#ive learned too much from those replies
Text
Colour My Mind, Bring Me Back
Chapter IV: Duty I Series Masterlist Aemond Targaryen x Lannister!wife
Summary: Prince Regent Aemond Targaryen returns to King’s Landing victorious after besting his uncle during The Battle Above the Gods Eye, securing his withering brother's claim to the Iron Throne. Upon his arrival, he learns that his wife was a casualty of a Black ambush, suffering a severe blow to her skull.
Warnings: 18+, MDNI. AFAB reader, she/her pronouns (3rd person), angst, canon divergence (Aemond survives), war trauma, depictions of violence, head injury, amnesia, ableism, medieval medicinal practices, longing, yearning, eventual smut, period-typical sexism, brief discussions of brothels and Aemond’s 13th name day
Word Count: 3300
The next day, her lonesome morning is disrupted by the intrusion of a loud, curt knock. She’s momentarily stunned, wide eyes observing her husband’s tall frame as he enters, offering a barely visible nod before joining her by the window overlooking Blackwater Bay.
“Lord Husband”, she says, inwardly searching for the proper way to address his sudden appearance. Should she thank him for joining her? Let him know that she’s grateful for his presence?
Would he know that it wouldn’t be sincere?
Aemond silently reaches for a piece of dark bread, breaking the silence before she’s made up her mind, “Grand Maester Orwyle suggested I spend more time with you. To help you remember”
His statement does not ease her stunned demeanour.
“That is very kind of you, my prince”, she replies, the words tumbling out of her mouth.
That is how a well-versed lady would respond to her husband, is it not?
“Hm. There is no need for you to be so formal when it’s merely the two of us”, he looks at her as if he’s searching for something in her face.
In her eyes.
“Call me Aemond”
She nods, unsure if she’s got the skills to pull off such a request. Calling him by his name demands some familiarity, a feeling she does not associate with the stoic man sitting across from her.
A not entirely unnatural silence settles between them as they eat. Lady Lannister’s gaze is fixated on the waves crashing outside, the predictable motion soothing her inner unease.
“What have they told you about yourself?”
Again, her husband surprises her with his unexpected behaviour. .
She chews the piece of cheese in her mouth slowly, pondering the contradicting statements she’s heard about herself. She hasn’t been told much of substance; mostly she’s been informed of her role at court, what is expected of her, how a noble lady like her should conduct herself.
She still knows little about her own desires. How had she spent her time before the war? How was her upbringing in the Capital? What was her wedding like?
She dares not ask him, his volatile mood too fragile.
“Not much”, she answers truthfully, “I’m afraid few people here knew me before”
The war, the sudden shift in ruling, and the riots had led to countless deaths within the Red Keep. Servants had fled overnight, snatching whatever they could get their hands on from the royal family before escaping the violent centre of the conflict. She knew that those who had been closest to her were targets for the Blacks, and understood their rash decision of leaving their livelihood in lieu of something safer beyond the walls of the Keep.
“What would you like to know?”
She’s reminded of the fact that she’d already tried to ask him about herself before. Then, his sharp features had hardened as she requested his help in reminiscing. Her eyes flicker to his, searching for the same harsh reflection of disdain. This time, the lilac hue appears softer. There’s still something uninviting that greets her, but it’s more akin to the gaze of a wounded animal.
“How did I spend my time in the Keep before the war?”
Her voice falters slightly, heart beating faster in her chest as she feels a rush of horrifying excitement coarse through her being. In all truth, she finds conversing with the prince terrifying, and asking him such a forward question, be it on his request, causes the unease within her to run amok.
The right corner of Aemond’s lips twitch upward, eye travelling across her face as he almost appears amused, “You enjoy reading-”
Her posture straightens, ears alert.
Finally!
“- we both do”, he says, fingers idly picking apart the piece of bread he hadn’t finished yet, “You’re also quite fond of embroidery”
“We’ve spent many evenings reading by the hearth”, his eye move to the still unlit fireplace only a few paces from where they sit, “You’re quite restless”, he quips stiffly, lips curving into a faint smirk.
She remains quiet, keeping her attention on him in a silent request for more. The lack of knowledge she has of her own past causes her to crave any droplet of information provided, even if it is sparsely distributed by her lord husband.
“I usually read by the fire-”, he says, nodding his head towards the chair of dark wood facing the hearth, “-you used to join me. Indecisive over whether you’d prefer to read or embroider, you’d ask me to read to you while you did the latter”
“And where did I sit, your grace?”
“Please, call me Aemond”, he reminds her.
“You-, you like to sit on the floor, um, by my feet”, he looks a bit uncomfortable and seems to ponder whether he should continue before he adds, “or on my lap”
The following days fall into the same pattern. As Lady Lannister breaks her fast, her husband joins her.
Their mornings start in silence, and she finds it hard to engage him in discussion.
To her, Prince Aemond is still shrouded in mystery, despite their increasing encounters. He’s told her a bit about their shared childhood, yet she cannot picture a scenery where the two of them coexist in comfort. The tension between them does not allow her imagination much freedom.
Perhaps he’s not telling the truth?
Perhaps we were always soaked in hostility?
This is the fourth morning they spend together. Though she’d assumed her queries would offend the prince, he diligently came back, a reminder to her that she did not know him after all. For a man that’s visibly bursting with pride, straight posture and rigid leathers appearing almost comical in front of her robe-clad softness, his ego is not so easily bruised by her vapid inquiries.
Still, the hard look on his face and the suspicious glint in his seeing eye steal all the courage from her lungs.
Inhaling deeply, she clings to the little bravery still within her and breaks the silence, “Would his grace allow me to indulge him in a few queries this morning as well?”
No matter how hard she tries to act the part of a prince’s wife, the words sound clumsy as they fall from her lips. Aemond locks eyes with her from across the narrow table, an agreeable hum vibrating behind his closed lips.
“Did we spend many days together as children?”
His eye narrows.
“You truly do not know?”
Her face heats up again, as it does so often when she feels moronic.
No, I do not.
She’s sure the melancholy she feels inside spills out over her features, gaze persistently meeting the prince. She cannot plead with her words, she wouldn’t dare. But she hopes the sincerity in her eyes convey what she desires.
Tell me.
Aemond’s harsh edges ease.
“We did. When you arrived here with your father, I was bedridden”, he explains, stiff posture reclining against the backrest, “T’was a few weeks after I lost my eye”
A chill, like a winter’s breeze, runs through her. She’s heard of how her husband lost his eye, in a vile fight with his nephews and cousins. It was Lucerys who took it, and in retaliation, Aemond took his life.
Any further details are unknown to her, and she is unsure if she’d truly want to know more of her husband's cruel sense of justice.
“I spent my days and sparse vigour teaching myself how to read again. After I lost my eye, I could not look at a tome for long before my head ached”, he elaborates, observing her reaction closely. She nods in understanding, urging him to continue.
“We first met in the library. I had managed to escape the confines of my dark quarters, and you were exploring your new home-”, he takes a break, sipping the hot, fragrant tea she’d offered him when he sat down to join her.
“-you were eager to make friends. The harsh, bright sunlight in the library proved too much for my damaged state to handle, and I fell ill with an acute headache”
He looks at her as if inviting her to reminisce with him, searching her face for recognition.
“When I came to, I had been carried back to my chambers by a Kingsguard, the tome I had wanted left on my bedside table. I knew it was you who left it there”
For the first time in the prince’s presence, she feels a warming comfort spread inside her chest. His low voice sounds soothing; almost familiar. The rays of sunshine reflecting against the window next to where he sits cast light upon him in a way that makes it appear as if his skin glimmers.
Observing him, she feels nostalgic. The abrupt spark of fondness for her husband grows into something slightly painful; a dull ache in her heart.
Why is solely a glimpse of the love they shared accompanied by pain?
Silently observing each other, a tension she cannot explain settles over the table, making her question whether their dynamic might change permanently. He appears to be in pain too, wide eye aching for-
The spell cast upon their morning is abruptly broken by Grand Maester Orwyle as he enters with Maester Alfador in tow for the daily treatment of Lady Lannister.
Aemond stands swiftly, throwing his wife a quick nod and excuses himself. He goes straight to Orwyle, leaning in to speak directly into the old man's ear. He hums in understanding, motioning for Aemond to join him as he steps away from Maester Alfador. Despite his low volume, her trained ears hear him.
“...anything could break him. He is far too fragile for a man of four and twenty”
“Hm. Far too fragile for a king”, her husband responds and heads for the door. Was he shocked by his brother’s weak state? Or vexed by it?
Grand Maester Orwyle approaches her with a weary smile, surely exhausted by the many demands following a civil war, “Lady Lannister”
“Grand Maester”
“How are you faring today?”
“I feel vigorous, like I do most mornings”, she answers with a smile, comforted by the assured aura enveloping the man before her, “I asked his grace to tell me about our shared youth. Sadly, I could not recall the memory he spoke of”
His hazel eyes look at her with pity, “‘Tis to be expected”
He helps her up from the chair, takes her hand in his and leads her across the room to her bed where she diligently lies down.
“Like you, Prince Aemond’s mind is not what it was before the war. I’ve asked him to be patient with you, and I’d ask you to be patient with him as well”
She remains silent, temporarily stunned by the Maester’s words.
Have I not been patient with him?
I have done everything expected of me to the best of my ability.
Noticing her inner contemplation, he allows her a moment to gather her thoughts as he waves his hand at Maester Alfador, beckoning him to pick up the tray of leeches and bring them over.
He gently places the first black creature on the meat of her right thigh, “He’s told me that he sometimes questions what is real and what is not. Like you, his battle wounds are far greater on the inside than on the body”
Picking up another leech, he delicately places it on the smooth inside of her upper arm, “I know this is a difficult time for the two of you, but we cannot forgo the duty you both have towards House Targaryen”
He lets his palm down to rest on her arm reassuringly, meets her eyes and states with gravity, “I have advised Prince Aemond to share your bed from tonight onwards”
It plagues her mind all day. She’s unable to eat more than a few bites, unable to read and getting lost in the imaginary world she so desperately wishes to escape to. All she’s rendered capable of is feeling.
Feeling the stone of dread grown in her belly; swallowing everything in its path.
When her maids leave her for the night, she stands before the mirror of her vanity, freshly bathed and dressed in a light sleeping gown with delicate embroidery lining the sides.
With her hair still shining from the oils in her bath and cascading down her back, she looks the part of a noble lady. And though she may not feel like one, she tries her hardest to convince her surroundings of her elevated status. So far the charade seems fruitful. But will it be once she’s alone with her husband, expected to perform a duty she scarcely understands the depths of.
Frustrated by her own inadequacy, she moves to the bed, laying down and closing her eyes tightly.
If she concentrates hard enough, perhaps she’d be able to remember how it was like to lay with him.
What did it feel like?
How did he act?
What did I feel for him?
She lays there waiting, unsure of how much time has passed before the door to her chambers open quietly.
The fretfulness travelling across her body makes her unable to open her eyes, and for a moment she ponders whether she should feign slumber.
The bed dips next to her. She knows what needs to happen, it is their duty.
“Lord husband”, she whispers, turning to the side and opening her eyes to greet him. He’s laying on his back, hands clasped over his waist, observing the canopy. She’s never seen him not dressed in dark leather before, at least not that she can remember. He’s wearing soft, tan breeches and a light, cream-coloured tunic, appearing much softer than he usually does.
“Please, make yourself comfortable”, she says nervously, eyes darting to the eyepatch still obscuring his damaged eye. She wonders if he always keeps it on when sleeping, or if he’s doing her a courtesy.
“I assumed you’d be asleep”, is all he replies, gaze staying on the ceiling.
“I-, I know that we must honour House Targaryen and perform our duty as husband and wife”
Again, the words she chooses so carefully topple from her lips in an ungraceful rush. She bites her lower lip, punishing her mouth for not cooperating.
Aemond turns his head to observe her, eye travelling from her face to her exposed arm, inspecting the small wound, a remnant of the bloodletting she endured earlier.
Attempting intimacy, she moves her hand to gently touch his, fingers grazing over his knuckles. He’s still but does not recoil, allowing her to trace small circles on the protruding bones.
“How would you like me?”
He answers her question by extending an arm, grasping her hand and pulling her closer to him. The sudden movement makes unease wash over her and she feels herself go stiff, laying in the prince’s arms rigidly. He moves his face towards her, lowering it into her hair and sucks in a breath that sounds agonised.
Does he wish to take me like this? How can he enter me if he’s not on top of me?
She dares not ask more, confused by her husband’s sudden antics. Did he wish to stay like this and simply hold her?
He stuns her again by softly speaking into her hair,
“On my 13th nameday, my older brother brought me to the Street of Silk. “Time to get it wet”, he said, paying one of his favourite whores a generous amount to make me a man. He thought I needed teaching in the arts of pleasure”
Why is he telling me this?
“The room was crowded; whores and patrons in every corner. I had heard of the act, but did not fully know what was expected of me”
Oh.
“Aegon has visited pleasure houses since he was old enough to know they existed. He wanted me to be as… educated as he was”
Lady Lannister bites down on her lip hard enough to taste iron, nails digging into her palms.
He wishes for me to get educated as well.
Her belly tightens painfully at the thought of having to visit such a place. If the prince wishes to visit the Street of Silk in his freetime then she won’t have much say. But she does not wish to undergo an education in a brothel simply to please her husband.
Aemond leans back, looking at her with the same searching gaze she recognised from when they were breaking their fast.
In a matter of moments, his eye hardens, and she knows it’s from how unagreeable she appears, unable to heed his request.
Without warning, the prince moves away from her, quickly standing and making way for the door to the adjacent room she knows he usually occupies. He disappears inside and the last thing Lady Lannister hears is the sound of a heavy piece of wood barring the door.
Disgust.
She would never look at him with disgust.
He brings his hand up to pull off his eyepatch, tossing it on the desk he so often occupies before running his hand over his face.
Is it truly her?
Everyone tells him he is mad for not believing her. But if they’d seen what he had, they would not dare to be so assured. He’d witnessed visions in fires, he’d seen men lose all their senses on the battlefield.
Was it truly impossible for an enemy to pose as his wife?
Doubt seeps into his mind, clouding his judgement. He brings his hands to rest on the wooden surface of his writing desk, grounding himself before being consumed by delusions.
It must be her.
Grand Maester Orwyle had assured him. He’d asked several witnesses to retell the events of the ambush, all giving him the same account.
He knows it must be her.
Still, he cannot comprehend it. He cannot accept the fact that she looks at him as if he were a stranger. As if they hadn’t shared the last 10 years, leaving childhood together, maturing side by side.
Every time he encounters her, he reaches the same realisation.
His wife is gone. Yet he’s not allowed to mourn her, for she is still here.
When he held her, she was as soft as always. Her hair smelled as it always did.
If not for her eyes, he could have been fooled.
He opens the top drawer of the desk, hand finding the piece of paper without him having to look. He sits down and unfolds it; the paper has started to turn yellow and the edges are fraying.
He knows it by heart, yet reads it as carefully as he had when he received it months ago.
She still exists here, on paper. She’ll always remain here.
A drop falls from his eyelashes, landing on the worn letter, causing the dried ink to bleed out over the page as it liquifies. Aemond panics, fingers grazing over the paper, fingertips moving down carefully to pat the wetness away. He tries to be as gentle as he can despite self-loathing burning in his chest, demanding his movements to turn aggressive.
Despite his efforts, half a sentence is smudged.
Half a sentence is no longer there and he’ll never forgive himself. He pushes his chair back with a loud creak, removing his destructive emotional state from the frail remainder of his wife. Lost in his grief, he hadn’t even registered the tears forming in his eye.
How could he be so reckless?
‘Tis all that remains
A/N: This is a bit of a ‘filler’ chapters, setting the scene for the next one! Hope you enjoyed it~ 🩵
Everything taglist: @humanpurposes @theoneeyedprince @valeskafics
Aemond taglist: @moonlightfoxx @iloveallmyboys @violetletovi
#aemond targaryen x reader#prince aemond targaryen#aemond targaryen smut#aemond targaryen#aemond targaryen x you#dark aemond targaryen#aemond targaryen imagine#aemond x reader#aemond x you#aemond x fem!reader#aemond targaryen smut#aemond targaryen drabble#aemond fanfiction#aemond fic#house of the dragon fanfic#hotd fanfic#aemond stannies#aemond x oc#aemond targaryen x oc#prince aemond
452 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Shoebox Problem
A/n: For @call-me-coley . Thank you for talking through ideas with me @yes-i-am-happyaspie .
December was a busy month for Tony Stark. With the holidays on the horizon, the hero planned multiple galas and charity events. At least once a week balls were attended by Tony. Sometimes the man went by himself. Other times, Pepper would join him. Even Peter accompanied him once or twice.
Only those closest to him knew the real reason he made an extensive amount of plans during the winter month. As a distraction from his parents’ deaths.
But that’s neither here nor there. This story is about the shoebox problem. Underneath Tony’s tree were dozens of gifts. Every one about the size of a shoebox. And they were all addressed to the same person: Peter Parker.
Tony was overjoyed to learn Peter and May would be spending Christmas with Pepper and himself. The holiday was usually a lonely one for the billionaire. Sure, Pepper would spend the day with him. But while she received calls from her extended family wishing her “Merry Christmas,” Tony’s phone remained silent.
But this year would be different. With Peter and May Parker keeping the man company, there’s no way he could possibly feel lonely.
So when his phone rang with Peter’s contact, his heart skipped a beat. Did something come up? Did they have to cancel. Tony hesitantly answered it.
“Hello?”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed. Through the receiver, Tony could hear the boy coughing.
“Merry Christmas Peter,” Tony replied. “What time are you and May coming over?”
“Actually…” the boy trailed off and Tony’s anxieties began to return full force. Of course, spending Christmas with his mentee was too good to be true.
But the boy’s sentence surprised him. “I’m downstairs…”
“Downstairs?” Tony asked. It didn’t take him long to realize exactly what Peter was implying when he said “downstairs.” The teen had a tendency to end up in Medbay. Tony sighed, “What did you do this time?”
“Nothing,” Peter replied, before breaking into a coughing fit. “I have the flu.”
Tony frowned. He then looked back at the tree with dozens of boxes under it. Even if the boy was in Medbay, he could still make his Christmas a good one.
“I’ll be right there.”
Tony entered Avenger’s Medbay about half an hour later. He was carrying a few boxes in his hands. Peter gave the man a wary smile, despite being in the sterile hospital room.
“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter greeted. “Thank you for the gifts… you really didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Tony replies. “There’s more than this.”
Peter’s eyes widen. And this is where the shoebox problem comes in.
About a month before the holiday, Tony asked Peter what he wanted for Christmas. Peter replied nothing big. “Think shoebox sized,” he said specifically. But that’s the only limitation the boy set. He didn’t give Tony a price limit. Nor a limit on the gifts themselves.
So that’s how Tony ended up carrying a pile of medium sized gifts into Peter’s hospital room.
“Mr. Stark…” Peter frowns. A shiver wracks his body and he pulls the sheet closer to himself. “How much did you spend on me…?”
“Nothing is bigger than a shoebox,” Tony deflected. And Peter could only sigh. The man had a point.
Seeing Peter’s defeat, Tony handed him a gift to open. It took him longer than usual due to the IV in his left arm, but he eventually got it open nonetheless.
Peter raised a brow, “I thought I said nothing big-“
“Nuh uh-uh,” Tony quickly could Peter off. “It’s shoebox sized.”
And unfortunately, the man was right. “Thank you for the Switch, Mr. Stark…”
Tony beamed, “Ready for the next one?”
Peter nodded and let Tony continue to hand him gifts. The boy realized he probably should’ve given Tony a gift limit. He definitely should’ve given Tony a price limit. Because he’d ended up with a new phone, new watch, tickets to Disneyland, tickets to Hamilton, video games for his Switch, and multiple gift cards.
“Okay buddy,” Tony handed a gift to Peter. “Last one.”
Peter opened it to see a teddy bear dressed in a little Iron Man suit. The boy beamed. “He’s my favorite!”
Tony chuckled. “Really? It was a gag gift,”
“It’s you,” Peter replied. “You’re my favorite,”
“Oh…” Tony glanced back at the sickly boy. He was ignoring his games and new phone to cuddle with a cheap teddybear that was dressed as his mentor.
The boy let out a yawn and placed his head on the pillow. The iron man teddy in his arms. “Thanks for the gifts,” Peter murmurs. “Merry Christmas, Dad.”
Tony’s heart skipped a beat. Peter called him “dad.” The man placed a kiss on the boy’s forehead as he drifted off to sleep. “Merry Christmas.”
#iron man#irondad#peter parker#tony stark#irondad and spiderson#spiderson#irondad prompts#spider man#irondad and spiderson prompts#spiderson prompts#sickfic prompts#sickfic#irondad fic#irondad & spiderson fic#christmas
147 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi! I really enjoy your writing!
I'm in my Michael Kaiser phase rn and was wondering if I could request something fluffy of him doing reader's makeup so that they match! Idk I feel like it'd be cute istg
Thank you sm in advance if you decide to write this! 💙💙💙
hi again :) im glad u like my writing <3 ive been wanting to write more for kaiser so i’m glad u requested him lol anyways ty for the request as always 🫶🫶 hope u enjoy
character: kaiser
“why are you looking at me like that?” kaiser asked, eyesbrows scrunched as his lips contorted into a frown. he had spun around, about to lift you onto the bathroom counter because that’s where he usually did his eye makeup, but stopped when he saw your sour expression.
“micheal…you’re not going to take a picture of this just to rub in your teammate’s face…are you?” you asked, arms crossing as your sour look turned more stern. you already knew the answer when his judgmental expression turned blank, almost shocked at how you knew exactly what he wanted to do.
“those assholes deserve to know i’m living a better life.” he claimed, eyes narrowing at the thought of his hated teammates. you could only sigh at his antics, leaning against the bathroom door frame as you thought of last time he did something like this.
“micheal, you went too far the last time. you can’t keep doing this, you know.” his mouth immediately opened, about to fight back, which you shut down instantly. “‘hope some fuckers learn to live as good as me.’ is not what people want to see in a caption of their favorite striker, kaiser.” he sighed at the last name.
“i heard enough of it from my manager,” he sighs, opening his arms for you to fill in the space before his hands slid down to your thighs, giving a small pinch along the way that made you jump. “i won’t caption anything this time.” he states before lifting you up by your thighs to set you down on the counter. you both went silent as he pulled out his eyeliner from a drawer, one hand staying on your thigh as he did so.
“don’t you even think about hurting me, micheal.” you warned as he took the cap off the red eyeliner, your thigh feeling much colder as he took away his hand. he finally looked up to meet your eyes, a small smirk on his lips as his unoccupied hand went to cup your cheek, bringing his face nose-to-nose with yours.
“depends on your attitude, mein leibe.” he whispered in a seductive manner, his lips an inch from yours as his eyes stayed glued to yours. you gave a scoff before pushing his chest, used to his games. he gave a low chuckle at the push, placing a peck onto your cheek before retreating to position the eyeliner in his hand better.
“i mean it, micheal.” you warned once more before closing your eyes as you saw him bringing the eyeliner up. you stayed like that for seconds, though it felt like an eternity as you waited for the cool sensation. your wait was disrupted by his lips meeting yours for mere seconds before he pulled away with a chuckle as your eyes shot open.
“you look so pretty waiting for me like that.” he teased, the hand that was once on your cheek falling to give a squeeze to your thigh. before you could even reply his hand flew back up to your cheek, eyeliner brought up once again. “close your eyes again for me, mein leibe.” you could only huff, hating that you had to follow his orders under his grasp, yet closed your eyes anyways.
he did the process flawless, never needing to reach for a makeup remover wipe. “go ahead and open.” is what signaled the end, your eyes fluttering open as you immediately turned to look at yourself in the mirror, a small gasp leaving your lips. you turned back around to see kaiser putting the eyeliner back in the drawer, your hands falling onto his shoulders in a soft caress.
“we really do match,” you mumbled, giddiness clear from your tone and smile. he met your eyes once again, a retort ready to fall off his lips but getting caught in his throat as he finally saw you looking at him with those happy eyes and his famous eye makeup. he instead broke out into a smile of his own, his hands snaking up to your waist before meeting your lips for a deep and lovesick kiss. he pulled away, giving another kiss to your cheek before giving a squeeze to your waist.
“we gotta show that shithead isagi what he can’t have now, let’s take a picture.” what did you expect?
unedited thanks for reading!
#blue lock#blue lock x reader#bllk x reader#bllk#bllk imagines#blue lock imagines#bllk fluff#blue lock fluff#blue lock drabbles#blue lock kaiser#bllk kaiser#kaiser x reader#micheal kaiser
251 notes
·
View notes
Note
hey bookie, just wanted to lyk u write the most toe curling smut ive ever read😻i wish i could write as good as you, like you really capture the image in the readers head!! do u have advice on writing dialogue? like how to make it realistic, how do u find so many good alternatives instead of saying “he said” or “she said” if you know what i mean? i think the word is dialogue tags😭or just writing advice in general, how to not make the smut awkward!
Hello!! First tysm! 🩵
I mean tmi but like I really have to be in a mood to write smut I think that’s why it seems so realistic cause I really imagine that scene in my head as I write it
Another thing like you were saying with he “he said” “she said” is that you learn from trial and error I do a lot of re reading before posting just to make sure it all sounds right and put together so review your writing also if you can lengthen your vocabulary that will help a lot
I don’t have advice on how to do that cause I can just do it naturally but if I had to I’d say just say you’re wanting to use a word but you already used it so you want to use something else like a different variation
Let’s say the word is “sighed” so instead of saying he sighed you could say “he breathed out” “he exhaled a deep breath” he exhaled” or exasperated sigh”
Or it could be like instead of saying “he sighed” you could say
“Heeseung sighed in annoyance”
“heeseung let out an annoyed sigh”
Or
“Sighing in annoyance heeseung replied”
You feel me?
So it’s kinda just using the words backwards almost which helps a lot to not sound like you’re saying the same thing over and over
Here’s another example for words like “and”
So let’s do a quick lil smutty scene
Example 1
Heeseung’s hands traveled down your waist softly squeezing the flesh and his lips met your neck with wet kisses and he sucked on that spot and you knew there would definitely be marks by tomorrow morning
So now let’s get rid of the “and” and make it sound a bit smoother as you read it I like to make paragraphs as seamless as possible and make them a bit longer so the reader can really feel what’s going on and also I don’t use a lot of big words cause we’re reading for entertainment not to Learn💀
Okay now here’s example number 2
Heeseung’s hands slowly made their way to your hips finger tips digging into the soft flesh causing a desperate moan to fall from your lips that still tingled in excitement from his rough kisses just moments prior his soft lips trail open mouthed kisses along the length of your neck as he leaves soft little love bites for you to remember him the morning after
See the difference? It’s not that the first example was so bad but by using a lot of “ands” it makes it feel like you have to stop and start where if you use “as” all the sudden it becomes smooth and seamless
And an alternative to “as” you could use “while”
Example number 3
Heeseung pinned you against the wall a gasp leaving your lips giving him the perfect opening to slip his tongue inside your mouth tangling it with yours as his cold fingers slip underneath your shirt sending chills down your spine his lips roamed every inch of your neck his supple kisses leave you wanting more as you tangle your hands in his hair black hair a groan transfers from his throat to your mouth the room feels hot as his kisses grow hungrier he tightens his grip on your waist making you moan and throw your head back in pleasure causing you to break the kiss but he doesn’t stop too intoxicated by your scent and your feel that his lips need to be on every inch of you your neck being the next best option as he zeros in on your pulse point kissing sucking and leaving marks that you have to cover in the morning
So boom there you have it those are like three different variations and styles of writing pretty much the same scene
So i hope that helps if you have anymore questions I happy to answer them 🩵
#hees-mine questions#heeseung smut#enhypen heeseung smut#enhypen heeseung#enhypen#heeseung#lee heeseung#lee heeseung smut#enhypen smut
49 notes
·
View notes
Note
hiya motts!
i wanted to share a scenario ive been thinking abt lately,, and it's just where you and wanda build a pillow fort together and just snuggle or read books together inside, i honestly think it's pretty cute and cozy & i couldn't stop thinking abt it recently hshshswhs 💞
anw thx for listening! i hope ure havin a great day <33
(also i was also wondering if i could be 🍊 anon by any chance if thats fine with u !)
HELLO IM HERE WITH THE FIC! Thank you lil orange for this adorable little idea and I'm sorry I've taken so long to reply!! Again this is unedited because I started typing words and didn't stop so uhm.. we'll just go with it
words: 1.5k
wanda maximoff x reader; fluff, just some coziness with our fave post-AoU gal, emo Wanda, pillow forts, mentions of HYDRA/Wanda's sad childhood, crushes no one will admit while Pietro plays the background matchmaker
“I can make whatever fort you want in two seconds, you know? I could build it in front of you even…” Wanda trudged down the stairs with more pillows from who knows where, grabbing as many as she could because you’d insisted on maximum pillowy softness, whatever that meant.
You popped out with a gasp, your head poking from under a disorderly pile of blankets and couch cushions. “That’s not fun, Wanda! Doing it ourselves is the only way to go.” Wiggling out from under the mess you’d made in the living room, you took some of the pillows from her… only to dump them in a new pile next to your current one. “Gotta stay organized for the build!”
Wanda huffed at the sight, wondering how you were going to make sense of your building materials, if you could really call them that. She let you pull her along, but as you started placing cushions here and there, Wanda just stood still, admittedly lost on how to even start.
After a few minutes of waiting around, you realized Wanda hadn’t taken even one step and you frowned at her. “It’ll go faster if you help me.”
“I don’t really…” The brunette dropped her eyes to the blankets at her feet, rubbing her arm nervously. She’d never really made blanket forts; they were on TV and she knew the general idea, but growing up orphaned in a war-torn country meant she was lucky if she and Pietro had one single blanket from night to night. With HYDRA, there was no such thing— life was only her cell and the experimentation chamber until she got her powers and once she did, she was watched 24/7, given things to hold only when Strucker was around to instruct her what to do with them. She hadn’t been in America long and after the Ultron incident, she had to keep a low profile which meant going out, making friends, exploring her new surroundings was off limits.
Pietro was great at making friends with his new teammates, gaining their trust quickly, but Wanda had been in their heads and for that they were rightfully wary. Not mean, but she didn’t get invited to outings nearly as much as her twin— being mostly quiet didn’t help, not when she preferred sitting and watching others instead of taking the leap and joining in. For all her powers, an outgoing nature was not one of them; that was always Pietro’s thing. You were his friend first too, hanging out with him at meals and after missions, but unlike most of the others, you talked to her as well. Even if you found her without her silver-haired brother, you still waved at Wanda or sat next to her and asked about her day.
And so she started gravitating towards you as well, seeking you out if she wanted company or a break from Pietro’s non-stop rambling. Sometimes the two of you were silent and others Wanda opened up, asking you questions about your home or teaching you about hers. That’s how you learned just how little she’d had the opportunity to do and when you’d resolved to give her those experiences, no matter how small.
Which is also how you’d become familiar with the look Wanda wore now, unsure and retreating in an attempt not to appear upset or uncomfortable. You weren’t a mind reader, but somehow in your short time together, you’d grown to know her well. “There’s no right way to do it, I promise. Here, you can help me lay the foundation.”
You took her hand and brought her around to the half-constructed ‘foundation,’ a layer of thick couch cushions Wanda recognized from Natasha’s room. “Isn’t she going to miss these?”
“We’re going to give them back. Also, that woman never rests. I doubt she’s ever used that couch,” You shrugged, leaving out the part that this was not your first time taking your teammate’s furniture. Wanda thankfully didn’t argue, instead following your lead and laying out various cushions until it reached out multiple feet from the edge of the couch. “Now, true building begins!”
Wanda helped you arrange stacks of pillows into makeshift walls, drape sheets over sides of the couch, even had the great suggestion of grabbing a long baton from the training room for a true tented feel. She didn’t realize she was smiling until her face hurt, tossing a square pillow at you as you joked about her lopsided drapery skills. “You said there’s no right way! This is my way and I think it looks… just fine!”
“Right right, we’ll see how long it stays up then.” She finally understood what you meant when you said maximum softness as you started throwing pillow after pillow against the floor of the fort, making such a thick place to lay on, Wanda was afraid she’d never want to get up when she sat down.
The two of you took a step back to gaze upon your handiwork and truly, Wanda couldn’t help but feel proud at what she’d done. “Building it ourselves was fun.”
You turned to look at Wanda, her small smile as she looked at the fort making your heart swell. Seeing her happy, even if it was just for an afternoon, was always the highlight of your day especially if it was something you’d done together. “Told you so! The most fun part is enjoying the fruits of our labor though,” You grabbed the snacks the two of you had chosen earlier and ducked under the fort cover, settling in with Wanda right on your heels.
She chose to sit right next to you, close enough that she could promptly lean her head on your shoulder. Thankfully Wanda remembered the remote and the movies you’d planned to watch because as she toggled through the various screens, you were still frozen with the shock of her laying against you. She smelled so sweet, you wanted to cry or hug her or anything to keep her close like this forever. So many weeks ago, Wanda made a passing comment on affection, casually mentioning how she valued physical touch in reminding her loved ones that she cares. When you pointed out how little you’d seen her touch anyone, Wanda’s face instantly fell.
My only family is Pietro and the others, well… I don’t think most of them trust me enough to let me close to them, much less touch or hold their hand.
You’d assured her then you weren’t afraid of her, that you would never shy away from her for something meant to be a kind gesture. She said thank you and that she appreciated your honesty and that was that before she switched to a completely different topic of conversation. Since then, you’d noticed every time Wanda squeezed Pietro’s arm or gave him a hug after returning and while you understood her hesitancy, you found you were a little jealous. You wanted to know what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Wanda’s affection, yearned for it even, but you’d never voice such a thing.
So this, today, whatever resting her head on you meant, you felt as though you could melt right into the floor. Pietro made you swear not to say a word, but learning of how much she talked about you, that she didn’t think you were annoying or pushy, but instead a welcome comfort, was the most pride you’d ever felt in your time being an Avenger. If you could spend the rest of your days showing Wanda your favorite things and helping her find some of her own, you’d be overjoyed.
“Your thoughts are loud again.” Wanda looked at you quizzically, turning her head to search your expression.
“W-What—” She swore not to read anyone’s mind without permission anymore; but she’d told you if someone thought really intensely, she couldn’t help but sense it. Just like hearing a conversation as you walk down the street, it wasn’t something she could stop. This wasn’t the first time Wanda had called you out for your loud brain, mortifying each time you realized your feelings for her were overwhelming again.
She never told you what she could hear, scared you might panic if you were aware she could particularly tell whenever your thoughts uttered her name. It was fine, she could wait patiently until you were ready to tell her about your crush yourself and she could say she liked you right back. “If you’re thinking about my side of the fort, don’t. Shut up and watch the movie.”
#🍊 anon.#I hope that this is a fun pillow fort movie night adventure!#wanda maximoff x reader#wanda maximoff x fem!reader#wanda maximoff x f!reader#wanda maximoff fic#wanda maximoff fluff#wanda maximoff imagine#marvel imagine#maximotts#motts writes.
435 notes
·
View notes
Note
know of any shows with positive poly representation? everything I've seen either kills a part of the polycule, or they break up and the two with the most chemistry end up together in the end
i dont watch a lot of shows, but here's what i learned from running this:
the main one that has been recommended here by other followers is Leverage, the polycule even won the first showdown! from my understanding, in the original show they werent able to make it explicitly canon but the writers confirmed it's a polycule, and people mentioned a newer version but i know less about that.
the polycule from The Expanse just got second place in the canon showdown! so thats another one
I was told Siren is good but to not watch season 2 iirc cause thats where they do exactly what u dont wanna see (end the polycule in favor of a couple) but alot of Leverage fans recommended that one as well
Sens8 has one canon polycule and one trio that can also be interpreted as one, but arent confirmed canon. The canon polycule had to be rushed because netflix cancelled the show, but i hear its still v good!
If you count podcasts as shows, Penumbra Podcast Second Citadel has also been highly recommended and ive heard amazing things about the polycule in that one!
And idk if you only mean live action but if you include cartoons, there's Amphibia! How canon it is has been oftenly debated in my notes so i cant advocate much but a lot of ppl seem to feel like the show heavily supports that as a possible direction for the relationship of the protagonists?
those are the ones i can remember right now, im sure if you keep an eye on the notes to this ask there will probably be other recommendations! i also have the tag #polyam rep (which ill add to this ask since tumblr's search function likes to act up) with lots of recommendations by many different people, not all of them are tv shows, i think most are books? but still worth it to check it out imo
the only media with canon polycules i personally consumed have been two webcomics (Charity Case and Shootaround), one book (Iron Widow), and a game (Hades), also a spanish movie i watched before i knew what a polycule was and idk its name :( so yeah unfortunately i dont have too many personal recs, and none for shows, but i hope you find smth in the replies or in the polyam rep tag!
82 notes
·
View notes
Text
OPERATION ICEBERG: THE TIER LIST
THEORY:
Varys is a merman
TIER:
Joke: These theories are an absolute joke; anyone who believes them is a fool.
[Tier list overview]
EVIDENCE:
What's the theory?
Varys is a merman. He's part human, part fish.
That's it, that's the theory.
Why are we doing this?
Despite this being one of the dumbest theories to ever emerge from this fandom, it has somehow still gained traction.
Therefore, we find ourselves obligated to address this utter stupidity.
Proof?* (*We'll use this term loosely.)
Merlings may potentially exist.
Mormont was deaf to the edge in his voice. "The fisherfolk near Eastwatch have glimpsed white walkers on the shore."
This time Tyrion could not hold his tongue. "The fisherfolk of Lannisport often glimpse merlings." - Tyrion III, AGOT
We also learn about squishers: big-headed, scaly, white aquatic creatures that kidnap children, and that kind of sounds like Varys.
"Squishers?" Brienne gave him a suspicious look.
"Monsters," Nimble Dick said, with relish. "They look like men till you get close, but their heads is too big, and they got scales where a proper man's got hair. Fish-belly white they are, with webs between their fingers. They're always damp and fishy-smelling, but behind these blubbery lips they got rows of green teeth sharp as needles. Some say the First Men killed them all, but don't you believe it. They come by night and steal bad little children, padding along on them webbed feet with a little squish-squish sound. The girls they keep to breed with, but the boys they eat, tearing at them with those sharp green teeth." He grinned at Podrick. "They'd eat you, boy. They'd eat you raw." - Brienne IV, AFFC
Varys is a trained mummer. He is a master of disguise who can alter his voice, gait, smell, and overall appearance.
The eunuch looked at him curiously, tilting his head. "When I was a young boy, before I was cut, I traveled with a troupe of mummers through the Free Cities. They taught me that each man has a role to play, in life as well as mummery. So it is at court. The King's Justice must be fearsome, the master of coin must be frugal, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard must be valiant … and the master of whisperers must be sly and obsequious and without scruple. A courageous informer would be as useless as a cowardly knight." - Eddard XV, AGOT
Varys has a slimy smile, a hairless scalp, smooth skin, and no genitalia.
"Why are you so helpful, my lord Varys?" he asked, studying the man's soft hands, the bald powdered face, the slimy little smile. - Tyion II, ACOK
Varys was portrayed as asexual in the TV show, and there are hints that his character is similar in the books, possibly implying an exclusive interest in other fish people.
When I see what desire does to people, what it's done to this country, I am very glad to have no part in it. Besides, the absence of desire leaves one free to pursue other things. - S04E06
Varys' bedchamber doesn't seem particularly cozy, which might suggest he's actually sleeping in the sea.
"They are humble. Excessively so, in truth." Tyrion had waited until Varys was summoned by his father before slipping in to pay him a visit. The eunuch's apartments were sparse and small, three snug windowless chambers under the north wall.
[...]
"There was water in your flagon, gods have mercy," he went on, "your sleeping cell is no wider than a coffin, and that bed . . . is it actually made of stone, or does it only feel that way?"
Varys closed the door and barred it. "I am plagued with backaches, my lord, and prefer to sleep upon a hard surface." - Tyrion II, ASOS
This exchange.
He pressed his fingers into his temples. "I told them to throw Allar Deem into the sea. I am sorely tempted to do the same with you."
"You might be disappointed by the result," Varys replied. "The storms come and go, the waves crash overhead, the big fish eat the little fish, and I keep on paddling. Might I trouble you for a taste of the wine that Lord Slynt enjoyed so much?" - Tyrion II, ACOK
Whatever argument this individual is attempting to make:
Other things to consider:
In Sanskrit, "vari" translates to "water."
Varys claims to have become a eunuch in Myr (Get it??).
Littlefinger hires The Merling King, a trading galley, possibly signaling his future victory over Varys.
In the television series, Varys survived a ship sinking while others drowned:
COUNTER-EVIDENCE:
No, he's not.
STUMPY'S THOUGHTS:
VOTE:
I welcome discussions. Feel free to reblog, respond, or challenge my perspective—I won't be offended by any of it.
Please note, if "no" is the eventual winner, or if it's competitive, a second poll will be conducted to determine the proper location.
Don't even think about it.
NEXT THEORY:
Cersei is the YMBQ
[Main menu]
46 notes
·
View notes
Text
✨Jorvik Riding Academy ✨
PT1
Firstly, i did not expect to get that much attention on my first Jorvik Academy post, so thank you all SO MUCH!!
Second, I want to go more in depth about the Academy. So, in no particular order, i'm going to be going over some of the things people in the reblogs said...
@bridge-to-jorvik Thank you!
And yes, the idea for the Academy is to combine a lot of the current mechanics into one big hub of sorts. More rescue foals, and hopefully with time, sso could introduce foals from different breeds, big shire foals the size of the player, knobby knee'd akhal-teke's, just plenty of new baby's with different builds.
Perhaps with its proximity to Jorvik city, new furniture stores could be opened up, with a wide array off different aesthetics and decor to choose from that players could customise their dorms/homes with.
@samanthawd i'm pretty sure if enough players pitched in a dollar, we could buy a small island.
The idea is definitely that the Academy is a place where even those who aren't students are welcome. In regards to daily's, most of the 'classroom' quests are just general horse facts, learning about Jorvik and its history, the myths and legends surrounding the magical horses. Just general information to make the world feel more full, and even then , there would be alternate daily's where you could 'teach' a class instead of learn.
@toruq i'm absolutely not freaking out because I LOVE your art!!!
I unfortunately haven't had the chance to play the other games, nor read much of the comics, but I was vaguely aware of Star Academy and Jorvik high, just not there names. The academy itself was based off the idea of Star Academy.
Now while I did call it an Academy, it's more of a prestigious title, it would very much be a uni/college of sorts. The idea is that its a higher education program that is open to equestrians globally, resulting in many different disciplines would be taught and practiced.
@froggistain Your reply is a little long to fit, so i've condensed it a bit.
Why not make it an updated Jorvik stables? Since Jorvik stables is already a place cemented in cannon, I didn't want to intrude too much on the existing lore of Jarlaheim and the stables, hence why I placed it in an unreleased area. I wholeheartedly agree that the area could be expanded on and utilised more, and an early concept of Jorvik Academy had it as such, but again, Jarlaheim and the stables are already so familiar to the playerbase.
Factions within the Academy, and respective tack sets. Yes, much like the wild horses, each discipline would have reputation and faction specific tack that would be obtainable through leveling up. The idea of certain sets contributing to certain skills is amazing!
Course building, difficulty and club riding. The idea of players being able to build different courses and tracks is amazing! And with how large the Academy is, even if a club is using one of the arenas, there would still be plenty of room for other players to move about around the grounds. And I love the idea of including a difficulty rating, the entire idea behind the Academy is to teach people the basics of horsemanship without the need to go to a barn or riding school.
Thank you so much to everyone who commented!! I love seeing people enjoy my silly little overzealous ideas!
I've also sketched up some more tack ideas. The first one is more specifically a Parade set, because I love the idea of, much like the Pride parade, once a week/month, students and teachers would ride around central Jorvik, maybe to a town in the planes, maybe to the city. There could be carriages, flags flown, just a big parade that players could ride in or watch.
Again, the classic viridian, but to show how the tacks could look in other colours, i've included pink and purple, with matching riders clothes.
Ive also designed a more regal/armoured set, originally this one was catered towards a magical horse, but i think it could be really fun to branch out with the tack designs in the game. We already have horned bridals, so this was ultimately an extension of those.
The viridian and Gold of the Academy, but with a bit of a vampire/Halloween vibe in the silver and red, and a more muted autumnal pallet in the green and bronze.
And...
✨ spooky horse time✨
I had a lot of fun designing this one, especially since its halloween , and with the new magic horses coming out, I love seeing SSE branch out with additional things on there models, such as the horns and antlers.
Kelpie here was incredibly fun to design, especially with all of the reeds and water-plants hanging from them, and I would love to see some of the unique horses get Quests or chance encounters, it would add so much more to there lore, and the entire lore of the island.
17 notes
·
View notes
Note
hii ive been following ur pride stuff on ao3 and i was wondering if we could get some genderfluid four where the colors fight on what gender four is? for some specifics, i think blue winning the fight for a day + being v proud of herself would be cute but im not picky, ik not everyone is a fan of transfem blue.
have a good day!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAVE SOME TRANS FOUR!!!! I dug through your account to see which pronouns you usually use for the colors XD.
Four is the Link I’m least confident in writing, and I’m also not genderfluid, but I did my best! I hope you enjoy!
Here's the AO3 link. 595 words, fluff and introspection
Four: genderfluid, pronouns change daily (no pronouns until the daily pronouns are decided)
Blue: she/her
Green: he/him
Vio: they/them
Red: zae/zem/zaer/zaers/zemself
Legend: genderfluid, any/mirror (mirror pronouns means whichever pronouns the person who is referring to Legend uses, the person also uses those pronouns for Legend)
Four looked at the headbands laid out on top of the bag: blue, green, red, and violet. Four liked to use the headbands to signal to the others which pronouns they should use that day. Four got the idea after seeing Wild use their earrings for the same purpose.
Previously, Four let people use whichever pronouns they were most comfortable with; Four was genderfluid and didn’t care too much about pronouns. After spending so much time with an accepting group of other very queer heroes, though, Four decided to get used to choosing pronouns to fit the gender feelings of the day.
It took some effort, yes, and a lot of introspection every day. The others had to memorize which headband meant what. Four never minded if they had to ask for clarification, but they caught on pretty easily. The hardest part of the whole situation was the others learning how to use Red’s favorite set of pronouns, since no one had ever heard those before.
Everyone was excited to learn the new set of pronouns. It made Four feel very supported and accepted, and it made a warm feeling fill Four’s body whenever the thought crossed Four’s mind.
A perfect reason to use my pronouns today! Red supplied.
You’ve won the pronoun battle three times this week already, Blue argued. Four’s head inclined. She was right, Four had been using Red’s choice of pronouns for most of the week. Four pushed the red headband farther away. Those pronouns didn’t feel quite right, today.
It’s because I have the best pronouns.
No, Green argued, it’s because you bribe Vio to vote for you.
I do not!
I mean, you do sometimes, Vio replied. I really don’t mind, though.
Four’s mouth fell into a frown and eyes narrowed at the three remaining headbands. Today was not going to be an easy choice, Four could already tell.
What if instead of a vote, we solve a riddle to see who gets to use their pronouns for the day, Vio suggested.
Four felt a distinct, blue-hued groan somewhere deep inside Four’s head.
We can’t solve a riddle from inside our own head, Green said.
Not with that attitude, we can’t, Red said.
Maybe, Blue’s voice rang out over the others, we choose an outfit first. Then we can decide pronouns based on the vibes.
Four nodded. That was an excellent plan. Often, it was easier to decide on affirming clothes than it was to figure out affirming pronouns.
Four laid out all the clean outfits in their pack. Four traveled light, so there weren’t too many choices, but there was at least one thing for each of Four’s usual gender feelings.
Four’s fingers brushed over the soft fabric of the best flowy skirt in existence, and it was decided.
Yes! Blue exclaimed.
Four smiled to herself as she picked up the skirt, a fitted undershirt, and a tunic to tuck in. They were traveling to a town today, and Wild assured the group they wouldn’t run into any more monsters on the way. Four was skeptical, but she had a lot of practice fighting in the skirt, so she figured it would still be a safe choice.
Four slipped the blue headband over her hair, then pulled it up and settled it in place.
“Hell yeah, a she day,” Legend said. Four jumped slightly; she had been too deep in her own mind that she hadn’t heard Legend approach.
“I’ll glom onto your pronouns for the day, I think. Feels right,” Legend said.
Four smiled. “Happy to share.”
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
ii. fall
part two to confetti ✦ previous part ✦ series masterlist ✦ archive link
pairing: Single Dad!Steve Harrington/Female Reader
summary: Autumn was your favorite season, and spending it in Hawkins made you enjoy it even more when you spend most of it with Steve and Cassie.
warnings/extra tags: cursing, girl dad steve, fluffy, fall activities ive had to study because im a clown, moms are still in love with steve, its literally just steve and reader being all heart eyes for any little thing fall edition, mentions of steve's dumb parents, steve is a good daddy, surprise character appearance, beta read, edited by me so that's fun
note: I think this is the longest part because I love fall and wanted to put everything in it akljslkajsa thanks for waiting, and enjoy more Steve and Cassie ♥️
✦✦✦
October’s first school event would be the annual bake sale. You learned it was a long lasting tradition of the schools, and that it was an event that helped fund a lot of the winter activities for Hawkins Elementary, and maybe even some field trips for the following year, depending on how successful it was.
Now though, you were free from studying, and made your own money, and you were going to make at least something.
“I usually just keep it simple like cookies or something,” Heidi told you during your shared lunch break, “The baker on main street comes, and trust me, he goes all out and gets the highest sales.”
“Is it a competition?” you questioned as you ate your homemade sandwich and flipped through a magazine that was always left in the office lounge. Heidi chuckled into her salad.
“No, no,” she said, “Between you and me, he’s a bit of a show off when it comes to it, which makes sense because he’s good at what he does, right?”
You honestly couldn’t say you’ve visited the baker’s yet, you didn’t even know his name, so who were you to say if his baked goods were actually good or not.
“Anyway, cookies are the easiest way to go, brownies are also simple, cupcakes and muffins are a little more complicated but it’s not a whole cake at least, right?” Heidi chuckled to herself, and it made you chuckle too because of how glad she was that the office wasn't doing a cake walk, “I guess it depends on how good of a baker you are, but like I said, our baker goes above and beyond so it doesn’t really matter.”
You hummed with interest before your eyes settled back onto the magazine, catching a photo of some delicious looking cookies covered in light brown sugar. They were apple cinnamon sugar cookies, according to the recipe title, and Heidi saw your eyes peak with interest and she leaned over to look at them too.
“Oh those would be good, you should make those,” Heidi told you with a nod, “I can taste them already.”
So, you found yourself at the grocery market right after your work day ended, a basket in one hand and the recipe you cut out of the magazine with a pair of scissors from your desk in the other as you scoured the market for the proper ingredients.
All purpose flour. Check. Cinnamon. Check. Baking soda. Check.
There was still more, like the cream of tartar and the actual apples for example as the recipe called for grated apples so ‘there would be pieces of apple in every bite.’
You were looking down at the magazine cutout as you were walking, admittingly not paying much attention to where you were walking or who you were dangerously close to colliding with, not until a familiar voice spoke up.
“Dee’s mom is going to make a cake,” the high-pitched voice of Cassie Harrington echoed across the aisle, “She said it was going to be like..three cakes on top of each other.”
“What? That doesn’t sound right,” Steve Harrington’s voice replied back to her, and you were stopping in your tracks and looking up to see the back of Steve’s head as he was leaning over a shopping cart to look at his daughter. She was holding onto the side of the cart while she carried three cake mixes in one arm, just barely as one looked like it was slipping from her grasp.
“That’s what Dee told me, so we need to make a cake too,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
You just sort of stood there, feeling a bit of anxiety flush through you because you hadn’t seen nor talked to Steve since Back to School Night a few weeks prior…you never received a phone call from him, but to be fair, you hadn’t called him either.
You felt a bit guilty for not calling him, having been so busy yourself.
“Cass, they’re making a cake because they’re part of the cake-walk though, and we’re not,” Steve tried to explain to her, but she wasn’t having it, wanting to bake a cake rather than just bringing store bought cookies, some of which were currently resting in the cart on top of other groceries.
“But you didn’t make these cookies,” Cassie pouted, turning to look at her dad. It was then that Cassie had seen you, her eyes landing on yours until she recognized you before they flickered down to the basket you were holding.
She was suddenly pointing at you, and you took a step back quickly to put some space between you and her dad as she said, “Look! She’s baking something!”
Steve was turning his head, his brows furrowed in confusion before his eyes too landed on you. He blinked a couple of times at the sight of you, and you offered a smile as you said, “So, you’re going for store-bought cookies?”
After a second or two, you watched Steve laugh breathlessly and nod, “Yeah. I’m not much of a baker, to be honest. Never have been.”
“But you made us those other cookies last time,” Cassie cut in, and Steve looked down at her.
“Those were pre-made, all I had to do was pop them in the oven,” Steve reminded her, and she huffed, still hugging the cake mix boxes to herself as she looked back at you. Her eyes grew curious then, and she asked you what it was you were baking.
You held up the magazine cut-out, amused by the fact that Cassie was desperately trying to make her dad make literally anything homemade for this bakesale.
“Something called apple cinnamon sugar cookies, bit of a mouthful,” you told her, holding out the cutout to show her. She leaned in a bit, examining it until her eyes lit up and she hummed as she practically melted on the spot at the sight of the cookies. Steve leaned over to look at it too.
“God, those do look really good,” he said quietly to himself, making you smile as you dropped your hand back to side just as Cassie turned to look at her dad and say, “We can make that too! Please! The stuff is all there!”
She gestured to your hand that held the cutout, and you waved it in Steve’s face. He scoffed at you, though it was more out of amusement than anything else before he took it from you to actually look at the recipe itself.
Cassie was giddy standing beside the cart, hugging the boxes of cake-mix tighter to herself as she awaited for her dad to finish reading through the recipe. His features contorted slightly and he said, “What the hell is a cream of tartar?”
This made you laugh, and you said, “My thoughts exactly, I was actually just looking for it.”
His contorted expression vanished as he laughed too, and held the cut-out for you to take back, and looked at his daughter with an apologetic look, “I want to say that seems easy enough, but…god I just don’t think I have the time to actually make these.”
Her face fell, and it was probably the saddest you’ve ever seen Cassie Harrington who was always so smiley and had half of an attitude whenever she came around the office still to give you food she didn’t want.
“But…but she could help us,” Cassie said, now turning that sad look of hers toward you. It made you pause, not remembering the last time a kid has ever tried the ‘sad puppy dog’ look on you. The kids you used to babysit all the time did it with you whenever they wanted to stay up later or have another sweet. You’d grown immune to that, but there was something about Cassie specifically looking like that that made you feel bad…like she probably wanted you to.
Steve gave Cassie a raised brow and said, “Don’t give her that look.”
Her eyes turned into a small glare, pointing to her dad and he gave her one back until it became a staring contest between the two. You just sort of stood there, looking between them now with a half-curious and half-amused expression as they just stared at each other and you could tell this was something that happened often between the two.
Steve’s eyes squinted, then so did Cassie’s, and she even tilted her head upwards as if to show him she wasn’t going to back down. Steve’s look then turned pointed, and her jaw tightened, and he raised both brows and then Cassie was letting out a defeated breath.
“Fine, we’ll use…those dumb cookies,” she said, muttering the last part toward the storebought cookies in the cart. She then turned away to set the cake mix boxes back onto the shelf, still finding it in her to be polite enough to do so.
Steve turned toward you with a sigh, “Sorry about that.”
You met his brown eyes then, and shook your head as you said, “Don’t apologize…you know though…if you need help I can help.”
You made sure to say that low enough so that Cassie couldn’t hear and you noticed Steve’s demeanor grew slightly soft at your offer, his eyes flickering downward for a moment before he pursed his lips together and shook his head.
“No, no it’s alright,” he replied, resting a hand back on the handle of the shopping cart, “She’ll live, I’ll just make her breakfast for dinner tonight.”
“Breakfast for dinner?”
He nodded, “Yeah, baking? No way. And I don’t mean to brag, but I can make a pretty good pancake.”
That made you smile for some reason, feeling like you were learning more and more about Steve Harrington despite the fact you too only really talked in moments like this where you just so happened to run into each other.
“I love pancakes,” you said, then felt a little silly even saying that as he didn’t need to know that, but he was smirking softly as he leaned onto the cart slightly and replied to you, “Maybe one day I can make you some.”
You narrowed your eyes at him, the tone he said it in being borderline flirtatious but you didn’t want to look too much into that, rather just laughing and started to step backwards to make your leave so that you could finish finding the right items and he could finish his grocery shopping with Cass.
“I look forward to whenever that happens then,” you stated, “I’ll let you guys finish your grocery trip…” You gestured to the both of them, but Cassie was suddenly returning to herself.
“Wait!” she said, “Can I help you find the rest of the stuff? Daddy, can I help her?”
She asked the both of you at once, hope returning to her eyes, and Steve seemed unsure, not because of you though but in case Cass tried to get you to buy her something because she’s done it before with Mrs. K and Karen Wheeler before, coming back to him with a candy he told her she didn’t need.
“Uh, I just need to find this cream of tartar, and some apples,” you said as you looked at the cutout quickly. That’s when Cassie suddenly got another idea the moment you said apples.
“Oh! Does that mean you’re going apple picking?”
You tilted your head at the mention of that…apple picking. It was pretty self-explanatory, but the idea of it had never really crossed your mind.
“I…no I was just going to buy them here,” you replied to her, not knowing that there was even an apple picking event here in Hawkins anyway. Cassie looked suddenly disgusted, and when you looked at Steve, so did he. You blinked at them, and asked them what was wrong with buying apples here, growing slightly amused again at how their expressions matched exactly.
“Is there something like…wrong with them here?” you questioned them both.
“Not exactly, but the apples from the apple farm a town over are way better, trust me,” Steve told you, “They have this apple picking event every fall, you pay for however many baskets you want, and then you…you know pick apples and take them home.”
“Yeah, we’re going tomorrow!” Cassie cut in again excitedly, before she grabbed her dad’s arm and said, “She can come with us!”
Steve was looking at Cassie again, a slight flush over his cheeks as he told her she had to stop trying to tell people to go places with them without asking them first because she can make someone uncomfortable real quick, and Cassie looked absolutely done with her dad’s attitude in this store.
Then he turned to you again, brown eyes finding yours as he asked, “Have you been apple-picking before?”
“No,” you replied after giving it little thought, “Not many apple farms in the city, you know, unless you want to drive a couple hours out…store-bought apples were definitely closer and less of a hassle.”
“Ah, right, you’re from the city,” Steve pointed at you, “I mean…if you would like to go with us, or you know just be there at the same time, that’ll be totally okay. Plus, I think it’s an experience everyone should have at least once.”
A small grin was returning to your face, knowing that Steve was inviting you properly for Cass, who looked up at you with wide eyes that matched Steve’s almost identically.
“I…I would actually love to go,” you said genuinely, watching as Steve’s eyes lit up like Cassie’s might, “I mean, you said it’s something I should experience at least once, so…yeah…yeah I’ll go.”
“Great!” Steve blurted out before his cheeks grew flushed, and Cassie was giddy again, “You want to meet there, I can give you the directions?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you guys there, just…call me tonight to tell me more details, maybe?” you said, working that in almost professionally. At the mention of calling, Steve’s cheeks became even more flushed because like you when he had seen you he felt guilty that he’d forgotten to call you as well, having been, per usual, very busy with Cass and his three different jobs.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, and you smiled with a content nod.
“Good,” you said, “I look forward to it then, I’m gonna go and find that cream of tartar now and I’ll see you two tomorrow?”
Both of them nodded, and you both said a final see you later before you were stepping backwards, leaving one last longing stare at Steve Harrington before turning around with a large smile on your lips, looking forward to apple picking with the both of them.
✧ ✧ ✧
The apple orchards were just simply beautiful to you as you sat on the tractor that took you and the other apple pickers in your group around the entire farm before they would stop at the orchards and allow time for you and everyone else to fill up your baskets.
“We have to get all the red ones,” Cassie Harrington was sitting beside you, the basket she had looked comically big in her lap compared to the same basket that was sitting in yours.
“There’s a lot of those ones, I don’t think they’re going to run out,” you replied to her as you looked out into the distance at the rows and rows of apple trees.
It was a nice day, clear skies and a light wind that felt nice against your skin every time a breeze passed by.
Beside Cassie was Steve, and he wasn’t looking at the orchards like you and Cassie were, but he was looking at… well you. The sun shined down on you in a very specific way, and it made the color of your eyes more visible. His chest sort of tightened and he had to carefully release a soft hitch of his breath.
He would admit to himself that he had been nervous when he called you the night before, using a quick break in order to do so from the phone in the employee lounge at the market he worked the night shift at. He knew it was late, but he also knew you were expecting that call.
You had sounded very sleepy on the phone, but there wasn’t an ounce of irritation in your voice either which surprised Steve because of the hour, like you were looking forward to the call…like you might’ve been looking forward to a call since you’ve exchanged numbers. He beat himself up for a moment or two, wishing he didn’t do that to you, but knowing that it was really something he couldn’t help.
“You do this every year?” you asked Cassie, tearing Steve from his thoughts. He looked at his daughter now, her hair in two braids that he had done just before they got on the tractor because she changed her mind about the pony tail and clips she had him style her hair in that morning…clips that were currently in the pocket of his jacket.
“Only last year,” Cassie replied to you, “My daddy barely discovered it last year through my friend Delilah and her mom.”
You were nodding along to Cassie, and not in the way people typically nodded along to children when they spoke to them, you actually seemed genuinely interested in holding this conversation with her and it made Steve feel slightly warm.
“Sounds like it could be a nice tradition though,” you said with a small smile as you looked back to the orchards. Cassie was nodding.
“Yeah, I like it! The apples are super good, so that means your cookies are going to be super good too!” she claimed, which made you chuckle in response.
“I hope you’re right, like your dad here, I’m actually not the best baker,” you admitted, your eyes finding Steve’s that were already on yours. He blinked softly, realizing he’s been mentioned as you chuckled again and said, “But I’m willing to try, especially if these are as good as you say they are.”
“They are,” Cassie said confidently, grasping the basket between her hands just as the tractor came to a stop. Steve knew what she was going to do and caught her hand before she could hop off and start running like it was some kind of competition of who could pick the most apples.
“Hey! Hey! Let’s help her pick some before you go getting into a fight with another kid for an apple you want,” Steve told her, and she was starting to nod in agreement with him and even apologized before all three of you got off together.
Cassie held the basket in one hand now while the other was in her dad’s, and you trailed beside them holding your own as you gazed at all the apples, wondering if there was some kind of trick to finding the best ones.
Some of the trees were taller than the others, so they had ladders, and others were small enough so that a kid like Cassie could pick some of her own as well. You did stay together for the most part, Cassie pointing out apples for you to get, and some for Steve to grab that were too high for her.
After you had a good few, Steve let Cassie run off to find some of her own, leaving just you and him. You wandered over to one of the trees nobody had been picking at, and before Steve knew it you were suddenly on a ladder.
He stared up at you, feeling this sudden regretful feeling come over him that he’d been feeling since your teasing comment the day prior about him calling you for details.
“Hey so,” Steve started from below you, “I wanted to apologize for not calling you.”
You were reaching for a particularly large apple that was further into the tree, your fingers just barely grazing it and you were going to reply to Steve when a dramatic gasp had cut you off.
“You didn’t call her!?” Cassie called, the gasp coming from her.
Steve looked away from you, and toward Cassie who was standing there with a basket half-full of apples. Steve stared at her for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed by her blurting that out, others had looked over, but fortunately you seemed more preoccupied with still getting that giant apple off of the tree.
In fact, you grumbled, going up another step on the ladder, while Steve walked over to Cassie.
“Are these all the apples you got?” Steve asked, and she shrugged as she looked down at them too, and told him that these kids were more mean this year than last year. It made Steve shake his head, and rest his hands on his hips before she asked him if she could sit down and listen to her music.
“You’re done already?” he questioned, and she nodded. It was just as well, she did have an early morning today like he did so he told her she could sit in the tractor and listen while he filled the rest of the basket up. She grinned and nodded, already putting the walkman headphones over her ears before running toward the tractor.
“Uh, Steve-”
He was turning toward you, seeing you on the top of the ladder and he stared for a moment before realizing you were holding onto the actual tree for dear life.
“Could you hold me steady?” you asked, turning your head to look back at him and Steve was nodding, quickly walking back toward you as he rolled his sleeves up and went behind you.
“Uh- where do you want me to hold you?” he asked, not wanting to hold you anywhere that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable for you. You told him to just place his hands on the back of your thighs, and he sucked in a breath before nodding.
He carefully held you still, feeling the denim of your jeans underneath his palms as you were finally steady enough to lean forward and successfully wrap your hands around the apple you really wanted.
“Got it!” you said, before you started to climb down. Steve helped you do that too until you were on your feet. You got a bit of vertigo though being on the ground again, your head feeling slightly dizzy that if it hadn’t been for Steve grasping your shoulders you might’ve almost embarrassingly lost your balance.
When you came to, you were met with the concerned face of Steve, his brown eyes flickering over you to see if you were okay. You held up the apple though and said, “I think I like doing this, it’s pretty fun.”
“I can see that, you worked really hard to get that apple,” Steve commented, eying the apple that was a pretty impressive size, “Damn, no wonder you climbed so high to get that one.”
You clicked your tongue, and said, “I’m having a lot of fun, thanks for inviting me.”
“Yeah, no problem, Cass is really enjoying you being here too, before she ran off is all,” Steve said, turning his head where Cass was sitting on the tractor with the headphones placed over her ears and her head nodding back and forth to whatever song she was jamming to.
“Also, you don’t have to apologize for not calling, I mean, I didn’t call you either,” you told him, finally responding to his apology that Steve had accepted went unheard when Cassie interrupted. Steve stared at you for a moment, and let out a quiet breath.
“Still…I don’t know, as the guy I feel like it’s my obligation to call the girl first,” Steve admitted, as in his experience with women in the past it was always him calling first, whether it’s after a date, a good morning call- things he would do before Cassie came into his life and he stopped everything to be the father she deserved.
“Well, that would make sense if we were romantically involved, which we aren’t…” you said, hearing your own voice grow a little soft at the idea of it. In fact, you kind of batted your eyelashes at Steve, just slightly, and if he noticed, which he did, he didn’t tease you..
“That’s true…but…to be honest, I probably still wouldn’t have,” Steve said, suddenly cringing at his own behavior that he was acutely aware of, but no matter how guilty he might’ve felt he still hadn’t changed it yet. A smile that mirrored his came onto your lips and you laughed quietly.
“You know, I’ve never really been a high maintenance friend, Steve,” you said, trying that out instead and Steve looked genuinely surprised by the term. It wasn’t like he didn’t have friends, in fact he even had a best friend who wasn’t very high maintenance either since she moved to New York over a year ago, a single phone call every once in a while and visit usually sufficed, but the idea that he found a friend in you, that you even started to consider him as one, made Steve’s brain a little buzzed.
He guessed he hadn’t made a new friend in a while now, and he was glad that it was you.
“Huh…I guess we are friends,” Steve said, moreso to himself. Your smile grew wider and you nodded.
“I would say so,” you replied, then held up your full basket of apples, “And I think that friends should help each other bake cookies for the bake sale on Monday.”
He glanced down at the apples, wondering how you managed to find the biggest ones in the orchard and was impressed all at once. He rested his hands onto his hips, lifting his eyes back up to meet yours and you were giving him an expectant look, like you weren’t going to take no for an answer and Steve honestly liked that.
Something else brewed up inside of him, something not so warm but rather hot, and he had to cool down by sucking in a tight breath before saying, “Oh, Cass is going to jump for joy.”
You laughed, that look on your face all but vanishing and being replaced with amusement, and the heat only got stronger. Steve’s eyes lingered onto your lips, longer than the other times he’d been with you, and the foggy part in his brain wondered just what would happen if he just leaned in and kissed you.
Of course, he wasn’t going to because above all he was still a gentleman and was aware that just because you make a woman laugh doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be snogged, but Steve still wondered how your lips would feel against his.
It was lucky, then, when Cass was calling out to him and taking his and your attention off of each other before you had more time to notice his slightly heated gaze. His father instinct kicked in almost immediately when he heard Cassie’s cry of distress.
Steve was turning around, eyes growing concerned and brows pulling inward as his eyes found his daughter dashing toward him with her walkman and headphones in each hand. Tears prickled at the corner of her brown eyes.
“It’s not playing!” she cried as she got to her dad, “It just stopped! I didn’t do anything!”
Steve grew slightly relieved that it was just the walkman acting up, as his first thought had been that she was somehow hurt.
Beside him, you were frowning because of Cassie’s clear distress and sadness over the walkman suddenly breaking on her, as you’ve been there before yourself. She held it up to Steve, her lips quivering and tears fully pouring from her eyes.
Steve took them from her, eying them for only a moment before sighing, as if he knew one day these things would just break on her. It was an older model, you observed, and Steve all but gave them a quick look over before tossing them into his half full basket of apples on the floor beside his feet and resting his eyes back on his little girl.
“Hey, don’t cry, alright, these things were old, I’ve had them since I was in high school,” he told Cassie softly.
“I know, but-but I wanted to listen to music,” Cassie cried, “And now I can’t!”
A sympathetic smile was on Steve’s lips as he knelt down in front of his upset daughter and wiped her tears away with his thumb, “There’s worst things to happen, and these can be replaced, alright?”
Cassie sniffled, “But how will I listen to my music?”
“Well there’s the radio in the car, the stereo at home…” Steve listed off, “It’ll be okay, I can get you a new one, ones that won’t skip over tracks so that you have to hit it.”
Cassie’s eyes showed more light in them at the idea of that, “Really?”
Steve nodded, “Yes, really- but it’s totally okay to cry about it, I think I might cry too. I’ve been through a lot with this guy.”
Cassie giggled, and Steve’s smile turned warm, happy to make his little girl smile again after mourning the loss of her walkman. Steve kissed her head affectionately and said, “I have good news though, we are going to bake cookies for the bake sale.”
Her face lit up completely, her cheeks still tear stricken but her eyes were brighter now.
“We’re going to bake a cake?” Cassie asked, hopeful and Steve winced.
“No, no! Not a cake, I already told you we don’t have to…I was thinking more like…” Steve looked over at you, and you stared for a second before saying, “Chocolate chip cookies?”
Steve snapped his finger, “Yeah! We’re going to do that…it’s not a cake, but it’s still baking.”
Cassie was still excited, nodding up at her dad and saying, “We’re going to bake! Let’s go home and start now!”
This made Steve laugh, and Cassie was trying to pick up the basket to bring back to the tractor that would take you back to the farm. Meanwhile, Steve looked back at you and you were smiling again, thinking to yourself that no wonder everyone (the mothers of Hawkins really) were so enamored with him. The way he comforted Cass, how soft his voice became…you realized you couldn’t be more attracted to a man.
And now, you are going to have him in your house.
✧ ✧ ✧
Your entire house smelled like a bakery. The smell of cinnamon was strong, mixed with the sweet pleasant scent of chocolate. Music was playing out of the stereo in your living room, music chosen specifically by Cassie Harrington when you told her the day prior that she could listen to anything she decided to bring or anything you had too.
Steve was standing beside you, wearing a cupcake apron with frills that matched Cassie’s, a pair she chose when she and her dad went to the market the morning of with a list of ingredients you relayed to him over the phone the night before. Your second late night phone call.
Cassie was busy taste testing one cookie from each batch before she’d package them away in these clear bags that had fall leaf designs all over it, complimenting your apple cinnamon cookies after devouring one. She was making you laugh a lot this afternoon, and so was Steve.
“Okay, okay Cass, you’re going to get a tummy ache,” Steve told his daughter after she ate her fifth chocolate chip cookie. She pouted at him, claiming that she wouldn’t, but Steve wasn’t buying it.
“I’ll set some aside for you, Cassie,” you chimed in as you were grating more apples for yet another batch of your cookies while Steve was stirring chocolate chips into the mixture he was working on in one of your many mixing bowls.
“But how will we know it’s not poisoned?”
“Cass nobody’s poisoning anything- what- why would you think we’d put poison in these?” Steve asked, practically horrified by his daughter’s choice of words and Cassie sighed and replied, “That’s what Dustin says we have to do! I’m helping!”
Yet again, you were laughing while Steve just stared at his daughter practically dumbfounded before he said, “It’s not poisoned, and I think the mixtape you brought is about to end, so you’ll have to change it.”
Cassie turned her head, recognizing the final song on it as she listened to it all the time and was going to go change it (or start it over) but not before sneaking another cookie. Steve huffed, turning his attention back to the mixing bowl.
“So how’s the broken walkman situation?” you asked Steve suddenly. He let out a deep sigh, as if hating to be reminded of that, “Sorry for bringing it up.”
“No, no- I was honestly waiting for them to just break, I was just hoping it would be closer to Christmas,” he said, wiping his face with the hand that was covered in flour. You glanced at Steve, your eyes instantly going to the flour that was suddenly decorating his cheek. He didn’t seem to notice, too focused on getting the right consistency of the cookie dough…in fact he was actually covered with various stains, on his forehead, his arms, and his neck. Your eyes lingered there for a bit before you forced your eyes back to what you were doing.
“No back ups? I remember having a back up,” you joked.
“That was the back-up,” he replied quickly, “It’s alright- she’ll be fine until Christmas…hopefully, honestly I might have to see if Mrs. K has one. Sometimes she has random things for Cass.”
You tilted your head gently, and asked him who Mrs. K was, as you feel like he had mentioned her before. Steve was quiet for a second, as if confused you didn’t know who she was until he remembered you barely moved here in the summer.
“Oh she’s my neighbor, nice older woman, probably the nicest person in this town really, she gives me and Cassie a lot of things like vegetables from her garden, or random casseroles and sometimes just these bulks of snacks.”
You hummed with interest, thinking that to be kind of sweet. As Steve began to mess with the finished dough, he laughed and continued to say, “It’s kind of nice honestly, because my parents moved out of this place years ago, like maybe a year after Cass was born and I barely hear from them- so it’s almost like she’s Cassie’s unofficial grandparent.”
Though you didn’t know much about Steve yet, you thought it was safe to assume that Steve shared no relationship to his parents, and you didn’t know what to say about it, feeling like if you asked anything he’d tell you to leave it alone.
“I used to have someone like that,” you said rather than that, making Steve look back at you. Now you were the one looking away, too focused on finishing the next and final batch of cookies, “My fifth grade teacher, and probably the only person I think my dad might’ve dated.”
It was odd bringing that up, but like Steve had done with you, you were word vomiting too and immediately felt embarrassed. Steve didn’t seem to think so though, instead asking you to tell him more about it.
“She was just super nice, and I could tell he liked her a lot,” you said vaguely, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking about your dad because it had been a while since you’ve talked to someone about him, considering he was the only family you had left before his passing, “The point is, it’s good to have people willing to help like that.” You chuckled then smiled weakly.
To be honest, you hadn’t thought of your dad since you moved here, not as often as you would’ve liked… you hadn't even got around to putting photos of you and him around the house. A part of you felt…sad that you hadn’t, like you didn’t know if you were mourning him enough anymore. Steve had noticed your expression turn grim, how the smile that followed your soft chuckle suddenly turned into a frown.
“I didn’t mean to pry, I’m sorry,” Steve said, realizing that it was a touchy subject for you. You quickly shook your head.
“No, no it’s alright, it’s been a while…I mean the grief doesn’t really go away, but…I just hadn’t talked about him with anyone in a long time,” you admitted to Steve.
“I mean, I really like talking to you, about anything so if you’d like to talk about him, or anything else again…well you have my number.”
You looked at Steve again, feeling touched by his statement, forgetting that you probably weren’t going to see him for a few weeks following this unless things changed in his schedule, but the gesture felt nice. You nodded softly at him, and said almost breathlessly “Okay.”
Steve winked at you before he turned his attention back on his dough, then he grabbed a separate spoon and brought it up to his lips to taste before asking you, “Is this good? It looks good, it tastes good, but is it good?”
The spoon he was holding was turned to you, wanting you to validate it before rolling them into balls and putting them in the oven.
You didn’t mind, really, parting your lips and taking a bite of the dough off of the spoon he held. He stared at you, brown eyes resting onto your lips for a few seconds too long before lifting them to meet your eyes. You hummed at the sweet taste flooding your mouth, and nodded, “You’re kind of a natural at baking, you know that?”
A grin spread across his lips, “You’re just saying that, it’s not as good as yours. Mine’s just basic chocolate chip, anyone can make it.”
“Making bad chocolate chip cookies are possible- and you managed to make really good ones on the first try, I’m pretty impressed,” you said, half paying attention to the sound of Cassie diving through your various cassette tapes, something you said she could do if she wanted. You never really listened to music anymore, unless you were cleaning.
You could feel Steve’s eyes still on you, seeing him in your peripherals and pretending you couldn’t, even as your cheeks started to heat up and you said randomly, “I kind of wish we went with M&M cookies for you…same concept…more colorful and exciting.”
Steve paused, “Are those your favorite or something?”
“Oh yeah, something about them really hits the spot,” you joked. Steve half-grinned, as if he learned something even more interesting about you and he glanced at it before he took a double take.
“Wait, look at me real quick,” Steve told you, and you did, seeing his eyes zero in on your cheek before he pointed and said, “You got a little something right there.”
You blinked, and he laughed as he grabbed one of the clean dish towels to wipe whatever it was off of your cheek. Your body burst with warmth when he held the fabric to your left cheek. You also felt bad because he was covered in flour head to toe and you didn’t tell him even once. He’d have to take a shower to get it all off probably, but this didn’t change the fact that he was practically holding your face in his large hand.
Heat plummeted throughout you, and you found that you didn’t want to move away, and maybe he didn’t either, as even after he successfully wiped your cheek he didn’t move away. No, he stayed this close to you, so close that your nose caught a whiff of his suddenly familiar cologne that had been masked by the smell of cookies after a while. It was enough to make your mind fog up, just a little, and your breath hitched softly…something that Steve caught.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked you, a teasing element lingering underneath his tone. His eyes lifted to meet yours, and you swallowed thickly, unsure what was going on, and your nerves made you say, “You got something too…uh…well everywhere.”
Steve’s eyes furrowed as your eyes flickered at his entire face, breaking whatever trance he’d entered, and you could see his cheeks turn a little pink underneath the flour. God, did you want him to break out of it? Because he was moving away from you then, and you felt slight disappointment…wondering if something would’ve happened if you didn’t say anything.
“Everywhere? How?” Steve asked you, now bringing the towel to his face. You gestured to his cheek, then his neck, and his arms and his eyes grew wide. Just then Abba’s “Mamma Mia” started to blast through the speakers, and Cassie was back in the kitchen and wiping her brow like finding the right cassette really tired her out.
“Okay! I’m back to try more cookies,” she announced. You laughed quietly, and told Steve where the bathroom was before turning to Cass and telling her, “After this final batch you can test one, but first put on some gloves and help me roll the dough into the sugar.”
Steve was just about to go to the restroom to clean up a bit, but found himself taking a bit of a moment to take in the sight before him. Cassie was now sitting on the stool on her knees right beside you, too big of plastic gloves on her smaller hands, watching you roll the dough into the sugar, then doing one of her own.
Something swelled up into his chest, something he didn’t quite understand, but he did recognize the warm feeling of happiness seeing Cass with you. There was just something about it, Steve thought, that made a soft grin grow onto his lips…especially when you praised Cassie when she showed you the little ball of dough covered in sugar and cinnamon.
It was Cassie’s bright smile too that made Steve think for a moment…where did you come from and how come you’re barely in his life now?
✧ ✧ ✧
“Enjoy!” you stated happily as you handed over what felt like the 100th bag of cookies from the faculty’s booth. The woman grinned at you before she handed the cookies to her son and began to take off, giving you time to add more bags of cookies onto the table.
Beside you, Heidi was counting the money you made so far and placing the bills into a tin box.
“These cookies are a hit, I’m glad you went with them- they’re super good too,” Heidi said as she picked up her half eaten cookie and shoved the rest into her mouth, “Yup, delicious. You have to make these for the Holiday office Christmas Party in December, god I think I’ll pay you.”
That made you chuckle as you went around to fix the sign the other members had worked all weekend on that said ‘Front Office’ and had poorly drawn cookies all over it.
As you did so, there was suddenly a burst of laughter from behind you. You lifted your head up, turning your head toward one of the booths that was across from yours, but more down the line. Women and their kids all surrounded this one table, so much that you were unable to see who’s table it was…that’s if you didn’t know because he’d been here early to set up along with you and others.
Heidi leaned over the cookies, having heard the commotion too and she laughed out loud, “So, Steve Harrington baking was all it took to take that baker down a notch.”
She was looking over at the other booth, the town’s baker having only a handful of customers while Steve’s booth was surrounded by a crowd who might as well been waving cash over their heads. It was almost comedic how the simple fact that Steve Harrington baked cookies rather than brought store bought ones caused such a commotion.
He was standing behind the table handing out the bags of chocolate chip cookies while Cassie was sitting on a clear space on the table taking the cash with the help of one of the other parents working the booth. They were both wearing the matching cupcake aprons again, something that did not go unnoticed by the mom’s either.
“These are absolutely fabulous, Steve,” you heard one of them compliment him, “It makes me wonder what other skills you’re hiding from us.” There was a giggle after that almost resembled one of a high school girl talking to the football captain and you were sure you could hear the eye roll of the woman’s husband somewhere around here. You laughed while shaking your head and fixed some of the cookie bags to look more presentable before placing more smaller samples onto the tray.
At the booth, Steve was slightly overwhelmed but Cass was doing a good job keeping everyone at bay.
“There’s a line!” she told the crowd, “One at a time please!”
Compliments continued to be thrown Steve’s way, and with flushed cheeks he was thanking them and being professional and handing them their bags when a woman asked him for the recipe. Steve looked up at her, and laughed nervously, “Well it’s not my recipe- I had a little- well a lot of help from a friend.”
“A friend you say? I’d love to meet them and get the recipe then,” she said cheekily before she took the bags from him and moved on. Steve smiled at the next customer, but behind them was a parting of the crowd finally and Steve’s eyes caught you in front of your booth.
You were holding the tray of apple cinnamon cookies, one of the husband’s of one of the women over here standing beside you as he tried one. He said something to you after, making you grin up at him in a friendly manner and Steve realized he hadn’t listened to a word the lady in front of him said.
“Daddy! She said she wanted 2 bags!” Cassie tore him from his eyes on you just as your eyes found Steve’s. He cleared his throat lightly, smiling at the woman and grabbing two bags of cookies and holding it out for her.
She thanked him, and Steve’s eyes found yours again, finding that you were looking at him already. You waved at him, and Steve smiled softly and waved back at you.
From where you stood, Heidi had caught the small interaction between you and Steve, raising both of her brows with interest. Her eyes rested onto your face, recognizing the expression of warmth written all over your features, right down to your wide smile and eyes that seemed to have lit up.
She leaned on the table, and hummed with pure interest.
“So…you and Steve?” Heidi asked, and to you this question had seemingly come out of nowhere as you returned to the seat beside her in the shade. Though it was a cool autumn day, it was still pretty hot when you stood directly in the sun like you just were.
“What about Steve?” you questioned her as you settled into your chair, Heidi shrugged.
“Are you and him…getting to know each other more?” she asked you another question, and by now you were used to this, used to Heidi not getting to the point of something and speaking to you like everything that you talked about was gossip or something. You just stared at her, watching her eyebrows wiggle suggestively.
“Heidi, please, we’re both adults here,” you said, wanting to beg her to stop talking like this and she could only giggle like a high schooler.
“Oh come on, you can tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” you said, and Heidi sighed at your stubbornness to admit anything. You chalked it up to maybe this town was so small that any gossip was the holy grail to her, or maybe the odd obsession every married woman seemed to have with Steve Harrington. It could be either, honestly.
Still, you knew you were lying because maybe there was something to tell because afterall you don’t think anyone’s ever looked at you like he did, if anyone’s ever made you laugh and smile so much. The thought of Steve made your stomach twist pleasantly, and your chest to warm up like your oven when you helped each other bake all of those cookies the mom’s were currently salivating over.
Jokingly, you told yourself that if you looked at him and he was already looking at you, maybe there was something there, something that would be worth telling somebody else about.
And when you snuck a glance, you were pleased to see that he was. Heat raised to your cheeks, and you allowed yourself this small moment of vindication, as silly as it sounded.
“I’ll be damned,” Mrs. Abi’s voice broke you from your moment of warmth and you looked up to see her standing there with her arms resting on her waist as she stared at the crowd Steve’s booth brewed up, “I think we’ll all be getting raises next year, and all we had to do was get Mr. Harrington to bake a couple of cookies.”
The joke made the other faculty at your booth including Heidi laugh, and another office member, who you distinctly remembered seeing go over once or twice, stated, “He had a lot of help I hear from somebody.”
“Well, whoever convinced him and helped out- I’m grateful because look at this crowd,” Mrs. Abi said, still entirely impressed by how something as simple as Hawkins’ favorite Dad baking chocolate chip cookies could ring up this much business.
You elected to stay quiet, dropping your eyes to the cookies before you as Mrs. Abi continued to admire the amount of people here. Still, you smiled to yourself, knowing that it was you and liking that you were the only one who knew, like those moments with Steve and Cassie were yours to keep and only yours. It made you feel special, in a way.
Suddenly, somebody was tapping your arm. It captured your attention, and everyone else sitting at the booth’s attention. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see it was Cassie Harrington, well mostly everyone as Cassie would visit you on occasion to give you part of her lunch.
She held out a bag of cookies to you, and said, “My daddy said to give you these. They’re for you and you only!”
You blinked, and took the bag of cookies from her. Cassie didn’t give you a moment to respond, flashing you a bright smile before she was turning and pushing her way through the crowd. You looked at the bag of brightly colored cookies.
There was a little note attached to the tie around the bag of cookies, different from the rest of the bags, in fact they were different from the cookies you spent hours helping him bake entirely.
‘Thanks for the help. You deserve these :) - Steve’
The bag was filled with smaller, homemade M&M cookies, the colors of the candy vibrant against the cookie part. Did he seriously make these cookies for you? When did he have the time to do so? Did he make time? So many questions rang through your head and you had forgotten that you weren’t alone.
In fact, the entire faculty, Mrs. Abi included, was just staring at you as you gawked at the bag of cookies Cassie had just given you in front of everyone. It seemed they had gotten their answer as to who helped Steve bake all those cookies.
“Nothing to tell,” Heidi muttered beside you, repeating your words from before. You cleared your throat, and placed the cookies inside of your purse that was underneath your chair, trying not to let them see how the gesture was affecting you further.
And later, when you would take a bite out of one of the cookies, your thoughts were filled with Steve Harrington until you would go to bed that night and even then, he still plagued you in your dreams. You weren’t complaining though…not one bit.
✧ ✧ ✧
If Steve was anything, it was self aware. He knew he wasn’t the most punctual when it came to any relationships outside of the one he had with his daughter, but with Halloween and then Cassie suddenly getting the flu, life had just been a hassle.
He’d been meaning to call you again, or maybe visit you in the office (except he thought that would be odd if he didn’t have an excuse to be there other than he just wanted to see you) to ask if you enjoyed those cookies he and Cass had baked for you but then he also got sick while taking care of Cass.
He wasn’t a six year old though, so he managed better than she did, but it did take him out for a day or so. When he thought about you, he tried to remind himself of your declaration that you weren’t a high maintenance friend, basically that you understand him vanishing for weeks on end, but that didn’t change the fact that he did feel bad that after basically a whole weekend spent together he kind of just vanished and relied on Cassie to stay interacting with you.
The doctor’s note in his pocket came at a good moment, one that he had to deliver to the office himself so that her past few absences would be excused, and he thought that maybe you’d be keen on having some lunch with him today.
Although, when he entered the school’s front office he was met with an empty desk.
His eyes danced around the office, disappointment brewing in his chest that maybe you were out sick too or something until he heard you say his name. He snapped his head to the side, seeing that you were actually next to him, he just hadn’t seen you.
“Oh, god I didn’t even see you,” Steve said, feeling stupid for not, but you just laughed and waved him off because it really wasn’t a big deal, “I have a doctor’s note for Cassie.”
Steve dug his hand into the pocket of the sweats he was wearing, and scowled when he couldn’t find it, now afraid it had slipped out of his pocket outside on this very windy day, “Shit, I thought I did. Give me a second.”
He wasn’t looking at you, but if he had he would’ve definitely noticed your suddenly flustered expression, and how you were desperately trying to keep your eyes anywhere but on his lower half. He dug his hands into the other pocket, pleased to feel the paper there instead.
“Ah, there you are,” Steve muttered to himself, something Max might’ve said was very ‘dad’ of him to say. He held it out for you to take, and you did, walking over to your desk while Steve finally noticed that you were actually decorating the front part of the office with autumn leaves.
Various colored leaves decorated the wall, meant to look like they were being blown in the wind, but there was a lot more on the floor. He wasn’t sure if that was part of the decor, not until he noticed there were a few pieces of tape missing leaves.
“Oh,” Steve said, bending over to pick them up. He started to stick them to the wall for you without really thinking, but then the door was being opened again, causing a breeze to fly in so all the ones he had just stuck on had fallen again.
He realized then that probably happened to you when he walked in, and he cringed, feeling bad about that. He looked over at you when he heard you ask the person, another parent, who had just walked in what you could help them with. Your eyes glanced over at Steve and he waved a leaf at you, catching the amusement to flash over your eyes as you looked back at the parent.
“I unfortunately don’t have a copy of the permission slip, but they are going to be sent home with the students today…if not come back and I will be sure to have extra copies…”
Your voice trailed off as you returned to typing on your computer, surely trying to continue inputting Cassie’s doctor’s note into the system. Meanwhile, Steve just waited and watched you, slightly intrigued with you working and realizing that you were just very busy too.
After a moment, the parent had turned to leave, smiling at Steve as they pushed through the door, the wind causing more leaves to fall off the wall. Steve picked those up too, and when he turned back to you, he saw you were smiling with your eyes on the computer screen.
“Are the fifth graders going to that museum out of town already?” Steve asked, having practically memorized the schedule they had all been handed at Back to School Night, the one with all the events on it (and your number) despite him needing only to worry about first grade events. He honestly couldn’t wait until Cass’s first field trip in the spring because he was going to be a chaperone. It would be her first field trip too.
“Yeah, at the end of the week,” you replied to him, eyes moving to the doctor’s note, “You don’t have to pick those up by the way…they keep falling anyways.”
He looked down at the leaves, then said, “Well I mean, leaves do tend to fall in fall.” He walked over to you, placing them onto the front of your desk as you continued to type away on the computer and you laughed lightly at his lame joke as you pressed enter on the keyboard with a loud clack!
“Alright, Cassie’s absences have been excused, is there anything else I could help you with, Steve?” you asked, finally looking at him. Steve thought, then shook his head.
“Nope, well…I don’t need help, just have another question.” You tilted your head at him, urging him to ask you what he wanted, and he said with a soft clearing of throat, “Did you go to lunch already?”
You seemed genuinely surprised by that question, eyes flashing to the clock on your desk before looking back at him and replying in a suddenly quiet voice, “Not yet, in about 20 minutes actually…why?”
Steve leaned both hands on your desk, getting slightly closer to you, “Well I haven’t had lunch yet, Cass is still sick and Karen agreed to watch her while I run some errands, so…” he knocked on the wooden surface of your desk, almost nervously before he said, “Want to go get something to eat?”
You said yes quite fast.
That’s how Steve found himself with you in his car, meals done and low music playing on the radio as you two well…you just talked.
You had asked him about Cassie, he told you she was doing much better, and then he was telling you about how his Halloween was.
Cassie had decided, very last minute, that instead of being a regular fairy she wanted to actually be Tinkerbell. It wouldn’t have been a serious problem if the dress he got her was already green (it was blue), so he had to spend one of his entire lunch breaks finding a dress before he had to end up making it himself with a bunch of material from the only fabric store in Hawkins.
“Wait a minute…you made her costume?”
You were shocked, Steve could tell by the way you said it and stared at him with wide eyes and he felt a little embarrassed, “Yeah, took me two whole days. It was bad huh, you can be honest, Cass said she loved it, but I think she was just being nice- she doesn’t want to break her dad's heart.”
“Steve, she talked my ear off about how much she loved her costume,” you told him, genuine surprise still written all over your face, “Every time I learn something more about you the more I like you.”
Your words made Steve pause for a second, and he turned his head over to you, watching as you took a sip of soda then grinned at him.
Steve half-smiled at you as he moved to take a sip of his drink as well, “Did you not like me before or something? I really thought we had something with the apple picking, the baking…I even made you cookies, which…were they any good?”
“Oh the cookies,” you said, your hand flying over your chest as you sighed, “They were delicious, thank you for that.”
Steve smiled and nodded at you, and you added, “And I liked you before, just…now I like you more. You bake and you sew, and you love your daughter so much. What’s not to like?”
You were looking at him softly, and Steve felt a bit flustered underneath your gaze. It didn’t feel like when the other women in town would compliment or praise him for what he thought was the bare minimum, where he felt as if they were nothing but empty praise. No, yours felt genuine.
“Well…I didn’t really bake until I met you, so…feel free to take credit for that quality,” he said, jokingly and you chuckled, “And I’m glad somebody thinks me being able to sew is good. Remember those kids I told you about? They break my leg about it all the time, especially Henderson.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, like me sewing is weirder than him building a whole radio when he was 13.”
“Wait he built a whole radio? Huh…”
Steve nodded, “Still shows off about it too, he told me one time what spectacular thing I did when I was 13 and I couldn’t say because I was already getting dates at that age.”
His statement, as ridiculous and silly as it was, made you almost choke on what was left of your drink. He turned quickly to you as you coughed, and was worried until he heard cackling coming from you and saw your pretty smile again.
You shifted in your spot, coughing lightly a few more times before you said, “And you’re funny? God, Steve.”
His cheeks turned a slight pink, proud that he had made you laugh, but concerned with the fact that you had choked on your drink because of it.
“Everyone except you and Cass would disagree with that statement, but it’s nice to hear every once in a while…” especially if it was the pretty city girl Steve was growing very fond of calling him funny, he didn’t say that part out loud though. Nope, that felt too forward in a lunch between friends even though it was incredibly true.
Steve stayed staring at you, before he asked what it was that you did at 13, because he realized he’d been talking about himself the entire time and he wanted to know more about you, of course, having really gotten a few glimpses into your life. You hummed in thought.
“I wasn’t building radios, definitely not getting dates like you Mr. Popular,” you teased, then continued to think with your face scrunched up before you hummed again, and finally said, “I was really big on roller disco.”
“Wait…wait seriously?”
Out of all the things Steve might’ve thought, you liking roller disco had not been one of them, and he found it cute the way you became flustered now as you nodded slowly.
“Yeah, well…just disco in general, I was home alone a lot with nothing to do so I just learned a lot dance moves, and the roller rink was down the block, I was really good…god I can’t believe I’m admitting this to somebody,” you said, clearly embarrassed but Steve didn’t think it was something you should be embarrassed about and felt bad if he was making you think he was judging you in any way.
“That’s pretty…I honestly would’ve never guessed it,” Steve decided on saying, before he thought of something, “Now that I think of it…Cassie’s music taste has been a bit disco-y lately ever since we were at your place baking…”
This made you laugh in disbelief.
“No way,” you said with a shake of your head and Steve nodded, “That’s funny, I’m a little less embarrassed now.”
“Yeah…god now I know who the culprit is,” he laughed, “Don’t be embarrassed…though how long was that your interest though? I just want to know, I’ve never met a disco dancer before.” He grinned cheekily at the title he’d given and you scoffed, though your eyes held warmth in them still.
“Oh the interest definitely went past 13, up until my college years really, I was in a club and everything, it was really the only fun thing I did.”
Steve laughed with the shake of his head, still shocked by this information. So, you were a disco girl…he stupidly wondered if you two might’ve been friends if you knew each other in High School, but he quickly shut that down, remembering how he actually was in high school and knew you wouldn’t be friends with him most likely.
What mattered really was that he knew you now, and you knew him now, and like what you had told him…the more he was getting to know you really, the more he was liking you…or maybe it was something deeper with how his stomach churned pleasantly being in this car with you on this windy, fall afternoon just talking, making you laugh joyfully…he remembered having a lot of dates that went exactly like this back in High School, though it would be night time or you both would’ve been half way to Skull Rock by now.
Still, it felt nice sitting here with you, it felt nice when you were with him and Cass apple-picking too, and at your place as well, baking cookies and enjoying each other’s company.
All good things must come to an end though, and Steve hated how time flew by when you were having a good time, but you had to get back to work and Steve had to grocery shop for the week then go pick up Cassie from Karen Wheeler’s house. You still talked though as he drove you back to the school, your elbow leaning on the car’s door, hand resting above your head as you spoke and laughed.
He stopped the car in front of the office, and you thanked him for a fun lunch, and Steve’s eyes had caught the post for the food pantry event the Hawkins School District were holding for Thanksgiving the following week. His eyes rested on the poorly drawn turkey and an idea flashed in his mind.
“Hey, sorry, one last question,” Steve called to you before you could climb fully out of his car. You turned to him with a curious look, and he said, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?”
“Nothing, I don’t really celebrate it,” you told him that pretty fast, indicating that someone has probably asked you before and that was how you answered.
Steve began to absent-mindly run his hands over the steering wheel, deciding just to ask you if you wanted to join him and Cassie.
“If you’re up for it, me and Cass join the Henderson family. It’s just…them too, Dustin and his mom. I know she’ll enjoy having an extra person there.”
You were quiet for a bit, eyes moving to his moving hands, and Steve was about to tell you that you didn’t have to if you didn’t want to, but you were speaking before he could even open his mouth.
“That sounds fun actually…I guess that means I’m going to meet the little genius who built a whole radio at 13,” you said, referring to the prior conversation. Steve was grinning now, relieved and happy that you said yes and he chuckled and replied, “Yeah, honestly, I think you’d like him. He’s a cool kid.”
“Alright, guess I’ll be seeing you sooner than I thought,” you said cheekily, and Steve scoffed at you but smiled afterwards.
With a promise to call you sometime before then to give you the address, Steve was off to the market with butterflies fluttering in his stomach the entire time and when he ran into some familiar faces, they wondered what had him so joyful.
✧ ✧ ✧
You had made the joke to yourself that you felt like Steve when he tried to bring store bought cookies to the bakesale before you got your hands on him and convinced him to let you help him bake. The reason for this was because you had run out of time to make anything, but didn’t want to show up empty handed so you bought a pumpkin pie, and then a cheese tray and showed up just on time at the Henderson home; nothing homemade like you initially wanted but truth be told you didn’t really know how to make any traditional Thanksgiving supper.
They were already there, Steve’s car parked in front of yours, and the door was open, so you poked your head inside, looking around for anyone familiar…basically just Steve and Cassie, but instead you had been met with a young couple sitting on the couch. The girl was shorter, dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail with wispy bangs framing her face, and the boy, well you could only see his curly hair since his back was to you as they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.
“Oh Dusty Bun, latin has never been your strong suit and it’s okay to admit it,” the girl told the boy, and he huffed in response, “A genius can’t be good at everything.”
“That’s not true,” ‘Dusty-bun’ replied to her, “You’re good at everything.”
And she smiled, clearly keen on the compliment. You entered the house a little more, ready to announce your arrival when the girl saw you first. Your eyes locked with each other’s and she blinked a few times before saying, “Oh, hi?”
The boy snapped his head around quickly, blue eyes finding yours instantly, and when he didn’t recognize you in the span of a second he was saying, “Uh, sorry, I think you’re at the wrong house.”
You furrowed your brows, knowing for sure that wasn’t true because you recognized Steve’s car, and you said, assuming Dusty Bun was a nickname for Dustin, “Oh, I don’t think I am, you’re Dustin Henderson, right?”
He nodded at you, and you told him your name and ended with, “Steve invited me, he probably just forgot to tell you.”
This seemed to genuinely surprise Dustin, both of his eyebrows raising in disbelief as he looked at you, and then all he could say was, “Wait- wait- are you telling me Steve invited you?”
“Hey, don’t be rude,” the girl said, slightly tapping Dustin’s arm but he shrugged her off as he said he wasn’t being rude before he said, “I’m just surprised! Steve invited a girl to have dinner with us, is that not insane to you?”
The girl opened her mouth to say something, maybe along the lines of trying to defend Steve before it went slack, and she replied, “...I admit it is a little surprising considering…well you know.”
You stared at them, wondering what that even meant but decided not to question that in favor of asking awkwardly if they could just find Steve for you and tell him you’ve arrived. Dustin gave you another nod, and you expected him to get up rather than just turning his head and shouting the last thing you expected for him to shout, “Hey Steve! Your girlfriend’s here! Why didn’t you tell me you had one!”
Following Dustin’s yell there was a crash from a room to the right of you, then a feminine shout of surprise followed by the familiar voice of Steve saying, “My bad! I’ll clean that up- don’t worry-” And then, Steve was in the room. He was wearing a nice polo shirt that was tight around his arms, and chest, over that was the same cupcake apron that matched Cassie’s. You supposed he was getting a lot of use out of it since buying it.
There was also pink dusted on his cheeks as he told Dustin, “I can’t believe you just shouted that- she’s not my girlfriend, Henderson. Way to make it awkward- and hi, you’re here.” He was looking at you when he said that, his pretty brown eyes resting on you, and a smile, more shy than usual because of Dustin’s assumption, tugging at his lips.
“You said 4,” you told Steve, a smile crawling its way onto your lips too. You stayed smiling at each other for a beat or two before you lifted the items you bought and asked, “So, where can I put these?”
Steve waved you over toward him, “Right this way actually here-” He held his hands out, taking the pumpkin pie and cheese platter off of your hands, and you felt his fingers lightly drag against yours. He was really warm, which made sense as the kitchen you followed him into was drastically warmer than the living space and the colder fall temperature outside.
“Sorry about Dustin, I hope he didn't make you uncomfortable,” Steve said, apologizing on his behalf but you could only wave that off with a shake of your head.
“In his shoes, I’d probably think so too,” you admitted before you laughed nervously, afraid that had come off weird, but Steve let out a breathless laugh then nodded in agreement with you.
There was a woman in the kitchen, Claudia Henderson you presumed, and she was wiping down whatever Steve had dropped. His face fell and he said, “You didn’t have to do that-”
“It’s no problem, Steve! It wasn’t that bad of a spill,” she told him as she tossed the paper towel pieces she used into the trash, and Steve looked like he was going to say something else when her eyes landed on you and she was saying, “Is this her, Steve? Wow, aren’t you the pretty one?”
You felt your cheek heats up, not expecting the compliment, and Steve’s eyes widened as she continued to say, “I’m so glad he’s finally found someone else, you know it was so hard-”
“Wait, no it’s not-”
“I’m just his friend,” you cut Steve off, Claudia paused before her expression turned shocked and then regretful. Her hands even flew over her mouth like she’d just cursed at you in an accident or something.
“Oh, oh I’m sorry, I just assumed when he told me he was inviting a woman over that meant-” she gestured between you two before she laughed nervously, “Either way, I’m glad he’s invited a friend, thank you for joining us.”
Her smile was kind, and despite the confusion from everyone you’ve encountered so far, you felt at ease standing in this pleasant smelling kitchen, and you said, “No thank you for having me! Now that I’m here, is there anything I can do to help?”
Your eyes danced around the kitchen now, having never seen a kitchen so full with food before and you felt something odd in your chest, something you couldn’t quite describe, but Claudia’s claim that you didn’t have to make you ignore it and set it aside.
“I pulled a Steve and brought only store bought items, please let me at least do something,” you said, poking at Steve and he huffed beside you.
“Hey, you say that like there’s something wrong with that,” Steve said as he placed the pumpkin pie on what looked like the dessert portion of the kitchen counter, and placed the cheese platter onto a table with other appetizers to snack on before dinner.
He was actually opening it before throwing a cube of cheddar cheddar and a ritz cracker into his mouth.
Claudia had laughed at you both before saying that if you weren’t going to take no for an answer you could help prepare the ham. Your eyes landed on the thick piece of ham resting in a pan as you shrugged off the coat you were wearing to reveal a nice burgundy turtleneck underneath.
That feeling started to linger over you again as you realized you didn’t know what to even start with, having never prepared or baked a ham before- not even on Christmas when it appeared to be the most popular. Claudia didn’t seem to take notice of your sudden hesitation, but Steve did.
He was back beside you and he said, “I’ll help, she’s taught me everything I know.”
Claudia hummed, as if proud of her teaching Steve how to prepare a ham, and you gave him a curt nod before you went to wash your hands and Steve grabbed the things from a bag he must’ve brought of the things he would need.
As you started to pour pineapple juice into a measuring cup per Steve’s orders, you suddenly realized there was somebody missing, a vital person, and you said, “Wait a minute- where’s Cassie?”
Like you managed to summon the girl with the utter of her name, Dustin was entering the kitchen holding Cassie and grunting as he claimed she was heavy. He didn’t put her down though, not when she was very clearly half-awake, her eyes squinted and various strands poking out of her french-braided hair.
She still managed to ask, “Is the food ready, yet?”
Steve was walking toward Dustin, taking her from him, and as he pushed a few strands of her hair out of her face he said, “Not yet, sleepyhead, in about an hour, but look who’s here.”
He turned around, and Cassie looked very closely at everyone in the room before she finally realized there was an extra person. Her being on the verge of falling asleep had vanished the moment she saw you, and you waved both hands at her eagerly.
“I was waiting for you! I thought my daddy lied about you coming!” Cassie said, quite loudly. You laughed, head tilting back slightly.
“Why do you keep thinking that I’m lying? I never lie to you,” Steve said with a shake of his head, and Cassie turned to look at her dad as he placed her hair behind her ear.
“You said the food will be ready when I wake up, but it’s not,” she stated.
“Ha!” Dustin laughed from where he stood next to the cheese platter you had brought, placing pieces of it onto a decorative plastic plate, “She got you there.”
Steve gave him a look, but sighed as he said, “Yeah she did…how about you go and play with Dustin and Suzy and then it’ll be done.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot I wanted to give her a lot of my old edition D&D books, and other old toys,” Dustin said, turning around to look at Steve and Cassie.
“Dude, come on…”
“What? They’re Steve of Approved, plus if I start teaching her now, she’ll definitely keep the Hellfire Club going when she gets to high school, and that’s important,” Dustin said, clearly having a plan, and Steve could only shake his head as Cassie seemed excited about the word Hellfire and club.
“Hellfire Club?” you asked, and all eyes turned to you.
“Oh, it’s a Dungeon and Dragons club, do you play?” Dustin asked you, and you shook your head.
“No, but…I’ve always wanted to, just never got the chance,” you admitted, remembering there being a club like when you were in high school too and wondering how one might play the roleplaying game, “It looks fun though, I’d like to learn one day.”
Dustin snapped his fingers, “See, that already makes you cooler than Steve”
“Am I just going to be made fun of the entire time? Well yeah, that’s how I know it’s Thanksgiving,” Steve answered his own question with a scoff, making you smile sheepishly at him until he was smiling again as he said, “I’ve played a few times, not really my thing, but…I mean if you want to play I know a guy who could teach you. He’s a bit insane, but if I’m there you’ll be fine.”
“Oh so you’re ‘not girlfriend’ is interested in playing and suddenly you’re willing to hang out with Eddie and playing too?”
Dustin was giving Steve a knowing look, one of which had you suppressing a grin, especially when you saw Steve’s eyes get wide with shock that he’d say. He was probably regretting inviting you now.
“How is Eddie anyway? I haven’t seen him around in a while,” Claudia chimed in before Steve could properly respond and Dustin replied, “He’s always out of town lately, I know because I called before I even got here to see if he wanted to start planning a campaign for us to play.”
Claudia hummed in response, and you watched Steve give Dustin a look, one of which Dustin shrugged at him before smiling menacingly.
“Come on, Cass, let’s go,” Dustin said, and Steve placed Cassie down. She eagerly followed after Dustin, waving a good-bye to you before disappearing back into the living room.
Steve was back by your side, helping you with the ham again and he muttered, “Sorry again.”
In all honesty you weren’t bothered by the comments, Steve actually seemed more bothered than you were, his cheeks haven’t stopped being flushed since they started. You gently grasped his forearm, making him look at you.
“Stop apologizing, I can handle being mistaken for your girlfriend,” you said teasingly, to which Steve turned even more pink, “Plus, I’m having a good time, so let’s finish this ham before Cass comes back asking why it isn’t ready yet.”
Steve laughed and agreed with you as you worked together to get it done.
Another hour had passed, you were more comfortable, and that weird feeling in your stomach had started to gently subside, up until dinner itself was ready to be served. Dustin, Suzy, and Cass were more than happy to set the table, then as you sat having the said dinner, you stayed quiet the whole time just watching.
Steve was sitting at the end of the table, Claudia at the other end, Dustin and Suzy were sitting across from you, and you were sitting next to Cassie, just a seat away from where Steve was sitting. It was, what you believed to be, your first big family dinner.
As you’ve said, it was really only you and your dad growing up, and when you told Steve you never celebrated when he first invited you, you meant it. Your dad and you would go out to eat the following day, but it was still just the two of you and as you watched them interact, laughing and teasing each other, retelling stories you’ve never heard before, and Dustin going on about how his year at University was going, you realized that empty feeling you were feeling was one you always tended to feel around the holidays.
Maybe you were feeling it a little bit more since you really had no family left, and seeing them just made you think about it more, made you think about how lonely you actually felt, a loneliness you’ve always felt.
After dinner, Claudia had offered to make cocoa and coffee for everyone as you let your stomachs settle before dessert and everyone had agreed. She shooed you all out of the kitchen though, keen on letting you guys enjoy each other’s company so you were gathered in the living room, the television playing and Dustin continuing his D&D lesson for Cassie, and you actually.
You couldn’t shake the feeling though, and had excused yourself for a bit. You hadn’t noticed that Steve wasn’t even in the room when you snuck outside to gather yourself.
Steve had actually gone to the bathroom, mostly to fix his hair and when he came back, the living room was actually just empty. He figured the beverages were ready and waltzed into the kitchen, seeing that he was right.
Suzy was helping Claudia pour them into various mugs and Dustin and Cassie were standing by the dessert counter, taking advantage of their backs being turned to them.
“What are you doing?” Steve questioned as he walked closer. They both looked at Steve with wide eyes, their lips covered in crumbs of one of the apple pastries Claudia had made.
Dustin wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said, “We’re checking it for poison, duh.”
Steve’s face deadpanned, having heard that just weeks before from Cassie herself. Deciding it really wasn’t that big a deal, Steve looked around the kitchen, trying to find you, but only seeing the people he originally saw when he first walked in. He asked where you went, and Cassie, with a mouth full of pastry, told him that you had gone outside and Dustin backed her up.
So, Steve went outside too, not without taking two mugs of coffee; one for you and one for him.
You were sitting on the bench, arms crossed over your chest and staring at nothing in deep thought. You didn’t seem to hear Steve coming outside, not until he cleared his throat and held the mug out for you to take. You visibly snapped out of your thoughts and turned to look at the mug then at Steve, muttering a soft thank you as you took it from him.
“I just needed a bit of air,” you told him as you held the mug with both hands, enjoying the warmth it radiated.
Steve nodded, and took a sip of his before he sat down beside you, guessing what it was that was bothering you because he had been in the same position as you before. He just kind of sensed it and recognized it, especially when he observed how quiet you were during dinner.
“I know it’s overwhelming,” Steve suddenly said, “Sorry, I just assumed, and maybe I should’ve…I don’t know eased you better into having a big family dinner like this.”
You blinked, and looked at him. He looked thoughtful as he continued to speak.
“I’ve mentioned my oh so great parents once or twice, but…yeah I never had any of this,” Steve gestured around with his mug, “Not until I was well out of high school, not until Cassie was born really…I had her mom, but that’s…” he made a face at that, and you tilted your head, this being the first time he’s mentioned her in any context and you thought maybe the comments of surprise Steve invited somebody had to do with her.
“Anyway though, I get it- I was overwhelmed the first time too, and I still kind of am- but knowing that I can give Cassie these experiences I didn’t have growing up makes it worth it,” he finished with a sip of his coffee, eyes soft as he too stared at nothing, thinking of Cassie back inside enjoying the Holiday with the Henderson family.
You didn’t have a daughter, not like Steve, but you could imagine if you did you would try your best to do the same. It made your heart swell with how much of a genuinely good person and dad he was, and you just wondered what more this guy could do that would make you like him even more.
“It feels like something I never knew I needed,” you said, laughing weakly and Steve joined you with that weak laugh.
“Oh yeah, it feels weird huh…but also good.”
“Yeah…yeah it feels really good,” you agreed, turning your body toward him.
Steve returned your gaze, seeing something in it that made him swallow very thickly. It had been a while, yes, but when Steve said he was getting dates at 13 he meant it. He knew what it was like when someone liked him, it was almost like second nature and he prided himself once in being able to know when the right time was to kiss a woman.
He called it ‘electricity.’ Stupid to say as an adult, but true when he was a high schooler. There was electricity between you, and with a soft flutter of your eyelashes, Steve knew they were ‘kiss me’ eyes.
And so, he was slowly starting to lean in…catching your lips parting and your eyes flickering down to his lips. You were leaning in too, but then, the door was being slammed open.
“We’re having pie now, come on!” Cassie called, poking her head out the door, startling you and Steve. He sucked in a tight breath, leaning away from you as he looked at Cassie who remained in her place, just staring at the both of you like she knew something you both didn’t or something.
“We’ll be in right now,” Steve told her, and she slowly disappeared back into the house, making you laugh. Steve turned back to you, trying to steady his breath at what almost happened out here and feeling guilty for whatever reason.
He wondered what you were thinking, but you were already moving to stand and he tilted his head upward to look at you, trying to see if he could read you, but you didn’t really give him a chance. You rather smiled at him like always, not giving any sign that you knew he was going to kiss you, which relieved him…but also disappointed him. Did he imagine you leaning in too? Was he being a creep?
If he was, you weren’t acting like it and rather held your hand out and said, “Well, let’s go enjoy some dessert.”
The rest of the night was filled with more fun, and Steve liked how you were looking less melancholy, talking with Suzy and Dustin (You did actually bring the radio up and Dustin would not shut up). Steve remained on the couch, Cassie laying on it with her head resting on his lap and he figured they should head home soon when he noticed Cassie was actually falling asleep.
Then, you were standing up, announcing that it was late and you should go. Steve gently moved Cassie, telling her that you were leaving and she opened her sleepy eyes to say bye to you before shutting them again.
You told everyone a good night, thanking them for letting you join them, and then Steve walked you out. It was on the porch, you turned to Steve and leaned in to give you a chaste on the cheek, catching Steve off guard.
“Thank you for everything Steve,” you told him, the tone of your voice very soft that Steve almost didn’t hear you over the fasting beating of his own heart from the feeling of your lips touching his cheek, even if it was just for less than a second.
“You’re…you’re welcome,” he said, voice breathless. You stepped backwards, telling him good night and Steve watched you, a million thoughts running through his mind until he noticed you snap your fingers. Steve furrowed his brows, wondering why you did that before you were leaning into your car and grabbing a paper bag.
Then, you were walking back to him, and held it out for him to take.
“What’s this?” Steve asked you as he took it.
“Just a gift for Cassie,” you told him, looking between him and the bag almost eagerly.
Steve looked into the paper bag, having to squint his eyes to see what it was. When he realized what he was looking at, his eyes widened and he was looking at you. There was a walk-man in there.
“Is this- wait- you didn’t buy this did you?”
“No!” you said, “It was actually mine, but I never use it.”
Steve’s gaze remained on yours, jaw slightly agape at the gift you’d just given him to give to Cassie, “Are you…sure?”
You were nodding, “Yeah, it just sort of sits in my dresser and I know Cassie will use it all the time. Oh, I even…” You reached out, digging into the bag for a moment before you wrapped your hands around what you were looking for, “I made this for her, since you said she was enjoying disco lately I thought I might as well introduce her to my favorite ones and others too I think you might enjoy.”
Steve looked at the mixtape in your hands, and those butterflies went insane in his stomach, actually rising up into his extremely warm chest. He thought maybe he was feeling light headed by your incredibly nice gesture, Cassie was going to be so damn happy.
“You might want to listen to it first,” you continued after Steve was still silently staring at you, “You know…make sure it gets a Steve of Approval.”
That made him laugh, the disbelief leaving his face for amusement before his expression was warm again as he said, “No…no I trust you…god thank you so much, she’s going to be happy.”
You were nodding again, dropping the tape back into the bag and putting your hands into your coat pockets, “So I guess I’ll see you soon?”
Steve held the bag against him, and he nodded, “Yeah, yeah see you soon.”
And then, you were off.
Steve stayed standing there, up until you were pulling out of the driveway and waving at him from your car.
“...fuck,” Steve cursed at himself for some reason, but saying it just felt right and necessary. He liked you, a lot, and he hadn’t felt this way in such a long time. And because of that…Steve wasn’t quite sure how he was going to proceed with this, or if he should considering his luck with women in the past.
Yet, as he watched your car disappear and felt this pleasant buzz in his mind with thoughts full of you…he knew that he should. The only thing was…he hoped to god he would see you soon.
#i had it all planned out in sections good lord this took a while to write but i DID it and i love it so much#honesty...take your time reading it it's so long alksjalksja#steve harrington#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington imagines#steve harrington x female reader#reader insert#female reader#stranger things#single dad steve au#confetti series#lys writes again
118 notes
·
View notes
Text
KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER.
REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!
NAME: viverra ! but ive also been called vixen, dogma, gabe, etc. any works
PRONOUNS : he/him
PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION : big big fan of discord. tumblr ims are hard for me to read </3
NAME OF MUSE(s) : monoma neito, ibara shiozaki, chitose kizuki/curious, kaina tsutsumi/lady nagant, setsuna tokage, ryo inui/hound dog, natsuo todoroki, kendou itsuka, hinata haruka, nobimaru, inari yoko, marik ishtar, ishizu ishtar, rishid ishtar, atem, and lacramioara strigoi.
jesus christ who let me do this
BEST EXPERIENCE : ummm gee okay i cant just name one it turns out life is actually about the accumulation of small joys and not just a few big ones but every time i get in the car and listen to my music and go OH! THIS REMINDS ME OF THIS PERSONS MUSE AND OUR DYNAMIC! or when talking to people inspires me to draw little comics (esp while im at work let me live) it really just makes me so so happy
RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS : im pretty chill for the most part i think like ive definitely mellowed out a lot over the past few years but. i gotta say it:
formatting. the over-formatting of everything is killing me. i cant read most peoples carrds. i dont even know how they read it, because of how insanely tiny the text is. eye strain colors, hard to see icons, weird fonts... i dont mind a little bit of formatting, naturally, like go girl give us everything, but its getting to the point of being genuinely frustrating that almost every new blog i encounter has me fighting for my life just trying to learn the important info. i have visual and neurological issues please lord im only seven
MUSE PREFERENCES: seconding cam on if the "when someones pulled a muse apart like the spaghettification of a star and then put them back together". its fascinating. i think the fun part about rp is that i get just as invested in my partners character and what they get out of each thread as much as i do mine, so when people sit there and talk about their ideas and meta and really dig into that thing like . WHOOO NOW WE'RE COOKING
PLOTS OR MEMES : I like both! I think memes are good to kick things off regardless, and I dont mind building off of it. I like to plot a lot ooc but more in a loosey-goosey kind of way; i really like to get to know other muns and their characters and also talking is just sort of how i think through things so its very helpful to me. i also just get a lot of ideas because these things live rent free in my head but to me a natural progression is more important than like, sticking to a script.
LONG OR SHORT REPLIES : i write insanely long replies because i have things wrong with me. theres NEVER any pressure to length match-- a lot of the time im just doing it to establish exposition or setting so the other person finds it easier to work with. just give me something i can work with and we are a ok :D
BEST TIME TO WRITE : it really depends... i typically end up writing in the evening/afternoon because of my schedule. i think the biggest thing is that i work on weekends, so you may only hear from me ooc on those days. im also really trying to fix my sleep schedule.........to varying levels of success. sometimes the thread is too good
ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S) : just talking about monoma here... i've also got a pretty snappy mouth and natural love of finding loopholes, but i just went into paralegal instead of making it class A's problem. i also love to laugh, but id like to think im a lot less meanspirited about it
tagged: @dynmghts
tagging: @veroxins @cloistress @killerhubby @enignoema @eclipsemuses @yeonban @starshinc @ofluminance @paracide @ohcruel
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
♡⸝⸝ about me .ᐟ
includes: introduction, dni/byf, etc . . .
— Finally im making an introduction after putting it off for a bit out of shyness (and laziness..+ being nervous, but i need to push myself to do things sometimes.) but i thought its time you guys know a little bit more about me! ^^
𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒𓈒⠀. 𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒
‼️ • MDNI • ‼️
♡ ····· introduction
• Hello there!! im Sammy, but i prefer to be called Sakura if we aren’t extremely close. <3
• Im 20 years old! Im also a biracial lady, Bisexual, and my pronouns are She/Her! Please refer to me as so when talking to/about me.
• Some of my hobbies include : Cosplay, editing, drawing, photography (beginner), dancing, gaming, writing, reading, and baking!
• I like to associate myself with certain animals, specifically raccoons/deer/rag-doll cats/lambs/bats! Personally i think they fit me very well..so thats why you may see me repost those specific animals from time to time. (cause i think they’re me! ^^)
Tagged with: #irlsaku
• My few of my interests are cosplay, video games, anime, manga, flowers, greek mythology, herbology, nymphology, gloomy coquette and lolita fashion. among others too!
• i love many little men right now..but mainly ive been very lovey dovey over ren hana/fox, strade, lawrence oleander, sano kojima and vincent metzger! their just my favorites at the moment and i tend to self indulge in a bunch of selfshipping with them (persona x canon and oc x canon too!..maybe i will post my btd/tpof ocs here someday.)
♡ ····· DNI / BYF
• DNI: Minors, ageless blogs, zoos/maps, ableist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-xeno/neopronouns, i dont really have a big dni but these are my mains. I block freely.
• BYF: This account is my primary blog and it’s mostly just for me posting/spamming my brainrot of 18+ medias! (also made for self indulgence and other things but i wont speak on that too much) So please please if you are under the age of 18 or do not have an age stating that you are an adult in your bio you will be blocked! This blog and content is not made for your eyes to see and you can get others and the creators in legal trouble and yourself. Please stay safe and take care of yourself, Thank you.
• If you are not a minor but cant handle the topics/media that will be posted on my blog please don’t follow me, this blog again is simply for my hyper-fixations of 18+ medias, my own enjoyment, and more. Don’t hurt/trigger yourself intentionally by looking at the things i put here, and please look out for your wellbeing because you are special! <3 Thank you!
My sfw blog is @crunchysugarr so i wont mix my other medias with this one!
• I have ADHD/PTSD/anxiety and depression, please be mindful of these things when choosing to interact with me whether its in dms or my ask box!
• You can send anything (quite literally anything..) in my asks! I don’t mind it, but ill ignore it if i don’t feel comfortable answering it or if it makes me feel some type of way. Please remember i may take time to reply to them if you ever do send anything to my inbox. (I also ask that you don’t send me irl gore/animal gore/cp/etc in my ask box.)
- I tag my posts with my own hashtags, heres a few of them so you wont be confused about what I’m specifically trying to post!
- aesthetic: #sakuaesth
- rambling: #sakubabbles
- regular blogging: #sakuposting🌸
(This could change overtime but i don’t know if they will but if they do I’ll let you all know! I hate confusing others on accident, hope this helps somewhat!)
• Im still pretty new to the Boyfriend to Death fandom and other fandoms on here too, I’m always learning something new about these pieces of media every single day! so please don’t get upset if i say anything not really lore accurate (?) i guess.
• You can always dm me or reply in my posts freely! But please ask to dm me in my ask box if you do want to talk to me in private, i usually only chat on tumblr and not discord because only people i’m closest to have my discord. But feel free to ask to dm me and we can talk here on tumblr if thats fine with you <3
• Please be patient when it comes to me replying to messages/asks. Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming knowing i have to reply to so many people so i may take some time to get back to you all depending on whats going on with me that day, i do have a life outside of tumblr thats way different from how i appear online! But just know i have no intentions of ignoring anybody, i just wanna try and talk to new people for once.
Note: i tend to use emoticons only because i just think they’re adorable simply and i like to use them when texting! (i dont know why i feel the need to specify this so much, or anything else for that matter..but i did!)
♡ ····· other / extra things
ill try and make this as short as possible so you wont have to do too much more reading.. sorry about that!! ^_^’
• on this account the specific content i intend to post is boyfriend to death (1&2), the price of flesh, ykmet, degrees of lewdity, lovers trophy, courtin’ cowboys, this is not romance, and Saw (2004)!
• i can give out some of my other socials below so feel free to follow them if you’d like to, or don’t! i would never force anything upon you or anyone. <3
Twitter: @/crunchysugarr
Pinterest: (the same as my twitter user)
• and i think thats really pretty much everything! i hope you enjoy my company and my blog, if theres any other questions you wanna ask to know other things about me that aren’t listed here then you are free to shoot me an ask anytime! (no pressure of course <3.) Im sure we will become good friends someday! take care ♡
#sakuposting🌸#sakufawns#hello! hi..!#very nervous to post this but here i go#introduction#about myself#sorry if im a lil awkward..n quiet uhg god#ILL SUCK IT UP#its nice to meet you all eitherway though <3#making new friends#boyfriend to death#the price of flesh#degrees of lewdity#18+ only#no minors please#lovers trophy#courtincowboys#this is not romance#holyshitimshxhsjhx#anxiety UP📈#may edit from time to time#incase i forget somethsings :D#brain empty saku#ykmet#pinned post
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bunk
Summary: While joining Niall and the boys on their Where We Are tour, Niall wants you to sneak into his bunk on the tour bus.
Requested: no
POV: 2nd
Warning(s): hand stuff!!
hiya!!! ive been missing the 1d days a looooottttt recently and have had so many story ideas based during those days, so in honor of the boys 12 year anniversary, here's one of the sexier stories i've thought of! i hope you enjoy ;)
ps i'm also not completely sure about what the rules were when it came to gf's on tour but for the sake of the story, we're going to pretend that management was strict about it!
***
Are you up?
It was 1:48 in the morning when you got the text from Niall before replying back with, Yes why?
You were currently visiting Niall and the boys on their third consecutive tour, Where We Are. It was a couple hours after the show and the boys were out, each sleeping in their own bunk, inches away from you. You were in your bunk, Niall in his right above you.
Management was strict on the boys when it came to girlfriends visiting on tour. You were big distractions to them so they limited the amount of time you were able to visit. You were not allowed to go with them on tour, only allowed to visit a handful amount of times in the 6 months they were on the road, four days at a time max.
You and Niall had been dating for about a year and a half now and things couldn't be any better. Of course you have your ups and downs like every other couple, but you've learned how to work through those problems and exit out the other side happier than ever.
Long distance sucked. It was so hard. But you and Niall texted if not called each other every day you were apart. It didn't matter the timezone difference, you always made time for each other even if it was a couple small texts a day or a quick 5 minute phone call. You always dreaded the day he had to leave for tour. This year wasn't as hard as last year. Last year you were in a newer relationship, just entering the honeymoon stage and not wanting to leave his side ever. This year, while still hard, you have more love and trust in him, you know what to expect and know that you got through last tour, so you can get through this one too. And of course you know you're allowed to visit him a couple of times!
You wanna come to my bunk?
And do what
Cuddle
Kiss maybe
That's risky. What if we get caught? You know how strict they can get :(
Please
He didn't have to say anything more before you were quietly exiting your bunk and sneaking up into Niall's. As you pulled the curtain back slowly, you could point out the mischeivious grin on his face. You climbed in and snuggled up into his warm embrace under the covers, slowly closing the curtain, careful not to make any noise.
Turning on your side to face him, you mimicked his grin as you whispered low enough so only he could hear, "hi."
"Hi, pretty girl," he hummed as his arms wrapped around you, the pet name having butterflies erupt in your stomach, "'m so happy yer here wit' me. I missed ya so much."
"Me too. 'm gonna miss you when I have to leave again."
"I know, but let's not t'ink about dat right now," he pushed a stray piece of hair out from your face as he looked at you in the dark bunk, little to no light being shown, "Wanna kiss me?"
You nodded quickly before you leaned in and pressed your lips to his. A few pecks to his lips before a longer, more passionate one had you both craving more. The kisses started sweet and soft but soon picked up heat. His lips were soft against yours, his tongue moving magically in your mouth. The kisses were hot, but they were slow, both of you careful not to make them smack against each other in fear of being caught.
His hands gently caressed your back, short, bitten fingernails scratching your soft skin as he felt everywhere his hands would allow. Your fingers threaded through his unnaturally blonde locks, painted nails scratching at his scalp and playing with the dyed strands of hair.
"I love ya," he breathed out quietly.
"I love you too."
His lips were back on yours, tongue slightly grazing past your lips, his hands traveling lower and planted on your bum. He squeezed what he could grope in his hands and you wanted to moan, but kept it in. You could feel the twist in your core and your panties start to dampen at his actions.
"Lay on your back," he hummed and as he urged you to turn your body.
"We shouldn't," you whispered as you obeyed and turned your body so you were laying on your back, him still on his side next to you.
"Shhh, just lemme make ya feel good," he whispered back, sitting up on his forearm so he was hovered over you, "I miss ya. We never get any alone time here."
He was right. It was almost impossible to get any alone time with Niall while on tour. He rarely got any even when you weren't with him. The boys shared everything from rooms, to bathrooms, to even beds. Even outside of that, their constant schedule keeps everybody moving. People on every part of their team always busy with something whether it be getting ready for the shows, cleaning up after the shows, or keeping the boys in line, you are never alone.
You didn't reply, only letting your legs spread open more to allow him better access to your most vulnerable spot. After a few more kisses to his sweet lips, his lips trailed down to your jaw and neck. His calloused fingers slipped past the band of your nike shorts and your cotton panties, landing slightly to the left of your throbbing bundle of nerves. His fingers moved side to side and it felt good but he wasn't directly on your clit like you needed him to be. You reached down and grabbed on his fingers, adjusting them slightly. He continued to rub how he knows you like it and once he began to rub at that perfect angle, you had to bite your lip to keep from moaning.
His fingers moved south, feeling just how wet he's made you. Easily slipping his middle finger into you, he lifted his head from your neck and watched you react to him. He moved in and out of you curling his fingers up and feeling around. Your face contorted with pleasure. You fluttered your eyes open to look at him.
"Feels good," you hummed almost inaudibly, but he understood you.
He gave you a few kisses before slipping his index finger into the mix, his two fingers stretching you out and feeling as you clenched around him. Your breath hitched in your throat and began becoming staggered.
Continuing to thrust his fingers in and out of you, everytime he went in, he curled them up, finding the special spot that made you feeling oh so good. He paid special attention to that spot, finding it each time he went in.
You struggled not to moan. You were gripping his hair and the sheets to help relieve that struggle. He made you feel so good. He always made you feel so good. His hands were magical. Anyone can see it with how he plays that guitar on stage.
He was bringing your closer to your orgasm by the second. You both knew it wouldn't be long until he had you a struggling mess under him. The knot in your stomach was getting tighter and tighter, begging to be released.
"Gonna be quiet enough if I let ya cum?" he whispered, his breath tickling your ear.
"Please," you begged, needing the release.
He sped up his movements, careful not to make any noise, even though it was hard because you were soaked. His arm started to burn from overuse but he knew you were close and he wasn't planning on stopping. He began to press kisses and suck at all of your sweet spots again, urging you to release.
And you did.
Hard.
Your entire body erupted with pleasure, your back arching and your toes curling. Your face was scrunched up with pleasure, lips sealed tightly against each other to prevent any noise from escaping no matter how badly you wanted to scream. Your knuckles turned white from your grip on the sheets beneath you and you were seeing shapes behind your squeezed shut eyelids. You were in complete and utter bliss.
As you came down from your high, your body relaxed into the bed and Niall slowly pulled his two fingers out of you, slipping them into his mouth, sucking them clean. He laid back down next to you as you tried to maintain your heavy breathing.
"Did so well fer me," he whispered, "That feel good?"
"I wanted to scream so bad," you breathed out.
He smiled a sweet smile at you before attaching your lips together. You pulled back and closed your eyes, regaining your breath and your body. His head laid on your shoulder, hand running up and down your arm soothingly.
Once you were ready, you turned onto your side and lifted up his head to look at you. You kissed him again and reached your hand down, cupping him over his boxer briefs.
"Mm-mm," he shook his head no.
"No?" you asked confused.
"Tired, babe. Had a show tonight."
"Are you sure?" you asked, feeling selfish that he helped you out but you didn't help him.
"Mhm, got a off day tomorrow so we're checkin' into a hotel for the next two days and you've got me all to yourself then."
"Okay," you hummed, feeling the tiredness hit you as well.
You laid there in each other's arms for a bit, enjoying the euphoria and safeness it brought to you. His steady breathing in your ear, strong arms wrapped around you, and the warmth radiating off him relaxed you.
"I should go soon," you sighed, not wanting to leave his arms.
"Can we cuddle just a bit more?"
"Only 5 minutes. I can't fall asleep with you."
He didn't say anything. You turned onto your other side so he could spoon you. Getting comfortable, he pulled you into his bare chest, his arm snaking around your waist and you intertwining your fingers on top of his. He gave you a short squeeze as a silent way to say he loved you, enjoying the snuggles he's getting before you have to retreat back to your bunk. You did the same, sighing contently. Your eyelids felt heavy but you knew you had to stay up for a little longer. You decided to rest your eyes, promising yourself that you wouldn't fall asleep.
Rookie mistake, Y/N.
#my writing#one shots#one direction#niall#niall horan#smut#fluff#fanfiction#fanfic#niall one shot#niall smut#niall fluff#niall fanfic#niall fanfiction#niall horan one shot#niall one shots#niall horan one shots#niall horan smut#niall horan fluff#niall horan fanfic#niall horan fanfiction#one direction smut#one direction fanfic#one direction fanfiction#one direction fluff#where we are tour#1d days
388 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?
"Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?" Batgirl asked. Her gaze locking with Robin momentarily before back to you with a smile. "You try to ignore it but you can't help yourself but look for a little longer. It hurts that you can't have them but you wouldn't change that feeling for the world." She smiled. "I shouldn't talk about him." You said quickly. "Oh. There's a him." Batgirl smirked. "What's his name then?" Never in a million years did you think you'd be interrogated about who you were attracted by Batgirl. With another million years, you never thought your boss would hear. He was supposed to have escaped by now, leaving the vigilantes clueless as to who you boss was.
The Riddler: "Edward." You managed out. "Edward huh? Tell me about him." She coaxed. "He's super smart...like crazy smart." You began. "His eyes light up and he's so passionate. I can't help but want to encourage and praise him even though I have no idea what he's talking about." "Does he like you back?" She asked. You shook your head. "He wouldn't...I don't think he's interest in relationships or dating. He's a workaholic. Besides even if he did, I'm the last person he'd be interested in. I'm not very special." Edward's heart pounded in his chest. Eyes wide as he tried to stay quiet. He couldn't bring himself to leave like he intended. It was the plan but he couldn't move. The vigilantes had no idea you worked for the Riddler. Just like they had no idea he was there and heard everything. You didn't know either, thinking he was long gone. His mind raced, nothing coherent, nothing worthwhile. He had to move. He couldn't deal with this right now. Even if he knew he was denying his own lingering thoughts the second they, once again, arose to the surface.
Scarecrow: "Jonathan." You said quietly. "Ohh, and what's he like?" She pressed. "He's smart but quite reserved. He has these beautiful blue eyes. I could get lost in them forever." You began. "He can be quite cold but he doesn't mean to be. I think it puts people off but ive learned to see passed all of that." You smiled. "He's passionate about learning and seeing him work is captivating." "Do you think he likes you back?" She asked and you shook your head. "I don't think he even knows I exist most times." "Well he must know, he hired you didn't he?" Robin replied. "Yeah but I think he forgets about me. I'm not exactly his first choice when needing help." Unexpected, he'd give you that. Although he very much knew who you were. He thought more about you than he probably should. He kept you out of the more dangerous things finding himself unable to concentrate if he doesn't. All he can think about is where you are and what you're doing. So he took you to the less dangerous confrontations. Had you play your part behind the scenes. He didn't think it ever register to you as not knowing you. However he isn't too bothered by that. He could handle that as long as you were out of the way. Atleast until he figures out what fixation he seems to have on you.
Two-Face: "Harvey...his name is Harvey." Even just saying his name, they could heard the fondness in your voice. "What's he like?" She asked. "He's a little rough around the edges but he's lovely. So lovely." "Sounds like he could be a good guy, even if it's hard to see at first." Batgirl replied. "He cares. Everyone always said that about him but I never thought I'd see it for myself." You nodded. "He's loyal. Those he cares about, he keeps close and protected." "Does you think he likes you back?" She asked. You shook your head. "He's too good for me. Way out of my league." Robin hummed. "I'll tell you one thing. I don't believe in the whole league thing. If the person is the right person then it doesn't matter where they were or came from. As long as they see you as their future and you accept each other's influence. There really is no such thing as 'leagues' getting in the way of a relationship. Only if you make it a thing. You know?" Harvey was taken aback. He wasn't out of your league. You were out of his. He was damaged goods in more ways than one. He knew you thought highly of him but to this extent? Yet you got something a little off. Harvey doesn't care about everyone, he doesn't care about his employees. It's only you he's went the extra mile for. Although he thought he was good at hiding his soft spot for you. However, you seemed to misinterpret it that he shows kindness for some others. He wanted to tell you he doesn't but if he did, that would bring more questions. He couldn't have you prying. So he'd bite his tongue from this day on, he'd leave it alone. What you don't know, can't hurt.
Black Mask: "His name's Roman." You replied. "Woah, thats quite the name. Sounds like a tough guy." Batgirl raised an eyebrow. "People see him as this really mean guy and he is but he can do good." You nodded as though eager to convince them. "He's funny." You smiled. "He doesn't show that side to him very much but when I see it. I feel my heart throb." You swallowed. "Everyone turns their head when he enters the room." "Wow. Do you think he could like you back? "He's important, those types never notice people like me." You shook your head. He wanted to chuckle and he wanted to scoff. He did internally. He didn't sound like a tough guy. He was a tough guy. Although it didn't seem to completely work on you like it did everyone else. You were right, he shouldn't notice you. He was above you. Yet...he did. He noticed you all the time. He noticed when you laughed to yourself when he was being funny. He noticed how your awed expression when he took charge. He noticed your fear when he got pissed off. He noticed everything about you. Atleast you weren't fooling yourself with the idea he was a good man. Perhaps he could do some good but it was always for his own gain. After this, he can't help but get the feeling he'll notice you more.
Penguin: "Oz." You managed out. "Yeah? Like the Penguin?" Batgirl asked. "Yeah, apparently that guy got my boss into the name. He'd always say anything was better than Oswald." It was a lie but a believable one. "What's he like?" Batgirl asked. "He's determined, works hard. He gets underestimated a lot but I think he's wonderful." "He's loyal to the ones he cares about. He didn't think twice about giving me money when I needed it. I didn't even ask. He just insisted I take it." The vigilantes were idiots. Good to know. How many people are called Oswald!? He wouldn't forget that. "Like the Penguin, but not him." He could laugh. Although it was nice to be noticed and twice as lovely to be believed in. He had always had a soft spot for you. You were lovely. You were a good one. Whilst it had never crossed his mind, he was far from inclined to reject you. In fact it only made him more interested in you. He'd never really given it much thought until now. To be seen and by someone so lovely? He couldn't help but smile. That soft spot just got bigger.
#batman#batman villains#batman scenarios#the riddler#two face#scarecrow#black mask#penguin#edward nygma#harvey dent#jonathan crane#roman sionis#oswald cobblepot
71 notes
·
View notes
Text
so... i mentioned a dream i had last night about my spidersona and so i decided to take the motivation to draw and write out ideas. Ill put it all under the cut cause its a bit long and goofy.
First things first. Not in New york. This takes place in a city more akin to richmond. or some other southern city. Not too big, not too tall, and near enough to tobacco that that is something that is thought about.
second things second, gotta clear this from my chest. Bitten by a beetle. A Lasioderma serricorne, aka Tobacco Beetle. Agrioscorp was developing and presenting pesticides to use against such creatures. Martha, our tiny hero, was there for a school project about crops and bing boom. Beetle that the pesticide was supposed to murder actually didn't murder the beetle and it gave the magic bite of powers.
Name: Martha Anne Taylor
Hero name: The Dynamic Tobacco Beetle. or Baccy
Alignment: HAHAHHA she watched too much a-team, red dawn, and Smokey and the Bandit growing up. while respectful, she does not see the system as the end all be all and often tries to talk to her villains. Drags them to a good meal.
powers: Climbing walls, super strength, enhanced senses, immunity to certain toxins, can digest less nutritious food (like rotten food) with no problem, good at riding horses (not a power... .. .)
toolkit: rope shooters, ginger cinnamon molasses cookies to offer villains. Armor (the dark brown bits under her jacket)
weaknesses: Cold!! gets slower and slower as she gets colder. at 39.2 Fahrenheit (4 °C) she passes out. she learns to layer pretty fast. Homemade Biscuits and iced sweet tea. offer those and she'll be distracted enough for you to go commit crimes
age: 16ish.
backstory: Lives with her maternal grandpa after most of her family was killed. by hurricanes. :/ dang. Her grampa runs a horse carriage service within the city and she helps care for the horses in her downtime
foes: mostly based on tssm versions. because beloved. BUT we have some changes and some dynamic shake-ups and name changes because.
vulture-> to Falcon (Adrian Toomes): He is an old inventor whose work has been taken over and over and he is done. Osborn (like in tssm) took his design and this was the breaking point. Hes bent on revenge. and Baccy is bent on getting him to calm down and eat a Snickers. eek.
Tinkerer( Phineas Mason): Owns a technology repair store and has underground dealings in tech that the store acts as a front for. Quentin lives with him due to him owing Quentin's deceased parents a huge favor. Quentin used to live in new york city and had to move with tinkerer down south.
mysterio-> Mysterium (Quentin Mason nee Beck): Northern City Kid who feels pretty out of water. Goes to the same school as Martha. They end up as pals. but that's a complicated story.
Tombstone: similar to tssm. crime lord. of a relatively small city so its a bit easier. Also!! Baccy cant go in his office. He keeps it too cold. He has no idea that's the case. She leaves notes on his window to threaten him. Like cut out letter ransom notes. He leaves some in reply on occasion.
---
other people ive thought about:
Ella Osborn is the sickly daughter of Norman. She can do some things but tires easily. Very easily. Martha is a tutor for her, as she is mainly homeschooled. it gives her a chance to interact with other kids her age. Not by her parents though. There are people they can pay to do it instead.
20 notes
·
View notes
Note
I hope you don't mind me asking random questions!
1.) Any words of wisdom you would like to give out?
2.) What's the most craziest thing you've heard so far?
3.) What's something (food, book, toy, etc) from your childhood that you deeply loved and why?
4.) I saw a video last night about space. What's your opinion about space? Are you afraid of it or not?
(These are all the questions I have thus far lol ^^)
hi gigi omg i promised i would answer this the next day but i dipped pleasnenfjfgj im so sorry darling
1. this is going to sound so generic but honestly. just do whatever you’re holding urself back on! ive seen this vid of tyler the creator asking someone “what r you so afraid of?” and the other answering i dont know and he replied “yeah, you don’t even know, so just do it” or smtg along those lines and yes! it may not be super accurate for everyone but first drafts exist it’s called a draft for a reason!!! dont worry about it sounding or looking like crap :> also dress how u want, try a new thing uve always wanted to try and do not care too much. boo hoo i sound like an old person and even im not following my own advice that much but all in good practice
2. “there is no ‘self’” from david hume cause philosophy is driving me insane. and also everything about free will. pleaseeeee save me
3. i love my bolster idk why i need to hug it to fall asleep. i also really love this flask ive been using for a couple of years now bc it reminds me to drink water always ❤️ and also there was this book that i really loved but i cant rmb the name of :( it was a yellow book and sun about a boy escaping a boys’ home or whatever i cant rmb
4. ooh i love space ive had a fixation about it for a while but i havent had the time to properly learn all the terms and phenomenons that go on. i love it tho, it’s really so pretty and terrifying at the same time!! and yes i guess physically id be afraid but seeing it in photos or telescopes is always a very nice treat :3
hello hello!
7 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
