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You laughed, shaking your head fondly at Eddie—fondly, always fondly, because you really couldn’t seem to look at him any other way.

He stifled a laugh of his own, biting his lip, settling in his seat. He lifted an eyebrow briefly, gesturing for the two of you to go on.

Beside you, Volt nosed the side of your face—it was one of the few times you thought he moved like a cat. His cheekbones impressed themselves on yours, it felt like.

“Let’s give Eddie something to watch?” he whispered. “A little show?”

“Why, you wanna give him one?”

You let a finger trace playfully down his chest.

He guided your hand to his waist instead.

“Well. Maybe later, darling. Be a good little spark for me and tell me what you want. This dance is about you.”

“About us, Volt. You and me.” You caressed his cheek. “How about you lead?”

“Are you sure, darling? You know I hardly mind either way.”

The first time you danced with Volt, you had led.

I find leading and following equally enjoyable, with the right partner, he had said.

It was one of the things you liked about him, the singular thing, really, that made you decide you wanted to kiss him, which, you did.

Of course, your dance had barely been a waltz—it was an excuse to sway together more than anything else, and had been cut short by an extreme crisis of the electrical variety.

Still.

Even in that moment, you saw what style he had, what incredible balance you could have together.

And so this time it was different. This time, you wanted to feel safe in his arms, now that there wasn’t anything to worry about in the club anymore.

For once, you wanted to show Volt how much you trusted him. How easily, really, you’d put your life in his hands. But you were getting carried away.

This was just tango.

You nodded, sure. “You lead.”

Volt placed his right hand not at your waist, but higher. Just past the side of your chest, stopping before the line of your spine.

Before your first lesson, you had been a little afraid of tango—everything you knew about it you knew from every popular impression of it. The head snapping, the intense expressions, and most of all, partners being thrown—across the way, in a quick dip, and down the floor, even.

While tango could consist of some of that, you found, it was rare, and was more often a byproduct of what was really going on—an expression of need through the body.

For another person, for a merging of souls, for a mutually beneficial good time.

In short, for the erotic.

Not sex, exactly, but something more transcendent. Sex came close, but tango could come closer.

Or so they say.

You rested your left hand just past his bicep, near his shoulder. It felt right, you thought. You wanted to feel his muscle shifting through this shirt, wanted to know in advance where he might go. It would, you knew, be futile, but you liked knowing you could feel the dance this way.

You also simply liked how he felt, but there was no crime in that.

He gave you a little wink before pulling you closer, the crook of his elbow somewhere below your armpit. He adjusted to your height, leaning a little, before finally offering his hand.

You clasped it like a lifeline.

Above and around you, a song started playing. For your tango, Volt had chosen something dominated by what seemed to be a multitude of violins, and a lone bandoneon quietly breathing in the background, a steady lighthouse in a dark expanse. The strings kept a high pitch, and somehow sounded light and airy.

Quicker than your song with Eddie had been.

For a little bit, Volt just looked at you, searching. From your left hand, you felt his muscle shift twice—two false starts until he simply looked a little to the side and slowly slid his left foot across the floor.

You followed almost right away, sliding your right, just as he was starting to close the distance with his right foot.

But then you took your time closing the gap.

He had no choice but to wait, his right foot steady, toes pointed, the tip of his shoe to the ground. You took little steps with your left foot, sliding in a zigzag, taking your time to meet your right.

He waited for your feet to finish in their answer before finally dropping his right heel to the ground.

Volt smiled, hovering on the edge of a chuckle, the corner of his mouth twitching.

You felt a little pleased with yourself.

As the violins swelled into a warm chorus, the melody filling the room in earnest, he led you in a turn, sliding his foot once more. You answered the same way, a playful following—drawing it out, biding your time with teasing footwork.

As you tried to close the distance in rapid steps, your ankle accidentally brushed the side of his leg.

He lifted an eyebrow, smirking, before doing it again.

This time, you made no accident of the contact.

When your ankle made contact with his leg, you stayed here. He led you into a shallow side dip. As the dance demanded, you trusted him, and leaned in. Volt carried the weight from your leg almost entirely, bending his knee, before moving back up.

You continued much like that as the melody drew upward into a light, airy ripple.

As far as tango was concerned, a good leading partner’s job was really to make it seem like whoever was following was only being taken along for the ride. In reality, of course, this wasn’t true—any and all steps performed by whoever was following would be entirely their idea.

It was only supposed to look like you were being led.

But Volt led you so graciously, adjusting his own next move by the way you had just answered, holding you close, taking you in his arms, that at times, it really did feel like the whole thing was entirely his idea.

Even as your hand resisted his, as tango called for.

You felt the warmth of his hair, so close to the side of your face. Though you leaned into him over the course of the song, even this closeness seemed to be a byproduct of his leading.

In tango, though, it was all but a perfect mirage.

Because toward the end, as the reediness of the bandoneon finally cut through the strings, you waited much longer than usual to follow Volt.

And as he waited, you understood, with a start, that all along, he had been leading you with a softness.

Almost capitulating, relenting, surrendering to you the entire time.

The song entered its final seconds—the violins drawing out a long, aching phrase, the bandoneon softening to a low breathy murmur.

You realized that the whole time, his leading had actually been a form of yielding.

As the song faded, you finally looked up at him.

A little awed, you said, “Thought you were leading.”

He smiled at you, and kissed down your neck. You felt goosebumps down your back all the way to your ankles.

“I did. That was how I wanted to do it, darling.”

With a chuckle, you said, “You make it easy to love you, you know.”

A shit-eating grin on his face, “Good.”

You laughed, resting the side of your face on his chest, slowly letting go of your hold. You hadn’t danced in so long that you actually needed to cool down somehow, you heart was beating madly.

Up at the bar, Eddie met your gaze. He sat there, just looking at you and Volt. Not saying anything, just smiling.

You raised an eyebrow.

He raised an eyebrow.

When you couldn’t take it anymore, you and Volt finally went back to him.

Later, they told you a little more about what had led them to tango.

Volt was in the middle of explaining how it had all finally come to a head.

“It got to a point where I would sometimes, on purpose,” he glanced at you, “drive him a little mad before a dance…”

“Yeah, you did.” Eddie smirked. “Sometimes I got so annoyed I’d carry on with tango just out of spite.”

“And that, live wire, was really the only way I could know just how much he was hurting.” Volt brushed Eddie’s hair out of his forehead. “You didn’t want to tell me otherwise, did you, darling?”

Eddie grimaced. “Yeah, I… amp, I used to get so angry that I couldn’t… couldn’t fix the…” He broke off into a weak laugh.

“Darling.”

Volt tucked a finger below his chin, persuaded him to look up. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

“Yeah, Eddie,” you said. “Didn’t seem like any of it was. Ever.”

Eddie turned a lovely pink.

Suddenly, Volt’s bright eyes seemed brighter.

“Oh, this is perfect, darling. Now, there are two of us here to remind you of that fact if you do get into one of your adorable bouts of self-loathing.”

“Stop it—“ Eddie whined.

“See, there’s that pout. He’s so kissable when he’s being like this, isn’t he, live wire? I know I certainly didn’t mind it at the time…”

You quickly agreed, “Yeah.” And when Eddie tried to frown at you, you added, “You are, Eddie.” You leaned in to give him a kiss.

He clutched at the side of your face as you pulled away, muttering, “Another one, baby…”

You leaned back in, and he put his arms around you, kissing you again.

“Whatever you want.” Eddie gave you a smile and leaned closer to you. You put your right hand a little past his waist, settling on his lower back. You felt his palm press behind your shoulder, bringing you closer.

You couldn’t help it—you pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Eddie’s mouth.

“Kisses are to be reserved for after tango!” Volt playfully exclaimed, his elbows settling behind him on the bartop.

You chortled, “And hecklers will not get their turn…”

Volt put a hand to his chest in mock indignation, “I can’t believe you’d be out to hurt my feelings this way, live wire.” Try as you might, you couldn’t help but giggle. Damn it.

“Did you have a song in mind, baby?” Eddie chuckled in your ear.

“Volt can choose,” you said, glancing at Volt, the glimmer in your eye a peace offering. Volt winked at you, “Leave it entirely to me, my sweet spark.”

Volt queued a different song, this one faster, less elegiac. More moderately paced than what they danced to, this one had an equal assortment of strings and percussions—cellos and pianos dominating, with bandoneons (what you mistakingly called accordions the first time around) providing much of the background melody.

For a moment, you felt at a loss about how to lead Eddie through it.

Sensing your trepidation, he offered you his outstretched hand. You took it.

And when you pressed your weight into it, he did, too.

This was another thing about tango—it was a test of commitment. You leaned into each other, you provided your end of the weight, contributed equally to the balance needed. You, under any circumstances, do not allow your hand to go limp.

You stay and hold firm.

And so you did—you pressed your weight into Eddie’s space, trusted the force of his hand.

He did, too.

You took a moment to figure out how to begin, just looking at him; he observed you in return. Waited.

Eddie had a way of taking you unaware with his gaze—it was a real privilege to be on the receiving end of it at all. Unlike Volt, who had no qualms about looking anyone in the eye, Eddie didn’t like regarding just anyone. And so his grey gaze came to be a benefit bestowed upon the object of its direction.

Which, at the moment, was you.

And so, you decided, that was how you wanted to lead. You decided that for the entire song, you wanted to get lost in Eddie’s eyes.

You decided it was more important than wide, expansive footwork—more important, even, than traveling across the floor.

At the end of a long cello line, you took your first step, sliding your right foot slightly to the side. Eddie followed with his left. You put some force on your right foot, leaning into Eddie’s space—he leaned back, adjusted for the new weight. Still looking at you, regarding you.

You sprung back.

Pressing your hand onto his back, you brought him with you, resting back on your left foot. You felt his palm press onto yours, felt him adjust for balance.

As the cello drew out the melody, at the end of the resonant opening, as the piano started to meet the cello in a shimmering note, was how you began with Eddie.

You swayed that way for a bit—small steps, barely any footwork, relying on the transferring of weight, taking turns upholding the balance, rocking back and forth.

Even the way you gazed into each other’s eyes seemed a weighty negotiation, alternating in intensity, almost unrelated, something beyond the simple act of seeing.

From where Volt was, it seemed the two of you were dancing not to the music, but to this strange concentrated look.

Lost in Eddie’s eyes, you begin a sequence.

Stepping your left foot forward, you tug at his hand, spinning the two of you a little in place. As you did, your ankles crossed, your weight shifted. Eddie clutched your hand to accommodate it.

He glanced down briefly.

And quickly looked back up once he had located your foot—staring at you so earnestly, this look of almost admiration you could never quite grapple with.

You repeat the steps.

That was how tango with Eddie went. Small steps, small spins, small repeated moves side by side. Another spin to unwind your ankles, then stepping again, spinning, crossing, doing it over and over. He sometimes glanced down to look at your feet, but returned to you every time—observing, looking, seeing.

It wasn’t perfect, but no first tango was.

In Eddie’s arms, you suddenly had the impression that this was maybe what life was all about. Maybe this was what people meant when they said that tango was for right now.

When the piano notes resounded, its cascading keys briefly taking precedence, you leaned more into Eddie—he leaned more into you.

And as the cello and the piano faded together, a deep steady swell over measured chords, your torso crushed into his, his gaze crushed into yours, your heart, you felt, crushed into a million pieces.

At the last second you moved your hand, higher, from where it was just above his waist—pressing on the center, near the small of his back.

Eddie’s palm moved, too, lower, pressing just above the curve on your back.

No longer clear who was leading who, for the last few seconds of the song, he leaned back—you followed. You pulled him back to you—he followed.

The piano faded out in a steady pulse, slowly falling.

Only the low resonance of the cello remained to finally draw out the song.

Then a final note stretched finally into silence.

The music had faded, you knew, but you couldn’t quite tear your eyes away.

It was Volt that finally broke the spell.

“Bravo, bravo!”

He put his hands together for a resounding applause.

You both looked at him—a pleased grin on his face, his eyes shining.

“That was incredible, darlings.”

You give him a shy half-smile, feeling Eddie press a kiss to your cheek.

You turned your head to kiss him fully in turn, smiling into it now, a little in disbelief.

“Love you, live wire,” he murmured against your lips. If you weren’t so close to him, you might have missed hearing it at all.

“Love you, too, Eddie.”

He ran a hand up and down your back.

Tags: @elodiah @blackbirdofasgard @lokimobius @kcscribbler @loki-is-my-kink-awakening

Sixty-nine-point-six-six. Volt's thumb rubs over Eddie's knuckles, still holding his hat in his free hand. Eighty-six-point-seven-two. Eddie's grip on his hand relaxes a little, the pain medication kicking in, the ambulance rocking as they drive towards the hospital. Eight-hundred-seventy-four-point-nine-three. They pull to a stop at the ambulance bay of the hospital, the doors flinging open in a hurry. The EMTs pull the gurney from the vehicle, and Volt follows them out, hand still wrapped with Eddie's. Nine-hundred-point-oh-oh. Volt is ushered into the ER waiting room. Eddie is rushed to Radiology for x-rays. Nine-hundred-twelve-point-one-three. Full of too much restless energy, Volt paces the length of the waiting room. There are eyes on him, but he can't bring himself to care. Not until he knows Eddie's going to be okay. One-thousand-twenty-six-point-seven-four. He should call Beau. He decides to wait till he gets news. He still has Eddie's hat. Three-thousand-six-hundred-sixty-two-point-five-seven. A nurse comes into the waiting room, calling him over. Two of Eddie's vertebrae and his right femur are broken. He asks about prognosis and recovery. Three-thousand-nine-hundred-forty-three-point-six-eight. He calls Beau. Offers to work on the ranch in Eddie's stead. She declines, telling him to focus on helping him recover. She'll hire someone to work in Eddie's place until he can come back. Volt hopes Eddie will be able to go back to working on the ranch. Twenty-one-thousand-eight-hundred-sixty-four-point-seven-one. Eddie's out of surgery and in a recovery room. Volt's allowed to visit. He's told that Eddie's still under anesthesia but he should wake up soon. He hasn't changed, still in his rodeo gear, Eddie's hat held in his hand as he's led to the room. He finally sits down.

Fun fact + so y'all don't have to do the math: 21,864.71 seconds is just over six hours (it's like. six hours and four minutes)

I'm taking a guess for how long the repair surgery would take between the broken vertebrae + his shattered femur, but five-ish hours felt right if that makes sense, I didn't do in-depth research for duration

I'm really loving this format for this piece, I'm happy with it~!

Softness in the Storm

You were having a rough day today in particular, the whole day was causing you stress, your mind was wondering again as usual. You felt a bit of dread this morning when you woke up, you didn't wanna deal with today at all, you wanted to just stay in bed all day and forget about this day. You realize it was your depression, putting these dark negative thoughts in your head again. (You're worthless, not good enough, why would anyone want to be with you. You’re a drag to be around, no one likes you, why do you even exist, you're annoying, just die already.)

You've dealt with your depression before back when you were younger in your teen years, but you didn't understand what it was back then and thought you were just having a bad day instead. You always tend to keep it to yourself and never wanted others to worry about you, especially your parents, they didn't believe you had depression, that you were just being emotional again and faking it.

Since you tried to have a conversation with them about it and they brushed it off as “You depressed? You're being dramatic again.” or “You're not depressed, it's just you going through some weird teen phase.” You just laughed it off and said “Haha, yeah you're probably right I'm just being silly again haha… I’m joking, hah”

After realizing your parents wouldn't be of any help you just stop looking for help and start hiding your depression from others, to never let anyone know or worry about you, so they wouldn’t make fun of you or think you were being a pain again. You didn't have many friends growing up so you couldn't go to anyone for help either, why risk the chance of getting made fun of or sharing your emotions with others that would toss you away like trash. You don't need others' help, if they don't believe you, why let them know when you can mask your emotions.

You've dealt with it when no one was around, like crying alone in your room so nobody can see or hear you. You hated the idea if anyone saw you cry and comforted you. It made you feel weak, and worthless, they would probably make fun of you for being so emotional all the time. So you started masking and pretending everything was fine around others, fake smiles, laughing, and pretending to have the energy to do activities you didn’t wanna do.

So when you eventually got the Dateviators delivered to your doorstep, at first you were a bit freaked out to see so many Dateables in your house that actually wanted to talk and hang with you. You did shelter yourself a bit at first, not wanting to deal with meeting so many objects that have seen you around your house but you eventually got comfortable around some Dateables that didn't make you feel scared and nervous. Some of them did make you feel a bit kind of safe and have some courage to talk to others again. You still didn't fully open up to all of them because they were still random objects in your house, but when you visited the Breaker Box and met Eddie and Volt and got to know them more, you felt something you never felt before.

They made you feel safe and comfortable in their bar, Volt always greeting you with his flirtatious charm, escorting you around and making you feel loved and taken care of. His ways of making you laugh for real and slowly opening up a bit about yourself around them. Eddie makes you specific drinks to your liking and kicks other objects out of the conversation when they bother you when you're overstimulated or not in the mood to talk.

You eventually started to see Eddie and Volt more often than usual because you might have a crush on them and you just love hanging around them so much too because they put so much attention and care into you, that you thought no one would ever want to be around. So when you helped with the reset and eventually got the situation figured out and helped them, they expressed their feelings for you, you couldn't be happier and told them you felt the same way. You started dating them and would always come to the Breaker Box to hang out to see your boys and they love seeing you come around so they can give you all the affection and love you deserve. You still haven't fully opened up to Eddie and Volt about your depression and you don't want them to ever see you that way.

So when you have one of those depressive episodes you just tell them you're not feeling well for today, just tired from talking around the house helping other objects for the day and that you'll see them tomorrow. All you need is some rest, even though you were lying to them. You can't risk that for your relationship with your boys, but one day they might find out, so you'll see how long you can hide this for now. Eddie and Volt have been hanging around you for awhile so, they have picked up on some cues of your behavior. They know when you try to hide something from them by the way your body language tenses up, but they never wanted to push you on the topic or make you uncomfortable. They know you're hiding something, they just don't want to intrude or scare you away. So they wait for you to open up about it, when you're ready. You casually tell them you're not in the mood for the day to visit and need some alone time, they want you to come to them and tell them your worries so they can help you. So for now they wait patiently for you and ready whenever that time comes up.

So one day when you wake up and feel like absolute shit, you don't even want to get out of bed, you know it’s gonna be a bad one today, but you promised to see Eddie and Volt later that day because you had told the same excuse too many days in a row because of your depression being a bitch. You’ve done this many times back then when you had to mask it, today wouldn't be any different for you.

So you practically force yourself out of bed to get ready for the day trying to pick out a decent outfit, after getting ready you realize you need to kill some time before you see Eddie and Volt later. So you have to talk to other Dateables, that’s gonna be a bit tough since you didn’t feel like seeing anyone but your boys today, but you must push forward. You decided to talk with Betty since she knows you well out of anyone else, plus she does know about your depression too. You aim the Dateviators at your bed and Betty appears in front of you.

Betty greets you as usual “Hey lover, how are you holding up” “Hi Betty, barely hanging in there, but I’ll be fine I swear” Betty frowns a bit looking at you. “Are you sure you want to go tonight, with how you’re feeling, you can stay here tonight if you want too.” You sighed “I can't Betty, I promised to see them tonight, I know I feel…like shit but I can’t ditch them again. It feels wrong to do that again, I got this. If it gets worse I’ll tell them I had another long work day helping other Dateables around and I wanted to push myself through the day to see them. I can apologize to them, say my goodbyes and kisses, then no one will be any the wiser.”

Betty just looked at you and sighed heavily. She speaks softly to you. “My love, you eventually need to tell them about your depression you deal with, I know they would love to help you, you know that right?” You just stare at her for a minute trying to register what she said, would they not be disgusted with your emotional unstable emotions, you never considered if anyone would understand you and how you felt, you kept them hidden from everyone why would anyone care now. You realized you zoned out too long when Betty asked you that.

“Sorry Betty, I don’t know if I'm ready yet to tell them about it, I'm…still a little scared, you understand right, when I’m ready I’ll talk to them about it.” Betty just smiled and came over to give you a big hug. You hugged her back. “I know you’ll open up to them soon, so I’ll be here to help you out when you are ready, okay.” You almost started to cry but you stopped yourself before you accidentally showed any emotions, knowing Betty is there for you, makes you feel safe with her and that you can trust her.

“Thank you Betty, it means a lot to me for you to say that.” Betty gives one last hug and lets go of you. “You want to hang with me until you're ready to head over to see your boys?” That does sound like a good idea, maybe you don't need to force yourself to talk to others, that will drain you before you see Eddie and Volt. “I’d like that, thanks Betty.” You and Betty rest together in bed cuddling together until it's your time to leave.

After a few hours go by, it starts to get a bit dark outside when you glance at the clock in the bedroom and see it’s almost time to head over to the Breaker Box. You get up off the bed and get yourself ready again, fixing your clothes and hair again, you look in the mirror for a minute, sadly you still feel like shit, you sighed heavily. Why did today have to be one of the days to deal with this, you feel a heavy weight in your chest and almost regret getting out of bed again. You smack your face and refocus at the task at hand, visit the boys and not let your mask slide off, you got this.

You take a few breaths and walk your way to the hall closet and look at the Breaker Box, you aim the Dateviators at your Breaker Box and everything transforms into the club you know by heart, the bright neon sign that says “Breaker Box”, the stage where Volt does his hosting, the objects that come to perform their acts and last but not least the bar where Eddie attends for the night, making all his signature drinks for the patrons. Of course you couldn’t forget about your charming boyfriend who’s already seen you come in and approaches you and is ready to greet you.

“Livewire so happy to see this evening, I’m so glad you could make it tonight.” Volt is already hugging you and plants a sweet kiss to your lips, making you giggle and blush at him. “Of course Volt, I always love seeing my two favorite people ever.” Volt stares back at you and smiles back, but he can tell you feel a bit tense by holding your body. “Livewire you feeling okay, your body feels tense, did something bad happen today?” You almost freak out by how fast he can tell some things off about you but you answer back fast enough to reassure him.

“Oh, I’m fine baby, just a long day for me. I had lots of work to get done around the house today. I'm a little tired but I swear I feel great.” You put on a smile and use one of your cute nicknames for him and hope he takes the bait. Volt, still unsure by your answer, doesn't push but smiles back and starts rubbing your shoulders and lower back to loosen the tension in them. “If you say so Livewire, but if anything comes up you let me or Eddie know, we are here for you okay spark, we can help you promise.”

You stare at Volt trying so hard to keep that mask on and not show the pain that’s getting worse in your chest by each second. Maybe Betty might be right and you should tell them about this but you still don’t know how they will react and it's a busy night. You wouldn't want them to shut down the club because you were having another depressive episode, once again you zoned out and need to answer Volt before he gets any more suspicious. “I promise Volt, I’ll let you or Eddie know if something comes up, Thank you.” Volt smiles back and kisses your cheek. “Good spark.” The nickname makes you blush red, damn this handsome man and his flirtatious ways.

“Shall I take you to your VIP table or do you want to see Eddie at the bar?” You think about it for a second. “I want to see Eddie please.” Volt chuckles at your response. “Anything for you Livewire.” Volt guides you to the bar and Eddie already sees you two approaching, he smiles when you get closer. “Hey Livewire, happy you could make it.” You smile big when you see Eddie and go up to him and give him a kiss on the lips. Eddie wraps his arms around you while kissing and humming during the kiss. “Good to see you spark.” You giggled. “Always happy to be around my loving boyfriends.” Eddie smiles back at you and looks at Volt, he can tell somethings on his mind and they stare at each other for a while. They have this way of telling each other things without saying anything to each other, it's like a telepathic way from Eddie creating Volt and they know what the other is thinking. You still haven’t understood how it works but you know he's informing Eddie on something and hopefully it's not about you. Eddie nods at Volt and smiles back at him.

“Livewire, do you want me to make you a drink tonight?” You weren't sure if drinking in your state of mind was a wise decision but saying no might give them hints you aren't feeling well, you’ll just have to do small sips so it wouldn’t affect you too much. “Yeah I’d like that Eddie the usual please.” Eddie and Volt stare at each other by your response and just ignore it for now. “Okay, I’ll get that ready for you.” You go to sit on the bar stool to watch Eddie prepare your drink. Volt walks behind you and starts rubbing your shoulder again. “Well, now that I know our dear spark is being taken care of by Eddie, sadly I have to go back to host for the rest of the night. When I am all done I’ll give you all the attention you need, my love, I wouldn’t wanna miss our darling Livewire.” You blush at Volt trying to hide your expression, Eddie sees it all and chuckles. “Heh, cute.”

You're not sure if you could hold up much longer with their flirting or the deep pain increasing in your chest. You luckily hide that one down deeper and laugh a bit at them reassuring everything is fine. Volt gives you one last kiss on your head and heads back to the stage to announce the next act. Eddie turns around to grab the ingredients for your drink. You have a minute to yourself to collect your thoughts and calm yourself down, you then realize you may have made a terrible mistake coming tonight. The mask you are fighting to put on is slowly slipping and the feeling of dread is hitting you harder, you’re not sure you can last much longer. Maybe during the middle of the show you can sneak out and go back to your room so no one can see you cry in pain. Eddie eventually snaps you back to reality when Eddie brings you a whiskey sour and a glass of water next to it. You look confused at the drinks then look back at Eddie.

“I didn’t ask for water?”

“I know but in case you didn’t want the alcohol, I brought you some water as well.” You were a bit nervous thinking he knew something was up with you, so you thanked him and grabbed the whiskey sour and sipped it. Eddie just smiled back at you and went to attend the other patrons at the bar. You started drinking more of the alcohol and occasionally taking sips of water so Eddie wouldn't question you not drinking the water.

Your brain started spiraling with negative thoughts, (Why are you here, you feel like shit, why didn’t you just stay in bed today, this was a mistake. Eddie and Volt don’t want to see you like this, all emotional, they will hate you, they will leave you when they see this side of you. Stop lying to them, that's not a healthy relationship. You are a burden again. You're pathetic.) You couldn’t handle this, it was getting bad, you'll be a complete mess right in front of everyone, especially in front of Eddie and Volt you need to hide somewhere now.

You think for a minute and remember, Eddie and Volt always let you hang in their room if you get overstimulated or just want to hang with them after hours. This could be your escape to recoup yourself, you call Eddie back over and he immediately comes to your aid. “What is Livewire, you need something?” “Yes I do, Eddie, can I go chill in your and Volt’s room for a bit? I need a quiet place, the noise is getting a bit loud to me. I promise I’ll be back, I just need a minute to calm myself.” Eddie looks at you a bit concerned but will do anything to help you.

“Of course spark, you want me to walk you to the room?” Any other day you say yes but you need to be alone right now. “Um, no, I’m good, I know where to go, I practically know it by heart, I’ll be fine.” You put on a smile so he doesn’t see you slipping. Eddie’s lighting brows frown at your response, saddened that you declined his help. “Okay spark, but if you need anything or something happens you call me and I’ll be there for you” You nodded at Eddie and responded back. “Of course Eddie.” You walked up to Eddie and kissed his cheek to reassure him you were okay, he blushed a tiny bit and watched you walk away.

After you were out of sight you practically ran up the stairs to their bedroom and shut the door. You didn’t think you could hold on to your mask any longer, when you realized you were finally alone, you needed to get your emotions out by crying right now. Good thing it was already dark in the room so you could feel more comfortable in this situation then you walked yourself to their bed and climbed on the bed to the center and put yourself in a fetal position, knees to your chest and arms wrapping around your knees. Your breathing was increasing by each second and having a hard time keeping it under control, then your thoughts were coming faster and stronger.

(Why did you even agree to hang tonight? You are a loser, lying to Eddie and Volt, how could you, you’re a terrible partner. You can’t even do one thing right. How can someone like you be alive, your worthless, pathetic, an evil person. You should be dead, you're wasting your life. Eddie and Volt would be better without you, why have an unstable emotional person who can’t even do anything right. Your so stupid you couldn't even kill yourself back then. You deserve to die alone.)

That last one hit you hard, then you felt the tears coming fast and not stopping, you were a crying mess, hyperventilating faster, body starting to feel numb, losing control of your breathing, you were trying your best to hide your sounds of pain and sniffles so no one could hear you. A few hours went by but it felt like an eternity to you. You weren’t sure how long you were in there but you started to hear footsteps approaching the door. You’ve never been caught in this situation before so you panic, you need to hide, you can't let them see you like this but it was too late and saw Eddie open the door and walk in.

“Livewire, it’s been hours you sure you're feeling ok-” The first thing he saw was your tear stained face and puffy eyes, looking absolutely terrified at being found like this. “Livewire?” He immediately ran to your side and approached slowly. “Livewire! Are you okay, spark, what happened tell me.” You couldn’t run from this, you were trapped in this situation and almost started crying again. All you could say was “I’m sorry, Eddie! I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for, are you okay, talk to me spark.” You didn’t know what to do in this situation, you were trying so hard to not to cry again in front of Eddie. Eddie could tell you were trying to holding back your tears, “Livewire, it’s okay to cry, if you need too, it’s okay you're safe, I’m here I got you,” You couldn’t hold the tears any longer your body reacted and grabbed Eddie so he was closer to you and hugged him tight, then you started balling your eyes out. Eddie hugs you back tight and starts hushing and telling you everything is okay. “ It's okay spark, you're safe I got you, I’m not to leave you.” After a few more minutes pass by letting your emotions out, you calm down and come back to your senses, you hear a gasp at the bedroom door, you and Eddie both look up and see Volt staring at you both in shock. Volt also sees your tear stained face and freaks out as well.

“Oh Livewire! What happened to you.” Eddie speaks up. “She hasn't said anything yet, I just found her crying all alone in here. I was giving her time to let her emotions out, then let her talk after.” Eddie looks at you and wipes your tears from your face. “How are you feeling, spark, you feel any better?” Volt comes over to join you two and sits next to Eddie and looks at you waiting for your response. You stare at them for a bit trying to collect yourself and catching your breathing. “Yeah…I feel a…little better.” You try to turn your head away but Eddie grabs your chin and brings you back to look at him straight into his eyes. “Okay baby, are you ready to tell us what is happening with you?” You take all the courage to bring up the topic you were hiding from your boyfriends for awhile. “Yeah, I am.” Eddie lets go of your chin, Eddie and Volt both wait patiently for your answer. You take a deep breath in and out.

“Okay, I deal with depression, and have really bad days when I don’t have any energy to do anything. It puts these dark thoughts about myself in my head and I believe them. I usually put up a mask so no one sees how I’m really feeling so they don’t have to worry about me. If it’s really bad I hide myself in my room and cry alone so no one sees me crying, because I hate when people see me crying. I don’t want anyone to deal with my stupid emotions.” Eddie and Volt both look at you with frowns and sadness. Volt speaks first. “Livewire, why didn’t you tell us you were dealing with this?”

“I didn’t want you guys to see this side of me, I thought you wouldn’t want to be around me like this, so I hid it from you guys.” Eddie and Volt both grabbed you and hugged you at the same time. Eddie speaks first. “Livewire, we couldn’t imagine a life without you, we love you so much.” “I agree with Eddie, we would be so sad without you in our lives, you changed our lives so much, you help us too, we love that you chose to be with us. It hurts me to see you suffer, without us being there for you. You know we would have been there for you if you ask, right.” Eddie interrupts. “I knew something was up with you, we just didn’t want to push you baby, we can help you, you know that right.”

You almost started to cry again hearing that your boys want to help you and not judge you. Volt grabs one of your hands and kisses it and looks into your eyes. “It’s okay Livewire, you can cry in front of us, we love you and would never hurt you. We are here to make you feel safe and protected.” Eddie hums and nods agreeing with Volt’s response. “We love you baby.” Eddie grabs your other hand and kisses it too. You didn’t know if it was their kind words or them saying they loved you, no matter what it was, it caused another wave of emotions to hit you and you started tearing up again. You didn’t hold this one in at all, you let it all out with a loud cry and held your boys close. They both hold you tight back and whisper small praises to help you feel safe.

“We got you baby, there you go let it all out. We aren’t going anywhere, we are here for you.”

“That’s our Livewire, our perfect spark, our lover.”

Hearing all their soft praises and the warmth of their bodies next to you, made you feel safe and loved. You weren’t sure how long it’s been but after all that crying, you started to feel a lot better, you got really tired and a bit dizzy. You mumbled “ Thank you, I love you both so much. I’m getting sleepy now and a bit light headed.” Eddie and Volt both wipe your tears and then kiss your cheek and you hum from the affection. Eddie smiles at you. “You want to sleep here tonight, with us?” You just nodded your head and hummed at him not having any more energy to speak. “Mm-hmm.” Volt laughs at your cute response. “I’ll take that as a yes. I'll go grab you some water to help you with your head.” Volt gets up to go grab some water from their kitchen. Eddie keeps his arms wrapped around you and rubs your arms up and down in a smoothing motion to keep you calm and gives you small kisses on your cheek. You sit in silence for a bit until you break the silence.

“Thank you again Eddie, I really needed that. Also I’m sorry for keeping this hidden from you and Volt.” Eddie pinches your sides and gets a high pitch sound out of you. “Hey! What was that for?” “Eddie laughs at your little cute sound he loves getting out of you. “Don’t apologize spark, I know it must have been tough dealing with alone, but me and Volt were sad you didn’t come to us for help. You know that right.”

“Yes Eddie I know, I… just always got told I was faking it and no one believed me, I was scared you guys see that side and… maybe not want to be with me anymore. I didn’t want you guys to worry about it.” Volt walks back in and hears that last part, he gives you the glass of water then joins you and Eddie on the bed again. You take a sip of the water and give it back to Volt, he sets it on the night stand. “Livewire, you know that’s not true, we will do anything to help you through this, we would have known you wouldn't lie about something that's hurting you. I’ll say it as many times to keep it in that pretty little head of yours. We love you Livewire, we are here for you, you helped us, now it's our turn to help you. We’ll get through this together little by little. I promise.” Eddie adds on.

“Exactly if you ever feel like you're having a depression episode come to us and we will drop whatever we're doing and we'll be there for you and listen okay spark.” You looked to Volt then to Eddie processing everything they just told you and smiled back at them. “I love you both so much, thanks for listening to me, that’s all I ever asked for.” Eddie and Volt both kiss your cheek and lay their heads on each side of your head and hum in sync. In this moment you never felt safe with anyone before while dealing with your depression, you finally felt seen by your lovers, they wanted to help and be with you. You cried again but for the first time it felt like happy tears and no pain in your chest, it felt free and calm. Eddie and Volt both wipe your tears and start to give you kisses up and down your face and neck, laughing then giggling loud at their kiss attack on you. “Boys! Please! Stop it!” Besides your cute sounds you make, Eddie and Volt loved hearing your real laugh, they always knew you were the happiest when you laughed like that. Eddie and Volt both spoke up at the same time.

“Theirs our Livewire.” You look back at them and smile big. “My boys, you both know exactly how to make me laugh and forget about my worries.” Eddie and Volt both pulled away from you and Volt took the opportunity to grab your face gently and kiss you on the lips. You melted from the kiss and always loved the feeling of Volt's tender kisses, you whined at the loss when he pulled away but then Eddie grabbed you and returned the warmth to you with his lips on yours. This was everything you needed right now and you wouldn’t change it at all, Eddie pulled away. “Alright then, are you ready for bed now, baby?” “Yes I am.” Since Eddie was closest to you he took this opportunity to pick you up bridal style so Volt could get the bed ready. You nuzzle your head into Eddie's neck, he kisses the top of your head and you hum from his kiss. Eddie smiles at your affection.

“Spark, you are so cute when you do that, right Volt.” Volt looks up and sees the most adorable scene in front of him. “I agree, my two favorite people who I love so much.” Volt walks over to kiss Eddie on the lips, then kisses your head. “She is adorable isn't she.” You start nodding off to sleep trying to stay awake to be with your boys more. “Let's get her to bed, looks like she's gonna fall asleep in your arms instead.” Volt chuckles, seeing Eddie's face start flushing. “Come on spark, you want us to help you get into something more comfortable to sleep in?” You yawn but respond back as best as you can. “Yeah…I liked that.”

Eddie puts you down on the bed and helps you get out of your clothes you had on earlier, ready to get them off so you can sleep with them. Eddie gives you one of Volts shirts to wear and Eddie's shorts which you love wearing when you are with them. After you are done changing, you crawl into their bed and settle into your spot in the center of the bed. Volt and Eddie take off their clothes, keeping their boxers on and get into bed with you. Eddie lays his hand over your waist, then Volt does the same thing, putting his hand over Eddie's hand, keeping you locked between them, like you're gonna disappear before their eyes. They both speak at the same time. “Goodnight Livewire, we love you.”

“Yeah. We… I didn’t know it was gonna be a huge problem yet, but it was… around the time the lights started flickering.” He rinsed the last two cocktail glasses. “I was… not being very… patient with Volt.” He gave Volt a wry smile.

Volt grinned, “What our dear Eddison is trying to say, darling, is that he was being a bit of a little bitch to me.”

“Y-yeah… that.”

“Now could you imagine Eddie being short-tempered at all?” Volt teased, gathering the stage wires in a neat bundle.

“I… I wasn’t sleeping very much, trying to figure out why the lights couldn’t be fixed.” Eddie chuckled, “Volt suggested learning to tango.” He started putting bottles back on the shelf. “At first I thought he was just trying to distract me—”

“Oh, I was, darling. I needed time to figure out what you needed, you see.” He sighed and glanced at you, “It took dancing that close to finally figure out just how much pain he was hiding, live wire.”

“Yeah.” Eddie paused for a moment. “I was being…”

You raised an eyebrow, amused, “A bit of an asshole?”

He flushed, “I… you know what? Y-yeah.”

He gave an embarrassed laugh, running a hand through his hair.

You gazed at both of them, “Can you show me?”

Volt beamed, “Of course, live wire.”

He tapped a foot to adjust the lights—a slow ballad started playing in the background (you still could never tell how sound worked around the Breaker Box). He looked to Eddie with an outstretched hand, “Could I have this dance, darling?”

Eddie smiled and nodded.

You took your place on the bar to watch them. Volt cleared a few tables to make room for a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the club.

You crossed your legs, got comfortable, took a sip of your drink.

That summer, the first thing you learned about tango was that there was always a ‘man’, and a ‘woman’.

The ‘man’ always led, the ‘woman’ always followed.

Eddie walked across the floor and took Volt’s hand. “How far did you get with that former partner?” he teased, though it came out a little… protective (if only Eddie knew how little he had to be jealous about).

“Dear Eddie, I believe former means things with them are over.” Volt said, smirking. “Isn’t that right, live wire?”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little, “It was nothing more than a few weeks, Eddie. I didn’t love them or anything.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled, “Just checking…”

You gave him a fond look, “We did a few variations together. One song. That was it.”

You listened to the song Volt put on—it was a little slow, as far as ballads went. It seemed to go on an infinite crescendo, each bar increasing in pitch then going back down again, over and over, two different violins competing in their melancholy. You could barely hear the guitar tying the melody together.

“Eddie usually liked to lead…” Volt trailed, gazing almost furtively into Eddie’s eyes.

This was another thing, too, about tango—whoever was leading decided when the dance would begin.

Whoever was following had no choice but to wait.

You watched Eddie wrap his right hand around Volt’s waist; Volt responded by placing his left hand near the center of Eddie’s back. Eddie offered his left hand, arm loosely outstretched—Volt took it and leaned into Eddie’s space. Eddie took a breath and after a moment, finally touched the side of his face to Volt’s.

The tango began.

There was usually an intensity to tango, no matter who you were dancing with. It seemed to be the price of admission to dance it at all—either you offered up your entire heart, or not at all. Otherwise you were wasting everyone’s time, including your own.

It took two to tango because the physical closeness meant that you were relying entirely on your partner for balance. You leaned into each other’s space the same amount, with the same force—otherwise, you would topple over.

Volt had his body angled to meet Eddie properly, leaning down to close the few inches of difference between them. Eddie, on the other hand, had to keep his posture straight to keep his side of the proverbial bargain.

Their outstretched arms looked loose at their side, but you knew the force of the clasp at the end, palm against palm, brought that weight to that point, to the hands. Each dancer pushed with full force, even though from afar, it could simply look like they were holding each other’s hand.

At the high, trembling ring of the violins’ joint vibrato, Eddie finally took his first step forward.

Eddie would be leading Volt slowly, but powerfully, decisively, that you could already tell. The bass fiddle took over for a moment, and Volt answered, swinging a leg backward, stepping back, the tip of his dress shoe clearing the floor in a wide arch, making room for Eddie.

Eddie took another step forward.

Their tango consisted of Eddie deciding where to go, guiding Volt, almost using Volt’s body to get there. Volt’s steps consisted of equally decisive concessions, made swiftly after every step Eddie took. He answered Eddie’s steps almost immediately, the footwork quick, delicate, graceful.

If the one leading was in charge of knowing where to go, the one following was in charge of setting the pace. One could wait an eternity before following, could take as much time as they wanted. This, you learned, was the complete privilege of the one following. They alone could decide how things were going to be.

Volt never made Eddie wait.

He moved swiftly, eagerly. His feet almost instantly answered Eddie’s steps every time, his legs were always ready.

They continued that way, Eddie moving, Volt answering. The violins started to dominate the music, a profusion of strings filled the room—you felt your heart in your throat, could almost feel the sadness of what must have driven them to start to tango long ago. Before you knew them, before there was ever anything about them to know.

Suddenly the air was filled with all the percussions from the orchestra, all coming together one last time.

Volt pressed his fingers into the back of Eddie’s hand; Eddie clasped him tightly in return. He started moving back, to the side, forward—faster, more powerfully, each step almost a stomp. Volt’s feet always answered rapidly. He swung his feet promptly, quickly clearing the space for Eddie to make the next step.

The music came to a tragic climax—one by one, the instruments seemed to exhaust themselves, until only the two violins remained, singing in lament, the sounds of the strings filling the air.

They moved closer together, faces pressing.

At last, the song reached its final allegro.

At the thin, singing edge of the violins, the depth of the final thirty seconds seemed a miraculous revelation.

They both had their eyes closed now—Eddie’s body showing Volt’s where he wanted to go, Volt’s feet clearing the way.

The two violins climbed into a bright, trembling note—the song ended in a quivering cry.

You didn’t realize you were holding your breath until you gasped for air.

Your lashes were slightly wet.

You only noticed as you were blinking the tears away.

“…Wow.”

Eddie gave Volt a soft kiss before opening his eyes.

Volt smiled at him before turning to you.

“In the end, darling, we figured things out, as you can see.”

You clutched at a faint ache in your chest—for a moment, you felt you understood what he meant.

But you couldn’t, not really. You weren’t there.

That was, as far as you were concerned, years ago—before you.

And so instead, you said, “That was beautiful.”

Eddie turned to you, let go of one of Volt’s hands.

You saw Eddie sitting on the couch, just... staring into space. You called his name gently as you approached, stopping right in front of him before tenderly running your hand through his hair. He smiled at you--- the same placid one he's been wearing a lot lately. You could tell he didn't know who you are, but neither of you said anything. Until, with a gulp, you took a folded piece of paper and with shaking hands unfolded it and gave it to Eddie for him to read.