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corroded-hellfire · 5 months

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Where the Heart Is, Part 5 - Eddie Munson x Reader

Part 4

Summary: It’s your Spring Break and you and Eddie are headed out on a road trip. With a large looming question that you want to ask him hanging over your head, will you find a reason why you shouldn’t ask it, chicken out, or go through with it?

Note: I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I started this story. Honestly, it was never supposed to be a series. I thought it would be a one and done cute little story. But I was amazed by the number of people who said they’d love to see a continuation, and now here we are! Part 5 is the last part, but rest assured, there will be a epilogue soon to come.

Warnings: smut, p in v, unprotected (wrap it up), oral (m and f receiving), previously agreed upon somnophilia

Words: 17.5k

[Where the Heart Is masterlist]

The countdown to spring break is almost at its end. For you and Nancy, the timer headed for zero is just about to take its victory lap. Both you and your best friend have elected to take the Friday before break off, giving you a jumpstart on your vacation. The two of you only had one class each that day, and they were classes you could afford to skip.

This way, Nancy can catch an earlier flight back to Indianapolis and get started on her and Steve’s romantic little getaway to Chicago, and you and Eddie can get your road trip down the Atlantic coast started before some of that other Spring Break traffic weaves its way onto the major highways.

Bags are already packed and shoved into the corners of your respective dorms, only the essentials you’ll need for the night and in the morning not zipped away yet. Nancy has a pretty early flight out of Boston in the morning and Eddie’s catching the red eye in, so morning is going to come quickly for the three of you. You get to sleep in a little bit longer since Eddie is renting the car you’ll be taking on your road trip at the airport, then driving it down to pick you up on campus. You’d be a fool not to take advantage of those extra minutes of beauty sleep while awaiting your handsome prince to arrive with his chariot.

The dark morning will arrive sooner than either of you’d like, so it was decided that you and Nancy would have a nice, long dinner together in the dining hall before retiring to your dorms to relax and try to get some sleep. Realistically though, you knew you wouldn’t be able to relax until you triple checked you had everything packed that you needed, and even then, the excitement of seeing your boyfriend would keep you awake.

“How many bathing suits did you pack?” Nancy asks you as she drizzles the ranch dressing onto her salad. The dining hall is at about its usual capacity, just a bit louder than normal since everyone is high on the prospect of their impending freedom.

“Three,” you answer Nancy as you spear a rogue grape with your fork. “I had two that I brought with me to school, then that one I got when we went to the mall together the other week.”

“Oh yeah,” Nancy says. Even looking down at her plate full of colorful salad can’t hide the smirk Nancy’s got going on. “That was a great buy.”

“Because you picked it out,” you say through a laugh.

“And Eddie will thank me.” She gives you an innocent shrug of her shoulders and stuffs some lettuce and spinach in her mouth.

The heat in your cheeks increases even as you shake your head at your friend in amusement. The two-piece did look good on you, though. It’s hard for you to admit when something—especially a bathing suit—looks good on you, but Nancy did well picking this one out for you.

“What about you?” you ask Nancy, eager to have the conversation turned away from you. “Enough dresses for all that fancy schmancy Stancy stuff you’re going to be doing?”

Nancy breaks into giggles at your words, the rhyming scheme including the amalgamation of her and her boyfriend’s names being the cherry on top.

“Yes,” she finally answers when she’s able to speak coherently. “I’ve got some nice outfits with me. But you make it seem like we’re going to the opera and Windsor Castle. It’s just Chicago. Theatres and restaurants and lots of rats walking down the roads.”

“Make sure to tell them that their pizza is too thick there,” you say, making Nancy roll her eyes.

“I’m not getting into a fight about pizza in Chicago—I’d like to make it to sophomore year here, you know.”

“And away from that friggin’ asylum,” you say, jabbing a fork over your shoulder, in the general direction of where your dorm building is.

“Yes, thank God,” Nancy concurs with a sigh of relief. She pops a cherry tomato and a basil croton into her mouth and looks as though she’s deliberating something while she chews. “So, when are you going to ask him?”

You knew the question was coming but that doesn’t make you any less twitchy when you hear it.

“I don’t know,” you admit, eyes suddenly finding the fruits and cheeses that roll around your plate interesting. “I’m nervous…”

It’s not until Nancy reaches over and places her hand on top of yours that you realize you’ve been shaking.

“Hey,” Nancy starts softly, ducking her head so she can meet your gaze and give you a comforting smile. “You’re just letting him know it’s an option. You’re not forcing him into anything.”

“I know,” you answer softly. And you do. The fact that it’s a big step is what’s been circling your brain as of late. Would he want it? Would he be ready for it? Are you ready for it? It’s these questions and more that plague your mind every time you try to sleep at night. Yet with all those hours spent pondering, an answer still never comes to you.

The early spring night still has a bit of a chill to it as you and Nancy make the journey from the dining hall back to your dorm building. The two of you part at your room, hugging one another tight enough to potentially cut off some air supply.

“I want to hear about everything when we get back,” Nancy says. She pauses for a moment before amending her statement. “I want to hear about almost everything.” The smirk she gives you has you playfully swatting at her and shooing her down the hall towards her room.

“Bye!” Nancy calls as she rounds the corner.

The warmth of your dorm room envelops you as you step inside, and triple check your luggage yet again to make sure you have everything you’ll need on your trip. Once you’re satisfied, you pop your VHS tape of Grease into the VCR and curl up in your bed.

Listening to Frankie Valli sing Grease is the Word is the last thing you remember before you drift off, drooling on your pillow.

Usually when your alarm wakes you up all you want is to shut it up for at least another hour. But today, the overly shrill chirp has you bright-eyed and bushy tailed as soon as you hear it. It signals that it’s time to see Eddie, which is the best wake up call you could possibly ask for.

You’re pretty sure you get dressed in record time and nearly trip over your own feet as you shuffle to grab your duffel bag and throw the strap over your shoulder. The stuffed backpack that looks like it’s about to burst at the seams gets balanced precariously on your shoulder as you snatch your keys up from your desk.

No one told the elevator that you’re supposed to be meeting your boyfriend now, so it takes a year and a day for it to finally ding and let you know it’s ready to take you downstairs. If you weren’t carrying enough to inevitably make you trip down the stairs, you would’ve hoofed it down to the ground floor by now.

The cool spring morning air greets your skin, and your eyes hungrily search for the familiar mop of curly hair you’ve been dying to see. When your eyes finally catch on him standing near the curb, you have to do a double take. There he stands, handsome as ever with that million-watt smile and intoxicating eyes. But you were expecting to see him standing next to a car, not a van. It’s about the same size as the one he has back in Hawkins, only this one isn’t in dire need of a tune up and a wash.

Smile never leaving your face, your eyebrows pinch together in confusion as you walk towards him. He meets you halfway and takes the bags from you, setting them on the sidewalk before yanking you into his arms and holding you tight against his chest.

“God, I fucking missed you,” Eddie mumbles into your hair.

Instinctively, your arms wrap around his lithe waist, a giddy giggle bursting out of you at being in your boyfriend’s embrace once more. It feels simultaneously like just yesterday and a year since you’ve seen him.

“Hi, handsome,” you speak into his neck as you burrow your head there. The familiar scent of cigarettes, a hint of weed, and what can only be described as Eddie floods your senses and it almost brings you to tears how happy you are to be with him again.

“Hi, my gorgeous girl.” Reluctantly, Eddie pulls back, only so he can cup your cheeks in his large ringed hands and press the sweetest and most seductive of kisses to your lips. It’s almost enough to have your knees buckling right then and there in front of your dorm building.

As you slowly recover from the kiss, your eyes are drawn back to the blue and silver van parked a few feet away from you. It’s oddly reminiscent of Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine.

“I thought you were getting a car, baby,” you say as you pick your backpack off the ground.

“Well,” he says as he hefts the strap of your duffle bag over his shoulder, “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Surprise me?” Your eyebrows furrow in confusion as you follow Eddie over to the vehicle.

He yanks open the back door of the van and your jaw drops at the sight. It’s piled with so many pillows and blankets that it looks like he robbed a Bed, Bath, & Beyond. They’re all illuminated in an array of colors as well, as Eddie has clipped multi-colored Christmas lights up around the rim of the ceiling. It looks like the perfect little haven made for just you and Eddie.

“For one,” Eddie says as he shoves your bag over to the side where his are, “it’s cheaper than getting a place to stay every night. Two, it’s uh, cozier.” The mischievous glimmer in his eye has you smiling.

“Cozier, huh?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says as you drop your backpack in the back of the van as well. “More private. Just you and me, cuddled up close. We can even open the door and look at the stars…until we lock ourselves in for the night.”

“I like the way you think, Munson.” You slip your arms around his neck, and he wastes no time wrapping his around your waist.

“Glad to hear it, baby. Let’s see what other fun ideas I can come up with on this trip.”

The first stop before you really get on the road is the grocery store. You quickly realize that Eddie intends to have more food in the van than actual luggage.

“Eddie,” you admonish with a laugh as you peer inside the cart. “If you buy one more bag of chips there isn’t going to be any room for us in the van.”

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Eddie says with a snap of his fingers. He turns down the next aisle, forcing you to follow in his wake. Your boyfriend snatches up a can of whipped cream and you’re not sure how he expects all the cold items you’re buying to fit into the small cooler you have.

“What is that even for?” you ask, eyes scanning for what the whipped cream could possibly be sprayed on top of.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Eddie playfully gives your ass a light smack before pushing the now-heavy cart toward the checkout counters.

Once the two of you officially commence on your road trip, you immediately realize you underestimated how hard being the navigator was going to be. The large map is stretched out across your lap and half of the dashboard. The sound of crinkling paper is a constant in the car as you fuss with the map, turning it this way and that to figure out how you’re supposed to be looking at it.

“Please don’t have us driving off a cliff,” Eddie begs. “I’d like for us to make it to North Carolina in one piece.”

“Cliffs? Nah. But will I inadvertently tell you to make a turn that leads us to Midtown Manhattan? Very possibly.”

“Why?”

“Les Miserables opened on Broadway not too long ago,” you say with a shrug.

Eddie lets out a guffaw of laughter and shakes his head. “Not until you and me go to see Metallica together, babe.”

Despite all the food the two of you just purchased, the first stop you make is at a diner in New Jersey for lunch. You’ve been on the road for about four hours and your legs are aching to move.

A long groan emanates from your throat as you hop out of the van and stretch every muscle that you possibly can. There’s a sign just down the road from the diner and if you squint, you can make out what it says.

“Welcome to Woodbridge. Cool, guess we’re in Woodbridge.”

Eddie knocks the driver’s side door of the van closed and walks over to your side. Pinching his thumb, forefinger, and middle fingers together and shaking them in front of him, Eddie says in the worst New Jersey accent that you’ve ever heard, “Welcome to Joisey!”

Lunch is a nice break from driving, but you two haven’t made it terribly far yet so you’re eager to get back on the road. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before the two of you drive right into the middle of a raging storm.

At first, you’re okay, just hoping the storm will pass by quickly and you’ll be in the clear. But it seems the further you get into it, the darker the skies get and the heavier the rain pounds against the windshield. A particularly loud clap of thunder makes you jump in your seat and let out a little yelp.

“Hey, hey,” Eddie says, taking one hand off the wheel and reaching over to take one of yours. “It’s okay.”

You flinch and shake Eddie’s hand off of yours, the motion only making your anxiety worse.

“Please put both hands on the wheel!” you beg, voice wobbling.

“Okay,” Eddie says as he places his hands back at the ten and two positions. He glances at you out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t want to make it too obvious because you’d probably just yell at him to keep his eyes on the road. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“I just…” you trail off, pausing to take a breath. “I don’t like driving in storms. It makes me really, really nervous.”

“All right,” Eddie says, purposely keeping his voice even and calm. “Look, that sign right there says there’s a rest stop in two miles. We’ll pull off there and wait for it to pass, okay?”

“O-Okay,” you stutter.

In your opinion, it takes an agonizingly long time to go those two miles. But finally, Eddie takes the exit for the rest stop and finds a parking space close to the picnic area—that is currently flooding. The thunder is still roaring above, and the rain sounds like a white noise, blocking out anything else.

“Hey, c’mere.” Eddie nods his head towards the back of the van and unbuckles his seatbelt. He maneuvers himself between his and your seats and manages to climb into the back. You take a deep breath and follow him, instantly falling into his open arms. Eddie grabs a blanket and wraps it around your body, holding you close against his chest. “I’ve got you, baby. It’s okay.”

“I-I know,” you sniffle.

Eddie presses a few kisses to the top of your head and rubs his hand up and down your arm soothingly. Being in the hollow bed of the van seems to make the echo of the thunder louder than it was while you were driving. The way you tense up even further in Eddie’s hold has him furrowing his brow. He reaches over and flicks the strings of Christmas lights on.

“You know, these are the ones we bought together,” he tells you. “When you came to stay for Christmas.”

“R-Really?” you ask, mildly trembling.

“Mhmm. Was worried security at the airport would question me about what I was doing with half a dozen strands of lights, but apparently, they have bigger problems.”

You give a huff of laughter in response, but Eddie can tell that it’s forced. His eyes scan the back of the van and land on his guitar case tucked up against the back of the driver’s seat. He unwraps one arm from you and reaches to bring it closer. Impressively, he unlatches the clasps with one hand and slips his guitar out.

“Here, princess.” Eddie gently moves you so you’re nuzzled up into a pile of blankets and settles the guitar in his lap. He clears his throat and starts to gently strum at the strings, plucking them harder to amp up the volume and hopefully distract you from the loud sounds of the storm.

It works. The more you focus on Eddie, both watching and listening to him, the calmer you feel yourself become. A small smile tugs at your lips when Eddie throws a wink your way. He plays and plays until his fingers start to cramp, the storm outside still trying to outshine him. With a sigh, Eddie sets his guitar back in the case and scoots over to you in the mass of blankets. He snuggles up into the pile with you and you curl into his side, laying your head right over his heart.

“Thank you,” you say, just loud enough to be heard over the rain.

“Of course, sweet girl.”

The rain somehow sounds soothing when you’re nestled up with Eddie. His hands softly trail over your body, relaxing you further.

Eddie looks down at you and a small smile curls the edges of his mouth when he sees your eyes growing heavy. He wracks his brain for a slow, soft song that could help lull you into a nap. Gently, Eddie lays his head against yours and begins to hum Open Arms by Journey. Before he can even finish the song, your eyes are fully closed, and your breathing has evened out. Eddie knows he won’t be able to move without waking you up, but he doesn’t mind one bit as he holds you in his arms. His right arm, left arm, hell, his whole body could fall asleep, but he still wouldn’t move a muscle.

The first thing you think as you start to wake up is how comfortable you are. Wrapped in soft blankets, strong arms around you, and your head resting on your boyfriend’s chest. Slowly, you open your eyes and blink them a few times, the multicolored little lights looking blurry to your adjusting eyes.

“Well, good morning.”

Stretching your muscles as much as you can in your cocoon of blankets, you tip your head up to give Eddie a sleepy smile.

“Mm, it’s not really morning, is it?” you ask, still somewhat groggy.

“No, it’s only been a couple of hours.” He presses a kiss to your forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” you say. “Much more relaxed.” The source of your original anxiety comes back to you and only then do you realize that there’s no sound of wind, rain, thunder, or anything at all.

“Good.”

“Thank you for helping me,” you say as you sit up, letting Eddie move for the first time in hours.

“Always, baby,” he says as he shakes his arms out, trying to get the blood flowing again.

Slowly, you crawl over to peek out the front window from between the seats. You’d swear it was like there was never a single raindrop with how lovely it looks outside.

“The sun looks so pretty now,” you remark, squeezing one eye shut as the bright light hurts your still-sleepy eyes.

“Oh!” Eddie says with a snap of his fingers. “That reminds me.”

You turn your head over your shoulder to see Eddie rummaging through an old, red duffle bag emblazoned with the Marlboro insignia on the sign. The tip of his tongue pokes out in concentration as he continues his search, and you just sit back on your heels and watch him.

“What’re you look—”

“Aha!” Eddie raises his fist above his head in victory, accidentally bumping it against the roof. He lets out a small huff of pain as he zips the duffle closed with the other hand and turns to face you. “Come here.”

As best as you can in the cramped space, you turn and crawl on your knees in his direction. When you stop in front of him, you look up at him expectantly.

“Okay. I was a good dog and obeyed my command,” you tease. “Do I get a treat?”

“Actually…” Eddie trails off, a smirk spreading across his lips. “You do.” Eddie grabs one of your hands and holds it palm side up. He gently places a small black velvet bag in your hand, then curls your fingers around it.

“What’s this?” you ask when he releases your hands. You inspect the bag but there’s no name or any indication of where this came from or what it is.

“It’s called a gift.”

You glare at him from beneath your eyelashes before focusing on the object in your hands again.

“Smartass,” you mumble. Carefully, you open the bag and something tiny and silver tumbles out into your palm. You set the bag down and pinch the gift between two fingers to get a closer look at it. It’s a charm for your bracelet. A small sun stares back at you, shiny silver rays haloing the circle.

“You know,” Eddie says, voice unusually sheepish, as you inspect your present. “Since we’re going to the beach for Spring Break.”

“It’s perfect,” you tell him. Each charm on your bracelet stands for a special moment in your relationship with Eddie, and this is no different. The fact that he wants to commemorate these moments as much as you do gives you a fuzzy feeling far better than the cozy nap you just took. You lower the charm so you’re able to see your boyfriend’s beautiful face. “I love it. Thank you so much.”

Eddie catches you as you practically throw your body against his, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and burying your face in his neck. Emotions aren’t always the easiest to express, but you hope that you’re conveying just how touched you are by the strength in which you’re holding onto him.

“Good,” Eddie says as he runs his hand up and down your back. “Do you want me to put it on you?”

“Yes!” Reluctantly, you let Eddie slip out of your arms and present your left wrist to him. He easily attaches the fourth charm to your bracelet, and it joins the music note, telephone, and “E” that already reside on your favorite piece of jewelry.

“There ya go,” Eddie says as he watches you admire your new addition.

“How did I get the sweetest boyfriend in the world?” you ask as you lean forward to rest your forehead against his.

“I guess you’re just that amazing, huh?” You feel his breath hit your lips as Eddie lets out a small chuckle. “Mm, what do you say we get back on the road?”

In your own perfect little bubble with Eddie right now, you forgot that the two of you were even headed somewhere. It even takes your mind a second to remember where, because it’s so filled with Eddie.

The beach, you remind yourself. We’re going to the beach in North Carolina because Eddie’s never seen the ocean and that’s another “first” checked off his list.

“Yeah, I guess we should.” As you climb back into the passenger seat, you notice the clock on the dashboard. There’s a slight grimace on your face as you turn towards Eddie, who is buckling himself back into the driver’s seat. “I don’t think we’ll get there by sundown.”

Eddie’s eyes go from the clock, to the meticulously positioned map on the dash, then to you.

“Nah, we’re too far out,” he agrees. “We don’t want to push ourselves and we’re not in a hurry. How about we drive a little more for today, then see if we can find a place to park it for the night?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

There’s no more bad weather as you drive down the interstate. The skies are bright blue and powdery clouds float by from time to time. There isn’t much to look at outside the windows, as the highway is surrounded by woods on both sides. Watching pine tree after pine tree go by in a blur can only entertain someone for so long. Occasionally, you’ll see a deer or two out at the edge of the trees, and you squeal in delight each time. It startled Eddie the first couple of times, but he finds your enthusiasm and joy so endearing that he doesn’t care one bit.

The road stretches on ahead of you, seeming like it will never stop; you’ll be passing the same handful of cars forever until you collectively fall off the edge of the earth. There are signs for exits every few miles, but nothing more interesting than some fast food, gas stations, and hotels.

The dimmer the sun’s light becomes in the sky, the more you pay attention to the signs you’re passing. Maybe there will be a campsite or a rest stop where you’ll be able to spend the night. But the further you drive, the more agitated you become at not seeing a suitable place for you to stop. Just as you’re about to tip from agitation into anger though, you pass a sign that gives you an idea.

“Hey, Eds? Try taking this exit here,” you say.

“You see something?” he asks as he checks his mirrors to make sure he can safely switch lanes.

“Yeah, something that might work.”

As Eddie pulls the van off onto the exit ramp, you keep your eyes peeled for a sign of which direction to go now. A blue sign with an arrow pointing right comes into view and you nod your head in that direction.

“This way.”

“Uh, babe?” Eddie says as he pulls out onto the highway. “This seems like a busy little area. I don’t think there’s gonna be any campsites or rest stops down here.”

“Well, apparently there aren’t any on this stretch of the east coast,” you sigh. “But, no, I had an idea. Just keep going this way.”

Eddie has no idea what you could have come up with, but he trusts you, so he follows your directions.

Just after driving two miles down the road, you spot it.

“Ah, there!” You point to the tall building that seems to rule over all the smaller buildings surrounding it.

“A hospital?” Eddie asks. He furrows his eyebrows as he looks at the building, sure he must be wrong about what this place is. But no, there it is on the sign: Mary Washington Hospital. “Why are we at a hospital?”

“Well, think about it,” you say with a shrug. “People are parked at hospitals all hours of the day. It’s not uncommon—especially in front of the emergency room—for families to wait in their car when they’re waiting on someone who’s being seen inside. There are security guards around and it’s pretty well lit, so it’s safe. We’ll just need to hang one of the blankets up to block out any light from coming in through the front windshield.”

Eddie can’t help but smile as he listens to your reasoning. He’s always known how smart you are, but sometimes the overt cleverness sneaks up and takes him by surprise.

“That is so smart, sweetheart. And we could always walk in and use the public bathrooms in there,” he adds.

“Exactly! And…” you trail off as you try to crane your neck around the area. “Aha! A McDonald’s just across the street. Food and more bathrooms there.”

The van pulls into the parking lot of the hospital and you both decide it’s better to park in the emergency room parking lot, though nowhere close to the building because that’s for people who come here with actual emergencies.

“All right,” Eddie says as he puts the van into park. “Hungry?”

“A little, yeah,” you say.

“If only we had gummy worms,” Eddie laments, dramatically flopping his head back as if this lack of sugary treat has killed him.

“I’m so sorry the grocery store by my school didn’t have gummy worms, Eddie. When I get back, I’ll write a formal complaint.”

Eddie peeks over at you and nods. “Tell them they’ve lost a customer forever.”

“I told you that you could’ve just gotten the gummy bears tho—”

“They are not the same!”

Once Eddie calms down about his lack of gelatin annelids, the two of you get out of the van and walk hand in hand to the crosswalk that will lead you across the street to McDonald’s. There was plenty of food in the van—minus what Eddie had already eaten through today—but, as Eddie pointed out, the van does not have French fries and McDonald’s does. It was a foolproof, winning argument.

The two of you decide to order for one another, pinky promising that whatever it is will come with fries. Eddie orders you a chicken nuggets meal, and knowing the size of his appetite, go with a Big Mac for him. Deciding that he wants to squeeze in on the same side of a booth as you, Eddie playfully squishes you between his body and the wall once you’ve chosen a table.

As much as you are enjoying your nuggets and fries, Eddie keeps distracting you every few minutes by resting his hand on your upper thigh. It causes you to almost spew soda out of your nose. Of course, this only makes it funnier to your boyfriend, who takes it as a sign to keep teasing you. Next, his arm “accidentally” brushes up against the side of your boob, which has you giving Eddie major side-eye as you bite into an overcooked, crispy fry. At one point, you look down to realize you have Big Mac Special Sauce both on the inseam of your pants and on the shoulder of your shirt. You can’t even recall one of his hands touching your shoulder at all. Leave it to Eddie to find a way, though.

After you’ve finished your dinners and probably overstayed your welcome at the table once all of your food was gone, you and Eddie take your time walking back to the van. It’s fully dark out by now, but as you’re right on a major highway, there are tons of lights around. There’s actually a bit of a glare between the lampposts, the car headlights, and all the lights illuminating from within the different shops and restaurants.

You stroll hand and hand up a few blocks, giggling together about nothing in particular, until you come to a stoplight and Eddie presses the button that alerts the crosswalk that you’re waiting there to cross the street.

“I don’t know about you,” Eddie whispers into your ear. There isn’t a need to whisper since there’s no one around, but you know his intentions when a shiver runs down your spine and he lets out a low chuckle. “But I think I’m ready to get back into the van. Hmm? Maybe spread some blankets out in the back? I’d say change into our pajamas, but I’d really prefer we wear nothing.”

“That sounds like a plan to me,” you say with a coy smile. A grin lights up Eddie’s face and it sends another shiver through you. You lace your fingers with his, soft skin meeting his rougher callouses, as the orange hand on the crosswalk sign fades into the white walking figure.

When you get back into the parking lot of the hospital, Eddie is practically skipping over to the van. An airy giggle escapes you when he yanks open the back door, bows, and gestures for you to go inside. He climbs in after you and makes sure the back doors are securely closed and slides the lock into place.

“Just you and me now, baby,” Eddie says as he turns towards you.

“Whatever shall we do?” you ponder with an over exaggerated shrug and shake of your head.

“Well,” Eddie says as he gets on his hands and knees. It’s amusing to see him crawling in the small space, blankets and luggage getting knocked around. “First thing we gotta do is hang a sheet up separating us from the front seats. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna let anyone who might be passing by get a glimpse of my girl in a compromising position. Oh, no. That’s all for me.” He practically purrs the last word, and it has your toes curling in your shoes.

Eager to help him and get this show on the road, you grab a maroon sheet out of the massive pile of linens and hand one corner to Eddie. He reaches up and touches the ceiling right behind the passenger seat. The strands of lights are being held up by tacks and it’s easy for Eddie to finagle one to hold up the sheet as well. After watching how he did it, you copy Eddie’s actions and hang the curtain up on the driver’s side.

Eddie purses his lips and plucks out one more tack that wasn’t necessary for the lights and uses it to fasten the middle of the sheet to the roof.

“Perfect,” you say. Now no one can see the two of you back there, and you’ll be protected from the sun coming in and blinding you in the morning.

The blankets scattered around the bottom of the van have shifted and bunched into piles from the way you and Eddie had been moving around. Trying the best he can in the cramped space, your boyfriend layers the thickest of the blankets one on top of another to provide some cushion for the two of you to lay on. You toss some of the pillows up towards the front of the van and they land with a light thump, brushing against the curtain.

Eddie is still inspecting the blankets around him, but you’ve decided it’s been long enough, and you’ve run out of patience. With no preamble, you whip your shirt off over your head and toss it in the general direction of your duffle bag. That certainly gets Eddie’s attention. His eyes are drawn to you like moths to a porch light. Hungrily, he looks you up and down, finding every bit of you even sexier than the last.

“Pants,” he growls. Who are you to deny him? It’s difficult in the limited space, but you manage to slide your jeans off and lay down on the downy bed of blankets.

Eddie’s own shirt joins yours, tossed aside as he crawls over you and hovers his body mere inches above your skin. He’s so close yet way too far away.

“Pants,” you repeat his command.

A cocky smirk grows on his plush pink lips, but he does as you say. He balances his body weight on one forearm while undoing his handcuff belt and fly with his other hand. The way he wiggles his hips to get the jeans off has you getting even wetter than you already were. His eyes glance down first at your bra and panties, then his own boxers that are covering his burgeoning erection.

“I suppose you want me naked now, huh?” he asks.

“No.” The smug smile along with the unexpected word has Eddie furrowing his brow in confusion. “I believe I requested you bring a certain piece of clothing with you on this trip?”

It takes Eddie a moment but when he realizes what you mean, he gives a playful roll of his eyes and chuckles.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got it,” he feigns annoyance as he reaches over for one of his bags that is just beyond your head. How he’s doing this all with one hand is both impressive and hot. The muscles of the left arm ripple and move beneath his pale skin as that limb holds the weight of his entire torso up.

Completely on purpose, Eddie pulls the hockey jersey out of his bag and lets it fall flat on your face. The peal of your laughter makes him smile as he slowly pulls the rough material down, letting it reveal you bit by bit. First, the hair, then the eyebrows, then your eyes that shine as they meet his.

“I really think you should dress up as a fairy or a hot elf for me since I’m doing this for you,” Eddie says as he slips the Boston Bruins jersey over his head. Silently, you wonder if he’s worn it at all since the two of you bought the jerseys together in Boston. Anytime you watched a game on that tiny little screen in your dorm, you’d wear yours.

Eddie brings your attention back to the present as you watch him kick his boxers off and resettle himself over you.

“Noted,” you reply to his comment, already thinking of places to look for such an outfit.

“Ready to be fucked by a hockey player?” Eddie teases as he reaches down and lets two of his fingers dip below the waistband of your panties.

“Mm, no.” It’s hard to focus on your words when Eddie’s hands are desperately close to where you need them to be. “I-I’m ready to be fucked by my hot as fuck boyfriend while he wears a hockey jersey.”

A self-satisfied smirk graces Eddie’s features as he brings his body back down to hover over yours.

“You’re still wearing too much,” he whispers, his breath tickling your lips.

“Let me fix that, then.” You arch your back just enough to unhook your bra, and Eddie is happy to help you slip it off your arms and all the way off. The panties are tricky since Eddie’s body is so close to yours, but writhing your body just right gets the trick done—as well as turn your boyfriend on even more.

Eddie dips his head and starts leaving a trail of barely-there kisses from the curve of your shoulder all the way up to your jaw. Tension you weren’t even aware you had releases from your body, melting away under his touch. Soft lips climb to behind your ear, causing you to let out a shaky breath. You’re so busy focusing on the feeling of Eddie up near your head that you’re taken by surprise as your boyfriend presses his hips down against yours, pinning your pelvis between him and the blankets.

“Fuck,” you whine out as his hard cock presses up against your thigh.

“Mmm, what’s the matter, baby?” Eddie croons in your ear.

You’re tempted to play the brat; tell him that nothing is wrong and pretend he’s not driving you as wild as he is. But it’s been far too long since you’ve seen him–you can play games later, now you just need him.

“Please, Eddie,” you plead, voice edging on desperate.

“Please what?” You can practically hear him smirking against your skin.

“D-Don’t tease me. Not now,” you beg.

“You just need me that bad, huh?” Eddie knows he’s playing a dangerous game; he needs to be inside of you. But he loves getting you all worked up. The way you whine and writhe beneath him is addicting, and Eddie looks forward to when he can tease you like this for as long as he’d like. For now, though, he’ll pretend to give in to you.

“I gotcha baby, don’t worry,” he says softly, sending a pleasant tingle throughout your body.

A large hand grips your hip and gives it a gentle squeeze before he slides his fingers underneath your thigh and hikes your leg up. Letting that hand slip down to your core, Eddie drags two fingers through your folds. He lifts his head up so he’s able to look you in the eye. The cocky look on his face shouldn’t be as sexy as it is.

“Already drenched for me, aren’t ya, Princess?” Without giving you time to answer, his fingers disappear, and he brings them up to his mouth. “So fucking good.” He makes sure to lick all of your arousal off before leaning in and capturing your mouth with his own.

The moan you make is muffled against his lips as his tongue darts out for a taste of you–of your mouth this time. Your hitched up leg wraps around Eddie’s hips, which causes his cock to brush right over your clit. Instinctively, your hands reach up and grab onto Eddie’s shoulders, fisting the material of the jersey. The pressure with which you’re hanging on to him is sure to leave a number of bruises on his shoulder blades in the morning.

Eddie cups your face as he deepens the kiss, letting his tongue explore every inch of your mouth that he’s missed for so long. All the time apart just makes him even more grateful that you’re here in his arms now. Every ounce of yearning and love is conveyed through the kiss, both of you understanding all of this without a word needing to be spoken. The safety and security you find in one another leaves you sure beyond a doubt that Eddie’s soul is tied to yours. Wrapped up in a bright red bow, double knotted, never to come undone.

Feeling like a branding iron on your skin, Eddie slides his hand down from your cheek, trailing over your shoulder, breast, tummy, then down between your legs. Your back arches up into the scratchy material above you, reacting to the feeling of Eddie positioning himself at your entrance. The pleasurable stretch as he pushes into you has you clinging to the man you love, bliss overtaking you at the joining of your bodies again.

Only the way your lungs begin to feel on fire could have you pulling away from Eddie’s mouth. You gulp down air as he bottoms out. Frizzy curls tickle your neck and chin as your boyfriend’s head drops down to your shoulder. His grunts and groans as he pulls almost all the way out are music to your ears.

“Feel so good,” you mumble into his hair.

“God, you too, Princess.” The two of you moan in tandem as he thrusts back into you. “So fucking perfect.”

“Missed this. Missed you.”

A low chuckle rumbles out of his chest. “You’re stuck with me for the next week. And in pretty close quarters.”

“Good,” you say, wrapping your other leg around Eddie’s. “Want you close as possible.”

“Don’t think we can get much closer than this—oh, fuck, you’re so tight.”

“This. Off. Now.” Your words are stilted and choppy as you tug on the hem of the jersey. He looked hot in it and fucked you in it, but now it’s time to see him fully naked, scars and all.

He obeys, quickly shedding himself of the clothing before dipping back down and gently nipping at your neck.

You lick over your lips as Eddie picks his head back up, staring into your eyes as his hips begin to move back and forth, rocking your bodies together with every breath he takes.

The way those big brown eyes never leave yours, even for a second, makes this moment all the hotter. The drag of Eddie’s cock against your walls as he stares into your soul, seeing every little part of you, has you feeling lightheaded with joy.

“I love you,” you breathe out more than speak.

“I love you too, sweet girl.”

Eddie gives a few more slow and steady thrusts before he begins to pick up the pace. Whimpers tumble out of your mouth, your eyes squeezing shut as Eddie pounds into you again and again and again. He slightly adjusts the angle of his hips and that causes him to hit that special spot inside of you just right.

“Yes!” Your shout echoes around the hollow van, but neither of you care. If your eyes could roll so far back they’d fall into your brain, they would right now as Eddie leads you to pure ecstasy. A particularly hard slam of his hips against yours causes your walls to clench around Eddie’s cock, evidence of just how incredible he’s making you feel.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie moans, throwing his head back. He closes his eyes as his teeth gnash at his bottom lip. “So tight, so wet.” When your walls give another spasm at his words, Eddie knows what direction to take this dirty talk in. “Oh, you love when I praise your pussy, don’t you, baby?”

The only response you’re capable of is a feeble nod of the head. It’s not enough of a reaction for Eddie though, so he keeps going.

“Such a perfect fucking pussy. God, so fucking pretty and it tastes even better. Do you know I thought about that every day?” Eddie smirks when you look up at him, eyes blown out, lost in lust. “It’s true,” he continues. “I’d come home from work and wrap my hand around my cock. Think about how unbelievably good you taste, baby. Such a sweet fucking pussy. And it’s all mine, right? Say it. Fucking say it’s all mine.”

“I-It’s all yours,” you stutter.

“Goddamn right.”

A fingertip gently presses against your throat, and you look up at Eddie, his hair swaying back and forth with every rock of his hips. The rough calloused finger slowly and delicately trails up your neck, the curve up to your chin as you tilt your head up, and finally stops right beneath the edge of your chin. Eddie has positioned your head so you’re looking directly in his eyes. The look that finds you there is possessive, protective, and a little domineering. It almost makes you cum on the spot.

“That’s my good girl.”

“Oh fuck, Eddie, I’m gonna cum.”

A triumphant smile graces his pretty lips. It only seemed fair to him to go for your weakness, with how you clenching around him already brought him so close to finishing. He needed to even the score.

“Gonna cum with me, yeah?” Eddie asks. Fuck, you better hurry up then, he thinks.

“Y-Yes, Eddie.” You nod your head and slide your hands up until your fingers tangle in his hair. The feeling of his curls wrapping around your fingers is something you missed almost as much as having sex with him.

“Good girl,” Eddie praises again, only nudging you further towards the end of the cliff.

“I can’t last m-much longer,” you moan and Eddie silently thanks God. He knows he’s about thirty seconds from bursting.

“Okay, baby. Come on. Cum for me.”

With one last cant of his hips, the spark catches. The feeling of his warm releasing coating your walls only intensifies your own orgasm. Breath gets caught in your chest as the wave washes over you. Eddie’s hips keep pumping throughout it, but once he’s spent, he feels like he can’t move a muscle.

You lay there beneath him, watching his chest rise and fall and the small beads of sweat sliding down his chest. He looks so perfect like this. At that moment, you realize this is a sight that will forever be stored in your memory. Spent and happy, tired yet exhilarated. What makes it even better is that it’s because of you. This is far from the first time you’ve slept together but it’s still a dizzying, mystifying thought that it’s you that makes this beautiful, wonderful man feel so good. God, how you wish he never had to pull out of you.

As if not wanting that contact between the two of you to end either, Eddie leans in and presses a kiss to your forehead before resting his own forehead against it.

“Stay here,” you whisper.

“Where exactly do you think I’d go?” he whispers in reply, huffing a small laugh.

“No,” you say, only slightly louder. “Stay on top of me. Inside me.”

“Yeah?” Eddie looks at you in concern, his eyebrows pulling slightly together. “I’m not hurting you?”

“Very much the opposite,” you assure him with a smile.

“Okay.” Eddie slowly lowers until most of his weight is on top of you. He nuzzles his head into your neck, and you reach up to stroke his hair.

Both of you know he’ll just naturally slip out of you as his cock softens, but right now it feels so good to have a little extra time to be connected in this way.

“Love you, baby,” Eddie mumbles into your neck. From the slight slur of his speech, you know he’s falling headfirst into sleep. The yawn you let out tells you that you’re right behind him.

“I love you, too, handsome. Goodnight.”

A soft sound comes from Eddie, maybe a small groan of acknowledgment. But you chuckle to yourself because you know he’s already fast asleep.

When you wake up, you see that clearly you and Eddie move around much more in your sleep than you would’ve thought. The two of you are not even close to being in the same positions as when you fell asleep. Then, he was on top of you, and you were gently stroking his hair. Now, you’re on the blanket face down, laying on your tummy, and Eddie is sprawled out like a starfish, his left arm slung across your lower back.

There’s a pounding between your eyes that makes you wince; you notice now that you’re more fully awake. A sharp, stabbing headache radiates up to the very top of your head.

“Fuck,” you mutter.

“Hmm?” Eddie says, his head popping up like a daisy out of the ground. “Whasgoin on?” He pushes himself up onto his elbows and lets out the world’s longest yawn.

“I just woke up with a horrible headache.” You reach up on top of your head and try to put pressure on it, which sometimes will relieve your headaches. No dice this time.

Eddie frowns and tilts his head to the side. “I don’t think we bought aspirin at the grocery store.”

“Must be the one thing in the store you missed,” you joke, trying to smile through the pain.

“Oh, my girlfriend is so funny.” Eddie’s voice is monotone as he picks up a pillow and throws it at you–but he makes sure to steer clear of your head. “Come on. Let’s get dressed and we’ll find a pharmacy. Gotta be one on this road somewhere. Seems to have every other type of establishment.” Suddenly, Eddie perks up and his eyes widen. “Ooh! Do you think there’s a game shop where I can get some new dice?”

Slowly, with your hand still pressed against your skull, you lift your head up to stare him down.

He sighs and rolls his eyes in response.

“Well, no shit, after we get you some medicine.”

After you’ve washed down a few Advil with some orange Gatorade, Eddie does look up and down the main highway to see if there’s a place he can find a new D20—in your favorite color he assures you, trying to appeal to your less-than-happy state from the pain. He comes up empty, so he just figures he’ll get some souvenir dice somewhere in North Carolina.

When he pulls the van onto the main highway, he glances over at you and sees you resting your head back against the headrest with your eyes closed.

“Are you gonna try and get a little bit more sleep, babe?”

“No,” you say. “Just resting my eyes, trying to get rid of this headache.”

He reaches over and gives your thigh a quick squeeze of affection. A few silent minutes go by before Eddie clicks on the radio. All of the stations are unknown to him since this is a new area, so he turns the dial to scan through, looking for some music to suit his tastes. Shot in the Dark by Ozzy Osbourne comes in through some static and Eddie excitedly keeps the station on. He keeps it at a reasonably low volume, but it’s still enough to prick the pain pulsating behind your eyes.

“Eds, can we turn the music off? My head is pounding.”

Your boyfriend glances over at you before looking back at the road. He shifts in his seat before responding.

“Uh, it kind of helps me concentrate on the road, babe,” he says. “Cause like, yesterday we were talking, and it kept my mind focused. But the quiet, it um, makes me wander off.”

“Once the Advil kicks in, you can play it again.” Part of you realizes that his reasoning is solid and fair, but your annoyance tolerance is way down.

“Well, how long is that gonna take?” he asks.

“Jesus, Eddie,” you snap. “I’m not a doctor. It shouldn’t be too long. Just please.”

With an irritated huff, he smacks the button that turns the radio on and off. Silence fills the van and though it may be peaceful for your ailing head, the tension in the air makes you feel ill in a different way.

I know this is just a dumb little fight, you think to yourself. But what if we keep having dumb little fights? Will they add up and become bigger fights? What if we end up arguing more than speaking civilly to one another? Would this be what it’s like to be sharing the same space as him for a while? What if we don’t work together in any other way than seeing each other every few months? Shit, now I’m not sure if I should have the conversation with him about Boston. Nancy would be calling me a coward right about now, and she’s probably right. I’m blowing everything way out of proportion. Too many “what ifs.” But…what if I’m wrong? Thinking about all of this while my head is throbbing is not a great idea, anyway. Now my mind is wandering. Maybe Eddie had a point about the music.

Eventually, the pain in your head begins to ease, which brings another matter to your attention.

“Uh, Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we pull off at the next rest stop?”

“Yeah.”

The cold reply is well-deserved, but it still irks you. Refusing to be the one to break this new silence, you cross your arms over your chest and watch out the window, waiting impatiently to see a sign for your next respite.

Fortunately, it’s only about two miles up the road. Eddie parks into a spot close to the bathroom and you hop out without a word. Once he sees you disappear into the building, Eddie gets out of the van so he can stretch his legs. Long arms reach up high over his head to stretch out the other muscles in his body. He twists his torso and feels his back crack with a satisfying pop. His eyes catch on the vending machines as he’s facing the other way.

“Hmm,” he hums to himself as he walks over to it. Yes, there’s a ton of food in the van, but maybe Eddie can get one of your favorite candies for you. It’ll be like an olive branch.

A few minutes later, when you come out of the bathroom, your eyes catch on the vending machines across the way. Maybe a peace offering in the form of food would be the best way to make up. You secure the bag of Skittles and head back down to the van. Eddie sees you, his eyes drop down to your hands, and he lets out a laugh.

“Looks like you and I think alike,” Eddie says, brandishing a KitKat.

“I’m sorry I was crabby,” you say, sticking out your bottom lip. “Can I buy back your affection with some Skittles?”

Eddie pretends to consider it as he taps the chocolate bar against his chin thoughtfully.

“Okay. But only if you give me a kiss.”

“Done.”

You hand him his Skittles, he hands you your KitKat, and then you wrap your arms around his neck and lean into his body. The warm and safe feeling of him encircling your waist with his arms sends butterflies erupting from your belly.

“I love you,” you whisper before leaning in and pressing your lips firmly against his. The kiss is returned enthusiastically, and you can feel him smiling against your mouth.

“I love you, too,” he says once you part.

The sound of a child crying has the two of you separating. Eddie opens his mouth to say something when his eyes catch something over your shoulder.

“Hey,” Eddie says, but not to you. Gently releasing you from his grip, your boyfriend steps around you and crouches down to be at the level of a boy who can’t be more than five or six. “Are you okay?”

“I-I can’t find my mommy,” he says through the loudest sniffles you’ve ever heard. He rubs his eye with a small fist, his chest rising and falling quickly with his shallow breathing.

“Where’d you last see her?” Eddie asks.

The way Eddie tilts his head and speaks so softly and calmly to the child makes something inside your heart flutter. While there’s a little boy lost and crying in front of you, you do your best not to smile, though you’re suddenly filled with a strange sense of joy.

“Okay,” you hear your boyfriend respond to whatever it is the child said. He presses his hand against his own chest. “My name is Eddie. I’m sure we can find your mom.”

“Drew? Drew!”

A woman’s voice calls throughout the parking lot and your head turns in her direction.

“Are you Drew?” Eddie asks. When the little boy nods, Eddie smiles at him. “Then I think we found your mom. See? That was easy.”

You’re able to flag down the woman and let her know her son is about three cars down with your boyfriend. She sighs in relief and follows you over to her son. Drew runs into his mother’s arms and Eddie stands back up. The mother can’t thank you enough, though you assure her that you’d just stumbled upon him a few seconds ago.

Once they walk away, you sidle up next to Eddie and wrap your arm around his waist.

“You’re good with kids.”

A strong arm wraps around you and pulls your chest flush against his.

“I mean, I’ve learned that if you’re mean to them, they tend to cry and scream. I hate that shit.”

Back on the road, it’s smooth sailing for a while, but eventually, you run into traffic. It’s spotty in a few places, slowing down and speeding up again. The red taillights that keep popping up every so often are not as fun as the Christmas lights blinking behind the curtain at your backs.

After about an hour of touch-and-go stopping, the whole stretch of highway comes to a complete stop. Eddie finished his Skittles long ago and his frustration has been growing ever since. Leaning forward, you pop the radio on and scan for a song that might calm him down. If there’s one thing you know about your boyfriend, it’s that music is a balm for his soul. Head by Prince comes over the sound waves and it sparks a brilliant idea in you.

“Baby? I think you need to relax.”

He sighs and drops his head back against the headrest, his hair bouncing back in reverberation.

“Easier said than done.”

Even though he isn’t looking your way, you feel yourself blush at what you’re about to suggest. As if he didn’t basically fuck you to sleep last night.

“I think I might be able to help you with that, though…”

At the sound of your seatbelt unclicking, Eddie looks at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” he asks. “What are you doing?”

You slide out of your seat and onto your knees on the van floor. The last time you attempted to do this Dustin rammed the back of Eddie’s van. Hopefully this attempt goes better. Eddie raises an eyebrow at you, still unsure about what you’re doing until you shuffle close enough to pull at his belt.

“Oh, fuck,” Eddie moans. A smile lights up his face and he’s scrambling to help you shove his pants and boxers down his hips. Just the idea of you giving him road head already has him half hard, so it doesn’t take very much to start getting him worked up as you pump him with your hand.

“Want you to feel better, Eddie,” you say, looking up at him with the most innocent eyes you can manage. The way his cock twitches in your grip boosts your ego. You lean down and lick a stripe up the side of his cock.

“Shit,” Eddie hisses.

You press soft kisses all the way up his length, only to take him into your mouth as you get to the tip. Eddie’s foot presses harder on the break as he watches himself disappear in your mouth.

“Fuck, I better put this in park.” He shifts the gear since the traffic isn’t moving anyway, and you can’t help but chuckle around him. It sends a vibration up his cock that has him reaching down and clutching the back of your head.

Your pace starts out slow, bobbing your head, taking him a little bit deeper each time. Eddie’s thick fingers tense against you and it encourages you to take him in as far as you can, until your nose brushes against the dark curls at his base. His hand is warm against your head, firm, but not pushing you.

You pull off, breathing heavily, and dive back in to swipe your tongue over his balls the best you can from this position.

“Holy shit.” Eddie lets go of you and he rubs over his face with both hands. You’re pretty sure his soul is about to leave his body when you suck a ball into your mouth. You let it go with a pop, only to engulf him in the wet warmth of your mouth again.

“My God, you’re fucking perfect.”

He’s painfully hard against your tongue. It encourages you to bob your head faster than before, eager to get Eddie to his release. It’s not long until his breathing turns shallow, and you can feel his legs tensing up beneath your hands.

“G-Gonna cum, baby,” he warns you, giving you time to pull off if you want. But you don’t. A soft hum around him lets him know that you want him to finish in your mouth. That’s all he needs, a groan emanating from the back of his throat as he cums down yours.

You do your best to swallow everything he gives you, only pulling off when you’re satisfied with your own work. As you sit back on your knees, you bring your hand up to wipe off anything on your face that you might have missed. Eddie’s panting, pressed back against the seat, a lazy smile on his face as his gaze shifts to you.

“Holy fuck, baby,” he says.

“More relaxed?” you ask, tilting your head to the side with a mischievous glint in your eye.

“Yeah,” Eddie huffs with a laugh. “Definitely feel better.”

Once traffic gets moving again, the rest of the highway is a breeze. When it starts to get dark, there’s not much farther to go until you reach the coast. A few miles before you get there, you spot a cozy little restaurant that looks like the perfect hole-in-the-wall kind of place for dinner. You’ve both been holed up in the van all day though, so you hop into the back and change into different, nicer clothes. As you’re looking for your new outfit in just your bra and panties, Eddie comes up behind you and promises to return the favor for relaxing him so much earlier. It takes all of your mental energy to put those new clothes on instead of taking the little left that you’re wearing off.

How you manage to hold your ground, you’re not sure, but you do. The air this close to the ocean is a little chillier at night so you opt for a nice purple, long sleeved shirt, and Eddie slips his leather jacket over one of the multiple Metallica shirts he packed. It’s not a far walk from the van to the front door of the restaurant, but Eddie insists on holding your hand the whole way there anyway. Keeping up his streak of being a gentleman, he opens the door and gestures for you to walk inside. The instant you step over the threshold you’re greeted by the scent of baking bread and something cooking that’s heavy on the garlic. It immediately gets your mouth watering.

“Hi, how many this evening?” the hostess asks as you and Eddie step up to her small, sturdy podium.

“Two,” you say.

“All right, you can follow me.”

Eddie laces his fingers with yours just for the twenty foot walk over to where you’re seated. The hostess leads you between tables covered in white tablecloths with small copper lanterns sitting in the middle of each. The lighting in the whole restaurant is dim, but it adds to the calm and quiet ambiance. The beautiful orchestrations coming from overhead speakers are the cherry on top of this romantic scenery, which is most definitely the vibe they were going for.

Before Eddie steps around to his side of the table, he pulls your chair out for you. There is never a shortage of sweet gestures with Eddie, but you’re not sure if you’ve ever been in a place this nice with him. The chivalry plus the romantic setting has you feeling giddy and bubbly.

Once Eddie has slid you in closer to the table, he notices a shiver and the way your shoulders hunch up. He slips his leather jacket off and gently drapes it over your shoulders. You’re not expecting it, so it startles you at first, but then you just giggle as you wrap it tighter around you.

“Thank you, handsome,” you say as he takes his seat on the opposite side of the table from you.

“Your waitress this evening will be Miranda, and she should be with you shortly,” the hostess informs you.

“Thank you,” you say before she walks back towards the front of the restaurant.

Now that it’s just the two of you together, you take advantage of looking around the place. Three of the interior walls of the restaurant are made to look like gray stone—you wonder if it actually is and have the sudden urge to touch it. The fourth wall is an accent wall, painted a deep red. Waiters walk around in white button-up shirts and black ties. It’s such a charming little place and you’re glad that you get to experience it with Eddie.

Miranda, your waitress, comes to take your orders, and by the look of confusion on both your and Eddie’s faces, she tries to explain what some of the fancier sounding dishes are. She’s very kind and thoughtful without being condescending. A perfect “mom” temperament, you think.

As soon as she leaves with your orders, Eddie reaches across the table and takes your hand in his own. His thumb traces patterns on the palm of your hand for a few moments before purposefully tickling your hand. A small squeak escapes your lips, and you yank your hand back. Eddie chuckles and when you look up at him, ready to give him some kind of witty remark, it dries up on your tongue. The way Eddie is looking at you steals your breath. There’s a smile on his face and his eyes are crinkled in the corners, but it’s the way his eyes are focused on you. The look could be described as nothing less than adoring. Heat rises to your cheeks at the unwavering attention. Normally anyone looking at you this long would make you uncomfortable, but this is Eddie. There is not a thing about him that has made you uncomfortable since you met him.

“What’re you thinking about?” Eddie asks, tilting his head like an inquisitive puppy.

“You. How I’m still not sure how it’s possible to be this happy.”

The honesty of the answer and the sincerity in your voice cause a wave of emotions to crash over Eddie as well. Again, he reaches over and takes your hand. But this time all he does is lace his fingers with yours and simply hold it.

Small soft conversations are held between the two of you as you wait for your food. But more than with words, the two of you silently communicate with one another. The squeeze of a hand, a facial expression, or the look in the other’s eyes. When silence settles over your table it’s not awkward in the least. It’s comfortable. It’s you and your person, just being together. Being in his presence is all you need.

Ironically, when the food arrives, you talk more. Before, your mouths weren’t busy, yet there were sparse words spoken. But now that you both have to talk between bites—of spaghetti in his case and eggplant in yours—the conversation flows open and freely.

“All right,” Eddie says as he twirls some pasta around his fork. “Five movies you’d wanna watch together. Because you want to show it to me or just because you wanna watch it in general. Go.”

“Oh jeez,” you say with a sigh. “There’s just so many great ones out there. Okay, let me think… Little Shop of Horrors—the new one. Um… The Outsiders, one of my favorites.”

“Because of Rob Lowe?” Eddie asks, a smirky smile on his face.

“No. Well, not just because of him,” you say. “Hmm…oh, The Shining. I’ve never been able to finish because I always get scared. But that just gives me an excuse to be held by you, though.”

“I’ll protect you,” Eddie promises with a wink.

“My hero.” You blow him a kiss, then try to think of two more movies. “Some Like it Hot. Can’t go wrong with a Marilyn Monroe flick. Let’s see, one more. Oh! And E.T. I always cry at that one. And want Reese’s Pieces.”

“I think I can provide those for a movie night,” Eddie says.

It’s wonderful to talk about future plans with Eddie. Yeah, there are the bigger questions to be asked when you intend to be committed to a person, but these smaller, more detailed don’t-have-to-be-too-far-in-the-future plans are great fun to think about. Planning what you’d like to do for his next birthday, or thinking of places that you’d love to vacation together. Just to have these thoughts, ideas, fantasies about doing all these incredible things with the person you’re in love with is enough to make you feel lovesick.

After you’ve eaten enough eggplant that you feel you’re close to bursting, you set your napkin down on the table and slip Eddie’s jacket from your shoulders.

“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna use the bathroom,” you say as you stand up and hang his jacket on the back of your chair. As you walk past Eddie in the direction of the restrooms, you lean in and press a quick kiss to the top of his head before you keep going.

Eddie smiles to himself and tries to get the last few noodles on his plate to cooperate and get on his fork. Someone clearing their throat gets Eddie’s attention and his head snaps up. An older lady with snowy white hair and a pageboy haircut sitting at the table next to yours leans in towards Eddie, trying to get his attention. She’s seated on the far side of the table, just like you, so it’s easy for Eddie to spot her. He can see the woman’s husband in his peripheral vision as well.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she says, an apologetic look pinching her face, “but I just wanted to let you know that you two are adorable.”

The words instantly have Eddie grinning like a madman. He’s momentarily flustered, and that’s a feat very few people accomplish.

“Thank you,” he finally says.

Now, the husband turns towards Eddie and leans over as if he’s going to let the younger man in on a secret.

“You be good to her,” the man says, kindly, but firm enough to make his point.

“Oh, there’s no worry about that,” Eddie says with a shake of his head. “I’m going to marry that girl someday.”

The woman clasps her hands together under her chin and looks at Eddie with eyes that he can practically hear saying, “awwwwww!” Some heat rises to his cheeks, but when you walk back up to the table, he does his best to compose himself.

You slip Eddie’s jacket back on, reveling in the warmth and scent of your boyfriend. As you’re debating on whether or not you want one last bite of the eggplant, the woman seated at the table on your right catches your attention.

“I just have to say,” she starts, with a melancholic smile, “you two remind me of me and my husband back when we were young.”

For some reason, that comment makes you more emotional than any other compliment she could have paid you. An older and seemingly happy couple sees themselves in you when they were young. It brings you visions of an elderly you and Eddie sitting outside on the front porch, watching your grandchildren play in the yard. A soft rain begins to come from the sky and all the kids run up onto the porch to take cover. Eddie snatches up the youngest and holds them prisoner in his lap while he tickles them. You have to force yourself out of that daydream because you’re making yourself emotional.

Soon after, the older couple gets up from their chairs and bids you and Eddie a goodnight before they leave. Just as the two of you are discussing if you should order dessert or not, Miranda delivers a hot fudge sundae to your table. For a brief moment you wonder if she’s a mind reader.

“Um, we didn’t order this,” Eddie says, clearly confused about the confection as well.

Miranda beams, the corners of her eyes crinkling up the subtle crow’s feet around her eyes. She looks as if she has a huge secret, and she can’t wait to share it with someone.

“George and Rhonda wanted to send this over. The couple who was seated here next to you.” Miranda points to the table the elderly couple were sitting at. “They’re regulars, but I don’t think they’ve ever ordered anything for someone else before.” She seems so overjoyed just at sharing this news, but her eyes light up with an extra spark as she remembers something. “They also paid your bill.”

At first, you’re sure that Miranda isn’t talking to you and Eddie. This type of kind gesture is something you’ve only seen on television or movies. The warmth of tears begins to build behind your eyes and your throat feels tight as you turn to look at your boyfriend. He looks just as baffled as you do. Though, where you look overwhelmed and emotional, Eddie looks flustered. His mouth keeps opening and closing, wanting to say something, but is coming up blank.

“Wow,” he finally manages, all other words failing him.

“Are they still here?” you ask, clearing your throat once you hear how shaky your voice is.

“No, they left a few minutes ago.”

Eddie knocks a chunky ring against the table, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. His face is slightly pinched, clearly thinking about something.

“You said they’re regulars, right?” he asks.

“They are,” Miranda affirms. “Come in at least twice a month.”

Eddie’s head swivels to you and he raises his eyebrows. “How does writing them a thank you letter sound?”

His absolute thoughtfulness once again astounds you. Sometimes you think about how rough the beginning of Eddie’s life was, and how it definitely hasn’t been a piece of cake since then either. His heart has been played with, broken, crushed—and that doesn’t even include any physical pain he’s gone through. But he still has this kind heart that’s never been beaten out of him.

“I like that idea,” you agree. Now you wish you had brought your purse instead of just shoving your wallet in your pocket. There’s a pen and probably thirty scraps of paper in there. “Miranda, do you have a pad and pen we can borrow?”

“Of course.” Miranda looks equally moved by Eddie’s proposal, and she doesn’t even know the half of how incredible he is.

After Miranda returns with a pen bearing the restaurant’s name and a receipt pad, Eddie hunches over the table, tapping the pen against the surface as he thinks of what to write. Inspiration strikes and Eddie scribbles against the paper. Silently, you wonder if you’ll have to rewrite it if your boyfriend’s chicken scratch is illegible.

Eddie slides the pad over to you and you lean in to read it.

Dear George and Rhonda,

We already couldn’t thank you enough for your kind words to us, but now we’re pretty speechless with the dessert and paid bill. We asked Miranda to give you this note the next time you’re here so we can at least show you a fraction of how grateful we are.

That’s where the note stops, so you pick up the pen and write beneath his words.

This is possibly the nicest thing that’s ever been done for us. You’ve put the cherry on top of our first vacation together…and I’m not just saying that because there’s a cherry on top of this sundae we’re staring at right now. We wish there was some way that we could repay your goodwill. I guarantee you that we’ll find a way to pay it forward though.

You show Eddie to get his approval on it. Once he nods in agreement, you both sign your names on the bottom. Both of you are still stunned as you walk out of the restaurant full of ice cream and hot fudge.

The night sky is a black canvas dotted with intermittent sparkles shining down as you walk back to the van with Eddie. Even with how far you are away from the beach, you can smell the salt blowing in the wind.

Eddie jingles the keys to the van as he slips the keyring over his forefinger. Instead of opening the door, he leans up against the multicolored siding and tugs you by your hips until you’re pressed up against him.

“How’s watching the sunrise over the ocean tomorrow morning sound?” he asks.

“Literally can’t think of a better way to show you the beach for the first time.” You wrap your arms around his neck and lean in to press a few chaste kisses to his lips.

“It’s really nice out,” Eddie says, looking up at the sky and around at the sleepy coastal town. “What do you say we find somewhere to park the van and I’ll climb up and put a blanket on the top so we can lay there and look at the stars?”

You stare at him without answering, which has him cocking an eyebrow. When you start poking his chest and shoulders with your finger, he becomes even more confused.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Proving that you’re real,” you say.

Eddie huffs a laugh and tugs you forward by your still outstretched finger. He squishes you against his chest, completely engulfing you in his arms.

“Is that a yes?”

The perfect spot to park the van for the evening is only a few blocks from the beach, in the back of a motel parking lot. There are cars parked closer to the building, but there’s no one out walking around or making any noise to disrupt the sound of the waves crashing against the beach in the near distance.

This is the perfect time to ask Eddie the question you’ve been intending to on this trip. Realizing that you’re really about to ask this, to possibly take this step, or possibly feel disheartened and a bit rejected, has your stomach tying itself in a knot. Maybe it’s too soon. Maybe you should ask later in the trip so if he says no then it won’t be a gray cloud looming over the rest of Spring Break. No, you decide. It’s going to be now.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“I, uh, was wondering if–I mean, I wanted to ask, uh, if…do–uh, um...”

As your rambling trails off, you feel Eddie’s fingers intertwine with yours where your hands lay between your bodies.

“What’s gotcha tongue tied, baby?” he asks.

“I want to, I mean, I’m trying to–to...” You’re just flustering yourself at this point and let out an irritated sigh.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Eddie assures you, rubbing his thumb against the side of your hand. “Why don’t I go first, huh?”

“Okay.” You weren’t aware there was something he wanted to say.

Carefully, Eddie maneuvers onto his side so he’s facing you. When you move to do the same, he helps you stay steady until you’re lying face to face. He leans in and presses a kiss to your nose, making you wrinkle up your face and let out a small giggle.

Eddie raises his right hand to slip his mood ring off and holds it up between the two of you.

“Can I give you this?” he asks, soft voice almost carried away on the breeze. “Mostly because I would love for you to wear my ring, but maybe also a little bit so I can know what your mood is.” The last part is a joke, but also kind of not.

Words fail you again, so you nod enthusiastically. “I would love to wear it.”

Eddie slides it onto your left thumb–the only finger it won’t fall off of–and brings your cold fingertips up to his lips.

“I’ll love you forever,” he whispers.

“That’s how long I’ll wear this ring.”

“Yeah?”

“I promise.” You kiss the stone set in the ring and Eddie gives it a kiss after you.

The courage to ask Eddie what you wanted to has come out of hiding now that his ring is on your finger. It asks you why you were ever scared to ask him in the first place. It’s Eddie.

“So, I wanted to ask you something. Or—talk to you about something. Well, kind of both I guess…” You’re blabbering again, but it’s a bit more cohesive this time. Now it's more a matter of not knowing how to phrase it.

A warm and encouraging hand lands on your upper arm and rubs up and down soothingly.

“It’s okay, baby. Take all the time you need.”

“You, um, you know how I’m coming home for the summer, right?” You internally cringe, knowing you’re not off to the best start.

“Yeah, isn’t that how semesters work?” Eddie asks with a playful smirk.

“All right, Mr. Smarty Pants,” you say with a playful slap to the chest. “Then you know that I’ll be going back again in the fall.”

“Unfortunately,” he says.

“Well…when the next semester starts, Nancy and I are going to get an apartment together,” you explain.

“That’s a good idea. Both of you had such shitty roommates this year and you don’t wanna take that chance again.”

“Right! Exactly.” You say it a bit too loud, but you reign yourself in. “So, Steve’s actually going to come move up to Boston and live with us. He and Nancy will have their room, I’ll have mine.”

Eddie isn’t sure how to react at first. He’s not entirely sure how he feels about that because, one, it feels like he’s losing another friend to Boston. Two, even though Steve is a great friend, Eddie is a little uncomfortable having his girlfriend live with another guy.

His silence has your courage ready to slink away with its tail between its legs, so you just keep going before it goes back in hibernation mode for good.

“And I, um, I was wondering—I mean, Nancy and I have talked about it, of course, and only if you want to…”

“Sweetheart,” Eddie interrupts with a chuckle. “You can say anything to me, you know that.”

“WouldyouwannamovetoBostonandlivewithus?”

Eddie raises his eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Uh, h-how would you feel about maybe moving to Boston too? Nance a-and Steve would have their room, and w-we could have ours. I know we haven’t been together a long time or even known each other a long time, but…I don’t know. It doesn’t feel too fast for me. I mean, it might for you, I-I don’t know. If someone had told me five months ago that I’d be ready to live with a guy after four months of knowing one another I’d have said they were crazy. But…here I am. I-I don’t want you to feel pressured or rushed or anything like that, I just wanted to put the offer out there in case you want to think about it or—”

Eddie silences your rambling by cupping your face and pressing his lips up against yours. It lasts a few seconds before he pulls back and rests his forehead against yours.

“There is nothing that would make me happier than falling asleep next to you every night and waking up next to you every morning.”

His answer has a load lifting off of your shoulders that you hadn’t realized was quite this heavy. Between relief and happiness, emotion bubbles up until there are tears streaming down your face.

“Are you sure?” you ask, wanting to make sure. “You c-can think about it.”

“I did,” he says seriously. “Only took about a second because I’m so sure. I’d love to live with you, baby.”

You bury your face in Eddie’s neck, careful not to be forceful enough to knock him towards the edge of the roof. He rests his head against yours as you cling to him, the tears still flowing.

“I love you so much, Eddie.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. So fucking much.”

He chuckles as he holds you even closer, causing you to peek up at him.

“What?”

“Just thinking how it’s good I got this van, huh? Getting us used to sleeping practically on top of one another.”

“Eddie, we can get a bigger bed, we won’t have to sleep—”

“Oh, we most certainly will.”

Eddie is the first to wake up the next morning. He doesn’t want to move from the pile of blankets he’s lying on. That causes some confusion in him, though. When he fell asleep, there was definitely a blanket on top of him, and not nearly this many under him. Forcing himself to open his eyes and move from his comfortable position, Eddie sits up and looks through squinted eyes to see what shape your bed area is in.

Somehow the blanket Eddie fell asleep beneath is now under your head. You’re also practically curled into your own duffle bag on the side of the van. He’s still not sure how he ended up laying amongst the mass of blankets, but he shrugs it off.

The muscles in Eddie’s back and abdomen thank him as he stretches his body over towards the maroon sheet acting as your bedroom door. He moves it aside to see the sky just beginning to wake up. Perfect. The faint call of seagulls calling and waves crashing to shore tugs the corners of his mouth up in a smile. He’s actually going to see the ocean today. Another first, with you, the only one he’d want to experience all firsts with.

A sound comes from you, but Eddie isn’t sure if it’s a yawn or a hiccup. He chuckles and turns back around to see you roll onto your back. One of your arms goes up to rest above your head, the other resting across your stomach. When your legs move, opening slightly to adjust your hips, an idea forms in Eddie’s mind. He did say he was going to repay the favor from when you gave him road head yesterday. Plus, he remembers your exact words after you woke him up with a blowjob back when he stayed with you in January: “Waking up with you between my legs sounds insanely hot, actually.”

As stealthily as he can manage, Eddie crawls over and slowly spreads your legs wide enough until he can kneel between them. The Megadeth t-shirt of his that you slept in last night has ridden up a little in your sleep, so Eddie doesn’t need to adjust that before he slowly and gently hooks his fingers into the sides of your lacy green panties. He takes his time, not wanting to wake you or inadvertently rip your underwear. It’s challenging to get the panties over the curve of your ass, but Eddie manages. He also manages to take his time to feel your ass up properly.

Once he finally gets the garment all the way off you, he breathes a sigh of relief. Hopefully this would be the hardest part. He starts to wonder how you pulled down his pajama pants and boxers when you woke him up like this a few months back. But then it hits Eddie: he sleeps like the dead.

The blankets on the floor make it easy for Eddie to slide down to his stomach quickly and quietly. When he goes a little too far back, however, he needs to army crawl his way back until he’s close enough.

Gently and carefully as to not hurt you or jostle you too much, Eddie spreads your legs further apart until your pussy is on display for him. A low groan reverberates through Eddie’s chest and he’s not sure how he’s going to be able to keep himself quiet while enjoying his favorite thing to eat. Eddie wraps his left arm under your leg to steady himself before he goes in and takes the first lick of your delicious pussy that he’s been craving since the last time his mouth was down here.

Eddie moves your right leg so it’s resting over his shoulder, and it gives him an even better vantage point as he spreads your labia to get a look at the goods beneath. He swears, this must be how happy the kids felt when they found those Golden Tickets in their damn Wonka bars. Elation and excitement is dancing up and down his veins.

Determined to waste no more time, Eddie dives in properly and instantly moans against your clit as he relishes in your taste. His addiction is being fed and he’s not sure how he’s been able to go this long without it. His long tongue runs over your entrance, dipping in a few times just to be a tease. Your leg over his shoulder moves just slightly and the smallest of grunts comes from above him. Eddie doesn’t plan on taking his mouth off of your pussy long enough to check if you’re awake or not, though.

Eddie tilts his head up just slightly and flicks your clit with his tongue before wrapping his lips around it. Now, you’re really starting to get animated. More indistinguishable noises and small movements. When Eddie goes back to lapping at your hole, he makes sure his nose bumps up against your clit. A pleasurable moan that Eddie’s come to know very well fills the air.

“Oh, fuck, Eddie,” you whine as you arch your back. “God, that feels so good.”

Now that you’re awake, Eddie kicks it up a notch and starts to devour your pussy. He buries his face so far between your legs that you wonder how he can breathe. A string of involuntary moans and whimpers fall from your lips as you turn your head to the side and squeeze your eyes shut.

The muscles in your body begin to tighten and you try to tell your body that you don’t want to cum yet, that you want to keep enjoying this. Looking down was a mistake though, because the moment you see Eddie’s head between your thighs you feel like you could cum on the spot.

With your top teeth digging into your bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, you reach down for the crown of Eddie’s head with one hand, eager to grab at it and get your fingers lost in the frizzy mess.

“E-Eddie?”

“Mm?” He hums the responses against your pussy, too busy trying to taste every bit of you. There’s no time for words when his mouth is occupied for a far better reason.

“Look at me. Want you to look up at me,” you say, shallow breaths and little whines punctuating the sentence.

Eddie does as he’s told and lifts his head a bit so he can cast his eyes up and meet your gaze. The way that those molten chocolate eyes never waver, never look away while he keeps pleasuring you is your tipping point.

“Ah, fuck, fuck,” you stutter, your one hand gripping onto Eddie’s head for dear life, and the other one clutching at a plush blue blanket so hard that your knuckles turn whiter than the whipped cream you shared at dinner last night.

Two thick fingers breach your hole, and the tongue focuses solely on your clit now.

“Eddie, I’m not gonna…I-I can’t,” you ramble. “Can't hold out. Gotta cum.”

Moaning as if he was the one getting the best oral sex of his life, Eddie pulls away from your pussy to say, “Cum on my tongue, sweet girl. Please.”

Your hips want to jerk, and your legs want to close around Eddie’s head; somehow, you’re able to resist. The vice grip he has on you probably has something to do with it.

With one last moan of your boyfriend’s name, your back arches off the blanket below you and a feeling of euphoria crashes over you. Eddie helps work you through it, pumping his fingers as sparks shoot off behind your closed eyes and your breathing turns erratic. The high spreads all throughout your body, and as it fades, leaves complete satisfaction and tranquility in its wake.

Eddie slips his fingers from your pussy, the sensation causing a brief moment of longing in your otherwise content body. Lazily, you blink your eyes open to see the two fingers that were just inside of you in Eddie’s mouth. He winks at you, causing you to give a breathy chuckle, your breathing still trying to return to its normal rhythm. There’s a soft thud next to you when Eddie plops down to lie at your side. You waste no time scooting closer and laying your head on his bare chest. A comforting arm wraps around you, and you return the gesture by placing a few soft kisses along a particularly deep scar on his chest.

“Morning, beautiful,” Eddie says quietly.

“That’s one hell of a way to wake up, handsome.” You tilt your head up to grin at him, only to find him beaming right back down at you.

Heaving an overdramatic groan, Eddie takes you by surprise and pulls you impossibly tight against his chest, arms holding you prisoner there.

“Can’t breathe.”

“Geez,” Eddie whines, “what’s more important? My hugs or your precious air supply?”

The goofy and flirty tone keeps up as the two of you get ready for the day. Being in such a cramped space, the two of you keep bumping into one another as you look for your swimsuits. Eddie takes advantage of the moments of closeness by stealing kisses. His surprised face is priceless when you turn the tables and steal one from him.

Once you’ve got your bathing suit out, laying on top of your pile of clothes, you shrug out of your shirt. As you pick up the swimsuit, you see Eddie staring at you from the corner of your eye. A loud chuckle busts out of you as you look over to see him ogling your boobs.

“Aren’t you used to seeing them by now?”

Eddie shakes his head and makes grabby hands for you. “No. Gimme.”

You roll your eyes but let him grope your chest as you pull the dark green bathing suit up your legs and over your ass. Eddie’s hands are forced out of the way as you situate the top of your suit to get it to sit right. He may let go of your boobs, but he gives your ass a smack before changing into his own bathing suit.

“Have you had enough?” you ask once his trunks are on. “Can we go see the ocean now?”

“Never enough. But yes, let’s go.”

It’s only a few blocks to the beach and Eddie finds the prime spot since it’s so early in the morning. Sandy dunes littered with beach grass block your view of the ocean, but the sound and smell are unmistakable. The call of a seagull adds to the symphony of waves as you and Eddie get out of the van. A glimpse at Eddie’s face shows he’s grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. It makes your heart skip a beat as you slip your hand into his. He tosses both of your towels on the opposite shoulder and gives your hand a squeeze.

“Ready to see the ocean?” you ask.

“Let’s do it.”

The two of you walk onto the small boardwalk that takes you over the sand dunes. The excitement is practically radiating off of Eddie as you get to the peak of the dock. You’re paying more attention to him than where you’re walking, so you hope you don’t trip.

The moment Eddie’s eyes first see the water, his hand reflexively tightens around yours. His entire face is lit up, his eyes bright and smile infectious. It makes him look years younger, his inner child filled with glee. With every step closer to the water, the antsier he gets. The beach is mostly empty, not a whole lot of people are here to watch the sunrise. And those who are waiting for the dawn are so spread out that you can barely hear the laughter that blows along with the gentle breeze.

You find a spot far enough from the water and kick off your sandals. Eddie follows your lead and spreads the two towels out, though they’re going to get covered in sand anyway. The sun should be rising any minute, heating up the already decently warm air. You trail your eyes from the purpling horizon to your boyfriend. Pale fingers fidget with the hem of his t-shirt and you immediately realize what’s going on in his head.

“Hey,” you murmur. His gaze shifts to you and you step forward and rest your hands on his chest. “You don’t have to take it off if you don’t want to. In fact, I think I want you to keep it on. I know there’s nobody around us now, but if some hot girl comes by later, I’ll have to kick her ass if she tries to steal you from me. But I also wouldn’t be able to blame her. All this…” you slip your hands beneath his shirt and drag your fingers over his abdomen, “is too fucking hot. I’d have to take a run at you too if you weren’t already the love of my life.”

Eddie playfully rolls his eyes at you, but the dusting of pink along his cheeks makes you think you made him feel at least a little better. You’re proven right when he slips his tee off and lets it fall to the towels. Unable to help yourself, you drink in your sexy boyfriend’s body, biting your lip as you scan him up and down. When your eyes trail back up, Eddie is looking out at the water with a mixture of longing and hesitation.

“Wanna go in?” you ask. His eyes meet yours and he looks a little surer.

“Is it going to be cold?”

“Probably, babe.”

“Keep me warm?” he asks.

You pretend to think about it, your forefinger tapping your chin.

“Nope.” You giggle and gently push him in the direction of the water. He gives you a playful glare in return. The sand wriggles between your toes as you start to walk backward, making your way towards the water. Giving Eddie a reassuring smile, you outstretch your arms and offer your hands to him. It only takes him a few seconds before he’s following down after you, gladly slipping his hands into yours.

A wave rushes the shore and you let out a peal of laughter as it engulfs your feet. Eddie yelps in surprise, making you laugh even harder. Your grip on his hands tightens slightly, silently telling him not to run away, to keep going with you. Though his muscles tense up and his shoulders bunch up towards his ears, Eddie keeps his hands firmly grasped in yours.

The farther you walk in, the water level rises up your legs. A wave breaks against your back, but the look of alarm on Eddie’s face registers in your mind before the large splash. Once you start to laugh at the wetness now all over the back of your body, Eddie visibly relaxes. Now that more of you has been subjected to the cold water, you crouch down into the sea, gently tugging on your boyfriend’s hands so he’ll join you.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Eddie lowers his body down and shudders at the chill that washes over his skin. Slowly, you move a little deeper, making sure not to get too far away from the shore. Strong arms wrap around your waist and tug your chest up against his. Your natural response is to slip your arms around Eddie’s neck.

“Congratulations,” you say just loud enough to be heard above the ebb and flow of the ocean around you. “You’re no longer an ocean virgin.”

“Just popping all my cherries with you, huh?” he asks with a smirk.

“Wouldn’t I be the one with the cherry popped?” You wrinkle up your nose and Eddie gently nips at it.

The first rays of light appear over the horizon and the two of you adjust yourselves so you can both watch it while you languidly rock back and forth in the waves. Silence falls between the two of you as the sun inches its way higher. The blue-black of the predawn bleeds into a pink and orange tapestry for all in its presence to admire. The thought of watching a sunrise was never something you’d thought of as emotional before. But as you rest your head against Eddie’s and feel his grip tighten around you, a warm, glowing happiness bubbles up within you. This is the closest anything in life can come to perfection, you think.

Once the sun finishes its debut for the day, Eddie nuzzles his nose against the side of your head until you look up at him. The moment you do, he leans in and presses his lips against yours. The kiss is soft and slow, lazy and cozy. It ends when both of you are smiling too widely to keep your mouths together.

“Can we have more firsts together?” you ask.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well,” you start, “I’m assuming we won’t always wanna bunk with Nancy and Steve, so maybe we’d get a place of our own someday? It doesn’t have to be in Boston; we could even move to Indiana so you can be close to your uncle, or—” You cut yourself off as you realize you’re rambling on. But your boyfriend looks far from annoyed; in fact, the look in his eyes is nothing less than adoring.

“We can figure that out,” he reassures you, pressing another gentle kiss to your nose. He pauses before admitting, “I’ve never felt safe like this before. There’s just something about you.”

“I’m gonna take it that you like this something about me.”

“Good guess.”

“Eddie Munson, I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. More than anything.”

#Eddie Munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson fic #WTHI

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insanelyadd · 1 year

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Designed the Archivists. Mainly so I had faces to punch in my mind. But anyways, Penumbra is the eldest, her color scheme was inspired by some pictures of The Pillars of Creation, Crescent is the second oldest, the outside of the cloak is based on. Well you know. And the interior clothes colors are based off of sunsets. Satellite and Solari are fraternal twins and teens* (for their species *This has since been retconned, they are adults CURRENTLY, but were teens during the war against the Titans). Neither it older than the other because these are cosmic entities and I say it can work that way. Their color schemes aren't actually based on anything in particular but after I chose them and laid out the colors I was like "Wow they look like characters on a preschool show that teach you about space" which is sort of ironic.

More info on them under the cut, lil spoiler alert! They are not nice. They are bad in fact.

Penumbra is the one who came up with the idea to send the Collector to the Titan Planet, mainly to see if he was ready to do the work they were all expected to do, partially so they'd all get a break from them. She is also the one who noticed Collector magic doesn't work on Titans. She got along fine with the Collector when she was teaching him things but would get annoyed very easily when he wanted attention in literally any other situation, so she'd send them to play with Satellite and Solari since they were the closest in age to him. She uses she/her but in a nonbinary way, in that I HC all Collectors are cosmic beings outside our scope of understanding of things like sex and gender.

Crescent actually got along the best with The Collector. He would frequently be gone to do things since she is the most active in exploring planets and acquiring specimens, but when he was home she'd love playing with them. He's probably the most outwardly friendly of the Archivists, which you'd need to be when you're constantly interacting with mortals. She's the one who got the idea to get the mortal witches of the planet to kill Titans, using them as easily sacrificed pawns and tools for removing the "threat". He is the one referred to as the Grand Huntsman. You can tell she's fucked up and evil because he wears socks with sandals. (Yeah I double checked the episode with the Titan Trappers and they never once refer to the Grand Huntsman as anything other than that title or "our god" so I'm using she/he pronouns)

Satellite liked playing with the Collector occasionally as they also are easily bored, but Penumbra sending him to always play with them and Solari easily wore their patience thin, so they'd disappear to do "errands" or "chores" or because they were "tired" when it was really just an excuse to leave him with Solari. If they were forced to interact they would easily lose their cool and yell, at the Collector (initially) or in general (after getting in trouble for yelling at him too much), until he was allowed to leave. Despite their surface affect of cool apathy, they're a hot head. Satellite was the one who got to tell the Collector that he should go play with the Titans.

Solari very actively didn't like being around the Collector. Her brand of being "nice" for his sake would be a constant stream of passive-aggression and cold sarcasm, sending them to do pointless chores or activities, scavenger hunts, etc, anything to get him away from them. If they had to interact for some reason, she would do things like play a game called "shooting star" where she would pick him up and magically throw them as far away as possible into space. She's gotten in trouble for it before when they launched him so far they weren't able to return for nearly an hour (after which everyone had to go out looking for him). The Collector did enjoy this game, because little kids just like being thrown around in general, except for the time everyone had to go looking for him because he was launched too far and couldn't figure out where to go to get home.

#toh #the owl house #toh the archivists #the archivists #toh the collector #the collector #toh collector #insanelyadd #toh spoilers #owl house spoilers #should I tags this as original characters #since they're based on existing characters that just don't have faces or personalities (yet)#like their existence is a bit spoilery #Been writing this up for forever now I FEED (get lunch)

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aspoonofsugar · 21 days

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Hi! Do you have an analysis of hell greastest dad? Do you think it's worth analizing?

Hi!

Yes, I think Hell's Greatest Dad says a lot about Lucifer and Alastor. In particular, I would call it a "set-up song" in how it sets up:

Lucifer and Alastor's foiling

Lucifer's arc in the episode Dad Beat Dad

Alastor's arc (or at least it does some preparatory work)

Future plot-points through foreshadowing

In short, it isn't a song, which pays off immediately and it isn't the thematic heart of the episode (More Than Anything is). Still, it works very well by introducing ideas and conflicts that are postponed. Just like Lucifer and Alastor's rivalry isn't solved because of Mimzy's arrival:

Before I start analyzing the song, here are some metas I am gonna reference in this post:

Alastor and Lucifer's foiling

More Than Anything

An analysis of Alastor

An analysis of Lucifer

LUCIFER AND ALASTOR'S FOILING: DAD LIKE ME

Hell's Greatest Dad is inspired by Aladdin's Friend Like Me.

Some examples:

At the same time, it is a twist on the classic Disney song in two ways:

Lucifer is the geenie advertising his selling points, but Alastor, another geenie, comes and picks a fight (1/2)

The two geenies offer different and complementary things (2/2)

LUCIFER AND ALASTOR'S FOILING 1/2: LIGHT AND SHADOW

Lucifer and Alastor have opposite motifs:

Lucifer has a light motif, as his name means shining one and his powers use light

Alastor has a shadow motif, as his shadow moves on its own and his abilities employ shadows

This imagery ties with jungian symbolism. According to Jung:

The light is the persona, the mask one wears. It is the part of the self a person shows to others. It is what is out in the open and it is often an ideal image.

The shadow is what's hidden and repressed. It is the part of the self the person is unaware of or ignores. It is often what one dislikes about themselves.

Throughout Hell's Greatest Dad, Lucifer and Alastor's conflicting motifs clash with each other.

Lucifer is surrouned by gold (light):

Alastor has a purple background (shadow):

Similarly, Lucifer tries to put off a mask of perfection and power:

Lucifer: Haha! Looks like you could use some help From the Big Boss of Hell himself Check out Daddy's glowing reviews on Yelp Lucifer Muppets: "Five Stars!" "Flawless!" "Greater than great!"

Lucifer shows Charlie his stellar reviews on Yelp, but the ones praising him are Lucifer-puppets. So, the reviews are from puppet accounts and an attempt to look better than what he is.

Alastor instead fights back by using Lucifer's hidden fears and insecurities:

Alastor: I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond Charlie: Awww! Alastor: You're like the child that I wish that I had Lucifer: Uh, what? Alastor: I care for you just like a daughter I spawned Lucifer: Hold on now! Alastor: It's a little funny You could almost call me Dad!

Alastor weaponizes his bond with Charlie against Lucifer. He exagerates his own contributions to the Hazbin Hotel and the closeness he has with Charlie.

At its root, both Lucifer and Alastor don't want to admit they are projecting something on the other.

On the one hand Lucifer doesn't want to face his shortcomings as a father, which Alastor brings to the surface:

Alastor: Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud

On the other hand Alastor doesn't want to admit he is envious of Lucifer's powers and freedom (as this episode reveals, Alastor is on a leash):

Lucifer: Who needs a busboy now that you've got the chef?

None of the two can fully overwhelm the other because neither is ready to face himself. This is why the song ends with the unexpected arrival of another character:

t's me! It's me! Mimzzzyyyyyyy!

Mimzy's color scheme in the song is purple, like Alastor's. That is because she herself is linked to the shadow. Specifically, she is linked to Alastor's own shadow.

To what he is hiding, like his past:

Mimzy: Oh yeah, we go way back, ran in the same circles when we were alive. You know, this one used to frequent the club where I used to perform. He's the only one I knew who could pound whiskey like a sailor then keep up with me on the dance floor!

To what he is repressing, like his need for validation and attention:

Husk: You and I both know Mimzy only shows up when she needs something. That bitch is trouble, and who knows what kind of demon she fucked with to come running to you this time? Alastor: it's nothing I can't handle. Don't worry Husker. Who in their right mind would cross me?

In short, Lucifer tries to get Charlie's praise and is mocked for it by Alastor. Still, Alastor himself shares a bond with Mimzy, where he uses his powers to satisfy her requests in exchange of respect. So, Mimzy takes over Alastor's song like Alastor inserts himself in Lucifer's:

Alastor: Can you butt out of my song? Lucifer: Your song? I started this! Alastor: I'm singing it, I'll finish it! Lucifer: OH, YOU TACKY PIECE OF—! Mimzy: It's me! Yes, it's me! I know you were all waiting for me!

To summarize: Lucifer wears a persona> Alastor steps in as Lucifer's shadow > Mimzy arrives to play Alastor's shadow.

LUCIFER AND ALASTOR'S FOILING 2/2: WANT (HEART) VS NEED (MIND)

Lucifer shows all the impossible and fantastical things he could give Charlie. According to him, he could even twist reality for her:

I'll rig the game for you because I'm the ref! Champagne fountains Caviar mountains That's just to start!

Alastor reminds Charlie of all the down-to-earth things he does for her everyday:

Alastor: I'm your guy, your day-to-day Your chum, your steadfast hotelier Remember when I fixed that clog today?

Lucifer is the want, whereas Alastor is the need. The Devil is the ideal, while the Radio Demon is reality. Both their approaches are needed in Charlie's quest. She has to dream big, but she has also to be pragmatic and face reality.

She needs both mind (Alastor):

Alastor: They say when you're looking for assistance It's smart to pick the path of least resistance

And heart (Lucifer):

Lucifer: Others say that in your needy hour There's no substitute for pure angelic power!

So, Lucifer and Alastor can fight all they want, but in the end they are both needed by Charlie:

Lucifer is linked to dreams and ideals. He is the legacy Charlie inherits and the biological family she wants to re-connect with. Finally, he is Charlie's guide to Heaven, as he sets up her meeting with Sera and Emily.

Alastor is linked to fear and the unknown. He is the ally Charlie finds by herself and the found family she chooses. Finally, he is Charlie's guide in Hell, as he introduces her to Rosie and helps her inspire the cannibals.

LUCIFER: DEVIL AND ANGEL

Lucifer's arc in Dad Beat Dad can be summarized by juxtaposing Hell's Greatest Dad with More Than Anything.

Hell's Greatest Dad focuses on how Lucifer is the "Big Boss of Hell himself":

The lyrics reference pacts with the devils, pentagrams and sacrificial lambs:

Oh, with the punch of a pentagram I wap-bam-boom, alakazam Usually, I charge a sacrificial lamb But you get the family rate (thanks dad!)

And the music plays homage to The Devil Went Down to Georgia, with Lucifer playing the Devil's famous golden fiddle:

At the same time, Lucifer is very self-centered throughout the whole song:

He keeps self-duplicating, as he himself sings how great he is. This ties with the fact he is trying to project an image of power and confidence. He is hiding under a metaphorical rug all his insecurities and flaws. He is repressing the shadow.

However, Charlie doesn't really want the Devil. She needs the Fallen Angel. It is this side of Lucifer that comes out in More Than Anything:

This song explores Lucifer's past as an angel and the pain of his fall. All things he tries to hide out of shame. Still, he shares them with Charlie together with his most genuine self. By doing so, he acts selflessly and puts Charlie's needs and wishes above his own. He puts his daughter at the centre of the scene:

Lucifer shows Charlie his shadow, which actually makes his light stronger:

In Dad Beat Dad Lucifer goes from Hell's Greater Dad, where he is linked to fire and demonic symbolism, to More Than Anything, where he is characterized by light and angelic imagery. From want (Champagne fountains, caviar mountains) to need (I'll support your dream whatever lies in store).

ALASTOR: GROUNDWORK

Alastor's part in Hell's Greatest Dad is similar to his role in Stayed Gone. Both times, a powerful demon is singing his song, only for Alastor to come and throw off their groove. Still, there are some differences:

In Stayed Gone, Vox is focused on Alastor to the point his whole performance is a cry for attention from the Radio Demon. Alastor in fact has central stage, as Vox sings about him and to him. In Hell's Greatest Dad instead Alastor is an afterthought. Lucifer is singing to Charlie with some occasional backhanded insult to the Radio Demon. Basically, in the first song Vox is looking for attention. In the second, it is Alastor himself, who wants to be looked at:

In Stayed Gone Alastor easily takes control of the song and by the end he dominates it. In Hell's Greatest Dad Alastor fails to do the same. Not only Lucifer puts up a fight, but by the end Mimzy arrives and steals the stage. This difference mirrors Alastor's spiral throughout the season. He starts wearing a mask of control, but slowly he reveals himself as controlled. This progression is shown in his songs. He dominates Stayed Gone, he fails to take over Hell's Greatest Dad and he loses his control in the Finale:

At the same time, both Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad set up important plot-points in Alastor's arc. On the one hand Vox's song implies him and Alastor have some unfinished business. On the other hand Lucifer's song foreshadows some deeper conflict going on between Alastor and the King of Hell. What is more, the song frames the Devil and the Radio Demon as intertwined characters.

This last point is made clear by both Dad Beat Dad and Hell's Greatest Dad referencing the Pilot multiple times.

1-Hell's Greatest Dad references Inside of Every Demon is a Lost Cause in three ways:

Alastor changes the surroundings by using neon lights, like in the Pilot

Alastor dances with Charlie in the same spot they dance in the Pilot

Lucifer summons a slot machine, like Alastor does in the Pilot

2-Both in Dad Beat Dad and in the Pilot, Alastor is trying to win Charlie's favor and to steal her away from a loved one. In the Pilot he does so with Vaggie, whereas in the episode, he gets in Lucifer's way.

3-Both the Pilot and Dad Beat Dad have a character explain Alastor's backstory:

Vaggie: He began to topple Overlords who have been dominant for centuries. That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a mortal soul before. Then, he broadcast his carnage all throughout Hell just so everyone could witness his ability. Sinners started calling him "The Radio Demon" (as lazy as that is). Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled him to rival our world's most ancient and destructive evils.

Mimzy: He appeared in Hell suddenly, making a splash quicker than anyone had ever seen. At first, people wanted to dismiss him. but soon, overlords started going missing, and not small ones neither. We're talking heavy. hitters. No one knew what happened to 'em, until these strange radio broadcasts started going out. All you could hear were screams. Every time an overlord went missing, there'd be a new voice screaming in the broadcast! That's when Alastor revealed himself as the radio demon, and anyone that would mess with him… well, let's just say, his broadcasts never lacked new voices.

Why are there so many connections between the two episodes? It is to cement Lucifer and Alastor's foiling. For example, it is telling Alastor gets major focus in Lucifer's debut episode. Not only that, but all these calls back reveal their bond has been prepared and foreshadowed since the pilot:

Alastor looks at the Morningstar Family's portrait and narrows his eyes in the Pilot.

This is why the Pilot itself is full of phrases Alastor says that are given to Lucifer in the series proper:

Alastor: Well, I'm starved! Who wants some Jambalaya?

Lucifer: Sooo.... Who's up for pancakes?

Alastor: Yes, sir! This is the start of some real changes down here! The game is set! Now… Stay tuned. Hahaha…!

Lucifer: Come on, little lady, why the frown? In the last 10,000 years You're the first one to change this town!

Alastor: After all, the world is a stage and the stage is a world of entertainment.

Lucifer: The stage is wrecked, the crowd is gone But by God, Charlie! The show, it must go on!

Basically, the Radio Demon and the Devil are incredibly similar, to the point that they convey the same ideas in opposite ways. In particular, the Pilot tells us what their shared arc is gonna be:

Alastor: Hahaha, why does anyone do anything? Sheer, absolute boredom! I've lacked inspiration for decades. My work became mundane, lacking focus, aimless! I've come to crave a new form of entertainment! Hahaha!

Alastor and Lucifer are at their root two artists who are uninspired and find new drive (for different reasons) in Charlie's big lofty dream. The ways they will approach this journey and where their foiling will go is left to be seen.

FORESHADOWING

Hell's Greatest Dad has some foreshadowing for The Show Must Go On:

This frame and Lucifer's line about him charging sacrificial lambs for his help hint at how the final battle is gonna go. Dazzle, who plays the sacrificial lamb in the song, dies, which frees Lucifer from his pact with Heaven. As a matter of fact Lute kills a Hellborn, which goes against the rules, so Lucifer intervenes and saves his daughter. In short, Lucifer helps Charlie in exchange for Dazzle's life.

Here it is everything I can think of when it comes to this song! I hope you like it :) and thank you for the ask!

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel meta #lucifer morningstar #lucifer hazbin #alastor #alastor hazbin #my meta #dallina17 #asksfullofsugar

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frostycatblr-fandom-files · 17 days

Text

Of Honeysuckle and Haiku [Tech x Fem!Reader]

Warnings and Information: This is my submission for an event hosted by the wonderful @cloneficgiftexchange, written for @apocalyp-tech-a. I hope you enjoy my first Tech x Reader! 2nd Person POV, undescribed Fem!Reader who works as an analyst/researcher for the GAR. Minor AU changes (no missing and/or dead Clones here (but Echo is still part of CF99)!). Prompt sentence/s will be orange to keep in line with the color scheme of the graphics. Tech has a “secret” crush on Reader that she knows about. Flirting is stored in the info-dumping/poetry. Star Wars and real-world swearing is as naughty as it gets. Some Mando’a. Brief references and allusions to injury and other canon-typical violence, and a small flashback where Reader’s senior colleagues are (implied to be) behaving like jerks to Tech, but nothing explicit. Use of stylistic and narrative italics. Fictional flowers.

Prompt: Can't we ever go to a nice place? | Oh, that's what that button does.

Word-count: 8,270

Another Primeday, another pile of notes in your locker.

That's how the weeks always started.

You worked closely with the Grand Army of the Republic as something of an analyst and unofficial bookkeeper, going on for two years now. Colleagues and work-friends would slip scraps of flimsiplast in the ventilation grooves of your locker as a way of non-electronic communication.

The old fashioned way, older department heads joked.

The flimsi stacks contained a mishmash of written comms. Inside jokes. Recipe trades. Reminders to get CT-6922’s helmet serviced for the video feed you needed for Jais in the Reverse-Engineering Department if they're ever going to find out how that new Separatist spider droid worked.

And a poem, written in spidery Aurebesh lettering from your “secret admirer”. Always the top of the pile that collected at the bottom of your locker.

You knew full well who it was after a while, piecing together all the clues he'd strung along for you. Game recognizes game, as they say. It took cracking a complicated cipher in order to-

Nah, who are you kidding?

You got impatient and asked Jais in R.E.D. to help you with scrubbing the security footage for the last person to stop by your locker one morning, finding a haiku waiting for you. A haiku regarding subject matter you had just been discussing with a colleague the other day who had a grueling day of carefully dissecting a Flame Beetle from Kashyyyk ahead of them, and you were slated to assist them.

The shimmering shell That conceals a beetle’s wing Is called elytra - I wish I was a beetle

Mild alarm that someone was messing with you turned to curiosity soon after; it had been Tech of Clone Force 99 who dropped the poem into your locker some weeks ago.

He'd been helping the analysts while he got his leg in working order, having broken both the tibia and fibula of his left leg in a skirmish. (That's about as much as you knew at the time.) Tech would be returning to fieldwork sooner than later; between check-ups and some physical therapy work, the genius and navigator of CF99 kept himself busy here, so he would still feel useful to the GAR while recovering.

Of all the analysts Tech assisted, you seemed to be his favorite given that you actually liked letting him help you, and didn't saddle him with a dull day of deskwork like some of the senior analysts who wanted him out of their hair.

You felt it was incredibly unfair to Tech, but there was nothing you could say to change their minds. You'd tried.

Instead of reading this week's new stack of flimsi notes from your weekend off at your locker, you decide you'll read them at your desk for a change. The smell of Tech’s typical caf blend is particularly inviting this morning. It’s been raining since last week, this morning the hardest yet. Thank the Maker you had a rain repeller in proper working order for the walk to the research center from the speeder cabs.

“Good morning, Tech.”

Sitting down, from around the other side of the desk, you can see he's in a walking boot now. An improvement from when you last saw him just two short days ago.

“Hey, that's a good sign! Think you'll be back with the rest of the Bad Batch soon?”

You take no offense when his eyes do not lift from the screen of his datapad. “Good morning. I suppose, yes…” He doesn't sound entirely enthusiastic like one might've expected, but you have enough of a grasp on his mannerisms by now to know that Tech is eager to return to his brothers in due time.

You've met the rest of his squad on a handful of occasions as they've come to check on him, making sure he's not missing all the action by keeping him up to speed on their exploits.

Smiling, you slide a cup of caf you believe to be Tech’s closer to him as you leaf through the notes from your locker.

“Don't let your caf get cold.”

The datapad drops away. “That is for you,” he explains, “if you desire to try it, that is. I recalled you expressing interest in the last blend of caf I brought in, saying that it smelled good last Taungsday.”

You blink, surprised he remembered those details. Well, not that surprised; you understood Tech had a remarkable memory that allowed him to recall obscure details. It’s saved you from a few headaches, like that same Taungsday when a visiting representative from Glee Anslem insisted upon having the innocuous bouquet of Nabooian Honeysuckles sent off for allergen testing. Whatever it was that provoked the Nautolan’s (thankfully minor) allergic reaction, it was not the flowers, though they were refused return.

Shame… the delicate white, orange and cream blossoms were such a thoughtful gift from Senator Amidala to the visiting representative and now they look so out of place on your desk, still in the elaborate ceramic vase they came in. You’re going to need to find a way to return it to Ms. Amidala once the flowers have shriveled and lost all their silky petals.

Thanking Tech for the thoughtfulness behind brewing you a cup of caf, you give it a careful taste and find the flavor far more robust than the instant mix the breakroom keeps on hand while you read the first of the notes. (Looked to be a heads-up that a commando had some grisly footage to be analyzed because Trandoshan pirates were involved and the credits were on Delta Squad being responsible.)

“Mmm… That’s nice. Thank you again, Tech.”

“You are welcome.” he replies, half-ducking his head back down into the datapad, though his eyes remain on you.

Framed by the yellow lenses of the black-strapped goggles he wears, there is an observative nature to those brown eyes. The phenotypic eye color for all Clones is brown, he explained to you once. Though yes, there were a few aberrations in physical traits among his brothers in the GAR, just not quite to the same scale as the experimental squadron that Echo from the 501st Legion (once thought to be dead) joined not long ago. Echo still keeps in contact with the 501st, Captain Rex and a brother named Fives the closest of all. You figure what he must have been reading off his tablet before he came in this morning were more messages from his brothers.

Setting aside notes as you read them, you’re careful to keep the scrap of poetry for last as always. Wonder what it’ll be today. A sonnet? Free-verse? Acrostic or maybe a limerick? Another haiku? Tech seemed to love leaving you haikus most of all.

Still finding his eyes upon you, you lay aside the last note about keeping an eye out for a missing label-maker and delicately clear your throat. “Yes, Tech?” You’re careful to offer him a friendly smile, a quiet measure of assurance that you’re not annoyed or disturbed by his watchfulness.

“Senator Amidala sent a letter of apology to the center regarding the honeysuckles and vase,” he begins, explaining the letter was forwarded to everyone who worked in the analysis department, “and since she feels terrible about the situation inadvertently caused for both her guest and the center, she suggested someone is welcome to keep both, if they wish.”

“Well that’s very kind of the senator.” you reply, giving the flowers on your desk a look of consideration, one that prompts a strange expression out of the genius you generously share your desk with.

You ask what the matter is with another swig of caf.

“I hope you don’t mind too terribly that I… accepted on your behalf.” Tech confesses, aware he’s more than likely crossed a line by doing so. You and Tech do not know each other all that well, but he’s strung together enough clues to have some idea of what you like. He’s noticed what you give the most attention to, and you had secretly been admiring the Nabooian bouquet for some time on Taungsday…

Cautiously, Tech adds, “You could always give them to a friend.”

Casting a third glance over the tri-colored flowers, Tech is assured that won’t be necessary, and he’d been correct in his assessment all along. “I don’t mind at all; thanks for saving me the trouble. I was secretly hoping to take these home, I’ve been obsessed with Naboo for a while now…” you admit, dropping your voice into a near-conspiratorial whisper.

There was an often sunny windowsill back home with plenty of space for the vase and flowers that would make for the perfect spot to show both off. Maybe it’d inspire you to finally take that trip to Naboo you always wanted. Naboo sounded like a nice place, nestled in the Chrommell system of the Outer Rim Territories.

Idyllic, picturesque, it was often described.

All this analyst-work had you in a position to see the glorious, the gory, and everything in-between in the adventures of the Grand Army day in and day out. Compiling reports near and far was beginning to instill a sense of longing for adventure in you; nothing grand was necessary, just something different. Something beyond the walls of the GAR research center here among the Core Worlds.

I’ll be satisfied with a taste of adventure. Just one bite. Just one, I promise.

The yellow-lensed goggles are adjusted. “What fascinates you so much about Naboo?” Tech asks, curiosity burning at him.

“Oh… I dunno,” you say with a shrug, smiling, “it’s hard to put it all into words.” And you wouldn’t exactly have the time, either, with your shift due to start soon. While you’ve still got the time, you should finish as much of the caf as you can before it grows cold, and finally get around to this new poem Tech’s left for you. Maybe he can already guess that you know these are from him, but a part of you finds it fun in some way to pretend you don’t.

Fixing an errant strand of hair back in place, you unfold the note and read. Another haiku, today, lamenting the dreary weather.

To simpler splendors Like summer's gentle breezes and honey most sweet - When will the rain stop?

You find it curious and strange - this possible complaint - given you know Clones come from the storm-cloaked world of Kamino. Surely this weather feels just like home for him; familiar, maybe even comforting. But maybe it’s not his complaint, it could have been your own off-handed remark from some time ago that he’s echoing back to you now.

Tech’s level of observation was truly incredible, sometimes. You already felt yourself missing his knowledgeable presence once he was healed up and returned to the Bad Batch. That wouldn’t happen until he was rid of the walking boot and cleared for active duty, which was mildly comforting to you, selfishly speaking. Logically you know this arrangement is temporary, and you will not always have your willing assistant.

A willing assistant who has given his attention to closing off communications with Wrecker, from the sound of things as CF99’s genius reads the messages under his breath. Tech is trying very hard to appear like he’s not taken notice that you’ve read his latest haiku.

You set the poetry aside along with the other locker notes, and pick up your clipboard full of the day’s tasks. “Take your time, Tech.” you promise, chuckling warmly as he flashes the famous pointer finger in your direction, requesting just an extra moment. “I know Wrecker misses having his big brother around.”

Tech says nothing in response to your teasing quip, only offering an appreciative if distracted smile before he’s ready to help you with your tasks for the day.

On Primedays, the first item of business on the list is often the most nerve-wracking of all your assignments, today no exception.

“Dammit, I grabbed the wrong screwdriver… Would you mind handing me the… the, uh…?” Tech takes the incorrect screwdriver from your fingers and replaces it with what you need while you struggle to think of the name for the correct type, much to your relief. “Oh, thank you Tech. Will you need this back when I’m done?”

Tech nods, a silent promise it was no trouble. “I will not. I’m finished with what I needed it for. Feel free to use it as long as you need.” He does not need to remind you to go slowly.

Your first research assignment of the morning involves dismantled bombs, and the additional Clone tucked in one corner of the room clad in the bright orange of ordnance specialists serves as an eye-catching distraction rather than a precautionary measure. Nicknamed Reddy, this Clone trooper is only doing his job, of course; he’s supposed to be here as part of the protocol. This facility has gone one thousand and twenty-seven days without an explosive incident, which is a comforting number, but there is no room for complacency. In the unlikely event a bomb somehow reactivates, Red Wire is here to snuff it out for good.

(Or tell everyone to evacuate and seek shelter if he somehow can’t.)

Helmet clipped to his utility belt, Reddy is reading the printed report, bobbing his head in time to some jaunty tune he’s got stuck in his head. “Disarmed and partially dismantled by… CT-9903. That’s your squadmate Wrecker, right?”

“Correct.” Tech replies tersely, hoping not to prove himself distracting to you. He’s only standing as close as he is to give or take tools as you need them.

Reddy nods his head in approval of the work scattered over the examination table. “He did a good job. Definitely has the gentle touch needed for bomb disposal.” Yes… Wrecker certainly had steadier nerves than yourself right now. You would prefer not to have shaking hands, no matter how incapable this bomb is… should be… of going off.

“Reddy…”

He catches the warning. “Sorry, ma’am.”

You just need to pull off a particular durasteel plate, and take detailed pictures of a unique section of wiring to enter it into the GAR database of known bomb constructs and find close or exact matches. Then Reddy has the pleasure of disposing of the remnants for you. Fewer distractions while you remove notoriously fiddly screws, the better.

So why are your hands still shaking now that you should be able to focus again?

“... dammit…” You’ve worked yourself up about the unsteady nature of your hands now. Stress will only worsen it, prolonging the tremble. Setting the screwdriver aside is the best course of action until you can find your nerve.

Rational thoughts, you remind yourself, everyone has had this happen to them at one time or another.

“May I?” Tech offers, voice softer than you ever remember it being before now.

He is careful in offering to help without immediately trying to take over your work. Tech recognizes you are capable in all the various aspects of your job, and he does not wish to undermine or blow off your expertise. He understands from experience how that can be frustrating, even disrespectful.

And Tech aims to be very respectful of you. He's been very careful in how he's hinted his interest in you thus far. (Maybe too careful.) The haikus in your locker had been because he heard you liked poetry, and he proactively accepted the honeysuckles Senator Amidala offered for the trouble because he thought you might like them. Sharing his favorite blend of caf was a decision more premeditated than the other two.

You step to the side, accepting the offer.

“Thank you, Tech...” you say, gesturing to the tools in an unspoken measure of please, by all means. Tech takes position where you previously stood, and begins to work on the dismantled explosive. Long, dexterous fingers make the process of loosening and extracting the remaining screws look deceptively easy.

“You’ll want your datapad soon,” Tech suggests helpfully, soon down to just two more corner screws to remove.

“Oh, yes…!”

Scooping the tablet off of the examination table, you habitually skip your fingers across the reactive transparisteel and pull up the camera function, priming everything to capture the colorful chaos of wiring and circuitry inside once Tech has removed the panel. Once it is lifted out of the way, Tech side-steps to allow you in front of the bomb once more so that you can capture records for the GAR database.

However, the camera will not focus.

“Strange…” You tap the center of the screen, hoping perhaps the datapad will behave like your modern comlink and auto-focus, but it does not give you the result you hoped for. You chuckle somewhat bashfully. “Sorry, it’s… been a while since I’ve used this old datapad for taking pictures.”

“Press the red, center button on the top row twice.”

Taking the advice of the bespectacled Clone beside you, the image on the screen comes into crisp focus, not a detail lost. “Oh, that’s what that button does.” This tablet is an older generation, but the facility keeps it because it's sturdy and reliable. No sense in replacing perfectly good technology so long as it continues to work.

“Been using these tablets for ages and I never knew that. How'd you know that?” Reddy asks from the corner, safely voicing his curiosity now that the hard part is behind you. “Just real tech-savvy, I take it. That how you get your name?”

Tech smiles knowingly. “Learning the ins and outs of each machine I use is crucial to my effectiveness in service of the Republic. Much in the same way you're here to assist the researchers, analysts and reverse engineers in bomb identification, in some cases.” The second question goes unanswered, you notice, but Reddy seems to let it go.

“Hah, can't argue with that comparison!” he says agreeably, his smile sunny. You’ve always liked that about this particular member of the bomb squad; Red Wire has an optimistic disposition and general attitude despite the nerve-rattling nature of his job. He’s not terribly jaded or gruff like some of the other Clones on rotation at this facility.

Once you've collected all your necessary pictures, you are promised that he'll take it from here. “Good work as ever ma'am. I'll clean up while you get started on the search.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the help as always from both you and Tech.” you say, patting him on the shoulder before you follow after Tech, who’s already making his way back to your desk, neck craned over his datapad. Stepping past the blast doors to catch up to Tech, you breathe a sigh of relief while Red Wire begins the disposal process, the hardest task of the morning behind you.

“Glad that’s over,” you say, finally feeling your quickened pulse slowing at last, “Thank you for the help once again, Tech.” You’re certain he heard the first thank you, but extra gratitude never killed anyone.

Tech’s deliberate stride slows to match with yours. “It was no trouble. I thought you might want the help.” A polite smile breaks the veneer of the usual expression of thoughtfulness and concentration you’ve become accustomed to in the time Tech’s been here.

You’re very familiar with how he appears when he’s concentrated: the furrowed brow, his shoulders rolled forward, the subconscious setting and unsetting of his jaw as he mulls over a million thoughts. Wowing your colleagues with how he could extrapolate info from separate, complex datasets within multiple windows on the screen of his datapad without error.

The way his brown eyes, deep and dark, looked like honey when framed behind his goggles…

Sitting down at your desk where you fire up the database you’ll be working with, already you see the slight furrow of his brow as Tech takes his seat on the other side, trading messages with his squadmates while he elevates his leg to alleviate the pressure of the walking boot. Tech misses being out there in the field more and more with every passing day.

“Tell ‘em I said hi.” you request with a soft chuckle before allowing him to concentrate on keeping himself in the loop. You just have to hope his handsome face painted in deep concentration doesn’t prove too distracting for you as you cross-reference your wire samples. The squad leader of the Bad Batch, Sergeant Hunter, had teased Tech once a few weeks ago, when he dropped by with Echo, on the depths of Tech’s concentration. That’s when you’d truly taken notice of it for the first time.

Tech, utterly embroiled in some “little” project he’d created for himself here at the research center, was staying long after your scheduled hours, repeatedly promising that you really don’t have to stay here.

You turn another page in your holomag. “I’ll be fine staying here a little longer. I want to make sure none of the senior analysts bother you. Again.” It was a slow Zhellday afternoon you had no other plans for, and a couple of people a little further up the chain of command really had a bug up their ass about Tech’s presence here today in particular, continually complaining about an incident with his crutches.

Someone hadn’t been looking where they were going and bumped into the mobility aids propped against a wall, knocking them over this morning. Unfortunately, there had been a tray of glass instruments set aside nearby that did not survive the crutches’ sudden descent. The senior analysts, most of them much older than you, wanted him thrown out of the facility and have the agreement with the GAR that Tech would be here until his broken leg healed nullified.

“He’s got a broken leg! Is he supposed to just hobble around the lab without his crutches? It was an accident, but I’m starting to suspect you’re looking for excuses to get rid of him because you’re feeling threatened by his intellect!”

Clone Force 99’s second-in-command hums shortly in delayed response, a frown marring his otherwise concentrated expression. Tech adjusts his goggles as he pours over some reference. The man with partial skull iconography inked across his similarly tanned face next to Tech carefully nudges him with his elbow.

“Tech, this is when you’re supposed to tell the nice lady thank you.” Hunter warns him, teasingly of course. He’s gotten back from a long deployment, and rather than going to the nearest mess hall with Wrecker and Crosshair, he’s come to check up on Tech, finding that he’s still at the GAR research center. He’s too tired to give any kind of reprimand just for the sake of appearances.

“Especially after this morning… Don’t make me do the nat-born thing, vod.”

Tech sort of scoffs, the threat of referring to him by his CT number, like a misbehaving natural-born child hearing the use of their middle name, by his brother having little effect.

“No thanks necessary, honestly.” You turn the page to your holomag, skimming the article to see if it’s worth an in-depth read, then meet Hunter’s eye. “It was honestly a bit cathartic to have a go at those jerks.” Decrying them as jerks to the squad leader of the Bad Batch was putting it real mildly given your true thoughts of them right about now.

Echo gives you a knowing nod. The sergeant smirks, and this is what gets Tech to break his silence.

“Don’t, Hunter.”

“Glad you made a friend, Tech.” Hunter says it with complete sincerity, so far as you can tell. Leaning back in the borrowed lab chair, Hunter kicks his feet up for a moment on a corner of the desk to adjust some parts of his armor. “Wrecker might get jealous.”

“I think we all would.” Echo says with a kind chuckle.

“Plenty of me to go around,” you promised the three of them, “I love making friends with the GAR.”

A few hours later, now four items deep into your checklist for the day with the wire cross-referencing behind you, you lean back in your chair and stretch your arms above your head, feeling something pop with great satisfaction. “Mmm! That felt good. Hey, Tech?” He nods to show he hears you, at which point you continue. “I’m thinking of running home real quick during lunch to take the honeysuckles home so I’m not wrestling with those on top of everything else I’ll have to take with me tonight. You gonna be okay on your own for a bit?”

“I will be fine.” he assures you, sliding the clipboard from “your” side of the desk over to his. “I may need the password to your desk-mounted computer terminal, however.”

“It’s ‘naboofields’. All one word, no capitals, special characters or letters.”

You root around your desk for one of the seemingly innumerable sticky-flim pads you possess, scribbling down the password - just in case - as neatly as you can before removing the top flimsi-note and hand it over to him. Honeyed eyes blink once in mild surprise after he inspects your handwriting.

“Not very secure, I know.” you laugh bashfully, straightening a few sheafs of flimsiplast before gathering up the stack of locker notes to tuck them in your pocket. Busywork to avoid any kind of lecturing look. But when you meet his eyes for the moment before wondering how best to pick up the ceramic vase full of beautiful tri-colored honeysuckle, you find no disappointment. Only more curiosity.

“Have you ever been to Naboo?” Tech asks. He’s noticed this particular topic has been cropping up a lot between the idle doodles on flimsi scraps of the bulbous Shaak grazing through lush emerald fields and little reminders you’ve written to yourself scattered across your desk lately. Ticket prices. Best time of year to go. Popular festivals. Fashion. You were weaving a curious pattern.

Tech doesn’t do this very often, but he hazards a guess. Could you perhaps be… homesick?

“Were you born there?”

You shake your head. “I wasn’t born there, and I’ve never visited before. Naboo’s just some… silly dream of mine lately.”

“Why do you say ‘silly’?” The question is earnest and sincere, and Tech sits forward off the backrest of the lab chair, posture straightening out. “Has someone said something unkind about your desire to see Naboo?” He couldn’t imagine why someone would disparage this; many galactic citizens express some level of desire to visit this planet in the Chrommell sector at least once in their lifespan.

He’s assured there’s no one being unkind to you when you wave him off, sliding the vase across your desk carefully. “No one other than me, I guess. I dunno when I’d ever have a chance to go visit between the work I do for the GAR, plus being in the middle of the Clone Wars for stars’ sake…” You’re considering if it would be worth telling him about your developing case of wanderlust, your craving for a taste of adventure. (Just a taste… just a taste!)

What Tech was supposed to do with that revelation, you weren’t sure. Did you want his help planning this whimsical trip? Or did you just need to confide in him with this harmless little secret?

“Would it be impolite to presume you don’t have many vacation days accrued in order to enjoy a short holiday?” Tech assumes you’re well aware of labor laws the GAR has to comply with for civilian staffing, like yourself, but he has no means of knowing how much PTO you have stored up without rooting into the system.

“Karabast, I- I hadn’t even thought of…” Your thoughts trail off as you look out one of the rain-spattered panes of transparisteel and determine you need to stop by your locker to gather your weather wear and rain repeller. When was the last time you had some extended leave from work that wasn’t a sick day, anyways? “I have some PTO I’m owed, but I try to be smart and save it for emergencies… I, uh, think I have more than two week’s worth.” Truthfully it’s been some time you looked at the amount of PTO you’ve accrued. It very well could be less than you remember, or more than you imagine.

Tech makes a quiet murmur of agreement that saving the time off for emergencies is rather smart, shrugging after a stretch of clearly contemplative silence. “I was merely curious.” The statement makes it tempting to tease him in return, say something like aren’t you always? but he has something more to say before you work up the nerve, gesturing to the clipboard. “May I watch the helmet footage for you while you take the Nabooian Honeysuckles home?”

“I was warned it was grisly.” you caution him out of kindness, thinking back to one of the locker notes. “So, as long as you don’t mind or won’t be bothered, I suppose you can look at the footage for me… Credits are on it being sent from Delta Squad.”

Scrutinizing the datadisc, Tech finds RC-1207 etched into it. Commando Sev, he tells you, went missing on Kashyyyk for a month early in the war… (Thank the Maker, his pod brothers had been fortunate in finding him.) Sev has never spoken of the experience.

“This should prove to be fascinating, in some regard.” Tech speculates, slotting the disc into an external inspection device to set everything up to complete this in your absence. Goggles are adjusted every so slightly, changing the way they are seated on his face. “I’ll leave the notes for you on your desk by the time you return.” he promises.

You make sure you’ve gathered the last of your things, saying that you better get going now that everything’s agreed upon. Carefully cradling the vase in the crook of your arm, you arrange the bouquet slightly with your free hand to avoid bruising any of the velveteen petals as you carry it.

Turning on your heel, you head for your locker to collect your rain repeller. “Appreciate it, Tech, thank you. I’ll catch you later.”

“Watch out for the deeper puddles, don’t slip.” Tech calls after you.

He’s overheard many of your colleagues using this phrase the last couple of days to warn one another; the longer the rain’s gone on, the deeper the areas of rain retention have become since the water table is oversaturated. There has been no break in the weather, but the end is in sight.

‘When will the rain stop?’ Soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

Habitually, you call back that you’ll be careful and another farewell, flashing him a sunny smile as you head out the door for the speeder cabs, the honeysuckles in one hand, repeller in the other. You don’t expect to be gone long.

Taking the vase full of honeysuckle home is your highest priority, right along with making sure the flimsiplast scraps in your pocket remain dry. Flimsi, while conveniently reusable, was hair-thin, had a slight transparency to it, and dissolved in water. (Why some disposable gowns for med centers were made out of the acrylic material when it was kriffing semi-transparent you had yet to figure out.) If you were careful of the shifting winds before you got to a speeder cab, Tech’s poems would stay safe and dry in your pockets, joining the others in a box of precious keepsakes at home.

Maybe you could put them all in a scrapbook one day, able to read and admire them all at leisure, or whenever you miss having new haikus show up in your locker once Tech’s broken leg is fully healed and he rejoins his brothers. Tech’s been careful not to voice how much he’s come to miss his brothers - else he risks sounding ungrateful for the research center agreeing to let him assist there after much back and forth - but you know he’s getting somewhat impatient.

“If I had known a second BX droid was around the boulder, I wouldn’t have tried to kick the first over the precipice…”

“That’s how you broke your leg?”

“Had it broken for me when the commando droid grabbed me, more accurately. Better me than Echo��”

He’d return to his brothers in time with the whole of hyperspace at his fingertips. Hunter would get his second-in-command back. The Havoc Marauder will have both of her pilots and it won’t be Echo spending time alone in the cockpit. Wrecker and Crosshair will once again have their brother to parse through factitious scenarios and the complicated mathematics necessary to pull it off relating to their enhancements to help one another in staving off hyperspace hypnosis.

And you’d go back to dreading Primedays and dreaming of clover covered plains on Naboo between every string of data you analyze for the GAR once Tech left. You’d miss the extra pair of capable hands and his talented, dare you say exceptional, mind. You’d miss the presence of yellow-lensed goggles and the steady, red light of the cylindrical camera attached to them that sometimes followed you around the analyst lab, that were as much a part of Tech’s face as the rest of his features.

You’d miss him and the harmless little crush Jais teases you over since helping you find out who your secret admirer was.

“Swing by your locker lately?”

“You have better eyesight than a Mynock but all the subtlety of a Reek, Jais. Yes I saw he left me another haiku.”

“What do they say?”

So much by using so little.

Tech has just seventeen syllables to work with, but boy does he make them work.

They will last far longer than any tender blossom, tucked carefully on the windowsill and lovingly arranged to fill in the gaps in the bouquet during transport. Home only for a short time, you settle for tucking the new haikus and other notes on the low table in the living room to sort through later tonight while eating dinner.

Come to think of it, maybe you should invite Tech over for dinner sometime, while he’s still here. (While there’s still time to leave things behind in order to remember him by.) He’s been staying in temporary accommodations in the unofficial research district since the nearest GAR barracks are an hour away, and the district isn’t too far from your place. You’re not sure what the protocol on this is (or if there’s any), and he’s more than welcome to turn you down, but-

This harmless crush has gone beyond only going one way.

You’re going to miss Tech when he leaves, not just because it means you'll lose an eager assistant who shares what he learns while you work. You've grown to like him in ways you haven't devoted proper time to exploring why with the nature of your work, but you like Tech too. And you don’t want just a vase full of honeysuckle that will one day wither and a smattering of haikus to remember him by.

You want something more. Something meaningful before he goes back to making mayhem for the Separatists.

And maybe it can start today, if you're clever enough.

It's time to stop daydreaming.

When you return to the research center, you first put your rain repeller away in your locker and collect the few notes that appeared while you were out. No new poems, only warnings that one of the senior analysts had a bug up their ass the size of a mynock (scratch that, a bantha) again over something minor, and it's best to stay out of their way until they cooled off.

“Hey, Tech, I'm back.” You announce your return from the lockers to avoid potentially startling him, finding him fiddling with a part of his vambrace. “Got some cryptic notes in my locker. Feel like I missed some excitement while I was away.”

“Yes… You certainly did.” One of the analysts lost their temper with the ‘newfangled’ caf-pot in the break room, Tech explains. Nothing newfangled about it in truth, it just wasn't working because it had been unplugged for cleaning and someone just forgot to leave a note.

“Speaking of notes,” he says as an aside, procuring a printed message from Lieutenant Waxer of Ghost Company in the 212th, “This came in just before you arrived while I was at the copier.”

Giving the lieutenant’s request a once-over, you find a general greeting after the Grand Army of the Republic’s letterhead, asking if someone would mind helping him locate the origin of a particular word in the language of the Twi’leks. Printed requests are deemed non-urgent, but it’s simple enough that you don’t mind adding his query to the bottom of your daily checklist, on which you find only the helmet footage crossed off.

“Thought you’d have gotten more done than this.” you say, chuckling as you take a seat at your desk.

Tech adjusts his goggles and meets your eye. “Felt it would be impolite to take your work from you when we had an agreement for just the footage.” He returns to fiddling around with his vambrace and his datapad, perhaps trying to sync something up.

His concern of taking further work from you without asking is very kind, and rather touching. You feel warmth in your face disproportionate to the heating system warming the labs on this rainy day. “Oh. Well, I wouldn’t have minded too much, but thank you. What’d you do instead until I got back?” You figure it didn’t take all too long to study the commando’s footage, finding the notes Tech’s took for you pinned underneath the datadisc the feed was stored on. Lifting the high-tech paperweight, you give the notes a glance.

It’s the same thin lettering as the haikus.

Tech tuts in thought while snapping a part of his vambrace back where it belongs. “General research. Nothing important.” He does not immediately elaborate on what he had researched, thinking you may want to take a moment to mentally prep yourself for returning to work and start on the next task at hand.

They were not concerns he (often) had to keep in mind with Hunter, Echo, Wrecker and Crosshair because he knew them so well compared to other people, compared to you. They spent the most time together and could give him a playful ribbing for overstepping boundaries, or starting detailed explanations when it wasn’t the best time. No one cares! was often said in-the-moment, and apologized for in ways that did not involve the words I’m sorry - and that was normal with his brothers.

So when you break into a big, friendly smile and draw out the word “Liiiike…?” while you continue to settle in, Tech knows it’s okay to elaborate. That you seem interested in what he has to say.

“It was the origin of halliksets. I became distracted when I learned they were quite popular on Naboo, and spent some time looking into that instead.” As he expected, you perk up with the mention of Naboo, interest piqued. “They’re made with seven strings, and the ore commonly used to make them comes from Kreeling, a mining planet also within the Chrommell sector.” The ore seems to be used to decorate the rounded body of the instrument, from what he had been reading. Ornamentation rather than function.

“Huh,” you say politely with a smile to match, “I had no idea. That’s really neat.”

You thank him for sharing before agreeing that perhaps you should get started on some of your work when he warns you that he can hear someone from another department coming, and it may be wise to appear busy.

For the next fifteen or so minutes, you and Tech are careful to appear focused on tasks from the clipboard. Something about figuring out why a standard caustic compound utilized by the GAR didn’t work. Tech casts a subtle glance over his shoulder while you muse over the specs, wondering just like you why someone from another department is taking their sweet time to leaf through all the disposable pipettes in the storage cabinet of all things. Trying to eavesdrop? Just really particular about their lab supplies? Who karking knows.

While looking into the humidity record on Felucia the day of the recorded equipment failure, you take a moment to open the system you submit your time-off requests to and look at the amount of paid time off accrued. Two and a half weeks. That’s not bad.

“Good to know….”

“What is it?” Tech asks.

“Oh, just poking into weather records,” you hum, hiding the portal, “Seems the caustic compound failed because of higher than average humidity that day. It was under six months old, so I don’t think it was a product age failure.” From the flashpoint of the Clone Wars on Geonosis, much of the equipment utilized barely sits on a shelf any longer than six standard months after its production and purchase for the Grand Army.

Clones were clever. Well trained. They knew how to account for things like planetary climate, weather conditions and equipment age out in the field, but you’ll always have the occasional fluke. Things beyond your control, beyond what you trained for. (Some things you could never train for.) But the Grand Army of the Republic could be trusted to give it their all, no matter the occasion, no matter the challenge.

You trusted men like Red Wire with your life here in the labs when you had to work with disarmed bombs, never doubting his ordnance training for a second. The same goes for the man sitting on the other side of your desk from you now, the injured leg in the walking boot propped up in a spare chair. You trust Tech too.

When the personnel from another department finally leaves, they’re grumbling something venomously about the missing label-maker under their breath, the word “di’kut!” loudest of all.

You recognize the Mando’a. Pronunciation DEE-koot. Multiple meanings. Idiot. Useless. Waste of space. (More accurately a waste of their time… Pretty sure someone already said the label-maker wasn’t in there.) You wonder where they know the word from.

Speaking for yourself, you’ve picked up a smidgen of the language from working as a researcher and analyst, and you’ve added a few more words to your repertoire from Tech’s uninterrupted correspondence with the Bad Batch that he’s allowed you to see some of.

And speaking of them… Now that you and Tech are alone, this might be a good time to try putting your plan in motion knowing how much PTO you have to work with now. You want to go to Naboo, and you want to see if there’s any way you can convince Tech to go with you. Maybe even meet you there with the rest of Clone Force 99. Make bumping into them look like a coincidence.

“Hey Tech, when you return to your brothers, any plans or ideas on where you’ll go first?”

A pad of sticky flimsi-notes is pulled from one of the many drawers of your desk, and you root around for a working pen while you wait on an answer. Calling upon courage from the very heart of the cosmos, you hope you can pull this off.

Tech answers the break in relative silence with a quirk of his eyebrow. “None that I’m aware of, but I suspect we’ll be going wherever we are needed.” There is a long contemplative pause, eyes flicking to his trusty tablet more than once as a few new messages from Wrecker come in.

“Is there some reason you’re asking?” He pushes the datapad aside now, giving you more of his attention, which is appreciated.

Shoulders bounce. “What if I said I was just curious?” You don’t expect him to buy that, he’s too clever. But you need a moment of quiet contemplation on his part to count out the syllables without messing up. Once you’re certain you have five, then seven syllables, you flash him an easygoing smile. “Being curious isn’t a crime, is it?”

“On some planets it is. Some rather… ridgid, often self-isolated cultures across the galaxy view curiosity as a sign of an idle mind and fear it will inspire mischief. Free thinking. Rebellion.”

The question had been rhetorical, and you don’t mind that he answered, but you find the fact quite sad. You also don’t want to begin to imagine how that sort of “crime” is punished. Curiosity is a natural part of life to all, to criminalize it is… frankly ridiculous.

“Well good thing we’re not in one of those isolated cultures.” you say, now thinking how you’ll finish penning this poem. Should you add your reasoning for why you wrote this at the bottom? (Would you even have room?) Maybe you should just tell him after he’s read your poem instead.

“Agreed.” Another message comes in from Echo this time, but Tech ignores it, continuing to hold eye contact with you; almost like he’s performing an inspection. “So I hope it does not feel like an accusation when I say I don’t believe you are ‘just curious’.”

“I did have an idea…” you admit, fiddling with the pen in your hand for the moment, “Since I heard Clone Force 99 isn’t keen on following every little order…” This is when you choose to slide the haiku you were working on over to “his” side of the desk, waiting in nervous silence as brown eyes scrutinize every Aurebesh letter laid bare before them.

Can't we ever go to a nice place, verdant fields of spring eternal? - Feel like breaking a few rules?

Tech’s eyes lift from the flimsiplast note, looking surprised. He didn’t take you for the sort of person who’d encourage breaking certain GAR protocols, let alone… Your name falls from his lips, asking what this is about in the same tender tone.

“I thought about what you asked regarding how much time off I have, and I found out I have two and a half weeks…” You explain, fiddling with the pen some more to occupy your nervous hands while he continues to monitor you. “I thought… Maybe once your leg heals up, and you’re cleared to return to active duty, you could find an excuse to spend some time on Naboo. Get to know each other better, perhaps?” He clearly has some kind of feelings for you that are in the earlier stages of reciprocation, and if you’re away from the lab, and he finds the time or the excuse to nip down to the Chrommell sector and meet up with you on Naboo, then neither one of you have to worry about behaving quite so professionally.

Looking down at the haiku once again, Tech takes in your explanation, your invitation, and offers a mild chuckle at long last.

“You know what my brothers will say if I tell them about this?”

You swallow nervously. “W-what?”

“That it almost sounds like you’re asking me on a date.”

You do what you can to keep your jaw from dropping, but there’s little to be done about the fiery feeling building in the apple of your cheeks that suggests there may be color blooming there. If you’re blushing, Tech certainly does a splendid job of politely pretending he sees no such thing while he gives your poem another look.

You do the same in kind when additional color builds in his own face and crawls up his neck from under the top of the body suit. “I take it you figured out who was secretly leaving you the haikus.” His smile is timid, but not quite as nervous as your own.

“I did. A while ago, actually.” you confess, confirming his suspicions. “I had help checking the cameras to see where the first one came from. I didn’t see a reason to say anything, or stop you.” You add that you’ve kept every single one, too, to some surprise of the computer and weapons specialist sitting across from you.

He sits forward now, carefully easing the walking boot to the floor. “You really want to spend time with me on Naboo?” Your earnest nod surprises him further. You do. Out of millions of Clones in the galaxy, you’re asking Tech (and his brothers by proxy) to join you in visiting the idyllic planet.

You carefully carve out a little portion of your PTO and submit the request as the very first step in the planning process, and while you await approval you and Tech will continue to work together as normal. You still have to behave professionally in the meantime.

Well, as professionally as possible when Tech decides he can now confess he has a backlog of haikus for you, enough so you could have one waiting for you in your locker every day until he’s cleared to return to fieldwork in a few weeks, in theory.

“Poetry every Primeday, honeysuckles today, and now you’re offering daily haikus? Maybe I will be asking you out on a date if you continue to spoil me like that.” you warn him, chuckling. Of course now you get the feeling Tech will make sure the weeks leading up to your time-off would consist of honeysuckle and haiku to ensure that you would.

And those were going to become some of your best weeks working as a researcher and analyst for the GAR, whether you got that time off or not, because it would be spent making precious memories with Tech.

That was what mattered most.

First time I've ever participated in one of these events, and I don't think I did too badly, considering I completely restarted this at one point! (Apologies for how long this ended up being, too, haha.) I hope you liked it, Tech-a! 🩷

Fic taglist: @msmeredithrose @lonely-day3636 @dukeoftheblackstar @dystopicjumpsuit

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anonymoushouseplantfan · 1 year

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Hi, Plant! I really appreciate your observations! Any thoughts on the much-improved social media (particularly videos) from KP? I hope that lasts because it was very impressive.

Also thoughts on their elevated role? In some ways it almost felt like their coronation—it almost seemed like we saw more of them than Charles and Camilla. I’m not sure if that is due to age, illness of C & C, or just the Waleses really steeping into their role with gusto.

Also, can we make art history degrees mandatory for all royal wives? Man, has that paid off in spades.

LOL, I remember scoffing at the art history degree. You're right, it really has paid off.

They stepped up, didn't they? I'm glad because they've been hit and miss for a while. However, I loved that video they did. It was perfect. Better than The Crown, as a Spanish journalist commented.

I felt the ceremony was specifically designed to de-emphasize the Waleses, group them with the other working royals, and keep the focus on the King and Queen. I don't mean this in a bad way. I think it was a group effort and the Waleses were trying to make it work.

However, it failed utterly. They stood out even without tiaras and wearing the same robes as the other working royals.

I think it was the eye for detail, the sense of continuity. and that gosh darn art history degree. This was Charles' coronation but it felt very much like a re-celebration of the Cambridge wedding.

That was the last big celebratory event we saw at this church. It's the same kind of television coverage. Guests were wearing the same kind of clothes. Check out their entrance with the bells ringing. It's very bridal.

You really got a sense of their development and evolution. She's wearing a robe in the colors he wore at their wedding over a gown from the same designer she wore at her wedding. She's wearing leaves from the acorns she wore during that ceremony and has the symbols from her veil embroidered on her gown. She was at the ceremony where he got the robes he's wearing. They have their children wearing the same color scheme.

All of those ceremonies, all of that history, come together. It elevates them, even when they are trying to tone things down. That's the power of the ritual. That's the power of the continuity. You can't publicity stunt that. It has to be built slowly and authentically, which is what they did.

I remember laughing at all the identical blue dresses Kate has bought through the years. Well, what's the main color of the Victorian Order robe? Blue. She probably has two dozen dresses that color. By the time she wore this robe she had associate herself with that color probably hundreds of times (it was her engagement dress!!!). Was that planned? Was it known? Probably.

That moment when she stands in front of the church and looks back, just like she did on her wedding day...it just sends chills down your spine.

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paperback-rascal · 2 years

Photo

so... I know that many of you love the Kix is CF99 unofficial medic.

So let me introduce to you something @kalm5 and I were brainstorming - merging two AU ideas of ours into one “bigger idea”.

We kind of have this set-up with Order 66 didn't happen/was delayed indefinitely (+no-one dies + Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order for a person she loves).

After the mission on Skako Minor, Anakin REALLY wants to have Clone Force 99 to be a part of 501st so he tries to get a hold of their general/commanding officer to BEG for a transfer.

He is so impressed, in fact, the Chosen One just geeks about them every chance he gets - even during dinners with Padme.

After an investigation (and bribing Cody to spill the beans on who is in charge of the Batch) Anakin absorbs Clone Force 99 to 501st.

After the merge CF99 still operates per usual – they have a free range to have any insane mission they’d normally do, but they serve under Anakin Skywalker. Sometimes The Batch don’t even feel the difference with exception of submitting reports to the Chosen One or doing specific missions that might or might not involve being body-guards of senator Amidala.

With that setting we add Kix to The Bad Batch ranks as their team medic. He was half-chosen by Anakin/half-accidentally becoming The Batch’s medic as those guys need just as unhinged medic as they are as a team. Thus he gets new set of armor that it's the mixture of CF99 color scheme/armor design and 501st blue (he keeps the OG helmet, tho, as it’s the most comfortable for him and also it has a medical software that CF99 helmet lacks). Instead of making a „standard” red stripes for his armor, like the rest of this *new* team, Kix decided to re-do his 501st paint-job but add CF99-red-hue splash on top to mimic blood splatter. It's for both: not making his team freak out they're bleeding to death and also so he can mask his own injuries so they'd not make him prioritize his own injuries over theirs.

Kix freaks out Jesse every time they're back to 501st to resupply or submit paperwork, but also the medic, secretly enjoys ARC trooper’s insisting to check if he is truly alright.

To honor the transfer CF99 got a blue accent in their armour as well.

---

EDIT: I forgot Hunter’s tattoo :O

===

#star wars #the clone wars #clone wars #TCW #bad batch #the bad batch #TBB #kix #clone medic kix #clone force 99 #medic Kix #clone trooper kix #Hunter #sergeant hunter #CT-6116 #kix the CF99 medic #it's basically a fanfic at this point

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happysadyoyo · 7 months

Text

Once again, this is @pillowspace's AU that I'm kinda going AWOL with. I just want to make something a little more cheerful after leaving Y/N struggling to get home last night.

Clone AU is being a bit prickly, but I think that's mostly cause I want to draw for it rn and I'm still in the throes of color separations whenever I have a spare moment on my tablet. But that'll be done soonish I think? By the end of the week for sure because I need to start making my mylar sheets soon.

Time Loop whump fic will likely be pecked away at throughout the day to deal with school stress. This is just a quick palette cleanser since to me HD Y/N is a bit in the middle personality-wise.

TL is a lot more extraverted and kind, and Clone is the one most likely to cause the DCA to experience the first animatronic heart attack if they ever spoke because every other word would be fuck. HD is one of those people who recognizes the struggle they're in, but they can also find the good moments and appreciate them all the more while giving the bird to everything making life actively harder for them and their little brother.

"You sure you're fine." Gretchen sounds doubtful, but you smile and keep working.

"Positive. Look, nothing really happened in the grand scheme of things, right? I'm not hurt."

"Your hand is bruised, and you had to cancel your cards," Gretchen says, and to prove a point, she grabs your hand.

You flinch, pulling back. "I made it home in one piece and nothing really valuable got stolen," you reply archly, shoving the last of the books towards your friend. "Go put these away. I need to check the computer room to make sure no one needs help."

"This conversation isn't over," Gretchen warns, even as she pushes the cart away. The library is fairly quiet at this point in the day, early in the afternoon, before school is let out and you all get inundated with kids and teens looking to kill a couple hours before their parents get home. It's the perfect time to make sure everything is clean and ready for kids to play.

The computer room is actually pretty quiet, though there is one brightly colored splotch of a person in the corner. You can hear them tapping slowly at the keyboard as you check each computer, wiping things down and logging out of a couple accounts. Eventually, you've made it to the corner with the stranger, struck by just how tall they are.

"Is everything all right?" you ask brightly.

"O-oh!" The stranger is clearly startled, so you take an extra step back, just for safety. "Yes, sorry. I think we, I, signed up for an hour? Has time. passed that fast?"

"No, sorry. There's a timer in the corner, here." You tap at the monitor helpfully. "I didn't mean to confuse you. I just wanted to know if you needed any help."

The stranger doesn't reply, instead fidgeting with what you're guessing is a scarf around their face. "Is your hand okay?" They ask, and you quickly withdraw it, tucking it close to your chest. "I don't mean to pry. It just looks painful."

"Ah, well." You grimace, remembering that Gretchen is going to be on you the moment she's done with her returns. It's easier to hide in the computer room, and besides, what's the likelihood this stranger will talk to her? You decide to sit, still achey from last night and exhausted from a lack of sleep. "I was mugged last night."

"You were what?" The horror in their voice is less grating than it was with your friend, and when you smile, it just feels tired, not forced. "You can't possibly be okay after that!"

"I kind of have to be. It's making some of my duties today a little harder though. I can't exactly balance heavy boxes with this hand, and my coworkers are sweet, but if I don't do my work, I think they're going to send me home." You curl and uncurl your hand slowly, biting the inside of your cheek to keep from grimacing. "And I need the money, so. Here we are, you know?"

"Here we are," they agree, a bit distractedly. They pecked at the computer a little longer, apparently thinking as they suddenly turn back to you. "I can help you move those boxes. I-if you'd like I mean."

"Oh?" You pause, thinking. "Oh, uh. Sure! If you're sure that is. I --- yeah, it'd be really helpful, but you don't have to. You signed up for the computer and oh fuck, I've just started spilling my guts out to you."

They flinch when you curse, muttering something in the middle of your rambling before holding up one gloved (gloves indoors?) hand. "It's all right. We, I, like to help. Just point us in the right direction."

"Okay," you saw, drawing the word out until it's more a sound than a word. "You can help this time. But I'm going to have to do something in return."

"That's not really---"

"Nuh uh," you interrupt, wagging a finger (from the unbruised hand), in front of their face. "Fair's fair, and if you're helping me, I'm helping you. Consider this a rain check."

"Fine," they say, turning to log out of the computer. When they stand, you feel very, very small. "Lead the way, Mx. Librarian."

"That's Librarian Clerk to you," you say, a little teasingly. You do take point, walking through the library to where you and Gretchen had packed away the Halloween decorations. "And what do I call you?"

"Sun," they say, and they take the first of three boxes without so much as a grunt of exertion. Tall and strong. If you were a lesser person, you would be jealous. Maybe you are anyway.

"Sun," you repeat, and it's an unusual name for this unusual not-quite-a-stranger. You lead them towards the back, fiddling with your keys to find the one for the storage closet. "It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

#human disguise au #dca #fnaf dca #fnaf daycare attendant #daycare attendant

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nocturneblight · 11 days

Text

An… exhilarating midnight… Writing:

The door bent open, out came Edward and jenecis.

Their bodies were adorned by black coats, Long sleeves extend out on each of their arms and only presented the hue of their hands and nails, the collar of their coats were slightly bent upward, covering each of their necks a little, the small buttons that stitched the coats together were really the only other difference up in their color schemes of what they wore, and even then, The silver didn’t stand out enough to catch any eyes.

The long black pants completely shadowed their legs, had they clung to a wall they would be nearly invisible, the only possible way of seeing them would most likely be through the glint of the shoes they wore, the clogs were matching colors with they’re pants and shirt but the slight sheen on the leather could be spotted under the dim moonlight. Other than that, they were relatively shadowed over.

Jenecis used her hand to motion Edward to follow, they both began walking through the cobblestone streets of the city, Looking at the closed down stores and places all around.

The town looked different compared to daytime, a blue hue coated everything, shadows from the buildings shut off any light trying to peer into corners and alleyways, it was somewhat comforting but also terrifying, the air was still and nothing made a noise, well, Except for the local tavern, Bright orange lights shined out of the windows in the establishment and loud jeers and chants could be heard.

They continued walking through the roads of the town, each step they made left a clacking noise through the still streets.

Jenecis pointed at one dark alleyway,

“Yo! Check it out, that’s where I arrested you”

Edward looked at the shadowed corner that she aimed at.

“Yeah yeah, very funny, I nearly wetted myself the first time I saw you in that freaky armor.” He replied.

Jenecis chuckled, “Man, that almost feels like yesterday to me already, Oh wait…”

Edward rolled his eyes, “har har, It’s so funny I’m not laughing”

They both let out a small chortle and continued along their way.

“So anyway… You said you wanted to show me around right? Like some special places and all?” Edward asked.

Jenecis looked at him, “yep, a sorta personal guide to the best places around here, and some interesting personal spots”

She looked around, thinking about where to go first.

“Well, It’ll probably be more like a tour guide since we’re not going to be entering any place, but allow me to guide ya along, since you’ll be staying here soon enough”

Edward looked up at her again, “Well uh, Is there any sort of magic place around here? I’ve always seen magic being used by better-off individuals but I never got a grasp on it.”

Jenecis nodded, “Definitely, here, let’s do a run over to the other side of the town, the magic shops are usually way far from here.”

Edward got into the swing of things, picking up his walking pace to a jog and then into a sprint, both began jogging and sprinting at different intervals to the farther side of town.

*Tok Tok Tok*

“Here we are!” Said jenecis, pointing at the grand-looking shop that was beautifully decorated with colored glass.

Edward panted heavily behind her, heaving his chest from such a vigorous run.

“Woah, That looks amazing!” He said.

A sign poked out from the front of the stores walls reading:

“Biyat’s malignant wonders”

Edward raised his brow, “Fancy names huh? it sounds like how it looks”

Jenecis nodded, “Pssh, yeah, magic is always flashy but trust me, it’s so worth it.”

Both of their eyes fixed onto the strange object near the door of the closed shop.

“What is that?” Asked Edward, curios to the oddly colored post sticking out of the floor.

It was no sign, nor a fence, it looked somewhat similar to the tablet jenecis made before but instead, it was physically crystalline, Like a shining stone.

“Ah, That’s just another way to leave a message for the owners, You can leave a review for others to play on that thing to make the shop look great if you had a splendid time with their service, or you could demand an order.” She answered.

Edward looked back at her, “Say, you conjured up quite a few enigmas earlier, did you learn those from that’s shop?” He questioned.

Jenecis shook her head, “Well… kinda, I mean like, the way you obtain spells and stuff varies on person but for my sake I learned a bit from biyat and then transferred that knowledge into my own understanding, ya know?”

Edward paused for a moment, “that’s… unclear… so like, can anyone do spells and stuff? Or is it for a select few?”

Jenecis shrugged a little, “Oh no, anyone can do it, it’s just some aren’t too keen on growing their understanding of it, like say for me, I wanted to be able to craft and conjure stuff out of thin air, so i was able to take a focus on that EXACT thing and now look at me! I have infinite storage!” She proudly said, showing off her magic once more by summoning a teeny portal and taking items in and out of it as example.

Edward nodded in understanding and a bit of interest, “That’s really neat, So basically, if you want it you’ll receive it?” He questioned, still a bit unsure to her words.

Jenecis put away her magic portal, “Tell you what, This’ll be a long talk but if you’re willing to learn I’ll be more than happy to show you some more, extreme examples.”

Edward nodded excitedly, “Oh yes! Talk away and do show! I’d really appreciate it.”

Jenecis smirked, “Alright then, First off. We need an open area, somewhere away from the town, dont wanna hurt anything, ya know”

Edward pointed out to the road leading to the gate and into the grasslands.

“Wanna take a trip outside the gates? I’m pretty sure the fields will be enough space to show off your incantations” he said.

Jenecis pointed her fingers like guns at Edward, “Precisely, I’ve already got a spot in mind, it’s more of a relaxing space but it’ll also serve well as a sporting ground for our endeavors.”

And with that being said, they both calmly took a walk through the streets to the gate.

The big gates were swung open, the heavy wood and metal accompanied by big wall torches and sconces, two guards stood at the outer side of the gate, torches clutched in their hands as they leaned against the stone wall.

“Shit, I was hoping they would be on break” said jenecis, ever closer to the gate with Edward.

She looked back at him, “It’s probably not a good idea to let your face get seen.” she spoke, thinking of what she could do with him.

“Pssst, Edward, cling to my side and let me wrap my arm around your head, it’ll cover your face up.” She said, now whispering to him because of how close they were getting.

Edward thought on it,

“Ahhhh, a hug from my friend! My magnificent friend at that… Alright, keep it cool Edward. Don’t make it weird, jenecis is a goofball anyway, she’ll probably not even think about this in anyway odd”

He nodded, “Gotcha, Here I come!”

He latched onto her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and back, his height matched his head with her bosoms side, he could feel the cloth from the coat rubbing against his face, it felt nice, She was warm to the touch.

“Ummph!”

Edward’s face was coiled around by Jenecis’s meaty arm, Her bicep blocked his eyes side view, he could only see forward through his right eye, the other side of his face was buried up against her side.

“You good Edward? I’m not gripping too hard am I?” She asked, looking down at him in her side, slightly relaxing her grip so he could move his head.

He shifted his face upward to stare at her, he pulled his mouth out from the cloth that was muffling his voice.

“Y-yup! I think this’ll work out for covering my face alright” he jested.

Jenecis gently tightened her arm around his head again,

“Good, If by chance you need to change positions just tell me and I’ll ease up, Okay?”

He raised his one hand that wrapped around her waist, giving a small thumbs up,

“All set to go, Disguise on!” He chuckled.

“Hehe yeah, disguise activated” snickered jenecis, Now wrapping her bicep tighter around his head and securing him up against her armpit side.

The two approached the gates, Edward kept quiet and so did jenecis, hoping that the guards wouldn’t get suspicious of the two’s looks.

As they walked by the two guards they finally reached the outer rim of the town, stepping foot into the grasslands that were covered with trees and rocks.

“Yes! We made it through! And not a single word from anyone!” Thought jenecis.

She lessened her grip on Edward’s face as they continued into the deeper part of the grasslands, still keeping him covered a little but getting ready to release him. They were now leaving the bright lights reach of the torches at the gate.

Edward wiggled his face a little to free his maw upward again, now looking up at jenecis from her side. He gently whispered “We’re out!”

“Hold it right there you two”

Jenecis froze up, Suddenly pressing Edward even deeper than before into her side without warning.

“It’s dark in here” thought Edward to himself in this quick moment, his entire face mushed into the black fabric of her coat, taking away his sense of sight.

The voice spoke again, now in unison with another following voice, “We know that gray tail anywhere, that’s jenecis Renauld!”

Jenecis’s eyes widened, “Damnit! I didn’t tuck it in!” She thought.

She slowly turned around, still smashing Edward’s face into the pit of her shirt, blocking his face from viewing sight.

“Ayyy, What’s up boss? Whatcha doing up so late for?” Asked the two gate guards, curios to her schemes.

“Oh well, I felt like taking a little escapade at night to a couple neat spots, ya know, sights to see, cool night sky and all” she said sloppily.

One of the guards mouth opened slightly, they now cusped their own chin and stroked it in confusion.

“Who’s the little guy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a small guy with red hair like that around here”

Jenecis kept her firm vice on Edward’s entire face.

“Oh yeah! This fella? This is my buddy… Maroon” she stuttered off, unable to keep her act up.

The guard nodded.

“Maroon huh? What’s up with them? It doesn’t even look like he’s moving”

Jenecis patted Edward’s head reassuringly, “I Know right? Deader than a door nail is what he is, Little guy had a night in the town and got super wasted, I told him I could drink him under the table but he insisted on getting beat by me haha”

“I hope you can sense me mentally rolling my eyes and scoffing at you Jen” thought Edward, cringing at her horrible attempt to narrate.

The two guards chuckled, “That’s our boss for ya, haha”

After their chuckle they turned their attention back to jenecis.

“Well anyway, Where are you gonna take him? Doesn’t he live here?”

Jenecis shook her head dismissively, “Oh no no! He lives a bit of ways from here, I’m gonna return him back home for the night, maybe visit him in the morning to see if he survives through his sleep.”

She continued her persuasion on the two guards without pause.

“He was thinking on moving in here this month actually… That’s why we spent the night seeing all this town had to offer, I’ve been trying to get him to move here for a while, I’m sure our little drinking game tonight will be the final straw in finally getting him to move in, yeah?” She finished, finally.

The two guards snorted, “Hah, yeah. Alright then, you two be on your merry way then, tell maroon we said hi when he wakes up”

Jenecis grinned and nodded, “Haha yeah, Later folks”

She quickly turned back around and waddled away with Edward still in her clutch, after about a dozen and a half more steps, Jenecis released Edward’s face, knowing they were now far enough to drop the act.

“Puh!” Edward gasped, having his face freed from her grip, the cool air splashing against his heated Head. Now smoothing his facial fur tufts down with his knuckle.

They continued to walk forward as they talked.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad” said jenecis, reasoning with him over her grip.

“What? The fact that you drank MaROoN under the table, or the fact that you smell like sweat” he sassily remarked.

“What?! I smell!?” She exclaimed, shocked by his insult.

“And your story STINKS” He said, escalating his voice stupidly, laughter spilling out of his mouth.

Jenecis animatedly dramatized her distraught over his words,

“Oh! Woe is me! The stinky lizard who is garbage at telling stories! Oh whatever will I do!” She sarcastically replied, grinning slightly at his sassy remark.

“Tsk tsk, You didn’t even think about cleaning yourself up after all that exercise, That really tells me something about your hygiene jen” he said, hiding his smirk away from her.

“Shuuuut up, i got distracted, I always make sure I’m clean as fuck no matter what” she replied, still playing on his laughter.

“Don’t worry jenecis I know what distracted you earlier, it was that awesome story you just used, it must’ve took a lot of brain power to tell such a creative tale…”

Jenecis choked upon hearing his words, “Your so sharp tongued today, Big words for a little man, eh?”

Edward’s eyes narrowed, “Little man? Oh yeah? Well-“

She interrupted him “Hey wait a minute Weren’t you on the streets all your life, And your calling ME musky?”

He squinted at her, still walking along but not making a peep.

“Hypocrite” she muttered under her breath, with a sly smile.

“Stinker” He said, pointing at her.

“Hypocritical Small man” she said, using her finger to poke him as she taunted him.

“Olid big lady lizard” he responded, now jousting his finger at her, The two jabbing each other with their words and pointer fingers.

The two consistently jabbed and insulted playfully as they made their way to the spot, after numerous slangs, pokes, and giggles, they finally reached a big tree near a lake.

“Alright then we’re here!” Exclaimed jenecis, Presenting the place out with her hands.

Edward looked around, admiring the sheen of the night against the multicolored water and tree.

The sky was a mixed hue of colors, Purple, blue, orange, yellow. These colors bounced off the lakes reflecting surface, even the water was a bright mixture of sorts.

The stars in the sky looked like glitter, large quantities of speckles were like freckles amongst the shifting clouds, even the stars colors were mixed.

The large tree that stood below the sky and next to the pond was a dark shade of blue, its leaves a lighter color than the trunk,everything was… different at this spot, it seemed as though the two stepped through another world the moment they entered further into the grass fields, far off the main road.

“This is amazing…” said Edward in awe, Still spinning around to take in everything.

“I know right? This was a good night to go out eh?” Said jenecis, Noticing his excitement.

Edward smiled brightly, “Absolutely”

Jenecis smirked at his delight of the view, She then motioned her hand for him to follow her.

Jenecis parked herself on the floor next to the tree and pond, her back resting on the trunk of the tree as she kicked her legs out to the lake, Edward did the same, resting next to jenecis in a smiliar position.

“So this is the place you wanted to practice at right?” Asked Edward, sitting up a little and facing her.

“Oh yeah! You’re right!” She said, standing back up quickly from her relaxed position on the tree.

She dusted her clothes off from the grass and stretched a little,

“Now that I think of it, You wanted to learn how to do magic right?”

Edward nodded, standing up and brushing himself off,

“Correct! I mean… if it’s even possible for me to do so”

Jenecis nodded, “Of course it is, You just have to get an understanding of it a small bit to use it, and that’s what I’m exactly going to show you” she said.

Edward replied excitedly, “Oooh! I’m so ready!”

Jenecis gave a toothy grin, “Let’s get down to the basics then, shall we? First, what would you like to do?”

Edward looked up and down, contemplating on what he wished for mostly.

“What do I want? Well, A good life I guess… like, something that allows me to be happy. Somewhat like uh, a reason to keep living? I dunno, I’ve just been moving forward constantly all my life and have been scrapping by just to exist, Like, I never wanted to eat rats, nor did I ever want to lay outside in the cold, neither did I want to be alone all this time with no one to take care of me.” He thought, reminiscing on all that had occurred.

“But, Despite all of this, now I’m on the road to being better! If things keep going good I’ll be able to live happily in this town! With my own house! My own food! My… Friend jenecis! Life is changing for once!.

If all goes according to plan… What I really want is… For this type of blessing to keep up! Oh the times I could spend with others once I’m living better, I could hang out with jenecis, have fun, eat together, play together, An actual bonding activity! It would just be her and me, Being happy through each others company.” He thought to himself.

“You good there Edward? You’re kinda being quiet” she asked.

Edward looked up at her from his original state, “I know what I want”

“Oh do tell” she urged him on.

Edward confidently nodded his head, “I want joyful times ahead of me and for this type of peace to maintain itself.”

“Oh? Peace and happiness eh? That’s really wholesome” she said, Her eyelids going higher from surprise.

Jenecis put her hands on her hips and affirmed his choice, “Well then, it looks like you would specialize in healing magic and other spells that bolster you OR another’s soul.

Edward tilted his head, “I’d have the ability to heal folk? Like, quickly sealing a wound with a touch?”

Jenecis gave a thumbs up, “yup, Oh! And you could also boost yourself or another’s natural instincts, like say you wanted to be quicker, Then you would think on that exact topic, focus your magic and daydream about what it would be like to be really fast, ya know, Picture yourself running and seeing the tree’s as a blur, the stones kicking up and yourself bouncing off them with ease, just like that.”

Edward raised his hands up in delight, “That sounds awesome! Though, How do I focus my so called.. mana?”

Jenecis put her finger to her chin, “Well, it’s all about belief, So, let me show you this. She said, moving towards the waters edge and standing near it.

She looked in the water, the starry sky and its bright colors stared back at her intensely.

She pointed at Edward and back to the water,

“Watch closely, I’m going to quickly bolt over this water and make it to the other end, It’s not deep water but i would sink to my shoulders if I went in” she said, dipping her shoe by the tip into the water, causing ripples to sound off the surface.

She readied herself up and looked at the end of the water and her starting position, imagining what it would be like to run across without falling in, only scrapping the surface.

Edward watched intently, seeing how she focused up and got into an athletic running startup position.

Jenecis dug her right foot into the floor, then- without hesitation-

The dirt kicked up from where she stood, blades of grass shredded and launched behind where she once stood, Her body became that of a blur as it sped across the top of the water.

Wet slaps echoed into the still night as the water gently rippled along her run path, in the next 5 seconds, she was already at the other side of the large lake.

A voice echoed across the lake from where she ran,

“Eeeedwaaaard! You see that?” Yelled jenecis, waving her hands.

Edward jumped up and clapped, “I sure did! That was Insane!”

“Prepare to see it again!” She yelled again.

“You can do that twice??-“

*SHWUP*

“Sorry, You say something?” Said jenecis, now standing in front of him in an instant.

“Holy crap” Said Edward In awe, His mouth slightly agape.

“It’s as easy as that, Wanna try your magic out? I’m sure we’ll see something cool out of it”

Edward nodded, “Sounds good to me! Although… I don’t know if we’ll get a result really, I mean, This would be my first time doing such a thing”

Jenecis shook her head and waved her hand dismissively, “Nah nah, We’ll unlock that potential of yours tonight, you’ll see, just follow my lead and it’ll be easy”

Edward nodded again, “Okay, I trust you… let’s do this!” He said, revving himself up for whatever lied ahead.

Jenecis grinned, “That’s the spirit! Alright then, First, What do you wanna do and or see?”

Edward thought for a moment, with a snap of fingers he raised his head back to hers, “I wanna try to bolster my jumping height, ya know, so I can jump over let’s say… That rock over there!”

He pointed his finger towards a large rock next to the lake, It was roughly around the height of jenecis, not really a rock but more of a boulder it seemed, One that could not jumped by either of them.

“Great idea! So what your gonna do now is try to think on jumping over it, Think about the imagery of yourself going over it. Do your feet touch the tip of the rock? Do you soar over it with a breeze and land gently? Is the grass soft as you land? Everything. Try to feel for the scene that you want to occur, believe it’ll happen once you get ready.” She explained.

Edward and jenecis walked closer to the rock, lining up to it from a shot away, A swift sprinting path was clear for him to run and jump.

Edward turned his head from the rock to jenecis,

“isn’t there some sort of exhaust limit on how much you can do these certain things? Like, if you did that sprint that you did before a couple more times, would you eventually not be able to do it?” He questioned.

Jenecis thought on it,

“Well, sort of, this whole magic thing is dependent on how heavily you can believe it, like, for me, I’m pretty much set as to what I can do, because I’ve already gathered enough evidence for myself to the point where I see magic as a splendid factor of life, therefore I can pretty much do the certain spells I want.” She continued

HOWEVER, This type of belief is also dependent on your endurance and or stamina, Meaning you can’t just cast what is essentially the power of the sun ten times over, instead, you’d have to build up to how many times you can do such a thing. It’s setting a goal for yourself and your belief, like with those weights I lifted back at my house, I started out only being able to do one routine that left me unable to do more exercise for about the whole week, then after a couple months of doing that same work flow I eventually reached a day where I wasn’t horrendously sore afterwards, and it shot up from there.” She throughly explained.

Edward nodded at her details, “Gotcha, so to play it safe, I’ll only be doing this one time tonight”

Jenecis pointed at him, “AND you’ll succeed on doing it this one time tonight, You will not fail, you have got to trust that it’ll work out, no room for doubt needs to be left”

Edward was taken back by her sternness’s but he agreed, “That’s right, Just once, and I’ll make it” he said.

Edward moved back towards the starting path that lead to the rock, giving him a clear runway into it, Jenecis stood at the side, out of the way to see how this event would turn out.

As he prepped to dig his feet into the floor, suddenly-

“Oh and Edward!” Called out jenecis.

Edward whipped his head to her location, “Yeah?”

Jenecis stood with her arms crossed in a mentor-like pose, coming off serious and stoic.

“You have to pay the price to obtain what you wish for, The cost depends on how far you’re willing to strive for it” she replied.

He stopped, “a little ominous, don’t you think? What’re you gonna do? Throw a ball into my run path and trip me for the heck of it?”

Jenecis chortled confidently, “Pssshhh,I was trying to be serious, but no, what I mean is, anything can happen when you take this jump. Maybe you’ll run face first into the stone and break your nose, maybe you leap high and break your ankles on the fall, or maybe, just maybe, You’ll make it and suffer no permanent pain, a slightly harmed base of your foot from the fall or something of that sort, but regardless, Whatever may come ahead of this act you do, you’ll live on”

Edward tilted his head, replying:

“Okay but what if I jump really high and land on my neck and die instantly-“

Jenecis’s cool stance broke,

“psssshh, Damnit Edward, I cant even take myself seriously when you act just like yourself, You’d have to be the closest definition to living embodiment of silly I’ve ever seen.” She said, tittering between her words.

Edward smirked, knowing she was trying to come off as stoic in front of him, but regardless he understood, her words stayed in his mind still.

“Knowing you, I don’t think I have to worry about any damage being done to your body, you’d probably just make a squeaky noise the moment you hit the floor and then bounce right back into the position you had before you jumped without a scratch on you. Haha” she continued laughing between words.

Edward smiled at her, “Exactly, We’ve got nothing to fear my friend, I’m gonna come out fine”

Edward without warning then scrapped his foot against the dirt and darted directly at the stone boulder, picking up speed as he made his way towards it, his hands raised and so did his legs, even his hair gusted behind his ears as he dashed.

Jenecis flinched in shock as he quickly ran at the boulder, he was so small compared to it, but he was going to go for the high jump anyway.

“He’s not stopping?! he’s gonna go for it without hesitation!” Her mind screamed in surprise.

Edward became ridiculous close to the boulder on his run path, with a strong stamp into the floor with his right leg, he launched off of the grass and into the air, leaving Jenecis’s sight and making his way up and over the boulder by a decent amount of space, his arms spread out, his hair pulled by the gravity, it was as if he did it naturally.

Swiftly, he fell back down onto the floor behind the boulder with a heavy THUD, As his legs hit the floor he continued to run forward, using the momentum from the jump to keep him quick, the shockwave of hitting the floor slammed into both his heels, pulsing up his legs and into his gut, it hurt quite a bit, but it was somewhat nulled out by him dividing the momentum between each leg as he kept rushing forward.

As he kept trekking across the floor he swiftly skidded into the dirt by using his left legs heel to brake himself from running further, Extending it out and halting his run path, he turned himself around and looked back at the stone with the distance he covered.

He jumped with joy, getting off the ground once more, “I DID IT! I MADE IT PAST THE ROCK!” He yelled happily.

A voice called out from the beginning of the rock, “Edward! You okay!?”

Heavy footsteps were heard against the floor,

*THUMP THUMP THUMP*

Jenecis came sprinting towards the scene, a small glowing orb of light in each of her hands.

“Edward! Are you-“ she stopped herself, Looking at him happily parading himself into the air, jumping joyfully. His eyes closed and his smile wide, Victoriously chanting about his success.

Jenecis smiled, tucking away the orbs of light back into her body and watching him cheer.

“I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’m a Magic user!” He roared giddily.

“Is he STILL jumping that high!?” Said jenecis out loud, realizing his jump height was still the same as it was when he made the jump.

He jumped higher than usual, once more, and again, and again, and again…

“Edward! Come down here real quick!” She said, putting her hands to the sides of her mouth to echo her voice towards his height.

Edward snapped out of his jumping trance, “Oh! Yeah! My bad” he said, ceasing his high jumps and landing on the floor.

As he landed, his weight divided into his knees, they buckled downward and his arms spreaded out again, his head lowered, He then pulled himself up from crouching and stood back up to face jenecis.

“Did you see that? I actually did it!” He declared happily.

Jenecis’s eyes widened, her voice a little higher than usual.

“Yeah you did! How in the world did you keep jumping that high consecutively?” She questioned.

Edward paused for a moment, “Is that not normal? After I did that jump I kept feeling the surge to continuously maintain my speed and height.”

Jenecis rubbed her jaw, “Yeah, about that… usually if your just getting into the whole magic scheme, it takes a ridiculously long time to actually consistently do the things you want with it, and yet… You just did it in a row, only pausing because I asked you to come down” she said.

Edward joyfully grinned, “That was fun! Just a bit of belief and I was able to glide so easily! Do you think I could do other things as well? Like that conjuring stuff you did earlier?”

Jenecis put her hands on her hips, questioning his idea.

“Well… since you did so well on that one, I’d say give it a go! Maybe you can summon something I haven’t seen before.”

Edward nodded, “So… what should I try? Are there any restrictions?”

Jenecis shook her head, “Quite literally not, it all depends on how willed you are in the subject, say like, I was able to summon that dagger, that dagger never existed on this planet before, I poured great amounts of effort into thinking of its design, The way it felt, and how it would be used, Now I made that when I was much younger but I was able to essentially keep it forever, because it remained in my mind of course.” She explained.

Edward tilted his head, cocking his brow.

“So… could I summon a monster that doesn’t exist? If I have an idea for something like, A four legged abomination that’s covered in eyeballs from head to toe, Could I summon that right here and now? Since it’s in my head and all” he asked.

Jenecis stared blankly at him for a second, wondering where he got this idea from.

“Hold on hold on! Don’t get any ideas!” She ushered, waving her two hands frantically at him in a denying gesture.

She eased herself down,

“Okay, For me? I never have tried making a monster from magic, BUT I do think you could PROBABLY make a creature real and summon it if you belief it hard enough and focus your energy into building it up, with that being said, DONT YOU DARE SUMMON THAT THING”

Edward started chuckling, She seemed so scared from his little imaginary monster.

He raised his hands up and pointed them at the floor,

“Hummmmmmm, Hummmmmm, Jenecis back up I’m trying to make it real” he jested.

“Edward No!” She squeaked.

He started twirling his hands and shifting around, dancing slightly in rhythm with his hums, Purple aura coated his hands and frothed off of his fingers.

“Here it comes Jen! It’s gonna be awesome! I’m gonna give it lots of teeth up and down its body! It’s gonna have eyeballs on areas it shouldn’t have eyeballs! Holes will coat its thin fleshed body like cheese! And! You won’t be able to stop it! It’ll have a permanent invincibility against each of us!” He laughed, Putting all his effort into creating it.

Jenecis grabbed her head with both hands, panicking as the ground began to rumble, the grass shifted near him, He was about to actually do it!

“Edward Stop! You have no idea what you can do!” She screamed, dashing at him to stop the ritual.

Edward smirked, now running away and around the lake as jenecis chased him, his hands still enchanting the beast to be real.

“It’s gonna be greaaaaat! Truuuuust meeeee! Hahaha! What’s the worst that could happen” he cheered, still speeding away from her.

“You dolt! You can’t just summon an abomination so quickly without reason! If you do it’ll have dire consequences!” She roared.

Jenecis dug her feet heavily into the floor, A orange glow wrapped around her clawed feet, The blood in her legs pumped, her muscles squeezed together, She focused her thought into her legs, Needing enough speed to catch up to Edward to stop him.

Her momentum picked up, her legs shifted at increasing speed, the grounds dirt jutted out behind her in greater quantities as she sped up after him.

Edward turned his head back, seeing her now glowing body powering up after him.

“Two can play it that way!” He chuckled, increasing his running speed effortlessly with magic, now turning his head forward to focus on his getaway near the rim of the water.

“Jackass! Stop using your prodigy powers for this! Didn’t you hear what I said!-“

“Says who? How would you know?” He replied, sassily.

Jenecis growled and gritted her teeth, her snout wrinkling, “ITS OLD FOLKLORE BUT I DON’T WANNA SEE IF ITS REAL”

Her quickness took a huge soar, She lifted off the ground with one of her kicks, now taking a direct lunge at the far away Edward.

Edward giggled, turning his head around again to see how far he was from her.

“Haha! Don’t worry, I’ll make it really fast too! just like us! then I’ll give it-“ he said, interrupting himself as he now saw her flying directly at him with her arms splayed out like a net at dangerously high speed.

“OH MY GOD-“ He shrieked in fear, Moments before taking Jenecis’s full weight into his body.

*SPLASH*

Edward and jenecis both slammed into the lakes water filled circle, A humongous eruption of liquid launched upward as their bodies crashed into it.

A few seconds passed by as the water died down, the ripples calmed from such a heavy smash, the water droplets came down from the geyser created by their premature cannonball, they were nowhere to be seen, then suddenly-

*GASP*

Edward and jenecis both came up from the water, their heads poking out from the liquids reflecting surface.

Jenecis’s hair was mattered and dark, it sopped over her eyes and dripped with the lakes water, Edward had the same affect, his hair ran ragged over his face clumsily, Each of their black clothes were soaked to the collar with water, like they both had just been hit by tsunami.

Jenecis squinted at Edward from her spot in the lake, “Thank goodness, That was ridiculously close. You should have listened to me dude! If you kept going with that we both might have been in deep Trouble!”

Edward kept chuckling, “Hehe, Alright alright, You win”

Jenecis scowled, “You better not try that again, I mean it! Your lucky all I did was tackle you, I might have had to hurt you to pull you out of that trance you were in” she said, raising her hand out of the deep water and pointing at him.

Edward frowned, slinking deeper into the liquid, “Aww, I’m sorry jenecis, I didn’t mean to disturb you like that, I was just playing, ya know?” He said, becoming apologetic for the panic he caused.

Jenecis’s eyes eased, she lowered her hand back down, “It’s okay, I’m just glad we didn’t get hurt, Just remember, Never again, Okay?”

Edward nodded sadly, “Yeah I guess you’re right…”

He turned around, facing away from her in the lake.

Jenecis heard a couple of sniffles coming from his direction, his head bobbed a little.

“H-hey come on now” she said, sloshing forward in the water to get to him.

“you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings” she said, grabbing his shoulder to turn him around.

Without effort, he turned with the motion of her hand, a sly smile spread across his face from ear to ear, his two hands raised from under the water and were presented to her, They were still charged with the previous conjure, And they were were still concentrating.

“Say goodbye Jenecis!” Laughed Edward evilly.

He rised out of the water, holding his two hands up in a preaching manner, aiming his hands to the sky.

“H-hey-“

Edward interrupted her “Is for horses! Now die!”

He forced his two hands together, creating a bright purple sheen in-between them, with another quick movement, he casted the bright glare directly into the grass beside the lake.

The waters wobbled, the big trees leaves shifted around, the wind picked up as a circle formed around the light that was thrown into the grass.

“COME OUT, COME OUT AND RAVAGE THE WORLD MY CREATION!” Yelled Edward, proudly holding his hands out towards the manifesting monster.

Jenecis rose out of the water and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him, “What have you DONE!?” She panicked, her eyes jittering from the fear of seeing the thing form.

“Take it back! Now!” She pleaded.

Edward smirked, “Say please”

Jenecis frowned, “Fuck you!”

Edward rolled his eyes, “Well I guess we’ll just have to all die a horrible death by the hands of leviathan then, eh Jenny?”

A horrible roaring thunder sounded off from the forming monstrosity, A dark purple cloud suffocated around the area of it being born, The element of wind swayed into the purple forming clouds, it was like the creation was devouring the air, everything from nature around it was being sucked into its vortex.

Jenecis looked in fear, Her pupils shrunk to small slits as she realized it had already been made.

The creature stepped out of the now clearing smog, One foot plunged into the floor with a soft step, its clawed toes poked out a little, another foot came out, The same as the last one, Then its maw poked out, a little snout and whiskers stemmed out of its face, two ears flopped out from its head, dragging along its sides, its purple toned fur tone was unnatural, like a miasma of poison. To top it off, the brim of a black hat poked out near its forehead.

A heavy accented voice suddenly called out from the boggy purple steam.

“Oi Mates!” Cheered the thing in a light tone, It took off its hat and waved it with one hand at the two as it made its way out of the dark clouds.

It stood up to about 4ft tall with dark purple fur, wearing a black top hat with blue earrings decorated along its lanky lop ears, its iris covered all of its eyes, shining with a bright neon pink that glowed, a black pupil neatly placed in the middle of each socket. It bore a resemblance to a hare.

Jenecis swiftly gazed at Edward’s face, His big bright smile brimming from side to side of his face, She squinted once more at him, showing him her disappointment.

“Oh, you’re a dick, Ya know that?”

Edward busted into laughter, “That’s for teasing me about undressing previously”

Jenecis palmed her face, Rubbing her eyelids with her hand and sliding it down in disbelief to his prank.

“Okay fine, you got me-“

“And for that prank involving barging on the door and threatening me with authority action” he interrupted.

“Alright I get it-“

“AND for biting me on the neck” he finished, cutting her off once more.

Jenecis inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily, “Okay, I deserved that one” she said, accepting her fate.

“YOOOOWHOOO” Interrupted the same voice from earlier, ceasing the two from talking.

“Oh my god” mumbled jenecis, Turning over to see the Creature with a swanky hat still attempting to talk with them.

The thing whipped out a cane from seemingly nowhere, now propping itself up on the object with one arm, almost as if it were posing.

“Man! that little summoning circle was dangerous! I only made it out of that one by the skin of hair!” It jested, Now laughing at its own joke.

Edward clapped, “Woooo! Alright! That was great!”

Jenecis frowned, staring at the hare with almost malice over its dumb joke.

The strange thing looked back at the two, seeing Jenecis’s dismay with it, “Well someone is a wet noodle, Do you always dampen the mood? HAHAHAHA-“

*CRACKLE*

Lighting bolted down from the sky, The hare exploded into nothingness within an instant, Leaving behind only a hat and cane, with a smoked pile of ashes against the dirt.

“GIUSEPPE! NOOOOOOOOOO” Screamed Edward, in disbelief at the pile of black and gray left on the floor.

Jenecis’s right hand smoked from the finger tips, a slight burn marking the tip of her middle and pointer fingers, She tucked her hand away under her shirts pocket.

“Oh nooooo, Not the hilarious hare!” Said jenecis, sounding apologetic.

She waded her way over to Edward, wrapping her left arm around his head and Patting his shoulder for comfort.

“Awww, don’t worry Edward, Some backfire from summoning does this sometimes, ya know? It’s no one’s fault, I’m sure he had a good 11 seconds of existence” she said, comforting him at the loss of his creation.

Edward looked back at her, his eyes weren’t glossed with tears but his face was a little upset.

“You think so?” He asked, genuinely curios.

Jenecis’s nodded, “Yeah, he didn’t even feel that bolt of pure energy, he went out happy, don’t worry, I’m sure once we train your abilities a little more we’ll be able to summon him again, Without the haphazardly lighting.”

“Come on, we’ve had a lot of excitement for tonight, let’s relax for a little, okay?” She said, issuing him to move along with her back into the solid ground near the tree.

“Y-yeah, let’s go” he agreed, following her back to the tree and sitting down.

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