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struniolos · 4 months

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guitar lessons.

chapter two: meddle about.

(you can read chapter one here!)

synopsis: you decided to take guitar lessons from your boyfriend nate’s best friend, chris, while he’s away at college. but one night, things go too far. loosely based off the song sex by the 1975.

warnings: smut! minors do not interact.

“what did you yesterday baby?” nate’s voice hums through the phone, as you cuddle up into your bedsheets.

you rambled to him about everything, how you’d gone to buy a gingerbread house to make with your friends, how you bought a new coat, everything other than what was gnawing at you. chris. you tried your best to act as you usually did, but made an effort to bounce the questions back to him so you didn’t have to talk about yourself.

“so, when are you coming to visit me?” you said, biting your lips.

“i’ve got to study for finals next week, so i’m probably not for another two weeks.” nate told you, making your heart sink.

the less you saw him, the more you felt yourself drifting away from him. it was a gut wrenchingly awful feeling, guilt bubbling beneath the surface of your body. in everything you did, you felt it.

you sighed into the speaker. “i miss you.”

“i miss you too, baby.” nate told you. “well, i’ve got training in the morning so i should go, but we’ll talk soon. i love you.”

“i love you too.” you said quietly, holding your face in your hands.

as the phone call came to an end, you found yourself curled in a ball under the covers. it was almost 8pm, when you agreed to meet with chris. but your heart was telling you not to go, that this was an awful idea. because it was, you had just told your boyfriend how you loved him moments before meeting up with his best friend. you decided to message chris.

you: i’m not coming, i’m sorry.

he typed back instantly.

chris: why? we can just chill :(

you: it’s too cold. i just want to stay in bed.

you try and weasel your way out of the gate you’ve opened, to step back as if you weren’t the one also engaging in this.

chris: what if i came to pick you up?

you bit your lips, sighing.

you: fine.

about an hour later, you look out your bedroom window to see the familiar black van out the front of your house, it’s headlights illuminating the icy road thats caked in snow at the curb. you grab your hoodie and put on your slippers, sneaking down the staircase to not disturb your parents as they would know damn well it wasn’t nate.

you tiptoed your way out the front door, walking the snowy path towards the van. chris had already reached over to open the door for you, and you felt yourself getting flustered. you jumped into the van, closing the door firmly behind you and looking over at chris, his hair dark and loose, his silver necklace stark against his black crewneck.

“hey.” he smiled, putting the car into drive.

“hey.” you said shyly, biting your cheek. “so, where are we going?”

“you’ll see.” chris shrugged, with one the hand on the wheel and the other propped up against the window.

you felt an unbearable weight on your chest, something urging you to stop. to tell him to turn around and take you home. but there was something about him, something that you couldn’t fight. nate was the safe option, you knew that, but chris- chris was dangerous.

the radio was on quietly, the hum of the engine and icy roads filling your ears. you both didn’t speak for the rest of the drive, in complete silence within each other’s company. you wondered if chris was thinking about nate, or if he was selfishly wanting you all to himself.

eventually, you were parked at a lookout spot at the hilled part of the neighbourhood, looking out to the thousands of houses below only specks of yellow light against the darkness. you were shielded by woods, away from prying eyes.

chris parked the car, pulling the handbreak and leaning back in his chair. he looked over at you, his eyes dark.

“i don’t know what i’m doing, chris.” you said softly, breaking the silence. “i shouldn’t be here.”

“but you came.” he opposed, rubbing his face- his chain bracelet falling down his veined arm. you found yourself eyeing his fingers too, long and slender, the dimmed light carving out his features.

chris was the one to make the first move, shifting his hand to your thigh as he held eye contact with you. “why did you leave yesterday?”

“because it’s wrong and we shouldn’t be…i shouldn’t be doing this.” you said with pleading eyes.

chris continued rubbing your thigh. you don’t stop him. he leaned over to grab your face with his other hand, his finger tracing your warm cheek and lips, his thumb prying your mouth open.

“after you left, did you go home and touch yourself thinking about me?” he murmured, looking at you though hooded eyelids.

you hated how much you loved this, how much you revelled in his forbidden touch. you knew he wanted you to suck on his fingers but you didn’t, simply kissing the pad of his thumb. “no.”

“hmm.” he hummed, grabbing your cheeks with one hand, his fingers digging into your cheeks as he squeezed them together to pout your mouth. “i did.”

you clenched your thighs together, as he kissed you deep. you moaned into his mouth, as his tongue came to lick into yours. it was messy, all teeth and tongue. you never did this with nate, it was always so straightforward. you guessed this was why chris was so enticing- he was everything nate wasn’t.

“come over here.” he whispered, grabbing your hips to help you. he pushed the seat backwards to give you both more space, as you settled yourself on his lap, straddling him.

you rubbed your palms down his shirt, breathing heavily. “what happened to teaching me guitar?

“i’m teaching you something else.” he smirked, kissing you again, this time slower.

you pulled away briefly. “and what would that be?”

“how to feel good.” he flirted, kissing the corner of your mouth, his hands greedy as he squeezed your hips and groped your behind.

“my boyfriend makes me feel just fine.” you told him, trying to elicit a reaction.

but chris didn’t react, instead looking you directly in the eyes as he tilted his head as he dipped a hand below your sweatpants. “if he did, why did you come to me?”

your lips fall apart as he began to rub circles through your panties, your sensitive bundle of nerves pulsating at his touch. your lips found each other, tongues dancing and hot air spilling from your nose as your breathing picked up. he moved your underwear to the side, his fingers collecting your slick.

“i dreamed about this.” chris told you, as he began to push his ring finger inside your velvet walls.

“you did?” you breathed, bracing your hands on his shoulders.

he kissed your cheek sloppily. “mhm, about how good you’d feel.”

you moaned at the feeling of his finger fully seated inside you. fuck, it had been so long. chris pumped his finger in and out of you a few times before adding another, your vision blurring and body heating up.

“c’mon pretty girl.” he urged you, as his fingers curled and beckoned you towards your orgasm.

you moaned raggedly into his mouth, your hips starting to grind up and down. the feeling of his lips on yours, his hand on the small of your back guiding you as he fingered you deep sent you over the edge embarrassingly quickly. you moaned and squirmed in his lap, a complete mess. he coerced your release through small praises and kisses, holding you close to his chest. chris brought his fingers to his mouth to suck clean, locking eyes with you- it was lewd, but ridiculously hot.

“i want to be inside you.” chris confessed, his lips attaching to your neck to suck bruises into your skin.

“chris.” you protested, but he continued to assault your neck, his other hand coming to cup your ass, moulding it against his hand.

“i can take care of you better than him.” he uttered, now squeezing your breasts with both hands, kneading and palming them.

you felt your pussy flutter, your core coming in contact with his hardness. you ground down onto him, the friction euphoric. “show me.”

between kisses and whispers, chris assisted you in ridding yourself of your hoodie, and pulling your sweatpants off. he tossed them into the backseat, as well as tossing his crewneck and tshirt off and shimmying down his own sweatpants, so they sat at his thighs. you continued to grind yourself down on his hardness, both of you moaning and breathing heavily at the feeling.

you couldn’t do this to nate, this would completely change things. this would break you. you knew if you continued, that there was no going back. but it just felt so good.

chris kissed the valleys of your breasts, pulling your bra down so it hung at your hips, as he continued to suckle on each one, toying with the other with his free hand. you moaned heavily, the feeling of his warm mouth and breath on you too much. chris pulled away with a wet pop, leaving your nipples peaked and wet.

“i want you to spit on my cock before i fuck you.” he instructed, and you did as you were told.

you pulled down his boxers to let his weeping cock spring free, letting it slap against his stomach. you licked your lips, as you held it in your hands, the warm weight of it enough to send you over the edge. he was definitely bigger than nate, girthier too- you knew it was going to hurt. you spit on your hand, before coating it all over his cock like lube. chris threw his head back, groaning and bucking his hips up into your hand.

chris stopped you, placing his palm on your chest. he sat himself upright, as you hovered your hips above him. he pushed your soaked panties to the side once more, rubbing the red tip of his cock against your opening. you both indulged in the feeling, pushing your lips together and your breath mingling as one.

“want me to fuck you, pretty girl?” he growled.

“please.” you pleaded, feverishly kissing him.

“you think i can fuck you better than your boyfriend?” he dares, licking behind your ear and continuing to rub the tip of his cock against your wet folds.

you shudder, biting your lips to you conceal your answer as your pussy throbs. yes, you think to yourself.

chris grabs your hips, leaving crescent moons in your flesh from his nails as he guides you. you let out an embarrassing desperate moan as you sink yourself down onto him, seated perfectly in his lap. he’s only halfway in, and the stretch is much more than you’re used to. or maybe because it had been so long? was it because he was bigger than nate? your mind buzzed with thoughts. thoughts of your boyfriend. here you where, with his best friends dick inside of you- and it turned you on much more than you’d admit to yourself.

chris kissed you sloppily as he helped you seat yourself completely on him, your pussy swallowing him whole. you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him impossibly close. you felt so full, so content. you hadn’t felt this...ever.

without much time to adjust to his size, chris began thrusting his hips up into you, filling you to the hilt. you gasped and grappled onto him, anywhere you could, his hair, his shoulders, the car seat behind him. he was relentless.

“i’ve wanted to do this for months.” he whispered, grabbing a fist full of your hair and using it to pull your head back, giving him full access to your neck and chest.

all you could do was moan in response, as his hips snapped up into you at a reckless pace. he licked up your throat, and dipped his fingers into your mouth. you gagged on them, saliva dripping down your chin. it was filthy and messy and so fucking hot. you had never experienced anything like it.

“do i fuck you better than your boyfriend? huh?” he growled, as you began to meet his thrusts, desperately chasing your release.

“mhm” you muffled, his fingers dropping from your mouth.

“what was that?” he taunted, a devilish smile daunting over him.

you almost felt like you were going to split in half with the pace and force he was fucking into you. tears were almost pricking your eyes, everything just felt so good.

“yes, yes chris.” you cried, a blubbering mess as he grabbed your hips tighter to pound into you.

you grabbed his face with both hands, kissing him full of tongue and saliva. everything was becoming blurred, your thoughts of nate a distant memory as you felt your orgasm building in your stomach. your toes began to curl, your face contorting and a high pitched squeal -you didn’t know you were capable of- coming from within you.

“fuck oh my god!” you shuddered, your body beginning to convulse and shake around him, clutching onto his sweaty body tighter.

you felt your release come quicker than you’d have liked, with chris’ thrusts becoming more languid as he helped you ride out your high. his hair was stuck to his forehead, his cheeks and chest flushed red. his eyebrows knit together and lips parted as he followed close behind you, shooting his hot juices into you. you let your forehead fall to his shoulder, breathing heavily and your body shuddering.

you both sat for a while, catching your breath, with chris still deep inside you. you raised your head, looking at him with saddened eyes, pushing his hair from his face.

chris pouted at you, scrunching his nose. “what?”

“i cant believe we did that. that…that shouldn’t have happened.” you tell him softly, as the weight of the situation finally sunk in.

you had cheated on nate.

“he won’t know.” chris assured you, rubbing slow circles on your bare back.

you shook your head. “but what if he finds out.“

“he won’t.” chris said firmly, looking at you with a seriousness you weren’t used to. “same time tomorrow?”

you rubbed your forehead, looking at the man before you. he was gorgeous, all fucked out and blissful, lips kissed and hair mussed. how could you say no?

“okay.”

taglist;

@creamoncreamoncream @certainfestivalnerdshepherd @sofiasnookiee @goandcomebsck @chrisluvbot @arizonaicedtealoverrr @lustfulslxt @s1urnioloslvr @meme2003 @starsturniolo

#sorry this took so long #it’s been a hell of a week #anyway i’m not very happy w this but thought i’d post it anyway #lmk if u guys want another part!#sturniolo triplets #sturniolo #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #sturniolo edit #sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo fic #christopher sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo fanfic #chris sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo x fem reader #chris sturniolo x you #guitar lessons

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carolperkinsexgirlfriend · 6 months

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Steddie Upside-down AU Part 17

Part 1 Part 16

Let it be known that Eddie Munson is not a morning person, presuming it’s morning at all. And with the bags under Will and Steve’s eyes, Eddie’s doubtful. He doesn’t look in the mirror to check his own. If King Steve Harrington looks this ragged even with his genetic lottery, Eddie doesn’t want to know what he looks like.

He wants to brush his teeth, but when he opened the toothpaste, it was a rusty-looking brown color. He wants a shower, but none of the pipes work, and their quarry water is a precious commodity. Hell, he wants a hot cup of coffee, and he doesn’t even like coffee.

It'd probably turn to acid once it hit his gut, though. Hunger’s gnawing at him in a way it hasn’t for years. When the fridge would be empty for days. When he wished for school days, so he could take his little blue slip up to the lunch line and get a meal for free, never mind that all the other kids gave him a wide berth for it.

It's messing with his head to have that same, gnawing feeling in this place where Wayne makes breakfast in the mornings after he gets off a shift. Where there’s always food in the fridge, no matter how lean money is. Where someone cares enough to stock it.

So, no. Eddie Munson is not a morning person, and he’s going to strangle Steve Harrington if he keeps corralling Eddie like a wayward child as they pack up their supplies for the trek to Mama Byers’s house.

“Just help me sort the first aid supplies, and then we’ll be done,” Steve says, riffling through their stolen loot where he’s strewn it out across the kitchen counter.

Eddie groans, pinching the bridge of his nose, letting the weight of his elbow settle into Steve’s shoulder. Regrettably, it’s the bad one.

“Ow, fuck,” he groans, shrugging out from beneath Eddie’s arm.

“Shit, sorry big boy,” Eddie says, fluttering his fingers toward Steve’s injured shoulder like he can magic it all better.

“Are you hurt?” Will asks quietly from where he’s once again hovering at the threshold.

They both jump, trading guilty looks at the omission caught so quickly. “Just a scratch on my shoulder,” Steve replies, like a liar.

Will nods but doesn’t seem to believe them. The kid’s clearly too smart for his own good.

“Should we go?” Eddie asks brightly, clapping his hands like he’s a camp counselor leading a nature expedition and not corralling a middle schooler and a peer he still totally hates, he swears, out into a hellscape.

Steve rolls his eyes, but dutifully swipes it all back into his pack after a cursory look.

Steve and Will follow him out of the trailer like ducklings, Eddie in the lead, and Steve maintaining the rear, keeping Will sandwiched in the middle in silent agreement.

They keep quiet. Eddie’s eyes skitter wildly about, and when he glances back, Steve is clutching the shotgun tightly. Clearly, he’s not the only one more on edge with a kid to keep alive now. In contrast, Will looks excited.

Eddie doesn’t know which is worse, that the kid trusts them that much to keep him safe, or that he’s so excited to talk to Mama Byers that he’s not fussed about the rest of it.

Eddie remembers the general direction of the Byers’ house. It’s a small town – there’s only so many places for people to live, but he still has to ask Will for directions a few times. Will tells him where to turn, both speaking quietly enough that Harrington only twitches a little in alarm from behind them.

Only once does Steve stop, the sound of him raising the shotgun the only indication Eddie receives that he’s stopped at all. His heart kicks up as he whirls around to see Steve standing, gun trained into the woods, like fucking always. It takes endless moments before Steve lowers his gun again, waving them along.

No one talks after that. Eddie looks at Will, and Will points. It works well enough.

The Byers house is a single level, short and small, but it’s got a front porch with chairs on it, and laundry on a clothesline. It would look homey without vines. And the sky. And the ash. And the everything about this place.

Still, they file through the unlocked front door. Eddie can almost feel the smack Uncle Wayne would land on his head for going into someone else’s house first, uninvited, but there’s no way he’s letting Will go first into a place the Demogorgon had been less than twenty-four hours before.

It's silent inside. Will pushes past him, rushing into the house and taking a left. Eddie and Steve follow, Steve still clutching the gun. They find him in a small, outdated kitchen. He’s picked up the phone.

“Mom?” he says. His voice breaks, and Eddie wants to grab him and hide him in Steve’s closet for the rest of the day. “Mom?”

They stand in silence for a minute, ears straining for the smallest sound. “Anything?” Steve asks, brow furrowed.

Will doesn’t answer, just presses the phone to his ear harder. “Mom?” His voice sounds wet. Eddie’s going to fucking murder Joyce Byers. “Mom, please.”

“Maybe we can try in a few minutes?” Eddie asks, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.

Will puts the phone back into the receiver like it weighs a thousand pounds. “What if the Demogorgon got her?”

Scratch the murder threats, Munson. “She’s probably just out,” he says.

Will finally turns around, slowly. Reluctantly. His face is streaked with tears already. Eddie doesn’t fight the urge to wipe them off. His hands leave grimy streaks though, so he switches to the sleeve of his shirt.

Behind him, Steve is pacing down the hall, muttering quietly under his breath. He’s not concerned until the movement abruptly stops.

“Steve?” Eddie calls, still cradling Will’s face.

His steps start again, slow, and purposeful. “Come see this,” he says. He doesn’t sound scared. Shocked, maybe even awed, but not scared.

Eddie pats Will’s cheek before turning and making his way out of the kitchen. Steve Harrington is haloed in light. It’s white, and fluttering, and following every step he takes. He looks like a fallen angel – bloody and grimy, but heavenly still.

Eddie almost asks, “are you an angel?” because if there are monsters, then why not something good? But he doesn’t. Because as soon as he steps past the threshold, there’s a light above him. Holy. Beautiful.

“What is this?” Eddie asks.

“I don’t know,” Steve says, smiling up at the light hanging over him. Steve Harrington is entranced by the lights and Eddie Munson can’t take his eyes off him.

Will steps beside him, and lets out a little, “oh.” When Eddie glances his way, he’s not looking at the lights either. Eddie can’t blame him.

“Do you think it’s dangerous?” Steve asks, still too focused on the beauty of it to sound worried.

“It’s just—” Will starts. But he’s interrupted.

The voice sounds distorted, but not like the Demogorgon’s. It’s more like the sound is coming from far away. Like Nancy Wheeler’s voice. Like her friend’s.

“Will?” it calls. “Will, are you here?”

Well, looks like it’s time to meet Mama Byers. Eddie can’t wait.

Part 18

#steddie upsidedown au #steddie fic #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #my fic

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thechaoticdruid · 2 months

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This Bites (5)

Astarion x Chubby! F! MC

Plot: Astarion gets Winnie out a tight spot with a new power of his! Our two lovers continue to bond and get closer as Winnie searches for the cause of her vampire's appearance in the modern world. They also go shopping! YAY!

Content/Warning: Dog attack, Sexual humor and suggestive content, tooth rotting fluff, night terrors?, Astarion being soft, mention of dead animals, Brian being an asshole as usual..

Chapter 4: Back here

Chapter 5: Hold still.

Chapter 6: Shit.

Winnie looked out the window, eyes wide as she saw Brian and Vanessa outside. Nessa was holding Ollie tightly to her chest as the little dog growled. The three of them were standing their ground as the same beastly dog from before approached. It was snarling with its lips lifted upwards to expose its sharp teeth, drool dripping from its jaws and onto the rope around its neck.

“Astarion, go to my room and hide in my closet I'll, I'll think of something.” Winnie stated.

“You want me to just let you go out there with that deranged beast!? Are you insane! That mutt will gnaw your leg off!” The vampire spawn snapped.

“We don't have time to argue! Go hide!” Winnie huffed before grabbing a broom off the nearby wall. The dog was huge and appeared to be a mix between a mastiff and Pitbull. Brian stood in front of Vanessa, shielding her from the dog as he shouted at it, trying to scare it off. Astarion gritted his teeth. He didn't want Winnie to get hurt but following her out into the sun was a horrible idea. There definitely wasn't any way he could protect her as a pile of ashes. But he had to do something! That dog had a vicious look in its eyes, lunging with an intent to kill. Brian was able to kick it in the face and make it back up momentarily, but the beast was not backing down.

Panic flooded over the elven vampire’s mind as he was frantically trying to think of what to do, if he had still been alive his heart would be pounding! Then suddenly he felt odd…. There was this poof and everything around him got bigger. No, he was smaller. His hands were replaced by these white little bat wings…

What in the hells!?

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough for Astarion to ponder his new form as Winnie had opened the door, holding the broom close to her as she prepared to try and help her family. Without thinking the small bat leapt up and grabbed onto the back of her shirt with his little claws, crawling under the back of her hoodie to protect him from the sun. Winnie didn't even notice him, too focused on the scene in front of her. Her mother was safely locked in the car, away from the dog while Brian was doing his damndest to try and scare it away. It was safe to say that the canine was not the least bit intimidated as it snarled, slobber dripping from its jowls.

Winnie soon rushed over, using the broom to separate herself from the aggressive mongrel. The dog lunged forward, biting into the broom with a bite so strong it threatened to break the wood. Winnie let out a startled squeak at the sight of the dog’s teeth.

“The fuck are you doing, Winnie!? You're making it worse!” Brian shouted. Though his voice didn't even register to Winnie as she was much too terrified of the dog to give a damn about what he said. The dog’s teeth clashed against the broom before it pulled back preparing for another attack when it noticed something peek out of the brunette-haired female’s hoodie. Keeping the hoodie over his head to shield him from the sun, Astarion peaked out at the dog with a tiny glare.

The dog blinked in confusion before getting a whiff of Astarion's familiar undead scent and letting out a whine, tail dropping between its legs as it let out a bark.

“Smells wrong!” Astarion could hear the dog speak while in his new animal form. The dog suddenly turned and ran off, whimpering along the way. Winnie blinked in utter bewilderment.

He just….Left? What the fuck was that about?

“Oh, thank goodness. Winnie scared it away!” Vanessa let out a sigh of relief.

“I had it completely under control.” Brian huffed as Winnie’s mother suddenly opened the car door and got out.

“Oh my God, that was close. Brian, we need to call animal control! That dog is dangerous!” She exclaimed, stepping out of the car.

“It would probably be better if I shot that damn mutt.” Brian muttered.

“Brian!” His wife crossed her arms.

“Alright, alright woman! I'm getting my phone!” The brunette haired man huffed.

“Uh…. It might be best to go inside…? In case the dog comes back I mean.” Winnie suggested.

“I ain't afraid of no fucking dog…” Brian muttered under his breath as he fumbled with his cellphone.

“You're right, Winnie. Come on Nessa, let's go inside.” Winnie’s mother said before leading the young girl inside. Winnie quickly followed after them and moved ahead of them, hoping Astarion had gone and hid. The plump female was completely unaware Astarion had changed his form and hitched a ride inside her hoodie. The tiny white bat stayed completely still as his tiny claws stayed hooked into the back of her shirt.

“Winnie! Winnie! Can I play the new video game you got?” Vanessa asked, setting the dog down on the floor. Her eyes grew round as she looked up at the young woman pleadingly.

“Ah no kid, it's for adults. And I don't want your dad to get mad at me if you see something…inappropriate.” Winnie coughed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Ugh! It's not fair! I'm almost thirteen and this boy from my class is playing it!” Nessa huffed and crossed her arms.

“No means no. Goodness' sake, you're too young to play adult games.” Winnie replied sternly.

“And you're too old to watch cartoons but you still do it!” Vanessa sassed before storming off to her bedroom. Winnie rolled her eyes, muttering ‘brat’ under her breath. She turned to head back to her bedroom, but unfortunately Brian had come back inside and had her in his sights.

“The hell did you say to my kid!?” He snapped, getting really close to Winnie's face, his nasty tar smelling breath hitting her like a brick.

“I just told her she can't play my new game because it's for adults.” Winnie huffed, eyes glancing back over to her room as she flinched away from him.

“I saw her run to her room! You better tell the truth right now!” Brian raised his voice.

“Brian! Calm down! Winnie is telling the truth, I saw everything.” Winnie’s mother suddenly stepped in and stood between her husband and daughter. Brian muttered under his breath.

“Catherine, the girl is dangerously close to becoming a delinquent! I've seen those vile games she plays! They're not right!” Brian barked.

“You’re being dramatic. Winnie would never hurt a fly. Look, we've all just had a scare outside so why don't we calm down, go to our rooms and try to relax?” Catherine said before pulling Brian along. The middle-aged sack of piss continued to mutter under his breath, but inevitably gave in and followed his wife to the bedroom. Winnie sighed in relief before quickly rushing to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

“Astarion?” She suddenly whispered out and looked around her room. “Astarion?” She called again before slowly stepping towards the closet, only to freeze as she felt tiny claws climbing up and down her back.

“What the hell is on me!?” She panicked, shivering in disgust before suddenly throwing her jacket off and onto the ground. Winnie looked in the mirror and checked herself but found nothing.

Brown eyes glanced down at her purple hoodie before noticing a little fuzzy white head poke out from underneath her coat. A little albino bat crawled out and looked up at Winnie with round red eyes. It immediately began to let out panicked sounding little squeak-like chirps and scurry towards Winnie. She backed up a bit in utter confusion.

" A bat? How did I get a bat in my jacket?” Winnie asked aloud. The bat continued to squeak at her as if trying to speak. He didn't try to flee or fly away which was very unusual.

Then suddenly Maddie poked her head out from under the bed, slowly creeping towards the small animal. The bat turned to look over as the black cat prowled towards him, pupils enlarged and tail swatting back and forth as she prepared to pounce. The bat let out a frightened squeak before attempting to crawl away as Maddie galloped towards him, pinning him down with her paw.

“Maddie no!” Winnie said trying to get her cat's attention, but the feline didn't acknowledge her.

She looked ready to bite down on the little creature until she got a whiff of his scent. Maddie sniffed him curiously before ultimately removing her paw from his little body.

“Mew!” The cat began to purr before rubbing her face over the tiny bat. All the while Winnie was slowly trying to comprehend what was happening.

An albino bat that Maddie seems to recognize as a friend?

Winnie had a gnawing suspicion, but it was so ludacris that she didn't know whether or not to trust it. Eventually the young woman knelt down on the ground and held out her hand.

“Astarion…?” She spoke up. The small bat immediately turned his attention to her before crawling over to sit on her hand and squeak.

“This feels utterly insane…. but could you nod if it's you?” She asked. The little bat immediately nodded in response.

“How is this even possible? Spawn aren't supposed to be able to transform into bats.” Winnie sat down on the armchair, holding Astarion in her hands. He squeaked a few times as if trying to speak to her. “Star, I don't understand whatever you're trying to say…. All I hear are squeaks on my end…”

Astarion’s ears dropped before Winnie scratched his head with a single finger. “You are very cute like this though.” The brunette-haired woman smiled. “This could actually come in handy, but it would probably be best if you figure out how to change back…. Preferably when I'm not holding you of course.” Winnie stated before setting the small bat down on the bed.

Astarion made a few little bat noises as he appeared to shake and strain a little in an attempt to turn back. When he changed before he was in a panic, so he wasn't sure exactly what he did that caused his transformation. Was it the fear of something happening to Winnie? No, that didn't seem right.

Winnie sat on the bed beside him as she pondered exactly how this was possible. In the game he was only able to take the form of a bat if he ascended. And everything she'd seen indicated that Astarion was a spawn. Hell, he was even soft on her like he was with Tav in his spawn romance route. Could being in her world really give him new abilities? Winnie held her chin in thought before a theory formed in her mind. Astarion said that he fell in love with her over and over, and that he'd been reliving the games storyline repeatedly. That would mean that he's basically been experiencing all her save games .... maybe .... But Winnie never went through a playthrough where she ascended him…except oh….

There was this one time she saved before checking out the ascension route and it might have autosaved. Winnie was eventually broken out of her thoughts by a flash of red around the tiny bat before suddenly he grew back into his normal vampire elf form.

“Gods below.” Astarion let out a sigh of relief. “I am certainly not accustomed to being so small and hairy….eugh…It felt unnatural.” Astarion shivered.

“Oh, you figured it out! That's great.” Winnie smiled before looking over Astarion as he took a moment to compose himself.

“This world of yours seems to get more interesting by the day. Although I'm not entirely sure what use this new form would have. Well other than allowing me to seek shelter from the sun from under your coat.” Astarion hummed.

“Bats can fly! It would probably be very useful if you needed to get somewhere quickly at night.” Winnie stated. “And the smaller you are, the easier it is to hide.”

“Perhaps there may be some use to this form then.” Astarion smirked a couple ideas of sneaking around the house to torment Brian began to cook in his mind.

“I'm still a tad concerned about how this happened…. It worries me a bit.”

“What's to worry about? Obviously, my presence in this realm has opened up some wonderful possibilities.” Astarion chuckled with a smirk.

“I don't know how to feel about this…” Winnie looked off to the side. “Astarion, I should probably tell you about something I've been looking into. I've been quiet about it because I don't want you to get the wrong idea, but I've been trying to figure out what caused you to be well…Here…But I'm not trying to send you back! I promise!” Winnie stated.

“Well, I do appreciate you telling me this. Although I'm not entirely sure why it's a concern of yours if you're not trying to send me back.”

“Something caused it and I want to know why and if it's dangerous. Things like this just don't normally happen here. This isn't a magical place like the one you're used to.” Winnie sighed.

“There you go worrying again. My poor paranoid darling. You know we should probably work on finding ways to relieve your stress.” Astarion grinned.

“Astarion.” Winnie pouted with an annoyed expression.

“What? I was just going to suggest a massage, perhaps a hot bath. Hells bellow, not everything I say is about sex, you naughty thing.~” Astarion crossed his arms but looked at Winnie with a mischievous grin.

Winnie blushed darkly before rolling her eyes.

“We're getting off topic. The point is whatever caused this was not normal for my world and I want to know if it will affect us. That's why I've been trying to get to the bottom of it.” Winnie huffed before falling back on the bed.

“And what have you found?” Astarion, asked as he loomed over her.

“Not much. I found the alias of someone who might be involved, but I'm having trouble finding more information about them.”

“I know little to nothing about this portal device thing, but I'm willing to help well…somehow…” Astarion hummed and looked over Winnie with a sweet gaze.

“Thank you. Though I'm not sure what would help.” Winnie hummed and stared up at the ceiling in thought while Astarion watched her, eventually laying down beside her.

“Perhaps you could ask someone else for help? Someone from here.” The vampiric elf suggested.

“That would be a good idea, only I don't want to risk exposing you or looking like a complete lunatic…No one is going to believe that a fictional character came out of my computer….Ugh…” Winnie huffed before suddenly her cell phone went off in her pocket. She got a message from Becca asking if Winnie could cover her shift tonight since Becca had to babysit for her mother.

Wait….Becca mods her games all the time. Maybe she'd know who ShadowMommy69 was at least…Or something about them anyway.

It wasn't a very strong lead, but at least it was something. Winnie probably wouldn't be able to actually talk to Becca in person until this weekend, but maybe she could figure something out. She needed to take Astarion to get some clothes soon anyway and stopping by to talk to Becca on the way wouldn't hurt.

Winnie glanced over to see Astarion looking at her, eyes soft as his mouth stretched into an odd Grinch-like grin. “Eh…What's up with your face?” Winnie asked. Astarion blinked, broken out of his little dreamy daze.

“Uh what? Is there something on my face!? Did I get a scratch while turned into that winged rodent!?” Astarion sat up, beginning to freak out and feel over his face.

“No, no, Astarion calm down. Nothing's wrong with your face, honey.” Winnie sat up and cupped his cheeks. His ears turned slightly pink at her pet-name. “It's just as pretty as always…” Winnie said, looking to the side with a blush. “You just made a funny face is all.”

“Oh…” Astarion calmed down, placing his hand over one of hers. His chest felt tight as he stared at her soft round face. He wanted to kiss her so badly. Winnie moved a stray curl out of his face before pulling her hands back and looking off to the side with a nervous cough. Her heart was racing.

“Ah…So uh…We could continue watching a movie in here ... .I locked the door so no one should be able to barge right in and see you.” Winnie said as she twiddled her thumbs.

“That sounds wonderful, love.”

~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

A few days passed. Winnie filled in for Becca and had to deal with the usual, stocking shelves, cleaning and occasionally dealing with a Karen or two. When she was home she had to stay on her toes to make sure that neither Brian or Vanessa ended up walking in to see Astarion, luckily his new little form came in handy. He was able to quickly change and hide under the blanket or in Winnie’s pocket. He also may have begun using this form to sneak around the house when Winnie wasn't home and secretly torment Brian. Because if he wasn't allowed to kill the bastard he'd at least make sure his life was a living hell. He'd toss random spices or sometimes even dirt or garbage into the man’s coffee. He also tossed Brian's phone onto the floor, allowing Ollie to get it and chew on it. The pale elf certainly kept himself entertained while his beloved was away, but Winnie of course always had something that would stick it's ugly head around the corner to terrorize her.

“Where is everyone?” Winnie looked around, finding herself lost in the woods. She couldn't remember how she got here or what happened last. It was cold and dark. And something was very, very wrong. There was this sharp panic shooting throughout her body. She took a few steps through the forest before stepping on something. A human skull. Winnie looked around her seeing scattered bones all over the ground. His breath quickened and she felt purr dread wash over her as this peculiar eerie noise filled her ears. It was almost like a mixture between scraping chalkboards and some really high off key piano being played super fast. She held her head at the noise, eyes glancing around for an escape route from the forest before suddenly it went silent and there was this shadowy figure staring back at her. She quickly turned to run, but her feet seemed to take her nowhere. Trees kept passing and passing but the figure was still the same distance away and if anything was getting closer. Winnie opened her mouth and let out a silent scream as the shadow suddenly lunged at her, quick as lightning.

“Oh God…” Winnie gasped as she shot up from her bed, panting as a bead of sweat dripped down her brow.

“Darling?” Astarion’s voice suddenly brought her out of her terrified state as she looked over to see him sitting criss-crossed on the armchair with Maddie curled up in his lap. He looked at her with worried eyes and a soft frown. “Are you alright?”

“Mew…” Maddie suddenly piped up, eyes opening as she looked over at Winnie before hopping out of the elf's lap and stretching.

Winnie was still panting a little, heart pounding as Astarion got up and took a seat on the side of the bed.

“My love?” Astarion placed his cool hand over one of Winnie’s. Winnie took a deep breath and tried to slow her breathing.

“Sorry I just had a bad dream…. Something was chasing me and I couldn't get away.” Winnie said, taking a few more calming deep breaths. “I-I’m sorry if I disturbed you…You should probably get back to your meditations.” Winnie turned to face away from him. Despite her trying to brush it off Astarion could feel her heart pounding in fear. He bit his lip as an idea came to mind.

“Would you like me to lie with you?” The vampiric elf asked softly. Winnie looked back at him curiously, a blush forming on her cheeks.

“If you want to…” Winnie stated before shifting and scooting over closer to the wall. Astarion wasted no time getting in and under the covers next to the human female. Winnie stared over at the pale elf as she laid on her side. Astarion looked back with a soft smile forming as he tucked some hair behind her ear.

“I'm here. I'm not going to let anything hurt you.” He said softly as he ran a thumb over her cheek.

Winnie smiled a bit, eventually allowing herself to move a little closer to him, shifting around to get comfortable. Astarion snuggles up against Winnie, wrapping his arms around her as she shyly lays her head against his chest. It's completely silent but there's somehow something comforting about it. Winnie nuzzled her face into the cool skin of his neck before closing her eyes.

They stayed like this up until morning. By then Astarion was curled up around her rather possessively, even had one of his legs hooked around her hip. Winnie could feel his hand gently rubbing along her back, cheek resting upon the side of her head as he snuggled against her soft cushy form. Winnie’s face was still nuzzled into the crook of his neck, nose gently pressed against his faded bite scars. His body felt firm, not as cushy and comfortable as her own, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. Astarion wasn't even trancing anymore, his elven nature only required him to need four hours of rest. He was simply blissfully soaking up Winnie’s warmth, eyes half lidded as he hugged her against him.

Winnie eventually let out a yawn as her eyes slowly blinked open. She pulled back from Astarion's neck just enough to see his face.

“Good morning, beautiful.~” He purred at her softly, voice barely above a whisper.

“Morning…” Winnie yawned out before attempting to sit up, but Astarion still had his arms wrapped around her. “Astarion, it's time for me to get up.”

“Just stay with me a little longer. You're so soft and warm.~” The vampire cooed, nuzzling his face into her chest and making Winnie turn deep red.

“Brian’s probably going to get up and tell me to do some chores or something…Star…” Winnie huffed.

“I'll gut him if tries to take you from me.” Astarion murmured, face buried in Winnie's plump bosoms.

“I do believe you'd have to let go of me first to do that silly.” Winnie hummed, absentmindedly playing with Astarion's ivory curls. “Come on, I need to get up.” Winnie stated before pulling herself out of his arms. Astarion let out a displeased sound as Winnie sat up in the bed. The pale elf begrudgingly sat up and looked back at Winnie and pouted with round puppy dog-like eyes. The messy haired female took a moment to stretch out before looking back at the pouting elf.

“Uh…Thanks again for this…I'm honestly surprised you'd want to comfort me over it…..Kinda seems childish needing someone to crawl in bed with me because I had a nightmare.….”

“Darling…Of course I'd comfort you…I know better than most how terrifying your own mind can be.” Astarion cupped Winnie’s cheek looking at her lovingly. “And…I love you…”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Winnie asked with a sad smile. Her voice is melancholy and full of doubt.

“Because you're you. You've went out of your way to help me without gaining anything from it and that's how I know you're the same person I fell in love with over and over.” Astarion said, slowly leaning in a little. Winnie smiled with a deep blush. She was honestly rather speechless and a little skeptical, wondering if she was actually dreaming at the moment. If she was, she didn't want to be woken. The brunette haired female found herself leaning in as well, their noses now just barely brushing against one another. Astarion puckered his lips, moving in to kiss Winnie.

“Hey Winnie!~” Footsteps were heard followed by her door knob turning.

“Shit!” The brunette haired woman’s eyes widened. Just as the door bursts open Winnie quickly shoves Astarion off the bed and behind her dresser before zooming over to the door, making sure most of her room was blocked from sight.

Nessa stood outside the room seemingly dressed and ready to head out somewhere. The twelve year old stood at about a little over four feet with long sandy blonde hair and brown eyes.

“What is it, Ness?” Winnie asked, looking down at the young girl as she messed with a few strands of her messy brown locks.

“Dad said that you're supposed to take me out walking today since I'm gonna take Ollie for a walk.” Vanessa stated.

“Ugh….Why can't he take you?” Winnie huffed in annoyance.

“Because he wants to take a nap and watch his superhero show.” Vanessa explained, “Come one, you can even bring Maddie.”

“I’m pretty sure your dad said you couldn't be around Maddie?” Winnie hummed.

“We don't have to tell him.” Vanessa said mischievously.

“Heh, okay. Just give me a few minutes to get dressed and get Maddie ready.” Winnie said, gesturing to her clothes. She was still dressed in the red boxers and black tank she always slept in.

“Okay! But hurry please!” Vanessa said before Winnie quickly closed the door. Winnie turned and looked back at Astarion who was sitting on the floor rubbing his head with a glare on his face.

“You didn't have to push me.” He grumbled, quietly.

“I'm sorry…I panicked…” Winnie moved over to look at his head with concern. She didn't see any wrong, not even a red spot.

“So…You're going out? Off on a leisurely stroll with your little sister, hm?”

“Stepsister and yeah…I'd rather not put up with her running off to Brian right now.” Winnie looked off to the side.

“I suppose I'll just remain here and nurse my poor head and wrist you so cruelly injured.”Astarion said dramatically, gripping his right hand with a sad pitiful pout.

“I said I was sorry and I really am.” Winnie looked back at him with a pout, grabbing his hand glancing over his wrist before kissing it. Astarion couldn't help but smile almost immediately at the sweet gesture. The softness of her lips pressing against his hand made his ears turn a little pink.

“Mm, I quite like that actually.~ Oh alright, I forgive you.” He said in a sweet tone before ruffling her hair. “Now go on, it's probably not a good idea to keep the girl waiting.”

Winnie nodded before grabbing some clothes from her closet and heading into the bathroom to change. Astarion sat on the bed as Maddie crawled out from under it and turned to him with a small meow, as if to say hello. The vampire just hummed as scratched the cat on her little head, eliciting a soft purr as her tail slowly flicked about.

Winnie exited the bathroom, dressed in a black and white t-shirt with a skull and some torn skinny jeans that hugged her thick thighs rather tightly. Astarion lounged about on the bed, red eyes admiring the voluptuous female’s legs and backside as she bent over to pick up her shoes off the ground before getting some socks and continued to get ready. Once she was fully dressed she grabbed a backpack before getting the cat harness and hooking it onto Maddie, who purred happily at the attention. Winnie hooked a leash onto the harness before leading the cat out the door, leaving Astarion to his own devices.

Astarion let out a sigh, a little regretful he didn't just change into bat form and go with her, but he had something he wanted to do. He waited for Winnie to leave the house before sulking about the single story, three bedroom home. Winnie’s mother had long gone off to work, while Brian slept lazily on the recliner in their bedroom. Astarion crept onto the room, grinning sadistically. He slowly made his way over to the sleeping man before reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. Astarion's brows knit together as he raised his hand high over the sleeping human, preparing to do his worst.

He then uncapped the marker in his hand and drew a well detailed sketch of a penis on the unpleasant man’s forehead. The vampire bit his lip suppressing a giggle before stopping to admire his masterpiece. He then proceeded to glance around the room, noticing some thumbtacks on a nearby dresser. He grinned ear to pointy ear before grabbing hold of them and placing them into Brian's shoes. He then casually strolled out of the room before returning back to Winnie’s room.

“GODDAMNIT!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!” Brian’s voice was suddenly heard.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•~•

Winnie walked along the sidewalk as Maddie padded behind her on a leash, inquisitive blue eyes scanning about for any sign of a tiny creature to prey upon. Vanessa walked ahead with a skip in her step as Ollie happily trailed behind her, tail wagging as his tongue hung out making it look almost as if the little dog was smiling. They stopped a few times because Ollie wanted to sniff a specific patch of grass a few hundred times or because Maddie got distracted by a bug, but eventually they approached the end of the street.

“Ooh! I have an idea! Let's go to the gas station around the corner! Please!” Nessa begged.

“I guess we could, since it's not too far.” Winnie said before continuing up the road. The air was warm, but there was a cool breeze gently brushing through her hair. She could hear the ringing of wind chimes as they passed a couple of houses before spotting two men in their yard.

“Another dead possum. This is the fifth one we found in the last three days, Bill! And my wife said she found three dead raccoons in the backyard! I'm telling you something is out there killing all them critters!” One of the men said.

“Oh fucks sake Daniel, it's just some coyotes! It's their breeding season, they're everywhere.”

“Bill, coyotes would have dragged off and eaten the bodies! These possums don't even look like they have any bite marks on em. They're just dead…” Daniel insists.

Winnie tensed up a bit as she overheard their conversation. Vanessa however seemed to just ignore the two men and continue along the sidewalk.

“So what? You think this is some monster roaming around at night?” Bill laughed.

Oh God…..I hope that's not my monster…

Winnie bit her lip nervously as she continued down the road with Vanessa. She took a deep breath and tried not to worry about it too much. She'd talk to Astarion about it later. Everything would be fine as long as no one saw him outside while he was hunting. Eventually the two females led their pets around the corner and to a small service station that sat just outside the suburbs. Winnie scooped Maddie up and let her hitch a ride in her backpack before entering the air conditioned filled shop. Maddie stayed curled up in Winnie's pack, but occasionally poked her head out to look around.

“They always have good pizza here. We should get some!” Vanessa suggested, holding Ollie in her arms.

“Hmm….The adult in me says we should probably go home and eat to save money….But…The pizza lover in me is telling the adult to shut up.” Winnie grinned before they walked over to get two small large single slices. Oddly, just as Winnie went to pay for the food she noticed a man watching them out of the corner of her eye. He looked so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He had combed back brown hair and was dressed in a rather stylish looking suit. He was looking at the two from outside the window of the store, smiling with a smug almost devilish smirk.

“Ma’am! That'd be 10.99!” The cashier said, breaking Winnie out of her trance.

“Oh sorry! I got distracted!” Winnie said before pulling out her debit card and paying for the pizza. Winnie and Nessa took their food before turning to leave. Winnie’s brown eyes immediately scanned outside for the man from before, but he'd completely vanished.

It was almost as if he'd never been there at all.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

“Okay….Brian, mom and Vanessa are asleep. Now we need to sneak out as quietly as possible.” Winnie said, running a hand through her hair as Astarion slipped on the black hoodie she had generously gifted him.

“I am rather excited for our second date.” Astarion said with a grin.

“We're just going shopping…It's not much of a date activity.” Winnie said bashfully.

“Of course it can. I'm spending time with you, that's all that matters really.” Astarion replied before opening the window and climbing out, stealthily and skillfully. Winnie grabbed her pack and purple hoodie before looking down out the window nervously. She really wasn't in the best shape for sneaking out of the house by her window.

“Come on, love.” Astarion whispered from down below. The drop from Winnie’s window to the ground wasn't exactly far enough to be dangerous, but it was enough to be intimidating.

Winnie shakily stepped out and onto some pipes that ran along the house. She closed the window on her way out before attempting to climb down the rest of the way, nearly stumbling and falling on her face only to be caught by her vampiric companion.

“Oh, look at you, trying to fall into my arms.~” Astarion teased with a wink before setting Winnie down.

“Let's just go before I end up dying by tripping or something.” Winnie said, face turning pink in embarrassment. The two set off, getting onto Winnie’s motorcycle and driving down the street and out of the suburbs. Astarion wrapped his arms around Winnie's soft plump waist. He was a little annoyed by the backpack wedged between them, but tried to hold tightly onto his darling to the best of his abilities.

Winnie zoomed up towards the city on her bike, slowly down as they reached the CornerStore. Winnie parked her motorcycle before getting off. The night sky was clear and the stars were shining brightly. Winnie walked into the store with Astarion trailing after her, red eyes curiously scanning the store. As Winnie went over to speak to Becca at the cash register, Astarion snuck over into one of the isles. He poked around at some of the merchandise for sale. The elf spotted a small colorful object that somewhat resembled the strange contraptions the people of Winnie’s realm traveled in. Astarion poked it inquisitively before nearly jumping five feet up as the tiny device released a loud repeating honking noise. Astarion quickly got away from the device in case it was some kind of magical explosive, backing up against the other isle in fear. Eventually the device went silent. Astarion let out a sigh of relief before continuing to inspect the isles, eyes growing wide with excitement as he spotted what looked like a dagger! Gleefully he snatched it up, hoping to swipe it and keep it for himself, but as he looked at it closely he realized something was off about the blade. It was quite dull and didn't appear to even be made of metal. The vampire pouted before tossing the fake dagger off to the side with a huff.

Hells below, they don't even sell decent weapons at this place.

Meanwhile, Winnie walked over and greeted Becca. “Hey Becca! I was hoping I'd catch you on your shift.”

“Oh, Hey Wyn! What's up?” Becca greeted with a cheerful smile, long red hair done into a pair of twin braids that hung over her shoulders.

“Okay so um….You modded BG3 right, I mean I remember you saying you modded most of your games so I was just wondering?” Winnie said, nervously messing with a piece of her hair.

“Yeah I did. I added some hair mods, got that anti-abs mod for some of the male characters…A cheat engine and the romance-”

“Cheat engine! That's it! Do you remember who made yours?” Winnie said, excitedly placing her hands on the conveyor belt as she looked over at Becca. Becca had a confused look on her face as she noticed Winnie's enthusiasm when she mentioned the ‘cheat engine’. She was about to speak when she suddenly noticed Astarion sneaking around the isles.

“Uh…. Winnie, is that your friend from the other day?” The redhead asked.

“Ah crap, sorry about him. Star! Get over here!” Winnie huffed a bit.

“Coming lover!~” Astarion said with a mischievous grin as he winked at Winnie. The pale elf sauntered over to his embarrassed human love who was glaring at him slightly.

“I knew he was your boyfriend! Winnie, why didn't you tell me?” Becca whined.

“Well….I-I…I-I…” Winnie sputtered nervously, trying to think of what to say when Astarion wrapped an arm around her.

“My darling, wants to keep me a secret from her step-father. She's afraid he wouldn't approve if he knew.” Astarion added.

“Oh shit, I didn't think of that. Brian has always been a bigot. He'd probably pitch a fit if he found out Winnie was dating a British guy!”

“Ah yes….That's exactly what I am….”

Whatever the hells British means…?

“Becca, the cheat engine?” Winnie pressed, looking at her friend with pleading eyes.

“Oh yeah, hmm let me think…..”Becca held her chin for a moment. “Ah, Shadowsomething69…Yeah they deactivated their account. The mod’s gone now.”

“It's…. ShadowMommy69….” Winnie cringed at the sound of the name coming out of her mouth.

“And I've been trying to find them and maybe get in touch with them.”

“Oh? Is this person a friend of yours?” Becca asked.

“No, I've never spoken to them, but I need to. Kind of a private thing though…”

“Hmm…My boyfriend Anthony might be able to get in touch with them. He's a modder and he's pretty active in the modding community, he might be able to tell you more. I think he's actually talked to them, but I'm not sure.” Becca hummed a bit before her eyes lit up as an idea popped into her head. “Ooh! Me and Anthony we're gonna go out to the carnival when it comes to town in two weeks. You two should come with! It'll be a double date! Then you can ask him there!”

“Two weeks? I don't know-” Winnie began but was quickly intercepted by Astarion.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea! Don't you think so, my sweet?” Astarion asked, looking at Winnie with pleading puppy dog eyes.

“I guess…so…” Winnie sighed.

“Awesome! I'll text you the details later and come pick y'all up in my truck.” Becca smiled before suddenly some old lady walked into the store.

“Excuse me! I need help finding some cat food!” The old woman asked.

“Of course, right this way.” Becca said before leading the old lady off.

“Well, I guess we should go now.” Winnie huffed before walking out of the store with Astarion following after.

“What's the matter, love? I thought you'd be thrilled to go on another date?” Astarion quizzed.

“What if something happens between now and then? Like some world ending bullshit happens because I can't find the idiot that made a vampire pop out of my computer.”

“Sweetie, you're making me look optimistic. And that's worrying.” Astarion placed his hands on Winnie's face. “I'm not going to let anything happen to you, my love. I swear it. And besides I've dealt with the end of the world once already, surely the second time won't be as bad as the first.”

“Alright….But you do realize there are clowns at the carnival?” Winnie rose an eyebrow with a slight smirk.

“I…uh…Of course I do! But I'm not bothered by it! And I am certainly NOT afraid if that's what you are implying!” Astarion crossed his arms with a scoff.

“Okay….If you say so…” Winnie said with a mischievous giggled, “anyway we should get going. We've got shopping to do!” The human female said before hopping onto her motorcycle.

Astarion made a ‘hmph’ noise before getting on after her. The two drove into the city, being greeted by all the lights and noise of modern civilization. Astarion was still memorized by it all.

“These metal contraptions your people ride in, are they dangerous?” He asked as they zipped down the road, slowing down as they came to a red light.

“They can be. But we got rules to help keep people safe when we use them. Different sides of the roads you're supposed to be on and places you have to slow down. It's all systematic I reckon.” Winnie mused, feeling Astarion grip around her waist. “Of course not everyone uses them.” Winnie murmured glaring at a small car that just drove out in front of the red light. Astarion continued to ask a few questions as they continued deeper into the heart of the city. Winnie tried to answer to the best of her ability while keeping her eyes on the road.

About twenty minutes later they arrived at a large building titled ‘SuperStore.’ Winnie parked off to the side, taking a deep breath as she got off her bike. He'll, even at 8:00 at night this place was packed. Astarion got off Winnie's motorcycle and quickly grasped the pudgy female’s hand in his as they walked into the store.

“Hells!” Astarion squeaked as the doors suddenly automatically opened, squeezing Winnie’s hand slightly.

“It's okay Star, just doors.” Winnie teased with a grin. Astarion rolled his eyes.

“I can see that now.” He huffed before the two ventured into the store. The ‘SuperStore’ had everything you could possibly need, clothes, food, furniture, toys, electronics, you name it. Though this was pretty much the reason it always had people packed up like sardines inside.

Winnie didn't care too much for the crowds, they made her anxious, but she had to clothe her vampire so sacrifices had to be made. Thankfully his hand wrapped around her smaller one made her feel a little more at ease. Winnie glanced up as she noticed the security camera and television screen that was on the security camera. She blinked for a moment noticing it looked as if she was holding onto thin air on screen.

Huh, I guess vampires don't show up on camera.

Winnie immediately took Astarion to the clothing section and immediately smiled from ear to ear as she noticed him searching through the clothing with the giddiest of grins.

“Hm what about this?” Astarion purred and held out a black cropped tank and short leather jacket on a hanger. Winnie grabbed some jeans to go with the outfit.

“Here, try it with this. There's a room you can change in over there.” Winnie said before pointing at the men’s fitting room. She waited as he went to try it on, a shiver going down her spine.

Winnie could feel eyes on her, as if she was being watched. Hunted maybe. However when she looked she only saw what appeared to be regular old SuperStore shoppers. No one particularly intimidating, unless you count some dude walking around with saggy pants that look like they were about to fall off. But Winnie still felt this uneasiness in the pit of her stomach.

Just nerves. You're alright.

She mentally told herself. Eventually Astarion walked out of the fitting room in the outfit. He looked rather stylish and the cropped shirt exposing his abdomen was rather enticing.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked.

“You look good.” Winnie said, shyly with a blush.

Astarion crossed his arms with a pout.

“Just good? Really, you can do better than that!” He whined.

“More beautiful than all the stars in the sky. There, satisfied?” Winnie replied.

“A bit sappy for my tastes, but it'll do I suppose.” The vampire sassed, playing with one of his curls.

“Okay okay, now go and get redressed. We've got more outfits to look for.” Winnie hummed, waving the vampire off. The process repeated a few times Astarion got an outfit he liked before changing into it and demanding satisfactory praise from Winnie. And if he didn't get it he'd act like a drama queen until she said something he liked. This continued until they had at least five different outfits that were to Astarion's taste.

Dear God, I'm about to spend 200 dollars on this man….

Winnie mentally whimpered, already feeling the stinging pain of her bank account getting lighter.

She pondered the possibility of eventually pleading with the vampire to get a night time job, but then the idea of all the chaos he could cause completely squashed that idea. Winnie sighed and pushed the dreadful thoughts out of her mind as she continued to look around with her vampiric love. The two eventually came up towards the jewelry counter as the elf’s red eyes scanned over some earrings. Studs and small hoops in particular. The ones he appeared to be interested in were gold naturally considering his rather painful silver allergy.

“See something you like, Star?” Winnie asked.

“I've always wanted a pair of these. Unfortunately my..ahem… previous occupations never allowed it.” Astarion explained. Winnie sighed a bit, probably about to regret what she was going to offer.

“Would you like me to buy them for you?” Winnie asked begrudgingly.

“Yes please!” Astarion giggled before planting a kiss upon Winnie's cheek. Winnie blinked, face turning red as the biggest dopey grin spread across her face. Her annoyance about the money completely vanished. She then proceeded to ring the bell at the counter and summon the jewelry department worker.

“Hello, how can I help you?” A middle aged blonde haired woman stepped up to the counter.

“Yeah uh ... .my…. partner would like his ears pierced please…Also some earrings.” Winnie said shyly. The woman immediately looked Astarion over, eyes widening as she noticed his teeth.

“Goodness are those fangs? Crazy things you kids will do these days.” The woman said. Astarion looked as if he was about to say something, but Winnie quickly spoke up.

“Well you know fashion can be pretty crazy sometimes! My boyfriend definitely had a wild goth phase a while back.” Winnie chuckled nervously, “anyway let's just get the ear piercing over with…Gotta get home before it gets too late.” The brunette rambled on.

“Alright, take off the hood, son.” The lady said.

“Winnie my hair.” Astarion murmured to her.

“Alright I'll get it, just hold still, I'll get it!” She said, pulling down his hood and fixing his pretty white curls.

“Oh, good lord those ears!” The woman gasped, “Are they real?”

“Yes, he had a birth defect as a baby. He's real sensitive about it though.” Winnie whispered out the last part and the woman just gasped and nodded. Astarion glared over at Winnie with an unamused expression. A little peeved she wasn't letting him talk. Winnie just smiled and laughed nervously. The lady approached him, taking out the earring gun as Winnie stood by, watching nervously.

“AH! FUCKING HELLS!”

Unfortunately elf ears were extremely sensitive.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

“They look good, Star. Honestly you look really good.” Winnie complimented as they arrived home. Astarion was dressed in one of the outfits he'd picked out while Winnie had the rest packed into her trunk.

“Everything looks good on me, darling.~” Astarion smirked, wind blowing through his snowy white curls as they rode home on Winnie's bike. Winnie let out a yawn, her eyes feeling a bit sleepy. Winnie was so ready to get home and sleep.

Maybe even cuddle up with her vampire boyfriend again who knows? If she could just work up the courage to ask. Astarion had a pair of blood red studs in his elven ears which matched rather well with his eyes. Eventually they reached the suburbs, slowing down as Winnie’s house was in sight. Slowly they pulled into the driveway, getting their bags out of the motorcycle’s little trunk and sneaking back around the house to Winnie’s window.

Astarion climbed up first and pulled the window open.

“Clothes, love.” He whispered, before Winnie tossed him the bags. The vampire tossed them in before climbing back down. “Now you, precious thing.~” He purred, ushering for Winnie to climb up next.

Winnie took a deep breath before climbing up, struggling a bit as she attempted to wiggle her way through the window, legs flailing a bit. Red eyes were glued to her plump rear end.

As delicious as this sight is, I should probably assist.

Astarion placed his hands on the chubby female’s backside, pushing her up suddenly. She let out a squeak and dropped into her room, falling onto the floor with a huff. Astarion swiftly climbed up after her, slipping in through the window with ease.

“And here we are, safe and sound!” Astarion sighed and stretched out while Winnie still laid on the floor, face down, ass up, as she tried to catch her breath from the climb up, panting like she had just run a marathon.

“Um….Who are you?” A small voice suddenly asked from the other side of the room. Astarion looked over to see Winnie's twelve year old step sister, eyes wide with shock.

“Shit.” Astarion breathed out.

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

Man, I did not mean for it to get this long! So, what did you think? Did you know who the mystery man following Winnie is? Any concerns about Astarion making the neighborhood's critter population go down? Are you mad I had Astarion and Winnie's kiss interrupted? Oh, what am I saying everyone gets triggered by that trope lol.

~Druid

Taglist: @astarioffsimpmain , @marcynomercy , @iamsexytrash , @gaymistakeboi , @divineknightmare , @tinyfreakgirl , @tiedyedghoulette , @misscrissfemmefatale, @gianchan-de , @jaksfanficsaver , @the-disaster-in-waiting , @hp-art-studio , @im-just-a-simp-le-whore , @dajeong , @iamnotokei

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celtic-crossbow · 9 months

Text

Don’t Chase the Dead

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Setting: Commonwealth Era post 11x24

Warnings: Typical TWD violence, descriptions of injuries

Summary: You and Daryl find yourselves in a battle for survival after the archer leads you into danger in a attempt to absolve him of his guilt.

Prompt: "Being in love is not a weakness, you know"

A/N: You can find the request from @alldevilsarehere90 here. Finally finished this beast! It really got away from me and I ended up moving all sorts of things around before I was even remotely happy with it. I’m sorry it took so long!

PSA: I think I should let it be known that (if you haven’t noticed) I really like to beat up on our boy. There’s just something about an injured Daryl that I love. Probably won’t veer from that anytime soon.

They were all dead. Every last one of the men that had murdered a young boy from the Commonwealth. Only you and Daryl were left standing.

Metaphorically speaking.

You stared at an arrow from the enemy’s quiver, inspecting it before letting it fall to the ground.

“Ya know—whatcha gotta—do, Y/N.”

You were already shaking your head before the first word had left Daryl’s bloody lips. The arrowhead in his left thigh was barbed. If you tried to pull it out, it would mercilessly tear through muscle and flesh, doing much more damage and leaving a wound that would bleed freely while requiring more than stitches. The one pull Daryl had given it was enough to put him on his ass. He was right, and that made you feel nauseous.

“I don’t know if I can.” Your bottom lip quivered. Tears fell unchecked. Your own upper arm ached but the bullet had only managed a decent graze. “What if it hit an artery? What if I make it hit an artery?”

Daryl’s eyes scanned the area around you, always on guard. The man who had shot him had been dealt with quickly, the last of the enemies to have fallen by a bullet you fired. The shots would attract walkers.

“Do you think you can walk if you lean on me?” You asked. Your voice raised slightly with a hint of hope. “We can get you back to the Commonwealth, to the hospital.”

“Y/N.” The archer was calm, tired. He laid his head back against the wall, looking down his nose at you. “Y’know I—l can’t.”

You cursed under your breath, staring at the protruding wooden shaft. Once again, he was right. Even if you bound the wound to the best of your ability, the likelihood of it shifting and tearing inside was tremendous. “Okay. We have to be fast. We can’t stay here much longer.” You undid your belt and looked around you for a safe place for when things inevitably went south. Pessimism or just simply acknowledging Dixon luck, it didn’t matter. There was a maintenance shed, door open. The probability of walkers inside was slim but not none. It’d do in a pinch though.

Your flannel shirt would be used as a bandage after, so you peeled it off and tore off the sleeves, biting and pulling at the rest of it to form it into strips. “Can you turn onto your right side just a little?” You asked while wrapping a piece of the fabric around your arm. You used your teeth to aid in tying it off.

Daryl nodded tiredly and angled himself onto his right hip. He could probably do this himself, honestly, but you were there and had a better view of the injury. Your biggest worry was the wood splintering or snapping, leaving the arrowhead inside.

Using your knife, you cut the fabric around the point of entry as carefully as possible. It’s still oozing blood but nothing like it will be once the weapon is removed. Chewing on your lip, you go back to cutting, this time at the back of his thigh. Worry is gnawing at you relentlessly, your insides twisting.

“I could break the shaft, make it easier for you to move. I think we could make it—”

“Gotta break—gotta break it anyway.” To emphasize his point, he leaned forward and wrapped a trembling hand around where the weapon entered his flesh. With what looked like the tiniest bit of effort and a pained grunt, he snapped the arrow and tossed the end somewhere in the darkness. His back thudded against the wall. “Just do it—or I’ll do it an’ ya can—head on back. I‘ll catch up.”

“I’m not leaving you! No way!” You snap. Daryl wasn’t thinking clearly. That much was obvious. Either from blood loss, exhaustion, or the guilt eating him up at the loss of that boy. Maybe all of the above. He hadn’t slept since he’d had to put down the reanimated corpse. He was supposed to be with the kid. He had promised to show him how to track and hunt. The archer had been called away to help elsewhere and the kid had angrily left the safety of the community. No one blamed Daryl except Daryl.

Still, no one could ever make Daryl feel worse than he could himself, and you could do nothing without his compliance.

“Fine.” You leaned toward him and held out your belt. “Bite down on this.” When he raised an eyebrow behind his curtain of hair, you sighed. “It’s gonna hurt, Daryl. There are probably already walkers and god knows what else headed for us. I’d rather not let them know exactly where we are.” His lip curled in distaste but opened his mouth and let you place the strap between his teeth. That man could be so stupidly stubborn sometimes.

Your hand hovered over the arrow’s broken shaft. You knew there was no time to waste. You started counting down from three, more for yourself than him, and wrapped your hand around the arrow. Judging by how he remained silent, he knew that. When you hit one, you tightened your grip and pushed. Daryl went rigid, agonized sounds rushing out around the belt held so tightly between his teeth.

You honestly hadn’t expected so much resistance, quick to conclude you must have been grazing the bone. “I know, I know,” you tried to soothe as you adjusted the angle. Daryl arched off the wall with a muffled shout. The arrow began to move again, soon breaking through the skin on the other side. You released a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding as the archer went boneless, the belt falling from his mouth so he could breathe through the pain with heavy pants. “The worst is over.” Flesh dangled from the barbs but it exited rather cleanly, and you were able to grab beneath the tip and pull it free. “Done. It’s out.”

You’d have to stop and stitch him up once you were both a safe distance away. A piece of flannel was folded into a square and pressed over the back of his leg, quickly soaking through. With a muttered “shit,” you replaced it with another and one more on top of that one before managing to tie what used to be a sleeve around it. Just as you pulled it tight, you heard a branch snap and an all too familiar (yet no less terrifying) snarl. You had to bandage the top wound quickly and get the both of you out. “Hold this here.” You instructed when you pressed a square to the top of his thigh. Daryl didn’t move. “Daryl?” Maintaining pressure, you leaned forward to see his face. He had passed out. “Fuck!”

Another growl. More shuffling steps.

You hurried through wrapping the second one and shouldered your pack, leaning forward to urgently tap the archer’s cheek. “Daryl, wake up. Daryl!” He stirred but didn’t open his eyes. “We have to go. Now!” You stood when he still didn’t respond, wiping your bloody hands on your jeans. Looked like you’d be needing that maintenance shed after all.

You could see them now, the group of undead bodies making their way toward you, their silhouettes barely visible in the moonlight. You gave a frustrated huff and moved up toward the wall, struggling to heave your archer into a sitting position so you could hook your hands under his arms. Daryl was a stout man, all lean muscle under his layers. Dragging him would not be an easy feat.

“Anytime you wanna wake up and help, that’d be great!” You pulled and pulled, finally managing a few feet before the first walker was just too close. You had no options other than your gun. The shot was fired and the gun holstered just as quickly then you were back to dragging your partner. “If we make it through this, I’m going to kill you!” As if hearing your threat, Daryl groaned. You didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Too many undead were lumbering toward you. “Are you with me?”

“Y/N?” The archer questioned groggily.

“None other!” You grunted. His good leg kicked out to dislodge a walker from his boot, nearly throwing you off balance. “Welcome back to the land of the…somewhat living.” Some of his weight shifted away as he got his good leg up under him, using your hold under his arms to lever himself upright. “We’ve got to get to the shed. You’re still bleeding and—”

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. You were pulled back and Daryl went down, unable to take his own weight so suddenly on the injured limb. Two walkers had grabbed hold of your pack, the only thing standing between you and grizzly death. And now there was nothing standing between Daryl and the same fate. You watched helplessly as you struggled against the rotted hands trying to get to your flesh. He had pulled his knife, making it upright to stab one skull before he’d tumble down, catch his breath, and do it again.

“Y/N!”

With fierce determination, you pulled your own blade from the sheath on your thigh and slid your arms from the straps holding the bag to your back. One walker stumbled with the pack while the other grabbed your arm. You only let it get close enough to drive the knife into its temple. “Daryl!” Three walkers were closing in on him fast.

“Y/N, get outta here!”

He couldn’t have possibly thought that was going to work. The corpse on your pack grabbed for your ankle but you kicked free and sprinted to Daryl, rounding in front of him to push one threat back and quickly stab it. You turned just in time for a walker’s teeth to close roughly with an audible click about two inches from your face. The shock lasted a mere heartbeat. You stabbed it in the eye and Daryl released his hold on the back of its tattered shirt. The archer tumbled forward gracelessly and you managed to catch him under one arm to keep him standing.

“I told ya to run!” He snapped.

“The shed! Let’s move!” You ignored him and pulled him along with you. He was barely keeping up, stumbling to keep as much weight off the injured leg as he could manage.

Walkers were coming from every side. You weren’t sure you’d make it before they reached you. “Shit! Shit! Shit!” Two were almost in front of the door. If they cut you off now, even a flawless dispatching would cost your window of opportunity to secure relative safety.

The arm around Daryl’s waist tightened and you pulled him harder, nearly causing him to lose what little balance he was trying so hard to maintain.

“Y/N.” He growled in a low, warning tone.

You discarded the knife and pulled your gun to put a bullet in the forehead of the walker closest to the door. It was a close call but you managed to get you both to the entrance. There was no time for tenderness. You used your momentum to twist your body and practically throw the bowman into the darkness, hearing him crash into something inside that obviously tumbled down when he made contact. You continued the motion, spinning to back into the shed while pulling the door closed. You screamed in frustration when a rotted arm came through the last remaining space and prevented the latch from securing.

You couldn’t take either hand away from the door, your weight being the only thing keeping the creature out. Within moments, more would join it and you would be overpowered. You released an angry howl and grabbed the handle, opening the door outward only to slam it closed on the decomposing limb. Once, twice. It took stepping forward into danger and throwing yourself nearly off your feet to snap off the arm and allow the door to close.

There was no lock. You couldn’t see your hand right in front of your face. You couldn’t barricade the door when you couldn’t make out what objects were around you. It would have to wait. Regardless, you flinched when the sound of bodies hitting the outside of the shed rang through the small space. Switching gears in an instant, you replaced one fear with another. Daryl hadn’t made a sound since you had sent him sailing gracelessly into the unknown.

“Daryl?” You kept your voice at a whisper. Agitating the walkers that had already pegged you as their next meal wouldn’t be smart. You walked with small steps, unable to see where you were going. You didn’t want to fall over something, especially if that something was your partner. There was no sound aside from your quiet footfalls. Frankly, it was unnerving.

You had felt fear morphing into panic just as a hand wrapped around your ankle. Your first instinct was to kick out but you managed to hear the click of a zippo lighter opening followed by the familiar flicking that would ignite the flame. Daryl was slumped against a utility shelf, surrounded by a mess of jugs, tools, and empty storage bins.

He looked tired. Sweaty and pale, but mostly just exhausted. You knelt beside him and took the lighter from his hand, sitting it close by on the concrete floor. “You alright?” You asked softly. His skin was clammy beneath your fingers when you stroked his cheek and brushed his hair away from his eyes. Rolling his head toward you, his expression screamed ‘did you really just ask me that?’ and you couldn’t help but wince. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He stared at you for a moment, almost as if he was deciding whether or not you were sincere. One corner of his mouth twitched upward so slightly that you would have missed it had you not been staring at him so intently. He finally grunted with a nod and let his head rest against a lower shelf, closing his eyes.

Satisfied that your impromptu toss hadn’t caused him any further injuries, you slid the lighter a bit closer so you could take a look at his leg. It wasn’t good. The fabric was soaked through, dark droplets collecting steadily into a small puddle below his leg. Worry gnawed at your gut but you pushed it down in favor of taking action. “I’m gonna get you stitched up and we’ll figure out what to do from here.” He gave you a thumbs up, not bothering to open his eyes.

You scooped up the lighter and turned to reach for your pack. Only—it wasn’t there. Where had you placed it? When you replayed the past fifteen minutes, you felt your stomach sink.

You had left it behind. Beneath a walker.

“Fuck.” You breathed the word out shakily, frozen to your spot on the floor.

“What?” Daryl rasped from behind you.

You still wore a frozen expression of horrifying realization when you twisted back to look at him. He raised his head, brow drawn inward, and repeated himself.

“My pack. I left it out there—when I ran over to help you.”

To your shock, he simply shrugged. “Don’t matter.”

You gaped at him. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter?! Daryl, you’re bleeding!”

Another shrug. “Ain’t the first time, won’t be the last.”

“Daryl. Seriously.” You leveled him with a glare, but he waved you off and began pulling himself up with the aid of the shelves. “What’re you doing? Sit down!” You were really struggling with keeping quiet. The man had a stubborn streak a mile wide.

“Can it, woman. M’fine.” He stumbled away from the safety of the shelf and grabbed onto the edge of a small table with a grunt, lips pressed into a thin line.

You noticed, of course, and folded your arms over your chest. “That hurt, huh?” You deadpanned. He tossed a glare your way and, with a sigh, you approached and held up the lighter to start looking around the shed with him. There wasn’t much beyond some handheld tools, random hoses, containers, nuts, and bolts. There were no windows, no other way to escape.

Fortunately, Carol knew you two had left and where you were going. She had asked to come along but you had shot her down. If only you had known the numbers you and Daryl would face on your own, not to mention the aftermath. Regardless, Carol would come looking. Eventually.

You both just had to survive until then.

The likelihood of that was looking bleaker by the moment. Your provisions and medical supplies were outside, amidst about two dozen walkers. Not to mention, Daryl was steadily losing blood, leaving a small trail as he finished scouting the space for anything useful. You began to wonder if you had managed to nick the artery after all.

“Okay, okay. We just need to think. We’ve made it out of worse situations.” You stood facing him, trying not to think about how fast he was breathing or how the pallor to his skin resembled the undead just outside the door.

“Ya shoulda run. Told ya to run.” Daryl stated quietly, not looking at you. “Ya know damn well—”

“You know damn well I’d never leave you behind! Not now, not ever!”

“Y/N.” His eyes were shimmering with moisture and you could clearly see the flame reflected there. You gave him a small but genuine smile. You would absolutely give your life for Daryl. You knew he would do the same for you. He almost had more than once. Your eyes followed his hand, calloused fingertips whispering down your jaw. You leaned into his touch and closed your eyes. If you did die tonight, at least you’d be with the man you loved.

You opened your eyes when his hand fell away, ready to keep showering him with affection. Your smile faltered. He was staring at you, face taut with fear. “Daryl?” Just as you took another step closer, his eyes rolled back and he dropped. You abandoned the lighter in favor of catching him, arms hooking beneath his. You couldn’t hold his sudden weight but you managed to slow his descent. “Daryl? Daryl?!” You ended on your hip with his upper body against your torso and his head tucked under your chin. It was a struggle but you managed to turn and sit against the shelf. He was still pressed tightly against you, and you had no intention of letting go. Your tears flowed freely now, one hand moving constantly: stroking his hair, touching his face, checking his pulse, fisting his vest.

You flinched violently when the door rattled and you heard shards of debris rain onto the concrete. They would flood into the shed any minute. You pulled Daryl’s second knife from its sheath on his belt. Your gun had been lost in your battle to seal the door.

Cradling him even tighter, you pressed your face into his temple and sobbed. “I love you. No matter what happens, you have to know that.”

Moments passed, the pounding on the door became more pronounced as the lighter’s flame began to diminish. You could see moonlight and shadows through the areas of the door that had given way under the assault. You could only watch as the door began to buckle. When it seemed as if they would finally break through, you pressed a kiss to Daryl’s forehead and maneuvered from underneath his body, gently lowering him to the floor.

You were beyond exhausted. Your own injuries were singing with pain. Still, you would put down as many of the fuckers as humanly possible, ready to die before you’d let a single rotten finger touch him. Knife poised to attack, you shifted from foot to foot, readying yourself. The flame went out.

“HEY!”

You froze at the very human, very alive shout from outside, your tear-filled eyes wide and unblinking. The pounding on the door lessened before stopping completely.

“TAKE COVER IN THERE!”

You didn’t hesitate to drop the knife and throw yourself over Daryl just as an explosion sounded from just outside. The small shed trembled fiercely for a matter of seconds before everything went still and quiet. Breathing heavily, you raised your head. The door was hanging by one hinge, ready to collapse. Smoke and dust was filtering in and blocked any view of the scene outside.

A silhouette began to take shape as it approached. Daryl’s knife was back in your hand within a heartbeat and you crouched in front of the still unconscious man, ready to defend him. Your eyes narrowed.

“Y/N?”

The knife clattered to the ground. “Carol?” Your voice broke on the second syllable, hope seeping into your chest and making you dizzy.

The silver-haired woman stepped through the doorway, a large gun in hand. She released the barrel and let the strap take the weight so she could pull a flashlight from her belt. More shadows were scurrying about through the smoke behind her. You shielded your eyes as the light found you, falling back onto your ass with a broken laugh of pure relief.

“He okay? What happened?”

Carol crossed the distance and sat the gun aside, placing a cool hand on your cheek while she looked you over critically.

“We’ve had a shitty day.”

Your thumb was tracing circles over the back of Daryl’s hand, your eyes following the movements. It had been roughly 13 hours since the grenade had rattled the small shed and Carol had been your savior, along with some volunteers she had rallied up. They had brought medical supplies but you chose to use what you had in your pack. Daryl was going to be thrilled.

He had remained unconscious while you stitched his leg and while the volunteers helped get him onto a horse. You didn’t feel safe riding with him draped across the animal’s back and chose to ride behind him on the saddle. He was leaning heavily against you, head lolling side to side on your shoulder, and your back ached by the time you and Carol had arrived home to the Commonwealth. He had been restless in his state, saying your name several times in a voice laced with pain and confusion. Each time, you had answered and the arm you had wrapped around his middle had gently tightened. He never responded.

The men who had traveled back with you carried Daryl into the hospital and he was whisked away on a stretcher. You didn’t like the idea of not going with him but the nurse had insisted that you needed care as well. You sat quietly while your arm was stitched, mind wandering to what would have happened had Carol not shown up when she did. You shook the thoughts from your mind before a devastating conclusion could form images behind your eyes.

Carol had stayed for a while before offering promises of bringing some food by later and then heading to her home to sleep, leaving you alone with Daryl. The silence was daunting.

Glancing up, you watched the drops of antibiotics and fluids drip from the bags hanging on the pole. Tomi had promised Daryl would make a full recovery but insisted he stay for at least two days to ensure there was no infection. You did not want to be the one to break that news to him.

You narrowed your eyes when you were almost certain you could hear the small droplets hit the collection in the mechanism that fed the medication into Daryl’s IV. God, you were tired. You wanted, in the worst way, to crawl onto the bed with him and sleep for days. Yet, you remained in your chair at his bedside, slouching down to lay your head next to his hand that you were still holding.

You had no more than closed your eyes when Daryl began to come around with a quiet moan. Standing so quickly caused the room to spin but you didn’t care. The archer’s eyes were closed tightly, brow creased. Tomi would need to give him something for the pain, probably. He’d have to be quick and sneaky, otherwise Daryl would refuse it. He always refused anything that could be used by someone else to better their lives for even a moment, at the expense of his wellbeing. Luckily, you and Carol were around to make sure he somehow managed to stay healthy. He didn’t make it easy for you. The previous night had been proof of that.

After just a few moments, he relaxed a little and his eyes began to flutter open. You leaned in further so you would be one of the first things he saw and gave his hand a squeeze. His tired gaze settled on your face and his fingers briefly tightened around your hand.

“Welcome back, Dixon.” You smiled while your free hand began to smooth back his hair, soft and gentle sweeps of your palm that you thought for a moment might coax him back to sleep.

“Hi.” He croaked, expression pinching up in discomfort. A cup of water was at his lips a moment later. Given the position of the bed, he didn’t need to raise his head far to accept a few swallows, but you put your hand behind his neck to support him anyway. When he turned his head away slightly, you placed the cup on the bedside table. Daryl cleared his throat and tried again. “Ya alrigh’?”

You laughed at the ridiculous question. Of course he had nearly bled to death and was worried about you when he woke up. “I’m fine. I’m not the one laid up in the hospital.” It was a joke and he knew it, if the feeble scoff he gave was any indication.

“How’d we get back?” He still sounded so, so tired but you’d take tired and awake over sitting by his deathly still form any day.

“Carol.” You didn’t have to say anything else. The man nodded gingerly and closed his eyes. You stayed quiet for several minutes, back to petting his hair. While he was relaxed under your ministrations, he was not sleeping. “Daryl, we need to talk about what happened.” He didn’t open his eyes right away but released a deep sigh. “We should have waited to go after those guys when a group had been designated. Instead, I was chasing you, running off all half-cocked.” You waited and finally his eyes opened. He didn’t look at you, and you knew then that, while he felt bad about it, he was aware you were right. He stared at a point between the wall and the ceiling, stubbornly refusing to engage in the conversation. It was your turn to sigh. “Daryl, why didn’t you wait?” You pressed. The answer was one you knew already, but you needed him to be willing to talk about it.

“Kid was s’posed ta be with me, Y/N.” He finally said. “Them parents ain’t got their kid no more cause I didn’t protect him.” There was a sadness in his eyes that broke your heart. It was still a wonder to you how that brash, rude redneck you met at the quarry all those years ago transformed into the man in front of you. Still sometimes rude, but with the biggest heart of any man you’d ever known. He had opened himself up and allowed himself to love and to be loved, though it didn’t come without cost. Allowing himself to feel so deeply also made him a slave to more negative feelings. He held onto those tightly and let them punish him, beat him down.

You leaned over him to press a kiss to his forehead, the action drawing his gaze to yours. “Listen to me, Daryl Dixon.” Your hand gently pressed on the side of his face. “That guilt isn’t yours to carry.” When he opened his mouth, your hand moved to press a finger to his lips. You shook your head. “It’s not. There’s no one to blame here except the kid and those men. He chose to leave the community that day and that was a mistake he was old enough to know better than to make, but it was those men that made the choice to end his life. That’s not on you. Do you hear me?”

He was mulling it all over, looking away from you. You weren’t naive enough to think that this conversation could change the way he processed emotions, but perhaps over time, with enough love and reminders, he would stop shouldering so much shit alone.

“Ya still should’a run when I told ya. That’s gonna getcha killed one day.”

“Why do you do that?” You twisted to sit on the edge of the bed, next to his hip.

“Do what?” Daryl grimaced, probably from pain, but his expression smoothed out quickly.

“Act like you shouldn’t be important to me. Like I shouldn’t make you a priority.” You waited for him to look at you. You wanted him to see your sincerity. ��Being in love is not a weakness, you know. You’re everything to me, Daryl. You make me want to fight, to survive. If it takes me dying to keep you alive then it’s worth it.”

“S’not.”

“It is. You are.” When he looked away, you leaned over to cup his cheek and turn his head to face you again. The emotions you saw there made your heart clench. “You are worth it. You will always be worth it, Daryl.”

His Adam's Apple bobbed when he swallowed, eyes looking back and forth between yours. “M’s’posed to watch out for ya.”

You shook your head. “You and me. This. Us. We’re a team. We watch out for each other.” His lip quivered so slightly that you almost missed it but you chose to leave it be. “That’s the deal, Dixon. You’re never getting rid of me.” A tear slid down your cheek. You hadn’t even realized you had started to cry. Daryl pulled away the hand you had never released and reached to wipe away the moisture with his thumb before wrapping his fingers around the side of your neck to pull you down.

It wasn’t your first kiss but like every one before it, it stole your breath. His lips moved against yours softly while he raised his hand from your neck to place it back against your cheek. Too soon, the moment ended and you sniffled away anymore tears while your forehead rested against his.

“M’okay with that.” He said quietly. “Not gettin’ ridda ya.”

You noticed the hint of a smile when you laughed. “You may change your mind about that when you see the hot pink thread I used to stitch up your thigh.”

Daryl rolled his eyes and pulled you down for another kiss. “Yeah, might want a refund after all.”

#murda writes #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x y/n #daryl dixon x you #the walking dead #daryl x you #daryl x reader #daryl x y/n #daryl dixon x female reader #injured!daryl dixon #Spotify

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captain-tch · 7 months

Text

Closet (Daryl Dixon x PlatonicFem!Reader)

You had been hiding a part of yourself for years, it only took the world to end to finally speak your truth.

You stood on Aaron and Eric's porch, bracing yourself against the railing. They had prepared dinner for yourself and Daryl, as payment for bringing some spices back from a supply run. It was a lovely gesture, and it made you hate yourself even more when you couldn't stand to be in their company for too long. It was the hand holding, the loving gazes, the inside jokes. It was the way they shared gentle touches, so openly and so in love. It was the kisses and the laughs and the smiles.

It was hard to recognise the nasty feeling festering in your gut. It turned your gaze green and made yourself bitter.

You were jealous.

You shook your head, leaning back, trying to let the night wind wipe your sadness away. You wanted to push past this feeling - Aaron and Eric were lovely people, good people, yet you felt yourself turning sour the longer you spent in their company.

The door clicked softly behind you. You jerked, frantically wiping a hand at your cheeks. You turned, expecting to see Aaron or Eric wondering why you hadn't come back in after twenty minutes, but it was Daryl. You smiled weakly, secretly grateful that you didn't have to endure being in the presence of the lovebirds. Even on their own they managed to ooze cupid's scent.

"Hey." Daryl stood beside you, turning to look up at the night sky. The stars twinkled back. "Beautiful night."

You nodded in agreement, attempting to muster the energy to talk, to explain your disappearance.

"Food was good."

You nodded again.

Daryl sighed, playing with his fingers, tugging softly at the cuticles. "Look, ya know I'm no good at this small talk shit. I think we've been friends long enough to skip that crap, and you've been acting like this ever since we got here. Distant."

You bit your lower lip, taking comfort in gnawing at the skin. Your heart wanted to spill it all, to let loose your truth, but your fear kept you trapped.

"Did Aaron or Eric do somethin' to ya?"

You were that shocked at the thought you snapped your head to his. "No. They've been nothing but kind."

"Then what the hell is it?"

"I -" You averted your gaze, keeping your eyes glued firmly to the wood of the porch. "I can't tell you." You muttered, hating how water splashed on your cheeks. Your heart pounded in your chest.

Daryl reached forward, softly grabbing you under the chin, turning you to face him. You tried to muster a smile, though it did nothing to hide the tears freely pouring down. "You're cryin'."

Your hand moved to your cheek absentmindedly, aggressively wiping the wet away. Defeated, you pulled yourself away from Daryl, slumping to the floor feeling as if the world was trying to pull you down.

A beat of silence passed, then two. You wanted to speak; the ball in your throat choked the words. "Whatever it is, ya can tell me."

You pulled your chin into your knees, shoulders sagging. Your chest felt tight, the possibility of letting the truth pass your lips stealing your breath. But then you spotted Daryl at the edge of your vision, his brows creased in concern. He was your closest friend, your greatest confidant. You had told him about your night terrors, and he slept beside you, a moment away, to protect you from the monsters haunting the land of dreams. You leaned on him when you had killed in self defence. You relied on him to watch your back on runs, and he hadn't failed you yet.

He hadn't outright spoken to you of his past; he had let his lips loosen more around you than anyone else. He showed you the cigarette burns - never his back. You never dared to ask, knowing that was one private terror he would spill in his own time.

This man would never judge you. He would never press for more if you weren't ready, and he definitely would never leave your side. He was your platonic soul mate.

You released a heavy breath, scooting along to make room for him. Your voice was as quiet as a mouse - as a hunter you knew he heard. "I've never told anyone."

Daryl was quiet, accepting your invitation and settling in beside you. He didn't move to comfort you; he sat close enough to know he was there.

You clenched your fingers into your palm, the pain of the nails biting into the skin distracting you for the self destructive thoughts whizzing around in your head. "I'm jealous of them."

"Why?"

He's going to walk away, your brain whispered. He's going to leave you and you will be all alone surrounded by people. He's going to sneer at you and ignore your existence.

A large, calloused hand pried your fingers out of their fists. The skin of your palms cried in relief, sharp indents speckled with blood released into the air. You looked up at Daryl, and at his hand.

You screamed at the voices in your mind, uttering the words you never spoke aloud. "Because they're living their truth, they're not afraid."

Daryl stared at your crumpled form, it taking a moment to sink in. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water - no one had ever told him this kind of thing before, he had no idea how to respond. Turns out Daryl didn't need to worry, because the moment you started talking you unlocked the door you had kept barred shut for years.

"I've known ever since I was a teenager, kept it as quiet as I could. I dated, but it never went past the first date. I couldn't... be myself, and I think it's because I couldn't accept myself, and I think my dates could sense that too." You laughed darkly. "You know how if you were applying for a job, you had to state your sexual orientation? I always put "prefer not to say" as I was afraid to admit to the world that I'm a lesbian." You looked at Daryl, trying to sense any shift in him. He hadn't started cursing you out or walked away. The doubting voices in your head quietened.

You sniffled. "I'm envious of their confidence. Their openness. Is that stupid?"

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, it's not."

"You know what the stupidest thing of all is?" You shook your head, "It's taken until the end of the world to admit out loud that I am a lesbian."

Daryl wrapped his arm around you, bringing you close. "Proud of ya."

You relished his warmth, the warmth of your best friends embrace eradicating those voices for good. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off of your shoulders, and you could tell him about a part of your life you had kept hidden for so long.

"Thanks."

Daryl squeezed the hug tighter around you. "Feel better?"

"Bit."

"Well, come on. Dessert is waiting." Daryl got to his feet, putting his hand out to you.

You gulped, looking at the hand, then him. "You don't think any different of me, do you?"

"Hell nah, you're still a dumbass in my eyes."

You snorted.

"And hey, I can be your wing man."

"I'd love to see that Daryl."

As you walked back into the warmth of Aaron and Eric's home, you felt a peace settle inside you. The conversation didn't solve your insecurity and anxiety, but you felt better having admitted your truth out loud to your best friend.

You were on a long journey to accept yourself, whilst dealing with the trials and tribulations an apocalypse could bring, but in that moment, you were happy.

In your mind you repeated I am a lesbian, a smile forming on your lips.

the walking dead masterlist

#the walking dead x reader #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead fanfic #daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x platonic reader #twd #twd x reader #twd fanfic #twd fanfiction #twd angst #the walking dead angst #daryl dixon angst #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead x fem!reader #twd x fem!reader #daryl dixon x plantonic fem!reader

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babydollmarauders · 10 months

Text

NEVER GROW UP — JOHN MARINO

john marino x fem!reader

part of the Speak Now Fic List

summary: in which y/n puts she and John’s newborn to bed and remembers moments of her childhood while feeling homesick out in New Jersey

notes: happy ‘gotcha’ day to John Marino! i’m so glad he’s a devil! this is not proofread <3

my eyes are soft. tear filled orbs, gazing down at the one month old in my arms.

the wood of the rocking chair numbs my body, but i’m not quite ready to get up yet.

her tiny hand is wrapped around my index finger, squeezing in reassurance that i’m still here. her face nuzzled against my shirt.

her little eyelids flutter, and my heart grows heavy in my chest. thoughts of her growing up make my heart break.

“i won’t let anybody hurt you, my love.” my whispers carry in the open nursery room. “i won’t let anyone break your heart, or desert you.”

my voice cracks as sobs rack my chest, and i know i must put her down before i awaken her with my tears.

i rise to my feet, carefully setting her in her crib for her first night sleeping in her own room.

walking over to the wall, i flick on the little cloud nightlight plugged into the outlet. a heavy weight settling inside of me as i step back to the crib, watching as my daughter sleeps.

“please, just try to never grow up.” i mumble through choked sobs.

i quietly exit the room, padding down the hallway and back to the living room to clean up.

my husbands game is still playing on the tv at the lowest volume, the score having changed since the last time i was watching.

my eyes flicker between the game and the baby monitor on the coffee table as i sit and fold laundry. the camera pans in on a close-up of my husband and i bite back a small smile as i look back down at the monitor and see my baby do the same nose scrunch as her father.

who knew that after all these years, we’d be here? married, living in New Jersey, with a newborn baby.

i can’t help but let my mind wander back to our very first date.

**PAST: DECEMBER, 2011**

“mom, can you please just drop me off right there?” i point to the sidewalk out the passengers side window, my fingertip pressing against the cool glass.

“what?” her tone is incredulous. confused to say the least. “honey, the movie theater is still around the block.”

“yeah, that’s kinda the point, mom.” i groan. “do you know how embarrassing it would be to show up on my first date with my mom dropping me off?”

“you’re fourteen years old, y/n. it’s not embarrassing.” she tells me, but she still rolls to a stop on the side of the road. she sighs, hitting the unlock button. “go ahead.”

“thank you!” i exclaim, throwing the door open and jumping out of the car. “love you, mom!”

“love you too! have fun!” her words are cut off by the slamming of the car door and i’m already smoothing out my sundress as i start fast walking the rest of the way to the movies.

i pull my cardigan tighter around my body, attempting to fight the Massachusetts mid-December chill. i must deal with the consequences of my clothing choice.

it takes me around 7 minutes to get there, and the first thing my eyes lock on through the glass doors is John.

my heart races, my palms getting clammy, and i quickly wipe them on my dress.

what if he wants to hold hands?

i can’t let my hands be sweaty.

that’s gross.

i open the door, fighting to keep the grin off my face as i walk his way.

“hi.” my hands are clasped behind my back, my voice timid and shy.

“hey.” he smiles, the tip of his button nose slightly red from the cold.

“should we get tickets?” my teeth gnaw into my bottom lip as he nods, leading the way to the ticket counter.

John pays for our movie tickets, even going so far as to buy a bucket of popcorn and two drinks, despite me nervously offering to help. i wasn’t sure what the appropriate etiquette was.

was i supposed to pay for my ticket?

he follows behind me as i hike up the steps of the theater, to the seats all the way in the top row.

“is here okay?” i ask quietly. the theater is relatively empty, only around four other couples in our company.

“here’s great.” he nods, gesturing for me to sit.

it’s halfway through the movie that i get the courage to lace my fingers with his, his hand already perched upon the armrest between us.

and it’s not until after the movie, standing in the cold night air, that he presses his lips against mine.

it’s my first kiss.

it wasn’t fireworks or leg popping, like i’ve seen in the movies. rather awkward, our noses bumping and the kiss chaste.

but it’s perfect, because it’s with him.

**PRESENT**

it wasn’t until a couple months later that we actually earned the title of boyfriend and girlfriend. despite already acting like it at school.

but now we’re husband and wife. having gotten married ten years into dating.

wiping the leftover tears from my eyes, i watch the time run down, a buzzer sounding on the tv and signifying the end of the game.

New Jersey Devils, 6-2.

a smirk spreads across my lips as i think back to this morning. John’s worry over playing the Rangers.

i told him they would win.

my hand grasps into the laundry basket, pulling out another article of clothing to fold, and i look down to see my sophomore year school spirit shirt. still a staple in my pajama drawer.

i bite my lip, memories flooding back to me from just mere months after John and i got together. back when i first got this shirt.

**PAST: APRIL, 2012**

music echoes through my bathroom, my mother chuckling as she walks past.

my little plug-in radio sits on the counter, blasting pop hits as i apply mascara to my lashes. i’m leaned in close to the mirror, nearly touching it with the hand that enclosed around the mascara wand.

i sing along to the Katy Perry song currently playing as i put the makeup item away. staring at my reflection in the mirror. my black school spirit shirt and baggy plaid pajama shorts adorn my body, and i shimmy my hips to the beat of the song.

“y/n! you better hurry up or you’ll be late for school!” my mother calls up the stairs, and i roll my eyes.

“i’m hurrying, mom!” i tell back, huffing in frustration. “i can’t look like i didn’t try! i have a boyfriend now!”

she doesn’t understand.

i take one last glance at my makeup, confirming it’s up to my standards, before i run a brush through my hair.

i dance around the bathroom, brushing my hair as i think about John.

John.

god, he’s amazing.

the sweetest boy i’ve ever met, and i get to call him mine.

“y/n!” my mom’s voice carries up the stairs and i let out a frustrated groan.

“coming!” i shout back, finally leaving back to my room to put on the outfit i had carefully selected from my closet the night prior.

snatching the school bag from my desk chair, i stop by the bathroom to shut my radio back off before bounding down the stairs.

“c’mon, mom!” i throw open the front door, leaving my mother to follow me as i rush out to her car.

“children.” she mutters under her breath, shaking her head as she pulls out of the driveway.

**PRESENT**

i click the tv off, setting the remote back on the coffee table before i pick up the basket of folded laundry and head towards John and i’s bedroom.

i set the baby monitor on the top of my nightstand, setting the basket down on the bed.

the house is silent, nothing but the sound of drawers closing as i put clothing back in their rightful places, and static from the monitor.

finishing the chore, i stick the basket back in the corner of the bedroom so we can continue using it as a hamper, before i turn back around and just stare at the bedroom.

my emotions run rampant tonight. on an all time high from my daughter sleeping in the nursery for the first time. and these emotions certainly don’t let up when i spot the little bunny nightlight plugged into the wall, half hidden by the dresser.

my nightlight.

the same one i used my entire childhood. my mother used to preach that it was a miracle it still worked when i moved out; but even if it hadn’t, i’m not sure i could’ve bore getting rid of it. too many memories attached to it.

tears gather in my eyes as i picture my childhood bedroom. the pink walls, the nightlight, the boyband posters, the stuffed animals that had made a home upon my twin sized bed.

with that comes the remembrance of sitting on my bedroom floor, barbie’s clutched in my hands when i would hear my father arrive home from work. i remember stomping down the stairs, eager to tell him about my day at school.

i remember my teenage years, when my brother would play his music too loud from his bedroom beside mine. yelling at him to turn it down, and it all ultimately always ending with us pleading our cases to our mother; who would shake her head and sigh before telling us to love one another.

she always used to tell us we would miss each other one day, and i was a brat, who rolled my eyes and would rebuttal. claiming that i would never miss someone so annoying.

now, my brother lives across the country, and i have no shame in admitting that i do miss him. sometimes, on nights like this especially, i look back and miss when we got along.

i miss driving him to his friends houses, our screaming of lyrics covering over the actual music. i miss sitting in his room as he ranted about his basketball practices, or watching movie on the couch, arguing over who got to hold the popcorn. i even miss our fights. slamming my bedroom door after he called me a ‘bitch’ or smacking his head when he tried to embarrass me in front of John.

tears gather in my eyes and i frustratingly run my hand down my face. pulling my phone out of the pocket of John’s pajama pants that i wear, my thumb taps the screen a few times before i hold it up to my ear, listening to the tone of the outgoing call.

it’s nearly eleven-thirty at night, but somehow i’m not shocked when the call is picked up after the third ring. no words can even be said from the other line before i speak.

“mommy?” i choke out, crumbling to sit on the floor of the bedroom.

“hey, honey. what’s wrong?” her tone is soft and she lets out gentle shushes when a sob escapes my lips.

“i miss you.” i admit between heaves of tears.

“i miss you too, baby.” she tells me, her voice cracking.

“how did you do this?”

“do what, honey?” she questions as i wipe at my eyes.

“it’s so hard.” i cry, not fully answering her question. “she’s a month old today, and i know John and i talked about it a long time ago and decided she would sleep in her own room now-”

i pause to catch my breath between the sobs.

“but i’m not ready for it, momma.” i confess. “i don’t want her to grow up.”

“it’s okay, baby. i promise, it’ll be okay.” she coos.

“how do you know?” i ask.

“because i did this twice, didn’t i?” she lets out a wet laugh. “and look at that, you’re still calling your old mom when you’re sad.”

i can’t hold back a chuckle at her joke. she has a point.

“yeah, that’s true.” i huff out.

“she has to grow up, honey. all you can do is be there for her as she does.” i stand up from the floor, wiping my tears again.

“okay.” i nod, although she can’t see me.

“you okay, baby? or do you want me to stay on?”

“i’ll be okay. i think John should be home soon.” i say, pacing the bedroom.

“okay. i love you. don’t hesitate to call me again.” i nod once more, repeating the three words back to her before i hang up.

my eyes go back to the nightlight and i determinedly stalk over, pushing against the side of the dresser with my shoulder and moving it out of the way before i kneel down and flick on the nightlight. i rise back to my feet, clicking off the ceiling light and admiring as a soft glow from the nightlight fills the room.

crawling up the king sized bed, i climb under the covers, nuzzling my head into my pillow. pulling the blanket up to my chin, i lay on my side and stare at the baby monitor, lovingly watching my baby as she sleeps.

i lose track of how long i lay there, drowning out the world in favor of watching mine. but at some point, my focus is ripped away when my husband walks into our room.

his gear bag is slung over his shoulder and a wide grin resting on his face, but it drops when he sees my position and the comfort nightlight on. his eyes soften and he slowly places his bag on the floor, stepping over and squatting down next to the bed, his face vertical to mine.

“hey, babygirl.” his hand comes up to my head, smoothing my hair back. “are you okay?”

i hum out in agreement, giving a slight nod of my head, and a pity filled smile graces his lips.

“i don’t think you are.” he whispers. “the tension in this room is awfully sad for someone who says they’re okay.”

a choked giggle escapes me at his joke, and i bite at my lip to push back the tears that try and resurface. John presses a soft kiss to my cheek before standing once again.

he makes quick work of changing out of his game day suit, opting for pajama pants and no shirt, before he joins me in the bed.

snuggling down under the blanket, he pulls me back into his chest, resting his chin on my shoulder.

“what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he questions, his breath fanning over my cheek.

i flip over in his arms, coming face to face with him. my hand moves on its own accord, ghosting over his cheek and then letting my fingertip slide down the bridge of his nose.

“do you remember our first date?” i ask him quietly.

“i remember how nervous i was.” he chuckles. “i remember that it took me three months to even get the courage to ask you out. and Paul kept calling me a pussy.”

i bark out a laugh, my head tipping back.

“you seemed so confident! i was a nervous wreck! i made my mom drop me off around the block because i was mortified she was driving me.” i confess.

“babe, we were fourteen! how else were you supposed to get there? neither of us could drive.” he chuckles, running his thumb over my cheekbone.

“well i get that now.” i tell him. “but when you’re young, you don’t really understand that.”

“anyways, this wasn’t the point.” i redirect. “tonight was just really hard. i don’t want her to grow up.”

“i know. i don’t want her to grow up either.” he whispers. “god, if i could freeze time, i would.”

“she’s sleeping in her own room tonight.” i point out the obvious.

“i saw.” he draws circles on my lower back, an anxious habit he’s always had, but that has amplified since we first even found out i was pregnant.

“is it wrong of me to say i hate it?” i ask weakly.

“if it’s wrong then we’re both wrong.” he admits. he turns onto his back, pulling me with him so my head rests on his chest, my ear pressed right over his heart.

it’s silent for a moment, nothing but his heartbeat coming to my ears, before he speaks again.

“i know she can’t sleep in here forever, but i kinda wish she could.”

“me too.” i murmur, my eyes falling heavy after the loaded emotions felt tonight.

John continues to draw circles on my back, soothing me and causing my eyes to drift closed in the silence.

“goodnight, my love.” i hear him whisper, just conscious enough to hear him, not quite enough to respond. “these past twelve years have been the best of my life. i’ve loved growing up with you, and i’m so grateful that our love has grown along with us.”

#speak now fic list #john marino #john marino imagine #john marino x reader #john marino fic #john marino blurb #nj devils #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #faithlynn’s writings <3

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justporo · 4 months

Note

Hello! Good morning/night/(whenever you see this)

I wanned to ask if you please could do some headcanons of astarion with like some kind of feral female tav?

Like she is super friendly and nice, but her strong part is like live in the woods, and like have very animalistic ways of say stuff like she call him her mate, not her boyfriend and stuff like that, I think it would be funny since he is so fancy dating someone that is like dirty, willing to do manual labor and don't mind mud and stuff

Good day to you too, Anon!

I love this - wanna know why? Because this is pretty close to my own Tav who's a former thief and grew up on Baldur's Gate's streets (so I'll shift it a bit to that). She's literally a feral street cat that the Nautiloid snatched directly out of the gutter. So, I already have quite some thoughts about this

Headcanons for Astarion and a feral, female Tav

Most of Astarion's and Tav's discrepancies only show after their adventure because as much as Astarion might moan about it: during their travels he had to get used to a lot of uncomfortable behaviours

Tav meanwhile is used to make scraps work: "What do you mean, you need to sew this, Astarion? Is it falling off your chest as you're walking? No? Then where's the godsdamned problem?"

Astarion notices that she's kinda lacking in taking care of herself pretty quickly and probably is pretentious about it; but then again he quickly has to make do without his usual habits and desires for luxury

The way Tav doesn't hesitate to go get into the trenches, get her hands dirty and bloodied kind of dispells him at first but he's also admiring it quite a bit because he rarely can get over himself with these things; it still leads him to scrunch up his nose in distaste often though

Especially when he observes her drinking habits (like a town drunkard), her swearing (like a sailor) or her eating habits (gnawing off the bones like a dog)

But it's really after the dust has settled when Astarion realises that Tav and him had very different upbringings (not that Tav had any actual "upbringing" to speak of)

So he goes to teach her a few things, not to tame her because he indeed loves her wild energy, but there's a few things he feels like she deserves to learn

That means taking care of herself: "Darling, if you don't take out these braids anytime soon, I am sure your hair is just going to fall right off." "So? Time for a sick sidecut then!" Astarion looks at her pleadingly: "Love, please, let me take them out for you, detangle and rebraid them, you can't be serious." You just shrug because you don't understand why it's such a big deal. But later when he has you in a nice hot bath sitting between his legs while he massages your scalp and rubs different nicely scented things into your hair, you have to give him that you could get use to all this.

Astarion figures that some of the wild, swashbuckling behaviour Tav has, has come from how she couldn't show any weakness growing up on the streets; and that that oftentimes also means she doesn't allow herself to be taken care of, lots of insecurities because she had no real upbringing and the deeply rooted fear of nothing good ever lasting

Meanwhile he admires her resilience, her stubborness and her skills to always make something out of nothing; so they do have good opportunities to learn a few thing from each other

Astarion also affectionately calls her his "little feral street cat" sometimes (which always gets him an elbow to his rips and a snarled "posh prick")

And lastly: we all know who's taking care of getting rid of bugs and spiders in this relationship, don't we?

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #astarion ancunin #bg3 spoilers #astarion x tav #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate #astarion x mc #astarion x oc #bg3 #astarion x reader #astarion x you #poro headcanons

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ganondoodle · 1 year

Text

had been thinking about each deities origins again so i made a lil sketch of the moment before they died as mortals ..

#ganondoodles #doodles #can you believe that #zelda #art #i have so much lore #boi you wouldnt believe the amount of lore i have for them #sucks that im so god damn slow drawing it all #gnawing on wood as we speak

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stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage · 4 months

Text

This. This. This entire conversation with Morrigan actually makes me want to sob. She and my Tabris always becomes close friends over the course of DAO; that, paired with the fact that my Tabris always romances Alistair, makes everything about this hurt so much more when you take DAO's ending into account.

Her confusion over why my Tabris didn't send her away. Why she didn't abandon her after they learned of Flemeth's plans. Why Tabris went out of her way to slay Flemeth and bring her the true grimoire. She asks Tabris why, and is baffled when the answer is, "I did it because I'm your friend," as if it's that simple.

The way Morrigan looks at the warden, the way her voice cracks when she says, "I want you to know that while I may not always prove... worthy... of your friendship, I will always value it."

She knows how this will end; Flemeth sent her with the wardens with the end goal of stopping the blight and obtaining the old god soul through the dark ritual. Morrigan knows that Alistair and Tabris are the only Grey Wardens here, and assuming they don't find more, one of them will have to die defeating the archdemon unless they agree to do the dark ritual.

With that context, her asking Alistair, "And what if a Grey Warden has forced to choose between the Warden he loved and ending the Blight? What should his choice be?" suddenly has so much subtext weaved through the words that I'm gonna start foaming at the mouth. She's practically telling Alistair that a warden has to die. She's scrutinizing his reaction to find any hint that suggests he would agree to the dark ritual in order to save himself and the woman he loves. And when he doesn't choose, she has her answer.

Morrigan made comments to Tabris about him, almost hopeful that their relationship was just a physical thing between them and not actually riddled with feelings... and then gives disapproval when Tabris says she loves him.

She doesn't want the warden to die; hell, she doesn't want Alistair to die, either; whether because she does actually care about him or because she knows it'll break her friend's heart if she loses him, or both!

Things would be so much easier if the only two Grey Wardens left to defeat the blight didn't fall in love, wouldn't they, Morrigan?

She knows that in the end, no matter the outcome, she will lose the woman she called sister and it's devastating.

Morrigan, who has never known true friendship. Who grew up isolated in the woods with an abusive mother and terrible implications for her future. Who discovered said mother planned to take over her body just as she did with her other daughters. Who doesn't understand kindness as it was rarely given to her without a catch. Who isolates herself from the others in camp. Who finally has a companion she cares about... and in the end, if her plan works and the dark ritual is completed, she'll end up pregnant and alone and wearing Tabris' resentment like a tender wound on her heart.

Or Tabris will reject the ritual, and will die to the archdemon.

Or her lover will.

I just- the dynamic between the warden, romanced Alistair, and Morrigan is so good and painful and rich that I'm gnawing on furniture as we speak.

#dragon age origins #dao #alistair theirin #dao alistair #dao morrigan #dao tabris #warden tabris #i'm replaying dao right now in case my recent written posts haven't made that obvious #the relationship dynamics the warden has with each of the companions is so so soooo good like there isn't a companion i dislike #i play into the slow burn with alistair's romance but it's not even just the romance aspect it's also their friendship too #playing dao and not romancing alistair would feel wrong at this point for me it's so crucial to the entire story and its development #and i love morrigan's friendship with the warden and how gutted tabris is when she comes clean about everything and offers the ritual #and then bails once everything is over and tabris is torn between hating her and feeling hurt and not wanting morrigan to be alone again #i talked more in depth about morrigan and the ritual in a previous post but it's a lot... especially when it comes to the witch hunt dlc #oh and then there's the friendship between tabris and zevran like don't even get me started on that sksksks i won't be able to stop #even a character like oghren who is the last person you'd think tabris would ever become friends with since he's y'know *oghren*#but i'll go on the record and say there's more to oghren that gets overlooked and overshadowed by his glaring flaws #and i don't wanna talk about leliana... she makes me too sad like ever since my last playthrough where i accidentally triggered her romance #while i was deep in alistair's romance i have a really hard time not reading into the things she says to tabris #in my last playthrough i dunno what i did but she confessed to tabris even though she was fully aware that tabris and alistair were togethe #and it was a *mess* okay like it really felt like we killed marjolaine and leliana was in a vulnerable position yet was hardened enough #to be like 'i know she and alistair are together but i'll take my shot anyway and attempt to break them up' like.... noooooo leliana D:#and the rest of the game it felt like she was bitter and still in love with tabris and i felt *horrible*#i just said i don't wanna talk about it but hhhnnngggg i'm taking extra precautions to not have a repeat of that this time #excuse my tag ramblings i'm just very passionate about dao and the companions okay #also want to note that this is my interpretation of morrigan's motivations based on how i play the game and my warden #so others might view this reaction and the warden/romanced alistair/morrigan dynamic differently and in that case #i would be interested to hear that different interpretations because those are always fun to read

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technicolorbirds · 2 months

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Haunted Dreams (Licht Klein x MC)

Happy 3ish days after Valentines! Lay witness, friends, to my piece for @ikemenlibrary's Valentines exchange. I was assigned to @midwinterrmemento for some sweet sweet angst. Type of angst was never specified, so I went for the classic bad dream scenario. Also romance is my weakest genre but god did I try my best okay bye

There’s something to be said about springtime in Rhodolite. In a country famed for its roses, it’s easy to overlook the blossoming flora that surrounds the outer edges of the kingdom. Perhaps it’s not quite the sprawling, expansive ecosystems found in Jade, but there’s a certain charm in the soft chirping of birds and gentle breeze that blows through the trees and rustles through Emma’s hair, and makes one feel as though they’ve stepped right through the pages of a storybook.

Emma finds herself flitting off into her own daydreams as she and Licht stroll hand-in-hand through the forest path. She indulges herself in thoughts of fairytales and princely romances as they continue along the trail, just as she did as a child. How odd to think that she’s found herself a prince of her own. One who’s endlessly kind and selfless, and does nothing but smile softly at her whilst she rambles on about her silly romance novels, wordlessly readjusting the hood of her cloak when the deep red fabric of her hood threatens to fall. In her free hand, she carries a basket brimming with wild flowers. They must have been collecting them along the trail, though Emma finds that she’s unable to recall exactly when they had stopped to pick them up. It gnaws at her, being unable to remember, but quickly she dismisses it. It’s rude to let her mind wander off in such a manner whilst in the company of her lover.

The stem of a flower tucks itself behind her ear, startling her from her thoughts. Licht stands in front of her, face expressionless aside from the fond, inquisitive look in his eyes. She must not have wiped the brief dismay from her face quickly enough.

“Are you alright?” Licht’s voice is smooth, tinged with such a soft concern that Emma has to fight back a blush.

“Hm,” she hums and tilts her head with a small smile. “I’m fine, just lost in my head. Maybe we should go back to the palace now? It’s getting a little cold out here for me with the breeze.” Emma makes a show of pulling her red cloak tighter around her body and hopes it’s enough to brush off the question. It’s a weak attempt, but it seems to have worked well enough. Licht untangles their hands to wrap an arm around her, pulling her closer into his side and takes the basket of flowers from her with his free hand.

“Of course.” His arm tightens around her in a protective manner. “I’ll draw you a bath, too. So you won’t get sick.” Emma lets out a small laugh, tucking her head into his shoulder with a grin. Who’d have known that the emotionless, solemn prince of wolves would have such a wide protective streak. She’ll have to find a way to repay his kindness someday, but it seems as though her debt will keep growing by the hour.

The trek back seems to take much longer than the time it had taken them to get there. The trail twists with curves and turns that have Emma scrunching her eyebrows as she tries to recall coming across them before. Licht seems unaware of her growing unease, continuing down the path in front of him with an air of steadfast confidence; and it’s a comfort to know that her lover isn’t put off by the changing scenery.

There’s a markedly different feeling to the woods then there had been earlier. The sun has hidden away behind a wall of thick gray, and a light layer of fog now clings to their feet and shrouds the trees around them in an ominous cloud. Neither of them speak as they wade through the fog, and it’s now that Emma has a realization.

It’s quiet. Not a single sound is coming from their surroundings; there are no birds chirping, or trees rustling from squirrels. Apart from the crunch of dirt and rocks under their feet, the forest has fallen utterly silent. Emma’s earlier unease is slowly settling into a deep fear as the path continues to twist in an unknown direction. She grips onto Licht’s arm like a vice. She wants to say something, ask him what’s going on, why he seems so unshaken by their surroundings, but the words die on her tongue just as soon as her lips part to speak. A growl rips through the silence, low and menacing.

A wolf parts through the fog, head dropped low and teeth bared in a snarl. It’s large. Bigger than any wolf Emma has seen, or even read about. She takes a stumbling step backwards, keeping Licht’s arm clutched close to her chest in fear. Licht’s free hand immediately falls to the hilt of his sword, and gently, he pushes Emma behind him to shield her. It feels as though time has slowed around them. The fog has grown thicker, blurring out the treeline almost entirely. It feels as though they’ve been backed into a corner by a monster rather than a simple animal.

It prowls closer, one slow, deliberate step after the other, until there’s only an arm’s length of space between Licht and the wolf. His sword is drawn and at the ready, waiting for the attack. There are tears pooling in the corners of Emma’s eyes as she watches the beast rear down on its haunches.

It’s a startlingly quick procession. The wolf lunges forward with teeth bared, and Licht wrenches his arm free from Emma’s hold to shield her completely with his own body, sword raised to defend them both. She thinks he yells for her to run, but the words don’t quite register. Emma stands stock-still in the middle of the warped forest trail, tears now streaming down her cheeks in waves. It’s not long before the sword has been knocked out of Licht’s hands and the wolf is on him in seconds. It’s jaws open wide, wider than should even be possible, before it descends upon Licht with killing intent. And Emma screams. She shrieks a piercing scream, and keeps screaming until the fog is closing in around her with crushing weight, as though it wants to bury her. It wraps around her chest tightly, and Emma lets out one final guttural sob before the fog overtakes her entirely.

Until it hasn’t. She’s still crying as reality reshapes around her, sobbing loudly for her lost lover as warm callused hands gently shake at her shoulders. “It’s just a dream,” a familiar voice whispers into her ear. It’s soft and filled with hesitant concern, and Emma clings to the sweet nothings as they slice through the terrible images in her mind with a striking ease, “You’re okay. It’s just a dream. I’m here.”

When her eyes finally open, it’s not to the sight of blood, or fog, or a ravenous beast coming to finish her off. It’s Licht, reliable, steadfast Licht, staring down at her with wide eyes and a pinched expression. His hands lay gently on her shoulders, fingers twitching to hold tighter, pull her closer, but he doesn’t. He stays hovering, keeps his gaze glued to her form as if one glance in another direction would send her back into whatever horrible dream she woke from.

“Are you…okay?” There’s an uncertainty to the tone of Licht’s voice, a fear, and it squeezes Emma’s heart to know that she had been the one to cause it. Her scream must have startled Licht from his own dreams.

“I’m okay now. Please. I’ll tell you about it in the morning, just,” she hesitates, not wanting to worry her love any further than she already had. “Just hold me, please.”

The hands on her shoulder move as soon as the request has been made, quickly swapping the two of them into a more comfortable position. Emma’s head is tucked neatly into the side of Licht’s neck, where each breath she takes is accompanied by the scent of his cologne. His arms wrap around her waist, providing a soothing weight. It’s… blissful.

All of the lingering fear has melted away into the background as Emma’s breath evens out with slumber for a second time. This time, there’s no sign of changing paths or ominous feelings as she sleeps. Only the faintest hint of cologne and a reassuring warmth wrapping her up in a blanket of safety.

#No one talk to me I'm so nervous rn (a lie please talk to me)#ikemen prince #licht klein #ikepri #ikemen licht #Licht Klein x MC (Emma)#my ikemen valentine gift exchange

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mdhwrites · 4 months

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Can a Wittebane special ever air on Disney Channel? I wonder how they will tackle the religious themes and murder of Caleb while keeping it Child friendly.

HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh, wait, you actually think it'd focus on Philip?

Sorry for the mocking statements but that is the long and short of it. To keep it child friendly, for what is most compelling, and for what would be most in line with TOH, the way a Wittebane special would go is actually pretty easy to map out, at least with the moments that we know about:

You start with a teenage boy looking gaunt and exhausted as he prepares for a day in the woods to forage for things that he can get and wood to chop. He needs to make money for him and his little brother, Philip, after all. He hasn't really gotten to eat much more than scraps for the past couple days but hey, that's okay. Philip gets to eat and that's all the nourishment Caleb needs. He wants his little brother to have a proper childhood and he'll give up anything for that.

While out in the woods that day though, he catches a smell. An absolutely divine smell. He follows it to its source and finds a woman in a cloak feeding the animals of the area. The bread she has smells like heaven but how she speaks to the animals reeks of the devil. His stomach gives him away though and she turns with a wry grin. She isn't afraid of him but intrigued because he didn't immediately attack, something she calls out when he won't eat her bread because of his suspicions. They strike a deal that Evelyn will tell him a truth in return for the bread. That way he knows his soul isn't the price of it. "Are you a witch?" "Yes." And that moment of pure honesty makes Caleb pause. Then he runs. He runs fast and hard, racing back to town to be sure that he can tell everyone and potentially get his brother away. To keep him safe from that which threatens them all. However, he is stopped by the fact that his little brother is sobbing and soaked. One of the other kids tricked him into the river and said they shouldn't have bother to be washed up onto the shore. They should have just drowned in the ocean because if God wanted them, they would still have... have... Caleb holds him tight before looking at the sole remaining photo he has of all four of them. The next day he is in mass, his leg shaking as he listens to the fire and brimstone the preacher speaks of. He can't focus on the words though. Not as he looks at how the kids that hurt Philip are at the front of the pews while they sit in the back because no one wants them near them. There's anger and hate in this room and it gnaws at his gut just as badly as his hunger does.

And so now we get some time of Philip and Evelyn bonding, romancing and we see the seasons pass in a sweet, effective montage to speedrun their romance, especially if this is just a 44 minute special or the like, let alone if it's 22. This montage could easily also show how the two growing older and contrast Caleb's joys of embracing the other with Philip's growing anger as he spends time in town and is indoctrinated, all without having to say what he is being indoctrinated for besides imagery of burning fires.

Then finally, we have Evelyn asking when Caleb plans to tell his brother. Caleb doesn't know. At first it was to make sure Evelyn was actually safe. Then never finding the right time because of fear of someone in town hearing. Now... Now Philip is so converted to witch hunting that he doesn't know what to do. They're even considering making his little brother witch hunter general because of just how committed he is. Caleb feels defeated and tired and all he really feels like he has left is Evelyn.

"Well... Maybe it's time to find your own path then. Your brother will be fine at your home and... And maybe you'll be fine at mine. With the rest of the witches."

It then cuts to Philip, furious, slamming open the door to the house. He has a ritual dagger in his hand... Because he has been named a lead hunter while one of those brats from when they were younger is Witch Hunter General. Just another time where the town decided to choose the people over parents than him. Over the one with the purest soul in town. At least, he thinks as he picks up the family photo and tries to calm himself, one of them. He needs his brother. He's gone again. He wishes Caleb would let him take care of him now. He makes enough money through the church to support them after all. He doesn't have to keep risking his life in the woods anymore.

"With the rest of the witches."

Philip's heart sinks. What? Who is this woman? He's never seen her? Wait, if she's with the witches, his brother is in danger! But the rest of them? If he waits for them to go he can find all of them and they'll HAVE to make him witch hunter general! But that means risking Caleb's life. He can't allow that, even for his own-

"You're right. Philip will just be happier here and... And maybe just best that I vanish. He'll just blame a witch for it anyways and trying to say goodbye would only put as all in danger." Tears come down Philip's face and his knuckles turn white as rain begins. A familiar door opens up next to Evelyn and she turns the key we all know in it. The shine of the portal illuminates Philip's face before a bolt of lightning has it change to Belos' mask and the special ends.

And that's it. It isn't a fun version of it but there's literally no version of the Wittebanes, without major retcons, that can be told in a fun way. They are orphans from a super conservative colony who majored in witch hunting before then having a schism between them be formed due to that witch hunting. This potentially, because it's up to interpretation, led to Philip killing Caleb. Bare minimum, something happens to Caleb that leads to him being dead and haunting his brother while Philip is left stranded on the Isles with no way of going back without finding his own way. The only part of that story that could be fun or comedic is the romance plotline with Evelyn and Caleb. It's also the one that allows the most to be left in obscurity about Belos, thus enabling the show not to contradict its own lore that way. Worse yet, it's also just the best story to tell there besides the rise of witch hunter Belos but those themes are indeed incredibly dark and SUPER not fun to tackle directly so it's better that it happens mostly off screen. Also, you know, it makes sure that the show doesn't glorify bigotry and hate by having us see the rise of Philip into bigoted witch hunter from his perspective. Instead, the story focuses on being critical of such things and accepting the other, which is theoretically in line with TOH in general.

It could be an effective special but I don't think it'd end up being what Belos fans want and for people who don't like Belos, the most they'll get out of it is ANOTHER quirky romance from TOH that mirrors Huntlow too much to feel unique or special. In other words, it's mostly a lose lose situation, especially since none of these elements will make the base story any deeper. It'll just add to the confusion some feel for the fact that they believe Belos is a victim and a product of his society who has a sympathetic reason for his anger but then is just a one note, pure evil villain in the main show.

This is honestly the problem with almost anything that addresses anything we saw in the show. The contradictory nature of the base product's writing, and how it slaughtered concepts at the root, means that expanding on these concepts can only make the contradictions worse. It can only make the base work worse or have MORE people screaming "WHY WASN'T THIS INCLUDED!?"

It's like how me and my Discord finally settled on one option for a lore book that could actually work for TOH if they wanted to release one for the show: One that tells us all about the Isles we didn't see. We see so little of it after all that just telling us about all these neat towns, the ways they operate, or expanding on the forms of magic that never got to do anything, could be neat. It doesn't fix the base show's lack of creativity or consistency but it doesn't inherently conflict with it either. It would just be there as harmless lore that also would have a bad hook for any readers because unlike the journals for Gravity Falls or Amphibia, they wouldn't expand on a character or the like.

The best route for TOH to go is to pull a Harry Potter, again (I hate how often this show forces me to bring up that stupid series) and make Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them. Either the movie or the book as either are at best tangentially related to the series but mostly just have the name of the series on them for brand recognition because the authors of both works didn't make a good enough world to actually tell anything more compelling within it after the story was done. Not without making the base product look worse.

And that includes the story of the Wittebanes.

======+++++======

What sucks is that I actually do like the plot I wrote up for the Wittebanes. Like this could genuinely be a really interesting story to make. However A: I wouldn't do fanfiction for it because of the requirement of one killing the other eventually that effectively demands no nuance between Caleb and Philip, forcing their dynamic to be very basic and B: it still suffers from having to be basic because Belos is a basic bitch evil guy while all signs from the show point to Caleb having been an absolute paragon. I made him about as gray as I could in my write up and it's still not much.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #caleb wittebane #philip wittebane

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ruiniel · 4 months

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Broken traps

Fandom: The Silmarillion

Characters: Andreth, Bregor, Sauron

Rating: T

CW: animal injury

Summary: Andreth stumbles upon a wounded wolf in the forest.

Written for Scribbles & Drabbles 2023, inspired by this wonderful artwork from @cilil. Ongoing, will be two parts.

@fall-for-tolkien

Edit: Part II

The afternoon is ripe in its arrival, dappling the woods with shivering lights of orange and gold. Bregor cuts through the overgrowth with his long knife, and his steps are followed by those of his lively sister.

They walk the usual path around Ladros in silence, Bregor humming to himself as he traces the locations with traps he'd placed to see what they yielded.

"You set these so far within the forest?" Andreth asks, a wicker basket with leaves and roots on her arm.

"I had to, game has been so scarce, and the cold season is upon us soon. We know not the sudden source of this lessening."

"I thought Father had organized longer expeditions for this purpose, in the coming moon?" The thought of this attempt sits ill with her, but then, Andreth has only recently reached adulthood and begun to look into the affairs of the family.

"Aye..." says Bregor, thoughtful as he stops to listen, "But the stores need replenishment and the last hunt was beneath what everyone expected."

A sudden mewl is heard from without, one familiar to both: that of an animal in the throes of pain.

"Oh no..." Andreth murmurs as they follow the direction of one such trap Bregor had set.

When they reach the source of the sound, Andreth gasps.

“Andreth, near it not!” cries Bregor, extending an arm whilst reaching for his sword.

"Peace, Bregor," she raises a hand, placing her basket down. She is unable to look away from the sight: a dire wolf, its hind leg bloodied and gnawed by the crude metal contraption. And the pain in its howling breaks her heart.

Its fur is thick and shining silver, its eyes a stunning shade Andreth had never seen before: then again, she'd never seen a wolf at all, not this close.

"One of our rogue hunters?" Bregor slowly and carefully drops to one knee.

Andreth groans. “Bregor don't be ridiculous. Even so, it’s hurt! We... I cannot just leave it here... and these are our traps.”

The wolf falls silent, its fur matted with blood where its hind leg is caught in the trap, wide eyes glistening wetly as it watches them. It seems to Andreth the animal has a near human gaze. Pity wells in her heart, urging her to speak, to act.

Willowy as she is, she nears the dire wolf with care. “I will not hurt you... we are here to help.”

Agitation stirs within the beast, strong teeth and jaws snapping once in the air before its head falls aside, and another cry of pain softens even Bregor’s expression. “Let me, sister.”

Andreth does, glad for her brother—Bregor has more experience with the wilds and its inhabitants, and she is wise enough to see when she needs aid.

The animal is faint, and with care her brother succeeds in dismantling the trap, while Andreth fashions a carrier of sorts from Bregor's cloak. She's recently learned how to tie the knots properly, and already the skill is of use.

"How strange, going out to check for predators, but then returning home with one."

"I can treat wounds, but not here," Andreth grunts as each holds a side of the makeshift stretcher. Her brother may be stubborn, but so is she. Luckily, they're often of like mind, by the end. "I need my supplies."

Bregor sighs. "Your heart is kind, Andreth. I only hope it never leads you astray."

Andreth rolls her eyes, advancing with renewed vigor.

As the pair walk the return path towards the settlement, none notice the many pairs of curious eyes following their trek from the shadows.

#ruiniel:fanfiction #andreth #bregor #silmarillion fanfiction #scribbles & drabbles 2023

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marchtothefuckingsea · 2 years

Text

Hypothermia - Geralt of Rivia

My Masterlist.

angst, hurt/comfort, x gender neutral reader

Word count: 1.8k Warnings: symptoms of hypothermia(?), not proofread.

Summary: Stubbornly insisting to come with Geralt, Reader finds themself becoming hypothermic. They brush their symptoms off, but it's not long before it becomes severe and very, very dangerous.

"You should've stayed at the inn." Geralt muttered under his breath, tugging Roach along with him. His cloak bellowed out behind him as another chilling breeze swept against us.

"I can keep up with you." I huffed, tugging my own cloak tighter around my trembling frame. "Just keep going."

"You realize we're going to be making camp here soon?" He retorted.

"I was trying not to think about that." I mumbled, stumbling over my own feet. I pushed against the snow to get to my feet, grunting in surprise when what I thought was a rock or a log under the snow gave in on me. I stuck my arms out to brace my fall, but still ended up falling onto my face with a disgruntled noise. I saw Geralt offering his hand in the corner of my vision. Ignoring it, I staggered to my feet and brushed the snow off of my damp clothes. I could feel his sharp gaze on me.

The wind continued to yank at my cloak with relentless fingers, never giving up on trying to tear my only protection against the cold away from me. Even through the layers of clothing I had underneath it, I could still feel the cold chill me down to the bone. My teeth chattered, but I clenched my jaw the best I could to silence them. I grit my teeth at the deep pain that had begun to settle into my bones.

It wasn't long before the sun began to set on the horizon, taking what little bit of heat it had provided with it. I shivered violently, unable to feel my extremities. Despite the thick scarf I had eventually wrapped over my face and tucked into my hood, I still couldn't feel my nose. I thought of telling Geralt, but I convinced myself otherwise when the thought of being a burden began to gnaw at me.

I glanced up in confusion when I realized the witcher had been speaking to me. He looked to me with an irritated expression.

"What?" I asked slowly, finding it difficult to form the word in my mouth. I touched a gloved hand to the scarf covering my mouth in confusion

"We're staying here for the night." He repeated briskly. I nodded, my response delayed, and staggered off in a random direction.

"I'll get wood for the fire." I announced, noticing him begin to hollow out a small patch of snow for a fire. He was pitching a single tent as I left; It only made sense to share any heat we could.

I managed to gather enough small pieces to use as kindling, and I stumbled my way back to camp, constantly struggling against the confusion that had begun to creep into my brain. At one point, I found myself wandering off, as if just taking a stroll. I had thankfully realized before I got too far, but I killed too much time.

"He- Oh." I mumbled. He had already gotten the fire started, and was sitting beside it, warming some of our food. I plopped down beside the fire with a small sigh.

"Took you long enough." He muttered. I mumbled out an incoherent apology, pitching to the side. I curled into a ball beside the fire, damp clothes be damned. I let out a shaky breath, the pain crippling me. Despite his complaints earlier, he still offered me some of the food he had brought. I shook my head.

"I'm fine." I ground out.

"You need to eat, to keep yourself warm." He insisted, but he didn't push.

After a long while, like a light switch, the pain stopped. Just like that. I began to fall asleep, my eyes fluttering open when his hand met my shoulder a while later.. "Tent." He said simply. I pushed myself up into a half sitting position with a quiet huff. The side I had been laying on was completely wet, but my other side was dry. I pulled my cloak over the damp side, hoping to hide it from him so he wouldn't make me change. I was too exhausted. I chalked it up to being tired from the day's journey of plodding through the heavy, wet spring snow.

I folded myself down on my side of the tent. Turning away from Geralt, who had already laid down facing away from me, I tugged my gloves off. I frowned at the sight of my gray hands and fingers, suddenly aware that I couldn't feel them at all, nor could I feel my toes or feet, and a good amount of my arms and legs. My eyelids drooped, though, and so I curled up with a small shiver, heaving the spare fur on the ground between us over my half-soaked form. I let out a small sigh, drifting off.

Geralt frowned, listening to their heartbeat. It became fainter and fainter, even to his hearing, and he found himself unable to sleep. Once he was sure they were asleep, he turned to face them, laying under a bundle of furs, ominously still. He listened carefully, suddenly unable to hear their heartbeat. He carefully snuck a hand under the blankets and placed it on their chest, a jolt of fear hitting him when he could just barely feel the rise and fall of their chest as they breathed.

I tossed my head side to side in confusion, everything blurry. I was being shaken awake, and I struggled away from my attacker, disoriented. He kept speaking to me, his voice rising, and I flinched away. A lamp was lit, and I was now able to see his golden eyes reflecting the small flame. I sagged back onto the ground in relief, struggling to breathe and suddenly hot. I began to desperately kick the insulation off of me.

"Don't do that!" Geralt hissed, pulling them back over me.

"It's so hot." I mumbled incoherently, fighting him. I eventually gave up, curling into a small ball under the mountain of covers, and burrowing into them. My breaths were short and very, very shallow. Each one was like sucking in little ice shards. I tucked myself further into the furs, finding that although I felt like I was burning up, even that sensation seemed unimportant right now. My eyes drifted shut.

Geralt dug through the blankets to find me, giving me a harsh shake. I startled, forcing my eyes open. His hand gripped my soaked shoulder, and he cursed under his breath. I struggled to keep my eyes open, blearily Watchung as he hastily dug through his satchel, pulling out a small bottle.

"Drink." He ordered. I didn't protest, downing the contents of the vial as he tilted it up for me. It burned my throat, and I coughed painfully. Eventually, everything numbed, and the feverish heat that had been assaulting me before stopped, replaced by a more comfortable warmth. I felt the witcher pulling at my clothes before I drifted off.

The pain and nausea hit me as soon as I woke, and I was aware of the feeling that had begun to return to my frozen limbs. I shivered, tucking myself further into the warmth at my back with a labored sigh. I felt a warm arm snake around my waist, pulling me closer to Geralt. My mind was still foggy, and so I wasn’t in a hurry to shake him off. I shivered again. They became more insistent the longer I was awake, and soon I was trembling uncontrollably. My entire body was cool, but at least I could feel my limbs now, and I could feel the way my bare legs tangled with his. At the sudden realization, my face probably would have flushed if I weren’t so cold.

My head clearing, I wiggled against his grip, trying to put some distance between us and cling to what little bit of dignity I had left. I froze when I felt him shift, then stretch out his legs, disentangling them from mine. I was suddenly aware of how cold I was without his body heat, shivering even more and tugging the furs tighter around me.

“How are you feeling?” His voice, rough with exhaustion, asked. Embarrassed, I pulled the blanket snug against my bare skin, and turned to him.

“C-cold.” Was all I could rasp out before breaking off into a fit of coughs. He interrupted me with a jar of water. It was warm, and I downed it, sighing gratefully as it warmed me up from the inside. I held the still-warm glass in my hands, gripping onto it with fingers stiffened from the cold. “I’m better.” He quirked an eyebrow at me. “I’m alive.”

“You almost weren’t.” He said tautly.

“I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come with you.” I apologized.

“You should have listened.”

“I’m sorry, I just..I wanted to help. I feel like I’m such a burden most of the time. I just slow you down - and that’s all I did. Again. Today.” I shrank into myself at his scolding.

“It’s not your fault.” His voice softened.

“No, I shouldn’t keep coming along if I can’t keep up. I’m sorry I keep forcing myself on you.”

“I want you with me, at all times. At least then, I know you’re safe.” He admitted. “But I can’t be selfish. You can’t withstand the same conditions I can, and that’s when I must leave you behind somewhere safe. But,” His eyes flickered up to mine, a small smile touching his lips. “You’re just so damn stubborn.”

I huffed lightly. “I know.”

“You need to tell me. When you’re feeling weird or sick. If you insist on coming with me no matter what, you can’t hide these things from me. I need you to promise me that.”

"I promise."

"I want you to mean it." He insisted, eyes pleading.

"I promise." I said sincerely, leaning forward to tentatively brush my lips against his; his confession having given me the courage to act.

He made a sort of purring sound, pulling me closer and molding his lips to mine. I sighed when he pulled away, breathless. His golden eyes flickered across my face, satisfaction dancing in them. I gave him a questioning glance.

"You're flushed." He explained. I didn't even notice that I had stopped shivering.

"I'm still cold." I hummed, half-lying.

"I can fix that." He didn't hesitate to bring his lips back to mine.

#i hate warm water #even room temperature water sucks #i do not condone drinking warm water #unless you're hypothermic I guess #the witcher #the witcher x reader #geralt #geralt of rivia #geralt of rivia x reader #geralt x reader #the witcher angst #the witcher hurt/comfort #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill angst #henry cavill hurt/comfort #x gender neutral reader

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pxrxcxa · 1 year

Text

Opposite Ends

Chapter 13 | Together

C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 pt 1 |

Chapter 14 is out now - enjoy Sweet peas, P. x 🌿

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending, fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 6.5k word count

Chapter warnings | Mention of physical abuse, violent descriptions

Any & All comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Love, P. x 🌿

Authors Note | Here is the other half of the chapter :( 🖤 Okay I've got my laptop back (finally 😫👩🏼‍💻) only 2 more chapters to go until the end. I am PUMPED. Let's do this.

Eddie | March 1986

It was well and truly dark, eery shadows moving in the spaces between the trees that our flash lights didn’t meet. Y/n had shot me a look as I shoved branches out of our way and nodded up to where Dustin was slipping further into the darkness, pleading with me in her eyes as I nodded to show her that I understood.

The pitch black engulfed me as I sped up after him, flinching as the branches of new saplings scratched at my face.

“Somethings happening.” He muttered as he glanced down at his compass clasped between his hands excitedly, tearing off again as I broke free of the tree line.

“Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?” My feet shuffled uncertainly as I swung my head around, my stomach rolled as the gnawing feeling of not being able to deny that I recognised where we were headed, ate at me.

“I think we’re getting close.” Dustin turned to look at me over his shoulder with a satisfied grin as the moonlight reflected off the flat surface, I shot forward just as he moved to take a step into the lakes edge.

“Watch your step, big guy.” I gripped the handle of his backpack to jerk him away from it, slapping his chest as the others filed out besides us.

“Oh man.” Steve caved over as he tried to catch his breath, swearing as he gripped his hips and tossed his head back. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“Yeah.” I sighed as the croaking of frogs and birds screeching, cut me off. “I thought these woods were familiar.” Henderson moved to my side as her eyes glimmered, leaning over the water’s edge as she glanced in the direction of Ricks place, hidden behind the thick tufts of trees that curved around us.

“Lover’s lake.” Robin whispered as the gentle swells lapped at our feet.

“This is confounding.” Dustin shook his head in disbelief as everyone else grimaced in the same show of shock.

“There’s a gate in lovers lake?” Max glanced at Dustin and I screwed up my face to remember what y/n had told me that first night they came to the boat house. In between all of the other supernatural shit like fleshy monsters and an upside-down world, gates hadn’t seemed as bad in comparison.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way?” Nancy’s voice was loud across the lakes surface as she spun to face y/n.

“Yeah, only one way to find out.” Y/n pointed her hand at the boat that was washed up on the shoreline a few paces from where we all huddled, three flashlight beams swivelled to outline the metal panelling.

Steve clapped me on the shoulder as he raised his brows at me, nodding for me to follow as he jumped down onto the bank of dirt. Y/n shot me a panicked look as I passed her, grinning with false confidence as I let the backs of our hands brush against each other.

My face dropped as I followed the mustard outline of Harrington’s back and reached down to clasp the edge of the boat.

“On three. One. Two. Three.” Steve huffed and blew out his cheeks as the metal groaned and we uprooted it, dropping it further into the water as the droplets splashed onto our jeans.

“Easy. I…I said easy, man” I rolled my eyes at his whining voice as I felt the mass of warm bodies step up behind us.

“Sorry, dude.” I scoffed, not surprised that King Harrington would be upset over some damp clothes.

“Here you go.” He reached out behind us to take Robin’s hand, I grunted as I felt her fingers twist at the top of my hair as she pushed down against both mine and Steve’s head, ignoring his offer of help.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna do that. Thankyou.” I lurched to the side as she slipped between us, the boat rocking under her weight as y/n laughed silently behind me.

“Yeah, that works to.” Steve sighed

I jumped in lightly straight after Robin so I could help y/n into the boat. She jolted in surprise with a small smile as I held my arm out for her and bowed my head, my chest warming at the blush that flared across her cheeks, so strongly I could almost feel the heat from her.

Wheeler slid in straight after her, breaking Robin’s glare as it flickered between y/n and I, a toothy grin spreading across her face as y/n dropped my hand and scrambled to find a seat.

“Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?” I shoved the front of Dustin’s cap as I watched his clunky shoe lift into the boat, snapping his head back as his face dropped in surprise. “This thing holds three people tops, okay?” He glanced back at his sister for support but she just shook her head.

“It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max.” Her eyes slid from Little Henderson’s to mine as I crouched along the seat beside her, reaching into my pocket for my pack of smokes.

“Keep an eye out for trouble.” Nancy drew herself to her full height and faced Dustin.

“You keep an eye out.” He glowered, his face screwing up in betrayal. He leant back in mock surprise, taunting her. “It’s my Goddamn theory.” Y/n’s eyes slithered dangerously at his tone but Robin beat her to it.

“You heard her.” Robin jeered.

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin pointed in outrage at her as he looked between me and Steve for help, sighing as I grinned and held my hands up hopelessly.

“I did.” Robin shot back, shrugging with confidence.

“Compass.” The boat shook as Nancy took a step forward, holding her hand out expectantly as y/n laughed.

“Hey! There you go.” Steve tossed his backpack at Dustin’s chest, sending him hurtling back a few paces as he grunted and pushed the boat out from the bank, barely missing the water as he jumped into it at the last second.

“Ow.” Dustin cried out as Robin handed me an oar and started paddling with her own. “You said three.” Dustin accused, holding his hand in the air angrily as Max shook her head beside him.

“Sorry.” Steve whispered, waving half-heartedly as we propelled out into deeper waters.

“Bed time at nine Kiddo’s, miss you already.” Robin stood up to wave at their figures being swallowed up by the distance as Dustin held up the finger at her, grinning as she plopped back down and nudged y/n’s shoulder.

“Hot enough for you?” She grinned, y/n had her eyes on my arms as I grunted, pushing the oar against the still waters. She flinched as Robin’s words sunk in, spinning away from me like she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“Uh what?” She blustered, clasping her hands together in her lap.

“The temperature.” Robin grinned like a wild woman as Steve shook his head and Nancy peered down at Dustin’s compass, biting back her own smile.

“It’s hot as shit, I’m sweating. Might need to take a swim.” Her short curls bounced as she leaned over the edge, staring into the black depths as y/n regained her composure and sat up straight, her own stare sweeping over the streaks of moonlight quivering on the surface.

“I know you think you’re being funny, but if Dustin’s right, that might be exactly what we have to do.”

Robin groaned as her arms dropped, her oar knocking against the side of the boat and after an hour of rowing, I didn’t blame her either.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah slow down, guys.” Steve’s flashlight blinded us as he swung around and Nancy called out, a slight whirring sound emitting from the compass as she held it out for all of us to see. The wood dropped against the floor with a plank as we pulled the oars out of the water, spraying splotches over everyone as we piled them between our feet.

“Woah.” The indents on the metal disappeared from view as Steve pushed the light right up against it. Y/n bent her head close to mine as we all lent in to look at what Nancy was pointing out, swaying as the boat rocked beneath us.

Robin jumped as the static on the walkie crackled and Dustin’s voice rang through it.

Guys, what’s going on? Come on guys, talk to me what going on?

Robin tugged the antenna upwards as she brought the radio to her lips, peering down at the dial spinning manically as y/n sat back and huffed, pressing her hand into her face.

“Compass has gone all wonky.” Robin groaned into the walkie to press the importance of her meaning. I gripped the side of the boat behind y/n’s back and reached down to grab the flashlight that Steve had dropped, shining it on him as he tugged off his shoes and peeled away his socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy’s voice harboured a warning as it built up on the preface of an argument.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this thing out.” Steve’s voice was breathy as he snapped back with his reasoning.

“Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain, and a certified life guard for three years, then.... It’s gotta be me, no complaints, alright?” Steve raised his brows in my direction like he was in danger of receiving a rebuff from me, leaning up over the side of the boat as y/n groaned at his subtle brag.

“Hey, I’m not complaining, I do not wanna go down there.” I dipped my hand into my pocket to grab the plastic bag I’d saved, dumping the rolling papers and my lighter on the floor as I wrapped it around the flashlight.

Robin and y/n shared a sly grin as we all watched Nancy’s eyes glue to Harrington’s hairy chest as he tugged his sweater over his head.

“Hey. Goodluck.” I glanced at y/n’s smirk to make sure she didn’t have her eyes on Steve’s nudity, palming the flashlight into his hand as he mumbled a thanks and tossed his jumper into my arms. He didn’t see me roll my eyes as I fished a lone cigarette from my pocket.

“Gross.” I glared in light anger as Robin pinched it from between my lips, angling her arm back to toss it into the water before y/n’s hand shot out to steal it from between her fingers, bringing it to her own mouth as she arched a brow cheekily and lit it up for herself, handing it back to me as it blazed in the dark.

“Steve. Be careful.” Nancy’s eyes dipped as Steve’s met hers, and Y/n’s eyes met mine over the smoke as we both glanced away, embarrassed, feeling privy to a moment that was not meant for our eyes.

Steve nodded and took a deep breath, bending his knees before he glided through the air and launched himself into the cold water, splashing us loudly as the boat rocked dangerously and he disappeared under its depths.

I felt her warm finger tips as she wrapped them around my wrist, sliding along the seat as she pressed her knee against mine and pouted for the cigarette, I gave it up with a smile, unable to resist her charm as she took a deep drag, tracing the outline of her soft features as she let the smoke hiss through her teeth.

“Where are we at Wheeler?” Robin’s anxious voice snapped me out of my distraction as I reluctantly tore my eyes away from y/n’s lips wrapped around the smoke.

“Closing in on a minuet.” Nancy’s tone was hard as her eyes squinted at her watch, her voice barely keeping back her own waves of fear.

An uncomfortable silence settled around us, only filled by our short breaths and the slight waves lapping at the edge of the boat as we all watched the water. Each second that the surface stayed still, the the glassy top of it settling from Steve’s departure, riddle the tension with anxiety.

“Christ.” The water gushed loudly, drowning out my scream so that it was barely audible, the water frothed with angry white bubbles as Steve broke through it, gasping for air as he shook his hair out of his eyes, the wet strands plastered to the side of his face.

“I found it” He gasped.

“You found it?” Nancy gripped the ledge as she leaned towards Steve, watching him swim closer.

“Yeah, I found it.” He nodded, reaching out to the side of the boat for support as he gulped to get his breath back. Y/n shot up from the seat next to me to crouch beside Nancy, clenching her jaw as her as reached out to rub Steve’s arm.

The touch sent a white hot flash of fire through me, freezing me to the spot as I tried to breathe through my jealously, having to remind myself that they were just friends -good friends- no matter my opinion of him. I flinched as Robin bent over and fiddled with something between our legs, her hands shaking as she yelled into the walkie

“Dustin you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate –“ Her eyes flashed up to mine in confusion as there was a burst of static and the line dropped out.

“It’s pretty wild. It’s more a snack size gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.” Steve’s head turned between Nancy’s and y/n’s, his face smacked with shock as he shook away the water that rolled over his lips, pushing his hair back from his face.

We all clamoured towards him, practically piling on top of each other as the boat dipped, dragging Harrington under the water for a split second as his knuckles strained against his hold on the side of it.

The world fell silent for a moment as he reappeared, looking at all of us in shock before he glanced slowly over his shoulder, his muted scream dying as he disappeared beneath the darkness once more and did not resurface.

“Steve!” The solidness beneath our feet rolled dangerously as the girls curled over the side, their hands dipping into the water without success as their cries mixed together.

“Nancy what happened?” Robin flailed her hands around as Nancy stood up, hovering over the side, breathing heavily as she paused.

“What the hell was that man?” I yelled, turning side to side aimlessly until y/n gripped my knee, her eyes widening as she leant me some of her strength through her firm touch.

“Wait, wait wait you’re not going in there are you?” The boat rocked again as Nancy lifted her leg up against the side of it, and my hand shot out to stop her.

“Just wait here.” Nancy spat through her teeth as her muscles tensed, jumping into the water smoother than Steve had.

“Goddamit.” I growled as my eyes flashed up to y/n’s, the look on her face made my chest tighten as her eyes swept the water, her brows knotting together. Robin moved out of the corner of my eye, sliding up the edge backwards as she chewed on her tongue.

“Nonononono, what are you doing? She said wait.” I blinked with each no, raising my shaking hand between us.

“Yeah I heard her.” She scoffed, her eyes sliding behind me towards y/n.

“She’s in charge.” I pointed to the waves circling out from where Nancy had just dived into.

“Are you kidding me? I made that shit up.” Robin’s scowled up with me juvenile surprise as she blocked her nose and tumbled back out of the boat.

“Don’t you go. Don’t –“ I reached out pointlessly as her legs skimmed the water, kicking up great splashes of freezing cold water towards us.

As soon as Robin’s boots disappeared under the water she shot up from the floor of the boat, it swayed under her weight as the beginning of one of my outbursts echoed into the air.

“Goddamnit, lying, son-of-a-bitch.” My yell died on my lips as she dropped her jacket off her shoulders, grasping the edge of the boat with a fierce look on her face.

“No, you are not going in there.” My voice dropped as my hand wrapped around her wrist, locking her in my grasp as I tossed my head, angry heat zapped between our touch as she glared at me and shook me off.

“Eddie I’m not arguing with you. They helped me save you. It’s our time to save them.” She didn’t look back as she dived under the black waters, trusting and knowing that I would always follow her to the ends of the earth, even to some under water gate to another hellish dimension to save King Harrington.

“This is so stupid, so stupid, shit shit – “ I slammed Steve’s jumper down as I paced the length of the boat, swearing as I tumbled instead of dived into the freezing water, following the dark outline of y/n’s legs as she swam deeper towards the bottom of the lake.

Y/N | March 1986

The red glow burned around me as I kicked through the slimy membrane layer of the gate, screwing up my face as it sucked in against my skin. The pressure of the water threatened to send me spiralling back up to the surface as my hand shot up through the gate, an unnatural shiver trembling through my body as my fingers were met by cold air.

Two sets of hands gripped onto my arm and tugged, suddenly the pressure switched directions as I was practically hurtled through the gate, the sinking feeling of being airborne before I crashed against the ground. I coughed water from my lungs as I curled over and gasped for the air what was knocked from me, squinting through my eyes as a drenched Nancy and Robin pulled me to my feet.

Eddie’s hand shot through straight after me, his rings biting into his skin as he gripped the sides trying to find purchase. I dropped to my knees at the gate’s edge, reaching back down through it to rip at his leather jacket, grunting as I pulled him through, Robin rushed to my side and with our combined strength – and a move that defied gravity – Eddie tumbled through the opening as his sneakers kicked him free of the mushy casing.

Eddie fell against my chest as he swiped at his jacket, breathing heavily as he swept away the slimy pieces that clung to him like they were spider webs. His jaw slackened and his eyes blew wide as a groaning crack of thunder, almost animal like, battled overhead, a blood red flash of lightening danced behind the clouds as it doused everything around us in the same angry glow as the gate.

The Upside Down

An alternate dimension that mirrors our world — or at least our world if it was a toxic hellscape overrun with creepy, moving vines, filled with murderous creatures linked together in a hive mind system, and was riddled with electrical storms.

It was a barren landscape filled with dangerous flora and fauna that thrived in the upside down, peppered with toxic vines and crawling with monsters. It was a damaged image of our world, containing the same locations and infrastructures as 1986 Hawkins, but much darker, colder and obscured by an omnipresent fog, while ash-like spores drifted through the air around us. It harboured the kind of silence that told me it was devoid of human life, instead being overrun by ropy, root-like vines, tendrils and biological membranes that covered practically every surface that I could see.

Nancy jumped over a thick pile of writhing vines that curled in on themselves like snakes, running without stopping to take a breath as Steve’s screams cut out over the thunder.

The fear set in as dark, sharp shapes dipped and dived through the air, one of its long tails shot out and wrapped around Steve’s neck, jerking him onto his back as the duplicate oar he was swinging around as a weapon, slipped through his fingers.

We were close enough now, hurtling over the cracked floor of Lover’s lake, to hear the wet, fleshy sounds as two more of the airborne creatures landed besides Steve and tore into the sides of his stomach, a row of hundreds of razor sharp teeth flashed in the dim light as they opened their wide mouths and buried themselves against him, dancing out of the way from his smacks that grew feebler, his strength slipping away as the sharp tail tightened around his neck.

Nancy’s scream of no mixed in with Steve’s gasps as his lips turned blue, swiping up the oar and slamming it against the creature – now that I was up close, grabbing my own wooden weapon, it resembled some kind of deformed bat, it’s mouth eerily similar to Demogorgon.

The Demobat squealed like a kicked dog as it flew away, narrowly avoiding Nancy second hit as she smashed the other one still chewing away at Steve’s flesh.

“Y/n quick hold it!” I slammed my foot down against the tail wrapped around his neck, paralysing fear shooting through me as his lips turned blue and everyone’s screams mixed together. I leant back as it’s needles for teeth narrowly missed my leg, Robin hurtled to my side as she slammed her flashlight against it, yelling for it to get off as Nancy pummelled it with her oar.

Eddie voice strangled as he yelled out a chant of ‘Kill it Kill it’, trailing off as the sky roared overhead and he spun around, lifting his weapon up as the sky darkened and more deathly shapes appeared hurtling straight for us.

“Eddie no.” My shout bit off into a scream as Eddie’s yell of warning fell on deaf ears. I was knocked to the ground as bat blindsided me, clawing onto my back and pinning it down with its weight as it’s hot breath growled into my ear, wet slim dripped down my spine as Robin screamed manically, grabbing a hold of it with her bare hands and pulling me with the creature as she tried to trip it off my skin.

I screamed out for Eddie as a bat flew down, it’s claws outstretched and angled for him as he barely spun around in time, his oar connecting with it in a wet crunch as the wood splintered into shards. He swore as he tried to reach for me, another screeching creature flying between us until he impaled it on the sharp end of the stick he held, stabbing it against the ground until it’s wings crumpled and it stopped flailing.

I watched through tears as Steve chomped down on the bat with its tail still wrapped around his neck, crying as the one ripping shreds into my back took what felt like a thousand strands of hair with it as Nancy grabbed a hold of it with Robin and pulled it from me, slamming it against the ground as it struggled to fly away before Nancy put her oar straight through the belly of it.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air as squeals pounded down beside me. Steve slammed the bat against the cracked, dry lake bed as the bones of the creature shattered, blood spurted across my face, drenching my already wet hair as Steve stomped on the bat, pinning it to the ground as he pulled its tail with all of his strength, tearing it in two.

Eddie tossed what remained of his weapon away, yelling every swear word he knew as Nancy rushed to Steve’s side, a red bolt of lightning cracked overhead as he tossed the bat’s body away.

“Jesus H. Christ.” Eddie stomped his feet in a classic tantrum before he noticed me curled over, speeding to my side as I wrapped my arm around my middle and couched up a stream of blood. His soft hands wrapped around my elbow as he pulled me to my feet, cupping the sides of my face as his eyes searched mine.

“What?” I spluttered in surprise as he bit back a small smile.

“Nothing baby… you just look… uh really metal.” I felt the blood of the bat drip over my parted lip as it curled into a grin, the raw wounds on my back stinging brought tears to my eyes.

“Are you okay?” Nancy voice was breathless and urgent as her hands rested lightly on Steve’s shoulder.

“Well they took about a pound of flesh.” He turned so we could all see the gaping, ragged red holes edged in the shape of the bats teeth.

“But other than that, yeah, never better.” Steve shook his head as I hobbled over to him, letting Eddie take most of my weight as he slung my arm over his shoulder.

“It’s okay Harrington, I’m sure the ladies will really dig those scars.” I lightly punched him on his arm as Nancy dropped her eyes, spinning away as I smiled and squeezed Steve, pulling him in for a bloodied hug as I mumbled that I was glad he was okay.

“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?” Robins flashlight shook as her hand trembled, prodding at the open body of the bat that Steve had demolished.

“What?” Steve shook his incuriously as the Nancy and I sighed, Eddie’s face flashed in worry like he completely agreed with Robins fear.

“Robin I think we have bigger problems than Rabies right now.” I snapped, gripping Eddie’s arm as my head swam.

“It’s just that rabies are, like my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once the symptoms set in, it’s too late. You’re already dead.” The short wet strands of her hair twisted around the base of her neck as she cocked her brows questioningly.

There was a beat of heavy silence, mostly picking at Robins naiveness before we all flinched. A handful of bats fluttered to the ground as Robin shot to my side and Eddie’s arm tightened around me, unconsciously moving closer together as the creatures snapped their mouths at us.

“Alright. There’s not that many.” The bats screeched in union, laughing at Steve’s words.

“We can take them.” We all shot Steve a doubtful look.

The chittering chorus of a hundred more creatures like the few we had barely survived fighting off, screeched in the near off distance as a flash of red illuminated the heavy swarm of them flying straight for us.

“You were saying?” Robin scoffed.

“The woods, come on.” Nancy pawed at Steve’s arm, turning towards the dead forest at the edge of the drained lake bed.

We didn’t stop to talk before we gasped and took off, Eddie linked his fingers through mine as Nancy sped in the lead and Robin sighed, muttering something about ‘more running’.

Our pace was slower as we jumped and side stepped the black tendrils that curled around our feet, bringing our shirts up to cover our faces as the white, toxic spores billowed around us, filling our throats as we choked on the air we couldn't avoid.

The combined screaming was deafening as the swarm roared overhead, the bats slamming into each other as the red lightening ducked and weaved between them, listening to the chittering of their teeth that was strong enough to tear through human flesh. I clutched Eddie’s arm tighter to me as the clap of thunder had all five of us, everyone with the same look of fear on our faces, cowering back against the safety of the upside down version of Skull rock.

“Oh… okay. That was close.” Robin stumbled to her feet as the mass of bats disappeared into the clouds, my eardrums throbbing as a certain silence fell around us again.

“Yeah, too close.” Eddie’s voice broke as he reached back to me, helping me to my feet as I brushed the dirt away from my jeans.

“Oh sh… shit.” Steve’s arm scraped against the rock face as he collapsed against it.

“Steve? Jesus.” Nancy rushed to his side before any of us could, Steve’s face paled as he gasped for air, swallowing his pain with a grimace.

“I’m fine.” He argued, waving Nancy off as her hands fluttered effortlessly around him.

“No, no, no. You’re not. You’re losing blood. Come on, sit okay?” She held onto his shoulders as Steve collapsed to his knees, cringing in agony as both Robin and I crouched besides Nancy, Eddie hovered behind us, wringing his hands as Steve cried out.

We all bit back groans as Steve’s hands moved away from the haggard wounds at his sides, his hands coming away bloody.

“Uh okay, so that good news is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies.” Robin started rattling off at lightning speed, as she always did when she panicked.

“But um, if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive like you wanna punch me, let me know.” Steve’s eyes met mine as we shared a smile over her usual antics.

“Robin, I love you. But shut up.” I raised my brows at her as I nodded at where Steve had thrown his head back, groaning.

“Robin?” Steve grunted, panting as he opened his eyes at her.

“Yeah?” She sighed, gripping onto Steve’s arm as she waited.

“I kind of wanna punch you.” I laughed along with Robin as I turned to Nancy, helping her tear away at her pants as she ripped shreds from them to form makeshifts bandages.

“Sense of humours still intact. That’s a good sign.” Robin grinned, shaking her head. I held the fabric taught for Nancy as she tore the rest of it out from behind her, holding it up to Steve.

“You ready?” Her glance was apologetic as he leant up from his heels. Robin pinched at my elbow, tugging me to my feet as we gave them some space.

“Yeah. Just do it.” Steve bit back a cry as she wrapped it around the wounds, the blood seeping through it almost instantly as he tossed his head back, running his hands through his hair as his chest shuddered.

“Too tight?” Nancy asked, glancing up at him shyly.

“No, that’s good.” Steve shook his head.

Robin caught my eye as we watched the tension fly between the two ex-lovers and I had to hide my smile, my own confused thoughts reflecting in her face as Eddie stood between us, his face screwed up as I noticed and pulled him away before he could say something that would embarrass all of us.

“All right.” Nancy sighed, tying the strips of cloth together.

“Thanks” Steve breathed.

Eddie’s brows raised at me in a question, a smirk playing around the corner of his lips.

“Don’t ask.” I whispered, bringing my hand around the nape of his neck as I pulled him in close to me, burying my head against his chest. Eddie hissed a beath between his teeth as my hands moved up under his jacket, slipping against something wet and I pulled back to look at him accusingly.

“Take your shirt off.” Robin shot me a wild look as she kicked rocks, Eddie laughed as he looked around embarrassed.

“Right now? In front of everyone?” His eyes gleamed, waiting for me to laugh but I just shook my head. I shoved him over towards the rocks across from us as I jogged back over to Nancy.

“Can I use some of this?” I waved down at the pile of cloth bundled between her and Steve, she nodded and didn’t look up at me, lost in their own world.

Robins eyes followed us as I herded Eddie around the rock formation, holding my grumpy expression in place as I tugged at the hem of his shirt. Eddie slipped his jacket off as he tried to keep his face calm, his eyes on mine as I bit back to rise in my throat. He had deep claw marks just below his clavicle, not as deep as Steve’s but still enough to make my stomach roll.

“Why didn’t you say something?” I snapped, glancing up at his guarded eyes as he watched me work away at his wounds, pinching away the embedded fabric as I chewed down on my cheek, hating every gasp of pain that escaped him.

“You got hurt as well, you weren’t complaining.” He glanced away as I paused, staring up at his jaw.

Eddie was trying to be brave

My heart clenched with the need to protect him, not wanting him to be in a situation where he felt like he had to be brave. I shrugged his words off, being gentler as I wrapped the bandage around his back.

“I lost a chunk of hair and got a knock to the head. The scratches on my back aren’t anywhere as bad as this, must have been a smaller one that came after me.” I smiled as Eddie wrapped his hand around my wrist, holding my hand against his beating heart as its pace picked up. Warmth swirled around us as his eyes dropped to my lips, his own curling up into a smirk.

“I didn’t think we’d be back in this position so soon.” He nodded to the natural rock seat I had him pressed against, his grip tightening around me as my thoughts flashed to this morning when he’d had me bent over it.

“Behave.” I grinned, unable to keep my voice steady as he ducked his head, glancing up at me through his lashes.

“Thank you for taking care of me.” He lurched forward to press his lips against my forehead as Robin’s voice rang out, annoyance clouding it.

“Yo love birds, I don’t want a repeat of earlier so cut it out or I will find a hose.” Her face was serious as Eddie slid his shirt back on and we walked back out into the open, meeting Nancy and Steve halfway. Eddie disappeared from my side as he climbed the angled rock, pressing his hands on his hips as he reached the top and straightened up to stare out into the forest of dead trees.

“So uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” Dark shadows bounced along the lines of Eddie’s face as he slowly turned to face us.

“Pretty much.” I nodded, crossing my arms over myself as I glanced around.

“Wait watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.” Nancy dropped her grip around Steve, letting him slouch against the boulder as she shot forward, holding her hand out towards Eddie as he froze.

“It’s all a what?” Eddie gulped, flexing his fingers as he glanced down in panic at his feet.

“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They’re like one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” Steve grunted as he waved his hands around at all the decaying, moving parts of the Upside down around us. Every single part of it apart of Vecna.

“Shit.” Eddie swallowed hard as he took careful steps back down the rock, waving a cluster of white spores away from his face.

“But everything from our world is still here right? Except, people, obviously?” Robins curious glanced fluttered between Nancy and Steve’s faces as I waited for Eddie at the bottom of the rock, reaching out to steady him as he jumped the last few steps.

“As far as I understand it, yeah.” Nancy nodded.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.” Robin pointed around at us in earnest.

“I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But uh guns, yeah sure.” Steve rolled his eyes but I dropped my hand from around Eddie’s arm, spinning back to face them.

“No, that’s actually not a bad idea.” Robin smiled at my support as my eyes slid to Nancy’s.

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns, in my bedroom.” Nancy looked abashed for the first time as we all stared at her incredulity, Eddie scoffed beside me as his jaw slackened.

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural. In your bedroom?” Eddie’s eyes bulged in his skull, staring without shame at Nancy as she sighed.

“Full of surprises isn’t she?” Robin nodded, clasping her hands together as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” Nancy clarified, sensing that Eddie didn’t believe her.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” Steve slid up beside her, looking at a little better as he bent closer to Nancy and grinned.

“You almost deserved it.” Even I dropped my eyes at her sultry tone, glancing back up as Eddie’s arms jostled beside me as he pegged his vest at Steve’s chest, sending him hurtling back a few paces.

“For your modesty dude.” Eddie cocked his head and Robin and I shared a laugh, glad that Eddie was up fed up with their flirting the same as we were.

The ground split apart beneath our feet, shaking into our bones as an earthquake thundered beneath us. I grunted as Robin tumbled into me, sending us both flying into Eddie’s open arms as we fell to the ground, holding onto each other for dear life. The dead branches snapped from hollow tree trunks as the air around us blurred, rumbling so violently that it rattled my teeth together.

Chipped rocks clattered around as the ground froze, our heavy breaths panted together as Eddie wrapped his arms around me, holding both Robin and I to his chest as we sat up, peering around as we shivered around in fear and the baying of some hidden monstrosities screeched around us, sending goosebumps along my skin.

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.” Eddie’s pupils were blown so wide his eyes were almost entirely black, I nodded as I glanced up at him from where I was pressed against his shoulder.

“Yeah, me to.” I gasped. The ground settled as everyone caught their breath, Eddie rubbed at his knees from where he’d fallen onto sharp rocks, shaking his head with a small smile as I reached for it with a pout on my lips.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve slid Eddie’s vest on, clicking on the flashlight that he’d somehow managed to keep a hold of, strutting past us as we scrambled to our feet.

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