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#like when she's helping robin with his history work or something
dcxdpdabbles · 3 months
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In Freelance Inventor, does anyone in JL know about Danny? Do they try to help the kids Parent Trap Danny and Bruce? Does Selina know about Danny?
Batman is acting strange.
It's often that Clark thinks this. He feels a bit guilty judging people like that, but no one in the league, or hell, the world, can deny that Batman is an abnormal human.
If he even is human.
Not much is known about one of the founding members of the Justice League, and while Clark and Diana are arguably the closest to him, they don't even know his real name. Not that it was a problem.
They would trust him with their lives and learn to turn to him for leadership in dire times. It always seemed like he was prepared for literally anything, and when something managed to suppress the Dark King, it didn't last long, for he had a backup plan formed seconds later.
That's how they work. How the three changed a necessary alliance into a globally recognized league of heroes.
While Clark was good at making feel people feel safe, and Diana could rally forces, Batman had a way of making the impossible happen. Together the three tackled the world's problems making one day better at a time.
That did nothing to make people feel slightly....uneased by Batman. Clark was man enough to admit that even he got spooked. One time, he offhanded mentioned that he could recognize heartbeats when talking to Oliver and Batman.
Batman had tilted his head, made direct eye contact with Clark and suddenly, his heart rate had slowed down, beating entirely different. Clark felt horrified when the Dark Knight kept that same heartbeat for the following week, only switching mid-meeting to a faster one than the previous two.
Clark is Kryptonian. He is an alien. Sure, he developed most during puberty, but he always had superstrength and super speed as a tot. That's why he doesn't make sense, but Batman?
He had no idea what was going on with Batman, and frankly, he didn't want to touch the subject with a ten-foot pole.
Yet he could not help but think of the strange little hermit as a friend. Batman, in his own way, cared deeply for people. He never mentioned it but he always support heroes in their daily lives and although he grumbled a bit, was always there when someone needed him.
Yes, he wasn't the most approachable of heroes and a bit too professional, but he was still one of the greatest heroes in history for a reason. Clark always felt better of their chances when Batman was involved.
Seeing even a hit of disbalance in the Dark Knight made him worry.
Batman never lingered after meetings, training or monitor duty. Once he finished he was heading straight back to Gotham sometimes without a by your leave.
Batman did not do that today. Instead, he was staring out the watch tower's common room into the stars and hadn't moved for over two hours. Plenty of other heroes had already fled the room, too unnerved by the silent brooding man.
The last time this happened was because Robin had first shown up, shocking the world with his bright, impish laughter from Batman's shadows. Batman had taken months trying to decided to let the boy join him, and only because Robin straight up did not give him a option did he allow it.
Clark had been with Diana, angry that he was dragging a child into such dangerous situations only to have the Bat tell them to "stop him yourself then"
He did, but no matter how many times he captured Robin the boy was back on the streets a few hours later. Clark felt his hair grey from ever second he spent with the angry child. Diana hand't had much luck.
In fact the boy had, somehow bended in a way that had scared her into thinking she broken his spin, to escape her lasso. Her moment of fright was the opening he needed to scurry away, shouting at the top of his lungs that he would never be stopped.
She respected him but still captured the boy a few hours later. She screamed when Batman called her again to let her know the boy was seen fighting a gang at the ports that same night.
What could possibly cause Batman to stress the same way as his son? The founding members weren't sure, but they were all staring at him from the doorway after noticing every other hero avoiding the place like the plague.
"Go talk to him" Hal hissed at Clark.
"Me?" Clark spluttered. "Why me?"
"He is less likely to kill you," Barry tells him with the gravest expression Clark has ever seen on his face. "You are also the most likely one to survive Batman's attempt on your life if he decides to kill you."
Superman gapes at him, twisting around to all his teammates but everyone is either nodding or avoiding his eyes. They all decided he was the sacrifice it seemed. Traitors.
But it's true he is worried about his friend. He is slightly afriad of his friend but Clark would not be able to sleep at night if he didn't at least reach out to Batman.
Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, he twists on his heel and marches over to the dark figure. He tries to shake the feeling of walking to his executor as he finally carefully stops by Batman's side. He doesn't look at him, keeping his gaze on the stars.
Neither man said anything, peacefully observing the darkness and lights of space.
Clark waited about thirty seconds before the silence got too much for him. "Er, Batman? Is everything alright?"
Batman didn't even twitch, a tight frown- more turn down on the right corner to then the left which meant it was a nervous kind of upset instead of annoyed upset as ussal. A full minute goes by where Clark wonders if Batman even heard him about to start babbling to try to get some conversation going when the man speaks.
"Superman, have you ever been in love?"
Clark swears he never experienced whiplash this badly. He honestly thinks the loud crack that came from his neck when he turned it in shock to the other Leaguer meant that he broke it.
Batman held no hint that he said anyhting but Clark could still hear the question echoing in his head as he gaped. He got ahold of himsrlf when he noticed Batman's heart beat pick up- nervous, embarssed. even fighten?- and his shoulder hitched up slightly.
Crude he made his friend feel bad.
"No! No no! I was just surprised, is all," He cries, waving his hands. Lois's face flashes in his mind, causing him to smile slightly dropply. "I have. I am actually. There this girl- at my work. She's great. Um, why do you ask?"
"....how do you know you're in love?"
Boy, was Clark really having this conversation at his age? He felt like a fumbling teenager. Granted, he only had one girlfriend back in high school, and he was fairly sure she only dated him to piss off her dad.
Still this was great! He has never had a conversation this deep with Batman before!
"I'm not sure if it's the same for Kryptonians as it is humans- you are human right?"
"Yes."
Oh, so Batman was just like that. Good to know.
"Well, I knew from how she made me feel nervous but happy nervous? As if the world was brighter. Better. And when I'm not near her, all my thoughts somehow return to her." Clark thinks of how to best explain love, turning the world over in his head before snapping his fingers. "You know when you just adore a certain food? That no matter how often you eat it or how long it's been, it just makes you feel better? There isn't a real reason why you like it so much you just do. That's what she's like for me."
Batman nods slowly. He might not be able to see his eyes but Clark could image them softening just by the way his whole body relaxes. "I see. Then I am in love. Thank you."
He turns away before Clark can get his jaw off the floor. Batman stride right out the room, ingorre the scrambling heros who try to act like they weren't easedropping and vanishes in a flash of light back to Gotham.
He did all that as if nothing had happened.
Clark has half the mind to think he just haluciated the entire five minutes before Barry blurted. "Batman is in love?! That's amazing!"
They spent the rest of the night trying to guess who was the person that could have possibly romanced Batman.
Barry and Hal were convinced it was another vampire- they didn't believe the Dark Knight was telling the truth when he claimed he was human- while both Diana and Arthur both claimed the person had to be a deadly warrior.
J'onn was under the impression it had to be someone who was the polar opposite of Batman. On Mars, that was the common couple dynamic. Thus, the person Batman loved was likely a civilian. A dumb sociable one.
He didn't say Bruce Wayne exactly, but J'onn heavily implied Bruce Wayne. He even pointed out that Mr. Wayne financed everything the Leauge used from the very beginning, of course in secert but it was still his money.
Why would he do that if he wasn't somehow profoundly involved? Obviously, the billionaire wanted Batman safe, maybe even returned his feelings. The rest of the Leauge looks half convinced by the logic.
Personally? Clark was just happy that Batman found anyone at all. No matter who they were, he would do everyhting he could to help his friend woo his crush.
That's what friends are for, after all.
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xxbottlecapx · 9 months
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I saw someone talk about this idea (can’t find them now) so- 
Steve is walking down the street and he hears the jingling of a dog collar so he turns around to ask to pet their dog but it’s just Eddie. 
Steve might have a meltdown. He seriously might. This was the worst day he’s had in a long fucking time. 
The day started with a fucking seizure, of all things, when Steve hasn’t had one in months, so he decided to go to the emergency room to get checked up just in case. 
The doctors said he was fine, the scans and blood tests came back just as normal, but he ended up missing lunch so he didn’t get to have down time with his best friend Robin, and she was the biggest reason he could manage his anxiety and PTSD.
His mom called him when he was at the hospital, even though she disowned him ten years ago when he was forced out of the closet as bisexual. He thought she wanted to talk but apparently her husband (Steve’s father, unfortunately) was dying and wanted Steve to help with the hospital bills considering apparently their business went under, which Steve hadn’t known about because he hasn’t seen them in ten years. It led to a fight over the phone which triggered another seizure, so he’s had two in one day. Because of his history with seizures, the hospital decided to let him go, which he wasn’t entirely sure would be a good idea, but what else were they supposed to do? It’s not like Steve knew. Besides, he’s pretty sure they were understaffed and maybe they just didn’t have a place for him. They just gave him some painkillers, gave him a form so he wouldn’t have to go to work for a week, and let him go after giving him an IV. Steve would have argued about the work thing, but the doctor was able to convince him that having a bad seizure in front of a bunch of toddlers might be a bad idea, even if they’ve dealt with his smaller ones before. 
He decided he would go for a run because that always relaxes him before remembering that he shouldn’t go running after having two seizures, so he decided to go for a walk instead. Of course, this only makes things worse for himself. First, he forgets to take his dog Farrah with him on the walk, and then he realizes that he’s wearing a thick knitted yellow sweater in 86 degree heat, also he lost his glasses somehow? 
He must have still had some postictal confusion left because he very quickly got lost and then he couldn’t find wherever the fuck he put his phone, so he couldn’t call Robin to pick him up, and it’s not like his anxiety would let him walk up to some random person and ask. 
It was getting dark, so he wasn’t going to approach a woman, which was something Robin had to teach, and Steve was kind of scared of men, which might be stupid because he was a man, and also taller than most men, but anxiety is a bitch so it’s not like he could argue with it. 
His heart beating outside his chest, Steve realized he very well could have a third seizure, or a panic attack if he didn’t calm the fuck down, so he went to hide behind a alley which just so happened to be behind a bar. 
That was fine. 
The music was dampened by the concrete wall and sometimes silence made Steve’s existential dread even worse. He missed his dog. Farrah was a white teacup chihuahua and Pomeranian mix that Steve had adopted from a shelter he had been volunteering at. She kept getting bullied for her size even when they put her in with the other babies, and the shelter asked someone to foster her. It was a foster fail but Steve didn’t regret it. 
Steve tried to think of her as he sat down, working on the deep breathing his therapist had told him about. Of course, Steve sat on the floor and got beer and gunk on his jeans, but he was so tired that he was past caring. 
A migraine was coming on, all of his bones hurt, and he had white spots dancing in his vision. His hands were shaking. It’s very possible he had a small seizure when he was getting here and he didn’t remember it, that happened sometimes. He really hoped Robin had done okay at school without him. They taught a kindergarten class together. He really should have called to get her an aid but it had slipped his mind and she was going to be pissed. 
He would just stay on the floor until he felt better. Then he’d call and apologize. 
He did remember to feed Farrah and she had some pads on his living room so she would be okay. When he got home he would give her a lot of treats. Maybe he would make Robin cupcakes. 
Steve’s nerves picked up when he heard someone open a door behind him. Luckily for him, he had a switchblade in his pocket (he got it from Max, and who knows where she got it from) so he could use that in case of an emergency if anyone tried to accost him. Then again, this was a bar, maybe they’d just think he was drunk and leave him alone. 
The jingling of a dog tag gets Steve’s attention, and suddenly he thinks he might actually cry if he doesn’t get to pet this dog right now. 
The person’s heavy footsteps get closer, the dog chain making cute clinking sounds, and Steve readily looks up to ask, even though his face is already red with embarrassment, because what if the person says no?
But then he sees the man’s thick-heeled boots, and then his leather jacket with all the metal spikes on the shoulders, and Steve thinks no, he doesn’t have to ask to pet the guys dog, and then he chokes when he realizes there isn’t any fucking dog. The man is wearing a collar. 
Steve tries to quickly shove his head between his legs, curl into a ball so the man might not notice him, but whatever sound he makes is enough to draw the guy's attention. Fuck. 
“Hey, what were you going to say? I saw you try to ask something.” The guys crouches down in front of Steve. Steve assumes the guy is going to beat him up for looking at him weird or something, but the man’s voice, while deep, is actually very calm. He has a few more chains hanging from his black jeans, which were absolutely shredded, and the clinking noise still reminds Steve of Farrah but now he’s embarrassed about it. Is he wearing fishnets under his jeans? Oh my god, Robin is going to kill Steve in the morning if this guy doesn’t kill him first. 
Steve thinks about answering but his words get clogged in his throat. Sure, he didn’t ask to pet the guy, but he thought about it, and his face burns and Steve wishes he could jump into the dumpster a few feet away. 
He must look weird, because the guy, already crouching down to him, gets closer until their knees are touching. 
“Hey, you okay?” He asks, very gently putting a heavily ringed hand on Steve’s arm. 
“I’m so sorry,” Steve sobbed, finally lifting his head to meet the guy's face. The dude’s hair is long, held up in a ponytail, which shows off the fact that he has an undercut with a pattern shaved on it. This man is absolutely terrifying, oh my God, how is Steve going to get out of this situation without dying? 
The guy's eyes widen at the words, but he keeps his movements slow as he places his hands against both of Steve’s trembling arms. Not constricting him, just pressing, just adding a bit of pressure. 
“You’re okay, I’m not angry.” The guy says soothingly, “You haven’t done anything. Why- why are you crying?” The guy’s voice goes high pitched, cracking a little. If Steve wasn’t so terrified, maybe he’d find it comforting. 
Steve doesn’t know what comes over him. He tells himself he’ll come up with something stupid, but his body hurts and lying takes a mental energy that Steve doesn’t have right now. His head pounds and the sound of his blood rushes past his ears. 
“Uh, I heard your collar and I thought you were a dog.” He whispered, putting his head between his knees again. “I was gonna ask to pet you. I’m so sorry.” He sounds absolutely mortified, which is good because he is. Why was he saying this? Steve was about to die and then Farrah would go back to the shelter and Robin would find another teacher and forget about him and no one would be able to teach Dustin to drive because he’s too annoying to keep a normal driving instructor- 
“You can pet me, if you want.” The guys interrupt Steve’s spiral. He moves so he’s sitting next to Steve, both their backs to the wall, his chains clinking all the while until their thighs are touching. Steve could briefly feel the dull spikes on the guys jacket pressing Steve’s shoulder. 
Steve’s brain completely blanks out. 
“…Uh-“ his hands are close to his chest, in fists, but mostly he’s just confused. Why is this guy being so nice to him? Steve thought he was a dog. He was never going to live this down. 
“I like petting.” The guy says, a small smirk on his face that brings charming wrinkles to his cheeks. Steve blushes. 
“Ca….” He can’t tell if the guy is serious, but the dude quickly pulls his hair out of his ponytail, shaking his head- like a dog. 
Maybe it’s just the seizure talking, but Steve tries to call his bluff. 
“Can I pet you?” Steve whispers, confusion and uncertainty lacing his shaking voice. 
“Yeah.” The dude replies calmly, tilting his head. 
Well, Steve realizes, now he kind of has to, doesn’t he? Shit. The guys hair looks really fucking soft. Steve’s allowed to touch it? 
Without knowing what else to do, Steve stiffly pats the guys on the head, which makes the guy laugh. Still, he doesn’t attempt to make Steve stop. In fact, he gets closer, until Steve’s arm is wrapped around his shoulder, playing with the hair on the crown of his head. Steve doesn’t really know what to do at first, but the dude smells really minty, but also like weed, and Steve doesn’t hate it as much as he thinks he should. He brushes his fingers through the guy's brown hair until there are no knots, letting his heart settle until the spots in his vision go away.
“So, what are you doing out here?” The guy asks quietly, letting Steve mess with his hair, his eyes are closed almost like he’s enjoying it. 
“I got lost.” Steve starts. The guy hums, so Steve continues. “I, uh, I had a few seizures this morning, and I got confused and got lost and I can’t find my phone or my glasses-“ Steve only realizes he’s rambling when the guy gives him a very concerned look. 
“Do I need to get you to a hospital?” He asks, clearly trying not to frighten Steve. 
“Oh? No, no, it’s okay, I’m sorry,” Steve said, almost absently as he braided a small strand of the guy's hair. He tried to focus on that instead of the raging headache he has crawling up his spine. “I went to the emergency room already, this is normal, it happens a lot, it’s just been a bad day. I’m sorry.” 
He can feel the guy nod, his body relaxing slightly. His hand casually moves to touch Steve’s collar with the tips on his fingers, his short nails painted black. 
“Your glasses are on your shirt.” 
Steve looks down where his glasses were hanging off the collar of his sweater. He blanches. 
“Shit, thank you. I’m sorry.” He mumbled, hurriedly putting them on. His face goes hot, and he wants to sink into the floor. He might cry again, he was so embarrassed. 
“Can you call someone?” The guy asks, not bringing up the panic on Steve’s face, which Steve is mighty grateful for because bringing it up will make him cry, he thinks. 
Steve shakes his head, “I lost my phone. Sorry.” He chokes out. 
“Can I call someone?” The guy specifies. 
That’s a really good idea. Sure, it’s getting dark, but Robin always has time for him. She’s probably out of work and blowing up his phone trying to contact him. She might even have broken into Steve’s apartment by now. 
Steve closes his eyes, trying to push past the fog in his brain. The only thing it does is add pressure to the backs of his eyes. 
“I… I can’t remember any numbers right now, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He puts his hand over his mouth to stop himself from speaking. 
“Are you sure you’re okay?” The guy delicately pressed his palm to Steve’s shoulder, which draws attention to the fact that Steve’s breathing has sped up again. 
Steve gulps, blinking hard to stop himself from tearing up. He feels so fucking stupid. 
“Uh, with chronic seizures, there’s this thing, called a- uh, postictal state,” he tries to explain, voice way more breathy than he would like. He’s gripping maybe a bit too firmly to the frayed ends of the guy’s hair but he makes no move to stop him. “Which I like to say just means my brain hasn’t, hasn’t caught up to my body, like it’s, um, still processing.“
The guy nods, taking Steve’s rambling with grace. “Do you like champurrado?” He asks, Steve opens his mouth, closing it, opening it again. The guy nods, hurrying to explain himself. 
“We could go to my apartment and I could make you some. You look like you could eat. I made albondigas yesterday. When you can remember, we’ll call someone.” 
Steve really shouldn’t. This guy has already been too nice to him. Steve didn’t want to impose. Also, the guy was very kind, yeah, but Robin would kill him if he got hurt following this dude somewhere. But then Steve takes stock of the aches in his body. If he didn’t go with the guy, what would he do? Sit here all night? It was going to get cold and Steve’s anxiety wouldn’t let him sleep outside in the dark in an alleyway behind a bar playing very loud, aggressive metal music. 
Steve sighs, defeated. “Yeah, okay, I’m sorry.” He felt like he was doing something wrong. 
The guys smile brightly, almost blindingly so. He stands, chains jingling, and holds out a hand for Steve to take it. 
“You gotta stop saying sorry, man, you just had what, two seizures? It’s fi- holy shit.” 
The man’s hands were soft, which Steve wasn’t expecting, save for a few well placed calluses on his fingers. Steve tried not to think about it as he stood and wiped some gunk off his jeans, staring at the messy floor before figuring out something was wrong. He looked up, and the dude was staring up at Steve with his eyes wide, mouth agape. 
“What? What’s wrong?” Steve whispers, folding in on himself a little. What the fuck did he do now? 
The music rages on, but now it’s overwhelming. He feels static in his head. 
The guy’s heavily tattooed arms were held limply at his sides, “You- you’re really fucking tall.” He says unabashedly. 
Steve gulps, trying to shrink a little to make himself smaller, like that may alleviate the problem. Unfortunately, thought he did this often, It did mean he had terrible posture so his neck began to hurt. 
“Oh, I’m really sorry.” Steve wouldn’t look at him. 
“Why are you apologizing? It’s hot.” The guy says, Steve’s head shoots up to look at him as they stare at each other until the dude realizes what he just said. “Wait, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” The guy puts his hands up, a nervous huff coming out past his lips as he was the one to start panicking now. 
Steve can’t help but let out a small laugh, covering his mouth with his hands. He’s never had someone say he’s hot in such a way, he couldn’t help but be a bit flattered.  Steve nods so the dude knows he isn’t upset by the random comment. Steve’s face was already red, and now he couldn’t even tell why. 
The guy’s eyes brighten, if that were possible. 
“Okay, let’s go. I’m Eddie.” He says, motioning for Steve to follow him. It takes a second for Steve to get the memo, with how slow his brain is working, so Eddie cautiously takes Steve’s arm in the way Steve watches men do in old movies. 
“I’m Steve. Thank you.” Steve, honest to God, giggled. Maybe he should be worrying about his dad and the fight he had with his mother, but he tries not to think about it. They’re not his problem, and he has better things to do. 
He does have to look down to see Eddie’s face when they’re not sitting, but that’s normal for Steve. He’s a few heads taller than most people he knows, and he works with kids so he’s obviously taller than them. He kind of just forgets, most of the time. No one else has mentioned it. His height was why he was so popular in high school before the seizures and anxiety messed it all up, though Steve is grateful he isn’t a bitch anymore. He’s only about a head and a half taller than Eddie, though. 
Eddie laughs, and it’s a cracky, beautiful sound. “You’re welcome, big boy.” 
Steve squints at Eddie as he leads him down the street. “Big boy?” He asks. As they get farther from the bar, there are less and less people out on the streets. No one jostles Steve, though, probably on account of the guy next to him, covered head to toe in spikes with black eye makeup. 
“Really? Do you not see how large you are?” Eddie continued, looking up at Steve like he was insane as he led him to the left, then the right. “It’s honestly kind of scary.”
“Me?” Steve wasn’t scary, this guy had it wrong. Sure, he was big, but nothing about him was frightening. Steve couldn’t remember the last person he met who actually looked afraid of him. None of his students ever were. 
“Yeah, you!” 
“I’m not scared.” Steve protested, though he was also smiling. “If anything, you’re scary.” 
Eddie throws his head back dramatically, covering his face with his curly hair. The bandana in his back pockets whips around.
“Why thank you.” Eddie grins, “Just so you know, flattery works on me.” He continued until they got to what appeared to be Eddie’s apartment building. Steve held on to his arm tighter. Eddie's dramatics calm him a little. 
“I have a dog, so you can pet a real one.” Eddie teases, unlocking the door with his free arm. “Her name is Ozzy, she’s a Doberman Great Dane mix, so I hope big dogs don’t scare you. I promise she’s not violent.” There’s something in his voice that tells Steve there’s something else. 
Steve smiles softly, “She sounds perfect.”
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sarcasticassian · 1 year
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Corroded Coffin’s label want them to do a Christmas song, Chrissy (their manager) tells them over and over that it’s not gonna fly, it’s really not the band’s brand and who is even asking for a Christmas song off them but due to the recent mainstream success of the band the label is not backing down so Chrissy tells the guys what the situation is thinking she’s going to have to deal with an unhappy label and unhappy talent, she immediately lets them know that she’ll try and negotiate a cover or something that they can whip up in no time and then forget about 
but they all surprise her, Eddie the most, Jeff just had a kid with his wife and he’s in good spirits, Grant is married and Gareth has a long term girlfriend so she can maybe understand their tolerance for Christmas but Eddie? Mr anti establishment and hates all things capitalistic etc etc, he LOVES Christmas apparently, he says its about the spirit, people’s giving nature etc also he loves watching people get into physical fights over presents and families tearing into each other over the holidays, it’s kinda funny as an outsider and as someone who has one other family member 
so they put their heads together and even out do what she’s asking by giving her two original songs and a couple of covers, enough for an EP, the label is ecstatic and Chrissy is flabbergasted, the only hitch is that before they record properly Eddie needs a choir of kids (why, Eddie? it’s part of the Christmas spirit Chris, so many songs have them as well, why can’t ours) so to make it interesting the label makes it a competition for local school choirs and a certain Miss Buckley decides to send in a tape because why not right?
except Eddie loves them, the tape doesn’t cut off in time to miss a snarky comment from the kid at the front with the curly hair and the redhead next to him rolls her eyes so hard Eddie is pretty sure she can see the back of her head and he’s charmed, they sound good too so he begs the band to pick them and the other guys really aren’t as invested in this so they say go for it
Robin is over the moon that her choir got chosen, she’s a music teacher at a local middle school where her bestie also teaches history and is beloved by all children apparently, and it helps that the prize is tickets to a Christmas concert Corroded Coffin will be a part of for all the kids so she tells them that world famous band Corroded Coffin is coming to their school to record them for a new song and they go nuts as a bunch of 14 year olds would, Steve is happy for her even though he has no idea who these people are and doesn’t bother looking them up cause what kinda band comes to a random school for a recording of their song
Eddie LOVES the kids when he arrives, they’re delightfully bitchy but obedient enough or respect Robin enough that they listen to both her and him all day and they sound great, he enjoys them so much in fact that he asks if they’d all want to be in the music video, Steve is out sick that day much to everybody’s dismay but once the video shoot is all worked out they need another teacher for health and safety etc so he volunteers to go (not that Robin would’ve given him a choice) and he sees Eddie covered in flakes of fake snow, surrounded by this soft halo of light and is like oh dear when his heart starts pumping double time
Eddie thinks this teacher is a total cutie and all the kids seem to love him, clamouring to point out cool things on set or show him their costumes or just chat to him about their other weekend plans and Eddie is a little smitten, the shoot goes on and the song is about being lonely at Christmas, the other guys’ partners are involved and the original idea was for Eddie to remain alone to really drive in the point (who doesn’t love a sad Christmas song, of course Eddie would write something against the grain) but the label has a sudden change of heart and wants the video to end with Eddie finding someone and Chrissy seizes her chance to play matchmaker so she suggests Steve fills in if he wants before Eddie can protest
Steve is a slightly confused about why they’d pick him until Eddie blurts out that he’s gay and out etc so a guy would make more sense to their fans so Steve, caught up in the moment, says sure why not, and half falls in love with Eddie under the fake snowfall and horribly bright set lights, he knows it’s an act but Eddie is very charming (Eddie isn’t acting) and all their actual audio will be cut because of the song playing over the top so Steve just enjoys himself
when the song and video goes live fans lose it, who is this cute, cute man that Eddie has bagged, it must be his boyfriend right because everybody else’s partner is in the video and Eddie has to quickly clarify that he just met Steve that day but nobody believes him, ‘the chemistry is too good’ so Eddie manages to reach out to Steve and apologise and Steve decides to joke that Eddie should take him for a drink to make up for it but Eddie immediately agrees and that’s how Steve finds himself on a date with a rockstar
(his class go wild after Christmas break and they hear from Miss Buckley about Mr Harrington’s new boyfriend)
(they go wilder when Steve spills in return that Robin has been seeing Chrissy-the-band-manager since the recording at the school back in October)
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stevesbipanic · 2 years
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Soulmate Marks Steddie AU but instead of like a guitar or dice or something for Eddie they get a nail bat and a nail shield.
Steve had grown up very confused with his soul mark. The crudely made shield with nails wasn't like anything he'd ever seen, normally soulmarks were something that represented his soulmate and helped him find her. People had flowers and sports equipment and things like their name. Tommy had a Christmas Tree for Carol and she had Tommy's favourite car. So what his soulmate was a Viking??? Maybe she was super into history, he signed up for AP history in hopes of finding her, but no luck. His parents hated that he didn't want to cover it up, it's not very feminine, what will people think Steve, but he didn't care He loved his soulmark and his soulmate, whoever she was. He knew Nancy wasn't his soulmate even though she matched the warrior personality he'd created in his head of his soulmate and he wasn't surprised her camera matched Jonathan's notepad and pen.
He kind of forgot about his mark for awhile. Too busy with Upside Down stuff and the kids and Robin and work and his parents always being away. He had a bisexual crisis in the Family Video bathroom with Robin when she said it was ok to like both, eerily reflecting Starcourt.
When it all came back again he swore that he felt something for a brief moment when Eddie pushed him against the boathouse but then there was the lake and Eddie talking about how soulmarks aren't everything if he truly loved Nancy and the chaos of getting out of the Upside Down.
Maybe if Eddie and Dustin weren't always so loud, their laughter cutting through the gloom of the situation, Steve wouldn't have noticed what they were doing. But there they were, battling each other with shields that Steve was all too familiar with. He almost dropped the makeshift molotov.
There was no time to confront this though, they had a job to do, a Hawkins to save. Eddie had stopped him for just a moment and he almost said it then. Oh how he wished he'd said something then, when he'd come back to Dustin's screams, a rush of bloody bandages, a slurring dying Eddie in his arms and a speeding van to the hospital, police be damned.
Steve didn't move from his bedside for a whole week. By then the party had seen the soulmark on Steve's hip, they knew why he was there. Steve had never seen a more beautiful sight than Eddie finally opening his eyes.
"Those bats bit off half my bat tattoo those ironic bastards" was one of the first things Eddie said. Steve couldn't help but laugh, Eddie was still being Eddie despite everything.
"shit they better not have-" to Steve's alarm, Eddie was pulling on the edge of one of his bandages, "oh thank fuck it's still there," and there it was, Eddie's soulmark, Steve's nail bat.
Guess Steve's soulmate was a warrior after all.
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stardewremixed · 4 months
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Stardew Valley Employment Headcanons
I've been thinking a lot about how many folks in the Valley don't work. In some ways, it feels realistic. A small town that is clearly dying until the Farmer comes along struggles with unemployment rates. It could be related to high taxes (*side-eyes* I'm looking at you, Lewis) and competitive megacorporations (like Joja) undermining the local economy. However, I'd like to do a little headcanon for the residents and their job situation.
Under spoilers, because TL;DR.
Abigail - after graduating with a degree in art history, Abigail starts working out in her mother's fitness group. She starts swimming at the spa. And she starts a workout regiment with Alex. Of course, this leads her to finally join the Adventure Guild full-time, protecting the Valley and exploring the depths of the mines. She still jams from time to time with Sam and Seb. I also like to think she leads a local Scouts troop.
Alex - this man deserves to have an amazing job as a pro gridball player. However, while he waits, he could coach a local kids team at the Community Center. I can also see him work part-time stocking shelves at Pierre's General Store. Maybe he lifeguards at the Ginger Island Beach during the busy season or drives deliveries out to Sandy in the desert for Pierre. Or he could work with Robin. Mmm... this man, chopping wood... fantasies. He still sells ice cream in the summertime maybe on the weekends or at festival days (because come on, Pierre needs a little competition and I love the idea of pineapple ice cream at the luau and stardrop sorbet at the moonlit jelly fest). I also see him doing odd jobs around the valley until he gets more stable work at Pierre's or Robin's. Need someone to fix your leaky roof? Alex is your man! (Because Evelyn mentions George can't do it anymore).
Elliott - I still like the idea of Elliott's secret wealth and he escaped his family to become a writer. However, maybe he regularly submits poems and sonnets via various contests online under a pseudonym, and does a few freelance articles (maybe on small towns, fishing, romance, etc.). This man deserves to publish a masterpiece and make it on a bestseller list, then gets an agent, and of course, publishes a series. He still does readings in the Valley at the library and the Saloon because he always wants to remember his humble roots and the people who cheered him on when he was a nobody in the business.
Emily - She absolutely needs to start a side-business as the town tailor. It's kind-of already in the lore, but I could see her starting up an online business (maybe with the help of Seb) on an Etsy-esque site. Also, I can see her helping out on the farm for a little something extra when she's not working at the Saloon. Maybe tending to the flowers, watering plants when the Farmer is in the Mines or off on the island or in the desert for the day. She mentions she would like to do this, but Gus apparently frowns on a side job. Hmm... well, I can see this girl eventually leaving her job at the Saloon to pursue her sewing passion full-time. She totally hosts a yoga class in the winter at the Community Center.
Harvey - He is already a well-respected town doctor, but the man is so stressed that he is hardly ever in the Clinic (at least not without mods). I propose Harvey hires some extra help, an associate, maybe another nurse, and a receptionist to assist, especially if patients from surrounding towns (like he mentions) start visiting (i.e. expansions). And he teaches first aid classes at the Community Center.
Haley - Like Leah, she needs an art exhibit to showcase her photography. Unlike the other villagers, I don't see her staying in the Valley, eventually pursuing the work of a freelance photographer and traveling the world (like her absentee parents). She does make an annual trip back for the Flower Dance, her favorite festival. I have pursued Haley the least in game so I'm struggling to come up with more ideas here.
Leah - Speaking of Leah, she transforms the Valley into a premier art destination. She can teach art classes at the renovated Community Center. She teams up with Seb and Sam (and drags Elliott along for the ride, and the writing) to produce an avant-garde film about the art all around us in small towns. I also think she grows her own herbs and sells them at Pierre's, festivals, and the Farmer's Markets (as she gives me green witch vibes). Maybe she partners with Caroline (or the Wizard) to create some herbal potions and creams. And of course, she's still at it with woodworking, though these days she works on commission for those types of projects.
Sam - This man deserves to be a rock star. And I think he'd make a great solo artist. However, if his guitarist dreams don't pan out, he has options. In the vanilla game, he starts working with Gunther at the museum after JojaMart closes. It's a strange choice, but... I figure, maybe he minored in anthropology in college. He would absolutely give amazing tours of the museum, full of exuberant commentary, perfect for kids field trip days too. And I think he plays gigs in Zuzu City and at the Saloon regularly, and maybe even out at Sophia's winery (Stardew Valley Expanded).
Maru - Nursing just doesn't really seem to fit this woman of multiple interests. She finally pursues her passion of robotics and goes to work in a proper lab in a nearby City (doesn't have to be Zuzu - my headcanon is Pine-Mesa City or Grampleton from Stardew Valley Expanded). I think she makes regular trips to the Planetarium too. I could see her visiting the Valley on long weekends, and maybe taking the local kids club on a night-time stargazing event in the summer.
Sebastian - Please give this man a proper window in his basement, Robin! Okay, if he doesn't marry the Farmer, Seb moves out anyway and goes to live in the City for a while, to find investors for his indie game studio. In the meantime, he continues to do freelance programming work. And then, one day, he makes a breakthrough game that revolutionizes the industry. After making A LOT of money, he invests in a SAVE-THE-FROGS campaign, hires multiple developers and other staff, and starts working on his next big game. But he still makes time to jam with Sam and Abi from time to time, and of course, take long rides on his motorcycle.
Penny - This poor woman needs some love. Penny pursues her higher education and officially receives her teaching license. She is hired by the local school district so she can do more than just tutor. She can finally afford her own little apartment. She starts a kids club in the Community Center, and creates a summer reading program at the Stardew Library. And I like to think she takes a monthly trip to Zuzu City to shop in a big bookstore for fresh reading material when she has some down time.
Shane - Oh this guy is definitely a mess. If you don't "romance" him in game, he doesn't really turn his life around, and even if he does, it doesn't really point to recovery as it should, imo (without the help of mods). This man hates his job, and yet he feels stuck. I propose the following. After he recovers in therapy, completes rehab, and genuinely quits drinking (forever), and of course, loses his job at Joja (suck it, Morris!), Shane starts working at Marnie's shop and contracts out as a farmhand all around the Valley. Then he can be a proper godfather to Jas, and provide some actual service at the Ranch (when Marnie's off doing who knows what with you know who...)
I have thoughts for the other Villagers in the Valley too, but I'll save those for a different post.
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writersblockedx · 2 years
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When Opposites Don’t Attract
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Pairing - Steve Harrington x Reader, Slight Eddie Munson x Reader Summary - Steve and Y/n were meant to be like magnets that repelled. It was as if the whole world shifted when they started dating. But now, Steve is having doubts someone else might be a better fit for her. Warnings - Angst, that's pretty much it. Words - 2.3K
A/n - I haven’t even finished watching Vol 1 of Stranger Things 4 yet, but I had this idea while watching so, here you are. Let me know if you want a part two.
MASTERLIST / Part Two / Part Three (Eddie’s Ending) (Steve’s Ending)
Y/n and Steve were one of the most unlikely of couples. But suppose an interdimensional demon (and demon dogs, or demodogs as Dustin dubbed them), along with a couple near death experiences leads for people to grow.
Steve was the high school basketball King. Crowned for his drunken parties, lack of academic achievement and his distaste to those who didn't fit into his cliché of normality. Now, he worked at a video store, was friends with a 14 year old D&D expert and band nerd Robin Buckley.
Y/n was the proud co-founder of the Hellfire club. Known to only stay up late while playing D&D, rushing to write her history essays or strumming the guitar her mother had been so against purchasing.
Yet, despite the twos differences, they came together. They looked for another in moments of danger. Which, knowing what they did, happened to be frequent.
Things had been tricky though lately. Steve took on as many shifts as he were able and Y/n was finishing her final year at high school, putting in her applications for colleges - another thing that had jabbed at their relationship. Steve would never pressure Y/n to stay near Hawkins, but he knew distance would only strain their relationship. And that was the last thing he wanted.
After a session of D&D with Eddie and the rest of Hellfire, Y/n was sent to go pick up Steve from work. While he was very much capable of driving himself home, the two sought out pockets of time when they were able to see one another. While some weren't long, only the time it took to drive from town to Steve's parents house, they found it meaningful.
"You off to Harrington's?" Eddie had asked as he and Y/n stood in the empty school after saying goodbye to the others.
Y/n's hand gripped the door to the drivers seat as she glanced over him. "I'm off to drop him off from work, yeah." She answered him.
Eddie laughed, "Didn't know you were his chauffeur now." He joked.
"You didn't know that's what girlfriends were for?" Y/n replied.
The long haired boy grinned, "Stay safe." He told her before slipping into his car. Y/n followed and made a B-line for the video store.
It was never really busy, but at this time, close to closing hours, it was empty. And Steve was the only one on shift. Y/n parked at the closest spot to the store, her headlights flaring into the shop, making Steve aware of who was waiting for him. After that, it didn't take him long before locking up, turning the lights off and heading towards the passengers seat.
The boy had practically sighed in relief as he entered the car. "Hello honey." He smiled genuinely, already leaning into her lips.
"Sweetie." Y/n responded before their lips met. It was a kiss that was held for a moment or two, treasured by both. They retracted from another, but still lingered, Y/n's finger tip gracing his chin. "I missed you today."
"I miss you every day."
They pressed another kiss to the others lips. This one short, sweet. "Straight home?" Y/n asked as she began reversing from the parking spot.
"Straight home." Steve assured and Y/n started the route she had led hundreds of times before. "You can stay tonight, if you want." The boy offered, looking over almost sheepishly. Something Y/n hadn't caught with her eyes centred on the road in front of her.
"Still got that applicated to finish." She gave as excuse. "I tried finishing it last night before passing out."
Steve tired to keep up his usual façade, but his shoulders couldn't help but slouch and his smile seemed to fade. "Right." And so they drove home in nothing but small talk.
It wasn't until when the weekend rolled around Steve finally received much needed couple time with his girlfriend. And they spent that time washing pots. Steve had offered to clean up after a meal with Y/n and her family. He had done it as a polite gesture, now he really was stood over the sink with a dish cloth and bowl with Y/n leant against the counter next to him, towel in hand as she dried them clean.
Certainly not what he expected for couples time.
"God you should have seen what happened at lunch earlier." Y/n brought up, smiling at the memory.
"I think Robin mentioned it actually." Steve replied, a hint of some tone in his voice Y/n hadn't quite caught.
And her grin kept growing as the memory played. "I know maybe you don't agree with it, but Eddie just got up on the table and started speaking his mind." Y/n finally looked up, finally looked to Steve. The expression that sat on his face had been one stern enough to wipe the smile clean off hers. "What is it?"
He shrugged and returned to the plate in hand. "I don't know, just think it can be rude sometimes."
"Yeah but he's not wrong in what he's saying." Y/n defended.
Steve followed with a scoff that he knew he would regret later. "Of course. Eddie could never be wrong in your books, could he?"
Y/n placed the now dry bowl on the counter, along with the towel to fully look to Steve. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Steve dropped the plate and scrubber and did the same, putting his attention on the girl stood in front of him. "Just that you always seem to be on his side, always agree with what he has to say." He went on.
"Probably because he's my friend, Steve." Y/n argued. "Friend's usually agree with each other."
"As should couples!"
Steve would definitely regret that one.
He already did.
The boy watched as his girlfriend's face moulded into one of anger and betrayal. "If you're trying to say something Steve, then say it, please." There was a sense of irritation in her tone that Steve certainly had picked up on. He'd just wish he hadn't.
He huffed, pulling the bright yellow, rubber gloves off to face Y/n. "Just that maybe I don't want my girlfriend livings a millions miles away!" He snapped.
"This is what this is about? College?" Steve didn't mouth back so that gave Y/n her answer. "Steve you said you didn't mind where I went, that it was my choice."
"I thought maybe you would want to stay close. For us."
Y/n attempted to move close to him, reaching her hand out to grasp his. "Of course I want to do what's best for us. But college needs to be what's best of me first."
"And am I not what's best for you?" She was quiet. Steve dropped her hand from his. Something bad was about to follow. He scoffed first, as if that was going to let out some of his anger. It didn't. "I'm sure Eddie would be best for you though, right? Wonder if you'd stay here for him." He hadn't meant anything he had just said, what the anger had mouldered his words into.
"So this is about Eddie now?"
Steve pushes off from leaning against the counter and suddenly Y/n felt a rush of anxiety; she knew what was about to follow would only escalate the situation. "We haven't gone on a date for over a month now, Y/n. This is the first time we've spent time together, and most of it was spent with your family." Them words seemed like they had been ones Steve had been holding in for a while. And, while he hated to speak his mind, a wave of relief seemed to pass over him now they were out in the open. "You spend more time with that Hellfire club, running around with Eddie, then we ever do. I'm not delusional to come to the conclusion that maybe he's just a better fit for you."
Y/n took a moment before even daring to meet Steve's gaze. "No, yeah, you're right. We were in over our heads, thinking this would work." Her finger danced between pointing between her and Steve. "Maybe we should just give it up. Forgot about everything we went through." She exhaled, letting out the angered steam which had been trapped in her throat. "I'm sure you've got loads college princesses waiting for you. Sure they'd be a much better fit for you then I ever was."
Steve pauses before he speaks and Y/n felt as if the silence would never pass. "I'm sure they would." And with that, he threw the wash cloth to the counter and wondered off. He couldn't leave though before stopping in the doorway and turning to face her once more. "Have fun with Eddie."
And with that, he left. Y/n didn't move from the kitchen. She stared at the tiles and listened as the door opened, swinging shut, followed by the revving of an engine that faded away.
They had argued before. Argued over Steve being late to dinner because he had fallen asleep. Or argued because Y/n had forgotten to put a pot away. Stupid things. But this, was far from over sleeping or forgetfulness. This had wounded them, then thrown salt into it. It stung and neither of them were sure yet whether it was repairable.
It put a strain on them. Y/n was seated at the usual Hellfire table at lunch, their conversation of band practise having become nothing but background noise. Y/n was zoned out completely. Her hand gripped a fork, still having yet to even taken a jab at the school pasta that was now lukewarm.
"Y/l/n..." A voice from across the girl sung in a sort of mocking tone. "Y/l/n..." She looked up, meeting Eddie's wide eyes. "What's up with you?"
It dawned on her then that everyone on the table was waiting for her to answer. "What?"
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Said Mike from the end of the table.
She forced herself to sit up, trying to shake from the thoughts that had once consumed her. "I'm fine, just it's bee a long day." She was lying and it was obvious.
Eddie raised his hand, "I call bullshit."
A cough followed from the end of the table, "Steve." Then another cough as if to cover up the name that had just been dropped.
"Dustin!" Y/n swore if that if the fork in her hand wasn't metal, she would have thrown it at him.
"Harrington? He's the reason you've been moping around all day?" Eddie questioned.
Y/n found that her eyes rolled slightly, "I haven't been moping."
"Erm yes, you have." Mike chimed in, leading Y/n to the conclusion that she regretted ever inviting him or Dustin to Hellfire.
Eddie leaned closer over the table, his demeanour having switched to one of a serious matter. "What'd he do?" The boy asked.
Still, all eyes were on Y/n. "Nothing." She answered before pulling herself up from the chair, taking her tray with her.
Eddie huffed before looking back down the table, sending a deathly glare towards Mike and Dustin. "Well done, shitbrains." He cursed. Had the two not looked to Eddie like a God, they may have snapped back. Alas, they suffered in their silence.
It wasn't long after that, over towards the town centre, when a similar conversation followed. This time between Steve and his trusty co-worker and friend, Robin Buckley.
The two were wondering around the video store, putting each VHS in their place. And, once again, Robin was listening to Steve's rant. "And then she says I should go off with some college princess!" He quoted as he placed a copy of Dirty Dancing on it's stand. "So, of course, I stormed out. As anyone would have done."
Robin was at the other side of the store, thankful no customers were roaming about. She doubted that would have stopped Steve right now. "Maybe you should talk to her." She suggested.
"Talk to her?" Steve replied as if the suggestions was so utterly shocking it might send him into cardiac arrest. "No. She should be the one to talk to me."
Robin huffed, "From the sound of things, you're the one who lashed out. You're the one who should apologise." Steve still seemed unconvinced. "You don't want to lose her, do you?"
The answer to that was enough for Steve to get his act together: he left his shift 15 minutes early (despite Robin's nagging not to), rushed into town, bought a bouquet of Y/ns favourite flowers and zoomed to her house.
He felt like an utter idiot stood here. But he kept reminding himself of the feeling that would wash over him once this was sorted. They would go back to cuddles and kisses as if nothing had ever happened.
He knocked on the door and it wasn't long until Y/n's mother was at the door. "Steve," She smiled and swung the door open for him. "She's in her room."
Steve returned the smile, "Thank you, Mrs Y/l/n."
"I'm glad you're here, she's been a little off it the past few days."
Steve nodded his head as if he hadn't just been drowned in guilt by those words. Alas, he continued through the house towards Y/n's bed room. He took a moment to catch his breath. He was normally never nervous to speak to her. But, as Robin had said, there was a possibility he may loose her.
So he knocked and he waited.
"Yeah!" A shout came from the other side of the door.
Steve took another sharp inhale. Then he opened the door.
"Steve?"
He found himself stuck still. It was a miracle the flowers didn't fall from his hold.
Seated on the bed was Y/n, in her pretty pyjamas Steve adored so much. And next to her, with a grin that seemed as if it were taunting him, was Eddie.
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tim and bernard who break up and it's nothing big, no one cheated or anything. it's just their lifestyles didn't work out well together. tim cannot give up vigilantism currently and bear cannot handle the level of danger tim puts himself in. and on the other hand, tim cannot handle the fact that bear chooses to run into danger as an emt bc he already worries about everything but now he has to worry if he'll find his boyfriend convulsing from fear gas in a random alley but also bear who felt the life drain out of darla cannot stand the thought of not helping people and runs headfirst into dangerous situation after dangerous situation hoping that every person he saves can somehow make up for the fact that he could not save darla.
(he very pointedly does not think about the fact that there was nothing he could do because if he thinks about that, he'll spiral until they have to lock him in arkham too)
and so they break up but they were tim & bernard in high school and when they started dating they balanced out the worst of each other and they became tim&bernard. and everyone who knows them, knows that they're better together but they cant be together, they refuse actually because they cannot lose another person to the violence of gotham and by the time they figure out that they cant work together as long as the other is an emt or vigilante, it's too late for both them. they've already left too many pieces of themselves in each other.
tim still knows what bear means when he says "tim" in that exasperated voice. tim still goes boneless when he hears bear say "baby" in that firm tone. bear can still read tim like a book. he still knows the right way to massage tim's neck so that tim can go to sleep. everyone at the first responders gala knows not to bother ceo drake-wayne and senior emt dowd when they're talking.
(and if they're standing a little too close to each other than what is normal, who are they to judge? everyone knows that dowd and drake-wayne have history)
and if everyone on the night shift has caught red robin with his head tucked into the crook of emt dowd's neck as emt dowd runs a soothing hand up and down the vigilante's back, well then, they just quietly back away.
(after all, dowd's one of like, five, emts that can get the bats to receive medical treatment so if turning a blind eye to whatever the fuck they have going on is what allows them to give back to their heroes, then the night shift will do it every time)
and of course, tim and bear are practical people. they loved (love) each other sure, but when your lives are fundamentally incompatible, well, you cant get too stuck on the what-ifs, that's for sure. and so they do find love with other people and yeah, maybe it's not what they expected love to be when they first fell in love with each other. it's not the bubbly, stomach-swoopy, cant stop grinning, feeling that permeated tim&bernard's early days or the i Know you/you Know me that was their middle or the quiet despair that was their end but it is contentment. and in a life with as many losses as theirs, contentment is something they hold dearly
and they're happy! truly! but sometimes, at galas when they're making each other snort champagne out their noses or in darkened alleyways when their clothes are both stained with blood or at rallies for stricter gun regulations in gotham where they both sit too close to each other, fingers enclosed around each other in a death grip, when the presenters inevitably bring up grieves
(worst school shooting in gotham in decades, there's blood on their hands and blood in their mouths and darla is dead in between both of them and there is a chasm so wide that they are screaming to get their voices across and she will always be dead and maybe this had always been the problem that she is dead and there is no coming back from that and that there is blood on their hands and blood in their mouth and blood on their han-)
but sometimes, most especially on opposite sides of the street, as life pulls them in different directions, just sometimes, they see each other and just for a second, nothing too long, the flap of a hummingbird's wings, the time it takes to blink, an electron's orbital, they look at each other and for the briefest moment, blue on brown, a barely noticeable stutter in their steps, the space between heartbeats, because this is all they will give themselves because they do not dwell on what-ifs or what-could-have-beens, or what-should-have-beens, or delusions of a softer world, their eyes meet and they think to themselves, god, in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with him.
#what the fuck is this#the theme was wistfulness. hopefully that came across right. and like i wanted this to be all 1 text block so you feel how it all collapses#into that 1 thought they have at they end but fuckass tumblr has a 4096??? text limit for a single paragraph???? so here's multiple paragra#anyway here is my middle of the road sad timbern hc. do i think this will happen? no? is this still a fun world to play in? yeah absolutely#also super huge fan of darla haunting the narrative. darla as this chasm they cannot cross. darla as smth they shelter each other from#but also smth like a 2 way blade. it cuts them both. it will never stop cutting them. smth smth the wound will always bleed#also i cannot stress how important it is that they are happy with other people!!! they are both satisfied with other people. it's just that#they have a very specific history and they are the only two people who really know and understand that history#and also it's not that theyre unhappy with their partners but just that smtimes they look at each other and... wonder. in a softer world#maybe i could've been a chef and you could've still been a superhero and we could've still worked out. maybe we would've gotten a boat#together and maybe we could've come home to each other. maybe i could've trusted you to come home to me. maybe you could've#understood my need to help people. maybe we could've held our love as something precious.#maybe in a softer world our love wasn't something that hurt us both.#i need to lay down. im going crazy#as always i do love reading yalls thoughts in the reblogs and replies!!!#bernard dowd#dc#tim drake#timbern#timber
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adrianasunderworld · 6 months
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More Twst x Stardew things
The Royal Sword Corporation opened one of their stores in town years ago. Crowley hates it. He hates the manger, Ambrose, who wants him to sell the community center so they can open another Royal Sword Business in town.
Che'nya works at Royal Sword Mart. Neige actually got his big break from Royal Sword. He got cast in a commercial for it, and it did so well that he's the face of a whole ad campaign now. Vil is angry and jealous because he also auditioned for that role and Neige got picked over him.
Vil still acts and models, but it's on a much smaller scale compared to Neige. Like he gets hired a lot to do ads and commercials for businesses in town, and in all the neighboring towns, to the point he's kind of a local celebrity in the area. He keeps visiting the city to audition for theater, but so far nothing. He ideally would like to move to the city to pursue bigger roles, but it's just not in the cards now.
The witch that turns your eggs into void eggs at night is Malleus grandma. He gets embarrassed, and has tried convincing her to get a different hobby, to no avail.
Fellow and Giddel are event characters. They get hired to work at the county fair during the fall, and sometimes stop by on the Night Market. There's a quest where you can befriend them so they can move into town, and Giddel can join the other kids on their lessons.
Leonas family is very well off. After his father passed while Leona was still a minor, Falena took custody of him, and he still lives with Falena and his wife, Asha. The Kingscholars were successful in their careers and had plenty of money. Like the farmer, they wanted a change of pace from city life and bought a nice inn just outside of town. Falena runs the actual business while Asha still works as a lawyer. Leona is taking online courses while working at the inn. Ruggie also works there and often has to keep Leona on track.
Ace is a carpenter, and was like Robin, the first person in town to greet you and show you to Ramshackle Farm. And like Robin, he also called your grandpa's house crusty. He also has beef with your cat, Grim. Everytime he comes by to work on something, they have a stare off.
Jade is still interested in foraging, and often gives helpful tips, like what is in season and where to find it. His favorite gifts are any mushrooms.
The mermaid who does a show at the Night Market is Rielle.
Ortho, Najma, and Cheka are like the Jas and Vincent in town. They're the local kids you always see running around, along with everyone else's little siblings, like Jack's brother and sister.
Since there's more than two kids in town in this au, there is an actual school house in the area. It's right next to or is connected to the library, and Clara is the local teacher. Trein helps her out by doing the history lessons. Clara will give the older kids their lessons in the morning before doing their more independent study time and class work in the afternoon while she teaches the little ones. Trein usually keeps an eye on the older kids while they work in the library. It's hard though, Lucius keeps demanding their attention when they're supposed to be doing homework.
Ramshackle is still haunted. There's ghost all over the property, and they mostly show up at night. But they will sometime show up indoors, like in the house, sheds, and greenhouse.
If you marry Leona, he will nap in the greenhouse.
If you marry Deuce, he will work on his bike outside.
If you marry Vil, his post marriage heart event is him going away to work after taking a bigger role. Kinda like Elliot going on his book tour.
If you marry Cater, he will post about living on a farm. He will absolutely make vlog type videos going "My day in the life of a stay at home farm husband."
@mangacupcake @marrondrawsalot @writing-heiress @the-weirdos-mind
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moongothic · 6 months
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The worst part about trying to figure out what Crocodile's deal is that because he's so fucking irredeemably evil in Alabasta... Like... Yeah he's just irredeemably evil. Like I love him but he did cause countless casualties, a ton of pain and suffering and literally attempted to blow up a million people
Like no amount of theoretical "trying to do it to save his son from the Government" or "trying to stop the Government from hurting anyone else" or just "doing it for the greater good" is going to make him any less of a mass murderer
But also Robin absolutely 100% helped with all of that shit simply because she wanted to read the Poneglyph for herself.
No amount of her intending to betray Crocodile from the begining and sabotaging his plans erases the fact that Robin also caused countless people to starve to death and die in the civil war. Her sabotages only succeeded out of sheer luck, and only spared the lives of the people at the final battle. She has the blood of countless innocents on her hands. Because she wanted to read history.
But her crimes were swept under the rug because she has a sad backstory and her sabotages worked out just at the nick of time by sheer dumb luck
So Croc??? Just??? Is there a chance??? At all???
But also he did literally intend to sell Buggy into slavery
Like, fuck Buggy, but jesus
What's also killing me is that we like. Don't know what Luffy thinks of Crocodile right now. Which really is like. The thing that will decide how we, as the readers, are supposed to feel about Crocodile. Luffy is our POV
Like we don't know what Luffy's opinion of Crocodile is after he helped save Luffy (and spared Ace once) during the Summit War. Like Luffy clearly fucking hated the man in Impel Down and the two interactions they had during the War weren't like positive (in the sense that Luffy himself didn't think of the interactions as particularly positive. Defending Whitebeard from being attacked once and then being like "wait what HIM?!" when Crocodile defended Ace. To be fair, in the midst of the chaos, there wasn't much time to spend on Pondering On Such Things because Ace needed to be saved, and Oda goes out of his way to not show us what's going on inside Luffy's head, because it's all meant to be out in the open anyways. Regardless, these weren't like "yay it's Crocodile! :)" moments for Luffy is what I mean)
But also Luffy was very grateful of Law for saving his life and was willing to put his trust into Law for their alliance- of course, they weren't explicitly enemies to begin with, rivals at most, but still. Luffy respects those who help him.
But also Luffy grew during the timeskip. Like he's not that clueless anymore (like he finally understands Hancock is in love with him etc), and similarly Luffy gets that Buggy is an absolute loser now. But also Buggy did also help save Luffy's life (even if it was by accident), and while IDK if Luffy is aware of that, I don't think that helped improve Luffy's impression of Buggy
So like. The fuck does Luffy think of Crocodile, at this moment? Even with the Cross Guild reveal, he didn't even really comment on Croc and just focused his energy on being confused about Buggy being "the leader" of CG. IDK it feels almost intentional or something, that we don't know what Luffy thinks?? Especially since we did get Zoro's opinion on Mihawk in the situation?? Or am I delulu?? (Sidenote. I'd love to know what Robin would have to say about Crocodile helping save Luffy's life. What Jinbei might think of the final words Crocodile left him with before blasting them out of Akainu's reach. But mainly just Robin's thoughts)
Like IDK my best guess would be that Luffy still hates Crocodile just the same but is like grossed out by technically owing him one??? In the classic
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-kinda way, you know? And that he'd be just kinda confused about it?
Because I can't fucking imagine Luffy being like "oh we're cool now" with Crocodile, let alone "Yay Crocodile :) He saved my life!". But also like. Luffy does kind of owe Croc one. Kind of. And Luffy is usually very respectful of that kind of thing. Aaaaaaaa???
(Also does. Does Luffy even know it was Crocodile who yeeted him and Jinbei out of Akainu's reach to begin with. 'Cause he was unconcious. Knocked the fuck out. Does. Does Luffy even know. Did anybody tell him???)
I just.
There's the reasonable part of me that knows Crocodile is an irredeemable evil dickbag and everything he has ever said and done up to the most recent chapters support that. He is too far gone.
And then there's the absolutely delulu part that loves a tragic villian who gets a heartwrenching redemption that's looking for any fucking sign that could indicate Crocodile could maybe be one
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feirceangel · 6 months
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Imagine | Gifts (Nico Robin)
Imagine getting Robin a gift and she returns the favour.
Warnings: fluff, hugs, kisses
Word Count: 1,310
(Not my gif!)
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Days on the Thousand Sunny could be very peaceful when the weather was right and the sea was calm. With the sun shining brightly and everyone done their chores, it’s wonderful to have some downtime.
You could always find Zoro napping somewhere next to a bottle of sake, Sanji in the kitchen, Franky tinkering away in his workshop.. you get the point.
Right now, it’s looking like a peaceful day. But you can’t seem to rest, your eyes glued to the figure of Robin as she sits and peruses the latest newspaper.
Not in a creepy way, of course! You just happened to notice her seated on deck, sipping some tea. And you just couldn’t seem to look away.
She’s wearing a lovely purple dress with a lace collar and black fishnet stockings. Sanji’s already peppered her with compliments, and you agreed with him wholeheartedly.
Clutched tightly in your hand is a book. It’s one you picked up at the last island in a rickety old bookstore. You had merely glanced at it but something made you revisit it and realize that it looked very interesting.
It was a very old book on the history of the island, and you knew just who you would buy it for. The only problem is you haven’t given it to her yet.
You’re nervous.
Sure, you’re both part of the crew, and you get along fabulously, but you can’t stop feeling slightly intimidated by her. She so accomplished and educated, and you’re, well, you’re smart and you have skills, but it’s nothing compared to her.
Often, on calm days like this, you sit with Robin and read next to her. That’s a nothing thing you have in common: books.
You love books! In fact, you used to work in a library before you ran into Luffy and became a pirate. Robin loves reading too, so it’s something you do together.
It’s serene to just be next to her, enjoying your own book as you share the same space on the ship.
What if she doesn’t like the book?
A sudden tap on your shoulder startled you. You yelp and turn to face whoever poked you.
A hand waves at you from the railing you were leaning against and then points to where you were staring.
Your eyes meet Nico Robin’s as she smiles knowingly. She motions for you to come over to her.
So you do.
Shaking the nervousness away, you slowly walk over to the table and sit next to her.
“You were staring,” she glances at you over the newspaper.
You duck your head in embarrassment, “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“It’s alright, Y/n. I was wondering why you were taking so long to come see me.”
Deciding to just go for it, you place the book on the table and push it in front of her. She sets down the paper and picks up the old tome. Casting a smile at you, she flips to the first page, “What is this?”
“It’s for you! I wanted to give you something and I thought you’d like this,” you blabber. “It’s the complete history of the last island we were on. I can get rid of it if you don’t like it-“
You’re silenced by a finger pressing against your lips in a shushing gesture. Surprised, you blink.
Robin gently sets the book down and leans towards you.
“Thank you, Y/n. Anything you get me is a treasure,” she smiles and presses her lips to your cheek. “You don’t have to worry.”
You can’t stop the heat from rising to your face. Shoving away from the table, you grin and wave your arms about.
“I hope you enjoy it! I have to go now, I promised Luffy I’d help him!”
She watches you run away, bumping into a confused Luffy in the process.
“Cute,” she hums as she watches you dash away.
~
There are days which are not so calm.
Gone is the tranquillity of the sea, the beauty of peace.
Instead, you’re facing down a battle you weren’t prepared for.
This island had seemed alright and Luffy gave the okay to go explore/gather supplies right away. So, you bustled off, enjoying the scenery and trying to find anything helpful for the rest of the crew.
What you found was in fact not helpful.
A small child, sobbing as a man attacked his mother with harsh slaps.
You jumped in without hesitation, punching the man in his stupidly smug face before yelling at the lady and her kid to get lost.
To your relief, they left without problem.
To your irritation, more men approached and it turned the odds against you. There were five of them altogether and normally, you’d be alright to handle them, but you weren’t prepared and foolishly left your weapon on the Sunny.
As you dodge a blow from the first man, you berate yourself for being a forgetful idiot.
“Seis Fleur!” The sound of a melodious voice cuts through the noise surrounding you.
You look up from elbowing a man twice your size to see Robin glaring at your attackers. She is brutally efficient, taking down three of the men in no time.
Kicking the man who you were fighting, you grin as he collapses to the dirt. Robin takes out the last man and you rush over to her with a huge grin.
“Robin! Thank you so much, I was sure I was in for a beating,” you laugh.
Your jolly mood dissipate as you register the fact that she’s not smiling.
“Robin?”
“Y/n, are you okay?” She looks you over for any wounds.
“Oh yeah, I dodged all his attacks! And you showed up right in time!”
You spin around, “See? Right as rain.”
She steadies you by planting her hands on your shoulders, “You could’ve been hurt, where is your weapon?”
Wincing, you scratch the back of your head.
“Y/n,” she says again.
“Well you see, I was so excited to get off the ship, I might’ve forgotten to take my weapon?”
She sighs and shakes her head, reaching her arms around you to bring you into an embrace. You hug her back, heart thumping loudly.
“I, I’m sorry, Robin,” you say, “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
She slides her hand over your hair, somehow tightening her hold on you.
“Say, how’d you know I needed help?” You ask, puzzled.
She pulls away from you with a sly smile, “I actually just wanted to talk to you.”
“Really? Talk about great timing!”
“Here,” she takes your hand and places something in it. “I wanted to give you this.”
You stare at her in awe. Her eyes sparkle with mirth now that the threat to your health has been dealt with.
Looking down at your hand, you find a beautiful necklace. It has a sturdy chain that supports a pendant of an open book inlaid with a purple jewel.
You gasp, “Robin! It’s beautiful.”
“I couldn’t resist, it reminded me of you.”
“This reminded you of me?” You ask in disbelief, “But it’s so gorgeous!”
“As are you, silly.”
She takes the necklace and moves your hair from your neck to place it on you.
You stiffen as you feel her hands move against your neck. She huffs a laugh and leans in close. So close that you can feel her breath on your neck.
She places her lips on your neck, “You deserve this, and so much more.”
You turn once she draws back.
“I love you Robin,” you smile, wrapping your arms around her.
“I love you too, so be more careful.”
She presses a kiss to your head, you tilt your head upwards so that your lips catch hers.
“I’ll be careful.”
“And don’t leave the ship without a weapon or without me.”
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billyharringson · 3 months
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@101maverick I've put this in a separate post so my original one doesn't get too long but here is your ficlet with tattoo artist Steve and florist Billy.
I really enjoyed writing this and might expand this into a proper fic at some point.
"just go talk to him, dingus." Robin said, causing Steve to tear his eyes away from the window.
"Just go talk to him? Do you hear yourself Buckley?" He asked, returning to his spying as their newest neighbour continued moving about his own shop, carrying a large bucket filled with brightly coloured roses. He gestured behind Robin to the whiteboard she'd hung there a year ago. "You said so yourself, I can't flirt for shit."
Robin glanced at the board, at the 10 tally marks under the 'you suck' column. "I didn't say flirt, I said talk. Go and talk to him."
"What would I even talk to him about?" Steve whined, leaving the window and flopping over the reception desk. "Why would a god like that even speak to me?"
Robin rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. "Jesus Steve, keep it in your pants okay? Besides, he's tatted to fuck, you've already got something in common." She gestured around at the shop when Steve simply looked blank. "Tattoos dude, he's covered in 'em, you do 'em. Use that as a jumping off point."
"But..." Steve trailed off when the bell above the tattoo shop jingled. He turned to greet whoever had come in and promptly had a minor panic attack.
It was the florist.
Standing there in his tanned, tattooed glory. His golden curls piled on top of his head in a messy bun, a pair of stonewashed dungarees and no shirt, the man didn't even seem to realise that he was a walking wet dream, or that Steve was having trouble breathing.
"Hey." The man said, his smile blinding as he raised a hand. "I'm Billy. I moved in across the road last week, got the flower shop just there." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, his smile dimming somewhat when Steve didn't respond.
"Nice to meet you Billy." Robin said, shoving Steve forward. "The mute here is Steve, he owns the place. I'm Robin, I help his dyslexic ass keep the books."
Billy laughed, walking further into the shop, holding his hand out and beaming when Steve took it. "So, you're the artist huh? I've been admiring your work since I got here." Billy pointed to some of the framed sketches that lined the walls. "What's your waitlist like?"
"Oh, uh... Depends what you want really." Steve finally found his voice, this he could talk about. "What do you have in mind?"
Billy leant against the reception desk, tugging one of the dungaree straps down, exposing one of the few bits of unblemished skin just above his right nipple. "Here I think." He said, tapping the skin. "Another flower, about this big." He circled the spot.
Steve nodded along, pulling his sketch pad towards him as he continued to stare at the exposed skin. "Which flower?"
Billy's grin grew. "What do you know of flower language?" He asked.
Steve blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Uh, I know it exists but I don't know that much about it. Roses mean love though right?"
"Red roses do." Billy agreed, nodding his head. "Or more specifically they mean passion, romance." He traced a beautiful watercolour rose on the inside of his wrist.
"Was it a rose you wanted?" Steve asked, trying to steer the conversation back to safer waters, his cheeks were warm and he was sure he was pink despite the fact that this conversation seemed completely innocent.
Billy shook his head. "No, not a rose. I'd like a green carnation." He said with a wink.
Steve was now certain that he was glowing with how red he must be, because he might not know about flower language but he knew enough LGBTQ history to know what that meant. "A green carnation." He repeated.
"Yup." Billy popped the 'p', his grin just as cocky as it had been since he'd walked in. "You like green carnations Steve?"
Steve nodded, swallowing loudly as he tried to come up with the courage to say what he wanted to. "I do." He said quietly. "Do you like trilliums?"
Billy's face lit up. "I love me a good trillium."
Steve smiled bashfully, looking down at his sketch pad. "I can book you in on Friday, last session of the day."
"Perfect." Billy stepped closer, leaning in and whispering his next words into Steve's ear as he slid a business card across the desk. "That way I can take you out for a drink after, can't I my pretty trillium?"
For info green carnations are a historic symbol for gay men and trilliums are a slightly more recent symbol for bisexuals.
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Some Stephanie Brown headcanon
This is my personal headcanon for Steph, it's around her life with the bats. Please respect
She and Duke were the first in the house to see Damian as a child first and a robin/soldier second. That's why the two of them are the ones who are most able to lead Damian in normal activities (the boy is stubborn, but Steph is more stubborn)
She has several photos of Damian having fun, Alfred gets a copy for free, Dick only gets one if he asks please, if Bruce wants a photo of his son's smile, he has to pay. Yep, Steph sells the photos to Bruce for a good price
She do this because she plan to go to college one day (or just save extra money) and she don't want to Bruce pay it for her. And, unlike Tim, she doesn't have rich parents who died and left her money, then her money come between jobs or sell cute photos of Damian to Bruce
She don't see Bruce as father, but she has her own reason for this and Bruce already undestend the why. He is ok being her weird rich uncle
When she faces a difficult in some subject she prefer go to Babs or Dick, but never Tim or Bruce. She know they would help her and they would be really happy to help her, but she also know that Tim and Bruce would end resolve the problem alone instead of helping her understand the problem/explaining where she is going wrong. Tim and Bruce would be happy to help her, but their help wouldn't help her understand the subject
She also can go to Jason for help sometimes, but only when it's focused on literature
She loves listening to Jason talking about books and artistic periods in history, the best part is when he starts calling Shakespeare a pretentious bitch
Duke and Steph are study partner, sometimes Cass just sit with them and watching them study together
She considere herself the prankmaster and one time she and Dick fight for this title
Their prank war spreads throughout Gotham to the point that Commissioner Gordon still finds glitter and stickers in his coats sometimes
Not even Akhaham or the villains were safe from these two's prank wars and no matter what Bruce said or threatened punishment, they wouldn't stop
The prank war only ended because they both activated Jason's PTSD and this caused Tim and Damian to work together to hunt them down
After this Dick and Steph made a pact to never made Tim and Damian work together again, things aren't funny when the mad scientist and the sorcerer team up to stop you especially in a city like Gotham
She still call herself the prankmaster and Dick as her vice and Dick also call himself the prankmaster and Steph as his vice (Bruce only prayer to them never do this again)
Whenever she has free time, she and Cass go dancing together or watch a movie, whether it's Disney or something stupid on TV, just the two of them. Both need this moment
She and Alfred were the first to notice when Dick started treating Damian like a son, it was slower than many imagine, but they noticed the signs growing
Teas with Alfred are more than just gossip, she likes to talk to him, someone who won't judge and listen, a calmer adult presence helps her better than therapy
Some batkid headcanon: Damian || Duke || Cassandra || Stephanie || Tim || Jason || Dick
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bidisastersanji · 5 months
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The Old Guard x One piece AU got my brain going brrr and i'm gonna make it your problem now. Center of the matter is I want Zoro and Sanji to meet kind of like Nicki and Joe did (discovering their immortality by fighting on opposite sides and killing each other over and over and then becoming eternal lovers) so I went and did some research for the entire Straw hat crew. Main thing is I wanted to link them to historical events that will give them the right motivations and backgrounds! so here we GOOO
Sanji and Zoro: Because Japan has an isolationist past, the only battle I could find that would work is the Cagayan battles of 1582 in Jakarta between Spanish-Philippine forces vs Japanese pirates (a.k.a Wokou, which are basically pirate ronin) Sanji would thus be a reluctant "Rodelero" sent to South East Asia by his noble family (jokes on them he loves being in the middle of the spice trade and he hates being part of a noble family funding the conquistadores) who one day finds himself fighting a mysterious Wokou samurai Zoro. They're partly isolated from their respective camps when they first kill each other, and again, and again, until they realise they should by all means be dead but they keep healing. After a couple decades of -against all odds- running into each other everywhere, they reluctantly decide to try and figure out what the heck's happened to them together- struggling to communicate at first, then learning each others' language over the following decade, then falling in love and becoming inseparable. This makes Zoro and Sanji both over 400 years old, and they are the same age. Zoro learns about so many sword techniques and Sanji about different cuisines/ leg-centric fighting styles during this time.
all the other straw hats and their historical periods under the cut!
Robin as an Egyptian scholar who died during the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC/ was killed for researching something forbidden during the declining years of the Roman Period (early 200s) and found out she was immortal this way, making her around 2 millennia old. She spends her time recording history and traveling the world and encountering new cultures. Her long time enemy is religious obscurantism, and the Catholic church spends a lot of resources trying to kill her. (they have conspiracy boards about this immortal witch in the Vatican)
Brook: so ancient he doesn't remember much, other that he came from Kerma culture (2500 BC), loved music, and that his entire village had died from an illness, but he came back. His memory isn't great but if there's one thing he's loved in his Millennia of existence is discovering and learning how to play all the instruments that he could find. He mostly hangs in Vienna nowadays as a music teacher.
Jinbei is a Samoan chieftain from around 1000 BC who one day died during a battle with a Fijian chieftain. When he came back from death he assumed Tagaloa chose him. He loves navigating, sailing, exploring and going on voyages with his people. In more recent times (post european contact) he was forced to ally with the US Navy to protect his people.
Nami: Irish lass from around 800 who's coastal, tiny village was about to be raided by Vikings from Sweden. She made a deal with their chieftain Arlong to go with them and map out the British isles for them to help their raids be more effective and targeted, in exchange for not killing people in her village, and that she would make back the plunder they did not get from this town for them. She started to join their raids to try and make this money, but she died in battle. She came back and they believed her to be some kind of Valkyrie or Einherjer brought back to midgard. She took over the raider's leadership- also Norsemen always had women handle money, which works great here. During her time as an immortal she travels, seeks treasure, double crosses people etc.
Usopp a young double agent/CIA spy from the Cold War who died on a mission. He tragically could not return to his love Kaya because he was afraid of putting her in danger by revealing he was alive to the spies that killed him. He relocates and starts anew constantly, his entire life a web of lies. He's a great marksman/sniper.
Chopper died young of the Bubonic plague in medieval Europe. He resuscitated, tragically his father is infected as well and he's unable to save him- motivating him to get to the bottom of this disease, he decides to become a doctor. Looking like a 15 year old for centuries doesn't make this task easy and he has to hide a lot.
Franky is an American veteran of WWI who was heavily disfigured first, and died later (which is why he's not fully healed and needs prosthetics). He's heavily anti-government from having been sent to fight in such a meaningless war that sacrificed young men like cannon fodder. He learned to fix himself up and make prosthetics and masks for veterans, got into making tech stuff
Luffy is a modern, 21st century 20 something year old from Brazil's favelas. He dies in a gun violence incident (maybe linked to a drug war/gang war where he's been trying to protect his neighbourhood) and comes back, experiencing visions of others like him. He's resolute to find them and make a crew, thinking that with all of them together, maybe they can help liberate the world from opressors and inequality
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spicysix · 1 year
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Lui, congrats on 400 followers! 🩵
For the celebration, if I may request: 📖 + stuck in an elevator + steve and fem!reader
thank you babe!!! hope you like this! 💖
join the celebration!
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if it rises fast
“Oh, no. Not this again,” you complained as you felt that robotic hesitation as the elevator went up, as you heard its gears trying to work and not fully doing it.
It slowed down... slowed down... before stopping. Completely.
“Shit,” you mumbled as you rubbed your eyes.
“What’s going on?” The voice behind you startled you a little.
You forgot there was a guy with you, he was so quiet as the elevator rose the first few floors. You turned to face him, and got a little blown away by how beautiful he was. Like, magazine front page beautiful. Shiny hair carefully coiffed up, pretty peachy lips, a little mole or two that gave him an extra charm.
You got lost in the dude’s beauty for a little while.
His lips perked up a bit, as if he knew why you were staring at him for so long.
“Oh, uh. The elevator gets stuck sometimes. Such an old thing, y’know. Lots of complaints, and they haven’t updated it yet,” you finally answered, and his lips and eyebrows turned down into a frown.
“It’s happened before?” he questioned.
“Yeah. With me in it, two times already. I’ve heard it from five other neighbors too,” you said, remembering how much Ms. Durvall from sixth floor yelled when she complained about it. She gave you the creeps. “You’re new here? Or visiting?”
“Uh, new. Moved in with two friends, we just got to the city a week ago. We’re from a- what are you doing?” he stopped his life story when he saw you sitting down.
“I’ve pressed the help button,” you nodded to a little button pressed all the way in the control panel. “Don’t know what it does, maybe it calls the fireman? But, anyway, it’s gonna take some time. Maybe a few hours.”
“A FEW- Jesus, Robin’s gonna kill me,” he hid his face behind his hands, and you had to suppress a giggle at how adorable his whine sounded.
“Don’t worry, your girlfriend will understand when she finds out you had no choice but to stay stuck in an elevator,”
“I’m not so sure, she’s terrified of elevators, told me to get the stairs. She’ll probably be all like, ‘oh, I told you so!’. Ah, and not my girlfriend. She’s actually dating our other roommate,” he said as he sat down too, pressed against the other metallic wall, facing you.
“What floor are you guys in?”
“Eight.”
“And she goes up the stairs every time?” You didn’t know whether to be scared or admired.
“Yeah. Got some killer calves,” he smiled. “We have a terrible history with getting stuck on elevators. I worked my ways through… well, a lot of therapy. Now I can ride them again after a few years, but she never got past it. I can understand why.”
He said it in such a way that you didn’t feel like prying. There was something else in that story, something he probably didn’t wanna talk about, so you didn’t ask.
“You guys from around here?” you asked instead. You were going to be stuck for a while there, it wouldn’t hurt to make some small talk and get to know your pretty new neighbor.
“No, actually, we’re all the way from Indiana. Small town,” he shrugged.
“Why San Francisco?” you asked, and he searched for something in your eyes, your face, before answering.
“It’s safer,” he answered only, again not giving you space to ask further. Maybe he didn’t find what he was looking for. “You’re from here?
“Born and raised, yeah.” You went quiet for a little while, trying to come up with something to talk about. Then, you noticed: “I don’t know your name yet.”
“I don’t know your name either.” He smirked. “I'm Steve.”
You introduced yourself and Steve asked more about you. You lost track of time talking to him, learning how charming he could be, but also really funny — in a bitchy way. He talked about Robin, his best friend and platonic soulmate, and their friend Nancy, who he used to date but now they’re great friends (you got the impression that Nancy was the other roommate that Robin was dating, but didn’t ask, not wanting to make him uncomfortable). He told you about two other friends of theirs who lived back in Sacramento, one who lived in LA, and a bunch of other younger friends who were scattered around the country all chasing their dreams. Talked about his work as a school counselor, how it took him some long years to figure out what he wanted to do professionally.
You told him about yourself too, answered everything he asked honestly and openly. Talked about your job, your own roommate, your other friends and family. Gave him tips on the best places to visit and shop in the city, ways for him and his roommates to contour the ‘new citizens’ weird phase. You talked about music, movies, books, food, your favorites and the ones you hated, anything you’d come up with.
He was sweet and charismatic, and always found new topics for you to talk about. He read you like a book, figuring you out in no time and swerving the conversations so easily. Flirted a lot too, which was great for your self-esteem.
He came closer at some point, sitting beside you, and then you faced each other more closely. And from that distance you could see every little detail in his pretty face, studied him with precision. You could look at him for however long, to be honest, and you wanted to memorize every tiny inch of what made him, him. The curves of his hair defying gravity, the scars on his forehead and nose, every little green spot in his hazel eyes. Count every and each one of his eyelashes, and get blinded by the way he smiled.
More than that, you could talk to him for however long, and you wanted to. Wanted to learn about all of his many friends, who he talked about with so much love in his voice, who all sounded like a big family to him. Wanted to learn the story with the elevator trauma, wanted him to trust you and open up to you, and wanted to do the same back with him.
It was weird to you, you’ve never felt this way before — so magnetically pulled to someone’s orbit. But Steve’s voice was like a Siren’s call, and there was a funny bubbling in your stomach that wanted and wanted and wanted him.
You never thought you’d be disappointed with the sounds of the elevator’s gears running again, and yet you hid a frown when the doors opened to show you a fireman, the building’s janitor and a tall, skinny girl with a strawberry blond bob pacing anxiously behind them.
“Steve! Oh, my god, Steve!” she said when she noticed you and Steve sitting on the floor, and she wasted no time getting past the other two men to throw herself at the one by your side. Robin, you figured. “You fucker, I told you to use the stairs!” you heard her saying, a little muffled from where her face was buried into Steve’s neck.
He looked at you over her shoulder and you smiled at the way he was right about her.
“I’m okay, Robs, I had good company. Didn’t even have time to get stressed,” he said, running his hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture, his eyes still on you, his smile just for you.
Robin sat up and looked at you, and you introduced yourself and she did the same. She thanked you for being there for Steve, as if it hadn’t been a total random accident, but you were also happy that you’ve met him. More happy that you could say out loud.
You all got up from the floor, left the elevator, and you offered a day to throw them a welcome diner, you’d invite your roommate and they could call their other friends. Robin seemed excited, all big gestures and loud voice. You liked her.
Goodbyes were said, you were going back to your place — through the stairs this time, thankfully you lived on the second floor — and they were going grocery shopping. Robin walked to the front door of your building, but Steve stayed planted in front of you for a while as you looked at each other and you tried not to smile too wide.
“Can I take you out on a date?” he asked after a while, fingers twitching and you wondered if he wanted to touch you. You wanted him to touch you.
“First one in the city?” you teased and he huffed a laugh while running his hand through his hair.
“One of many with you, I hope. No one else caught my eye, if I’m being honest.” The man was straight forward. You felt you cheeks burning, couldn’t hold back the wide grin anymore.
“You’ve been here just a week, Steve,” you said, warned him almost, because you wanted so much with him, and you were afraid of were this could go if it went wrong.
“Meh, it took me a while and some bumps to the head, but now I’m pretty good at knowing what I want. Don’t gotta search for so long anymore.” His eyes were staring deep into yours, and you felt his hand coming to find yours to hold.
You bit your lip and his eyes traced the movement, and there was a butterfly party in your stomach.
“Someone told me there’s a great restaurant just at the end of the street,” he said, referencing one of the tips you gave him early.
You laughed. “Yeah, okay. Take me out on a date, Steve. Next Friday?”
“I’ll be counting the days.” He took a step closer, his thumb was tracing patterns on the back of your hand and your skin was tingling. “Can’t believe I’m glad to have gotten stuck on an elevator. Well, create good memories to overlap the bad ones, I guess.”
“I’m looking forward to create other memories with you,” you almost whispered, because being that open was scary, and the way you wanted him so much was scary, but he smiled at you again and it was blinding in the best way.
“Me too, honey. See you around,” he said, before pressing a kiss on your still burning cheek, and you could smell his scent of soap and fabric softener, hairspray and fancy cologne, and you had to hold yourself back not to get buried in his skin.
God, it was pathetic how far gone you already was.
He walked away still facing you, holding your hand until the very last possible second before letting go, and you could hear Robin laughing in the background but you only had eyes for him.
Yeah, you’d also be counting the days.
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jasntodds · 11 months
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Lost In The Bitterness | J.T.
Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader
Request: @just-lost-inbetween-worlds :  I was wondering if you could write a fic where reader kind of works for the titans helping with their medical stuff as she has her EMT certificate or something similar, and one late night she patches up Jason/red hood or Robin, who’ve had a crush on each other secretly but are also sort of enemies? And then when she patches a fairly hurt Jason like the feelings come out and they kiss and confess and such. 
Summary: Patching up Jason Todd, Red Hood, at two in the morning on a Tuesday night was not exactly on your agenda. Especially given the history between the two of you.
Warnings: Descriptions of injuries, enemies to lovers, mentions of previous homelessness, bit of angst, hurt/comfort, fluff
Words: 3,323
A/n: Photo credit goes to the amazing @just-lost-inbetween-worlds !! Hello, I love injury tropes, especially this one lmao If you wanna be added to my tag list, click the link below, send me an ask, or comment!! You can also follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary​ !! If you like this, please reblog it and/or talk to me about it!!
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You and Jason were friends previously, before Red Hood, before he died, before Robin. Jason and you were two street kids, just trying to make it to the next day. You'd met at one of the shelters, clicked almost instantly. Even then he was charming and funny, hot-headed as hell. A true menace to society. He got you into so much trouble and you lived for it. It was fun and he was your best friend. You were his. But he decided to try and rob the Batmobile and Bruce Wayne picked him. You haven't been friends since. Unfortunately, for you though, the Titans and Red Hood have managed to patch things up between them and Red Hood is in San Francisco helping with a case.
When you decided to get your EMT certification, you didn't think you'd be using it to work with the Titans. You got it so you could help people, sure, but you thought you'd be helping people who did not always put themselves, intentionally, in the line of fire. But, life is funny that way. It rarely ever goes the way you think will. And now you're here, working for the Titans because of one really random and chance encounter with an injured Nightwing a few years ago. You helped him and the rest, should have been history. But, your life can't possibly be that simple because then you found out the one and only Jason Todd was actually Red Hood.
"Did you wanna tell me what happened?" Your voice holds a harshness to it that makes Jason groan as you get your supplies ready to patch him up.
"Like you fucking care." Jason quips back, stripping his top half of the suit.
"That's true. I do not fucking care. This is a favor to Dick." Your words are harsh and it hurts.
Jason isn't sure exactly what he did to you to make you hate him so much. Jason isn't oblivious and he's far from stupid. It's not a coincidence that your friendship ended the day he went to live with Bruce. But, he can't figure out why you're so mad about that. Why you don't want him to be taken care of? It didn't pan out exactly how he thought it would with Bruce with the whole Batman and Robin thing, then the dying thing. But, it was good and safe for a while and he was happy being Robin and with Bruce. He doesn't understand why you would hate him for that. So, he's mad at you because you're mad at him. And hearing this is a favor to Dick, now that stings like a hundred hornets.
"Don't fucking help then. Give me the shit and I'll do it my-damn-self. I don't need you." Jason snarls, sticking out his hand for you to hand him whatever you're willing and for a second, you think about it.
Being around him is just difficult and it hurts. All you two do is fight which is partially because you start it a good portion of the time. But, he keeps it going and he hits low blows. Tonight, you're taking the first strike, before he even has a chance. And you think about letting him patch himself up because he's done it before and it would be easier for you. You wouldn't have to be around him and technically, that's still fulfilling the favor to Dick. You made sure Jason didn't die...again. But, you signed an oath and you don't hate him that much. Hate might even be the wrong word.
"No, I'll do it." You mutter, grabbing a pack of gauze pads, knowing you'll be needing to clean something.
"I'm not some dirty fucking favor to anyone." Jason grumbles and his words are hot, boiling in the air.
"You're so insufferable." You groan, tossing your head back in frustration. "Just shut the fuck up and let me help you so you can leave." You turn around and now you're getting a look at the damage.
The anger and annoyance you just had vanished in an instant. His abdomen is bloody, what looks to be a large gash is near his right rib cage. There's a spot below it that looks like a bullet grazed the spot. Shades of purples, blues, and maroons litter the rest of his abdomen. There are a few scars across his chest, on his arms, one up near his neck and you wonder how the hell that even happened. His armor is supposed to protect him. And it stings looking at him like this.
"I'm fucking fine." Jason spits, his eyes narrowed at you and he sees the worry start to stretch across your face. "Don't suddenly act like you give a shit now. I'm bleeding out, you wanna do something or let me do it?"
You suck in a deep breath and move forward. He knows exactly which buttons to press and just how to press them. And yet, you find yourself, not growing mad at the interaction. You've never seen him like this. You've seen him with plenty of bruises and cuts. Jason being a hothead, he's been in his fair share of fistfights but nothing like this. This is different, it's more dangerous. He's putting himself in the line of bullets and knives and fists on purpose. The thought of him dying, again, crosses your mind and you feel your heart skip and then thunder as if it's going to burst right out from your chest.
You weren’t friends when he died but you remember seeing it on the news. Jason Todd had been killed. And you remember how it hurt anyway. Your breath had been sucked from your lungs and every piece of you regretted ever being mad at him in the first place. But, then he came back to life as Red Hood and you fight with him anyway because maybe a part of you thought he was indestructible after dying. He seemed that way and believing that lie you told yourself was easier than facing him. Clearly, you’re very wrong.
"Just stay still." You drop the venom in your voice, kneeling down so you can see the wound.
Jason holds your phone's flashlight in your direction so you can see better. It's not a super deep wound luckily and he doesn't seem to be in too much pain meaning it likely didn't hit anything important. So, you get to work cleaning the wound with water, holding a rag under it to catch the falling water.
"What the hell happened?" You ask, glancing up at him and Jason's eyes are boring into you.
Dick called and gave you the heads up you'd need to help Jason. Jason is staying at the tower but you both have been actively avoiding each other. So, Dick calling you to give you the heads up for your own sake, to prepare yourself for the encounter. And you figured it would be bad for Dick even ask. You always patch them up, even when they can do it themselves. But you didn't think you'd be dealing with Jason. Dick knows you never want to. But, of course you do it anyway. And now you're stuck worried about him.
"A few lucky shots, I guess." Jason looks away from you, not wanting to give you any detail. You already said you don't care, he's not gonna waste his breath.
"Yeah, okay." You roll your eyes. "Former Robin, current Red Hood, just people getting lucky shots in. Sure."
"You don't fucking care." Jason's voice almost cracks with his words. "Just do whatever the hell you need to and I'll leave, alright?"
Hate is not the word for Jason. It was never the right word. Because he's mad at you for being mad at him. When you were kids, there were always those bubbling feelings in the pit of his stomach. He always brushed them away because who has time for that when you're just trying to survive? And the feelings went away because you weren't around anymore. But, then he saw you again and they flooded right back. Even with you being mad at him. There is still something stirring in his stomach when he's around you. Hate isn't the right word.
You let out a sigh. "I'm just mad." You shake your head, swapping the water out for a gauze pad to dry some of the water so you can start stitching it.
It's not the right word for you either. He left you and that hurt a lot. But, it also hurt because you did really like him. Jason Todd has always been charming and charismatic, funny. He's always had a way to get you to laugh or smile either with something that was actually funny or some type of innuendo that also made you cringe. He's always been very good at it and there was a reason he was your best friend. It was never out of a convenience or necessity. There is always something a little bit more to it. And then he left and it hurt a lot. Being mad at him for it was a lot easier than facing any other type of feeling you had toward him.
He knows you're mad. That's kind of the whole issue. Maybe a part of him doesn't want to know. He thinks maybe you'll tell him it's him. There's something he specifically did. He's done it to everyone else, done something to piss them off and make them hate him. The Titans hated him for long enough, Bruce wasn't thrilled with him. Bruce still isn't happy with him given their opposing morals. Everyone gives up on him eventually and he doesn't want to hear that. Not tonight.
Not from you.
You get up and grab the needle and thread, threading the needle before moving back to your spot. Jason is still watching you intently and it makes you feel a little uneasy. You're not really sure why he's watching you so carefully. He has a thing about him that always makes you squirm, he's always been good at it. And maybe you're a little tired of being mad at him. Especially right now because he's injured.
"You left." Your voice is so small, Jason barely hears you.
"You're mad because I left?" Jason questions, his brows pulling together.
"Mhm." You hum. "Stay still. It'll probably hurt." You state before you start the stitching with no warning and Jason flitches. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Jason says through gritted teeth.
You start adding several stitches up the wound. "You went to live with Bruce and you left me alone."
It's not that he left you alone on purpose. He didn't have a choice. He went with Bruce, to a home, or go to juvie again. The choice was pretty easy and simple. He also did go looking for you but you conveniently, forget that part of the story.
"I looked for you. You fucking avoided me. I checked all of our spots and you were never fucking there. What the hell did you expect me to do?" Jason questions and it’s so frustrating. And you can hear the hurt in his voice which makes you feel worse for being mad in the first place.
"I don't know." You groan back, pausing your stitching. "But it hurt, okay? You left me alone and it hurt. And I'm mad because you were my best friend and you got to be safe. I got the shit end of the stick." You shake your head and that’s first time you’re saying it out loud, realizing how horrible it sounds. “It’s...it’s not your fault. It just sucked.”
That's not his fault. It's not his fault you weren’t caught by Bruce. It was a chance encounter. A fluke. Jason was just ballsy to try and steal from Batman. That's all it was. It's not his fault but he feels bad about it anyway because he doesn't think he deserves it. He doesn't think he ever deserved the kindness that Bruce offered that day or deserved the chance to be Robin. Look at what he's become, Jason doesn't think he deserves it.
"I'm sorry." Jason states, his voice broken. "You should have gotten better, alright? You should have."
You shake your head and you know this whole thing is dumb and selfish. "No," You shrug your shoulders. “It’s not your fault, Jay. I’m sorry for being mad. You deserved better and it was selfish of me to be mad. I was mad at the world and I took it out on you because it was easier, I guess. I’m really sorry.” You wish you could take it all back. Every single part of it. It’s not fair to him and you know he always deserved the best.
Jason is someone who doesn’t hold many grudges. He can let stuff go and it’s pretty simple. Apologize and he can move past it. And he always had a hard time staying mad at you for anything.
“I was only mad at you because you were mad at me.” Jason lets out a soft chuckle.
A faint smile pulls at your lips. “That’s a very you thing to do.” You lets out a soft laugh.
You continue to patch Jason up as the silence of the room consumes the two of you. You meant a lot to him. Jason's always been a rebel with a cause, causing trouble for the fun of it. Just trying to survive and you got that. You always did and you helped him get in and out of trouble more times than he count. You were his best friend and he's missed you, even if he doesn't show it and he's been mean to you. He's missed you and he hates being mad at you. Jason doesn't hold very many grudges.
And in this moment, you're finding it hard to hold onto the grudge. He's riddled with scars and he's actively doing what no one else is willing to do. Baring the weight so other people don't have to. He never meant to hurt you and you know he didn't. You wonder if anyone has ever helped him, after Robin. Probably not. Jason doesn't let many people in to begin with and you find yourself feeling sad for him. He didn’t deserve any of the bad things that have happened to him. And all of those feelings you had for him, bubble back up to the surface.
"I did miss you, for the record." You state, letting out a breath.
Jason's abdomen flexes as a chuckle falls from his lips. "Bull fucking shit."
"I did." You defend. "You were my best friend, of course, I missed you."
"Sure as shit never acted like it." Jason spits but there’s almost an airy sarcasm to his words.
"Because of the anger I had covered it up." You glance up at him as you finish placing some gauze on one of the cuts.
"You gonna stay mad at me forever?" Jason offers you the smirk that used to get you into trouble and he’s so tired of being mad at you. It’s pointless. It never got either of you anywhere.
"No." You flash him a gentle smile.
"Good, holding grudges doesn't look good on you." Jason quips, a cheeky smirk on his lips.
You roll your eyes, getting to your feet. "Oh, and now you know what looks good on me?"
"I've got some ideas."
"Right." You nod your head. "Be careful next time." You look him up and down and you can feel your stomach turn with nerves as you watch the smirk turn into something cocky.
"So now you care, huh?"
"Just don't want you to die again." You state.
"Yeah." Jason scoffs, looking down to his lap.
"Mad doesn't mean I actually didn't care."
"Sorry for everything anyway."
"It's alright, I forgive you." Your eyes widen at him as a smile pulls at your lips. "Always had a hard time staying mad you, especially when you manage to apologize."
"Yeah?" Jason gets a sinister glint in his eyes. "And why's that?" A part of him is messing with you, just like he used to when you were kids. The other part though, is curious if your reasoning is the same as his.
Your eyes narrow slightly. "Because..." You shrug and decide you have nothing to lose at this point. You’re not kids on the streets anymore. And you’re done holding onto bitterness and grudges. There’s no harm in telling him now. "Had a little hit of a thing for you then."
Jason's heart thunders with your words and he can feel heat rush to his cheeks. "Not now though?" He tries to brush it off, admitting the same thing. "Had a thing for you, too.... back then."
"Not now though?" You repeat his words and Jason has a cheeky grin as his eyes look to the ceiling and back to you. Jason shrugs right back. "Oh, well, too bad.” Sarcasm drips from your words. “Could've seen where it would go now but if—"
Jason grabs the back of your thighs, pulling you closer to him. Your hands catch yourself on his shoulders, your eyes wide. And you feel your heart jump to your throat.
"You saying you still do?" Jason asks, his eyes hopeful and you always liked the color of his eyes.
"Is that going to be an issue?"
Jason can't help the genuine smile that comes to his face. He always felt the most comfortable with you, even when you were being mean to him. "Nope, not an issue." Jason's voice drops as he eyes your lips.
"Yeah, still have a thing for you now." You dip your head lower, resting your forehead against his.
"So, do something about it." His voice is low but taunting and you take him up on it, bringing his lips to yours.
The kiss is soft at first but then Jason's grip tightens on your thighs, pulling you closer and your hands tangle in his hair, pulling his mouth harsher against yours. The kiss turns hungry and desperate, his hands sliding up to your ass and then your hips. His mind pays no attention to the pain of the injuries from tonight and he focused solely on you. He's always wanted to be with you, since those days on the streets. It's complicated now, too but not like that.
You pull away first. Your breathing is quickened and an uncontrollable smile pulls at the corners of your lips. "Didn't know you felt that way, Jay." And truly, you never did. The jokes always seemed like jokes but the idea of him and you makes your heart nearly burst.
"Yeah," Jason chuckles softly. And he never thought you liked him, not like that. You always liked to mess with him and played the same jokes. He thought that’s all it ever was. Why wouldn’t it be? But, that never stopped him from wanting something more with you. So, now with confirmation, he takes his shot at it. "You wanna try this out? See where it goes?"
You nod your head, lowering your voice to just above a whisper. "Yeah, I'd like that." You close the distance again, kissing him deeply.
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artiststarme · 1 year
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Trust Issues and Resolutions
Based on a mistaken identity/angst prompt from @beesandsunflowersblog. Thank you, I hope it meets your expectations! I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!
~*~*~*~
Eddie was finally happy. It only took him twenty one years, multiple murder accusations, and fighting a villain in an alternate dimension to get here but he had. Lots of things had changed since the apocalyptic Spring Break in March. He’d graduated his senior year finally, mostly out of pity from the teachers but he’d still done it. He was able to stop selling drugs out of his lunchbox and get an honest job at Thatcher Tire. Corroded Coffin now had a standing gig at The Hideout every Friday since Eddie’s reputation brought people in from all over Indiana. Most importantly though, he had friends that cared about him and he could cuddle up to his boyfriend whenever he liked. 
Steve truly was the best boyfriend a guy could have. He dropped off lunch to Eddie on his breaks at Family Video with a kiss before speeding back to work to clock back in on time. He let him borrow his clothes and steal his comfiest hoodies without too much complaint. And he hugged Eddie whenever he asked, giving him all of the physical touch he could ever want. 
Even now, Eddie was cuddled in Steve’s arms with his face pressed into his comfy teal hoodie, Eddie’s favorite if he had to choose. They were both relaxing after their long days at work, just watching whatever shitty rom-com Steve had brought back to the trailer that day. Honestly though, Eddie couldn’t focus on the drama of the movie. He could only think about how lucky he was to be here with Steve and how happy he was. He felt like nothing could go wrong.
~*~*~*~
That weekend, Eddie was still on cloud nine. He had a good day at work, he’d slept well, and he was about to see Steve for their weekly date. He hummed some Dio songs happily under his breath as he walked through the grocery store but stopped in his tracks when he saw Nancy in the pasta section. 
Now, it wasn’t seeing Nancy that had him frozen in place. She had a gun and he was scared of her but she was also his friend. No, he was frozen because of what she was wearing. She was wrapped in an oversized, teal hoodie that had a little mark on the sleeve. The same mark that Eddie’s cigarette had made when he and Steve had gotten too distracted in their kissing. That was Steve’s hoodie. Why the hell would Nancy be wearing Steve’s hoodie? 
Eddie could do little more than stare at her from his spot frozen in the aisle. He didn’t even move as she waved at him or made her way over. 
“Hey Eddie, does Steve have you running all over town?”
He coughed slightly, “uh no. I’m planning a picnic so I needed to pick up some food. Nice hoodie.”
She blushed slightly and looked away. “Um, thanks. Well, I have to get going but I’ll see you around. Bye Eddie!”
Well, that was suspicious. Almost too suspicious. Eddie didn’t want to doubt Steve but he couldn’t help but think that he was too perfect. The only reason that he could think of as to why Nancy would have Steve’s sweatshirt is if they were sleeping together. Even to Eddie, that seemed like too drastic a decision to make. However, he couldn’t help but think about all of the clues. Steve’s history with Nancy, Nancy acting weird just then, Nancy wearing Steve’s sweatshirt, Robin blushing the other day when Eddie asked about Nancy, etc. What else could it be?
He grabbed his few items hastily before paying and driving home to sulk. He had been naive to think that something good could happen to him after nothing ever had before. He’d become too content, too happy, and now everything was going to fall apart. Why him? Why was the universe so against him that it had to ruin everything good in his life?
By the time he got home, his face was red with the force of holding in his tears and he was well on his way to a panic attack. He let himself into the trailer and let it all go. He screamed and cried and hiccuped on his sobs. He couldn’t believe that he’d fallen for Steve’s lies. Why wouldn’t he get back together with Nancy? They were both pretty, popular in school, and their parents had money. They obviously had a lot more in common than Steve did with Eddie. He shouldn’t have expected anything else, really. 
For some reason, he didn’t expect Steve to come over despite their plans for a date night. He was shocked from his thoughts as Steve knelt into his field of vision with his hands hovering over him. “Eddie? What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
His seemingly genuine concern only caused Eddie’s tears to increase in intensity.
“Oh shit, is this a panic attack? I need you to calm down, Eddie. Everything is fine, you’re with me, Steve, in your trailer. Do you need me to call Wayne?” Steve rambled. 
Eddie just shook his head, “go away.”
“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t really feel comfortable leaving you like this but I can call Wayne to come home and leave when he gets here if you want.”
“Where’s your teal hoodie?” Eddie asked him furiously. 
“Um, I think Robin took that one yesterday but I have my orange one in the car. Do you want me to grab that one?” Steve’s eyes were wide in askance and his worry seemed genuine.
Eddie whimpered. It didn’t matter what he wanted, he wouldn’t get it anyway. “The teal one’s my favorite. I want that one.”
Steve nodded to himself before hurrying over to the phone. He dialed a number before tapping the receiver against his forehead until whoever it was answered. “Robs… Yeah, I’m sorry but this couldn’t wait… You know my teal sweatshirt that I was wearing yesterday? Great, I need it back. Where did you put it? … Why did you give it to Nancy? I need it… I’m aware it was yours first but then you gave it to me so it’s mine! … Can you please get it to me tonight? That’s Eddie’s favorite and he’s kind of freaking out right now… It’s urgent, code red… Thanks! Bye!”
Eddie was staring at him blankly for the entire duration of the phone call. A clearer picture was beginning to emerge and he felt like an idiot. The sweatshirt was Robin’s and she gave it to Steve because Steve was always cold. He probably took it off at the Harrington-Buckley movie night last night and she took it to give to Nancy later. Jesus Christ, Eddie was a moron. 
“Eds? Hey, I called Robin and she’s going to bring the sweatshirt later. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you liked that one so much. I won’t give it back to her next time, I promise.” Steve’s hands hovered over Eddie’s shoulders like he wanted to touch him but was too unsure of what was happening to make a move. So Eddie did it for him. 
He threw himself into Steve’s arms and burst into tears once again. He didn’t deserve this man. His dumbass had immediately assumed Steve was cheating on him and now here he was, arguing with his platonic soulmate to steal her sweater back because Eddie wanted it. 
Steve just confusedly hugged him, muttering soft comforts until Robin sprinted through the trailer’s front door twenty minutes later with the aforementioned teal hoodie in hand. Eddie took it, of course, and buried his face back in Steve’s neck. He had some insecurities to work through and he had to get better at communication but he’d get there. And he and Steve would live together happily ever after.
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