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#like a good mom and dad that’d be great
stories-and-chaos · 27 days
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Shrike: Slices of Life
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[Hazbin Hotel reader insert as Alastor’s “darling life and death partner” Ace x ace relationship, both parties are moderately sex favorable. Something a bit different, some silly snippets that don’t fit into any particular fic]
[Word count: 350]
———
“She’s five feet tall, how can she put away that many whiskeys?”
“Oh this is nothing. You should have seen her during Mardi Gras.”
“Makes me wish we survived until Prohibition ended.”
———
“My dear, what in the nine circles is that?”
“Charlie treated everyone to something called ‘boba tea.’ Here, try a sip.”
“Well?”
“Where did Charlie acquire this?”
“Oh, if you want one, cher, they’re in the parlor.”
“No. I need to destroy the source of these.”
———
“Okay toots, I know my boss sucks, but you really seem to have it out for him. What’s your beef with Val?”
*inarticulate growling, cursing like a sailor, and destruction of multiple throw pillows*
“Personality differences, got it.”
———
During a manicure session, all the girls snag one of Angel’s hands to do his nails. He ends up with six different colors of polish. He poses to make a rainbow with his fingers every now and then for the following week.
———
Playing eye spy:
“I ssspy with my little eye, sssomething beginning with ‘T’”
“Tits!”
“Table?”
“Tequila.”
“Termites, eheheheee.”
“Noisy picture box.”
“He means television dears. Teacup?”
“Troublemakers, all of you.”
“Ya sure it ain’t tits?”
“…It wasss telephone…”
———
“I’ve always wondered what happens at Overlord meetings. Mom and Dad barely ever get invited and they won’t tell me what goes on.”
“With good reason, cher. We have important work going on that we can’t let all of Hell know about.”
What goes on at Overlord meetings:
*debates if rock-paper-scissors can be played for souls, bickering over a favorite coffee shop at the edge of two territories like a divorced couple sharing custody, regulating how late a pizza delivery can be before you kill the driver.*
“Very important work.”
———
“Charlie dear? I hesitate to mention this, but your handwriting could use some work. It is rather difficult to read the crayon sometimes.”
“Oh, that’d be great! Can you show me your handwriting Y/N?”
“Gladly!” *writes out an introduction in perfect copperplate script* “There you cher.”
“Ummmm, it’s beautiful but…err, I have no idea what it says.”
“Fine, stick with crayon.”
———
Taglist: @whitewolfsoldat @edgyboi10000 @ch3sire-blu3 @clearly-awkward @badatpunz @bengewatch @chewbrry
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it's finally here! one month late, and a couple thousand words more than i thought it'd be! happy leap yeap!
Here's my entry for Lex's (@thefreakandthehair) Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge! I had dialogue prompt #22 "Guess we’re the only two without dates, huh?”
pairing: steddie | word count: 10,446 | rated: E | on AO3: hey you really turn me on
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Why in the hell did he agree to this? It’s 20 fuckin’ degrees out and he’s outside?? In the snow?? Voluntarily?
If the boys could see him now.. “Who are you and what’ve you done with Eddie?”, “Since when do you do shit outside?”, “All this for Steve fuckin’ Harrington…”.
And that’s the rub, it is because of Steve. Hopeless crush aside, Steve is the reason he’s there. Why they’re all there in the first place.
When Steve got the call, Eddie and the other older teens of their world-saving group were just hanging out; movies, beer, snacks, a little weed, music playing low…all in all, a great kick-back. 
Then the phone rang.
It was relatively late too, 10 maybe?
Steve went to answer it of course, the conversation muffled through the living room and kitchen walls, but after a minute or so he came back. The long phone line stretched across the hall back to the hook in the kitchen.
“When is this again?” Steve says into the receiver, waving towards the sound system. Robin had scrambled up immediately, nearly falling back on her face to turn the volume down.
“Uh huh. And you and Dad won’t be there? Mm hmm.” he nods.
Eddie looked over to Robin first, eyebrow raised. She only shrugged, as does Nancy when he turned the look to her.
“And how many rooms?” Whatever the answer is causes Steve’s brows to shoot up. “Wow, okay, yeah we–” 
Eddie was closest to him, previously starfished out on the carpet, but had sat up and leaned back on his palms when Steve returned, so he could just barely hear the sound of another voice on the other end of the line.
“Yeah of course, that’d be great, we definitely will. Thanks Mom.”
Steve had sounded actually…happy to be talking to his mom. And here Eddie thought the Harringtons were objectively the worst.
“No, they’re going to love it, Mom, I promise.” another pause, “Nope. They’ll all be on their best behavior.” Steve glances down at Eddie, “We all will be.”
He scoffs up at Steve from his spot on the floor. Rude.
Steve only waves him off with a smile, “Yeah, the usual.” he says, “Rob, Nance, Jon, Jon’s friend Argyle–yeah, he’s the one from California, and Eddie.” Steve’s eyes flash down to Eddie again and his stomach twists sharply. Aw fuck, here it comes; the scolding, the yelling, the berating about how Eddie’s no good for him to be associating with, why are you stooping to his level, he’s a murderer, yadda yadda yadda.
“Yeah, he and Wayne are doin’ much better now, I’ll have to tell you about it next time, okay?” 
Uh.
What?
“Yeah, that’d be great if you don’t mind! Yep, Wheeler, Henderson, Sinclair,” He looks again at the other people in the room, they’re still just as puzzled as he is. What do the kids have to do with this? “I’ll talk to Hopper and Joyce, and I’m sure Ms. Mayfield would let Max go. Oh absolutely,”
Steve starts back into the kitchen, and Eddie can hear him all the way back to the hook. “No–Nope, it’s fine, I actually have a couple people over right now so I want to–yeah. Yep. Okay, love you too. Bye mom.”
Eddie looks around at the others; Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, even Argyle, though he’s not looking around wide-eyed at what all just occurred like the others are.
Steve comes back into the living room. “So…” he lets out a long breath, “How do you all feel about skiing?”
-x-X-x-
So yeah. Here they all are, at some ski resort up in Michigan. Boyd Mountain…or Bowie? Something with a ‘B’.
Turns out, Steve’s parents had a four-room cabin rental set aside as a perk for some deal they were trying to barter. It fell through though, and they wouldn’t be back from Colorado themselves until after the reservation would’ve expired so they offered it to Steve and whoever he’d like to invite.
They took care of everything too; got lift passes, boot and ski rentals set aside for each of them, even sent a whole ass passenger van to be dropped off in the Harrington driveway for them to make the drive; A huge 15 passenger one that even with the three extra seats, still barely held all their crap for the long weekend.
All of them piled into the van in the dark on a Friday morning, sleepy-faced and crusty-eyed; Robin as Steve’s co-pilot, and each of the rest of the older teens and the party piling in wherever they could (they’d fight about their seats when they woke up more, Eddie was sure of it).
The first rest stop on the way up went by without incident, but by time they stopped for late breakfast/early lunch at another, everyone was stir crazy. Sandwiches were passed out, gas was gotten, bathroom breaks were taken, and almost as soon as they got back in the van, Robin was snoring.
“Damnit, if I knew she was gonna tank like that I would’ve had someone else sit up here.” Steve had groused. 
“I’ve gotcha big guy, I won’t let you fall asleep.” Eddie said, now seated next to Dustin and El on the first bench behind the driver’s seat.
“Yeah, me either.” Dustin agreed.
He was snoring an hour later, El leaning into him for her own nap.
“That’s cute.” Was the first thing Robin said after waking back up.
All in all, not a bad drive. The worst part was tramping through the snow to the cabin after they’d arrived.
“Goddammit Steve, How am I supposed to get through this week in only my jeans?”
Steve sighs, “Eddie, you have made the same argument ever since my mom called; and every time you did, I told you everything would be here for you.”
He finally gets the door open, shoving it wide for them all and gesturing them in, “Get comfy guys, I’m going to grab the cooler with our groceries.”
“I’ll give you a hand,” Jonathan says, following Steve back out to the van.
The large open main floor has a full kitchen with a raised bar counter and four stools, tall peaked ceilings, a fireplace on one wall with two couches and a rocking chair situated around it, and a sliding glass door to a balcony off the back side of the building overlooking the trees below.
There’s stairs too, a set going up and a set going down, and at least one bathroom here on this floor, off the kitchen.
Eddie wanders into the living room, picks out some pieces of kindling from the bucket on the stone beside the fireplace and a couple logs from the stack nearby, and busies himself with starting the fire while the party pokes around the place.
He glances over his shoulder when he hears the fake leather of the couch cushions squeak together, only to see Argyle has perched himself on the backrest, squashing a cushion beneath his feet.
The fire takes less than no time at all, and once it’s going and he’s re-situated the trifold metal screen back in front of the fire, he sits down beside Argyle’s shins and is immediately entranced by the flames.
Steve and Jonathan return not long after, lugging their things with the cooler hanging between them.
“So how do y’guys want to split up the rooms?” Robin asks aloud, ignoring the yelling the other teens are already doing about the same thing.
“I’m not picky.” Eddie shrugs, standing up to stretch again, deciding he really did not want to be sitting anymore.
“Me either sister, whatever you decide is cool with me.” Argyle agrees. “What’re the rooms like?”
“There’s a master up here!” Max calls from above them, looming over the log railing at the top of the stairs with El.
“We walked right past it, but there’s a room with a queen off the front hall there,” Jonathan says, shuffling his bag against the kitchen bar.
“Hey! Assholes!” Steve yells down the steps, the boys must’ve gone down there. “Go get your shit out of the van and we’ll head over to the main lodge!”
The four thunder up the steps, how any of them can understand any other over the other is beyond him.
“Will,” Nancy calls as he rounds the stairs last, “There are bedrooms down there?”
“Yep!” he grins, “Two rooms with queen beds, and a bathroom.”
“I don’t mind taking one of the queens,” Nancy says, “Robin, wanna share with me?”
Robin starts to splutter, still somehow not convinced that Nancy’s got a thing for her. It’s obvious to him, but he and Steve have both tried to tell her this. To no avail. Even after Jonathan and her had confirmed they’d split and that he was moving back to California with Argyle come spring.
Steve rescues Robin from her spluttering. “It’s only fair that Argyle gets next dibs, since he’s the one that’s offered to cook for us.” he says, lugging the cooler over to the kitchen to unload it.
He’d insisted on picking up groceries for their stay, saying “There’s a restaurant, sure, but that’d get expensive quick and we’ll have a full kitchen so why not?”
“Appreciated my man; y’wanna bunk with me, Jonny?”
Eddie follows Steve, leaning on the bar across from the fridge from him, “So where’s all my snow gear, Stevie?” he asks the back of Steve’s head.
“Eddie, I swear to God.” Steve huffs in return, bending down into the cooler at his feet to fish out a couple of cartons of eggs.
Eddie does not watch how the denim of Steve’s jeans pulls tighter over any part of him, thank you very much.
“Mom called ahead and has everything we might need set aside in the main lodge, we’ll go there first before we hit the slopes.”
“Oh my god, did you really just say that?” Eddie asks as Steve stashes away two jars of jelly, one strawberry, one grape.
“Say what?” Bacon and some packs of lunch meat are next.
“Like, that’s an actual thing that people say? It’s not just in the movies?”
Steve sighs, finishing off the groceries with a couple 12 packs of pop stashed on the bottom shelf. “What is just like the movies?”
“‘Hit the slopes.’? Really?”
“You’re super annoying, you know that, right?” he says, closing the fridge and pushing the lid back onto their cooler.
“Awe, c’mon baby, you don’t mean that.” Eddie coos, slipping around the counter to cup Steve’s face in his hands, “What happened to the man who loves me for my antics, huh?”
“Get off me, dude,” Steve laughs, batting Eddie’s hands away, his cheeks tinged pink.
‘Yes! Success!’ When did he decide he was trying to fluster Steve? Eh, whatever. No harm, right?
 “So, did you guys figure out the sleeping situation?” Steve asks the rest of the group, walking back around the bar.
Eddie follows, leaning back on the counter in his previously vacated spot.
Nancy nods, “Jon and Argyle will take the room on the main floor, us girls will take the two downstairs, you can take the master, and the boys will take the couches.”
The boys return with their bags then, and Mike immediately starts complaining about being relegated to the fold-outs. Eddie also hears Dustin and Lucas trying to talk him down, saying things like “Dude, that means we’ll be close to the fire!”, “We can throw things in it!,” and “We can make s’mores!”.
Steve doesn’t seem to hear them though, otherwise he’d be shutting that shit down. Instead, his face only scrunches in confusion, “What about Eddie?”
Nancy looks surprised for a blink, then disgruntled, like she’s pissed she forgot someone.
“I’ll just crash out here on the floor with these losers, no worries.” he shrugs.
Steve turns toward his voice, a deep crease between his brows. “That’s not fair.”
“I promise I’ll survive Stevie,” Eddie chuckles. At least he’ll be the warmest out here in front of the fireplace. “I’ve slept on worse, believe it or not, I’ll be sleeping like a king compared to then.”
Steve’s brows scrunch almost all the way together, then spring apart and settle into determined lines. “You’ll sleep with me.” he says with a nod, his arms folding across his chest.
A beat passes.
Eddie can’t resist.
He leans close to Steve’s side, “A bit presumptuous, Stevie darling,”
Steve’s face practically glows with the flush that appears in the next beat, mumbling something to himself as he walks to the door and starts to pull on his coat and boots.
Eddie pushes off the counter and follows, obnoxiously holding a hand up to one ear. “What’s that, sweetheart?” he teases, walking to his own tossed-aside boots, “I didn’t quite catch that.”
“We going to the lodge now?” he hears Lucas ask as he passes.
“Finally.” Mike adds, unhelpfully.
Steve huffs, standing up again and leaning close to Eddie’s cupped hand, “As if you hadn’t thought about it, darling.”
Four of the other ten are in their coats and boots and out the door after Steve before Eddie comes back online.
-x-X-x-
So here he is: outside. In the snow. With skis strapped to his feet. All because of Steve and his surprisingly generous parents.
He watches, amused, as Robin stands as still as she possibly can, arms spread wide, while Nancy helps strap her into her skis. As soon as the skis had gotten remotely close to being attached to her, it was discovered that no matter what section of ground they may be standing on, Robin would start to drift away. Sliding down some sort of unseen incline backwards, frontwards, and/or sideways.
Jon and Argyle are already almost to the closest lift, and Eddie watches as they do a weird half-jump onto the bench as it comes up behind them.
The gremlins had scattered after Steve’s ‘be careful’ lecture, telling them all when to be back to the van by, or back to the cabin if they will be coming off the slopes near there, telling them all to be safe and to keep to pairs or more so they can be radioed.
They’d all brought their walkies with them, and Eddie can see where the boys are still huddled together, swapping out their batteries.
He watches them split off soon after, Dustin and Lucas pushing off to where Max and El are waiting at the standing lift to the top of the training hill.
Mike and Will scoot off together in the opposite direction, toward the centermost lift a few dozen yards away.
“Guess we’re the only two without dates, huh?” He says as Steve slides to a stop on his own skis beside him.
He’d meant it jokingly, was probably going to follow it up with some jabs about being Steve’s wingman if he needed (there were already a few ladies he’d seen giving Steve some looks while they waited for their gear in the main lodge), but Steve shrugs and says: “I’ll be your date this weekend, Eds. Wouldn’t want you to feel left out or anything.” 
Eddie whips his head around to look at him, “That’s not–” he starts, but cuts himself off at the look Steve is giving him. His goggles have been haphazardly pushed up his face, trapping a few loose locks of Steve’s hair between them and the roll of his beanie, his cheeks are already bitten red with the cold, and he’s smiling so painfully sincerely under that damn teasing smirk that all Eddie can do is acquiesce.
“You better be the best date here then, Stevie,” Eddie chides, starting off toward the lift Jonathan and Argyle had disappeared up, “I won’t settle for anyone other than the bes–” he pitches forward suddenly, one of his skis sticking to the snow under it more than it should’ve.
Steve catches him, of course, and says “Will I get points taken off as ‘Best Date Ever’ if I make you go on the training hill?”
They do go to the training hill, lovingly called the Bunny Hopper, but he and Robin are thankfully saved from the embarrassment of actually being taught by the volunteers there; Steve and Nancy taking them to the slightly taller ‘big kid’ hill and teaching them there.
Surprising even himself, Eddie picks up on the motions and the feeling of being on skis easily. The whole ‘pizza’ thing about stopping was still iffy but the rest is no problem. Fun, actually.
“That was great, man! You’re a natural!” Steve beams at him, his grin lopsided from the meat of his cheeks being squashed under his goggles.
“I just had a great teacher,” he brushes off the compliment, elbowing Steve playfully.
Steve somehow grins even bigger, and Eddie’s heart stammers.
“You ready to go to the real hill now?” “This isn’t a real hill?”
He’s positive Steve just rolled his eyes under his goggles. “C’mon smartass, let's get in line for the lift.”
Eddie bows him forward, “After you, sweetheart.” 
He follows Steve to the end of the line; thankfully it’s not too long, now that it’s late afternoon and will be getting dark soon. 
Steve seems to notice this as well, lifting his goggles off his face again. “We’ll have to call the gremlins back sooner than I thought. It’ll be dark soon.”
“Stop reading my mind, Stevie.”
Steve looks over at him, squinting hard and pursing his lips (Eddie’s stupid lizard brain has a split second thought of those lips pursed around something). “Ugh! Ew, gross Eddie, what would make you think about that?!”
He feels his face blanche and scrambles to recover. “I was only thinking about our good friend Robin, Steve-o, you saying Robin is gross?” He pitches his voice higher and glances down the line to where he can see Robin and Nancy.
Robin flips her mitten up at him, and he can infer the gesture just fine, thanks.
“Shut up, asshole.” Steve laughs, pushing him out of the line on his skis.
They’re the next to hop up on the moving bench, and Steve’s…everything…seems to seize up as soon as they’re seated and on their way.
“Could you imagine?”
“Hm?” He’s still looking down anxiously, so Eddie scoots just a bit closer, pressing what he hopes is comfortingly into Steve’s side.
“If we could read each other's minds? If the bats biting us both somehow linked us together?”
It works a little; Steve tears his eyes away from the ground as it drops away from them, huffing out a short laugh, “I don’t think I would survive inside your head, it’d be even more chaotic than you already are.”
“As if your head would be any better.”
“Hey, my head is great!”
Eddie grins wickedly, “You get told that a lot, Stevie?”
Steve seems unphased, smirking slowly. “I do, actually. Why? You tryin’ t’see if it’s true?”
His cheeks start to prickle, “You offering, big boy?”
“Maybe I am,” Steve shrugs then leans closer, “Now the real question is if you’re gonna take me up on it.”
Eddie’s head reels in the couple seconds he takes to respond.
Where in the hell is all this coming from? Is it just part of the ‘date’ thing? There’s no fuckin’ way Steve is actually into him, is there? He’s always been flirty, just like Eddie is himself, but there’s no way there are any actual feelings behind it… So there’s no harm in playing along.
“I’m gonna have to now, aren’t I?” he grins back, “Gotta see if it lives up to the hype.”
Steve smirks, his eyes hooded. He’s good at pretending, he’ll give him that.
His eyes glance away, then back to Eddie’s face. The sultry look he’d been hamming up for his sake is gone, just an easy smile remains. At least this sudden flirting Steve’s decided to do isn’t going to ruin their surprisingly solid post-apocalyptic friendship.
“It’s almost time to get off, ready?”
Eddie looks ahead to where the couple on the bench before them are hopping off. They stand up off the lift easily and don’t end up in a heap, but he is starting to feel the anxiety Steve was feeling only minutes ago. How’s he supposed to get out of the way fast enough, isn’t there a drop? That looked way too easy.
“As I’ll ever be,” he gulps.
“Give me your hand.” Steve says, not waiting for a response and snatching up Eddie’s hand in his, “Okay, when I say so, you just gotta stand up. Ready?”
“Stand up, what do you mea—” he feels his legs lift a bit as the ground rises to coast under his skis, and it makes sense.
“Now!”
Wait, no! He wasn’t ready!
He stands just a breath after Steve, but isn’t fast enough, the lift continues up on its path and catches him again, forcing his butt back into the seat.
“Eddie, you gotta–”
He tries again at the same time Steve pulls him forward and he pitches forward, landing with an “Oof–” on top of Steve and forcing the breath from the other man’s lungs.
“Aw fuck, sorry Stevie!” He rolls off of him and out of the path of the upcoming lift chairs. “That went exactly as well as I thought it would.”
Steve wheezes out a breathless laugh, standing back up on his skis with no problem at all. Wait, how did he do that? How’s he supposed to get up with these things on his feet?
“Here,” Steve arranges his skis for him, putting one long side of each onto the snow, “Give me your poles, and push yourself up with your hands. You want to get your feet under you.”
He does as he’s told and walks his weight around on his hands to the fronts of his skis until he’s bent forward at his hips, standing straight out of the bend.
“...Huh.”
“Good job, man!” Steve grins, handing him back his poles, “Getting up on skis can be a bitch and a half; way to catch on quick.”
Eddie grins mischievously, deciding to be a little shit. “I dunno, you’d think my date would like seeing me bent over for him, huh Stevie?”
Steve just rolls his eyes, snapping his goggles back down with a smile, “C’mon, asshole, let’s get out of the way; the run to the right of the lift looked shorter on the map.”
Thankfully, the chair behind them had been empty, but the next one had a full four people on it and it was coming up fast.
“‘Sides,” He says, pushing off toward the top of the run, waiting for Eddie to scoot in next to him at the crest before leaning in and murmuring low into his ear, “I’d rather wait ‘till we’re alone to bend you over properly.”
Steve’s a good 20 feet away by time Eddie comes back to himself enough to follow.
They get about an hour and a half in on the hills, a grand total of six wipeouts under Eddie’s belt, and a couple others under Steve’s, with one successful landing off one of the jumps on the main drag to finish off the day.
“Didja see that?!” Steve yells, pulling down the balaclava he’d unceremoniously added to his getup about an hour ago.
“Hell yes Stevie!” Eddie calls, breathless, still coasting to the bottom of the slope after him. “You landed it!”
“I landed it!” 
Steve holds his arms open as Eddie once again fails to slow himself down properly, and catches him at the bottom in a crushing hug. His cheeks are flushed with adrenaline, bitten with the cold, his eyes bright in the setting sun and smile nearly as beautiful.
Damn he’s pretty.
Courteous as ever, Steve waits until Eddie’s arranged his feet the right way again before letting him go to spin the pack off his back for their assigned walkie.
Steve radios the party, and everyone is packed away in their van a scant ten minutes later. The older teens had already made it back to the cabin, letting themselves in off a run near there, so it was only the similarly flushed and excitement-filled younger teens babbling away in the back seats.
There’s overlapping stories of their own wipeouts (including one Robin took that Max swears was hilarious), Dustin insisting he saw a brown bear through the trees at one point, and all six debating whether or not they’d want to go to the main lodge for the waterpark tomorrow instead of back onto the hills.
They are still debating amongst themselves when they pull into the driveway. “Alright dorks,” Steve calls over the bickering, “Go inside and hang up your shit next to the fireplace so it can dry out.”
Eddie follows the troop into the living room and watches them pile all their outerwear together on the two hooks closest to the stone fireplace, then tear off downstairs where he heard there may have been a Nintendo stashed in one of the bedroom dressers.
Jonathan and Robin start methodically re-arranging the coats and snow pants on the hooks so they’ll dry easier, while Argyle pushes up off one of the couches to start on dinner. 
“C’mon Eds, get comfy,” Steve says, coming up beside him and gesturing to the loveseat directly across from the roaring fire. Eddie can already feel the burn of it across his frigid skin, “I gotta make sure I get you unthawed before I get you into my bed.” Steve murmurs into Eddie’s ear.
And isn’t that a whole new type of torment. They will actually be sleeping in the same bed tonight…the next three nights!
Steve turns back to the kitchen when Eddie drops cross-legged onto the sofa, and the tingling feeling in his cheeks has nothing to do with the fire.
It’s half from Steve’s scarily earnest-sounding flirting, but also about half from the look Robin is giving him while she takes the spot next to Nancy on the other couch.
“What? What’s the look for?”
Robin shrugs, picking up what must’ve been her discarded book from the end table between them (which she’s got the already read half curled backward around its spine, like a heathen), “Nothin’ at all, Eds.”
His face is burning hotter than the fire by the time Steve returns.
He passes them each a mug of cocoa, then flops down on the floor in front of Eddie’s knees. 
“What’s cookin’ good lookin’?” Eddie asks, surprised at the nonchalance he was able to muster up. He reaches forward and tugs on a lock of Steve’s hair without even thinking about it (and ignoring the muffled giggle coming from somewhere to Robin’s left. Oh great, Nancy’s in on his torment too?).
Steve lets out a contented hum, dropping his head back to lie heavily in Eddie’s lap, “Argyle’s whipping up some burgers.”
Eddie leaves his fingers in Steve’s hair, absentmindedly pulling them through a few tangles left behind by his hat.
Steve’s head lolls around in Eddie’s lap with the motions of his fingers for a whole thirty seconds before he snaps it back up, “Oh–ugh–wait, don’t do that,” Eddie pulls his hand away immediately, an apology on his tongue, but Steve continues, standing up and saying, “I’m all gross and sweaty, man, at least let me take a shower first. Be right back.” Steve grins, and heads upstairs to the master bedroom.
Eddie blinks into the space left behind by Steve’s departure, then Nancy is standing as well; “That’s a good idea,” she says, unfolding from her spot at Robin’s side and walking around the back of the couch, “I’ll be back up soon.” She gives Robin’s shoulder a squeeze, and heads downstairs.
Not a full five seconds pass before Robin says, “So...Steve’s super into you.”
Eddie balks at her, his eyes darting around the room automatically. Jon’s helping Argyle chop up toppings for their burgers, the two of them paying less than zero attention to him or Robin, there’s a yell from downstairs followed by laughter, the sound of a shower starting from the open balcony to the upstairs bedroom..
“You can’t just say shit like that, Birdie.” he whispers, his tone harried.
“What, the truth?”
“He is not into me.”
She nods in sarcastic understanding, “Ah, so you’re into him.”
“No I’m—” she levels him with a look. He sighs, glancing around at the no one around them, “Okay fine, yes, I am super into him. But he is not into me.”
Robin shrugs, going back to her book. “You don’t have to believe me, but I think he is. And I think you should make a move.”
“Make a mo—He’s straight as fuck, Robin!”
She gives him a glance, her brow furrowing for a split second then smoothing out. “Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to.” he says, sinking back against the cushions.
She doesn’t say anything else, and he goes back to staring at the fire.
“If you make a move on Steve, I’ll finally make a move on Nancy.” she says a handful of minutes later.
He processes that slowly, takes a deep breath, then shoves his hand towards her without looking over.
She takes it, giving it one hard shake.
As soon as he takes his hand back, Argyle lopes into view with a plate in his hand, “Food’s ready my dudes.” He says, sinking into the armchair closest to the glass balcony door.
Robin snaps her book shut and sets it down on the little end table between them (the cover curls back up immediately, the poor thing), standing up and heading into the kitchen. 
Eddie has just let his feet fall to the floor and has scooted to the edge of his seat to stand up himself, when Argyle yells out “Nice tits!”
“Whose tits are out?” Eddie asks, following his gaze automatically. 
Argyle goes back to his plate. “Steve’s.” 
Uh…Yeah…He can see that for himself now.
Steve is standing at the railing of the upper floor in nothing but a towel. One hand is flipping Argyle off, and the other is preoccupied with scrubbing a second towel over his damp hair.
The towel wrapped around him is slung low on his hips, and Eddie’s eyes start to roam on their own.
Steve’s stomach is solid yet soft-looking with all its faded pink scars, and it and his chest are still as hairy as Eddie remembers; strong shoulders, solid jaw, dusty lips that pull up into a smirk, all of him is so fucking perfect.
“Hurry it up, dingus, food’s ready!” Robin calls, startling Eddie out of his gawking.
His face goes hot with embarrassment, chancing another glance up to Steve and hoping he didn’t get caught…
Steve winks at him, then turns out of sight, disappearing just as his hand comes down to grab the towel twisted around him.
His face burns, and doesn’t stop burning until long after Steve returns from upstairs.
He makes up a burger for himself, and once each of them have theirs, they call the rest of the hoard upstairs. The six teens all but destroy the remaining burgers, two whole bags of chips, and would have gulped down at least one whole 12 pack of Coke if Nancy hadn’t relegated them to one can each.
Steve’s about to herd them back downstairs when El pipes up and says that they’ve decided they want to go to the waterpark in the main lodge tonight instead of tomorrow. Surprisingly, Steve agrees to drive them over there on the condition “you shitheads are careful, and are ready to go as soon as the pools close at midnight. Got it?”
“Agreed.” they say in unison, splitting off in all directions to grab their swim stuff.
“I’m surprised at you, Stevie, letting them go off on their own.”
He just shrugs, “There’s lifeguards.”
The troops are back in the living room within ten minutes, and in their boots and out the door in 12. 
Once they’re out the door, Robin goes back to her book, Jon and Argyle step out onto the balcony to smoke, and Eddie follows Nancy into the kitchen without even thinking about it, grabbing up the hand towel hanging from the oven door and placing himself to her right.
“Thanks,” she says, handing him the first wet plate from the mess of suds in the sink.
They work in silence for a few minutes, listening to the crackling of the fire, the clanging of silverware in the sink, the muffled voices of the two on the porch.
“Nancy?”
“Yeah, Eddie?”
“If I–If Ste–” he wasn’t sure how to ask this, how to even approach the topic, “Robin said—”
“He’d be lucky to have you Eddie, and you him.” She says, not looking up from the sink.
“How’d you–?”
“Robin tends to ramble when she's nervous, have you noticed?”
He stares down at her, dumbfounded. Her lips quirk into a smile. “She’s like that around me a lot, actually.”
“I’ve noticed.”
They fall back into silence again; on the last plate, she says, “Robin’s already had this conversation with Steve about me, so I only assume it’s fair that you have it with me about him.” She passes the last plate to him and pulls the drain from the water. 
“Just remember Eddie,” She pauses and turns to face him, one hip cocked over to lean on the edge of the counter. “If you’re gonna go for it..Steve loves with all of him at once. Don’t take it for granted.”
He sets the dried plate onto the rack beside the sink as she passes behind him, patting him on the shoulder as she does.
He wants to take a moment to process all that, but just his luck, Steve returns then, passing in behind him where Nancy just left to grab up a six-pack.
Steve hands one to Eddie as he leaves, “You okay, Eds?”
“I’m good, thanks Stevie.” he says, fixing his face into an easy smile.
The six of them lounge around the rest of the evening, slowly sipping on their drinks while they play cards in front of the fire, but there’s a catch: Eddie’s going absolutely insane.
Steve’s touching him everywhere. His thigh and foot are sitting comfortably under Eddie’s own thigh where it’s crossed above it, his arm is draped across the back of the couch behind Eddie’s shoulders and methodically twirling long lengths of dark hair between his fingers.
Eddie’s been doing his damndest to ignore it, and succeeds, actually, for short periods of time while they are playing Uno, but every time Steve leans back from dropping his next card on the coffee table, he casually puts his arm back where it was, and grabs up a new lock of Eddie’s hair to torture him with.
And each time he does, Robin gives him the same knowing look.
It’s. Agony.
He wants to relax, wants to scream, he wants to swing his leg over Steve’s lap and press him into the cushions with heated kisses, he wants to haul the other man upstairs and throw him onto the bed…be thrown onto the bed.
Finally, Nancy calls it, breaking their little bubble to stand into a long stretch around nine. Steve hops up off the couch after Robin to gather up all the rest of the cans, and Eddie helps Jon and Argyle pull apart the couches enough to fold out the beds for when the goblins come back.
He escapes upstairs after a short goodnight to the two, Robin and Steve are still bickering in hushed tones about something in the kitchen, and pulls out his bag. He’s fishing out a new pair of boxers when Steve finally gets upstairs, shutting the room’s double doors behind him and heading into the ensuite.
He left the door open in his wake, so Eddie grabs up the rest of his things and follows. He drops his pile of stuff onto the closed lid of the toilet and shucks his shirt unceremoniously, tossing it to the floor.
The glass door of the huge half-walled stone shower squeaks softly on its hinges when he opens it to start the water, squeaking again when it swings closed. He reaches up to a shelf above the toilet to pull down one of the provided towels, turning to hang it on the hook beside the shower.
It’s while he’s turning back to the hook that he chances a look at Steve.
Steve, frozen at the sink with his toothbrush hanging listlessly in the air and a glob of foamy toothpaste slowly drooping off his lip, is staring. 
Unabashedly.
At Eddie’s bare torso.
Eddie caught and cataloged this in the split second it took Steve to realize Eddie was staring back, but it was enough. 
The flirting had been one thing, a natural, goofy continuation of their friendship that led to their ‘date’ today, the soft touches and hair-playing had been another, something Eddie could explain away just as easily. Steve is a touchy guy once you get close to him, and had been with Eddie since they’d gotten closer after spring break.
But this?
He’s looking at him with the same wide-eyed look Eddie’d given him earlier: gobsmacked and slightly hungry.
Steve turns away quickly, spitting into the sink and mumbling something under his breath while he finishes rinsing out his mouth. 
Eddie snorts, shaking his head and finally hanging up his towel.
“Oh, what, now you’re gonna be all shy?” he grouses, twisting around to scowl at the back of Steve’s head. Steve looks over his shoulder to glare at him in return, his cheeks glowing red. “Really? The guy who was joking about bending me over only a couple hours ago? The same guy who was winking at me in nothing but a towel earlier?”
Steve flushes darker, and it irritates him to no end. “Honestly Steve?” Eddie starts, turning back to the shower and pretending to fix how his towel is hanging, “If you’re into me, just do something about it. Otherwise, just…back off, okay? I’m super into you but I can be a big boy about it because honestly, I’d rather keep you around as a friend if nothing else and—”
His rambling is cut off by the click of the bathroom door closing.
Eddie lets out a long breath, “Yeah.. that’s about what I expected.” Robin was wrong.
He takes a moment to collect himself, but just as he pops open the button on his jeans, Steve’s voice breaks through the sound of rushing water.
“Were you being serious?”
“Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie yelps, spinning around to face the man who’s still very much in the bathroom with him. “What the fuck, Steve?”
“Were you?” he asks, pushing off from where he’d been leaning back on the door.
“...About what?”
“About how you’re ‘super into’ me?” he grins.
Eddie crosses his arms across his chest defensively, “You don’t get to be an ass about it, Steve.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Steve says softly, reaching out to unfold Eddie’s arms. His fingers follow the length of them and grasp Eddie’s in his, “I wasn’t trying to be, promise; I’m just surprised is all.”
“Surprised?”
“Well yeah,” he shrugs, “The super hot metalhead you’ve been mooning after since March confesses he thinks you’re also super hot? That’s kinda hard to believe.”
He can feel Steve’s shirt brushing faintly against his stomach now. “I never said you were super hot.” he manages to say.
Steve catches his eyes, smirking at him with an obnoxious head tilt, “Didja have to?”
“Shut up..” Eddie snorts out a laugh and pushes lightly at Steve’s chest; he’s laughing too. “Okay, okay, now leave me alone so I can shower.” he says, pushing a bit harder this time. “I’ll be out soon and you can do with me what you wish.”
Steve’s leaning his weight against him, fighting going back to the bedroom, “Or…”
“Or?” Damn, he’s heavy what the fuck!
“I could, maybe, if you want..Icouldgetinwithyou.”
Eddie stops pushing.
Steve scratches at the back of his head in embarrassment, “I mean, I’ve been wanting to get you naked for months now and there’s a perfectly good reason right there, and I think it’d be nice to shower, y’know…together.. and wow, I am being super awkward, actually..so I’m just gonna…yeah.”
Steve gestures over his shoulder toward the bedroom but he doesn’t even move to turn before Eddie is pulling him back the other way.
He lets him go a couple steps away from the glass shower door, “Better get t’stripping big boy, can’t shower very well with clothes on, can you?” he winks, then faces away from Steve to finally shed his jeans (and for his own sanity).
Eddie can hear the split second it takes for Steve to start pulling off his clothes, taking another second for himself before pushing his jeans and boxers off his hips.
He had been trying to be in the shower under the spray before Steve was even out of his clothes, but one of his legs got caught, then he had to pause further to pull off the stubborn sock that decided not to come off with his jeans.
Which of course led to him nearly toppling over.
He caught himself on the wall, but not before Steve’s hands caught him around the waist too. “Careful, Eds.”
Oh fuck. Steve’s hands should not feel that good against his skin..also, dammit! He was trying to be all suave and cool by getting in under the water before Steve could see him fully, and now his bare fuckin’ ass is out for all to see…
Eddie laughs to himself.
“What?”
“Nothin’, I just thought I’d be…better? At this?”
“At what?”
“Stupid fuckin’—” Eddie finally gets his sock off, then sighs, “I dunno, being sexy, or mysterious I guess? Coy maybe?” 
“Why would you need to be any of that?”
Eddie shrugs, stepping out of Steve’s hold and into the shower and under the spray, staying faced away from the door while Steve follows.
“Are you gonna look at me?” he asks, voice devoid of anything but concern.
Taking a breath, Eddie steels himself and turns to face Steve in the large shower.
Steve’s expression is calm, open, but skews slightly into concern under Eddie’s gaze.
The long lean lines of his torso are just the same as the other two times he’s seen them, but they’re close now, and in good lighting too; Eddie can see a few other scars other than the ones from the bats, others he’s gotten over the years protecting the heard of goblins they’ve been co-parenting since last September.
He watches rogue droplets of water slough down the now-damp hairs on his arms, his legs, his chest, the ones that follow the path of darkening hairs down his stomach to his—
Steve steps closer, sharing the warm, wide spray of the shower with him.
He lifts his hand and brushes the damp hair back from the scar that marrs Eddie’s face and neck, stepping forward fully and cupping the puckered flesh in his palm when the hair settles wetly behind his shoulder
Eddie feels time stop for a brief moment. 
All of Steve is pressed into him and they line up perfectly, like they were made to share the same space. Steve’s other hand slides onto Eddie’s hip and it tugs him closer. Steve's half-hard length slots into place beside Eddie’s own, into the crevice where his crotch meets thigh.
Eddie shudders a breath at the feeling, opening his eyes to study the planes of Steve’s face and the way he is seemingly drooping forward into Eddie’s orbit. 
Steve’s smiling softly at him, the soft spray of water reflecting off their chests is misting up onto his cheek and lashes. His eyes are so much more green than he’d thought before, besides how little of the color he can see around the much larger pupil.
“Gorgeous.” Steve says, his voice is breathy and low, full of admiration, of longing…and it takes Eddie out of his reverie.
“Wha?” He says, eloquent as ever.
“You’re gorgeous, Eddie.”
Then, Steve’s lips are on his, tentative and sweet; soft, but becoming heady fast. 
The next time their lips meet, it’s punctuated with a short huff of air from Steve’s lungs when Eddie spins them, pressing Steve into the stone wall beside the shower knobs. He parts his lips to mumble out an apology, but Steve’s tongue decides to fill the space instead.
The hand Steve had on Eddie’s jaw snakes down to grab hold of his other hip and pulls him even closer, using the both of them to roll Eddie’s hips into his.
Their tongues slide languidly against the other, the fast pace they’d been building into falling off in exchange for slow, sanguine kisses instead.
Eddie lets out a shaky breath when they do part, blinking across the short distance between them at Steve’s kiss-bitten lips for only a second before letting his eyes fall shut with the exhale.
“Steve…is this—Is this real?”
Steve breathes out a shaky laugh of his own, “Why wouldn’t it be real, Eddie?” He asks, gently tracing the length of Eddie’s nose with his.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve had this exact dream before; are you sure I didn’t snap my neck during one of those falls earlier?”
The younger man laughs fully this time, and Eddie relishes in the slippery feeling of the wet skin of Steve’s stomach rippling against his own. He can’t help but grin in response to both the laughter and the funny feeling, his eyes opening without a second thought.
Steve looks like he’s floating, his face soft and dripping with a bright beaming smile..
“Do you need me to pinch you?” Steve asks, finally coming down from his brief fit of laughter.
“I don’t know if I want to find out this isn’t real.” Eddie grins in return.
One of Steve’s large hands leaves his hip then, snaking around to pinch the underside of Eddie’s asscheek.
He sucks in a short hiss of pain and lets out a soft whimper of something else (holy shit, when did that become a thing??) in the same breath.
“Okay…” he gulps down a mouthful of nothing, “Not a dream.”
“Not a dream..” Steve repeats. 
There’s a beat, two full breaths of more nothing before Steve spins them around and pushes Eddie back into the cold stone instead, his arm wrapped around him and up to cup the back of his skull protectively against the tile.
He presses a thick thigh between Eddie’s and does three things almost simultaneously.
The first, a second before the other two: He locks his heavy-lidded gaze on Eddie’s; two and three: presses the thigh between Eddie’s legs up, and pulls the hand at the back of his skull down along with a fistful of dark curls.
“Aahhh—ohhh fuck, Steve…” The sting from his scalp pulls a moan from his exposed throat, and Eddie scrambles to grab hold of something.
His nails dig into the slick skin of Steve’s back automatically, and he opens his mouth to apologize the same moment Steve latches onto his neck with a low groan of his own.
The hand not tangled in Eddie’s hair is starting to pull him down in waves against Steve’s thigh and hips, both of them hissing in pleasure with each pass of the other’s length against theirs.
“Mmmm, Eddie..” Steve moans, unlatching from the bruise he’s sure to have left on Eddie’s throat to lave his tongue and lips against his jaw instead. “Baby, you feel so good against me.”
“AAaahh—mmm..”
“Ooh, and you sound so sweet..” His lips trail down from his jaw back to the definitely sore spot on his neck, one that he prods lightly with the tip of his tongue before continuing on to nip at the taught skin of his collarbone, kiss lightly over the skin of his scarred pec, finally landing tongue first onto Eddie’s remaining nipple. 
The reaction to this is immediate; Eddie arches his chest further into Steve’s mouth. Steve, the sonofabitch he is, suctions his lips away from Eddie’s flushed skin in response.
“Hhnng—what the actual fuck, Steve?” Eddie glares best he can though the panting, “Get that mouth back over here.”
Miraculously, Steve obliges, sliding forward into a saccharine kiss and pulling Eddie away from
the wall and back under the spray of water.
“C’mon Eds, tilt your head back before the hot water runs out.”
Eddie just gapes at him, at his dick, both their dicks, still standing at attention, back up to his face.
Steve just purses his lips together as if holding back a grin and tugs Eddie’s head back by his hair again, soaking the strands through under the water.
He lets Steve turn him this way and that, reveling in the feeling of the other man’s hands in his hair, slick with soap on his skin, the gentle nudges and pulls relaxing him further into this weird world where Steve’s totally into him and also they’re naked in the shower together.
Finally, when Steve tilts his head back for the final time to rinse the conditioner out of his hair, Eddie decides to be a little shit, pushing his hips forward to clash their (still half-hard) dicks together.
“What are you—really? A sword fight?”
Eddie lets out a long cackle, “What? You knew what you were getting into with me, didn’t’cha Stevie?”
Doubt crashes into Eddie’s chest the instant the words escape his mouth.
He did, didn’t he? He likes him for his antics right? Oh fuck…How long would it take for Steve to get sick of his shit?
Despite Eddie’s near-crushing doubts, Steve smiles and says, “That I did.” easy as breathing, then pulls Eddie flush against him in another heated kiss.
Steve walks him backward after a moment, and Eddie drops his hands behind him to feel for the inevitable press of cold stone on his back, shuddering when it finally makes contact.
His gasp from the cold tile only seems to egg the other man on, hunching down to grip him around the backs of his thighs.
Eddie’s legs lock around Steve’s waist in panic, but pleasure shoots through him with the motion too, the horny thrill of being picked up so effortlessly along with the pressure of Steve’s stomach against the underside of his dick.
“Mmph—Steve holy shit,” he’s only just managed to thread the fingers on one hand into those sleek brown locks when he has to stifle down a long groan with a bite to his knuckle. “Hnngh–Steve, Steve, you gotta—oh fuck..”
The muscles of Steve’s stomach bunch under him as he grinds up in slow, torturous rolls..
“Oh, fuck—” the words spill out of his mouth, loud and long; his palm snaps up to hold them in as Steve pushes his shoulders into the tile behind him and leans back, leaving Eddie’s body balanced between strong thighs and shower wall.
The tile hits hard on the back of his skull when Steve wraps one of those hands of his around both their lengths. Eddie manages to look down, only to knock his head back again at the sight. 
Even with the added height of being on top of Steve’s thighs, their heads are exactly level, disappearing over and over again into the water-warmed skin of Steve’s fist.
Steve hunches forward again, pressing kisses into Eddie’s sternum. “Gorgeous.” 
“Steve...” he whispers in return, grinding as much as he can against the length slotted along his.
Again, too soon, Steve is pulling away, releasing his grip on them both.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, already moving to drop his legs back to the floor. 
Steve stops him, hoisting his legs back around him and lifting him off the wall. “I’m taking you up on your offer.” He says, twisting off the now-cold stream of water and carefully stepping over the lip of the doorway through the glass door.
“My offer?”
“You said that after your shower, you’d come back out here to the bedroom and I could have my way with you.”
A half whine, half moan curls out of Eddie’s throat to his utter embarrassment.
“D’ya like that idea, sweetheart?” Steve says, grinning mischievously. 
Eddie manages to scowl at him as they leave the steamy bathroom, and is dropped down onto the mattress soon after. 
“Aw shit!”
“What? What happened?”
It’s cold as shit, that’s what.” The air-cooled temperature of the covers against his skin has him breaking out in goosebumps.
Steve winces, “Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”
What was calm and collected confidence flickers off his face, and Eddie can’t have that. “Jus’ come over here and warm me up, big bo–wait,” He sits up and stops Steve when only one of his knees has made it onto the bed. “Lemme look at you.” 
He looks down at Steve, and yep. Big Boy is very accurate. He’d felt it against him already, Steve’s too-gorgeous-to-be-real dick; he’s longer for sure, cut and curved up like something out of a wet dream. 
“Oh, definitely big boy,” Eddie grins, looking up at Steve’s somewhat embarrassed expression.
“It’s nothing special.” he shrugs, his cheeks heating up as he climbs up Eddie’s damp body. He lowers himself down lay between his legs, his dick slotting itself beside Eddie’s once again.
He hunches over to kiss lightly up the scars on Eddie’s left side, lips brushing along the healed edge of the biggest one. It tickles, then it doesn’t, then does, then doesn’t, his lips pressing halfway onto skin and halfway onto puckered pink flesh.
“Steve..”
“Yeah baby?” he responds after a few more kisses.
“You’re giving me more goosebumps.” Eddie says, somewhat breathless.
Another kiss, “Mmmm.. You’re welcome.”
That shocks a laugh out of him, “You’re such a dork.”
Steve takes one of Eddie’s hands where it lays on the mattress, lacing their fingers together and pressing them back into the mattress beside his head.
“Says you.” he affirms, locking those ridiculous hazel eyes on his.
Eddie’s about to crack off another one liner, say something to…all that, but it’s completely erased from his mind when Steve ducks his head down to find his nipple again.
“Oh fuckin–nnng..” his hips buck up hard into Steve’s, who presses down into him in return.
He can feel it when Steve grins against his skin. “Shut up, asshole, that fee–ee–els so good.”
“Hmm, tell me about it, baby.” He’s grinding down slowly now, adding to the exponentially increasing Steve-addled brain fog he’s currently experiencing.
“Ahhh—I want to but–”
“But what?” Steve’s breath over the spit-slick spot on his chest sends a chill through him. 
“Oh fuck–If any of them hear us, we’re never going to hear the end of it.” he tries to warn around another stifled moan.
The Menace is undeterred, swirling his tongue around the little nub open-mouthed and hot once more before moving upwards, trailing his lips up Eddie’s breastbone until he’s sucking kisses into his throat once again. He continues up along the length of his neck until he reaches his ear, “Then you’d better keep it down, huh?”
Well that didn’t help. He lets out a long moan in response, clamping a hand over his mouth way too late.
“You sound so good though,” Steve says, continuing his slow grinding, “I can’t wait to get you alone so I can fuck you properly.”
That pulls another moan from behind Eddie’s palm. “Jesus H. Christ,” Eddie bucks his hips up as much as he can, but Steve's palms move down to hold him in place.
“Can’t have that now, can we?” Steve chides, trailing his lips down his stomach as he slides back to the edge of the bed, his eyes locked on Eddie’s.
“Wh–Why not?”
“Because I’d prefer,” a kiss above his belly button, “to choke,” a kiss below, “on my own accord.”, then swallows Eddie down in one go.
“Oh fffuuck—”
Steve hums in agreement around Eddie’s dick and the vibrations course up his spine to rattle around in his brain.
“Oh shit, Stevie, that feels so fuckin’ good.” He breathes, twisting his fingers into Steve’s hair.
In response, Steve starts to bob his head, swirling his tongue around Eddie’s on the upstroke, and sucking with fervor on the down.
“Steve, sweetheart–fuck–if you keep going I’m gonna—haah—”
“And what if I want you to?”
“And what if I want to to-together?”
Steve releases him with a wet pop, kissing his way back up to Eddie’s lips, humming in satisfaction when he reaches them, like kissing Eddie is the best part of all this.
And doesn’t that make his head spin.
“All you’d have to do is ask.”
Eddie pulls Steve back to his lips and bucks up into him again. “That’s me asking.”
Steve grins down at him and re-starts his slow, tortuous pace.
He’s rock hard against Eddie’s thigh, and this is getting fuckin’ ridiculous.
“Alright, you know what,” Eddie pushes his hips up hard and flips them over, straddling Steve’s thighs in no time at all.
“Holy shit—“ Steve blinks up at him in astonishment, like he’s surprised that he’s been flipped so easily.
 Eddie grinds down onto Steve, “You don’t get to tease me like that, big boy.”
“Is that so?” He chuckles, then groans when Eddie wraps his hand around their lengths. His hands grip onto Eddie’s thighs, squeezing tight to match the hold on them.
Eddie fucks forward into his fist, pulling his hand down to meet each thrust and watching as Steve’s head drops back onto the mattress.
He lets out a long groan. “Eddie…”
“Yeah, Stevie?”
Eddie runs his fingers over both their heads, adding to the slight slip of pre with a well aimed glob of spit that makes Steve hum out a short breathy moan as it makes contact with his head.
More noises of appreciation are pulled from the man under him as he rubs the pad of his thumb through the mess and under the head of Steve’s cock in small circles.
“Mmhm oh fuck..”
“You like that?”
“Mmhmm,” he nods dazedly “Keep moving though, feels so good, Eds.”
“You got it, sweetheart.” Eddie grins, wrapping his palm around them again and pushes forward into his fist.
Steve’s head drops back onto the pillow beneath him, “Just like that Eddie, fuck.” 
He gives them a few more strokes, then Steve’s hands start to move; his warm palms skirt along the wiry hair on his legs, one traveling around to grab onto Eddie’s horribly non-existent ass, and the other comes up to his remaining nipple, pinching it between two digits.
That did it. The hot coil of pleasure already broiling in his stomach twists even tighter. “Ahh—Stevie..I’m so close, Jesus Christ…”
“Me too..”
“Yeah? Well c’mon sweetheart, give it to me.”
A scant two passes of his hand later, Steve shoots hot across his stomach, and Eddie follows a half stroke later. 
He sinks down to the bed against Steve’s heaving ribs, tucking his shoulder under the other man’s arm.
After a few more breaths, Steve pulls Eddie into him and presses his lips to Eddie’s still-damp forehead.
“Ew gross, don’t do that, I’m all sweaty.”
“Don't care.” Steve mumbles softly into his hairline.
In return, Eddie wipes his soiled hand off on Steve’s stomach.
“Ew! Gross!” Steve laughs, shoving Eddie away with no actual intent behind it.
A few minutes later, Steve breaks the comfortable silence. “So,”
The word sinks heavily into Eddie’s gut. “So?”
When Steve doesn’t continue, Eddie turns his head to find Steve gazing at him with soft eyes, and even softer smile.
It morphs into a teasing smirk. “Did it live up to the hype?”
—--
One snooze and another heated shower later, Eddie crawls back into their bed and gets comfy while he listens to Steve pull his clothes back on to go down to the main lodge for the hellions.
He hears a short shuf when Steve’s leg skirts around the end of the bed. “I’ll be back in 15,” he says, kissing the damp hairs on Eddie’s temple. “Go to sleep, Eds.”
“Hmmm…” he hums in return, cozy as ever, and is out as soon as the door clicks shut.
Too soon, the sounds of the shitheads scrambling into the house interrupts his dozing, the door to the bedroom squeaking open not long after.
“Eds? You awake?”
Instead of answering, Eddie simply opens his arms.
He listens to Steve strip off his clothes, beckoning the man forward again when he feels the end of the mattress sink under the other man’s weight. 
“I’m comin’, I’m comin’, hold your horses.”
“My horses have been patient enough.” Eddie grumbles as Steve finally shuffles between the sheets and into his waiting arms.
-x-X-x-
“Dude! What the hell happened to your neck?! Did you get attacked by a vampire?”
“Henderson, you are way too loud for how early it is.”
“It’s 10 am, Eddie.”
“Exactly.” the barstool creaks as he climbs onto it, gratefully accepting the plate of eggs and bacon Argyle passes him.
“Leave him alone, guys.” Steve says, coming up behind Eddie on his stool and kissing his cheek as he passes into the kitchen with his empty plate.
There’s three whole seconds of silence before the younger teens burst out into a cacophony of various outbursts.
“Aw, what? Eddie! Steve’s way too lame for you to be dating!”
“Steve, did you fuck my DM?!”
“I fuckin’ knew it. I told you they’d get together, didn’t I? Dustin, you owe me 10 bucks.”
“I don’t owe you shit, Maxine.”
“Holy shit, congrats guys.” Lucas is his new favorite… Will and El too, nodding along to Sinclair’s assessment.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough; All those heading back to the waterpark better be ready to go in T-minus three minutes otherwise I’m leavin’ without you.” Steve calls out over the noise.
The complaints follow him out of the kitchen and into the tiny laundry room off the entryway.
“Why don’t you guys get yelled at?” Eddie grumbles, poking up a forkful of egg.
Robin snorts a laugh, “Because none of us are sleeping with the babysitter.”
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okay, some notes:
steve's mom is a lawyer in this canon and she's the one who paid for eddie's legal counsel/helped with clearing his name after s4
wha?? steve harrington has good parents?? insanity
"canon" hawkins is about an hour outside of indianapolis so i used shelbyville, indiana as my base and from there to boyne mountain is about a 7 hour drive. if they left at 6 am from hawkins, they'd get to the resort around 1 or 2 and have a good couple hours to ski before it gets dark again at 6 (daylight hours in the midwest during winter are a bitch.)
i did way too much research into the ski resort i based this at, only to realize that neither the cabin itself OR the waterpark were there in the 80s. so...let's all just pretend, okay?
the map above is a trail map of the resort from 1985
when i asked my husband what i should add to 'my most recent blorbos' he said 'nice tits!' so that's why that line lmao
who'da thought this'd go from skiing to shower sex? cause i didn't
i got stuck on the smut part of this for way too long and i am so glad i am a) done with it and b) that it actually turned out relatively coherent.
on that note though, i have been looking at this damn fic for so so long that i don't know if it's actually good or what. 'cause to me, it's complete garbled garbage
the title of this is from 'Object of My Desire' by Starpoint
lex i am so sorry this is late ilysm 🫶
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die-erlkonigin6083 · 4 months
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A Second Life 37
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[First Chapter]
[A Second Life Master List]
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Did Mr. Gordon not know? Why not? 
“That was one of the reasons we felt comfortable moving in together. Danny’s been calling me mom for a little while. He was very sweet about it too. Asked both Dick and I if it was okay. I saw… no reason to stop him. He’s a sweetheart, and I love him,” Mom said carefully. 
Mr. Gordon nodded slowly, looking at Danny. Scrutinizing him. He squirmed in his seat.  Mom grabbed her own bowl, then rolled into her own spot. Grabbing a spoonful, he blew on it before eating it. They’d made a great soup, and it hadn’t been that hard. Swinging his legs happily, he ate it, trying to ignore the stares from across the table. 
“Huh. I’m… glad to hear that,” Mr. Gordon said. 
“There’s… a few more things I wanted to talk about, but that’d probably be best after Danny goes to bed,” Mom said. She gave Mr. Gordon a pointed look. He turned to look at Dad. 
“Heard you opened up a gymnastics and arcade place. How’s that going so far?” the elder man asked, changing the subject. 
The rest of dinner went well. Dad talked about his new job at the business. They also talked about Danny’s day at school. It had been a good one. He’d got an A+ on his math assignment and gotten a sticker. Most of the school work Danny excelled at, and it was really boring. It was okay though, because he got to hang out and play with his friends everyday. Mrs. Fry also let him read books when he finished his school work early. He was reading these books about these two siblings who could go to different times and places with a tree house. It was a lot of fun. 
Recess and playing games in the class was the best part of school. They did art projects that Danny got to bring home to show his parents. Macaroni art. Clay with his handprint in it that Mrs. Fry said was fired in a kiln. They also drew their outlines on paper, making these flat versions of themselves. They played a trivia game today, the class separated into three teams. Danny explained how he got all of his questions right, but Stacy had missed a few, and so had Ron. But they got second! Sam and Tucker’s team got first place. First place got first pick from the candy chest. Second got to pick next. Danny had grabbed a small bag of Sour patch kids. He’d tried sour candy last week and discovered that he loved it! 
Mom and Dad insisted that he play in the living room. Dad had brought his superhero toys, so he ended up making them have a tea party, because that would be so funny. Batman and Wonder Woman were the best. Superman kept crushing the cups and Martian Manhunter kept dropping them because of his phase powers. Flash had like, six cups and nine plates. Flash needed all the tea and all the food. It was all pretend, as Danny didn’t actually have a tea set, but that was okay. 
Mr. Gordon sat down on the couch, watching him. Danny paused, looking at the man. Then he resumed playing. Batman and Wonder Woman were talking about the tiny sandwiches and how they really needed to thank the chef. Superman broke another cup. Danny giggled to himself. Silly Superman. Silly Clark. 
“Why a tea party?” Mr. Gordon asked him. Danny turned to him. 
“Because it’s funny. I don’t think they’d ever have one. It’s all pretend anyway,” he explained before turning back to the toys that he had sitting in a circle. 
“Can I join you?” Mr. Gordon wanted to play with him?
“Okay. You can be Green Arrow and Green Lantern. You have to think of something silly for them to do at the tea party,” Danny warned, getting up to hand the man the two stuffed dolls. Mr. Gordon took them, then slowly got on the floor with Danny, his knees creaking. Danny didn’t know knees could do that. 
Mr. Gordon made Green Lantern talk about aliens a lot and wild, crazy ideas. Like Kryptonians were just humans of the future. Or that Tamaranias were reincarnated humans. Brainiac was inspired by the Terminator movies. Danny didn’t understand all of them, but the voice Mr. Gordon used was great, making Danny laugh. Mr. Gordon made Green Arrow talk really, really slow. It was hilarious. Dad joined them on the floor in a bit, Mom transferred from her wheelchair to the couch, relaxing and taking out a tablet, doing something on it. When he got tired of playing, Danny gave all of his toys to Dad (he didn’t know where to put them away at Mom’s house!) then sat down next to Mom on the couch. She looked at him with a grin. 
“Why don’t you get into your pjs, Danny. It’ll be a lot more comfortable than your school uniform. Your dad brought some, they’re in his backpack,” Mom said. He could tell she wanted him to do that. 
“Okay. But we can cuddle after that?” he asked. 
“Of course we can, Kit,” Mom reassured him. 
Danny got back down, heading to the hallway where Dad’s backpack and the little wagon was. Dad had brought over a lot for their sleepover with mom. Dad was currently putting all of his Justice League toys away. He was shown where the bathroom was, and given his toothbrush. Dad encouraged him to take a quick shower too, since he did have school tomorrow. Danny did. It was interesting, being in someone else’s bathroom. The shower was extra big, and there was a seat in it. Also it was one of those hand held shower spray things. 
He might have messed around with it, checking out all of the different settings on the shower head. There was one that only made four streams come out, and they were hard! There was the regular shower one, and then one that did more of a mist? He had no idea what the settings besides the regular shower one were for. The soap and shampoo smelled fruity and flowery, like Mom. When he finally finished, he made his way back to the living room, halting and listening when he heard the conversation. 
“- to adopt him?” Mr. Gordon asked incredulously. He was sitting on the loveseat, leaning forward, hands clasped and on his legs. He was facing Mom and Dad, whose backs were to Danny. 
“Dad. He thinks of me as his mom. He calls me mom. I told you already, I love him. Why shouldn’t I make him legally my son?” Mom argued. 
“You and Dick aren’t married! What happens if you break up?”
“Then we split custody. We were still friends after we broke up last time,” Dad answered. Mr. Gordon harumped. 
“Are you sure this is what you want, Barbara? You weren’t ever sure if you wanted kids,” the man asked. 
“I want kids. I always did. I just… didn’t think it was smart to have one in Gotham, of all places. It's dangerous here, for pregnant people and for babies and toddlers. But Danny already exists. He’s here, and he’s adorable. So why not make him my son legally?” Mom took a deep breath. 
“Besides. After the accident… I can’t have kids, Dad. So I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to be Mom to a little boy who loves me and already sees me as his mom,” Mom’s voice was sounding kinda shaky, and he could see from here that Dad was holding her, hugging her, his hand rubbing her shoulder. 
Mom needed him. 
Danny came out from where he was hiding in the hallway, coming around to the couch and immediately climbing into his mom’s lap. 
“Mom! Your shower is so funky! There’s all these settings things on the shower head!” he exclaimed. She hugged him, an amused expression on her face. 
“Is that what took you so long sweetie? Were you playing with those?” Mom asked, smiling. “Maybe,” Danny hedged, burying his face in his mom’s neck. She needed cuddles right now from him. Mom laughed. It was good to hear that. He’d been worried. “Hey, where are my cuddles,” Dad teased, poking Danny in the side. Well. He couldn’t let Dad feel left out! So he let go of Mom to hug and cuddle his dad. 
“Don’t you have a sting operation tonight, Dad?” Mom asked Mr. Gordon. He looked a bit sheepish. 
“No. I decided to let Montoya and Bullock head it tonight. They don’t need me, and besides, I’m not getting any younger. Should spend more time with my daughter,” there was a brief pause, “and her son.”
They went back to the table, which was clear now. They played a few card games. Danny was starting to fall asleep. He didn’t want to go to bed! They were having fun. Dad carried him to the living room, before passing him to Mom while Dad pulled out the couch. Mom pet his hair, and it felt so soothing. He purred a little bit. It was nice, and he was sleepy. He was tucked in by both of them and given Jazz. They went back to the table afterwards, quietly talking with Mr. Gordon. Danny tried his best to stay up and eavesdrop. He overheard a couple things. Something about grandpa and ‘grandpa’ names. Seeing Mr. Gordon again. Mr. Gordon wanted to help Mom move. Guess he’d be seeing more of the man soon. 
***
There was a gleaning silver-grey bazooka with neon green accents being pointed at him by a woman in a teal jumpsuit. 
“Get lost ghost scum,” she screamed, shooting at him. He dodged most of them, but one grazed him, the goo burning his side. 
It hurt. 
The scene changed. 
A large, tall man in an orange jumpsuit was wielding a tiny pistol. He looked ridiculously happy to be shooting at him. 
It didn’t hurt physically this time, but emotionally. Why was this man so happy to hurt him? He shouldn’t be! Danny was his son! 
There was another scene swap. 
This one though, had an actual background. It wasn’t just the ground and swirling green and purple. It looked like a medical facility, with how clean and shiny everything was. He was small, oh so small. His legs were strapped to this table, and his arms were poked full of tubes and wires. 
“It’s waking up! Specimen 431, aka Phantom is awake. Get the tranqs,” someone nearby yelled. Everything was a bit blurry, but there were three people who had been standing over him, but had backed away once they realized he was awake. 
“How did it wake up? The sedation shouldn’t have worn off,” one of them snapped. 
There, in the distance, was a silver gun. It was pointed at him. He started to struggle. He didn’t want to get shot! The gun went off with a bang, and something was shot into his chest. He could feel it, going into him. He was being injected with something. 
“Probably due to it’s unique physiology. Between the Human, Kryptonian, and Martian DNA, Lazarus Water, along with that diamond thing, it’s a fucking miracle it’s alive,” a different one said. 
“Whatever. Just make sure it’s out during the procedure. We don’t need it waking up,” the first one said angrily. 
Everything was turning dark, but he didn’t want to! He wanted to stay awake, to stay alive! He struggled. 
Danny shot up with a gasp, his heart pounding and his core screaming inside of him. It was dark out. He grabbed his elephant and ran down the hall, crying for his parents. 
“Dad! Mom!” he called. He phased right through their door, racing for their bed. Dad sat up, his bare chest visible. Mom rubbed her eyes, blinking. She had some sort of tank top on. Danny hopped onto the bed and crawled in between them, crying and pressing himself against his dad. 
“Shhhh, it’s okay little bird. It was just a dream. You’re okay. We’re here,” Dad crooned to him, pulling him closer and rubbing his back. 
“We’ll protect you sweetie,” Mom vowed. 
They got Danny under the covers, his dad at his front and his mom at his back. Between both of them comforting him, his tears dried away and he drifted into an uneasy sleep. 
***
Danny was shopping with his Uncle Jason. They were looking for a present for Sam. Her birthday was this weekend! He’d RSVPed, which had been cool and made him feel grown up as he called the phone number and told Ivy that he’d be there. Danny had a few different ideas. He thought about getting her some jewelry. Or maybe a plant. Dad had wanted to take him, but Grandpa and Aunt Cass had dragged him off somewhere. Danny was guessing it was hero stuff. 
Either way, Danny was at this store that had all sorts of jewelry. They were in the mall. They had hats on and were somewhat disguised. Danny was wearing some glasses too. He was like Clark! Danny had found some cool jewelry for himself. There were these leather corded bracelets and these necklaces that had moons and planets on them. Danny had completely forgotten to check if Sam had piercings in her ears. Danny didn’t. But it did mean he couldn’t get the earrings that looked like cacti. 
Sam was prickly yet awesome. 
Just like a cactus.
As Danny was looking at a succulent shaped purse, there were some loud sounds coming form outside. 
“Fuck,” Uncle Jason said. Then he looked at Danny. “Double fuck. Don’t say that in front of your Dad, okay? Let’s head towards the back.”
Screams could be heard from further down from the mall. Danny’s heart started to pick up. Uncle Jay dragged him towards the back of the store, as did many of the other people in the store. Uncle Jay pulled out his phone and called someone. 
“We have an emergency. Danny and I are in the mall on Hardik. Don’t know what’s happening, but shots have been fired. We’re going to bunker down in the back of the store,” his uncle told whoever was on the phone. 
“Copy that.” He shut his phone and then looked down at Danny. “Help’s coming, kiddo. Don’t you worry. I’ve got you in the meantime.” 
They crouched in the back, where the employee’s lockers and their break room was. They huddled in there with the employees and other people. 
“Does this happen a lot?” Uncle Jay grimaced. 
“In Gotham, way more often than it should.”
His uncle kept him close, keeping his body in between the door to the back and Danny. They only had to wait around twenty minutes before Signal (Uncle Duke!) came to rescue them. The worry having washed away now that it was obviously clear (after all, why else would his uncle come get them?) Danny was practically vibrating in excitement at seeing his uncle in action. The yellow outfit with the black and white accents looked so cool! His uncle was the best. 
His two uncles briefly traded some information before Signal had to leave. 
“Who was the perp?”
“Ventriloquist and Scarface. Decided to see if robbing stuff in daylight was easier than at night. Don’t think he’ll try again.”
“Good.”
Jason and Danny resumed their shopping, but only ten minutes later, Uncle Duke was there with them. It was a good time! They ate some pretzels and shopped. Danny finally found the perfect gifts for his first friend. He’d been so tempted by a best friend necklace, that both of them could wear, but it was just two parts. It didn’t have three, and Danny had two best friends. Maybe he’d make something? Either way, he had a really nice present for Sam.
***
Danny and his parents were sleeping over at the apartment again. Mr. Gordon was here, watching Hook with them. It was fun! His dad was nothing like this Peter Pan guy though. Dad loved him and cared for him. They played all the time. The movie had pirates! Even if they were the bad guys! Danny was going to be a good pirate though. Mr. Gordon didn’t seem to fully understand, but he agreed that Danny could totally do it and be the first good pirate ever. Mom kept calling Mr. Gordon ‘Dad’ though. Danny tugged at his mom’s arm to whisper in her ear. 
“Is Mr. Gordon my grandpa?” Mom blinked, then smiled. 
“He can, if you want him to be. He’s been calling you his grandson when we talk on the phone and when he sees me in person,” Mom explained. Danny furrowed his brows. 
“You talk about me when I’m not there?” Mom laughed. 
“Yes, sweetie. I told him how good you’re doing at school, and I told him how Sam’s having her eighth birthday party here this weekend, and how she’s one of your best friends.” Danny looked at the older man. He hadn’t brought his guns this time. Or if he did, Danny hasn’t seen them. Danny wasn’t going to go over to Mr. Gordon until he was sure. 
He hated guns. 
That nightmare had been scary. 
“Um. He doesn’t have his guns, does he?” Danny asked cautiously. Mom frowned. 
“No, he doesn’t. He took them off in the hallway. Your dad added a safe for them to go in, so they don’t come into the apartment.” Danny nodded. 
He slid off the couch, where he’d been cuddled against Mom, who was leaning against Dad. Dad probably heard everything they said, but hadn’t done anything except turn off the movie since the credits were rolling. Danny padded over to Mr. Gordon, fiddling with the hem to his pajamas shirt. Mr. Gordon looked happy? And excited? Danny hopped up onto the loveseat next to him. 
“You’re Mom’s dad,” Danny said. Mr. Gordon nodded. 
“I already have a grandpa,” Danny started. Mr. Gordon kinda slumped a bit. “So you can’t have that name. I want to call Great Grandpa ‘Grandad’, since Great Grandpa is so long and Great Grandpa is from England. He’s very British. I don’t know if he’ll like it though. So what do I call you?” Oh no. Mr. Gordon’s eyes were a little wet. 
“Well, is Gramps free? If so, I’ll take it,” Mr. Gordon, no, Gramps, said with a smile. 
“Gramps,” Danny said slowly, trying it out. He nodded. “Yeah, Gramps sounds good. You’re Gramps now. No take backsies!” Danny crowed, crawling forward till he was hugging the man. Gramps chuckled. 
“No take backsies,” Gramps agreed. 
“Why don’t we play a few rounds of Mario Kart, okay?” Dad asked, getting up and turning the game console on, coming back to pass out the controllers. Danny was pretty sure it was past his bedtime, but he wasn’t going to complain!
Gramps… was not very good at it. Danny had to help him a lot, half sitting in his lap to show him the different controls and explaining. By the end, Gramps wasn’t always getting last. He was getting fifth or sixth, which wasn’t bad. Danny got first a lot. Mom and Dad were like… semi arguing? But it was playful? This was a kind of flirting, right? That’s what the information in his brain said. Gramps actually came with to tuck him in. Haley was already asleep in her bed in Danny’s room. Dad said she probably liked her bed more, since it was heated in winter and cooler in summer. It was neither though, it was fall, so Haley should sleep with Danny! 
He wasn’t going to wake her up though. 
Dad hung out in the doorway, letting Mom and Gramps finish off telling him goodnight after getting his kiss on the cheek. As Gramps left the room with his parents, he heard them talking about stuffed animals, and if Danny needed more. 
***
It was Sam’s birthday! 
Danny was the first to arrive, obviously. He’d gone downstairs and sat behind the counter with Dad, trying so hard not to bounce in his chair. Finally, finally, Sam arrived! They played in the arcade until the others started arriving. Tayshaun came first, holding a neatly wrapped box. Marcy was next, then Tucker. The rest of the class came in a rush. Dad and Mama Harley came, and helped put bracelets on everyone. Then they got released into the mini golf in groups of four. Neha was in their group. 
Danny was thinking this mini golf thing was part luck, as he’d been doing pretty well and so had Sam. Then the Riddler one came, and that put them behind by like… six strokes! Neha won, Sam coming in second. Tucker third and Danny coming dead last. Maybe he’d have to get his dad and mom to practice with him. Grandpa and Gramps too. 
After they finished, they got to play in the arcade, having a sort of mini air hockey tournament. Danny won that one. Tayshaun was really, really good at Tetris. Danny and a few others stood behind him, watching mesmerized as he cleared out row after row and fit the blocks together so neatly. Marcy… uh, Marcy was really strong. She got the highest score on the mallet swing thing that tested how strong you were. 
After that they ate pizza! There were three different kinds. Cheese, Pepperoni, and Veggie. Danny ate a slice of each. Tucker chowed down on the pepperoni and Sam on the Veggie. Sam got to open gifts. Tucker got her a pretty green scarf with a purple crochet flower on one end. Danny got her some pretty green flower clip on earrings. She got a few plants, some accessories, a Zatanna doll, and some books. Overall, Sam looked super thrilled with her gifts. 
Dad talked to them about the safety rules for the trampolines. Danny, Sam, and Tucker already knew them all, but they waited patiently. They were going to run around on the trampolines for a bit before it was cake time, and then time for the party to end. They played a sort of tag game on the trampolines, jumping around. Danny got to show off some of his cool gymnastics moves, mainly the somersaults and the splits. Mama Harley and Dad showed off their skills a bit too. They weren’t actually playing, more of the referees. 
The cake was black, with black frosting and a purple spider in a white web on it. It happily proclaimed ‘Happy Birthday Sam!’. Danny was a little hesitant to eat it, but it tasted like any other cake. They all laughed and teased each other when they realized that the frosting made their lips and tongue black. It was some strong food coloring! The party was winding down though, and they were all tired. Ron was the first to go home, then Stacy, and the others. Till only the trio of best friends were left. 
“I want to make a three person best friend necklace,” Danny told them, eating his second slice of cake. Sam looked over at him, from where Ivy was holding up a mirror to show her what the earrings looked like. 
“How would we do that?” she asked. 
“I dunno. Maybe I use my ice powers to just…. Freeze a plant and some tech in there?” That should work, right? Tucker nodded, looking thoughtful. 
“Yeah. Can you give me a couple days? I want to pick out what circuits and boards will go in the ice,” Tucker said, tapping his chin. 
“Yeah. I want to pick a plant that represents me and all of us as friends,” Sam agreed. 
“Okay. Um. How about we make it after the Field Trip on Thursday? That way we can all wear them on Friday in class.” The other two nodded, pleased with the plan. 
Notes: 
Yay! Sam’s birthday party! And Jim Gordon is now Gramps!I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on that nightmare 😀
Thank you, as always, to the wonderful Harthic for betaing my fic! If you’re interested, come check out my other fics on ao3!
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alister312 · 1 year
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Summary:
Kyle’s daughter makes a new friend, but after one disastrous play date, Kyle isn’t sure how to feel about the other girl’s dad, Stan. Sure he’s handsome, but he’s irresponsible and doesn’t listen to Kyle.
Or at least that’s what Kyle thinks until the birthday party.
Read now on ao3 or below the cut!
By virtue of being the only other single dad in the preschool class, of course Kyle noticed Stan from the get-go. It was impossible not to, not when he always rolled up to pick up his daughter in his casual jeans and t-shirt. He was a music teacher or something at a nearby Montessori school, according to Bebe. She knew something about all of the parents, but Kyle really only cared to hear about Stan.
Mostly because he couldn’t stand him.
They’d started off well enough— Kyle first caught sight of him waiting outside the school, watching their two daughters play together. At that point he was just some good looking guy, broad shoulders and a handsome face, on the younger side for a dad like Kyle. He waved as Kyle approached.
“She yours?” the guy asked. He smiled when Kyle nodded. “I thought so, with the hair. Willow didn’t want to leave until her new friend’s dad came to get her too.”
“Oh,” Kyle said. He found it sweet (but also maybe a bit odd) that this other dad had waited at his daughter’s insistence. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve done the same thing if Elaine had asked. “Sorry. A meeting with one of my clients ran late and I came straight from work.”
“Hence the suit,” the guy nodded. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Stan.”
“Kyle.” Kyle shook his hand, marveling briefly at how big it was, as well as calloused. He turned his attention to their two daughters, toddling up the steps of the main playground structure.
“They get along great, don’t you think?” Stan said, bumping Kyle with his shoulder. “Like sisters or something.”
“I guess,” Kyle said. They did seem to be getting along, running across the little loose bridge after one another. Elaine was much more cautious than the other girl—Willow—but she kept up just fine.
“You know, if you have a meeting run long again, I’d be cool with taking your girl home for a playdate,” Stan said. “Or just have her over in general. We live really nearby.”
“That’d be great, actually.” Kyle smiled at Stan. He’d been meaning to reach out to the other parents and get Elaine forming close friendships early (it was important for her development, he was pretty sure) but he hadn’t really had the time yet. He was more than happy to take this golden opportunity, especially if it came from a guy with a smile as handsome as he was smiling now.
They exchanged numbers and goodbyes, and Kyle drove home, feeling quietly giddy. Elaine was much more vocal about her excitement, prattling on about how cool her new best friend was (“She can run faster than anyone in the class!”). It really did seem to be the start of a new, perfect friendship.
Until the playdate came and Kyle found out that Stan apparently didn’t care if Elaine ate as many sugary snacks as she wanted.
Kyle wasn’t nearly as crazy as his mom, but he’d certainly inherited a fair amount of her neuroticism, especially when it came to Elaine’s diabetes. The diagnosis wasn’t official, yet but he’d had it from a young age, and he worried it was only a matter of time until she got it, too. He was so very careful about her only having sugar-free (or at least low sugar) snacks, and had been clear to Stan that if she had snacks, she could only have what was packed in her backpack. Stan had nodded and given him that stupid (handsome) smile, seemingly understanding. And yet, when Kyle came to pick up Elaine later that evening, she ran up to him with a Minute Maid juice box in her sticky hand and her cheeks smudged with chocolate from the cookies on the table.
It wasn’t Elaine’s fault, or even Willow’s for apparently sharing with her; they were only three years old. So once Kyle had her buckled in the car, he yelled just about every horrid thing he could think of at the idiot who thought he could leave two toddlers alone around a plate of cookies.
“Dude, calm down!” Stan held up his hands defensively, eyebrows furrowed like a wounded puppy. “My mom brought them earlier today and I told Willow not until after dinner, but I guess—”
“Didn’t I give explicit instructions?!” Kyle scowled. “I said only let her have her backpack snacks!”
“Yeah, but– come on. Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Stan’s former laid back demeanor now had an edge to it under the accusations. “She’s three. If she sees a cookie, she’s gonna eat it.”
“Which is exactly why you should’ve been watching her the whole time!”
“What, like obsessively hovering? I’m not gonna do that! You gotta let kids be kids sometimes. And besides, it’s not that big of a deal. One cookie and juice couldn’t hurt.”
“You don’t know that, Stan! My family has a history of type 1 diabetes and any day now Elaine could get diagnosed! What if that day was today and she passed out while your back was turned and hurt herself?! She’s a baby, she can’t communicate what’s wrong very well. She needs someone else to be responsible for her!” Kyle felt a small amount of smug satisfaction at the shocked and guilty look of realization that crossed Stan’s face. That lackadaisical thinking of “kids will be kids” might work for him, but not Kyle. Not when Kyle had been so clear about his rules and Stan had so irresponsibly ignored them, or judged his parenting style. Kyle left with a huff, mad at Stan for endangering his daughter and mad at himself for getting his hopes up.
***
About a month or so after the disaster playdate, Elaine came home one day and dumped her backpack out, spilling crayon drawings and pipe cleaner projects on the ground.
“Elaine!” Kyle chided and she giggled at him, getting the bouncy ball she’d apparently been looking for and ran off. He rolled his eyes but didn’t have the energy to really be upset and instead set about cleaning up her mess. They’d talk about personal responsibility and neatness later.
Among the various papers, Kyle found one made of thick cardstock with handwriting nicer than he knew Elaine could do (though she did have excellent handwriting for a kid her age). He picked up the paper and got a closer look and saw it was an invitation to a birthday party.
Specifically, Willow Marsh’s 4th birthday party.
“Ugh.” Kyle frowned, the memory of how he blew up at Stan still a bitter taste in his mind. He really ought to apologize at this point, but Stan should’ve apologized by now as well and he hadn’t. Was this party invite supposed to be the apology? If so, it wasn’t nearly enough, and he briefly considered refusing the invite until Stan did something that actually showed he was sorry.
He took out his phone and sent a text to Bebe.
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Kyle sighed, turning the invitation over in his hands. He was still mad at Stan, but Elaine didn’t deserve to be punished for Stan’s carelessness and Kyle’s frustrations. She wouldn’t understand if he explained it to her— all she’d know was that her dad kept her from going to a fun party with all her classmates. 
Before he could psych himself out of it, Kyle opened his phone and sent an email to the address on the card, thanking Stan for the invite and letting him know Elaine would be attending.
***
The days until the next weekend came and went by so quickly it was as if Kyle just blinked and suddenly found himself driving with two kids and two presents in his backseat. Jaime kept pushing his car seat’s cupholder in and out while Elaine tried to stick her hand in without getting trapped. She squealed with delight every time she successfully evaded getting pinched, but Kyle knew it was only a matter of time until it happened and she would start crying.
“Stop that, you two,” he said. His next words churned a restless, nervous feeling in his stomach– some kind of anxiety or anticipation. “We’re almost at Willow’s house.”
There it was around the next corner, a few cars lining the street in front of it. Kyle watched Wendy, a mom he recognized, and her son get out of their car and walk up to the house. He hoped Wendy would stay so they could talk and Kyle could avoid awkward small talk with Stan. He still hadn’t apologized.
“Go there, Mr. Elaine’s dad!” Jaime pointed at an open spot among the cars and Kyle smiled, turning in to park. The kids wriggled in their car seats until he unbuckled them and they hopped out, running off ahead of him.
The bulk of the party seemed to be going on in the backyard, all of the kids running around and playing various games amongst themselves. Kyle wasn’t the only adult who stayed for the party; most everyone congregated in the kitchen or on the back porch, more than happy to get a break from actively watching their kids. Wendy was among them, and Kyle spent much of the first half of the party talking to her and another mom, Nichole. They were friends with Bebe as well, and he ended up agreeing to a brunch “or something casual like that” with all of them the next day.
That was another thing Kyle had been meaning to do. He’d hit it off with Bebe around the start of the school year, but Kyle really didn’t know these parents very well. They were mostly perfect strangers to him and yet their kids would probably be classmates for the next fifteen years or so. The thought of all of them like this again at a high school graduation hit Kyle like a punch in the gut. Making more friends was as important for him as it was for Elaine.
Stan and an older woman (his mom, Wendy informed him) kept track of the kids, sometimes introducing structured party activities like one of those pull string piñatas. Kyle worried about all the sugar trapped inside, but according to Nichole, it was actually filled with plastic jewelry and rubber bugs.
“I’m so glad Stan decided to do that,” she said. “Delilah’s allergic to chocolate and it’s impossible to find one of those bulk candy bags that have non-chocolate options.”
“He did that just for her?” Kyle raised an eyebrow.
“Not that he told me, but I did mention it in my RSVP email,” Nichole said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, though. He’s a pretty thoughtful guy.”
“Hm,” Kyle said. For a second, he had the crazy thought that Stan had gone out of his way for his sake— or, for Elaine’s sake. Even still he wasn’t sure, making eye contact with Stan across the yard when the last string of the piñata was pulled, raining bugs and plastic over the grass. Stan smiled at him and gave a little wave, and Kyle felt his cheeks flush slightly. Was he looking for Kyle’s approval? Kyle looked away. No, that was insane. He probably went with the toys for allergy reasons, or because the kids were wild enough without the extra sugar in their systems. Besides, there was still cake.
The cake sat in a box in the fridge, only coming out after Stan’s mom clapped her hands and asked who wanted it. It was cute, a confetti cake decorated with cartoon dogs from a popular show. Kyle hummed along as all the kids sang the birthday song way off key and clapped with everyone when Willow (with Stan’s help) blew out all her candles. Willow got the first piece as the birthday girl, then slowly the rest was cut and distributed. Elaine waited patiently for hers; she hadn’t had any snacks after breakfast because Kyle knew the cake was coming and didn’t want to deny her a slice. As he watched the cake distribution, though, Kyle saw Stan pick up a smaller box he hadn’t noticed earlier. 
“Elaine,” he called, gesturing. Elaine got up from where she sat and went to him. Stan opened the small box and took out a cupcake, then put it on a plate and gave it to her. Kyle frowned in confusion and walked over.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Stan looked up at him from where he knelt in front of Elaine.
“Oh, uh, I know you’re worried about Elaine having sugary stuff,” Stan said. “So I got the bakery to make a sugar-free cupcake that she could have.” He smiled at Elaine. “So you go ahead and eat that whole thing, kid. Extra special, just for you.” He glanced up at Kyle as he said this, still smiling but the way his eyebrows furrowed asked if Kyle was alright with that. 
He’d listened and tried to improve; he wanted to get this right.
He was sorry.
“Well,” Kyle said. He barely registered his own voice, too distracted by how well Stan understood what it would take to win him back over. That giddy feeling buzzed through him again. His heart raced and he managed to keep himself contained to just a small smile. “What do we say, Elaine?”
“Thank you, Mr. Marsh,” Elaine said. She took her cupcake back to where she sat before. Stan’s smile looked relieved as he stood and patted Kyle’s arm before walking off to somewhere in his house. His hand was still big, and warm, and the feeling of it lingered on Kyle’s arm as he stood there, gazing after Stan.
***
After cake came presents and after that came everyone leaving, off to put their kids down for a nap. Soon only Kyle was left; Bebe wanted to pick up Jaime at Stan’s house instead of Kyle’s, but she was running late.
“Sorry to make you stay,” she said over the phone. “It’s just, Jaime’s only car seat is the one in your car.”
“It’s no problem,” Kyle assured her. “I don’t mind sticking around.”
“Ooh, you changed your mind about Stan, then?”
“Maybe,” Kyle smiled. Bebe laughed excitedly on the other end.
“Okay, you gotta tell me all about it when I get there, or at brunch tomorrow. Whichever. I’ll text when I’m a few minutes out.” She hung up after that, and Kyle slipped his phone back in his pocket. Bebe hadn’t given him an ETA of any kind, but he was sure he had time. Elaine and Jaime were in the living room, playing with Willow and her new presents while Stan’s mom watched over all of them. Stan himself was outside, cleaning up the back porch. Kyle slipped out the backdoor to join him. He picked up some stray cups and tossed them in the trash bag in Stan’s hand.
“Oh, hey, thanks,” Stan said.
“No problem,” Kyle nodded. “Just me now, huh?”
“Yeah, since Scott left. Jaime’s mom on her way?”
“Yeah. Hair appointment took longer than she expected and now she’s stuck in traffic.” 
Stan nodded in response. They cleaned together in silence for a while, initially making Kyle worry that the cupcake and what he felt earlier had been a fluke. Stan kept looking at him, though, flashing a smile every time they made eye contact. Kyle returned his smile, but sometimes he had to drop his gaze. The blue of Stan’s eyes overwhelmed him now that he kept noticing it.
“You want anything to drink?” Stan asked once the porch and yard were mostly clean.
“Just some water, maybe,” Kyle said. Stan nodded and briefly disappeared inside, returning with a glass for Kyle and a bottle of some IPA beer for himself.
“Thanks.” Kyle took the glass, watching as his and Stan’s fingers touched when he did. He felt insane again, wondering if Stan’s hand lingered for a beat too long because he was also savoring the touch. Then again, maybe he wasn’t that crazy, with the look Stan gave him when he did draw his hand away to grab his beer and take a drink.
“Hey, um.” Kyle bit his lip, needing a distraction from watching Stan’s lips on the bottle. “About that cupcake earlier.”
“Oh, shit, yeah. Was that okay?” Stan frowned. “It was just– I was thinking about it, earlier, when I got the cake. I probably should’ve asked you beforehand, though.”
“It’s fine!” Kyle said. “It was really nice of you. I wanted to say thank you, actually. Also… I’m sorry.” He took a sip of the water as he collected his thoughts. His throat felt kind of dry, anyway, from how Stan was now casually leaning on the wall. “I’m sorry for getting so mad at you. I did kind of overreact. I mean, Elaine having diabetes isn’t a guaranteed thing, even if she’s at one of the peak ages for it to develop. It’s just really stressful having to do all this on my own and Elaine… she’s everything to me. I don’t want to mess this up.”
“No, I get it,” Stan said. “Like, Jesus, dude. Willow’s four already. Four years and I still feel like I’m not getting it right. Parenting, that is.” He chuckled as he took another sip of the beer. “I’m sorry, too— you were right. There was no way Willow wasn’t going to try and sneak a cookie before dinner, and of course she’d give one to Elaine.”
“She’s a thoughtful kid.” Kyle placed a hand on Stan’s arm. “Like her dad.” He held Stan’s gaze, watched him visibly swallow as his cheeks flushed. Stan took another sip of his beer and Kyle’s lips quirked into a little grin. He guessed he wasn’t the only one whose throat felt dry.
“Do you, um, do you wanna try a sip?” Stan wiggled the bottle in his hand. “It’s really good if you like hoppy beers.” The smile on his face was so many things— nervous and awkward, goofy and hopeful, but most of all it was handsome.
“Yeah,” Kyle said. “I’ll try some.” He leaned forward and tasted what he could from a kiss.
It was pretty sweet.
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twilightmalachite · 5 months
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PORTRAIT - Ah, still delay—thou art so ■■■ 3
Author: Akira
Characters: Akiomi, Makoto
Translator: Mika Enstars
"Yes. My name is Yuuki Makoto. I’ll do my very best."
[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]
Season: Winter
Location: Downtown
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That night…
Akiomi: (Sigh… I’m so exhausted today.)
(I bet there’s plenty of other people who can do the job out there, but the industry more or less concentrates all their work on their fan favorites.)
(So all the work went to just me—Well, although that’s something that’d make anyone shriek in delight.)
(All sorts of people would invite me out to dinner or something, trying to gain momentum appealing with the youths. And, well, it’s a great way to save money on food, but…)
(It’s not like those I work with are friends or family, so…)
(I have to keep busy thinking how to keep them entertained, so I don’t let my guard down and so I can get the job. It’s really tough.)
(I’m completely worn out… And I couldn’t concentrate because I was worried about those strange, little kids.)
(I dunno, I feel I’m kind of a scattered mess today.)
(Sena-kun, Yuuki-kun, Narukami-kun…)
(We come from different generations, so I don’t typically do much with them…)
(So because of that, I don’t really know all the details, but…)
(According to Narukami-kun, Sena-kun and Yuuki-kun seem to be having a problem.)
(I don’t really know the specifics of the situation, but… It seems that Sena’s parents are monster parents[1], or rather, they’re pretty troublesome people—)
(Even today, they stormed in angrily and forced their son—Sena-kun, to go home with them.)
(Apparently he didn’t have any work to do today, and just came in just to see Yuuki-kun.)
(It seems they threw a strange fuss over it, and I think Sena-kun’s parents had even got the police to look for him.)
(Things were a little odd with Yuuki-kun, too. A child at that age should typically have a parent or guardian accompanying them…)
(But in the end, nothing like a parent or anything had shown up for Yuuki-kun until the end of the day.)
(It’s like Sena-kun was like a substitute for his parents, sticking close to him and taking care of him and the like.)
(But, Sena-kun is just a child. I feel like something’s not right here.)
(Well, this is someone else’s family, so as Narukami-kun advised—I guess it’d be best to not get involved.)
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Makoto: ……♪
Akiomi: …? Hmm?
Huh? Wha, Yuuki-kun…?
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Makoto: Good eve…ning?
Akiomi: Ah, yes, good evening… Hey, what are you doing in a place like this so late at night?
I had wondered about this during the day too—Are your parents not with you?
Makoto: Mom isn’t feeling well.
Dad’s fine, but… Maybe his heads’s not well?[2] Possibly?
Akiomi: Huh… So your parents aren’t feeling well, huh. That’s why they weren’t with you today.
Still, I can’t believe they’d leave such a small child unattended, whatever the reason—
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Makoto: ? ? ?
Akiomi: Ahh, I’m sorry. I used a difficult word there, umm, Yuuki-kun… Yuuki Makoto-kun?
Makoto: Yes. My name is Yuuki Makoto.
I’ll do my very best.
Akiomi: (What the? Hmm, it’s like he was taught to say things like that when meeting adults, so he’s just doing what he was told without any thought to it… it seems?)
Umm, Yuuki-kun, do you have any business with me? I mean, umm, did you want to talk to me, or is there something you wanted?
(Agh! Now even I’m getting influenced by these kids, my Japanese came out all broken! It’s so hard dealing with kids!)
Makoto: I came to see Onii-chan!
Akiomi: Onii-chan?
Makoto: Yes. Sena Izumi-oniichan.
Akiomi: Oh, that kid. You must be close, given you call him Onii-chan.
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Makoto: He’s nice. So he’s Onii-chan. Hehehe.
Akiomi: (Ah, so he can laugh, too… He looks like an ordinary child for his age when he does.)
So anyways, what do you mean you’re coming to see Sena-kun? The only thing at the end of this alley is my modeling agency, you know…
Makoto: Mhm. This is where Onii-chan will be working from now on.
Akiomi: Huh? Did the agency ask him to do some work at our agency? Or do you mean, he’s switching agencies…?
Makoto: I dunno. But he gave me this map and told me to come see him if I needed anything.
I don’t really need anything, but, I came to see him. Hehehe.
Akiomi: (Hmm… I still don’t get it, even with Yuuki-kun telling me. I wish I had someone, like an adult who knows what’s going on or something, to explain things to me…)
(But first and foremost, I can’t just let a child walk around at night like this, can I?)
Yuuki-kun, if you need something with agency, let me go with you. Here, it’ll be really bad if you tripped, so Onii-san will hold your hand, okay?
(Wait, didn’t that sound a little creepy? Ugh~, I don’t know how I’m supposed to treat children!)
Makoto: Thank you very much. I’m always indebted to you.
Akiomi: I’m not usually helping you out, though…?
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Akiomi: (I dunno about all this… I was getting tired of my day-to-day monotonous life of going to middle school and working as a model, but…)
(Who would want to get caught up in an incomprehensible mess like this?)
[ ☆ ]
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A term to describe a type of irrational parenting that’s typically a mix of strict authoritarianism with over-protectiveness. A bit similar to tiger parents, but tiger parents are more fixated on the success of their child, and have less of the “overprotective” aspect that monster parents have. It’s similar to if a helicopter parent was mixed with harsh authoritarianism.
“体が悪い” (karada ga warui) means “to not feel well”. Makoto remarks his father may “心が悪い” (kokoro ga warui)—An unwell or bad heart/mind. It’s possible that Makoto didn’t know exactly these words meant.
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huggybug · 2 years
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can you do something when poppy goes on her first date and how the guys react?
happy dilf day!
“Be home by 10” Poppy was on the way out the door on her first date while you and Trevor tried not to laugh at how nervous she was. It was something you had to talk Trevor into letting her do. When she first told you, she begged you to not tell her dad but since he was in town the night of the date, you couldn’t exactly keep it from him.
“Absolutely not” He scoffed before going back to helping Lucas tape his stick.
“Trevor-”
“Dad!” Poppy yelled at the same time as you, pinching her younger brother when he mocked her in a ridiculously high pitched voice.
“You’re not going, end of story” Poppy looked to you, hoping you’d be able to help her out.
“Babe, they want to go to a movie, it’s hardly anything to worry about” Poppy already told you that her date was to the new Marvel movie, it really seemed innocent enough.
“You say that like we didn’t go on movie dates all the time… actually-”
“Trev!” You cut him off abruptly which makes him smirk.
“Gross” Poppy shivers and you roll your eyes. “Mom already said I could go so it doesn’t really matter what you say” Your eyes widen and Trevor looks at you in shock.
“It’s inevitable babe, she’s not going to stay in our house forever”
“I know that… I’m okay with her going on dates… when she’s 18” He thought he was being reasonable but Poppy’s shriek of outraged begged to differ.
It took a long argument discussion to get Trevor on board but eventually you managed to make it happen and now he was cooperating being supportive.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” You call which makes her roll her eyes, something you can’t see since she’s facing away from you.
“You got pregnant at 16” Trevor said under his breath and you smacked him.
“Shut up”
Poppy’s date went well but, much to her displeasure, your family was leaving for the summer at the end of the month which meant she would be away from her boy for two whole months.
“Can’t we just stay here for another week?”
“Yeah sure, do you want to tell you father that we’re staying so you can hang out with a boy or do you want me to?” You asked sarcastically.
“If you could, that’d be great” She smiled and you shook your head, making sure she knew that was never going to happen.
“Since I feel a little bad… and I’m a good mom, I’ll cover for you once a day around your uncles” Poppy was already preparing herself to be around the guys again. Knowing her dad who was horrible at keeping secrets, there was no way she’d get through the whole summer without them finding out about her little date.
“Wow thanks”
You didn’t have to cover very much in the end because wishing the first couple days, the secret was out.
“Hey P, who’s Max Parker?” Your head whips to the side to look at Alex and you can tell Poppy’s expression mirrors yours when Jack and Cole look at you weirdly.
“Where- How-” She stutters and your eyes go wide when Trevor and Lucas start laughing.
“Poppy Jane do you have a boyfriend?” Jack asks and you’re honestly surprised at how quickly they put it together.
“He’s not my boyfriend…”
“Yet!” Lucas shouts and Poppy glares at him.
“What?” Cole asks.
“Trevor! How could you allow this? I thought we had an agreement” Jack turns to his best friend and you raise an eyebrow at that.
“An agreement?” You ask, “Jack she’s not your child”
The boys were all arguing now, Trevor was defending himself and claiming that you pressured him into letting Poppy go while Jack yelled at him. Cole and Alex were listening intently, picking their sides and then joining in on the fight.
“I’m out of here” Poppy got up and ran upstairs which only made Cole chase after her, asking if he can say hi to her boyfriend over facetime.
“How did you even find his name? Are you stalking teenagers now Turcs?” Trevor asks, clearly amused with the situation.
Alex laughed, “No the kid followed me on instagram and I saw that she followed him”
“If you guys act like that you’ll never meet her boyfriend, might not even get an invite to her wedding” You shook your head as you turned your attention to your phone.
“WEDDING?”
“Y/n, don’t even joke about that, she is way too young” Jack was appalled which made you laugh.
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camsthisky · 1 year
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For the Extravaganza: "Ladies love a man who's good with kids" from the third list down on your post. It'd be cool if you did something with Dick in the 17-21 age range!
I am still trying to figure out Robin!Jason's voice, and this was a perfect chance to practice!
--
“Alfred!” says Dick before Jason can get in a word of hello. “How the heck am I supposed to take care of a baby?!”
Jason blinks incredulously and tightens his grip on the manor phone he’d just picked up after its incessant ringing had started to annoy him. “Why do you have a baby?”
“Jason?” Dick asks. “Where’s Alfred?”
“Not here,” Jason says. “Again, Dickface, why do you have a baby?”
“Not important.”
Jason takes the cordless phone and sits up on the kitchen counter by the window, peering out into the late afternoon to see if he can spot Alfred pulling up in the driveway. “Kinda sounds important.”
“I need Alfred,” Dick says again. There’s a wailing sound, and yep. That’s a baby. DIck sighs in frustration. “Crap.”
“Been crying a lot?” Jason wonders.
“Yeah,” Dick says, and he sounds resigned to the fact that he’s not going to get Alfred. Jason’s the only one home right now, after all. It’s him or nothing. “I can’t get her to calm down.”
“Maybe she’s hungry.”
“I already tried feeding her.” Dick makes a shushing noise that does absolutely nothing to stop the crying. “I’ve tried everything I can think of. Her diaper is clean, she doesn’t want to eat, she won’t go down for a nap, and she keeps throwing away her pacifier. I have no idea what to do.”
It’s the first time Jason has ever heard Dick sound so lost. In the entire year he’s been living with Bruce, the times he’s seen or talked to Dick, the man has always seemed so self-assured. 
It kind of throws Jason for a loop. Enough for him to start wracking his own brains for a solution. “Uh. Maybe she misses her mom? Or dad? Or whoever usually takes care of her.”
Dick is silent for a moment, before quietly, he says, “Maybe.”
“Are you babysitting?” Jason pushes. “Because a distraction might be the best option, if her mom isn’t available right now.”
“It’s my neighbor’s kid,” Dick finally says. “I heard her crying through the wall this morning, and when I went to go check it out, her mom was passed out in the kitchen. She’s at the hospital right now, and her partner is five hours away at the earliest. I’m all she’s got right now.”
Jason swallows past the sudden lump in his throat. “Bummer.”
Dick huffs an unamused laugh. “Yeah. Bummer.”
“Maybe I can head over there and help?” Jason offers.
It’s not like this would be the first time he’s ever watched kids before. He used to babysit his downstairs neighbors’ twin terrors for a while before his mom died.
There’s another uptick in crying on the other line, and Dick’s voice is muffled as he talks to the baby softly. After a minute the crying decreases in volume.
“Yeah,” Dick says. “If you want to, that’d be great. It’d be good to have another hand until her other mom gets here.”
“Okay,” Jason says. “Alfred should be back soon. I’ll ask him to drop me off.”
“Thanks, Jason,” says Dick. “I know I’m not around the manor a lot, but I still appreciate this. And I would come running if you ever asked me to.”
Jason shifts uncomfortably. “Yeah, well. Ladies love a man who's good with kids, right? I’m only doing this for practice. And for the baby, because you’re hopeless.”
Dick laughs, for the first time the entire call, sounding somewhat like himself. “I guess I am, yeah. Thanks, Jay. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Dickhead.”
Jason hangs up to Dick’s uptick in laughter, and tries to pretend he isn’t as red in the face as he feels.
He jumps off the counter and starts to pack up his homework. Hopefully, Alfred will be here soon, and Jason can get to helping out his older brother. That’s what family does, right?
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awanderingdeal · 2 years
Text
O'Knutzy Week 2022 - Day 1
Prompt: Win || Loss
Rating: G
CW: Brief mentions of alcohol
Credits: O'Knutzy belong to @lumosinlove and thank you to @oknutzyweek for organising all this.
There's a running theme of my fics for this week of them being post-trade. I plan on them being all rather fluffy though (if not smutty).
“One, two…” Harry said, moving his counter along carefully as he slowly counted each square on the board. “...three, four…five!” He threw his hands up in the air, his counter flying from his grasp in the excitement. “I win! I win!” Harry cried. 
“Again?” Finn plucked the die from the table, peering at it with intense inspection and furrowed his brow. “I think you must be cheating?” he pondered. 
Harry shook his head furiously. “I didn’t! I promise!” He pulled himself up off the floor, bracing his hands on his hips, still barely reaching Finn’s seated height now that he was upright. 
It took every ounce of Finn’s self control not to laugh at the toddler’s serious expression. Instead, he held out his hand, pinky finger outstretched. “Promise?”
Harry hooked his own pinky around Finn’s, grinning and nodding his head. 
“Okay then, I believe you. You just must be the best chutes and ladders player in the world!” Finn laughed, ruffling Harry’s hair - not that it made much of a difference to the wild strands. “Come on, let’s go and find your mom and tell her how good you are.”
“Mom! Mom! I won!” Harry shouted as he ran off.
“Wait for me, you little scoundrel!” Finn chased after Harry, scooping him up into his arms just as they crossed the threshold of the kitchen, and tickled his tummy. 
“No running in the kitchen please, boys,” Lily said, smiling over the rim of her wine glass. 
“Sorry, momma,” Harry said, not looking remotely sorry as he wriggled out of Finn’s arms and into Leo’s. “Hi, Le.”
“Hello, Mister,” Leo greeted, moving his own wine glass away from Harry’s flailing limbs. “Are you keeping an eye on my Finn for me?”
“We played Chutes and Ladders,” Harry answered, running his fingers over the short stubble growing on Leo’s chin. “Like daddy,” he mumbled. “I went all the way down the chute and I was gonna lose.” 
“But then the little monkey went and landed on the longest ladder.”
“Fissssshy!” Harry protested, but his disgruntled expression was fleeting. “And then I won!”
Outside, a car door closed and Lily tipped her head back to drain the rest of the wine from her glass. “Okay then my little board game champion, that’ll be your dad. We’ve got to go and see the kitchen lady now. Do you want to get your coat or your shoes on first?”
“Me stay with Fishy and Le?” Harry’s bottom lip wobbled as he clung closer to Leo. 
Finn looked over the top of Harry’s head catching Leo’s eye. He didn’t need the small nod to know Leo was thinking the same thing he was. “We can take him to the park, Lils.”
“Are you sure?” Lily asked, her shoulders already relaxing. “It’d be a massive help. He was supposed to go to the Dumais’, but Marc’s sick. They think it might be strep.”
“Of course,” Leo said, blowing a raspberry on Harry’s cheek. “It’d be our pleasure.”
“Pots! We’re stealing your child!” Finn yelled at the sound of the front door closing. 
“If you could bring him back before Sunday that’d be great, thanks. Sirius tends to get quite upset when I lose his God-child.” James made a bee-line for Harry as he entered the room, pressing a kiss to his cheek before quickly rounding the island to deliver one on Lily’s cheek too. “Anybody else want a kiss? I have some spare.”
“No, thanks. Logan tends to get quite upset when I go round kissing other men,” Leo quipped. 
Finn snorted. “Except me of course.” And with that, Harry was bundled into wellingtons and a bright red jacket. James thrust Harry’s backpack in Finn’s direction, the antithesis of the anxious, fussy parent he had been the first time they’d babysat. 
Three wide, Leo, Harry and himself, they took up most of the sidewalk as they walked slowly towards the park. “Phone Logo?” Harry asked. He had long since learned to pronounce Logan’s name correctly, but the nickname has stuck. 
“Yeah, we’ll phone Logo, buddy.”
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thesunshineriptide · 1 year
Note
Hi there!! I know I say it often but I absolutely love your writing style. Every story I read is amazingly written and captivating, it's so detailed and I adore reading all your posts. Whenever you have time, if you're up for it, could I request a comfort character letter from Floyd? Those have always made me super happy, just reading the ones for others ^^
If you are up for it, could I request like, romantic relationship implications, signed to Comet (or Shrimpy given Floyd lol)? You've read my backstory and know a bit about how I interact with Floyd, surprise me with the themes and stuff, please! ^^ Adoration and respect, Comet <3
DKJFKSDJFHKJSDHFKJ you know better than to compliment me like that kjsgjldfgljnj COMET PLEASE- anyway Floyd told me to deliver this to you or he'd squeeze me so heres your letter. Please tell him not to bite me again it hurt-
SHRIMPY.
I’m writing you a letter right now because the Coral Sea this time of year is. SO BORING. There’s nothing to do right now but after last time they said we can’t stay on campus during winter break so now I’m stuck under the ice floes with nothing to do. There aren't even sharks to fight this time of year, they’re all at home celebrating shark hanukkah or something, I dunno”.
I wish you were here. I’d send you a breathing potion and tell you to come over but Jade said you’d probably just send it back which makes me sad but that's fair I guess. It didn’t really seem like you enjoyed the last swim we had together so maybe you wouldn’t enjoy home very much.
We had a holiday party last night though that you would have loved. Or hated, I dunno, but I wish you were there because Jade made me swim still all night while Dad’s colleagues just talked to each other about nothing and ate “aperitifs” which is just a fancy word for rich people finger foods.
Speaking of food, Azul’s at his Mom’s and he brought over some of her cooking for us. She made me some takoyaki! It was the best I’ve ever had and I wanna take you to get some one day. Oh! Oh! Also, I found some pretty shells for my pretty shrimpy. I’ll try and remember to bring em back with me.
Anyway, I miss you and if you could write something interesting back that’d be great. Fight any overblots lately? Has Baby seal burnt NRC down? 
Ps. Jade asks if you’re eating enough. He says you can have some of his mushrooms if you’re really good just don’t eat the ones you can’t identify or the ones that are endangered
Eel
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yonce6496 · 2 years
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Hacketteer Headcannons
Laura & Max: What makes the most sense imo for Laura is that she’s the child of a young mom, someone who had her when she was just getting ready to go to or was in the middle of college and had to put her education on hold to work and support herself and Laura. Growing up Laura has always been super active and outspoken, she was one of those kids that had no filter and would say the first thought that’d pop into her head, even though it was just her and her mother at first Laura is part of a big family, she has plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that live nearby and they all doted on her and had no trouble watching her for the day or taking her for the weekend. Her family is packed with a lot of smart, independent and capable women so she’s had plenty of role models growing up and gets her spirt from the small village of strong women that raised her. Laura became a big sister at the age of eleven and jumped in feet first, she was always eager to volunteer to help her mom feed her or play with her baby sister to keep her occupied.
 Now let’s go over Max, I feel he also has younger siblings with at least one having a similar age gap that Laura and her sister has. Even though Max is the oldest his mother is a stay-at-home mom so that affords him the ability to be pretty carefree and not have to watch his younger siblings very often even though they’re all super close and play around a lot. Max’s dad can be strict occasionally but his mom is super relaxed and has a very modern approach to parenting and cut out all the authoritarian crap, since she’s the one raising all the kids, they all listen to her over their father anyway. The Brinley’s are pretty well off as they own a local restaurant that has been in the family for years. In a smallish town like theirs everyone is either a regular there, a worker or knows someone who is. Laura and Max go through most of their school years without knowing each other only having a few classes together from elementary up until Jr high. It isn’t until their 7th grade gym class that they have their first real chance to talk to each other. Most of the times in their gym class no matter what game they were playing that week they’d end up on the same team, Laura had no friends in that particular class so whatever games they played she focused and put in her all trying to win, while Max had one of his good friends in that class he usually goofed around and didn’t take things too seriously. Max tried not to let it show but he lacked a lot of confidence and was pretty insecure, he felt like he had nothing he was really good at and most people only talked to him because of his family. So Max kept himself in the background as the funny guy and didn’t take any risks. Laura proved to be a beast at sports she was always making great passes and plays, diving for the ball and stayed competitive. One day during volley ball week Max and Laura were on the same team once again and while Max was chatting in the back with his friend he didn’t realize the opposing team had served the ball smacking him square in the nose. The P.E teacher and all his other classmates gathered around him to either help and check on him or snicker at him for eating shit, Laura pushed her way to the front and after the teacher helped Max stand upright again, she made a fist and lightly bonked him on the forehead “That’s one way to keep your head in the game!” Max blushed while everyone chuckled at Laura’s joke but he could tell there wasn’t any malice behind it. The next few days Max kept seeing Laura in the hallway, like everywhere, he knew who she was before their gym class but he’d never really noticed how often they passed each other in the halls, or how funny she was and he definitely never noticed how beautiful she was. Her outgoing, confident nature and quiet intelligence kinda had Max crushing from afar so he planned to do anything and everything he could to impress her. He started going hard in gym doing his best to win when they were on the same team and to compete when they were opponents, he tried being more active in the classes they shared, speaking up more if for no other reason than to get a fraction of her attention and he started talking to her and some of her friends, trying to turn up the charm as much a she could. After winter break and their next semester started, they found out they had the same history class and Max immediately claimed a seat right next to Laura and she seemed happy to be next to him. Over the course of the rest of the school year they became friends and then good friends and then really really good friends until it all just kinda hits Max, that Laura’s helped him become a better more ambitious version of himself by just existing and being herself. Come 9th grade they’ve been friends for almost two years and Max has been working up the courage to ask Laura out on a date, he suggests they hangout after school and catch a movie together and she agrees. Max shows up to the mall’s theater and they grab a quick bite to eat when Laura is actually the one to make the first move and ask Max if they could consider this a date and he’s over the moon he’s so excited. They both make it official that night after the movie and are the hot new couple walking down the halls of their school. They’re that couple everyone is friends with one or both of them and pretty much the entire school can tell they’re more than a shallow high school fling, there probably gonna last long into their golden years together and they’re inseparable. It’s originally Laura’s idea to apply to be councilors for the summer, she needs the money for college and it sounded like the perfect summer gig to kickstart her veterinary schooling, Max agrees to go along for the ride. Max gets his rejection letter the day he’s leaving for Hackett’s Quarry, just as he’s packed his car, he checks the mail to find the rejection letter and tosses it in the trunk. That night before they run into Silas on the road Max is distracted cause he’s thinking about how disappointed Laura’s going to be since they planned to go to college together but now, she’d be going by herself. Max hadn’t even applied anywhere else cause he had no doubt he’d get in. He always felt like he was trailing behind her and slowing her down.
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dr-lauren-bloom · 2 years
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New Amsterdam S. 4 finale thoughts *SPOILERS AHEAD*:
-FUCK YOU IGGY. How dare you gaslight Martin like that?! I hate when a tv show has fat characters and the writers always turn them into pathetic, self-pitying messes. It’s lazy. Iggy started as such a great character, he was the heart of the NA staff when the show started, now you don’t even recognize that anymore.
-I feel like they’re setting up either Lauren or Floyd to be the medical director or co-medical directors by the end of the series. The writers have seem to set a lot of clues that Max is probably going to decide to step down because he misses working with patients, and personally that would be the resolution that I would prefer to see from his character, that maybe he finally has some peace and realizes he doesn’t need to be the one who has to fix a broken system to feel better. Helen would be a good bet as well, but she’s always done well professionally that she wouldn’t need the position of medical director to feel any validation in the way that Max did and she has struck the balance between her career and personal life better than Lauren and Floyd. Lauren and Floyd are the characters that I’ve always felt were most similar to Max in the way that they’ve sacrificed their personal lives and relationships for the sake of their career, so seeing them going on arcs where they make peace with their pasts in a way Max was never able to before they take on such a big role would be an interesting resolution.
-I hate this subplot of Iggy taking over the emergency response plan for the hospital just to fulfill his ego. Y’know, you don’t have to put everyone else in danger to make yourself feel better?!
-Also, I think the downfall of the resistance really shook Wilder’s confidence ☹️ when we first met her, she helped Max when the hospital was under threat, but now, she didn’t want to help with the emergency response prep? I hope we get some resolution to that.
-Just my personal opinion, but I hate whenever medical dramas have subplots where doctors have to work somewhere that’s not a hospital and they have to like, Mcgyver their way through saving a patients life with tools or whatever. That scene where Floyd’s saving the woman’s life and stuck a pair of what I think are pliers just gave me the ick. I know that surgeons use similar tools in the OR but I still hate it 🥴
-Man, I’ve been pretty annoyed with Floyd for most of the season but I felt bad for him in the final scene with his dad. I know it was left open ended, but I felt so bad that he finally got the nerve to talk to him and there was like, nothing.
-I love how layered Lauren’s moments with female patients are throughout this series. The scenes with her reading the comic book with the kid in (I think?) season 1, the scenes in season 2 with the female overdose patient, and the scene in this episode with April where she talks to her about getting her help escaping from her abuser are hands down some of my favorite Lauren scenes. They’re loaded with so much significance and you know by her facial expressions, her body language, and how she becomes softer but more protective that she’s thinking of her younger sister in those moments with those patients. I really really really hope that we finally get some emotional payoff next season for this. Also, whenever Leyla asked her where she was staying and Lauren said someplace safe, where do y’all think she’s going? I don’t know why, but I think she’s probably going to stay with her mom, or maybe like, her childhood home if the family still owns it or something? That’d be kind of an interesting full circle moment for her.
-As for Lauren and Leyla, I’m not happy about it but I understand why Lauren had to break up with her for good. I hope that it really isn’t the end for them, but I hope that we get to see them both grow a bit more before coming together again.
-Again, I’d like to say, FUCK YOU IGGY. Sure, the hospital was still standing at the end of the day, but leading the hospital’s emergency response team just because you have something to prove is dangerous and dumb. I wish Vijay would like, haunt him from the afterlife and throw stuff at Iggy when he’s being this dumb. He made Veronica Fuentes look like a fucking angel in this episode. Do you know how badly you need to fuck up to made her more likable? I don’t know how he did it, but by golly he did.
-I knew the wedding would be on the New Amsterdam rooftop. Completely unrelated but that really is such a gorgeous rooftop. And that view of the River from the one side? 🤌 I personally am such a slut for a good waterfront view-
-Hey, no what the fuck? What is going on? No. Helen? HELEN? NO. Please god, no. What the fuck is this? Why is this happening?!
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Bonus reaction gifs:
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My final review of this episode:
-4321976 out of 10
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shefatalesarch · 1 year
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continued from xx / @insomniiatic
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HE RAISED A BROW AND SMILED QUICKLY WHILE NODDING. the idea of coffee was truly great because any coffee he had in prison, which was limited, wasn’t worth much. it was cheap gas station coffee, no not even cause some gas stations had seriously good coffee. “that’d be great.” he clapped his hands. “i do love having coffee again.” he laughed some before her next question hit and both brows raised as his lips formed a sort of ‘oh’ out of surprise. “uh, i mean yeah definitely but like … that not a little weird.” he laughed some. “like hey mom. hey dad. this is my fresh outta jail friend.” he shrugged. “makes for fun dinner talk i bet.” he laughed.
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nahte123456 · 2 years
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Miraculous Ladybug Fic prompt
A prompt for ML, based on a crossover with DC but can be tweaked for other fandoms or even no crossover at all.
The basic idea is a twist on the Bio!Parent trope, but instead of happening naturally it’s thanks to Cadmus(or Hyrda or whoever). A French branch wanted to try and make their own heroes, but rather then clones or brainwashing, they had a more “simple” idea.
Taking DNA from heroes and villains, they try to take the “good” parts of the DNA and use it as a “third” parent for a group of kids that could be raised more patriotic and loyal naturally.
Of course, Cadmus went through a change or got destroyed or whatever(depends on the timeline from my knowledge. DCAU is my preferred canon but again, your choice). So the kids got the DNA but not the checkups and training.
Around 15 years later, and the kids are starting to break down. Their DNA is simply to uneven without ay help for years. So of course they have to go to someone with reach that ca get the extra blood they need to get the DA to fix themselves.
Obviously who they would go to would depend on who the MC is(I choose Marinette), who’s the parent, the crossover, and how directly the kids would want to be with this third parent.
Also obviously not every kid should have that third parent, that’d just get annoying. And some couldn’t have it, like Kagami who is born in Japan(according to the wiki at least) or Alya who just moved to France.
For the third parents I’d choose if I had the focus and time to make this fic myself instead of just talking about the idea.
Marinette-Dick Grayson. Bruce is to overdone but she does fit the whole batfamily/Gotham stuff. Even if she is HILARIOUSLY above them in power. She moves faster then light and can destroy buildings with ease, they are normal humans. But fighting power isn’t everything.
Rose-Harley. Just, give Harley another smart but ditzy and bubbly blonde to steer her onto the right path.
Aurora-Freeze. Just fun way to take his character, would he be a great dad, just as loyal to his kid as to his wife? Or view her as an abomination and betrayal of his love?
Juleka-Circe. Could use a magic kid, and another villain that wouldn’t be as easy to deal with.
Nino-Vixen. Honestly I just want more Vixen. Both John and Deadshot work as well.
Mylene-Aquaman. I have literally no reason for this beyond both being blonde and just sounding cool.
Alix-Volcana. Just a cool half-villain that could easily be a good character in this situation.
Sabrina-Mala? I wanted more characters from Superman taht weren’t just superman, but few characters would crossover very well like this since most of them are aliens you can’t really get DNA from or machines or something. Max being Luthor’s son maybe but Luthor is almost more cliche then Superman, and he’s dead in the DCAU by this point anyways so no good drama. Eh you decide on this one.
Adrien-Green Arrow. I think GA is the perfect guy to both understand Adrien’s good nature and sheltered lifestyle, but also wouldn’t put up with some of his...worst attributes. No threatening to drown Paris or getting mad when Ladybug doesn’t show up for a date she said she wouldn’t show up to. He’d get a good lecture right off. But Adrien is near the end of this list because of the next one/s
Chloe/Zoe-Black Canary. I’d just make them twins for convenience, but I think Canary makes a perfect mom for them. She can care for Zoe’s better traits, while not putting up with Chloe’s...Chloe-ness and help her actually grow into a better person. Having a good mother that actually cares about them would be heaven sent for Chloe. Also ties into the last bit, having Adrien as a brother and a more hands on father in GA would 100% help.
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jheyjette · 2 years
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A little late, but here are my thoughts on Rune Factory 5 so far:
- The 3D models actually look pretty good! 
- I like the opening theme a lot! The song is a bop and the accompanying visuals are really fun. Also kudos to XSeed for taking the time to translate it! I’ve literally never seen a video game’s opening theme get subbed before!
- The characters are pretty fun, the bachelors especially have been very charming…which makes it harder for me to choose one to marry…
- The new monster designs, especially the pink froggy, are sooooo cute!
- Combat is pretty good so far, no complaints there. I am a little disappointed that nothing much has changed other than adding partner attacks, but it isn’t a deal breaker.
- The camera can get kinda janky, especially when you’re farming. Wait times can also be a hassle, especially 1) when you first boot up the game 2) when you enter other buildings (although I’ve noticed the wait times for this are slower when the game is first booted up).
- I hate how you can’t jump in this game. One of my favorite things about Tides of Destiny was getting to parkour around town with reckless abandon. Like, not just jump. Double jump, somersaults, the works. It was great. Sometimes, it was quicker to get around town this way instead of teleporting.
- I find it really weird that, with the exception of Lucy and Julian, none of the characters that are supposed to be related actually look related. 
- I think the character designs are pretty good overall, although there are some questionable looking ones.
- I can’t with Simone’s design. It’s so over the top ridiculous it rounds back to just being plain funny. Like she’s a doctor mayor mom and she dresses like a pirate scientist. Like maaaaan what even. Also she looks nothing like her kids? I guess they take after their dad.
- Terry has no right looking like that. How dare he look like that and not be romanceable. How dare.
- I was really hoping that the marriage candidate cutscenes would look more like the ones from Frontier instead of 4. They were short too, but there was way more life put into them! They were so charming! They genuinely looked like brief clips from a slice of life anime! Both Frontier and Tides of Destiny also had longer cutscenes (especially TOD, it had less than RFF, but they were longer). I’m still pretty early into the story though, so here’s hoping there are more cutscenes besides the wedding one later on.
EDIT: I just remembered that I also keep getting this glitch where the music in town just stops. Music indoors and in dungeons are still there, but when I get into town? Nothing. It seems to happen the most frequently during festival days, which makes the silence seem a bit more eerie.
Things I want to see in future games:
- I want more moms that look like Beatrix from Tides of Destiny. I want more female St. De Coquille’s in general that look like her. That’d be great.
- More parents. Not just one, two of them. 
- Dads. That’s it. Give us more dads. 
- More costume in-game costume options.
- Bring back fur suits. Especially the wooly ones.
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backtohawkins · 2 years
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WELCOME BACK TO HAWKINS, EVIE MELVALD (eva noblezada fc)
good luck and have a bitchin’ summer!
[Eva Noblezada, cisfemale, she/her] who’s that? oh it’s [evie melvald]. i hear they’re [23] and are known as [the Flight Risk] around [anywhere but here] and [the Heiress] at [Melvald’s]. they’re known to be [openminded + relaxed] and [vague + evasive]. some people say they remind them of [barely glancing in the reareview mirror, being fake-deep, spiritual but not religious, no place to call home]. [nikki… perhaps u know me by now]
headcanons:
Evie’s family is basically Hawkins royalty. Her grandfathers (plural) are Donald and Henry Melvald, owners of Melvald’s general store. Donald and Henry’s domestic partnership wasn’t common knowledge, though– obviously that’d be bad for business. Donald legally married Evie’s grandmother, Hanna Garcia on June 1, 1934. The very next year, Hanna gave birth to Sue Ellen Melvald, Evie’s mother. Though she was raised in a nontraditional environment, you’d never be able to tell. Sue Ellen Melvald is rigid, determined, and tenacious. She was destined for greatness, and greatness manifested in the form of a law degree. At twenty-three, Sue Ellen moved across the country to Williamsburg, Virginia to attend William and Mary. Sue Ellen loves to remind her daughter of this fact: at twenty-three I was one of the first Asian American women to enroll in law school. What are you doing?!
Evie’s dad is an on-again off-again father type; he was a business student at William and Mary, which is where he met Sue Ellen. They dated off and on for a few months and conceived Evie just before Sue’s graduation. Initially, he promised to marry her and be a present father, but he backed out at the last minute for a job offer in Beijing. He was like that her whole childhood, around for a month or two, and then off in some other corner of the world. Still, Evie idolizes her father. Subconsciously, she spends every moment she can travelling the world in hopes of impressing him, convincing him that she’s worth his time. 
  Though she grew up in Virginia with her mother, Evie feels like a Hawkins native. Since she was five, Evie has spent every summer in Hawkins, working behind the register at Melvald’s and running the show at her grandparents’ house. If she’s honest, Evie always preferred her Hawkins summers to living with her mom– they’re just so different and Evie got tired of fighting all the time. Her grandfathers, though, let her be her own person. They didn’t care that Evie got high or snuck around with girls and guys or stayed out all night. They loved Evie’s free spirit. 
Evie is the definition of ‘spiritual but not religious.’ She’s resistant to any kind of organized belief system, though she believes that God is in everything. This belief informs everything– Evie’s travelling, spending months at a time immersed into different worlds, her romantic aspirations, seeking divine connection with anyone regardless of gender, race, or creed, and ultimately her life goal, to connect with and honor the divine shared consciousness. Decidedly, Evie doesn’t have a traditional job or career path– as she thinks these are constructed to distract people from being human– she, instead, moves through the world with no plan. Over the past year, she’s found herself working on a dairy farm in Sweden, as a bookseller in Amsterdam, and most recently as a waitress in Spain. 
Evie’s waitressing in Spain was cut short when she received the call about her grandfather’s tragic death. Henry Melvald had been the businessman of the family, and the rock for his partner, Donald. Evie would’ve come home, anyways, but the will revealed that she was the designated heir of Melvald’s. Plus, she knew that they would all be lucky if her mom took enough time off work to attend the funeral; so, Evie arrived in Hawkins a few days ago to look after the store and her grandfather. She’s shaken up by Henry’s death, of course, but trying to be strong for Donald and Hanna. The idea of managing Melvald’s for the rest of her life is daunting, and Evie is already looking for a way out. Miles to go before I sleep, and all.  
  pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/vurtkonnegut/evelyn-melvald/
playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1OJF1cUoXXSKnrLRr2nHLj?si=a8791167ddcb4efc&pt=5fb0b65bbabae2cce3e9e1c2eea768e6
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reanimatestar · 2 years
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for the Oc questions. 💀 for Carxes, ⚡ & 💗 for Ru'en and finally 🍵 for Eskandar
💀 has your oc ever lost anyone to death? multiple people? people close to them? how does the loss make them feel?
carxes lost his mom when he was a wee babe, he wasn't really close with her on account of. being. a baby. <3. he mostly feels sorry (i thiiink that's the right word for it?) because of the impact it had on his dad
💗 relationships? who are their friends, their family relations, lover(s), foes? what sort of personalities really tick them off and what others do they like? is there anything that’d ruin a friendship for them?
ru'en has a bunch of friends but he's not especially close with them because. the one-sided 5d mind chess. because as everyone knows if someone cares about you they must have some ulterior motive /s. he was never very close with his extended family and his parents. Uh. they're not on speaking terms any more <3 they're not as close to their sisters as they used to be or as much as they want to be but. it's better than nothing <3 any enemies he had he. ended up killing. hate wins <3 romance-wise he's had a bunch of casual flings but their longest and most significant romantic relationship was with the red prince. <3
while i'm at it: the relationship timeline with the red prince is essentially: Hm! That guy's Weird! (merryweather) => that guy's Weird but he's a good fighter and maybe he's not so bad. maybe. on second thoughts maybe not. but then- (fort joy) => not officially together but they keep having gay sex and caring about each other (driftwood) => de facto lovers with neither of them willing to address the elephant in the room (sadha) (nameless isle and arx) => Good Lord We Cannot Keep Doing This You Literally Have A Wife And Children (post-game) => not officially broken up but it's basically Over (a few years post-game)
the kinds of people he dislikes are. Hm. this sounds bad but. they don't really like people they can't control. AKDHJKHFJKHKJ in most social situations he usually has a good idea of what makes that person tick, how to act to give off the impression that will get them what they want, et cetera (this is partly because of their clairvoyance and partly because of the one-sided 5d mind chess. it's mostly the clairvoyance <3), so when someone comes along that blindsides them that's. Not a great experience for them. top ten normal thought processes. <3 similarly they don't like manipulative people. pot and kettle and all that. he likes people that he's familiar with because there's that aspect of predictability. they also like people who are nice to him even if there are ulterior motives to it let a girl dream <3
a big deal breaker in any relationship with them would be any kind of betrayal or deception or manipulation. <3
⚡ what are your oc’s phobias? is there any reasoning behind these? how do they calm themselves down after getting scared? what are they like when they’re afraid? is there any chance of them overcoming their fears?
ummmmmmmm there's the above point about regarding people they can't control. also being restrained because the whole sourcerer persecution thing. also magisters because acab <3
when he's scared he usually tries to put up a front, often his usual brand of cheerful naivete. failing that they'll try to downplay it or hide it with anger <3 they usually try to calm themself down by distracting themself it. don't really think he'll get over these any time soon. Um. sorry :pensive:
🍵 are there any rumours about your oc hanging around? nasty ones or just good humoured? got any gossip to share about them?
eskandar has a fair bit of rumours surrounding them because like. new creepy guy who asks some very specific questions while refusing to answer any and wears a mask all the time. there's bound to be some rumours surrounding them. they're mostly pretty nasty. <3
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