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stevie-petey · 6 months

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episode two: the weirdo on maple street

Trying to ease the awkwardness, you hold up a poster and offer it to them, but Steve snatches it from your grasp. “Henderson, didn’t know you were also a little know-it-all. Why don’t you share your review sheet with the rest of us?” He says, casting a teasing look your way. It isn’t until he inspects the piece of paper that he finally notices that it’s a missing poster for a child, not a review sheet. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.” You snatch the poster back from him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”

summary: you use your limited psych knowledge to help a bald girl, you force jonathan to accept $20 and he's later an ass to you, steve doesn't know what a "missing" poster looks like, and it's really hard being a single mother to now four kids.

rating: general, but there's cursing as usual and steve being... well, steve - but hes still season 1 steve so give him some time

warnings: cursing, fem!reader, use of y/n, and there's more angst in this chapter with some fighting between reader and jonathan, so fair warning.

words: 10.1k (the longest thing ive ever written)

before you swing in: i'm almost done with chapter 4, so here's a sweet treat as i cram for exams lmao. some housekeeping: should i do a tag list ? i got a few questions about it, so pls let me know soldiers. also, i feel the need to clarify that i adore nancy but for plot reasons - reader and her don't really get along (but they def will later, trust me). season 1 nancy and steve are just so silly. anyways, i hope y'all enjoy this loooong chapter. the rest definitely aren't as lengthy due to plot, but wow. i amazed myself. carry on !

Your jeans drip onto the Wheeler’s carpet, and you’ve definitely left a wet imprint on the couch cushion beneath you. The other boys are dripping as well, but all their attention is on the girl in front of them.

After finding her in the woods, your motherly instincts kicked in, immediately removing your coat to place on her and gently ushering her to your bike and demanding that the boys go back to Mike’s. Your mom is home, so your house was out of the question, and it’s always been easy sneaking into the Wheeler’s, anyways.

Once you all had made it back, you guided the girl onto the couch and sat next to her. You refuse to let her go too far from you, having no idea where she came from or why, but regardless you know she’s too young for any of it to have been good.

Which leads you to now: wearily watching the boys stare at the girl as if she’s some science experiment, asking her a million questions a second.

Bless them and their little prepubescent minds.

Lucas reaches out to touch her, and before you can nudge him away, Mike slaps at his hand. “Stop it! You’re freaking her out!”

“She’s freaking me out!” Lucas retaliates, which honestly? That’s fair. The girl hasn’t said anything yet, even after your multiple attempts to get her to do so. No matter how much you try, you can’t coax a response out of her.

“I bet she’s deaf.” Your brother offers, suddenly clapping his hands to scare her, making both you and her flinch. “Not deaf…”

You roll your eyes at him. “Guys, she’s probably just really scared right now. We should give her some space,” you look at both Lucas and Dustin, “and time,” now you look at Mike. The three boys deflate a bit.

“She’s probably cold,” Mike says after a moment of silence, and you nod at his suggestion. Seeing your agreement, he walks over to a basket of clothes and takes out some pajamas.

While Mike is away, thunder rumbles and the girl jumps, unconsciously getting closer to you. You wrap an arm around her reassuringly, making note that she doesn’t like loud noises. If anything, she’s showing more and more signs of trauma response, which makes you uneasy. You remember Hopper saying something about Will being in danger. What are the odds that this little girl was running from something as well?

“Here, these are clean.” Mike’s return breaks you from your thoughts, and you take the clothes from him and stand up. You thank him, then offer your hand to the girl. She looks at you uncertainly.

“It’s okay,” you reassure her. “Let’s go get you dressed in some warm clothes. I’m right here, sweetheart.”

“She’s super nice.” Dustin says, trying to help.

Lucas adds, “Yeah, you can trust her.”

“She’s alright.” Is all Mike offers.

You give them all an appreciative smile, even if Mike is being a bit of an ass, and then you feel a small, cold hand wrap around yours. The girl stands up, looking around shyly, and you lead her to the bathroom. When you go to close the door, she stops you.

Mike has followed, seeing the interaction. “You don’t want it closed?”

Her voice is quiet, solemn. “No,”

You and Mike look at each other, and he voices what you’re thinking. “So you can speak.”

He looks excited about this new information, and you shove his head out of the doorway. She needs to get dressed. “We’ll leave the door cracked, okay?”

She nods at you, and you stand guard outside the door. It’s not that you don’t trust the boys, but Mike has only known her for ten minutes and he’s already been nicer to her than you’ve ever seen him with anyone else. The only other person he’s this soft spoken to is Will, so you’re protective of her.

You can hear the boys discussing tonight’s events from the living area while the girl gets dressed. They sound scared, and a part of you can’t blame them. While you’re fairly certain that the girl isn’t dangerous, it’s still a creepy situation. Once again, Hopper’s new theory surrounding Will floats through your mind. This all can’t be some coincidence.

Sighing, you approach the boys and catch a bit of the conversation.

“Our houses become Alcatraz.” You hear Lucas saying, and you figure they’ve finally pieced together that there’s no way any of you can tell anyone about the girl. None of you were supposed to be out tonight. As much as you know you should tell an adult, you also need to be able to help Jonathan with finding Will. If your mom locks the house down, you’re doomed.

“Lucas is right,” the boys turn to you. “We can’t go to anyone about this just yet, but I also don’t think it’s a good idea to hide her. She’s been through something terrible, it’s obvious. Tonight, I say she gets some rest. We can figure out what to do later.”

Mike nods, for once agreeing wholeheartedly with you. “She’ll sleep here tonight-”

Dustin’s eyes widen in horror, “You’re letting a girl-”

You clamp your hand over his mouth, motioning for Mike to continue.

“Thanks, Y/N. In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She’ll send her back to Pennhurst,”

They think she’s from Pennhurst? You think, but don’t verbalize it.

“Or wherever she comes from. We’ll be totally in the clear! And tomorrow night, we go back out, and this time we find Will.”

You gotta hand it to Mike Wheeler, he may be a pain in the ass, but he’s a smart pain in the ass. The plan is pretty sound, so long as he follows through with it. However, it’s him following through with it that leaves you a bit unsure.

He looks at you for approval, and you hesitantly nod. “It’s a pretty good plan, Wheeler. So long as you stick to it.”

Lucas and Dustin nod along with you, there’s an unspoken sense of doubt that Mike will actually be able to turn the girl over to his mom. Then she walks out, dressed now in some of Nancy’s old clothes. She draws into herself when you all turn to her, shy. You walk over and offer your hand again, which she accepts.

“Mike, go find her something to sleep on. Dustin, we gotta go soon before mom notices we’re gone.”

Both boys comply, with Mike searching for a sleeping bag and Dustin packing up his stuff. You crouch down next to the girl, so that you’re face to face, and give her a warm smile. “It was lovely meeting you. My name is Y/N, I hope Mike over there doesn’t give you a hard time tonight.”

Mike flips you off, having heard you. “If he’s annoying,” you lean in close to her now, whispering in her ear. “You have my permission to pinch him.”

The girl giggles, finally relaxing a bit, and you warm with pride. She’ll be okay, she seems like a very resilient girl and you’ll oddly miss her.

The two other boys are waiting for you upstairs. You all wish Mrs. Wheeler a good night and head out. Thankfully the rain has now stopped, so the bike ride home isn’t bad. You stop at Lucas’ turn to make sure he gets home safely before finally arriving at your place. As Dustin begins pedaling into your driveway, you don’t follow.

“I’m going to go see Jonathan, he didn’t answer my calls earlier and I just…”

Dustin waves at you, not even bothering to turn around. “Yeah yeah, go see your boyfriend. If mom asks, you’re asleep.”

“He’s not my boyfriend-”

“Are you seriously going to argue with me after I offered to cover for you?”

Your brother gives you a pointed look, and you know he’s right. “Touche.”

Dustin goes to leave, but you quickly grab at his jacket. “Before I forget, swear to me that you’ll keep me updated if anything weird happens, okay?”

He nods at you, knowing better than to argue, and gives you a mock salute as he heads inside.

The living room light is on when you arrive at the Byers home, despite the late hour, but you aren’t surprised. You knock on the door and wait. When no one comes, you knock again, a bit louder this time. After another few moments, the door swings open.

Jonathan has a finger over his lips in a shushing manner, motioning to Joyce who is passed out on the couch. You nod, letting him know you understand. The two of you go to his room and when he closes the door, you finally get a good look at him. He looks worse than he did earlier, the bags under his eyes have somehow gotten darker. His hair is a mess, his eyes bloodshot.

“You’re soaked.” Jonathan says.

“Yeah,” he doesn’t want to talk about it yet, so you play along. “Got caught in the rain. Are some of my spare clothes still in your bottom drawer?”

He nods at you, going over and grabbing a t-shirt and pajama pants for you. You accept them gratefully and excuse yourself to the bathroom to change. Your bones are cold, the rain seemingly having penetrated the layers of your skin. In the mirror you see that your own eyes are bloodshot; you don’t look much better than Jonathan, really.

When you return Jonathan is sitting on his bed, so you join him. It’s silent between you, all you can hear is his breathing. You stare straight ahead, so does he, and you wait. You’ve only seen Jonathan like this a handful of times, where the stress and anxiety becomes too much for him. He shuts down, draws into himself, and all you can do is wait for him to return to you; he always does.

“Mom got a call tonight.” Jonathan’s voice is hoarse, and he looks frail. You wonder if he ever did end up making the spaghetti you prepared for him.

“Who was it?”

He swallows heavily, taking a moment to respond. “She said it was Will.”

“Will?” You look at him now, searching for any signs on his face, his voice lacks emotion. By the way he stares blankly ahead, as if he’s not really present with you right now, you know that it hadn’t been Will on the other end.

“She started freaking out, going ballistic,” his voice cracks a bit, so you take a chance and reach for his hand. He lets you take it, giving you a squeeze, before continuing. “She was screaming, begging whoever it was to give Will back.”

Jonathan pauses again. You don’t say anything, because no words will help. He’s never been the type for comforting words, anyways. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. “It wasn’t him. Lightning struck and our phone got charred. It wasn’t Will.”

Now it’s your turn to squeeze Jonathan’s hand. He doesn’t deserve any of this. None of the Byers do. Out of the entire town, they’re the family who deserves the most that life can give. Will, too good. Jonathan, too selfless. Joyce, too loving. They’re the best damn people you know.

“I tried calming her down, but she was hysterical. She’s only asleep right now because she worked herself up too much and passed out. I’m worried she-'' Jonathan shakes his head, as if ashamed by his own words. “I’m worried she’s going crazy, Y/N.”

He’s quiet again, but you can tell he’s about to break. His knee is now bouncing up and down and his breathing has become slightly ragged. Everything from today has been building up, it was only a matter of time before he snapped. You’re also worried about Joyce, a part of you skeptical to believe her, but the little girl you found tonight in the rain? Something was definitely weird about Will’s disappearance, but you’re hesitant to tell Jonathan just yet. For all you know, she could’ve simply been a girl who got lost and will be returned to her family tomorrow.

You don’t want to worry Jonathan any more than you need to.

“I should’ve been there for him. I shouldn’t have taken that shift.” He gasps out, and like a dam the tears begin to fall. You’re quick to pull him into a hug and he crumbles into you. His body shakes with violent sobs and he clutches at you as if afraid you’ll leave.

“You can’t blame yourself.” You whisper, stroking a hand through his hair. He cries even harder, the force of it almost enough to knock you over, so you situate yourself so that you’re fully on the bed, laying against his pillows, with Jonathan crying into your chest beside you.

“He’s g-gone.”

“We’ll find him, I promise.” Your own tears threaten to come out, but you force them down. You have to be here for him, he needs you. The only other time Jonathan has so openly cried was when Lonnie left years ago. He’s been holding everything in since then, all those years of looking after his family, taking care of his brother, getting harassed by assholes like Tommy Hagan.

Neither of you say anything else, and you know that Jonathan needs to let it all out. You soothe him as best as you can, running a hand through his hair, stroking his back, reassuring him over and over again that none of this is his fault until your own voice becomes hoarse. You don’t know how long you stay like this, but sometime during the night Jonathan finally falls asleep, and you follow shortly after him.

—

Sunlight streams through Jonathan’s spare bed sheet that he’s pinned over his window, serving as a makeshift curtain, waking you up. You stretch, careful not to wake the boy beside you, and crawl out of the bed. You’re antsy, already knowing that today will be another long day. After grabbing some clothes from your designated drawer and getting dressed, you head into the kitchen and start making a quick breakfast. Just as you’re finishing up, Jonathan comes out of his room, dressed and ready for the day.

Neither of you say anything about the night prior, instead silently working around each other in the kitchen with years of practiced ease. He hands you the salt shaker right when you need it, you grab the pieces of toast that he popped into the toaster, the two of you never once get in each other’s way. You get deja vu, remembering all the times you’ve slept over with Dustin, you and Jonathan making the boys breakfast while they slept in.

The only indication that last night really happened is a forehead kiss from Jonathan, his lips soft against your head. Out of the two of you, you’re definitely the touchy one, so it’s always a nice surprise when he initiates the touch, and his forehead kisses were a welcome rarity.

When the plates have been made, Joyce gets up from the couch and stumbles over to the table. You quickly help her sit down, and for the first time since Will’s disappearance you’re able to really look at her. She looks like Jonathan, only worse. The bags under her eyes are darker, her hair is more matted, and you believe she’s still wearing the same shirt you saw her in the night that Will went missing.

“All right, mom. Breakfast is ready.” Jonathan tries to place her plate on the table, but Joyce stops him, worried about the poster of Will.

Jonathan gives you a look and you run over to the table, grabbing the poster so that he can set the plate down.

Joyce gives you a tired smile, “Thank you, Y/N, but I can’t eat.”

“I just need you to eat, mom.”

“Jonathan’s right, Mrs. Byers. You need to eat, we gotta keep your strength up.” You feel like you’re talking to a child, but in a way, you suppose you are.

The woman lights a cigarette instead, and faintly you wonder how many she’s had within the last 48 hours; you’ll need to wash your clothes when you get home. She begins to ask Jonathan to go to Xerox to make as many copies of Will’s poster as possible. You sit down in front of her, silently eating, knowing there’s no place for you in this conversation.

It’s not that the Byers are ashamed that they have little money, but you know it’s rude to listen in. They make do with what they have, and Jonathan has never felt embarrassed with you knowing it.

“I don’t want you to go alone,” Joyce says, causing you to speak up.

“I’ll go with him and help hang them up, it’s no problem.”

Jonathan turns to you. “You have that chem test, remember? I’m not letting you miss that.”

“Shit…” you bury your face into your hands. You completely forgot about that after finding the little girl last night and dealing with Jonathan. You’ve heard about how impossible the chem exams were, and science has never been your best subject. That was Dustin’s thing, your thing was more humanities.

“You’re the smartest person I know, you’ll ace the exam,” Jonathan reassures you before turning to his mom. “And I’ll handle the posters, it’s okay.”

Joyce has been lost in thought during your conversation with her son, only beginning to speak again when she’s asked how many copies will be efficient. Once she starts speaking again, it’s almost like she’s physically unable to stop. She begins to ramble, finally exposing the crumbling woman that you’ve only heard about, now understanding Jonathan’s fears for her.

“Mom-”

“If we… ten cents-”

“Mom!” Jonathan raises his voice a bit, now grabbing at his mother’s hand. “You can’t get like this, okay?”

The look on Joyce’s face kills you. She looks so lost, ashamed of her behavior, and you cast your head down; this is a private matter. Joyce profusely apologizes to him and all Jonathan can do is gently reassure her that it’s okay. All of this is okay.

Their tender moment is interrupted by knocking on the front door, revealing Hopper on the other side. His presence makes you uneasy, so you stay in the kitchen and begin to clean up with Jonathan while Joyce attacks him with questions.

“A little bit of trust here, alright? We’ve been searching all night.” You hear the cop say. Your hand clenches the sponge, rubbing a bit harder at the plate you’re cleaning. If they’ve been searching all night, why are they here now?

“Went all the way to Cartersville.” Ever since Will disappeared, you’ve been building a wall of hope within you that he’ll be found safe and sound. However, with every passing day, with every new situation that occurs, you can feel a piece of the wall collapse. You can feel it now; the search party went all the way to Cartersville.

“And?” Joyce asks.

“Nothing.” The cry that Joyce lets out causes you to drop the plate you’ve been cleaning, shattering on the floor. You curse, immediately bending down to pick up the pieces. Luckily it didn’t shatter into a million bits, but you still feel horrible for breaking one of their dishes.

Jonathan bends down as well to help, and the commotion catches Hopper’s attention. He sees you scrambling to clean up the mess and sighs with annoyance. “Does she live here or something?”

You and Jonathan look at each other, a slight smile on your faces, and only respond to Hopper with a synchronized shrug. You basically do live at the Byers’ at this point, you have been for years now. It was the same for Jonathan: if you weren’t at his house, he was at yours.

Joyce wipes some of her tears away. “Y/N is family, she’s here to help.”

Hopper ignores this, instead bringing up the phone call from the night before. Joyce leads him over to the phone, and you join them once you’ve collected the remaining pieces of broken glass. When you see the phone, you can’t help but gasp. Jonathan’s words from last night are accurate, the phone is charred.

“Storm barbecued this pretty good.” Hopper says.

Joyce waves her arms out, disbelieving. “The storm? You’re saying that that’s not… weird?”

“No, it’s weird.” Hopper begins, but you cut him off.

“It’s really weird.”

He glares at you. You mumble a quick sorry and back away a bit while Jonathan asks if the call can be traced. Hopper focuses back on the situation at hand, informing him that it isn’t possible and then questions if Joyce even heard Will in the first place. The question makes you cringe, knowing it’ll only make Joyce more agitated and hurt.

“Flo said you just heard some breathing.”

It’s the way he phrases the question, the way he emphasizes the word “just”, that bothers you. This woman has just lost her kid, what kind of mother wouldn’t know her own child’s breathing?

“Even if it was ‘just’ some breathing, I’d know it was my brother. Will is her son, she’d know better than anyone.” You find yourself saying. The words weren’t meant to leave your mouth, but the appreciative look Joyce casts your way outweighs the fear from Hopper’s glare.

“It was him. It was Will, and he was scared. Then something-”

“It was probably just a prank call,” Hopper tries to reason with her, causing you to roll your eyes at him. You respect the guy, you do, but could he at least attempt to listen to Joyce?

You excuse yourself before you say anything else, heading back into the kitchen to collect the two posters you and Jonathan made. While the others talk, you grab his things and pack his bag for him. You know he’ll probably skip school today to get the copies done in time, maybe keep an eye on his mom, so you make a mental note to inform him later that you’ll help with putting the fliers up the second you’re done with the exam. He needs someone there for him.

When you’ve grabbed the last of Jonathan’s things, Lonnie’s name is mentioned. You freeze, standing right outside the hall from them, only a wall between you. If Lonnie is somehow involved in this, you’ll kill him yourself. He was always cruel to Will, even when you were around to witness it. You hate him more than anything in this damn world.

“It’s been long enough, I’m having him checked out.” Hopper declares, storming out of the house.

You count to three in your head, and the second you get to three, Jonathan is following after Hopper. You knew he would, hating his father the most out of everyone who has had the displeasure of meeting him. You follow behind him, heading outside to talk to the Chief.

“Hey, Hopper. Let me go.”

Hopper takes a drag from his cigarette, facing the two of you. “I’m sorry?”

“To Lonnie’s,” Jonathan says, looking at you for backup.

You do your best to try. “If Will’s there, that means he probably ran away. Cops will scare the poor boy, he’ll think he’s in trouble.”

“And he’ll hide. He’s good at hiding.” Jonathan finishes for you.

Hopper stares at you both, inhaling more smoke from his cigarette and blowing it in your direction with a curious look in his eyes. “You two are sickening to be near, you know that?”

You and Jonathan share an annoyed look. A kid is missing, and you still have to clarify that you aren’t together? “It’s not like that,” Jonathan says.

“Sure, you know cops are good at detecting lies,” Hopper approaches him now, grabbing his shoulders. For a brief second you’re afraid he’ll hurt him. “And we’re also good at finding, okay? Stay here with your mom. She needs you.”

Hopper punches at Jonathan’s shoulder before facing you. “And you,” you brace for whatever he’s about to say, knowing you probably aren’t his favorite person at the moment. He points at Jonathan, “He needs you.”

His words hang in the air several minutes after he’s gone. You glance at Jonathan, but he doesn’t meet your eye and instead he goes back inside. You sigh, following after him because it’s what you do. Hopper’s right, he needs you.

Jonathan’s in the living room, speaking softly to his mom when you enter. You don’t disturb them but rather snatch Jonathan’s keys from the counter and wait for him by the door. Like Joyce said, Xerox opens in about thirty minutes and you have a chem exam to take. If you leave now, you’ll be able to make the copies with him and be back in time before school.

The ride to Xerox is tense, you know Jonathan is upset that he’s been sidelined by Hopper. You also know that he’s torn between wanting to help his mom and staying out of his house as much as possible. If it weren’t for your god damn chem test you’d offer to skip and hide out at your place, but you can’t. Jonathan wouldn’t let you risk your future for him (even though you would, in a heartbeat, a million times over).

The man at Xerox gives Jonathan a look of pity, clearly recognizing Will’s picture on the poster. It’s your favorite photo of him, smiling with all his teeth and happy as can be. From what you’ve heard, the whole town has been conducting search parties for him. Jonathan ignores the look and asks for the 200 copies to be made.

It’s just you and him in the store as you wait for the prints to be done. The guy said it’d be about a ten minute wait so you wander around the store. Jonathan clearly is in a no talking mood, so you occupy yourself with whatever you find. You wish you’d brought your backpack to Jonathan’s last night so you could at least study a bit while waiting, but you didn’t. It’d be a miracle if you pass this exam.

Jonathan wanders around as well, so you give a quick look around and find the employee. He’s standing over the printer when you approach. “I’d like to pay for the copies, please.”

“You can pay after they’re done-”

“No, I can’t let him see,” you point over to Jonathan, who is now looking at some stationary. “Please, just let me pay now so he can yell at me later.”

The guy gives you a shrug, clearly not getting paid enough to care. “Okay, it’ll be $20. Just leave the money on the counter over there, the prints should be done soon.”

You nod and do as you’re told, leaving the $20 bill on the counter while Jonathan isn’t looking. He can kill you later, right now you want to make up for not being able to help with hanging them up. There’s literally hundreds to get through, he can’t do that all alone.

When the posters are done and Jonathan collects them, you wish the worker a good day and then wrap your arms around him and use all your strength to drag your friend into the car. He doesn't fight back at first, too confused by your actions, and you’re almost out the door before he sees the man pocket the money and wave at you. The dots connect in his head and Jonathan begins to fight against you.

“Y/N, let me pay-”

“Nope. Not happening!”

“We both know I’m stronger-”

“Debatable, honestly, seeing as how we’re almost to your car.”

“Let go!” He tugs harshly as his arm, which you’ve got a secure hold on, causing you to stumble a bit.

You plant your feet more firmly against the ground and use all your weight to pull the boy forward. You’re a few feet away from the car, just one more solid pull should do the trick. “Stop fighting this, Byers. I’ve already paid-”

“Which you shouldn’t have!”

“Keep fighting and drop all the posters, I dare you.”

Jonathan looks down at the posters in his spare hand, realizing that you’re right. If he doesn’t give in soon, they’ll topple over. He lets out an agitated groan, throwing his head back, and then marches over to the car to unlock it and fling himself into the driver’s seat. “Just get in.”

You do a small victory dance and hop in the car.

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

He hesitates only for a moment. “God, I hate that I do.”

You smile, buckling your seatbelt. Jonathan pulls out of the parking lot and begins the drive to school. He’s less tense this time, at least. The small little wrestling match between the two of you seemingly did some good, then.

When you pull up to school, you once again apologize to Jonathan for being unable to help. He waves you off, understanding.

“It’s okay, I promise. I can’t have you failing out of high school because of me.”

You roll your eyes. “One test won’t make me become a high school dropout, Jonathan.”

He ruffles your hair, which you slap him for. “You can join me after, okay? Good luck, bug.”

“Fine, but I’m taking some posters with me so I can hang up on my way to my locker.”

“Deal.”

You run to your locker, flinging it open and letting out a sigh of relief when you spot your chem cards. Honestly, you really should’ve prepared better for your little sleepover at the Byers. You glance at the watch on your wrist, noting that you have roughly fifteen minutes to memorize all the elements in the periodic table as well as some chemistry definitions.

Just peachy.

You tie your hair up so you can focus better and grab the note cards. If you review the cards as you walk to class, you can save at least three minutes of studying time. You tuck the few remaining posters of Will under your arm and begin to head to your class, getting absorbed in all the elements and words. As you’re skimming a card about protein being K, you run into Nancy and Barb, who also seem to have the same idea as you.

“Oh, hey Y/N.” Nancy greets you, Barb waving to you as well.

They’re being nice, so you try to make conversation. “Studying for Kaminsky’s test?”

They nod at you and Nancy sighs, “Yeah, his exams are the worst.”

You laugh a bit, for once on the same page as her. “I know. I spent last night at Jonathan’s, I completely forgot about the test until this morning. I’m screwed.”

Barb raises her eyebrows at you while Nancy suddenly looks sad. “Oh, I’m sorry about Will. I know you and him are close.”

“Yeah, it must be hard taking care of Jonathan right now.” Barb voices.

You give them both an awkward smile. “Thanks, I guess? It’s just, there’s still hope, so…”

The three of you stand there as your voice trails off. It’s painfully awkward. While you’ve known Nancy since you were 12, and at some point you even called her a close friend of yours, the second you entered high school she became distant. You never blamed her for it, people simply grow up and grow apart. Now you only ever interact with her if it concerns the boys.

Trying to ease the awkwardness, you hold up a poster and offer it to them, but Steve snatches it from your grasp.

“Henderson, didn’t know you were also a little know-it-all. Why don’t you share your cheat sheet with the rest of us?” He says, casting a teasing look your way. It isn’t until he inspects the piece of paper that he finally notices that it’s a missing poster for a child, not a review sheet. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”

You snatch the poster back from him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”

His friends laugh, but Steve has a bit of heart to look guilty, so you count that as something. His shame doesn’t last long though and the goofy and sweet boy who made sure you were okay after almost hitting you with his car is gone.

Steve plays off the situation as if it were nothing. “Let me make it up to you, Henderson. I know you’re probably stressed out of your mind dealing with boyfriend troubles because of Bill-”

“His name is Will,” you grit out, remembering now why you dislike Steve so much. Everything was about impressing his friends, and while you can sympathize with him, it doesn’t give him an excuse to be an asshole.

“Right, Will. Anyways, I was just about to inform Nance over here that my dad has left town on a conference and my mom’s gone with him, ‘cause, ya know, she doesn’t trust him.”

“Good call,” Tommy says, and you glare at him.

Steve carries on. “So, are you guys in?”

“In for what?” Nancy asks.

“No parents, a big house?” Carol says, as if Nancy is a giant idiot.

You feel bad for her being treated so poorly by her boyfriend’s friends, so you lean in and whisper, “A party, Nancy.” Then you look at Steve. “And no, I’ll pass.”

Steve pouts. “Can’t leave loverboy alone for a couple hours?”

You scoff, shoving the poster against his chest, using more force than probably necessary, but the satisfying grunt he lets out pleases you. “If I didn’t know you I’d say you sound jealous. Unfortunately, I do know you, and that’s exactly why I’m not interested.”

“Meow,” says Carol as she and Tommy laugh.

You ignore her and push past the group to get to class. You’ve wasted enough time, you have to study. Steve lets you, hurt by your words, but tries to play it off, instead focusing his attention on Jonathan up ahead hanging up some posters. You both see him at the same time and as you start to approach him, you hear Steve and his group mock him.

“God, that’s depressing.” Steve says, and you’ve never wanted to hit a man more than you do right now.

You glance at Nancy, trying to convey your disappointment in her. She’s a nice girl, she shouldn’t be with an idiot like Harrington. Who the hell makes fun of a guy with a missing brother? Nancy doesn’t meet your eye, which pleases you. She should feel guilty.

As you near Jonathan, Nancy calls after you to wait up. You listen, mostly because you’re surprised she even followed, and together you walk up to him. “Hey, bee. I thought you’d be long gone by now.”

Jonathan looks up at your voice, surprised when he sees Nancy next to you. He gives you a look that you conclude is a what is she doing here? look and you can only shrug as if to say I have no clue how I ended up in this situation.

Nancy doesn’t see this exchange. “Hey,”

“Hey,” Jonathan responds, still confused.

Nancy looks at you uncertainly, but you refuse to leave. Screw your exam, if she even considers voicing her boyfriend’s opinions to Jonathan then you’ll personally see that she fails alongside you. “I just… I wanted to say, you know… I’m sorry, about everything.”

Oh, she’s being nice. You’re still unimpressed, but Jonathan motions to you to stop staring her down, so you reluctantly listen.

“Everyone’s thinking about you.”

You all turn towards Steve and his group, who are clearly listening in, and you snort at her words. “Right, obviously.”

“Y/N.” Jonathan warns.

“Sorry.”

“It sucks.” Nancy continues, and you have to give her some credit. You’re being a blatant bitch, but she’s still trying. You feel a bit bad now, which honestly makes you dislike her a bit more. Damn morals. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, he’s a smart kid.”

The bell rings, ending Nancy’s little monologue. “I have to go, chemistry test. Y/N, want to walk together?”

She really makes it impossible to be a bitch to her. “Sure, just give me a second.”

You lean close to Jonathan and lower your voice. “Good luck with your dad, bee.”

“How did you know I’d go-”

“Because of course you would. Now go, give him hell for me, will ya?”

Jonathan nods, relieved you aren’t pushing the topic. You know that Lonnie is a sore topic for him, for the entire Byers family, really. You only knew Lonnie for a year or so before Joyce left him, but you’ll never forget his spiteful words and the bruises that Jonathan tried to hide from you. He needs to do this alone, father and son.

You see Nancy watching, and just to spite her you kiss Jonathan’s cheek, relishing in the fact that she looks away, and you wish him luck once again before following her to class.

The test isn’t as bad as you’d feared, and the rest of the day goes by with relative ease. You don’t see much of Steve and his group and you’re thankful for that. Nancy also keeps her distance, no longer attempting to be all buddy buddy with you. A part of you feels bad about that, because honestly the thought of someone thinking you hate them makes you feel physically ill, but as long as Nancy is with someone like Steve, there’s not much you can do about that.

After school you stop by all of Jonathan’s classes and collect the work he’s missed over the last few days; he has enough to worry about, so you figured you could help do some assignments for him. It’s nothing unusual, truth to be told. There was a time you were out for two weeks straight due to the flu one year and Jonathan did every one of your assignments, so it’s about time you returned the favor.

Once you have what you need, you hang up the remaining flyers in your bag and begin your journey to work. You’ve used up all of your sick days helping the Byers, and while Mrs. Waters has insisted on letting you have more time off, you figured the distraction would be good for you. Jonathan will want some space after confronting his dad, and as much as you hated Lonnie, something told you he had nothing to do with Will.

Just when your shift is almost done, your coworker, this young kid named Alex who you’re honestly surprised can legally work, informs you that your mom is on the phone and wants to speak with you. You stack the remaining books in your hands and thank him, walking over to pick up the call.

“Hey, mom. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, sweetie! I was just calling to tell ya that Dusty is at the Wheeler’s tonight for dinner, so my plan for ribs won’t work without him. I was wondering if darling Johnny could feed you tonight? I know the two of you have that little sneaky food game.”

Your posture, once slumped over and uninterested, now straightens out. Why the hell is Dustin having dinner at the Wheeler’s? They never do that. “Uh, sure mom that won’t be an issue.”

Your mom lets out a sigh of relief. “Bless that Jonathan! I’ve always liked him…”

Your mom may be the biggest Jonathan supporter you’ve ever met. “Yeah, he’s your favorite. I know,” you shift a bit to catch Alex’s attention, mouthing to him that you need to leave work early. “Hey, did Dustin by chance say how long he’ll be at the Wheeler’s? I can swing by and pick him up after my shift.”

“Oh, I think he’s staying the night there. He mentioned something about Mike not finishing his part of their little science project?”

They’re calling the little girl a science project now? Boys are so typical. “Oh, I see. Well, I gotta get back to work, mom. I’ll be home late tonight.”

Your mom wishes you goodbye and warns you not to be out too late. You hum, already trying to figure out the quickest route to the Wheeler’s house. You can’t say you’re surprised that Mike didn’t follow the plan, but you also can’t say you were prepared for this either.

Alex comes back with your boss and you quickly make up a lie about not feeling well. Mrs. Waters gives you a pitying look and tells you to go. You’re incredibly grateful for her, she’s like a grandmother to you and has always been so kind.

You quickly bike to Mike’s house, going over a grand speech in your head for the boys. Logistically speaking, you’re not sure if they can even harbor the little girl in his basement. Would it be kidnapping? Could kids even kidnap other kids? You aren’t sure and you definitely aren’t willing to find out.

You arrive at the house just as Nancy and Barb are pulling out of the driveway, presumably to Steve’s grand house party. They wave at you awkwardly and you don’t have it in you to wave back. You park your bike next to their doorstep and knock on the door.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Mrs. Wheeler asks after opening the door.

“Oh, I was just wondering if I could hang out with the boys tonight? Jonathan’s busy and I promised Dustin I’d help with their campaign.”

Mrs. Wheeler cocks her head at you. “But I thought there was a special assembly at the school for Will? Nancy and Barb just left for it.”

You feel your blood boil a bit. There was no assembly for Will at your school, and it was really damn low of Nancy to use his disappearance as a cover story for her stupid party. She’s known Will since he was practically a baby. You have no idea how someone could be so unaffected by a missing child, let alone one who has been at your house every damn weekend for years now.

“Oh, that!” You force yourself to remain calm; there isn’t time to snitch on Nancy, Mrs. Wheeler would only have more questions for you. “Yeah, I’m, uh, skipping it. Jonathan doesn’t want to go, so after he’s back from his errands I’m heading over to his place to, you know, comfort him?”

The woman stares at you for a second, trying to determine if there are any lies to your words. You’ve never been the best liar, but being the oldest Henderson child has unfortunately prepared you for being quick on your feet when needed.

“Well, come on then. They boys just went downstairs, and if you can please remind them to bring the plate of food back up here I’d really appreciate it.”

You thank Mrs. Wheeler and let yourself in. Her words have all but solidified your suspicions: Mike kept the girl.

When you descend the basement steps, it’s almost comical how the kids scramble to hide the girl like little cockroaches. They run around and Dustin screams something about covering her before the poor girl is being manhandled into a sheet as Mike screams at Lucas and Dustin to calm down.

“Guys! It’s just me! Jesus!” You shout, shoving past Mike to rush over to the girl and free her from the sheets. She looks more frightened than usual, but at least she’s alive.

“God, why am I always the one you push?”

You shush Mike, smoothing back the girl’s hair and offering her a reassuring smile. “Remember me, sweetheart?”

The girl nods and softly says, “Y/N.”

“Very good. I’m going to scream at my brother real quick, so why don’t you cover your ears for me so you don’t get too frightened?”

“Wait, what-”

The minute her ears are covered, you turn to Dustin and begin screaming. “Are you brain dead and not understand the words ‘tell me if anything weird happens’ or do you simply lack the appropriate empathy needed for a concerned sister?”

Dustin ducks his head in shame. “Y/N, look-”

“No! I’m all for helping you guys with your adventures and whatever, but Will went missing and then she appears and Mike,” you turn to him and he hides behind a frightened Lucas. “You said you’d stick to your plan. Now tell me, did you?”

Mike shakes his head, his eyes wide. Dustin looks no better as he cowers behind the others. Lucas simply shrugs, knowing that this would happen. You never, ever, yell at the boys; the few times you have in the past, all hell had broken loose.

“Y/N-”

“Zip it, Henderson. I’m so pissed off at you right now and if you want to make it to thirteen I suggest you keep quiet.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Now, why don’t you guys catch me up on what you’ve so sweetly kept hidden from me.” It’s worded as a question, but the boys know better than to deny you.

You sit on the ground so that you’re next to the girl and then motion for the three boys in front of you to start speaking. They look at Mike, giving him a nudge, and he hesitantly steps forward to begin speaking. “Her name is El.”

The girl, El, looks up at you and smiles. You return the smile and knock your shoulder against hers in a playful manner. “Nice to meet you, can I ask what El is short for?”

“Eleven,” she says, and you want to question the name further but the look on Mike’s face stops you. Now is not the time, you guess.

“El, she’s… different.” Mike continues, looking around nervously. He’s acting as if someone could break in any second and snipe you guys, and a part of you doesn’t doubt it can happen. “She has these powers, like, mind control powers.”

You snort, unable to stop yourself. El looks at you, looking unoffended, seemingly expecting this reaction. However, Mike groans at you. “Y/N, this is serious. She-she knows about Will.”

At this, your smile fades and you feel an overwhelming sense of hope take over you. You find your arms wrapping around El before you can control yourself and you give her a tight hug. She stiffens in your arms and you immediately pull away. “I’m sorry, I just… sorry.”

She laughs a bit, softly saying that it’s okay.

“Do you really know Will? Where he is?” You ask, almost too scared to say the words out loud. If she’s telling the truth… you shake your head in an attempt to dispel any false hope. You don’t know this girl, she could be lying.

Before El can say anything else, Mike speaks for her. “She does, but there’s bad men out there who want to hurt her. I think they’re after Will, too.”

You freeze. “Bad men?”

“Yes, this is why we didn’t want to tell you!”

“I wanted to tell her,” Lucas says, which causes Mike to glare at him.

You wave your arms at the two boys, breaking up their fight. “Mike, what do you mean by bad men? Honey,” you look at El, “did someone hurt you? Are you in danger? Should I call the police?”

“No!” All three boys shout at once.

You look at them, at the genuine fear in their eyes, and sigh, “Okay, if you can give me a good reason not to call the cops, I won’t.”

“Did you not hear the part about El having powers?” Dustin asks.

“Gee, Dustin. You’re right! It’s like her having powers is totally believable and reassuring to the situation at hand!”

“I can show you,” El speaks up.

You all face her now. “You can?”

She nods at you, getting up and grabbing your backpack that you threw on the ground when you walked in. She rustles through it while you and the boys look at one another. After a few seconds, El grabs one of your comic books and places it on the table. She looks at you and tilts her head, indicating for you to sit down next to her; you do as you’re told.

El straightens out your comic and then closes her eyes, going completely still. The air around you shifts and you can practically feel the static electricity encasing you; the hair on your arms stand up. The pages of the comic begin to flick up, fluttering as if someone is thumbing through them in rapid succession. You watch as the Spidey panels flash before your eyes, the pages flying faster and faster until it becomes almost frightening to be near. Then, once it gets to its last page, the comic flies up into the air and hovers for a few seconds, right in front of your face.

“Holy shit,” you breathe out, your eyes wide.

Just as quickly as it began, the comic drops back onto the table. You look up at El and see that her nose is now bleeding, which rips you back to reality. The chair scrapes against the ground as you get up to help her, dabbing at the blood with a tissue that had been laying on the table.

“Do you believe us now?” Mike asks, a smug look on his face.

You gently wipe away the remaining blood from El’s face, looking her in the eye and directing your words to her. “I’m listening, sweetheart. What can you do to help us find Will?”

El smiles, pleased to have earned your trust, and you get the feeling that this little girl is the most powerful thing in all of Hawkins, maybe even the world. At her request, Mike places his DnD board on the table and arranges the pieces for El to use. She sits down and closes her eyes once more.

Lucas gives you a doubtful look. “What’s the weirdo doing?”

You flick his head, not enjoying the name calling. Honestly, you thought you raised these boys better than that.

El seems to accomplish whatever she was doing and picks up the wizard piece, murmuring, “Will.”

You feel your heart stop. Will always insisted on being the wizard whenever they played the game. He was Will the Wise, forever and always. El couldn’t have simply guessed that, and you know it’s her-

“Superpowers,” Dustin finishes your thought for you. The two of you exchange a glance and you notice the slight glee in his eyes. Under different circumstances, you’d also find this all pretty cool.

Mike sits next to El and begins to ask some questions about where she last saw Will. She gives him a look that you can’t quite decipher before swiping her arm across the table and spilling the pieces onto the floor. She then flips the board over, having it now face upside down, and places Will’s piece back down.

You knit your brows together, trying to follow along. El’s movements are methodical and carefully planned, being unable to find the right words due to her poor speech, and you try to piece together the information you’ve been given.

“I don’t understand,” Mike says, being extra gentle with El. You’ve never seen him so soft spoken before and you’re grateful at least one of the boys doesn’t view her as some monster. Which reminds you that you need to have a conversation with Dustin about respecting women, but for now you’ll hold off.

“Hiding.” says El.

He’s good at hiding, Jonathan’s words echo in your head.

“Will is hiding?”

El nods, now looking more nervous. You can tell that Mike is getting closer to information that she doesn’t want him near, which finally causes you to ask the question that’s been heavily on your mind. “From the bad men?”

Now El gives a slight shake of the head, and Mike presses on. “Then from who?”

Without saying anything, El places a second piece onto the board right in front of Will’s. It’s a piece you’re unfamiliar with, with two snake-like heads that loom over the small wizard piece. Whatever it is, you know it isn’t good judging the way Mike, Dustin, and Lucas look at each other in fear.

You turn to Dustin and whisper, “What’s that piece?”

Your brother puts his hands behind his head and sighs deeply, a new resigned look on his face. He looks as if he’s just aged thirty years, which you find a bit dramatic. “It’s the Demogorgon.”

“The Demo-what?” The name sounds familiar, but you can’t remember anything about it.

Mike looks at you and for once his voice holds no annoyance when he says, “There’s a lot we still have to catch you up on.”

–

Your head is spinning as you bike to Jonathan’s with all the new information you’ve just received. Demogorgons, magical vortexes, kids with damn superpowers. It’s all a lot for you to take in, and while you fully believe that El is something entirely different from a normal little girl, how can you be sure that it’s connected to Will? While his disappearance still confuses you, it’s illogical to jump to supernatural conclusions.

Dustin had begged you to let him spend the night at Mikes in order to keep talking to El, and you only agreed because you figured you’d be at Jonathan’s again tonight anyways. He’s been MIA all day and you’re worried as usual, but you made him and Mike swear to you that they’d stay put in the house. At least this way they’re in one place, so if they screw around they’ll be easier to find.

When you arrive at the Byers home you notice that Jonathan’s car isn’t in the driveway, which only confuses you further. Where the hell is he? You gave him all day to deal with Lonnie and cool off, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything stupid for twelve hours, and yet…

You fear he’s done something stupid.

You don’t have time to think too much about Jonathan’s absence because a frantic Joyce runs out the door screaming. She runs straight past you and into her car, and the house begins to light up like a christmas tree. You can hear The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go, a song that Will once had on repeat for three weeks straight, and you can feel the same static electricity in the air that you felt when El used her powers in front of you.

Joyce suddenly gets out of the car and spots you, pointing towards her house. “You see that too?”

You swallow. “Yeah,”

She nods, as if your confirmation is all she needs to determine her sanity, and then marches inside. You stand in the yard, motionless. You’re terrified, and after learning about El tonight, you don’t have it in you to discover any other supernatural beings in Hawkins at the moment. Sighing, you follow after the woman because Jonathan isn’t home and someone needs to talk her down from whatever panic attack the flashing lights have inevitably caused.

“Mrs. Byers-”

“Y/N, you can’t tell me there isn’t something,” Joyce waves her hands in front of her face, almost grasping at the air, “weird about all of this. That was Will’s song, the lights were flashing in Will’s room, something came out of Will’s wall-”

“Something came out of his wall?”

“Yes! I’m not… I promise I’m not crazy, okay? You saw it, please tell me you saw it.”

You bite your lip, now thinking about El. You swore to Mike you wouldn’t tell anyone about her, and honestly you’re not sure that you should tell Joyce about her right now. You’re still unsure if El is being honest with you, and you can’t just give the woman false hope for her son. It’d kill you if you were wrong about El. But seeing the lights, hearing the music, the thing in the wall… There’s something that she’s not telling you.

“Mrs. Byers… I’m not quite sure what I saw, but we just had a bad storm and it could be faulty wiring.”

Joyce slumps her shoulders, frustrated that you aren’t conspiring with her. You just… you can’t. Not yet. Not before you figure out what the hell El is doing in Hawkins. You refuse to worsen Joyce’s already chronic anxiety and paranoia; Jonathan would never forgive you if you fed into her delusions, but it kills you to lie to her.

“Look, I do think that something is weird about this entire situation, “ Joyce’s face lights up, but you’re quick to add, “however, there’s no proof. You, I mean-Mrs. Byers, you’ve seen things in the past. You’re stressed, and anxious, and all the other synonyms.”

The woman lets a few tears drop from her eyes, now embarrassed. “Maybe you’re right. I-I’m sorry, honey. I just-”

You grab her hand. “I know,”

Her smile is brittle, a ghost of the once beautiful smile she’d give you, and your heart breaks for her.

After your conversation, Joyce excuses herself to her room. She looks even more exhausted than before, so you leave her alone and hole yourself up in Jonthan’s room.

You glance at your watch and note the late hour; you’re starting to worry now. Jonathan didn’t mention anything besides Lonnie and the posters, so you don’t know what else he could be doing so late. He wouldn’t go searching for Will without you.

You wake up to Jonathan returning an hour or so later, apparently having fallen asleep while waiting for him.

“Y/N?” His voice is gruff and surprised.

You groan and rub your eyes. “Turn the light off, bee.”

He doesn’t. “What are you doing here?”

The tone of his voice wakes you up a bit, making you sit up and look at him more clearly. His shoulders are tense, his eyes are hiding something, and his overall demeanor is hard to read. “I had something to tell you, but is everything okay?”

“You couldn't have waited until tomorrow? Y/N, this is my house, just… just get out.”

“I’m sorry?” You’re confused by his behavior, now starting to become a bit defensive and hurt by his dismissal.

“You can’t just let yourself in whenever you please.” Jonathan puts his camera on his desk, still refusing to meet your eyes.

“Jonathan, we literally have always let ourselves into each other’s houses whenever we please.”

He rolls his eyes at you and rips off his jacket, throwing it at you. “Get out!”

You catch the jacket before it hits you in the face. “What the hell, Jonathan!”

“Listen, I get that you think you’re a part of the family, but you’re not. You’ve been here for days now, it’s getting old.”

His words cut through you and leave vicious wounds against your skin. He doesn’t mean that, he can’t mean that. You and him were family. He’s never, ever insinuated anything less. He wouldn’t dare. Your Jonathan would never act like this to you, and the only time he’s ever been this cruel to you was when he accidentally dropped Lonnie’s last beer in the fridge and was too embarrassed and ashamed to ask for help; he’d shown up with bruises later that night.

Then it hits you. He did something, something that makes him feel guilty; he keeps glancing at his camera. You soften your voice, “Bee, what did you do?”

He whips around, now yelling. “Nothing! Just get the hell out of my house! It’s getting pathetic!”

You swallow back the angry tears that build in your throat. Fine. Whatever. Let him be a raging bitch after everything you’ve done for him these last few days.

“Fine, I will.” Grabbing your backpack you snatch the assignments you were supposed to give Jonathan and slam them against his chest. “Here’s all your fucking assignments, by the way.”

He seems to come back to himself, blinking away the anger and shame. “Bug…”

“You don’t get to call me that.” And with that, you don’t spare Jonathan another glance.

–

When you get home, the house is eerily quiet. Dustin is at Mike’s and your mom leaves you a note saying that she’s spending the night at your aunt’s. Great. Looks like it’s just you and Mews tonight then.

After everything that’s happened tonight, you never found time to eat dinner, and your stomach is loudly growling. You drop your stuff in your room and then reheat some leftovers, feeling like a pathetic child. You know that Jonathan didn’t mean what he said, but the words had come too easily to him to have just been a way to dodge his guilt. There had been some truth to them. Maybe you were pathetic for always fretting over him.

Dinner is quiet tonight.

You wait for the phone to ring, for Jonathan to call you and apologize, but the call never comes.

You’ve never felt so alone before.

⌑ series masterlist

⌑ if you would like to be added/removed from my taglist, just let me know :)

#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things rewrite #slowburn #angst #wdtai #m's writing #the thought of steve just taking will's missing poster and then being like oh shit was so funny to me i had to add it #also sad ending #sorry #but also not

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celestial-quill-n-ink · 9 months

Text

What They Think Of You (Season 1):

🎮Leviathan🎮

✦ To be honest, Levi pretty much forgot that the Human Exchange Student was going to be arriving that day. I mean, he had so many more important things to worry about, so what reason would he have to care about a simple human?

✦ …Actually… He could use this to his advantage. Would it be petty? Maybe, but it would serve Mammon right for being such a scummy brother!

✦ And surprisingly enough, his plan worked! But despite what his brothers were insinuating, he didn't care for you in any way! Not at all! Not one bit!

✦ It's not like he was practically living within one of his favourite anime tropes, having become the unsuspecting onlooker to a real life isekai! An innocent human suddenly thrust into a world of magic and demons! An instantly compelling setup that had made him fall in love with many a main characters…

✦ But regardless of any of that!!! He was just a stinky Otaku who gamed his days away in the comfort of his room. There was no need for him to get involved with whatever daredevil antics the human and his scummy brother were bound to get up to.

✦ …That wasn't going to be as easy as he wanted, however.

✦ Because this human just didn't know when to quit! I mean, why do they get to have so much fun binging TSL and then act so confident as if they know what they're talking about? It just wasn't fair.

✦ And now here he was, standing in front of a terrifyingly large crowd in the main hall of RAD, just to prove to one singular prideful human that he was the ultimate TSL fan!

✦ …He really didn't want to hurt them. He honestly felt downright awful after his outburst. But most of all, he felt defeated.

✦ Did he believe that you cheated during the TSL Showdown? …Kind of, yeah. Actually, yeah, he did think it was a scummy thing to do!

✦ But… it's not like he was in a position to have the rarest of merch or all the insider details of his favourite story. And that's simply because he was a shut-in. He keeps to himself and he never tries to interact with others.

✦ Whether he likes it or not, you got the advantages and opportunities you had because you actually interacted with people and made your own impression on them.

✦ And that made him so jealous.

✦ So he agreed to the pact. He conceded that you had something that he didn't, despite how desperately he did want it.

✦ And then you apologised to him. For using dirty tactics to get your way, because you would feel the exact way he did if someone tried to do that with your favourite pieces of media.

✦ …Wait, what???

✦ You actually enjoyed video games and anime too? Just like him??? ...I mean, maybe he could forgive you, but that didn't make you two best friends or anything!!!

✦ Spoiler Alert: It definitely did to him.

✦ He actually got to know you on a deeper level, watching how you'd interact with his brothers, like you were just always meant to fit with them. These… misfit fallen angels that they were.

✦ And the craziest thing of all was that you actually wanted to hang out with him!!! You wanted to share your favourite Human World anime and manga with him, and soon enough (way faster than he was ever willing to admit), he did the same for you with Devildom media.

✦ Which was all fine and dandy, sunshine and rainbows, but why in all of the three realms did his brothers have to be so obnoxious about you? Constantly vying for your attention, while you argued that you'd already scheduled this time for you and him.

✦ And wow, did hearing that pacify his envy quicker than any of the anime merch he's ever bought…

#obey me #obey me x reader #obey me x mc #obey me imagines #obey me imagine #obey me headcanons #obey me hcs #obey me shall we date #shall we date obey me #obey me leviathan #leviathan x reader #celestial writings

241 notes · View notes

aphroditesmoon · 8 months

Text

♡-;meadowlarks (I)

gwen stacy x fem!spidergirl!queen!reader (medievel au)

summary: when miguel accidentally sends gwen into a medievel timeline instead of her own after revoking her watch privileges, she sees it as a curse, but you, currently facing multiple challenges after the death of your father, the king, and the escape of a wild beast, finds that you'd appreciate the help.

warnings: hurt/comtort ,fluff, typical medieval sexism, trauma, kissing/makeout(INCOMING CHAPTERS), gore, grief, hesitant partners to friends to lovers, reader has fire powers, tiny bit internal homophobia, reader needs a nap, reader is touch starved, death, mutilation, witchcraft.

taglist; @kamaluhkhan @rissslays-parttwo @marytargaryen @darkstreaks @gwenisasilly @asher-kaden @macncheesemonster @miikshook @marianeski @reeags @goosetheluce @4cepink @yuennie

@primaviva

wordcount; 6.5k

a/n: testing out the waters w this one! 100 notes and I'll do a part 2 <33

▪︎ “AS THE WINTER TURNS THE MEADOW BROWN, YOU GO WHEREVER YOU GO TODAY” ▪︎

°°°°°

THERE ARE THREE thing anyone who’s lived in Old York Meadowlarks for at least a year would notice. The first, is that there had not been any Meadowlarks for nearly two centuries. The specific bird had been declared extinct. The second thing is that it never snows here. There are colder seasons sure, seasons where the winds could freeze you. But no one existing in the realm knew what snow even was. And finally, the third one is, there are no beasts in Meadowlarks.

The people survived through their fair share of thieves and criminals, and wild animals too. But monstrous beasts had remained a folklore. Bedtime stories to scare the children into doing their chores and stay off the woods past 8 O’clock.

And yet, here you are. Not a week after your father’s death, his only heir, now queen, and of course, the secret but very much known Lady Spider, standing inside a layered forest, currently covered in thick white flakes and ice-cold snow , meeting your fate against a minotaur.

Unlike the folktales, this minotaur doesn’t speak. He only growls and chases you to your death with incredible speed. “What the fuck?” was the only thing you’ve been asking yourself for the past 8 hours. You’ve caught mutants before, deformed humans, a consequence of their own black magic curse, but nothing completely inhuman as such.

What’s next? A unicorn?

The beast claws at the tree you’re currently hanging on, climbing up quickly despite his heavy weight, forcing you to latch on other trees faster. It wasn’t that you were incompetent, but merely confused. You wonder if you’ll just swing yourself at him if you tried to fight one on one. You weren’t taking the risk. Making sure he stayed chasing you, the path you were leading him on was into a bear trap. Something to keep him still for a while. Your fingers ache as they clench and unclench with your jumping from tree to tree.

Bold and dim as you expected the beast followed and fell into the hole with a roar, the net set immediately tying themselves around him. “Silly bull, should’ve stayed on all fours.” You muttered to yourself. It grumbles incoherently. Not a second of peace after, peasants from the further parts of the wood scrambles to view the dangerous state you were in. The bear trap being set off, including the terrible sounds the minotaur made, had called for attention. “Armageddon is coming!” An older woman shouted, shielding her son. The crowd makes a circle around you and the monster. Clutching their crosses in fear yet remaining like they're enjoying a circus show.

“Please, everyone. Unless you’d like it eat you first once it breaks free, run.” You yelled out, only gathering more people in. “Gods above, help me.” The minotaur growls again, tearing itself through the net. The people flinched and took steps backwards as the beast tosses and turned. “Move away or get burned.” You shouted, warning them for no less than a minute before blasting fire towards it. Smoke flew all around you as the children and their parents screamed while running off. That’ll do it, you thought as the air began to clear.

But gods no, the unconscious beast jolted, and your heart dropped. It’s fur and skin were already burnt off, but it’s still moving. You swung yourself on a tree above it, sword sliding off your hips into your hands. You hesitated at first, but once the creature’s eyes snapped open, You jumped. Your sword pushed through its right eyeball, earning a screech from it as blood flowed out from the now empty socket.

You pull your sword back out and flung your webs around him, tightening the trap.

The monster clawed at you then, from his restraints. The aggressiveness making you flinch and drop your sword to the ground. “Fuck.” Its arm stretches out against your web, and shoved you hardly off the net. Your balance fails and you a screamed a rare scream as gravity wins. Flinging your arms around, you panic when you found no stable source to swing yourself on. As quick as a flash, your heart lept when instead of banging your head on hard and now apparently cold snow, You’re swung hard to your left, making you scream louder before your hands make quick to wrap themselves around the body that just saved you.

“I’d love to just be fighting minotaurs all day, we don’t have that much in New york.” It was a girl.

And that wasn’t the most bizarre fact. She was wearing an apparel like no other, and she was swinging with you attached to her like a monkey, the same way you could. “Oh my god this is a dream.” It had to be. You must be hallucinating. The priests had told you it could happen. Grieve often leads to hysterics, especially for women.

But what the church and council didn’t know, is that you do not grieve your father or the man that he was. The man he could’ve been, maybe. But that was a different story.

You feel the wind howl harsher, the cold feels like a bitter sting at your skin. "This is not a dream, unfortunately for us both.” The girl spoke before she loosen her grip for you to swing yourself again. “This doesn’t make sense. Who are you?” You countered. Too many questions to ask. “I’m spider-girl, like you.” She answers simply, retangling the creature. “You’ve got any idea how to fix this?" Rationalizing enough remaining stabilty, you nodded. “Yeah.” You let her try to maintain the grip while you snatch your sword back up and move towards it, aim sharp.

“Back down.” You warned before slicing it through it’s neck, cutting off the minotaur’s head.

You land on your feet the same time the head falls. Your toes are freezing as it steps on the ground. The blood from the bull's decapitated head spreads all over the snow. It's body still inside the worn out net. That is a problem for the townsfolk to handle today.

The girl lands behind you, footsteps gentle when she moves. “A sword, pretty cool. Pretty heavy too huh?” You turn around to meet her. She wears a skin fitting white suit with a hood over her head, the type of clothing that would’ve had her burned as a witch a few hundred years ago. “If you’re not careful with your next words, you’ll feel just how heavy.”

She backtracks immediately, putting her hands up in defense. “Woah-hey, I just helped you kill that thing.” She reasons with you, hesitating to come closer. “That thing, came out of nowhere, and so do you. For the past 5 years, I’ve been the only Lady-spider here, how do I know that everything going on has nothing to do with you?”

You were fiercer than usual, maybe. But you would take no chances with the amounts of passings and tragedies your kingdom has gone through this past week. “Lady-Spider? That sounds old, no offense.” You frowned. “Look around, you’re in Old York!” Her shoulder drops. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense.” You realized then that she’s probably not a threat to you. But it does not mean she’s not the cause of all this.

Sighing tiredly, you cracked your knuckles and rubbed them together to ease the sharp winter it’s feeling. “Why are you here?” You demanded again as you begin to walk back out the forests, eyes tracking the dead beast's footprints againts the snow, now beginning to fade. Following from behind, You hear her talk distantly. “I’m…from a different universe. I wish I could give a better explanation, but that’s it. There’s a whole spider society of other spidermen like us in other universes, and I kind of accidentally got thrown here.” You stop in your tracks, turning to her again.

“Other Spidermen?” She nods. “So, you’re me?’ Her eyes widen through her mask as she shakes her head. “Oh no, not at all. I mean sometimes there’s a version of you somewhere else that is also Spiderman, but I’m pretty sure you’re not me.” You take a moment staring at her, trying to process the most insane thing to happen today.

“Take off your mask?” She cocks her head. “Take off your mask, and tell me your name. Only then I’ll believe you.” She scoffs at your words. “I don’t owe you anything, and what would I need you trust for anyways?” It was your turn to be amused now, smiling under your mask. “There is nowhere in this place you could roam freely, without my permission. And no, I’m not exaggerating.” You notice her hesitancy and waited for an answer. “My name is Gwen. Gwen Stacy.”

She would not take her mask off yet, but so far, her name would do. Giving the sky a quick glance, the sun burns a bright reminder for lunch. You wondered how much chastise you’d get from Alistair. “You’re coming with me, Gwen.”

^^^

You had made sure you’d be left alone after your coronation for grieving’s cause. The ceremony was a gloomy one for both you and the council. Dislike was etched all over their faces as the crown was fitted on your head. A 17 year old girl was not their idea of a good ruler. But everyone who knew the game of politics would also know well that the worst kind of law breakers are the ones who made the laws in the first place. They'd rather a corrupt man for their own advantages than a queen of peace.

Slinging back into your room with Gwen, you decided that grieve had to wait, for the worst part of all this was yet to come. She takes a seat on the edge of your purple sheeted king bed, eyes roaming around the rest of the large bedroom. Soon, you noticed how she focuses on the large painting of your late mother. Your hand instinctively went the long necklace with a single pearl on your neck that she had worn for the painting. “Maybe, this is your canon event.” You hear Gwen suggest as you change into a black dress with silver lines drawn by the waist. Your hood and leather jacket is tossed into your closet after you stuck your mask under a drawer.

Giving yourself a glance at the mirror, running your fingers through your dishevelled hair and hoping everyone else would excuse the red rims under your eyes for a state of mourning.

“Your father died, and not a week after, things you claimed to be impossible here, happened.” You trusted her words easily, though the terrible anxiety you’re feeling in the pit of your stomach worsens with the thought of something even worse was to come.

“Maybe you’re right. But that would still mean that there’s a cause for all of this, a starting point.” You could feel her stare as you fix your hair. Her existence was both nerve-wrecking and comforting. To play two roles in one life, is the kind of tiring not every person could understand. “So, are you like, a princess?” She asks finally. “Was” You clarified. “Oh…wait-“

You cut her off impatiently. “I’ve been queen for less than a week, and the worst weather phenomenon just happened, a non-existent mythical appeared, and there’s two spider women. Do you realize just how bad that looks for me, in the eyes of the people, the council?” You challenged brazenly, hands holding your waist as you stared at her. Gwen turns silent again, though her eyes held the same old sympathy that you hated.

“If…” You began, eyes moving from her back to the floor again. She raises a brow. “If I dared to ask for your help..” Her gaze brightens in understanding as she fiddles her fingers. “I would help you. At least until I figure out how to leave here.” Your body relaxes at that, finally seeing the shape of your plan. “I need you to pretend to be me.”

“What?” her voice was incredulous. “If I am to fix this situation, then I’ll need to be both the queen, and Lady-spider, which is impossible. So, I’ll need you to be me.” Gwen stared at you in confusion, “And what exactly will you and Lady-spider be up to?”

“That, will be explained in the meeting.”

The meeting was set that afternoon. The letter was sent the morning you woke up. An emergency meeting with the councils of the state from all over Old York. The men were easy to read. They had attended the meeting with the expectation of the queen’s begging for help and guidance. But you’ve already seen more than you should at a young age to consider yourself a lamb given to the slaughter. You could hear them from behind the doors before you entered.

She’s 17, and unmarried. What will the kingdom be with a child as a queen?

Her ruling is already cursed, It’s a fucking blizzard out there. Have you seen anything so white and cold?

A minotaur was killed by Lady-spider this morning. I would’ve thought it a lie if Jim himself didn’t see it with his own two eyes. A minotaur! What insanity-

The door pushes open with a loud creak as your guard, Alistair, announces your present loudly, stealing away the mayor and minister's attention from their gossiping. The room is silenced as they move to stand in honor of your entrance. Taking your seat at the end of the table, you meet their false smiles with your own. "Please, sit." 7 men are sat around the long table while a thick white candle is lits in the middle of it with the carvings of ’WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.’ written.

Till this day, you refuse to read upon the lines with any devotion or loyalty. You had carried the responsibility since you were born. What has it done for you in return?

Ignoring the changing glances shared right in front of you, you intertwine your fingers together, placing your fists on the table.

“I apologize for the late notice, and I thank you for being able to attend.” You said, with a pretense of gratefulness. They nod their heads in a respectful manner. “As you all can see, dark days are upon us.” Murmurs of agreements spread around the dark room. “If I was superstitious, I’d call it god’s wrath. But the falling out of this kingdom is happening too strategically, too clean. I’m aware I might not have seen this kingdom in it’s worst a thousand years ago, but I’ve been quite lucky to live long enough to know that only black magic could be the answer to this.” The table becomes a dash of confused expressions along with agreeable ones. You notice how some of them have taken to leaning on their wooden chairs with irritable expressions.

There's one thing men do not like than being told what to do by a woman, is being told what to do by a little girl.

“Magic is powerful, but it would take a terrifying level of sorcery for one to be able to summon impossible weather, and, mythical creatures.” Lord Jameson interjects with a raised brow. You could hear the tapping of the heel of his shoes on the stone hard floor amidst the eerily quiet room. It was like a small sign of defiance. "How are you so sure in something that's not even fully investigated yet?" You slowly spin your head at him, a glare embedded in your expression. “-Your majesty,” He adds too slowly.

”Yes, well, a powerful witch, given our kingdom’s track record, is much more believable than one of the gods purposely turning your bulls into beasts. And i'm sure if the gods were to punish us for our sins, they would have done it ages ago, it's not like we've been angels these past few years." You responded, reminding him of his slave trading scandal that happened two years ago. Snickers were heard from the other seats.

Glances were exchanged at your words and his, a gist of hesitance and cowardice amongst other things. “Word from my men is that this drastic weather change first started in the east, where most of our plantations are done in. Half of this year’s profit from it is gone, ruined. The people there will eat nothing but last month’s stock, and hunt their own animals, if they’re even lucky to find any in this weather. But afterwards it all went down like dominoes, snow, everywhere. And yet, the minotaur was found here, in town, 2 casualties, only because Lady-spider was quick enough.”

Lord Haycinter acts as the first to actually ask the question you yourself have been. “And what’s the correlation of those two?” The secret glances and talking stops, and all eyes are on you.

“Significantly? Nothing. But if you pay attention, both the town here and in the city have one similarity, their massive population.”You give the old men a few seconds to understand what you mean, the light switch in their brains finally clicking.

“Whoever is causing this, is trying to cause a purge.”

••••

Hours passed after the meeting, you’ve found yourself soaking in the tub for at least an hour now. Your fingers were wrinkly and the water had turned lukewarm. The rose colored walls of the bathing room were bringing back old memories, memories you can’t afford to remember.

So, you closed your eyes and think of the white snow again, and the blood the minotaur had splattered when his head fell off.

Tomorrow a scout of your men, alongside you and Lady-spider will be heading east. Food stock would be divided before an investigation started running. Lord Haycinter and a few others had triedbto persuade you to stay in the castle, let them and the given guard handle the investigation. But you needed the people to see their queen strong and contributing. You needed them to know thate whether they liked you as their ruler or not, you would not abandon them. The good and the bad, they are all under your responsibility.

The last time a deformed beast was made, it was by a witch who managed to create an group of brain eaters, solely to end her rival family’s bloodline. Aethella, old, wicked and spiteful. A long time witch of Meadowlark. Those were the stories spread of her. But you had met her, right before she was executed in your father’s order. She looked 60 in age, white hair clashing with faded black, a single gold tooth that made her look demonic when you see the whole mix of the look.

What would you do if all 8 daughters of yours were murdered with their hearts ripped out and hair shaved off for another man’s magic spells and joke. For another man’s ego and amusement, she has asked you at the ripe age of 15. So she killed his sons back in return. A punishment he deserved, but your father never gave. And she brought them back as the living dead and made them feast off of their father’s living body until he too, ceased to exist.

“But she’s dead now.”

How many witches are there in this town anyways? None as powerful to turn animals into mythical beings.

Your eyes are closed. The tiredness forcing it shut. What you would you would give to not have to carry the realm’s fate on your shoulders for a week. You flinch at a touch against your shoulder, slipping from unconsciousness to consciousness again. “Gwen.” You could tell. “You’ve been in here for 2 hours, I got worried.” Has it been 2 hours? It only felt like 1. Gwen kneels by the tub, palms remaining on your shoulder. You say nothing in response, too tired to speak. She wears one of your long dresses that you had given earlier. It was becoming of her, despite the clashing of the style with her odd hair.

Seeing how your knees buckle as you try to stand she slips an arm under yours and helped pull you out. Her eyes are trained on your neck until she could grab a hold of your robe and passed it to you. Tying it up in a ribbon, you give her a light push when she tries to help you into your bedroom, refusing it. You revel in the comfort of your dimly lighted room and it’s warmth, the candle by your bedside as the only source of light for you to get dressed. Feeling Gwen near, you say nothing until she’s walked over to your side.

“We need to go over the plan.” You stated in a matter of factly tone. “Alright.” She agrees. “Tomorrow, before 9 possibly, we’ll ride to the east side of Old York, Fullmar. My people there are made of farmers, hunters, you get the gist."

"They’re the most independent of us. They live near the crops and mountains, so every year, their supply of food are always checked off first. But with the unexpected snow, a lot of the folks are not sure how to maintain healthy crops and plants, they’ve never gone through the extremes like this. So first things first, we’ll divide 10% of Meadowlark’s fruits and vegetables spring stock for them, and then afterwards, I’ll have half of my unit guards search the seaforest for any signs of wild animals or witchcraft.” Gwen listens carefully, her gaze never leaving yours as you continue to explain.

“I thought you said the beast thing only happened once this morning?” She asks in confusion. You shook yourself and gave her a sarcastic smile. “I thought so too."

Rubbing your hands on the back of your neck, you fought the urge to pass out. “An official letter was sent to me from the minister of Fullmar from three hours ago, who unfortunately could not attend today’s meeting, that apparently two girls who had gone missing 3 days ago have been found dead in the woods, their flesh chewed and bitten off.” Gwen grimaced, “fucking hell.” You pursed your lips tiredly. “You’ve got that right.”

You muster up the courage to sit on your own bed next to her, the soft cotton sheets calling you to sleep. Eyeing up Gwen as subtly as possible, you feel guilt crawling it’s way into your moral consciousness when you realized how tired she looked too. Her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. You wondered if she noticed that you have too. “I’m going to figure out how to send you home.” You said aloud, making her laugh slightly. “That’ll be great,”

There was an unspoken bond made when the two of you met eachother. Something along the lines of, 'never actually mention your fathers, even though his name lies on the tip of your tongues.' She missed him, you could tell, despite her only mentioning him once that day.

You have not missed yours. In fact, you suffer in every second that you can't forget him.

“You mentioned something about a watch this morning, my Queensguard, Alistair is quite the technician. Perhaps he could help?” The blonde smiled sadly. And at that moment, all you wanted to do was wipe it off in any way you could.

“Thank you, but I don’t think your timeline’s technology are the same as Miguel’s or mine.” You hummed in understanding, deciding that you’d ask Alistair of it anyways. A sudden realization makes you jump as you quickly move to grab a pillow from your bed. “We should sleep. I forgot to tell you, you’ll be sleeping here for a while. I can’t risk the servant’s gossip of Spider-girl sleeping here, you can have the bed.”

Gwen makes a noise of disagreement, making you halt. “You do realize your bed is a bigger than an elephant, right? We could share, princess.” You feel your face physically heats up and frowned at her. “That is indecent, if we were to be seen even sitting on the same bed, the punishment is worse than tangling with a man.” Gwen’s eyes widen and her mouth hug open. “But that’s bullshit! What kind of man feeding patriarchy system is this?”

You shrug at the obviousness. “The kind that is a man feeding patrhiarchy.” She tilts her head and accepts the answer after considering it for a few seconds.

“Yes well, either way I’m not letting you sleep on the carpet. So we share, or I’ll sleep on the ground.” Her persistence was annoying. You can’t understand how she fails to see the problem in this. Women have been killed for far lesser sins. This was as if you’re asking to get tied to a stake. But her eyebags are deep and her back is hunched. So you put your pillows back down, and slipped under the covers next to her before turning the opposite side.

”You love your people.” She whispers out in the dark once you’ve blown off the candle. You could feel the slow rhythm of her breathing next to you.

“Someone has to. God knows my father and his father didn’t.” The both of you let the silence lingers between the space you make, concluding the conversations. “Goodnight.” She wishes, her voice caressed you like the soft winds that pushed through your lilac collored window curtains. “Goodnight."

You could feel sweat rolling down your forehead in an excruciatingly slow motion. The ice was beginning to melt as you ride to the east side with Gwen. The sun now had taken over in the case of extreme weathers. You fixed the shawl covering your head and face and presses your horse to move faster. It’s been at least an hour and a half since you started your journey. You made sure all royal sigils were hidden for now, not wanting to catch any unwanted attentions until the stock arrives.

Despite Alistair’s insistence on you riding in the royal carriage, you stuck through your horse, Merry anyways.

You decided to ride for an hour earlier than the food stock carriages to get some privacy with the investigation. And although you do not regret your choice, a 5 minute break in a carriage doesn’t sound that horrible now. The road was wet with melting ice and it stank of cow shit, but the fogginess from the cold had disappeared and the road seemed clearer. Gwen, who apparently has not rode on a horse for years, ended up behind you on Merry so you could save more time.

You could hear the amusing jokes the rest of the guards made about Lady Spider not knowing how to ride a horse and internally curses her for embarrassing your name.

Your loyal guard rides closer to you until he is side by side, and you could see him giving sideway glances to the girl behind you, judging her. He eyes her up and down. You raise a brow when he turns to you instead. “You know, I’ve been wondering since this morning when you announced that the infamous lone ranger Lady spider would join us, how did you two meet?” He asks, cocking his head at Gwen who’s currently holding onto your waist like her life depends on it as the horse gallops harder. “That’s none of your business, is it Ali?” He hums quietly, looking back on the path in front of me. “Forgive me for questioning you, your majesty. I just worry you trust easily.” You hear Gwen scoff as she sits up straighter. You would punch him in the face for saying those words, if you could. Being treated as a child by someone you trust was worse than being treated that way by a council of slagging, sexist old men.

“I know what I’m doing.” You silence him before giving your horse a light kick to move faster before it’s lunch time.

Alistair was 5 years older than you. He was assigned to you as a personal guard since you were 12. He was more like a brother than a bodyguard. And seeing how most days, he would be the only one willing to risk the king’s rage to save your arse whenever you’d sneak out or disappear entirely to do your job as Lady spider, his worry and protectiveness was warranted. And yet, as much as cared for you, he was still older, stronger, and still a man. He could not understand you if he wanted to. He was not made as you were.

Gwen eyes Alistair until he’s out of sight again, behind you. A glare embedded on her face. “Is he always like that?” You hummed positively. “He could use a smile and a less condescending tone.” She says sarcastically, making you smile.

“Don’t be offended, He’s like that with everyone I’m around. He’s just protective.” Gwen makes an ‘ooo’ sound and pushes you with more questions. “What, are you guys like, what’s the word?- Courting! Yes, see I know some slangs too. So are you guys courting?’ You were grateful that she’s behind you so she can’t see how wide your eyes are, hearing her question. “Heavens no.” You breathed out. “He’s like a brother to me, hell, I’ve once made him play tea party with me when I was 12.” Gwen laughs in surprise, eyes brightening. “Him? A tea party? What I would give to see that.” You hummed as an answer, trying to forget the insinuation she just made.

You were never comfortable with questions of courting or marriages. And it’s already terrible enough how much proposal letters you receive from many of the ministers and their sons, even the north King with already two wives had sent you a proposal. When it comes to marriage for politics, there was simply no one good enough or beneficial to help your kingdom so far. And in case of marriage for love, you just haven’t met any man you’re genuinely interested in.

The flat surface of the road was beginning to get bumpy, as are the short cut grass that’s mixing with overgrown weeds. If that wasn’t a sign that you have entered the borders of Fullmar, the broken and faded signboard that lays on the ground with the words ‘FUL M R’ is.

Your bend your neck and letting it stretch while you continue to ride on poor tired merry. “We’re here.” You tell Gwen who’s trying very hard not to fall asleep or fall of the horse. “Finally.” She mumbled back with a yawn. “Now, remember what I told you, no talking unless it’s completely necessary, no showing off your spider tricks, and no w-“ “No wandering off, yeah I got that.” She cuts you off in annoyance. “So do you guys talk like that all the time?” You frowned slowed down your horse. “Like what?”

“Like you’re in a Pride and Prejudice book?” You tilt your head up and try to remember a book with that title. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.” Gwen lets out a short laugh. “ Of course you son't."

You waited until the rest of the guards that came with you caught up. “what’s your call?” Alistair asked. “We’ll ride further east until we reach the seaforest, I’ll need at least two guard checking the waterfall area and the caves. Any prints of blood, any signs of hair or human body parts, you take it with you or you call me. Alistair, you search up the old church and the houses near there. Ask questions if necessary. Lady Spider, and the rest of you will be searching the rest of the forest with me.” A murmur of agreement and ‘yes, your majesties’ were said quickly before all 8 of you part ways as you’re told. You pull your horse into a left as you ride into the seaforest’s direction with 3 men behind you.

5 minutes more into riding, you finally reach the said forest. The seaforest was the most known forest of Old York, The trees there are a mix of greens and blue tints. It is known for growing rare fruits and plants mysteriously. Back during the age of witch burnings, is was rumoured that if you were to take anything without the forest’s permission, they would die before they could set foot outside the woods.

But you were sure that it was just an excuse to burn women who used the herbs they got for healing purposes from there without actual valid reasons. Still, you notice how your men quiver and flinch at any small noises of the birds and tree branches.

“Do not get cold feet now.” You attempt to motivate them weakly. “Oh wow, that’ll help them.” Gwen whispers as you help her off Merry after you. “Shut up.” The 5 of you spread ways, two of the guards headed to your right while the other one goes forward.

You were quick to your left, checking the condition of the bushes and trees to see if the extreme weather had affected them. They hadn’t. “Well this is odd.” You said to yourself.

“What? What did you find?” Gwen asks, basically sprinting from your right. “Nothing. Everything is fine.” She makes a face of confusion. “Okay…?” You ignore her and move to call your men. The three guards came quick to the center. “So far, everything looks fine where you were, yeah?” you questioned them, receiving fast nods.

“And what about snow? Has any of you seen even a bit of melted snow or ice, even a hint of it? Water?” You can feel the tension filling the space between all five of you when you said that. “None…” One of them spoke, the others not disagreeing. “Alright then.” You sighed in frustration. “If all of you are sure there’s nothing, we head over to the waterfall. It's all too good to be true.” The dark skinned guard who spoke up earlier raises his hand to speak. “You don’t have to- just, you know what, just speak.”

“Oh, right, um. Well, we can’t really call it a clue that, everything, is normal, right?” He asks. You shrugged at that and pursed your lips. “Perhaps not, but the fact that the forest is too normal, while the whole realm was in a shitshow of a snowstorm yesterday, is in itself very odd, yes?” The men make a face, considering what you just said. “Uh, I guess?”

“Good. Now let’s see if the others are going through something just as weird.” You spare them no more explanation, walking off to Merry with Gwen to help her on the horse.

The ride was short as the waterfall area wasn’t that far and is still inside the seaforest. You keep a straight face despite your awe in the colorful grown trees. The leaves are almost turquoise and from a far, the whole forest, illuminated by the brightly shining sun, looked almost as blue as the waterfall.

The heat was starting to get to you, you wiped you’re your shawl across the beads of sweat on your hairline, feeling how warm your face is. “I don’t see any of them.” You stated out loud. “Wait let me-“ One of the guards gets off his horse and sprints closer to the caves near the waterfalls. “Tristen?” You heard him call out. But Tristen, hadn’t went alone, he had another one with him too.

“Who was the other one with Tristen?” You ask one of your own. “Fred.” You frowned and looked back. Fred was a shitty name, did not fit him at all.

You watch the guard, Emery, disappear into the cave in search of his friend. A few second later, he exits it alone. “I can’t find him, your honor!” He shouted. “It’s your majesty, dingus.” The guard next to you yell. “Oh.” You ignore their banter, heart sinking at Emery’s earlier words.

“What about Frank?” “Fred.” The guard corrects you in a whisper, “Fred! Yes, not even a sign of Fred?” You can see Emery tilting his head with his mouth hung open in confusion. “Who’s Fred?” Gwen chokes out a laugh, quickly hiding it with a loud cough. You groaned loudly, rubbing your face with your palms. Sweaty and annoyed, you called for Emery to come back before he too, disappears.

Gwen squeezes your shoulder once she realizes how worried you actually were. "Hey, I'm sure they're just with Alistair." You huffed. "I told them to be here, not with Alistair." She says nothing, eyeing you worriedly. "I hope for their sake, they are with him." You sighed out before you rode to the church.

•••••

They were not with Alistair. The concern he looked at you with when you yold him that you couldn't find them, haunts you still.

You made sure the stocks were divided quickly, asking your guard of the news spread around here of the forsests and homicide tragedy that recently occured.

"The twins, Alia and Ana, both had their organs taken off, and their hair shaved. It's textbook dark magic." He exclaimed. And you agreed with his words. Witchcraft wasn't hard to spot. it's the witch, that is. "Their skin looked like it was bitten and chewed off by dogs, beasts. And that's not the worst part." He speaks in a grave tone.

"Their corpes was hung for all to see." You felt a closh shiver running down your spine. Their blood is in your hand. As a rulerr, you've failed. And now your own guards goes missing. "The air here is haunted, Alistair." You had told him after the stock dividing was done.

"There is a stench so foul, only some could smell. And an ugliness only some can see behind the faux magical looks of the forest." And yet, many times have you been in Fullmar with your father, but this time, something sinizter hasve found it's home in the city. He knew what you meant, he felt it too. "We'll camp by the church tonight, alright? We'll wait for Tristen and Fred." He pulls you into an embrace, and you ket yourself relax slightly. Whatever was to happened, you're not leaving anyone behind.

The 6 of you make camp a bit further from the church in the woods, but not in the seaforest. You made sure the spot you chose was still near to the church and streets, in case of medical emergencies.

The moon was currently making it's appearance, in replacement to the sun. The men are talking amongst eachother as they finish their portion of porridge, a fire made in the middle of your circle.

Gwen watches as you stand still by a tree, gazing out at the empty darkness, searching. She places her finished bowl by her pack before slowly pushing herself up from her crossed legged position to walk towards you. She was worried for you. The way you held yourself and your position was respectable, but how yoy deny yourself personal satisfaction and joy is harmful.

You could drive yourself to madness. You cared for your people, too much, to the point where you thought that you'd do a much better job as a queen if you cared for yourself less.

You flinched when you feel her arm on your shoulder. Somehow missing the sound of her loud footsteps meeting the noisy sound of leaves crunching together. "Princess." Your cheeks warmed at the title despite the situation. "Are you trying to cause a scene, starving yourself like this?" She scolds softly, pulling you by your arm to turn around and face her. "I can't eat when I'm too worried." You defend yourself. She raises a brow before dragging you to the circle again.

You don't fight against her, knowing that she's right. You were punishing your body for the mistakes you didn't mean to make.

But it had been 9 hours since your two guards vanished. You wonder if you had sent them to their deaths.

Emery and Yusof is singing together, a soft melody on their tongue to fill the uncomfortable silence and elephant in the room. "I thought I was going to die." Emery serenades slowly, dragging the last word. "But you taught me how to fall, before you taught me anything at all." Both he and Yusof sang.

Gwen is nodding her head to their singinv as she scoops a spoon of your porridge. "Open up." She wiggles her brows as the soon moves in a wavy motion to your mouth. "No! You're not spoonfe-" The words die at the tip of your tongue when she shoves the spoon in your talking mouth, making you swallow it by force. She grins proudly at her victory, making it hard for you to be angry at her.

You glare at her as she continues to feed you a few more times, enjoying the act of embarassing you. The group of 4 men are gently clapping their hands now, making a beat of their song. "I'll take first watch." Alistair announced. "Emery can take after me." The younger whined at that, earning a slap on his shaved head.

He meets your eyes momentarily before looking away at the same emptiness you had just gazed upon before. They're not coming.

Your eyes shut closebin frustration and painful acceptance. Gwens fingers finds yours, intertwining your cold hands and her warm ones together as she leans closer to you. "It's not your fault." She whispers in your ear. You open your eyes to stare back at her, your back against a tree. "They went there on my order." You replied, evidently.

"You didn't know what would happened, no one did." Her gand tightens on yours. "Gwen." You called out tiredly, fighting the urge to cry. "Yes?" She leans her head on your shoulder, her breathing hot in the crook of your neck. "Don't let go, please." She squeezes your fingers. "I won't."

You notice just how blue her eyes are when she's sitting this close to you. And so you fell asleep with her eye color as the last thing you thought off.

You weren't sure how long you had slept for. But when you awoke, it was still dark. You were shaken by the cold wind, jolting you up. Gwen was stuck to your arm, your fingers still intertwined.

She snores slightly, mouth slightly open whem she's dozing off into a dream. You let yourself smile at the girl clinging onto you. Out of all the things you've done wrong, trusting her hasn't been one yet, so far.

Your daydream was shooked away when a sudden sound or rusting leaves makes you flinch. You turn to your front, seeing none other than Alistair. He has his back towarfdyou as he's staring far up front. "Ali?" You called.

He stands still, voice low when he finally speaks. "Do you hear that?" You frowned. "Hear what? And how long have you been up?" He turns his face to look at you. His expression was full of the deepest fears. His hands were trembling. "I've been hearing that for an hour now, but I can't find the source." You say nothing, trying to listen to what he mentioned of.

"Come here." He beckons you in a whisper. You shook your head. "You're scaring me Alistair." He sighs. "I'm sorry, I- look, I'm serious, I heard something, but you can only hear better here." Your fingers squeezes Gwen's arm, making her mumble in her sleep. "Come on." He repeats, stretching out a hand to you. You move from your position to slowly crouch betore standing up, taking his hand.

He walks slowly to where he stood, shielding you as he walks front first, a protective hand still holding yours. "Now, listen." He whispers. And so you follow.

You try to clear your mind as best as possible, searching for the sound he told you off. And right when you were about to tell him off, you heard it. A howl. You gasped and meets his eyes. "Wolves?" You asked. He shook his head. "That's not an animalz that's human. And it's too visible to be far in the seaforest."

You understood then what he meant. "We need to see." He takes a deep breath. "I know but-" you huffed aloud. "No but, I'm going." You push off his grip on you as you stride towards the deeper parts of the woods, with only your missing guards' condition in my mind.

"Damnit, wait!" You hear Alistair curses before foorsteps were hearf getting more far from you, he was waking the others.

"Tristen? Fred?" You whisper yelled. A howl of pain, alike to a scream was heard, louder. Oh my god. You called for them again. Your hands hold onto the tree barks like walls in the dark, the trees being too tall, limiting the moon's light. You curse yourself when you accidentally tripped on a stick, hands finding a tree bark immediately. "Gods sake- Tristen!" You yelled out once more.

"Princess." You jumped at Gwen's voice. Her eyes were droopy and hair messed up, and yet as she watches you longer, her eyes beginnto widen. "Princess. " she repeats, slower. "Gwen." You breathed out in relief. "You scared me." She says nothing, eyes moving up before it remains staring above your head. Her lips quiver as she stutters out incomprehensible strings of words. "I-I heard them." You explained plainly before following the arrow her eyes pointed at.

Your body detaches itself from the tree, and a hysterical scream escapes the deepest parts of your chest and throat.

On the stealthy branches of the tree you held onto just now, were two naked men, with the middle parts of tbeir body torn open, and hung on it. Their blood smears the leafs and bark, and it drips still, falling down onto the grass. Their faces stayed intact, and you recognizes the looks of Tristen and Fred easily.

#gwen stacy fanfiction #gwen stacy x reader #spider gwen #ghost spider x reader #atsv #spiderman across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #gwen stacy

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storiesofsvu · 10 months

Text

Solace in Solitude Chapter 1

Emily Prentiss x reader (eventual) warnings: language, hurt/comfort, mentions of medical issues/trauma/injuries, obvious mentions of the episode "Lauren". fair warning: i'm doing minimal research medically for this fic, so for the love of all things holy don't be commenting or sending asks with unsolicited comments about how I got it wrong. I didn't go to med school, I only watched 19 seasons of grey's anatomy, alright? 😂I'm not saying everything in here is accurate lol. Anyway! here we go! let's start another adventure with Agent Prentiss.

It was your new morning routine, one that you finally felt you’d settled into, a quick breakfast and getting ready in your apartment, grabbing your lunch from the fridge before making your way out to the streets of Paris. The subway journey wasn’t far, you were lucky enough to live relatively close to the hospital, making your commute honestly, pretty enjoyable. You hadn’t been here long enough for things to feel mundane, most days it still kind of felt like it was a vacation, a trip you’d enjoy and be back home before you knew it.

You stopped in at a café a couple of blocks away, a coffee for yourself, a bag of assorted pastries for the fellow attending;s and another one to leave at the nurses station. You were fluent in French, having no issues communicating with any of the workers and that continued when you arrived at the hospital, a friendly ‘bonjour’ a quick ‘comment ca va?’ in the locker room as you changed into your scrubs, slipping into the role you played while you were at work. The one where you had been transferred in from somewhere else in Europe, where you exclusively spoke French and worked various trauma cases with the hospital. You wandered up to the nurses station wondering what today would bring, knowing that you really only had one long term patient, the most were overseen by doctors who had been there longer or they’d been discharged already. A few more greetings in French, a catch up on gossip and some jokes tossed between everyone before the neurosurgeon came up, tucking their chart back into the pile.

“Hey, your girl in three twelve is finally up.”

“What?” Your head shot up, eyes nearly wide, “really?”

“Well she’s not up yet, but they took her off the vent overnight.”

“She’s breathing on her own?” You asked and they nodded.

“No signs of neurological damage either. Looks like she should be in the clear.”

“Thanks.” You shot them a grin, picking up the chart as you wandered down the hallway to check on how your VIP patient was doing.

Emily felt her eyelids twitch before she was really aware of anything else, her brain slowly starting to wake up after being under for so long. She pulled air into her lungs with a bigger breath than normal and her throat hurt, her chest hurt, hell, everything hurt. She wasn’t quite sure what she last remembered, but a dull beeping and the smell of rubbing alcohol certainly wasn’t it. It took a while for her to finally be able to open her eyes, groaning quietly at the bright lights of the room. She knew lights like those, they belonged in hospital rooms, she tried to move her arm to shield her eyes and winced as pain shot through her body. Blinking a few times she managed to roll her head, looking around the room, it was definitely a hospital, a private room if she guessed correctly but there was something different about it. She tried to remember anything, her biggest memory was Ian standing over her, an elated smile on his face as all she felt was immense pain wafting through her body as it turned cold.

She winced suddenly at the memory of the table leg, as if she felt the original impact all over again and her other hand rose this time, gently palming at her stomach through her gown. She could feel stitches and she let out a low breath, her memories had happened, but somehow she was alive. She raised her wrist, squinting at the hospital band, trying to figure out how long she’d been here and that was when she got even more confused, the only thing she could properly make out was ‘Valerie Stewart.’ She felt her heart jump in her chest, had she been misidentified? A family thinking their daughter, wife, sister was alive and they would be disappointed when it was actually just her? She peered at the tiny print, trying to figure out the rest of it, it was somewhat recognizable but it was as if she couldn’t quite figure it out yet, like she’d known it in a past life.

The door suddenly opened, thought it shut quietly and she figured whoever was coming through it was someone who thought she was still asleep. It was as if she was still in a haze, you shot her a small smile and said something she recognized but couldn’t fully put together yet. It was like you were one of the adults on Charlie Brown, she registered the noise coming out of you but it sounded like gibberish. She watched as you flicked through her chart, reading the updates from the night before and adding in your own notes, you moved to check her vitals, adding them to the chart and suddenly there was a nurse in the room. The two of you made a verbal exchange and Emily felt like she had cotton balls in her ears, extremely frustrated with herself that she somehow couldn’t understand what was going on.

“Wh- where am I?” She finally managed to choke out and you glanced toward her with wide eyes. You shot her a look that she knew meant to wait, while you said something in fuzzy gibberish again, watching until the nurse had finally left and you sighed softly, replying to her in English this time.

“It’s likely your throat’s going to be sore for a few hours, you were intubated for quite a while.”

“Wait…you’re American?” She croaked, shifting so she could sit up and you jumped to her bedside.

“Whoa, whoa, let’s let the bed do the work right now.” You very gently pushed her shoulder back onto the bed, reaching for the remote to get her upright, “yeah, I’m from Boston.” You let out a breath, glancing toward the door again, “to answer your first question we’re at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris.”

“Paris?” Emily asked, nearly wincing at the pain her side, at least her brain was slowly starting to realize why she couldn’t understand things at first. She’d woken up with her English thoughts, the longer she thought about it the more she was able to slowly able to translate things into French. “Why? How?”

“I am still not completely sure.” You replied, leaning against the edge of her bed, “I just know what came into my ER that night and what I was told after ward. You should be glad you’re recovering as well as you are Valerie.”

“It’s not—” She started but you cut her off with a glare and she practically pouted, pursing her lips.

“As far as I was told, your name is Valerie and you got in a bad car accident in Versailles, you were air transferred here for recovery.”

“What happened?” She looked up at you with such vulnerability that you couldn’t help but let out a soft breath, glancing to the door to make sure no one else was going to come in before you delved into the night that changed your life forever.

“Doctor Carter we have incoming!” A nurse called out and you let out a groan.

“I’m about to punch out, page your on calls.”

“I really think this one needs you.” They replied and you rolled out the tension in your neck, grabbing a gown.

“What’ve we got?”

“Late thirties, female, potential concussion or head injuries, likely broken ribs along with internal bleeding, impaled object to the lower abdomen. She’s already coded in the ambulance.”

“Alright, let’s get going. Set up trauma three, make sure we’ve got extra blood on hand and get an O.R clear and ready!”

You were quick to glove up, shifting right back into work mode as you basically ignored everyone who came rushing in at the same time as the patient except for the EMT’s. After a quick neuro consult you worked with your team to assess injuries before getting the woman down to the operating room. The next four hours were spent repairing her internal injuries with extreme precision, you’d had to remove her spleen, stitch up a portion of her stomach, and honestly pray that she would make it through both the surgery and recovery.

You let out a deep breath of relief when her stats were stable after closing and you could finally go home. You thanked your surgical team and finally pulled off the mask to make your way out of the hospital. What you weren’t expecting were intruders on the surgical floor.

“Doctor Carter.” A voice called out and you glanced up at a dark haired man in a fitted suite, a small blonde with him.

“I’m sorry, you’re in an authorized area, you can’t be down here.”

“We’re with the FBI.” He pulled out a badge for you to examine, “how’s she doing?” He glanced toward the room.

“She lost a lot of blood but she’ll be okay. We’ve got her stable.”

“So she’ll live?” The blonde asked, a quake in her voice and you nodded.

“Yeah.”

There was a small glance between the two of them and your brow furrowed as you saw your boss coming up behind them before the man started speaking again.

“We need you to back in there and do whatever you need to do to call a time of death on her.”

“Excuse me?” You nearly laughed, “I just spent hours saving her life.”

“And there are people out there who cannot ever know that.” The blonde commented with a tight smile, “they need to think she’s dead.”

“They need you to pretend she didn’t make it.” Your boss finally spoke, “you sign the death certificate, everyone in the OR thinks she’s gone, that’s it. I’m going to go in, disconnect a couple of things so they think she’s coding.”

“And after that?”

“Once she’s semi stable she’ll be airlifted out of here.” The suit informed you.

“And you’ll be going with her.” Your boss informed you.

“I’m sorry, what? I have a department to run here.”

“And she’s gonna need you when she wakes up.” The chief continued, “you’ve done years of doctors without borders, you’re the best trauma surgeon, you’ve got experience working PT, and you’re multilingual. I know this case just happened to land in your lap but it seems like there was a reason behind it. You’re someone we trust with something like this.”

“You want me to relocate, drop my entire life that I have right now just because of a random patient?”

“She’s one of our finest.” The blonde commented, struggling to keep her composure, “and we need one of your finest taking care of her so we know she’s okay, that she’s safe. The man who hurt her is still out there…”

“For lack of a better term from now on she’s part of Witness Protection.” The suit explained, “she’ll be given an entire new identity.”

“And me?” You asked.

“We can give you a backstory if you want.” The suit continued, “but you could also just tell people you’re going abroad again. We only ask that you don’t give out any details about where you ended up or what you’re doing, and you keep extremely minimal contact with friends or family back home. Her life could depend on it.”

“So..?” You glanced between the three of them before your boss spoke again.

“You call time of death. Then you have a few days to get your affairs in order, pack up your apartment, get ready for a new life. I’ll put in the paperwork to make it look like borders has called you back in on a last minute necessity, then you get on a plane.”

“I’m guessing I don’t really have a say in the matter, do I?” You glanced between the three of them before letting out a soft sigh, grabbing a fresh mask and looking to the chief, “okay.”

“What… does that all mean?” Emily asked, struggling over her words as she tried to clear her throat. You moved from the bedside to fill up a cup of water for her.

“Without a spleen you’ve got an increased risk of illness or serious infection and you’ll likely have a harder time recovering from them or injuries in the future, which is another reason we kept you under so long. We removed part of your stomach so if you have any plans on binging food, you’re gonna get sick, you had three broken ribs and one cracked one. I’ll have a nurse take you up to x-ray later to check on those, considering you’ve been immobile it’s likely they’re pretty healed already.”

“Great.” She grumbled, dropping back against the pillow.

“You’re gonna be pretty tired for a bit, in a couple of days we can see about getting you up and mobile, but certainly no strenuous activity until those stitches are out. You’ve been healing nicely so far. There’s going to be a lot of work to get you back to where you were but the main point is that you’re alive, and you’re going to be okay. I’ll be here every step of the way to make sure of that. I’ll have a nurse bring some food in, make sure that tv’s up and running, let them know if you need anything else.”

“My team?” She glanced up at you, confusion still etched across her features.

“The blonde and the suit know you’re alive, but I don’t think even they know where you are.”

“Oh…”

You paused by the foot of her bed, resting her chart on the table as you sighed softly, “listen… I know that this is a lot, and it’s probably even more confusing considering you just came out from anaesthesia and I really don’t have all the answers. All I know is that Emily Prentiss died on March seventh.”

“And that was…?”

“Three and a half weeks ago.” You scooped up her chart, “I’m Dr Carter, have someone page me if you need me, I’ll be back to check on you later. Welcome to Paris, Valerie.”

Emily watched as you gave her a tight smile before disappearing from the room and she sunk back deeper into the pillows. She let her eyes slowly shut, maybe if she kept them shut long enough when she reopened them she wouldn’t be here, she be back stateside, with people she knew, people she loved. The hope only lasted so long, an ambulance siren blared outside the window and she felt her body run cold before a shock jolted through her and she opened her eyes with a gasp, her heart racing as she glanced around in a blur. She took a heavy breath, trying to calm herself down as memories from that night started to creep back into her brain. Her hand came up to her mouth as she started to chew on her nail, she wasn’t even really sure what emotion was surging through her right now, or if it was some weird combination, thankful to be alive, heartbroken to have left her found family, and full of anxiety of suddenly being thrown into a life that wasn’t hers.

Lauren Reynolds was dead.

Emily Prentiss was dead.

Now it was her turn to make sure that Valerie Stewart didn’t end up the same way.

___________________

@mickey-gomez @momlifebehard @melindawarnersgf @daddy-heather-dunbar @maybe-a-humanbean @rustyzebra @ilovemycrayons @mandy-asimp @leftoverenvy @kades95 @dextur @supercriminalbean @daffodil-heart @its-soph-xx @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @hopelesslyfallenninlove @peanutbutterprincess @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar @s1ut4nat @scorpsik @prentiss-theorem @strongsassysexysloane @happenstnces @sapphicprentiss @geekyandgay98 @pagetboobstarcomments @onmykneesformarvel @inlovewithemilyprentiss @desperate-gay @amypoehlfey @overtrred28 @theclassicgaycousin @regalmilfs4me @kalixxh @ara-a-bird @five-bi-five-mind @niyizh @inlovewithmiddleagewomen @tommyriddleobsessed @hotchs-bitch @ollysmulti @iluvsreid @kmc1989 @storiesofsvu2-0

#emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds #solace in solitude #criminal minds fanfic #emily prentiss fanfic #emily prentiss series #enemies to lovers

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jennagrinsoverml · 2 years

Note

hii do you have a list of miraculous fics you think everyone should read at least once?

Anon, I have been excited to answer this request ever since I got it. What better way to celebrate my 50th Rec List (!!!!) than with my favourite fandom fics? 🎉🎉🎉

I've tried to choose fics with a variety of tones, from different fandom eras, and different authors. These fics are all special to me in some way, and whittling this list down was HARD. Others may have fics they think should be on this list, and to those people I say: make your own rec list. This one's mine. 😘

Experimental Kisses by @komorebirei

Ladybug watched him. Maybe it was guilt, maybe sympathy, maybe a streak of playfulness. Maybe the traumatic akuma experience had softened her up. Whatever the reason, a thought wafted lazily through her mind and out of her mouth. “You know… you’re right. It isn’t fair, is it?”

Chat Noir looked up.

“I remember my first kiss, but you don’t.” She hummed and tapped her chin, making a show of remembering. “It wasn’t a bad kiss, but we were in the middle of fighting an akuma, so I didn’t get to enjoy it much, either.”

Oops—that came out sounding a little, no, a lot more flirty than she had intended. Anyway, if she was going to commit to this idea, she may as well go all in.

One-shot. Ladybug offers to kiss Chat since he doesn’t remember their kiss and the way she reacts to the kiss…it lives in my mind rent-free. I have fallen asleep many a night fantasizing about what the repercussions of the kiss might look like. One of my absolute favourite Ladynoir fics.

team is a four letter word by @ladyofthenoodle

Alya didn’t want to come between Ladybug and Chat Noir. But she didn’t want to stop being Rena Rouge either. And if Chat Noir didn’t want to talk to her, then she’d need to find a different way to prove all three of them could be a team.

Her plan unintentionally brings a few secrets to light, which leads to even more secrets coming to light, which leads to… well, Alya is sure it’ll all work out eventually.

Multi-chapter. Warning, this fic is a WIP! (But there’s only one chapter to go.) Honestly, I didn’t want to have any WIPs on this list and I was lowkey hoping that it would be finished before I posted this list but I’m obsessed with this one and couldn’t leave it off. It’s literally one of the BEST fics in the entire fandom and, I think, the absolute best delving into the characterization and relationship dynamics of the core four. This fic feels so dynamic and complex, with all of the characters feelings so like themselves and each having their own distinct voices. The conflict is so well done and so realistic. It’s such a fantastic tackling of the issues that came up in the last couple seasons and I cannot rave about it enough!!

œuf ouch owie by @ominousunflower

Chat Noir enlists Rena Rouge's help to create an Aspik illusion. Absolutely nothing goes wrong.

Ladybug smiles. “I wanted to drop by and welcome Aspik. I know it must be a little intimidating, being surrounded by so many veteran heroes…so, welcome! We’re glad to have you on board.”

“I look like an egg!” Aspik announces, T-posing.

Chat turns to Rena, feeling like he has been punched in the solar plexus. What the hell? he mouths.

Rena grimaces, her eyes wide with panic. Stomach sinking, Chat remembers one of the first things he learned about the Fox Miraculous: that if Rena Rouge isn’t focused, her illusions go haywire.

Oh, no.

One-shot. This is hands down the FUNNIEST fic in the entire fandom asdfghjkl like I have read this fic at least 50 times and I still laugh out loud every single time. If you have somehow failed to read this fic before, read it now. You won’t regret it!

lucky (we're in love in every way) by @carpisuns

Chat Noir is Adrien, and Marinette is freaking out. If she manages to quiet her internal screaming, maybe she can also find the guts to tell him her identity too. And maybe they'll actually live happily ever after—well, as soon as Tikki and Plagg are done humiliating them.

One-shot. This fic just makes me so incredibly happy. Like it puts a smile on my face every single time I read it (and I have read it many, many times!) I love Marinette’s reactions and Adrien’s sweetness and the kwamis just absolutely ROASTING both of them. Marissa has written a ton of amazing fics for this fandom (seriously we are so lucky to have her) and I was tempted by others (like tell me something i don't know) but in the end, I had to follow my heart with this one.

Your Kitty by @gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights

“Such a dramatic kitty.” Marinette scratched under his chin, bringing a smile to his face and a purr to his throat.

Your kitty, he didn’t say.

Wait. What?

(The one where Chat Noir thinks he needs pats like a cat, only to find out he may have jumped to the wrong conclusion.)

One-shot. When I think of Marichat, this is THE fic I think of. Adrien being touch starved is 100% my headcanon now. This is just so sweet! Marinette’s affection and Adrien’s determination to do the right thing no matter the personal cost and the way they fell for each other without meaning to... Also I love that they both encouraged the other to go back to their original crushes because that makes so much sense!!

rattle my cage by @lnc2

In which history, despite Alya's best efforts, does not repeat itself.

One-shot. I am always here for Adrien being rash and Marinette being smart and capable and just switching to treating him as Chat absolutely seamlessly after a reveal. I absolutely love the vibes of this one.

Chasing the C/h/atwalk. by @runningoutofink

Paris. The city of lights, love and fashion. Follow the progress of Marinette Dupain Cheng as she enters the extremely competitive world of Reality television for a chance to be the winner of Project Runway: France.

Multi-chapter. It should come as no surprise by now that I’m a sucker for reality tv and this is my absolute favourite reality cross in the fandom! I love that it’s canon compliant, and frankly the idea of Marinette and Adrien as designer and model on Project Runway is friggin’ BRILLIANT. The slow burn and pining are delicious, and the identity reveal is incredibly well done! (And it has a steamy sequel, Meet me in the Middle, which is 🔥🔥🔥 and intensely satisfying after all of that build up.)

daydream by @clairelutra

you're my daydream

you know that i've been thinking about you lately

In which Adrien finds out Ladybug is Marinette, and beats the 'this is fine' dog at his own game.

One-shot. Shout-out to the author for realizing way before canon let on that Adrien is way more likely to figure out Marinette than the reverse! And then absolutely murdering us with this intense slow burn that absolutely drips with mutual pining and UST.

What Will You Do When Everyone Knows? by @sariahsue

They stepped in closer, shoulder to shoulder to catch the akuma as she landed, but she twisted in midair, landing squarely in front of Cat Noir, swiping at him. He stepped back, trying to keep his balance. Her fingertips almost touched his face, and Ladybug felt her stomach lurch.

“Duck!” she yelled to him as she whipped her yoyo around. He did, but unfortunately, the akuma woman did, too. Ladybug suddenly had no target to latch onto and lost her balance. Her stomach twisted again as she pitched forward. Black hands darted forward to catch her, but too late she realized it wasn’t her partner. Cold gloves caught her shoulder and neck, then slid up her face, brushing past her earrings. Cold. The woman’s touch froze Ladybug’s breath in her throat.

Then there was something warm around her middle. Cat Noir’s shout sounded distant as he pulled her away. As the woman’s black gloves left her face, Ladybug felt even more heat being pulled from her, along with… something else.

Multi-chapter. There really isn’t another fic in the fandom like this one. The akuma is original and provides an absolutely amazing premise for this fic. We have mystery, intrigue, and a huge upset to the status quo with the public revealing of Ladybug’s identity. I also loved the dramatic irony of Marinette being unable to understand Chat’s reactions to things that make perfect sense to us readers. It’s got amazing characterizations and suspense, and I love it!

But All I’m Seeing Is You by @chelseaapproved

After Ladybug finds out Adrien is her Chat Noir, they start dating. She didn’t think it’d be so hard to keep her identity a secret from him. She also didn’t realize how much it would affect her friendship with him as Marinette.

One-shot. This might be my favourite ladrien of all time. It’s only about 5k, but man does it ever pack in a lot of emotion and relationship development and I really, really, really love it. I really felt how much they love each other in this one and Marinette is just so, so wonderful to Adrien and he’s so wonderful to her and if you haven’t already please read this.

A Miraculous Reveal by @kasienda

Series of one-shots and drabbles all centered around The Reveal Moment. Identities will be revealed, feelings will be confessed, and secrets will be discovered through contrived situations, accidents, meddling friends, desperate moments, and moments of emotional vulnerability. Each chapter is a self contained piece. Love-square focused, but will not remain exclusive to them. Each chapter will have its own trigger warnings.

Collection of one-shots. I feel a little like I’m cheating in including a collection here, but like most of us in this fandom, I’m an absolute sucker for identity reveals, and @kasienda is especially talented at writing them! Every single one of these is beautiful, amazing and worth reading at least once.

the wonderful part of the mess that we made by heresie_irisee

They knew.

They knew, and there would be no magical reset button for the memories they'd made today. She'd have to see him at school every day, and she'd see the Chat in him, as surely as he'd see the Ladybug in her.

One-shot. Oblivio is probably my favourite episode and this is such a great alternate take on it. The mutual pining is so, so, so good! Especially love Marinette struggling to assimilate Adrien’s identities and Adrien’s obliviousness.

The following fics are amazing and absolutely worth reading, but do feature sexual content, so minors beware.

The Ladybugs and The Bees by @bullysquadess

AKA the early-fandom Ladynoir puberty fic that spiraled waaaaay out of proportion.

Multi-chapter. I’ve avoided reccing this fic for so long as it was literally the most kudosed fic in the entire fandom when I joined. However, the kudos are well-earned and I can’t make a list of must reads without including it. I love the ladynoir, the way it builds slowly, the focus on the developing relationship, both physical and otherwise, the yearning and the devotion and the vulnerability. And, of course, the steamy scenes are fantastic!! The whole thing is just so well developed and feels so grounded and real. I absolutely love it.

one night of moonlight by @mirthaculous

i’ll always think of you

inside of my private thoughts

i can imagine you

touching my private parts

2:13 ok im texting you now like i promised instead of drunktexting adrien and telling him how badly i want his cock tonight. arent you proud of me?

2:19 this is Adrien, hi.

Marinette’s brain-to-mouth filter isn’t great on the best of days. Add some beer and some misplaced texts, and things get a little more… interesting.

One-shot. Rated M. This is one of my favourite fics of all time. This is so steamy, seriously the UST is off the charts!! It is absolutely unreal how much these two want each other and the mutual pining and they’re so stupid and this fic literally killed me and I thanked it.

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #ml fic rec #ml fic recs #ml love square #adrienette #adrinette #ladynoir #marichat #ladrien #prpr #identity reveal #fic recs #jennarecsml

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theknightofice · 14 days

Text

𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓪𝓶𝓹 𝓕𝓪𝓶! 𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓵!!

You, yes you! Are you a fan of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous or any of the Jurassic World or Park movies? Do you love dinosaurs and wish you could see them up close and personal, minus the threat (hopefully)? Then this post is for you!!

With Chaos Theory coming out, the Camp Cretaceous fandom has risen again and I am absolutely all for it! And if you're like me and weren't very satisfied with how they ended it or did the 4th and 5th seasons then you'll want to hear this! I'm opening a community and roleplay server that welcomes the entire Jurassic fandom and will be focusing on my AU, Corrupted Files!

What is Corrupted Files you may ask? Well let me tell you! Corrupted Files is, in my opinion, how Camp Cretaceous should have played out, leaving the campers stranded on the island for three years until Owen, Claire, and their team returned to Isla Nublar in 2018 in the hopes of rescuing the dinosaurs from the doomed island (only to find some feral but capable teenagers who everyone thought were dead)! This AU will explore the harsh realities of island life, the unresolved traumas that the campers face (like Ben not even being looked for and just accepting it, like huh??), and even a hybrid or two that Dr. Wu left behind as well!

Original characters are more than welcome and there will even be slots open for more campers if anyone is interested! If you wish to join the roleplay aspect of this server you will also be given the ability to roleplay a dinosaur as well, whether it be Blue herself or a completely new character that the public hasn't seen due to leaping forth from your own imagination! All canon characters are playable as well, meaning that ships, headcanons, etc are up to you!!

We hope to make this a great experience and community going forward into Chaos Theory and we can't wait to have you! Please share this around as much as you want and feel free to reach out to me via comments, dms, etc if you are interested in joining! The server offers many options for those not interested in roleplay as well such as general discussion channels for theories and such, art and writing channels, giveaways (including Discord nitro and a ton of other fun prizes), and much more!

Additionally, there is a Spinoraptor (complete with a two packmates/siblings) is up for grabs as a soft adopt of sorts to those who join! New members will be offered a welcome package as well if they wish with a surprise inside (until Chaos Theory is released).

We can't wait to have you!! <3

Will Darius have to lead all alone, even as their way to get home is destroyed, and it's obvious the pressure is getting to him? Will Ben ever let on to how he's truly feeling and how being abandoned for months has affected him? Will Yasmina ever regain her confidence or enjoy running again if she's not running for her life? Will Kenji begin to step up as he sees the group begin to fracture and break in their own ways? Can Sammy's upbeat attitude keep everyone afloat as a tropical storm approaches? Can Brooklynn properly adjust to being a normal teenager and learn to rely on others? How will the campers fair when they have more people to rely on and more lives to watch out for? Will they even survive all three years on Isla Nublar?

The choice is yours!

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the-martyrfication-of-the-matron · 2 months

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Alright, I’m gonna ask because I’m lost.

First of all good morning/day/night

How do I approach Aphmau(MCD and Mystreet) again? Used to watch it as a child and now I basically forgot about it, any pointers?

(I’m mostly asking because I want to write a fanfic on it, so there’s that.)

i'm assuming you're asking about where to start with watching them. which is fair. if i'm wrong, correct me, irdm.

I'll be honest, i did make a whole list of everything in chronological order, but this is my personal watch order.

MCD S1 -> MCD S2 -> PDH S1 -> PDH S2 -> MyS S1 -> MyS S2 -> MyS S3 -> MyS S4 -> Aphmau's Year -> MyS S5 -> MyS S6 -> Her Wish it's the entire MCD/MyS universe (barring most Side Stories), in chronological order.

you don't need to watch it in chronological order, but i would personally, just since.... it's easier. also means you'll get all the MCD references in MyS. because there are a lot of those.

Optionally, you could also cram MCD S3 in there somewhere... but don't,

here's the fat list, incuding the side stories i knew about.

-- Minecraft Diaries / MCD timeline

MCD: Origins (optional)

MCD: Rebirth (incomplete, optional): a remake of MCD:S1, was never finished.

MCD: Season One -- OR, MCD: S1 Lore: A video summary of the entire season.

Void Paradox (optional): maybe watch Mod Mod World first...

MCD: Season Two

DO NOT WATCH MCD: SEASON THREE...

jk, you can, but... do consider, most people hate it, it isn't considered canon by most fans, and it is incomplete... and shit... so... yay. no shame if you do end up enjoying it, though.

-- My Street / MyS timeline

Phoenix Drop High: Season 1

Phoenix Drop High: Season 2:

PDH Side Stories: Upsidedown Stories (optional)

Phoenix Drop High: Graduation Days (optional)

Falcon Claw University (optional)

Minecraft (Roleplay) Side Stories (optional): Technically MCD side stories, but like... modern aus... so... MyS timeline. Only important one is The Big Move

MyStreet

Love Love Paradise

Detours! (optional): haven't personally watched, the side stories of LLP.

The Bigger Move (optional): A side stories set between LLP and LV.

Lovers' Lane

Holiday Side Stories (optional): some of LV's side stories are holiday themed: Fall Festival, Holiday Special and New Years Party.

non-holiday Side Stories (optional): LV has a lot of side stories, man.... i think the most important are the 'Aaron's Ticket' episodes...

Emerald Secret

Aphmau's Year: i may have swapped the colour order just to have ES be green shhh.

Starlight Wonderland

When Angel's Fall

Her Wish: Another Side Stories, the closest we'll probably get to season 7.

Side Stories (optional): Why the fuck are there so many. There's more. I liked the D&D ones tho.

#aphmau #aphverse #aphblr #minecraft diaries #mcd #mystreet #fun way to spend my evening

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thatfragilecapricorn30 · 3 months

Text

I like The X-Files, should I watch Fringe?

I decided to watch Fringe because it was frequently recommended as a show for fans of TXF. I was really curious how similar it would be and would I actually enjoy it? I'm only on S2 E5, so this post will be my impressions of the first season. I'll probably write another post after watching more of the show. I'll also try to make this as spoiler free as possible so anyone can read it!

What is Fringe about? The main character is FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham. We meet her when she's assigned to a case in which everyone on board a plane dies from a mysterious illness. The plane lands successfully at Boston Logan (due to some auto-landing feature - not sure if this is even real) and this is where we find out that Boston (aka Vancouver) is our setting for the show. Dunham traces the mysterious illness back to the research of a former Harvard professor (Dr. Walter Bishop), who is currently in a psychiatric institution, and she needs his son (Peter Bishop) to get him out. By the end of the episode, the three of them form the core of the Fringe division, a cohort of agents and consultants working on unexplained cases (sound familiar??).

How are Fringe and TXF similar?

Both shows center on a special division within the FBI that involve unexplained phenonomen.

Both are filmed in Vancouver.

Both feature monster of the week and mythology episodes.

Both have a strong female lead.

Both have the potential for romance between the two leads (Olivia and Peter).

How are the two shows different?

Fringe features an ensemble cast, whereas TXF was really only Mulder and Scully. I enjoy the relationships between the characters (like Peter and his father, and Walter and Astrid), but the show hasn't done a great job of fleshing out characters aside from the core three. Poor Astrid has pretty much no personality aside from performing lab work with Walter.

The show does not have the same atmosphere as TXF seasons 1-5, even though they're both filmed in the same locale. It might be because of film vs. digital, but the cinematography on Fringe is lacking compared to the beautiful forests we're used to seeing on TXF.

Fringe does a great job of tying a majority of their monster of the week episodes back to the main mythology. The problem with this is that it's hard to watch these episodes independently as they don't have a truly self-contained story.

The mythology storyline is well-developed and I heard that there's actually a plan for the plot (unlike TXF).

Fringe is sci-fi. There are no paranormal, supernatural, or horror elements.

Other impressions:

It took me about halfway through season 1 to start getting into the show, and it seems like that might be some others' experience (and why they may have stopped).

I find it hard to follow the cases sometimes, because they involve technology that is extremely advanced or currently doesn't exist at all, and it seems like the writers don't really understand it either.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing a romantic relationship between Olivia and Peter at some point and I think the show is doing a good job of slowly developing their bond. I've also heard that Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson did not get along on set (sound familiar??) but they have decent chemistry - not as good as David and Gillian but as we all know, there's not a fair comparison.

There's random things that rub me the wrong way, like Walter performing autopsies (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he's an MD, just has several PhDs), how every single case relates back to Walter's research (this man is like 10 Einsteins because he was conducting experiments in every field and all of it beyond the realm of known science), Walter touching dead bodies at crime scenes without gloves (I know this happens in TXF but it's so egregious in Fringe). Despite all this, I do like Walter's character and I think John Noble gives an excellent performance.

Olivia Dunham is a well-rounded character and Anna Torv is great. I really enjoy the relationship she has with her sister and niece.

So far, I enjoy the mythology episodes more than the monster of the week, which is the opposite of my opinion for TXF.

It's funny that there are 15 years between the premiere of TXF (1993) and Fringe (2008) and about another 15 years to present day (2024). But Fringe seems so modern compared to TXF. You can barely tell it's 15 years old, except for the lack of iPhones and I'm sure even that will change in the next few seasons.

Should I watch it??

If you really enjoy sci-fi, I would say definitely check it out. If you're on the fence, or don't like sci-fi at all, I would skip this one.

It probably sounds like I don't enjoy Fringe based on my above points. I think part of it is that I am comparing it to TXF, even while watching, and TXF is definitely better (imo). I also enjoy horror more than sci fi. But, Fringe is holding my interest for now and I've heard that it improves throughout the seasons, so I'm going to keep watching.

I'll definitely write an update post at some point - if I finish the show or stop watching it.

I'm so curious to hear the thoughts of others who have watched Fringe! Do you agree with my assessments so far? What are your opinions and how does it compare to The X-Files for you?

#fringe #the x-files #txf #my.txf

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courtney-deserved-better · 1 year

Text

i wrote down all my thoughts episode by episode when i watched the new season. here they are. enjoy!

episode one

just from her intro priya is giving me courtney vibes

i love zee’s voice

ripper’s voice jumpscared me

LAUREN??? why does she have a baby voice

okay WHAT is going on between emma and chase

i love mk’s voice

wayne and raj are already annoying me

this cast is so bi

NICHELLE I LOVE YOU

julia’s intro is so fucking funny

wait its been 15 years and chris and chef look the exact same??

this is actually pretty funny/witty

MURDER HORNETS?? FROM THE EARLY PANDEMIC ERA??

millie is so fucking funny just writing down everyone being dumb though i do wonder if ppl are gonna find her reserach and turn on her like courtney’s list [prediction: correct]

okay wayne is still annoying but wearing a cup on total drama is the smartest move anyone has ever made

“straight couples amiright?” to “straight couples are messed up” 10/10 gay writing for bowie right there

bowie!! finally a smart elimination!! sorry caleb

episode two

emma bowie friendship is everything

SCARY GIRL UNDER THE STAIRS

axel you are everything to me

MK YOU ABSOLUTE GENIUS LISTENING TO PEOPLES CONFESSIONALS!!!!!

YES AXEL KICK HIM IN THE FACE

that’s probably gonna get her eliminated though [prediction: correct]

this pirate music is so fun

are priya’s parents friends with sierra’s mom or something

chris drew a shark on his hand to remember to release the sharks (but fr that doesn’t seem like og chris he wouldn’t have forgotten. its the old age)

scary girl vs the frogs of death… scary girl is gonna win. idk how but she will

ZEE IS GONNA WIN ON HIS OWN. PLEASE

nooooooooo

now zee or axel are gonna go home and i like them both :(

okay wayne and raj are getting less annoying and more endearing. surfer dudes vibes. also its cute how wayne calls raj rajy

okay that was kind of an awesome amputee reveal

sdlkfghjfdghjkfdls zee exploiting his disability to stay on the show. king.

NOOOOOOOO HOW DARE YOU CHOOSE RIPPER OVER AXEL. literally my least fav and my fav

yes!! bite him!!

episode three

nichelle as a flight attendant so cute!!

priya i love you. new favorite. millie as well their friendship is so cute

zee just out here lying. love that

raj bowie relationship??

wait nevermind

WAIT CANCEL THE NEVERMIND. MIND.

actually that’s so cute. wayne is just gonna be oblivious isn’t he [prediction: incorrect. extremely incorrect]

freckled intern is so cute

damien you are so smart and so dumb i love you

ripper really said sexism huh

scary girl is so one dimensional but so silly

there are bears living in the climbing wall????

chref married moment

mk i love you

new predicition priya is gonna prove herself to the team and do awesome but still not win and ripper is eliminated [prediction: incorrect]

mk you are so smart i love you

i love emma’s vengeance

raj you are having a gay awakening and i am HERE for it

new new prediction, damien will get himself voted out so he can leave

well he pretty much confirmed that as soon as i hit play again [prediction: correct?]

ZEE WORM MOMENT

i gotta say i do appreciate the openly gay character not to be the pining one

oof yeah i kinda saw this coming with nichelle

“cringe” okay fair bowie

WHAT IS SHE DOING WITH THAT BEAR

nichelle is having a fucking. existential crisis

goodbye nichelle :(

episode four

sdlkhgfjklsghfkdjs the arrow signs

chase is here to be awful huh

do they all have hydroflasks

millie and priya are so cute i love them

priya training millie is gonna be the death of this friendship, however [prediction: kinda correct?]

THE WAY SHE TURNED HER HEAD

zee you are so dumb i love you

THIS IS A CAPTURE THE FLAG EPISODE??? LIKE IN ICE ICE BABY?? FUCK YES

new prediction, scary girl is getting voted out for being scary [prediction: correct]

also why did chris announce her as lauren and then everyone’s called her scary girl

new prediction, mk is gonna win bc she’s good at stealing [prediction: kinda correct?]

since when is chef responsible

never mind he’s not

chref moment

okay wayne and raj have officially gone from annoying to endearing. i love them now

SHES DOING THAT THING WITH HER NECK AGAIN

mk scarlett moment lmao

RAJ AND BOWIE REALLY DID THAT HUH

yeah this is for sure raj’s gay awakening

ripper’s voice actor sounds so familiar i gotta look him up

YOURE TELLING ME WAYNE FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE RAJ??? WAYNE??? I THOUGHT HED BE OBLIVIOUS THIS WHOLE TIME??? but fr that was so cute im actually impressed with how theyre writing this whole thing because yknow. its total drama

ripper. please leave.

PRIYAS FACE. AUGH

nooooo scary girl. that was a great exit though. but millie why didn’t you vote with priya?? i know something’s up

“she took the skull?” “she took the skull” LMFAO

episode five

okay this priya millie thing is becoming a commando zoey arc [prediction: kinda correct?]

i love millie’s hair

damien is really campaigning against himself lmao. what if he wins that would be so fucking funny [prediction: incorrect]

nooooooo not the farting episode

animatronic raptors, im calling it [prediction: incorrect??]

what the FUCK is chase’s ass doing. horrifying

extreme bi zee moment

CHASE HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ZEE LIKE THIS

zee you are a genius i love you

wayne is so ready to be supportive this is so cute (im also shocked that they differentiated between gay and bi on fucking. total drama.)

them skating is so cute

AWWWW EMMA BOWIE HUG

mk’s tell all about the confessionals is gonna be shown as footage to make ppl maaaaaaaad [prediction: kinda correct?]

ITS THE FUCKING KITCHEN RAPTOR SCENE

julia is a dawnkota baby

MK YOU ABSOLUTE GENIUS

noooo justice for that raptor

holy shit damien. im actually starting to think you might win now [prediction: incorrect]

WHAT IS THIS BEACH SUNSET ROMANCE SCENE

new prediction: bowie and raj are gonna have a thing and keep it a secret and mk is gonna find out and air it like with julia’s video and then wayne is gonna be upset raj never got the chance to tell him [prediction: incorrect]

VOTE RIPPERS ASS OUT NOW HES BEEN ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK TOO MANY TIMES TO NOT LOSE NOW

WHAT NOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME I WANT RIPPER GONE. GONE!!!

so are they straight up not gonna explain the dinosaurs

episode six

sklhgjfkdshgfdjklshgjkflds chris yelling at the fans and chef reigning him in

millie and priya are gonna be the top wlw ship for this cast, they’ve gotta be

JULIA VILLAIN ARC

ripper sucks but “you cant slap a man with his own burrito” was fucking funny

THE LUCKY BEARDS WHAT

why is the hairball thing more funny than gross

mk you are becoming icarus babygirl [prediction: kinda correct?]

emma. destroy this man.

priya. destroy this man.

millie and priya are SO FLIPPIN CUTE

when would chef ever say safety first on og total drama. this is dramarama chef in the total drama universe

get wrecked chase

BIG CRAB BIG CRAB BIG CRAB

THE PUDDING SHARKS

bowie you are an icon i love you im so glad they didnt make you a pathetic guy

“its like im—“ like you’re what chris?? what??

WHAT WHAT KISS WHAT

WAYNE LMFAO

EVEN THE SHARKS SHIP IT

also its so cute how wayne is waiting for raj to tell him on his own terms even though he knows????

prediction: zee doesn’t make it to the 10k bc his leg falls off and messes with priya’s calculations [prediction: mostly incorrect]

zee is out here lyingggggg i love him

PREDICTION CANCELLED THE LEG HELPED HIM I LOVE YOU ZEE

“thats not how the laws of physics work” millie i love you

what the fuck is zee actually high

this episode is sooooooooo bowie/raj millie/priya

good fucking bye julia

nooooooo mk don’t let this happen i love her

bowie really said YEET

as he should that was smart

YES MK YOU GENIUS YOU CAN DO THIS

nooooooooooooo

anyway bowie’s little “i got kissed” thing was very cute

wait… mk is an alenoah baby

episode seven

priya/millie gives me bridgney vibes tbh

wayne you are such a sweet ally i love you

its merge time!

is this foreshadowing for an emma/priya finale? that would slap and we’ve never had an f/f finale before. i feel like there’s too much setup for them to get voted off before then though [prediction: half correct, half incorrect]

ripper you are so dumb how did you make the merge. fuck you man

chase and emma are getting stuck together aren’t they. sigh. [prediction: incorrect]

this is skave all over again. julia get chase outta here

oh thank god i thought there was gonna be bowie/raj/wayne trouble over partners but that was easy. friendship babey!!

wayne trying to be so hard to be supportive is actually the best drawn out plot line this show has ever had because its so dang wholesome

julia’s voice sounds familiar too gotta look her up

the zee & ripper cassowary scene is giving major noah & owen komodo dragon scene vibes

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO FREAKING CUTE??? AND HEALTHY??? RAJ TALKING ABOUT CONSENT AND BOWIE BEING REALISTIC ABOUT THE GAME I CANT

emma’s dance is so cringe but i appreciate the enthusiasm

jesus christ emma and chase CANNOT get back together

julia when the fuck did you get smart

did she just stare in horror at her hand having 5 fingers instead of four. what.

wait fuck why didn’t i see it before. priya is a zoerra baby

DID THEY JUST FUCKING. REPLICATE THE COURTNEY DEER RESCUE SCENE. WHAT.

they’re so gay i love them

THIS IS THE NOWEN KOMODO DRAGON SCENE

ripper you better fucking not who are you heather with all the times youve escaped immunity?? watching you go down is gonna be SWEET

what is this the rapa phooey episode

also GET FUCKED RIPPER

oh millie…

this is the fucking stepbrothers getting wrecked by that kangaroo

okay i wish that confession was better but it was very sweet

oh zee. what is happening

NOOOOOO DONT GET BACK WITH THAT DICK EMMA

NOOOOOOOOO

WAIT THE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE LEAVING?? NOOOO

and not even a goodbye with bowie :(

them singing was pretty funny though

episode eight

zee you’re so silly i love you

bowie you’re so gay i love you. also the mouthguard gift was incredibly geoff of raj

why is the food rainbow and what was that cooking sequence

julia is having a real heather moment huh

bowie you are so right to diss chase

this is really just brunch of disgustingness isn’t it

damn millie really just dipped

…that’s why the food was rainbow

at least its less disgusting than actual puke colors

bummed bowie’s out already though

zee is gonna win this he’s gotta [prediction: incorrect :( ]

julia don’t do my boy zee like this

HA YOU CAN’T

are they having this wheel spin in the order of the rainbow

ZEE YOU ARE AN ICON

chase and emma. stop.

oh thank fucking god they did.

noooooo priya you trained for this

zee what do you mean you’ve never drank milk. zee. what.

noooooooo my boy

but actually its funny that MILK is the thing zee gets grossed out by because he knows nothing about it

HE JUST RAN OUT THE WALL

…THEY HAVE TO EAT. A FUCKING T A P E W O R M ???????????????

that is not chef. chef would not tell chris to not serve the tapeworm

WHY DOES THE TAPEWORM GET A CONFESSIONAL

fucking. lady and the tramp moment. get wrecked ripper

why did we have to end with THAT

if millie gets out and not ripper. i will SCREAM

THANK FUCKING GOD GET FUCKED RIPPER

episode nine

wait this alliance is awesome actually

zee my beloved

double alliance zee moment. please let this be what makes him win and not what gets him booted

no this is soooooo foreshadowing for zee getting booted [prediction: correct]

this is so fucking dramarama chef he’s got the unicorn drink and everything

FISH SLAP THAT MOTHERFUCKER

the bears digging a grave lmaooooo

how many waterfall jumpscares can this show have

“why are you like this” best chef line

since when does chef care about the kids. what.

CHASE CRASHING INTO THE CONFESSIONAL LMAO

another fucking volcano. of course

leave his ass emma

and julia better not get immunity i stg

another bisexual zee moment. but buddy you are getting voted off for this :(

god damn it julia

chef chiding bowie was so funny

bowie why are you gunning for priya??

GET CHRIS’ ASS ZEE!! SERIOUS GAMECHANGER SURVIVOR EPISODE MOMENT

oh zee. buddy :(

slkjhfgdkjhgfdjksghfdkjslk zee pointing out the confessional nonsense

episode ten

priya with a bun!! so cute!!

MILLIE WITH A PONYTAIL

carry me?? puppy eyes?? girlfriends. girlfriends.

okay im vibing with this challenge

everyone saying no to switching poles with chase is so funny he’s so lame

i love watching everyone slowly lose it

why is everyone so obsessed with letting priya read millie’s notebook. poor writing methinks

“skewer the children”

i would win this challenge. btw.

bowie’s gonna stir up drama isn’t he

THE PHONE please be usable

please dont let this be the end of priya and millie

emma punching everyone lmao

awww we still get raj/bowie

noooo priya

julia if you win immunity 3 times in a row. well that’s just poor writing

chase you are god awful

YOW CHASE

aww dancing emma

chase gets eliminated this episode bc everyone know how much he sucks calling it [prediction: correct]

what the fuck was that dive

GIRL NO

PRIYA AND MILLIE AWWW

nooo bowies gonna get millie out [prediction: technically correct? but much later on?]

i love chef chastising everyone

why are there only 4 marshmallows

THANK GOD GET FUCKED CHASE

noooooooooooooo emma why

they really said the final five is for the girls and gays

episode eleven

PRIYA MILLIE GIRLFRIENDS this is such s5 gwourtney energy

evil julia behind the door lmao

bowie is right to be annoyed emma wtf

bowie does NOT get out like this. if its him or emma emma’s gotta go [prediction: correct]

okay i know its a selfie challenge but this is creative and fun i like it

elimination prediction: emma/millie, julia, priya v bowie finale [prediction: mostly correct]

smart move emma. also chris sending ppl stuff in a group chat for a challenge is so funny to me

emma don’t betray my boy bowie like this for your garbage bf

priya and millie ragging on julia we love to see it

wait numbers wise there’s gotta be a double elim. and if its priya and millie ill cry

emma please get eliminated now

emma you suck

please don’t let that pic of priya disqualify her

nooooooo priya and millie :( bowies gotta win this

julia just waltzing through the challenge lmao

GET HER ASS RAPTOR

noooooo bowie

god dammit julia

wait nvm good on you for turning it against emma

only three marshmallows??

FUCK YES BOWIE

wait the immune person doesn’t get a marshmallow nvm

girl you are delusional

episode twelve

millie is adorable

aww priyas pjs

shut julia downnnnn

bowies plan is actually so good

julia bun!! cute!!

chef talking ab the monster lol

love all these two person confessionals

priya you absolute girlboss

stop throwing millie tokens!!

ooooooo bowie blowup

julia do NOT win this

awwwwwww millie

everything about this priya millie plot line is incredible

GET FUCKED JULIA

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HA GET FUCKED JULIA

uh oh that gift is the notebook

bowie you ICON

episode thirteen

awwwww millie

priya having a courtney moment

THEYRE BACK!! CUTE RAJ/BOWIE MOMENT and eww emma chase

damien good choice

ripper rippppppppp

nooooooo axel. julia is unfortunate

girl brought a CONTRACT

why is ripper lowkey helpful

NICHELLES FACE axel i love you

damien you’re so supportive i love you

LAVA LAKE WHAT

bowie i love you

the popcorn lmao love the commentary

awwww raj

love the angry betrayed priya energy she’s like the new courtney

MY FINAL TWO PREDICTION WAS RIGHT

bowie that was COLD

THAT APOLOGY WAS BEAUTIFUL

wayne and raj crying awww

this really is season 3 finale

what is this spongebob music while bowie talks about eating goat

new chef is just og chef

these milk drinking shots are horrible

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSA FIRST EVER TIME MY FAV WON

awww raj and bowie

i legit think this is my favorite season of total drama ever :’)

#td spoilers #total drama revival #total drama reboot #tdr #td reboot #td revival #total drama

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jerzwriter · 7 months

Text

In a Pickle

Thank you to @kyra75 for this ask. Of course, I went over 100 words, but it is less than a thousand! 😊 I had fun with this, thank you for the request!

Book: Open Heart (Post Series) Pairing: Tobias Carrick x Casey MacTavish (F!MC) Rating: Teen Words: 983 Summary: Spend a typical Wednesday night with Tobias and (a very pregnant) Casey as they snuggle up to watch one of their favorite television shows, Abbott Elementary. A/N: I HC that Tobias & Casey are big Abbot fans, and it's pretty funny because the season two finale aired on April 19th of this year, which is the day before little Sammy Carrick was born. So I think it's officially part of their lore that Casey insists the reason she gave birth a tiny bit early was because of her frustration with the show. lol Participating in @choicesprompts Flufftober event, prompt: "I want to take care of you" and @choicesoctober, favorite ship (Tobias & Casey). I hope you enjoy this!

“Tobias!” Casey yelled from the couch. “It’s about to start!”

“I’m coming!” He hollered from the kitchen, quickly placing the last of their food on a serving tray.

This had become their Wednesday night ritual: couch, cuddles, snacks, and Abbott Elementary. But as Casey’s pregnancy progressed, Tobias insisted on taking over snack duty so she could get a little extra rest. She fought it at first. She was perfectly capable of helping, after all, but as time marched on and their little-one-to-be continued to suck the life out of her, she was more than happy to let her husband spoil her. He entered the living room and placed a tray before her with a flourish.

“Here you go!” He beamed. “French toast sticks, crispy around the edges with powdered sugar and maple syrup on the side.”

She looked up with a smile. “You’re really spoiling me, Dr. Carrick.”

“Nonsense. I want to take care of you. I should probably be doing more. Just ask my Mom.”

“Well, I’m about to make her a grandmother... a miracle she never thought she'd live to see. She’d be here spoiling me herself if she wasn’t busy building a shrine to me in her backyard.”

Tobias laughed heartily as he sat down beside his wife. “Don’t joke. There was construction going on in her yard the last time we talked, and I don’t know what it was.”

“If we visit and there’s a bronze likeness of me in the yard, I’m never going to DC again.”

Casey happily snuggled up under his arm as the show started, but it wasn’t long before she blurted out in frustration.

“I swear to God, if Janine and Gregory don’t get together soon, I am going to scream!”

“It is annoying,” Tobias concurred. “But Gregory just got dumped by Amber. It’ll take some time.”

Casey rolled her eyes as she awkwardly reached for another French toast stick, shoving it in her mouth before she replied.

“He newver shoulda been wiwth Amber,” she mumbled.

“Care to repeat that in English, princess,” he teased.

“You know what I said. He doesn’t need a mourning period for Amber; he belongs with Janine. You know it, I know it, they know it...everyone knows it. And when you know something’s right... when you know you found the one... you go for it. You don’t delay.”

Casey was so engrossed in the show that she didn’t notice Tobias's sarcastic grin until she began eyeing his snack.

“What?” she asked in response.

“Say that again.”

“Uhm... when you know you found the one... you go for it? You don’t delay?”

“Like we did?”

“Tobias, it’s not the same thing.”

“It’s exactly the same thing. We were head over heels for each other, walking around stealing kisses and telling everyone... including ourselves... ‘Oh, no! We’re just friends.’”

“But it didn’t last that long. It was what, three, four months?”

“Four months, two weeks, and three days,” he replied instantly.

“But who was counting,” Casey laughed. “In fairness, you knew you were in love with me for that long. I was a little slower to come around. For me, it was probably three months.”

“Three months?” He snickered.

“Yeah, three months.”

“So you didn’t exactly go for it without delay.”

Casey’s mouth opened, but she had no retort as Tobias stared smugly in her direction.

“Shut up,” she said, grabbing a few chips and guac from his plate.

“You’re stealing my snack in retaliation for me being right?” He chuckled.

“Part of your snack,” she said with disgust as she watched him bite into a crunchy Gerkin. “You’re eating pickles?”

“What’s wrong with pickles?” He shrugged.

“Nothing, except you’re pairing it with guac and chips.”

“Uh, look who’s talking! You’re grabbing my guac after devouring your French toast.”

“I know...I know... you’d prefer it if I was grabbing your pickle,” she winked.

“Well, now that you mention it,” he leered as Casey returned to his side in a fit of giggles.

“Come to think of it, I saw you eating pickles with your breakfast today.... and with lunch yesterday... and they didn’t go with your meals then either. Tobias?” she asked, sitting up with mock astonishment. “Are you pregnant? Your cravings are stranger than mine.”

“Look,” he sighed. “I assumed you’d be craving pickles... I thought that was the norm. So I bought a ton of them when we were at that food festival, and, well, you haven’t wanted them.”

“So that’s why you decided to pair them with your Cheerios or your spaghetti and meatballs?”

“Don’t mock me,” he smiled. “What to Expect When Your Wife’s Expecting explicitly said I may have sympathy symptoms... so I guess I’m having sympathy cravings.”

Casey’s eyes twinkled as she threw Tobias a smirk just before stealing the pickle from in front of him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Grabbing your pickle! I figured that would make you happy.”

“Different pickle, dear,” he laughed as he leaned over her and peppered her with kisses. When they finally came up for air, Casey saw the credits were already rolling on their show.

“Oh no! We missed the end! Now we don’t know if Janine and Gregory finally got together.”

“They didn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t... I just figured she’ll make him wait three months, ya know.”

Casey playfully shoved him away as she pressed rewind.

“Well, I’m curious,” she said. “But honestly, I don’t care if they got together.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope,” she said, reaching over to kiss him. “As long as we're together, it’s all good.”

Tobias held her close, rubbing her belly with one hand as he kissed the side of her neck.

“And you better believe we're together,” he smiled. “You’re stuck with me for life.”

“Good,” she grinned, her hand joining his on top of her bump. “The two of us wouldn’t have it any other way.”

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

#choices fanfic #open heart #open heart choices #choices open heart #open heart fanfic #tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #tobias x casey #playchoices #playchoices fanfic #<100 asks

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fullonfandomindulgence · 1 year

Text

dimple is a great fucking character and i will fight anyone who says otherwise. specifically i will fight them by making them read this masterpiece client-crashing god-tackle effortpost about dimple

ive deliberately put off watching the telepathy arc episodes so i could finish this. i like tome So Much. you have no idea how much willpower it took. but it is done and its abt dimples like whole story and purpose and life and i think its a real good thing for you to read and enjoy

im so serious about this that I'm gonna capitalize and punctuate. My sorta thesis here is that Dimple's goals of manipulation are an expression of the basic act of choice that Mob Psycho 100 defines as living, but caring for Mob freaks him out because it distracts him from that purpose, and that contradiction and desperation to choose to live through control is tragically what ends him. Dimple is a friend. Strap in, motherfuckers, we're going for a ride.

Dimple's Goals (Dimpoals)

This is kinda an easy one.

I'm gonna be using images from the show and the comics but I'm not talking about anything past season three, episode six, so no worries anime-onlys. I describe all relevant visual info for each image, though there are also extra IDs in the alt text--I try not to repeat information.

Dimple wants to be a god, "the ultimate being in all creation," "the greatest power in the whole world," and "an object of devotion for all humanity." This dovetails with ideas about superiority and idealism in other parts of the comic but this post ain't about that. It's important that he never says what he'd actually do as a god. Like what is the power for? This comes up in his final confrontation with Mob, too.

Dimple claims that Psycho Helmet leads "people onto the right path," but the second Mob interrogates that he admits he has no plan, "no codex of any kind" from the comic. I don't think that's entirely true, though. Clearly Dimple doesn't care about ruling, because he doesn't actually know what he'd do with the power. But he does want to be revered--he wants positive attention!

Dimple's LOL cult is all about people laughing, and in this panel he says he chose that so he could gain a following without violence. Dimple's attempt with the divine tree is the same, he's trying to keep people the same besides their worship of the tree, make them feel happy in togetherness, help them "find peace at heart." I think there is a reading where making people happy is just a means to an end for Dimple. He for sure tries to kill Mob the first time they meet. But he doesn't have any logic for why he's not, like, using his powers to threaten people and demand tribute. He wants to become a god by making people feel good.

All this said--he's not gonna do it by being himself.

Identifying as evil

When Dimple meets Reigen he identifies himself as an evil spirit. Obviously this is sort of a joke. Like the idea that Mob's pet/mascot is actually an ancient malevolent ghost is pretty funny. But it's meaningful for Dimple's character too, so let's talk about what "evil" looks like. First, obviously the possession thing. How good is it that among all the people trying to manipulate Mob, one of them wants to literally control his every move? Second, here's a bunch of bad stuff Dimple did that Mob thinks about right after Teru tries to exorcise him:

Bro! She's like fourteen! (Dimple makes a lecherous comment about Tsubomi in this image.) He threatens Reigen, he tells Mob the body improvement club is a waste of his time, he straight up asks Mob if he can possess him... He's vindictive, pushy, mocking, and transparently manipulative.

Now to be fair lots of Mob Psycho characters are Like That. But there are some other things more specific to Dimple. Third, he tries to possess Ritsu, taking advantage of his fear of Mob. Fourth, again, the attempting-to-kill-Mob thing. Fifth, here's a bit from a recent side story:

My god. Dimple is terrifying in this. If you haven't read it, Uu is a little dog spirit that Reigen's been keeping around as a pet. Dimple notices that it's feeding on Reigen's energy so he gets rid of it. In these panels he waits until Reigen asks him where Uu is before telling him that he ate it. He has all these lines on his face and this expression of like hostile delight. There are creepy effects blobs behind him. He burps! He does a thing he knows will hurt Reigen and then rubs it in his face, acting like he takes pleasure in it. And finally from one of my favorite scenes in season 2:

I love love love this scene, when Mob is asked to exorcise the ghost family and he refuses. It takes the existing tropes in the story and introduces this like moral complexity and thoughtfulness, it communicates a change in stakes... "They won't have to exorcise you if the clients are dead." Again Dimple is smiling maliciously. He tries to manipulate ghost dad into attacking the college assholes, which is the one hand, for the purpose of getting him exorcised by Mob, which is the other hand. Harm in both directions. There is a third hand! We'll get to it.

But I want to summarize this section first: Dimple's default tool for dealing with adversity is manipulation. He, unlike, say, Reigen, is very comfortable looking like the bad guy, and to some extent he believes he is one. He wants to reach godhood by making people feel good, and he's going to do that not through bloodshed or by being a paragon of virtue but by using other people's flaws to control them.

The Living Spirit

Sorry, I want to do some more stuff before I get to the third hand.

I'd like to think I've been helpfully analytical up to this point, though probably not too novel. But I haven't seen anyone talk about this. Dimple is the liveliest dead guy in the comic, by a wide margin. He has multiple genuine relationships with people, he gets embarrassed, he gets happy, he fears things, he fully laughs. Sure in-canon this might be a proximity thing but in a narrative context I think it's significant that he's so much more of a character than other spirits. Here, in essentially his introduction as a significant character, he says, "I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a ghost!" There's also a great pun he makes in the Dark Horse translation when Reigen questions the existence of urban legend spirits--"Look, pal, just because you're a fake, don't disrespect the lived experience of the dead!" He thinks about living a lot.

Dimple comes back from apparent evaporation more than once, first when Mob exorcises him at the LOL meeting, second when Teru exorcises him in their first encounter. He really really wants to live.

Then there's the brief conversation between him and Reigen about the woman being stalked by what appears to be a spirit, but ends up being a neighbor astral-projecting himself. In this panel Dimple denies that spirits get horny. "It's not like we can do anything about it." He doesn't even think about like romantic love. So most importantly, canon aroace Dimple. But also Dimple believes that being a ghost reduces your existence. It's not even a possibility to do certain things, whether you want to or not. There's a tension here, Dimple craves life but knows that as-is he can't have it.

And then there's this six-page omake at the end of volume five. Please please read it if you can, it's not in the anime and it's such a good little story. When Dimple is almost exorcised by Teru, he only just manages to pull together an ant-sized form, and is rescued from being eaten by a pig ghost by a tiny human spirit called Stubble. The above image is an abandoned house in the woods, with Stubble, off-screen, monologuing, "I simply don't want to perish. I don't hold any grudge against this world. Neither do I have any dreams. Years have passed, without a clear goal." Stubble lives an extremely reduced existence, figuratively and literally. He rides around on the back of the ghost of flea, i.e., he is dependent on the echo of a thing that needs to latch onto something else to exist. He has no agency at all.

It's disconcerting, how Dimple starts at Stubble's size and slowly grows--or, reframed, Stubble slowly shrinks. Here Dimple accuses Stubble, "You died, even before your death. But I on the other hand..." Stubble gets angry. "You're dead too!" Again you should read the story, the way it concludes really blows me away.

Remember in the first episode of season three the S&S crew help the bald guy out of his funk, and at one point he says, "Am I doomed to just repeat these meaningless days until my death?" And then, soon after, "Wait, is my life already over?"

This is about the desperation of agency. Because like, Stubble is right. Dimple has been dead for a long time. His goal is ridiculous. His existence is scraps, yet he's clinging to them with everything he has. What's the point? Lay down alone among the insects, shrink and fade.

Dimple doesn't have a counterargument to Stubble. He doesn't justify "why." But the last sentence he says in the omake is, "I want to stay alive." Dimple, and by extension this omake, and if I may be so bold all of Mob Psycho 100, identifies agency with life. It's not even that life is about making choices, it's that life is literally the act of choosing. You have to choose to live. And Dimple does.

He likes control. He likes choice. He may not be alive but he chooses to live every day. Why? Because he has a purpose: he's going to become a god. And he's going to take Mob there with him.

The Third Hand

Are you good? You're like 1500 words in, feel free to take a break, drink some water.

Maybe you're starting to sense where this is heading. On the third hand, Dimple manipulates ghost dad to help Mob. He attempts to take away both of their autonomy in order to ease Mob's obvious distress. Let's talk about Dimple's evolving relationship with Mob.

I say this a third time, Dimple tries to kill Mob when they meet. Then, despite a positive spin on his initial pitch to Mob, he's pretty transparently evil about it.

These frames of the show are from that introduction, the first with Dimple surrounded in stars and bright colors saying "Let's shoot for the top of the world together," the second with Dimple thinking, face lit from below and body language full of menace, "I'll just wait for my chance to possess him." To be fair again, lots of Mob Psycho characters are Like That. Compare this to the first episode of season two: when Mob tells Dimple the story about Emi, Dimple, excited, assures him that they should keep sticking together so Dimple can help him out with these things. The animators even use the same image of Dimple with the stars and colors:

"Looks like you'll always need an advisor like me!" But this time he doesn't have the sinister turn he did when they first met. This is how Dimple keeps acting throughout season two. He helps Mob, apparently so that Mob trusts him so that in turn Mob can help him reach godhood. But he goes so far above and beyond without any malice: he keeps Banshomaru safe, he possesses one of the high school kids bullying Mob, he eats the curse off Reigen's back, he tries to defend Mob against fucking Toichiro.

Here's a great couple panels: after Dimple explains the deal with urban legends becoming real, he reiterates that he wants to be a god. Then Mob asks Dimple to "make sure [Banshomaru] won't get hurt," and little surprise lines come off Dimple. He agrees but says, "You gotta do me a favor sometime too." Dimple is a little struck by Mob's trust, but maybe more importantly this is the first time in a while, and I think the last time in season two, that Dimple suggests Mob do something for him. It only comes after he reiterates exactly what his purpose is. Dimple's priorities are a little unstable.

Yeah this is just a full comic page from the encounter with Mogami but it's meaningful as shit. Dimple has just suggested taking over Mob's body to protect it. The first panel is Dimple looking away and down, deflated, ashamed. A few sweat drops come down his face. He says, "but something like that..." And to his surprise (action lines, closeup, wide eyes) Mob agrees. Dimple puts on an evil affect when he responds: a horizontally squashed panel shows his backlit face. He smiles unpleasantly and laughs a little, "Kuku..." But his heart clearly isn't in it! His eyebrows are worried, not hostile. There's no pleasure in his smile. He's covered in sweatdrops, eyes wide. When Mob assures Reigen, "It'll be okay," there's another panel of Dimple where the remnants of that affect slide off him. The backlighting is still present but not as severe, the echo of that smile is on his cheek. He's openly worried and covered in sweatdrops. Mob's speech bubble covers a large portion of his face.

Points about this. First, by now Dimple has given up on possessing Mob. This thing that seemed like the main path to his goal is not an option. Second, while both Dimple and Reigen believe that this is a bad idea for Mob, Mob disagrees. Dimple identifies as evil. Reigen identifies him as evil. Mob no longer does. This is classic Shigeo Kageyama behavior, being generous to people even when no one including themselves thinks they deserve it. And the worst part for Dimple is he's starting to agree with Mob. When the option he'd dropped is handed to him on a silver platter, he finds he doesn't want to take advantage of this kid that way. He's a different person than he was.

I don't even know how relevant this is but. Look how much fucking fun Dimple has when he's possessing Mob to protect him. He's doing all these flips and kicks. His smile when he's fighting Mogami!Asagiri is so funny. He does the wildest mid-air combo I ever did see when he attacks the Claw guy as Mob.

Mob becomes such a top priority for Dimple that in the first episode of season three he realizes he forgot that he wanted to become a god. Not only that, but when he comes to Mob to convince him to lead the cult together he's immediately distracted by Mob and what's going on in his life. Mob has to prompt him for him to remember that he's there about the cult.

All this is why Mob's mistrust of Dimple in this conversation is so tragic. Dimple has helped Mob so much, and been so much of a genuine friend, because he knew that Mob trusted him. Where did it go? What happened? Mob's parting words to him are, "Why don't you give your schemes a rest already?" What schemes?? This is the first he's had in months. The translation in the comic, though, is so much more brutal:

"Why don't you stop doing bad things?"

Dimple is

Dimple is terrified of Mob. When Mob wonders if Dimple is scared of him, he's right, of course he is. He has lots of reasons. Mob almost evaporates Dimple when they first meet, threatens him multiple times. Dimple saw him at 100% rage, Mob's first on-screen. He watched Mob hit ???% without being knocked unconscious. This is all especially threatening given Dimple's drive to live. He's terrified when Ritsu tries to fight Mob, he's terrified when Mob asks him if he had anything to do with Ritsu's kidnapping, he's terrified when he thinks Reigen is about to tell Mob that they don't know what happened to his family. But I also read his fear as a symbol of how important Mob is. Dimple attached himself to Mob as the way to achieve his goal. Dimple helps Mob out in so many ways, putting off his goal, so that eventually they can fulfill his purpose together. Then he starts caring about this kid so much that he forgets his purpose! Of course Dimple fears Mob, because their relationship threatens what drives him to live. As much as Dimple is a manipulator, Mob is the one who ultimately has power over him.

Dimple so easily reverts to an evil persona once he leaves Mob because without Mob that's all he can be. If he can't get to the top with Mob, then he has to do it the old way, by using people's flaws to manipulate them. He's able use the broccoli to become a physical presence and get around the "amazing power" problem--though the broccoli's presence and power are still kinda Mob's! But why does he need to become a god at all? Because that's all he is. If he doesn't have Mob and he doesn't have his purpose, then he has nothing.

"Don't go casually denying the thing I've been wanting so badly!" Dimple gets so angry when Mob tells him he's being fake because first, Mob is denying Dimple's manipulative tendencies, which are really important to Dimple right here because he feels his identity is so precarious. And because second, Mob is denying Dimple's purpose. Dimple is in equal danger from Mob's physical attacks and Mob's denial of what he wants. What he wants, what he chooses, is what living is. Dimple doesn't want to die.

Here's a lot of a comic page again, from the final confrontation. Dimple tells Mob that he's just been using him the whole time they've known each other. Mob says, "I'm sad... Does that mean it's time to say goodbye to Dimple?" He steps towards Dimple, who screams in fear and anticipation. I think this is basically the worst thing ever, because god, Dimple is so afraid. Mob is justified in what he's doing but Dimple's desperation is what stands out to me, how hard he's tried to cling to agency and life and how sincerely he believes Mob is about to take it all away from him anyway, to disappear forever and ever.

And then Dimple insults Mob's shirt.

Dimple insults Mob's shirt

Fucking kills me. These are two frames from episode six, Dimple sees how much Mob suddenly trusts him and his reaction is anger, "You okay with leaving me like this?" His eyes are wide, brow down in anger. And then what he says next, "I'm... a dangerous evil spirit!" Here the anger is present but has softened with worry on his brow. The lines by his nose and his pouty lower lip make him look scared and sad. This fight has made it important to Dimple's identity that Mob try to stop him, because he's evil, and Mob stops evil spirits.

Panels from the comic where Mob tells Dimple, "You weren't doing bad things. You were just doing what you wanted to do. Together with me. You trusted me before I trusted you, Dimple. Thank you." Mob doesn't think Dimple is evil, but he identifies how important Dimple acting on his wants is, and he tells him that he still values their relationship. He denies that he has to hurt dimple but affirms his power to choose.

I maybe could've skipped a lot of BS if I put this page further up but I wanted this to get felt, what Dimple's admitting to himself here. It's another section of a page. Panel one, a white splotch in darkness with Dimple's thoughts, "It felt like my ambitions would fade away. Did spending time with unselfish Shigeo cause even me to lose sight of my goals?" Panel two, Dimple is the white splotch. He's scared. "...eh? Wait, that's a problem...!! I'll lose my reason for existing!" So Dimple tells Mob, angry, "No, not yet... I'm not done yet! Even now... I've still got... plenty of things I want to do! And ambitions!" Mob agrees, with that tired, frank look. "I'll hear you out for real. As your friend." Accepting Mob's friendship like this is terrifying, because it means what it always has, forgetting about this purpose. What if Mob stops trusting him again? If he really, consciously abandons his purpose, will he still have agency? He wanted a friend, always wanted a friend. Will it be enough? Will he disappear?

Dimple takes Mob's hand anyway. This was such an amazing shot, I've reproduced its animated glory here, Mob and Dimple reach towards each other, Mob weakly, so Dimple closes the gap and grabs him. The hand grasp of all time. I'm not gonna talk about how this fits into all the other Mob Psycho hand symbolism, that's another 4000-word megapost.

It's worth it. I'm convinced that by involving yourself in a network of people and creating some sense of obligation to others you can actually give yourself an even deeper kind of agency than you could achieve alone. And this is awful, terrifying. Because it involves giving yourself up a little bit. You have to give up some control. Dimple wants to be a god, to have ultimate power and control, so much of him is his manipulation, but he has to give that up for this. Goals that may have guided you for a long time can become irrelevant--and then who are you? If you've defined your life by something for years, and at the end of the decade you realize you don't fit your definition anymore, where do you go? Dimple tells Mob, "Let's go home." But...

Panels from the comic, where Dimple carries a sleeping Mob and thinks, "I said 'let's go home,' but I don't really have any place to 'go home' to... And I don't have anything to aim for from here... I wonder what I should do now." That Dimple is allowing himself to think this is really powerful. I don't think this has to be a sad moment. Like obviously Mob thinks that Dimple's home is his house. He just asked him to stay away until he reverts to his smaller form, as in, he otherwise would've expected Dimple to stay with him. I appreciate the larger point that now Dimple feels unmoored, and deciding on a new purpose is existential. But I think Mob also has a larger point that he believes he can help moor Dimple. I think allowing yourself to wonder where to go next is so important. Dimple is where Mob was a few months back when he decided he wanted to join the body improvement club! He has a future, even if he can't see it very well.

Or, um.

I keep fucking crying while I'm writing this. I love the translation in the comic here. Dimple kneels before a prone Mob and, finger touching his forehead, says, "Listen well... I'm giving you orders for the first and last time. First, wake up. Stand up, Shigeo." Mob is still for a moment and then says, "...it's no use. I can't put any strength into my legs. I can't move my arms either." Dimple is very serious now as he relays, "Your body may complain, but still... stand up. Even if you cannot stand... you must stand." God damn it, god fucking dammit.

Sometimes it's not so easy to change. Your actions have consequences. Your history follows you. Dimple's desperate attempt to keep his old wants comes back to kill his new ones.

Dimple's final act is the same thing he always does, he manipulates Mob to protect him. And it is good and kind. Suddenly his reason for existence is paradoxical: he's going to have to die to fulfill it. Who exists to die? But that's not what it is. Because he's making a choice. He denies death, he says, no, you can swallow me whole, you can annihilate me, but even then you can't take my agency away from me. And I will use this final choice to protect someone I love.

Dimple was a friend.

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archoniluthradanar · 1 year

Text

An Overnight Camp out with the Volturi Masters

First up in the Summer Fun with the Volturi Masters, polled story series results.

Winner and story number one

An Overnight Camp Out with the Volturi masters.

It's Summer in Volterra. It's also very quiet, except for a few trials that were over and done with rather quickly. The defending party was determined early on to be guilty, making the process very simple. You feel restless, wanting to go somewhere. Anywhere. You tell Aro about the trips and vacations you used to take back home. Intrigued, he asks you for examples.

"We used to camp out at the lake, go fishing, check out the theme parks, or visit to the state fair. Sometimes we'd go watch a baseball game more than once in a season," you explain to him while sitting at his feet on the dais.

"This camping. What does it involve?" Aro asks, interested.

You're surprised at his question. "Haven't you ever been camping? Surely when you were a human in ancient times, people camped all the time. I mean, there were fewer hotels and Airbnb's around back then."

"If I have, I've forgotten it. Much of our human lives becomes foggy after so long a time, my dear." Aro thought a moment. "Let us do this camping thing. Buy whatever you need for all four of us to go."

"Well, you three will not be needing much. It's I who will be needing a few things. I'll see to it right away, Aro."

You decide to go shopping for a few necessary supplies, and decide to take Felix along since he is the strongest of the Volturi Guard. "Felix, we'll need to go a sporting goods store. Do you know of one around here?"

He drives to the one store he is aware of that sells such things. You explain the camping trip, and ask if he remembers camping out. He answers in the affirmative and tells you a story about him killing a bear, bare-handed, when it tried to take away his roasting venison. "The beast dared to steal it, but I grabbed him by the throat and broke his neck. Fortunately, he didn't have enough time to begin to eat the deer meat and I was able to retrieve it."

You look over at Felix, the so called executioner of the Volturi, and mentally picture that amazing moment he killed a bear without any weapons, and when he was human. You still don't fear him, but now you know who to have around should you ever get attacked by a bear.

Walking around the store, you peruse tents because you're not exactly the roughing-it type. At least with a tent, you'll have some place to change and sleep. The masters don't sleep, but might enjoy having a place to sit and talk during the nighttime hours, out of any bad weather.

Next up is finding a small gas grill, a pot to brew coffee in, and a small folding skillet to cook meals in, again something the masters don't have to think about. You throw one set of portable dinner-ware into the cart. The last things needed were a few easy-to-cook emergency food packs and Pop Tarts. Healthy eating is not a consideration for a weekend camp out, so you throw in a few Jiffy Pop popcorn tins. You grab long matches, an LED flashlight, and three large LED lanterns, bio-degradable TP, and wet wipes.

Finally, you pick up several containers of water and one bottle of water-purifying tablets, just in case. You apologise to Felix for choosing the heavy tent. Luckily they needed only enough for the weekend, but everything could be re-used later on. Perhaps the Guards would like to indulge sometime, you tell Felix.

Once you reach the castle, Felix carries the tent, still in its box, to sit at the back door. He goes to the garage and brings around the larger SUV, storing the tent box in the back. before putting everything else on the third seat. Caius is going to drive, although he doesn't know about the trip yet. Aro will sit in the front passenger seat because he likes being up front, while you and Marcus will sit in the second row. You really hope the other masters agree to go. You like to snuggle up next to Marcus when driving since it makes you sleepy. He never seemed to object.

When Caius and Marcus were told about the camp out, they balked at first, but after you tell them about the fun it can be, they relent and agree to go.

The next morning, everyone climbs into the SUV, and you give Caius directions to a lake park where short-term camping is permitted.

Once you find the perfect spot at the lake's edge, you and the masters get out the tent and the accompanying equipment. You pull out the instructions and read them aloud.

"I can be of help securing the stakes." To demonstrate, Caius takes one, and holding the tip to the grass, pushes it deeply into the ground with his hand. He completes securing each stake until the tent is firmly in place.

"It looks perfect, thank you Caius. You are a wonder sometimes," you say, praising his ego in all sincerity.

He looks at you, offended. "Only sometimes?"

You smile, putting your hand over your mouth. You walk into the tent, and examine the large back room, then come up front to check out the front room and the outer area where people can sit under an overhead canopy. You love this! The back room is all yours to use since the masters do not need it. With the dividers in place, you'll have complete privacy.

Since this area doesn't permit open fires, you set up the LED lanterns, two out front and one inside the tent. You're hoping to catch a few fish on which to use the gas grill, but without gear, you're not sure this is even a viable idea.

You stand near the edge of the lake, noticing fish swimming in the water. You wish you had a pole, but wonder if the masters have a talent for fishing by hand, what with their speedy reflexes. "Can any of you fish with your bare hands?" you ask.

Caius agrees to try, proud of his vampire skills. He removes his shoes and rolls up his jeans, as do you. He steps into the stream, holding out his hand for you to follow him in. The water is cold, and you envy Caius for being resistant to extreme temperatures.

He bends over in the water and peers past the sun reflecting off the surface.

"Oh look, over there!" you shout, pointing a finger at a passing fish.

Caius is as still as a statue, his hands waiting close to the water. When the fish swims past him, his hands shoot out and grab the fish, then he tosses it onto the bank where it lies flopping on the grass.

You grab his arm, whooping it up, knowing dinner will be fresh fish tonight. You turn to Aro and Marcus, who are watching. "Sure you don't want to try?" you ask them. Aro responds by making a face, and Marcus waves a hand indicating he is more interested in watching. You turn back to Caius, your hands on his back while you cheer him on as he stalks another fish.

"Two should be enough, " you tell him. "Maybe three."

Caius waits patiently, then grabs for another fish, and again, throws in onto the bank. "One more," he asks, seeing you smile and nod your head.

His hyper-vision sees another coming their way. After a few minutes, he reaches out and grabs it from the water. He readies to toss it onto the bank, but is not in the best position, and loses his footing. You try to hang onto him, which is a bad mistake, and you both fall into the water. Aro and Marcus rise from their folding chairs, and flash to the lakeside, reaching out their hands to help.

Caius looks like death hunting for a victim, but soon begins to laugh. You are laughing and freezing, your teeth chattering from the cold. Caius picks you up and hands you up to Marcus, who takes you to the tent to change out of your wet clothes. Caius takes care of that outside the tent, then places the fish in a metal pail you had earlier filled with water.

Dressed in dry clothing now, you leave the tent to sit on the ground next to the masters chairs, to let the warm sun dry your hair.

You are reminded of the fish in the metal pail, and turn to the vampires. "So who is volunteering to clean my fish?" You rise to go fire up the small grill you bought at the sporting good store and wash the skillet in some of the bottled water. When you hear only silence, you turn to the trio. "Please, Aro, I don't like cleaning fish. Too much blood and guts. You guys love blood and guts."

"The human has a point, brother," Caius says.

"Caius, please? And...'the human'? Seriously?" You give him a nasty stare, wondering if it was a joke or a slip of the tongue.

"Don't antagonize him, child, or you'll be eating Pop Tarts for dinner," Marcus warns.

You roll your eyes, then turn back to Caius. "Please, Master?" You rarely call them by that term because they never demand it of you.

Caius comes to you, and dances his fingertips over your shoulder and down your bare arm. "And what do I get in return, little human? I firmly believe in quid pro quo."

You shiver at his touch, but you know he's just playing a game with you. You hope anyway, so you decide to play along. "And what would you want in return?" Since that day in the park, the masters seem to delight in showing you the relationship between you all has moved up a notch, even if only in fun.

"Just this." Caius leans in to kiss you, his tongue moving over your lips, then he backs up.

You swallow hard, saying, "I think I can give you that." Not that it matters, since he'd claimed his payment already.

Caius heads for the pail. Not needing a knife, he slits the fish bellies with his fingernail and removes the guts, washing the fish in the pail of water. Bringing up a bloodied finger to his lips, he tastes the creatures' red fluid. As soon as he swallows, he gags. The small amount of fish blood is expelled from his mouth along with a good portion of venom. "That is awful!" he cries out. "Wretched animal drinkers. How do they stand such deviant behavior!"

You go up to the poor sick vampire and thank him with a kiss to his cheek, before going to prepare to fry your fish.

By the time you've cleaned up after dinner, the sun has nearly set. You put out the two lanterns, more for yourself than the masters. You tell them camping tradition dictates ghost stories be told. You offer to go first.

You tell them about a young couple, who fall in love and marry. Caius sighs, uninterested in romance stories. You hush him and continue. The couple live a happy life together. But the husband has one question. Why does his wife wear a red ribbon around her neck, never taking it off. He asks her once and is told it's not important, as long as they are happy. He never asks again. Many years later, when the wife becomes ill due to her advanced age, he asks the question one more time. The wife says before she dies, that he may finally remove the red ribbon. When he does, her head rolls from her neck, falling to the floor at his feet.

Aro, the intellectual, frowns, wondering why her head had been removed in the first place, and then temporarily mended with a red ribbon. "How could she possibly live all that time?" he scoffs.

Marcus is quiet, thinking about Didyme, his own lost spouse.

Caius laughs. "Priceless," he says, chuckling loudly.

Everyone takes turns telling macabre stories, but you have a feeling the Volturi are sharing true reminiscing from their over-long existences.

It is late now, and you are yawning. Before you get ready for bed, you grab the lantern, some TP, and the wet wipes, and start to leave camp, heading into the trees.

"Aro, I have to go take care of some...personal business. I'll be right back." You start to go but a hand restrains you.

"We will go with you to protect you," Aro says.

"You will not!" You stop and turn to face the three vampires, holding up your hand, palm open to them. "This is private personal business. Something you three don't have to deal with anymore."

"We hear animal noises out in the woods," Caius said gravely.

You hear nothing, but know they have hyper-hearing as well.

"It might be a bear," Aro cautioned.

"It could be a wolf," Caius suggested.

"Suppose it's a mountain lion," Marcus warned.

"It's probably a raccoon!" you counter. "Why are you trying to scare me?" You stand with one hand on your hip, glaring at the trio of vampires.

"It's not safe, my dear, to wander around in the darkness," Aro states in reply.

"I won't be wandering around. And I have a flashlight. Look, sirs, this is private, do you comprehend? Private, as in using a tree as a shield for toilet duty!" You blush bright pink in the darkness you know the masters can easily see in. You watch Aro slowly grin, grateful he finally gets it.

"Now don't follow me. Just keep your ears open for any more animal sounds or Bigfoot or whatever, and if I scream, then come running."

"We will be ready to protect you in an instant, child," Marcus says before you smile at him and leave for the cover of darkness to tend to your business.

By the time you are ready for bed, you're so sleepy, you can barely keep your eyes open, so you bid the masters good night. They will stay outside, talking or whatever else they want to do. You kiss and hug each in his turn, then go inside the tent and light up the lantern on the floor of the tent's back room. You undress and slip on your sleep shorts with the matching sleeveless tank top. You brush your hair and use some of the water to tend to your teeth. Once you've done all that, you lie down on the opened sleeping bag, the room a bit too warm to sleep inside the closed bag.

You're lying on your side, when you hear someone enter the tent. Then you see Marcus peek his head through the divided canvas "wall" between the back and front rooms. Looking up, while you rest on one elbow. "Marcus, is something wrong?"

"No, child. I just wondered if you wanted any company until you fall asleep."

You smile, knowing it's Marcus who wants the company. You hadn't meant to sadden him with your ghost story. "Please," you say, scooting over. "Do you want to lie here on the sleeping bag? It's a bit warm and your body will cool me."

"Shall I undress then?" he asks in all innocence. "To cool you down."

"No! No thank you." All you didn't need was a naked Marcus lying next to you.

He quietly lies beside you, and peers at your beauty, a beauty he feels you don't realize you have.

You turn off the lantern and lie back down, your head resting on a small travel pillow. "Are you enjoying yourself, Marcus?"

"It has been a pleasant day," he replies.

"Perhaps next time, we can find a long term camp ground." you suggest.

"Or perhaps the guards would enjoy going, next time."

"Gotcha." You smile and lean in to give Marcus a kiss on his cheek.

You lie next to the tall master, remembering the day in the park, and how he had taken care of you after all three masters gave you pleasure by having sex with you. You reach out and touch his cold cheek.

Marcus takes your hand from his face and kisses the palm.

You lean in when he does this, tentatively kissing his cold lips. "Marcus, did Aro ask you to come in here?"

You can almost make out a smile on his face in the dark, now that your eyes are more acclimated. You scoot closer to him while he lies on his side. The coolness of his body feels good in the warmth of the tent. You hear no breath from his nose or mouth. You feel no rise and fall of his chest. He is a monster to some, a killer. You do not fear him, however. Nestling closer, you exhale, relaxed and feeling safe. And cool.

The next morning, someone comes into the tent and sets a cup of hot coffee next to you. You open your eyes to see Marcus gone and Caius standing over you. "Thank you, and how do you know how to make coffee?" you ask.

"I've learned a few things since your arrival." He pulls a package from his pocket and hands you Pop Tarts. "To go with your coffee. Then up you go. Aro wants to leave in a few hours."

"Of course." You smile at him as he leaves, then open the Pop Tarts and eat them in between sips of coffee. You wash up with some of the bottled water, and brush your hair and teeth. Finally you dress in shorts and an over-size T-shirt.

When you leave the tent to tend to your morning 'personal' business, the masters do not tease you this time. They merely watch you walk away, your legs highlighted by the shorts you're wearing. Knowingly, you yell as you go, "You guys need to get out into the world and mingle with modern women." Then you laugh.

Once everything has been packed away, all four of you climb into the SUV, and leave for Volterra.

"I hope you all enjoyed yourselves with a sample of camping out."

Caius and Aro agree, albeit unenthusiastically. Marcus drapes his arm around you, and whispers he enjoyed the time he spent with you last night.

Impulsively, you hug him. You wonder how you will ever leave this family you had accidently been inducted into. Actually, they probably won't let you leave, and that makes you happy. They have not killed you yet, so there must be something about you they like. You nestle against Marcus and watch the scenery pass until you reach Volterra, and home.

#volturi fanfiction #Summer fun #aro volturi x reader #marcus volturi x reader #caius volturi x reader #Poll story results #the Volturi

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