Go to my main @ghostface001

switching my fanfic over to my main acc but will keep this here for a while

[michael-yagoobian]

Illogical Reasoning Master list

A slow burn Stiles Stilinski x OC rewrite fic, OC has a name and I have my own FC for her in the character overview, but I don’t include any identifying characteristics in the fic itself. That might change, and I’ll change tags accordingly.

Summary: Nina and Will Holmes have lived in Beacon Hills, California, for a little over a year by the start of their sophomore year of high school. In their time in the small town, Beacon Hills has always been quiet and boring. On the first day of school, the lower half of a Jane Doe is found in the woods; a Jane Doe that only Nina and Will seem to believe was murdered. Per their mother Imogen’s pleas, the twins agree to stick to the sidelines and let the police do their job, but it’s hard to do when every new development drags them closer and closer to the center of this case.

Illogical Reasoning Ao3

Character Overview

Chapter 1: Migraines

Chapter 2: Classified

Chapter 3: Mountain Lion

Chapter 4: Night School

Chapter 5: The Library

Chapter 6: Mountain Ash

[adonischildsupportcase]

[inthekitschen]

Allison Argent-Coded

Allison Argent-Coded · Playlist · 18 songs

Playlist for Allison Argent

The first time I watched Teen Wolf, I didn’t like her character very much. After rewatching it a few times (and writing a fic about it) I realized a lot of the stuff I disliked about her were the same things I disliked about myself. I still think a lot of her writing was terrible, but she’s a character I see a lot of myself in. Some of the songs in here are just throwaway “vibe” songs, but here are some of the ones I put in intentionally.

1. The Archer - Taylor Swift: Okay, duh. She’s an archer. But I think this song actually captures a lot of her struggle in season 2 & 3.

2. Not Strong Enough - boygenius: Always an angel, never a god. You know she is always spinning out about things that haven’t happened (and things that have). 

3. Stay Soft - Mitski: Stay soft, get eaten. Only natural to harden up. Peak werewolf hunter vibes.

4. Trade Mistakes - P!atD: If I could trade mistakes for sheep, count me away before you sleep. A lot of people dislike Allison for not apologizing after what she did in season 2, but this is one of the things I actually like the writers not including. Especially when she says directly that simply apologizing isn’t enough for her. Considering Vices & Virtues was released the same year as season 1, and season 2 is supposed to take place that same year, I can see this song being played on repeat on her iPhone 4S or whatever was out.

5. Last Words of a Shooting Star - Mitski: Second Mitski song, even more relevant. This is my girl’s song up until and after the end. All of this turbulence wasn’t forecasted. And I am relieved that I left my room tidy, they’ll think of me kindly when they come for my things. 

It’s a short playlist, so more songs are intentional than not. I might go more into each one, but for now, these are the ones that I wanted to highlight.

[alexboakeillo]

Of course I’m obsessed with KP Hob

[michael-yagoobian]

Illogical Reasoning Chapter 6: Mountain Ash

Ao3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Summary: Nina and Will Holmes have lived in Beacon Hills, California, for a little over a year by the start of their sophomore year of high school. In their time in the small town, Beacon Hills has always been quiet and boring. On the first day of school, the lower half of a Jane Doe is found in the woods; a Jane Doe that only Nina and Will seem to believe was murdered. Per their mother Imogen’s pleas, the twins agree to stick to the sidelines and let the police do their job, but it’s hard to do when every new development drags them closer and closer to the center of this case.

This is a shorter chapter, but I hope you like it! I'm excited to write for Nina now that she knows what's going on and the season is starting to wrap up. I usually write 2 episodes per chapter, depending on what happens in the episode and how much extra I add, so I think there will be 2-3 more chapters left for season 1.

As always, please comment on what you like about the story! Please I need validation so badly.

Popcorn, sweets, and nail polish bottles littered the coffee table as The Princess Bride played on the living room television. Allison had never seen it, which was promptly deemed as a crime by Lydia, and it kicked off their girl’s night. Allison sat on the floor between Lydia’s legs as Lydia braided her hair, and Nina sat curled up in the opposite corner of the sofa. 

“Westley, what about the ROUSes?”

 “Rodents of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.”

 Even though Lydia had the film memorized — which, by extension, meant Nina had it memorized as well — all three girls jumped at the large, furry, and painfully obvious fake rodent that was thrown at Cary Elwes. 

 Kate laughed as she passed through the living room. “That scared you guys? Jesus, there’s a lot scarier things in the world than a pillow in a rat costume.”

 “… Werewolves?” Nina repeated, the word leaving a bad taste in her mouth as Chris and Kate Argent stood in front of her. The former fronted an image of stoicism and protection as he stood behind the desk, while the latter leaned against it with a look of boredom. Two sets of armor that, while constructed differently, served the same purpose. 

 “Wow, you can see the data failing to compute in real time,” Kate teased with a grin. She turned to Chris, jerking her head in Nina’s direction. “I told you she wouldn’t believe us.” There was a silent ‘but Allison would’ that followed. From Chris’s insistence on Allison not hearing a word about the attack, to Kate’s attempt at manipulation — “You should be able to tell your friends anything, I can’t imagine how heartbroken Allison will be to know you didn’t trust her enough” — it was an obvious point of contention between the two.

 As idiotic as it made her feel, Nina did believe them. She would have written the attack off as another ‘hallucination,’ if it weren’t for the physical reminders.

 “What the hell happened to you?” Lydia demanded. Nina followed her gaze to her ankle, where her pajama pants had ridden up and her sock fell down.

 Allison turned, both her and Lydia’s attention was on the large, deep purple bruise that circled her entire ankle. “Bruising is a side effect of the medication I’m on,” Nina lied. “It doesn’t even hurt.” Lydia’s hand shot out to test Nina’s statement, but she dodged, shoving her foot into Lydia’s face instead. The girl squealed out protests as Allison laughed. 

 With her hair fully braided, she returned to the couch, effectively stopping Nina’s attack on Lydia. Thankfully, the similar coloring on her elbows and forearms remained hidden by her sleeves.

 Chris sighed, dragging his hand over his face. “I didn’t bring her here for fun, Kate. She was almost killed by the alpha.”

 “So was Allison.” At Kate’s scoff, Chris said something back. At that point, Nina wasn’t listening.

 The alpha. Nina’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Wolves don’t do that.” Both siblings stopped their squabbling to look at her. “Alpha, beta, omega, that bullshit. L. David Mech couldn’t replicate the results, it was disproven.”

 Kate huffed a laugh. “Well, sweetheart, these aren’t wolves. They’re shapeshifters. Monsters.” Her smile fell slightly on the last word, really trying to drive it home.

 “Then why are they called that?” Nina continued, her confusion only turning into frustration. “They don’t act like wolves, they don’t look like wolves—”

 “Some do,” Chris replied. “I’ve only seen a handful that can do it, but some are able to take the form of a wolf.”

 None of this was making sense. Nina rubbed her temples, trying to keep herself calm. “Mech’s book on wolves was published in 1970. Did they display a hierarchical structure before then? Did he know about them and falsely attribute their behavior to real wolves? Or did some asshole read the book and decide he wanted to be in charge?”

 “That doesn’t matter—”

 “Of course it matters!” Nina protested. “Centuries of hunting these things, and you don’t know if there was a shift in their behavior in the last few decades? How bad are you at your jobs?”

 Both Kate and Chris shared a look, Kate tilting her head with a smile. “This is gonna be a long day. Should I get lunch?”

 It was Nina’s turn to get pampered, Lydia decided, as she forced Nina down to the floor with her hands laid out on the coffee table. Lydia took two bottles of nail polish and put one on either side of Nina’s face. She tilted her head, eyes flitting between the two colors like she was deciding which chemical would cause a bigger reaction in an experiment. “Allison, which color would look best?”

 Allison broke her attention from the movie to look at the two bottles. “Uh, the blue?”

 Lydia pursed her lips and gave Nina a knowing look. “It’s periwinkle,” She corrected, setting down the pink and opening the bottle Allison chose. “But good choice.”

 “Girls, it’s getting a little cold. Do you want me to put on a fire?” Victoria stood at the stairs, overlooking the teenagers in the living room. 

 Allison looked up at her mom and shook her head. “No, we’re okay. Thanks, mom.”

 Victoria smiled. “Alright. If you change your mind, you know where the matches are.”

 With Kate gone, Chris faced Nina alone. The girl sat in an armchair across from the desk while he remained standing. “You said I was almost killed by it. I wasn’t.” Chris didn’t respond, only tilting his head slightly as an indication for her to continue. “If it wanted me dead, I would be dead. Just like at school.”

 His eyes closed, the reminder of his own daughter being put in danger just too much to handle. “I don’t know why it attacked you,” Chris admitted. “We don’t know its motives for the murders, either. It’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

 The disbelief on Nina’s features increased. “How? It’s going after people involved in the Hale fire.”

 “The Hale fire was a tragedy.” Chris’s voice was sharp and unwavering. “There were humans and innocent werewolves in that house. Children. We don’t kill those who haven’t spilled human blood. It’s against the code.”

 ‘We hunt those who hunt others.’ It was a bit simplistic, but worked for a family motto being passed down through generations. From what she was learning over the course of this pseudo-interrogation, Chris seemed to truly believe in the code. Still, Nina was hard pressed to believe that someone with super strength, speed, and smell wouldn’t be able to tell that a house was on fire and get everyone out in time. Paired with the identities of the victims, save for the janitor who was still unaccounted for, it didn’t make sense. “So it’s killing people who it thinks were involved,” Nina amended, not voicing her thoughts. Chris saved her, and she was grateful, but she didn’t trust him. Not enough to accuse him or his family of murdering innocents in an isolated building full of hunters. The best course of action was to change the subject. “If they’re human most of the time, how can I tell?”

 ~~~

 Nina sat across from Allison at the lunch table, eyeing Jackson as he walked away with a smug look on his face. “What was that about?” She asked, opening her lunch box. Allison still looked a bit down and unsure; they were probably talking about Scott.

 “I was just asking him if I did the right thing with Scott,” Allison admitted, hair falling in front of her face as she looked down. “I asked Jackson and Lydia, and they said I did the right thing, but they’re… them, y’know? What do you think? I mean, you were friends with him before we started dating.”

 Friends was a stretch. They worked together, and Nina respected that he worked hard enough to make up for being an idiot. And now… it was possible that he was a werewolf. 

 After Chris told her how to spot one, it was obvious. Sudden displays of strength or athleticism; Scott’s new performance on the field, check. Uncontrollable strength; dislocating Jackson’s shoulder, check. Sensitive hearing and smell, his intense reactions to the whistle and the time he actually drooled when the cafeteria was serving ‘mystery meat,’ check and check. Easy to anger, check. Even easier to anger during a full moon, check. 

 She said nothing about her suspicions to Chris. It wasn’t even confirmed. If she knew without a doubt that Scott was a werewolf, maybe she would tell Chris. The fact of the matter was that the ‘code’ only applied to killing those who have killed others. It said nothing about stalking, threatening, or harming those who might kill others. And Nina was confident that Scott hadn’t killed anyone. She was also confident that he had nothing to do with everyone getting trapped in the school. Werewolf or not, he was still a terrible liar, and he was more surprised to see everyone else there than he was about the attack. 

 “What happened on Wednesday night wasn’t Scott’s fault,” Nina said, choosing her words carefully. Allison nodded in agreement. “But, leaving us in the chemistry room just showed us a pattern.”

 Allison’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

 Allison and Scott being together only put the both of them in danger. Allison, from a world that she was still blind to. Scott, from the Argents. Did he know about them? “He invited you to Lydia’s party, which he knew you weren’t very interested in, and then ditched you to fend for yourself,” Nina began. It was likely Scott’s first full moon, and while it couldn’t be helped that he was too out of it, it showed a serious lack of care for Allison or anyone at the party. Assuming he even knew what he was at the time. “Which then left you to get into Derek Hale’s car. Not Scott’s fault, you got into the vehicle of an adult man who was sniffing around a high school party, who also later turned out to be wanted for murder, but Scott still put you in that position.” Even if Derek Hale wasn’t the murderer, Nina wasn’t going to let Allison off the hook for getting in a car with him.

 “Right.” Allison frowned, setting her spoon on her tray. 

 “He then never told you why he ditched you. He’s kept a lot of secrets from you.” Possibly being a werewolf being the biggest one. “Obviously, he deserves his privacy. But you deserve to be with someone who you can trust.” Allison nodded, still looking guilty. “The first time, you ended up in the car with a murderer. The second time, we all ended up trapped in the school and hunted for sport. What do you think will happen next time?”

 The question made Allison lift her head to meet Nina’s eyes, concern and the barest hint of fear in her gaze. Good. The less likely Allison was to take Scott back, the safer everyone would be. 

 ~~~

 At the end of the school day, the halls were mainly empty save for those staying for lacrosse practice. Nina was putting her books away and getting her coat when she heard footsteps approaching. She closed her locker door to see Scott staring her down. “Why would you tell Allison not to forgive me?”

 Cornered by a possible werewolf in an empty hallway. How convenient. Nina sighed, shouldering her backpack. “I didn’t tell her not to forgive you. I reminded her of your previous disappointments and encouraged her to come to her own conclusion. Try showing her that you can be trusted.” 

 She began to walk away, but an iron-like grip latched onto her shoulder, pulling her back to face Scott’s glare. She couldn’t help but not take it seriously. It felt like his face wasn’t built to be threatening. “I can’t show her anything if she doesn’t give me a second chance!”

 Nina’s own annoyance spiked. “This isn’t your second chance, Scott!” She glared right back at him, unable to follow the voice in the back of her mind shouting danger, leave immediately! Her temples pulsed, the onset of a migraine simmering to the surface. “Your second chance was after leaving her at Lydia’s party. Your third chance was after lying to her all night last week. Your fourth chance was after leaving us in the chemistry room when she begged you not to, and then locking us in there! I didn’t tell Allison not to forgive you. I told her that she would be safer without you in her life.”

 Scott blinked, his mouth opening and then closing, a spark of hurt flashing in his eyes. “I thought we were friends.”

 “We’re not.” Nina schooled her expression, her tone just as icy as her glare. She ignored the way her stomach dropped at the look on his face. “We’re coworkers. And if just being your coworker lands me trapped at school with a serial killer, why would Allison ever want to be your girlfriend?”

 This time, when Nina walked away, Scott let her. At the end of the hallway, Will stood, watching them. “Still trying to protect me?” She snapped, continuing past him.

 Will fell in line with Nina, glancing back before leaning in closer to her ear. “I finally got the janitor’s record. He was a serial arsonist. Five separate arrests since he was a teenager in San Bernardino, one being when he started a fire in the urinal during class.”

 “Why would the school ever hire him?” Nina asked, looking up at her brother. Her annoyance dissolved now that there was a new revelation in the case. 

 He grinned. “That’s what took me so long to figure it out. All arrests and convictions were expunged by the San Bernardino police department in 2005. Want to take a guess when?”

 Nina’s eyes widened. “After the Hale fire.” 

 “A month after that, he started working here. Can you believe it? The police were involved as well.” The boy was almost gleeful, appearing as though he was about to jump and snap his heels together. 

 Her first thought went to the Argents. Their day job was arms dealing — mainly to the police. If the police weren’t directly involved in the fire, it wasn’t out of line for them to expunge a man’s arson record in exchange for weapons, no questions asked. 

 ~~~

 Nina and Will sat together on the bleachers, Will recording the changes in the lacrosse lineup. Scott was the new co-captain, and Rodriguez, Taylor, and Stiles — Biles, according to Finstock — were promoted to first line after Greenberg spread a case of pink eye. “We’re doomed,” Nina muttered, watching Stiles trip over a lacrosse stick and fall to the ground. He picked himself back up, looking around and waving to no one.

 Will nodded. “Hopefully Jackson can pull his head out of his arse long enough to make up for it.” 

 A minute before practice started, Lydia sat down next to Nina. “Hey,” She greeted, her voice an octave higher than usual. Nina saw Scott coming from the same direction a moment later and turned to Lydia, immediately noticing her lipstick smudged. There was also a cheap chemical-y scent of pine. “Is there a reason I can smell Scott’s terrible cologne?” Nina adopted a smile as she looked at her friend accusingly.

 “I ran into him inside. He asked me about Allison, and I told him that she didn’t want to talk.” She looked out over the field, running her fingers through her hair.

 Nina rolled her eyes, a pit growing in her stomach. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”

 “We have a deal, Nini,” Lydia sang. “I promised I would stop setting you up with Jackson’s friends if you stayed out of my own endeavors.”

 Endeavor was certainly a word for it. “What you do to make Jackson jealous is your own business, but why would you bring Allison into it?”

 Lydia scoffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Please. This has nothing to do with Allison or Scott. Jackson lost his status as sole captain, now he’ll know he can lose his privileges as sole booty call. It’s just politics.”

 “And this has nothing to do with how Jackson has been treating her a lot nicer than he treats you?” Nina tilted her head to the side, watching Lydia. The shift in how he talked to Allison was obvious, and she knew Lydia saw it too.

 Lydia hummed, peering over the players. “I think Logan is free this Saturday. I’ll go ask him for you.” She stood, grabbing her bag and beginning to step down the bleachers.

 “In the meantime, I’ll tell Allison about your election campaign.”

 She stopped and faced Nina with a smug smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll do it myself. And when Allison totally understands, maybe you’ll finally realize you’re not better than everyone else.”

 Lydia strutted away without another word, leaving Will and Nina sitting alone.

 “That was the stupidest fight I’ve ever seen,” Will muttered. Nina rolled her eyes and watched the field, pointedly ignoring Logan Davis every time he tried to get her attention.

 ~~~

 Nina stood in the examination room, arms folded over her chest as she watched Deaton come in from the back with a few pieces of medical equipment. “Nina, hello.” He set the equipment down and gave her a pleasant smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. How are you feeling?”

 He gave her and Scott a week and a half of paid time off, the plan being for them to start back up the next Monday. With everything the Argents told her, Nina was debating on whether or not she would talk to her boss about it. It seemed best to get a second opinion. “It attacked me at the library on Thursday night,” Nina revealed, watching Deaton’s mannerisms. He began setting the equipment out, along with the sterilization materials. That was her first clue that Deaton knew more about what was going on than he appeared. He always gave someone his full attention when talking to them — save for when there was a patient needing immediate attention, or if he was hiding something. “Chris Argent interrupted before it could hurt me. He explained everything about the Hales, and about the serial killer. He also told me about you. You’re a druid?”

 “I’m retired,” Deaton said, sparing her a look as he continued sterilizing the equipment. “That’s not a part of my life anymore.”

 “You can’t decide that.” Nina stood at the opposite end of the table, laying her palms flat against the cool metal. “It’s a part of my life now, and the Argents don’t know if it will come after me again or not. Their best way of keeping my family safe is posting someone outside my apartment building all night. I need something that I can do myself to make sure we’re actually safe. I don’t trust them.”

 Deaton paused and met Nina’s eye. “Do you trust me?”

 “More than them.” 

 After a beat, he nodded. “That will have to be good enough. Follow me.” 

 He led her to the back supply room. It was filled with every spare supply they had in stock: pet food, collapsible kennels, and blankets. File cabinets lined the opposite wall, each one locked. He pulled a key out of his pocket, opening the cabinet in the very middle and procuring three vials. “Dried plants,” Nina said, her brow quirked.

 “Can you identify them?”

 Nina huffed and took the vials, holding them up to the light. The bottles were unlabeled, but each one held a distinct plant. In the first one, the berries looked more like white raisins, and the leaves were curled into little spirals from the drying process, but the shape of the leaves was still the recognizable oblong teardrop. Mistletoe. In the second, the petals were a darker and duller purple, but the veins were still prominent. Wolf’s Bane. It was one of the things she saw consistently in her research over the weekend. In the third, small, white petals surrounded prominent stamens of a similar color. The leaves were longer than they were wide, with spiked edges. “I don’t know this one. Is it native to California?” Nina looked to Deaton, who watched her.

 “It’s Mountain Ash. A tree found in the mountainous regions.” Deaton pulled a mortar and pestle from a different cabinet before the two returned to the examination room. 

He set them down, and Nina followed suit with the bottles. “I never would have guessed,” Nina replied dryly. 

Deaton chuckled. “All three serve a different purpose, but are equally able to give you what you need.” He gave her a quick run-down on each plant’s properties. Mistletoe warded anything and everything supernatural, while Wolf’s Bane specifically affected werewolves. “Mountain Ash is different. If its ashes form an uninterrupted barrier, it will prevent anything supernatural from leaving or entering that barrier. The clinic is built with its wood and lined with its ashes.”

Scott immediately came to mind. Deaton must have known, right? “But it’s interrupted.” She wasn’t asking.

“Correct.” He didn’t acknowledge any hidden meaning in her words. “We don’t deny service. The clinic was built to let any supernatural being inside, and ward against causing harm. That way, we can safely treat them if they need it.”

Her brow rose. “Do we have something like that for humans that may cause harm?”

Deaton smiled. “Unfortunately, no.” He gestured to the three bottles. “You can use any of them, and it will keep you safe tonight. Or a mixture, if you need the extra assurance.”

All three sat in a line. The Wolf’s Bane and Mistletoe seemed to be more concrete, since they were toxic to both animals and humans. The Mountain Ash made her nervous. How could a plant protect against ill will? Nina picked up the Wolf’s Bane and Mistletoe bottles, setting them off to the side before opening the mountain ash and emptying its contents in the mortar. A quick glance at Deaton revealed silent approval ghosting his face. “I have dogs on my floor,” She muttered. 

Once it was grinded into a powder, Deaton gave her some tree gum and water to make a paste with the instructions to paint it over the door frame. Nina held the bottle in her hands, examining it. It was exactly what she had asked for. Something she did herself. And every question she asked was met with nothing but patience and understanding. Not like the Argents, who got increasingly frustrated. Still, it wasn’t exactly scientifically tested. “How do you know it will work for me?” She asked, looking up at her boss. 

While she had been working, he continued sterilizing the medical equipment. He stopped when she spoke and met her eye. “Because I’ve seen your work,” He stated plainly, as though the answer was obvious. “If you put the same confidence and care into this as you do with our patients, I have no doubt in my mind that it will work exactly as intended.”

It didn’t take long for Nina to retrieve her things and start out of the room, but she paused in the doorway. “Why do they use alpha, beta, and omega labels?” She asked.

He chuckled. “You know, I always thought when you found out, that would be what you got hung up on.”

That night, no one came knocking at the Holmes apartment; human or otherwise. Nina stressed over it all night, which usually led to a dull migraine, but didn’t notice any pain when she finally went to sleep.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Do you have any advice for writing feelings? When I write I find that my worst habit is "this happened. She said this. They reacted this way. They said that. Then that happened." (I think it's better written than that but that's the bare bones) and I can't find a way for me to organically convey what the characters are feeling without relying purely on physical descriptions (face and limbs moving, etc). I took "show don't tell" too literally and now I feel like the writing comes off as robotic.

I’m not sure how much I can help. I feel like this is something I struggle with myself.

I guess the first thing I think of is how the emotion feels inside the body. How we feel emotionally usually have some sort of physical effect; a twisting stomach, tightened throat, pounding heart, shaking hands, anything really.

It doesn’t have to be a physical action, but describing the body on a more internal level can help show what the character is feeling.

If you don’t want to go that route, there is nothing wrong telling the audience how a character feels just so long as you don’t name the emotion directly.

A character isn’t embarrassed, they want the floor to swallow them whole.

They aren’t sad, they just wished they could lay down, close their eyes and dream it all away.

Allow yourself to get creative with imagery. Using the phrase, “it felt like…” isn’t the end of the world.

Internal monologue is also great for this. The benefit of novel format is being inside the character’s head. While subtext is great, sometimes having the character think a quick comeback, but not voice it can show their sustain better than any physical description.

These are just some of the techniques I try to use. I’d also recommend looking more closely at writers you enjoy and really try to break down exactly what they’re doing with their sentences.

I hope that helps!

[akmwrites]

Soft touch prompts

Those types of touches that are feather-like and make you feel tingly in a good way. Touches like:

Face

The soft caress of your lips after the very first kiss.

Caress to the cheek after a moment together.

Gentle wipe of your spilled tears after heavy arguments, a simple gesture that shows you how sorry they are for making you shed sad tears instead of happy ones.

Gentle wipe of dirt on your cheek after enjoying your food too much.

Chin lift to make you look directly at their eyes that just make you follow aimlessly and without much force really. (bonus if they kiss afterward)

When they hold your face in their hands and just look into your eyes and just hold the other softly.

When they lightly wipe the blood off your lip from bitting it too often and softly "kiss it better"

Helping you gently put your earring on and tuck a hair behind your ear to inspect how the accessory looks beautiful on you with or without them.

Helping you put your necklace on and sneak a quick kiss on your neck before complimenting you.

Softly pulling your hair back after being food poisoned.

Worriedly inspecting your temperature after noticing your lack of mood and giving you a chaste kiss on the forehead.

Hands/Arms

Soft hand touches with a light comforting squeeze that instantly assures you they're there.

Softly massaging your hands when you ask them politely.

Loosely holding your hand while you watch and walk around on your date.

Cradling your cut finger after an incident with the knife and tending to your wound with a kiss afterward.

Caressing the back of your hand absentmindedly.

Softly toying with your ring and wondering when they'll get to replace it with a wedding ring.

Softly running their hands on your arms and feeling how cold to the touch your skin is before wrapping you in a hug to share their warmth.

Softly pulling your wrist to pull you closer to them.

softly intertwining your fingers together to hold your hand or twirl you in the middle of the night dance session.

Edit: holy heck guys!!! Thank you all so much for the notes and reblogs!!! I didn't expect this to get this much attention!!! Love you guys!!! 🥰🥰🥰

[skeekjejejeheheehjwjw]

physical intimacy prompts

holding hands during a stressful situation

smiling in-between kisses

touching foreheads

cheek kisses

slow dancing

intertwining fingers

comparing hand sizes

resting your head on your partner's lap

piggy back rides

standing on your tip toes to reach your partner's lips

kissing your partner's wounds

forehead kisses

falling asleep on your partner's shoulder

bridal carries

spooning

rolling over in bed, switching positions during a kiss

embracing your partner

intertwining fingers when making love

nudging into the crook of your partner's neck

being carried/tucked into bed, after having fallen asleep on the couch waiting for your partner to come home

saying ''i love you'' in-between kisses

nose boops

back rubs

tracing fingers down your partner's chest

hand on chest during a casual conversation

bumping into each other

hugs that last longer than they should

showering together

hands around the waist

straddling your partner's thighs

helping your partner undress

playing with your partner's hair

falling asleep to your partner's heartbeat

resting a hand on your partner's back

squeezing each other's hands

sitting in your partner's lap

cupping your partner's face

tickling

spooning/scooting closer to your partner in bed

linking arms with each other

exploring each other's lips

caressing your partner's face

brushing your lips together, lingering for a moment

jumping into your partner's arms

wrapping legs around your partner

tucking a strand of hair behind your partner's ear

pulling your partner into your lap

hugging from behind

lifting your partner off the ground

holding hands across the table

holding hands under the table

bear hugs

caressing your partner's hand

laying a hand on your partner's thigh

literally sharing a sweater

feeling each other's pulse

glancing at each other's lips

falling asleep while cuddling on the couch

climbing back into bed, onto your partner's body to wake them up

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

ok first of all, completely OBSESSED with “Welcome to Hellfire” it was everything i needed and more. and second of all i remember you mentioning that lucy and eddie get into a fight before s4 and that’s kinda why she quits hellfire (i’m sorry if this is kinda wrong but i was scrolling through the tag and couldn’t really find it) and i was hoping you could maybe elaborate a bit more on that. like was the fight just initially about her quitting and it spiraled from there? i know that’s kinda why it was awkward when they first find eddie in the boat house but i crave details

Okay, this is actually something I’ve been chipping away at for a while. I don’t have any exact dialogue but I can give you the broad strokes.

Some background, their fight would take place after the events of season 3.

Hopper and Billy are dead and as far as Eddie knows, the Mall just burned down.

Lucy and Eddie haven’t been hanging out as much as a result, but it looks like things are going to turn around as Eddie’s birthday approaches

Eddie never expects anything from his birthday anymore, between his dead beat parents and his uncle working all the time, there has never been much of a celebration. He honestly kind of hates it.

But Lucy has been dropping hints all summer of doing something fun and for the first time in years, he starts to get his hopes up

She then surprises him with tickets to a metal concert (still debating which band)

Eddie honestly thinks this is it; things have been rocky but he’s going to tell her exactly how he feels about her after the concert

But it doesn’t happen

The night of the concert Lucy and some of the others get pulled away by Hawkins lab for a debriefing on everything that happened

Tests are run, they’re all grilled for details, anything and everything is questioned to make sure this never happens again

Lucy can’t even make a phone call to tell Eddie she won’t be able to make it

By the time they finish up it’s super late and Lucy goes rushing over to Eddie’s trailer to apologize

Eddie turns up not long after to see Lucy waiting on the front step

He drove to Indianapolis, but never ended up walking through the doors

He’s had a few hours of driving and brooding which has done no thing to help his feeling a when he sees Lucy

She immediately tries to apologize, but Eddie cuts her off telling her he didn't know what he expected

Lucy asks him, "what's that supposed to mean" and Eddie goes off

He lists all the times she'd blown him off all summer, how she's been spending time with Harrington and the popular crowd, and has in general been avoiding him

Lucy protests and tells her it's not like that, but Eddie shoots her back with, "okay then tell me where you were that was so important you couldn't even call"

She doesn't answer and Eddie takes that as a guilty conscious

Lucy insists that she can't tell him. If she could she would, but she can't.

Eddie presses her on what that even means, but Lucy doesn't budge

If anything the last twelves hours have driven home exactly why she can't tell him; people who find out about the Upside Down get hurt, she already lost Barb and nearly lost her brother more times than she can count, she doesn't want to see Eddie get hurt

She tells him he's just going to have to trust her

Eddie tells her he can't, because he can't think of anything that would be so bad she couldn't tell him unless she's trying to cover her ass

He tells her he's an idiot for thinking she was different from the shallow assholes that live in this fucking town and he cannot wait to graduate and get the hell away from all of them

Lucy can't defend herself and basically tells him, "well, I guess that's it then"

She can't convince him to trust her again unless she tells him the truth, and she can't tell him the truth because there is no way he'd believe her; she can't win

She tells him she's sorry one more time and leaves crying

They spend the next year avoiding each other with these last words to each other echoing in their brains

Questions torment Eddie every time he thinks of her; what the hell was so important? Was it actually important? Did she really just blow him off? What couldn't she tell him?

Every time he sees her passing in the hallways he just wants to talk to her again, but doesn't want to be hit with a brick wall he knows is waiting for him

Lucy meanwhile just lets the guilt eat away at her from the inside out

She can't blame Eddie for any of the words he said, from his perspective it was completely justified. He had every reason to think the worst of her, but at the same time. She's hurt that he did.

There are so many nights she's stared at her phone wanting to finally break the silence and tell him everything, but then she rolls back over and talks herself out of it

Of course, all her intentions end up blowing up in her face when Eddie gets sucked into everything anyway

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Welcome to Hellfire

Eddie Munson x OC, Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader, Fluff, Awkwardness, First Meetings

Lucy Henderson Masterlist

Summary: It's the start of Lucy's junior year and she's determined to make of the most of it. All she needs to do is convince Eddie Munson to let her join Hellfire. Should be easy, right?

Warning: Mentions of drugs, Eddie being a bit of a jerk, Lucy being very confused

A/N: Hey! Guess who's actually posting when she said she was going to post! Thanks to everyone who has shown their support and as always PLEASE REBLOG AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKE THIS! VALIDATION GIVES ME THE WILL TO KEEP WRITING!!!

Word Count: 3.0K

Lucy took a deep breath, making sure to keep her back straight and eyes forward as she made her way across the parking lot. 

It was the start of her junior year and things were going to be different. No more little miss wallflower for her. She had fought a monster from another dimension and lived. Hell, she even went on a date that wasn’t terrible. They both decided not to go on a second, but that didn’t matter. The point was, she had put herself out there. 

She had her folder. She had her notes. All she needed to do now was find Eddie Munson. 

Eddie was a lot of things according to the rumors circling around Hawkins High.  

Lucy heard all of them and could only bring herself to believe a handful. She didn’t care what anyone said, no way in hell he had actually bitten a kid’s whole ear off. It didn’t matter anyway. What mattered was that he was the leader of the school’s only DnD club, Hellfire. 

For the past two years she had heard them play almost every Friday night while she sewed costumes, painted sets or tinkered with any number of little projects required for the drama department. She always meant to knock on the door and ask to join, but could never find the courage to take that extra step. She had it now and she wasn’t going to waste it.

Taking a quick look around, she easily spotted his mop of brown hair making its way towards an old green and white van. 

“Hey, uh, Eddie?” she called, jogging towards him.

He turned towards her, forcing her to stop. 

It was like he purposefully made himself as unapproachable as possible. She couldn’t think of a time he wasn’t wearing a leather jacket, denim vest and ripped jeans. The only thing that seemed to change was the name of the band on his shirt, none of which she ever recognized. The effect of having his attention solely on her was immediate. Maybe some of the rumors were true. 

Her breath shook his dark eyes gave her a quick once over. 

“Hey?” he answered. 

The nerves disappeared at his tone, replaced by a sinking in her stomach. She knew it well enough. The little question at the end of the hey that all but shouted, “are you lost?” followed by subtle, but equally clear, “do I know you?” 

She wouldn’t let that deter her. Sure standing in front of him now made it obvious how out of place she was with her striped pastel sweater and pink scrunchie. But, she had come to him with a purpose. The only thing to do was stick to it.  

“Sorry, I’m Lucy,” she said, hoping to trigger something.  “Lucy Henderson?”

That did the trick as he snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, Wheeler’s friend, right?”

She held back a wince.  

It wasn’t that she minded being identified as Nancy’s friend. Most everyone called her “Nancy’s friend” first before taking the time to remember her name, if they bothered at all.  She had just hoped it’d be different with Eddie. 

Between lunch time stays in the drama room and late night crunches, they had passed by each other almost every day since her freshman year. Clearly, he hadn’t noticed.  Any hope of common ground had disappeared right out from under her. 

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “Wheeler’s friend.”

It didn’t come out as brightly as she intended. She just hoped it would be another thing he wouldn’t notice.

“Anyway.” She pressed on. “I was wondering. I mean, I was going to ask…I know that you, ah–”

“How much do you have on you?” Eddie cut off, his expression making it clear he wanted to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible. 

“What?” 

“Cash,” he clarified. “How much?”

“Oh, um…” She stuck her hand in her pocket. She didn’t know why. There was nothing there but a few bobby pins and some lint.  “I didn’t bring my wallet.”

“Convenient,” he said, smiling sardonically. “Clearly you’re new to this so listen up buttercup.” He took a step closer, making a point to lean down to her eye level. “I don’t do freebies.”

“I’m sorry?” she asked, unsure where this conversation was going. 

He ignored her. “Bring twenty bucks tomorrow. I doubt you’ll need more than that.” 

“For what? Like a membership fee?”

He blinked. 

She at least had the satisfaction of seeing him just as confused as she was. 

“What?”

“What?”

“I asked what first,” he said. 

“Actually I did,” she countered. 

His lips pressed into a line.  “You do realize that buying weed isn’t the same as buying shit at Price Club, right?”

Her eyes widened. “No! I mean, yes. Of course! I just– I’m not– I’m not interested– I don’t do drugs!”

This only caused more confusion. “Then what are you talking about?”

“Hellfire!” she shouted, sure that her ears were now the same red as her cheeks. “Hellfire! I wanted to ask you about Hellfire!” 

He pulled his head back, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What about it?”

“I was just…” She swallowed. In reality he wasn’t that much taller than her, but the way he was looking at her now made her feel about the size of a baby rabbit. Just another reminder of why she hadn’t spoken to him before. 

“I was wondering if I could join,” she said, willing some of that earlier confidence back into her. “I saw you doing your yearly freshman recruit and I thought; why not?” 

She made sure to add a smile for those last few words. If she was lucky he’d see it as a gesture of good will rather than a threat. 

“You want to join Hellfire?” he said, doubtfully. 

She hummed out a yes. It was the best she could do given the circumstances.

He scoffed as his eyes shifted around the parking lot. It was all but empty now save for them. He seemed to be looking for something, but who or what Lucy could only guess at. Soon enough though, his attention was back on her. 

 “You do know what Hellfire is, right?” 

“It’s a DnD group?” she said, tentatively. “You guys play every Friday night?”

Great, now he was looking at her like she had just grown a second head. He probably thought she was a stalker or something. It’s not like he advertised when and where the club met. What the hell had she been thinking? 

A tactical retreat was in order if she expected to come out of this with any dignity. 

“You know what? It’s fine. You probably have enough members anyway,” she said, quickly, looking down. It was then her eyes caught the folder still held tight to her chest.  An idea struck her.  

“But, ah, could you…?” She opened the folder, shuffling through the pages until she found what she was looking for. “I made this a while back. I tried asking my brother about it, but he kept throwing technical terms at me. I just want to know if I’m on the right track.” 

Forcing her hands steady, she held out the sheet. 

Eddie glanced at her skeptically. Never breaking eye contact, he pinched the page between his fingers and took it.

She held her breath.

It was her first character sheet. Dustin had helped her through the basics. She had also taken the time to check and double check the manual to make sure everything was consistent. It had been fun and she was confident enough to share it with somebody else. At least, she had been that morning. 

Eddie’s brows scrunched together as he realized exactly what he was reading. His earlier incredulous expression shifted to something unreadable, but not unfriendly.  

“Goldberry?” 

“It’s a placeholder,” she mumbled.  

Dustin had suggested Éowyn, but she had thought it was too obvious. Besides, she liked Tom Bombadil. From Eddie’s expression it seemed his tastes were more in keeping with her brother’s. 

“Thief?”

She nodded. 

He titled in head in acknowledgement, before turning the page over. 

“She’s only a level one,” he observed.

“Well, I haven’t played, so…” Lucy shrugged. “I was hoping since you were getting some new blood I’d get a chance to start somewhere.”  

He didn’t say anything right away. His initial hostility was gone, but there was still a question in his face which left her uneasy.

Finally, he came to a decision as he handed her back the sheet. 

“Sorry,” he said. “One level five character minimum. Most of the freshmen have finished a campaign, at least.” 

“Oh,” she said, feeling the first real pang of disappointment. “Well, do you know anyone else who’s starting a more beginner friendly game?” 

“No, sorry.” 

She nodded, not trusting her voice. Well, that was that. There wasn’t anybody else she could ask. If Eddie Munson wouldn’t take her then who would? 

“I can keep an ear out if you want,” he suggested, awkwardly. 

She stole a glance and immediately wished she hadn’t. The guilt he held was obvious. His stern dark eyes turned almost doe-like as he watched her. The thought of him pitying her just made things worse. 

“No, that’s okay,” she assured, forcing a smile. “I’m sorry for keeping you. Thanks anyway. I’ll just…yeah.” 

She turned to leave. Every second she stayed forced the conversation further up her list of most humiliating moments. It was currently making its home safely in the top ten.

“Hey, wait. Just hold on a second.”

A tug on her back pack pulled her to a stop. She turned to see the free strap held tightly in his hand, tethering her to him. 

“Are you serious about this?” he asked. His tone was harsh, but something in his look gave her pause. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you actually want to play or is this a gag? Because if it is, I think the joke’s on you.” There it was again. For all his intimidating airs, there was no shaking the uncertainty of the performance. It was enough to give her hope, at least. 

“It’s not a gag,” she promised. “It just seemed like fun. My brother has his game with his friends, but you know, they’re middle schoolers and he can get really gatekeepy. And besides, who wants to play with their loser sister. I heard you guys and, look, I know it’s not just making stuff up, but I’m actually great at improv. Like I got an A with Mrs. Patricks. Nobody gets an A from Mrs. Patricks. I think I could be a great asset to a party. I learn quickly and even if my character is killed off, I can still do voices and play NPCs or anything really. I just…”

She shut her mouth tight, forcing herself to stop talking. The last thing Eddie Munson wanted to hear was how she could count the number of friends she had on exactly two fingers; or, how she was passed over for parts and partners in class; or, any of the other little pathetic examples of her life that made her feel invisible. He didn’t know her, not even by reputation.

The whole point of this was to put herself out there. She didn’t mind being a loser, she just wanted to find some place where she didn’t feel like the spare. 

She could feel his eyes examining her as if expecting to find some inconsistency in her face. It took time, but slowly he began to nod. 

“Okay,” he said, carefully dropping the tether. “We usually kick off the year with a one-shot. I’ll talk to the newbies and tell them we’re going to take it easy, see how everyone plays together. A couple of those should get you up to snuff.”

For the first time since this whole thing started, Lucy felt like she could breathe.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but hey, this isn’t some little quilting circle I’m running,” he said, pointing a hard finger at her. “You come in, you play like every decision means life or death. Understand?” 

“Yes,” she said, too buzzing with excitement to be intimidated. “Totally. Absolutely.”

He nodded in approval. “Okay. Friday, drama room, 3:30 sharp.”

“3:30, got it.” The grin on her face made her look like an idiot, but she couldn’t help herself. “Should I bring anything? I mean, besides the obvious.” 

“No. Just yourself and tools for battle.” 

She couldn’t say for certain, but she could swear he was suppressing a smile of his own.  

“Great! Thank you.”

She moved with the instinct to hug him, but changed course at the last minute. Eddie didn’t strike her as the hugging type of guy. She instead turned her excited gestures into an extended hand to seal the deal. 

“Really,” she insisted. “Thank you.” 

He hesitated, but only for a moment before taking it in a firm shake. 

“You’ve got guts, Henderson. Let’s see if it pays off.” 

“I think it will,” she said, brightly. “It got me in the door, didn’t it?” 

He laughed. It was a small thing, but it felt like the first genuine emotion she had received. Happiness looked good on him. 

He dropped her hand then, shaking his head. “I’ll be seeing you.”

“Friday, 3:30,” she reminded. 

He raised two fingers to his forehead in a half solute before he turned on his heel and walked away.

Her heart pounded and her cheeks ached with the thrill of it. She had made it through a conversation with Eddie Munson with all her limbs intact.  He actually wasn’t all that scary when you got right down to it. A bit intense, sure, but there was nothing wrong with that. It just would take some getting used to. 

She walked towards the bike rakes with a lightened step. This year was going to be different. She just knew it. 

----------------------------------------------

Eddie got into the van, but couldn’t bring himself to start the engine. Instead, he kept his focus on Lucy Henderson as she walked down towards the bike racks.

He kept waiting for someone to meet her or for her the vere towards one of the few clusters of people remaining. He imagined her joining them before glancing towards the van and laughing with sadistic triumph. It wouldn’t be the first time someone thought it would be funny to string him along. 

None of that happened. She just unlocked her bike, gave him a small wave and disappeared down the road. 

He raised his hand in a wave before he could stop himself. 

There had to be something he was missing. Nobody in Hawkins talked to him unless they wanted something; drugs, a scapegoat, charity case, whatever. He had gotten used to it over the years. The only exception to this were his fellow freaks. 

Henderson wasn’t a freak. She was friends with the princess and spent her lunch periods sitting with King Steve and the rest of them. At least, he assumed she did. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember if he had seen her at the popular table. 

He racked his brain for evidence, but came up empty. 

Perhaps that wasn’t so strange. He never thought of her in his life until ten minutes ago. It wasn’t for lack of opportunity. 

He felt a pang of guilt, flashing back to her faltered smile.  It had only taken a moment after he remembered her as Wheeler’s friend to think of all the times he’d seen her pass in and out of the drama room. Two years of polite “excuse me”s and “hold the door please” and never once did he think to ask what she was doing or even her name. He had to wonder how many times she had been forgotten. She didn’t even try to correct him. 

He rubbed the back of his neck trying to soothe the twisting inside him. 

Why hadn’t he spoken to her? She was cute. Not Chrissy Cunningham cute, but cute. 

She had a nice smile and there was something in the way her face lit up when she thanked him. He’d also be lying if said he wasn’t curious what she had going on under that sweater. 

Was it the awkwardness? Surely that wasn’t enough to push people away.

He took a breath, clearing his mind to take stock of the facts. 

She was friends with Nancy Wheeler, but didn’t run in the same crowd. She was an active member of the drama club and spent a lot of her Friday nights at school by herself. She had read Fellowship of the Ring. Add on the knowledge she could be bullied out of playing DnD by her little brother and only thing he could conclude was, she was exactly what she appeared to be; a sweet, well meaning dork. 

He shook his head. Poor girl wasn’t going to last two seconds in Hellfire. If her character sheet was any indication, she just expected to smile and ask the goblins politely not to attack her. Granted, it had worked on him, but that was neither here nor there. 

Still, he couldn’t deny his curiosity at seeing her play. There was no faking the kind of enthusiasm she showed. It was too infectious.

He turned the key, allowing the blast of music to drown out any other doubts that still lingered. 

Chances were this whole business would come to nothing. He’d put his focus into the campaign. Whether or not Lucy Henderson stuck around would be left to the dice.  He wasn’t going to get his hopes up. 

It was the lie he told himself on the way home. It was the lie he kept telling himself as he looked over the manual in search of low level monsters to lay in the party’s way. And it was the lie he fell asleep to as flashes of bright eyes and soft sweaters faded into nothing. 

Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

[michael-yagoobian]

AGH this made me literally cry. Not literally as a hyperbole I mean actually literally had-to-wipe-my-eyes cry because I was literally Lucy I'm high school. The sweet but well-meaning dork that was in the drama club but never got the part and it always felt like no one ever remembered me. If I ever had a conversation like that with someone like Eddie I probably would've never talked to anyone ever again 😭. I'm well adjusted now but holy shit that was a blast to my past that I wasn't expecting.

Also that was such a spot-on characterization of Eddie (or what I'm assuming he would have been like pre-s4). God I love him, him being a jerk hurt my heart so bad even though you WARNED us but I still love him.

I loved this so much!!!

[denofdreams-writerblr]

soft prompts for couples who aren’t together yet

hugs that last a little longer than they should

immediately looking at the other after telling/doing something funny in hope to see their smile

making playlists and mood boards for the other

trying to learn about the others interests

continuously denying others who think they are together

“no we are not together!! … at least not yet…”

finding similar fictional characters who shares the other one’s MBTI and enneagram type

trying to know little things about them by observing

always giving the utmost attention to the other if they are in a crowd

associating random things with them

getting matching key rings

hanging out together often

[deactivated-blog]

The 'married' couple that is just friends

"You're coming over? bring me coffee I ran out,"

"ah, my friend looks like he's about to kill you, you best leave,"

"I'm going to have to beat people off with a stick aren't I?"

"Man, thanks, I haven't been able to get to the dishes, you're a life saver,"

"do you have my sad hoody? I need my sad hoody,"

"Can you come over? I need your cooking,"

"We have plans! why do we have plans?"

"you're like my child, call me daddy.... nevermind, that sounds wrong,"

"we're going to your parent's for Mom's birthday tomorrow?"

"I left you lunch,"

"who's apartment are we in?"

"I have a key, it's not breaking an entering,"

"I don't care if it's 2am, I'm lonely, come watch a movie,"

"you remembered my snacks right?"

"Did you just get slapped? oh man, I need to high-five them, where are they?"

"Nooo let me sleep,"

"do you remember where I put my purse?"

"Buy me food, I'm broke,"

"Of course, you're my ATM, who else is going to give me money and not expect it back?"

"I forgot my wallet, hey! I need your bank card,"

"This is why I love you,"

" I can't believe you're making me do yoga,"

"What are we married?"

"yeah sure take it,"

"we're out of brain cells,"

"no milk? aw man she hates black coffee,"

"Is it safe yet? I brought Icecream?"

"I got us tickets to the concert, you owe me,"

"if you're going to cry I'm going to punch someone,"

"Hey, hey, It's okay, I'm here,"

"we won!? man, I'm good at this,"

"he did it,"

"excuse me? I was innocent, you corrupted me,"

"you fixed my sink! thanks!"

"I gave a dude your number, he wouldn't stop bothering me, give em' hell,"

"What's for dinner?"

"you have plans that don't involve me? since when?"

"Happy Birthday hoe,"

"isn't this illegal?"

"who's body are we hiding?"

Join us on Discord! with fellow writers and readers. Ask for writing advice, Join game nights, reading sessions, voice parties, and just hang out!

[confessionsofaromancereader]

overly cute and lovey dialogue♡

{i tried to make these gender neutral, but you can of course change them or add in your characters pronouns if you wish!} don’t be shy to use! - ‘don’t smile at me like that,’ - 'you’re literally so adorable i wanna squish your cheeks’ - 'i’m one hundred percent sure you’re all i think about,’ - 'i missed you so much, - 'get over here, cutie’ - 'tell me you love me,’ - i love you so so much!’ - ugh, i hate how cute you are’ - 'how could i ever say no to that face?’ - 'you’re the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen,’ - 'shut up, you know you’re pretty,’ - 'i love it when you hold me here,’ - 'your hands feel perfect in my hair,’ - 'i told you you’d love it!’ - 'look what i made for you!… do you like it?’ - 'gimme a kiss, my love’ - 'you know i love you,’ - 'come, sit on my lap’

[eddiemunsonownsme]

Dating Stiles Stilinski Headcanons

Ok, so these are going to be quite general, later on I'll make some more specific ones.

Him always telling you how cute you are

Always receiving support from him

Making puns and funny jokes and laughing t them

Him snuggling to your neck whenever you're cuddling

Pillow fights and sleepovers

Stealing his clothes, especially that lacrosse hoodie

Piggyback rides when he knows you're tired

He mimics you when he is annoyed by you

Sarcasm, SO MUCH SARCASM FROM BOTH OF YOU

Silly fights with sarcastic comebacks from the both of you

Complimenting each other during a fight

High-fiving each other when defending the other against someone

PRANKS, I MEAN HIS NAME IS MISCHIEF, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT

Expect to get a lot of ass slapping from him

Forehead kisses and forehead touches especially after a battle or after the void Stiles era

Tickle fights

CUDDLES AD HUGS CUZ MY BABY DESERVES LOVE

Making out a lot, in Stiles Jeep

Sheriff Stilinski loves you and thinks you're a good influence on Stiles

Being one of the few people who knew his real name (Mieczyslaw)

Helping him do research on every mythological creature just in case it really does exist

Helping Scott with full moons

Double dates with Scott and Allison

Helping Stiles when he's paralyzed because of the kanima venom

When he's possessed by void, the Oni never attack you

Voi is also attracted to you and he takes you hostage with Lydia

Void likes to call you little dove, to annoy Stiles and bc he likes you too

Being there when Stiles is about to unalive himself to save everyone and begging him not to do it

nearly fainting yourself because he fainted after killing Void

kissing and hugging him after he wakes up

trying to convince him that Allison's and Aiden's deaths weren't his fault

trying to help him through the nightmares

Believing Stiles when he said there was something wrong with Theo

Taking care of him after the Donovan incident

remembering Stiles in pieces when he was taken by the wild hunt

Star Wars marathons, I'm sorry if you don't like them but THEY ARE HIS FAVES

Stiles being protective and pushing you away so you don't get hurt

[letsmakeitwritee]

cliché but classic trope: when the person who almost died wakes up in a hospital bed, looks around and sees the object of their affection sleeping uncomfortably in the chair next to them because they haven’t moved in days.

[i-dont-use-my-main-anymore]

You can pry that trope from my cold dead hands.

[insertnerdyjokehere]

cliché but classic sub trope of this: the person who almost died tells the object of their affection “you look like shit” despite the fact that they are the one in the hospital bed and almost died.

[annabelle--cane]

it's rotten work. especially to me especially if it's you. I'll fucking do it but christ alive.

[michael-yagoobian]

Illogical Reasoning Chapter 5: The Library

Hello again folks! Let me know what you think, and I hope you like the chapter!

Summary:  Nina and Will Holmes have lived in Beacon Hills, California, for a little over a year by the start of their sophomore year of high school. In their time in the small town, Beacon Hills has always been quiet and boring. On the first day of school, the lower half of a Jane Doe is found in the woods; a Jane Doe that only Nina and Will seem to believe was murdered. Per their mother Imogen’s pleas, the twins agree to stick to the sidelines and let the police do their job, but it’s hard to do when every new development drags them closer and closer to the center of this case.

Ao3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Nina spent plenty of nights in hospitals for her migraines. Her first week in Beacon Hills was spent at the hospital for the unrelenting stabbing in the back of her head, and she was in and out of the examination room for the past year and a half. In London, it was a similar story.

 Suffice to say, she was familiar with useless doctors.

 “Did you do your residency online?” She glared at the doctor she didn’t bother learning the name of as he tried to prescribe her sumatriptan. “If you could actually read, sumatriptan made my migraines worse. It’s in my file.”

 He forced a smile. “I must have missed that.”

 “I told you the birth control is working, last night’s episode was due to stress and lack of sleep.”

 “And the lack of sleep was because of?”

 Witnessing a dead human being and an animal getting shot right in front of her in the span of just twenty-four hours. “More stress.”

 He shook his head in disappointment, as though she just said she stayed awake for fun. “You told the nurse that was with you overnight that this was the worst migraine you’ve ever had. How would you rate it on a scale of one to ten?”

 “In comparison to what I’m used to or independently?”

 “In comparison.”

 “Fifteen.”

 He almost scoffed. “On a scale of one to ten, Miss Holmes.”

 She continued to stare at him blankly. “Fifteen.”

 He let out a long sigh. “And independently? On a scale of one to ten, please.”

 “Twenty.” 

 Setting his clipboard down, the doctor stared at her, deadpan. “You stayed conscious.”

 “Barely,” She gritted out. 

 “A ten is barely staying conscious,” He replied. “I don’t appreciate you exaggerating your symptoms in search of pain medication.”

 If only her mother was there to hear that one. She and Will were busy getting Nina’s car from the school, and Jen wasn’t about to just drop him off at the school and trust that he could get it home in one piece by himself. Nina was mentally adding this doctor to the list of the worst ones she’d ever spoken to. “I’m sorry, just how incompetent are you? Or are you so narcissistic that you can’t comprehend anything anyone ever tells you unless it’s your own name?” 

 He didn’t try to glare at her, but it was obvious that he was holding back some choice words. Nina wished he would just say them — it might actually make her respect him. Might. “Nurse McCall is your usual attending. I’ll see if she can come in and see you.”

 “Don’t you dare, it’s her day off!” Nina was informed that Melissa called in to make sure Scott was okay, and she was not going to force the poor woman back to the hospital. He rolled his eyes as Nina sat up further in the bed. “Get Doctor Perez if he isn’t busy, he’s been my doctor before, and he actually knows what he’s doing.”

 His eye twitched slightly. “Of course.” 

 As he all but stomped out the door, Nina shouted after him. “And learn some bedside manners while you’re at it! Fucking twat.” She fell back into bed, glaring at the ceiling as her anger stirred.

 “Abusing the staff already?” Nina looked up to see Danny in the doorway, holding a to-go cup of coffee in each hand. 

 “He deserved it,” Nina grumbled, taking the second coffee from Danny’s outstretched hand once he entered the room. 

 Taking the nearby chair, Danny laughed. “I don’t doubt it. He was Jackson’s doctor when he got his shoulder dislocated. He’s hot, though.”

 Nina rolled her eyes. “Is that why you came to visit? To see if he was working today?”

 He tilted his head from one side to the other, pretending to contemplate the reasons. “No, I actually came to see if Nurse O’Donnel was working today. He isn’t, but I figured I’d stick around and see how you’re doing.” Nina snorted, and Danny smiled softly. “Seriously, how are you doing?”

 With a smile, Nina lifted her coffee. “Never better, Daniel.”

 ~~~

 The moment Nina and Jen got back home from the hospital, Nina went to her room and threw herself on her bed. Too many people in the span of just a few days. She needed a social detox. Nina knew she wouldn’t get that until after the sleepover that Lydia strong-armed Allison and Nina into having at Allison’s, but she could get at least some time alone before then.

 At a knock at the door, Nina knew it wouldn’t be any time soon. The knock was soft and unsure. “Come in, Isaac,” Nina called. Sitting up, she watched as the door opened to reveal the boy. He was already in Will’s room when Nina got back with Jen, and a short while after that, the sheriff arrived. 

 “Sheriff Stilinski kicked me out so he could get Will’s statement,” Isaac explained, still standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?”

 Nina smiled. “I already told you that you could.”

 “Right.” He let out a small chuckle and entered the room, fully prepared to just stand until Nina told him he could sit wherever he liked. Isaac looked around before pulling out her desk chair and sitting awkwardly. “I know you’re probably tired of this question, but how are you feeling?”

 She was tired of it, but it was hard to be annoyed with Isaac for anything. “Better,” Nina shrugged. “The doctor was a dick, but other than that, the night was fine.” They gave her enough medication to make sure she slept and prescribed her with insomnia medication. It was the same drug and dose as Natalie Martin’s.

 “Good.” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, peering around the room before his eyes landed on Nina once more. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

 Nina knew he didn’t mean the hospital. “There was nothing you could have done, Isaac. I was already stupid enough to go there and drag Will with me—”

 “You weren’t stupid.” She was surprised by the certainty in his tone. “You thought you were doing something nice.”

 She snorted. “Is that what Will said?” He was pissed at her once she told him why she actually brought him to the school and showed Will the texts. She highly doubted he gave her the benefit of the doubt when relaying what happened to Isaac.

 “Will’s opinion doesn’t matter.” So he was still angry. Good to know. “It’s like that saying, y’know? Hindsight is twenty-twenty. You can’t blame yourself for something you didn’t know was going to happen.”

 Nina chewed the inside of her cheek and turned to look out the window. Maybe not, but she could certainly recognize that she put her own brother in danger. “What did Finstock say about the sudden cancelled practices?” With the school days cancelled, so were all after-school activities. 

 Isaac groaned and threw his head back, bringing a smile to Nina’s face. “We have to run enough suicides to cover at least one full practice. He said he’ll be able to tell if we don’t.”

 “Oh, I don’t doubt it. The man’s insane.” 

 Laughing, Isaac nodded. “Do you think he’s always been like that, or did teaching completely destroy him?”

 “It has to be genetic,” Nina joked. “Have you heard him talk about his family? The lot of them are nutters.” 

 After about ten minutes of Nina and Isaac talking, Sheriff Stilinski and Jen came to Nina’s room for her own statement. Isaac left with a small wave, and the sheriff stood while Jen sat on the edge of Nina’s bed, resting her hand on her daughter’s knee. 

 “How are you feeling, Nina?”

 Nina smiled politely. “Better.” Yeah, she was definitely tired of the question. “How’s Stiles?” She was mostly asking to be polite, but she did care. He was a victim too, even if it felt like he and Scott were intentionally keeping information from everyone else.

 Stilinski sighed. “He’s… Stiles. But he’s doing well. As well as he can be, y’know?” Nina and Jen both nodded. “I was hoping you could tell me everything you remember from last night. Will told me you were pretty out of it.”

 “I thought I was dreaming for a few minutes,” Nina confirmed. “I don’t know how valuable my statement will be.”

 “I can’t say it would hold up in court, but anything we can get is useful to the case.”

 She nodded once more. “Of course.” Taking her phone out and pulling up the messages from Scott, she handed it over to the sheriff. “I was trying to force myself to sleep when I got these texts from Scott’s phone. Because I hadn’t slept since Monday at that point, I didn’t trust myself to drive and took Will with me. We saw Stiles and Jackson’s cars in the parking lot, and found Scott, Allison, and Stiles in the foyer. When I showed Scott my messages, he denied sending them. Allison said she also received a message from him that he denied sending.”

 “Do you believe Scott sent the messages?”

 Nina sighed. “I did, at the time. I thought he was messing with me. But looking back on it now, he seemed genuinely confused by the texts. He’s a bad liar, so I doubt he could have faked it.”

 “If only you and Allison received the messages, what were Lydia and Jackson doing there?”

 “Lydia told me they gave Allison a ride after Scott stood her up for a date.”

 The sheriff nodded and gestured for her to continue. She got to the part where she saw something outside of the cafeteria when he interrupted her again for clarification. “You saw something?”

 “I thought I saw the creature from the photos of the video store,” Nina admitted with a sigh. “I must have been hallucinating. That’s where I began to believe I was dreaming the whole thing up. I didn’t realize it was real until we got up to the chemistry room.” It was hard to admit. Nina always prided herself on having the facts, but she couldn’t even trust her own mind during the most traumatic experience in her life.

 The only other time the sheriff asked for clarification was with the noise that almost caused Nina to black out completely. “What was the sound?”

 “It didn’t sound human. My best guess is that someone played it over the loudspeakers. It was so loud that…” If Nina even thought about it, it still sent shivers down her spine. “I could feel it reverberating through me. I think it was an animal growling.”

 There wasn’t much of the story after that. Sheriff Stilinski thanked her for her time and began to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway, sending her a guilty smile. “I’m sorry, for not believing you about the murders not being animal attacks. Just know that I’m doing everything in my power to make sure this guy goes to jail for a long, long time.”

 Nina smiled in return, the pit in her stomach only deepening. “Thank you, Sheriff.”

 ~~~

 Family meals were hardly ever a priority for the Holmses, but Jen decided to have everyone sit down together for lunch. Jen and Nina sat on one side of the dining room table, while Will and Isaac sat on the other. 

 Will was currently pretending Nina didn’t exist. It was easy enough; everyone at the table was already tense given the past twenty-four hours, and all he had to do was either not respond when she spoke, or purposefully leave her out. About twenty minutes of that was all Nina could take before she pushed herself up from the table. “I’m going to the library,” She announced, adopting a calm voice.

 Now Will acknowledged her existence. “Why? Did someone leave their house keys in the children’s section?”

 Jen’s head snapped to her son. “William!”

 “No, actually.” Nina beamed, interrupting her mother from scolding him. “I got a text from Derek Hale. He wants to apologize! He actually wants to meet after dark, but I thought I would get there early and do some reading.”

 “That’s almost as stupid as whatever you were thinking last night.”

 “I don’t seem to recall you stringing two thoughts together.”

 Will huffed. “I was a bit busy making sure you didn’t faceplant.”

 With a sneer, Nina rolled her eyes. “How generous of you.”

 “Nina, please—”

 Nina spun on her heel and went to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She shoved books that needed to be returned in her library tote, along with two bottles of excedrin, caffeine pills, her wattle bottle, and a can of bear spray. Her car keys were in her coat pocket, which she shrugged on as her mother knocked on the door and opened it, leaning against the doorway. 

 “I don’t care that you’re in a library, keep your ringer on so you can respond to me if I text or call you. Because of curfew, they close at nine. What time are you planning on coming home?”

 “Nine.” Nina pulled the straps of her tote over her shoulder. “I’m going to the diner across the street for dinner.”

 Jen sighed and nodded. “Okay.” Nina attempted to brush past, but Jen stopped her, her hand resting over Nina’s cheek as she leaned in and pressed a quick peck to her forehead. “Be safe. I love you.”

 “Love you.” 

 Jen watched Nina as she left, letting out a sigh when the front door closed and locked behind her. She went down the hall to Will’s room, knocking on the door and opening it once she heard a confirmation. She tilted her head, staring at her son in disappointment. “Would you like to discuss what that was about now, or later?”

 ~~~

 Whatever the high school students were doing with their two days off, it wasn’t studying. The library was nearly empty, save for the occasional family or older person stopping in. As patrons cycled through, no one bothered Nina as she thumbed through texts on general cognition. The library didn’t carry any specialized topics regarding sleep deprivation and hallucination, so she would need to get something from the Berkeley library when she got the chance. 

 By the time six thirty rolled around, Nina had gone through the entire neuroscience shelf and finished all of her assignments. She gathered her tote with her keys and coat stuffed inside, going to the front desk. “Marta, I’ll be back in about an hour. I left my books out for when I get back. I’m going to the diner; did you want me to get you anything?”

 The young woman peered at Nina over her glasses with a smile. “I’m alright, thank you.” Marta had just graduated with her Masters in library science, and was the new head librarian at the Beacon Hills Public Library. She was good at her job, and Nina liked her a lot more than the previous guy. He always got on her about keeping too many books at her table, and never would have let her leave her things if she stepped away for more than five minutes. She respected the man, but it was still annoying.

 Her dinner was fine. The establishment was never very busy, even around meal rush times, so Nina was able to get in and out in about forty-five minutes. She got back to see Marta no longer at the front desk — probably reshelving — and when she turned the corner to her usual spot, someone else was sitting there.

 Nina knew very well that no one could claim a seat in a public building. In a mostly empty library, however, one would assume that the one spot with books stacked nearby was occupied. Biting back her annoyance, Nina resigned herself to grabbing her things and moving somewhere else. She approached, taking the stack of books and pulling them to her without addressing the man.

 “Interesting reads,” He said, grinning up at her. He was still holding one of the books, the page open to a section she had bookmarked. “Sleep deprivation on the brain. Having trouble sleeping? I know a few remedies.”

 “I’m fifteen,” Nina responded. Usually that was enough to get weird men to back off.

 Seems he was weird and creepy. “So we can’t have a friendly conversation?” He asked with a lax smile.

 Her lip curled in disdain. “I’m not interested in being friendly with a man in his forties.”

 That got him. He was good at hiding it, but Nina saw the almost-imperceptible drop in his ‘nice’ act. He obviously wasn’t in his forties — Nina wouldn’t place him any older than thirty, but it was an easy insult that wasn’t directly malicious. His smile picked back up in a second and he set the book down on the table. “You said you’re fifteen, do you go to Beacon Hills High School? It’s a shame what happened last night.”

 “The janitor was widely loved,” She replied blankly. Oddly enough, that seemed to bother him even more. The side of his face that wasn’t partially paralyzed with a large burn scar twitched into an almost-sneer.

 Nina grabbed the book, sliding it towards her side of the table, when the man’s hand slammed onto the cover. She almost swore she could hear the sound of the wooden table cracking from the pressure. “It’s a shame those students had to witness such a thing,” He said, just as calm as before despite the display of strength. “It makes you think, what were they doing at the school so late?”

 Warning bells had been going off in her mind for the entire interaction, and they weren’t letting up anytime soon. Jen had always instructed Nina to never let a strange man see that he successfully bothered her. She glanced down at his hand. It was just as scarred as his face. “Teenagers aren’t exactly known for their good decision-making skills or impulse control, since the frontal lobe of the brain isn’t fully developed,” Nina replied calmly, despite her racing heart. “My guess is they broke in to pull some prank and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” That was her best guess for Scott and Stiles being there, anyway. The text messages were still a mystery to her.

 The man tilted his head. “Huh. I didn’t think of that.” He appeared to genuinely regard the new information, as he gave her the same smile as before. “It’s nice to see one teenager that has their head on straight.”

 He lifted his hand from the book and stood, strolling away without a glance back in Nina’s direction. It wasn’t until she witnessed him walking out the front doors that she allowed herself to take a deep breath.

 “Nina? Are you alright?”

 The girl startled, almost dropping the books that were gathered in one arm as she spun to face Marta. She had an empty cart, watching Nina with concern. “Yes, I’m alright,” Nina breathed, fixing the books that had shifted in her grasp. “Do you know who that man was? With the scarring?” With her free hand, Nina gestured to the side of her face.

 Marta’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t see him. He must have come in while I was reshelving. Why, was he bothering you?”

 Yes. But what would she say? That he was just creepy while carrying a normal conversation? He slammed a hand down on a book for no reason? Nina smiled and shrugged. “Everyone bothers me.”

 She chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, me too. Here, let me put those away for you.”

 Nina looked down to the books before loading them onto the cart. “Thank you.”

 The rest of her time at the library was spent with the section on California wildlife. While Nina had only seen a photo of the mysterious creature at the parking lot and hallucinated it in the school, if it was native to California, there would be an image somewhere. It wasn’t until Nina opened up the possibility that it wasn’t a native animal that she remembered Allison’s book. The beast of Gevaudan. A French wolf-man. 

 A human being — Derek Hale, according to Scott, which Nina still had doubts about — dressing up in an elaborate pseudo-wolf costume as a means to kill people connected to the Hale fire. And then corner a bunch of kids at the scene of one of the murders. The very thought made Nina want to admit herself to Eichen. 

 When Marta eventually came up to Nina to let her know she was going to shut down the main computer in ten minutes, Nina got her things together and put her books away, then retrieved two for Allison; one on French folklore, and Little Red Riding Hood. The second one was a joke, and one that she would hopefully find funny. 

 The moment Nina stepped outside, she felt exposed. Vulnerable. The same way she felt when that man was talking to her. Hairs on the back of her neck stood as she got her keys out of her bag and left her other hand inside the tote, clutched around her bear spray. Maybe she was just paranoid, but after last night, it was a smarter trait than she usually gave it credit for. She stood at the top of the stone steps and looked around, seeing nothing around her save for anything on the other side of the street, and began walking to her car. 

 At the bottom step, something jumped out of a bush right next to her. 

 Nina screamed and jerked back, tripping on the step before she realized it was just a raccoon that scrambled past. Now her butt hurt. Letting out a sigh, Nina pulled herself back up to her feet. “Paranoia is smart actually” her arse. She wiped stray pebbles and gravel from her palms, then began the walk to her car once more, until something in the corner of her eye stopped her dead in her tracks.

 She turned to see what it was, freezing as a familiar figure with bright red eyes stood at the opposite end of the parking lot. Stood. 

 There was no way she was hallucinating this. The creature kept its eyes locked on her as it slowly lowered onto its haunches, ready to pounce. Nina softly pressed the unlock button on her keys, and the car lights flashed with a little beep. 

 It pounced.

 Nina spun and ran to her car, her hands tightening around the can of bear spray in her tote so hard she almost thought the cool metal would burst in her grip. She was only a meter away when what felt like a large hand grabbed her ankle, and Nina started falling to the ground. Her elbows landed harshly against the pavement, and she spun around, not hesitating to spray the mist directly in the creature’s eyes. 

 The noise it made was a bizarre mixture of a snarl, growl, and howl of pain as it fell back. Nina was able to scramble to her feet and make the final few steps to her car, wrenching open the door. She could see the creature gaining on her once more in the corner of her eye and grabbed the kitchen knife she had sheathed against the side of the driver’s seat, turning and slashing at the creature’s face just in time. It made the same noise as Nina scrambled into her car, slamming the door shut behind her and pressing the manual lock. All of the other doors were locked beforehand, so it couldn’t get in through those. Nina moved to start the car, but her horror rose when she realized her keys were no longer in her hand. She dropped them outside. Looking out the window, Nina saw they were just where she had been knocked down. Along with her phone. 

 The creature’s bloodied face appeared right in front of the window, drawing another scream from Nina as she fell back, scrambling to the passenger seat to put more distance between them. The window occasionally fogged up with the creature breathing heavily against it, but even through that, Nina could see the slash across its face slowly fade until the only evidence that anything had happened to it was the remaining blood. Nina clutched the knife handle to her chest as its clawed hand reached up, dragging down the window with a long scraaaatcch, reaching the door handle. 

 It was toying with her. Nina’s mind flashed to the bus seat, and the barricade it easily broke through at the school. A locked car door was nothing.

 It paused as its left ear twitched. Red eyes were no longer on her as its head turned, and then a gunshot sounded. Nina flinched in her seat, sliding down more. The creature locked its gaze on her once more before running away.

 Another gunshot.

 Blood rushed in her ears as her heart pounded in her chest. She sunk lower and lower in her seat until she was practically folded in on herself, tears welling up in her eyes. 

 At the sound of a knock on her window, Nina startled again. She held the knife out as threateningly as she could while also shaking like a leaf with tears streaming down her cheeks. Chris Argent’s concerned gaze went from her face to the bloody weapon, his jaw setting as he visibly sighed. He knew. He knew what it was. He must have seen it, if he was the one shooting at it. Right? 

 His eyes lifted back up to meet Nina’s, offering what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. In one hand, he held up her phone and keys, then pointed to the door lock. Nina slowly nodded, knowing that if Chris was actually the secret murderer with red contacts or something, she at least had a knife and the passenger door to fall out of. She flinched again when the door unlocked, and Chris stepped into the driver's seat. “Hi, Nina,” He greeted softly, not wanting to agitate her with too loud of a voice. He handed her the phone and started the car. “Your mom was calling when I found the phone. You might want to call her back.”

 Before Nina could do that for herself, her mother’s caller ID lit up. “Mum, hi.” Her voice was tight and shaky, and she pulled herself to sit correctly as Chris pulled out of the parking lot.

 Nina could tell that any scolding that may have been on her mother’s tongue dissipated at the sound of her greeting. “What’s wrong? I called you three times, and you’re supposed to be home by now.” Jen’s voice was a mix of accusation and worry, a tone that all mothers seemingly had perfected.

 Chris tapped the scratched window. Even if her mother wasn’t a super genius, Nina would have a hard time explaining that specific problem. It was better to get it replaced before anyone else saw it. “My car was acting up, I’m sorry. Mister Argent happened to be nearby and called a tow for me. He’s giving me a ride home.” He nodded. 

 “What happened that it needed to be towed?”

 “A fuel leak. It must have started just earlier today, it’s around the time that I needed to replace it anyhow.” It was true, fortunately. She could have that replaced along with her window. Chris pulled into the gas station only a block away from the library, where his SUV sat at the gas pump. 

 Her mother sighed. “Could you give the phone to him, please?” She did just that, hearing Jen thank Chris profusely. 

 Still holding her knife, Nina got the essentials out of her car, and the two moved to Chris’s as he chatted idly with her mother. Once he handed Nina the phone back and she was able to say goodbye to Jen, she hung up. “You’re a good liar,” Nina commented dryly. He acted like nothing had happened, like he was just being a good samaritan in the right place at the right time.

 He began the drive, knowing where to go once Nina told him the apartment building. “So are you.”

 “Not good enough for her.” Jen would know something was up. Hopefully Nina could just convince her that her nerves were a result of trauma. Being unable to leave, something like that.

 Chris chuckled. “Kids never can lie to their parents.” Nina kept her mouth shut regarding all of the times Allison snuck out of the house. He glanced back to the knife. “You keep a chef’s knife in your car?”

 “It’s a santoku, actually,” She muttered. 

 He nodded. “Good. That knife saved your life tonight.”

 Hardly. It was fully ready to rip her face off before Chris started shooting. “What was it?”

 “What did you see?”

 Deflection. He knew what it was, and he confirmed it indeed was a what and not a who. Nina swallowed, biting the inside of her cheek. “I saw the same thing that was at the video store, and at the school last night.” Chris remained perfectly calm, betraying no emotion. “Red eyes, claws, fur. Its wound healed in ten seconds.”

 “Only ten?”

 Nina sat up, staring at Chris. “What was it?” She demanded again, her voice rising. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t human, and it wasn’t an animal.”

 Chris met her eye for a moment before looking back at the road. “You and Lydia are coming over tomorrow night, right?” Nina nodded. Allison was too depressed about Scott to go to either Nina or Lydia’s places, but too lonely to not want to hang out. They were going to have a girl’s night. Now, that was the last thing on Nina’s mind. “I have work near your building. I’ll show you what it was, tell Allison about the car trouble and that I gave you a ride. If you promise not to tell her anything.”

 “Fine.”

 They got to Nina’s building, and Chris gave her another parent-like smile. “Try to get some sleep, kid.”