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sinsinsininning · 3 months

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A little bit softer

Chapter 4

Eustass Kid x crew mate!fem!Reader

This includes Kid’s POV of the end of Chapter 3 while the reader is in the shower. 😳

Also to clarify, Badger is a made up character, I didn’t feel like incorporating a cannon character into the reader’s backstory. I spent literally 2 seconds on the name and even less time on a vague description of him which I’ll post later.

TW: swearing, voyeurism, masturbating (both male and female)

~~~~~~~

After you left him on the deck, Kid ate slowly, thinking out the details of his next steps. He had no idea where this bastard, Badger, was or even what he’d look like.

Plus the West Blue was crawling with dangerous crews and the notorious 5 Families of the West, headed up by Capone Bege. Not someone Kid was on good terms with and, depending on how deep into the West they’d go, someone they’d likely run into.

While Kid would prefer to just make this a quick mission, so they could double back and enter the Grand Line, he was excited to think of all the practice the crew would get fighting all these other crews. It’d be good training before they entered the New World.

After finishing, he pulled out the maps and started charting again. Wire eventually returned to join him and the two worked quietly. Kid was making a list of things they could get while in the West Blue when Wire spoke up.

“So what’s this Captain’s name?”

“Why’re you asking?” Kid growled. “Just chart the stupid map.”

“I’m nearly done, I just need to know where to find him, then I can finalize the map. Right now I’ve just got it charted how to get there while avoiding marines bases and included supply stops. But I need a specific area to finish.”

“His name is Badger.” Kid said after a beat.

“Is that his first name or last name?” Wire asked.

“The fuck if I know. His name is Badger, he’s in the West Blue, and I’m gonna kill him. Make the map.” Kid blustered for a moment, he felt a little silly, all this effort and he didn’t even know who the guy was. Fuck he didn’t even know if you’d been honest…. Nah you were nearly crying, you wouldn’t lie like that. Wire sighed heavily and Kid nearly smashed the table.

“Ok, I can’t finish it tonight, but I’ll go through some logs and see if I can get more info on him.” Wire relented, knowing the captain was at his limit. “We should be able to make it to the next island tomorrow, I’ll do some more digging then too.” Kid grunted an acknowledgement, head down as he finished his list, pen nearly tearing the paper.

Wire stood and started putting the supplies away, he glanced at his captain.

“Boss… you know-“ He paused and considered himself, Kid glanced at him with a scowl. Better play it safe. “Just let me know if you need anything, you know I’d help.” Kid bristled at that, but just grunted again to dismiss the tall man.

He doodled a few sketches of his projects on the list, trying to clear his head. Eventually he puts everything up and leans against the railing, watching the waves and night sky.

After an hour or so, Heat joins him to take his watch shift, but brought a few beers for his captain. Kid downs his first two quickly, then nurses the next one.

“It’s none of my business,” Heat starts off.

“Then don’t fucking bring it up.” Kid snaps.

“But I think we should get rid of the sniper rookie.” Heat continues, eyes on the coast.

“What? Why the fuck do you think that?” Kid stood to shout at him. “Thought you two were buddy-buddy?!” He could keep the jealously out of voice.

“She’s alright. But she’s soft.” Heat isn’t phased by the shouting. “She won’t make it in the Grand Line. We can’t have that type of weakness.”

“Quincy’s soft. Wire’s soft. You questioning my authority huh?” Kid gulped the rest of his drink and tossed the bottle behind him. “You think I keep a weak crew?! That what you’re trying to say?!”

“The only thing she’s got going for her is she’s cute.” Heat added nonchalantly, Kid was fuming.

“Fuck off like she’d want your ugly, stitched up headed ass!” Kid grabbed his vest, forcing the other man to look at him. “She’s staying, she’s a good sniper and a good crew mate. Fucking question me again and I’ll fucking throw you overboard!” Heat grinned and Kid felt like he’d been caught.

“I get why everyone’s been fucking with you lately,” Heat chuckled. “It’s fun. You’re so biased for her, I’m a little jealous really, wish you’d defend me this hard.”

Kid wanted to shout again but he felt like he’d reveal too much. Well, more than what he’d already done. His face was hot and he felt deflated, but he released Heat with a shove.

“Maybe if ya did your job and not play mind games I would.” He finally says, Heat resumes his watch. An awkward silence falls over them.

“It’s not that bad, Boss. Trust me it could be worse. Imagine you liked Pomp? He’s fucking insane. I heard he sold his ex husband’s kidney for cheating on him in a dream.” Heat tried to console his friend, not his forte, but he felt a little bad at his trick. Kid let out a short laugh.

“Fuckin’ hell that can’t be true…. Can it?” He started on his next beer, sitting back down. They laugh together again.

“I don’t actually think we should get rid of her. Just sayin.”

“I know.”

“Yeah she’s soft, but she saved my ass that last fight, shooting that guy trying to creep up on me while I was taking care of Reck.”

Kid just hummed in response, still hesitant to say anything about her. Heat noticed.

“I promise it’s not that bad.”

Silence.

“I don’t think she’s scared of you, not really at least.”

“I heard what she said to you.”

“I think she’s scared of her ex captain. Should make her sit down with Wire, he’d sort her head out.” Heat lit a cigarette, offering a pull to Kid who shook his head.

“Not a bad idea. Just don’t want anyone knowing how-“ He paused. “She can go to Wire but I’m not gonna make her.” He said finally, Heat nodded in understanding.

“You can’t say it, I gotcha.”

“I can’t say it first.” Kid sighed, finishing his last bottle.

“Makes sense. Don’t worry,” Heat claps his hand on the captain’s shoulder. “It’ll happen.”

“Since when have you gotten this mushy?” Kid sneered. “I hate it. Go back to minding your own business.” Heat laughed as his captain got up. It was past midnight and he was tired.

He made his way down the halls, he needed to return his dishes or else Killer would bitch at him all day tomorrow. He placed them in the sink, then a thought struck him. Quickly glancing in the fridge, your plate was still there, all wrapped up nicely.

You hadn’t eaten since breakfast, he slammed the fridge shut. Fuck, you probably hadn’t finished your shit yet. He stalked down the halls towards your make shift shop room, irritated that you’d not finished yet and had still not eaten.

A small part of him was excited to have an excuse to talk to you, even if it was just to bitch at you. Maybe he’d walk you to the galley personally, to make sure you followed orders. Maybe he’d sit with you as you ate too, couldn’t let you try to skip out. After that he’d grumble at you for making him stay up late to babysit you, even though he chose to do it.

Then he may as well make you go to bed. His bed. With him. Obviously to make sure you didn’t try to sneak back to your project. He’d keep you pressed in his arms all night to ensure you didn’t try anything.

Fuck he needed to stop, he was hard in the middle of the hallway. He adjusted his belt before entering the shop room, hoping it’d hide his arousal. Somehow the shop was empty, all the weapons cleaned and stacked up correctly. He looked around for any mistakes or mess you’d left behind, anything that’d allow him a chance to speak with you.

But the room was spotless, everything put away correctly. Then where the fuck were you? He wondered if you went to bed right away, tempted to check your bunk. He headed toward it, pausing when he passed by the bathrooms, steam pouring out the door.

The doors to the bathrooms all had hatches at the top that opened to allow steam to vent. He was a little impressed that the hot water still worked after everyone’s showers.

With you in the stalls he didn’t have any excuse to bother you, you’d finished your work and unless he wanted to wait until you were out to force you to the galley, he was out of luck for tonight. Kid turned to go when he heard you moan.

Oh fuck.

He glanced around the halls, no one could hear you or see him palm his cock over his pants. You weren’t generous with your noises, obviously trying to stifle them, but some slipped out.

Your groans and whines sounded frustrated, like you couldn’t work how you wanted. He reached his hand inside his pants to grip himself, jaw clenched almost painfully to avoid alerting you. His mind filled in the gaps of what he couldn’t see. He pictured walking in and offering to help you reach your climax, since you still seemed to struggle.

He thought about how’d you’d look right then if he did, wet and naked, probably surprised and shy. Maybe you’d try to cover yourself, until you’d realize what he was offering. Or maybe you already knew he was there, confident he’d join you. Maybe you’d tell him exactly what you wanted from him.

He’d let you boss him around, at least at the start, but after you cum once or twice, then he’d be in control again. He thumbed his slit right as you let out a different moan.

Oh. That one was much more satisfied, he didn’t know what changed to make everything work for you, but he was pleased. He stroked himself faster now, checking the halls quickly, then held his ear to the open hatch. Your whines and moans were breathier, much more high pitched. He squeezed his cock, picturing it was you. When he closed his eyes and really focused on listening, he swore he could hear how wet your pussy sounds.

Your moans are getting faster and he tries to keep up, hand pumping hard to get himself off. Finally you let off a loud moan, cutting yourself off halfway through in a pathetic attempt to be quiet. He’s not quite there yet, so he moves his hand fast, but freezes when you turn of the shower.

Shit you were done. He was fucked.

Without adjusting his pants he quickly walks down the hall, his workshop is closer than his room. It’ll have to do for now, it’s not the first time he’s jacked off in there. He gets the door closed and locked before resuming.

Part of him is irritated, his high was so close just to be edged back. But more of him felt a little proud, you’d gotten off before him, as you should. Yeah it wasn’t like he’d gotten you to cum, but it still stroked his ego. He thought about that as he sat down, hand around himself again, stroking quickly.

He wondered how many times he should make you cum before he did. Hell how many times should you cum before he even fucked you with his cock. At least two times on his fingers and maybe three times of his tongue, that seemed fair.

He rubbed his tip harshly as he thought about your sounds, they were so sweet and full of emotion. Kid could basically read your mind from how expressive you were, so open and honest with your lewd moans. He could tell when you were close, when you were struggling, and even when something clicked. He wondered what it was that made you moan like that, thinking of ways to extract that info.

His climax caught him off guard as he thought about you. He came across his hand and chest with a groan, some of his spend getting on his pants. As he came down, panting as he leaned back in his chair, he could hear you walking down the hall.

Leaping up, he tucked himself back into his pants, grabbed an old rag to wipe the cooling cum from his hands and chest. He knocked over the chair and toppled a few tools in his haste. Your steps were quiet but he was hyper aware of you as you passed the door.

After a few minutes of quiet he finally exited, going straight to his room and laying face down on the bed. He wanted to shout but settled for smothering himself until he finally dozed off.

#one piece #one piece smut #eustass kid #one piece kid #eustass x reader #kid x reader

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sourlemonsprout · 3 months

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𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

Seth, Alphonse, and Boo play Just Dance.

Word Count: 871

♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。˚♬゚。♫⋆｡

It was a bit of an understatement to say that Seth was excited when Sugar invited him over for game night at their place. It had been ages since he'd sat down and played any sort of video or board game. When Seth arrived at the house, he was greeted by Alphonse who answered the door. Al informed him that Sugar was still busy in the kitchen, but they should be done shortly. As he entered the warm house, Seth could smell the sweet aroma of baked goods and spices that wafted around the air.

"Heya Seth! Make yourself at home!" a small voice called out from the kitchen.

"Oh, wow Sugar, you really went all out, didn't you?" Seth said stepping into the living room, noticing the makeshift bar area they’d set up next to a platter of what looked like mini tapas. He looked up to see Sugar across the house, carefully carrying a deep dished tray.

"You betcha, and desserts are in the oven. I made little crème brûlés for later!" They beamed, taking off apron her and joining the boys in the living area.

Al met them with a drink and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer, "What should we do first?" he asked looking between the two.

"Well let's see, I have a regular deck of cards, Clue, Spot It, Uno, Life, Apples to Apples, and Monopoly." Sugar rattled off.

"I'm sure as hell not playing Monopoly with Seth," Al laughed.

"Yeah, I think the last time we played that game things almost ended in a fistfight." Seth snorted.

He leaned over and loudly whispered, "It's cause that pink-haired boy of yours is a sore loser Sugar."

"Ugh, am not," Al smirked, rolling his eyes.

"ok ok fine," Sugar laughed.

"What about Uno? Or will that start a fight too?" They questioned.

"No that should be fine" the boys agreed.

After a few rounds of drinks, food, and some Uno, Sugar pulled the tray out of the oven and placed the custard-filled ramekins in the fridge to chill. On their way back, an idea shot into their head. They suggested that they boot up the Switch and play some Just Dance.

"Sure thing, I was gettin' tired of beatin' you two at this card game anyway," Seth boasted.

"Ok ok, calm down there 'hot shot'," Al said dumping his hand of cards in the middle of the table.

"Let's see if you can keep up at this game." He said with a smirk as he stood up to stretch.

Seth had never played Just Dance before, and it was fair to say that dancing was not his forte. But why ruin all the fun? The other two seemed excited, so he stood up and helped move the coffee table full of Uno cards off to the side while Sugar and Al set up.

Seth had greatly underestimated how much of a workout this was going to be. After the first few songs, he was feeling the heat and had to take his jacket off. Nevertheless, he was having fun, and it was clear that Al and his Boo were in their element.

"Don't Stop Me Now " was the straw that broke the camel's back. Seth, exhausted and embarrassingly sweaty, retired to the couch. He continued to watch as the couple in front of him continued to kill it song after song.

How the hell are they able to play this long? He thought with a small chuckle

"HA, MEGASTAR! TAKE THAT BOO." Alphonse yelled triumphantly throwing his hands up in the air.

"Nice to see you catching up after such a long losing streak," they replied smugly, jabbing at his side playfully.

"I promise that won't last long, prepare to say goodbye to your crown after this one." They said, readying up the next song.

Before the song even started, Sugar was posed and ready, Al following not too far behind once the characters fazed onto the screen.

Seth's eyebrows furrowed as Sugar effortlessly struck a "perfect" on every move while Al struggled to regain his lead.

"Uhh Sugar… how often do you play this game?" he laughed. With a quick jump and spin, she was facing Seth. He sat up in his seat a little more, shocked (and honestly a little concerned) as he watched the screen while Sugar continued to hit every move on the mark.

"There's a solid chance you could beat me in just about any other video game, but Just Dance is my shit. I can't tell you how many of these I have memorized!" They smiled sweetly, striking a golden "YEAH" pose, before jumping back around to finish off the song as normal.

"It's not fair, you had that song completely memorized," Al complained as he plopped onto the couch next to Seth.

"Alright alright you two, haven't those crème brulés chilled long enough? I think it's time for dessert!" Seth said eagerly.

"Oh yeah! I wanna burn the sugar on the top of mine!" Al said scrambling for the blowtorch on the kitchen counter.

"Ugh we better go watch him before he sets something on fire," Sugar smiled as they followed Alphonse into the kitchen.

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The End <3

#yuurivoice #yuurivoice fanfic #yuurivoice alphonse #yuurivoice seth #fluff #writting #yv fanfic #yuurivoice listener #i was very nervous to post this teehee #fanfic #yuurivoice stuff #yuurivoice fandom #gn reader #yuurivoice boo #seth yuurivoice #alphonse yuurivoice #sourlemonsprout

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maggiedanikka · 11 months

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Been Here Along (Preview)

Summary: Why are you so good at helping your best friend with his relationship problems? Probably because you've been doing it your entire life. Unrequited love is a bitch, especially if it has spanned several decades. Maybe he'll come to his senses, or maybe its time to give someone else a chance.

Warnings: Angst (but do you really expect anything else from me?), cursing

Length: 1.4k

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x F!Reader, Jake "Hangman" Seresin x F!reader

A/N: The summer is here and for the first time in 4 years I am not studying or working so you better bet my days will be empty and just for writing. This is one of two things I currently have in the works. This one specifically is looking like a one-shot (or two-three shot). The other one is looking like a series, and hopefully I can post the first part in the near future. But here is the preview of been here all along, let me know if you're intrigued and want more <3

“I don’t understand women.” Rooster says with a sigh, plopping himself down on the bar stool next to you.

You and Phoenix, who was sitting on the stool to the other side of you share a look of light amusement before turning back to the mustached aviator.

“It’s like they say one thing, and then mean another? Why can’t women be normal?” He groaned into the counter.

“What do you mean by that Bradshaw?” Phoenix narrowed her eyes at her friend.

You inwardly chuckled before joining Nat in her joking disapproval.

“Yeah, are you saying women aren’t normal? In our day in age of 2023,you, Bradley Bradshaw have the audacity to say something so misogynistic in the presence of women!”

“You know I always saw you as a friend, but this interaction has me questioning the entire foundation of our friendship.”

You and Nat were struggling to keep your laughter down as Rooster continued to groan into the counter.

“Introducing you two to one another has been one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had.” Rooster grumbled as he finally picked his head up from the bar counter.

“Phoenix is my fucking soulmate, we would’ve been best friends with or without you.” You stuck your tongue out at him.

“I thought I was your best friend.” He pouted.

“You’re my oldest friend, there's a difference.” You told him teasingly.

“Sucks to suck Bradshaw, I’m just way cooler than you.” Phoenix poked fun at her fellow pilot.

“I can’t believe you’re laughing at my misery, you used to love to fix my problems.” He muttered.

“Okay okay, I’m done. What’s up Roost?” You chuckled, flashing him a concerned smile.

“It's Abi.”

“And that's my cue.” Phoenix hopped off her bar stool.

“It’s time for me to kick Hangman’s ass at pool again.” She announced as she walked towards the other pilots.

“Why does she do that?” Rooster asked as she walked off.

You shrugged in response.

This was a common occurrence, Phoenix often leaves whenever Rooster starts talking about his girlfriend. She seems to do this whenever any of the guys talk about their relationships. Phoenix was very much a free bird and had no interest in the little details of people’s love lives. Even though everyone can definitely see the little flirtation she has going on with Coyote.

“So what's wrong with Abi?” You asked, turning your body to face Rooster.

“She’s pissed at me.”

“Again?”

Abigail was a bartender that Rooster met at a bar in the city on a night that the group decided to venture away from the Hard Deck for a change. She was on the younger side, well younger compared to the dagger squad and of course Rooster.

But she was sweet and kind and beautiful and caught Rooster’s eye that fateful night. From there they had a bit of whirlwind romance. They were together every single night and there was a good stretch of time where your group of pilots didn’t see Rooster outside of work.

Can you really blame him though? Abi was the ghost of Grace Kelly, all delicate features with light green eyes that draw you in.

She had the sweetest voice and the personality to match. You’ve never met anyone who is as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside.

Her and Rooster seemed perfect…if you were an outsider.

“What did you do?”

“I have no clue! She knows that tomorrow is my only day off for a while and I needed to blow off some steam and get a drink tonight.”

“Okay..?”

“Then a few minutes ago, she called me asking where I was and I told her that I’m here doing exactly what I told her I was gonna do.”

“she asked why not grab a drink at her bar. And I told her that it’s too far and the guys hate it there.”

“Then she got pissed.”

It made sense now, Abi and Rooster hadn’t been together for a long time and their issues only really started as little tiffs, a few arguments here and there, but the past few weeks have been pretty rough, especially for a newer relationship.

You suppose it has something to do with the longer hours at work. This new TOPGUN class was definitely harrowing to the crew and there was also having to be prepped for any incoming mission.

“Brad, you’re an idiot.”

“Hey! I thought you were gonna help me!”

“I am!”

“think about it…. what was the last thing she got mad about?”

“When I slept through our planned date because of the long hours….oh”

Realization finally replaced the confused look on his face.

“She thought because I have a day off..”

“Keep going Roost, you’re almost there.”

“That I would spend the night with her.” He finished.

“Ding, ding, Ding! We have a winner folks!” You stood up dramatically announcing with a game show host voice.

You held an invisible microphone up to your lips.

“Attention folks! It was a toss-up there for a second. But I am proud to announce the winner of “Why is your girlfriend mad?”... BRADLEY “ROOSTER” BRADSHAW!!”

Your gaggle of pilots cheered from the other side of the bar, whooping and hollering at your bit, receiving raised eyebrows from the other patrons but mostly indifference as they have grown accustomed to your regular hijinks.

“Congratulations sir, any words from the winner?”

You held an invisible mic to to his face, Rooster leaning into the imaginary mic.

“Hello yes I would like to thank my parents, my uncle, the bartenders, my fellow pilots, and this beer from the tap, all of which have contributed to my cluelessness towards women. WIthout you all I would not be here.”

“No thank you for me?” You raised an eyebrow.

Rooster chuckled at your antics as you sat back down on your bar stool.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Bradley please don’t make me spell it out for you. Its right there.”

You pointed your eyes at the phone sitting in his pocket.

“Oh, okay. I should call!”

“Yesssss and do what???.”

“Apologize?”

“You got it! Finally I was getting tired over here. Hosting this game show is hard work.” You whistled wiping a fake sweat off your forehead.

“Thanks, woods!” He exclaimed as he quickly stood up and made his way out to the back deck to call Abi.

You watched his retreating figure enter the darkness of the night as you sighed into the back of your hand propped up by your elbow on the bar.

“So are you some kind of masochist?”

You quickly jumped, surprised at the sudden presence coming from the bar stool that was occupied by Phoenix several minutes ago.

“God Bagman, please refrain from giving the host a heart attack.”

He chuckled at your reaction.

“Game show host huh? Bit of the week?”

“More like the night, I’m gonna workshop a few things before I make my final decision.”

“Is that so?”

“Gotta keep y’all dorks entertained somehow.” You shrugged.

“That you do Woods.”

“So what do you mean about me being a masochist?” You raised an eyebrow.

“That” He pointed at Bradley on the back porch passionately talking into the phone, you couldn’t tell if it was a negative or positive emotion but it looked intense.

But despite that he looked radiant against the light that emanated from the full moon tonight. He never failed to take your breath away.

“What about Rooster?” You turned back to Hangman.

“Come on dollface, I’m not blind.”

“You know Bagman, I’m surprised you’re capable of seeing things outside of your personal radius.”

“See? If even I can see it then that tells you how obvious this little crush is.”

His statement left your mouth hanging open.

“I.. I can’t believe you-- how dare.”

He kept an amused smirk as you stumble over your words.

“You know you only make it harder on yourself when you fix his relationship problems for him.”

“I don’t-”

He cut you off with a chuckle as he turned away back to the direction of the pool tables.

“Its okay Woods, i get it, just make sure you know what you’re doing.”

He left with you that last piece of advice as he walked away.

As much as you denied it. Hangman was right. You probably have loved Bradley your whole life.

Will be creating a new taglist for this work :)

#top gun #bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster #rooster angst #bradley bradshaw x reader #top gun maverick #hangman x reader #jake seresin #hangman #rooster x reader #jake seresin x reader

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therealmsdelulu · 11 months

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Imposter

Prince Eric Masterlist

Summary: You run away after a big fight with your mom, having no other way to escape, you decide to sneak onto the Prince's ship. A little angst if you squint but mostly fluff. Prince Eric x F!Reader.

"Mom," you sighed in frusturation as you attempted to make a point to your mother," would you just listen to me for once?"

"Excuse me," she exclaimed, "but I've tried listening to you time after time but here you go doing it again.”

“For God’s sake mom,” you exhaled, “could you just try to understand me for once?”

“What is there to understand,” she shouted. “That my daughter’s a dissapointment,” she asked rhetorically, “ ‘cause I already knew that."

‘Ouch,’ you thought to yourself as you walked to your room.

"I'm not done talking to you," your mom shouted after you.

"Well I’m done listening ," you rolled your eyes and continued to walk to your room as she shouted after you. You slammed your bedroom door behind you and locked it. Your mom came to the door and begin to aggresively knock demanding that you open it immediately.

You shed a hot tear of frustration as you unlocked your window. You packed a few clothes and hygiene products and snuck out of your window. You listened from outside the house as your mom shouted your name and banged her fists on your bedroom door.

You didn't think this through very much so you were coming up with a plan as you go. You walked down to the shore and noticed that the Prince's ship was being prepared for use. And then it hit you, the best idea you've ever had,"Im going to get on that boat," you thought out loud.

You hid your bag behind a rock and quickly ran down to the nearby 'Sailors Shop' and bought some clothes that looked similar to those of the crew and a hat you she could use to hide your hair.

You went into the bathroom, changed, and pulled your hair back into a low bun and covered it up with a hat. You looked into the mirror and examined yourself closely,' do i look like a man?' you thought to yourself, 'if the men find out I can shapeshift they're going to tell the church' You breifly laughed at your own joke and quickly rushed outside the shop before another woman saw you, who appeared to be a man, in the Women's restroom.

TIME SKIP

You came back to your bag and put it on your shoulders. You grabbed the back pack and sneakily walked up to the deck. You watched carefully as the crew turned their backs to the area you were near.

You took the oppurtunity and snuck onto the boat and tried your best to blend in. "Hey you," a voice called out , you looked in the direction of the voice and saw the prince. “What are you doing over here?” You resisted the urge to tilt your head in confusion, not wanting to out yourself.

“You’re supposed to be on look out,” he pointed at an area of the ship that had a built in set of binoculars.

“Right,” you agreed and pretended to clear your throat.”I knew that,” you said in an overly deep voice.

“Are you feeling alright,” the prince asked genuinely as he furrowed his brows at you.

“Im feeling great, captain,” you spoke in the same ‘manly’ voice, “why do you ask.”

“You sound a little bit hoarse,” he commented but eventually left it alone and walked away. You sighed and took a deep breath.

‘That was close,’ you thought to yourself as you walked towards the look out area, ‘I obviously didn’t think this through.’ You sat at the seat and looked out the binoculars ‘looking’ for any future problems.

MINI TIME SKIP

You abruptly woke up to a gentle tap on your shoulder. “Ah, shit,” you exclaimed in shock quickly covering your mouth and apologizing,” sorry, you scared me”

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” the prince whispered softly. “You appeared to have dropped this,” he stated as he picked up the hat that was covering your hair from off the ground.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself as you realized your cover was blown. “Look, I can explain,” you started as the Prince stared at you expectantly. “Actually theres nothing I can say to validate this,” you said as you realized that you accidentally commited a crime. “I really need to start thinking about the consequences of my actions,” you self evaluated.

“Don’t worry about it,” the Prince assured you as he handed you the hat and your fingers breifly touched as you took the hat and quickly put it back on. “I’ll keep your secret,”

“Thanks,” you sighed in relief, “thats very kind of you”

“I’m sure anyone else would do the same,” he remarked.

“A lot of people aren’t as nice about people trespassing on their property,” you chuckled watching his face in amusement as he realized that you did techincally commit a crime.

“You’re quite the troublemaker, arent you?” he asked rhetorically as he looked at you and laughed with you.

“You’ve caught me,” you sighed sarcastically as you put your hands up as if to surrender.

“So what brings you here,” the prince asked looking at you curiously.

“Uhm,” you hesitated.“How do I word this so that I don’t sound like a total teenage dirtbag,” you thought out loud. "I guess thats inevitable,” you concluded. “I ran away from home,” you whispered embarrassed.

“What was that?” the Prince asked and put his hand up to his ear as if he didn’t hear you.

“I ran away from home,” you spoke up and cleared your throat as the Prince tryed to hold back his laugh. He eventually let it out and covered his mouth to stop it from seeming as if he was making fun of you.

You began to laugh with him as you reflected on your action.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, what could have possibly been so horrible back at home that you felt the need to act on your impulsive thoughts?” the Prince asked once he recovered from laughter.

“Don’t even get me started,” you exhaled as you recalled the events of that evening. “My mom is so annoying.”

“Hey, don’t talk about your mom like that,” he teased as he poked you lightly, “I’m sure she cares about you a lot.”

“Well she has a very funny way of showing it,” you whispered but the Prince heard you and raised his brow at you in dissaproval. “Right, sorry” you apoligised. “You know, I never caught your name,” you noted trying to change the subject.

“Eric,” he told you, “What about you?”

“Y/N,” you told him thinking you successfully diverted his attention.

"Nice to meet you Y/N, now back to the story,” he encouraged you to get back to the topic.

“Right,” you muttered as you realised that it wouldn't be that easy, “We got into a little argument, no biggie,” you shrugged it off.

“Well it has to be a bit of a biggie if it motivated you to run away,” he replied and furrowed his brows feeling that you were leaving out a few details.

“Well apparently, I’m a dissapointment,” he frowned as he listened to your explanation, “But you know what they say, it is what it is,” you declared as you shrugged your shoulders

“I don’t think thats what they say,” Eric commented.

“Oh, well thats what I say,” you replied and smiled at him.

“Well I say you look like you could use a hug,” he commented as he looked at you.

“Nah, I’m not that much of a hugger,” you lied but quickly found yourself in the Prince’s arms. “Okay, never mind,” you muttered as you hugged him back.

“Better?” he asked as he pulled away.

“A little,” you revealed, “but I can think of something that would make me feel a whole lot better.”

“Please, enlighten me Y/N” the Prince smiled and encouraged you to elaborate.

“Hmm, I think a kiss would do the trick,” you hinted as you tapped your chin pretending to think.”I dont know though,” you added just in case your boldness backfired.

“Is that so?” he asked as he glanced at you. You simply shrugged your shoulders in response. “Well I guess you never know until you try right,” he suggested as he gently cupped your face with one hand.

“I guess not,” you whispered as you both slowly leaned in.

“Well, I guess we should give it a try huh,” the prince suggested as he leaned in even closer.

“Yeah that seems like a reasonable approach to me,” you replied quietly before your lips connected in a soft yet passionate kiss.

“Did that work,” he asked as he pulled away and took in your slightly flustered state.

“I’m not sure,” you said, “Let’s try again,” you suggested and he chuckled before kissing you once more, fireworks bursting in the sky.

THE END

A/N: please ignore my terrible sense of humour throughout this lol.

Taglist: @papichulo120627

#jonah hauer king x reader #prince eric x reader #prince eric fanfiction #prince eric fanfic #prince eric #princeeric #prince eric x y/n #prince eric x you #the little mermaid live action #the little mermaid 2023 #the little mermaid #tlm 2023 #tlm live action

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goldvenuslvrs · 11 months

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mission: get kiara a girlfriend ; kiara carrera

summary: kiara carrera and y/n y/l/n are in love. but they seem to be the only ones that aren't aware of that fact. thankfully, sarah cameron is a woman on a mission - get kiara a girlfriend

pairing: kiara carrera x fem!plus sized!reader

word count: 2.7k

warnings: jealous!kie, the pogues in their scheming era

an: my old writing was legit ass so i decided to rewrite this and just fyi all reader characters are plus sized, might rewrite a few more of my early imagines bc i reckon i can improve them a bunch <3

GIF by obxfix

Sarah Cameron loved her friends.

She especially loved Kiara Carrera.

During their time apart, Sarah had forgotten what it felt like to have Kiara Carrera as a friend. She was fierce and determined and, most of all, stubborn as a mule, which is why the current status of your and Kiara’s relationship didn’t come as a shock to her.

If there was one thing she knew about Kiara, it was that she never wanted to risk a friendship for the possibility of romance. It was the reason she enforced the ‘no pogue on pogue macking’ rule so heavily.

Sarah hopped off her bike and made her way to the deck of John B’s. She rolled her eyes affectionately at the pair of girls on the couch. They were completely wrapped up in each other and it didn’t seem like you noticed the boys sitting around you, let alone Sarah’s entrance. It was only John B’s happy exclaim of “Sarah!” that brought the two of you out of your little bubble.

You pulled yourself out of Kiara’s arms and moved to sit next to her instead to give Sarah room to sit, although neither of you seemed happy with it.

John B had been more than happy to fill her in on the kiara-and-y/n situation as soon as they had started dating; according to him, the two of you had been lowkey flirting and tiptoeing around each for as long as he could remember.

After she had been subjected to watching the longing looks and quick glances when you thought the other wasn’t looking, Sarah had officially had enough.

Sarah decided that something needed to be done. It was tiring and, frankly, sad to watch you and Kiara pretend you didn’t have feelings for each other.

An idea came to her as she watched the pair of you attempt to keep yourself from holding onto each other.

“I’m getting a drink,” Sarah announced out of nowhere, standing up and pointedly ignoring the doubtful look her boyfriend was giving her. She caught JJ’s gaze and tilted her head towards the door, “Give me a hand.” It wasn’t a request.

“Yes, ma’am,” He muttered.

“JJ-”

“You’re hot Sarah but I can’t do that to my boy,” He said as soon as they entered the kitchen. He jumped up onto the countertop and picked up a day-old piece of pizza, wolfing it down. “Has he pissed you off or something? Is it your birthday present? I told him not to get you that-”

“There’s nothing wrong with John B!” She scolded and crossed her arms.

“Debatable but continue.”

“JJ!” She shook her head and sighed. “We need to do something about those two.” She pointed towards the door. They could see through the window that you had returned to your place in Kiara’s arms and you both looked content with the arrangement.

He huffed in response. “You think we haven’t thoughts of that already? I’ve tried, Pope’s tried, even John B has but nothing gets through to them. It’s better to just leave them to it, they’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Not good enough,” She insisted. “If we don’t do anything about it, they’ll be in their thirties and still pining over each other. Besides, when you tried before, you were missing one very important piece.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“Me,” She said, a strong undercurrent of ‘duh!’ in her tone. “I’ve played matchmaker for tons of people and I have a 100% success rate. Don’t you want them to be happy?”

JJ jumped off the counter and swung the door to the fridge open, pulling out a small bottle of water. “Obviously I do but I’m telling you that it’s not gonna work.”

“What did you guys try last time?”

“We basically did what we did to you and Kie but that didn’t do anything really, they just hung out. John B suggested that we set them up on blind dates with each other but when they saw it was just them, they invited us along and we couldn’t exactly say no. I tried the whole ‘hitting on Kie in front of Y/N’ thing but she just got all quiet and didn’t talk to me for like a week,” He pouted. “Longest week of my life, by the way.”

Sarah nodded, pursing her lips in thought. “Alright then, so we’ll try that last one again. We’ll just have to switch it up.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Huh?”

She pushed herself up onto the kitchen counter, opposite where JJ was sitting, and continued to detail the plan, “Last time, you tried flirting with Kie, right? That’s where you went wrong, Y/N got jealous and insecure but she’s not the confrontational type but Kie is so this time, flirt with Y/N instead but make it more believable, no corny pickup lines.”

“Corny?” He was indignant. “I never say corny-”

“Just,” Sarah said, clearly impatient. “Make a few flirty comments here and there. The rest of us will work on Kie.”

“What are we working on?” John B, Pope and Cleo were in the entrance to the kitchen, looking particularly perplexed.

John B narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend and raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed, “Are you scheming again?”

“No!”

“Yes, she is,” JJ huffed and jumped down from the counter, “Control your woman!”

Sarah couldn’t bring herself to sit still, instead choosing to swing her legs and tap her fingers on the tops of her thighs, “We were just-”

“She! She was just!” JJ interrupted frantically, pointing at her and crossing his arms over his chest, “ I want no part of this, I’d rather not face Kie’s wrath again.”

“We,” Sarah maintained whilst sending JJ a loaded stare. “Are planning what we’re going to do about the two love birds in there. It’s going to work, I promise, I’ve done this plenty of times.”

“Oh, really?” Pope asked sarcastically. “You’ve set up one of the most stubborn people on the island with one of the most oblivious people on the island before, have you? What makes you think this time is going to be any different? It’s just going to end up with them being pissed off at us again, the only difference is that you’ll have to suffer through their moping as well.”

Cleo shook her head at her boyfriend’s dramatics, pulling a beer can out of the fridge, “The man’s got a point.”

John B nodded, “They don’t like people meddling in their weird relationship, especially Kie.”

“I know what I’m doing,” She turned to face JJ, “I need you to up the flirting with Y/N, not just when Kie’s around, make sure you do it all the time so she doesn’t catch on.”

The others exchanged a series of sceptical looks. Sarah’s plan seemed pretty solid in theory but none of them had the desire to risk the anger of either of the girls. Even Cleo, who hadn’t been around for the previous plans, could tell that there would be pretty dire consequences if they failed.

While your anger was more of the silent-whilst-plotting-a-murder type, Kiara was more likely to drown them and/or restrict their joint and alcohol consumption, which in JJ’s eyes was just as bad, if not worse.

“Sarah-”

“Just, I don’t know,” She sighed, exasperated. “Follow my lead or stay out of the way and JJ, do your thing,” She clapped and rubbed her hands together devilishly before walking past them into the living room.

The sight she was greeted with when she entered made her heart melt.

The two girls were no longer where they had been left, they had migrated from the floor in front of the couch to the couch itself but they were still too wrapped up in one another to notice that the others had left to begin with, let alone that they had returned.

“Are we watching this or not?” You asked, nodding towards the TV which had the menu screen of ‘The Black Phone’ loaded up.

“Depends,” JJ launched himself onto the couch next to you with a grin on his face and threw his arms around your shoulder, “Can I hold you if I get scared?”

Kiara pursed her lips in annoyance and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary, JJ, just cuddle Pope instead.”

“Um, dude,” John B announced, “Go get them, you might want to take Y/N with you.”

Sarah inwardly groaned, they needed to work on his lying abilities because this was just painful.

Kiara’s head shot up from where it was tucked into your neck, and her arms wrapped around your waist and gripped you tighter. Her eyes were set in a glare that landed on John B, making him fight back a flinch. “Why can’t you or Pope go with him? We’re comfy.”

“I’ve, um,” John B. stuttered and looked to Pope for help, which ended up being futile since his fellow pogue decided that staring at his phone was a better use of his time. “I’ve got to set up the TV, it’s gotta be done a specific way, and Pope is waiting for a phone call or something, I don’t know.”

“Real convincing,” JJ scoffed under his breath. He stood up and pulled you to your feet, ripping you out of Kiara’s grip. “Come on, Angel, let’s go.”

“Angel?” You and Kiara chorused. Your facial expression was one of pure confusion whilst Kiara’s was one of pure disgust.

“I don’t know, I’m trying something,” He shrugged. “Come on, I need a beer if you’re planning on making me watch this.”

As soon as you and JJ were out of sight, Kiara turned to face the remaining pogues that were left looking out the door after them. “I thought you were getting snacks, John B,” She laughed sarcastically and raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to do with those two anyway? She’s not interested.”

Pope tilted his head in faux confusion and shrugged at her. “What do you mean? We just figured that maybe it was time for JJ to, you know, have a relationship that lasted more than one night before he ended up with an STD and who better than Y/N?”

Kiara pressed her lips together and clenched her jaw. “Why Y/N, though? Doesn’t she deserve better than just being someone to stop JJ from sleeping around, besides doesn’t he have a date tonight? He was bragging about it all day yesterday.”

Kiara was the only one he had mentioned the impending date to which briefly threw them for a loop. John B met Sarah’s gaze with an imploring stare, practically begging her to come up with someone as quickly as possible. Pope and Cleo had become extremely interested in Pope’s phone, actively ignoring the rest of the people in the room.

“Well,” Sarah began, settling into your previous place next to Kiara and she made a point to keep her gaze on anything but the other girl in an attempt to seem more nonchalant, “JJ was just telling us that things have changed between them lately, I guess? You should have heard him last night. Apparently, they went surfing the other day and got pretty close, he reckons she’s gonna say yes if he asks her out and he’s asking her out now.”

Kiara’s gaze whipped towards the door of the Chateau, a sour expression taking over her features, “It’s like she gonna say ‘yes’,” She scoffed and shook her head, “She’s never brought him up like that once and he’s not her type anyway.”

“Well,” Pope remarked, looking up from his phone to meet her gaze. “You are pretty intense about the whole no-pogue-on-pogue-macking thing, maybe she was scared you’d be mad if she mentioned it.”

“I mean,” Cleo said, clearly catching on to Pope’s thin of thinking, “Rudeboy isn’t my type but I’m not blind.”

Kiara folded her arms across her chest and tucked her legs underneath her body, taking turns to glare at each of the remaining pogues, “She wouldn’t, he’s too… JJ for her.

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive.

As she muttered those words, JJ walked through the door, carrying two cases of beer, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He chuckled, dropping the cases onto the coffee table.

“Nothing,” The others murmured. JJ looked suspiciously at the annoyed look on Kiara’s face and the almost identical deer-caught-in-the-headlights look that the rest were sporting.

John B clapped his hands after worryingly glancing around the room, “Okay so the movie’s all set up and snacks are ready. There’s no more need to talk about anything. JJ, get the curtains and Pope, get the lights, and we’ll get started then.”

Kiara nudged Sarah in her side to move further away from her in order to make room for you, who quickly and quite happily turned to your position in her arms.

Sarah and John B made themselves comfortable on the old, worn-out armchair beside them. Pope claimed the last space on the edge of the couch, with Cleo lounging on the floor between his legs. JJ, once again, launched himself onto the couch beside you, which was quite a tight fit given that the aforementioned couch was certainly not made for four people.

It took Kiara roughly ten and a half minutes before she was completely fed up and called it quits. JJ had somehow found plenty of opportunities to flirt with you, more than Kiara would consider appropriate.

“I’ve changed my mind,” She declared, her tone was harsh and her lips pressed into a thin line, and untangled herself from you to angrily storm out the door, trying and clearly failing to keep her anger at bay.

You glanced around in confusion, trying to meet your friends' gazes to determine the reason for Kiara’s sudden departure but came up empty. You weren’t completely oblivious, you saw the stoney glares that she had been sending to JJ but you figured that was just typical jj-being-an-idiot glares rather than anything else. You frowned, glancing between the TV screen and the door a few times before making up your mind; jumping up from the couch, you walked outside with clear purpose in your strides.

The pogues shared a triumphant look and ran towards the window, pulling the curtains open and preparing to watch their work come to fruition. JJ was relieved when they watched you join Kiara on a hammock, he’d had enough flirting with his best friends for a lifetime.

You and Kiara were far enough away that they couldn’t quite catch what you were saying but they figured that it was positive based on your and Kiara’s matching smiles. They cheered amongst themselves when they saw you lean over to pull her closer and watched as she laid her head in the crook of your neck.

Sarah turned around with a smug look on her face, “Told you.”

Kiara couldn’t but smile into your neck and run her fingers up and down your side, playing with the hem of your shirt, “Did JJ ask you anything when you guys went to get the beer?” She wondered out loud.

You paused, pulling your fingers from where they had been in Kiara’s hair, untangling some of the strands, “Kind of, we talked about his tonight and he wanted fashion advice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” You chuckled, shaking your head, “He’s really excited, it’s adorable.”

Kiara’s tilted her head up and pouted at you, “Not as adorable as your girlfriend, though, right?”

You gave her an unimpressed look and pressed your lips to her forehead, “As adorable as JJ is, he doesn’t compare to you. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

“No one else could deal with listening to your stupid ass conspiracy theories all day,” She joked, wrapping her arms around your waist and burying her face in your neck again.

“Well, that’s rude.”

“Still love me?”

“Duh.”

“You know, they’ve been trying to get us together all day,” Kiara noted, staring up at the clouds through the tree branches.

“I know, they’re not exactly subtle about it, are they?”

“Should we have told them?”

“Nah.”

an: i'm terrible at endings but what do you think? let me know in the replies/reblogs and send me any requests you have <3

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cosmicjoke · 1 year

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You know, it always stayed with me, when I first read “The Vampire Lestat”, the end, when Lestat reveals what happened to him in Paris with Armand, and reading it once again, I’m reminded of why it never left me. It’s maybe the most heartbreaking thing in the whole book, and that’s saying a lot, considering all the tragedies of Lestat’s life up to that point. Armand’s cruelty to Lestat here is breathtaking, the way he manipulates him, and then imprisons and starves him in order to place him in a desperate enough state to give testimony against Claudia and Louis, when already Lestat was in such horrifyingly dire straits. Making it all the more heartbreaking is the way Lestat holds no ill will or grudge towards either Claudia or Louis for what was done, how he even feels he deserved what they did to him, and the way he had no intention of revenge, or even knowledge of their presence in Paris, but how Armand uses him to exact his own revenge for Lestat’s rejection, a thing Lestat never even conceived, and a thing even if he had understood, he couldn’t have given to Armand anyway. It’s just so awful, and sad beyond words, the final blow being when Armand pushes Lestat from the roof of the tower. God, it’s brutal.

And the sadness of it is really driven home all the more when so many years later, Armand finds Lestat again, and Lestat is rotting away, cut off so completely from life and the world and humanity, with no real will to live, and we see the tragedy doubled in Armand’s own loneliness and despair, the way he’s wrought his own ruin too, deserted by Louis, his duplicity and manipulation and assault of before rendering any kind of genuine reconciliation with Lestat impossible. The way he tries one last time to win Lestat’s love and companionship, only he uses the same methods of deceit as always, conjuring illusions to win the love he craves. And it’s far too late, too much bad history between them, too many mistakes made, and Lestat is too far gone at that point for it to have ever worked.

I think what really drives these scenes home in their tragedy too is the kind of juxtaposition of Lestat and Armand, the way their roles have in a way reversed, with Armand decked out in the modern finery of the 20th century, moving among the modern world, while Lestat lies in ruin beneath the foundations of a rotted out relic of a house from the 18th century, clothed in rags and lost in despair and physical degradation. But both of them are totally alone still, cut off and outcast in their own ways. Armand’s strange obsession with Lestat, continuing to hang about near to him, and Lestat’s consuming despair at last driving him under the earth. It’s just such a powerful and poignant and heartbreaking study of loss and aloneness and what it means to be truly outcast. I felt so deeply for both of them while reading this, even with the horror I felt at Armand’s cruelty.

I think the paragraph that got me the hardest was this:

“The earth was holding me. Living things slithered through its thick and moist clods against my dried flesh. And I thought if I ever do rise again, if I ever see even one small patch of the night sky full of stars, I will never never do terrible things. I will never slay innocents. Even when I hunted the weak, it was the hopeless and the dying I took, I swear it was. I will never never work the Dark Trick again. I will just... you know, be the “continual awareness” for no purpose, no purpose at all.”

It speaks so hauntingly and with such sadness to Lestat’s true tragedy. That he feels so lost in the world as this being with no purpose, no use, no point.

His one and only consolation in life was this idea that he could give his life meaning through doing good in the world, and he’s left now an immortal who can give his eternal life no meaning at all.

Ah, I weep.

How can one not feel for Lestat? How can one ever accuse him of being a shallow or frivolous person? I’ll never know. He’s anything but.

#Lestat De Lioncourt #The Vampire Lestat #armand

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rising-volteccers · 6 months

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Work and life has been occupying my time but I'm happy to at least write this idea out. A self indulgent piece where Friede ruminates about the events post HZ025. Feels like I'm a bit rusty with writing so hopefully this is still an enjoyable read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Murdock (minor)

Once the adrenaline wore off, it took considerable effort for Friede to not sway on the spot. The danger had passed now that the Brave Asagi steadily flew away from the destroyed castle. The past hour of vigilance showed that the Explorers were not pursuing them, likely out of Pokemon to face the entire crew in battle if it came down to it.

Having caught a glimpse of other members aside from Amethio and the person that ambushed him way back in Levincia, the Explorers were proving to be more dangerous than ever. It truly was a close call that Charizard still had the speed to escape from Glalie's Self Destruct even with the damage done to its wings.

Friede took over steering the ship from Murdock earlier while Mollie gave the kids and all their Pokemon a check up. In his mind, ensuring the safety of his crew took top priority. He wasn't hurt anyway. Just… tired.

"Hey, why don't I take over while you get some rest?" The gentle touch on his shoulder slowly drew Friede's attention from the wheel, turning bleary eyes towards Murdock's worried visage.

"I'm fine."

"You'd be more convincing if you didn't look like a strong breeze would knock you over," Murdock countered, raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, you look exhausted."

Whatever response he had died the moment Friede hastily covered a yawn that slipped out. Now that Murdock pointed it out, he couldn't pretend that his body wasn't craving rest after such a stressful night. This was different from burning the midnight oil back when he did his PhD, nor pulling all nighters where he piloted the ship through rough weather.

Things could have ended up differently. The possibilities ran rampant in his mind, refusing to quiet down. That in turn pushed him to power through in hopes of keeping himself distracted. Friede knew it was a temporary solution as eventually, he could no longer ignore his body's want for rest.

"Really, get some rest. I'll handle the ship for now. Promise I'll let you know if something changes, okay?"

Arguing otherwise would use up energy he didn't have so Friede eventually dipped his head, slowly pulling away from the wheel to give Murdock access. It was quite the feat to not stumble his way out of the Captain's deck and down the small steps towards his room.

Once he closed the door behind him, Friede heaved out a deep sigh, shoulders drooping. He briefly closed his eyes whilst leaning against the door, then pulled away to shed off his goggles, jacket and boots. Ordinarily he'd take a quick shower to wash off the dust and grime from his body but…

Friede haphazardly dropped everything on the chair before crashing in his bed, burying his head in the pillow and not bothering to lift his feet from the floor initially. After a few minutes of simply staying in that position, Friede eventually dragged himself into lying properly on his bed.

Within the dim room, tired eyes stared at the ceiling. Friede hated that despite how exhausted he was, sleep wasn't coming easily. He thought he'd passed out the moment his head hit the pillow but his mind continued to buzz incessantly about today's (yesterday's?) events.

Friede thought they covered their tracks pretty well. Taking the train instead of the airship, going through the secret entrance towards the Old Castle; essentially leaving little trace of their presence for the Explorers to track. Then again, Amethio and his grunts did pinpoint their location back in the Galar Mines. Their persistence was commendable, if annoying.

Speaking of Amethio…

That expression he made after Ceruledge fell to Charizard's Tera Blast kept popping up in his mind. Friede never saw him look like that before. Throughout their various clashes, Amethio rarely showed emotions aside from the bursts of annoyance whenever he thought that Friede didn't take him seriously.

See, that was the thing that confused him. Friede did take him seriously. Amethio proved to be a formidable opponent, one that pushed him and Charizard to perform their best. Deep down, he enjoyed their battles as it showed him that he always had room to grow and improve. Friede might have trouble remembering things but he never forgot the stuff he learnt from their battles.

All their previous matches got interrupted in some manner or shape, resulting in no clear victor until now. Friede always battled with the intention to win but he wasn't hard pressed if he lost either. Had the circumstances been different, where Amethio wasn't an enemy…

"It wasn't a battle I could afford to lose," Friede muttered, throwing his arm up to cover his eyes. If he lost to Amethio at that moment, Liko and Roy would be in danger. Sprigatito and Fuecoco were getting stronger but they were no match for Ceruledge. Their safety was his number one priority, thus Friede had no choice but to pull out his trump card.

Friede knew from the get go that Tera Dark Charizard had an advantage over Ceruledge. He never used it in their battles up until then due to the finicky nature of the Tera Orb being a one time use item until he could get it charged again in Paldea. He trusted Charizard's strength to match up against Ceruledge regularly.

At that moment, when he saw that Charizard was going to lose under Ceruledge's charged up Psycho Cut, Friede knew he had to use it. Charizard had to surpass its potential.

In his eyes, anyone that was able to push Charizard that far deserved respect.

Sorry, you forced me to stop holding back. Friede meant it as a compliment but in hindsight, it sounded pretty disrespectful to his opponent. With all the comments Amethio made about him not taking him seriously, that probably cemented that belief.

Friede might enjoy a little teasing and banter to rile Amethio up but he never meant to genuinely make the teen feel… bad? Sad? Whatever emotions he wore at that moment.

Once again, Friede can’t help but wonder. Why was someone like Amethio a part of the Explorers? He didn’t look that much older than Liko. Seeing those two grunts defer to him for orders meant that he ranked decently high in the Explorers, which begged the question: why?

Why was Amethio so persistent with this mission? Whose orders was he following that he followed them across multiple regions? From Friede’s personal observations, he didn’t seem like a bad person at all. He had better morals than some adults Friede met in his life. Never ganging up on him despite having the advantage. Cared for his subordinates if their loyalty told him anything.

Honestly, if Amethio wasn’t on the Explorers side, Friede wouldn’t mind having him be a friend, or at the very least an ally.

Yet so long as they stood on opposite ends when it came to Liko and her pendant-turned-Pokemon, they’d continue to clash.

Friede heaved out a deep sigh, dropping his arm. Half lidded eyes stared at his ceiling again. Thoughts about Amethio aside, he really should try and get some sleep. Murdock won’t let him pilot the ship if he didn’t, and the last thing he wanted was for him to sic Mollie on him.

Friede turned onto his side facing the wall, closed his eyes and willed his brain to quiet down until he fell into an uneasy slumber.

#Pokemon Horizons #Anipoke #Pokeani #Professor Friede #Murdock (Pokemon)#Hana writes stuff

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callsign-magnolia · 11 months

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I Hope You Dance // Ch. 50

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

The songs mentioned in this chapter are Dethrone & Concrete Jungle both by Bad Omens! (Give them a listen if you like metal)

Word Count: 7.3k

Chapter 49 | Masterlist

It’s been a few weeks since the pictures started. Six in fact, which puts us two weeks before Rooster’s birthday. I was still debating on what to do for him. Maybe a night out at The Hard Deck? But we do that so often. I want to do something different for him. But I had no idea what. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out myself. With these pictures going around, I get looks everywhere I go. Mav even had to make an announcement on base that no one was allowed to talk about it. Whoever was posting these pictures was smart, they would wait a while between posting at this point, like they were waiting until we let our guard down and then they would post another. It was mentally and emotionally draining and most nights I went straight to bed after dinner and fell asleep. I know Rooster is worried about me, but it’s so hard to have any motivation to do anything. I’ve done well to keep it from affecting me at work, but as soon as we were in the car to go home, it’s like I deflated like a balloon. Slouching in the passenger seat as Rooster reached for my hand, kissing it and resting our intertwined fingers on the console.

I stood washing the dishes from dinner when Rooster’s arms wrapped around my waist, his lips pressing to the spot just below my ear. “You okay?” He asked, resting his chin on my shoulder, his hand splaying over my belly, a warm feeling flooding me. It’s been weeks since Rooster and I had sex. With the photos being out I hadn’t felt like it, and Rooster has been great at hiding how it’s affected him. I know it has, because he’s been spending a lot more time in the shower and I can hear him. I took a deep breath leaning back into him. “I’m okay.” He smiled into my neck, holding me tightly. I bent down to reach into the sink for the pan and accidentally brushed against him. He let out a quiet groan and I could tell he was seriously holding back. I remembered one of my sessions with Dr. Lender that I had recently. He told me that I need to keep up my normal routine. With everything going on it’s easy to fall into isolation, and to distance myself from everyone. I needed to do everything I could to live normally and that includes, fucking my fiance. I had lingerie in the closet I’ve never worn, the ones I bought months ago.

Once I finished the dishes I went upstairs, but I was surprised to find Rooster laying on our bed, nothing but boxers, rubbing himself through the black material. “Fuck, Mags.” He whispered and I grinned. I didn’t say a word as I crossed the room. He jumped up as I startled him. “Mags.” He said and I kept walking until I walked into the closet, closing the door behind me. “What are you doing, Mags?” He asked. I ignored him, slipping on the white crotchless panties as well as the baby clue corset. I tightened it and took a deep breath, turning to the door. I was nervous for some reason, wondering if Rooster would like it. But I mustered up the courage and swung the door open. Rooster was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. “Oh. My. God.” He whispered. “Like what you see, Lieutenant?” I asked, giving him a slow spin. “Oh, honey. You have no idea how much I love it.” He said as I stepped closer. He raised one hand, skimming it over my bare thigh. He continued to stare, taking in every inch of me, and it made me feel sexier than I had felt in weeks. “You look ethereal.” He mumbled, one finger hooking into my panties. “Yeah?” I asked and his eyes met mine. Warm and brown, full of love. Love that was only meant for me. I reached out, caressing his cheek before dragging my hand along his shoulder, then to his chest. I took another step forward, gently perching myself on his lap. I could feel how hard he was through his boxers. “I’ve missed you.” I said, leaning in, my nose nuzzling his jaw as his hands grabbed my waist. “I’ve been right here pretty girl.” He said as he turned to me, kissing my cheek, just below my eye, before kissing my nose, then my lips. It was gentle, sweet even. I dragged my hand down his chest, slowly trailing to the waistband of his boxers and he groaned as I dragged a nail over the bulge in them.

“Oh, pretty girl.” He moaned as he pulled back from me. “You want it?” He asked, his hand gently gripping my chin, keeping my gaze on him. I could only whine in response and he smirked at me. “Then take them off.” He said and I stood, grabbing his boxers and slowly pulled them down his legs. His throbbing erection, resting against his stomach as it sprang free. I sat up, placing a kiss to the swollen head as I did before reclaiming my place on his lap. I rested my hands on his neck, pulling him into another kiss as he palmed at my ass. I was soaked, leaking onto his thighs as I rutted against him. “I need you out of these.” He said, looping his fingers through my panties. “No need.” I said. I stood again, taking his throbbing dick in my hand, pumping him a few times, making him moan for me before I straddled him once more, lining him up with my entrance. I slowly sank down on him, reveling in the way his thick cock stretched my walls. It hurt in the most delicious way and I whimpered when he was fully seated inside me. He groaned, looking at where our bodies met, and I leaned forward. “They’re crotchless.” I said and he moaned again. “God I love you.” He said with a chuckle.

“Not god, but you can worship me all you want.” He groaned, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me flush against him. My hips shifted and the head of his cock nudged against that spongy spot inside me, making me moan. He pressed his lips to mine, swallowing any noise I made as my fingers weaved into his hair. His large hands moved to grab my ass, slowly rolling my hips against him. “Bradley.” I whined and he smirked at me. “What is it, pretty girl?” He asked, rolling his own hips into mine. “‘m so full.” I moaned out and he chuckled. “Yeah? You like being full of my cock?” I could only nod as his cock kept nudging that one spot, my clit dragging across the coarse hairs at the base of his cock. “Mm, my pretty girl all dumb on my cock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so stupid for me.” I felt dumb. Something about not being with him for so long, made him feel a thousand times bigger and better. He scooted back on the bed with me in his lap before laying back, his hands resting on my hips. “Go on.” I knew what he wanted, so I leaned forward slightly, resting my hands on his chest before lifting my hips. I rode him slowly, trying to keep myself from cumming so quickly, but it was so hard. He felt so good and I was a moaning mess. “My pretty girl is so dirty for me, isn’t she?” I could only nod as I moaned. “Wants nothing but my cock inside her. God, I could stay buried in this pretty pussy for the rest of my life.”

My hips stuttered, my legs growing tired from the constant motion and Rooster noticed. I squealed as he flipped us over, me now under him, just how I liked it. “Look at you, all pretty in your little corset. All for me.” He said, leaning down to kiss me before he thrust his hips into me at a brutal pace. “Oh fu-u-u-u-u-ck. Yes, Bradley! Yes!” I cried out, my nails dragging down his back as he fucked me. He grabbed my knees, tossing them over his shoulders. He pushed till my legs were flush against my chest, kissing the tops of my breasts that were spilling out of my corset top. “You like that, Mags? You like when I fuck you like my own little slut?” A shiver ran up my spine at his words. He’d never spoken to me like that, but goddamn did it turn me on. “Yes! Fuck! Bradley, make me cum, please!” I begged and he smirked, his hand coming up and wrapping around my throat, squeezing slightly. “I will. I always make you feel good.” He said, as he thrust into me with long languid strokes. A tingling sensation started in my toes, working it’s way up my legs until that sensation in my belly washed over me and sent me spiraling into my orgasm. “Bradley! Fuck yes! Don’t stop, Roo!” I begged as I held him tightly, not wanting him to stop. His head was near my lips and I smirked. “Cum inside me, Roo.” I whispered and he groaned. “Fill me up with your cum, Roo. Need to feel it inside me. Wanna watch it drip down my thighs.” He thrust into me quickly before he suddenly stopped, cock buried inside me completely and his ropes of cum filling me to the brim. “Fuck, you like when I cum inside you?” He asked, still holding my neck and making me look at him. “Yeah. I can’t wait till we’re married. I’m gonna walk around constantly stuffed full of it.” He groaned, bringing his head down to rest on my shoulder. “You’re making me hard again.” I smirked, tilting my head to whisper in his ear again. “Then fuck me again. I am your personal little slut, aren’t I?” With that he rolled me onto my side, his chest pressed against my back as he lifted my leg and fucked me hard. Bringing another orgasm down on me. “Have you lost weight?” He asked and I sat up, nodding. “A little, why?” I asked. “I noticed it physically but you just felt lighter when you were in my lap.” My eyes lit up and my smile widened. “Really?” He raised a brow, chuckling at me. “Yes.” He said leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips.

We easily fell back into our routine, and the bed together, and after a few days it was like everything went back to normal and I felt more myself than I had in awhile. That is, until the worst hit. “Fuck! Yes! Yes! Bradley, don’t stop!” Bob and I were walking by a group of Ensigns who were staring at a phone. It was distorted but I could pick up my own voice anywhere. I turned to face them, listening to some very familiar voices. “NICE TITS!” I knew exactly what they were watching. “Ensigns.” I called and they all looked at Bob and I before standing at attention, a blush covering most of their cheeks. “Phone. Now.” I was handed the phone and I looked at the video at this point Rooster and I were getting dressed. I clicked out of it to see who originally posted it, and sure enough it was a guy standing on a catamaran, shirtless with a douchey smile on his face. The caption? Since the photos are going around, thought I’d treat everyone to her sex tape. I took down his name and twitter handle before handing the ensign his phone back. “Admiral Simpson's office. Now.” They immediately turned and headed that way.

Bob followed behind and I walked into Cyclone’s office first. “Sir,” I addressed and he raised a brow at me. “We have a problem.” I filled Cyclone in and he yelled and he threatened those boys. But ultimately he had to talk with their commanding officer. They were docked here for the week and would ship out at the end of this week. He sent them off before sitting back in his chair, sighing. “Lieutenant. We have to get this under control.” I nodded. “I’ve already gotten his name and I’m calling my PI as soon as I walk out of here.” He nodded. “Was this man the one posting all the other photos?” I shook my head. “The caption insinuated he didn’t do it, but there will probably be an investigation into that. We’re still trying to catch the guy who’s originally posting these.” He hummed just as my phone dinged. I looked at it, seeing I was tagged in a photo on twitter. My heart thudded wildly in my chest as I opened it, but I felt sick at the picture in front of me. It was one Rooster sent me after I was deployed. He was sat in the chair in our room, facing the mirror. He was completely nude, cock hard and resting against his stomach as he took the picture with a wicked smirk on my face. “Magnolia?” Cyclone called and I turned to him. “What is it?” He asked and it took me a moment to respond. “I-it’s Rooster. It wasn’t my picture this time, it was his. Oh my god.” I gasped as I saw the caption below the picture. Call off the wedding and I’ll stop posting them. “What does it say?” He asked. “Someone wants me to call off my wedding.” I said before turning and sprinting out the door, bumping into Bob. “What’s wrong?”

I explained everything to him as we rushed to the hangar, I had to find Bradley and tell him before someone else showed him. But I seemed to be too late as I heard him shouting through the hangar door. “WHAT THE FUCK?! I’M GONNA KILL THIS SON OF A BITCH!” I rushed in and the sound of the door caused everyone to look at us. “Bradley-” “Have you seen it?” I nodded as he came over, his hands tightly gripping my biceps beneath my flight suit. “Bradley honey, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. But this fucker is going down. First that video, now the pictures of me and asking us to call off the engagement? I’m done playing his games, I could… I could…” His grip tightened with every word, so much so it was painful. “Roo, you’re hurting me.” I whispered. He looked at his hands on my arms and quickly let go. “Mags, honey. I’m sorry, I didn’t-” I nodded, taking his hands in mine. “I know. I know you didn’t mean to. This is incredibly stressful and we have to figure out something soon.” He nodded. We agreed to talk about everything at home, but the rest of the day was tense. So many people had seen the video at this point that whenever people saw us, they would stare and a few were even bold enough to make gestures. A few men motioning to their laps was enough to have Rooster raging. But finally, we were done for the day so we showered and climbed into the bronco to head home. After a windy ride home we walked into the house, sighing in relief from being done for the day.

Rooster set our bags by the door and walked towards the kitchen. I grabbed our bags, taking them up to our room and setting them by the closet. As I set them down, the light hit my engagement ring, making it gleam. If calling off the wedding would make this all stop, then perhaps I should do it. I paced the bedroom for a little bit, thinking of the pros and cons. Hundreds of cons and one pro, the pictures would stop. But we only have to call off the wedding, we can still get married at the courthouse and have a wedding later. Making my decision I grabbed the navy felt ring box, placing the ring inside and starting downstairs. I walked into the kitchen, seeing Rooster leaned against the counter, Dahlia standing on her hind legs, leaning on him as he pet her. I couldn’t help but smile at them, watching as he rested his forehead on Dahlia's, looking up at her, seeing as she was a head taller than him on her hind legs. “What are you looking at?” He asked, smiling at me. Dahlia immediately left him, coming over to me for some love. “Just you two.” I said, stepping closer. “So, we need to talk about this picture business.” I nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about that too.” I said, setting the box on the counter and sliding it closer to him. He stared at it a minute before he started laughing. “That’s funny, Caila.” I bit my lip and his laughing stopped. “Mags. That ring better not be in that box.” He said as he snatched it, opening it up. “Listen to me-” “NO! NO! THE ONE THING I’M NOT DOING IS CALLING OFF THIS ENGAGEMENT!” He yelled. “Rooster, don’t yell at me.” I said sternly and he scoffed. “WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO WHEN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE WANTS TO CALL OFF OUR ENGAGEMENT BECAUSE SOME SICKO IS POSTING PICTURES OF US?!” “STOP YELLING AT ME!” I screamed back and we both stopped, chests heaving. “I won’t wear the ring. We can still go down to the courthouse and get married, we can have a wedding once this is all over. I just think for now we just need to play along.”

“Going down to the courthouse is not what either of us want. Mags, I want to see you in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards me. I want to say our vows in front of everyone and kiss you when it’s all said and done.” I sighed as his hands came up, cradling my face softly, a sharp contrast to the grip he had on my arms earlier. “No. I’m not letting some smart guy whose probably sitting in his mom's basement with cheeto dusted fingers keep me from marrying you in December. We will figure this out, Mags.” He said, kissing my forehead. He opened the ring box, and pulled it out, grabbing my hand and slipping it on my finger. “I swear to god, Mags. If I have to slip this on your finger one more time.” He joked, making me laugh. “So… we’re not calling off the wedding?” He asked and I shook my head. “No. We’ll figure this out.” I said, leaning up on my toes and kissing him. After that we called my mom and she had Chelsea write up a press release for us, which would be announced on the day of Rooster’s birthday. In the meantime I tried to figure out what to do for him, or even what to get him. I thought and thought and thought as the days went by and I struggled. I felt bad because he knows me so well, and I feel like I barely know him since I can’t come up with anything to do. A few days later Phoenix called me after work. I was lounging on the couch while Rooster was in the shower. “Okay, wait till you hear this.” She said before I could even say anything. “Okay.” I said. “That band that we love? The one we found when you stayed with me?” I nodded. “Yeah?”

“I know I mentioned it before, but they’re gonna be in San Diego on the twenty-eighth.” That sounded so fun. “I would love too, but that’s the day after Rooster’s birthday and I’m still trying to figure out what to do for him.” She hummed. “I forgot about that.” I laughed. “Don’t tell him that.” She joined me in my laughter. “That sucks, I was hoping we could go.” She said and I sighed. “I know. But I can’t drag him to something I want to do on his birthday.” I said. “What did you want to do?” I jumped up, a scream escaping my throat as he startled me. “Bradley!” I whined, smacking his arm as he came around the couch, sitting in front of me and pulling my legs into his lap. “Sorry. What did you want to do?” He asked. “Nothing.” I knew if I told him he’d go just because he wanted to please me. “A concert for a band we like.” Phoenix said loudly, loud enough for Rooster to hear. He hummed, “Which band?” He asked. Phoenix gave the name and I yelled at her. “Phoenix! Stop telling him!” He just laughed. “Is that the metal band you keep listening to?” He asked and I nodded, a blush on my cheeks. “Yes.” He smiled at me. “They’re actually really good.” I rolled my eyes at him. “So let’s go.” I huffed. “Phoenix, let me call you back.” I said and she agreed before I hung up. “Do you actually want to go, or are you just saying that because I want to go?” I asked and he grinned at me. “No, I actually want to go. A concert sounds fun.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s standing room only, so we’d be on the floor.” I said and he nodded. “Okay.” He said with a smile. “Okay, but we’re staying to either the left or right side. I’m not dealing with the mosh pit and I am sure as hell not spending my night lifting crowd surfers.” He just laughed as I grabbed my phone. “Of course, honey.” He said as he leaned forward, kissing me. With that I called Phoenix and told her to book the tickets.

I still hadn’t figured out what to do for Bradley’s birthday. He said he wanted a simple dinner with just me and him with no gifts. He didn’t want to go to The Hard Deck, he didn’t want a small party. Just me and him. I loved the idea but I still had to figure out what to get him, whether he didn’t want a gift or not. It took some searching but finally I came across something. I immediately grabbed my phone. I googled phone services in Virginia before I started dialing. I called many services, explaining the situation before I finally found it. “Yes, ma’am we do have Carol Bradshaw in the system.” I nodded. “I know it’s a long shot, but do you have any old voicemails saved on the server?” I heard clicking on the other end before she answered. “Yes, ma’am. We have them as far back as nineteen eighty-one.” I bit my lip, smiling. “Great. Can I have the access number?” She had to email me some forms and because neither of Bradley’s parents were alive I was able to get a hold of the number pretty easily. Now I just had to listen them all and find the one I needed.”

I woke up about twenty minutes early on Rooster’s birthday deciding to get up and make french toast for him. Once that was done I went back upstairs, smiling as I saw him in bed. I quickly shut off his alarm before it could wake him and crawled onto the bed, managing to slip under the covers. Thankfully he was already laying on his back, making it easy for me to gently slip his boxers down, morning wood almost smacking me in the face as I did so. I smirked, gently wrapping my hand around him, giving him a few teasing strokes until precum beaded on his tip. I kitten licked the head of his cock before taking it into my mouth, sucking gently. His chest rose as he took a deep breath, a sign he was starting to wake. I took more of him into my mouth, struggling a little as he stretched my throat. A moan escaped his lips and his legs shifted as I sucked on his cock. “Mags?” His morning voice alone made me wet, my legs rubbing together for friction as I started bobbing my head along his cock. My hands rested on his lower stomach as I took him down to the hilt, gagging as I did so. Sudden;y the covers were tossed off of me and I looked up, meeting Roosters eyes as he stared down at me. “Best birthday ever.” He said, hand coming up cradle my face as drool fell from my mouth, coating his cock. “You’re so pretty with my cock in your mouth.” He said and I brought my hand up, fondling his balls as I sucked him off.

“Oh fuck, Mags. I’m gonna cum.” He was always so much more sensitive in the mornings. I quickly took him all the way into my mouth, my nose brushing against his trimmed hairs at the base of my cock. Hot ropes of cum shooting down my throat as I looked up to him. His head was thrown back, one hand buried in my hair, holding me in place until he was done.Soon he was and I sat up, smiling at him. “Show me.” I smirked, holding my tongue out so he could see the last bit of his cum that rested on it. “Swallow.” He said as he reached forward, gently gripping my face. I pulled my tongue in, swallowing and he smirked, pulling me into a kiss. He pulled my naked body onto his lap, my arms wrapping around his shoulders. “Happy Birthday, my love.” He smiled into the kiss, pulling away slightly. “You’re amazing, you know that?” I smiled at him. “You may have told me once or twice.” I said. “I hate that we have to work today. I’d rather keep you in bed.” I chuckled. “Well, I made french toast for you.” He laughed, standing with me in his arms. Once downstairs, he put me down and I made him sit at the island. We were both naked as I grabbed the french toast and walked over. I straddled his lap, smirking as he groaned. “I know of a way to make this better.” I raised a brow. “Oh, you do?” He nodded and raised me slightly, grabbing his cock and lowering me onto him. “Oh…” I moaned, feeling so full of him. “Feed me?” I smirked, grabbing the fork. “Whatever you want, my love.” He made it three quarters of the way through the food before he took the plate from me, setting it down and fucking up into me.

Soon we had to get ready for work and I handed him a card before we left. It was a birthday card but it had a slip of paper inside. “The holder of this card may get a blow job at any time on his birthday.” I smiled as he smirked at me. “I just suggest you be careful about it. Don’t wanna get caught on base.” I said and he just stared at me before yanking me into him, kissing me intensely. “I absolutely adore you.” He said, backing me into the wall. “Wanna make use of that card?” He leaned back, a grin on his face before looking at me again. “In uniform? Hell yes.” He said and I smirked, reaching for his belt. “Better make this fast then. Don’t wanna be late for work.” I grinned, pulling his cock from his boxers. Good thing I decided to forgo makeup today. I made quick work of him and we were on our way to work. Once we got through our briefing and got into our flight suits before we walked into the hangar. “Happy Birthday!” Everyone cheered and he turned to me. I put my hands up. “I had nothing to do with it.” I said and he turned back as Phoenix held up a single cupcake. “You only wanted dinner with your fiance and no party, so we thought we’d at least give you this.” She said and he smiled at her. “Happy birthday to you-” Mav started and everyone else picked up, finishing out the song with a loud cheer. He blew out the candle and offered me part of the cupcake. I just swiped my finger through the icing and dabbed it on his nose. “It’s yours, eat it.”

We were busy today but he asked for another blow job during our lunch, in a very specific place. “Gotta make this fast.” He said as he sat in the cockpit of his super hornet. He unzipped his flight suit, pulling his cock out as I knelt down in the floor by his legs. I had to move around the joy stick which proved difficult but I still managed to lick a stripe along the large vein on the underside of his cock. “I only thought this would happen in my fantasies.” He groaned out as I took him into my mouth before releasing him with a ‘pop’. “How long have you been fantasizing about this?” I asked before bobbing my head along his cock. “Oh fuck,” He moaned out. “Since I first saw you. It was the first place I ever imagined you sucking me off.” I released him again and smirked at him. He was struggling to find something to do with his hands, seeing as he can’t grab my pristine bun. “Since you first saw me? My, my, how dirty.” I said with a wink before sucking him off again. It wasn’t long before he was coming down my throat, trying hard to contain his moans. “Let’s get out of here before we get caught and get in trouble.” He said, climbing out before I followed suit. The rest of the day was normal, study flight maneuvers, sit in meetings, do some paperwork and soon we were headed home. I showered and slid on Bradley's favorite sundress of mine. It was white with little pink flowers, spaghetti straps, it came to mid thigh. It was fitted, but since I had lost weight and continue to lose weight, I feel so sexy. I grabbed my bag, hoisting it onto my shoulder and stepped out of the locker room.

Rooster was faced away from me, talking to Payback and Bob as I walked up behind him. “Hi, honey.” I said in a sultry tone and he turned to me, eyes practically bulging out of his head. “We’ll leave you guys alone.” Payback said and they walked away. “Hi, pretty girl.” He said, his large hands gripping my waist and pulling me close. “You like it?” I asked and he nodded, his fingers scrunching my dress slightly. “I may not make it home.” He said and I giggled. But of course, he couldn’t wait. So here we are at a red light, his cock in my mouth as one hand lifted my dress, palming my ass. “I can finally mess up this bun.” He said, taking my hair down and running his fingers through all the hairspray I had in. It felt nice as he massaged my scalp and after a few more minutes I was swallowing more cum. I gasped as I popped him from my mouth, looking at him and wiping drool from my lips as he pulled into the driveway. “Messy head has got to be my favorite.” He said, smirking at me. “Enjoying your birthday so far?” I asked and he nodded as he reached over, caressing my cheek. “I am. This is one of the best birthdays ever.” He said, I turned nuzzling into his hand before kissing his palm softly. “Are you sure your jaw doesn’t hurt?” He asked and I couldn’t contain the giggle that bubbled up my throat. “No. Honey, I’m fine.” I told him. He didn’t really believe me, but that all went away when I cooked his mom’s recipe for marry me chicken. “God this is amazing.” He said, as he put a bite in his mouth. “Marry me.” He said and I giggled. “Already taken, honey.” I said as I wiggled my ring finger.

After dinner Rooster sat on the couch and I told him to stay there. “Honey! I told you not to get me anything!” I ignored him as I grabbed the wrapped box from the closet, taking it downstairs. “I know. But you’ll love this.” I said as I handed him the medium sized box. He stared at it for a moment before he looked at me. “Go on! Open it!” I said excitedly. He just chuckled, ripping the paper off and opening the box. “O-oh. Mags you shouldn’t have.” He said as he pulled out the fuzzy bear. He stared at it, flipping it around, not looking all that pleased. “Do you not like it?” I asked and he looked at me, questioning his next words carefully. “Oh, ye-yeah. Of course. I always wanted a teddy bear for my thirty-ninth birthday.” I just giggled. “Look down in the box.” He did and pulled out a photo. It was him and his parents and in his hands was the original version of the teddy bears I gave him. “Wait… Is this Mr. Snuffles?” I nodded. “Not the exact same one, but yeah, it is.” He smiled, leaning back into the couch. “My dad gave me this just before his first deployment after I was born. I carried this thing to college with me. Hell, it’s probably in one of those boxes Tilly gave me.” I smiled, laying my hand over his and his eyes snapped to me.

“Squeeze the left paw.” I said and I couldn’t hold back the tears that lined my eyes. He kissed my temple before squeezing the paw. “Hi buddy!” It was his dad’s voice and immediately tears fell from his eyes. “You’re one today! God this year has flown by and I wish I was home more to see you grow. But I have a few weeks of leave coming up and I can’t wait to spend all my time with you and your mama. We’re gonna go to the beach, and spend all our time playing in the backyard! I know you’re only one, but I’m even gonna get started on that treehouse for you. You're the greatest gift your mom ever gave me, and I hope I can be as good of a dad for you as your grandpa was for me. I love you, Bradley. To the moon and back, as far as the universe stretches and I can’t wait to see you grow up and become an amazing person. I have to go, but I promise we’ll have so much fun when I get home. I love you, buddy!” As soon as it cut off sobs racked his body and I pulled him into me. “Bradley-” “Thank you.” He cut me off and I smiled, kissing his head and running my fingers through his hair as he clutched the bear to his chest. “I figured you’d cry but I didn’t expect this.” I said and gently soothed him until his sobs turned into little hiccups. “I forgot what his voice sounded like.” My heart broke. I could never imagine not knowing what my daddy’s voice sounded like. “Oh, Bradley.” I pulled him down till I was laying flat on the couch, his body on top of mine. “This is the best gift you could’ve given me, Mags. Thank you.” He sat up, wiping his eyes just as Dahlia came over, licking his face and making him laugh. “Thank you, big girl.” He said, leaning over and kissing her head. “So, you like it?” I asked and he listened to the message one more time. “I love it.”

The next day we spent most of our time lounging around before we got ready for the concert. “You sure you want to go?” I asked as I finished straightening my hair. He nodded as he slipped on another Hawaiian shirt. “Of course. I’m really excited.” He said smiling at me as I stood in the bathroom in nothing but a black bra and thong. He groaned, sitting in the chair in the corner, looking at me with a devilish smirk. “What I wouldn’t give to have you on my cock just one more time.” I giggled as I walked over to the closet. “No time. We have to meet Phoenix and Hangman at the venue. So save it till we get home.” I said and he groaned as I tossed on a simple blue dress. I usually wouldn’t wear a dress to a concert, but I know Rooster will be behind me the entire time so I wasn’t worried about creeps sticking their hands up my dress. Once I was dressed, I slipped on some flat sandals and pulled my ID and my card from my purse. “Put that in your pocket?” He nodded, taking them and putting it in his wallet. “Ready?” He asked and I nodded. The drive the venue was easy, parking was a bitch and we wound up walking for twenty minutes before we arrived at the end of the line. “Are they here yet?” Rooster asked and I shrugged. “Let me text Phoenix.” I said. “No need. Hangman!” He yelled and a blonde head snapped around to him. After a minute they stepped out of the line and came back to meet us.

“Was parking bad for you too?” Phoenix asked and Rooster scoffed. “You have no idea.” He replied. We talked until the line started moving and finally we were able to hand over our tickets and walk inside. “Want a beer?” Rooster asked and we all agreed. It took a minute but we found a space on the left side close to the bar and the bathroom and out of the path of the crowd surfers. We enjoyed the openers but now it was time for the headliners, the entire reason we were here. The lights turned down and the music started causing Phoenix to grab my hand tightly. The mood in the crowd shifted and the mosh pit grew, pushing us a little but nothing too bad. I couldn’t help but scream the lyrics as Phoenix and I bounced. “Here am I! Take me to the pearly gates! Don’t let ‘em hit you on the way out when I take your place!” Rooster and Hangman had to take a step back from us, seeing as we kept bumping into their chests. I was sure my voice would be gone by the end of the concert, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I was having the time of my life, especially when Rooster would wrap his arms around my waist, holding me close and swaying with me. He even knew some of the lyrics. “I said it’s enough! I begged and I ran in circles! I climbed to the sun and fell in a concrete jungle!” By the end of the concert we got into the merch line, waiting forever before we were all leaving with shirts tossed over our shoulders. “We should hit up The Hard Deck.” Jake suggested and I smirked. “I don’t know man-” “Please, Roo? Just stop by and say hi. Then we can go home and we can do what you asked about earlier.” He sighed, knowing we wasn’t about to say no. “Okay. But we aren’t staying long.” I cheered, grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. “Yay!” I cheered, grabbing his hand as we all walked towards our cars. “See you there.” Hangman said as Phoenix and him veered off.

Rooster helped me into the bronco before getting in himself. I smirked, sliding myself into the middle seat and leaning on him. “Did you have fun?” I asked and he nodded, kissing my head. “One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.” He said, backing out of the parking lot. “You know, I was listening to that one song and they’re right. Love is the death of peace of mind.” I hummed in agreement. “I worry about you a lot Mags.” I smiled up at him. “That’s okay. I worry about you a lot as well.” He chuckled and soon we were pulling into the sandy parking lot of the beloved bar and Rooster dragged me out through his door. I was caught off guard when he pushed me up against the side of the bronco. “Let’s get this over with,” He said as he kissed my neck, his fingers reaching around to grip my ass through my dress. “That way I can get you home and naked in my bed.” I giggled, pushing him away slightly. “Then I guess we better go in.” I dragged him inside and immediately everyone was yelling. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” There was a banner above the bar and Penny had a cake set up. “I thought I said no party.” I shook my head. “No party. Just a typical Saturday night at the bar. But tonight we have cake!” I said, pulling him towards the bar for a beer. “Happy birthday, Bradley.” Penny said, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks, Penny.” Mav came over, hugging him as well. “So, how was yesterday?” He asked and a blush crept up my cheeks. “Amazing! You should see what she got me!” He said, pulling out his phone and pulling up the picture of the bear. “Is that Mr. Snuffles?” Mav asked and Rooster nodded. “She even managed to get an old voicemail dad left for me on my first birthday and put the recording in the paw, so when I press it, it plays.”“How did you get the voicemail?” Mav asked. “I called almost every phone company in Virginia and finally found the one that had Carol’s name. Then I filled out some papers and got access to the voicemail box.” Mav seemed shocked as Bradley tucked me into his side. “That’s amazing. When I come over you’ll have to play it for me.” Rooster agreed and we walked off, grabbing some cake from Penny. We spent about an hour playing pool and catching up before Bradley was ready to go. “Bye guys!” He called and everyone waved. We were halfway to the bar when he stopped, turning me to face him. “Thank you. For the past few days, you have made me so happy.” I smiled up at him. “Good thing I get to make you happy for the rest of our lives.” He smiled, hands coming up to hold my face before he leaned down, kissing me sweetly, making butterflies build in my stomach. Suddenly, a loud bang went off, scaring everyone. The sound of glass shattering filled the room as Rooster grabbed me, something splattering against my face as he pulled me to him. Something whizzed by my head and soon, everything went quiet. Roosters fingers dug into my skin, scrunching my shirt in his grasp. I pushed away from him, standing straight, and looking around. Everyone else was looking around in confusion and standing from the floor. I turned to Rooster, looking up at him. “Are you…” My voice trailed off when I noticed how pale he was. I had never seen him this pale and he had a look of fear in his eyes. “Roo?” He gripped me tightly and stumbled a little. My eyes trailed down to his chest, the white tank top he wore under his Hawaiian shirt, flooding with red. A horrified scream escaped me as I grabbed him, but he slipped through my grasp, crashing to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Taglist: @mak-32 @rosiahills22 @fanboyswhore9 @genius2050 @callsign-athena

#i hope you dance #top gun maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #rooster top gun #rooster #rooster fanfic #robert bob floyd #bob floyd #jake hangman seresin #hangman #phoenix #natasha trace #pete maverick mitchell

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ironwoman359 · 1 year

Text

The Secret History of the Invincible II

Chapter 1: Seams Pull Apart

Summary: “How much do you remember?” he asked suddenly. “About…you know.”

“About the wormhole,” you said, because one of you had to say it, and it may as well be you.

It's been months since the Invincible safely landed on a new planet to build humanity's first colony among the stars, and the Captain has been working very hard to ensure that the colony has everything it needs. But now that everyone's getting settled, it's time to sit down with the colony's official historian and give a report to send back to earth about the Invincible's voyage...and the Captain must choose how much to reveal about what really happened

Ships: Platonic the Captain and everyone, with an emphasis on the Captain & Mark.

Content Warnings: Just a lot of discussion of everything that went on in ISWM itself, and hurt/comfort as the characters try to process that and work through it. And guilt. SOOOOO much guilt. Fun!

Word Count: 2,857

A/N: I've had this idea in my head for a long time, of how the Captain and Mark would move on with their lives after everything they went through in the wormhole, and I'm excited to finally start posting it. Enjoy!

*If you like to read on AO3, check the notes for a link!

--- --- ---

With a sucking whoosh and a swirl of blue energy, you suddenly found yourself back in your cryopod. You looked around, heart sinking as the pod’s interface whirred to life in a painstakingly familiar sequence.

*Software update complete*

“Good morning, Captain! We are currently *error* years into our journey. Coffee is en route. Current ship status is absolutely catastrophic. In-in-initializing emergency wakey-wakey protocol.”

The cryopod spat you out and you crumpled your hands and knees on the deck of the bridge. The alarm lights flashed an incessant red and the ship’s emergency klaxons blared in your ears, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You couldn’t even bring yourself to stand up. It wasn’t over. It would never be over. You’d thought that maybe this time, you’d actually done it, but who were you kidding? This would go on forever.

“Reviving head engineer.”

“Captain?”

You looked up at Mark, who was stepping out of his pod with a frown on his face.

“Does this feel-”

The air warped around him and his form glitched between different versions of himself, settling briefly on one with a tattered uniform, skin marred by burns and his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

“You let us die, Captain,” he said, his voice low and distorted, before he glitched back into his normal self.

“-familiar to you?”

“Mark-” you staggered to your feet, but before you could speak, he glitched again, and Celci stood in his place.

“It never ends, Captain,” she said, her face covered in frost and her goggles glowing blue. “No matter what you try, nothing can save us from this nightmare, and it’s your fault.”

“Celci-”

Her body warped and it was Burt now, digital rain running down his face.

“I'll tell you what I know,” he said. “Storm clouds are gathering... the wind is gonna blow... the race of man is suffering .”

“This is why we shouldn’t have trusted you,” Gunther’s voice said from behind, but when you turned, it was the alien from the Universal Stability Agency standing there, her clothes torn and blood pouring from her mangled eye socket.

“It all comes down to bad leadership ,” the alien said in Gunther’s voice, then they continued in their own. “All those worlds...all those people...gone. Because of you.”

“Seeing things, Captain?”

The voice was low in your ear and you whirled around, just in time for the bridge’s main control console to burst into flames.

“Fire on the bridge! *Error* Life support systems failing. *Error* Automatic fire suppression system offline. *Error* Failsafes offline.”

Instinctively, you turned towards the fire extinguisher, but found yourself stuck to the floor and unable to move, ice slowly creeping up your legs.

“*Error* Captain offline.”

A wall of fire and shrapnel barreled towards you as the console exploded, engulfing the bridge in flames. As the heat swarmed around you, you felt a deep despair settle in your heart, like a physical weight. It didn’t matter that the explosion would kill you. Nothing mattered anymore.

Not even death could save you from your fate.

--- --- ---

Your eyes flew open and you gasped, lurching upright to find yourself in your bedroom, safe and sound. Cool night air filled your lungs, a stark contrast to the blazing fumes from your dream.

Dream? Or memory?

You pushed the thought away and swung your legs over the side of the bed. You knew from an unfortunate amount of experience that there was no point in trying to get back to sleep after one of these dreams. You slid your feet into your slippers and made your way into the kitchen, overriding your coffee machine’s programmed start time to brew a pot right away.

“Coffee always helps,” you muttered to yourself as you grabbed a mug from your cupboard.

And it really did.

True, coffee couldn’t keep the nightmares (or the memories) from rising up and plaguing your mind, but the strong scent and bitter taste was grounding, as was the gentle *drip drip drip* of the machine in the quiet hours of the morning. The caffeine boost didn’t hurt either, and throwing yourself into the next day’s work was typically enough to silence any lingering thoughts floating inside your head.

Tonight, however, was anything but typical.

Normally, you’d instruct your computer to read out tomorrow’s schedule for you, but there was no need; you already knew what it would say.

*Senior Crew Meeting with Colony Historian – All Day*

You cupped your mug in your hands, letting the warmth seep into your palms as you leaned against the counter.

The historian had been nothing but cordial, assuring you that while they’d blocked out the full day for the interviews, it would most likely only take a few hours out of the morning, if that. You hadn’t argued the point, unsure of how to even explain why it might take longer to chronicle the Invincible’s journey than the historian expected. That was if you even decided to give the full, true account of what had happened.

If, indeed, it had even happened at all.

You shook yourself and rubbed your eyes. Suddenly, stuck within the confines of your apartment walls was the last place you wanted to be while you waited until it was socially acceptable to be out and about. Still holding your coffee in one hand, you grabbed a jacket from where you’d draped it over the back of a chair the day before and slipped out your front door.

Your apartment building was one of the first permanent residences that had been built after the initial groundwork of the colony was laid. It stood near the center of the settlement and housed most of the Invincible’s crew, including her entire senior staff. As Captain, you’d been given a large unit on the top floor, which conveniently meant that you were only one flight of stairs away from the roof.

The rooftop was little more than a barren expanse of concrete and loose gravel, though eventually there were plans to plant a garden, and you could see why. You’d only come here once or twice before, but the view of the colony below and the sweeping landscape of your new planet stretching out beyond it made it the perfect spot to create a cozy little gathering space. For now, though, it would be a decent enough place to wait out the rest of the night alone.

Or at least, alone in theory.

Illuminated by the dim glow of the streetlights below, a single figure sat on the edge of the rooftop, their legs dangling over the edge of the building.

“Mark?”

He turned, surprise written on his face.

“Captain? What are you doing up here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” you said as you approached. “It’s nearly four in the morning.”

“Is it?” He asked, and you nodded. “Huh. Didn’t realize it’d gotten that late. Or, early, I guess.”

“How long have you been out here?”

“Oh...who’s to say? It’s easy to lose track of time with a view like this.” He gestured, but not down at the colony or the dense woods surrounding it. His eyes were fixed upward, and when you followed his gaze it was easy to see why.

Thousands upon thousands of stars dotted the night sky, with nary a cloud in sight to obstruct them from view. The largest of the planet’s three moons was also fully visible, and one of its smaller sisters was just beginning to poke over the horizon.

“Wow,” you whispered. “They’re so much brighter here than on Earth.”

“No major cities here yet,” Mark responded. “No light pollution to obstruct our view. And it’s gonna stay that way, if I have anything to say about it. What’s the point of a new planet if we treat it just like the old one?”

You hummed in agreement, before folding your legs beneath you and sitting beside him.

“Yeah...it would be a shame to waste this second chance,” you said quietly.

Mark glanced over at you for a moment, something unreadable flashing in his eyes before he looked away again.

“You never did say what you were doing here, Captain.”

“You didn’t either,” you countered, and he pressed his lips together in a firm line.

You were both quiet for a moment, one beat of silence that threatened to stretch on into infinity with barely an acknowledgement before Mark sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said with a shrug. “That’s all.” He looked over at you again, and this time he let his gaze linger. “...could you?”

“Not really,” you admitted. “Too many…thoughts in my head, I suppose.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” he said with a nod. “Have you…” he hesitated, then seemed to steel himself. “Have you been having that problem often, since we…since our voyage?”

The unspoken question hung heavy in the air between you, and you swallowed down your nerves.

“Fairly often,” you said quietly. “You?”

“Yeah,” Mark said, sighing again. “Same here.”

You fidgeted beside him, unsure of how to proceed. It wasn’t like the two of you had been avoiding each other since you landed, you worked together nearly every day of course. But aside from Mark’s quiet “ thank you” when you’d first arrived here months ago, neither of you had even remotely acknowledged what had happened between you in the warp core. You weren’t even sure how much he remembered, and aside from that brief moment on the bridge, Mark had seemed completely fine, throwing himself fully into building the colony without a single sign of discomfort.

Though maybe , you thought now as you took in the tension in his shoulders and the tightness at the corners of his eyes, he was just very good at hiding it.

You knew you should say something, you needed to say something; not only were you Mark’s captain and therefore responsible for his well-being as a member of your crew, but you were his friend. Or at least, you hoped that after everything, you were still friends.

“Mark, I-”

“How much do you remember?” he asked suddenly. “About…you know.”

“About the wormhole,” you said, because one of you had to say it, and it may as well be you. Mark winced, and you took that as a sign to continue. “Everything.”

“ Everything everything?” Mark asked, and you nodded. “So…you remember what I did then,” he said, pulling his legs up and leaning his arms on his knees.

“What you did?” you repeated, and he rolled his eyes.

“If you’re trying to spare my feelings then I appreciate it, but you don’t have to bother. We both know that I...I caused all of it.”

"Mark, it wasn't-"

"Don't you dare say that it wasn't my fault," he interrupted, shooting you a glare. " I went back in time, I sabotaged both ships, I built the warp core. It was my fault." He laughed, hollow and empty, and for a moment you were back on the Invincible II , watching him fall apart in front of you all over again.

"You were just doing what you thought was right," you said slowly. "That's all any of us were doing. You had no way of knowing-"

"I did though," he insisted. "You told me, remember? You told me not to use the warp core, not to go back. But did I listen? No. I lost faith in you, trusted the word of that alien lady over yours, and I nearly destroyed everything."

It’s not like I gave you a good reason to have faith in me in the first place, you wanted to say, but you thought better of it. As much as you wanted to stew in your own guilt, trying to shift the blame onto yourself wouldn’t help Mark feel any better about his part in it all.

"Do you know why I told you not to go back?" you asked instead. "How I knew that you would even try? You told me not to let you. You said that you lost hope, but you never stopped trying to fix your mistakes, right up until the very end."

Mark opened his mouth to speak, but he froze, confusion written across his face.

"I...I told you?" he looked down at his hands and nodded carefully. "I…I did tell you."

"Mark…” You frowned. “How much do you remember?"

“Um…everything,” he said slowly. “Or at least, I assume it’s everything. It’s strange…sometimes I can’t pin the memories down quite right. Almost like I’m trying to remember a dream.”

“I almost thought it was a dream,” you said, leaning back to look up at the sky. “When no one acknowledged it when we landed, I thought maybe it was some side effect of the cryosleep. I asked Celci though, and she said that the brain doesn’t enter REM in cryo. So I just figured I was the only one who remembered.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Mark admitted. “And it’s not like I could tell someone about it without them thinking I was crazy.”

“It’s not the easiest thing to explain,” you agreed.

“ Right? ” he said, so loudly and suddenly that you jumped a little. “How would you even do that, like, ‘oh, guess what, I was transported through a wormhole across space and time and can remember living and dying over and over and have the memories from a dozen different universes all jacked up in my brain! Take me to the looney bin!’”

He grew more and more animated as he spoke, arms waving around before he finally let them fall back to his sides with a huff, and you swallowed.

“Mark…you’re not crazy. You know that, right?”

He hesitated, for just a bit too long for your liking before he answered.

“I know. It just…it feels crazy. I don’t even know how to begin sorting through everything in my head.”

“I understand,” you said quietly. “Believe me, I do. I’ve been trying not to think about it, but lately I can’t help but wonder…” you trailed off, your gaze slipping from Mark’s face down to the mug of coffee cooling in your hands.

“Yes?” he prompted, and you sighed.

“The historian interviews are tomorrow,” you said bluntly. “And I’m not sure whether to tell them the truth.”

Mark let out a breath, and you glanced over at him just in time to see him rest his chin on his fist.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” he admitted. “Until tonight, I wasn’t sure that it was worth the risk. I didn’t want to lose everything I’d worked so hard to build…not again.”

You opened your mouth to reassure him that he wouldn’t, but you couldn’t quite make the words come out. After all, how many times had the two of you lost the ship, the crew, the colony? How many times had you lost each other?

“But you know what I think now?” Mark continued, looking over at you. “I think that that’s exactly why we need to tell them what really happened. To try and stop it from happening again, to somebody else.”

“To somebody else?” you asked.

“As far as command back on Earth is concerned, this mission has been one hundred percent successful,” he explained. “I mean, it sure looks like it on the outside. Everyone is alive and healthy, the ship made it here safely, the colony is thriving. And the Invincible herself was a prototype...if she was successful then there were plans to fully reverse engineer the warp core for other ships, other missions…” he trailed off as your eyes widened, the full impact of his words settling over your shoulders.

“We can’t let that happen,” you whispered, and he nodded.

“We have to tell them. We can’t…. I can’t let my mistakes be repeated. No matter the consequences.”

He wrapped his arms around his legs, shrinking in on himself, and you swallowed. Slowly, you reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder.

“Our mistakes,” you corrected quietly. Mark shot you a small smile, and you returned it as best as you could. “I’ll be there to back you up, one hundred percent,” you continued. “And…”

You paused, unsure if you should complete your thought, but Mark made the choice for you, reaching out to return your gesture, taking your arm in a steady grip.

“And I’ll do the same for you,” he said. “I’m behind you all the way, Captain.”

You looked at him, his face illuminated by starlight, and for a moment all you could think of was all the times you’d failed him, all the times he’d suffered because of you. But his gaze held none of that anger, that resentment that you’d seen from him before. And if you could trust him, after everything, was it really so inconceivable that he could still have faith in you?

“We got into this mess together,” you finally said, squeezing his arm. “And we’re going to get through it the same way.”

Mark nodded as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the planet’s new horizon.

“Together.”

--- --- ---

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider reblogging, it means a lot to me <3

#in space with markiplier #iswm #iswm fic #iswm fanfic #markiplier fic #markiplier fanfic #engineer mark #iswm captain #iswm mark #iswm head engineer #iswm y/n #my writing

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oh-surprise-its-me · 7 months

Text

I listened to so much loud music last night and got drunk. Apparently I wrote this idea in my notes app last night.

So here’s an actual au of Jake never becoming a pilot!

The only reason why Jake was going to the hard deck tonight was for Javy.

Okay Javy and his dads. They convinced him to go. Jake is still in his scrubs. But with three days off starting tomorrow he figures Javy will forgive him.

He slides into the bar and looks around for his dads. A man comes him to him. “Hey pretty boy not sure this is your kinda place.” Jake wipes all the thoughts he was having about the mustache out of his head. “They let you fly with something that distracting on your face?”

Jake shoves past him. He sees his dads now. He ducks through the celebration. Comes up behind his tata. “Congratulations.” The three of them turn and Jake is quickly pulled into hugs. He gets kisses pressed to his head. Ron turns and shouts for Javy.

Javy catches sight of Jake and practically runs to him. Jake is brought into a crushing hug. Tom laughs at them and Chris reminds Javy to go slow.

Jake pulls back and gently smacks Javy’s chest. “You got a fucking concussion?” Javy flushes. “No?”

There’s a new voice from behind him. “Don’t lie to the man Jav.” Jake glances back to see a smaller brown haired man. He’s pretty sure it’s Maverick. Chris laughs. “Good luck with that Mav.” Jake instantly snaps back into nurse mode. He can’t help it. He shoves Javy onto a stool. “Tell me everything.”

Javy glances at Mav. “Go ahead we both know who his dads are.” Javy quickly tells Jake about the accident. Jake nods along the entire time.

Tom leans around Chris to talk to Mav, “get your kid they should meet again now that they aren’t 2.” Mav laughs. “Does Jake promise not to bite this time?” Jake blinks at his dad. “I don’t even want to know what you two are referring to.” Ron laughs and presses a kiss to Jake’s hair. “You were a bitey kid.”

“Says the man that bit dad and tata for me to see. Who’s fault is that.” Chris smacks Ron. “See.” Jake knows this has been a gentle argument they’ve had for years.

Jake eventually tells Javy he’s fine. Javy smacks his hip with an “I told you now drink.” Jake accepts the beer passed his way. They all move to a booth.

Chris in Tom’s lap, Ron on the inside, Jake and Javy sharing a side like they always do.

Mav drifts back over with him is the idiot with the facial hair. “Jake meet my son Bradley. Rooster for his callsign”

Jake and Bradley stare at each other. Bradley breaks first. He reaches a hand out, “nice to meet you.”

Jake blinks at him. “Yeah nice.” They shake on it. Bradley holds on. “Want another beer?” Javy elbows him. “Fuck it sure if you’re paying.” Jake is pulled up by Bradley. “Let’s go get it pretty boy.”

Mav takes Jake’s seat. “God Chris you were right they’re going to kill each other.”

Ron and Tom both chatter in polish, Chris smacks them, “stop it you two I don’t need to think about that.” Javy laughs. “I already know too much. He’s exactly Jake’s type.”

Mav stares after them. They’re leaning against the bar. Bradley has an arm around Jake’s waist. Jake looks like he’s turned on but considering breaking the arm. “Oh no what have I done.”

The four others laugh. “It’ll be fine Mav.”

Mav shakes his head, “how did your kid end up a nurse anyways.”

The three of them grin. They’ll take any opportunity to talk about their kid. Chris starts, “he took after our friend Lucas. He was an ER nurse in Texas and here. Always was fascinated with his stories.”

Ron nods and presses a kiss to Tom’s head. “We taught him how to fly and he loves it but it just wasn’t what he wanted to do.” Tom smiles at Chris before continuing, “he’s a little grease monkey like Chris here too but he wanted to help people. Decided to go into nursing. ER like Lucas was.”

Chris shakes his head, “told him he wasn’t allowed to become a firefighter though. Paramedic sure. But I never wanted him do follow what David and I did.”

Mav nods. He’s jealous in a sense. Wishes Bradley understood why he pulled his papers. Wished they didn’t loose so much time.

“Holy shit they’re gone.”

They all turn to look at the bar. Yep. No Bradley or Jake. Tom let’s out a loud laugh. “He really is our kid.” Mav slams his head into the table. “Goddamn it.”

Javy pats his shoulder. “Come on old man let’s see if you can beat me at pool.”

Jake’s dads watch as they leave. Chris leans back and whispers to his husbands. “Wanna go home and celebrate our own way?” Ron’s eyes flash. “Absolutely.” Tom squeezes his hip. “Good thing tomorrow is Saturday.”

Chris laughs. He grins at the two of them. “Come on then.”

They all wave to Mav and the daggers.

They give Javy and hug on the way out.

The daggers look so confused. They know they’ll have to host a bbq and invite all of them.

It’ll be a good weekend.

#ron slider kerner #chris seresin #tom iceman kazansky #top gun #jake hangman seresin x bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #slider is jake’s dad #tom x ron x chris #ron x chris x tom #pete maverick mitchell #javy coyote machado #Jake isn’t a pilot au #er nurse Jake #top gun maverick #hangster #mac writes top gun

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mafuluzx · 9 months

Note

AHHH I love your Wattpad FICS they bring so much joy 💖💖

Idk if your still doing request or not but can I request jay x male reader where the readers comforting jay after he got hurt during a battle ( reader is also a ninja please)

And I'll probs ask one for kai later if you don't mind

Have a lovely day/night

AHH THAT'S SO NICE TO HEAR!!!! I PUT ALL THE FLUFF IN MY HEART TO THIS!!! I think I succeeded. :3 It's a little short, but I believe quality > quantity, so this is it for now. I'm also very sorry I posted this so late, I have no good explanation, my dumb brain just forgot tumblr existed or something! I'm so sorry!

WARNING! Needles, I know people who can't handle needles so I'll put a warning about it here!

Jay x male reader oneshot!

Takes place in some of the newer seasons.

Comfort

"...It hurts... Am I going to die...?" Jay let out weakly as he laid his head on (y/n)'s lap.

"No you aren't, silly." (y/n) answered with a calm voice and a comforting smile as he brushed through Jay's hair with his fingers.

"...Am I going to-"

"Jay, ask the same question ONE MORE TIME, and I'm leaving." Kai scoffed as Jay glared at him with tears in his eyes.

"But it hurts!!!" Shouted at Kai before recoiling in pain. (y/n) placed a hand on Jay's cheek comfortingly before trying to soothe the blue ninja with a small "There, there..." Kai rolled his eyes before continuing to sanitize the stab wound on Jay's stomach. Three hours ago, the team were actually worried if Jay would die or not, but thankfully the lightning ninja was tougher than the spear that had pierced through his body a few hours ago.

"It'll only hurt for a bit." (y/n) said as Kai pulled out a needle and thread, ready to stitch Jay's wound closed. Upon noticing the small and sharp object, Jay tensed up and looked up at (y/n).

"Why is Kai helping me?! By the time he stitches this wound up I'll have ten more on me!" Jay raised his voice as Kai glared at him.

"I can still hear you. Ugh, I don't know why i'm here either." Kai said before gently pushing the needle through Jay's skin. Jay gripped your hand tight as you squeezed his hand back just as tightly. Jay looked like he was about to die any second now, tears of pain gathering in the corners of his eyes, so (y/n) couldn't help but feel really bad for him.

"...I'm done." Kai finally said as Jay let out the biggest sigh in existence.

"Thank you, Kai. I didn't trust my own skills enough to treat to a wound this big, I'm glad you did it for me." (y/n) thanked Kai in Jay's stead. Kai rubbed his neck bashfully and nodded before hurrying to leave. He had to get back to the deck to talk about the teams next move, but Jay had to rest under the deck due to his wound, and he had forced (y/n) to stay with him. There was a long silence as (y/n) pet Jay's hair, and the blue ninja laid perfectly still and accepted the treatment.

"...I love you." Jay suddenly said as (y/n) chuckled a bit.

"I love you too." He said back as Jay smiled hopefully.

"Can you make me something to eat?" Jay asked as (y/n) chuckled again, before pinching Jay's cheek.

"Ahaha, don't get ahead of yourself. I'm only babying you because you got hurt. And you are in no condition to sit up, much less eat anything."

"You're so cold!" Jay sniffled as (y/n) sighed and continued brushing through his hair.

"I thought you loved me?" (y/n) questioned Jay.

"I do, but you know what I mean!" Jay said and tried to stretch his body, but it only ended up sending a shot of pain through him, and he dug his nails into his arms to relieve the pain. (y/n) quickly swatted the hand away.

"...I'll cook you something tomorrow, how about that?" (y/n) offered after a small silence. Jay's eyes lit up, but he didn't move.

"Really?! Yay!" Jay celebrated before continuing.

"Can you bake a cake?" He asked as (y/n) chuckled.

"Cole can bake a better cake than I." They both knew what level Cole's cooking was on, so Jay gave up the idea almost instantly. He frowned and sunk his head into (y/n)'s lap.

"Come on now, don't sulk." (y/n) said, but got no answer from Jay. (y/n) rolled his eyes before speaking once again.

"How about egg rolls? With any fillings you'd like." Jay turned his head just a little so he was looking into (y/n)'s eyes, before burying himself back in his boyfriend's lap with a:

"Yes, please."

#ninjago x reader #x male reader #ninjago #x male y/n #jay x reader #jay x male reader #oneshot

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waltwhitmansbeard · 1 year

Note

Empire Kids + "I won't let them put their hands on you”, perhaps?

25. "I won't let them put their hands on you."

Beau paces. She cannot fight, she cannot run, she cannot claw her way through the marble walls of the courthouse in Zadash, so she paces in this tiny antechamber, round and round and round and round until Yasha claims she is going to be ill and steps outside for some water. Beau just cracks her knuckles and continues, her mind whirring into overdrive with the practice questions the lawyer Yudala Fon had assigned to her gave her to answer. She's probably recited the story of her kidnapping to Yasha, to the bathroom mirror, to the midnight stars a thousand times, and yet every time she imagines herself in the courtroom, telling it just one more time in front of everyone (in front of Zeenoth, in front of her father), her tongue becomes a sailor's rope, knotted and briny.

It's stupid, to be so nervous. She is an Expositor. It is her duty to find the truth, and this is a truth, her truth. If she were to approach this like any report she'd give Dairon or Yudala Fon or anyone else at the Cobalt Soul, her insides might not feel like the deck of a ship on choppy seas.

(But she can't, because it's not a report, dispassionate and stale. This is her life, fucked-up and raw and bruised and hers. And she is being asked to go before all of those eyes and be seen? Fuck, this is worse than being kidnapped.)

There's a knock at the door, and Yasha's adorable request for entry, as if Beau would ever say no, okay, that's a nice little distraction. "Yeah."

The door creaks open, and instead of long, wild white hair, a mop of ginger appears, tired blue eyes and three-day scruff just below. "Are you busy?"

Beau lets out an ironic laugh, and finally, she stops her pacing. "No, actually, just thinking about laying down for a nap."

Caleb must take her sarcasm as an invitation, because he steps inside, closing the door behind him. "Yasha is just out in the hall. She seems...well. Not much better than you seem, if I am being honest."

Beau crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm fine. It's whatever. It needs to be done, so I'm doing it."

"Ja, well, we know that sentiment well, no?" Caleb takes the chair that Yasha had abandoned, and somehow, his eyes feels worse than the dozens of unfamiliar one's she about to face. "This is the worst part, I promise."

Beau doesn't need to ask what he means. He's just come off the heels of his own trial, where he stared down the man who undeniably did worse to him than Zeenoth or her father ever thought about doing to her. Her eyes land on the slightly pushed-up sleeves of his jacket, on the few scars she can see. "I just want it over with."

"I know."

"I just wish I could..." She sighs. "I don't know! Write this shit down and have someone else read it. I don't know why it has to be me."

"I know."

"And why do they have to be there?" She doesn't say who she means. She doesn't have to. "I mean, Zeenoth, whatever, fuck that guy, but my dad? And, shit, I have no idea who else from the Soul is gonna show up, and you know that there are more people involved than just Zeenoth, people who aren't gonna like what I have to say. And...you know, with Yasha there, I just..." She stumbles back to slump against the wall. "I just want to go home."

There is a long silence, during which they stare at each other, these two Empire kids, so much bullshit between them, until Caleb rises and crosses the antechamber to stand before her. "You are Beauregard Lionett." He lays his hands atop her forearms and gently pries them apart, and it's only then that she realizes what a death grip she's had on her own torso. "You are the strongest person I have ever met. I am a very smart man—" She rolls her eyes. "—and I am telling you know that of all of the things that I know, the thing I know the most is how capable you are. And you are capable of this."

She's so fucking pissed at the way her eyes prick. "And what if I'm scared?"

"I said you were strong, Beauregard. I did not say you weren't human."

She runs her wrist beneath her nose with a sniffle. "Yeah. Yeah okay. Yeah, fuck them."

"And do not forget, Yasha and I will be in the room with you, ja? I will not let them put their hands on you. Neither of us will. You may stare down the world, Beauregard, but not alone. Never alone."

And much to her own dismay, she throws her arms around his neck, sinking her weight into this scrawny wizard who somehow, when she wasn't looking, became the closest thing she has to family. "Thank you, Caleb."

He squeezes her tight. "Of course. Now, let me go get Yasha before she tears her hair from her head."

Beau lets out a wet laugh and nods, releasing him. "Yeah, okay." And she watches him head for the door, and for the first time today, she thinks that maybe she's gonna be alright.

#listen was caleb at the trial? idr and idc #he is now #critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #mighty nein #mighty nein fic #my fic #ask #tiamat-zx #empire kids #empire kids fic

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undercaffinatednightmare · 1 year

Text

Less Said, the Better

Killian frowned down at his phone. “Everything alright?” His brother asked.

He put his phone down and scratched behind his ear. “Aye. Emma was asking if she could bring Walsh next weekend.” Killian paused. His brother was the closest thing to a father he ever had. He found himself going on. “I don’t think he’s right for her. She’s too bloody quiet since she started dating that wanker.”

“Of course you don’t like them together.” Liam leaned back in the booth. “It might help to actually have a conversation with the lass.”

“What are you talking about?” He scowled at his brother’s smug expression. “That’s what I’m talking about. She doesn’t talk anymore.”

“Little brother, Emma’s never been the chatty one. I haven’t noticed a difference. I’m not saying he’s good for her, but have you thought perhaps your objection is jealousy?”

“Why would I be jealous of Swan?” He rolled his eyes just as she would have done. “And it’s younger brother.”

Liam shook his head and sipped his coffee. “Tell her to bring him. If there’s anything concerning, best we witness it and then talk to the lass.”

Killian scowled and texted his best friend. He felt ill at the idea of spending a day on the water with Emma and her boyfriend. Liam - well all their friends - thought he should tell Emma how he felt already. He knew her better than anyone, better than she knew herself some days, if he were to start talking about how he loved her, she would want to know why. Why hadn’t he told her a year ago or 10 years ago, why had he waited until she was in a relationship to tell her. If she was happy with the flying monkey, he would bite his tongue.

But he knew something was off because she wasn’t bloody talking to him.

When he got to the house for dinner that night, he was disappointed by Emma’s absence. Friday nights were usually family dinner nights for their friends. She’d stood on that front porch three months ago and told him It’s a new relationship, Killian. I need to give it a chance before I throw him into shark infested water. He really hated the silence. He missed fighting and making her laugh.

The fact that he’d been in love with her from the day they’d met wasn’t the issue.

“What’s wrong?” Elsa asked as everyone settled at the table. How was everyone so complacent about the empty chair beside him?

“Emma wants to bring Walsh next weekend.” Liam smirked at his fiancée.

“I worry about her.” Elsa began. Killian snapped his head up to revel in validation. “Walsh doesn’t really seem her type at all.”

“Exactly!” Relief flooded his veins. “She’s not talking. It’s weird.”

“That’s just how Emma texts. You know her, gifs, memes and emojis.” She said with and arched eyebrow. “Isn’t that how she texts you?”

He felt his ears burn. “Aye, but it’s not…” he let out a harsh breath. “That’s not how she used to text me.”

“She’s never been one for idle conversations.” Elsa waved her hand.

He frowned and Liam made a face. “No group chat.” Liam groaned. “She threatened to lock my phone in Davey Jones’ locker the last time I forgot.”

The following weekend, Emma sat on the deck beside Walsh. Killian felt his eye twitch as he watched the two silently flirt. Mary Margaret patted his shoulder and David chuckled at him. It wasn’t until Walsh took his shirt off that his brother continued to give him that look.

The look that said he should ask his best friend out already.

“Relax, Killian.” Elsa said in a soft voice. “She’s not acting off. And I get it now.” She shrugged.

“Get what?” Killian felt as if he’d entered the twilight zone.

“What she sees in him.” She blushed.

“I know, right?” Mary Margaret giggled. “He wears that suit and he has all the appeal..” Mags cleared her throat when David raised an eyebrow.

“A wet dish rag.” Elsa finished. “But take off that shirt and hot damn.”

Killian glared at his brother. It wasn’t as if either of them were out of shape. Was that really called for? As they gathered for lunch, Walsh started discussing his antiques shop and some of the finds he had. As he watched Emma’s smile dim, realization washed over him.

“Oh. I get it now.” He didn’t mean to say it out loud. Emma’s green eyes bored into him as she tried to decipher his meaning. Instead of answering, he waved her off.

Once they docked, Walsh left and Emma helped clean the galley. Killian leaned against the stairs for a second. “Care to enlighten the class, Jones?”

He scratched behind his ear. “I, uh, I’ve been racking my brain trying to understand why you changed. I figured it out.” She threw him a challenging glare and it gave him the courage to lean into her space. “You’re bored. Her eyes flashed and he stepped closer. “He opens his mouth and you lose interest. So you stop talking.”

“This is how I talk, Killian.” She whispered.

“No,” Killian sighed and reached up to brush her hair from her cheek. “It’s not how you talk to me, love. I miss you. I miss hearing you laugh and watching you roll your eyes at me when you think I’m ridiculous.”

“I need to go home.” Her eyes were wide and it felt like she wasn’t sure of her words.

“Want me to drive you?” He smiled sadly. “You’re still my best friend, Swan. Can’t have you driving tired.”

“Okay.”

Killian parked the car in front of Emma’s building. He hated the silence in the car. Most of the silences with Emma were comfortable, but tonight there was too much to say. “I don’t need an answer, but what if there was someone out there who cared about you? Who wanted to tell you everything and listen to every story you have and make you laugh as often as possible? What if there was a man who already loves you out there?”

“Then maybe he should stop dating bimbos and talk to me when I’m not in a relationship.” She replied.

~~~~~

Killian sat back on the deck of the Jolly Roger and Emma joined him a moment later. She tucked herself between his legs as they watched the sunset. He brushed a kiss to her shoulder still warm from the sun and wrapped his arms around her waist holding her back against his chest.

“Is this what you needed, love?” He murmured behind her ear. “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.” She teased.

Killian tickled her and tightened his hold when she squirmed. “Smart ass.” He nipped at her ear. “When you were with the flying monkey, I told Liam you weren’t talking and he didn’t believe me.”

“That’s not a question.” She paused and shifted to face him. “I knew I couldn’t flirt with you and be in a relationship with someone else.”

“You stopped talking to me.” He whispered. “I don’t think I could handle a world where you don’t talk to me.”

She shrugged. “I don’t talk to anyone.”

Killian brushed a thumb along her jaw. “What makes me different?”

“You’re my person.” She said lightly. “You were the one who got past the walls.”

He brushed a kiss to her forehead. “I like you walls.” Killian murmured. “I like being the one to scale them.”

Tag!

@kmomof4 @teamhook @xarandomdreamx @tiganasummertree @earanemith @ilovemesomekillianjones @jonesfandomfanatic @caught-in-the-filter

#undercaffinatednightmare fics #captain swan au #writing weekend #ridiculous things I write #no beta I die with bad grammar and physics

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raewrites94 · 2 years

Text

Newlywed’s First Bonfire

I posted this on AO3 and thought it would possibly do well on tumblr too. Who knows. *shrug* Edited by me and unbeta’d, so. Mistakes are my own. also, this was inspired by a tiktok, if you want to see where I got the idea from.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Female Reader

Words: 3.4k

Tags: Recreational Drug Use, just absolute fluff, no use of y/n

Summary: As newlyweds, you've just purchased a house and begun doing projects with your husband on your property/house and one night Eddie convinces you to have a bonfire so the two of you enjoy the evening with some weed and dancing.

Rating: T? I don’t think the marijuana use necessitates a mature rating, but lmk if you disagree.

“Hey, you know what we should do?” Your husband Eddie asked as he wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. You were standing at the stove, cooking dinner for the two of you and you yelped as he quietly snuck up behind you.

“Jesus, Eddie! Warn a girl, why don’t you?” You chuckle. Though you do lean back into his chest and rest your head against the crook of his neck and he presses a kiss to your temple in apology. “Tell me what we should do.”

“We should have a bonfire!” He announces as his lips move to press another kiss to your cheek. “The wind has finally died down and it’s perfect fire weather.” He claimed as he continued to pepper kisses down your cheek to your neck.

You hummed as you thought about it, stirring the pasta as it cooked. “Okay, let’s have a fire.”

“Yes!” He suddenly pulled away from your body and you turned and watched him pump his fist in the air. “I’m gonna go chop some wood before it gets too dark. Call for me when dinner’s ready?” He stepped up to press one last kiss to your cheek and you nodded affirmatively, humming as you turned back to the stove. You listened as the sliding door slid open and shut as he walked outside to the backyard.

As you continued to monitor the food on the stove, you slowly shuffled over to the sink to look out of the big window that was above it. You watched as Eddie danced around the yard, grabbing his ax from the shed before walking over to your pile of wood that you’d gathered together from trees that had fallen on your property. Watching him chop wood had to be one of your top favorite activities. If you weren’t already cooking dinner, he would have invited you out to sit nearby and watch. You were able to watch him chop a few pieces, but then you did have to turn back to the stove to make sure you didn’t overcook the noodles and so you could start making the sauce. Tonight it was chicken alfredo and you did not want to ruin dinner, you were far too hungry to make something else if you got too distracted watching.

Once everything was ready to be put together in the sauce pan, you started to slice the chicken where it was resting on the counter. Then you slowly added the noodles, a little bit of pasta water and stirred everything together, making sure to coat all of the fettuccine with sauce. After it was all incorporated and you turned off the flame, you moved the pan to another burner. Then you walked over to the sliding door, opening it to walk out on the deck, watching as he cut a couple more pieces.

“Dinner is done, my love.” You called out from where you stood leaning over the railing.

“Don’t start without me! I’m coming!” He called back, quickly carting a pile of split wood over to the fire pit before running up to the deck and taking the stairs two at a time. “Come on, baby.” He grinned, reaching out for you and steering you back inside with his hands on your shoulders.

He deposited you at the table, having you sit down and you watched as he quickly washed his hands before stepping up to the stove where you had already laid out two plates. Since you had cooked it was his job to plate so he gave you both heaping portions of pasta before gently laying the grilled chicken on top. He then sprinkled some parsley and grated fresh parmesan over the top before picking up both plates and bringing them to the table.

“Thank you for cooking dinner.” He said as he leaned down and you tilted your head to the side for him to give you a kiss on the cheek. That cheek kiss was practically part of your routine by now. You nodded your head back as your eyes followed his movements to put down your plates. “Anything to drink, wife?” He grinned as he said it. Never tiring of calling you his wife or you calling him husband.

“Water for me, please, husband.” You replied, smiling back.

“Glass of water, coming right up!” He exclaimed, reaching to grab a glass from the cupboard before walking over to the refrigerator and reaching in to pour from the pitcher of filtered water. He repeated the process and then returned to the table with two glasses and set both of them down before finally taking his seat across from you.

The two of you quietly ate dinner together, stopping after a few bites here and there to talk about your plans for the weekend. His next tour with his band didn’t start for a couple more weeks, so you were slowly but surely completing projects around the house and your property before autumn gave way to winter and brought snow with it. This weekend, though, you were hoping to take a break. You were tired of yard work, tired of climbing up ladders over and over as you made repairs to the house and you just wanted to spend some time with your husband.

“We’ll have no plans, then.” Eddie chuckled after listening to you complain about being tired. He was tired, too, admittedly. “I have no arguments about taking a break. In fact, I think I’m the one who always tells you to take breaks and you ignore me.” He pointed an accusing fork at you.

“I’m listening now?” You shrugged, a small embarrassed smile on your face. You knew he was 100% correct in that he was always telling you to take breaks or you’d hurt yourself.

“Even more perfect of a night to have a bonfire, then, hm?” He asked, as he looked back to his plate and scooped another bite before shoveling it in his mouth ungracefully.

“Yes, husband. Great idea.” You rolled your eyes at him, cocky enough to initiate praise for himself and took another bite from your plate as well. When the both of you finished, you stood, bringing your plates and glasses over to the sink for you to wash later. “Go get the fire started, I’ll meet you out there in a few minutes.”

“Aye aye,” He agreed, saluting before pulling open the door and returning to the firepit to get it going. You watched him for a few minutes from the window before crossing the kitchen to get to the fridge, pulling it open and perusing what you could bring out there. You decided to bring a couple of bottles of water and cans of soda, putting them into a small cooler with some ice packs, before closing it and the fridge. Then you grabbed a blanket and the accouterments you’d need to smoke, bringing everything out with you in one trip so you wouldn’t have to go back inside of the house.

“Is my wife under there?” Eddie chuckled, calling out to you from the yard as you walked across the deck and down the steps.

“Ha, ha!” You yelled back. The blanket was haphazardly placed on top of everything, including your head so all he could probably see of you were your legs. You managed to cross the yard without tripping over anything and set your supplies on the ground, then handed him the little pouch you’d brought out with your bowl and a lighter. “Hold please!” You quickly walked over to the garage, opening the door and turning on the light as you looked around for what you needed. “Aha!” You exclaimed as you finally laid eyes on it, walking around your car to get to the double camping chair you’d bought last year for you and Eddie to sit together.

“Ah, yes. Somewhere to sit, good thinking.” He nodded sagely as he watched you walk back over to him through the little illumination the fire provided. “Trade?” He offered, holding out for you to take the pouch back, as he took the chair from you. Then he walked around the fire to find the perfect spot before getting it unfolded. He made a full circle around the pit as he picked up the blanket and the cooler you had brought with and deposited those by the chair as well. “My wife is so smart.” He muttered as he shook his head to himself. He hadn’t even thought of anything else besides having the fire.

“My husband is also very smart.” You spoke lowly into his ear, having walked around the pit and sidled up close to him. You placed a kiss to his jaw, just below his ear and sat down on the chair, fluffing the blanket out across your lap and patted the seat beside you.

Before he joined you, Eddie walked over to his pile of firewood and grabbed a couple of pieces and placed them strategically into the pit. Or at least you assumed he was being strategic about it, you had no idea how to start a fire, that’s why it was his job. A smile started to stretch across your face as you watched him spread his legs and squat down. “Me husband, me love you. Me make fire, ooh ah ah.” He grunted in his best impression of a caveman.

“Get over here, funny man.” You huffed out a laugh, rolling your eyes. The fire illuminated his face so you could see the soft grin as he walked over and finally sat with a light ‘oof’ onto the chair next to you. After you draped the blanket over his lap as well, you reached down to get a beverage for each of you. “Something to quench your thirst, good sir?” You asked as you turned your head to the side, pushing your hair out of the way so you could see him.

“One coca-cola for me, fair maiden.” He requested. You hummed and nodded your head, turning to look down into the cooler as you grabbed both of you a coke and handed one to him. Then as you sat back, you took the pouch out from under the blanket and opened it, handing him the bowl and the herb you had pre-ground up.

“Would you do the honors, please?” You asked sweetly, batting your eyelashes at him.

“As if I could say no to you.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “You got a light? The fire isn’t giving me much.”

“Oh, sure. One sec,” You muttered as you dug into the pocket of your sweatshirt. Or rather it was Eddie’s, you were just wearing it at the moment. Then you turned on the flashlight on your phone and brought it up so he could see better.

“Ah! Let there be light!” He roared out. Then he focused as he packed the bowl, handing you the jar so you put that back in the pouch and tucked it into the chair beside your thigh for now. When you turned back, he was frozen, his eyebrows furrowed as he focused on something else. What he was focused on, you had no idea.

“What?” You asked, looking around to see if there was something missing.

“Is it quiet out here or is it just me?” He asked then, finally turning to you after having figured out what was missing.

“Oh! You are correct. Lemme go turn the speakers on!” You immediately made to jump up, but Eddie pulled you back down by your hips.

“Ah ah! I will do it. Sit back down, lovely wife.” He grinned, kissing you on the cheek before handing you the glass bowl and flipping his side of the blanket over onto your lap as he stood and crossed the yard to the garage, reaching in to flip the light on before stepping inside to turn on the stereo, letting music softly play over the speakers that were mounted outside. “Loud enough!?”

“What!” You yelled back, a big smile on your face as you pretended you couldn’t hear him.

“I said, is it loud enou-! Oh, I see what you’re doing. Very funny!” He chuckled, closing the door behind him before running back to plop back down next to you. “You haven’t even taken a hit yet?” He asked as he looked down at the bowl and lighter in your hand and then back up at you.

“I was waiting for my husband.” You replied, a cheesy grin on your face. “I will never ever tire of calling you that.” You hummed, closing the distance between you to kiss him softly.

“And I will never tire of calling you my wife.” He responded quietly after pulling away briefly, then connected your lips again.

“You want first dibs?” You asked, holding the bowl out to him. “Come on, I know you always say “ladies first”, but you packed it and you made the fire, so you go first.” You added, shoving it closer to him.

“Fine! Twist my arm why don’tcha” He breathed a laugh out through his nose and shook his head before taking it from you and bringing it to his lips. You watched as the flame from the lighter illuminated his face briefly and then he took a deep inhale, holding the bowl between his thumb and pointer finger. Then he handed it to you and you took the next hit, inhaling deeply before coughing and handing it back.

“Fuck,” You grunted out as you continued to cough. Then you cracked open your soda and brought it to your lips, hoping it would help the burn in your throat. It did, but only for a few seconds as it glided down your throat, and then the burn was back. “We need to get some edibles or something.” You groaned, clearing your throat over and over to help the burn subside.

“Sure thing, baby.” Eddie grinned before lighting the bowl again and taking another hit. “Anything for my wife.” He said as he held his breath before tilting his head back to blow it up into the air. Then he held it out to you again so you took it, taking another hit, and this time you managed to not cough. Once it was cashed, he scraped out the contents onto the ground and handed you the bowl and the lighter which you put back into your designated pouch. Then you snuggled up into his side, his arm easily coming up to wrap around your shoulders as the both of you got comfortable.

“You know what we should do?” You asked, suddenly breaking the silence that had stretched between you.

“Do tell.” He hummed as he pressed a kiss into your hair.

“We should get a dog.” You sat up slightly to watch his reaction. He didn’t seem opposed, so that was definitely a start.

“A dog, eh?” He rested his head against the back of the chair as he thought about it. “Already want to start our little family huh?” He chuckled, pressing another kiss to your hair.

“Yeah. Want a big family of dogs and cats. Ooh and chickens!” You excitedly replied, already picturing it.

“Okay, slow your roll, sweet pea. Let’s start with one dog, shall we?” He laughed at your eagerness.

“Hmph.” You pouted as you snuggled back into him. “One dog, then.” You then agreed, after realizing he was saying yes after all, just not saying it to dogs, cats, and chickens.

“Let’s go to the shelter next weekend?” He offered, leaning his cheek against your head as he started to hum to whatever song was playing over the speakers.

“Yeah…” You hummed, grinning to yourself in happiness. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” He replied, squeezing your arm with the hand that was around your shoulder.

“If we get a dog while you’re on tour though, you know it’ll love me the most.” You pointed out after thinking about it.

“Hm… Then we’ll just have to get another dog when I get back!” He suggested, as if that was the obvious solution.

“I think that’s a great idea.” You grinned as you pulled your head off of his chest and arched your neck to place a kiss underneath his jaw.

After sitting there snuggled up for a little while longer, Eddie finally moved to stand up and walked over to his pile of firewood and grabbed a few more pieces to put on. The fire had started to die out and neither of you were ready to call it quits yet. There was nowhere you needed to be, so you could spend hours out here if you wanted to. He was about to sit back down when the song on the radio changed. “Recognize this one?” He asked, grinning as held his hand out for you to take.

“Of course.” You grinned softly as you put your hand in his and allowed him to pull you up. It was the song you’d chosen for your first dance as husband and wife. The wedding was just a few months ago, after all, so how could you forget?

“Dance with me?” He requested, already pulling you into his chest and wrapping his hand around yours and placing the other one on your lower back. You nodded as your other hand went to his shoulder, sliding your fingers under the collar of his flannel and his t-shirt to press against his warm skin and you rested your head against his chest, your ear pressed right over the thump of his heart.

The two of you continued to dance like that, though it was more of a sway. Then you pulled back, sliding your hand up to cup his cheek and he leaned into the contact for a moment before turning his head to press a kiss into your palm. You pulled him down and your lips met in the middle for a kiss. You hummed into his mouth as you parted your lips, letting your tongue poke out and slide along the seam of his lips, asking for entrance. He immediately complied, his tongue coming out to caress yours as you continued to kiss and sway in the light of the fire.

When you pulled away, you laid your head back against his chest and closed your eyes. He continued to sway the two of you, until suddenly you were spinning around. “Getting cold on this side.” He explained before you even had the chance to ask. You nodded your head in agreement, your cheek brushing against the soft flannel. “Should I put more wood on?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah.” You agreed, pulling away and moving to sit back down on the chair as he walked around the pit to the pile again. You watched as he hummed in thought before picking specific pieces and bringing them back over. “Those ones special?” You joked.

“As a matter of fact, yes, they are.” He answered as he carefully reached in to arrange them around the current pieces that were mostly burnt up. “They’re the ones I think look the best.” He chuckled as he walked back over to sit down next to you, placing the blanket back over the both of you as you leaned into his space again. “Thanks for having a fire with me, baby.” He whispered. You reached out and grabbed the hand that wasn’t around your shoulders, holding it in both of yours.

“Anytime.” You said quietly as you rubbed your thumb back and forth over the back of his hand. “After these ones are done, you ready to go inside?” You asked as your jaw stretched open in a yawn.

“I suppose.” He answered, feigning exasperation. “Hey, look. It’s the little dipper. Or is that the big dipper?” He tilted his head as he let it fall back, looking up at the sky.

You turned your head to look up, squinting as you searched for what it is he was looking at. “I think that’s the big dipper. The little dipper is over there.” You added, pointing in a different direction up at the sky.

“Oh.” He nodded his head as he turned to look at what you were pointing at. “I can’t see it, but I will take your word for it.” You both continued to look up at the stars as the fire crackled in front of you. “I love seeing the stars from our backyard. Way better than living in the city.”

“Agreed, husband. I’m happy we bought this place.” You smiled, closing your eyes as you turned your head back to face the fire, letting it warm up your skin.

“Me too.” He said quietly, placing a kiss to your hair as you watched the fire continue to burn.

#stranger things fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic

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toastedcatbread · 1 year

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🌟Zine Making🌟

So, having completed @sefikurafanzine as the co-head mod, there are quite a few thoughts I’d like to share. Either for those preparing to make your own zine or those who are planning on joining a zine.

It’s a hell of a commitment.

Moderating is different than contributing. It seems obvious, but it’s something that I think a lot of people forget. It’s not a “one and done” thing, it’s continuously checking up on the server and people’s progress. It’s encouraging people when they share their progress. It’s keeping an eye out on the schedule to make sure that things are progressing smoothly. It’s sharing information with other moderators and contributors (when necessary) and giving advice or feedback.

The job of a moderator isn’t done when “all the contributor pieces have been submitted” or “the layout is done”. It’s over a year’s worth of moderating. As a mod, you can’t claim “cluelessness” and must respond to inquiries. If not personally, you do need to make sure that someone on the mod team responds.

The timeline can be tricky.

You may not want it to last a year (or over a year), but it’s better to plan for extra buffer than to run into the situation where things get pushed back again and again. Too many delays causes people to lose confidence in you as a moderator and in your project. Consider what a buyer may think, if they were to look at your timeline and it gets repeatedly pushed back. If you are constantly adjusting for delays, people may not buy your product since they aren’t sure if you will deliver.

That is why, one of the earliest things the mods and I had to consider was how large we wanted our zine to be. How many pages and how many people to take on. More people meant more time needed and more buffer needed to accommodate them all. The more people you have, the more accommodations you need to make (contributors have lives too!).

Having said that, LAYOUT PLANNING IS CRITICAL!

I think one of the reasons we were able to complete successfully and within a timely fashion, is because we already had some idea of what the layout would look like. Even as early as before opening contributor apps, we knew how many pages each writer had on the layout. The more pages you have, the more it costs to produce.

Depending on the size of the pages (A5 paper vs standard 8.5x11in), you can only fit a certain number of words on each page. The fact is that writers hold more weight in zines than artists, so, unless you’re planning to have a zine full of nothing but writing, limiting writers is how you maintain a proper page count. There is far more wiggle-room with artists, as they typically only take a page or two, whereas a 1,500 word fic can be 5 pages on A5 paper.

Taking on too many contributors can sink your ship. You NEED to limit your contributors, both for artists and for writing. “How many people can you handle?” is a question that a lot of people don’t seem to consider if they accept everyone. Yes, other mods are there and will help moderate, but it’s still a pain to have to chase down contributors for their part.

This also runs true for mods. Too many mods can sink a ship.

Having more hands on deck for moderating sounds great, but that also means decisions need to filter through more people. It takes longer to respond to inquiries and those asking can and will be frustrated without an answer. Too few mods means that you may largely be doing the work yourself, but too many mods means it takes a long time for everyone to see the announcement or notice.

Too many mods also runs into another issue: Do you trust everyone you are working with?

Bringing on all your friends as moderators sounds great, but can you work together with them? Working together and being friends with each other are two very different things. It’s important to realize that you may not be able to work with some people, even if you enjoy their company. It’s important to trust the people you work with.

Mostly because, unless it is a free, digital zine, YOU ARE HANDLING REAL MONEY!

The responsibility of finances is not a light one. Money is being exchanged for a product that is being delivered (either electronically or physically). Then that money goes somewhere. Not everyone can handle their own finances, let alone a whole other project worth. Experience may not be enough to say that someone is capable of handling finances. A lot of zines run into money issues because the planning of finances is often tricky.

As a baseline, when I looked at our finances, I wanted us to be in the positives before we went to Leftover sales. That meant, the cost of production of the zine book and the merchandise needs to be less than the amount we made during preorder sales. This can often be tricky, as you won’t always know how many people will buy your product during preorders, but you still need to price it. There is also taxes and fees that are deducted, as well as the cost of shipping physical copies that must be accounted for. It’s not an easy task.

There are also other hidden costs that people don’t necessarily consider when they plan for zine production. Merch tests, zine book tests, shipping of merchandise from the manufacturer to you, those all cost money. Unless you’re willing (and able) to cover the costs out of pocket, your preorder price needs to reflect this.

Artists advertise better than writers.

Speaking of preorders, advertising is important. Depending on the platform, this may vary, but in general, artists draw more attention to their work.

Having a lot of writers seems nice. But other than the page count issue, where writers take up a lot of space, writers also do not advertise as well as artists. This is especially important if you are making a zine to sell (for charity or for profit; it doesn’t matter). Art draws more attention than writing, as it can cross language barriers and cultures far better than writing can.

Learn to say no!

This is a personal lesson in life. We, as people, want to do our best to accommodate everyone and anyone, even if we don’t have the ability to do so. You have to say no. You have to learn to make the rules and stick to them the best you can. Making 50 people wait on a single person isn’t fair to everyone.

This also applies to applications. There were a lot of applicants that were good, but we had to choose, due to the limitations of the zine. Having a lot of people apply is amazing and wonderful, but we just couldn’t bring everyone on.

I’ve mentioned it before on my Twitter, but rejection isn’t a reflection of your craft. It’s a reflection on your person. How you deal with it defines you. And no matter how successful and amazing someone’s craft may be, I would not want them on if they handle rejection and disappointment poorly.

And finally: YOU WILL RUN INTO FANDOM DRAMA.

The fact of the matter is, no matter what you do, you are dipping into the pool of the fandom when you create. People will create fandom drama on principle, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I experienced rumors and people spreading nasty accusations, just because they didn’t bother to ask questions like “why did you make this a SFW zine?” and “where can I find the mods?”. Questions that were easily answered by looking on the linked carrd on our profile page.

People will stir the pot, just because they can. Not everyone will take rejection well and it’s important to be able to brush it off. How you deal with the drama also defines you, so pick the battles you want to fight.

ALL IN ALL:

It was a fun experience. I’m grateful I got to meet a lot of new Sefikura fans and see their work come to life through our Zine. I’ve reiterated many times in the server that this was our (contributors and mods) project, not the mod’s project. I learned a lot about how to run an online project and the skills needed for future ones. If I had to do something differently, I think I’d like to plan out more graphics and posts earlier and use the scheduling function that Twitter and Tumblr have. That way, people can expect consistent posts and news.

#Fanzine #SefikuraFanzine #thoughts #Zine EXP!

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