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#yeah! he might be A Little Bit Peeved!
tojipie · 6 months
Note
ma’am you mentioned slipping a guard a wad of cash for a quick closet fuck in your story so like…how often did prison toji have to bribe the guards? 😅
prison boyfriend toji series linked here <3
content: semi-public, intimidation, mentions of incarceration, facials
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custodial wing at 11:30
that’s what he’d whispered to you before you parted during your day visit, hand reaching under the hem of your shirt to trace shapes into the curve of your spine.
you didn’t need to ask questions knowing how often the two of you pulled this off. if the state wouldn’t grant you two conjugal visits on account of you not being married.. then you’d just have to make your own. 
getting started wasn’t a challenge in the slightest knowing entry-level guards melted like putty once a little stipend was involved. money was everything in this system, and toji had left you a lot of money.
once every two months was the deal. frequent enough that you’d both get your fill of each other outside supervised visits, but not so often as to draw suspicion. 
naturally, you make a beeline to your destination as soon visiting hours come to a close, mumbling something about needing the bathroom to a clearly peeved officer at the front desk. 
toji comes into view just at the end of the hall, facing away from you. you realize his body is obstructing another person as you you near, bits of their conversation floating in and out. 
“you really should be in your cell fushiguro...”
“just wait till’ she gets here before you do something stupid.. christ.”
you pause just beside toji, peering over at the navy blue-clad stranger in front of you. 
“where’s..” you trail off, eyes flitting between the two men. great, your regular officer wasn’t on duty today. a fucking warning might have been nice. 
the new guard is probably half your boyfriend’s size—and age, not a firm bone in his body by the looks of it. if he did, you figure toji would already be in solitary for sneaking out of his cell. your shoulders relax at the realization. at least this guy wasn’t a threat. 
the inmate shoots you a knowing smile, sly as ever despite the high-stakes situation. you quickly move to rustle through your pockets at the sight of his outstretched palm, placing a wad of cash in his hand.
“why don’t we give our pal a little gift, hm?” toji coos, holding the money up between two fingers and shaking it like a dog treat. “wanna give me an hour with my girl?”
the guard frowns, looking around cautiously.
“we’re not really supposed to take bribes…”
the fake smile on toji’s face falters. “fuck does that mean?” he says in disbelief.
“well honestly, it means that i’m going to have to report this.” the younger man says, reaching for his walkie-talkie to alert the rest of the security team. 
“are you stupid?” toji seethes. sizing the smaller man up. regret instantly washes over the the guard’s face, eyes blowing impossibly wide as he’s backed up against the wall.
“no sir— I mean— i’m sorry!” a tattooed fist slams against the concrete, dangerously close to his face. 
“i could kill you right now. could snap your neck and keep you in that closet over there,” he whispers, jutting his thumb behind him. you know there’s no real intent behind his words, toji simply wasn’t that cruel. 
the paralyzed guard cowers at the threat, taking the two of you by surprise as a wet spot grows on the front of his pants. gross.
“you gonna piss your pants every time a real man speaks to you? huh?” he barks, laughing at the younger man’s misfortune. 
“no no no please,” the guard babbles, motioning toward the closet. “i’ll keep watch i promise, i— i don’t even need the money i’m sorry.”
“good cause you weren’t getting it,” toji sneers, pocketing the cash before picking you up bridal style. 
“that was mean,” you whisper, oddly impressed at the inmate’s intimidation skills.
“yeah? you like when i’m mean?” he mutters jokingly, hands already squeezing the curve of your ass from where his palms are holding your body up. the contact makes you shudder, sending bolts of electricity right to your core.
you loved seeing him like this, as sick as it was. possessive, short-tempered, commanding. it all made your knees weak. 
you find yourself propped up against the door of the closet moments later, held up by his hands as he wastes no time, leaning in to mouth at the curve of your neck. 
the way he maneuvers you without so much as a sigh only stokes the flames deep in your core. toji’s strength was something to behold, an absolute marvel.
the closet is dim, lit by a pull-string bulb older than the two of you combined. you’re so close that you don’t know where your body ends and his starts, making it seem like there’s not enough air for the both of you. 
you reach down with one hand, keeping the other on his shoulder for balance. deft fingers work up the scratchy fabric of his brown uniform, exposing his abs with a hum.
fuck, he was getting bigger, muscles chiseling deeper and deeper as each day went by. the barest hint of black ink peeks just under the hem of his shirt, grabbing your attention for just a moment.
“lift it up angel,” he rasps, mouth still working at the thin skin of your collarbones. purple blood vessels bloom under his lips, the trail of hickeys growing larger by the minute.
the inmate helps you strip his upper half, lips detaching from your body with a sly smile.
“toji, oh my god,” you gasp, running a careful hand over the barely healed tattoo. 
“didn’t want you to see till’ it was finished,” he explains, grinding the hard length of his cock against your clothed core. 
toji hadn’t taken his shirt off the last two times you’d snuck off together, opting fuck you through three orgasms with his pants around his knees, showing off the barest hint of his happy trail. 
you figured it was for the sake of saving time, a precautionary measure in case your situation was compromised. naturally, there was a much deeper reason behind it.
delicate swirled letters brand your name across his ribs, etched into tanned skin amid a background of black and grey mist. the skin around the edge is still pink and delicate. blushed by the spike of a needle over, and over, and over.
god.. how did he even get this done? and so well at that? the things he manages to achieve even while serving time never fail to blow you away.
you hadn’t even realized he’d stopped grinding into you, his palm just barely cradling your face.
“you okay?” he says it so gently, like you’ll break. 
“it’s perfect,” you tell him, basking in the shy smile he gives you. scarred lips finally meet yours, setting you down on the floor of the closet to shimmy your skirt down. toji pulls away with an audible hum, tapping the inside of your calf to get you to open your legs wider.
the inmate wastes no time, hooking a thumb under the fabric covering your heat, and pulling your panties to the side. you feel his hulking body drop to a knee in the dim light, running thick hands up the soft skin of your calves before pressing a gentle kiss to your clit. 
“beautiful,” he whispers, though the stars that dance across your vision keep you wondering if he’s talking about you, or your pussy. 
and then your thoughts come to a screeching halt as a warm, dexterous tongue licks up the length of your slit. the noise he makes is obscene, desperate, groaning low in his chest as he tastes you for the first time in months. 
you nearly forgot how good it feels to be taken like this, struggling to maintain your balance as toji laps at your hole, two hands settling on your knees should they decide to buckle. 
“tastes so fucking good,” 
he says it directly into your heat, shooting vibrations straight into your core. warm velvet sneaks up to lap at your sensitive bud, tracing hot, wet circles in the spot that matters most.
you peek down just enough to see him free his cock from his boxers. two fingers swipe through your heat, using your slick to ease the slide of his hand along his shaft. 
it’s filthy, the way he’s always been so readily able to shift how he acts around you. cold, unforgiving hands turning into warm fingers that bring you nothing but pleasure. 
you’re the only one who sees him like this— who will ever see him like this. on his knees in the back of a cramped closet, making love to your cunt like a man starved. 
the feeling of your approaching high rips you from your thoughts, hands tangling into his mess of raven hair.
“gonna cum,” you whine, pushing at his forehead to get his face away from your clit. the tiniest bit of relief floods your core as he pulls away, his mouth and chin dripping with slick. 
“turn around.”
you haven’t even fully pressed yourself against the door before the blunt head of his cock is sliding into your entrance, filling you to the brim in one fluid motion.
toji takes a second to palm at the flesh of your ass, humming in appreciation as you adjust to his size.
“please,” you groan, “please just fuck me toji, please.”
the inmate pauses, slipping a hand under the hem of your shirt to play with your tits.
“should i?” he whispers, groaning as you clench down on his length.
frustrated, you push your hips back into his shaft, swallowing him over and over while harsh pants ring out behind you. large hands squeeze around your waist to stall your movements, giving him space to rut into you like you need.
the feeling is seismic, explosive. sending you right over the edge and into the abyss as black streaks over your vision. you don’t think you’ve ever been fucked this good before, taking deep, thorough gulps of air as you’re humped and rutted into against the fragile wood of the closet door.
large fingers wrap around your wrist and pin your arm behind you as you reach down to toy with yourself.
“like this,” he tells you. the implications clear as day.
cum on his cock or don’t cum at all. 
and cum you do, shuddering as you flood yourself between your legs. his pace doesn’t let up for a single second, bucking up into that special spot over and over.
“knees,” he commands, tone as urgent as ever. “fuck, get on your knees.”
you don’t have to be told twice, sinking to the floor to face him as he pulls out of you.
“open baby, open up for me.” the noise his hand makes while her jerks himself off is absolutely debilitating.
you tiredly rest your cheek just under the jut of his hip bone, pressing soft kisses under the far edge of his tattoo. the aftershocks of your high leave you breathless as thick spurts of seed cover the left half of your face. 
toji takes you by the face and holds you in front of him, fingers squishing your lips into a pout as he paints your face with the last of his load.
“there we go, there we go, eat it for me,” he pants from above you, chest heaving from the force of his orgasm. you gather as much as you can with your tongue, letting him thumb the rest into your mouth.
“beautiful,” he says, letting you clean off his fingers with your tongue. and this time you’re sure that he’s talking about you, his girl. his everything.
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suguru-getos · 6 months
Text
୨・┈﹕✦﹕ Kinktober Day 31﹕✦﹕┈・୧
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-> event masterlist
aizawa shouta x f!reader -> bdśm
a/n: happy buurfday 🙈🩶 erazerheaddo! i really don’t like him that much aka personally. but he’s fun to write nonetheless. <3 i hope ya’ll enjoy it & please heed the warnings mkay? have a lovely day & don’t forget to stay hydrated 😡
warnings: bd$m, dom!subDynamics, spanking(using a whip), buttplugVibrator, cl!t-spanking, edging, doggy!style, aftercare.
shouta has waited impatiently for you, ever since you had gone out with your friends. a sigh escaping his lips because somehow, it’s also his birthday. must you do this to him? its his special day, doesn’t feel as special anymore. why do you have to be so fucking busy on his special day — hey he’s all about tolerance and letting you do whatever you want, but this peeves him out a tad.
so when you ring the doorbell, he’s on the door within seconds. opening it for you and leaning back when you lean in to huggle him. “happy birthday, sho.” you coo, smiling softly but he raises a brow of annoyance. “thanks.” he scoffs, closing the door on your end and letting you come inside. the aura he has is enough to scream that he needs spoiling.
“what would you want as a birthday present?” you croon, watching his brow raise up at that prospect. maybe this would work just fine. shouta clears his throat, looming over you and bending over a little to whisper against the shell of your ear. “i want you to be my little slave tonight.” the way the warmth of his words say something so sinful has you cowering beneath him already. you gulp, contemplating — then again, it’s aizawa shouta. your husband, your confidante and your soulmate. he wouldn’t take things where you don’t like to. maybe this would also ease his mind from the looming loneliness you’ve subjected him to.
you nodded, biting back a smirk. “words, little one.” shouta daunts, tilting your chin up & forcing eye contact. “yes- yes sir.” you fumble a bit, it’s the scruffy voice he has that can get so authoritative which makes you feel small in the best of ways. and oh, shouta loves every bit of it.
“go upstairs to the bedroom, strip naked & kneel. wait for me patiently.” he commands, and you’re off immediately. when you’re taking off your clothes, anticipation bites your stomach. thinking about all the things he can do to you.
he comes in upstairs, shirtless with his scars and abs on display. a little smirk plastered on his face at seeing you knelt down so eagerly to please him. it’s written all over your face you wanna be good for him. “hmm, look up and say you want to submit to me. that you’re nothing but my property to use as i see fit.” shouta’s grim yet sinful reminder has you aching. you nodded, repeating the same words with flushed cheeks. “good girl.” he balms any anxieties that might’ve arisen.
“on the bed, ass up.” he hums, smirking with a little leather whip in his hand. it’s the kind of the pom-pom. lots of leather strips attached to the handle. shouta wouldn’t use a bull-whip on you just because of the impact might causing skin breakage. he is particularly against seeing blood. that makes him think it’s too far and shouldn’t be done. a personal preference.
the strands of the whip caress your naked skin, your spine, your neck, your inner thighs. he chuckles when he tries to shove the handle into your sopping wet cunt and watching you squeal. it was before you could expect, the whip cracked right on the curve of your ass. a scary intensity but still palpable, a shrill whine echoed through the walls of the bedroom, before another one came right at the same spot.
“who’s going to fucking count?” shouta scoffed, acting a little unhappy. “two- t’was two sir.” you whimpered, waiting for another one land right on the other ass cheek with an intensity which was higher than the first two.
“three!” you squealed out, and that makes shouta massage the spot just a little. “hmm, let’s make this a little more fun. yeah?” he thinks out aloud, “of course, fun for me. you’re just here to please me.” he reminds, walking away and bringing some items from the bedside drawer. you want to peek and see what it is, but you know you’d be punished for being too eager.
shouta walked in back to you, spreading your ass cheeks apart and squeezing some of the lube onto your rim, spreading it with his index finger and smirking at how your asshole puckers up for more. “nasty little thing.” he taunts, shoving a metallic butt plug vibrator inside you. the fullness has you gasping, along with the dull vibrations & the shape spreading your walls and contracting at the rim. it was uncomfortable, it was amazing, it was exhilarating.
shouta spanked your splayed out pussy, while you jerk forward in delight. “we begin again, from the beginning. don’t miss a single fucking count or we start again. you’ll get ten.” shouta tells you beforehand what to prepare for, so you know how much you’re truly in for.
the next three whips crack on your ass immediately, giving you little time to adjust especially how hard your ass is contracting. “agh- fuck, three! sir.” you manage to mewl out between gasps. part of you wants to break the counting, just to piss him off a little, the other part of you wanted to please him.
another one landed right on the middle of your ass, distracting you from your thoughts and making you scream out. “OUCH FOUR!” you cried out, “aww, maybe you’d have trouble sitting down tomorrow baby.” shouta cooed, while your vibrating ass was causing a problem. you felt so deliciously close to the edge without any stimulation on your clit.
“sir, don’t think can- handle this, gonna cum.” you remind him, not wanting to tip off the edge without his permission. “oh? is it?” shouta raised a brow, spanking your clit just once as you jumped your thighs together at the impact. “you can’t cum anywhere but my cock. hold it.” the words had so much bite & intensity you whimpered at the stance; just nodding along.
“words.” shouta spanked your ass again. “AGH- five, sir- yes.” you struggled, the pleasure overwhelming along with the pain on your rear. your skin was definitely bruised and a little swollen, but not too bad. shouta knew exactly what to give you to leave you dancing at the edge of pain and pleasure.
“six!” you cry out, tears brimming at the edge of your eyes at this hit, a weak sniffle escaping you. oh you were so bloody gone, shoved into subspace so wonderfully without feeling anything negative. “thank you, sir.” you hum, and shouta smirks. “aww, you’re turning more good? what’s that for? want me to stop spanking?” he chuckled, leaning in and kissing the spot where he’d just hit.
“SEVEN!” the next hit landed right where the previous one was. you screamed this time, wiggling your ass in air at the sting. “please please please sir, i’m so close.” you cry out.
shouta spanked your ass thrice, medium intensity but still firm, while you slumped forward, “t-ten.” by now you were sniffling in pure bliss. “cum.” shouta commanded, holding your waist and shoving it right at the leaky tip of his thick cock.
you screamed at the feeling, you felt so wonderfully stretched out. feeling shouta balls deep, along with the butt plug that stretched you out so good. immediately cumming pathetically on his cock & massaging his ridges and veins. “aw, good girl, good little girl. just like that.” shouta stayed still, letting you adjust to him & tip off the edge completely. you gushed all around him, panting heavily at the mess you’ve created.
he started thrusting into you, deep strokes without much break. the speed picking up to borderline rail you into the mattress. all you could manage was to break out broken whines and moans. it felt so good, it felt so good- so good. his balls slapping your clit, his cock kissing your cervix deliciously at every snap of his pelvis on your hips. the bruises of your sensitive ass toyed with every little thrust which felt like a spanking on it’s own.
“s-sir- so- close again.” you mewled out, while shouta’s thrusts also got sloppier, twitching inside you. “good, cum at the same time as me. let me fill you up.” he groans, “going to stuff you so full of my cum like my little cum jar you are. gonna give me babies, yeah baby? going to give me babies?” he almost crooned at the thought of it, slipping his seed inside you & painting your walls full of him while you spasmed around. brutalised orgasm ripping through your sanity as you opened your mouth in a silent scream. “shit- shit- shit.” you cried out, every single clamp of your pussy around his cock was borderline hurting.
“atta girl, good girl.” he smiled, pulling himself out and watching his cum gush out of you. the butt plug came out after, and your ass looked so cute a little puckered up. “so cute.” he hums, while you laid down shoved into little space/sub space for your dom. shuddering and spasming at the orgasm after effects. “oh little one your legs are shaking.” he smiles, noticing how your body vibrates in exhaustion.
“was that too rough?” he asks gently, kissing over your spine and turning you on your back.
you shake your head no, biting your lip. “next time add clamps too.”
shouta chuckled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear with a nod. “of course kitten. you did so well for me though, took me like a little champ i’m so amazed by how strong you are. how wonderful you are.” he whispered soft nothings into the shell of your ear, rubbing your pelvis soothingly, rubbing your ass soothingly. “let me put some numbing cream onto that cute bottom.” he cooes, wiping your tears and kissing your forehead deeply. you were still sniffling and sobbing a bit. but that was to be expected — he’s wrecked your mind and body both to submission after all.
“i love you babygirl.” he cooed, kissing all over your tear-drenched face. “mm, i love you too, happy birthday sho.”
“thank you kitty.” he smiled tenderly.
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devildomditzy · 10 months
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“Are you sure this will work?”
“Cmoooon, it’s foolproof! When have I ever let ya down?”
You raise your eyebrows at him, giving him a pointed look.
“Okay, I let ya down one time.”
You raise your eyebrows higher.
“Alright, alright! A couple of times. But this time I’ve got it locked down, I promise!”
You look away from him, a bit peeved he was making you the ‘main component’ to his next ‘big scheme’.
Try as you might, you can’t say no to him. This little bastards got you wrapped around his finger.
He gives you that look. You know the one. The one that always lets him get his way. The one that instantly makes you fold.
You let out a defeated sigh, “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”
“Yes!”, he cheers as you watch him bounce excitedly around the room, quickly starting to toss various things aside on his messy floor seemingly looking for supplies? of some kind?
When he turns back to you, he’s got new ambition in his eyes.
“Right, step number one, we gotta get Asmo to getcha all dolled up.”
He gives what you can only describe as an evil little chuckle as he grabs your wrist and pulls you along towards the avatar of lust’s room.
“Hiiii”, Asmo sings as he opens the door to greet you. “I’m guessing you couldn’t say no to him again?”
You give Asmo a defeated, but annoyed look that says ‘don’t even start’.
He defensively throws up his hands. “Ooo, didn’t mean to touch a nerve there, hon!”
“Yeah yeah, their nerves are touched or whatever ya just said.” Mammon essentially pushes you into Asmo’s arms, cause you to indignantly huff at him. “Just hop to it, woula ya? We’re burnin’ daylight here!”
“Now now Mammon, is that anyway to talk to your lovely partner?”
“P-partner!? Whaddya mean partner? They’re just some stupid-“
Your deadly glare cuts him off completely.
“S-stupidly amazin’! Great human! So perfect! Did I mention you were amazin’?”
“Mammon?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Shut up.”
“That’s fair.”
The second born leaves you in the hands of the fifth as he promptly fucks off to who knows where to gather who knows what for this “plan”.
Asmo practically shoves you down into his vanity chair, eyes sparkling with delight as he looks you over, hand grabbing your jaw and titling your head side to side as if appraising a jewel.
“Now, tell me. What did you get yourself into this time, love?”
“Ugh, I agreed to help with another one of his stupid “money making” ideas… if you can even call stealing from unsuspecting drunks an idea.”
“So you’re going to be robbing people?”
“Yes? No? I don’t know. I’m just the distraction. The ‘eye candy’ he said. While I’m busy chatting up whoever, he’s gonna swipe their wallets.”
“You know hon, you don’t have to go along with his stupidity just to make him like you.”
“I know”, you sigh. “It just… it’s makes him so happy!”
“And so does his credit card! Just wave that in front of his face for a few seconds, it’ll have the same effect. Trust me, I’ve tried. And succeeded.”
You cross your arms, looking down, suddenly finding the floor very interesting as your brain works overtime thinking about him.
“I know… I guess I just wanted to be the reason why he’s happy.”
Asmo gives you a knowing smile, shaking his head. “What am I gonna do with you two? Ugh, it’s so cute I can barely take it!”
“What’s so cute?”
Asmo doesn’t just laugh at that, he cackles. He doubles over, tears in his eyes.
“Honey, if you don’t think we all can’t see this silly little back and forth you two are caught up in, you’re as delusional as Levi was when he thought he’d won a meet and greet with his favorite idol.”
“Wasn’t that another one of Mammon’s schemes?”
“Maybe..”, he leads off with a devilish lit in his voice.
You remain quiet as a small smile finds its way to his face and he shakes his head at you.
“You’re both ridiculous.”
Asmo grabs your shoulders, twisting the chair so you fully face the mirror. He runs a hand through your hair, staring into your reflection.
“How abouutttt, instead of getting you all made up to go to some dingy bar with my idiot brother, we get you all made up for my idiot brother, huh?”
“I dunno Asmo, he’s probably not even gonna notice.”
“Nonsense! When I’m done with you those drunks won’t be the only ones who are distracted.”, he says with a wink.
His smile? Devious.
It isn’t too long, probably a little over an hour before you hear banging on Asmo’s door.
“Oi! Are ya almost done in there? We’re on a tight schedule!”
“Why don’t you come in and see for yourself?”, Asmo questions in a dangerous voice.
Mammon is staring down at his D.D.D, typing with one hand as he opens the door with the other, so he doesn’t immediately see you.
But when he does
“Well…What do you think?”
Your voice comes out much shyer than you had hoped for, but you force yourself to look at him, knowing your face was on fire.
His eyes are wide behind his sunglasses as he just makes this unreadable face. One you don’t know what to make of.
“I uh, ya look uh.. I gotta”, he stammers before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath and…
“I forgot somethin’ in my room! Ya, just uh, gotta go grab it. Real important. And uh, you know what? You don’t have to come with me! The Great Mammon’s decidin’ to fly solo on this one, ha ha! Sooo…”
You watch him awkwardly back out of the room, shutting the door behind him before you hear him waking away. And then you hear that walk turn into a run.
“Well?”, Asmo nudges you, “Go after him, silly.”
“But Asmo-“
“We both know exactly why he acted like that. Stop worrying so much.” He gives you a genuinely warm smile. “Everyone knows that he likes you”.
Though nervous and maybe trembling slightly, you still manage to make your way to Mammon’s room. You hear shuffling inside that quickly halts when you knock.
“Mammon?”, you question when you get no actual response. “It’s me, can I come in?”
Still nothing, but you swear you hear him lean up against the door.
“I thought I was the ‘main component’ to this scheme. Now you don’t want me to be a part of it?”
You can’t hide to subtle hurt in your voice, one that makes him make some kind of groaning noise before promptly opening the door.
“Mammon I- woah!”, you stumble as he grabs you by the wrist once more, pulling you into his room quickly and slamming the door behind you.
He turns his back to you, eyes closed, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated.
“Mammon…”
“Listen, ya can’t… I can’t have ya goin’…”
He makes another annoyed noise before turning to face you.
“Ya can’t go out lookin’ like that okay! Especially to some seedy ass dive bar!”
“Why not? Isn’t this what you wanted? This was the whole plan right? I flirt with people, you take their wallets, we run before Lucifer hears anything about it.”
“Yeah, but-“
“Now I wasted all this time getting ready and you don’t wanna do this anymore?”
“It’s not tha-“
“I thought we were like, partners in crime. Maybe I was stupid for thinking that.”
The disappointment in your voice makes him crack.
“Ya look too damn good, okay?! I’m not lettin’ ya go cause I’m not lettin’ any of those assholes touch ya, let alone look at ya!”
His face is cherry red, and his arms are crossed as he keeps his eyes promptly shut. He looks as if he’s bracing for impact. Bracing for your response.
“I got to thinkin’ bout it after I dropped ya with Asmo and just… the thought of you sayin’ all that sweet stuff you say to me to a couple of nobodies just so I could swipe their pocketbooks? I couldn’t…ya can’t….ya can’t say that stuff to anybody else, got it?”
He seems to let out the breath he’s been holding.
“Specially not lookin’ like that. I mean, ya always look amazin’, but this is…wow.”
He looks you up and down, and you can’t help but feel like your heart is exploding into a million pieces. Was it nervousness? Was it excitement? Was it a mix of both?
You’ll never know, because what he said next makes your thoughts hault, heart beating out of your chest.
“It would kinda be a shame for you to get all dressed up for nothin’ though so…can I take ya to dinner?”
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cosmal · 1 year
Note
umm what about!!! sirius or james comforting you when you get a haircut and don’t really like it at first. because I always hate fresh haircuts before I get used to it (especially when the hairdresser styles it weird lolzies)
haircut
summary — you hate your new haircut but sirius makes you feel better.
content — sirius black x fem!reader
note — this is unedited and so so i’m sorry baby
You're supposed to meet Sirius at the cafe around the corner. You really don't want to. You want to go home, find a hat maybe, maybe wash your hair for three hours until it magically all grows back.
You don't want to see your boyfriend awkwardly try to tell you your new haircut looks good, because you really hate it. It's way too short and weirdly cut around your ears. You think it might be uneven around your neck but you can't see it properly.
You reach the cafe and tug the hair down around your ears cruelly, and don't even realise you're crying. Tiny tears splash down your cheeks and curve into your mouth. You wipe them with the back of your hand and sniffle, steeling yourself before you see Sirius.
You find him, at a table in the corner with his pretty legs crossed and a mug to his lips. Reading something on his phone. You cross the cafe and hold your breath.
Your knees knock into the mosaic table and Sirius looks up. He stands quickly and he's already smiling. So wide you think it might hurt. "Oh my god," he says cheerfully. Your bottom lips juts out. "Baby, it looks so good!'
He reaches up to run his hands gently through your hair. He twirls a lock around his finger, eyes bright and wide. It feels funny because you really hate it. He's gotta be lying to save you. You turn your face to hide in his hand and he cups your cheek.
"You don't like it?" He's doubling down, startled to find your face a little wet under his palm. You shake your head in his hands and he coos. "Really?"
"No, look at it." You take your hair into your hands and tug at it gently, still, a tad peeved. He frowns.
"I am, honey," he laughs a little. "It looks good, I love it!"
"Don't lie to me."
"What?" He knocks your pouty lip with a bent knuckly gently. "I'm so serious with you right now. It looks amazing."
"The hairdresser must've been drunk." You're so sincere about it, Sirius almost laughs some more. He decides against it. "It's all choppy and crooked,"
"It's not," he says. "Would I lie to you?"
"Probably," you grumble.
He smooths his hands over your head and is smiling so genuinely you think you might feel a little bit better. You're not sure if you despise him for how he makes you feel, because you truly don't like your haircut, but he's looking at it so softly, like he's never liked something more in his life.
His eyes glimmer and his mouth twitches. "Lovely." He's speaking so softly that he's hard to be heard over the cafe. There are no more than five people in here. "It looks amazing. I promise. God," he's doubling down to save himself, lest he look like a total sap right here and now, "you look so pretty." He swallows.
"Do you really mean that?" It's a silly question, really. Sirius is a really good liar but you don't think he'd ever lie to you about this. He hates to see you upset but he'd rather be truthful.
"Of course," he says, hands finding their place on your shoulders. "Really. It suits you so well."
You probably should believe him. You've no reason not to.
You sit down in the seat in front of him in case you do something stupid like hug him in the middle of the cafe until your legs are sore. Sirius seems mildly put out. He sits down with you and doesn't waste time grabbing your hand.
"I'm sorry," you mumble. You use your free hand to take his mug and hold it to your lips. "Am I being stupid?" you ask before you take a sip.
He takes the mug back when you give it to him, quick to speak. "No, it's okay. It might just need to be styled differently. You know what you like."
"Yeah," you hum.
There's a silence where Sirius can tell you're thinking about your hair still. "You want me to order you a muffin?"
You smile and Sirius feels a little better. "And a chai latte?"
"Of course."
Sirius starts chatting away and you forget about you hair almost immediately.
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randoimago · 7 months
Note
May I please request Gwen, Peter B, Pavitar, and Hobie reacting to their S/O(and if I may ask, best friend instead of S/O for Peter pls) being turned into their universe's version of the spot pls?
Please go light on the angst if that's how you wanna write it, otherwise I look forward to your ideas especially for a new fandom because your writing is great!
S/O Becoming Their Version of The Spot
Fandom: Spiderverse
Character(s): Gwen, Peter B, Pavitar, and Hobie
Type of Request: Headcanons
Note(s): I'll do my best to go light with angst, but some of these characters (Gwen mostly) will have some angst!
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Gwen
Oh boy does she feel a lot of conflicting emotions when she sees you and what you've turned into. First thing, it's the PTSD from her Peter at seeing that you somehow turned into this. And then it's guilt because, was she the cause of your transformation? Did she fail to save you?
The most conflicting feeling she has is what she's going to do. If the Spider Society learns about your abilities, then what if they want you destroyed or something to stop anomalies? No way in hell is she going to let that happen, but she's also afraid of what might happen if there is no other choice with saving you.
So, for now, she tries to help you with your powers. She tries to see what you both can do to try and gain some control with them. She can't and she won't lose you. That's not even an option to her.
Hobie
Well, your powers would make it a lot easier to break into corrupt government buildings to trash the place.
Joking aside, of course he's worried, but he doesn't think any good will come from showing that he's worried. So he's pushing that aside and thinking up ways to help you. He's seen what Miles' spot did, so now it's time to see what you both can do to prevent that.
Honestly, it's a bit annoying how cool and calm he is about the fact that you're opening holes all over the place. But hey, it's part of the learning process. If you break his things, then it just shows how punk you are (might actually be a bit peeved if his guitar got broken tho).
Pavitr
A very chaotic mix of "Don't worry, we'll fix it!" and "Oh my god, are you okay?!" He tries to be upbeat and optimistic about your condition with you, but he can't help worrying because he's seen what could potentially happen.
Tries not to make it obvious that he's constantly eyeing you, but he's constantly eyeing you to make sure you're okay. Don't even give him the "I'm fine" stuff because he's worried like a mother hen. Even if you are legitimately fine, he still thinks you're putting a brave face on for him.
He does get over his worry but that's when you're the one to help calm him down. After that, he takes several deep breaths and you two get to work with figuring out how to help you.
Peter
Yeah, so no offense but you're not allowed to babysit Mayday like that. He understands if you glare at him, it was a bad joke. Hiding behind jokes due to traumatic events is his specialty.
Will sit down with you and ask what happened, how it happened, and how you can fix it. Serious Peter is on because you're his friend and there's no way he's not going to try and help reverse this.
In the meantime, while he puts his super smart science skills to work, you're going to experiment with your powers. Just little things, but he wants to make sure you can control the basics just to be on the safe side.
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Text
Déjà Rěvè
Chapter 1: This Fucking Cat
The door shut behind ace with a soft click as he looked about the room where detentions for the day were held. More specifically, he looked at the people in said room. More specifically, he looked at the two only two faces in the room that he recognized. Honing in on a certain choppy haircut that looked to be cut with a kitchen knife, probably cause it was cut with a kitchen knife. Ace would know. He’s the one who cut it.
“ok”, he began. “I can probably guess why he’s here”, ace pointed at Deuce, who looked a bit guilty for getting into trouble yet again, but more peeved that Ace was the one calling him out on it, “but why are you?”, his finger turned to Yuu, who seemed very determined to look anywhere but at him.
Ace watches Yuu as they fiddle with the bracelets on their wrists, probably the most expensive thing they have on them at the moment, judging from the torn and dirtied jeans, old flannel, and worn-out denim bomber jacket, all the way down to their beat up sneakers. And of course, the atrocity that was their haircut, which was actually starting to look halfway decent now that it had time to grow out a little. Surprisingly.  
It was quickly becoming apparent that Yuu was just pretending to not have heard him, but when ace, now annoyed, was about to repeat his question, he found he didn’t have to. He was answered in the form of a, somehow, equally as annoyed sounding meow, as Grim came out from behind Yuus’ desk.
All annoyance immediately vanishes as Aces’ shoulders dropped and he hunched over in disbelief. No way. He looked from Yuu to their little shit, and back again.
There was no way.
“You brought your cat?”
Yuus’ eyes shot towards him in a deadpan stare.
“No Ace. I brought Leona”, they pointed behind them with their thumb, gaze still trained on him as he craned his neck and stood on his tiptoes to look behind the desks and- Yep! There was Leona! In all his glory, passed out on the floor behind a few desks. The perfect blind spot.
Ace stood back normally to face Yuu, shoving his hands in the pockets of his varsity jacket and accepting his friends’ stupidity with a nod. “You brought your cat.”
Yuu leaned back in their seat and glared, defensive of their oh so beloved cat.
“I had to bring him! He wouldn’t let me go this morning! Just kept followin’ me around everywhere!”
“I still feel like there’d be a way to make him stay home though”, Deuce chimed in, his head in his hands as he lazily rubbed at his eyes, obviously tired, and also kind of beat up now that ace looked at him.
Welp. Now he knows why Deuce was in detention. Ace smirked. He had a point though.
“Yeah, listen to Juice, you could’a just slammed the door in his face or something”, Ace leaned down to be on a lower level and match Grims lower intelligence as he said this, something the cat seemed to take instant offense to as he jumped on Yuus’ desk and hissed. Ace moved to sit on a desk that was vaguely in between Yuu and Deuce. He’s pretty sure that Deuce had glared at him for messing up his name, but judging from the defeated sigh that came shortly after, Ace thinks he might just be accepting that he has two names now and one of them just happens to be a drink.
Yuu relaxes a bit, crossing their arms and looking at their fingernails, trying to pick the dirt out from underneath them while speaking in an obvious tone, “…Yeah, I think we all know that something like a door wouldn’t stop Grim from following me to hell, much less school.”
Deuce stretched in his desk, legs extending out from underneath it and himself leaned back in his seat, sort of sinking into it as he watched a grown teenager argue with a cat. “…Rember when we went downtown that one time? Like a few months ago? You left Grim at home and-“
“- and we get to the restaurant, we’re halfway through eating, and then in walks this fucker. My point exactly”, Yuu says with affection as they give Grim a few pets. Grim turns to Yuu and gives them a single soft meow that bleeds into a purr before turning around to raise a paw and hiss at Ace. Yuu lets him, contend to twist and play with the ring that they stole from deuce that was currently on their index finger.
Ace, seemingly satisfied with his daily spit with Grim, joined back into the conversation.
“How did he even know where we were? Forget that! How did he get there? That restaurant was far. I had to drive us there”, Ace shot a suspicious look at Grim, it wasn’t very serious, Ace was mostly just weirded out. That cat was weird in the first place though, so Ace let it slide.
Grim could clearly care less about what Ace thought of him at the moment, too busy trying to get more of Yuus’ attention now that he was no longer pre-occupied with Ace.
“I know right? I didn’t even know it was Grim at first. Just thought it was a random stray that had gotten into the restaurant… At least, I thought it was a stray until it started scratching at Ace”, Deuces voice turned smug towards the end, clearly happy to be reliving the memory of his friend not passing the divine judgement given by his other friends’ pet cat.
Ace make a noise that was somewhere between embarrassed and offended, protests and comebacks at the ready, which were all ignored by Yuu happily continuing the conversation, “Right? I’m just glad he had his tags on. I would’ve left his there if he didn’t”, they smiled as they listened to the purrs, enjoying the peace for once. Grim had always been an odd cat: being instantly protective over Yuu when they found him last year, and having almost human like reactions to everything that was done and said when he was around. Yuu was just happy that their cat got to just act like a cat sometimes.
The mood instantly changes into a panicked one as the door clicks open once again and the unfortunate teacher who had had detention duty this evening walks in. Ace slipped off the desktop into his chair, Grim slipped off yuus lap to hide behind their desk, and deuce instantly straitens up. The other students, which Ace had either never seen or never bothered to remember, straightened up in a similar fashion. It was like clockwork.
The only one who didn’t seem to react was Leona, who, as if on cue, rolled over onto his back and let out a loud snore, seemingly just to spite any present authority. Deuce took a deep breath and Ace made a face trying to keep his laughter in while Yuu gripped the edge of their desk as hard as they could.
This was going to be a long evening.
---
When everyone was finally dismissed, Ace had sprinted out of that building like a man on a mission, with Yuu and Deuce not too far behind. The three of them trying to race each other to random street signs and traffic lights, with one of them always changing the finish line to something else whenever someone else was about to win. Becoming out of breath with their running and their shared laughter.
Now, the street lights had come on and the sun was setting. Everything has calmed down a bit, and the three were walking in the middle of a rarely driven street, kicking rocks and dragging their feet as they walked to Yuus’ house.
Ace let out a big sigh, likely one he’d kept in all day. Before deciding that wasn’t dramatic enough and throwing his head back with a groan, “Man that suuccckkkeddd!”
Deuce scoffed, “you were the one who kept trying to do trick shots into the trashcan in history, Ace. Trying”
Ace glared at Deuce before Yuu spoke up “No yeah, getting detention was your own fault this time Ace- and don’t try to blame it on Floyd! He skipped today to chase Riddle around…”
Deuce winced, “poor Riddle.”
“yeah, poor Riddle-”
Ace threw his hands up and sped up so he was a few steps ahead, turning around and walking backwards to look at them, “Jeez, why are you both ganging up on me all the sudden? Ok! Sure! But you know what I didn’t do?”, Ace pointed at Yuu, who was carrying a sleeping grim in their arms, “bring that menace to school cause he wanted to act a little clingy, and I definitely didn’t get into a brawl with two seniors!”, He looked pointedly at deuce, who looked away at the ground.
“it wasn’t a brawl”, deuce muttered.
Yuu rolled their eyes, “ok. Sure, but you’re the only one whining and complaining about it. Honestly Ace, with how often you’ve been getting into trouble lately, I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose…”, Yuu trailed off, before their eyes snapped towards Ace.
Ace was saying nothing. He had turned back around and slowed to match his friends paces and was quietly fiddling with his necklace. The necklace that he had gotten from his girlfriend for his birthday…
Yuu stared at him as they walked on, and a few steps later, Deuce seemed to catch up, and groaned.
“your girlfriend? Is it your girlfriend? Seriously? Are you avoiding your girlfriend again?”
Aces’ head snapped towards Deuce, rushing to defend himself, “hey man, you can’t blame me for not wanting to be around her!”, Yuu, having looked away at this point, shot him a side eye, “she doesn’t have any hobbies! Or taste! Not in music, sports, nothing! I even asked her what her favorite class was, nothing!”
Deuce sighed, “still. I don’t see how avoiding her is doing you any favors…”
Yuu listened to Ace and Deuce bicker and watched them push each other around. The sun was almost set now, and the street lights seemed to be getting brighter. Yuu watched as the road in front of them slowly gained more and more plot hole. Small breezes work their ways through their hair, a contrast from the warm, sleeping cat in their arms. Yuu smiled and sighed. They were getting tired of walking.
They were also getting really tired of the feeling that they were being watched all day. It had gone away during the early afternoon, but now it was back full force, and Yuu felt a shiver go down their spine.
Just ignore it. Just ignore it. Just ignore it. It’ll go away soon.
“Ok but guess what I caught Sebek with!”
“I swear if you’re making a big deal out of nothing…”
Yuu smiled. They could ignore this. They would be fine.
“You’re always so suspicious! But no, so I was following him around cause our lockers are like. Right next to each other and…”, yuus hearing slowly went out. Slowly being replaced with ringing. Everything felt off kilter now. Everything felt weird.
And someone was behind them.
They turned on their heel and stares at the desolate road full of potholes and decrepit houses. They distantly realized that their hearing had returned, and that Ace and Deuce had stopped and were looking back at them.
There was nothing there.
“…uhhh. Yuu? You good?”, it was just Ace. It was just Ace and Deuce. Just Ace and Deuce.
Yuu took a deep breath.
“…Yeah…. Yeah, I just thought…”, they looked back at the other two, who were looking at them with familiar concern.
They shook their head. “Never mind”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“…ok”
They kept walking, Yuus’ house was getting closer, and the quite and the weird atmosphere between the three of them didn’t last long at all, with Deuce telling Ace about how Epel was trying to learn parkour to avoid Vil and Rook better. Yuu said that even Floyd “climbs everything” Leech couldn’t avoid Rook, so it might all be for not. Ace laughed at Epel’s misfortune. Yuu smiled.
---
By the time Yuus’ house was in sight, Yuu themself was exhausted.
“Why did we walk to school today”, all they wanted to do was collapse in the middle of the road and just lay there.
“well”, Ace sure did have a lot of attitude for someone who looked just as done with this trek as they did, “it was because a certain someone wanted to “get some fresh air for a change”, and “enjoy the weather a little””
They groaned. “Ace”, it’s honestly a miracle they weren’t panting at this point. Distances seem a lot shorter when you weren’t walking them. “never let me make a decision before 10 am ever again. Ever. Please.”
Ace giggled with a mock salute, “Aye Aye Captain! Now come on! The faster we get to Ramshackle the faster I can finish telling you about what I found in Sebek’s locker!”
“oh yeah I forgot about that”, Deuce muttered as Yuu shook Grim awake and let him jump out of their arms hen he saw they were home.
Yuu squinted. “why were you in Sebeks’- you know what? Don’t answer that. The less I know, the better”, They tugged their shirt forward and took out a necklace that had an old skeleton key attached to it. With the key they unlock a mildly rusted padlock gate and push it open, all of them cringing as it creaked and shrieked open.
Grim and Ace seem to spontaneously gain all their former energy back as they race each other inside the rickety old house. Deuce and Yuu were content to walk.
Yuu was tired. Deuce tapped their hand and leaned in when he had their attention, “you good”, Yuu was grateful that deuce had a softer voice. Usually. They wordlessly smiled and nodded.
Deuce nodded back at them, satisfied, and he too ran into Ramshackle. Oh. He was just walking with them to make sure they were alright how nice of him. Yuu cursed their lack of stamina, only walking a bit faster despite themselves.
Ramshackle was the name given to the house by Yuu. It was old and falling apart and most definitely not up to any sort of safety code, but it was all they had. Plus, it was still more stable than being bounced around homes who only wanted you for the money.
The lounge had seen better days. The whole house had, for that matter, of course. Yuu made it work though. There wasn’t electricity, but there was a fireplace, and they cleaned up what they could, fixing furniture, not very well, but enough. They could mend what old clothes they could find, they themselves never really wore them, but Yuu very quickly found that that thing about trash and treasure was more than true.  
The lounge was probably their favorite, besides their own room of course. There were two couches that they had attempted, somewhat successfully, to fix and restuff. Jack had given them a minifridge that was now stocked with drinks, and there was a box full of almost every type of comic book you can imagine.
Deuce was cracking open a can of soda when Yuu walked in, “you found a what in his locker?”
Ace was already splayed out on the couch, drinking a can of coke, “a sword. I found a fucking sword! He just. Has a sword.”
“In his locker?”, said Yuu, no quite in disbelief.
Ace grabbed the unopened water bottle that Yuu now realized he had beside him, and tossed it to Yuu, who gratefully took it and chugged a little less than half of it immediately. “In his locker”, Ace confirmed.
Deuce combed his hair back with his fingers, he squatted down to the box of comic books and was now idly flipping through them, “I’m not even surprised at this point. I don’t even think it could faze me if he had an entire medieval armor collection in his closet.”
Ace nearly did a spit take. Yuu was really glad that he didn’t. He let out a shocked sounding “Oh my God!”
“what?”
“Juice! You know what the medieval period is? Oh look how far you’ve come! Why I never thought I’d see-“, Ace was hit square in the face with an Amazing Spider-Man comic, causing him to spill a bit of coke on himself. Yuu giggled.
“Dude!”, Another comic to the face, Deuce truly had amazing aim. Yuu full on laughed, this time with deuce joining in.
Grim jumped into their lap, and just like that the moment was perfect.
It’s really too bad that everything went downhill from here.
________________________________
Taglist:
@yuri-is-online
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heichou-ackerman · 10 months
Text
Out on a fancy evening with your modern!boyfriend Levi Ackerman
- Levi definitely lives the bougie life in every aspect, and that includes picking the most luxurious, four star rated types of restaurants. If he was snobbish about anything it was definitely the type of cuisine he wanted you both to indulge with, with his argument being “if I am going to spend money, I’m not gonna spend it on crap food.”
- While lowkey he doesn’t really expect you to dress up for these occasions, he might chastise you if you seem a bit too casual about it. This isn’t because he thinks you’re being lazy or a slob, he genuinely wants you to be able to look and feel your best. Nothing too fancy, just no sneakers or crocs. 
- It was really, really hard for you at first to be completely okay with going to these places and having him pay for anything. You’d be intentional about picking the cheapest item on the menu until he got note of what you were doing. Admittedly, he was a little offended with you. 
“I’m not a cheap ass. If I'm telling you to pick anything you want, then pick anything you want. Don’t be holding back on me.”
- Has a huge pet peeve about you being on your phone, even if it’s to check something real quick. Finds it disrespectful and constantly scolds you about not wanting to spend any time with him. He’s savage about making you feel guilty about it. 
“I wouldn’t have bothered paying for all of this if I knew you’d just be on your phone the whole goddamn time.” He isn’t wrong but he’s pretty mean about it. 
- A pet peeve of yours however, is his compulsion to clean up after you if you even happen to make the smallest of messes. He sweeps off any crumb you make, takes any discarded napkins, and has even wiped off the food from your mouth if he deemed it too messy.
“Levi! Stop, you’re acting like my mother.” “I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t eat like a child.”
- Not the jealous type, but if you become a bit too chatty with your server (which you are honestly just being a decent human being about it), he starts being a little more snarky or petty about things. He really is a little selfish about the time you spend with him. You catch onto it right away, and once you start teasing him, he gets really pissed off.
“Are you really upset because I was just being nice to our server?”
“You don’t need to talk to them about some shit you did last week.” “Someone is a little insecure.” “It’s not even that.”
“Don’t be a jelly sandwich, Levi.”
“I’m this close to just walking out and leaving your ass to pay for everything.”
-Falls into the classic trope of being seemingly cool and casual on the outside but is secretly panicking about how well you actually like everything. He pays special attention in making sure every detail is fitted to your liking, from the location of the restaurant to the type of bottle of wine he orders. Unknowingly, you really could care less as long as you spend time with him. 
“What do you think? Yeah?” “It’s good Levi!”
“Yeah, I told you so.” 
-Never a dessert or sweet tooth type of a person, so he gets pissed off when you order yours and are unable to finish it. He has to sacrifice his lack of a sweet tooth to make sure it doesn’t go to waste. 
- Is kind of an asshat when it comes to tipping, especially if he thinks the service is not worth his liking. You are able to easily convince him to leave a hefty tip though. 
- Usually the one to have driven to the place, and will always make sure to open the car door to let you in. He will absolutely not let you mess with his radio however, so you are stuck listening to some type of pretentious sounding jazz (though you secretly like how fitting it is to his charm).
-You both have a little routine of cruising around the city/town while music is playing in the background, simply enjoying each other’s company. You totally become a passenger princess as Levi gets a habit of reaching for your thigh and squeezing it gently. 
“Tonight was nice.” “Yeah, it was.”
“So when is it going to be my turn to pick a place for dinner?” “Are you going to suggest some shitty place like IHOP?”
“What’s wrong with-”
“Then no.”
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fandsart · 10 months
Text
To Be Friends
I’ve exaggerated some of Nancy’s negative character traits slightly in this story, but it’s also for the sake of her developing past them.
Robin usually sits alone, as sad as that is. It’s whatever; she’s comfortable with it. She can usually get some reading done without any interruptions. But it’s the first day back at school since they took down Vecna, and she’s pleasantly surprised when Nancy sits across from her. They smile at each other, a little stiff without a common goal they’re trying to work for.
“You packed a lunch today,” Nancy states awkwardly.
“Actually Steve made this for me. He always dotes more after, uh… notable events. Sometimes it’s just a particularly bad nightmare. One time Dustin popped a bike tire and Steve bought him a helmet after it was fixed. He gets spikes in paranoia when he’s reminded how easily things can go wrong.”
“That does sound like him. You should try dating him.”
Robin’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Is that a real suggestion?”
“Oh! No, I just mean that he doted on me all the time when he was dating me.”
“Yeah, he’s a real sap.”
There’s a lull in the conversation before Nancy speaks up again. “It is surprising you aren’t a couple. You’re both very attractive.”
“Uh… so? I mean, thank you? I mean… I’m not interested. He’s not my type.”
Nancy hums. “Don’t worry. I understand.”
“You… do?”
“I actually have dated Steve. It probably would have been smarter to be friends first. You’re smart that way.”
“... Thank you?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m sure you’re well aware of the bullet you dodged.”
Robin chuckles uncomfortably. “Maybe? I guess that depends on what exactly you’re referring to.”
“You said yourself he tends to dote. It’s so much more extreme when he’s dating you. I don’t need to use his jacket for the one minute walk from the school to the car. I don’t need him opening doors for me. I can do that myself.”
“Uh-huh…” Robin says, trying to keep her eyes from squinting.
“And he gets so clingy. And emotional. I swear sometimes it was more like he wanted me to be his mom than his girlfriend, which is honestly so privileged. He cut off his friends for me, so it became my job to comfort him about it?”
“He was friends with them for a long time, and he didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it. He’d kind of just cut off all his other friends,” she tries to joke.
“They were assholes,” Nancy says, maintaining seriousness. “He shouldn’t have been so caught up on them.”
“If he didn’t realize just how shitty they were until you, then he must have had a lot of good experiences with them too. A lot to be conflicted about.” She knows this is the case, because Steve’s talked to her about it too.
“He shouldn’t have been friends with them in the first place.”
“So why did you date Steve for so long? Like a year, right? If he was such a shitty boyfriend? You shouldn’t have been dating in the first place?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because Steve was popular. Everyone loves him, but the only other person I thought might want me was too preoccupied to look at me. I waited a month with nothing. Can you really blame me for wanting to feel wanted and liked after my best friend died?”
“No, but I can blame you for using that as your excuse while apparently hating anything he did because he wanted and liked you. You literally started your complaints about how doting he can be.”
“What, like you don’t think it’s annoying?” And Robin knows what she means by that, but ‘annoying’ would never be the word she would use to describe it. Just… overwhelming sometimes. But understandable. “Besides, that was more of a pet peeve. You were the one who brought that up. There’s a reason I moved my complaints to him crying over his positive choices.”
And that startles Robin a bit. “He actually cried over it?”
Nancy rolls her eyes. “It was a hyperbolic idiom. But my point remains. Everyone loves him, but he was just upset that those two assholes didn’t anymore.”
“If everyone loves him why did no one turn up?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You say everyone loves him like he could have anyone, but you were all he had after Tommy and Carol immediately turned on him for pushing back one time.”
“You know what, that’s another thing. Why even be upset that someone who was willing to turn on you that quickly, did?”
“Well under that logic Steve should hate you then, shouldn’t he?”
“Oh, is that what this is about? Fine, go shoot your shot. I’m sure he’d love to have you. But don’t come crawling to me when he becomes too much for you.” With that she gets up from the table and sits at a newly vacant table.
Robin’s never ditched school before, but now she wants nothing more than to bike over to family video and hug her favorite person.
↞⬡+¤+⬡↠
She manages to talk herself out of skipping. She only had 2 and a half hours of school left after lunch, and none of the classes left were her best. Steve would take his break to pick her up anyway, so why put in the effort to bike all of the way there? Still, she has such a hard time concentrating on the last classes.
When she finally gets out, Steve is already parked in his usual spot, and she plops down into the seat.
“Bad day?” Steve asks.
“You know how you were hoping we could have some kind of outing with Nancy and Jonathan before the latter has to go back to California?”
“Yeah?”
“Scratch that. We’re not doing it.”
“What happened?”
She hesitates. She doesn’t want to be the one to tell him, but she also isn’t going to keep this from him. “Nancy told me that she didn’t like dating you, basically.”
“Oh, yeah, I know that.”
“And what, you're just ok with hanging out with her now?”
“I mean, it’s not her fault. She tried to like it. It’s not her fault she didn’t.”
“But it is her fault for not telling you how she felt about it. Let you think everything was fine. That’s leading you on.”
Steve shrugs. “It’s not like she was trying to do that. And it’s not like hanging out with her now would involve any kind of hope that we’d get back together. She didn’t like me as a boyfriend, but we can still be friends.”
“How do you know she likes you as a friend? If she lied to you about liking you as a boyfriend.”
“We should get to work before my break is up,” he says, putting the car into gear.
They don’t talk about it after that. They don’t talk much at all for the rest of the day.
↞⬡+¤+⬡↠
Robin doesn’t eat lunch in the cafeteria after that, not wanting to deal with Nancy again. She doesn’t necessarily know that Nancy would try to start up that conversation again, but even just seeing her in the hall sours her mood a bit, so she doesn’t need to be dealing with that.
So she’s sitting in an empty classroom eating lunch when Nancy finds her.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
Robin glares. “Is this not mutually beneficial?”
Nancy sighs. “Look,” she starts as she sits in the seat beside Robin, “I’m not great at taking criticism. I’m a very defensive person. I’m not good at admitting when I’m wrong, but… I was, so…”
“So…” Robin prompts.
“So you were right. I just… needed to sit on all the points for a while before I could calm down enough to actually consider them.”
“Ok. But what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m… apologizing?”
“For what?”
Nancy rolls her eyes, but answers anyway. “For snapping at you, and not listening to what you were trying to tell me.”
“Ok. So what about Steve?”
“What about him?”
“Are you going to apologize to him too?”
“For fighting with you?” She lets out a confused breathy laugh. “I know you guys are close but is that necessary?”
“Are you serious right now?”
Nancy blinks a few times before jolting a little. “Oh! I was too focused on- yeah, I should. It’s just been so long I wasn’t even thinking about it.”
“Do you want to be friends with Steve?”
“What do you mean?”
“He still respects you, and wants to reconnect after… everything. I don’t want you to let him drag you to hang outs because it’s easier than denying a simple request, then blowing up at him about it later. Again. I don’t know if he’d come back from it a second time.”
“I honestly don’t know,” Nancy sighs. “If I want to be friends with him. I feel like… he carries an association… The whole year I was with him I was in mourning, and we only reconnected recently because of, as you worded it, ‘recent events.’ I just… every time I’ve been with him in one way or another… something bad was going on. I feel like being friends with him would just leave me on edge all the time.”
“Make sure he knows that then.” She picks up her now empty lunch tray and moves to leave the room.
“Wait, Robin!”
“Yeah?” she stops by the doorway.
“Can we still be friends?”
“I don’t know… But we can be more than not friends.”
“Yeah… I’d want to be more than ‘not friends’ with Steve too.”
“Make sure he knows.”
“Yeah…”
We never really see how Nancy responds to being wrong, because she’s never written to be. My headcanon for how she responds to it is that she gets really pissed, but after sitting on it for a long time she has a hard time denying when there’s an imbalance. She’s logical enough to know what’s right, but she’s stubborn, and bias towards her own perspective, so things like this do need to get pointed out to her and it takes her a while to come around.
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runningupthatvecna · 1 year
Text
the law of seat partners | part 3
part 1 | part 2
a/n: ok this chapter is honestly a wild ride from start to finish, really had to look into google maps to get the geographics right here, sorry if it's a bit inaccurate, the dimensions in the us are a bit difficult to grasp for my european brain lol. same goes for the bus interior and the structure of road houses. also this is gonna be super self-indulgent since i keep picturing eddie as someone with this wholesome, kind and super soft stray dog side of personality that you only get to see once you break through his shell and i'm basically just romanticising the shit out of him in this entire story. also i apologize if the whole part is a bit random, it's just that i didn't plan for this thing to even have more than one part lol. anyway, thanks for reading and please leave me comments and reblogs if you're enjoying this little series! there will be a part 4.
summary: you're still on that damn bus with eddie. he plays you some of his favourite songs and they turn out to sound really familiar. when you do finally arrive at the camp, you find yourself spending even more time with your favourite metalhead and he makes it just a bit more clear that he might really like you back. and yeah, everyone around you already seems to know.
cw/tw: first off i want to clarify that eddie and reader both are at least twenty! slow burn, mutual pining, friends to lovers overall, (brief) allusions to +18 adult content (minors go away!), sexual tension, lots of physical touch, reader being self-conscious, angst, not feeling good enough briefly, a bit of self-sabotage if you squint, a few more pet names, bestfriend!Steve being reader's rock once again, reassurance, eddie not committing a crime, no mention of y/n, no mentions of reader's physical attributes except hair.
-----
Lunch break acted as a reminder that the rest of your friends were also still there.
That's how lost you were getting with Eddie Munson and your legs in his lap.
The gang was once again standing in a kind of circle shaped form outside on the parking lot next to the bus. You had passed Chicago already a while ago and the blue sky hadn't exactly followed you to Wisconsin, but thankfully it wasn't raining either.
Without even thinking about it you had taken the position between Eddie and Steve.
Jonathan and Nancy were standing opposite of you, the former holding his beloved pentax in his hands, it dangling from his shoulder on a strap being the guy's default. Always ready to press the shutter, just so now.
Steve groaned a little, complaining about how his hair just wasn't looking good enough to be in a photo right now, but no one cared. As someone who loved taking photos – probably even more than the Byers boy – it was in fact one of your pet peeves whenever someone complained about having their photo taken. In your book, photos depicted memories. Why wouldn't you want to be in them?
"You gonna fill that film up today, Jon?", you asked with a grin, and the photographer just nodded.
"Alright, now that we caught Steve's mesmerizing beauty on film, anyone wanna go grab a bite?", Robin asked into the round while shifting her weight continuously from her toes to her heels and back, trying her best not to sound too desperate to get something between her teeth.
"Oh shit yeah, I'm dying", Steve replied after a quick yawn and stretch and the three freshmen boys agreed with heavy nods and exclamations of the words yes and finally.
Their boyish eagerness made Nancy chuckle just a little, and she continued by taking the hand of the older Byers boy and pulling him along with her, leading the way to the building for the rest of you.
Jonathan kept turning around every few meters to just take candids of everyone, trying to fill up the roll of film just so he could reload once you guys would arrive at the camp.
Everyone in the gang seemed to be willing to at least check out the offers from the shop, and like, get a slushie or something.
"M'lady?"
Eddie had squinted one of his eyes shut looking at you while holding his arm out for you to hold onto it, just so you both could follow the group.
"Oh, thank you good sir."
He was just a little taller than you, which made walking with your arm hooked into his quite comfortable.
You threw the knowing smile of his towards you right back at him.
And while you were following the rest of your friends, he leaned in to talk to you. Even more.
"Quite rude of Ms Kelley to interrupt our sacred listening session like that. I guess she just doesn't seem to value a good tune, huh?"
"We didn't even start the tape, Eddie."
"But we already had headphones on so we were about to, that still counts."
He poked a finger into your side while walking, trying to stop you from bringing another absolutely valid and logical argument to his silly remark, making you squeak and jump to the side a little instead, letting go of his arm.
You only could see Steve's head turn towards you, having heard your exclamation of surprise. More of his reaction was kept hidden from you though, since Eddie had decided to continue poking, so you were left with no choice but to run, giggling like a toddler.
"Eddieeee, stoooop", you yelled in a higher pitch than your normal voice, trying and failing miserably at the attempt to hide between Robin, Will and Lucas.
You could hear your friends laugh, the sight must have been hilarious.
There was no escaping Eddie the freak Munson.
You had almost reached the motion sensor of the front door when he grabbed you by the waist, pulled your back flush against his front and apparently felt no hesitation encasing you in his arms entirely. He let out a short, low hum at the feeling and it sent a shiver straight through you.
You were slowly getting warm at the frequency you were having physical contact with him, but having so much of his body touching yours in this way did not leave you unaffected in the slightest.
His embrace made your heartbeat speed up, but it also transported this really comforting, almost soothing wave of feeling protected.
And it had you yearning for him. And it was essentially confusing you.
"Say that I'm right", you heard his deep voice mumble, the side of his head pressed lightly against yours.
You could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The way he smelled. The way he held you tight.
Yeah, bye.
"Huh?"
You wanted your voice to sound equally low to his, but it didn't come out quite as such.
"Ms Kelley disrespects the law."
He couldn't be serious.
"Eddieeeeee!", you laughed at his silliness and the great amount of dramatics he put into his persistence with referring to his law of seat partners rule joke thing.
The long haired boy let go of you since the others had caught up. You just saw him grin at you, before Steve swung an arm around his shoulders, pulling his best friend through the sliding doors, while you felt Max grab your hand.
The road house your teachers had decided to stop at consisted of a restaurant, bathrooms of course and a small convenience store, the latter being the destination of Max and you, while the others ventured out into the restaurant, trying to find something warm and edible to stuff themselves with before they would join the both of you.
"Are you having a good time? With him, I mean", Max dropped at you, slowly strolling through the aisles of products that ranged from sweets over car supplies to toothpaste.
The widest grin was plastered over her face as she eyed you curiously.
The question surprised you a little. And maybe you hadn't really been aware of your surroundings for the last few hours, for obvious reasons.
"Hm? Oh yeah, he's being so sweet", you replied to your friend, "not sure what's gotten into him today though, he's never been like this."
Max gave you a questioning look, clearly asking you to elaborate.
"I don't know, I mean he's always throwing arms around me and stuff, but this, I don't know, this feels different", you continued, not being able to meet her eye, "I mean, he's always nice to me when we're around each other, but he seems so much m–"
"He likes you."
Max interrupted your sentence.
"What?"
"It's so fucking obvious. Have you seen the way he looks at you?"
I mean, yeah sure you had taken notice of the way he had been gazing at you with his baby cow eyes all day today. Actually, ever since he met you all those months ago, now that you're thinking about it. But why would you read anything into that?
You felt warmth spreading over your cheeks.
Did Eddie Munson really like you? Like that?
"He's just being nice, Max."
Only now you shot her a look, trying to tell her what you were too self-conscious, even anxious about to say out loud.
Guys never really seemed to see you as someone they could like. You were so used to the vast majority of them treating you as one of their bros, if they even treated you like anything at all, so when there was someone showing interest in you in other ways, it freaked the living hell out of you. To the point of denying yourself something potentially nice. Or more like, someone nice.
"Just nice? He is never that nice to me! I think you're just way too much in your head about this. You know you like him. And he likes you back, it's crystal clear to me, in fact, to all of us."
Wait. All of them? Had he talked to anyone about you?
Now you were the one giving her the questioning look, and before you could say anything, Robin popped up next to the both of you with a pair of wide eyes along with raised eyebrows.
"Okay, what are we buying, hm? I need more cookies, Steve and Jonathan ate all of them already", she informed you, walking off to find her restock of baked sweets, just as quickly as she had appeared.
You giggled lightly at the similarity of her and your snack situation.
Max only gave you a grin and a wink through her sky blue eyes before following Robin to the cookie section. The boys and Nancy returned from their feast not long after and you had tried your best to bring your focus to the task at hand: finding something snackable that wasn't too much of an overload, but also essential for the remaining time on the road.
Steve grabbed and pulled you away from the others on the way outside, back to the bus. The thirty minutes were almost over and no one wanted to risk being left in the middle of nowhere aka Bumfuck, Wisconsin, nor having a search party consisting of Ms Kelley and Mr Clarke out roaming the area.
"Hey there", Steve looked at you while walking by your side and throwing an arm around you.
He truly was your best friend and so you just happened to know everything about each other's lives. He had always been your rock throughout high school and mainly responsible for having you be part of the gang. He knew about your issues and always tried to give you advice.
You let your arm sneak around Steve's back, around the height of his waist.
"Everything alright with you, honey?"
You glanced up at him just nodding and he shot you a knowing look, before turning his head around to wink at someone.
The grin on his face widened before turning his attention back to you.
"Uh yeah, I'm having a good time, thanks for checking on me", you replied to him while holding onto the box of chocolates you had ended up buying.
"Munson treating you right I hope, yeah?", Steve inquired further.
You could feel your heart jump a little at the mention of Eddie's name. What you also could feel was the eyes of the long wavy haired boy on your back. He had run after Dustin who had pinched his ass on the way out and you just assumed they were a bit further behind you and Steve.
"A bit more than usual, yeah. I don't really understand why, though. Max said he likes me? But–"
A little frown now covered Steve's lightly freckled face.
You stopped. He stopped. And kept his arm around you. And then you sighed, when his big brown eyes found yours and the way he looked at you changed into a worried brow furrow.
"I think I'm terrified, Steve. I don't know how to behave around him seriously and I don't know how to handle all the affection. That's all so new and I don't want to disappoint him because he deserves someone who's able to give him everything he wants and he's already making himself vulnerable by letting someone in close like that and what if he's gonna realise that I'm just really weird for not being used to–"
"Hey, hey sweetheart, slow down", Steve put a stop to your little ramble, a soft tone to his voice, "you're overthinking. You like him, isn't that right?"
You just looked up at him, almost a bit teary eyed since you were realising a lot of things at the moment, and dealing with your own insecurities and issues was just not easy. Especially in a situation where you couldn't retreat or flee.
And then you nodded.
Steves frown shifted into a grin.
"Then there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Eddie right there is probably genuinely surprised that you're not shying or running away from him, like everyone else. Just look."
Steve pointed in Eddie's direction which made you turn your head. Next thing you saw was the metalhead chasing after Dustin again, both of them running through the group trying not to bump into anyone, all the way over the expanse of the parking lot like two headless chickens, his dark mane flowing in the wind which carried the laughter and giggles of the whole group over to you.
The sight made you laugh a little.
"I mean, not that he really ever tried to get close to someone, like, he doesn't have to try for people to be sort of intimidated and even scared off by him, but that's besides the point. Anyway, I just know for a fact that you could never disappoint him. I'm very sure he's gonna be fine adapting himself to your pace", Steve explained and then paused to take a deep breath.
"It's up to you of course, but I'd just hate to see you get in your own way just because you're too much in your own pretty, little head."
You had snapped your head around again, and Steve lovingly ruffled your hair a little, the way he always did when he tried to tell you that he'd always be there for you and the situation you'd found yourself in would turn out just fine.
You would be just fine.
Deep down you knew Steve was right.
"Yeah, yeah I know. You know how I can get sometimes", you replied to him, reciprocating the same look Steve was now giving you. The depth in his brown eyes was radiating warmth and it helped you calm down your racing thoughts. Steve had known Eddie for a bit longer and was closer with him in general, which was one of your reasons to believe the words of your best friend. In this moment at least.
-----
It was time for the tape.
You took off your shoes again and pulled your legs up to rest your feet on the barrier, this time right in front of you, facing more towards the window.
The boy next to you was still trying to catch his breath from shaking off some energy, pulling a squished paper bag with greasy spots out of the back pocket of his jeans and placing it on his lap, before he lost the vest and leather jacket. He then proceeded to sit down, take both of your headphones and held yours out to you.
"Alright, unlike Ms Kelley, let's obey the law again, huh?"
He let out a deep chuckle when you nodded with a smile.
"Oh hey, and I got you some extra fries, just in case you get hungry."
He handed the small paper bag to you.
Did he just carry fries in his ass pocket?
The thought made you snort.
Oh Munson.
"Did you pay for them?"
"Yeah of course I did. Is that all you think of me, sweetheart?"
There they were again. His dark brown doe eyes blinking at you all sweet, the purest form of Eddie he was willing to show you in this moment.
He was clearly letting you in. Showing himself to you. Letting you read his eyes, hoping you would take the hint which he secretly was yet too insecure to speak out.
He was the town's freak after all and getting his hopes up had never really turned out too positive for him. It had painfully taught him to better keep everyone at a distance.
It took every little ounce of willpower that you could find in yourself to not melt into a puddle, right there in that seat.
And if that wasn't enough already – him being thoughtful enough to think of you while devouring his own lunch – he pressed play on your walkman, before you could give him any sort of response to the fries situation.
The fact that the opening chords of Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears now filled your ears, your absolute favourite song, was sending you into another dimension.
How did he know your favourite fucking song? Did he ask Steve? He must have asked Steve.
He had asked Steve specifically about your music taste.
So many thoughts were flooding your brain at the same time, you were having trouble catching up.
The boy next to you just grinned at your visibly delighted reaction. And then he leaned in a little and you felt the heat once again rise to your cheeks.
"Is that good, that's a real good song, yeah?", you heard him ask, a very light sultry tone to his voice, after you quickly pushed one of your headphones behind your ear.
"Yes Eddie, immaculate choice right there", you praised him in a similar tone, before giving him a genuine giggle, unable to hide the way he was undeniably making you all flustered and earning another warm chuckle from him in return.
The way his cheeks turned into a beautiful shade of rose almost made your heart combust in your ribcage. At this point he was practically beaming with pride, reveling in the fact that he had elicited praise out of you. And it was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.
You lightly nudged your shoulder into his, which made him lift his arm, a gesture for you to lean into his figure.
"Come here, you."
That head of yours landed on his shoulder and you let him drape his arm over your torso like a seatbelt. A (still very) warm hand was placed between your waist and hip and you were pretty convinced it was going to burn a big hole right through the fabric of your shirt.
He just had to touch you, right?
His boldness however gave you enough of a confidence boost to return the gesture. At this point you needed to tell him, too. Make him feel the burn on his own skin. So you just hugged his arm, pulling it close and nuzzling the side of your face into the soft fabric of his hellfire shirt covering the skin between bicep and shoulder.
With every song you went on listening to, it became more clear than ever that Eddie Munson must really have gone all the way to Steve Harrington's house to ask him for a list of your favourite songs. Which he could then put on a mixtape. For you.
That's what you do for friends, right?
Yeah, right.
For a few songs you both just sat there in utter peace as you watched the landscape outside the window pass by. The wide plains of Wisconsin, fields of crops, forests, small gatherings of houses, farms, barns and horses and cows and sheep. The sky was slowly losing its light grey cover, which had you anticipating an actually nice sunset later.
He had leaned his head against yours, which made his warm breath trickle down the side of your neck down to your collarbone. And you had felt the goosebumps spread all over your arms underneath your longsleeve.
You were feeding off of the warmth radiating from Eddie's body once again, and the ringed hand on your waist had started rubbing up and down softly and slowly.
When Eddie felt you leaning more of your weight into his side, you could hear him let out a satisfied little sigh.
Every second of this part of your little road trip, whenever he tried to search for some form of physical closeness, felt like a fever dream.
And you didn't want to wake up just yet. How about never?
-----
Golden hour announced itself by coating the trees of the forest, the earthy paths for walking, the accumulation of dark wooden cabins and the water on the vast lake in gradients of yellow and orange.
Said lake would look more like the sea to you, it made little waves that were lightly crashing onto the shore of a small beach of a bay around which the camp was located, and it was so vast in fact that you were unable to see the opposing shore on the horizon.
You had just woken up from another nap which you had slipped into after one, two, you actually don't know how many hours of watching the endless fields and forests pass by through half-closed eyelids. Listening to The Romantics, New Order, Fleetwood Mac, The Cure, Genesis and of course Metallica, on Eddie's account.
Still surrounded by the warmth of his body, still tucked in between torso and arm. His hand however had sneakily breached an invisible barrier, now resting comfortably beneath the hem of your shirt on the skin of your waist. You didn't dare to check, but the hole in your shirt was certainly there now, burned through.
Even Ms Kelley's announcement of your arrival didn't bother any of you to move or shift positions. Or god forbid, separate your bodies.
You only slightly turned your head to watch Mr Clarke leave the bus in the corner of your eye, probably to head into the administration office of the camp with the intention to make your arrival known to the staff and to pick up keys for about 40 students.
From what they had told you pre-trip, you were gonna be sharing a cabin with Nancy, Robin and Max, since the plan foresaw keeping the middle schoolers separate from the older kids. And of course there couldn't be any cabins accommodating groups of mixed genders.
Which is precisely why Eddie was going to share his cabin with Jonathan, Steve and Dustin, while Lucas and Will had the honours to be joined in theirs by Gareth and Jeff.
Before letting you go to take the headphones off and gather all your things, Eddie's grip on your waist tightened a bit as he pulled you minimally closer for just two seconds, the vibration of his chest against your back telling you that he was humming softly.
You already missed him, and you hadn't even left the bus yet.
The structure of the camp was simple. There were ten cabins, each of them intended to accommodate up to four people comfortably. A row of them was spread out along the shore of the lake directly by the water. Another row spread out further towards the forest. Both separated by the same earthy pathway stretching and winding itself through the entire place, connecting the cabins to the rest of the camp. There were little houses with sanitary facilities not too far from the cabins, a little square with lots of seating opportunities intended for bonfires, barbecue and other gatherings, the office house, the beach further down the path past the cabins, and a pergola kinda situation with benches for mealtime and a corner with outdoor couches and further more cozy seating.
The cabin you were designated to spend your next 6 nights in was one of those directly by the water. Excitement spread through you at the thought of falling asleep to the peaceful sound of the lake water lightly hitting the shore at night and cicadas singing their songs after sunset. Frogs croaking and birds chirping away. The ambient background noise of a forest by the lake.
You had always been a dreamer.
"Top one's mine!", Robin exclaimed as she was the first one of you to enter, throwing her bag onto one of the top beds that were part of two bunks standing opposite of each other in each corner, a window with light beige and pastel floral curtains separating them.
You were loving the rustic atmosphere. The log aesthetic gave off the biggest summer cottage vibes, so taking in the interior of your small home for the next few days made you smile.
There were two closets with multiple drawers, enough space for accommodating clothing of four people.
The bag hanging from your shoulder landed on the bed below Robin's, while the other two silently agreed on Max above, Nancy on the same level as you.
The beds themselves were about the standard bunk bed size, nothing too fancy, but of course all wooden, fresh bedsheets folded into a neat pile along with a towel decorating the mattress.
While you were getting to making your bed (you knew that you'd thank yourself later), your mind started wondering if you could fit maybe even two people in there. For science, of course.
All of you had agreed to meet at the fireplace once everyone had dropped off their stuff, and when you and the girls arrived there, six pairs of eyes were already awaiting you.
The boys had probably just messily thrown their belongings onto their respective beds, not giving a flying fuck about pulling the covers over the duvets or maybe even taking power naps after the journey.
So yeah, night number one ended with all of you sitting by the fire that Mr Clarke and some guy from the staff team had set up. Conversations about everyone's most anticipated activities that were planned and scheduled for this week were held, your friends' former earth and science teacher telling stories about his first time field tripping back in the day.
Once again you were sat between Steve and Eddie, the metalhead's leather jacket around your shoulders, because he had insisted you'd take it. A sly grin on his face directed at you at the gesture, before turning his attention to the mutual best friend on your other side.
The younger kids had been tucked in by Ms Kelley already, since their curfew had been set to 9pm. Yours was at eleven.
You admired the multiple strings of fairy lights that had been hung into the lower maze of branches long ago, illuminating the earthy pathways throughout the whole camp to keep the kids from stumbling off into some bush or having to pull out flashlights.
At least until midnight, cause that's when the lights were going to be turned off.
-----
Your first full day at camp. The teachers had taken the whole group to a hike through the forest and up the hill at the end of the bay, overviewing the stunning scenery and you had taken a few moments away from everyone to take in the enormousness of the vision opening up in front of you.
Closing your eyes, you tried to wrap your head around the moment, taking a few deep breaths, feeling the freshness of the air surrounding you.
Slow down.
The sun made the deep blue of the sky reflect on the lake, a shimmer on the surface in the distance, sparse trees and bushes covering the top of the hill you were standing on, a bit separately from most kids.
The light brush of a hand against yours caused you to shoot open your eyes, jumping lightly at the sudden delicate yet profound touch.
"Uh, sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I can also leave again if you want another moment to yourself?", you heard him say, an apologetic tone to his voice.
The rough facade now showed cracks.
Traces of softness, a great amount of empathy and hints of sensitivity were shining through them. He had always been a little more gentle with you than with everyone else in the group, but this telltale sign of trust he was instilling in you over the last hours? That was new.
So new. And so new to you.
Your head turned towards him, eyes squinting a bit because yeah, it was quite bright up there with almost no trees to throw shade, and of course clumsy you had forgotten your sunglasses on the little nightstand next to your bed.
"Eddie no, it's okay" was the only thing you managed to get out, brushing the back of his hand with the back of your index finger, in silent search for more contact, trying to support the words that had just come out of you.
It was just Eddie. You tried to remember Steve's words from lunch break yesterday. He's gonna be okay with adapting.
He turned his back on the sun, more towards you, and the light formed a halo around his head.
Given his reputation back in Hawkins, it looked hilariously absurd.
"Did you have a good first night?", you asked him then, in such a tone indicating your expectation of a sincere answer, while his shadow was covering half your face so you wouldn't have to stare into the late afternoon sun.
"More or less. You know how Steve snores", Eddie said before continuing his dramatic act, "plus, it was really lonely. I think there should be an additional paragraph in the law about an extension from bus seats to beds, you know? I think that would make a real difference and save me from eternal doom and misery."
He returned your previous gesture with his own index finger, his eyes finding yours, giving you a sheepish grin as your cheeks started imitating the colour of very ripe tomatoes.
Your entire body bloomed with electricity from just one light touch. If you didn't know any better, you'd say it was ridiculous.
Yes, there had already been touches that were way more direct than this, but there was something in the way and in the lightness of his touch now, that had your head spinning.
The lightness basically fuelled whatever this thing between the two of you was.
Ms Kelley's voice announcing the beginning of your descend ripped the both of you out of whatever moment you were having right there, and it sucked.
You could have stood there with him for the rest of eternity, if it meant being looked at by his warm, reassuring eyes, making you feel as if you were the center of the universe. It felt like his gaze was reaching the deepest corner of your soul.
And your brain started going 200 kilometers an hour, thinking about the allusion Eddie had just made. He was starting to consume your every thought at this point.
As a collective you managed to return to the deep green veils of the forest around an hour before sunset.
Slowly the day was coming to an end and since it had been a rather warm experience for everyone, the teachers had kindly granted you an evening dip in the lake.
High schoolers only though. Thank fuck.
Honestly, you probably would have gone for it anyway.
The beach included a small wooden pier leading into deeper water, which the boys delightedly acknowledged before using it to gracefully yeet themselves into the cold wet.
They also didn't deem it necessary to strip themselves of their clothes beforehand.
Too much enthusiasm and even more longing for relief from the day's heat and physical efforts. Who knew Michigan could be this warm already in May?
The girls and you had preferred to change into actual swimwear before joining the boys on the beach. A wise decision.
Because now you found yourself standing on the pier together with Nancy and Max, watching Robin follow Steve and dive in head first.
You were silently hoping the water was deep enough for her to not hit her head.
Next thing you saw approaching you on that pier was Eddie, dripping wet everything and soaked to the bone, some worn out jean shorts and dark blue Metallica shirt as well as his dark curls sticking to his skin like glue.
He left a trail of wet footsteps and sprinkles and splashes of water on the dry wood, grinning at you almost eerily and you threw him a similar glance back, because you knew he just wasn't anticipating your abilities to foresee the future when you jumped out of the way the second he started running towards you, trying to pull you into the water with him.
He landed face first, while everyone who had just witnessed that scene bursted into laughter, including you.
"You wish, Munson", you shouted at him and his poorly executed attempt once he had resurfaced, his appearance now reminding you of a wet poodle with his wet dark curls that were sticking to his reddened face, a piece of some green sweetwater plant decorating the top of his head.
You weren't ready to hit the water just yet, which is why Nancy and you decided to just plop down on the pier for a moment with crossed legs, while Max joined Robin and the boys.
Observing the scene happening in front of you, there were Dustin, Lucas and Jonathan, all of them fusioning their powers to swim after a screeching Will who was trying his best to escape being cruelly dunked by his brother and friends, Robin trying to stand on Steve's probably slippery shoulders while Eddie and Max were aiming for the same acrobatic performance.
Nancy next to you let out a chuckle at the sight before turning her head in your direction, "today was so nice, don't you think?"
With a nod you replied to her and leaned back on your arms behind you.
"Yeah it was beautiful! You just don't get those views in Hawkins."
"Yeah, absolutely not. The closest thing you're getting there is Lover's lake with a bunch of drunks fishing in their tiny boats, and that's about it", she paused, "are you in with us for the flower crowns tomorrow?"
Midsummer was still a few weeks away, but that didn't stop you from plucking and braiding.
You and the girls had been having this fantasy of spending this excessive amount of time in nature with flower crowns on your heads, inspired by Scandinavian summer solstice traditions. For weeks you all had been painting this picture in your conversations, anticipation bubbling up every time the topic came up. The picture of the four of you with the flowers of summer in your hair, in the deep green shades and distinct scent of the forest surrounding your every breath these days, had rented a big part of your mind, long before you had stepped on the bus, bringing you here.
"Hm? Oh yeah, definitely."
Losing yourself a little in the thought again, you hadn't yet taken notice of how two figures from the group of people in the water in front of you were missing.
You would learn soon, though.
Because before you knew it, a pair of strong, wet hands hooked themselves in the space of your armpits, lifting you up to stand, while another set of arms wasn't too shy to grab both your legs off the ground, wrapping themselves around your knees.
"Let's get you nice and wet, shall we?", you heard Steve's voice come out behind you in an absurdly husky tone, while–
"Time for your bath, princess!"
Eddie.
You were so taken by surprise, you couldn't even get anything in form of a verbal protest out.
The only thing you saw before your vision went black due to your reflexes was Eddie's mischievous grin between strands of his dark and wet curly mane, Steve's pearly whites being flashed at you equally prominent. Their laughter got muffled by the water invading your ear canals, and the sudden shock of the cold liquid surrounding every inch of your sun warmed skin was forcing a gasp out of your lungs.
When you returned to the surface, both of the boys held onto their bellies, high-fiving one another and still laughing on that pier like two fucking dipshits at you as well as at Nancy who apparently got to suffer the same fate as you, being dropped into the ocean mere seconds later.
With the back of your fingers you wiped the water out of your eyes along with strands of your hair that were clinging onto your cheeks for dear life, while you gathered back clear vision.
Unknowing to the two boys, Jonathan, Lucas and Dustin were currently in the process of sneaking up behind them. With big splashes both Eddie and Steve were forced to ungracefully breach the waves next to you, letting out equally surprised gasps for air before they had to instinctively hold their breaths.
You burst out into another laughing fit when the metalhead slowly appeared next to you just as soaked as half an hour ago, his hair now covering his entire face.
You took one stroke towards him while Jonathan and Dustin landed in the water not too far from you, shortly after being followed by Lucas and Max cannonballing their way in to join everyone.
The laughter and giggles filled the warm air, and you took both your hands to wipe Eddie's mane out of his face, just to reveal his brown chocolate orbs and a dorky smile, gazing at you from underneath.
The ground of the lake where you were finding yourself was close enough for you both to stand on, which made not sinking a lot easier.
"Thanks, sweetheart" was the only thing he brought out before putting a hand on your waist, pulling you closer before wrapping both his arms around your middle, while you responded by wrapping yours around his shoulders.
You thought he was going to bury his face in the crook of your neck with how close he was leaning in just now, connecting his lips to your skin, but all he really did was briefly running his nose over the side of your neck in an upwards motion. Giving you a little nudge while letting out another one of his hums.
It was almost like he wanted to do more than that, it was almost like you could feel him holding himself back. It was almost like you wanted him not to.
His warm breath hit the wet skin on your collarbone and it sent a slight shiver right through your system at the sheer thought of what exactly he was holding back.
And just when you felt him let go of you a bit more, you saw your chance at taking at least a little bit of revenge on him. For conspiring against you with Steve Harrington.
You placed your hands on his shoulders, found purchase on the ground, and your own weight forced him to go head below surface once again.
"Oh darling, that was an unwise decision", was all you heard before he returned the favour, his entire weight on yours as he drowned you beneath him, just before bringing one of his unnecessarily muscular arms around you to pull you back up again swiftly.
Soon after a few more dunks that you practised on Steve and Dustin, your swimming session came to an end when the sun had disappeared behind the trees and the sunset-ish colours of the horizon had faded into several shades of purple and blue.
After fresh showers that helped with rinsing off the lake water and smuck and sweat of the day, the older boys had decided to drop you off at the flower cabin, a nickname for your particular accommodation facility Lucas had come up with during the first bonfire.
To say goodnight or something.
Eddie held you in his grasp, pressed you into his chest for a second, letting you know that you meant something to him, shooting you one last glance, a hint of wistfulness in it, before disappearing surprisingly quickly into the dusk of the forest, towards the cabin he shared with the others.
You hugged Steve and Jonathan goodnight as well, the latter wearing a smirk on his face and you instantly wondered about the reason.
When you looked at your own pillow, you stopped wondering. A polaroid photo had been placed there for decoration, and you let yourself plop down on the mattress to inspect it more closely.
Jonathan had only recently started shooting polaroid in the first place, and the sun had delivered enough light for him to avoid using flash for this one, which had the colours of everything come out more natural.
The photo showed Eddie in his bus seat. You in yours, resting with his arm wrapped around you, his head on yours, both with your headphones on, both passed out. Steve, Dustin, Will and Robin behind you with widened eyes, tongues out and peace signs up.
Unable to hide the smile that spread on your face, you placed the photo on the little nightstand accompanying the bed.
Everyone knew. You knew. Eddie probably knew. But who would say it first?
-----
taglist: @josephfakingquinn, @ghost-proofbaby, @spellbounddd, @imjuststeddietrashatthispoint, @mystars123, @gothmingguk, @kennafild, @chloe-6123, @michaelfuckinglangdon and @bakugouswh0r3
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avonne-writes · 1 month
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Pet peeves
I posted a question about Buck and Bucky’s pet peeves a few days ago and I received a lot of great responses! Thank you guys! I will compile them in this post instead of replying individually.
bucky def hates being micromanaged and passive aggressive people
Hahaha, very true, especially the micromanagement. He doesn’t like unreasonably tight reins.
another common pet peeve is when ppl talk over u/ interrupt OR talk down to u. i could see bucky having a pet peeve of ppl talking down to him but not really interrupting. however can we say that those two r his biggest pet peeves when directed towards buck… (i cannot separate these two in my head)
Bucky wouldn’t be able to stand that, for sure! I like how you extended it to him having the same pet peeves about people doing that to Buck. I can see him being really irritated with that.
i think buck might have a pet peeve of chewing too loud.
Maybe if it's too loud, but I’m not sure about this because he's the one who always has something in his mouth 😁
i could see bucky having a pet peeve with slow drivers and know it alls.
Oh, the faces he’d make if he was stuck behind a slow driver 😆 The best would be if they were stuck while it was Gale driving - Gale would be all calm and collected while Bucky would be rolling his eyes and huffing in the passenger seat.
Mm pet peeve - Bucky is more than fine with physical touches, but only if he initiates it. He actually do like his personal space, but it's something that he prefers to invite people into rather than have them just come in. Remember that one scene when Croz was pointing out the general direction of Scotland in ep2, and Bucky (hilariously) pushed Croz's finger from his face with a cute little disgruntled look on his face? Cutest thing!
I remember that moment, it was so funny! I think it was because of the vomit, but I like this idea, would be interesting to explore. Actually, if we think about it, when was Bucky touched in the show without him or Buck initiating it first?
They both can't stand wasting anything. Be it food, clothes or anything materialistic. They rather eat leftovers for three days then throw it in the bin. Wear their clothes until they can't be repaired anymore. (Not because they have no money but because they're frugal af) This would be so for the rest of their lives.
I think this is a good one because imagine wasting food after their experiences in the stalag. I agree that they'd try to eat everything. They're not picky anyway. I do think they like nice clothes though, they were always so stylish 😄
Gale's very specific about the way things are done. He's very OCD, has lists for everything. He can't stand to be disrupted if he's in the middle of solving a problem.
Omg yeah, disrupting Gale while he’s solving a problem is a no-no. He shoots the other person these looks that could kill - doesn’t even need to say anything, people just scamper away.
And OCD Buck has just come up recently - it could be an interesting take on him! And also how others try to accommodate it, especially John, who's the furthest thing from OCD.
John is a nurturer and loves to give presents (but always things that are needed, never just fun things because that seems wasteful) so he gets a bit standoffish when people take this for granted and NEVER give back.
Aww, yes, poor John! He's such a giver. Giving back doesn’t even have to be a present, it's enough for him to feel the other's happiness and love. It would hurt him so bad if someone just discarded his present.
Thank you so much for these, lovely anons and @getinthefuckingjaeger!
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mintyepic · 1 year
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okay this one might be long-winded because I'm going to use voice to text for it but forgive me in advance. I had a nap and I dreamt that there was this new trend called slow running and all the streamers were really into it. specifically slow running undertale and specifically jerma was really really good at slow running cuz it was like okay. slow running was like you had to complete the game as slow as possible but every you couldn't just like leave the game running every interruption you had had to be like it had to be like like believable so you had to like "oh my mom just called me for dinner I can't complete undertale right now" or like "oh my my calendar just fell 12 ft from the sky I can't complete undertale right now" or "my house just exploded I can't complete undertale right now" like stuff like that and each time you had to come up with like a different excuse and jerma was really really stupid good at it and he would take his like camera on while he like was doing his stupid little task and no one knew how all of these like horrible things were happening to jerma that prevented him from playing undertale. like he would take us to do the dishes or he would take us to go to Walmart or he would take us to go fill up Otto's bowl. and all of like the things that happened were like real and not pre-planned. he was so good at slow running that they made like a different category just to exclude him and he wasn't mad but he was a bit peeved because but he made an entire category excluding him like this was an entire category excluding jerma 985 and like everyone was fucking obsessed with slow running man it was like a new craze like everyone loved it and it was really fun to watch even though it was like mine numbingly long like these were like days of days upon days long streams and they would not sleep sometimes I would cuz that's all I can excuse and they would not sleep they would like not eat they would it's like slow run the entire game and it was just like, wow. wow. yeah.
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kayadrake123 · 2 years
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I low-key wanna see how the batfam would act with a deadpool!reader as their s/o. Like I’m really interested.
Dick would be torn between his morals and his s/o because like, he doesn’t want them killing people?? But like they’re also doing it with good intentions and the people they’re killing are bad people??? So he’s like really confused but nonetheless is super attracted to them and finds them fucking hilarious. He will however vomit if he sees the violent ways in which the reader kills the bad guys. (Chopping someone’s head off and it lands right by his feet?? NO THANK YOU)
Tim would be all over the place with this one. Cause like he understands the extent of anger and disgust it takes to actually want to kill a bad guy. Like he’s been there. But sometimes I feel like he gets iffy with the reader when they kill cause like, man still follows his adoptive daddy’s no-killing code and he’s a bit emo so??? Probably a lot of ups and downs in their relationship ngl cause man REALLY loves his s/o but hates that they put him in a position where Bruce is nagging him about reader’s control and morals and yada yada yada
Jason fucking loves them. No ifs and no buts, he fucking loves them. He’s on that whole wave of “if I’m not killing these motherfuckers, at least one of us is”. Like he’ll defend reader till he dies. He does however hate the dangerous situations they put themselves into, even though they can’t die. It genuinely makes him feel sick when he sees some bad guy stab a knife into his s/o’s head like *gag*
Older!Damian at first thought their tactics were questionable…but the more he got to know them he started to become a little less peeved about them. When he’s finally in a relationship with them he does try and get them to stop killing, might throw them into jail a few times but only for a little bit (getting some Bruce and Selina vibes hehehe kind of) but overall he genuinely loves them and will fight any motherfucker who tries to arrest them or something similar to that (I’m looking at you Bruce, like Damian will fight you bro)
Duke is…man he’s kind of amazed. Sure yeah it’s pretty disgusting to see his s/o cut off someone’s head, but hey they look badass doing it! He’s like super supportive, but like Damian will constantly try to get the reader to stop killing by offering alternative ways. He’s down bad for reader like BRO. They do sometimes get into fights over reader’s methods but he will never think about throwing them in jail or something.
Should I write it??? Like make headcanons? With even more characters in the Batfam like Cass and Steph and Babs even?? Hmm…I’m genuinely considering it. Let me know :))
Edit: SOMEONE (not me) SHOULD DEFINITELY WRITE IT PLSSS
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punsmaster69 · 21 days
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2/APR/20XX
instead of immediately going home after the sleepover, some stuck around to play games; emphasis on 'some'. tori took frisk and flowey home. frisk was bummed, per usual.
asgore actually came over for a little bit - gifted me (you guessed it) socks, (heck yeah) as an apology for being late - and tried gaming with alphys n' undyne.
he, uh.
had about the same issues as tori usually does.
though, his lack of knowledge about the game wasn't helping him much either.
undyne felt bad and tried to teach him, but alphys eventually suggested switching to something easier entirely.
papyrus...
he isn't playing.
not because he doesn't want to.
not because we don't have enough controllers.
not because he's busy with work or anything right now.
but because he's still asleep.
(gasp now.)
a part of me is shocked.
my brother? sleeping in? whoa.
the other part of me is significantly less flabbergasted.
felt something a little off about him all day yesterday - not emotionally, in particular. and don't get me wrong, he acted the same as ever. just... had the energy of a skeleton who might not've gotten all the rest he needed, y'know?
so for him to be stretched across the couch, layin' on me like a pillow right now...
not unexpected. not entirely.
others were a bit shocked; asking if he was feeling alright and all that.
he'll probably be peeved that i didn't wake him sooner.
——
it's been about an hour and the rest of the party has bid farewell. not before snatching some of our snacks unfortunately, but life goes on.
my bro's still out like a light, so i haven't moved other than for writing this.
i'll keep you updated if he lives or stops breathin'.
'cuz we skeletons breathe a lot.
suuuper worrying if one stopped doing that... it'd mean their lungs stopped working.
which, i know.
pretty bad.
that'd also mean the heart they have would stop.
and even their brain...
...
yeah, i'm gettin' a little bored.
——
papyrus blinks his eyes open slightly, squinting at the light.
to block the light and to look down at him, i lean my head forward.
"oh, hey. you're alive."
he groggily mumbles something, but i couldn't make out what it was.
"...jeez, bro."
questioning look.
"you really need to make resting more of a habit."
"shouldn't be worry-inducing to see you sleep in a little."
"...."
".....STARTING NOW."
"hm?"
and his eyes close again.
"wh- huh??"
a lot of things flick through my mind;
'is he really sick?'
'did he sleep that little?'
'should i convince him to move?'
and then i take a moment to notice something.
i don't remember having papyrus on me like this when i fell asleep to begin with.
i also don't remember seeing him lie down - the last thing i do recall was asking what he was doing.
"PICKING UP A BIT BEFORE BED. IT'LL BE LESS TO DEAL WITH IN THE MORNING!"
i look around.
outside anything done by friends after waking up, everything's cleaned.
a few questions are suddenly answered.
"....really?"
"..'k. guess i'm not movin'."
"sleep well."
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damn-stark · 1 year
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Chapter 4 This charming man
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Tragedy at the Miller’s Chapter 4
A/N- Not ready for what’s coming
Warning- ANGST, talks of death, swearing, long chapter, fluff :)
Pairing- Joel Miller x daughter!reader, Henry x Fem!reader
Episode- 1x06 (not all of it)
(If you want to be tagged let me know!)
————
Family reunions are supposed to be heartwarming, joyful!
Maybe it was for the first 10 minutes, but now it’s awkward, there’s tension, there’d be deafening silence but the area you’re at is filled with the sound of obnoxious chewing. It’s an annoying sound, a usual pet peeve of yours, but right now, fuck it, it’s the first real meal you’ve had in two years.
“There’s more if you need it,” Maria interjects through the urgency of all the chewing.
“Thank you, ma’am,” your dad says when he finishes chewing. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper meal.”
You smile up at her with your mouth full of food and nod in agreement. Your uncle Tommy notices and shakes his head in disapproval, but he can’t help but smile faintly.
“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had a proper meal,” Ellie cuts in, causing you to slowly swallow your food and look at her with a bit of pity—“this is fuckin’ amazing.”
Your dad shoots her a pointed glare before looking up at the couple in front of him. “Sorry,” he apologizes for her, while you stifle your laugh with the food you shove in your mouth. “Ellie, let’s mind our manners.”
You smirk down at your food, but feel your uncle pat your back. “Don’t worry,” he adds. “Someone tends to have a way with words too.”
You look over at him and respond back with your mouth full of food. “I’m just expressin’ my freedom of speech.” You shoot him a smile and then return to eating, bringing back a bit of silence.
Albeit seconds later the peace is broken by Ellie snapping at someone behind you. “What?!”
You slowly peek behind you and see a girl storming off; you actually recognize her, albeit she was younger then. She liked to help with your sets when you did plays, she’s cool. But yes you understand Ellie’s…caution towards her just staring, but! you don’t get the snappy attitude.
“What’s wrong with you?” You remark Ellie with a pointed look.
“What about her manners?” She counters.
You roll your eyes and catch your uncle's curious gaze at that moment, so you can’t help but smirk faintly now in response—he’ll get hell of a kick out of her, he just needs to get to know her.
“She was just curious,” Maria tries to explain. “Kids around here don’t usually look or talk like you.”
“Right.” Ellie nods. “Well, maybe I’ll teach them. And I want my gun back.”
Yeah that’s not happening.
“They also aren’t armed,” Maria says.
You set your silverware down and grab your cup of water, whilst your uncle interjects. “You know what? Uh, I think maybe y’all got a little off on the wrong foot.”
“She was gonna have her guys kill us,” Ellie snaps right away.
“Well, we gotta be real careful about who we let in this place,” your uncle explains. “But it’s all bark. We’re just tryna scare off those who might wanna try us is all.”
You sit back and sip your water, only choosing to hear the argument being had.
You wouldn't be as…uhm…bold as Ellie, but you also understand her uneasiness of this place and all those people. You were new once too; afraid of everyone and cautious of everything.
“Well, you got a couple of 90-year-olds shitting themselves out there. Not much of a superstition, is it y/n?” She argues with a pointed glare aimed at you.
What? What the hell did you do?
“Ellie,” your dad warns her.
“They say that you leave dead bodies around?” Ellie remarks to your uncle and Maria again.
Now your uncle glances at you and passes an amused look at you right as Maria answers Ellie just as quickly. “Those are the people that tried us.”
“A bad reputation doesn't mean you’re bad,” your uncle adds.
“Not always, at least,” Maria adds in, and you catch her pointed look aimed at your father; which only makes you begin to frown as things get awkward. At least for you since you know the context behind her judgment.
“Ma’am,” your dad cuts in thereafter. “We’re grateful for your hospitality and all,” he pauses and looks between you, your uncle and Ellie. “But it’d be nice to have a moment here, maybe just for family.”
Oh right, given your silent treatment, you never actually talked much about this place or about your life here to him—that makes things uncomfortable. So you slouch and put your cup down to stare at the water.
“Well, uh,” your uncle interjects as he straightens up on his chair. “Maria is family, actually.”
You glance over at them and offer them a soft smile, but when you glance over at your father and see his face of slight disbelief your smile falters.
Why does he look so shocked? It was going to happen.
“Oh, shit! Congrats.” Ellie adds, but you can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic or genuine—probably sarcastic giving she’s not really liking Maria.
“Joel, say congrats,” Ellie whispers to your dad like if he’s some kid that needs a reminder.
A moment of awkward silence passes before your dad says it back a bit dryly. “Congrats.”
Can’t say you’re surprised, he didn’t like Henry at first either.
“She’s the one that helped me get this one through her teenage phase,” your uncle says and pats your shoulder to give it a small squeeze.
You look up at the both of them and smirk before glancing at your dad.
“I can’t say she made it hard,” Maria adds. “She was good…up until she left.”
You scoff and look over at her with a smirk. “Mama,” you whisper. “Besides, I wasn't a teenager then, I was 22.”
“You acted like one,” she rebuttals.
You roll your eyes in a lighthearted manner and shake your head, while your uncle grabs your shoulder and interjects with a lighthearted tone. “How old are you now, Sunny? Old?”
You snap your eyes to him and get ready to spat back, but he continues. “You even have gray hair there.” He points to the side of your head.
Your eyes go wide and you pick up your spoon to see your reflection through it, but he begins to snicker.
“Oh wait, it's just dirt.” He laughs.
You scoff and push his arm off you. “At least I can wash mine off, unlike you,” you counter and use your eyes to point to the white hairs on his side.
He snickers and you glance away, catching your dads gaze and slowly frowning as you catch that same hurt look you caught earlier. Your uncle Tommy notices a glimpse of your tension and sighs before breaking it. “How ‘bout a tour?”
Maria nods. “Yeah.”
Once you’re all completely done with your food you step out again. And you're not obligated to tag along, you knew this place already, it was home, but you want to accompany Ellie until she and your dad get some place to go for however long they’re staying—or correction for however long she’s staying, who knows if your dad has changed his mind about letting your uncle take her.
If he doesn’t then….you’ll go with her and your uncle. Even if being surrounded by the tall walls of Jackson made you finally feel completely safe, and let you drop the habit of needing to look over your shoulder every few seconds. Here you also didn’t have to live on the edge hoping that some infected wouldn’t creep up on you, or some fucker wouldn’t jump you out of nowhere. But if it meant being her one piece of support after your fathers abandonment, then it would be worth it being gone for one more month. Just for her, not for your dad.
“We settled here about seven years ago, just a handful of us then,” Maria tells Ellie and your dad. “That section…”
Her words trail off as suddenly you’re startled by an arm thrown around you. And when you snap your head over to your side, Apollo is next to you with a smile on his face.
“What’s wrong with you?” You quip as you fall behind the others doing the tour.
Apollo snickers. “Just checking you’re not some sort of hallucination.”
You roll your eyes and look ahead again. “I’d be a pretty cool hallucination,” you mumble and catch Ellie glancing at you over her shoulder when she doesn’t see you near her.
“Yeah,” Apollo agrees. “Good thing you aren't though.” He moves his other hand toward you to offer you a piece of dry meat. “Jerky?”
“Please,” you scoff and meet his gaze from the corner of your eyes. “I’ve had enough of jerky for now.” You then begin to smirk and hold his gaze as you throw him a reminder. “Aren't you supposed to be working bum?”
Apollo shrugs. “I was, but again, just checking on you, and…” he trails off and holds the piece of jerky in his mouth to reach into his back pocket and pull something out. “…give this to you.”
He pushes his hand towards you to show the Mariah Carey Daydream casette in his hand. “For you,” he says as he pulls out the piece of jerky from his mouth.
Your grin immediately widens and your eyes twinkle as you stop to take it from him. “Oh my god,” you squeal. “Where did you find this?!”
Apollo steps back and folds his arms over his chest to shrug smugly. “I have my ways. But I thought of giving it to you for Christmas when I saw you, but then I thought, why not give it to her now as a welcome home present.”
You meet his gaze with a smirk. “You were thinkin’ of me?” You tease.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” He quips lightheartedly.
You shoot him a smirk, and he holds your gaze to mirror the gesture for a lingering moment before you look down at your gift and smile softly. Albeit, you then can’t help but step forward to throw your arms around him.
“Thank you,” you whisper and hold onto him tighter, feeling your heart flutter, and a warmth that wants to mend the bleeding gap that was on it.
“You’re welcome,” he whispers back and rubs your back softly. “I missed you, you know.”
You smile sweetly and try to fight the tears that threaten to rush out at the simple feeling of this embrace. “I missed you too,” you redirect softly, but suddenly begin to feel a twinge of guilt now stab at you as you feel comfort and yearning for him in his embrace.
“Mia is at home,” Apollo says and pulls back to face you. “I haven’t told her yet so it can be a surprise.”
You smirk. “I’ll make her shit her pants.” You snicker.
“I’ll see you at home later, yeah?” He queries in a way that makes it seem like he’s almost afraid you would leave again. “I have a bottle of tequila and a movie of your choice ready for you for later.”
“Can’t wait,” you assure him with a sweet smile playing on your lips.
Apollo begins to walk back and nods as he holds your gaze for a lingering moment before he turns and walks off to go back to work. You now put your gift away and catch back up with your group heading to the barn.
“Who’s that?” Ellie immediately asks once you’re by her side again.
You glance at her and scoff softly before you answer. “My…best friend, Apollo.”
Ellie scoffs and begins to smirk as she turns her head away. “Okay,” she mutters.
You squint your eyes in confusion and immediately press her hint of smugness. “What?” You giggle nervously.
Ellie shrugs before she glances at you and bats her eyelashes as she just simply repeats herself. “Okay.”
Before you can further question her she runs ahead of the group as they’re entering the sheep pen.
“Hey, Joel, check it,” Ellie now directs to your dad, and proceeds to mimic the sheep to tease him. You would’ve laughed but she was just teasing you so you keep quiet and follow them.
“So are you, like, in charge?” Ellie asks Maria.
“No one person’s in charge,” Maria says. “I’m on the council. Democratically elected, serving 300 people, including children. Everyone pitches in. We rotate patrols, food prep, repairs, hunting, harvesting.”
“Everything you see in our town,” your uncle adds. “Greenhouses, livestock, all shared. Collective ownership.”
“So, uh,” your dad interjects, making you glance at him. “Communism.”
Your uncle sniffles. “Nah. Nah, it ain’t like that.”
No it is that. Exactly that.
“It is that,” Maria corrects him. “Literally. This is a commune. We’re communists.”
You smirk, and end up sharing an amused look with your dad before you both glance back at your uncle stopped behind you looking a bit baffled.
“No way!” Ellie exclaims, making you drift your attention back to her and noticing her rushing toward a cute brown foal.
“That’s our newest one,” Maria shares. “Couple months old. You wanna pet her?”
You smile and rush towards the foal too.
“Yeah, what’s her name?” Ellie asks.
“Shimmer.”
“Shimmer,” Ellie repeats as she begins to caress the little baby horse. “You’re so beautiful.”
You lean against the gate and scratch the side of her jaw.
“Well, I’m sure they’d like a shower,” Maria adds on, correctly of course. “Some new clothes. We can put Joel and Ellie in the empty house across the street from us.”
You pull your hand away from the horse and peer over your shoulder.
“Yeah,” your uncle agrees. “It’s a decent place. Pretty much untouched since ‘03, but it’s got the heat goin’ in it.” He nods. “Could do worse.”
“Oh,” you add. “We have been.”
Ellie nods in agreement, but your dad quickly rebuttals you. “We’ve been doin’ fine.”
Yeah cause sleeping in caves and taking watches to make sure you won’t get killed is fine. Whatever man.
“Well,” Maria adds a bit awkwardly. “I’ll take Ellie over there if you two wanna catch up?” She suggests as she looks between your dad and uncle, making you look between both men with curiosity.
Only if you could go too just to snoop and know if your dad would go through with it. And to know how it’d actually go between them.
“Yeah,” your dad agrees and passes a look with your uncle. “Okay.”
“Joel,” Ellie whispers with concern.
“You’ll be fine,” he assures her and walks off with your uncle without another word, making her watch him as he did so.
“Come on,” you encourage her and grab her shoulder to gently nudge her ahead towards Maria
Ellie begins to follow, but spares one more glance at your dads retreating figure. Once he’s no longer in view she immediately questions you. “Where are you going?”
“Not far from where you’ll be,” you assure her. “Just down 2 streets, and then a right. I live in a yellow house with a white fence around it. I’ll be there.”
Ellie glances at the ground and frowns deeper, so you nudge her gently and continue to assure her. “You can come over after you’re done showering, if you want. If I don’t answer the door my friend Mia will, just tell her you came to visit me and she’ll show you to my room, yeah?”
Ellie lifts her gaze with unsureness but nods regardless to assure you she comprehends. “Yeah,” she whispers. “Okay.”
Once you see Ellie off you walk to your own house. A place you always hoped you’d return to, a place you longed for on cruel days. Yet when you’re there, past the white fences gate, at the doorstep of your house, it feels…fucking weird. Like some dream. A good dream you were scared to wake up from.
What if opening the front meant waking up? That’d be terrible.
But you can’t know if you stand there, so you let out a deep breath and slowly wrap your hand around the knob. You hesitate for a second and close your eyes to hope it isn’t some dream—fuck. You open your eyes as you turn the knob and slowly push the green creaking door open. And luckily nothing vanishes, nothing comes at you. You walk in and you don’t fall into some dark abyss; it’s warm, it smells like cinnamon and a Christmas morning. All the furniture you can see is the same, Christmas decorations greet you at the entrance bringing the holiday cheer to the house.
When you close the front door behind you and you take your shoes off at the entrance, happy tears fill your eyes, and a wobbly smile spreads on your lips. You’re home! Home!
You laugh softly with relief and feel tears actually rush out of your eyes.
“Who’s home?” You hear a familiar voice ask from the hall.
You wipe the tears off your cheeks and walk towards the hall in a giddy silence as you also hear footsteps approach. Once you make it under the hall's archway you stop at the same time your friend does only mere inches away from her.
You begin to grin brightly, while she stands there with her eyes widened with disbelief.
“Hi, Mia,” you greet her.
Said girl studies you, the dirty outfit you’ve worn for months, she studies your face and looks into your eyes in that stunned silence that paralyzes her. Meanwhile you give her time to grasp your presence and study her too; her hair is still short due to her fear of having it pulled by infected like when she was young, it’s still dyed like last time, and she’s remained ageless.
“Wh-how?” She stammers before she closes the gap left between you with an embrace that almost knocks you back.
“Hey,” you murmur happily.
“Apollo was just here,” she says by your ear. “He didn’t tell me anything.”
You laugh softly. “Yeah, he wanted me to surprise you.” You pull back and grab her shoulders. “I've missed you.”
Tears roll down her cheeks, and her smile wobbles. “I missed you too,” she redirects. “So much. I was so worried.” She hugs you again and lets out a relieved sigh as she holds you in her arms.
Along with Apollo and Atlas, Mia was one of your oldest friends too. She was a firefly like them and you, she was also your best friend. You all basically grew up together when you were with the firefly’s, you were all unbreakable.
“Did you just get here?” Mia asks and pulls back to turn you around and lead you away from the hall. “Have you eaten already?”
You nod. “Yes, I ate just a few minutes ago, and yes I just got here….with my dad actually.”
Mia stops, making you stop along with her. “What?” She queries and turns to face you. She looks into your eyes to try and read your emotions, but she instead questions you more. “How are you feeling about that?”
You let out a deep sigh that makes your smile falter, and simply shrug. “I don’t know…besides angry, I don’t know where I’m at, but I guess we’ll see won’t we?”
Mia hums and caresses your shoulder, and smiles a lot softer. “I’m so happy you’re back home. You must want to take a shower, and sleep, so I’ll leave you be.”
Yeah until maybe an hour later where she’ll be checking on you.
“Your room has been untouched so everything is in its place,” she adds, and now walks you around the kitchen to walk you to your room like if you’re new and need a tour. “You’ll just need a towel which are out in the closet, you’ll need blankets, I can get those for you, uh, a razor, new sanitary stuff, I can go…” she continues on but you tune her out as you open the door to your room. And as she walks forward you stop just in front of the doorway.
“….We can bake something later,” you tune Mia back in. “We can make your favorite for dinner, Apollo and Atlas should be home then”
She was right, your room was untouched, every piece of furniture was in its place, every decoration and accessory was left the same way you left it. There wasn’t even dust, and didn’t smell odd, which is probably thanks to Mia; your room actually smells like flowers, oddly enough.
“Yeah,” you agree mindlessly with a nod. “Sounds good.”
Your picture wall was still up and well kept, your posters aren’t ripped, it’s all clean.
“Okay,” Mia says as she turns to walk out of the room. “I’ll leave you now and go get that stuff. Need anything else?”
You follow her leaving figure with your eyes and shake your head. “Nah, but if you are leaving mind leaving the front door unlocked, a girl named Ellie might come over so if you aren’t here and I’m in the shower she can just walk in.”
Mia looks immediately curious over who you mention but she doesn’t probe now, she’ll do it later, you’re sure of it. “Okay, I’ll leave a note then.” She lets you know and grabs your door handle to begin closing it as she walks out. “I missed you.”
You shoot her a sweet smile and quickly counter. “I missed you too.”
She offers you one last smile before she closes the door behind her, letting you turn back to fully take in the fact that you’re now standing back in your room—it’s fucking unbelievble, it fills you with happiness and comfort. And as if it’s your first time you walk to your closet first and pull it open, you run your fingers along all the clothes that are hung up and smile.
If you could describe your room to someone, let’s say Ellie, in a few words it would be Old Hollywood meets vintage old money aesthetic—albeit a post apocalyptic version considering you can’t fully fill your room with all the things you want and need….
Sucks…
Anyhow, you then skip on forward to your brown and gold vintage round vanity mirror, and the first thing you notice that wasn’t on it last time is a bouquet of fresh flowers with a small note.
‘Welcome home - Atlas & Apollo’
You smile and tuck the note back to its place to then swipe your fingers across the counter, making sure not to touch the few perfumes and fragile trinkets you had collected. You then proceed to walk to the corner of the room to brush your fingers along the strings of your guitar as you walk to your shelf with music records, cassettes and movies; it’s all still there and now you can add another to your collection, thanks to Apollo.
After that you then walk to your picture wall to study every single picture with a faint smile. The one that makes you the happiest though is the picture strip of Sarah and you; it’s one you had taken in one of those photobooths. Alas it’s when you see the family picture of Sarah, you, and your dad that the happiness turns to sadness, and that smile falls to a wobbly frown.
What would be of your lives now if she had lived? What would she say about your estrangement with your dad?
Would she be mad at the both of you?
Probably.
You were a little family, you were too young to know if it was anything other than perfect, but it worked…you were happy then….
God you miss her….him too. He’s close, here now in Jackson, but it feels like you're strangers. Strangers forced to be together, forced to travel together. You miss him and your relationship. The man he was wouldn't return, but you’re okay with the man he is now, as flawed as he is you’re okay with him, as tainted as his past is you’re okay with him. But, what you are…are strangers.
——
A deep relaxed exhale leaves your lips as you find comfort on your mattress, in your clean clothes, and refreshed body after a long and deep shower.
Fuck that felt good, it’s like you took decades of dirt off you. It’s like you feel fucking lighter because of it now too. Maybe a week-long sleep would suit you well, maybe you can even hibernate like a bear, that’d be nice.
You smile to yourself and only sit up to put on your headphones, and turn your music on blast now that you don’t have to worry about what’s around you—You’ll go deaf your uncle Tommy and Mia would say, but who cares, it’s fun getting lost in the music.
That’s what you do listening to the cassette Apollo gave you. However, not for long because you then feel a nudge on your leg, and when you sit up there Maria is with a very deep purple jacket in hand.
“Hey,” you greet her as you pull your headphones down to your neck. You then look around for Ellie, but she’s not here. “Where’s Ellie?”
“I left her at the house,” Maria says. “I went to grab her this.” She lifts the jacket in her hand, and you scoff in amusement.
“It’s very purple,” you point out.
“Plum,” she corrects you and sits by you on your bed. “I just came to check on you, make sure you were settling in well.”
You sigh with relief and nod. “Yeah, it feels good being back home and showering, and changing clothes.” You let out a deep exhale and fall back on your bed. “I missed it, never let me leave for that long ever again.”
“I tried that the first time, you fought against logic,” she argues.
You shrug to brush her off. “Let’s call it an existential crisis, yeah?” You snicker.
Maria lets out a long sigh that means nothing good, so you sit up and narrow your gaze on her.
“What?” You immediately question.
Maria glances down and doesn’t hold back. She never did. “How did you end up with the cause of that existential crisis?”
Oh yes, you should've known she wasn’t going to leave it alone.
You blow out air and begin to fiddle with the string of your headphones. “We ran into each other at…KC. We were coming to the same place so we decided to travel together.”
Maria scoffs. “Months on the road and nothing seems mended,” she says. “Did he even try?”
You swallow thickly and shake your head softly. “No, but,” you add and pick at the fluff on your sheets. “It’s not like I tried either…if it wasn’t for that girl I don’t think I would’ve stayed with him.”
There’s a moment of silence before she picks on that. “Who is she?”
No one can know Ellie’s immune, as much as you trust Maria, it’s now up to your dad and Ellie to tell who they want, not you.
“A girl, some important firefly’s daughter he was ordered to deliver,” you lie and look up at her so she wouldn’t find you suspicious. “That’s all I know. He isn’t much for sharin’.”
Maria hums and doesn’t seem to find you suspicious so she moves on. Thankfully.
“Look, you’re an adult, you know what’s right from wrong, but you have too much of a good heart….”
You blink and avert your gaze to sigh.
“I don’t want to see you tormenting yourself any longer because of that man y/n—”
“He’s my dad, mama,” you cut her off with no anger or judgment, you cut her off quietly, sadly. “I can’t….” You pause and draw in a deep breath as you feel the need to cry slowly building up. “I can’t just,” you sigh, “forget him. No matter how much he’s hurt me. I can’t do that to him…or her…she’d be devastated.”
Maria carefully grabs ahold of your hand, making you lift your eyes to meet her soft yet hard gaze.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” Maria adds softly.
You offer her a comprehensive nod.
“Your uncle Tommy and I are always here, we’re here for you no matter what,” she continues and this time begins to caress your cheek. “You don’t need him. If those plants are dead there’s no need to waste water.”
You stiffen and draw in another shaky breath. You don’t add anything in his defense, you can’t come up with anything else to say but what you already put out.
“Whatever happens to that girl,” she adds on in your silence. “You protect her from him—”
Now you have something to say. “He’s not a bad guy,” you cut her off and meet her gaze with a pointed glare. “He’s just…tough because of what he’s lived through. But he’s not a bad guy.” You understand that now.
Maria raises her chin and doesn’t retreat. “He left you, his own daughter, tell me if that makes him good?”
You blink rapidly as you’re cut off guard by her comment.
“I’m just looking out for you,” she further explains herself. “You’re my family, I love you as if you were my own daughter which is why I just want to protect you.” She pulls her hand away and stands up. “And that girl doesn’t deserve to have her heartbroken by him.”
Maria then waits if you’d say something, but there was nothing you could add anymore, so you let her leave.
“I’m taking Ellie to the movies, enjoy the night with your friends, okay? And at night if it’s hard to sleep, the door will be open, you can sleep in your old room.” She offers.
You break your eyes from the bed to look at her in front of you and nod slowly. “Yeah, okay. Thank you.”
“If you don’t come tonight then come over for breakfast tomorrow, I can make pancakes.”
“Okay sounds good I’ll be there.” You assure her and offer her a very faint smile.
Maria walks to the door and lingers there for a moment before she walks out and closes the door behind you, letting you then throw yourself back to contemplate what was just discussed. She’s right about Ellie, but maybe he deserves time to explain himself to you, even after you said you’d be done with him. He deserves one more chance, if he doesn’t want to try and heal what’s broken then…you’ll stay true to your word and be done with him, for good…
You sigh and slide your headphones back on before flipping around on the bed to attempt and get lost in the music again.
However, now! Now…agony and grief slams back into you just as you were doing good today not thinking about Henry and Sam. All because of the stuffed giraffe on your bed that reminds you of them.
It happens all the time, one minute you think that you’ll get over it, that you’ll heal past that grief and let them be beautiful memories, but it hits you like a ferocious wave. And it’s hard to swim up when it does, you’re slowly drowning each time, sinking deeper and deeper. Not only that but looking at your dad everyday doesn’t make it any easier, there’s just more force that pushes you further down.
Funny and unexpected enough though, it’s been Ellie who has been such a….relief, a breath of fresh air, that ounce of hope that helps you get over the surface. Without her honestly it would’ve been hard getting back home.
Still…as of now it’s taking you again, that damned wave, so you take your headphones off and leave your music on the bed to instead grab the stuffed giraffe and walk outside to your backyard.
The precious meadow that you had grown is under a blanket of snow, much like everything else outside, so you can’t find a bit of bliss there. However, there is something new outside connected to the small white fence that surrounds the cement patio, a wooden bench swing with a canopy and all, hm.
It’s smooth, sturdy, and nice. Now you don’t have to get your ass wet on the snow. Maybe your uncle Tommy built it? Or maybe Mia’s boyfriend built it for her, he thinks himself a carpenter.
Whatever the case, you sit down and just ponder in the silence, watching the stuffed giraffe in your hands and thinking about them; about Henry most of all. You let time pass even as you begin to get cold, and don’t really come back to reality until you hear the backdoor close behind you.
When you sit up and look back you see your uncle Tommy walking to you.
You put the stuffed giraffe down and then beam at him. “Hey!” You greet him.
He offers you a sweet smile and pushes the gate open to walk over to you. “Hey, Sunny,” he greets back. “I’m sorry I let myself in, there was a note on the door.”
You shake your head and pat the open space by you. “Don’t worry about it,” you assure him and watch him study the bench with a smirk.
“Apollo built this for you, did you know?”
You blink in surprise and shake your head as your heart begins to flutter. “No, I didn’t.”
He hums and takes his seat, but rubs the armrests. “Yeah, he said that it’d be a good touch so you wouldn’t have to lay on the grass all the time. Or if you didn’t make it back home then it’d be hell of a memorial...it wasn’t really funny then,” he laughs softly. “But it is now.” He clasps his hands on his lap and glances at the stuffed giraffe before meeting your gaze. “He’s always had a sweet spot for you. He’s a good guy.”
You slowly grin and drop your head to nod. “I know.”
Is he implying something?
“Did you talk to my dad?” You probe and glance up at him. “You guys catch up?”
Your uncle lets out a deep sigh and nods stiffly. “Something like that. We…sorta got into an argument.”
You click your tongue and nod slowly in comprehension. “Sorta?” You probe.
“It wasn’t big but you know how he is.”
You nod. “Yeah,” you sigh.
Your uncle notices the frown and the sadness return in your eyes, so he presses you. “You, have you talked to him?”
You look on ahead at the snow covered meadow and shrug. “Sorta. We talked when we first reunited in KC, but after….after I just got mad at him all over again. I haven’t talked to him since.”
“Is that what has you all down?” He asks and hits you right where it hurts. He knows you too well.
Your eyes sting and your throat begins to feel all clumped up with all the emotions that rapidly build up, but you hold it back as best as you can and try to assure him. And yourself. “I..I don’t want to ruin today.” You offer him a strained smile. “We can talk about it some other day.”
Your uncle shifts in his seat to face you better and doesn’t brush it off. “I cleared up my whole day today for your dad, and for you. I have time to talk. Talk to me.”
He was never one to shy away from an emotional conversation, not with you anyway. Not like your dad. Your uncle Tommy was good that way, open and understanding. Not closed off and dismissive. You owe who you became through all the tragedy to him. It’s sad to admit but if you had been completely raised by your father you would have turned out like him perhaps.
Yet it’s quite hard saying what comes to mind. You part your lips to try and speak, but all you can muster is a shaky breath as you clutch onto the stuffed giraffe.
Your uncle doesn’t press you, he waits until you can finally mutter out.
“Can you tell me…” you pause briefly and glance down at your hands. “If somethings wrong….with me?” You ask in a quivering voice and slowly look up at him, catching his confusion and disbelief.
“My dad left rather than staying with me….and,” you continue through tears. “…the guy that I…loved killed himself rather than wanting to be with me. And I know it sounds selfish, h-he was just grief stricken, his little brother died….but we were partners…and,” you sniffle. “And he left me. So please be honest with me, tell me that I’m no good, that I’m a failure because that’s what I feel.”
Your uncle Tommy lets out a shaky sigh and immediately grabs your face to wipe away your tears and comfort you. “There is nothing wrong with you, baby, nothing. That guy…seems like he couldn’t handle what he felt, it happens, but you had nothing to do with it. And your dad,” he exhales and caresses your cheek. “Your dad did what he thought was best because he loves you. Losing your sister took a lot from him, but that doesn’t mean that somethings wrong with you, he loves you, and leaving was his way of showing it.” He says try and comfort you, and then pulls you in for an embrace, but you only sob more in the comfort of his arms.
You can hardly breathe, your chest feels heavy, your mind is racing, and your heart feels like it was going to jump out of you. Now you couldn’t hold anything back.
“I couldn't help him, he got bit and I couldn’t help. I couldn’t save Henry either, I should’ve just snatched the gun from him but I froze, and I couldn’t help him…just like I couldn’t help Sarah…” you spill out now through sobs.
Your uncle pulls back and grabs your shoulders to keep you close so you’d listen to what he had to redirect. “Sarah was not your fault, you understand that? There was nothing none of us could have done, especially not you, you were only 4. You understand?”
You keep your eyes averted and nod. But that isn’t enough for him.
“Look at me y/n,” he orders, causing you to slowly raise your eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. And I know I don’t know those people you knew, but one thing I am sure about is that it isn’t your fault what happened to them.” He wipes more tears off your cheeks and leans in closer so you’d listen intently. “You cry as much as you want, grieve as long as you need to, but you move on, you keep living for them. You understand? Don’t lose yourself, that’s the worst thing we can do. You understand me?”
You nod through heavy tears and get pulled into a tighter embrace that you sink into, that you bask in for a moment without saying anything. All until your heart slows down, and your head isn't filled with so much noise.
“Thank you uncle Tommy, thank you for listening,” you whisper and pull back to face him with a gentle smile. “I missed you.”
He offers you a sweet smile and wipes away more stray tears. “I missed you too, Sunny.”
You sit back and watch the delicate snowflakes begin to fall from the sky. You sit in silence next to your uncle with a much lighter feeling on your chest.
“I have to tell you something,” your uncle breaks the silence with an obvious nervous voice.
You blink and look at him with a teasing smile and a curious gaze. “What? Oh my, don't tell me…are you pregnant?”
Your uncle meets your gaze and doesn’t laugh even if you said it as a joke, he instead lets out a deep breath and just holds your gaze with the same nervous look that clues you in that you might have guessed right.
“Are you?” You ask seriously now and lean in.
He averts his gaze and nods, making you slowly begin to grin with utter fucking joy. “That’s amazing news, uncle Tommy!” You exclaim and jump off your seat out of excitement. “That’s like, the best news ever.”
Yet you couldn’t help but begin to feel just a bit envious. You were happy, excited, of course you were, but you couldn’t help but feel a smidge of envy. You never thought of that before, you never yearned for that, a family of your own; you were younger, hurt by your own issues with your dad, there was too much going on in your head to even think about that, you wouldn’t have made a good wife nor a good mother. But now after returning from your country wide trip, now after hearing that your uncle's family is growing, there’s this want growing in your own heart. There doesn’t even need to be a baby, but a partner would be nice.
“Why the long face?” You press as he doesn’t seem to match your excitement.
Your uncle sighs. “I'm just nervous, that's all. I’m very fuckin’ nervous, you know it’s going to be a whole human being. I just don’t know…” he trails off.
You giggle and sit back down next to him. “You have nothing to be nervous about, you’re gonna be a good father,” you assure him. “You might not be mine, but you were—are like one, and you did good.”
Your uncle meets your gaze with a soft look and a soft smile. “Thank you, Sunny,” he says.
You grin brighter at him and can’t help but get even more excited. “I’m finally gonna have a cousin, man. I mean I would have appreciated one like 20 years ago, 22 years ago, but I can teach them things now. I’m wiser now.”
He chuckles and then corrects you. “Sister,”
You snap your eyes to him and stiffen.
“You might not be mine, but you are like my daughter.” He says with a smile. “Mine and Maria’s.”
Your eyes water again, but you hold back your tears now and just laugh softly. “Can I hug you now, or do you want to celebrate with a shot?” You add.
“One wouldn’t hurt, but I’ll take that hug too,” he says and lets you throw your arms around him for a tight embrace.
“Thank you for telling me, I needed to hear some good news.”
He smiles and caresses your back. “I’m glad. I’m happy it made you smile.”
You giggle and pull back to shoot him another beaming smile.
He smiles now too and interjects. “Thank you, I needed that too. Made me feel better.”
You lay down on his lap and can’t stop smiling over the news. He sits back and lets his arm rest on you to enjoy each others presence and relish in the joy he brought.
“Don’t push me in the snow,” you warn him as he begins to make the swing sway back and forth. “I just took a shower.”
He scoffs. “Don’t give me ideas, ‘cause I’ll do it. Unless you’re gonna go snitch to your daddy now that he’s here.”
You giggle. “Don’t give me ideas.”
He slowly slides his hand to your back and applies a small amount of pressure, making you stiffen and hang onto the bottom of the seat. “Don’t,” you warn him.
“I ain’t doing nothin’.” He chuckles.
You turn and look at him with a pointed glare, but all he does is smirk mischievously. He then moves his arm back where it was so you turn back to face ahead.
Yet that’s when he gets you and pushes you off the seat, making you fall in the snow.
“Oops,” you hear him say.
You slap your hands on the cold ground, and slowly sit up on your knees to wipe the snow off your face roughly as you turn your head to glare at him.
“Go on,” he says with a stifled laugh. “Bring out your guitar so we can tune it up. Let’s make sure you haven’t forgotten that talent of yours.”
“Fine,” you grumble and stand up to brush the snow off your body. “I’ll get the bottle too.”
You’re only not getting him back because you just got back and because he shared that news with you. You’ll get him back though. Old fucker.
——
*LATER*
The tv played one of your favorite movies, but it played for no one since you and your friends gathered around the living room and got lost gossiping, drinking and playing some card game Atlas insisted on playing to make drinking “more fun”. That cinnamon scent that basked the room was pushed away by the smell of food Mia had made and the alcohol in your cups.
“That’s total bull,” you complain to Atlas about the number of infected he’s killed.
He scoffs. “You can’t say that, you weren’t here.”
You pull away from Mia’s arms wrapped around your neck to lean closer to Atlas. “That number is too high. I don’t believe you.”
Atlas shrugs. “Don’t believe me then, but I did kill that many.”
You roll your eyes and meet Apollo’s gaze to press him for the truth. He however shrugs and just shares a small smirk with you.
“I’ll let you off the hook and tell you how many I killed if you say the truth,” you suggest.
“No,” Atlas blurts and pushes you back to Mia with his foot, making you scrunch your nose in disgust. “You were out in the world, your number doesn’t count.”
“Sure,” you snicker. “You old vanity. You just don’t want me to beat you. You can’t take it. You’re too fragile.”
“Whatever,” he grumbles. “Can we just continue with the damn game before someone here talks about herself.”
You smirk. “I am a very interesting person. Just ask your dad.”
Atlas narrows his gaze and scoffs, whilst you and Mia high five.
“Okay, really did any of us get the number right?” Mia’s boyfriend asks to keep the game going.
You look between them all and shake your head. “Nope, you all drink.”
They all groan and Atlas is the one that mumbles of course. “That’s impossible.”
You watch them all take their shots with a playful smirk, but once you land on Apollo, your eyes linger and your smile softens. However, you then catch him shifting his gaze your way so you quickly look away and just feel his stare.
There’s something different about him now compared to before, the look in his eyes, his face maybe. He was never immature as his little brother is still til this day, but Apollo is far more mature than before. More handsome maybe—well he always was you just never gave it too much thought, you were far too troubled for that. And he was—is your best friend….
Damn….there’s that guilt stabbing at you again.
“Okay!” Atlas exclaims and sits up. “My turn, let’s change this game to the Apollo game.”
Mia groans. “Atlas that game is stupid. We know everything about each other—”
“Y/N’s been gone,” Atlas cuts her off. “So, let’s go on. Remember we make a statement about her and if it’s true she drinks, and you are then you drink, okay? Okay! Come on now SunnyD get up.”
You roll your eyes and sit up to drag yourself between Apollo and Mia.
“Okay,” he keeps yelling and does a drum roll on the ground. “You’ve been in love.”
Fuck.
You swallow thickly and get ready to answer, but a knock then raps on the door at that precise moment. Much to your excitement actually.
“Oh!” You jump up. “I’ll get it, you know how much I’ve missed actually answering a door without fearing for my life.” You run over to answer the door, and Achilles gets out of the couch to follow you to the door.
And much to your surprise once you open it you see your dad outside.
“Daddy,” you mutter in disbelief. “Hey.” You sligtly furrow your brows in confusion due to his very much vivid presence.
Your dad averts his gaze to stare at the ground and swallows thickly before stating his reason for this late visit. “Can we talk?” He asks.
Your heart skips a beat, and you grow speechless for a second. “Uh….sure, come in.”
He looks up at you and shakes his head. “No,” he says and glances past your shoulder to steal a glance at all your friends sitting in the living room listening in. “Can we take a walk?”
Must be important if he bothered to come all this way. “Okay,” you whisper and open the door wider. “Come in, I need to grab my jacket and my shoes.” You step aside and he shuffles inside awkwardly, causing the curious dog to sniff him before he runs back to Apollo.
“Uh,” you interject and walk to the end of the hall. “Now that you’re here, meet my friends from when my uncle Tommy and I were fireflies.” You point to Mia first. “That’s my friend Mia. And that next to her is Arthur, her boyfriend. Over there,” you point to the dark haired boy. “Is Atlas, and,” you shift your eyes to Apollo and smile softly. “That’s Apollo. Guys,” you breathe out. “This is my dad, Joel.”
Mia offers him a very faint half smile and simply waves, and her boyfriend does the same, whilst Atlas smirks and throws up a peace sign and a very quick greeting. “‘Sup.”
Gosh.
“Hi,” Apollo greets more properly, but stays sitting down. “It’s very nice meeting you Mr. Miller.”
You glance at your dad and see him just offer them a stiff wave and a dry greeting. “Hello there.”
Better nothing, and better than a gun to their heads.
“Okay,” you breathe out awkwardly. “I’m going to get my stuff.” You offer your friends a quick smile before you run off to your room to get what you need, whilst your mind races and spins with all the different outcomes to what could be said.
He doesn’t seem mad. Maybe it’s about his heart.
Or about choosing…no, it can’t be that. Positive thoughts only.
You let out a deep exhale before leaving your room to join your dad back at the entrance. “Okay,” you encourage him and throw a quick wave at your friends. “I’ll see you guys.” You open the door and walk out to the snowy night with your dad at your heels.
You expect to see Ellie waiting outside, but she’s not here, it’s only him.
“Where’s Ellie?” You ask as he now walks by your side when you exit your yard and now get on the street.
“Uh, she’s at the house,” he answers. “I just…wanted to talk to you. Alone.”
You shoot him a nervous glance and let out a small exhale. “Okay,” you whisper and grow even more nervous. “What’s wrong?”
You catch your dad scratching the back of his head and averting your gaze at all costs. “Just…just give me some time…I’m not that good at this.”
This doesn’t help whatsoever.
“Alright,” you whisper and glance at the falling snow as you take a turn to exit the street you lived on.
“I just,” he interjects and fists his hands. “I just need you to hear me, that's all I want, you don’t need to say anything, you don’t owe me nothin’. I just need you to hear what I have to tell you. Okay?”
You blink rapidly and nod. “Okay,” you whisper.
But he ends up taking another long moment to himself to think of the reason why he brought you out in the cold so late at night. You even pass your uncle's house, his own house that he was given to stay at. You pass lit streets, and only fill the silence with the crunches of your feet against the snow. You make it to the center of town where the large glowing Christmas tree brings cheer to the town.
“I,” he breaks his silence. “I’m sorry.”
You gasp softly and stop in your tracks as his words…words you never thought you’d hear, words he hasn’t spoken in a long time register in your mind.
“I’m supposed to be the one protecting you,” he continues and stops to turn around to face you. “I was the one who was supposed to teach you how to be the person you are now, I was the one who…needed to watch you grow up, but I…I let you down. I left,” his voice breaks. “I left you even if I knew your mother, even if I knew….Sarah would be mad. I left you, I hurt you…” his breath shudders and you can’t hold back your own tears now, no matter how much you wanted to fight them away.
“And I’m so ashamed of it,” he adds as…tears roll down his cheeks. “I am. But I don’t regret it,” he reveals and meets your watery gaze. “Because if I didn’t leave, you wouldn’t be who you are now, a strong, independent woman. You would only be angry like me, you’d be vain, and a monster.”
You shake your head against his words, but don’t say anything, you keep listening to him.
“I just wish I would have done things differently,” he mutters with more tears steaming down his face, tears that shock you to your core, leave you speechless and heartbroken.
“I’m sorry,” he says again in a tearful voice. “I am. There will never not be a day where I don’t regret how I hurt you.” He shakes his head and steps towards you. “And you have every right to keep on hatin’ me, to move on and not deal with me. I don’t blame you, I wouldn't. I just needed you to hear what I owe you.”
You let out a shaky breath and look up to watch the snowflakes dance down from the sky, littering the ground with their white icy texture, and making the ground twinkle against the street lights yellow hue, against the beautiful colors that wrap the grand green tree a few feet away from you. You watch the sky to take in all his words, to gather your own thoughts.
“I…” you murmur against the winter wind that blows past you. “I don’t understand,” you cry and look down at him, but his face blurs because of your tears, and the twinkling lights cloud him and your vision. “Why….why me? I….” you shake your head. “I love too easily…I don’t like to see the reality of things because it makes me sad, I dream too big and too much, I…I’m too boastful,” you sob.
“I’m not strong, I’ve never been. I’ve tried to change for you, I’ve tried to be a better daughter, one—one who you’d be proud of, but I can't, and you can’t ignore it…you can’t,” you shake your head with your quivering lip and step back away from him. “I’m not enough. I'm not perfect like Sarah was, I’m not…important like Ellie, I’m nothing,” you whisper. “You deserve better. You do.”
Your dad lets out a shaky breath and nods as more tears escape past his eyes. “It’s true,” he admits. “You might be a bit boastful, you might see the beauty of the world and hold onto too much hope, your dreams might be too big, but,” he quivers and takes a step towards you. “That is why I love you. I love every bit of it. I have loved it since the moment I held you in my arms for the first time. You…you are everything to me, baby, you are the reason I keep livin’, you are my entire world, and the beauty that this world lost. You are what makes all this worth it, you are everything to me.”
You scoff softly at his words and let out a shaky sob as you find them beautiful yet unbelievable.
“I’m sorry,” he says again and gets close enough so he can cup your cheeks. “I can’t do this without you. I can’t lose you too.”
You grab his hands, you hold onto them as you hold his teary gaze for a moment, before you throw your arms around him.
He’s caught off guard for a few seconds, but he then hugs you back and presses you against his chest and rests his head on yours.
You don’t have the luxury of time, neither of you, and you know you’d only hate yourself if something happened to him and you couldn’t say what you feel.
“I forgive you,” you assure him and hold onto him tighter. “I do. I forgive you.”
He lets out a relieved sigh and clutches onto you as his tears soak your head.
“Will you forgive me?” You ask, and he quickly pulls back to hold your face in his hands and look at you with confusion. “For not trying either. I should’ve tried too. And for that I’m sorry.”
Your dad quickly shakes his head and wipes away your tears. “You have nothin’ to apologize for, okay? Nothing.”
You sniffle and smile softly. “Still, I'm sorry, just take it, okay?”
He scoffs in protest, but nods regardless before he pulls you in for another tight and loving embrace, letting you find comfort in his warmth that wraps around you, and by the sound of his beating heart that eases as you hold him close to you.
“I love you,” he says by your ear. “So so much.”
You laugh softly and nod. “I love you too. I do.”
He gives you one last squeeze before you both pull away from each other and face the Christmas tree in a peaceful silence, hand in hand. You linger there until you remember what you have for him.
“Can I give you an early Christmas present?” You ask rhetorically.
But he still answers. “I don’t have anything for you, and well you shouldn’t.”
You scoff and turn to pull him back to your house.
“Look,” he interjects. “One more thing, about Henry….”
You blink and feel your smile falter.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
You swallow thickly and shake your head. “There was nothing you could do. Nothing any of us could do…” it’s sad to admit now, it tears your heart apart, but it’s true.
“But,” your dad continues. “You’ll be okay?”
You glance over at him and hesitate a moment before you nod softly. “I will. With time. The best thing we can do…is move on.” You know that now after the talk with him, he lifted that weight off you, and helped you from drowning under the depths of the suffocating waters. “As hard as it is, as impossible as it may seem now, we have to live for them, because we don't have the luxury of time….so that’s the best thing we can do, right?”
Your dad lets his eyes linger on you for a moment before he smiles softly. “I would’ve never thought of that…it’s sweet.”
You smile softly and hum, leaving the rest of your walk to your house silent. Once you do reach your house, your friends are still out, but calmer. “Excuse me,” your dad directs at them as you make him follow you to your room.
“Now I didn’t have time to wrap it, but it’s the thought that counts,” you tell him and turn the light on in your room. And luckily the gift is easy to find on your vanity.
“This room is…very you,” your dad comments as you hear him walk over to the corner of your room where your guitar is. “You play better now?”
You scoff and snatch the disc from your vanity to turn and face him. “Yes,” you admit. “I mean I'm not as good as you, but I’m better than I was before.” You grin and then close the gap between each other to hand him his favorite movie, Curtis and Viper 2.
“I never payed much mind to it before, but I watched it for the first time a couple years back, and it’s not bad,” you share. “That is the movie though, right? All I could remember were the funny men from the cover.”
Your dad looks down at the disc in his hands and immediately smiles. “You’re right,” he assures you, letting you let out a relieved sigh. All this time you thought you’ve been wrong—“It’s a great movie,” he adds. “Where you find it?”
You smirk. “I found it in the tunnels at KC. I just never got the chance to give it to you. You like it?”
He meets your gaze and nods. “I love it, baby. Thank you.”
You smile sweetly and clap softly out of joy. He notices your smile and his smile softens.
“It’s not that late yet,” you add, “even if it looks so. My tv works….I can pop it in. If you want.” You suggest.
Your dad doesn’t hesitate—he can’t turn you down, so he nods. “Go on, pop it in.”
You squeal softly and take the movie from him to now head to your small tv. “You can lay on the bed, just take your shoes off.”
He hums, and as you’re putting on the movie you hear your bed sink and shoes thump on the ground. And as overjoyed as you are, someone comes to mind and brings your mood down slightly. Yet you don’t bring her up until you’re laying down next to him watching the previews play with your head on his chest, finding comfort by the sound of his heartbeat and his arm around you.
“About Ellie,” you bring up without shame, hoping he’d be honest. “What are you goin’ to do?”
Your dad lets out a deep sigh and you feel him swallow thickly. “I’m not the man I used to be,” he admits quietly as he caresses the side of your head. “I’m old now. You know that, I’m…not strong enough no more, but…trust me when I say I'm going to do my best by her.”
He’s right about being old, but is he right about letting her leave?
You can’t let her leave with just your uncle Tommy. You know that heartbreak too well, and you know your dad has the best intentions, you wouldn't have seen that yourself before, but hopefully she’ll see it with time. If that’s what he wants. You can’t force him to do anything.
“Alright,” you trust him. “But whatever happens, I’m going with her, I’m seeing her off. For her and for what she can mean to the firefly’s and humanity,” you say softly. “I owe it to Sam, to everyone else that I’ve lost to that infection.”
Your dad lets out a deep breath. “That’s fine,” he says. “That’s good. Your Uncle Tommy plans to take her tomorrow morning. It’s a week's ride.”
You just got home, but fuck it. One more trip and that’s it.
“What about you?” You probe. “What will you do?”
He stays quiet for a moment and watches the movie finally start. “I don’t know.” He breaks his silence.
You sigh softly. “That’s fine,” you assure him. “Just…do what’s best by her, and you. Okay? Promise?”
“I do,” he whispers. “I promise.”
You smile softly. “Good,” you whisper.
——
*THE NEXT MORNING*
Flashlight?
Check.
Extra clothes?
Check.
Books to read?
Check.
Multiple pairs of fingerless gloves that keeps your hands warm but helps with other purposes?
Check.
New cassettes to listen to?
Check.
Every other little thing that goes in the backpack?
Uh….check!
Weapons?
Need to check those out, but it’s all here. Good. You get off the edge of your bed and once you’re at the door you make sure to be quiet since it’s still pretty early and neither person living here gets up just yet.
However, as you quietly step out of your room you almost run into Mia waiting outside of your door with her arms over her chest, and her dark eyes piercing your very soul—she’s pissed. She knows.
“Mornin’,” you greet her with a small smile.
Mia doesn't return it, or return that same energy. She remains pissed.
“Don’t,” she cuts you off. “Don’t smile at me like everything’s okay.”
She might be shy and gentle, but she’s no one to mess with when she’s upset. Like now.
“You’re leaving again.” She knows. How?
You lose your smile and let out a deep sigh. “Yes,” you admit. “I am but not for long. Maybe just a month this time, or even less. I just need to see someone off.”
Mia shakes her head and her brows furrow deeper. “Can’t someone else do that? You just got home from a 2 year trip. A trip you probably barely survived…”
“Mia,” you interject to try and comfort her concern, but she continues and drops her arms to her sides to take an angry step towards you.
“No. No! We waited, I waited for you for 2 years, everyday I prayed that you wouldn’t meet the same fate everyone else did; my mom, my brother. I waited and now you’re leaving again.”
You swallow thickly and quietly mention who you’re going with this time in hopes that would help. “I’m going with my uncle Tommy. I’ll be back, I came back this time. I promise.”
“No, that’s no excuse—”
“And you can’t make me stay,” you cut her off this time. “I appreciate your concern, I do, but I have to see this girl off, I have to make this worth something…I lost people Mia, a guy I loved, and his brother who I adored…he got bit….” You pause and swallow back thickly. “If taking her might be worth something I have to do it for them.”
Mia seems puzzled by what you said since she doesn’t see the bigger picture, but she doesn’t argue now.
“I’ll come back,” you assure and take another step toward her to take her hands in yours. “I promise. I won’t leave after that. I’ll stay home. Just one more trip.”
Mia drops her gaze and hesitates before she nods softly and whispers, “okay. One more.” She then pulls her hands away to wrap you in an embrace. “Come back, okay?”
You return her embrace and nod. “I will,” you assure her. “I swear.” You give her one gentle squeeze before you pull away to offer her one last smile before you continue your way outside.
Yet, of course, as you walk past your yard, there, against the fence is Apollo with a backpack, and Achilles waiting next to him. How the hell did they know you’re leaving?
Did they overhear?
“Apollo?” You question and come to another stop.
Achilles runs to you and rubs his body against you before sitting by your side now, while Apollo turns to face you as he drops his folded arms down to his sides.
“I can get the horses, you check out the weapons.” He peels away from his spot and steps off the sidewalk, whilst you just look at him in disbelief.
“Hold up, where are you going?” You interrupt him.
Apollo stops in his tracks and just peers back. “I’m going with you and Tommy.” He mentions it casually.
You blink in disbelief and let out a breathless laugh. “What?” You shake your head. “Why?”
Apollo turns around completely and looks almost surprised you’d ask such a question. “I accidentally overheard you and your dad talking on my way to bed last night—”
Sure. Accidental.
“I'm not sitting on my ass here while you’re off risking your life and having all the fun—“
You scoff softly.
“Besides,” he adds in a softer voice. “I don’t want to wait for you to come back home again. I’ll go with you this time.”
You breath traps in your throat out of disbelief over his words, and a soft smile begins to appear on your features. “That’s nice,” you tell him. “Very…but…I can’t be who you want…not yet at least. I lost someone, someone I loved, someone I fell in love with. It’s still a fresh wound, ” you scoff as your eyes begin to sting. “I can’t be who you want, or what you want.”
Rather than being hurt, or upset by your words Apollo smiles. “I loved someone too. I was in love with her too. It hurts too. But,” he adds in a soft voice as he takes a step towards you. “I’m not asking you to be my first love, nor do I want to be yours….we can be each other's last, whenever you’re ready, I’ll wait.”
Tears fall past your eyes and you can only whisper. “Okay.”
He grins, but you step back again. “But I can’t make you come with us. I don’t want you to. Your brother is here, your dad,” you insist. “They need you alive.”
“I can die here too,” he interjects. “It doesn’t matter, y/n, I would go to the edge of earth with you. I would’ve had you asked me before.”
Your heart skips a beat, and you can’t help your smile. But as nice as his words are to hear, the answer remains the same. “What if I want you to wait for me here?” You say and now get closer to him. “So you can greet me when I get home. So I can have something to look forward to. A light in the dark.”
“That,” he chuckles softly. “Is the cheesiest thing ever.”
You laugh and nod in agreement, stopping now as you’re only inches away. “Yeah, but will you?” You querie.
He holds your gaze and offers you a soft assuring smile. “I already did, what’s another month or so?”
Your grin widens and you immediately throws your arms around him. He immediately returns the embrace and nuzzles his head on your shoulder.
“Be careful, okay?” He adds.
“I will,” you assure him and linger in his embrace for a moment longer. “You take care too, promise?”
“I promise.”
You smile and pull away to cup his cheek, he offers you a soft smile before he raises his hands to unwrap his scarf around his neck to instead carefully wrap it around yours.
“There, nice and toasty.” He murmurs.
You giggle and hold his gaze for another moment before you pull away before you couldn’t bring yourself to leave, and turn to walk to your uncle Tommy’s house now. You want to look back, but you don’t, you can’t, it’d only make you feel bad for leaving, so you just feel his stare and walk away. You can’t even give it too much or else you’ll feel bad too, you just clear your mind and walk.
Once you make it to the street where your uncle lives you catch him walking out of his own house. He spots you right away, and is rightfully surprised by your presence.
“What are ya doin’?” He asks once you meet halfway in the middle of the street.
You shrug. “Makin’ Maria even more mad.” You glance at his house and nod slowly. “Goin’ with Ellie, and you. Leaving, one more time. And don’t you dare fight me, I’ll fight back.”
Your uncles lips pull into a soft smile and he scoffs as he nods. “Okay then,” he doesn’t question you further, he respects your choice without a fight.
You glance at his house again and sigh. “No pancakes in there, is there?” You ask with a bit of hope.
He shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Well It’s a good thing I ate beforehand then.” You turn and begin to walk to the house Ellie and your dad were staying at. “Wanna go fetch her?”
He nods. “Yep.”
As he goes inside you wait outside and think about your dad now. He said he was going to do right by her, you trust him, but is he really not going to see her off at the gate or even just outside the house? You said your goodbyes last night just in case, but what about her?
“Y/N?” You hear Ellie’s voice as the front door closes behind her.
You lift your head, and offer her a sweet smile and a small wave. “Hey.”
She stops by you and studies you for a moment in this soft shocked reaction before she probes. “Are you coming?”
You nod and begin to follow after your uncle as he leads the way. “Yep. I’ve been gone from home for two years, what’s another month or so?” You tell her. “Besides, I don’t want to miss another hell of an adventure.” You smirk at her, and she offers you a soft smile. “Is that okay?” You make sure regardless of the relief you read on her face.
“Yeah,” Ellie says without hesitation. “Yeah.”
You offer one more smile before you skip ahead to walk at your uncles side. “Stables and then can we get my rifle and pistol? I’ve felt like I’ve been missin’ something all day. It’s weird.”
He peers back and then glances at you to nod. “Of course. How did it go with your friends? Have fun?”
You nod and begin to get ahead a bit. “Yeah. We had fun, we ate some food, we drank, watched Pulp Fiction—which,” you say and look back at Ellie, “we need to watch by the way, when we get back. Sorry, have you watched it?”
Ellie shakes her head. “I never have, no.”
You smirk. “Great movie. You’ll like it, I’m sure of it.”
“Is it romantic? I prefer more action and scary movies.” She says.
You scoff and shake your head. “Nah, it’s not romantic. You’ll like it, trust me.”
“You make a play based off that too?” Ellie comments, making your uncle chuckle.
You shoot her smirking face a narrowed glare. “No,” you deadpan. “I didn't. I couldn’t bring myself to do that to that movie.”
“No but seriously,” your uncle interjects. “Once we come back you need to tell her to make a play, they’re all surprisingly good.”
“Of course they are,” you quip. “And! What is that supposed to mean?”
He smirks. “Just surprisin’ that’s all. Don’t know where you get that talent from.”
You hum and shoot him a pointed glare, and leave at that as you see the stables coming up ahead.
“I get my own horse right?” You ask and run up ahead.
“You’re sharin!” Your uncle exclaims.
“Beats walkin’!” You comment and slow down as you enter the pen. And rather than waiting for them to catch up you walk in the stables to start getting the horse ready.
Albeit, just as you walk in you stop right away as you catch your dad saddling a horse. You know what it means; he changed his mind about staying. So instead of diving into questions you just smile at him as you meet his gaze, and look back as your uncle and Ellie walk in.
“You come here to say goodbye or something?” Ellie asks in an upset tone.
“No,” your dad says. “I came here to steal one of these horses and go.”
He could’ve just asked.
“Well,” your uncle interjects. “I woulda gave you one.”
Your dad pats the horse's neck and looks at his brother. “I know,” he says. “Anyway.” He glances at Ellie. “That was 30 minutes ago, and I guess…” he pauses and walks to Ellie to continue. “You deserve a choice. I still think you’d be better off with Tommy—”
He gets cut off suddenly as Ellie shoves a blue bag of supplies so he can hold, and retorts. “Let’s go.”
Your dad glances at you before looking back at Ellie and adding, “okay.”
Silence follows so you move past them to saddle your own horse since three don’t fit on one. Your uncle helps so the progress moves on faster, but as he does you come to the realization that now he won’t be coming. The only reason he was going was because your dad wasn’t, but now that he changed his mind your uncle stays.
“I’ll make it back before the baby is born,” you break your silence.
Your uncle looks over at you and shoots you a smile. “You better.”
“I’ll make it back before my birthday too,” you add with a playful smirk. “So you better start plannin’, you’ve been let off the hook for 2 years now.”
“You come back and I’ll throw you the biggest party you’ve had,” he feeds to your demand.
You smile softly as you feel sadness in your heart knowing you have to leave him again. “I’ll hold you to it.”
“Wouldn’t expect it any other way.”
You giggle and finish up saddling up your horse to then meet up with Ellie and your dad outside the stable.
“General direction?” Your dad asks your uncle, but he looks to you instead.
“She knows it, she can lead the way.” Your uncle points out. “You remember the school, right Sunny?”
You nod as you caress your black horse's neck. “Yeah. I remember.”
Your dad nods in comprehension, and once he looks back at his brother in front of him they quickly move in and embrace each other. It’s short but sweet, and makes you smile with joy to see that they’re doing okay.
It’s not like it was before, but the love is there.
“There’s a place for you here,” your uncle tells your dad once they’re apart. “For Ellie and you.”
“Countin’ on it,” your dad says, letting your uncle now look at you again.
“You come back now, understand?”
You shoot him a smirk. “Have to. Can’t miss my own party.”
He smiles and lets his eyes linger on you to take in the sight of you one more time.
“Can I borrow that?” Your dad interjects.
Your uncle breaks his gaze away from you to glance at his rifle before meeting your dads gaze. “Yeah.” He accepts and then slides the gun off his shoulder.
“‘Cause Maria took mine, you know?” Your dad says.
“I already said yes, Joel,” he retorts as he hands your dad the gun. “Adios, big brother.”
Your dad offers him a nod before finally moving out. And once you collect your own rifle, pistol, and other supplies you may need, you climb on your horse and head on out. One more time.
But, this time with not such a heavy heart, or a tormented mind.
——
*LATER*
The sound of the gunshot rang against the secluded grass field, and the sound of the bullet breaking a tree trunk echoes out, making you snicker at Ellie’s failure to shoot the close target.
She chooses to ignore you though and shoots again, but once again misses and hits a small pile of snow near the target. And this time you smile at the ground as you shift your position.
She does it a third time, but no luck, so she lets out an annoyed sigh that lets your dad comment. “Wide right.”
Ellie shakes her head in denial.
“You’re flinchin’,” you comment, and unfold your arms off your chest.
“The targets too small,” she rebuttals you and your dad.
“I made it bigger than I should’ve,” your dad mentions and points to the gun. “Eject the cartridge.”
Ellie does so and the bullet falls to the ground first before she argues back. “And I’m not flinching.”
You and your dad share a teasing look before you hum. “Mm-hmm.”
“The rifle just sucks,” Ellie keeps mumbling.
You roll your eyes, and your dad steps forward. “Okay, give It.”
Ellie hands the rifle to your dad with a sigh and another comment. “It doesn’t aim right.”
You crouch down beside your dad as he switches spots with Ellie, and hum again with a little playful smirk on your lips. “Mm-hmm.”
“You’ll see.”
“A deep breath in,” your dad says as he gets the gun ready. “Slow breath out. Squeeze the trigger like you love it.”
“Mm,” Ellie hums as she looks through the binoculars.
“Gentle,” he continues and lowers his head, and closes one eye to look better through the scope. “Steady…nice and slow.”
“You’re gonna shoot this thing or get it pregnant?” Ellie retorts, making you snicker as your dad looks up at her with a disapproving look.
“It isn’t gonna work. It doesn’t aim right,” Ellie continues, so your dad then hits the trigger gently and the bullet hits the target straight on, causing him to lower the gun and look up at her all cocky.
“You dick,” Ellie quips with a grin.
Your dad shrugs smugly, causing you to snicker at Ellie.
“2 out 2?” You suggest smugly.
Your dad smirks and happily hands you the rifle, making Ellie shake her head in disapproval.
“Watch carefully, kid,” you comment as you scoot further in the middle.
“Don’t get the gun pregnant,” she quips.
“Haha, funny,” you mumble and eject the cartridge as you close one eye and aim at the target. “Now…” you trail as you hit the trigger, and the bullet whizzes out and hits the target inches away from where your dad hit it.
“See,” you taunt Ellie and lift your head. “Can I get a bump?” You offer her your fist.
Ellie scoffs lightheartedly and pushes your fist away. “No,” she grumbles, so your dad gently taps your fist with his.
“You guys suck,” Ellie scoffs and turns around to head back to the horses.
You snicker and push yourself to your given height, and hand the rifle back to your dad to quickly catch up to Ellie. “You just need patience,” you assure her and look around the fields. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
Ellie glances at you and then looks back at your dad following at your tail. “Did it take you time?”
You sigh deeply. “Not much, but it’s not because I had much of a choice, I was forced to adapt, forced to learn everything quickly to survive. It’s not super easy for you, but you have it easier, you’re used to all this shit since you were born in it, I wasn’t.”
“So you’re saying I can be better,” Ellie comments.
You glance at her and scoff as you nudge her to the side. “Sure, practice and then we’ll see.”
Ellie smirks and nods in comprehension. Once you reach your horses you continue on ahead down your path, filling the day with silence at times and conversations that come up at other times. Due to the horses it was faster to get around the land, it was also less stressful since they can pick up sounds neither you might hear.
Luckily though they didn’t catch anything bad, no infected or people, the path was clear and the day was easy, making for a calm night in the spot you settled down at.
“Now that we have time,” you interject and grab your backpack from behind you to plop it down in front of you. “I have a Christmas gift for you Ellie.”
“What? Really?” Ellie queries curiously.
You hum and open your backpack. Since what you have for her is placed on top you look over at her sitting to the side of the campfire and add on. “I gave my dad his Christmas gift early, so might as well give yours early too.” You shoot her a smile, and she glances at your dad with slight shock before getting up from her seat to sit next to you.
“Now keep in mind,” you continue and now begin to pull out her gift. “I didn’t have time to go into town to actually shop well, but I do hope you like it.” You fully pull out her gift and hand it to her. “And it’s not wrapped either so sorry.”
Ellie’s smile turns timid as she takes the brown leather holster from you, but she soon grins once she figures out what it is exactly. “No way!” She exclaims and stands up to hook it around her hip. “A thigh holster!”
“Now you don’t have to be scared about shooting off your ass,” your dad comments.
You giggle and nod in agreement as you watch Ellie now tie the last strap above her knee. “Cool,” she mumbles and tucks her pistol in the holster before quickly sliding it out and pointing at the empty space between your dad and you—“Fast move,” she mutters to herself, and then spins the gun around her finger to try and insert it back in the holster all swiftly, but the gun hits the ground instead.
“Jesus, Ellie,” your dad snaps.
Ellie stifles her laugh so as to not piss your dad off and picks up her gun to put it back. However she then finds the tip hits against something inside so she pulls out the gun and digs her fingers inside, and pulls out a leather necklace with a small piece of wood carved into a neat circle with a butterfly burned onto it. On each side of the necklace, over the wood are small wooden beads.
“Is this…” she pauses and her smile softens as well as her eyes. “Is it for me too?”
You nod. “Yeah. The necklace is adjustable so you can have it where it feels comfortable.”
Ellie grins softly and turns the small wooden pendant and smiles wider.
“It has my name on it—did you do this?” She asks.
You scoff and shake your head. “Nah, my friend did. I can’t do that.”
Ellie looks back at the necklace and shifts her eyes to the other thing around it, something small, thin, plastic and shaped like a dull triangle. “What is this?”
You glance over at your dad and let him answer. “A…guitar pick. Uh…I figure that once we go back to Jackson you’ll need a hobby so you won’t get bored, so I thought maybe you’d like to learn how to play a guitar.”
You smile wider and look back to Ellie, seeing her eyes only twinkle brighter. “You play?” She probes.
He nods. “Haven’t played in some time, but yeah, I do. I taught y/n a bit. I can teach you if you’d like.”
Ellie nods quickly. “Yeah, that’d be cool. I’d like that. Thank you, the both of you. I’m sorry I don’t have a gift for you, y/n.”
You shake your head and assure her. “Don’t worry about it. You can make it up for my birthday. My uncle Tommy is throwing me a party.” You share with a sweet smile.
“Oh is he now?” Your dad probes.
You glance at him and nod. “Yep. You guys are invited by the way.”
“I’ll think about it,” your dad teases you, making you scoff and roll your eyes.
“By the way,” Ellie interjects as she ties the necklace around her neck. “Why does Tommy call you Sunny? Is it like a middle name or something?”
“A nickname,” you tell her. “But I don’t know why exactly he does, he just does. I’ve never asked.” You shrug.
“He says it because,” your dad cuts in, causing Ellie and you to look over at him. “Back when y/n was a little girl she always had a Sunny disposition, she was always smilin’. As a little baby she was easy to make laugh too, so one time this song by some 70s band with the same name began to play, and he got it from there.”
Ellie smiles. “Sweet,” she comments, whilst you grin and miss your uncle all over again.
At least this time it’s not as bad as before though, because at least now you do have your father, and are closer to Ellie, so they make it all easier now. They make the long days of riding that follow a lot easier, and even make those days seem quicker. Especially because Ellie has a lot of questions regarding the time before.
Like now for example, as you’re riding on horseback through the woods she breaks the peaceful silence with a question. “So the way they ran stuff in Jackson, was how things used to be?”
“No,” your dad answers this question. “The country was too big for that. Back then there were basically two main ways of lookin’ at things. Some people wanted to own everything.”
“Mm-hmm,” Ellie hums in comprehension, and your dad continues.
“And some people didn’t want anyone to own anything at all.”
“Which one were you?” Ellie asks.
“Neither,” he says. “I just did my job.”
“Which was…” Ellie trails off as she thinks, and glances at you since you had told her once before. “Building?” She asks.
“That’s right,” he answers. “Houses, stores, that kinda thing. We were called “contractors”.”
“The contractor,” Ellie says in a deep voice, making you grin down at your handle—“that’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah,” your dad adds on. “We were cool. Everybody loved contractors.”
Really? Hm.
“Nice,” Ellie says and proceeds to rest her head on his back.
You try to think if he’s right, but you were too young before to know otherwise, and your uncle Tommy never said anything against it so your dad must be right.
“This has been ‘Construction corner with Joel Miller’,” you quote in a deep voice.
Ellie and your dad look over at you, and you laugh.
“It’s what Tess used to say.” You let Ellie know, and remind your dad.
Ellie smiles and then adds her own bit. “The Contractor!” She mocks in a deep voice.
You smirk. “The Contractor!” You mock as well. “Joel the Contractor.”
Ellie laughs and repeats what you said. “Joel the Contractor.”
Where is Tess? You may have not known her long, she might’ve scared you a bit before, but she was nice and cool. You’d ask, but you didn’t want to sour the mood, so you went on going without knowing.
Eventually the day turns to night and so as to not exhaust yourselves you camp for the night; this time in a place deeper in the woods.
“Okay,” you add as you stare up at the starry sky. “So if you could name 3 songs to describe yourself, what would it be?”
Ellie hums, and you glance over at your dad that has his back turned to Ellie and you.
“I wouldn’t know,” she mutters.
“Okay,” you nod. “Then to describe each other.”
You have three perfect songs for Ellie.
Ellie goes silent for a second before interjecting loudly in defeat. “Fuck, I don’t know!”
You giggle, and unexpectedly your dad interjects when he’s supposed to be sleeping.
“Three? For you, y/n, Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, Sunny, and,” he pauses and begins to laugh.
“What?” You probe and flip around to face his back. “What other song?”
“That song you sang for my birthday 20 years ago, by that one rapper named after two quarters.”
“Oh god,” you grumble and flip back around to face the sky. “I thought you forgot that! That’s so embarrassing!”
“Wait?! What?!” Ellie exclaims and flips around to face you and your dad. “What song is it?”
“I don’t know,” your dad says. “Tell y/n to sing it for you.”
“Daddy,” you warn. “Don’t.”
“What?” He chuckles. “It was cute, I told ya it was. She,” he continues and looks over his shoulder. “She dressed up as me that day; she wore one of my shirts, put on this fake mustache, and sang this rap song as one of my birthday gifts. It was great, one of my favorite gifts by far.”
You slap your hands on your face to hide your embarrassment.
“Really?” Ellie probes with a snicker. “That’s nice. Do you remember the words, y/n? I’d love to hear them since you know, I’m not that well up to date about the world before.”
Guilt tripping you? Not nice.
You don’t fall for it, you shake your head. “No!” You deny her, and pull your hands off your face to pull your sheet over your face as you drag yourself further in your sleeping bag. “This is over goodnight!”
“Come on!” Ellie presses you, and you can practically feel her grin. “Just one verse!”
You ignore them and pretend to be asleep. They both then try to press you, but you stay defiant and don’t give in. They eventually drop it after relentless teasing, so the night passes, a day does too and so on until finally that day comes when you’re finally close to your destination.
“Here we were,” you say as you bring your horse, and the other two to a stop in front of the intersection. “We’re here.”
“Well,” your dad interjects. “How ‘bout that? Made it in five days.”
“Easy days,” Ellie says, and you keep on moving now towards the city. “I don’t know what Tommy was so afraid of.”
“Still time to find out.”
“Still time to find out,” Ellie mocks your dad using a deep voice.
You glance over at her and scoff in amusement, while your dad shoots her a hard pointed stare.
“The contractorrrr,” Ellie whispers creepily.
You laugh and play along too. “Joel the Contractor.”
Ellie lets out a chuckle and repeats what you said. “Joel the contractorrr.”
You both share a laugh that’s quickly cut off by your dad.
“Quiet, the both of you, we’re going to enter the city now we don't know what lies ahead.”
You stifle your teasing smile and assure them. “Nothin’, the city isn’t wiped out from infected, but it’s not bad considering it’s where the firefly’s come to. Same goes for stragglers and groups. We’ll be on the clear if we head directly to campus.”
“And that’s where they’ll be?” Ellie asks with no laugh or smile now.
When you steal her a glance you see slight fear and worry, so you do your best to come off confident. “It's where they stay,” you assure her. “They’ll be there.”
Hopefully….
.
.
.
A/N- Why can’t the Miller’s just eat pancakes and be happy? Anyway don’t forget that gesture of reader laying her head on Joel’s chest, it’s gonna come back and bite everyone in the ass iykyk
Tagged- @slut-f0r-u @star-wars-lover @traceylader @givemylovetoall @itzagothamcitysiren @sammy-13 @beloved-reblogger @emiriia @rues-daya @sunfairyy @littleshadow17 @mcu-starwars @bigtuffswordboy @riaqiax @dheet @queenofthekill @joliettes @d4rno @dgraysonss @rana030 @punisherinthealps @pedropascalluvr41 @ahoyyharrington @beaniebeensbaby201 @maeneedsabreak @maelartasch @adristyles @daughterofthequeen @alastorhazbin @ririvilliams @khaylin27 @hypatia93 @hummusxx @v4mpyk1tten @1donoow @your-shifting-gurl
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necros-writing-stuff · 9 months
Note
Eden's new spouse had a diary on them when he took them. Spouse doesn't write in the diary for a bit at first while at the cabin, then starts writing again. Eden's spouse is pretty quiet, so they get curious. Eden reads the diary, and there are a bunch of entries about how awful life was and what they needed to do to survive, then spouse starts writing again and it's all about how much better life is now, and how much they love and appreciate Eden. Cue feels.
Brief, non-specific mentions of types of abuse PC faced growing up mentioned. Other than that, pretty fluffy (with some horny strewn throughout):
Eden doesn't always come back home this early from hunts. This one, however, went pretty badly when he'd stumbled across another hunter's old metal trap and cut his forearm. Of course he'd left his cleaning shit back at the cabin. It was just one of those days where nothing seemed to go right.
You'd seemed frazzled as you buzzed around him, still too quiet to really ask if you could help but the worry obvious in your eyes. That's when he noticed the poorly hidden notebook. You'd tried to put it behind the drawer, but in your haste to appear normal it'd fallen from its hiding spot and Eden finally discovered your little secret.
He kept his discovery to himself. Best that you wouldn't know so that you wouldn't change the hiding spot and Eden would be able to read future updates you wrote.
The chance to find out what the book entailed came early the next morning. Eden had an excuse to laze around a bit with his healing arm, but you were up and out to do chores. He didn't know what to expect. Plans to run away? Gorey scribbles of his head on a pike? Confessions of love for another?
The truth was somehow worse, yet far better.
The hunter's throat had a lump growing in it the further he read. It was a diary of sorts, detailing life at the orphanage before you were taken by Eden. He couldn't read too much of it, every hit and insult dredging up memories of his own he'd rather stay buried. His stomach flipped when he got to the sexual abuse. Goddamn it Bailey. Of all people, he should know better.
Despite the horrific details, there was a hopeful tone to the words he read. A tone that made sense as he continued to read. You'd written all of this after having been at the cabin for a while, having settled in and been allowed the freedom to use Eden's things as your own. Part of him was peeved he'd lost out on using a perfectly fine note book, but it was worth the words he had before him.
"I feel safe here. I didn't think I would ever know that feeling again, but I do now. Eden keeps me happy - which is still strange some days because he did sort of kidnap me. And he was terrifying. But with every new day I just can't help but feel like I might be starting to love him? Just a little bit? Maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome."
That was just one entrance from three months ago. The trend continued.
"Yeah no, definitely lust at least. Caught myself almost drooling at him today while he was chopping wood, didn't even stop staring when he saw me. Ahhhh I must look like a freak to him sometimes. Well ya get what ya didn't pay for mister!"
The hunter couldn't help but chuckle at that. Though his cheeks grew hot from the thought that you'd been oggling him so. He'd have to remember to tale his shirt off while getting firewood more often.
"It's so fucking stupid, but every damn time he lets me sit in his lap and he reads to me I forget everything else ever existing. It's just me and him and the story he's reading, and I never feel so content anywhere else. Well, except maybe when we're doing it. He's getting really good when he goes down on me these days, I only wish he'd do it more often. I think I might have scared him by how hard I pulled his hair last time?"
More oral... yup he can certainly remember to do that. And no, it hadn't scared him at all when you'd pulled on his hair. It had almost made him finish in his pants before he could get to fucking you properly, actually. Hence why he didn't let you do it anymore.
There were more entries that Eden had to save for later, carefully placing your book back into its place and then finally joining you outside to do his share of the chores. A bubbly feeling rose in his chest as he worked, each time he caught your eyes on him only having him remember the words you'd written about finding it a turn on to watch him do jobs around the cabin.
It had been a long time since you'd felt safe. It had been a longer time since Eden had felt desirable. Since he'd felt accepted and loved.
Each day he'd find the time to check if you'd written something new. It was meant to be private, but he felt as though he needed to hear your praise. It became a crutch, a way to tell how the relationship was due to your withdrawn nature. You still didn't speak up very often. The hunter didn't hear your voice as much as he'd like to, so your written word had to fill the void. And it did, greatly.
Each and every compliment made his cheeks grow hot, his back a little straighter and his head was held a little higher. Every small declaration of love felt to be the size of Jupiter. Every moment of frustration endearing. He'd even been using the bedroom tips you had for him - carefully, of course. Didn't want you catching on.
You would eventually. You'd learn that he was reading your diary. But for now, Eden got to enjoy you in his own private way, too.
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lex-feldz · 8 hours
Text
New York
Annabeth picked at the flowers on the table, waiting for someone who probably won’t show. She was at a coffee shop, waiting for her date she met online. It’s not even worth remembering which app it was from, whoever was going to show, would show. (Or not)
Eventually a ruggedly handsome man ushered in, going up to every woman in the place and talking to them. 
“Are you Anna Elizabeth?” He asked, hopelessly. 
“Yes, but I prefer to go by Annabeth.” She said. 
“Awesome. I’m Percy.” He smiled wide. 
“Oh.” Was all she managed, trying not to judge him. 
“I’m sorry I was late. I’m from New York originally and San Francisco has a very different layout than the city.” He chuckled, sitting down across from her. 
“I lived in New York for some time, it’s not too different.” She held her head high, maybe a little peeved at him for blaming his own incompetence on something that has no real ability to change. 
“Oh, cool, where did you live? I grew up in Brooklyn but bounced around Manhattan and the Bronx for the past couple of years. My Ma lives on the upper east side now.” He smiled genuinely, which might have warmed her insides a bit more than she’d like to admit. 
“I grew up in a town just out of the city, Scarsdale? Maybe you’ve heard of it?” 
“Oh damn, that’s, like, close to Yonkers and Mamo? Right?” He smiled.
“Yeah.” 
“That’s awesome, when did you leave?” 
“Before I moved out here for school. I went to Berkeley for architecture.” She gripped her cup. 
“Nice, I never went to college, too expensive.” He flushed. 
“It’s never too late, you know.” 
“Yeah, which is why I’m not worried. Like, my buddy, Jason, he’s been a Yale man since he was born. Guess where he ended up?” 
“Yale?” 
“SUNY Oneonta.” 
“Oh, that’s—” 
“Nothing like Yale, yeah, that’s what I said when he told me.” Percy’s eyes crinkled endearingly as he spoke about his friend, and joked with her. 
“So, what brought you to San Fran, then, Percy?” Annabeth asked, genuine curiosity flooding her. He seemed like such a New Yorker, born and raised, that it didn’t make sense as to why he would leave. 
“I still think of it as where I live, but for now, I’m out here to help my buddy Grover move into his internship. I don’t know, really.” 
“You just go on random dates?” 
“For fun, yeah.” 
“That’s….” She wasn’t really sure. 
“Weird?” 
“Yeah.” She giggled, relieved he said it. 
“What can I say? Some might say I’m a masochist.” 
“Some.” She took a sip of her drink. 
“Some might say that the ones that don’t immediately get up, are as well.” He whispered.
“Oh, well, I— I just like coffee.” 
“If you ever find yourself in New York you should give me a call.” “I will.” 
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