kangfication @pxppxrminty @fluorescentloves @haechansbbg @jaerisdiction @super-btstrash-posts @jundundun @http-gyu @mvvnsseul @kflixnet

#kflixnet #bjnet #ateez x reader #jung wooyoung x reader #wooyoung x reader #ateez imagines #ateez drabbles #ateez oneshot #ateez fluff #ateez scenarios #wooyoung imagines #wooyoung scenarios #wooyoung fluff #wooyoung oneshot #wooyoung drabble

[steddieunderdogfics]

For Challenge Monday (4/22, color in title), I'd like to recommend Everything is Blue by steddieasitgoes. It's a sweet and angsty Starcourt Mall/Scoops Ahoy era fic with no Upside Down. There's dual POV between Steve and Eddie, and the story follows the color blue around as a feature in each scene.

Everything Is Blue by steddieasitgoes

@steddieasitgoes

Rating: Mature

27,775 words, 1/1 chapters

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Falling In Love, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Scoops Ahoy (Stranger Things), Steve Harrington Works at Scoops Ahoy, Summer Love, Fluff, Angst, Fluff and Humor, Minor Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Best Friends, Chrissy Cunningham & Eddie Munson Friendship, Freeform, Mild Sexual Content, Semi-Public Sex, Slow Burn, Angst and Humor, Sexual Tension. POV Alternating, Mutual Pining, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Supportive Wayne Munson, Skinny Dipping

Summary:

Steve waits for Eddie to disappear into the mall crowd before turning around in time to watch Robin uncap the blue whiteboard marker she keeps in her shorts. She doesn’t say anything, just gives him a mischievous look before placing a tally mark in the “You Rule” section of her trusty whiteboard. It’s his first ever tally on the “You Rule” side. “Robin!” Steve groans, rubbing a hand across his face. “How does whatever that was get a ‘you rule’ tally, but last week when I successfully got Michelle’s number, you refused to add a tally.” “Because, dingus, Michelle is annoying, and you had to put on the whole King Steve persona to get her number,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And you didn’t do that with Eddie.” “Uh, yeah, cause I wasn’t flirting with him,” he defends, hands coming to rest on his hips. Or: The Summer of 1985 is in full swing. The sun is shining, Starcourt is bustling, and Steve and Eddie can't deny the feelings happening between them as their paths continue to cross.

Thanks for the rec!

This rec is a part of Challenge Monday. The challenge this week was Fics with Colors in the Title.

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!

#challenge monday #steddie #steddie fic recs #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #stranger things #no upside down #getting together #fluff

[spicyicymeloncat]

It’s 4am so have a twisted Ninjago au lets go

~~~

The ninja are trying to fight a retreating Garmadon and take back the golden weapons. Soon enough Kai is the only one able to keep up.

“Give it up Lord Garmadon! Evil will never win!” Kai cries, managing to knock the sword of fire out of one of Garmadon’s hands.

The dark lord freezes for a split second.

“What? I’m on the side of good!”

Kai scoops up the fallen golden weapon off the ground, feeling it’s energy sweep through him as he dual wields legendary gold and home crafted silver.

“Nice try! Our master told us about the evil snake venom in your veins”

Garmadon’s eyes widened in a momentary confusion.

“I was never bitten. It was Wu who had been bitten“

#ninjago #lego ninjago #Ninjago evil wu au #cmon yknow it would be cool #garmadon is misunderstood because he’s stuck in Oni mode #Wu trains the ninja under false pretences #idk maybe the ninja are just evil too or get turned evil #is this… a fraction of a fic?? #it’s actually nearly 5am oops #Ninjago au #ninjago garmadon #Ninjago kai #Ninjago wu

[juneknight]

spit kink + steven?

Thank you!! Hope you enjoy 🤍

About this: Steven/fem!reader, piv, spitting, use of feminine monikers (ie good girl).

*

“I’m close, love,” Steven whispers in your ear. “Will you beg me for it?”

Your eyes are bleary with tears, distorting his face even from where it rests just inches away from your own. His arms are braced on either side of you, his chest low enough to brush your own. The Star of David he wears around his neck—the only thing he’s left on—sometimes rests against your own, metal warm from your skin. Steven is all around you, scent in your nose, face in your sight, cock in your cunt. It should be stifling. But it’s Steven. Could you ever have him close enough?

“Please cum in me,” you slur. Your tongue feels thick and useless. Each word is stuttered by his thrusts which are slow but so, so deep. “I need it, please. I’ve been good haven’t I? Give me your cum, please.”

“Of course you’ve been good for me,” he pants, thrusts growing sloppy. “Good girl, perfect girl, darling girl—here, take it, take it—“

He cums, a rush of heat deep in your womb. His cock twitches, eyes squeezing shut while he groans like he’s being killed in the best way. You clench your tired cunt around him, relishing his sharp inhale.

“God, you’re lovely,” he mutters, carefully rolling off of you.

You shiver without his body to keep you warm. His cock slips from you, and though you clench your muscles tight, you can feel his cum drip from your slit. It’s too much. He’s only rolled right beside you, but he feels so far away. You’re exposed, naked, riddled in bruised kisses. The loss of his weight against you hurts, and now the very essence of him slips out of you.

Whining, you reach down and scoop the mess between your legs, pressing it back inside yourself.

“Lookit you,” Steven murmurs, awed. His voice sounds so far away.

“Steven,” you struggle to say. “I need you.”

“Again?” he wonders. “We’ve been at it all morning, love. I think you need a rest.”

Frustrated tears bite at the corners of your eyes. If you could just focus on making your brain and mouth connect again, you could explain to him the sudden gaping emptiness, so much more painful in the shadow of the blissful sex the two of you have been indulging in. Instead, all you can say again is, “Need you in me.”

“Hey.” He rolls back on top of you, hovering higher up on his forearms so that you can continue to coax his cum back inside you. “You’re alright. I’m here. Need me closer, do you? I’m already inside you, deeper than your fingers can reach. Not enough?”

His hand cups your jaw, other arm taking all his weight. When his thumb touches your lips, you open up on instinct, sighing happily when he presses the pad against your tongue. He hesitates for a long moment, eyes flickering between your own and your open mouth.

“Keep open for me, love,” he murmurs. Then he spits in your open mouth.

You gasp, body jerking with electricity. Suddenly your fingers are working between your legs with a dual purpose. Without any further coaxing, you let your mouth click shut, swallowing hard.

“Bloody hell,” Steven groans. “You liked that?”

You open your mouth wide again in answer. He spits again. You shutter, your cunt clenching around your fingers in one last weak orgasm. Steven watches with wide eyes.

“Fuck, we’re filthy,” he laughs breathily. “Wait til Marc catches wind of this. Possessive bloke. This is right up his alley, innit?”

Exhausted, you can only hum, slipping your fingers slick with your cum and his own from between your legs into your mouth, sucking them softly.

Marc's turn

#steven grant x reader

[stiles-o-dylan24]

King of My Heart Chapter 19 - The Case of the Missing Lifeguard

Author: @stiles-o-dylan24​ Pairing: Steve x Summer Byers (eventually) Word Count: 5.8k Warnings: language, mentions of guns, dual pov SERIES SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

|| << PREV ||  MASTERLIST  || NEXT >> ||

SUMMER POV

Rain is on the forecast for today so Steve thankfully offered to stop by the house to pick me up and take me to work so I didn’t have to ride my bike.

I meet him outside and climb into the front seat, smiling over at him as I shove my bag and my rain jacket down against the side of my leg “Thanks for picking me up.”

He lifts his hand off the steering wheel, shifting back in his seat as he returns with a smile of his own and stammers “Yeah, yeah– of– of course, any time.”

Once we get to the mall we unlock the front gate and head into Scoops, working through the opening checklist and getting everything ready for when the mall opens.

Robin shows up almost an hour into our shift and she grabs her headphones out of her backpack and sets them on the back counter while we wait for Dustin to arrive with the tape recorder. 

Once Dustin gets to Scoops we make our plan for the day– he hands the tape recorder to Robin so that she and I can continue listening to the recording and see if there’s any other clues or part of the code to translate. 

While we stay at the ice cream parlor to do that Steve and Dustin head out for a stake out of sorts, trying to see if they can see anything out of the ordinary or any evil Russians that stand out among the mall patrons.

I’ve got the headphones on and I’m listening to the recording again while Robin wipes down some tables. I hear the bell ring on the front counter a few times before I look over my shoulder and see Erica and her friends here once again. 

I smile at her and spin around to face her, dropping the headphones down to rest around my neck “Yes, Erica?”

She smiles a little forced smile and brightly announces “I’d like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please.”

I snort and shake my head softly at her “No, I’m sorry but no more samples today.”

Her face falls as she asks “Why not?” and Robin walks back behind the counter, chiming in “Because you have been in here the last few days, including this morning, sampling flavors.”

Erica swings her offended eyes from Robin and back at me and I raise my brows once with my words “You’re abusing our company policy which is to allow someone to try one or two flavors to make a decision”

“I am trying to make a decision” Erica counters and I’m quick to laugh once and throw back at her “You’ve tried every flavor twice– you know which ones you like.”

Erica throws me a frustrated look and looks around “Where’s the sailor man?”

Robin chuckles and I shake my head at Erica as I answer her “Sorry, but Harrington can’t help you today– he’s busy.”

“Busy with what?” she asks and I share a look with Robin who smiles and answers “Spycraft.” 

⋇・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・⋇

STEVE POV

Dustin and I head towards the center of the food court where the seating area is surrounded by an outline of planters that are filled with fake plants. We head to the back left of the bench area so we’ll be able to see everyone walking by from the front main entrance of the mall as well as the escalators.

Dustin lifts up the binoculars that he brought and hands them over to me. I grab them and toss the strap behind my neck before I lift the binoculars up so I can look through them. I slowly move from side to side so I can look at everyone I can see around us down on the first floor as well as up above us on the second floor.

“You see anything?” Dustin asks and I make a noise as I reply “Uh, I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for.”

“Evil Russians” he says like it’s obvious and I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I say slowly “Yeah, exactly. I don't know what an evil Russian looks like.”

“Tall, blond, not smiling” Dustin offers and I sigh “Mm-hmm?” while Dustin continues “Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing.”

“Right, okay, duffel bags” I repeat absentmindedly and move the binoculars so I can look up at the second floor level, scoffing at what I see next “Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.”

“What?” I hear Dustin say and I grimace as I fill in “Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky.”

“If you're not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars” Dustin sighs, however, I just talk over him “Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? I mean, Lewinsky never even came off the bench.”

Dustin makes a noise and says “Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?” as he grabs the binoculars from my hands and pulls them towards him. Problem being the strap is still around my neck so I lean with his pull and say “Stop, hey,” at the same time he says “Give me those.” I succeed in removing the strap attached to the binoculars from my neck and toss it at him “Just stop being so impatient.”

Dustin takes the binoculars and lifts them up to look through them, throwing at me “Besides I don't get why you're even looking at other girls–” he starts and I’m quick to interrupt “I wasn’t looking at other girls, I just saw them together and it was a little appalling.” 

Dustin looks over at me just to roll his eyes before he goes back to looking through the binoculars “You literally have the perfect girl right in front of you.”

I sigh, lifting my arm up to lean against the planter wall in front of us “Seriously, if you say Summer again…”

“Summer– okay, Steve,” he drops the binoculars once more to look right at me while he stresses “Summer. I mean what the hell have you been doing for the past few months?”

“Nothing man–” I start and he just nods, interrupting me “Exactly, nothing–" he scoffs, shaking his head and continuing "Even I can see you’re not doing anything... I think you’re taking your 'not caring' advice a little too literally.”

“Summer was never a girl that was going to fall for the 'not caring' trick” I scoff lightly, shaking my head as I look down at the fake plant in front of me. I hit the leaves and sigh to myself, not wanting to admit to this little twerp that what I’ve been doing for months is trying to figure out if I even have a shot with Summer… which no matter how much I want to look into how she is acting more friendly towards me, I keep coming back to the same conclusion– I don’t stand a chance in hell with her.

Dustin snorts, completely oblivious to my turmoil “Yeah well what’s your trick going to be for getting Summer then?”

“There are no tricks, man,” I breathe out helplessly, shaking my head as I continue “Besides I already told you she is different– you don’t get a girl like Summer, you’re winning the state championship lucky if she decides you’re worth her time. She’s–”

“Perfect” Dustin interjects and I nod, looking over at him “Yeah exactly– Sum is perfect.”

Dustin sighs, looking at me quickly before resuming his binocular lookout “She’s also perfect for you.”

“Maybe,” I mutter quietly, shaking my head once as to not get my hopes up as I drum my fingers against the top of the planter “But that fact goes out the window when you think about how I’m not perfect for her”

“Steve, stop selling yourself short” Dustin tells me and I look over at him “No I’m serious, I’m not– she deserves someone better than who I was and how I treated her for years”

“You’re not that person anymore” Dustin says and I draw my brows together while I question genuinely “How exactly do you figure that?”

Dustin drops the binoculars down once more and connects his serious eyes with mine to make sure I hear him when he says “Because Summer wouldn’t be friends with you if you were.”

I’m silent with that, really wanting to punch him in the shoulder for attempting to get my hopes up with everything he’s saying right now. While I appreciate it, he’s not any closer to knowing what’s going on in her head than I am.

“Pretty sure all she will ever see me as is a friend” I grumble pathetically and Dustin rolls his eyes “You never know until you ask her– like with me and Suzie.”

“Oh, Suzie” I state, widening my eyes a little while I humor him “Yeah, you mean, hotter than Phoebe Cates– yeah, that Suzie. And, uh, let's think about how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh, yeah. With my advice. Because that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea brain?”

Dustin snorts, not even bothering to look at me as he counters back quickly “Deflecting is a nice touch to let me know that you know I’m right.”

Dammit, Henderson.

I scoff and roll my eyes, looking away from him so he can’t see that I do in fact know he is right– I do just need to bring it up to her. 

Worst thing she can tell me is she won’t ever see me as anything else other than the same shallow douche she went to school with– which she has told me before so it wouldn’t be anything I haven’t heard before.

Only difference now being I actually like her so her shooting me down will actually hurt.

“How am I supposed to just bring that up to her though?” I ask and I can hear the smile in his words “Summer is like the easiest person to talk to–”

“Yes I’m aware…" I deadpan towards him, sarcastically laughing once "But, you know, baring my feelings to her is understandably going to be a little more nerve wracking than how’s your trauma from fighting monster slug babies going?”

“Steve, come on” Dustin says a little louder than before and he looks at me, raising his brows at me like I’m ridiculous for being this worried and I jerk my head back in my bewilderment.

Dustin just rolls his eyes and continues “You are so worried and nervous that she’s going to turn you down but have you even stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, she feels the same way about you?”

I make a face, shaking my head once as I fire back “Umm no” and he just sighs loudly through his frustration “Jesus Harrington, you already got her to somehow agree to be your friend and to work with you– I think getting her to agree to date you wouldn’t be too far of a stretch.”

I think about that for a few seconds, ultimately landing on he’s crazy and I let him know just that “Yeah and I think that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think I’m the only one who knows anything at this point– you two are idiots” Dustin remarks and I hit his shoulder lightly “Hey, don’t call her an idiot.”

Dustin just rolls his eyes and lifts up the binoculars again, sarcastically laughing at me “Oh my god just tell her you love her already or I will do it for you.”

I drop my mouth open in shock, glaring at the side of his head and silently cursing the little jackass.

It’s only a few minutes later though when thoughts of feelings and Summer get the pause button when Dustin is saying “Target acquired” and I look up in the direction he’s looking “Where?”

“Ten o' clock” Dustin says, continuing with “Sam Goody's” as I reach for the binoculars and say “Give me that.”

I look through the binoculars and find Sam Goody’s, my eyes widening behind the lenses when I see a not smiling, tall, long blond haired guy wearing sunglasses and carrying something over the back of his shoulder.

“Shit” I breathe out, noticing what exactly is in his hand and announcing “Duffel bag.”

I drop the binoculars down and look at Dustin, both of us muttering at the same time “Evil Russian.”

The long blond haired evil Russian heads up the escalator towards the top floor, so Dustin and I quickly follow after him, choosing to instead run up the escalator once he’s stepped off of it.

We head to the right and follow behind him, and while I’m trying not to lose him by walking quickly Dustin is countering that plan as he says “Slow down.”

“We're losin' him” I reply, trying to keep an eye on him through the crowd in between us and Dustin argues “You're getting too close.”

Someone bumps their shoulder into mine, exclaiming loudly back at me “Watch it, dickwad” and I notice how the guy we’re following stops walking. 

When he starts to look over his shoulder Dustin and I quickly step off to the side and I turn in a circle before I come to a stop and look through a store's front display window. Dustin grabs the payphone off of the receiver and talks into it in the most monotone voice “Hello. Yes. I am fine. How are you?”

I look through the leaves of the fake tree that's in between us and notice the guy turn back around and start walking forwards again.

I step towards Dustin and tap his shoulder to get him to walk with me again and he reaches over to hang up the phone.

We follow the guy until he makes a move to walk around to the walkway on the other side from where we are so we hide behind a pillar and keep watching which direction he’s going to be heading in.

He however doesn't keep going along the walkway and instead walks through the front doorway into a Jazzercise store front with a bunch of women inside who are stretching on workout mats.

As soon as he’s half way inside he starts yelling “All right, everyone, listen up!” he sets his duffle bag on the counter and unzips it “I just have one question for you. Who… is ready to sweat?”

He finishes his question by lifting out a boombox from the duffle bag and all the women inside the room stand up and face him, cheering and clapping with their excitement as an answer.

“What the–” I trail off as the notes of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go start to play in the room and he takes off his jacket “That's right! Okay! Let's start it nice and easy now.”

He finishes taking off his jacket and reveals a workout outfit as he starts to move his hips, saying instructions to the group in front of him “Let's move our thighs. Yeah!”

I frown as we continue to watch him begin this jazzercise class before I tap Dustin on the shoulder and nod my head back towards the direction of Scoops “Let’s head back, yeah?”

“Yeah” Dustin sighs and we turn around, walking back the way we just came from.

⋇・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・⋇

SUMMER POV

Once the rush of the afternoon dies down, Robin hops up to sit on the back counter and opens the window into the back where I’m pacing back and forth with the headphones around my neck and my arms crossed over my chest. 

Robin makes a noise to gain my attention while she leans over to hit her hand on the counter that’s on my side of the window “Come on, sit down and we can go over this again.”

I look over at her and she just smiles a little more, tapping the counter twice more and I huff through my frustration “There’s nothing else to translate though it just repeats.”

“I know” she hits the counter again “Come on– up, up”

I drop my arms down to my sides and walk over to the counter, hopping up and spinning around to face her. I cross my legs in front of me and set my elbows on my knees, clasping my hands in front of me.

She makes a noise and grabs the notepad with our translation on it and she reads it slowly "The week is long… the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west… a trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly."

“Tread lightly?” she repeats and grabs the translation dictionary to flip through the pages again. 

“You gotta be quiet?” I offer oh so helpfully and Robin throws me a look, trying not to laugh as she turns another page. I make a half laugh noise and huff, keeping my elbows on my knees while I set my hands on the sides of my face “I have no idea but my brain hurts, none of this is making any more sense today than it wasn’t last night”

“I know” she agrees, breathing out a sigh before she lifts up her soda cup and takes a sip.

There’s a knock on the back door from the service hallways and I sit up straight, saying “I got it” before I spin back around and hop off the counter. I walk over to the door and open it, seeing a delivery guy with a dolly. He smiles an exhausted smile and holds the clipboard out for me to sign the delivery sheet “Delivery for you.”

“Thank you” I reply and as I’m handing the clipboard back to him I notice the name on his uniform shirt and my eyes travel up to his hat which says the same thing– no fucking way.

A lynx is definitely a type of cat… and 'feeds'... what if that's code for delivers?

He sets the box onto the floor by my feet and grabs the clipboard from me “Have a nice day”

“Yeah you too,” I reply absentmindedly and he starts to walk away back down the hallway. 

“Summer?” Robin calls from behind me and I quickly look back at her and see her lift her shoulders up with her question “What’s wrong?”

I make a noise and quickly step out through the door, looking down the hallway and seeing the the silver cat head logo on the back of his uniform. I widen my eyes a little as I mutter “The silver cat feeds”

“What?” Robin calls from the other side of the window and I look over at her, closing the door and repeating a little louder “The fucking silver cat feeds!”

She jerks her head back, furrowing her brows in her confusion while I quickly run towards the door that leads into the parlor. 

“Summer, wait” Robin calls and swings her legs around from how she was also facing the window. She hops down and follows after me just as I’m passing by Dustin and Steve as they walk into Scoops “Yo Sum, you’re not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian” Steve says to me, quickly followed by Dustin saying “You did too” however over Steve’s response of “No I did not” I just wave my hand at them as I run past and say “SIlver cat– I found the silver cat”

“Wait, you found what?” they call out behind me as I run into the mall and head for the center seating area that’s surrounded by the food restaurants. There’s a bunch of fake trees and bushes right in the center with benches surrounding them in a circle and I run right for an empty bench, hopping up onto it while I look around at all the different stores. If silver cat is a delivery person then these other stores have to be the other clues, specifically where they’re delivering and possibly when.

"A trip to China sounds nice" I mutter quietly, quickly looking around and repeating “A trip to China sounds nice– a trip to China– sounds nice… a trip to China” I stop when I find the Imperial Panda cuisine restaurant and half laugh to myself as I lift my hand up with my words “A trip to China sounds nice.”

"Okay, if you tread lightly" I move on to the next clue, moving my eyes along the stores down here and also what I can see on the second level “If you tread…,” I swing around, looking at all the stores surrounding the food court area and stop when I see the Kaufman Shoe store on the second floor above me and I smile, repeating “If you tread lightly”

"When…” I frown, quickly looking up at what stores could be blue or yellow “When blue and yellow meet in the west" I spin in a circle, my eyes landing on a massive clock and I smile when I notice the hands are the exact colors I need “When blue meets yellow… in the west–” I laugh once, whispering “Eight forty five.”

“Sum” I hear Steve call my name as he, Robin and Dustin stop in front of me and I look down at them, watching as Steve lifts his arms out to his sides “What are you doing?”

“I cracked it” I state proudly, smiling even wider and Steve just furrows his brows “You cracked what exactly?”

Robin smiles and points at me “Holy shit, super genius here cracked the code”

Steve and Dustin widen their eyes and look from her and back at me, Dustin asking “The super secret spy code?” While Steve says “Seriously? What is it?”

“Come on” I say and smile, hopping down off the bench and the four of us head back into Scoops.

“So?” Steve asks when we walk into the back of the store and I fill them in on what I found “I think the evil russians are having something delivered here to the mall using the Lynx delivery service whose logo is a silver cat and they’re using the Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes as a cover for their deliveries.”

“What about blue meets yellow in the west?” Dustin asks and I smile, lifting my brows up once with my final riddle solving words “The hands on the clock are blue and yellow so it’s a specific time for this delivery… eight forty five.”

“Holy shit” Steve mumbles and Dustin laughs through his excitement “That's definitely a super secret spy plan– so what do we do?”

“I think” I say, shrugging my shoulders while I look between them all and continue “In just over six hours we should head up to the roof opposite the loading dock where the deliveries come in and see what exactly gets delivered and where exactly it gets delivered to.”

The three of them offer nods of agreement, smiling in our nervous excitement as Robin laughs once "I can't believe we were right."

“What are we supposed to do until then?” Dustin half whines and I set my hands on my hips, smiling “We need to figure out how to get to the roof and not be seen by whoever is getting these deliveries."

Robin and Dustin stay at Scoops while Steve and I follow the evacuation route in the hallway that will lead us outside. Though before we get to the hallway that leads out the back exit we turn to the right and find another door with a stairs access sign on it. We open it and find a stairwell with a sign on the far wall saying roof access, I smile and point over towards it “That looks promising.”

Steve raises his brows once and holds open the door for me “After you, m'lady.”

I chuckle and walk past him and he makes sure the door isn’t going to lock on us. We close it softly to where it doesn’t latch just in case and we head up to the stairs towards the roof.

We open the door we find at the top of the stairs and prop it open with a rock we find off to the side, figuring that’s probably what it’s been used for, before we step out onto the roof. 

I slowly move towards the ledge to our left, seeing the coast is clear from anyone standing around and I try to figure out where we are. Steve shares a look with me and we slowly walk across the roof to the far side of the ledge and down below we see a delivery truck leaving from the loading dock area “This has to be it, right?” Steve asks and I nod “It’s gotta be.”

I look up at him and see him smile when I do, asking me “So we’re really going to do this?”

I shrug and look back at the ledge, pointing at it as I crouch down behind it “This is high enough that we shouldn’t be seen by anyone standing down there–” I look up at him and he nods in agreement while he crouches down beside me and I continue with a little shrug “Very low risk and we’ll just be observing if my code cracking was right.”

Steve chuckles, nodding as he rests his arms on his knees and looks around “Yeah, definitely shouldn’t find ourselves in our usual risky monster situations with this stake out.”

He smiles and stands up with that, holding his hand out for me. I smile softly and set my hand in his, feeling him wrap his fingers around mine so he can pull me up.

With my hand still in his, I feel a raindrop on my arm and another one before I quickly look up at the dark cloudy sky above us “Well rain will definitely make the stake out interesting.”

Steve chuckles and in the next instant the clouds open up and it starts pouring down on us. “Oh!” Steve flinches back and increases his hold on my hand while we run back to the door, laughing as I lift my free hand up to push my wet hair out of my face.

Steve does the same with his hair, looking from the pouring rain belting down onto the roof in front of us and down at me. I watch as the water drops slowly roll down his face and off his eyelashes, the smell of the rain surrounding us and I smile brightly “The smell of rain on the pavement is one of my favorite things about a summer rainstorm”

Steve smiles, nodding his head slowly as he moves his eyes between mine “Mine too, nothing really quite like it.”

Silently he reaches up and moves his fingers along the side of my head near my temple, moving some of my hair that apparently was stuck to my skin and I shiver– mentally telling myself it has everything to do with the rain seeping into my clothes and absolutely nothing to do with him touching me.

I feel his hand squeeze around mine again and it seems to make us both startle since we realize at the same time he’s been holding my hand this whole time. He nervously clears his throat and lets go, reaching up to scratch the side of his temple as he mumbles a quiet “Sorry, I uh–”

I smile, shaking my head like it’s not a big deal and Steve lifts his arm to point over his shoulder to indicate the stairwell “We should, uh, head back and let them know what we found.”

“Yeah” I breathe out “Yeah, let’s go” I nod and hold onto the door handle for support while I move the rock out of the way with my foot.

When we get back to the hallway for Scoops we knock on the back door and Dustin opens the door for us, jerking his head back when he looks at us and our drenched state and smiling wide “What happened to you two?”

“It’s raining, Dustpan” I remark like it’s obvious and he nods slowly “So just got caught out in a rainstorm on the roof… that’s–”

“Wet” Steve interjects, nodding his head once and raising his brows towards him “We’re wet, Henderson now can you move so we can grab some of the towels.”

Dustin moves aside, sharing a knowing look with Steve that I throw a curious look at and when he notices he clears his throat and his face from any previous humor he had. 

I look over at Steve and he smiles softly, holding out one of the clean cleaning towels for me and I wipe off my arms and face while he does the same.

Since Dustin doesn’t have a jacket, and he refused to use one of ours, we improvise and spend the rest of the time fashioning out a rain cover for him as best we can with some trash bags and duct tape. 

Just before eight thirty we head through the service hallways, up the stairs and out onto the roof that Steve and I found will give us the best vantage point of the delivery dock area.

Once we make sure our roof is clear, and Dustin checks the surrounding roofs are clear from any other lookouts with his binoculars, we step out into the rain. The rain is coming down in sheets, followed by the occasional lightning strike and thunderclap while we crouch down behind the ledge and wait for this delivery to happen or not.

The four of us peer over the ledge just enough for our elbows to rest on top of it and we keep our heads low while we watch the back doors.

“How sure are we that this delivery happens every night?” Robin asks what we’re probably all thinking and I shrug, offering lightheartedly “About fifty percent.”

“Hating those odds, Byers” Steve grumbles and I smile over at him “If it’s not tonight, Harrington, then we can always meet out here tomorrow and see...”

Steve throws a sarcastic thumbs up my way before he squeezes his eyes shut from the rain getting in his eyes.

I set my hands on the ledge and mumbling honestly "And there's also the chance I didn't actually crack this code correctly."

"No, you did–" Steve says, smiling reassuringly at me when I look over at him and he nods "It makes too much sense for you to be wrong, Sum."

Sure enough at fifteen to nine a delivery truck pulls around the back of the mall and starts to back in towards the loading dock area where two guys are standing armed with guns.

“Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes” I remind Dustin who has his binoculars and is looking at the two guards and the delivery truck.

A guy in a yellow jacket walks out from behind the truck with a red dolly carrying a stack of three boxes and Dustin confirms “Those stores boxes are with that whistling guy, ten o'clock.”

“What do you think's in there?” Steve asks and Dustin answers without missing a beat “Guns, bombs?”

“Chemical weapons?” I shrug and Steve looks over at me, wiping his face with his hand to get the rain out of his eyes.

“Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth” Dustin continues and Steve once again wipes his fingers over his eyes to clear the water from them “Great,” he nods once, repeating “That's great.”

We see one of the guards sling his gun back behind his shoulder as he walks over to the side panel next to the two big gray doors and he taps the panel. I see a green light shine before the doors open and the guy in the yellow rain jacket with a silver cat logo on the back puts his foot on the back of the dolly. He pulls the dolly back towards him and walks towards the doors that just opened up.

“Hey, what's in there?” Robin asks and Dustin answers “It's just more boxes.”

Steve reaches over and tries to grab the binoculars “Let me check it out.”

“No, I'm still looking,” Dustin argues and Steve continues to try and grab the binoculars from him “Lemme see it.”

“Hang on!” Dustin says at the same time a loud thud rings out as the binoculars slip from their grip and hit the side of the roof ledge we’re looking over.

Both of the guards hear the ominous thud sound and we gasp, Dustin ordering “Duck!”

I move quickly to drop down below the ledge and turn around to lay back against it as flat as I can. Robin twists out of sight on one side of me while Steve does the same on my other side and Dustin flips around on Steve’s other side. 

At the thought of us being seen adrenaline starts coursing through my body and my breathing starts coming out in quick, nervous pants. Everything from the echo of the binocular thud to the guards reacting to us ducking out of sight all happens so fast that I don’t even register that Steve grabbed my hand in the middle of all of that. His fingers are linked in between mine, gripping tightly while he holds up our hands in between us. Slowly I look from our hands and over towards him, watching as he does the same and looks at me. He doesn’t let go of my hand, just keeps hold of me as he silently tries to reassure me that we’re going to be okay and I squeeze his hand back.

I can just make out through the pouring rain something being shouted in what I’m betting money on is Russian and I slightly widen my eyes at Steve. He nods like he’s coming to the same conclusion that they’re probably going to search up here and we move to get up, telling Dustin and Robin “Come on, hurry”

Steve keeps a hold of my hand while we quickly run across the roof to the door, only letting go once he opens the door and ushers us all inside. We’re rushing down the stairs and taking the first door we come to that will lead us back into our service hallway before I know it and I breathe out a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves with how close that all was.

We quickly make our way down the hallway, our wet shoes squeaking on the floor as we walk around corners mixing with our panting breaths, and Robin looks between us, smiling nervously “Well, I think we found your Russians.”

|| << PREV ||  MASTERLIST  || NEXT >> ||

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! As always let me know what you thought– comments & reblogs give me life!

Steve Taglist: @teen--marvel​ • @fan-girl-97​​ • @fandom-princess-forevermoree @justafangirlduh​​ • @ruinherselff​​ • @supraveng​ •​ @sheerfreesia007​ • @madaboutjoe​ • @krazyk99​ •

King of My Heart Taglist: @teen--marvel • @justafangirlduh​​ • @lemmereaditall • @musicxlover97​​ • @kiwihoee​​ • @ruinherselff • @supraveng​​ • @cherrymedicine13​​ • @fandom-princess-forevermore​ • @hogwartsstar​ • @purple286​ • @sheerfreesia007​ • @madaboutjoe​ • @krazyk99​ •

Everything Taglist: @lettersofwrittencollective • @genius2050​​ • @stixnstripesworld​ • @kellyashcroft​​ • @lemmereaditall • @marauderskeeper​​ • BOLD BLOGS I COULDN'T TAG, I'M SORRY!!

Join my Taglist here

SEND AN ASK HERE if you’d like to be removed from any of the taglists, no worries if you do and I won’t post the ask so it’s just between us💛

Please do not copy and paste my writing anywhere without my consent. This work is property of @stiles-o-dylan24​ on here and wattpad and stilesodylan24 on AO3.   Stranger Things and its characters aren’t mine, however, Summer and this fanfcition is. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.     No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

Posted: 18 Aug 2023

#stranger things #steve harrington #Steve harrington x oc #Steve x oc #stranger things rewrite #Steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fan fiction #Steve harrington fan fiction #king of my heart #komh #Steve harrington x summer byers #Steve x summer #stummer #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fan fic #Steve harrington fanfic #Steve harrington fan fic #the case of the missing lifeguard #chapter 19

[herwrittenuniverse]

A Moment of Rest

Callum and Rayla stay at an inn, Version 5127

(I had to throw my two cents in!)

It was twilight, and Rayla began to make the shapes out of the dim room: a door towards the left (no doubt for a private washroom), a window overlooking the very path they traveled, a long end table against the wall for various personal belongings, and the distinct, dual shadows of two small beds. 

Rayla’s heart pinged ever so slightly. A part of her - a very, very small part of her that had been hidden these past few days - was disappointed at the sight of the separate sleepers. If there was one bed, well…that would mean the possibility of - - even though it was most unlikely - - because they were still working on fixing whatever it is they were or had or whatever - - 

A tug on her pants broke the spiraling thoughts. Stella had finally hopped down from Callum’s shoulder, and was impatiently tugging at her trousers. Rayla bent down to scoop the cuddlemonkey up from the floor, and finally broke the silence of the room. 

“You know, I’ve never seen her quite so keen on someone.”

Callum, who had located the fire starter kit provided by the inn, gave pause to lighting the candles that dotted the room. “Oh?” was his response, but his face betrayed a mirth that reached the corners of his eyes. He glanced at Rayla with that look - lips upturned in a quiet smile, eyes narrowed - as if to smugly say, “ Why wouldn’t she love me ?”

Rayla sniggered to herself as the cuddlemonkey burrowed deeper into the folds of her arms. “Well,” she said as Callum finished his task. The glow of the candelabras truly revealed the twin beds, and her heart pinged once more. “Your first meeting wasn’t…very positive,” she finished, thinking back to her first night back in Katolis. 

“Ah,” agreed Callum, his recognition short and quick. His eyes flitted to the side, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, and then opened it again, deciding to be brave. “But…” and now he approached Rayla with a gentleness that made her own heart flutter. He closed the gap between them in the room, and the elf could only stare back, rooted on the spot. “We’ve…come a long way since then.” The young man reached a finger down to where Stella was cozied up, and the little creature instantly responded to his presence. She scooted from Rayla’s embrace and grabbed Callum’s finger, sweetly nibbling on the digit.  “Haven’t we?”

Read the rest on AO3

As always, likes and reblogs are so very appreciated.  ❤️

#tdp #the dragon prince #fanfiction #rayllum #my writing #archive of our own #tdp callum #ao3 #tdp fanfiction #tdp rayla #tdp s5 spoilers #tdp rayllum #tdp s5 #rayllum inn fic #the dragon prince fanfiction

[lilmissnatcat24]

Turn Left Ch 30- Meow

Shepard puts two and two together.

Relationship: Femshep/Garrus Vakarian

Archive Warnings in author's note

Additional tags: enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, slow build, alternate universe- canon divergence, detective noir, sex club, anonymous sex, canon temporary character death, murder mystery, drug use, dom garrus vakarian, whump, smut, heavy angst, alien sex, dual pov, an overly sexual elcor named candy, earthborn, ruthless, fake/pretend relationship, dead dove: do not eat, identity porn, minor character death

Detective AU mixed with identity porn mixed with so much whump my fingers are bleeding

(or, start from the beginning here)

lil text blurb:

“I-- well-- this wasn’t my choice necessarily. I never thought-- I mean-- I’ve done a very good job at keeping this part of my life secret from all of my coworkers-- which believe me, has not been easy at times, but I guess we do what we can--” 

“Garrus, what is it?” Shepard asked, her curiosity now peaked. And frankly, it brought her a small amount of joy to see Garrus squirm like that after all of the shit he’d been hiding from her lately. 

“I… um…” Garrus said, for some reason looking at the crack at the bottom of his door intently, as if it were about to get up and walk away. “I have a roommate.” 

“Oh,” Shepard said. That wasn’t so bad, was it? “Okay, well I guess it’s time to meet him--” 

“Her.” 

“Ah.” Now it was starting to make sense. “So, like a girlfriend or something?” 

“ No, she is not a girlfriend ,” Garrus said so quickly it sounded like one garbled, jumbled up mess. A sound came from the other side of Garrus’s door. It wasn’t speech or anything, it sounded almost like a whimper. 

“What, is she a vorcha or something? Why does she sound like that?” 

“Shep…” Garrus said, rubbing his eyes. With a resigned sigh, he pressed his omnitool to his door, unlocking it. 

At first, it seemed like just an empty apartment. A tiny little kitchen on the back wall, a couch on one side, a bed with perfectly made sheets on the other. A few spare rifle parts littering the table in the middle, one window the size of a basketball onto the street below. Shepard almost didn’t see anyone. That was, until she looked down, gasping loudly much to Garrus’s dismay. 

“Oh my God. You have a kitty !” Shepard squealed, bending down to pet the cat. It was a very pretty gray color with white markings on its face and belly, giving a very satisfied chirp to Shepard’s reaction to it. 

“That is not a kitty ,” Garrus said through gritted teeth. “That is a cat .” 

“ What a sweet little thing !” Shepard cooed, scratching its ears as its tail stuck up straight into the air.

“She’s not, trust me.” 

 “What’s her name?” Garrus mumbled something under his breath. Shepard glanced up at him, so blue in the face it almost covered up his colony tattoos. “What was that?” 

“Hmph,” Garrus muttered, crossing his arms in an incredibly bratty and snooty fashion. 

“I’m sorry, one more time?” 

“ Whiskers von Trapp .” Shepard stared up at Garrus incredibly blankly, blinking rapidly. He refused to look down at her, or his cat. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, he gave her a little kick. “Will you just get inside already?” 

Garrus locked his apartment door behind him, Whiskers von Trapp weaving in and out between his feet merrily. “Did-- did you name her--?” 

“ No, I did not name the fucking cat Whiskers von Trapp ,” Garrus all but yelled. “Look, it was my first week as a beat cop on the Presidium. I was called to do a wellness check on this old lady, she ended up dying earlier in the day. And this creature was inside. I was just going to leave her be, because it is explicitly not my job to care after cretins like this, but then she gave me these big eyes and this manipulative little mew, so I thought I would scoop her up and take her to a shelter. But as soon as I put her in my car, she slinked onto my lap and started making this Siren sound that was like subvocals, and now she’s wormed her way here .” 

“What a devastating tale that is,” Shepard said, a scandalized hand on her heart. “The Day Garrus Vakarian Found His Soul.” 

“I tried to just call her Cat. Because she is a cat,” Garrus continued. “But she wouldn’t respond to that. Or Whiskers. Or even Von. The only time she responds is when I call her Whiskers von Trapp. Like she lives to patronize me into calling her such a ridiculous name.” 

“Cats do tend to do that.” 

“Do not be fooled by her soft fur or her adorable little face. She is a vixen, an evil creature of the night. Did you know I need to steam my uniform every night? Do you know how hard it is to get the smell of cat out of everything? Did you know that no matter how many times I demand that she sleep on the little bed I bought that cost me five hundred creds , she just ends up sleeping under my carapace? Ignorant little beast she is, not to be trusted.” 

“Oh, what a horrid life you lead,” Shepard said patronizingly, finally stretching back up from her squat. “Should I get you a trophy? A shot? Drones of whores?” 

“All three, thank you very much.”

#mass effect fanfiction #mass effect #mass effect fanfic #shakarian #shepard x garrus #ao3 fanfic #turn left #garrus vakarian #femshep

[professor-amaryllis]

:{ A video file is embedded. Nightlight House, Aspertia. 12/15/23 2:48pm. }:

This video starts as door opens, heavier than any of the other doors seen in this house so far but still it swings easily on it's hinges as the taller of two figures pushes it open. As we enter he dim space it takes a moment for the camera to adjust, but as it does the first thing that is focused on is a wall full of artwork and photos. Paintings of scenery, kalosian and pladean and Sinnohan, intersperse photos of Casi and his husband, as well as a kid with long blonde hair that obscures part of his face, a distinctive academy outfit being worn.

Most of the lighting in the room comes from large dual screen setup, though the glittering and blinking lights of large server next to it draw the eyes as well. As echo looks around an extensive workbench can be seen on one side of the room, littered with all kinds of delicate tools and supplies, and on the opposite side of the room a futon rests.

"So these are what you're working on, hm?" The voice of the blue haired man from a couple days ago- Lissie, it seems- is curious. In his hands he holds an array of small, rather nondescript objects. As he holds one up they become a bit easier to make out: a light blue hexagonal shape, small enough to fit easily in the palm and made of what looks like a rigid plastic that has seen better days. There's a faint, faded serial number on each one.

"Yeah, Honestly just getting that many of them was a hell of a feat, it seems most of them were destroyed when they were recalled." Amy hums, leaning on his cane and shifting his weight a bit. "They were only available for few days before being discontinued for 'unseen safety concerns', but nothing I can find will tell me what those concerns actually were. I mean everything that I can find says they should work just fine."

"And you actually want to use these things?" Lissie raises an eyebrow with a chuckle, a bit of skepticism in his voice, setting the objects down on a nearby workbench with a bit of a clatter.

"I men I feel they could be quite useful really. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Unforeseen safety concerns probably." Lissie teases as Amy laughs. There's a bit of a mischievous look in his eyes for a second. "Alright, I'll take a look and see what I can do but-"

In one swift movement the taller man scoops up the professor, who lets out a bit of an indignant panicked yelp before laughing in protest. It takes him just a couple steps to cross the room and drop the smaller man(?) unceremoniously on the small futon that sits there.

"You'll have too stay out of the way." There's a smug grin on Lissie's face as the professor pulls himself into a sitting position, still laughing despite the quiet Johtonian curses that he mutters under his breath.

"Asshole."

"Mmmhmm."

:{ Transcription ends.}:

#:{this post brought to you by poryphone™}: #pokemon irl #pokeblogging #pkmn irl #lore #lissie #echo posting #poryport #worldbuilding

[weekend-whip]

What’s the gang’s go-to drink order? Could be anything from soda to ultra complex coffee order to boba to 5 hour energy shots

Jay: *nods* Soda. Doesn't even have a particular favorite; he just likes the carbonation.

Cole: Some high class fancy thing the others cannot even pronounce nor name the ingredients of that his attendants would make him in childhood; due to this fact (on top of its PRICE) he settles for boba...or mooches off others' drinks.

Zane: Warm white tea! It doesn't really do anything for him, but it was a favorite of both Wu and Aurora, so, y'know.

Kai: Trenta strawberry caramel macchiato, double caramel extra strawberry, half whole half almond milk, one pump vanilla, dual shot of espresso, double blended, extra hot, clockwise drizzle on the side with a curl, stirred counter-clockwise, shaken gently three times, dab of foam, fluffed whipped cream scooped not sprayed on top, touch of cinnamon, hint of chocolate sprinkles, with a round lid, paper cup, and a twisty straw. (ref to this if anyone's curious)

Nya: A TALL GLASS OF WATER (....or hibiscus iced tea if Wu isn't around)

Lloyd: A Milkshake. Usually chocolate. Also, no matter how much he begs, do not let him have an energy drink (he has enough energy and it kinda screws with him)

Olivia: You'd think she likes fruit smoothies (and she does) but she also has a huuuuge kick for chocolate-peanut butter smoothies on the down low. You wanna butter her up? There ya go. Pun totally intended.

Jesse: Hot chocolate (with whipped cream, a hint of cinnamon, a peppermint straw, and made with milk not water preferably <3)

Antonia: Coffee (but like, 10% coffee and 90% flavored creamer. Flavor changes by the day.) Also likes boba.

Harumi: Also a milkshake. Likes it half vanilla, half strawberry.

Miranda: E-E-ENERGY DRIIIINKS *airhorn sounds* (also do not let her bribe Lloyd for Green Element info with energy drinks)

Pixal: Does not like to drink at all, but will indulge in ice cream floats from time to time

Skylor: ALSO highly fond of boba...probably more than everyone else, but it's gotta be something tropical. Pina colada, pineapple, coconut, mango, dragonfruit, etc.

#ninjago #tlnm #legacyverse #the ninja legacy whip #i am not tagging everyone asdfgh #gang is getting too big lmao #k1ng boo #asks from nice people

[vapeguyy]

Best Dab/Wax Pens of 2024 + New User Guide

All dab pens have a similar anatomy- a battery, chamber, and mouthpiece. The main difference is in the coil design. Dab pens can have a "coil-less" bowl where the heat is generated under the bowl and heats the dabs indirectly, or "exposed coils" which have a heating wire wrapped around a center rod and heat up the dabs by direct contact. 

The two different coil types cater to the two different groups of dab users- the soft and flavorful vs. the harsh and potent. The first group is looking for a mild experience that highlights every terpene of their delicious solventless rosin, and the second group is looking for high-temp dabbing that provides an experience closer to traditional dabbing with harsh vapor and a strong throat hit. 

I fall into the first group more than the second, but regardless, I understand that different users have different preferences, and I will list options for both types of users.

Notes:

Some of these vapes were sent to me for free by the manufacturer for reviews, which I publish on my website- vapeguy.com 

Links are affiliate. Thanks for supporting. 

Full list of coupons can be found here- https://vapeguy.com/coupon-codes/ 

"Soft and flavorful."

The Puffco Plus has a built-in ceramic dab tool that can be used to scoop a tiny amount. Screwing the mouthpiece back will position the dab right in the center of the coil so it melts in as soon as you activate the heat. It has three temperature levels, and you can hold it for manual heat or double-click for a ten-minute session. The flavor is good, and this pen is dead simple to use. 

The cons of the Plus are- 

The chamber is on the small side. Load a tiny amount and be careful not to overfill it. 

It uses a 510 charger instead of the more modern and accessible USB-C. 

The Puffco Plus retails for $89 from vape-smart.com, and you can use coupon code TVG10 for 10% off. 

The Gpen Mirco+ is slightly shorter than the Puffco, has three temp levels, and while it doesn't have a built-in dab tool like the Puffco, it features the much preferred USB-C charger plug.

It also has a microchip that regulates the temperature in the bowl, ensuring the concentrate does not overheat. It has great vapor quality, and at $75, it is a really solid option. 

GPen Micro Plus retails for $75 directly from G-Pen and you can use coupon code TVG20 for 20% discount.

"Strong & harsh" 

Tronian Gammatron & Utillian 5- Both vapes have a heating wire wrapped around a center red. These get "red hot" very quickly and create a nail-like experience. 

The Utillian is thicker and heavier, and it has adjustable airflow and four temperature levels. The Tronian has a built-in wax container and three temperature levels. Both vapes also have a dab tool built into the mouthpiece, but just a heads up, the one of the Utillian 5 is fragile and can break easily. I already broke one. Utillian also sells a compatible water bubbler that sits on top and adds water filtration for more comfortable consumption. 

Both vapes are very good options, but I will give a slight edge to the Tronian. They are available from vape-smart.com and you can use coupon code TVG10 for 10% disount.

Hybrid or dual-use vapes

The Ooze Booster has three temp levels and a coil that looks like a spongy stone that soaks up the wax and vaporizes it. The bottom has a 14mm adapter, so it can easily power any existing rig, replacing the old-school nail and torch setup. Read my full review here.

The XMAX Riggo is not a dab pen, but it functions the same way. It has a similar coil and can be used as a dry pipe or used with the included adapter to connect to a bubbler. It has four temp levels and, interestingly enough, can be used with 510 carts as well. Vapor quality is pretty good, considering the $60 price tag. Read my full review here.

The Boundless Terp Pen is a dab straw. Instead of loading dab into the coil, you dip the coil directly into the container. This consumption method means zero wastage and ultimate control over how much vapor you're getting. By moving the coil closer or further away, you have fine control over the experience. 

The Boundless also has a built-in wax container, so you can take around a quarter of a graham to go, three temp levels, and a tapered rim that will fit bubblers as well. Read my full review here.

I think that basically covers the available options. Do you have any suggestions? Which vape pens should be added and why? 

#Dab Pen Vaporizer #Best Dab Pen Vape #Best Wax Pen Vape

[fourseasonsfigs]

Tom Ford (Fat Body)

There truly never can be enough Tom Ford figs in the world! So I was happy to scoop up these two little well-dressed men in this cute "fat body" style.

The inspiration for these figs of course is this epic picture:

I've written about the Tom Ford event before, so I won't repeat myself, but you can check out the prior Tom Ford figs I've posted about if you're interested here and here.

Here's some pics for fig outfit comparison purposes:

The background for these figs is a dual sided diorama that is based off of this background:

Let me get a full image of it -

There we go. Tom Ford's signature does look a bit like a stylized Junzhe, doesn't it?

The yellow lettering says (as always, poorly machine translated):

Orange Peel Civil Affairs Bureau Marriage Registry

I love it!

This diorama is actually the other side of this:

Which of course you've seen before. I realized my mistake when I bought these that I had only bought 1. I like both sides and I have figs for both sides! I had to snag a second one when the remainders came available so I can have both sides displayed.

These two are so nicely detailed! Please take a look at the dog and cats in their eyes, so cute!

Zhehan's whole outfit has just a wealth of wonderful little touches. For something as casual as this jacket, there's actually has a lot going on. There's the mesh layer to it, the hanging tag on his zipper, and of course the light tan edging setting off the light blue. We also have all this fantastic detail on his belt and shoes.

Haha I love them pointing at each other like this, it's so cute! We've got Junjun's normal slim silhouette and Zhehan's more curvy one.

The figs stand up just fine on their own, despite their even larger than normal heads. Quality fig engineering, and I also think the body style provides a sturdier base.

I know Gong Jun's flowered shirt has given factories difficulties before. It looks sharp and beautifully detailed here. This is also a great angle to see the mesh on the back of Zhehan's hoodie.

Oops! I missed an angle! I'll leave this as a placeholder and come back to it.

I like the slouchiness of the jacket riding up with Zhehan's hand in his pocket.

Their hair also looks great. We get Junjun's styled look and Zhehan's shorter sides / longer top artfully tousled hair.

And we're back around! This isn't their position in the pics, but I think it always looks a bit different to have them standing in different places. You can see that Junjun is just a smidge taller than Zhehan.

Zhehan's belt even has a bit of a 3-D effect. This is a really nice set of figs.

We can really see Zhehan's tousled hair here! I love it.

Here's a comparison of the fat body style next to the more typical fig style. I love all the styles! I have to say I wish all figs had the larger feet, it would really make it much easier for standability and / or fig stickers.

The box cards and the beautiful boxes.

Material: PVC

Fig Count: 376

Scene Count: 26

Rating: A+ product for a joint endorsement!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, everything beyond this is a discussion not around the figs but around the actual lipstick our two faves sold. I'm retired as a beauty blogger (although I kind of miss it sometimes) but this is definitely beauty-blog adjacent. So click right out if that's of no interest!

For those of you sticking around, I'm going to start with these pictures:

Can I just say the photographer for this last picture is a genius?

Anyway, I take this side journey not just to post beautiful men advertising lipstick, but as I said, to actually talk about this lipstick for a few minutes. Lip Lacquer Luxe Matte in Lark 03 sold out everywhere. Like, globally. I tried to buy it too late, so despite everywhere I searched, including all my international beauty sites, I had zero luck. I mean, good for our boys, right? I'm so proud of them.

I did eventually manage to buy it from a reseller here in the US (and fairly recently, at that), but at this point of course the liquid lipstick is several years old, and I have to responsibly advise against using old makeup, no matter how pricey or beloved.

I've been checking in periodically at Tom Ford and various retailers to see if they ever plan to restock this color (why do people hate money???), and GUESS what? A couple weeks ago I searched on Sephora and I got a hit. I couldn't believe it! The item that came up was not, in fact, Lip Lacquer Luxe Matte in Lark 03 - it was the Liquid Lip Luxe Matte in Lark 121. I would actually research what the difference is between the two formulas, and do an analysis of the ingredients, but as I said, I'm retired from that (plus I have tomorrow's blog post to write!).

The color looked the same to me though, so into the cart it went. It arrived on my doorstep and sure enough, it's the exact same color.

The one on the left is the new one, and the right is the original one.

The original formulation is definitely less matte. It goes on creamy and smooth, it's really nice. It takes a little longer to dry down because of it, but that also allows you to blot it and get a nice diffuse color. The new version is slightly more liquid, sets very fast, and blotting only seems to get rid of the excess / reveal where I didn't apply evenly. I definitely like the original formulation better, but that's just my personal preference.

So this is a moon I made on my arm, with the original in the center and the new formula outside of it. You can see how even though I drew the interior moon first, it's still quite creamy, while the exterior outlines of the moon have dried down almost completely.

The color in real life is absolutely gorgeous. I'd say it's very true to the color on Gong Jun's lips in his photos. This is actually my perfect lipstick color, and I don't say this as a JZP. I have tried so many lipsticks, I can't even tell you. There's a reason I've been hunting this down so religiously.

I will say there's another red advertised in this video and it is definitely not my color at all. I wish it was! It's gorgeous:

There's two things I don't love. First, the price. $59 for a liquid lipstick is ridiculous. I searched Sephora's site by "liquid lipstick" and sorted by Price, Highest First, and guess what was at the very top of the list? Yeah, you got it in one. This literal product. Absurd. The YSL lines of lipsticks are some of my favorite and you get a gorgeous case for about half the price. For a quarter of the price (or less!) you can get an awesome formulation at Target or Ulta, or for that matter, Sephora.

Second, I also don't love lipstick as a product in general. I like to say it's because it's too fussy for me, but the truth is, I had terribly crooked teeth as a child and wore braces (twice), and I think I've never subconsciously gotten over wanting people to not look at my mouth.

Unfortunately, my lips lost the genetic dice roll and have very little natural pigment in them, and it brightens my face up to have a little bit of rosiness in my lips. So, it's nice to have a go-to color for work and going out. And I will say, I have found that it's true that there's something about putting on a fresh coat of lipstick, taking a deep breath, and going out to face the world when you have to but really don't want to.

#junzhe #gong jun #zhang zhehan #word of honor promotional period #figthusiast

[fluffywings13]

@delphi-thefairy here’s a lil something of Kei being the best uncle

Rody knew it was time to leave when dad came home without mom, something shining in the older man’s eyes, a light that didn’t mean anything good, a light that was dangerous, like a match before it lit an explosion. He knew it was time to go when that match was lit and dad started talking about some man named Flect Turn.

In the dark of night, hidden by the shadows, he packed their backpacks full of essentials. Roro sat awake in bed for him, he’d told them the plan some time ago, but Lala had fallen asleep, which put a hindrance on their plans. Still though, he carried through, he pushed through, lifting his baby sister into his arms to carry her as he and his baby brother snuck out of the house. They had no other family in the area to turn to, all of them would return them to dad, and he didn’t want to know what would happen if they were returned to him after trying to run away.

There was mom’s family, but they lived on the other side of the world, Japan was at least a few hours by plane. And that was where their nearest relative was that wouldn’t turn them back over to their dad, Uncle Kei was not a fan of dad, he’d heard him talk to mom about leaving him many many times.

Mom always laughed and brushed him off and see where that got her now.

With his secret savings stash in his pocket, he makes his way down the street towards the bus station, they had just enough for a bus ticket for all three of them, they’d have to be sneaky getting onto the plane.

Lala sleeps the entire way to the airport before she wakes up, yawns widely, and turns to look out the window. She knows of course that they’re running away to Uncle Kei in Japan.

Rody manages to get them through the security fence, spying around carefully for anyone who could stop them, and they slowly make their way through the airfield searching through the planes for the one heading to Jap–”Rody?” Jumping at the sound of his name, he turns, slowly, meeting the confused eyes of his Uncle Kei. “What’re you doing here at this time of night?”

The oldest Soul shuffles his feet and looks down at his brother and sister. “I know this looks bad but it isn’t what it looks like.”

“No, really now.” Keigo crosses his arm. “So you’re not sneaking around an airfield trying to sneak into a pla–”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Oh,” his uncle purrs, smiling when his younger siblings giggle as the man turns to face them completely, away from the green haired boy, a growling blonde, and an even faced dual haired boy. “But I’m not the one sneaking onto the airfield, I’m allowed to be here.”

Lala skips forward, despite Rody’s best attempts at stopping her, and hugs the hero’s leg. “We’re gonna come live with you Uncle Kei! Are you excited!”

Keigo blinks for a moment, in the shere surprise at that statement, scooping the girl up as he glances over at his oldest nephew. “Is that so?” She nods happily and he nuzzles the five year old affectionately as he turns his attention away from his oldest nephew for a moment to coo at the cutie bird in his arms. “Of course I’m excited.” Then his attention returns to his oldest nephew. “Just a huge surprise is all, Cutie Bird, Uncle Kei didn’t know this.”

Roro hops forward before Rody can stop him and latches onto their Uncle’s leg, fingers curling in the fabric of the pant leg of the hero’s costume. “Rody said you did!”

“He did, did he?” The blonde man stares his oldest Nephew down. “He should have told Uncle Kei so he could’ve gotten you three tickets to Tokyo and from there to Fukuoka. Not to mention a larger hotel room for our stay in Tokyo.”

Lala pouts and leans into his shoulder. “Does that mean we can’t come Uncle Kei?”

“Now, did Uncle Kei say that?” He nuzzles the little Cutie Bird affectionately. “No ma’am, that means Uncle Kei has to rebook a hotel with a pool in it so his Cutie Bird can play and have fun and get three extra plane tickets.”

“Sooo….” The older boy rubs the back of his head. “Does that mean I’m not in trouble?”

“Oh no sir.” Rody grimaces at the look he receives. “Not at all. You good sir are in deep trouble.”

He can’t help himself. “Damn.”

…..

Keigo is quickly reminded of his Niece's fear of heights when the plane disembarks the airport and she starts screaming, wincing at the shriek in his ear, he trades places with his oldest Nephew to sit between him and their younger brother. He distracts Lala with his phone, the five year old takes to it like a tadpole takes to water, she ends up hugging his one hand as he holds his phone up for her to watch Spongebob with his other hand. Roro falls asleep against his bicep and Rody curls up in his seat with Pino sleeping on his head.

He stays awake for as long as he can, standing vigil over them, protecting them as they sleep as any good Uncle would, but he succumbs to the inevitable after such a battle they fought and falls asleep surrounded by his cousins sleeping children. He stays awake until the inevitable exhaustion from what had just transpired in the span of several days overcomes him and he falls asleep surrounded by his soon to be adopted (he’s sure) kids.

…..

“Uncle Kei! Uncle Kei!” He looks over from watching Lala play in the shallow end of the pool at the other youngsters call, Roro latches onto his arm and tugs excitedly. “Throw me again! Please!”

“Of course my little rascal.” He hooks his fingers under his arms and tosses him down further into the deep end of the pool. “I’d be happy to.” He turns back to check on Lala for a moment before turning to check on Rody in the hot tub, the teen was fine on his own, but he entered the pool to keep an eye on the five year old and nine year old in the pool.

They hang out in the pool for a few hours, after the pool had technically closed, the pros of being Hawks in Tokyo before he pulls the adult card and says its time for them to go back to their room.

He and Rody take care of their business while the little ones are in the bathtub getting all cleaned up, and the teen’s puffy eyed when they return in new clean pajamas and the teen trades places with them in the bathroom to clean up. Keigo is the last one to get cleaned up, after making sure Roro and Lala are tucked into their bed all nice and snug.

Him and his oldest Nephew are sharing a bed.

Keigo knows his niece and nephews like he knows the back of his hand, so when Rody hesitantly reaches out for his hand, he snatches that small one and tugs him in closer, into his chest, and curls his arm and wing around him. “Get in here, Robin.”

….

“Get his tummy, Uncle Kei!” Roro yells mid laughter as he watches his older brother suffer so horribly under their Uncle’s hands. “Get his tummy!”

“Get his tummy?” Keigo turns his attention from his squealing nephew to his giggling nephew. “Trade me a kiss for the tummy?” The younger boy giggles wildly and smacks a kiss to his lips, so, as a man of their word would, he turns back and claws his fingers into his oldest nephew’s belly which makes him squeal with laughter and arch his back into his fingers. “The tummy, as requested from my favorite little Rosefinch.” Lala rests her head against his as she giggles at their older brother's, completely losing himself like a child (that he still was). “Any requests from the adorable little Lovebird?”

“My turn Uncle Kei!”

Chuckling softly, the man nods, sweeping her up with his right arm, dropping her down onto her giggling older brother, and he claws his fingers into her belly. “Your wish is my command, Cutie Bird.”

#mha takami keigo #mha hawks #ler!takamikeigo #ler!hawks #parental hawks #my hero academia hawks #tickle monster hawks #keigo takami #mha rody #bnha rody #lee!rody #rody soul #uncle hawks #hawks is best uncle #fight me

[ashes-writing]

small || stranger things ; s.harrington

Authors Note: All my short ladies, where ya at? It's our time to shine, babes!!

This has nothing at all to do with the dual oc fic I'm planning / trying to write but a screaming session last night with the babe @rampagewriting over certain ah... Things related to some of the Stranger Things guys, well... That definitely inspired this. I believe the original idea was based on a TikTok shown to be by @rampagewriting about a couple with a height difference. Side note; Steve Harrington definitely likes being the taller one in a relationship. I don't make the rules.

Warnings: None, tbh.

Tag List: Ah fuck.. there's nobody on it yet. But if you wanna be, that can be arranged.

Other Stuff : tag list || pinned - my rules || requests; open, headcanons only please and thanks !!

I do not consent to my work being reposted / rewritten, posted elsewhere or plagarized.

The Motley Crue playing at a low volume had him raising an eyebrow as he wandered into Scoops Ahoy. Robin was already there, talking to another girl and almost the instant Robin caught sight of him, she snickered.

Elbowing the other girl.

The two wandered out from behind the counter and Steve’s eyes were glued to the shorter girl. She hadn’t noticed him staring yet and that was probably a damn good thing too. When she finally did glance his direction, she had this playful look dancing in her eyes.

“You must be Steve.” she spoke up, an attempt to draw him into conversation.

“Yeah.” he chuckled. Repeating her name as Robin introduced her. Playing it as cool as he could when Robin explained that the shorter girl was going to be working with them for the rest of the summer.

The way she bit her lip when he repeated her name had him clearing his throat. Shuffling his feet against the tacky floor tiles of the ice cream parlor. Motley Crue gave way to something softer and a little more pleasant to listen to and before he realized it he was staring at her like an idiot all over again.

All that was missing were the comical bulging eyes, a heart beating way too rapidly and his jaw dragging the floor. If he thought he got chokeslammed by cupid the last time this whole annoying love at first sight shit happened to him not so long ago, it was nothing compared to now.

Robin snapping her fingers in front of his face in annoyance was what drew him back into the atmosphere and out of those big and beautiful eyes of the other girl present.

“So who will I be working with tomorrow?” the other girl asked. Robin found herself watching in amusement as her old friend immediately went into flirt mode. The more surprising thing itself was that Steve Harrington was flirting right back with her old friend. All the classic signs were there.

If either of them stepped any closer they’d be pressed right against each other.

Customers came in and Steve rushed to the front, going into what Robin liked to call game show host mode and as soon as he wasn’t paying any attention, Robin fixed her eyes on the other girl. 

“What?” she shrugged as if she had no clue why Robin was looking at her the way she was at the moment. 

“Don’t what me… What the hell was that?” Robin asked, gesturing at Steve who gave her a sarcastic wave. Robin laughed and turned to face her friend. “You like him.. Oh my god, you like him.”

“Well, he is pretty.” the other girl admitted, shrugging almost sheepishly. “I’m just a mere girl, alright? I don’t have the god-like restraint you have.”

“It isn’t restraint. Steve is just an actual dingus. Also, totally not my type. Remember?”

The other girl gazed at Steve with a soft and sappy expression. “ Yes, I know…But look at him, he’s so fuckin cute! I’m glad he’s not your type because he’s kind of exactly mine…” as she laughed softly, teasing her friend.

“Ew. I’m disowning you.” Robin wrinkled her nose.

“Nuh uh. You’re stuck with me. Blood pact, remember?” the other girl argued.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Robin gave a mocked look of disappointment. “Do you need a cold shower? Are you gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” the other girl pouted in exasperation. Gazing at him out of the corner of her eyes as she shrugged. “It’s not like I’m his type anyway, wasn’t he dating that Nancy girl?”

“Yeah, well..”

“See? Nothing to worry about.” the other girl gave Robin a squeeze and skipped out the door, disappearing into the crowd going past the parlor’s open door.

Steve dragged a hand over the back of his neck as he blew at the hair escaping the stupid sailors hat and falling into his eyes. “Wow.”

“Oh god. No.” Robin groaned, rolling her eyes. “Absolutely not, dingus. You’re not corrupting my friend.”

“Did she say anything?” Steve asked, trying to play casual. Failing miserably because Robin had been working with him long enough by now to realize all the signs. She’d gotten to know him fairly well over the past month or so and because she did, she knew exactly what was going through his mind. “The fact that she’s so short is kinda hot.” Steve remarked, both in total honesty and to annoy the living hell out of Robin.

“Dingus.. Go cool off in the freezer. We need more butterscotch.” Robin held up the empty vat of ice cream as she pointed her free hand to the door separating the back of the shop from the front.

–

They were working the shop alone. They had been most of the week, come to think of it and the more they had to work together, the more painfully aware of her he became. The more he told Robin about this whenever they met up to hang out, the more she teased him. The more she hinted that there was something she knew about the new hire he had such a massive crush on that he didn’t.

No amount of begging, anything. Nothing made Robin give him even the smallest hint. 

And he was at a loss as to how to start a conversation with the new girl so he was getting a little desperate.

Until the idea hit him.

Well, the new girl was the one who may or may not have given him the idea.

It all started with a can of sprinkles placed on a high shelf that she couldn’t quite reach. 

“Steve!”

He looked up from the magazine he’d been reading during the lull in customers to find her attempting to stand on a chair she’d dragged over to the toppings shelf in back.

Before he even thought about it, he was on his feet, heading over to her. He grabbed hold of her hips and hoisted her up, sitting her on his shoulders so she could snag the canister and when he placed her back on her own feet she’d tilted her head to the side a little to stare up at him and the giggle that came.. That damned playful, flirty giggle.

He was hooked.

It became sort of a personal challenge for him. Every time he saw her name on the schedule with his, he’d place something out of her reach or he’d purposely tighten the lids on the jars of toppings so they couldn’t be opened easily.

And it was all going good too, until Robin caught onto it when she happened to be working with both of them and noticed just how many times during a shift her friend had to go over to Steve and ask him for his help reaching something. Or loosening a lid like she’d just done a few minutes before with a little jar of maraschino cherries.

Steve opened the lid and held the jar out to her and just like usual, Robin’s friend tilted her head and gave him the cute little giggle and the grin that gave him the rush -and the serotonin, necessary to continue breathing a little longer. Or something equally sappy.

Robin waited until her friend was out of earshot and then she whirled around to look at Steve, a hand on her hip as she tried not to laugh.

“You’re doing it on purpose.” Robin accused.

“Doing what?” Steve asked innocently.

“Don’t play dumb with me, you know what I’m talking about.” Robin folded her arms and stared him down, barely hiding the amusement.

“I’m not doing anything. I don’t know what you’re talkin about, Robin.” Steve shook his head and shrugged. “I’m not!” he insisted when Robin gave him one of her little smirks.

“Tightening the lids and putting stuff out of her reach.” Robin stated calmly. “You’re doing it on purpose and it needs to stop. Just talk to her, dingus. Stop making her reach for things.” Robin said it as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do.

But it wasn’t. Steve knew it wasn’t because he’d tried just talking to her on more than one occasion. And while they did indeed talk, he knew she was totally oblivious to his previous attempts at flirting with her. It threw him for a loop. He wasn’t fully adjusted to the ideal that he wasn’t Steve Harrington, king of Hawkins High anymore.

He was just another guy. Another guy who apparently, didn’t have a goddamn clue when it came to properly catching a girls attention like he used to believe he could. It kind of stung, especially when this particular girl was one he wanted so badly that he could practically taste it.

“I’ve tried that, Robin! Or have you totally missed that? What do you think I’ve been doing?” Steve asked, catching sight of the other girl out of the corner of his eyes as she made her way over.

“I mean it, Steve. Stop making her reach for things, dingus.” Robin warned one last time before gathering her things, discarding her apron and heading to the back to clock out.

Steve took a few long and deep breaths. Getting himself together because earlier when he opened the cherries he’d tightened the lid on, she’d kind of leaned against him a little, dragging a red tipped finger up and down the front of his uniform top and leaving him officially fucked for focus and a working brain cell for the rest of their shift in the process.

If she had one tenth of a clue what she did to him…

Her throat cleared behind him.

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Think you can help me?” she was doing it again, by God. Biting her lip as she gazed up at him,

“Yeah, yeah. What’s up?” he asked, keeping himself as smooth and calm as possible.

He hadn’t tightened any more lids or placed anything else out of her reach, so he wondered what she was about to ask.

She turned facing away from him. “The zipper on this stupid top is stuck.”

Steve gulped because if he hadn’t, he would’ve nearly swallowed his own damned tongue. “I..uh.. Yeah.” he finally managed to get his brain and mouth functioning together at the same time as he reached out, giving the zipper a careful tug. At the sight of red lace beneath, he gulped again. Tugging at his collar while she was safely turned away and couldn’t see him, feeling like a pervy disaster because this bullshit were the things he was reduced to doing just to get her attention.

She spun around to face him and stepped closer. Toying with the stupid red tie at his neck for a second or two quietly, holding his eye contact the entire time.

“What are you doing after work?” she asked. Steve was caught totally off guard by the question. And assuming she was just asking to be polite, he shrugged. “Nothing, I mean.. What about you?”

“Well,” she melted against him just a little bit more, “I was thinking about sneaking into the movies. They’ve got this killer movie playing right now.” she pouted a little. Almost a teasing pout. Steve shuffled his feet around, dragging a hand through his hair. “Oh yeah?” he asked.

If he were the same guy he’d been last year, hell, two years ago.. He’d have definitely assumed she was flirting and went for it.

But he wasn’t. And he didn’t want to assume something and make an idiot out of himself. Especially not considering how much he really did happen to like her and want to get to know her better.

A lot better.

Yeah, he wanted to get real close to her.

,, You might even be falling for her, idiot.” the thought came, taunting him almost. ,, You are falling for her.” his brain corrected.

“Mhm. But it’s a horror movie and I don’t do so well with those. I don’t wanna go see it alone.” she was practically purring. Toying with the red tie on his uniform top a little more as she looked up at him. Soft laughter bubbling up as she mumbled something he couldn’t quite make out.

“Huh?” he asked the question in a daze and he spent the next five seconds of silence torn between kicking himself and wishing the floor would open and swallow him.

“I said.. I’m flirting with you, Steve. Jesus Christ.” she pouted a little as she said it and turned as if she were going to walk away, muttering that it was a dumb idea, that Robin didn’t have a clue what she was talking about and now things were going to be awkward.

Steve finally caught up to her, right before she started to disappear into the back.

“You were flirting with me?” Steve pointed to himself as he gazed at her in disbelief.

“Duh! I was beginning to wonder if I was gonna have to like.. Walk out here bare assed naked to clue you in. Then Robin told me what you were doing so I decided two can play that game.” she shrugged, a hand to her mouth barely hiding a laugh.

“Robin.. Damn it.” Steve grumbled under his breath right as Robin walked out and gave him a shit-eating grin. “Going home now! I’ll see you two lovebirds later!”

“Hey, wait! He didn’t exactly..” she frowned as Robin made the fastest exit out of the ice cream parlor possible. “He didn’t exactly say he’d see the movie, goofball, Jesus. She acts as if my plan was fool-proof.”

Steve snickered quietly when he heard what she mumbled to herself.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t, either.” he spoke up quietly. 

She grinned and laughed softly. Stepped closer to him and gazed up as she toyed with the stupid red tie. “So… will you?”

Steve chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. Ya know, I was working up to asking you first…Right?”

She giggled quietly. “You were taking too long, Harrington. I thought I’d speed up the process.”

#steve harrington #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington x female!reader fanfiction #my writing ; stranger things ; c; steve harrington