#chapter 04

live footage of acswy will n mike this chapter

Hello! Things are happening! I’m finally getting to the content that I really wanna get out there in this fic and I’m so excited about it. It literally means the world to mean to see people reading and enjoying this so seriously thank you all so much. And also, I am going to start tagging people who want to keep track of the updates for this fic. If you wanna be tagged let me know! I’d be happy to help keep you updated! <3

CHAPTER SUMMARY: In which the reader gets to know Mr. Munson a little better and realizes he might not be all that bad.

Chapter 4

The fall Harvest Festival was basically a carnival. There were games and cheap rides and more food tents than you could wish for. The festival concluded with a fireworks show. I was nearly exhausted after the performance and was in desperate need of food. 

James, Dizzy, and Randy quickly began discussing the performance with the members of Corroded Coffin. Compliments were traded back and forth as we all packed up our things and left the stage area. I helped my boys carry our equipment back to Dizzy’s station wagon. We decided to go in search of food before settling in for the fireworks.

While we were walking back towards the fairgrounds, I noticed Eddie shuffling through the parking lot carrying his guitar case, an amp, and an armful of cords. He looked desperately in need of help and none of his bandmates were around, so I told the boys to go on ahead and that I would catch up.

“Hey!” I called to Eddie. “Need a hand?” 

“Nah, I should be fine!” he replied as I got closer.

The amp began to slip out of his hands as I approached him. I darted forward and caught it, balancing it between us. “Give me the amp, Munson,” I said.

“Ok, fine,” Eddie conceded. “You headed out?” he asked as we strolled through the parking lot.

“I’m gonna stay for a while,” I said. “I really need some food and I want to see the fireworks,”

“Hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but the food tents closed down for the night,” Eddie said.

“What?” I asked, stopping in my tracks.

“Yeah,” he said, “they close down before the rest of the festival so the friars can cool off before they pack up,”

“I guess I’ll starve then,” I said. “At least I can still see the fireworks,”

“I might have something you can eat in my van,” Eddie said as we approached his beat up car. “Some peanuts or something,”

“Peanuts?” I asked, setting the amp down beside his car. I stepped out of my stilettos as my feets were on fire and beginning to blister.

“Are you allergic?” Eddie asked, pulling his keys out of his pants pocket.

“No,” I said.

“Then don’t judge,” he replied. He yanked the side door of his van open and climbed in. 

“Where’s the rest of Corroded Coffin?” I asked, handing him the amp.

“Not sure,” he replied, pushing his hair away from his face. “They didn’t seem to into the whole firework thing. I think they cleaned up and ditched. How about your band?”

“They’re looking for food,” I said.

“Well too bad they didn’t come help me like you did.” Eddie smirked. “They could’ve had some of my peanuts,”

“You really are a freak,” I chuckled, picking up my shoes from pavement. “God, these shoes were a mistake. I think my feet are going to hurt for the rest of time,”

“You meeting your friends for the fireworks?” Eddie asked suddenly.

“Well, that was the plan, but if there’s no food down there, then I don’t really want to walk all the way back to the fairgrounds in these shoes,” I said.

“So watch them from here,” Eddie said, sitting down on the floor of his van, dangling his legs out over the edge. “Eat some peanuts. Rest your feet. Besides, the view really is much better from here,”

“Is this some evil plan to get in my pants?” I asked, nudging his foot with my toe.

“Wow you just see right through me. Are you psychic or am I just that transparent?” Eddie asked, clutching his hand to his heart. “But no, I’m really just inviting you to eat my snacks and watch these dumb fireworks with me,”

“Ok...” I said, taking a seat beside him. “But I’m only staying because you have snacks,” I warned.

“Fine by me,” Eddie smirked.

---

He really did have a stash of peanuts in the front of his van. They were in a little plastic bag and we passed them back and forth as we waited for the show to start. Not long after I had decided to stay with Eddie, Dizzy, Randy, and James came walking up the hill from the fairgrounds.

“There’s no food down there!” James called. “We’re gonna go get something in town! You coming?”

“Actually, I think I’ll stay here!” I replied from my place with Eddie. “I wanna see the show,”

“We’ve got peanuts!” Eddie yelled, holding up the bag.

“I’ll catch a ride home later!” I said. “Thank you guys again for coming for this! You were amazing!”

“See ya later!” Dizzy called.

“They seem like good guys,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, they’re kind of like my best friends,” I said, tossing a peanut in my mouth. “I’ve known them forever,”

“That’s cool,” Eddie said, looking down at his feet. “That’s kinda how I feel about my guys. They’ve been with me through thick and thin, ya know?”

“Yeah,” I said, turning to look at him.

We both stared at each other for a minute. A little smirk began to appear on Eddie’s lips. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Eddie said, turning his face away and shaking his head slightly.

“Oh come on, Munson,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You can’t just get all smiley like that and not have anything to say,”

“Well apparently I can because I don’t have anything to say,” Eddie said.

I began a new retort but was interrupted by the sound a firework launching into the sky. I had never seen a major fireworks display before and this was incredible to say the least. The sparks lit the sky with loud cries and cracks. I watched as colors joined the stars in the atmosphere with a smile on my face. It was then that I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned to look at Eddie as a red firework exploded above us. A rosy haze covered Eddie’s features and the corners of his mouth started to turn upwards again.

“Seriously what are you looking at?” I asked.

“Seriously, it’s nothing,” Eddie said, shaking his head.

---

The fireworks were stunning. There was something magical about the way the colorful sparks decorated the cool September evening. As the show came to a conclusion, more and more of the festival goers began to mill into the parking lot. I spotted Dustin, Mike, and Lucas in the crowd. I waved and they began to approach the van. A very pretty girl followed behind them. She was thin, with big eyes and a frizzy perm. She was dressed rather smartly for a girl who was probably eighteen at the most. As I looked between her and Mike, I seemed to find some similarities in their expressions. It took a moment, but once I had looked at her long enough, I realized this girl was Mike’s older sister, Nancy. She and I had played together a few times when we were kids. She gave me a small wave and a smile when she noticed me. I returned both of her gestures.

“Hey you both killed it tonight,” Dustin grinned once they had all reached me and Eddie.

“Thanks kid,” I said, “it was a good time getting to perform again,”

“You found us some stiff competition, Henderson,” Eddie said.

Dustin, Mike, and Lucas watched Eddie wearily, not quite sure how they should interact with this young man. 

“Uh, yeah,” Dustin said, “I guess. I’m glad you guys won though.” Then he looked at me and added “Sorry, Y/N,”

“You really pulled through,” Eddie said, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket with a lighter. He stuck one in his mouth and lit it. “I’ll have to talk with the rest of the guys, but I was thinking you could come to the next Hellfire meeting,”

I watched as the eyes of the three boys grew wide. A wide smile appeared on Dustin’s face. “You’re serious?” he asked.

“Yeah sure, why not?” Eddie shrugged, blowing smoke out his nose.

“Dude, thank you so much,” Mike said quickly. “You won’t be disappointed,”

“Better not be,” Eddie said.

“Hey, do you need a ride home?” Nancy interjected quietly, turning toward me.

“Um...” I stuttered, looking over at Eddie, not sure if I wanted to leave just yet.

“I can drop her off,” Eddie said, taking another drag off his cigarette.

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked, still looking at me.

“Yeah,” I said, “yeah, I’m sure,”

“Ok,” Nancy said, “Come on boys, let’s get home.”

“I’ll see you when you get home,” Dustin said to me as they walked off.

I could hear the boys talking excitedly about being the newest members of Hellfire. I smiled at them as they walked away. They were ridiculous but they were good kids.

I turned back to Eddie. He held the cigarette between his teeth and had his arms crossed over his chest. My hand darted out for the cigarette between his lips. I plucked it away from him and threw it on the cement. “No, that’s nasty,”

“Hey!” He said sharply. “I paid for that with my hard earned cash!”

“No you’re currently paying for it with your lung capacity,” I said, smacking his hand as he started to reach for his pack of smokes in his pocket. 

“You’re a hardass,” he chuckled. He watched me as we both fell silent. Then he shook his head slightly and sighed. “You guys should’ve won,”

“What?” I asked.

“You should’ve won the competition,” Eddie said, leaning against the wall of the van. “You pulled that together in what? A week?”

“With one rehearsal,” I said.

“Jesus Christ,” he said. “You should’ve won.”

“You played “Hot for Teacher” though,” I said, “And you played an original song. We just did covers,”

“But you put together a kickass performance in one rehearsal,” Eddie said. “We’ve been practicing for this for months,”

“Well your hard work paid off then,” I said. “You deserved to win,”

“Thanks,” Eddie smiled. “Should we get out of here?”

“Eventually,” I shrugged. “Wait for the crowd to clear out. It’ll take an hour to get out anyway with everyone trying to leave at once. I’ve got nowhere to be, I can wait,”

Eddie and I sat for a long time talking. Soon enough the lot was empty and we were still talking. It eventually started to get cold in the van with the door open, so we scooted ourselves into the back and closed the door. It was surprisingly cozy in the back of his beat up van. He had a few pillows and some blankets stashed back there, which came in handy as the air got colder.

The longer I talked with him, the more I realized that he was nothing like his reputation made him out to be. He might be a bit eccentric, but he seemed like a good enough guy. He was clearly passionate about his band and Hellfire. And he didn’t seem to care enough about what others thought of him to try to conform to what they thought he should be. As we continued to talk, I knew it was getting late, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to take me home. 

----

It was the next morning, when I woke up on the floor of his van, that I realized that I never did end up asking him to drive me home. I blinked sleepily and looked around as the early morning sun shined through the windows of the van. I was lying on my side, half covered with a thin fleeze blanket. I began to sit up and then I heard the soft breathing beside me. I turned my head slowly as I processed what had happened.

Eddie Munson was sound asleep on his back next to me. His mouth was slightly open and his frizzy hair was fanned out around him. I rubbed my eyes and glanced out the window. We were still parked in the lot where we had watched the fireworks.

“Eddie,” I said quietly, tapping his arm with my hand. “Eddie, wake up, you gotta take me home,”

He mumbled something and started to turn over on his side away from me. I smacked his shoulder then, sternly saying, “Munson, wake up,”

Eddie went still and then he sat straight up, his hair flying everywhere. He looked around and then his eyes landed on me. “What the fuck?” he muttered.

“We stayed out all night,” I said, trying to remain calm. “And you need to take me home or my aunt will literally kill me,”

“Oh Jesus,” he said, rubbing at his eyes.

“Come on,” I said, patting his back, “wake up, we gotta get moving,”

“Oh Jesus,” he said again and then crawled into the front seat.

I followed Eddie and buckled myself into the passenger seat beside him. He pulled his key out and jammed it into the ignition, starting the van up with a groan and a pop from the exhaust. As we rolled out of the parking lot, Eddie pulled out his cigarettes and lighter. He lit one up and took a drag. I went to take it from him but he gave me a murderous look.

"I swear to God if you take this from me you won't have to worry about your aunt killing you," he said as smoke curled out from between his lips.

I slowly dropped my hand and only spoke when I needed to give Eddie directions to Dustin's house. When we were about a block away from Dustin's, I told Eddie to pull over.

"Just drop me here," I said. "I don't want Aunt Claudia to see you pull up to the house."

"What's your plan?" Eddie asked.

"Gonna sneak in before she realizes I never came home. With any luck she won't even be awake yet,"

"Well, good luck," Eddie smirked, breathing out the smoke from his cigarette slowly.

"Thanks," I said as I climbed out of the van.

I shut the door behind me and gave Eddie a single wave goodbye before I started walking barefoot towards my aunt's house. I carried my shoes with me, trying to avoid making too much noise with the heels. My blistered feet ached and my body was stiff from sleeping on the floor of the van.

As I approached Dustin's house, I quickly found my bedroom window, hoping beyond everything that I had left it unlocked. My heart sank when I pushed on it and it didn't budge.

Fuck.

I circled around to the front door. However, before I could even reach the porch, the door opened, and Dustin stepped out to retrieve the morning's paper. I froze and then a thought popped into my head.

"Dustin," I hissed in a whisper. "Dustin," I said a little louder, waving my arms.

He looked up and locked his eyes on mine. "Y/N?" He called.

"Shhh," I replied, holding my finger to my lips. "Go unlock my window,"

"What?" He asked, clearly confused.

"For fuck's sake," I groaned. "Go unlock my window,” I pointed towards my window, hoping that he would understand what I wanted him to do. 

Dustin gave me a confused look and wandered back into the house. I snuck over to my window and nearly cried when I looked through the glass and saw Dustin entering the room. He walked over to the window, unlocked it, and pushed it open.

“Help me in, help me in,” I said, starting to push myself up onto the windowsill. 

Dustin grabbed my hands and helped to pull me through the opening. I swung my legs in and tumbled to the floor. Dustin kneeled down beside me, breathless after dragging me into the room.

“What the hell was that about?” Dustin asked. “How did you get outside and why didn’t you just come in through the front door?”

“I never came home,” I gasped. “Me and Munson, we fell asleep in the van, we just woke up like twenty minutes ago,” Dustin gave me a suspicious look and I rolled my eyes. “Nothing happened between us. We just talked and talked and talked, apparently until we couldn’t stay awake. Does your mom know I was out all night?”

“I don’t think so,” Dustin said. “She’s been busy making breakfast,”

Just as he finished his sentence, I heard Aunt Claudia call from the hallway. “Dustin? Y/N? Are you going to eat your breakfast?”

I could hear her coming closer to my door. I gave Dustin a pleading look, begging him to help cover for me. Just then, Aunt Claudia started to turn the knob on my door. I bolted upright and sprang for the bed, pulling Dustin up with me. Aunt Claudia appeared in my doorway just as I covered myself with the blankets.

“Oh are you still in bed?” she asked. “I thought I could hear you two talking in the hall,”

“Dustin was just waking me up,” I said, trying feign sleepiness. I even threw in a fake yawn. 

“Yeah,” Dustin said, nervously “she was out cold when I first came in here. Had to wack her with the newspaper a few times to wake her up,” 

“Oh, sweetie,” Aunt Claudia said, “Did your show go well last night? I never heard you come in,”

I felt a lump in my throat and my heart began racing. “Uh,” I stuttered. “Yeah, it was good. I’m sorry if I worried you. A bunch of us went to get food after the fireworks. I should’ve called to tell you. It totally slipped my mind. I lost track of time. I know I broke curfew. I’m so sorry,”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re safe and that your show went well. Come get some food you two, you look starved,” She said and then finally closed the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard her return to the kitchen. Dustin shook his head and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at me incredulously. “I can’t believe you got away with it.”

“Me neither,” I sighed.

“So you and Eddie....” Dustin said, his voice trailing off. 

“It’s not like that,” I said. Dustin raised his eyebrows, questioning me. “Seriously, it’s not like that. We talked,”

“Whatever you say,” Dustin said with a chuckle. “You better change your clothes before you come out.”

“Good point,” I said, getting up from the bed.

Dustin stood as well and walked over to the door. He paused with his hand on the door knob. He turned to me, now with a serious expression on his face. “Thank you for getting me and the others into Hellfire. We couldn’t have done it without you. I really owe you,”

“You just saved my ass from getting caught,” I said, “I think we can call it even,”

Dustin smiled. “I seriously can’t believe you got away with it,” He said before opening the door and stepping out of my bedroom.

Previous Chapter: Chapter 03 Next Chapter: Chapter 05

Falling for the Freak Taglist

Picked up Dorohedoro. Not so far into it so far, but really enjoying it. Love the art work. Probably won’t post a lot from it at present (or ever?), but here’s a little something.

A Will Passed On ⬦ Chapter 4

The words were on my lips, but he asked them first.

“What are you?”

Chapter 4 summary: They go back to Kiyo's hotel room, where they bang. There's a brief moment where they drink wine and Eugenie tends to the wounds Kiyo randomly gave her earlier. They bang again out on the balcony.

They go to sleep, but Kiyo wakes Eugenie up in the middle of the night and tells her that something is in the room. See, there is this other world where all of the fairies live. Some of them aren't strong enough to come to the human world, but they can send bits of their power over, which manifest as various elements. These are naturally called “elementals”. This one is an ice elemental.

Normally, Eugenie wouldn't have any problem sending one of those back to where it came from, but all of her weapons are at home. The only thing she's got is a wand, which is in her purse on the other side of the hotel room. However, the thing attacks and Kiyo fights it off. Eugenie races for her purse, but the thing chases after her, calling her by her full name and saying that it wants to have sex with her. This is the third time in two days that something from the other side has known her name, and it's beyond creepy.

Perhaps it was simply within the nature he’d come to adopt since being reborn as a Heroic Spirit, or perhaps it was some wanderlust he didn’t know he’d had, but regardless of the reason, Arthur had found himself wandering the city alleyways and sidestreets, keeping out of common eye, hood obscuring his features.

However, as he rounds a market corner, the sudden sight of a tousled ponytail over a red coat brings his whim-driven venture to an abrupt stop.

It was at this point Arthur was just kind of coming to accept that the group calling themselves the “Stars” had managed to get a wholesale grasp of Chaldea’s server and had pulled any number of them from Ritsuka’s employ. From that perspective, Arthur supposed there was no reason not to expect any of his knights to end up being called here. They were all top-of-the-line Heroic Spirits after all.

Yet, seeing her here brought a spike of anger to the pit of Arthur’s stomach-- if only for a moment. How dare they deign to lay hand on his--

Sigh. No. Not “his”; he didn’t need anyone to tell him that.

He knew. He understood from the very beginning -- he was not this Mordred’s King. Yet, that divide of a parallel world meant nothing to him. She wasn’t the slightest less his offspring for it; the child who sought him out, whose hand he didn’t take. He’d made some attempt thus far in Chaldea, without any real results, but it wouldn’t stop him from trying; not there nor here.

She is「 Mordred 」, and he is「 Arthur 」. That’s all that matters now.

Face obscured by his hood, Arthur emerged from the shadows behind. Taking an uneasy breath, he opened his mouth-- and called out to her.

“Mordred.”

A bit self-conscious, he paused before continuing.