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uas-fics · 3 years

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Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

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Title: How to Train A Champion and Keep Your Reputation Intact

Summary: Piers doesn’t want to coach Leon, but the last thing Piers needs is for everyone to know a cool punk like him used to perform in Pokemon Contests! If it means keeping his reputation intact, he’ll begrudgingly teach this ray of sunlight what he knows.

Fandom: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Ships: LeonxPiers | dnnz

Rating: T

Contest Warnings: N/A

Chapter 1: The Early Morning Visitor

----

Of the people Piers expected to be sitting across his kitchen table at eight in the morning, the former champion was not one of them. Leon wasn't even in the top ten, yet here he was, twiddling his thumbs behind a cup of tea with a peppy expression on his face.

Piers was barely a human being this early, yet Leon seemed to have the same energy as a particularly bushy-tailed skwovet.

"You have a nice kitchen," Leon commented, more to fill the silence than an actual compliment.

Piers glanced at the pile of take-out containers on the counter then the singular shoe that hadn't made it to his room with its partner the night before. His kitchen was nothing spectacular, and it didn't need to be. His home was a place to crash or bring a date, not some fancy townhouse. With only he and Marnie there, why should he bother fancying the place up?

"What do you want, Leon?" Piers took a sip of his tea.

Leon wrapped his fingers around his cup but didn't move to drink. If Leon would have preferred coffee, he could have said something before Piers poured him a cup. It'd be a waste to pour it down the drain.

"Well, it's a little silly, but I could use your help with something," Leon explained.

Piers narrowed his eyes.

Leon was the chairman of the Pokemon League. Piers gave his gym over to Marnie after the last Champion tournament. What could he want Piers to help with at this point? The only connection he had with the League was Marnie.

Unless...

"I swear if you're goin' to pull the same shit as Rose did and try to get me to make Marnie move the gym—"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Leon raised his hands, palms facing out. "It has nothing at all to do with Spikemuth or the gym."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Piers leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Uh, well, alright," Leon didn't meet his eyes, "it's about a rumor."

Piers' frown deepened. He always had rumors about him floating about. It came with his persona.

"I heard Piers beat a man to a pulp because he spilled his drink on him." or "I heard Piers took three girls back to his home and made them leave before the sun was even up." or he was a dealer of rare hallucinogenic flowers or that he used his pokemon to break into Rose's office and peed in a potted plant behind his desk.

There was rarely any truth to the rumors. He didn't care to squash them. He was a dark-type trainer, having everyone thinking he was a bigger badass than he already was could not hurt his reputation.

"C'mon, mate, aren't you a little old to be listenin' to rumors?" Piers cocked an eyebrow.

"It's not a bad rumor.”

"What's the rumor then?"

"Ah, well, I heard," He paused to clear his throat, "that you, ah, that you competed in pokemon contests when you were younger—and that you won."

Piers barely kept his face deadpan.

Where had Leon heard that? Those contests happened just before posting on the internet boomed, so it wasn't like the contests were live-streamed and archived. The only video that he knew existed of his contest days hid in a box in the back of a closet. Marnie captured it when she could barely see over the railings at the stadiums. Even then, the video quality was terrible and Marnie kept moving the camera around. He looked like a black and white blob in them.

He forced himself to calm down. He could easily deny this rumor. No one would believe he, Piers, former Spikemuth gym leader, head of Team Yell, the fierce trainer of powerful dark-types, would ever compete in a pokemon contest.

"Where did you hear that?" Piers reached for his tea just to have something in his hands.

What credibility did this rumor spreader have? Probably none. Denying this would be easy.

"Oh, I heard your sister mention it."

Piers nearly dropped his cup.

Shit.

He could not deny this, not without putting Marnie's credibility on the line. She was still a new gym leader. The last thing she needed was the chairman thinking she was a gossip.

He hissed out a breath. "Oh, did she?"

"Yeah, she was talking to Opal while Bede filled out some papers," Leon told him. "She said she remembered you used to be good at pokemon contests. That's why I'm here."

"So what?" Piers spat. "It isn't illegal, now is it?"

Why couldn't this have been about Malamar scaring passers-by on Route 7 when he was bored? Why could this have been about the rave Piers helped throw in an abandoned mine last month? Why could it have been about pissing in the potted plant? Why couldn't this have been about anything else?!

Leon frowned. "Of course not—"

"Then why are you askin' me about it?"

"Because I wanted your help to win one."

Piers' mouth gaped. Did he hear that right? Leon, the former champion, one of the strongest pokemon trainers in all of Galar, wanted to enter a pokemon contest.

He stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it.

"Sorry, say that again. I must have somethin' in my ear. I didn't just hear you ask for help in a pokemon contest."

"That is what I asked." Leon beamed. "There is one in Ballonlea in two weeks and I want to enter, but I don't know the first thing about them. If you know, you could help me—if you want to, that is."

"Why?" Piers held back from pinching himself. How was this not a dream? Maybe he was messing with hallucinogenic flowers after all.

Reaching into his pocket, Leon took out a folded piece of lavender paper. He laid it flat on the table, smoothing it with the side of his hand, before pushing it over. The faint scent of roses wafted from it.

"All are invited to the first Bellonlea Pokemon Contest!" It read in a flowing, elegant font. "Coordinators of all ages and skill levels are invited to the Bellonlea Stadium to participate in a Pokemon Contest. Please contact the Bellonlean Ladies' Society for more details and how to enter."

"Was this ‘ppose to explain somethin'?" Piers pushed the flyer back. "Why do you want to win a contest?"

"That prize, of course!" Leon took his phone from his pocket. He scrolled a moment then turned the screen to Piers.

A picture of a red and white hat with a black logo stared back. It honestly looked like something an overly-excited ten-year-old would win from a cereal box drawing.

"It's a hat." Piers peered over the top of the phone to look at the hat Leon already had on.

"It's not just a hat. It's a limited edition!" Leon pulled his phone back. "I had one when I was a little kid, but I lost it to an angry corvisquire. The first place in the beginner contest wins it."

"And you can't just, you know, buy one for yourself?" He rolled his hand. "I know you have sponsorships out your ass." Piers looked down pointedly at his Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce shirt for emphasis.

Leon shrugged. "What fun is that?"

Piers downed half his drink in one go. The burn on his throat reassured him he wasn't dreaming.

"Piers?" Leon leaned over the table, his face alight with a smile. "Can't I talk you into helping me out? Please? I promise to owe you one after this."

Piers groaned. What choice did he have? He couldn't deny it without hurting Marnie's reputation. Their reputation used to be the only valuable he and Marnie had to their names, besides each other. Lying to Leon to save his own skin was not an option.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Piers raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll do it, but," he held a finger up in Leon's face, "you have to swear on your life that you won't tell a soul about it. I don't need anyone thinkin’ I ever put any of my pokemon in a frilly suit or made them dance around like pretty ballerinas or some shit."

Leon nearly jumped across the table. He put his hands on Piers' shoulders and squeezed a little too hard.

"Thanks a million for this!" He hopped up. "Where should we train? I think I understand the rules, but maybe we should go over the rules first? Or outfit—"

"Tomorrow." Piers cut him off. "We'll start tomorrow."

Leon's face fell like a growlithe that just had his bone taken from him. Piers held his sad gaze. Marnie's morpoko did the same pout when she wanted something, and Piers knew better than to give in.

If Leon still wanted to learn how to be a coordinator, he had to prove himself first. A day would be enough time for Piers to think up obstacles to make Leon forget about the silly notion. Contests, despite the stereotype, were hard work. While beginner contests weren't all that complicated, Piers didn't mind sprinkling in some of the more difficult to grasp bits from the higher tiers. With any luck that would confuse Leon right out of the idea and out of Piers' life.

Leon took a breath. He pulled his hands from Piers and squared his shoulders.

"I'll meet you back here at eight sharp tomorrow and then we can get started."

"No. You'll meet me outside Spikemuth at noon."

"Oh, well, alright. It'll be a champ—" Leon caught himself from using his old catchphrase. "It'll be a fun time."

"That's one way to think of it," Piers muttered, feeling less and less enthused at the arrangement by the second.

----

True to his word, Leon stood outside the front gate of Spikemuth at noon on the dot. He perked up when he saw Piers and jumped in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Teacher Piers."

He winked.

Piers wrinkled his nose.

"Call me that again, and I'm callin' this off."

Leon laughed nervously. "Sorry." He whistled. "Sooooo, what should I learn first? How to use music? Or pose? I'm already pretty good at that."

"How about the rules?"

Piers waved him to follow down the road towards the Spikemuth Tunnel. People were less likely to eavesdrop on them if they walked.

"Alright, rules. I know there are two rounds, and each trainer uses only one pokemon."

"Coordinator," Piers corrected sharply.

He promised to teach, but he didn't promise to be entirely pleasant while doing it.

"Yeah. There are two rounds. The first round is the Performance Stage. You show off your pokemon's appeal with a choreographed set of moves. The judges will assign points based on how well the performance fits into particular categories."

Piers began to ramble on about the different move categories as if the contest in Bellonlea would be so complicated. Beginner contests weren't judged by the five categories individually like higher-ranked contests.

Back when Galar still had a contest circuit, the people in beginner contests were kids with weak pokemon that might only know two or three moves. A performance with a cool move first and a cute move next wouldn't be judged as harshly as the first rank contest would.

However, Leon didn't need to know that. If he thought that the category system was complicated and—in Piers' humble opinion—limited and stupid, maybe he would back out.

"And that's all there is to the appeals rules." Piers looked at Leon, expecting him to be confused and dejected at the long-winded explanation, but instead found him holding onto every word.

"Well, that doesn't seem too hard." He nodded. "It's just putting on a show in a time limit with your partner. Easy."

"We'll see how easy you think it is when you're doing it." Piers stood under a shade tree. "The next round is the harder one. It's the battle round."

"Battle? I thought contests were for show, not for fighting."

Piers cackled at the genuine confusion on Leon's face. Of course, he would think that. That silly stereotype about contests never seemed to die, did it? Coordinators didn't just train their pokemon to teach them new moves. Their partner had to be strong to last the battles against one another. Even though Piers was a gym leader when he did contests, he still struggled against the stronger opponents.

He idly grabbed a lower branch and bent it down. If he didn’t slouch, Piers was tall enough that he could just about reach into the pokemon nest a few branches up with relative ease.

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" He opened his hand.

The branch whipped up and hit the branch the nest was on. The skwovet in the nest jumped with a squeak. Its sudden movement knocked a sitrus berry over the side.

"In the second round, two coordinators battle to remove points from the opponent, usin' moves that fall into the contest categories." He snatched the sitrus berry out of the air.

The skwovet glared at Piers. Piers smirked at it before wiping the berry on his shirt. The pokemon chattered and hurried higher into the tree.

Leon frowned at Piers' interaction with the skwovet. Piers met his gaze, daring him to comment on it.

Leon cleared his throat. "That wasn't necessary."

"It was an accident."

Leon pursed his lips in doubt but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "So it's a battle, but it's an entertaining battle. I can do that."

Around a bite of berry, Piers shrugged, "It's a five-minute battle, but the point of the battle isn't to knock out your opponent with the first move. No one needs to faint. It's to show that your pokemon is better than theirs."

Piers half-expected Leon to go on about how no pokemon was better than another, instead, Leon stroked his chin in thought. Maybe Leon realized that a contest wouldn't be as fun as he thought and wanted to give up on the idea.

The branches above shook and the skwovet chattered. A leppa berry slammed into the ground near Piers' boot. The skwovet, arm loaded with unripe leppa berries, held up another. It threw it. Piers took a step to the side.

"Nice try," he mocked. The skwovet's fur bristled. It tossed down the rest of its armful and missed every time. With a huff, it stomped back towards its nest to rustle through its hoard.

"Alright. I think I can handle this," Leon said, moving into Piers' personal space and lifting his arm over Piers' head, "with your help."

Grinning, he stepped back then opened his fist to present an oran berry. The skwovet cried out in frustration. Piers rubbed the top of his head. He glanced up at the wild pokemon once more before walking away from the tree, with Leon in tow. It was best not to test his luck anymore. The skwovet might use a move on him and the last thing he wanted was to spend the night picking slobbery bullet seeds out of his hair.

The skwovet angrily chattered but seemed to give up. It hurried down the tree to gather its berries. Leon crouched to roll the oran berry over. The skwovet eyed him but snatched the berry up to shove into its cheeks anyway.

Piers raised an eyebrow. Maybe this training wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

----

The training area outside Spikemuth wasn't much, just a patch of barren earth that trainers from Spikemuth would come to battle when they didn't feel like using the gym. Currently, the only souls there were Piers and Leon. Since Marnie took over as gym leader, the younger trainers of the city moved their training back to the gym.

"They didn't want to come when you were the gym leader. They think you're scary," Marnie had explained. "Dunno why though. You're about as scary as a teddisuara."

Piers crossed his arms. "Do you know which pokemon you're goin' use? These are Hoenn rules, so you can only use one."

Leon tapped the pokeballs at his belt. "I'm not sure. I didn't think I could go in with Charizard, so I didn't bring him with me."

"Why not Charizard?"

"Everyone knows what my Charizard looks like," Leon explained. "And I don't think I can pretend not to be me if I use him."

Piers' brows furrowed. What in the world was he talking about?

Upon seeing Piers' expression, Leon chuckled to himself.

"I guess I forgot to tell you." He put his hands on his hips and set his feet a shoulder-width apart. "I'm going to do this contest in disguise."

The hope Piers just acquired vanished.

"You're what?"

"I'm going in disguise," He repeated. "I was the champion, and now I'm chairman. That would give me an unfair advantage, don't you think?"

Piers pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course, Leon would want to win on a level playing field. The Bellonean Ladies' Society would probably just give him the stupid hat if he promised to simply show up and bring more attention to the event. If he did that, Piers could have stayed at home and lazed about, but, noooo, Leon had to win his silly hat fair and square.

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I hoped you could help me with that, too." Leon pointed to his face. "I've seen your stage makeup, and you're talented. I bet you could make me look like a different person."

Piers hated that he couldn't argue with that. Not long after he decided to follow his dream of being a punk star, one of the gym trainers offered to teach him the basics of cosmetics. Once he had the basics down, it only took a year of using his pokemon, friends, and Marnie as test subjects for him to perfect his art.

He could easily make Leon's face look different enough: soften his cheekbones, maybe a few freckles, pull his bangs back, color contacts, and glasses...Leon would look good in glasses, even if it meant hiding his natural eye color...

Piers shook his head. He hadn't agreed to anything but training for the contest. He was not giving Leon a makeover like they were preteens at a slumber party.

Leon pursed his lips. "It would be pointless if I won because of who I am. That wouldn't be fair to the other train—coordinators."

"No. Figure that out yourself."

Leon sighed, his shoulders slumped. He muttered under his breath, something Piers couldn't make out. Finally, he straightened and shrugged.

"You know, I have to approve the budgets for each gym provided by the league," he lifted one finger and wagged it as he continued, "and wouldn't it be nice if Spikemuth got a little extra in their budget so their new gym leader could fix up her gym stadium? I know the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce can't always give too much to the gym, and it needs a few repairs."

Piers' mouth fell a gape. Did Leon just try to bribe him through his sister? He had to admit, he was impressed. It wasn't the best bribery offer he'd ever been given, but considering whom the offer came from and what Marnie would get in return, he decided to give in.

"Make sure the gym gets enough to replace the crumplin’ stadium walls, and I'll do it." Piers stuck out his hand.

Leon took the offered hand in his and shook once. "I knew you'd have a change of heart."

Piers yanked his hand back. "Change of heart my ass. Just send out your pokemon."

With a nod, Leon let out each of his pokemon in turn: Aegislash, Haxorus, Dragapult, Mr. Rime, Seismatoad, then Rhyperior. True to his word, he hadn't brought his ace pokemon with him. Like a well-oiled machine, they quickly lined up and turned their full attention to their trainer.

Pride rolled off Leon as he gazed at his team. Up until last year, this team was undefeated. Leon kept them at their best and even Piers could call that admirable.

"Alright everyone, listen here." Leon clapped his hands as if any of them didn't have their eyes on him. "Remember how I said we were going to enter a contest? Well, only one of you can enter it with me."

Leon's Mr. Rime leaned on his cane and Aegislash shifted his shield, though the other pokemon didn't react one way or another to the news.

"Contests aren't like normal battling. They're a performance." Leon gestured to Piers. "Piers is going to help pick the best one of you for the contest."

Piers snorted. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm not assessin' your team."

Leon's hand dropped to his side. He tilted his head.

"You're not?"

"No."

Piers took out the only pokeball he had on him. With a flick of the wrist, he released his own contest partner. The stench of rotten eggs filled the air. Everyone but Piers jerked back to cover their noses.

Skuntank shook himself out. He stretched his front paws forward then pulled the rest of his body up like a cat in a sunbeam. Piers crouched down and patted his partner between the ears.

"Skuntank here won nearly every contest he entered," Piers explained. "He knows more about them than even I do, I'd say. Even keeps track of the Sinnoh contests online. If anyone can give this team a proper assessment, it'll be him."

Skuntank lifted his head proudly then stomped forward. He stalked up, down, and around the line, eyeing each pokemon. He stopped in front of Haxorus, narrowed his eyes, and rumbled. Haxorus shuffled nervously. She looked to her team members then back at Skuntank. Siesmatoad shrugged, and Dragapult looked away.

Satisfied, Skuntank trotted back to Piers. He took a breath and stated something to the pokemon, loud and clear.

The other pokemon were taken aback. They muttered amongst themselves, all except Mr. Rime and Aegislash. With his chest puffed out, Mr. Rime strode forward. A moment later, Aegislash floated next to him. The rest of the team remained still.

"That's the two to choose from," Piers said. To the other members of Leon's team, he continued, "You can go over there. Take a rest why don't you?" He jabbed his thumb towards the grass at the side of the training area.

Without missing a beat, Dragapult floated away, soon followed by Siesmatoad, Haxorus, and Rhyperior.

Leon gasped. "That's amazing. How does Skuntank know?"

It wasn't as if Skuntank could smell contest talent on Mr. Rime and Aegislash. It just so happened that when Skuntank asked, Mr. Rime and Aegislash wanted to enter a contest. The rest weren't interested.

Ignoring Leon's question, Piers asked, "How do you want to decide between these two."

Leon blinked. "Isn't that what Skuntank is here for?"

With a thump, Skuntank flopped to the ground, paws under his chin, and shut his eyes.

"He's filled his quota." Piers said. "This is your job, Mr. Chairman."

Leon stroked his chin. He crouched down between his pokemon. Mr. Rime tapped his feet and spun his cane. Leon lifted his eyebrows at the impromptu performance. Not to be outdone, Aegislash held his shield up and spun it on the end of his arm. He tossed the shield then expertly caught it.

Mr. Rime danced backward. He spun in a circle, holding his cane up to the sky. From the tip of the cane, snow flurried around him, glittering like tiny diamonds.

Aegislash, upon seeing Leon's dazzled expression at Mr. Rime's performance, clanged his shield and blade together. With his trainer's attention back on him, Aegislash whipped his arm out. The shield rolled out on its side into the middle of the battle area. In the blink of an eye, Aegislash descended into his shadow. Using shadow sleek, he hurried in front of the shield.

Aegislash burst from the ground, large and dark. He whipped the shield up. the sun glinted off the polished metal. Contrasted against Aegislash's dark form, the shining shield appeared like a bright star in the night sky.

Leon's mouth fell a gape. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that, Aegislash."

Aegislash returned to his normal appearance and smugly shurgged. Mr. Rime stomped his foot in frustration. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled for Leon to look at him. Once again, his cane spun. Around him, aurous panes of light screen appeared then frosted over. Mr. Rime stopped and raised his arms. The light screen panes shot up and burst like fireworks.

Aegislash bristled. His grip on his shield tightened and his single eye narrowed. Mr. Rime sneered at him as Leon carefully picked up the frozen light screen fragments to examine.

Piers clapped his hands once. "Don't you lot make this a battle." To Leon, he ordered, "You need to pick one."

Leon stood. "But they're both really talented."

From behind them, Skuntank snorted. Aegislash and Mr. Rime turned their glares from each other to the dark-type.

Piers agreed with Leon, even if his pokemon didn't, but leaving those two to keep one-upping each other wouldn't end well. Leon had to pick a partner for the contest, even if it would hurt someone's feelings.

Leon thought on his choice then slumped forward with a sigh. He rummaged in his pocket and held up a coin.

"I can't decide," he admitted. "Heads for Mr. Rime and tails for Aegislash."

He flicked the coin into the air. Like the oran berry before, he caught it from the air. With a hard smack that made the top of Pier's hand hurt, Leon slapped it on the top of his hand. Aegislash and Mr. Rime stood tense as Leon slowly lifted his hand.

"Heads."

Mr. Rime jumped up with joy. Aegislash dropped his shield to the ground with a thud. Leon reached out to comfort him, but Aegislash waved him away. Dragging his shield through the dirt, he trudged towards the other pokemon.

Skuntank lumbered back to his feet. He intercepted Aegislash. Skuntank rumbled at Aegislash. He silently mulled over what Skuntank said then lifted his shield from the ground.

In a voice like clashing metal, Aegislash yelled at Mr. Rime. Mr. Rime stumbled in his tap dancing, looking shocked at what his teammate said. Skuntank cackled, slapping the ground with his paw. With his mood improved considerably, Aegislash led Skuntank away to join the other pokemon.

----

Mr. Rime was a showman. Even with the occasional heckle from Skuntank, he and Leon managed to cobble together the start of an alright appeal round. After Piers finally admitted that the move categories meant shit all for the beginner contests, Leon decided to make use of what Mr. Rime already presented: sparkling snow and unique uses of psychic power.

Piers, for his part, offered critique when he saw a move that might be too showy or too dull, but mostly left Leon to his own devices. After all, Leon was the one entering, not him.

A thunderbolt tore through an icy column, shattering it. A glow of psychic power protected some of the ice from the heat. When the mist cleared, what remained was the carving of the Champion's logo.

Leon pumped his fist. "There we go!"

Skuntank muttered something to Aegislash, who replied in agreement. Though he hadn't been as loud in his criticism as Skuntank, Aegislash made snide remarks for every misstep.

Piers had more fun watching Skuntank and Aegislash than Leon and Mr. Rime, honestly.

As the heat both from the thunderbolts and the day wore on, Piers was thankful he choose to sit under the shade instead of directly interact with Leon.

Though on the field, he would have had a better view.

Every time Leon raised his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, Piers turned his attention towards him. Rehain once mentioned Leon weight trained and exercised to stay as fit as his team, and Piers could tell. He stared at the well-formed muscles usually hidden under Leon’s shirt several times before finally being caught.

“Is something wrong? Is this too much?” Leon gestured to Mr. Rime’s newest ice sculpture.

Piers made up a suggestion to save himself the embarrassment.

“It’s fine, but you’re rushin’. Slow down, if you know how to do that,” Piers replied, turning his head to hide his pink cheeks against his shoulder.

“Oh, alright.” Leon nodded. “Mr. Rime, take a few more seconds before calling down the thunderbolt!”

Stuntank chuckled and Piers sent him a glare.

“Shut up,” he hissed, earning another laugh from Stuntank.

Something pulled at Piers' sleeve. One of Dragapult's dreepy chewed on his jacket. When Piers acknowledged it, it flew in a circle trying to get him to play with it. It went to nip at the end of one of his ponytails.

Dragapult sighed and wrapped his tail around the dreepy to pull it back. He gave Piers an apologetic look.

The rest of Leon's team wasn't doing much better. They were bored out of their minds.

Siesmatoad ripped a clump of grass from the ground and tossed it in her mouth. Rhyperior and Haxorus took turns stabbing leaves through their horns or tusks, seeing who could make the biggest hole without tearing the leaf in half.

Before Leon and Mr. Rime could start again, Piers called, "That's enough for today."

He stood and put his hands on his lower back to stretch. Skuntank grumbled but got to his paws.

"Well, if you say so." Leon came over to the crowd of pokemon with Mr. Rime. "Everyone ready?"

Seismatoad spat out the grass clump, nearly hitting Rhyperior's foot. Dragapult cooed and the rest of his dreepy hoard hurried out of the tall grass. Aegislash refused to look at Mr. Rime, instead of staying close to Stuntank. Haxorus bent forward and pressed the button on her pokeball with her mouth scythe, returning herself.

When Leon took out Aegislash's ball, Piers put a hand on his wrist.

"Before you return him, can I ask you a favor?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Aegislash and Skuntank seem to be havin' fun together. Do you think Aegislash could come back with me for tonight?" Piers asked. Skuntank stamped a foot and wheezed in approval.

Leon lowered Aegislash's pokeball. He bent down so he looked Aegislash in his singular eye.

"Do you want to have a slumber party with Skuntank at Spikemuth?" He spoke like a parent to a child. Mr. Rime snickered. Stuntank kicked sand at him with a short growl.

Piers pulled the bill of Leon's hat down over his eyes.

"Aegislash is probably older than both of us combined," he reminded. "Don't call it a slumber party."

Leon pushed his hat up and wrinkled his brow. Realization crossed his face.

"Ah." He asked Aegislash, "Do you want to have a date with Skuntank at Spikemuth?"

Piers went to pull Leon's hat clean off, but Aegislash took hold of the bill and pulled until it completely covered Leon's face with the bill touching his chin. He rolled his eye and shrugged towards Skuntank. Skuntank snickered and shook his head back in reply.

Leon laughed, taking the hat into his lap. "I'm joking. I'm joking. Sorry." He put a hand on Aegislash's shoulder. "Really, if you want to hang out with Skuntank for the night, you can." He smiled sincerely.

Aegislash paused, eyed his trainer, then seemed to sigh. He took the hat from Leon's hands and set it on his head. He patted his head, like a parent pacifying a child. Aegislash floated by him towards Skuntank.

-----

“Listen up.”

Piers whistled to the crowd of dark-type pokemon around the Spikemuth stadium. All heads turned towards him and the two pokemon by his side.

“This is Aegislash. He’s part of Chairman Leon’s team.” Piers nodded to Aegislash. “He’s visitin' for the night, so don’t be an asshole.”

He sent a pointed look at Malamar, who crossed his tentacles. Malamar only recently got out of trouble for scaring people around Spikemuth. Neither he nor Marnie needed Aegislash going back to Leon traumatized from Malamar's pranks.

The gym pokemon muttered and mumbled to themselves, eyeing Aegislash suspiciously.

Going well so far.

No one jumped to attack or called out an obscenity towards the new pokemon. Already it was going better when Raihan brought his pokemon over to play while he and Piers visited. Not one sucker punch to the back.

Marnie’s Grimsnarl picked up the toy ball and held it protectively. Both scrafty scooted to shield their tower of cards. Obstagoon took his nose out of a bag of crisps for a moment before shoving it right back in. Liepard yawned, purposely exposing her fangs, before laying her head on Toxicroak’s lap. Toxitricity peeked an eye open from his corner then continued strumming his chest. Morpeko jumped off the stage and scurried over to Aegislash and Skuntank.

She greeted them. Skuntank wheezed to her as Aegislash lifted his shield in a hello. Morpeko spoke with Aegislash a moment before turning to the rest of the pokemon. She took a deep breath and shouted to them her approval.

Malamar snorted but uncrossed his tentacles. Grimsnarl slowly took the ball back out. Neither scrafty moved from their hard work. Toxitricity waved idly. Liepard and Toxicroak and Obstagoon didn’t acknowledge the announcement, the former two napping and the latter still stuffing his maw.

Skuntank jerked his head towards Toxitricity's corner of the gym. Aegislash and Morpeko followed after. Grimsnarl and Malamar watched them closely.

Marnie took a bite of her hamburger. Around it, she asked, “Is that really Leon’s aegislash?”

Piers open the bag from Bob’s Your Uncle to dig out his order. “He is. He and Leon’s Mr. Rime got into a fight, and Aegislash wanted to be away.”

“So Leon asked you?” She swallowed.

Piers thought on his feet. “Dark and ghost types are pretty close when you get down to it. Born of night and the deepness of the soul and all that.”

“Shouldn’t he have asked Allister?”

Piers took a bite of his burger and slowly chewed. He swallowed and said, “Kid must have been busy. He’s still got school to go— just like you.” Piers smirked, leaning over. “And how’s that school work going, little sis?”

Marnie blushed. She huffed, snatched the bag from Piers, then marched to the stage at the other end of the stadium.

Even being a gym leader, Marnie still had to go to school like every other kid her age. Since she was still learning to juggle gym leader duties and school, Marnie fell behind in her classes and had to take extra lessons.

Piers had been the same when he took over the gym, but he usually skipped after-school lessons. She complained about the lessons often, and Piers offered an understanding ear.

He wasn’t above using this information against her, though.

With long strides, he followed his sister. He overtook her quickly. Holding his burger between his teeth, Piers hopped onto the stage and sat, his toes brushing the ground. Marnie walked up the steps to sit near him. She purposefully set the bag with their food on the side farthest away from Piers. He leaned across her to fish his chips out of the bag.

They sat in companionable silence, watching the pokemon as they ate their fast food.

When Marnie’s scrafty turned to open another pack of cards for their tower, Malamar raised a tentacle glowing in psychic power. With both scrafty backs to it, a card from the middle of the tower pulled itself out.

Piers’ scrafty gasped and tried to hold the wobbling tower together, but only managed to save the top two cards from falling. As the scrafty started to argue, Grimsnarl went to the wooden crate next to the stage. She sat her ball inside and began to dig through the pokemon toys until she found another ball. This ball was worn and patched up. She wandered over to Malamar to talk.

Skuntank, Toxtricity, and Aegislash lounged against one of the crumbling stadium walls as Morpeko chewed on a berry. They made friendly conversation until Grimsnarl and Malamar came over. Grimsnarl raised her ball.

Skuntank shrugged and spoke to Aegislash. Malamar sneered at Aegislash. Aegislash rolled his eye and pushed himself up. Skuntank slowly lumbered to his feet. Toxtricity shook his head. Morpeko tossed her berry up and caught it in her mouth before standing as well.

Piers nudged Marnie and pointed at the pokemon as they walked to the middle of the stadium.

Grimsnarl tossed the ball and hit it to Skuntank. Skuntank bopped it with his head. The ball dropped towards Aegislash. Aegislash raised an arm to hit it, but Malamar’s tentacle shot out and smacked the ball up. Aegislash snapped something at Malamar, who ignored him.

Piers chuckled to himself as the game of hot potato continued. Every time the ball neared Aegislash, Malamar or Grimsnarl made sure to hit it before he could. Of course, they were testing him. Being on the former champion’s team wasn’t enough to prove Aegislash worthy, even with Stuntank and Morpeko's approval.

Soon Aegislash had enough. When Malamar went to hit the ball for himself, Aegislash shadow sleeked behind him. He burst from the ground and slapped the ball towards Grimsnarl. The attack on her friend took Grimsnarl by surprise. She stumbled back trying to hit the ball but missed. For the first time since the game started, the ball bounced against the floor.

Skuntank cackled. Morpeko chased after the ball. Malamar stared at Aegislash, who held his ground.

Marnie started to push off the stage to break up the fight, but Piers put a hand out to stop her.

After a few tense heartbeats, Malamar coughed a laugh. He covered his beak and shook his head. Grimsnarl took the ball back from Morpeko. Seeing the newfound respect for Aegislash from Malamar, she went back over to the box to switch the worn, old ball, for a nicer ball with a pink and cream polka-dot pattern.

Marnie let out a breath. Piers tossed a chip in his mouth.

He knew things would work out well. Like his trainer, Aegislash was endearing in his determination.

He wondered what Leon was doing while the Spikemuth pokemon played. As late as it was, he was probably home, or maybe he was training with Mr. Rime for the contest. Piers could almost see him now working with Mr. Rime to pose in time with some pop song.

Leon worked hard for what he wanted. It's no wonder he became champ so young and held the title for nearly a decade. If Piers had that kind of drive, he wouldn’t have left Spikemuth fall into disrepair as he did.

He bet he could ask Leon to help him fix up Spikemuth, and not just the gym. The outside walls needed the myriad of penises and breasts painted over. He could do it, but it would be better with some company, particularly with company that had the energy of a sugar-high puppy. Enjoying the outside air, just talking and working—That would be fun. Piers would be willing to wake up early for that.

Piers reached into his chip container absentmindedly but found nothing but salt. He jerked out of his thoughts to see his last two chips disappear—one into Morpeko’s mouth and one into Marnie’s.

“The hell?” He held his hands out towards the empty container.

“Do you have a new girlfriend?” She asked bluntly.

Piers choked on his tongue. “What?” He shook his head. “No! Why would you think that?”

“A boyfriend? A non-binary friend?”

“No,” Piers assured. “I don’t have anyone.”

“Huh.” Marnie scratched Morpeko behind the ears. “You had that look on your face.”

“Look?” Piers’ stomach clenched as he asked, “What look?”

“That look.” Marnie pulled her pokemon to her lap. “The one you get before Morpeko and me find some gushy love song folded up on the living room floor. It happens every time.”

Piers’ ears grew hot. Twice, Marnie found his secret love songs twice. For that reason, he didn’t even write them on scrap paper anymore but in a nondescript notebook in his dresser drawer—which he hadn’t pulled out since he broke up with an ex gym trainer more than a year ago.

Morpeko stuck her tongue out in disgust at finding another love song. She clambered over Marnie’s arms to the chips container. Morpeko licked her paw, dabbed it in the leftover salt, and cleaned her paw before hopping off the stage to rejoin the game.

“I don’t have a look like that.”

“Yes, you do,” Marnie replied in a sing-song voice. “You get this far away look on your face and a little, tiny smile like you’re thinkin' of somethin’ soft. I only see it when you’re datin’ someone or,” her eyes widen in realization, “you gotta crush.”

Piers’ stomach unclenched and fell to his boots.

“You’ve got a crush, dotcha?” His little sister pried. “Who is it? Do they like you back? Can they like you back? Are they a trainer? What’s their pokemon team? Do you see them often?”

Piers' head spun, blurring the rest of Marnie’s inquiries.

No way. He was too old for crushes, for one thing. For two, if Marnie’s theory held any water, then his ‘crush’ would be Leon.

That wasn’t possible.

Sure, he admired Leon’s strength and his determination. His kindness towards pokemon and others was sweet if a little goody-two-shoes. He was much more clever than he first appeared. His athletic frame stole Piers' attention and he wouldn't mind leaning up against that strength-trained chest.

Oh. Arceus. No.

Piers’ face reddened as he cataloged his thoughts. He did have a crush. He had a crush on Leon. Leon was the Chairman of the League. Not only that, he was and still is the poster child for preppy, sporty trainers everywhere. Leon was the goal children were taught to chase if they wanted to compete.

Only the trainers from Team Yell ever wanted to be anything like Piers, a badass who sang to his own song, not the one society dictated.

Sponsors flocked to Leon like mothim to a flame for his perfect public persona.

Only the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce ever sponsored Piers, and that’s only because they always sponsored the gym leader.

Leon was the light that the world idolized.

He was the darkness that fought back to prove to those that the shadows were protective and safe for people like him. He was a fierce dark-type trainer. He sang punk rock. He had a band of miscreants who would follow his every order.

He could not have a crush on Leon.

Yet, he did.

What if people found out? Arceus, if news got around he wanted some of Leon’s finely toned ass—

“Piers?” Marnie poked his cheek.

He jumped, losing his balance and tumbling off the stage.

At the thud of his fall, the pokemon stopped their game. Obstagoon tossed his crisps bag aside to barrel towards his trainer. He skidded to his knees, dramatically throwing his claws up and crying out as if Piers fell off a ten-story building.

Marnie hopped down. Crouching, she asked, “Did you break your face?”

Piers groaned loudly. “Dark void, open up and swallow me. I no longer want to live in this cruel world that would play my heart like a harp string and snap it with its sick, twisted irony.”

Once Piers went on with his dramatic monologue, the pokemon returned to their games, confident Piers was fine. Obstagoon patted the back of Piers’ head reassuringly.

Marnie crouched next to him. “Is the person you have a crush on that bad? Are they married or,” she lowered her voice, “old?”

“We’re the same age.” Piers didn’t lift his head from the ground. “He’s single as far as I know.”

Marnie poked his cheek. “So what’s the matter? Are you too scared to ask him out?”

“No. It’s worse than that.” Piers crawled into Obstagoon’s lap and leaned his back against the warm, somewhat smelly, fur. Obstagoon wrapped him in a hug. He’d seen his trainer confused and in a pansexual punk panic before. Piers needed all the comfort Obstagoon could give him.

Marnie tucked her legs under her and waited expectantly for Piers to clarify.

He sighed, slumping farther down Obstagoon’s lap. Obstagoon’s arm fur tickled his nose as he buried his face in it.

“I can’t ask him out,” Piers muttered. “He’s my opposite.”

“Opposite?” Marnie echoed.

“Opposite,” Piers repeated. He paused, then said, “I’m punk. He does ballet. What more can I say?”

Her brows furrowed. She opened her mouth, then shut it, opened, shut, then tilted her head with one eyebrow raised.

"He dances?”

Piers rolled his head away. “You kids have no culture.” He sighed. “He’s the kind of person every kid wants to be like. I’m the kind of person kids stop comin’ to community gyms to train because of.”

Marnie hit her fist into her palm. “Oh, I get it. You don’t want to drag down his rep ‘cause people think you’re a lazy delinquent.”

“Hey!” Piers bolted up, right into Obstagoon’s hanging tongue. He wiped the slobber off his forehead with his forearm. He jabbed a finger at Marnie.

“It’s the other way around. He’d pull mine up from a mysterious, cool rebel rocker.”

He cringed at himself. Out loud it sounded childish. What was he, a schoolboy?

Piers flopped back against Obstagoon, grabbed Obstagoon’s arm, and dropped it over his face.

“Suffocate me. Please. I need to die to escape this torment.”

With a humph, Marnie wrapped her arms around Obstagoon’s thick forearm and lifted. She looked down at her brother with a frown.

“That’s it?” She shook her head. “That’s sad.”

“You’re a kid. You don’t understand.” Piers countered, trying to pull Obstagoon’s arm back over his face.

Marnie wrinkled her nose and tugged against Piers’ attempts.

“I am not.” She dug her feet into the ground. “It is sad. If you’re a ‘mysterious, cool, rebel rocker,’ why should you care what anyone thinks?”

Piers dropped his hands to his lap.

Without the opposing force against her, Marnie fell backward, still clinging to Obstagoon’s arm. Instead of letting her fall, Obstagoon lifted his arm, leaving her hanging off the ground. He carefully lowered her, but she kept his arm pressed against her chest.

Piers pushed himself up to his feet. He patted the back of his shirt, throwing black and white fur into the air. Without a word, he headed to the stage and picked up the trash from their food.

“Piers?” Marnie hugged Obstagoon’s arm to her chest. “Are you ok? I didn’t break you, did I?”

Piers turned. “Yeah. Just fine.” He walked back, bag in hand. A smile spread across his face as he reached up and ruffled her hair.

“You’re right. I was being the opposite of cool.” He admitted, prying her hands off Obstagoon's arm. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Marnie was right. He was the cool, fierce master of dark-type pokemon. He became one of the strongest trainers in all of Galar without resorting to Dynamax in a pinch.

Why the hell should he give a flying ratata’s ass about what other people think about who he wants to make out with?

He still didn’t want people knowing about his contest days. The stereotype of elitist snob coordinators still hung too closely to contests. The attraction could excuse Leon, but he didn't have a good enough excuse for dressing skuntank in a tophat and glittery, purple bow tie when he was still a stunky yet. Maybe if the contest scene grew a little, he could try again, but until then best keeping that particular secret under wraps.

Marnie shrugged, aloof. “It’s whatever. Someone needs to help you keep your head spun the right way around. I'm the only one qualified for it.”

“What would I do without you?” Piers chuckled.

“Die, probably,” Marnie replied. “So can you ask this guy out? Does he like you at all?”

Piers shrugged.

He didn’t know if Leon liked men. As far as he could remember, Leon never dated anyone of any gender. Leon had always been laser-focused on training and being the strongest trainer in Galar.

But if he did like men, would he be interested in Piers? He didn't know, but given how much time they’d be spending together training for the contest, maybe he could figure it out.

Marnie, her ponytails somewhat righted, asked, “If you need help, Gloria and me could—”

“I’d rather step on a pincurchin,” Piers cut her off, crushed the paper bag into a ball, and tossed it to the side. It bounced and went right through Scrafty's new card tower.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Scrarfy sobbed and slumped back. Marnie’s scrafty looked towards him then sighed. She walked around and helped him pick up the cards, their friendship restored.

“I’ll tell you if I find out anything.” He pointed at the hot potato game still ongoing with his thumb. “Right now, though, you and me don’t need boys when we can play with the best pokemon in the Galar region, though.” To Grimsnarl, he shouted, "Oi, toss it to me!"

Marnie giggled as Piers took her wrist and led her towards the game.

----

AN: Shout out to my friend Sara for the help with this! You da best!!! ^-^)/ Next chapter should be next week? I'll probably post to A03 first though if you want less of a wait.

Also feel free to follow my art blog @uas-art if you enjoyed the chapter art.

#fanfiction #dnnz #gym leader piers #Champion Leon #piersxleon #multi chapter

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

Text

HASO, “Dealing with Intruders.”

So sorry this came out so late today. I was at work and things got busy. I wanted it to be a bit longer, but decided this was a good enough stopping point. I hope you all enjoy

Yeb took a step back.

“I said run, and DIE!” The small, Fuzzy creature said, its ear twitching spastically over its brightly colored fur.

She froze in place, she didn’t know what this creature was, she had never seen it through all of her spying on the ship. It was small though, so there was more than a distinct possibility that she just hadn’t seen it. Either way that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t know anything about it. It could be poisonous, or venomous, or have some other strange ability that she didn’t know about.

“Who are you!” it demanded.

She held up her hands, “Yeb…. my name is Yeb, please don’t hurt me I’m sorry I snuck aboard your ship…. I… I panicked.”

“A stowaway then, from the ice planet.”

She nodded quickly, “Please, I mean you no harm, I just…. I just made a dumb mistake is all.”

“I feel that the Admiral will be very interested to learn about this.”

She felt her fur stand on end thinking of the genial alien captain and how he would react to the sudden appearance of her on his ship, a stowaway. What might he think about her betraying his trust like that, what would he seem like when driven to anger?

“Come with me.” The little fuzzball ordered, turned and began waddling away, “Try to escape and I break your kneecaps.”

Yeb followed behind silently. She didn’t see how the small creature would even reach her kneecaps, but she certainly didn’t want to challenge it. If it was THAT confident it could hurt her, then she had no desire to figure out why.

They stepped into the hallway, her following, keeping mostly to the maintenance tunnels, gone unused by most of the crew. At a certain point she started to hear low murmured voices rising up in some agitation over the thrumming sound of the ship’s distant engines. They came out of the maintenance corridor, and the sound around them rose higher.

It was still agitated, but hushed, and as she walked into the room she was greeted with a very odd…. And an almost disturbing scene.

There was a ring in the center of the floor, surrounded by seats. Inside the ring, little drops of red made a smattering over the floor. The humans sat around in agitated silence looking between each other and the occasional Drev.

Sitting just outside the circle was the human leader…. looking …. More the worse for wear.

He had a small crowd gathered around him,and that strange red liquid was leaking down the side of his face and onto his shirt. Just to the side, the small Blue Drev was standing looking concerned.

As Yeb got closer, she noticed to her horror that the human’s leg was missing! She froze in place and the entire group of whispering humans looked up as she stopped. Concern turned to confusion turned to shock.

The human leader lifted his head, which was discolored and leaking fluid but paused as well, “You!”

“She shrunk back.”

“I found this stowaway hiding in the maintenance tunnels.” The fluff ball announced to the whole room.

The human opened his mouth, closed it, tilted his head and then sighed.

“Will you give us just a moment.” His voice was calm and restrained, almost, tired.

He turned to look over at The blue Drev and a smaller group of humans clustered around just to the side.

“Any joy?”

“It doesn’t look too bad sir, most of the main components are intact as expected, it is just a faulty joining pin.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Unfortunately….not with what we have here. But it should be easy enough to order At Europa.”

He sighed, “Sit, well, it’ll have to do.” He turned to look at one of the other humans, she knew to be named Ramirez, “Head to my room, look in the closet, and in the back corner, you will find those crutches that go around your wrists.”

The man nodded, “Yeah, for sue.” He jogged off and the human leader, Adam, turned to face her.

Slow red was still oozing from the side of his face still as the little spidery alien creature attempted to stop it.

“Yeb, I can’t say I expected to see you here.”

“I...I am so sorry… I have no idea what I was thinking. I saw the box, and it was open, and i just sort of… jumped in, I have no idea why I did that, and then I was worried that you were going to be mad, so I…. So I hid and…. and .”

It was getting very hot all of a sudden, and she was beginning to pant.

“Wow, slow your roll there for a moment.” He held up his hands.

She stared at him, teetering on the edge of concern and fear.

“That….. Sounds like exactly something I would have done.” He smiled at her with his pearly white teeth, “Welcome aboard the Omen. I wish you would have told me sooner as this is hardly a hospitable environment for you. Where have you been hiding.”

She looked down at her shuffling feet, “The…. walk-in freezer?”

He barked a laugh, “Ingenious.”

He held a pad of white to the side of his head and went to stand but stopped suddenly apparently seeming surprised that he was missing a leg. He huffed, “Will someone help me up.” He turned to look at the small doctor frowning and arms crossed over its bug-like chest, “Yes, we will discuss my idiocy later, but right now, we need to figure out how to keep our friend comfortable.”

The little doctor gave her a good once-over, “Does your fur grow back?”

She paused, frowned and then nodded slowly, “Yes it does.”

“Even the under layer?”

“yes , it would.”

The humans glanced between each other, and Adam held up a hand, “Now, this is not out of offence to you, so Don’t take it that way, but….. It might be cooler and more bearable if…. Perhaps you had less fur…. As in shaving it.”

She paused in thought, “I….I have never thought about it….I suppose…. It can’t hurt, if it would make the heat more bearable.”

“Alright, than that is something we can do. Your other options to wear a cooling vest,but those are heavy and would require battery changes and charging. Granted the other way would not be permanent either, but it might last longer.”

She paused to think about it, then, “Will you let me stay here.”

“I was going to let you stay here no matter what you chose to do, so it's your call.”

Just then Ramirez came jogging into the room holding a pair of metal sticks with strange loops at the end, which he handed over to Adam.

The human threaded his wrists through the loops, and levered himself up onto his one remaining leg with his weight supported on the metal sticks. Yeb tried to keep from staring, but fascination outweighed her propriety.

“Krill, take Yeb to the infirmary, and see if you can’t figure out how to safely remove some of her fur. I mean sheep shears would probably be best, but it's not like I have any of those lying around the ship.”

“And you?”

“I will be right along.”

The little spidery alien moved to the side of her and guided her away from the room. She glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see the Blue Drev and the human duck their heads in fervent conversation, her keen hearing managed to pick up some of what was being said, “Adam, I am so sorry I…”

“I asked r it, its ok.”

“No its-”

“Yes it is, now please don’t worry about it, and if you really are, just fix my leg when we get back to Europa.”

She saw the human touch the Drev’s Arm for just a moment before he limped away on his crutches, following after them up the hall.

Again she tried not to stare.

He was fast on those things, and surprisingly mobile, but her eyes kept being drawn to his missing leg, amputated at center thigh. She had seen wounds like that before, mostly after someone got to close to an ice beast or a crevice lurker. They had never lasted long dying from cold and shock a few hours after the incident.

What kind of…. Ungodly power would keep someone alive after trauma like that….

Her thoughts were cut off as she was pulled into the bright hite room next to the freezer. She was sat down and examined by the small studious doctor, who still seemed too grouchy to be particularly talkative. After a while two of the marines came trotting into the room each holding a box.

“This is all we could find, a couple of razors from the crew quarters.”

The one named Maverick eyed her, “I doubt they will be very usable after this.”

Ramirez nodded, “I’d tend to agree.”

Adam limped up behind them, “Might as well try.” he looked down at Yeb with a smile, “Want to do it yourself, or have some help.”

“Er…. help?”

Ramirez clicked on the Razor, “Hey, do you want a mohawk?”

She blinked, “A what.”

“We could do it all the way down your back, have the hair longer there, it would look badass.”

Yeb thought he was joking for a moment but seeing the look on Adam’s face she had a feeling he wasn’t. She wondered, they seemed excited and almost hopeful she’d say yes…. She didn’t see the harm in it,and she didn’t know what badass meant but it sounded fun. So she hesitantly nodded.

“Fuck yeah.”

She wasn’t entirely sure she trusted “These two humans, but what else was she to do?

The going was very, very slow, and the strange machines were very, very loud, she watched as her hair fell to the floor in great chunks, and was surprised when a cool breeze rushed over her neck.

It took them over an hour, and by the time they were done the floor was covered in hair, and she was marginally more comfortable. It felt so weird, and when they turned a mirror towards her she was shocked.

She was so…

Small.

She turned her head looking down at the scruff of hair left on her back which she was delighted to find made her look more vicious, the effect would be even more prominent when her fur stood up on end.

“See, badass.”

The little doctor crossed his arms again, “Don’t you think, Admiral that this might cause some diplomatic issues with the Tricar if they were to know she is here?”

“Than I guess we better not let anyone know she is here, and look at her, a horrible accident caused her to lose her fur and now she wouldn’t last a day back home, we are simply being generous hosts.” he patted her back then paused, “I have another potentially inappropriate question, so please don’t be offended.”

She looked up at him her head tilted and her ears pulled back.

“What?”

“Can I please…. Touch your fur, you look very fluffy, and humans love to pet things. Its sort of a thing about us?”

She shrugged and didn’t see the harm in it.

He grinned at her rather happy and adjusted himself to balance on one crutch, hooking his hand out of the other as he reached over and ran a hand from the top of her head and w nto her shoulders.

“So fluffy!”

She laid her ears back, That was actually kind of nice, and when he stopped she was only mildly disappointed. She’d have to convince someone else to touch her fur, which she doubted would be hard.

“Anyway, I have to take care of a head wound, but Ramirez and Maverick, why don’t you take Yeb around the ship, and give her the full tour, you know without the sneaking around and being forced to hide in the walk in freezer.”

They nodded and laughed somewhat.

“Try to keep her out of trouble will you. Oh…. and if you see Sunny…. Can you send her up here?”

His voice had grown somewhat hesitant, a minute change in pitch which she detected with her large ears.

She wondered what was going on, but let it go as the humans took her by the shoulder and led her away.

They seemed excited to have heron the ship, and their excitement made her excited. She was more than ready to learn and spend time with this strange alien species. And to try more of their food, which was about ten times better than the bland over-salted fish on her planet.

Hopefully she would be able to repay them somehow.

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twoidiotwriters1 · 3 years

Text

Iron 10 (Peter Parker x Fem!Oc)

Words: 3, 238

Masterlist

Chapter 9

"And how am I supposed to learn to control them if they forbid me to do anything?" Lily asks from the back seat.

“We’ll talk to your father. Depending on what happens, we’ll send them the necessary equipment,” informs Fury.

"Depending on what happens?"

"Legal aspects.”

"As which?"

"Lily, one problem at a time," Nat interrupts.

“Fine. Where are we going?"

"Do you want a donut?"

"Sure!"

The van pulls up outside the Randy’s Donuts store, Fury comes out. They both look at him from inside the car. Tony’s sitting on the huge donut.

"Why did we come for him?” She grits her teeth, remembering the annoyance towards her father.

"You two should talk," Nat says.

"I don’t want to.”

"If you want us to help you, that is the condition.”

Lily turns away from the window and folds her arms looking at the redhead.

"You didn't say anything about conditions.”

"Now there are.”

"It's not fair,” She sighs and then looks at Nat's outfit. "Why do you wear that? Is it your super spy uniform?"

"Something like that. You like it?"

“You look weird, but I like it. Do you have weapons or explosives?"

“Perhaps."

The agent receives an order from her intercom. She responds and returns to the girl.

"Come on, I'll buy you a donut."

They both get out of the truck and enter the premises. Nat asks Lily a chocolate donut and walks to the chairs where Tony and Fury are, while the girl takes the donut from her and sits in an armchair away from them, with her back to them.

"Huh!" Tony says when he sees Natasha in a new outfit "You're... fired.”

"That's not up to you,” answers the redhead sitting down.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff,” adds Fury.

“Hi."

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow. Once we knew you were ill or out of control, I was tasted to you by Director Fury. Besides taking care of your daughter in risky situations,” She tilts her head towards Lily.

Tony frowns and looks away to meet the little girl, eating a donut while she swings her legs. He goes back to the redhead.

"I suggest you apologize,” answers Tony.

"You've been very busy," continues Fury. “You made your girl your CEO, you’re giving away your stuff, you neglect your daughter without taking into account the high priority over her powers, you let your friend fly way with your suit. Now, if I did’nt know better—”

Tony rolls his eyes. Again, someone else scolding him for whatever stupid thing he does. Although he now knows that he did screw up, he doesn't want to hear it again. He has enough with his own mind.

"You don't know better. I didn’t give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, He took it?" asks Fury. “You’re Iron Man and he just took it? The Little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" He says. “Is that possible?"

“Well, according to Mr. Stark’s database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage,” answers Nat.

Tony snorts.

"What do you want from me?"

“What do we want from you? Uh-uh,” Fury says as Natasha gets up. “What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe,” He scolds him.

In that, Natasha injects something into Tony making him scream. The conversation is overheard by Lily, but only when he complains does she turn around.

"Oh, god, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony asks.

Natasha moves Tony's head and Fury sees the lines on Stark's neck slowly disappear.

Fury explains what the substance they just injected does to him.

“Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll see right as rain."

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms,” Nat explains.

"You need to get back to work, Stark," Fury says and Tony sighs. "And by Stark, I mean both," He points back.

Lily realizes that he sees her and turns away.

"I don't think she wants to work as a team now."

“She has her reasons. You are a terrible companion.”

***

They all return home to Malibu. Tony and Nick sit on the terrace, now destroyed. They both talk about the reactor, the technology that Howard Stark couldn't finish, and about Vanko father and son.

Fury takes it upon himself to explain everything to Tony, while Lily returns from her room after making sure that no one had destroyed her. Nat had told him what happened with Rhodes and Tony.

The little girl walks to sit on the stairs that lead to the terrace, listening to the adults.

“You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven’t tried everything? What haven’t I tried?" Tony points out.

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.”

"He said that?"

“Are you that guy? Hmm? Are you? ‘Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart. Or maybe, I should be discussing this with your daughter."

Tony winces and shakes his head. Lily frowns.

"I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan," says Tony.

"I'm not either," adds Lily, resting her chin on her arm. Tony glances at her.

"What do you remember about your dad?"

This catches the girl's attention.

“He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it’s a Little tough for me to digest then you’re telling me he said the whole future was riding on me an’s passing it down. I don't get that."

Hearing that, Lily feels a little sorry for Tony. Only a little. She imagines how could be her grandfather when Tony was her age.

"You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding School.”

"That’s not true.”

"Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. You can believe and think many things about him, but knowing all that, do you really want Lily to think the same about you?" says Fury and then finishes his drink. More agents appear to drop off several suitcases. "Well then, what else will I know about one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

"What?"

All three get up. Lily walks over to see the suitcase.

"What’s this?" Tony asks pointing at her.

"You got this, right?" asks Fury.

"Got what? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to get,” answers Tony nervously.

“Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover of her intact. And you remember Agent Coulson, right?"

“Yeah."

They both greet each other.

"Oh, and Tony,” says Fury before leaving. "After you fix this whole mess, we should talk about Lily's new training, she needs it more than you do. And remember, I got my eye on you.”

The latter makes Lily laugh.

Natasha and Coulson explain to Tony what to do and what not to do, while Lily walks over to the suitcase.

Property of H.Stark

"Okay, time to work, Kid," says Tony.

“No," Lily walks away. "We've been together for several hours and you haven't even apologized, and now you're just hoping that I'll help you?"

Tony raises an eyebrow, shifting uncomfortably.

“Basically."

Lily looks at him in disbelief.

"I don't want to, I won't help you,” She says and then returns to her room.

***

The truth is that Lily does want to help him, but she knows he doesn't deserve it. Moreover, she cannot be alone in her room doing nothing. She wants to know what’s in that suitcase, but she doesn't want Tony to find out about her.

An idea crosses her mind. She may not be the stealthiest, but she is the only thing she has. She goes into the living room of her destroyed house and presses the hidden button on the emergency elevator that goes alone to the workshop. She enters it and after a few seconds arrives at the workshop.

All the lights are off and Tony is sitting in an armchair facing a projection. Lily sneaks up behind the old project.

They both watch the old Howard Stark tapes, rehearsing the presentation of what is now Stark Expo. The man has several mistakes with words, but something else calls him the attention to the girl. Just as a little boy comes out the other side of the desk where Howard presents a model. The boy takes one of the pieces and Howard notices.

“Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that? Put that back!” He scolds him.

Lily leans in to get a better look at the boy version of her father. Now she can see the resemblance between Howard and Tony when scolding their children, but is also fun to watch.

Several takes with more errors follow.

“So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I’d like to personally show you my ass,” says Howard. Lily can't help but laugh at his words, giving away her presence. Although Tony had listened to her since she arrived.

"I know you're in there, kid. You're too curious to miss this,” She comes out of her hiding place, crawling on the ground until she reaches the other side of the projector.

"I'm still mad.”

Tony sighs.

"I know,” He leans in the chair and sets aside a notebook.

“Tony," says Howard causing both of them to return to the screen. “You’re too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put this film for you. I built this for you. And Someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people’s inventions. It represents my life’s work. This is the key to the future,” He shows the model and the reactor. “I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation… is you,” The tape ends.

"Do you think Grandpa Howard would love me?" Lily asks when the lights come on.

Tony laughs when he hears ‘Grandpa Howard’, he’s sure he wouldn’t like to be called that.

"I don’t know. Maybe he would love you more than me,” He looks at Lily.

"I am more adorable than you.”

Tony nods, unable to fight back. He sighs. He thinks about the words of his father and wonders why he was never like this with him when they were together. Why does he have to find out about this from a tape or from other people? Then he thinks of his own daughter and Fury's words come back to him.

Tony doesn't want Lily to grow up thinking that he was worse than Howard, he knows what he did.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you that day," He begins.

"And?" She says crossing her arms.

"And sorry for what you had to witness at the party.”

"And?"

Tony purses his lips.

“I'm sorry I failed you. I shouldn't have left you alone, or yell at you, or lie to you.”

"Nat told me that your chest was killing you,” He nods. "Didn't it occur to you to ask for help?"

“It is somewhat complicated. When you say that you are dying, everyone panics.”

"But then they help you.”

"I guess so.”

Lily feels a lump in her throat. Just remembering that, she again feels afraid of losing her father without even knowing something about what was really going on.

"I don't like that you hide things from me or lie to me," she says with a broken voice.

“Sorry."

"No, you must promise that you won’t do it again,” she interrupts him.

Tony watches Lily's determination.

"I promise.”

“Mr. Fury said we are a team. You must do your part,” she says as she gets up.

"Mr. Fury?"

"Dad!"

"Okay, okay, I got it!” He argues. In that he remembers an unfinished business. Tony stayed for a moment in the destroyed mansion and as he passed through the kitchen he saw a burned box on the sides.

He walks over to his desk with Lily following him. He removes the remains from the box and carefully takes the gift from him.

"It's a good try…”

"But you didn't even open it," she complains.

"I'm sorry, but you were missing some details.”

Lily rolls her eyes.

"I put it together by watching a video, it's not as if you had explained each part to me.”

“That can change. Do you remember the rules we agreed upon the first time you were in the workshop?" She nods. “Forget the question limit. From now on, you must ask.”

Lily can't help but smile.

“Agree."

"So, are we good now?"

"Yup, but if you do something wrong, I'll tell Mr. Fury to scold you again."

"He didn't scold me," He complains.

"Whatever you say. Now what shall we do?"

Tony sighs and then winces.

“I must go to Pepper, stay here and cover me with the secret agents. I will not be late.”

"Good luck.”

***

After a few hours, Tony returns with the demo that his father had shown on the tapes. He arms it on various tables.

“Cool," says Lily approaching.

Tony orders Jarvis to scan every detail so he can manipulate it, he takes the hologram and moves it away from the table.

“Open your eyes wide, Kid. The answer to our problems is here,” says Tony giving her a bench and he sits on another. They both look at the model.

"What do we have to look for?"

"A new element.”

“Easy," she says sarcastically.

"My father put it here, we just have to move some things,” He brings the projection towards the center, a sphere.

"He must have something at the core," Tony whispers.

Lily sees what is around.

"What if…?”

"What?"

"What if we put everything together?"

Tony frowns, but an idea crosses his mind.

Little by little, Tony is gathering the important aspects towards the center of the Expo and in each step, he’s explaining Lily. In the end he manages to find a new element, the possible solution to the problem of intoxication.

"Dead for almost twenty years, and still taking me to school,” He says watching his creation. "Nice work, Kid.”

She smiles.

"How will you make it work?" She asks.

"Unfortunately, it’s impossible to synthesize," reports Jarvis.

Tony gets up from his chair.

“Get ready for a major remodel, fellas! We're back in hardware mode. C’mon, kid.”

Between Lily and Tony - mostly Tony - they break down some walls, open the floor and use any energy source in the mansion to connect it to the workshop part. They both open some boxes that S.H.I.E.L.D left them and use every material they have on hand.

"Hold the lamp," Tony tells her.

"It's what I'm doing,” Lily claims while she also tries to see what Tony is doing.

"More to the right.”

"What does that do?"

“Gives more energy. Bring the lamp closer…”

In the meantime, neither of them notices that Phil walks into the shop.

"I heard you broke the perimeter,” says the agent.

"Whoops" says Lily.

"Uh, yeah. That was, like, three years ago. Where have you been?" Tony answers.

"I was doing some stuff.”

"Yeah, well, us too, and it worked.”

Coulson checks the boxes. He pulls out some kind of unfinished shield.

"What’s that?" asks Lily.

“It’s exactly what we need to make this work. Lily, take it,” She obeys. "Lift the coil,” He says to Coulson and between them they lift it up a bit. Enough for Lily to put it under. Tony sets the leveler. “Perfectly level. I'm busy what do you want?"

Coulson warns him that he must go on another mission and says goodbye.

"Glad to see you are a part of it, Lily.”

"It was not easy,” she answers making him laugh.

The hours pass and they both go back to work. In the end, Tony gives Lily some special glasses and explains what they will do.

The energy is concentrated in the device.

"Initializing prismatic accelerator," reports Jarvis. Suddenly a fine laser is projected and reflected off a material.

"Get behind me,” Tony orders him.

Stark operates the machine with the laser, but not before cutting part of the wall where he directs it.

"Oh oh.”

“Oops!"

With difficulty, the laser reaches the small inverted triangle that Tony prepared so that the power would be trapped there. After a few minutes, they turn off the machine. Tony approaches and with tweezers takes the triangle and puts it in the reactor. The item’s accepted.

"We did it?" Lily asks.

“We did it."

She sighs in relief, right now she feels the exhaustion. She walks over to the couch and sits on it.

"Wake me up when we're in trouble," she warns him.

"Why would we be in trouble?"

"Rhodey says we have that talent.”

"Makes sense.”

In that a beep is heard.

"Incoming call and with a blocked number, sir,” warns Jarvis.

“My phone privilege is reinstated. Lovely. Kid, we have the phone back!"

“Great," she answers from the couch.

"Coulson. How’s the land of enchantment?"

"Hey. Tony. How you doing?” The voice is unknown to Lily so she settles in the chair and leans out. "I doubled cycle."

"You what?"

“You told me double cycle’s more power. Good advice.”

"You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy.”

"What?" whispers Lily. She gets up and walks over to Tony. He makes a sign so that she doesn't make noise.

"You too,” answers the man.

Tony removes his microphone from the call.

"Trace him,” he orders Jarvis.

“Now, the true history of Stark name will be written. Your secrets will be revealed at any moment."

"What is he talking about, dad?"

Tony ignores her and keeps checking the call.

“What your father did to my family over forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes and I will make sure your offspring disappear. I hope you're ready,” He says, and then hangs up.

Tony sees Justin Hammer's announcement at Stark Expo on another screen, and based on the coordinates of the call, Vanko may have something planned for the event. He gets up and takes the new reactor.

"Dad?"

Stark replaces the reactor in his chest, after coughing a bit, the man feels the difference.

"Time to go,” He says walking towards his armor.

"Hey! No. You promised—”

"I have to go, Lily."

“But, you must tell me what happens. You promised not to lie to me,” She gets in her way. He sighs.

"Vanko, the man who tried to kill me in Monaco, wants to do something at the Expo and I have to stop him.”

“What does he plan to do?"

"I'm not sure. You must stay here. I'll talk to Fury about sending agents here. Turn on the TV, I'm sure they'll put it on,” He continues on his way.

“Dad," He turns again. "Be careful, please.”

Tony smiles and nods.

"Stay in the workshop in case I need your help.”

"You got it.”

Taglist:

@silenthappyplace @yourbonesareinmybody @aylauwuuniverse @skittles-skittles @hufflepuffzutara @poetryislife0715 @21bruhs @heavenlymistakes @my-love-of-books @dielgonacoffee

#Iron #peter parker fanfiction #Peter Parker #Peter Parker x Oc #Peter Parker x reader #Avengers #Avengers fanfic #Marvel #Marvel fanfic #Tony Stark #Lily Stark #Stark! reader #Pepper Potts #James rhodes #Iron Man 2 #Spider man

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concussed-to-pieces · 4 years

Text

Stay Safe Part Ten: Shereshoy

Fandom: The Mandalorian [Star Wars]

Pairing: The Mandalorian [Din Djarin]/Reader

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Welcome, welcome! Rejoice my step-children, for today is prime indulgence hours. You've waited long enough. Enjoy!

Tag List: @wrestlingfae @huliabitch @toxiicpop @renegademustelid @helplessly-nonstop @culturalrebel @sinnamon-bunn @literal-fand0m-trash @hoodedbirdie @fioccodineveautunnale @thyestean-feast @kateb013 @hxldmxdxwn @lizajane3 @thewaythisis @nellyneko @oh-no-who-am-i @crownofmanga @talesfromtheguild @robbinholland @kylolover96 @lukesrighthand @lackofhonor @lightan117 @misssilencewritewell @theorderoffallenstars @iwantsethrollinstohitmeintheface @fan-g0rl

Part One: Should Have Known Better

Part Two: Tranquil Turmoil

Part Three: Vibroblade Mettle

Part Four: Reaching Out

Part Five: Dark Past

Part Six: Go Alone

Part Seven: Like A Ghost

Part Eight: Savior At High Noon

Part Nine: Swan Song

Interlude: How He Sees The World

Shereshoy [pronounced sheh-REYSH-oy]:

"Lust for life and much more." "Hanging onto life and relishing it." A uniquely Mandalorian word meaning the whole-hearted enjoyment of each day and the determination to seek and grab every possible experience, as well as living to see the next day. Unrestrained, unrestricted, wild and eager.

...x...

Waking up with the clammy chill of bacta all over your body was not an experience that bore repeating. Somewhat like being Shanghaied. You weren't sure how you could feel both sticky and slimy, but the sensation was managed with flying colors.

You had only been in the Nevarro med-center once before, when you had accidentally degloved your fingertip in a rivet hole. As you were an independent contractor (who normally prioritized trades of goods or food over credits in exchange for your labor) the best you could get at the time with your limited funding was a bacta patch. Your left index finger still bore a faded ring of scar tissue around the first knuckle.

So when the droid nurse in the medbay informed you of the fact that you had been healing in an actual bacta tank for a little over half a cycle, the blood loss and internal damage having nearly done you in, you were thrown for a loop.

"You organic lifeforms are so foolhardy, always pushing your bodies too far." It scolded after removing the basin of lukewarm water that you had scrubbed your face and hands with. The artificially warm tone of its vocoder took some of the bite out of its words. "You have been cleared for removal from the tank, but I would advise against strenuous activities for several days."

You nodded from the cot, still staring down at your legs. You were a bit dazed, a bit fuzzy on the details of how you had gotten here in the first place. Your last intact memory was of tilting your head back to watch Moff Gideon's ship soar through the sky with the Mandalorian attached. After that, there was nothing but vague flashes, more sensation than visual. "How...how much is this going to cost me?" You asked, trying to remember the conversion rates for liquids and solids and whether bacta counted as a liquid or a solid. Was it sold by the pound or by the liter? Maker, this would be a hell of a debt to work off.

The droid tittered strangely, patting your arm. "Oh, I suppose you would not recall being delivered to us. The man who brought you in paid the deposit for the tank, and then returned three days later with the rest of the credits. You are very fortunate to have such a good friend!"

The man who brought you in. "Was...w-were they a Mandalorian?" You knew you sounded a little too desperate, but you couldn't bring yourself to care at the moment.

"You do remember! Yes, that is correct." The droid affirmed cheerily.

"Do you have any way to get in touch with a man named Greef Karga?" You rushed to inquire as the bot turned to roll back out the door. You had been about to ask for Cara, but decided against it at the last second. You were uncertain if she was still...at odds with the law.

"The leader of the Nevarro Bounty Hunters Guild? Of course, everyone knows how to contact him! But you rest, rest rest. If I can get ahold of him and if he's not busy, I'm sure he'll be along shortly." The droid assured you.

You flexed your hands with a soft yawn after it left, and then you settled back against the pillow. Every muscle in your body felt a bit stiff, likely from lack of use. Half a cycle. Two weeks. Maker, you had nearly died. What a horrible scenario.

He had nearly died. Your throat ached with an unnameable emotion, you hand sliding down to graze over the new scar on your side. It was larger than you expected, and you flinched when you actually looked at it. Better scarred than dead, you thought pragmatically, even while tears welled up in your eyes. You blinked them away, biting your lip.

You only meant to close your eyes for a moment, but when you opened them again, it appeared to be much later in the day. Afternoon sunlight was pouring in via the small window over your bed, the tiny fan doing little to combat the heat seeping through the sheet that covered you.

You heard someone clearing their throat beside you and you turned your head, eyes landing upon the visage of one Greef Karga. Posted up beside him was Cara, her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to doze off." You apologized, floundering to sit up.

Greef waved off your words. "Relax, we've only been here for a few minutes. You looked so peaceful, we didn't want to interrupt." The older man jibed.

"You gave us a hell of a scare, rookie." Dune scolded, sharply contrasting with Karga's lackadaisical opening statement.

"How did...what happened?" You asked nervously.

"Well, it was all very dramatic. Mando blew Gideon's ship clean out of the sky with one of those fancy gadgets he's got, then he gave you a quick burner patch on the spot." Karga mused, "Your Mandalorian caused quite the stir when he came back here with you. Damn near kicked the doors down."

"Not mine." You corrected him automatically.

Cara scoffed and Karga raised an eyebrow. "Are you entirely certain about that, my wayward little friend?" You gave him a confused look and he shrugged, adjusting his body in the obviously-uncomfortable folding chair beside your cot. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Really, I ought to thank you. If you hadn't dragged that metal-plated moron off the battlefield, I'm certain we would still be under ex-Imperial control. I got my best hunter back, and a new enforcer to boot." Greef said with a smirk, gesturing up and down at the sturdy dropship trooper alongside him.

"Glad to be of assistance." You informed him dryly.

Karga chuckled at your wry tone, and then folded his hands in his lap. "All joking aside though, it's good to see you out of that tank. I think...I think it'll do him some good as well." The older man sighed, "For lack of a better word, he's been inconsolable since the big brouhaha. Gonna' run the Guild out of bounties if he keeps it up."

You cocked your head, asking, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Mando has an interesting way of coping with his emotions." He elaborated dryly. "I get the feeling he's one of those people that, if he wasn't a Mandalorian, he'd probably resort to panic baking."

The idea of the armored man in a bakery somewhere (probably using his flamethrower to carmelize the top of a crème brûlée or to dispense justice to unruly customers) sprang into your mind unbidden and you burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just--that's such an image, I-" you wheezed helplessly.

Greef chuckled again, taking your hand. "Do me a favor, alright? I promise it won't be difficult."

"Absolutely." You agreed quickly. After all, Greef was probably the one responsible for feeding the Mandalorian the bounties that had funded your healing time. Stars, the debt you owed the armored man seemed to be climbing higher by the second!

"He's due back in two...maybe three days, if his hunting track record is anything to go by." Karga squeezed your hand gently. "Go to see him." The serious tone of his voice caught you a little off-guard and you shook your head at him after a moment of silence.

"I doubt he'll want to see me." You mumbled. "I mean, I left the ship because he told me he didn't want me involved. He said...he said it was Guild business. Then, I ended up getting involved anyway and...well, almost killed in the bargain. I guess he was right to try and keep me out of it." You rubbed at the scar on your side nervously. It sat just above where you had landed on Calican's buckle, puckering the skin slightly where it had once been smooth. You weren't certain you would get used to the odd sensation.

"That's why you left?" Cara sputtered. "He said he hurt you. I gave him an earful and everything!" She grimaced. "Now I feel like an asshole."

"He...what?"

"Yeah, he said that he 'lost control' and hurt you, and that it was better that you stay as far away from him as possible. He sounded all kinds of fucked-up over it." Dune pursed her lips, eyes narrowing. "If he didn't believe that he deserved it, I doubt he would have just sat there and taken the tirade I unleashed. I uh...I lit him up pretty good." She finished with a wince.

You stared up at her, somewhat dumbfounded. "O…Oh." You replied weakly.

"I think...well, it's not my place to say, but I think he'll be happy to see you. As happy as a Mando can be, anyway." Karga said quietly.

You thought back on every instance you had heard the smile in his voice, the precious times that you had made him laugh--

And you nodded firmly. "You'd have to knock me out with beskar to keep me away."

Cara grinned and thumped her forehead against yours. "That's the spirit!"

Greef's laughter was raucous (and a little sheepish) and you couldn't help joining in.

...

Getting back into the Crest was the easy part. The worst issue you encountered was that it was raining softly, making a humid haze rise from every surface and ensuring that you would leave footprints.

After two members of the Guild offloaded the carbonite plaques and trotted away with their hoverskiffs, you slunk out from behind the crates and bolted forward.

It only took one try to get the combination this time. He hadn't changed it. He usually changed it once every three days, so that was strange.

You entered the cool, dark hold with a small amount of trepidation, tiptoeing towards the ladder as the hatch slid shut behind you. Soft sniffling from behind the bunk shutter met your ears faintly and your heart broke. Almost before you could think about it, you hammered your fist down on the controls to raise the barrier.

The kid was sitting in the bunk, little hands pressed to their eyes while they snuffled and whimpered. They looked up at you in panic and it was so strange to see the second that they recognized you. They stumbled forward into your arms, those tiny claws scrabbling at your damp tunic as they sobbed.

"Oh sweetheart, sweetheart…" you whispered, cradling them close to your chest. "I'm right here with you, it's alright now. Everything will be fine." You stroked the back of their head, blinking away your own tears.

They started hiccupping, their little body jolting with the force of it, and you toted them into the refresher. With a bit of cajoling, you got them to hold still while you swabbed over their face with a warm cloth, cleaning off the grime of the day and those tear tracks.

They were still sniffling slightly when you pressed a cup of water into their little hands. "You're probably thirsty after all that hard work, huh?" You asked softly, sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of the bunk. "I wonder how long he's been gone for." You continued, thinking aloud. The child hurriedly gulped down the water, holding the empty cup back out with a little whine. "Ha! Of course, as soon as I sit down." You teased, hauling yourself back up to refill the paper cup. "Alright, slower this time. Don't want you getting a tummy ache." You instructed, holding the cup for them so you could moderate their sips.

You watched as their huge ears began to perk back up. They looked for all the world like a freshly-watered plant, and the mental comparison made you snicker.

"My favorite little mudjumper." You sighed, straightening out their teeny robes. At least they were clean and dry, not that you had anticipated the Mandalorian letting the kid's health or hygiene fall by the wayside. Knowing him, he was probably more likely to forget to wear his helmet than cause the kid to suffer.

You sat there peacefully for a while as the sky outside darkened, just listening to the rain beating on the hull and stroking your fingers over the kid's head. The child sprawled out on your chest, their eyes slowly sliding shut as you continued to console them.

You were eventually roused from your staring contest with the floor by the sound of the ramp extending and then heavy footsteps. The cargo bay was almost pitch-black now, the only light coming in from the now-closing boarding ramp. The rain was still beating down, though. It had picked up while you sat, drumming a tattoo on the roof high overhead.

There was a faint click and machinery hummed to life, the hold becoming softly illuminated by the orange running lights beneath the floor grates. Your heart lurched in your chest when you spotted the Mandalorian fiddling with his gauntlet by the loading ramp, obviously focused on it. Your heart now felt like it was about to beat out of your chest. It was a miracle you didn't wake the child with the frantic motion alone!

You couldn't move. You could barely breathe, your nerves threatening to strangle you. All you could manage to do was sit there in silence and just...wait.

How would he react? Would he be angry that you were here? He had paid for the bacta tank, would he require you to pay him back? The thoughts bounced around in your head frantically, making your stomach drop out with apprehension.

He grunted something, sounding upset as he dragged a hand down over the front of his helmet and sagged against the wall. Maybe you shouldn't have done this, maybe...maybe you should have waited to see whether he sought you out first.

Your brow furrowed. No. You had done enough of that. It was your turn now.

You heard his breath hitch and you realized belatedly that you had stopped paying attention to what he was doing. Clearly he had noticed you, if the tilt of his head was any indication. His hands fell slack at his sides, like he had forgotten about his gauntlet entirely.

"Didn't mean to startle you." You said quietly, not wanting to rouse the child that was still slumped over on your chest.

He didn't move. Didn't respond. Hell, you weren't even certain if he was breathing anymore. He just stood there, his cape dripping a small puddle onto the grating beneath his feet.

The kid yawned, smacking their lips and snuggling back down against your collarbone.

"Put the...put the kid in his crib. Please." The Mandalorian requested. His tone was even, giving you absolutely nothing to go on as far as gauging his thoughts.

Stars, you had missed the sound of his voice. You almost didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth.

You carefully got to your feet and turned, laying the child down in their bassinet. Your hand hovered over the controls to close the protective shielding, silently waiting for confirmation.

"Yeah. I...yeah. Please." He muttered.

Once you had done so, you shifted back to face him. You kept your eyes on your boots though, unable to look at him just yet. Anxious nerves wrung the life right out of your voice, making it crack when you finally began to speak. "I-I'm sorry. I know you didn't...I know that I went against what you told me to do, b-but--" You heard him swear and then a sharp clatter met your ears. He must have lunged across the hold because abruptly, a set of gloved hands were cupping your face and dragging it upwards.

You had shut your eyes and tensed up on instinct when you saw the hands coming, so the mouth that pressed to your own was a bit of a shock. You froze, then sighed with relief and leaned hard into the kiss. Your hands rested on his chest, greedily pawing the familiar beskar (and the not-as-familiar way that it pitched under your touch). He groaned against your lips and pressed your back to the wall, his own hands grasping for purchase on your shoulders.

He had missed you. Or at least, it certainly seemed that way! Any other thoughts you had at the moment fled under the assault of his desperate mouth.

He exhaled raggedly and then buried his face in the junction of your neck and shoulder. He didn't say anything for the longest time, one hand falling to clutch at the fabric of your tunic over your side. His shoulders heaved and you realized he was crying, breath wheezing through his teeth from where he had bitten down on his glove to stifle the sound.

You kept your eyes closed and cautiously, carefully, you slid your hand up into the hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm here." You whispered. You felt his knees buckle and he swayed, forcing you to grab a handful of his soaked flight suit to steady him.

"M' sorry, I-" he rasped. "I'm getting you all wet. The rain, I..."

"Yeah...I don't know what they call it on Mandalore, but here, we call it crying." You teased him softly.

He actually laughed at that, pulling back a little. "Guess now I know why Karga and Dune told me to take the day off. I went to the medbay and you weren't there, I-I figured you'd left Nevarro for good. Why…" he swallowed hard, then continued, "why are your eyes shut?"

"I uh, it was mostly a reflex." You admitted. "Should I…" Your throat had gone bone dry. "Sh-Should I open them?"

"I…" He hesitated. "You already know my name."

Din Djarin, the words tripping over one another as he struggled to get them out through a mouth that barely worked--

"Well yeah, but that doesn't give me viewing privileges." You retorted. "Hell, that doesn't even give me permission to use your name. Knowing it is only a part of the equation."

"Do you...want to use my name?" He sounded breathless.

"I mean, I wouldn't--I wouldn't mind it." You admitted weakly after a few seconds of hemming and hawing. "Only if you're okay with it though!" You rushed to add, feeling as if you needed to make sure he knew he could retract the offer. "I know that it's got a lot of weight to it." He wasn't angry at you. He wanted you to say his name and see his face.

"I'm terrified." He replied bluntly. "I haven't shown anyone...well, ever. You're the only one that's--I-I mean, you're the...you're it." How could someone make you weak in the knees while also simultaneously being absolutely, entirely, outrageously awkward?

"I can start with your name, and if you still want to...I mean, you make that choice, okay?"

"I want you to see. I just don't know if I…I mean, the idea of you...I thought you were going to die, all because I screwed up, pushed you away. I want--I need to make sure you don't...that you don't…" He struggled with his words, gloved hands wrinkling your tunic beyond hope when he tightened his grip. "I can't, not again. I'm so sorry." He finally muttered. His mouth pressed to your neck, kisses trailing wet and hungry over your skin. "Please, please say my name."

"Din." You whispered, again struck with the sensation that you were breaking a multitude of rules as you felt him shudder bodily. "Din...Djarin."

"Shit." He groaned, tilting his head back. "That's...that's nice." He sounded a bit faint.

"Please don't pass out." You murmured. "All the beskar would absolutely crush me and I don't think you want to try and scrape me up out of the floor grates."

He choked out another laugh, wet gloves smoothing over your hair. "Sorry. M' just tired. This feels like a dream." He sighed heavily. "I have to wash up. Get out of this suit so it'll dry."

"I'm all for getting you out of the suit."

He smiled against your neck, "yeah?"

"Mmhm." You nodded, blindly reaching for the clasps on his gription harness.

Between your sightless fumbling and his hungry kisses, it took much longer than normal for him to get out of his armor. He couldn't seem to stop kissing you, seeking your mouth again and again.

"Making up for lost time." Din grunted, finally managing to divest himself of his flight suit altogether and then jerking the liner shirt off over his head. He pressed his body to your own and you flushed wildly. Last time he hadn't even fully removed his flight suit, and he had kept the liner shirt on. It was surreal to be able to touch him like this.

He seemed to agree, if the helpless noises in his throat were any indicator. You trailed your fingers along his chest, sliding boldly down to stroke through the thick curls that started right above the waist of his compression leggings. "Pare, wait, I need…t-to shower." He pleaded, his hands fumbling on your shoulders. "H-Have to do this right." His forehead bumped against yours. "Have to do this right." He repeated, now grinding himself down into your palm instinctively. You easily found the thick arch of his cock through the leggings and you couldn't resist giving him a gentle caress before you pulled away.

His breathing sounded distinctly shaky. "Okay. Go ahead." You urged him, making a shooing gesture in what you hoped was the direction of the refresher.

"Hang on," he protested. "Wait, ch-changed my mind, come here."

"Mm, nope! Go shower." You cupped his jaw, feeling him swallow hard. "Get cleaned up. I'll be here when you get out."

"Stay...stay at the sink?" He bargained. You could hear him fumbling with something, probably his leggings.

"Absolutely." You kissed his nose. "Now go shower, you smell like wet Wookie."

He embraced you without warning, wrapping his arms around you tightly and pressing his cock against your stomach. "Wait for me." He requested, the kiss that followed absolutely voracious. You clung to his shoulders, rendered helpless under the attack of his mouth.

"Y-Yeah, 'course." You stammered when you could think again.

He took your wrist and led you forward until you could touch the sink, and then he got into the shower. "When did you wake up?" He asked after he had keyed the shutter closed.

You opened your eyes and leaned back on the sink, tapping your chin. "It's been about...three days?"

He swore under his breath and you heard a metallic rattle. "Shit, c'mon, stupid-" The water abruptly burst on and he yelped. You couldn't stifle your laughter, though you did try. "So glad my pain amuses you." He groused through the divider. "Here I was, coming back to my ship all torn up, thinking that you were gone forever and that I'd never see you again."

His words were annoyed but you could hear the soft sadness in his tone. "I think I've made it abundantly clear that I don't know how to leave you behind." You replied gently. "Plus, bacta tank time isn't exactly cheap."

He scoffed, "Yeah, we need to talk about that. Later. Once we're in a proper headspace for it." He was silent for several minutes, the only noise the running water of the shower and the thunder of the rain overhead. "I don't...look, the bacta doesn't fucking matter. I'm just...I'm glad you came back," he muttered finally. "Glad I didn't ruin everything like I thought I did."

"You've got an uphill battle ahead of you, Din." You luxuriated in saying his name, though your words were ultimately serious. "Why didn't you tell Cara the truth? She said she yelled at you pretty bad."

"I did tell her the truth." Din sighed. "Look, I hurt you. You can't say that I didn't. Physically, emotionally...wounding happened. You didn't feel welcome to stay anymore and I sure as hell didn't give you a reason to." There was a quiet thud. "I knew she would rip me apart and honestly, I think I needed that to parse everything. But stars, that woman took the paint off."

You grimaced. You could only imagine the awful things she had (probably) shouted at him. You heard the shower turn off and you shut your eyes again, tilting your head at the sound of the shutter sliding.

"Mm, I could get used to this." He murmured. All you got for a warning was the rustle of a towel and then, he was on you. His mouth claimed your own and he chuckled when your hands immediately found his damp hair. "You really like that, huh?" He commented, sounding amused.

"Listen, I've been through enough. Let me have this." You complained, yanking playfully at his shaggy locks and laughing when he grunted.

"You keep it up and I'll let you have a lot more than just that." He threatened, peppering your cheeks with kisses. He then grabbed the hem of your tunic, stripping it up off your body to leave you there in your breast wrap. The breathy noise he made was enough to have you flushing hot; you could almost feel him looking at you. "Maker, I don't deserve this." He whispered as he pressed his palm to the faint scar on your side. "Any of this. Over this...half a fucking cycle, I kept thinking that I must have made you up. That there's no way someone like you could even be real."

He sounded reverent again and it made your head spin, it had you gripping his shoulders while he slid down your body to peel your pants off. The mental image of him naked on his knees in front of you--

Stars, you wished you were brave enough to open your eyes.

One large hand slipped between your thighs, urging you open with the gentle press of his other hand hooked right above your knee. "Let me see you, let me see." He breathed, his fingers groping forward until they encountered your slick. You squirmed a little, hoping that he wasn't put off by how wet you already were. You couldn't really help it, of course. "Oh, fuck, you're s-so--you're dripping for me, fuck."

"D-Din…" Your fingers were in his curls again, and you gave a gentle tug.

His tongue-

You felt the inquisitive, flat press of it against your cunt and you gasped out, quickly tilting your face up so that you wouldn't see him if you accidentally opened your eyes. Wait, if he's not supposed to take off his helmet--

Your thoughts ground to a halt when he moaned from between your thighs, wedging his shoulder in to keep your legs apart. "Taste--t-taste so-" he mumbled, laving sloppily over your clit. "Good, fuck. Good." His fingers spread you wide, allowing him unrestricted access to your most intimate parts. You knew you ought to be embarrassed about being splayed open like this, but you couldn't seem to muster up the feeling over the sensations you were being gifted.

Din was clearly spurred on by your enthusiasm if his sounds were any indication, his already limited words dissolving into soft growls and rumbles as he ate you out.

That wasn't exactly the correct term for what he was doing, really. He was devouring you, his nose clumsily bumping into your clit with every other motion, his hands trembling as he tried to keep you still under his ministrations. You thought it couldn't get any better, but then his tongue licked inside of you and you couldn't help the way your voice broke when you cried his name, one hand flying up to cover your mouth. Having your eyes closed did nothing but intensify the feeling of surrender, you were his prey and he was hungry.

The snarl that he let out in reply had you quivering, his tongue fucking your cunt almost lazily. He was teasing now, drawing it out. "Beg me." He slurred, smiling against you. "Beg."

"Please--oh f-fuck, please, please-" you whimpered, almost in tears when he backed away.

"Please…?" He trailed off and you abruptly understood what he was waiting for.

"Please, Din, p-please make me come." You begged pitifully, your hips twitching as they sought out his mouth.

"One more time?" He implored, groaning after you fisted your hands in his shaggy curls again.

"Please, Din, please let me come, p-please, please--" Your voice cracked when he hitched your leg up over his shoulder and buried his face in your cunt. He locked his hot, wet mouth around your clit, rubbing his tongue down on it in a focused attack that had your knees buckling, chest heaving, nails digging into his scalp and-

Your Mandalorian, Din Djarin, was not a man who did anything by halves.

You fell apart, soaking his tongue with your orgasm as you sobbed out his name again and again. He moaned hungrily, the noise sending vibrations through your sensitive sex and making you shudder while he continued to move his mouth, continued to gently lick at your cunt and lap up your come.

"Are you alright?" He asked cautiously once he finally took pity on you and let you catch your breath.

"'Am I alright', like you didn't just take my soul out of my body with your tongue." You panted.

"Yeah?" There was a smile in his voice. "Alright." With a quiet grunt, he got to his feet. "Wasn't sure if I'd be any good at it, but-" You cupped his jaw, delving your tongue into his mouth to catch a taste of yourself. He choked a little, obviously startled when you bit down on his lower lip and tugged it gently. "You...more?" He queried, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, absolutely yes." You answered breathlessly. He hesitated for a second, his arm brushing your shoulder on its way by.

"There. Turn around and open your eyes."

You did so, stumbling a little on your still-unsteady legs. When you blinked your eyes open you realized that he had opened the tiny mirrored cabinet over the sink, effectively rendering the reflective surface harmless. You wanted to feel disappointed, but you knew that he would do it in his own time, on his own terms.

His hands roamed up your body, unraveling the binding that you had to support your breasts. They fell into his palms and he exhaled harshly in your ear, the heated air making you shiver all over as he pressed himself to your back. He toyed with your breasts inquisitively, squeezing them and teasing your nipples with his calloused fingers until you were writhing back against him, wordless pleas making their way out of your throat. "What? I didn't catch that." He murmured in your ear, roughly sinking his teeth into the shell of it and making you keen loudly. "Something you want?"

"Din-" you protested, leaning a little further forward in obvious invitation. He fell silent and the head of his cock rubbed against your pussy, coating the shaft with your slick. Agonizingly slow, he pressed in until his tip was inside you.

"Hah, f-uck, you're…" His forehead hit the space between your shoulder blades and stayed there as you squirmed, trying to push back onto him. "Mmfuck, I have t-to be...y' tight, cyar'ika, breathe-"

"Sorry--" you whimpered, startled when he nipped at your shoulder.

"Don't f-fucking apologize, don't y' dare--" Din stammered indignantly, "gripping me like a f-f-ucking vice, don't want to hurt you." His hands smoothed down over your hips and he clumsily repositioned you, arching your back a bit more to open you up.

You exhaled and you heard him grunt in what sounded like relief. He then penetrated you fully in one long, smooth thrust, the mass of him punching the rest of the breath out of your lungs and leaving you grasping blindly at the sink for something to anchor yourself. His cock was so thick, you felt like it was searing your insides and branding you as his forever.

Your Mandalorian.

You shakily pushed yourself up and wrapped your arm around his neck to support your body as he began to stroke into you against the sink, your eyes sliding closed before you could glimpse him in your periphery.

His lips pressed to your cheek and one hand groped over your stomach until his palm ground down on your pubic mound, sending stars across your vision and making you whine out his name. You tilted your head back down to stare dazedly at his arms around you, watching the way his musculature coiled and bunched with every thrust. Maker, he was strong.

Din kept your back pinned tightly to his chest, giving you his cock without mercy as he rambled disjointedly in your ear about how much he had missed you, about how much he craved you, how much he needed you-

"I-I love--" His voice faltered, then he gritted his teeth. "I l-love you, y--you know that, r-right?" Din blurted out desperately.

"I--" the breath caught in your throat, due in no small part to the man currently fucking you into sweet oblivion. "-love you." You managed to say, closing your eyes and knocking the side of your head into his.

He made a pained noise, one hand reaching forward. "Open--open your eyes. P-Please, please open 'em." He begged.

"Are you-"

"Fuck, fuck fuc-k-k I need it pl-ease," Din cried, his voice rasping and then cracking. "Need you to see, need you to see, need it need it need it--"

The sound of his breathless, sobbing entreaty was more than enough to convince you to oblige him, and so (eventually) your eyes fluttered open.

It took a minute, but you managed to focus on the now-closed cabinet in front of you. The mirrored surface revealed the man that you had saved, the man who had, in turn, saved you.

He had his eyes downcast, no doubt transfixed by the sight of his cock splitting you open again and again. His hair was shaggy; brown, a few grays peppered in here and there. Heavy, furrowed brow, square jawline, full lips currently pressed together in a concentrated grimace. Several fresh-looking scrapes and bruises littered his face. His nose was a little crooked, like it had been broken several times, but that wasn't surprising. Mandalorian helmets, for all their protection, did sport incredibly flat fronts.

Your Mandalorian, Din Djarin, was devastatingly attractive even beneath the armor.

"Hey," You breathed and he jerked his head up, dark, dark brown eyes meeting your own for the first time. You were abruptly breathless, and not simply because his cock felt like it was making itself at home in your chest cavity. You curled your fingers weakly on the nape of his neck, the motion almost a wave. "You could have w-warned me that the helmet was for my protection, not yours."

He tilted his head to the side, illustrating his confusion even without the helmet to mask his expression. His hips pressed to your rear almost idly, rutting his cock as deeply in you as it could possibly reach.

"Didn't expect you to be so h-andsome." You gasped, a guttural cry leaving your lips when he shifted his weight to drag his cock back out of you.

His smile was incredibly shy, an awkward little tilt of his lips before he buried his face against your shoulder blade again. Maker, was he...was he blushing?

You had made a Mandalorian blush. While he was pounding you into the next cycle, no less. You could feel the temperature difference of his face and you giggled, your breath hitching.

"Don't--don't laugh at m-me, dammit." He grunted. "Not while...I'm f-fucking you like this--"

"Not--at you," you panted. "I j-just love you, that's all."

He choked on his next breath and his tempo stuttered, that thick cock throbbing inside you. "Who do y-you love?" He whispered, his hands fondling your breasts.

"Din Djarin." You replied quickly, arching your back a little more.

"Ah--a-and I love--I love you." He groaned. "So...so much." He slid his hand down again, spreading your cunt open so he could play with your clit. You could hear how wet you were, and it filled you with a delight that was borderline shameful. "Come on me. Want you t-to...f-ucking soak me, soak my cock, c'mon." He demanded hotly in your ear, making brief eye contact with you in the mirror. His look was smoldering, burying itself in the hungry tension that teemed in your groin. "I can feel you, fucking squeezing me every t-time I talk, so come, come on me--"

Your clit was unbearably sensitive from your earlier orgasm, every motion of his body sending shockwaves through you. You squirmed and writhed but he had you trapped, safe and secure and begging you to submit to the pleasure he wanted to give you. It was almost too much to bear; you felt tears pricking the corners of your eyes when you finally succumbed with a primal growl.

Din didn't stop, though. He fucked you through your orgasm, fucked you into the blinding delight of overstimulation and pressed the heel of his palm down onto your pubic mound once more. You could feel his cock twitching, could feel how tense his thighs had gotten, Maker you could feel everything and it was a blissful torture. Thoroughly strung out, all senses ablaze, you begged him to come.

"I want to, I want to, gedet'ye I w-want to so fucking badly, I want--" Din chanted. Without any ceremony, he thrust his fingers into your mouth and pressed down on your tongue, urging you to extend it and lick his fingers. You obliged almost automatically and he dragged his now wet fingertips down your chest to roll and tweak your nipples hard.

You clenched down on him without conscious input, your pussy in spasm around his cock as the cool air combined with his rough little tugs to rouse and torment your breasts. You sobbed out his name again and again, pleading for relief and praying it never came all at once.

He met your eyes in the mirror, pupils blown wide and his mouth just barely open, and-- "Oh, fuck." He choked. "I love you." And then he came, wrapping an arm around your midsection to keep you firmly planted in the shuddering cradle of his thighs. He bucked into you over and over and you knew you were dead weight but you couldn't bring yourself to move, moaning helplessly in his trembling grip. "Ner, mine." He grunted.

"Mmhm." You breathed, too beyond words to function at this point in time.

He let out a breathless chuckle, threading his fingers through your hair. "You're mesh'la, beautiful. My beautiful little mudhorn." He sighed.

"Again...with that name." You replied haltingly, the air slowly returning to your lungs. He slung both of his arms around your waist, holding you tight to his chest once more. You were bewildered by your body's reaction, aftershocks hitting hard enough to make your legs shake. "Couple of things that come to mind when I think of a mudhorn." You continued after a few deep, deep breaths. "Beautiful and little are definitely not among them. I tend to think big, and dangerous. So you know. You."

"I remember the first time I thought of you like that." He murmured in your ear. "You had just killed seven raiders. I came into the hut and you were ready to kill me too."

"Oh...oh." You trailed off, flushing slightly. "I-I wouldn't have, you know I wouldn't."

"Mm, I'm not so sure." He exhaled into your ear, making you squeak. "It was intense. I...I'm pretty sure that was it for me. Fought for so long, y'know, but it was useless. You took my heart with that look, cyar'ika."

"You really...I mean, you thought about me like that?" You asked shyly. And it was an insane thing to be shy about, considering the fact that his cock was still inside you. "You mentioned some things the last time we...uh, got involved, but I assumed you were just saying stuff to get me excited."

"I don't know how to talk like that." He answered you bluntly.

"That's a lie." You retorted. "You told me you fucked your hand thinking about me!"

"Mmmultiple times." He drawled the 'm' out in a self-satisfied manner, kissing down the side of your neck.

"That's not you just trying to say something...y'know, to get me worked up?"

"I said it because it's true." He muttered, "should I...should I not say things like that?"

"No, no, you definitely should!" You backtracked quickly. "It's just...it's nice to know that you were thinking about me even before I was...well, masturbation material. It's nice that you saw me, I guess I should say."

"I always saw you." He breathed, his fingers sliding up the side of your neck to tilt your head so he could kiss your cheek. "Saw you play with the younglings. Saw how you took care of the kid. Saw how you protected him. Saw how you took care of me."

Your flush was a raging inferno at this point.

"I don't remember a lot about the...whole situation with Ran's group. Xi'an's poison threw me off my track pretty good. But I remember…" Those brown eyes half-lidded as he collected his thoughts. "Remember you singing to me."

"You asked me to." You whispered.

"I don't mind that memory. Out of all the ones that I have, it's one of the few that isn't shit." Din mused, adding, "today's nice too, don't get me wrong. No deadly neuro-toxins to take the edge off either." He wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder and swaying you gently back and forth as you watched him in the mirror. Stars, you were still a little tongue-tied at how handsome he was. "I need you to promise me something, stowaway."

"What is it?"

"Don't you e-ever try to fucking die on me again." His voice cracked, "okay?" He dropped his forehead against your shoulder. "Please."

"Din…" You said softly, stroking your fingers through his hair.

"Just...just promise me that." He choked out. "If you get hurt, fucking tell me. If something happens, if…shit, if something goes wrong, please--please, don't hide from me. I'm sorry f-for...I'm sorry that I...I fucked everything up. I'm so sorry. All I've been able to think about is how much you m-must hate me. You were almost killed because you were pulling my stupid, stupid ass out of the fire."

"Hey, hey. You literally told me to stay out of Guild business. You can't blame yourself for my inability to follow your instructions." You protested, nudging your head against his. "I'm an adult and I take full responsibility for my own stupidity when it comes to you, okay?"

One large hand trailed down to skim the scar from the blaster wound and he huffed, sniffling quietly. He pulled your hips back more firmly into the seat of his pelvis, shifting his weight a little. "All heart and no fucking armor to defend it." He managed to say.

"You've got more than enough for the both of us." You replied gently. Then, you whimpered as he palmed over your breasts again, his fingers tugging your nipples mercilessly. "How are you still-"

"Missed you." He rasped, his words husky with longing and unshed tears. "You're so warm. Sensitive. I love...I love you. Don't want to stop touching you."

"Din--" Your voice broke as he rolled his hips, his cock hilted in you deliciously.

"Mm, one more? Maybe?" He begged.

"I don't know if my legs are going to last that long." You confessed. "Or the rest of me, to be honest."

"If it's too much for you, I'll stop." He breathed in your ear. "Can tell me to stop and I'll stop."

"I don't want you to stop, but I'm just-"

"'But' means you need me to stop." Din interjected softly. "I'll stop."

"Wait, wait, it's just that--I'm-!" Your orgasm struck without warning as he attempted to withdraw, the drag of his cock over your spot making your vision briefly white out from the overload. You shuddered and writhed, the pleasure nearly to the point of pain as your inner walls clutched at his cock. You couldn't help the way your nails raked into his arm, clawing for purchase.

You vaguely heard him moan, "oh, f-fuck--" the words nothing but a gravelly rumble. He struggled to keep pulling out, rambling about how tight you were like he couldn't even help it. "Easy, easy cyar'ika--relax, relax relax. You grip me so--f-ucking-"

"Sorry, sorry-" you sobbed, your words catching in your throat as you felt the head of his cock finally leave your cunt with a lewd, wet sound. It was like a breath of relief and anguish all at once; you were too sensitive to handle more but you had missed him so much-

He tipped your chin back with one hand, kissing your forehead clumsily as he dragged his other hand over the inside of your thighs. "Mm, shh, no apologies. Gonna' come." He slurred through gritted teeth. "Right here, just l-like this, using your come to fuck my hand. You ready? Ready for my come?"

Your words failed you at his declaration and all you could do was nod, drowsily meeting his gaze in the mirror. His breath hitched again, like he was startled. It was wildly endearing to know you had that sort of effect on him. "Love you." You whispered, propping yourself up with your elbows on the sink to enjoy the show.

"Hnn, f-fuck, fuck-" he panted, "that's not fair. With the eyes too? N-Not--not fair, you can't do that."

You just smiled sweetly, arched your back and he lost it. His release hit the small of your back and you listened to him gasp and grunt his way through his orgasm with an exhausted tremor of delight. He came for what seemed like an eternity to you (and him as well, if his voice dissolving into a broken, raspy growl had anything to say about it).

"You make the nicest sounds." You complimented him once he seemed to be able to breathe again.

"Wh...What?" Din croaked after clearing his throat several times.

"Your voice. It's nice. I like it."

"Um…huh." His fingers absently smeared the come on the small of your back. He appeared to be at a loss for words. "I should...uh. Get a...something. Gotta' clean. Don't move. I...yeah, don't move." He said finally, awkwardly clearing his throat again and avoiding your eyes in the mirror.

"Helmet back on?" You suggested. He froze, looking a little guilty. "Hey, no. It's part of your life. It's who you are. Don't ever worry about putting it back on, okay?"

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

You swatted his leg. "What did I just say? Listen to me when I talk!" You chided.

"I know, I just-"

"Nope! Nope. You're more comfortable with it on, right? You're used to it. That's how your world is and that's fine." You assured him. "I'm a new addition. That's only if you want to keep me around, of course."

"Don't you dare say something like that." He grumbled, obviously bashful. "'Course I want you around. I'm not letting you out of my fucking sight for at least a week."

"Is that...possessiveness I detect in your tone, Djarin?" You asked in mock surprise. "I didn't think you had it in you!"

He scoffed, shaking his head and then walking through the bay to pick his helmet up from its forlorn place next to the loading ramp. "More like soul-crushing anxiety over your wellbeing, but that too I guess." He grunted after donning his familiar headgear. He padded back over to the fresher, reaching into the shower and scooping up a washcloth.

The water was cold and you yelped, making him flinch. "Fuck, what, a-are you alright?" Din stammered, palms cupping your hips gingerly.

"Could have used warm water." You squeaked, wriggling a little in an effort to shake off the chill.

He breathed a sigh. "Maker, don't...don't fucking scare me like that." He muttered, obligingly running the cloth under the hot water tap. "I thought I hurt you."

"No no, it was just cold. Sorry." You apologized, feeling a little sheepish. The cloth was barely lukewarm when he laid it back on your skin, but it was absolutely better than it had been the first time.

His motions were clumsily tender, like he wasn't used to being careful. When he moved lower to run the cloth over the inside of your thighs, he slowed to rub circles on your still-trembling muscles. "Maker, I...you're shaking."

"Yeah, you kind of gave me a workout." You teased, turning your head to smile at him over your shoulder. "Also, I think I'm still supposed to be taking it easy. According to that nurse, anyway."

"You're what."

"Supposed to...uh, you know what? Never mind." You tried to brush it off, but he rose to his full height and wrapped his arms back around you.

"If you're supposed to be taking it easy," he growled in your ear, modulated voice sending that familiar tremor through your body, "I shouldn't have just railed you against the fucking sink."

"Hey, I needed that. You did too. Don't act like you didn't, Djarin." You stuck out your tongue, blowing a raspberry at him.

Din shook his head, tapping the helmet against your temple. "I wouldn't have made you stand. Would have...would have laid you down or something." He eased your full weight against his chest. "Are you sore?"

"Not really. A little achy and stiff, but that's okay." He hummed disapprovingly in his throat, tugging you back a step from the sink. You flung your arm around his neck, clinging to him as your legs tried to dump you on the ground. "Not hurt!" You insisted when you heard his breath hitch. "I promise. Just well-fucked."

"Still. You can barely stand. We need to lay you down." He murmured, smoothing his palm over the top of your head. "You want the bunk?"

"No, we can't both fit in there." You tightened your hold on him without meaning to. Don't go.

"I don't want you to be on the floor if you're hurt." He protested.

"I don't want to be alone." You hated how your voice cracked. "Please, Din. Not right now."

"Oh. Oh. Alright, I...alright. I didn't mean...I just didn't want you to--the floor isn't comfortable." Din fumbled to say, his thumb rubbing over your knuckles.

"I lived with it before, I can definitely manage it now."

The jaw contour of his helmet gently pressed to your cheek like a kiss. "Okay. Give me...I'll get some more blankets together or something. You stay still." He ordered sternly, patting your hip. "Stay."

Your laugh was a little shaky. "I'm not the kid, y'know."

Din grumbled something under his breath, sounding exasperated.

…

You had no idea that he even possessed this many blankets. You blinked down at the pile, certain you recognized a few blue ones from your stay on Sorgan.

"Something most people don't know about Mandalorians is that we build nests." Din informed you, his voice utterly deadpan.

"You are...a liar." You sputtered, giggling when he nuzzled his helmet into the crook of your neck. You had taken a quick shower while he was distracted by his nest building, so your skin was still warm and a little damp. His beskar squeaked slightly at the moisture.

"I could be lying, yes. But I might also be telling the truth." He reasoned, tugging you down to settle on the floor.

"This is the Way, right?" You teased, cupping the sides of his helmet. He stilled and your smile slipped a notch as you remembered the way you had thrown the phrase in his face, how heartbroken he had sounded when he begged you to wait.

Hesitantly, his hands raised to cover your own. "This is the Way." He intoned quietly, pressing his forehead against yours before continuing, "With you. I'm never leaving you behind. Ever again."

"My Mandalorian." You whispered, relief making your eyes slide closed. "Thank you, Din."

He breathed, "Thank you for loving me," his tone unbearably soft even through the modulator. "Thank...thank you for saving me, my little mudhorn."

Your chuckle was a bit more watery than you would have liked. "That pet name is going to take some getting used to." You stroked the sides of his helmet. "Luckily, I'll have plenty of time to do so." You proceeded to press your thumb to his sternum, drawing it downwards. He did the same to you and you could feel the affection he had for you radiating through the delicacy of his touch when he softly tapped his fingers to your lips. "I promise." You whispered, your own fingers making a dull ringing sound on his beskar helmet.

He just...stared down at you for several long moments. Long enough for you to half-lid your eyes again, lashes sweeping down as you focused your gaze self-consciously on his knees.

Slowly, slowly, his hand extended, and you could see it shaking ever so slightly in your peripheral for a second. "I share my name with you." Din slid his index finger down your jaw. "I share my face with you." He trailed his hand across your visage from temple to chin, his fingertips barely grazing your skin. "I share my body with you." He cupped his palm tenderly over the top of your left breast (no doubt feeling the way that your chest heaved excitedly under his touch). "I share...I share my heart with you." He murmured, threading his fingers through your own and raising them to his chin. "This is a riduurok bond. An oath that I swear to you. It's...it's very important." His sentence dissolved into a bit of a mumble, but you still heard him when he stammered, "s'a marital...l-love bond."

"Oh." You replied dumbly, before erupting with, "oh! Oh, you're--oh wow, stars, okay. What...uh, what do I have to say in return? To say yes?!" You rushed to ask, certain your eyes had gone glassy with tears.

"If...um, if you accept, y-you just...repeat what I said, and the gestures." Din seemed flustered by your enthusiastic reply, his hand trembling in your grip. "You...you really-?"

You tapped your index finger to the apex of his jaw contour and he fell silent. There was no possible way he could feel your touch through the armor, and yet you were still incredibly careful. "I share my name with you, Din." You breathed, your finger gliding over the beskar without so much as a sound. You then gently, so gently, rested your palm on the flat front of his visor. "I share my face with you, Din."

"Maker, yes." He sighed, knocking his forehead roughly into your palm before you swept it down over his face like he had done for you.

Your fingers splayed above his left pectoral, digging in a bit more than you needed to. "I share my body with you, Din." He shifted restlessly under your touch and you could feel your cheeks ache with how hard you were smiling as you took his hand in your own. Turning it over, you scrutinized his bruised knuckles with a soft noise of distress. Then, you raised his fingers to your lips and kissed every bruise, every battered knuckle, every scar that crisscrossed his olive skin.

"Please," Din begged brokenly, his voice nothing but a breathy groan. "P-Please."

You obliged him without hesitation, tapping your joined fingers against your chin with an air of solemn finality as you stated, "I share my heart with you, Din."

From his spot on his knees facing you, Din all but fell forward, cradling the back of your head with one hand as he pressed you down into the soft cocoon of blankets with his weight. "You precious...mesh'la...stars, you mean so fucking much to me." He gritted out, his voice almost pained while he framed your hips with his thighs. "So much, so much I don't know enough Basic for it. You are fucking healing, mirjahaal, you are rain, pitat, you are soft, pel, you are fucking stunning, kandosii'la, you a-are--you are dral, ner cabur, ner haal, you are...haar'chak, osi'kyr, I always lose my words." He growled in frustration, resting his forehead against your own. "My mouth can't even try to whisper what my heart screams. M'not used to talking so much." He admitted, sounding defeated.

"I hear you anyway." You assured him softly. Din raised his head, leveling that visor with your eyes.

"How?" He asked desperately.

"I hear you when you speak with your hands. I hear you when you speak with your concern. I hear you...I h-hear you when you speak with your body." Your breath hitched and your eyes closed as he rolled that body against your own in one long, sensual grind. "I don't need you to talk if you can't. I hear you just fine, I promise." You managed to finish, even with his deliciously-distracting form stretched languidly over you.

"Then," Din hesitated. His hand sought out the scar on your side yet again, fingers caressing the marked skin. "I…I love you." He mumbled.

"I know, Din." You smiled warmly up at him. "I love you too." He ducked his head against your shoulder, like he was trying to hide his face despite already wearing a helmet. "Don't be shy!"

"I'm not shy, I-I'm…"

"You're not used to this. It's new. That's okay." You cupped the back of his helmet. "I'll be here to help you figure it out. The kid and I."

"You are my aliit, my clan. I'll...I'll keep you two safe, I promise. K'oyacyi." He choked out, his hand trembling when he drew the circle on your chest and rubbed his knuckles gently in the center. "My armor for you and the kid. My whole body. Anything you need."

You slipped your legs out from beneath his thighs and opened them a little wider, letting him relax down into the sheltered harbor of your embrace. "Shh," you soothed, running your palms up and down his tense back. "Everything is fine. All we need is you. We're safe. You're safe with me. You can rest, sweetheart."

Din sighed, digging his hands into the blankets beneath your back. "Safe." He slurred. "Can't lay on y' though. Too heavy...lemme'..." He clumsily grappled with your body, somehow managing to roll the two of you over without accidentally braining you with his helmet. "Better." He grunted, threading his fingers through your hair and resting your head on his chest. "Should...put my suit back on."

"Five minutes." You bargained, stroking down the line of his visor. "Would you like me to sing for you?"

"...mmhm." He agreed through a yawn, his head drooping when he nodded. "Five...f-ive…"

You smiled as you listened to him struggle against sleep to try and talk to you, his breathing finally evening out after a few more minutes of incoherent mumbling. You pressed a careful kiss to his forehead and then snuggled down against his chest. "Stars fading, but I linger on dear...still craving your kiss. I'm longing to linger 'til dawn dear, just saying this…" You half-whispered, your words petering out as you too succumbed to the allure of slumber.

The future was uncertain but, if only for this brief moment in time, the two of you found solace in the other's presence.

Stay safe, sweetheart. K'oyacyi, cyar'ika.

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

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Tides of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 25

Tides of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because some fire just proclaimed Tavra the true All-Maudra, the Vapra have joined the loosely affiliated resistance, and skekSa has our heroes back against a cliff. Two chapters left, tensions high!

Last times on book: Amri and co are on a quest to unify the Gelfling clans against the Skeksis. They’ve succeeded with the Sifa, the Dousan, and now the Vapra. But they’re cornered by skekSa the Mariner who is feeling a bit sore about the Sifa ditching her and wants to take Naia to use as political capital with the other Skeksis.

Chapter 25

Amri and the others fight to escape the clutches of skekSa, they don’t get out unscathed

skekSa stared, wide-eye, rage saturating her dark eyes and making her look more Skeksis than ever. Amri tried not to let it frighten him. Not now that they’d had their victory lighting the Vapra flame. All that was left was to escape the Mariner’s clutches. Survive, like Tavra had said.

Win condition: get the heck away.

Similar to the first book conclusion, having to escape the Hunter. Different from the second book where they planned to trap the Satirist to keep knowledge of the resistance secret longer.

Beating skekSa in a fight, not even a viable outcome.

For one, her sword is longer than Amri is tall. That’s a bit of a discouraging thing.

skekSa tries being ‘reasonable’ one last time, offering Naia a chance to surrender for the safety of the others but Naia refuses.

[skekSa] charged at Tae, swinging her sword. Even if its edge were not sharp, the sheer power and weight of it would crush a Gelfling if it struck. Tae leaped, wings taking her up so her toes touched the gleaming metal of the blade. She ran along the sword, leaping again and slashing with her dagger.

That’s some more choreography that I’d love to see in puppets.

It’d look silly if not execute well but maybe good silly.

There’s only so many ways you can portray a small individual fighting a much larger one and its not like Yoda’s method of jumping around everywhere like a grasshopper doesn’t look silly if you’re not in the moment.

Naia runs to help Tae hold off the Mariner and Amri runs to take care of Kylan.

Kylan being Kylan, his first concern is to stop skekSa from destroying any more trees after the trees helped send the message but Tavra chides him they have to save themselves first.

Problem being they’re backed up against the cliff, they don’t see Onica’s lantern down in the ocean, and all the fliers are trying to knife fight a behemoth.

skekSa doesn’t give them space to think about it either, she dashes in and tries to split Amri in half. He tries to block with Tavra’s sword but the Skeksis wrenches it from his hand with the hook on her sword.

Not ideal.

Naia and Tae attack her again and do some damage but she just jumps away from Tae and throws Naia off of her. Fighting Skeksis is hard.

Tae tells Tavra to protect the others and keep lighting the fires no matter what happens and then dives against skekSa from the air.

Tae’s dagger bit. skekSa’s sword flipped into the air, and Amri caught his heart in his teeth when he saw that the Skeksis’ severed hand still clutched the hilt as it flew.

skekSa screamed. She grasped the stump where her hand had been.

“How dare you!” she cried, over and over. “HOW DARE YOU!”

Well, uh, plus side is that now she can get a hook hand to add to her piratey aesthetic?

Minus side is the Swimmer just lost a hand too.

Other minus side, Skeksis have four arms. Two usually vestigial but like the Hunter, the Mariner engages in vigorous exercise in the brisk outdoors and hasn’t had arm atrophy.

Amri tries to warn Tae when he sees the movement but is too late.

One of skekSa’s smaller arms slipped out from the Skeksis’ coat. Something flashed, and a BOOM rang through the mountain air. A cloud of smoke exploded from skekSa’s hip, blasting Tae off her feet. She crashed into one of the Waystar trees, leaving a red mark on its glowing white bark where she struck. Then she fell into the snow and did not rise.

The smoke cleared. skekSa coughed and reached into the depths of her coat again, drawing out a leathery, egg-shaped device and holding it in her tiny palm. Her breath rasped in anger and pain, her blood still falling on the white snow. She stumbled to one knee.

“I can’t believe this,” she panted. “Can’t believe it one bit.”

Holy crap! Guns exist? Skeksis have guns??

This is even weirder than the Emperor doing force lightning.

Guns!

And here I was joking about her improving her piratey aesthetic when she had a gun up her sleeve!

A weird, egg-shaped gun.

The tech level of this world sure is unusual.

-rereading- Oh! Its a grenade!

Yeah, that’s more in keeping with what we have/will see. But geez, she hit Tae with a grenade. Poor Tae.

Also, sure she got blown up for it, but props to Tae for taking off an entire hand in one go.

Down below in the bay, Onica’s lantern has finally arrived and Naia says that their best chance is to fly down. Except now they’re down one flier and have two non fliers to convey.

skekSa throws another egg-shaped grenade, which Amri blocks by throwing a branch in its path. The explosion still knocks him on his ass because that’s what explosions DO.

And by the time he recovers, skekSa reaches them.

She had found her sword, held it in the hand that was intact, carelessly bleeding from the other as if it meant nothing.

“I don’t want to do this,” she said slowly, her blade tasting the snow at her feet. Her voice turned hard at the end, wicked as her sword. “I told you we had a deal -- you ungrateful fool.”

Huh.

I can almost believe she means it.

The Mariner takes a swing but she’s blocked by someone with a Vapra sword and then has her sword knocked off the cliff.

skekSa is having a really bad day.

[Amri’s] eyes were still hazy, trying desperately to focus. But even so, he could see how stood between them and skekSa: a Sifa with hair gold as the sun, holding Tavra’s sword. Shining on her neck was a crystal spider, silver and blue as the moon.

The ringing dulled enough that Amri could hear Tavra’s words, stern and commanding in Tae’s voice.

“Get out of here, to the cliff,” she said. “Run! Fly!”

Tavra spidered Tae!

I guess Tae is alive from being exploded? If her body is still capable of being spidered and fighting?

skekSa tries to lunge past TavraTae to get Naia but without weapons and against someone with a sword who knows how to use it, she’s stymied.

The Mariner even grabs a tree branch and tries to use that to swat TavraTae, without success.

Naia follows TavraTae’s advice and grabs Kylan and jumps off the cliff.

And after breaking from the fight with superior mobility, TavraTae grabs Amri and jumps too.

Amri having a lot of trouble reconciling in his mind Tavra and Tae because its Tavra but looks like Tae and plus he might have a concussion.

Naia still is the Drenchen whose wings have only just come in and haven’t been strenuously tested much so she’s having trouble doing more than slowing down her and Kylan’s fall. Its a nice touch that that’s remembered two books later.

But TavraTae glides close so Amri can take Naia’s hand and they can all glide down together.

As soon as they land on the boat, Tae crumples, probably Tavra abandoning controlling her as soon as its not a life or death situation. Because of ethics. And because moving her around when she’s been exploded can’t be good for her explosion wound.

Naia immediately starts trying to heal her, only pausing so they can all move inside the cabin where its warm.

In the end, the glowing eased and Naia put her hand on Tae’s forehead.

“I’ve healed her body,” she said, brow creased with pain. “But she was deeply injured by that explosion. Even though I’ve mended her cuts and broken bones, her mind still sleeps. I cannot even sense her dreams. I don’t know when she will wake... if ever.”

It was hard to imagine. The Sifa merely looked as if she were sleeping.

“I didn’t mean to...,” Tavra began. She rested on Tae’s cheek, glistening like a tiny moon in a cloud of sun-gold hair. Amri sighed and shook his head. The moon had eclipsed the sun during a storm in Ha’rar, after all.

What a weird prophecy.

In the end, it turns out it wasn’t a prophecy of a sweet, sweet romance. But a premonition that Tae would eventually be body-jacked by a spider that was really a cool Vapra.

Goes to show, prophecies aren’t straightforward. Unless they’re incredibly straightforward. Like the one from the movie.

But sometimes they’re poetic because fate doesn’t like you screwing with it.

Amri tells Tavra that this isn’t her fault because she did all the right things and saved the group which is what Tae would have wanted and which she’ll definitely confirm when she wakes up.

Buuuuuut, the plot hasn’t stopped happening just because there’s like four pages left in the book.

You’d think it would and we’d be winding down and figuring out what to do next. But no.

A familiar metallic whistle shrills through the air. A whistle that Amri knows exactly what it foretells.

Amri ran out onto the deck, followed by the others. The ship trembled as the sea shook. He grabbed hold of the rigging on the ship as waves rolled out from the ocean and crashed across the back of an enormous black shell. A deafening moan trembled through the water and echoed against the steep cliff. Terror shot through Amri’s body as a behemoth mouth rose from the depths, water gushing from its enormous hooked-beaked maw.

It gaped, spreading its jaws. The ocean churned, sucked into the black abyss of the creature’s throat. Onica’s ship was caught in a vortex of inescapable currents, and Amri watched the slowly brightening sky disappear as the monster ship closed its jaws, swallowing them into a sea of darkness.

COME ON!

This is where the denouement is supposed to go! And you go and release the kraken on them?

You’re persistent, skekSa! You’re very persistent!

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Tides of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Amri #Naia #Kylan #Tavra #Tae #Onica #skekSa #the Mariner #one chapter left

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self-proclaimed-chaotic-good · 3 years

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When I Was Older | Poe Dameron x Reader (Oneshot)

Words: 1584

A/N: How long has it been?! Tryna get back into writing again and decided to take a break from the series that I’m working on to do a quick oneshot. Figured it’d be easier to get the creative juices flowing if I browse through my Spotify playlist. Crazy how someone could be banging out a story every day for one whole month then take a break for a couple of months and feel like they haven’t written in forever.

The village was completely destroyed. The informant was missing, the others in your squadron confirmed that their body was not found among the fallen. Poe cursed, kicking a piece of debris before gripping at his curls in frustration. You grimaced, approaching one of the housing that remained standing. Being careful of the rubble, you stepped around and searched inside, hoping that there was a clue to the informant’s whereabouts, some sort of sign.

The house had a modest interior, but appeared well loved and well lived in. You could only imagine what it had been like for this family to be living about their lives until the First Order storms through their village.

You stooped down, gingerly picking up a doll of what looked to be a humanoid droid. It was still intact, save for the broken eye and crooked limbs, but fixable. Stepping closer to the broken stairs, you heard a faint sniffing.

“Hello?” you called out softly. There was scrambling across the floorboards above. “It’s safe now. You can come out.”

“(Y/n)?” Poe said, hearing your voice in the house.

“I think there’s someone in here,” you said, looking up the stairs.

Poe looked at the state of the stairs and shook his head. “It’s too dangerous to go up there…,” he muttered, walking towards it anyways. “Hello? We’re here to help.”

A small head poked through one of the broken floorboards. “Hey,” you said with a small smile, “Is it just you?”

The small head nodded with a sniff, brown eyes wide in fear and sadness.

“We’re gonna get you down there, okay, buddy?” Poe assured them. He took a tentative step up, minding the broken boards, then took another step.

Halfway up, he saw a young boy, possibly younger than twelve. He wore a loose dark gray shirt and shorts, dusty goggles resting on his short black hair. Poe reached his arms out towards him. The boy slowly made his way over to him and froze as the step under him creaked.

“It’s okay,” Poe said, “Move quickly. I’ll catch you, I promise.”

He nodded, taking a deep breath before rushing over, landing in Poe’s arms who rushed down the steps before they could cave in. Your arms shot out to steady him before he could fall back.

“You two okay?” you asked.

Poe nodded, lowering the boy onto his feet. He crouched in front of him and dusted off his hair. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Bokan,” he said quietly. “My family… they’re dead, aren’t they?”

You and Poe exchanged a look before turning back to Bokan. He just lowered his head and let out a soft whimper. “I saw everything,” he said, “But my aunt… I don’t know where she went.”

“Your aunt?” you asked.

“She said that she was going to meet someone outside of the village. I never saw her since.”

You sighed. “We’ll get you somewhere safe, Bokan, and we’ll help you find your aunt, too. Will you be okay with coming with us?”

He nodded, then spotted the doll in your hand. You handed it to him and he quickly pulled it to his chest. The two of you made your way to the squad to update them of the situation before getting ready to leave. You took Bokan into your X-Wing with just enough room to fit him with you. His eyes did light up as you buckled in with him in your lap. His hands reached out towards the console and steering controls before pulling away.

“When we’re safe at the base, maybe I can show you how it all works,” you offered.

“I’d like that,” he said.

The flight back to base was uneventful, but you did see Poe trying to do tricks with his X-Wings to cheer Bokan up, earning a laugh from him.

At the debriefing, Poe explained the situation and about Bokan. Leia sighed in frustration as more innocent lives were lost at the hands of the First Order but knew that there was some hope as the informant could possibly still be alive. She suggested being on a look out for any messages sent by her and to notify her immediately.

“And what of the kid?” another general asked.

“We’re taking him in until we find his aunt, of course,” Leia said firmly. “He’s safer with us than out there vulnerable or worse, taken by the FIrst Order to be trained as a stormtrooper.”

From then on, Bokan became part of the Resistance. Humans, aliens, and droids all looked after him, but he always asked when you or Poe were going to take him flying. With reconnaissance missions and looking for his aunt, there hadn’t been much time since you'd found him. The others at the base managed to occupy him, showing him around the place and teaching him things from how droids work to how to play sabacc. You did get a little worried when you heard how quick he was learning that game and warned the pilots to not let him play too much.

When you finally got a free day, you took Bokan to the hangar to check out the different ships. He ran up to your X-Wing and you had to help him up the ladder to the cockpit, placing your helmet onto his head. He grinned, gripping onto the steer controls and pretended to fly.

“I always wanted to fly something like this,” he said.

You moved onto the other ships, explaining the different models and the purposes for each one. The two of you stopped in front of a U-Wing and he smiled.

“I remember flying one of these when I was older,” he said, walking up to it.

You raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean when you flew in one of those when you were younger?”

Bokan shook his head, running his hand along the panels of the ship. “When I was older,” he repeated, “I was a pilot. I couldn’t become a fighter pilot, but managed to become a cargo pilot instead. I think I worked for bad people, but I wanted to do good stuff. When I died, I think I died knowing I did good, that I helped good people get rid of the bad people.”

“Huh.”

That night in bed, you thought a lot about what Bokan said. Was reincarnation real? You’ve heard about it in your travels, but you've never seen it before. The story behind reincarnation was that when a person dies, their energy becomes part of the Force and it never fades. Sometimes that energy goes into another being and those people would sometimes get flashes of their other life in a dream or if they felt like they did something before.

“I can tell you’re thinking hard about something,” Poe muttered in his sleepy state, eyes opened just a crack as he peered over at you.

“I took Bokan flying today,” you said quietly, “and when I was showing him the ships at the hangar, he said the weirdest things.”

“Like what?”

“Like… he said that he flew a cargo ship when he was older. That he was a pilot before and that… he said he died.”

Poe frowned, turning to his side and leaned up on his elbow. “What else did he say?”

“He said he used to work for bad people, but he helped good people get rid of them. I’m not sure where he was getting that stuff from. Maybe one of the pilots was telling him stories or something.” You sighed, knowing that none of them would ever put Bokan in danger, but that doesn’t mean that they were completely responsible when a child was involved.

Poe hummed, rubbing his hand on your arm as he thought. “There was this story that I had been told by my mom… about how the Rebellion destroyed the Death Star. She said, in order to destroy it, they needed to find its weakest point. In order to do that, they needed the plans to the Death Star. This was something that I’m surprised not many people talk about.”

“I heard a group of rebels stole the plans from the Empire,” you said.

“That’s right,” he said with a nod, sinking back down in his pillow, “but no one talks about who they were. In fact, they were ordered not to go after it because of the risk. Not all of them had originally been part of the Rebellion. One of them had actually been the daughter of the Death Star architect, or so my mom said. Another, a former Imperial cargo pilot. Mom told me that because of him, the Rebellion found out about the plans and the Death Star’s weakness in the first place. He gave them hope. With their last dying breath, they worked to send the plans to the Rebellion before the planet they were on were destroyed.”

“Are you saying that Bokan could be this former Imperial pilot?”

“It’s possible. Even if someone’s passed, they’re never truly gone.” He pulled out his mother’s ring and ran a thumb over it. “They would have loved to meet you.”

You scooted closer to Poe until your foreheads touched. “They will once we visit Yavin.”

“Yeah? You know my proposal is still pending…,” Poe trailed off as your eyes fluttered closed, “I can wait. No matter what happens, I believe we’ll be together. In this life and the next. I know we’ll find each other again. If the Force wills it...”

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #star wars sequel trilogy #Star wars imagine #star wars #oneshot #Bodhi Rook #bokan rook #mentions Rogue One #feels good being able to finish a story after a long time #not sure when my next series will be ready #but it's been a long time coming #like three years apparently #I'm worried no one would read it though....

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tloujm · 4 years

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Part V: Liars

Author’s Notes: This is that aforementioned storm. Timeline wise, the two of you have only been together for half a year.

Genre: Little fluff at the beginning, then boom ANGST

Summary: You and Joel find the bodies of two former Jackson residents. The traumatizing discovery prompted you to question Joel again. His lack of answers caused a riff in your romance with each other. After a little bit of time, you decided to take a road trip down to Utah to visit the hospital and find some answers for yourself.

Ship: Joel x Reader

As two of the most experienced survivors in Jackson, you and Joel often patrolled as a pair. Joel didn’t mind doing group outings, but if you were involved, he preferred it to be just the two of you. For a couple that lived together, you and Joel didn’t see too much of each other. This led him to cherish these particular patrols. It was an easy day. The only clickers you found were through a scope. Joel may not be a stranger to violence, but any day where melee combat can be avoided is a good day to him. The two of you took your time on the trail; your horses slowly walking next to each other. You pointed out a small cottage. It was picturesque considering the dilapidation of its surrounding environment. Joel was apprehensive, but agreed to make a little detour so the two of you could check the place out. You figured stopping there would give everyone a bit of rest before continuing on.

Joel searched the perimeter and you peered through the windows. He approached the door and found that it was unlocked. The two of you entered and looked around silently. You followed him down the hallway to a door that was cracked open. He tried to open it further, but it barely budged.

“Think you could try to get through there?” He suggested, looking at the narrow space between the door and the wall.

“Got it.” You slipped through the space with little maneuvering of your body. Once you were in, you immediately turned around to find what was blocking the door. Someone had barricaded it with a dresser. You pushed it out the way. “All good.” You said to him.

Joel grunted, pushing the door open wider. “Thanks.” It didn’t take long for you to spot a body. It distracted you from the moving one to your right. “(Y/N)!” Joel alerted you. It got too close for his comfort. He shot the clicker right as your brain registered it's existence.

“Thanks.” You said after letting out a breath.

“Yeah.” He mumbled before examining the human body. “Hey, c’mere.” He had crouched down in front of the skeleton. “You remember when Maria called a search for those two teenagers that ranaway?”

“Yeah.” You approached the body.

“I think this is them.” Joel said.

“God, that was a year ago now. They only made it this far before…” You faded out. You didn’t even want to finish the sentence. You turned back to face the other body. One of them had turned. “Guessing by the head wound and the blood under it, this one was shot by that one.” You pointed back and forth between the bodies.

“I’d reckon you’re right.” He let out a little grunt as he got up. You walked around to gather clues on their demise before discovering a scrap piece of paper on a table.

“‘Jackson is a wonderful place, but we got tired of hearing the stories of people suffering everywhere else. We wanted to save lives. We had good intentions.” A breath hitched in your throat as you read the next part. “‘We didn’t make it an hour before running into a horde. Now we’re bitten. We’ve decided we’re going to end our lives instead of turning. Please tell our family and friends that we’re sorry. Love Adam and Sidney.” Joel watched as you turned the paper around. There was more on the back. “‘I shot her. I can’t take my own life. I’m a fucking coward. Adam.’”

“Jesus.” Joel whispered to himself.

“If only they were immune, right?” You commented, putting the paper back down. He glared at you. He couldn’t quite read your face, but he could only hope that what you said didn’t mean anything.

He broke the silence. “Well. Let’s, uh, get these bodies back to Jackson.” He looked at you and gestured with his head. “C’mon.” He began to move, but you stayed still.

“When we took that hike a couple years ago, you said that my test results didn’t matter.” You started. Slowly, Joel turned around. He knew he was in for it. “What did they tell you specifically? Why couldn’t they make a cure from me?”

“They told me that there were others like you. You weren’t the only immune that they’d come across, (Y/N)----”

“That’s not what they told me.” You stated, growing frustrated.

“They probably said that you were the only one, to make you go. They wanted you to feel the weight of the world on your shoulders like it was your responsibility to save mankind.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that before?” Your voice started to sound defeated.

Joel let out a deep sigh. “I didn’t want you to think it was all for nothing.”

“If there were other people, then why couldn’t they make a cure from them?” You asked.

“That’s the thing, (Y/N). They had their chance. Multiple chances, matter of fact, and they failed each time. They didn’t seem any more certain about a cure when your test results came back.”

You thought on his words for a moment. “I never met another immune before. Have you?”

“They could be hiding it. You do.” He replied softly. It could have been true, but the feeling from your gut was familiar. It told you that he was still lying. He could tell you were thinking of something else to ask. “Is now really the time for this?” He slowly approached you. His demeanor hardened.

“We traveled across the whole country to get to that hospital. I had so many questions for them. What if we had stayed? If you would have given them more time, they could have figured something out; something they hadn’t seen with the other immune.” You raised your voice, almost in a pleading tone.

“(Y/N),” Joel’s voice turned firm. “How many times do I have to say, there was no cure! They failed. They tried. We tried. But it just didn’t work. I need you to understand that.” He let that sink in before changing the subject. “Now, we need to get these kids back to their families.” He continued to glare at you, but you looked away. His defensive attitude dissipated. “C’mon.”

For the sake of getting back home on time with the bodies, you let the matter go, but it didn’t stop eating away at you. The two of you looked around the house for supplies before going back to the room where the bodies were. You helped Joel wrap them in sheets. He carried Adam and you carried Sidney. Because she was nothing but bones at this point, Sidney was much more fragile. You tried to keep her intact when putting her over the horse. Unlike Adam, she did not stay put. You felt bad all around, between handling the bodies and the inconclusive talk you had with Joel. This was your first fight as a couple and you didn’t know what to do about it. You wanted to figure it out alone, but you had no choice but to walk with him the whole way back to Jackson. It was a long walk and you stayed silent the whole time.

You took that time to try to regain your memory of that day. The fact that it’d taken so long for it to come back made you think that it was stunted from more than the anesthesia. You figured it was better to try to come up with the answers yourself for once than ask Joel. He was remarkably defensive and you weren’t in the mood to deal with that.

You remembered cold frigid water, but how did you get there? What was the body of water? You’ve known how to swim since you were a kid, so if you were to have drowned, how did it happen? You tried to think further, but that was as far as your brain would go.

When the two of you arrived, Joel told the gatekeeper to radio Maria. She and Tommy came as soon as they could. You watched the somber looks on their faces. The brothers gently unmounted the bodies while she sent others out to tell the families. You took the reigns of the two horses and led them back to the stables.

That night, you went to bed early. After the stables, you went straight home in the hopes to be fast asleep by the time Joel got home. Your plan worked and soon you were lost in a slumber. Next thing you knew, you were swimming. The water was murky but manageable. You had to dive through an opening to get to your destination. The place looked industrial. You looked around as you lifted yourself out of the water. There were steel beams and ladders and then there was Joel. He was standing there waiting for you. His mouth moved, but you couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. He seemed happy to see you though. You caught up with him and the two of you walked through the building. The sound of rushing water got louder as you approached the end of the pathway. A strong current had flooded this section of the building. “Hold on, we’ll find a way across.” Joel said encouragingly. You followed his lead as he started to hop on top of floating debris. At one point, you got ahead of Joel and decided to cross to another section of the building by walking across on an overturned bus. You hopped down onto it. You could tell it was unsteady, but it did its job. You had just made it across when Joel hopped down onto it. The sound of creaking metal and rushing water formed a pit in your stomach as you knew that Joel was not going to make it. You tried to reach out for him, but the platform began to break underneath you. The current started to move the bus, which caused Joel to lose his balance and fall into a broken window. You screamed his name. You could hear him struggle as water rushed through the openings of the bus. You ran across the platform in an attempt to catch up with it. You released a burst of energy and jumped onto the glass door. Luckily, it didn’t break when you did because you saw that Joel was right under it. You wanted him to move so you could try to bust the window open and pull him through, but the current was keeping him pinned where he was. He reached up and tried to pry the door open, so you followed suit. The rapid current coupled with the increasing weight of the big metal box, caused the bus to almost spin before sinking. You lost your balance and fell into the water. It happened so quickly. Your heart rate grew faster and faster until it stopped altogether. Everything went black and that's when your eyes shot open. You clutched your chest as your eyes adjusted to the darkness of your room. You could feel yourself starting to hyperventilate. You focused on your breathing, allowing you to calm down. Joel was there next to you, fast asleep. It must have been early morning. You got up with no intention to go back to sleep.

Over the next couple of days, you became insomniatic as your brain kept going back to the hospital. Every night, you laid in bed feigning sleep until you heard the sound of Joel’s light snores. It was then that you would get out of bed and get dressed. After a few days, it’d become routine for you to head to the training grounds in the settlement and practice your archery. To avoid attracting attention, you did not bring a lamp. The only light you had was from the moon. You told yourself that you did it to practice nighttime combat, but truly, it was an attempt to distract and tire you. It mainly helped the latter.

“Tonight is the night.” you whispered to yourself once you were downstairs. Your night started off like the others: waiting for Joel to fall asleep and getting dressed. This time, you had a bag packed, hidden in a crawl space you found. You went through it one last time before slinging it over your shoulders. You pulled open the junk drawer, careful not to make noise, and grabbed a pen and paper. You wrote a brief note before sticking it on the refrigerator. Part of you was hoping he wouldn’t find it immediately so you could have enough time to do what you needed to do. You contemplated not writing a note at all, but you couldn’t do that to him. Despite your instinct that he was lying to you, he didn’t deserve to not know.

A week earlier, you snuck out the east gate, known for being unmanned, and acquired a working car. That in and of itself wasn’t easy, but finding gas to syphon was another story. Your trip depended on this, though. You could have snuck your horse out, but you didn’t want to risk any problems that would arise during such a distance. You parked the black SUV a considerable distance from Jackson to avoid being detected by anyone there. With only minor obstacles, you were able to make it past two state lines by daybreak. The car’s speed began to slow down as you approached St. Mary’s hospital. The building was desolate. It didn’t stop you from being cautious as you got closer. You parked your car behind a big bush and covered it in branches before you set off on foot. The inside did not look familiar to you at all, which made sense since you were never awake for any of it. Did it even happen at all? You asked yourself. You knew that this was the building because the two of you had spotted it from afar, but what if you never made it. From the start of the journey, Joel was hesitant toward anything regarding the Fireflies. He even asked you if you wanted to turn back. If you being knocked unconscious in the water was true, then maybe he took that opportunity to make the choice for you. I still woke up in a hospital gown, though; you thought.

As you looked around, you found evidence of a former settlement. The doctors and scientists who worked in the building must have lived here as well. A lot of their stuff was still here. It was as if they never left, but no one was there. Blood was found on the walls and floor. It was far from fresh, so it didn’t phase you at first. Your break in the mystery was an abandoned duffle bag with the Fireflies symbol on it. Underneath the clothes, you found a tape recorder. Luckily for you, it still worked. You pressed play: “Most people have left already. I was one of the ones that wanted to go after the smuggler and the girl. They said, even if we found her, or by some miracle, found someone else that’s immune, it’d make no difference. The only person who could develop a vaccine is dead.” So many questions ran through your mind. You didn’t know which to visit first. All you knew was that you were right, Joel was a liar. He had looked in your eyes and lied to your face. How could I ever trust him again? You stuffed the recorder in your back pocket and continued to search. In another room, you found patient files in a cabinet. There was not one for you, but you went through the files of others. As you skimmed through, you found out that the Fireflies experimented on humans who were not immune. From what you could tell, they tried to cure patients who were involuntarily infected by the fungal parasite. The goal was to kill the parasite once it had embedded itself in the host before complete transformation. Finding a cure was more than just a race against time. It was a way to kill the parasite for good without killing the host. It was a way to go back to normal. If a safe solution could be found, it could be turned into a vaccine and give people immunity. That was the theory, at least. None of them survived, however.

You read some notes strewn across a desk written by a doctor named Jerry Anderson. They seemed bleak. He mentioned the preparation to dissect a human patient alive through the brain. The writing seemed so archaic and almost desperate. Nothing else had worked. Dr. Anderson wasn’t sure if the sample that he planned to pull out of the patient would survive outside the host in the conditions of the rundown hospital long enough for him to reverse engineer a vaccine. It was a risk he was willing to take, however. There was no official file for a patient corroborating these notes.

You packed everything that you found of importance into your backpack. You intended to bring it back to Jackson and confront Joel with it. You made your way back outside before the sun began to set. The sound of approaching horse hooves made you alert. You turned around to watch the galloping figure.

“(Y/N)!” You recognized Joel’s voice first. He pulled on the reigns of his horse as soon as he got within a yard of you. He slid off with ease and walked up to you, never breaking eye contact. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were of worry and disbelief. You thought he was going to yell at you but all he did was hug you. “C’mere.” Joel pulled you into a tight embrace. He noticed that you didn’t return the gesture. Still, he let his chin rest on top of your head before kissing it. “The hell were you thinkin’? Runnin’ off in the middle of the night like that? You talk to me. You don’t just leave me a damn note.”

You pushed him off of you. “Talk to you? I don’t know what to say to you anymore.” Hearing you say that broke his heart. He noticed the change in your disposition after the two of you found those missing teenagers. You’d become withdrawn. “But if you want to talk, then let’s talk!” You heatedly exclaimed before taking a breath to level your voice. “Tell me what happened here.” Joel silently looked at you with large, guilty eyes. “I swear to you this is the last time I’ll ask, because if you lie to me one more time, I’m gone. You’ll never see me again. But if you tell me the truth, I’ll go back to Jackson.” You paused and lowered your voice. “No matter what it is.” Joel let out a long sigh but stayed silent after that. You could tell he was thinking. “Just say it.”

It was when you finally said his name did he look back up at you and begin to speak. “Making a vaccine would have killed you.” You let out a shaky breath as he watched you. “So I stopped them.” A tear ran down your cheek. He reached out to wipe it, but you moved away.

“Don’t touch me!” You couldn’t look at him.

“(Y/N), listen to me. The Fireflies,” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have ever trusted them.”

“Like how I trusted you?”

He inched closer to you, but you inched just as much back. “You were drowning. I tried to save you but some Firefly soldier attacked me. When I woke up, you were gone. They told me that you were being prepped for surgery. The blood tests and scans were not enough for them. They said that what you have is a mutation of the Cordyceps and it’s located in your brain. Somethin’ about it blocking transmitters. It’s why you’re immune. They were going to cut you open and leave you there.”

It was at that point you realized that the doctor’s notes were about you. It was your brain that he had planned on dissecting. You would have died. Streams of hot tears rolled down your face and onto your sweater. In the back of your mind, you knew that that could have been a possibility. You expected to die a long time ago anyway. Your death was just a delayed event.

“My immunity would have meant something!” You said, thinking back to the tape recorder. “What did you do to them?” You finally looked up at him again. I already know, don’t I?, you thought to yourself. The images of stale blood resurfaced in your mind. There was a lot of it. “You killed them.” You stated. He did not agree nor deny. “Oh my God!” Your voice became shaky as you thought about the amount of violence that Joel had single handedly caused. That blood didn’t just belong to a couple of people; not even a handful. A whole settlement was damn near executed and you let yourself love the man who did it. Your face fell into your hands as you began to hyperventilate. His fingertips barely brushed your shoulder when you slapped them away. “I said don’t you fucking touch me!” You stared into his eyes. They were ashamed, but unremorseful. “I’ll go back to Jackson, but we’re done.”

You get in your car and head back home, leaving him standing there. Those were the last words you spoke to him for months. Making it back to the house before he did, you gathered up your things and stayed at a friend’s for a while.

#The Last of Us #TLOU #tlou joel #joel miller #fanfic #fanfiction #tlou fanfic #tlou fanfiction #joel miller fanfic #joel miller fanfiction #reader insert #OC #joel x reader #joel/reader

72 notes · View notes

zigtheeortega · 4 years

Text

mementos

✿ pairing: logan x mc

✿ word count: 3792

✿ warnings: cursing

✿ tags: @beccadavenport ; @agentsewell ; @agentdumortain ; @violinet ; @serafinedupont ; @messofakind ; @felix-hauville ; @troublemakerinspace ; @pixeljazzy ; @rodappreciationweek

✿ author’s note: a big thank you to @choicesarehard for gifting me this idea because lord knows i was stuck trying to come up with a fic idea for rodaw. action writing is hard, y’all. if you get confused just know i’ve never broken into a house so i have no clue what i’m doing :) (lmao or have i) (i have not)

•─────────✦✿✦────────•

The sound of his boots slapping against the damp pavement reverberated off of the brick of the alleyways, his gasping breaths adding to the symphony that was his escape.

He grasped the short straps of the bookbag, yanking down towards the ground, tightening them. The lack of bouncing helped his momentum; he pumped his arms, using the newfound aerodynamics to increase his stride.

“Hey! Hey! You there, stop!” A voice called from behind him, but he could barely hear the cops over the thumps of his own heart, the steady bass in his ears that set the tempo of his gait.

He quickly side stepped, sliding into another alley, feet skidding expertly against the ground, before launching into a harder sprint to gear up for a leap.

He was in the air before they turned the corner, just narrowly avoiding the beam from the flashlight as he descended over the wooden fence. He was thankful for the parts of L.A. that didn’t make sense, like the hive of businesses over their tiny sliver of properties.

He kept running until he approached a nearby storm drain, inconspicuously tagged with two lines of blue spray paint, which to the normal person could look like a landmarker for construction workers, but for him was his starting point to his escape route.

Gripping the edge of the sidewalk, he angled himself inwards, turning on his stomach when he was halfway in so he could safely drop to the shallow murky water below.

He held his breath, hearing the jingling of handcuffs and keys above him, the micro-stampede of heavy footsteps fading in and out as they passed the drain’s opening.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Logan ripped the ski mask from his head, freeing his thick locks, stray strands clinging to his face – and let out a triumphant, breathy laugh, echoing off of the concrete walls.

He did it. He’d pulled it off.

The greatest heist he’d ever orchestrated, all for the contents of her bookbag.

----

“I’m chilly.”

“Really? It’s pretty warm out right now,” he said, draping an arm around her shoulders as soon as the car came to a halt at the stoplight.

“You know I’m cold natured, Logan,” she pursed her lips, leaning into his embrace.

“You want my work shirt? I just washed it.” He reached back, feeling for the fabric underneath his fingertips. “It smells like me, and I know you love that shit.”

“It’s a little too thin for my liking. I’m sorry,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. “I just don’t like bothering anyone with my complaining when I could just slip a jacket on.”

“Hey, don’t apologize for not being comfortable, baby,” he kissed her hair, murmuring into the crown of her head.

She reached over to turn the air off, and soon enough the dry warmth of L.A. crept into the periphery of the front seats.

“I just really wish I had my stuff, you know? I don’t really feel normal with just the clothes off my back and whatever I can bum from Mona and Xi and you,” she motioned at the plain white tee she’d stolen from Logan’s drawer full of them, and her jeans she’d ran away in.

“You know, I left my textbooks, my homework, my calculator – God, my whole bookbag –” She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a sharp breath. “My Langston sweatshirt…” She covered her eyes with her hands, leaning onto her knees.

When she sniffled, his chest twinged. “Aw, Raquel…”

“No, no, I’m okay I’m just… still a little sad about it. I’ll be fine,” she leaned back, quickly wiping her wet eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m just attached, you know?”

“Hey… stop that,” he said, reaching over to gently take her hand in his, lacing their hands together, resting them on the central console behind the gearshift. “Don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Not to you…” She sighed again. She left it at that for a while, letting the melodic rumble of the engine fill the air, a comfortable silence settling between them.

“I could go get that stuff for you.”

“Logan, no, I don’t want you spending any of your hard-earned money on me –”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Her eyes widened. “Hell no. I could never ask you to do that for me.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering,” he smirked, winking.

“Well, I’m not accepting.”

“And?” He egged her on, smirk fully intact.

She rolled her eyes. “And – you could get hurt. And I’m not okay with that. My dad isn’t exactly the most forgiving right now, if you couldn’t tell.”

He slowed to a crawl, tapping the garage door opener clipped to the sun visor, waiting for the door to slide open. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve done this type of shit before.”

“Yeah, you’ve done higher risk stuff than this, but this is different, and you know it.”

He expertly reversed parked into the tight spot, leaning back, bracing his arm on the headrest of the passenger seat, one hand on the wheel to guide the car into place.

When she looked up, his face was nearly touching her own, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the vein on his bicep, trailing upwards to the sharp angle of his jaw, settling on the smug look that seemed almost permanent. “You like what you see?”

Before she could answer with a quip of her own, he’d put the car into park and grasped her face between his rough hands, kissing her with enough delicate passion to make her head spin.

“So that’s settled. I’ll get it tonight,” he purred against her neck, lightly nipping the spot that made her toes curl.

“Yeah sure, whatever…” she sighed, a near moan slipping out as she trailed off.

He pulled back, winking. “That’s what I thought.”

----

“Right here. Put it in park,” he said, looking out the window.

He hopped out of the car, tagging the concrete with two lines. When he slid back into the passenger seat, she eyed him. “Just tagging the drain so I know where to go in.”

“Are you sure about this, Lo? Really sure?” She gripped the wheel, knuckles white. “I don’t have to spell out how badly this could end, do I?”

“Yeah. It’s my risk to take.” He leaned over, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “Anything for my girl.”

----

She checked the burner phone again, nervously bouncing her leg, her knee knocking against the wheel.

Logan was supposed to call twenty minutes ago. He said if he didn’t show up within the hour, to just leave him and call Xi. He was adamant on avoiding telling Teppei at all costs.

She tapped out a frantic text to the only number in the phone, but immediately decided against it, flipping it closed and tossing it into the passenger seat so she wouldn’t be tempted to check the time again.

She opened up her glove compartment, browsing the few CD’s she’d tossed in haphazardly, grateful for them, as archaic as they were.

She popped a random disc into the slot, and flicked the volume button on her steering wheel until she was distracted enough by the rhythmic bass flowing out of the speakers, her heart nearly in time with the upbeat tempo.

No matter how many times Logan put himself in danger, she couldn’t get used to the death grip her anxiety had on her stomach, her chest, her throat.

She focused on bobbing her leg to the drums, evening her pulse out to the lyrics, and breathing in and out each stanza, each verse bringing her closer to a steady heartbeat.

----

He adjusted the makeshift mask on his face, thankful he could at least breathe through the narrow slit he’d cut for his mouth.

He’d snagged one of Toby’s plain black beanies, and DIY-ed the hell out of it. No sense in spending the money on for a one-time use, he thought.

A ski mask was cliche as hell, and would definitely cut down on his total time to finish the job (because who wasn’t going to call the cops when they saw a sketchy guy in a mask) but it was gonna be much harder for them to identify a suspect with no identifiable tattoos in a plain white tee than if his chiseled face and silky hair were on display for the whole neighborhood to see.

Patting his pockets to make sure his lockpick, burner, and knife were there, he approached the house. He slipped his leather gloves on, eyes darting across the street. He watched for movement, for any sign of life, despite it being the dead of night.

There was no doubt that the suburb had a neighborhood watch program. If a cop felt safe living there, it was a tight ship.

Breaking into a cop’s house was the stupidest idea Logan had conceived, next to lying to Raquel about… everything.

He’d started off stringing her along (he’d never forgive himself for not appreciating her sooner), but her sincerity and tenacity made him cave the more and more time he spent with her.

She was everything he wanted to be – and everything he wanted for himself.

So when he had to break the illusion and tell her the truth, the guilt ate him alive. He promised himself that he would do anything to make it up to her, no matter how crazy it was.

He’d tested her loyalty, and she was fiercely devoted through it all, despite never owing him a damn thing in the first place. And that scared him. As much as he liked her, he was slightly on edge all of the time. In truth, he was waiting for her to bolt when things got bad, like anyone else would, including him.

He wanted to prove to her that there were reasons to stay – if one of those reasons was a sweatshirt, he was going to do everything in his power to get it back.

There were no cars in the driveway, as Raquel had predicted. He always worked a night shift on Thursday nights so he could grab her breakfast on the way home before she left for school.

She smiled sadly when she told him, and it cut deeper knowing he’d brought her into his world and ripped those precious moments away from her.

He crept up the edge of the driveway, thankful that the nearest lamppost was nearly out, flickering an orange tinted light that barely touched the Olvera’s lawn.

He sprinted to the side of the house, inching along as he tried to recall the blueprint she’d scribbled out for him.

----

“There’s two bedrooms. One right next to the kitchen – that’s dad’s – and one down the hallway. That’s mine,” Raquel said, sketching out the layout of her house on a scrap of paper. “My window faces the backyard, so if you can make it back there, it should be easy to get in.”

He peppered kisses across the back of her neck from behind her, an arm gripping her waist. “Lo, I can’t concentrate if you’re kissing me like that,” she breathed, clicking the pen shut, dropping it on the table.

“Ah, we’ve got time. Don’t worry about it,” he murmured against her earlobe, eliciting a shudder from her, watching the goosebumps raise on the skin of her arms. He never got tired of making her body react to his touch.

“No, we have to get it right. You have to take this seriously,” she turned in his grip, planting her hands on both sides of his face, forcing him to hold her searing gaze. “Please promise me you’re gonna bail if you think it’s unsafe.”

“I promise,” he leaned in, sealing it with a kiss.

----

He approached the short fence, using one arm to prop himself up, and a leg against the wall to push himself over. Once his feet hit the grass, he did a quick sweep of the perimeter, looking for a censor, a trip wire, a laser – anything.

The backyard was bare, the only indication of use being the rusty gas grill with a broken wheel in the middle of the yard, a tarp haphazardly covering half of it.

He took a few cautious steps forward, his boots crunching the dry grass.

Damn the L.A. drought, he thought, attempting to tiptoe.

He reached a dip in the brick wall, realizing that the patio and back door were right next to him. He dared taking a peep, thankful there wasn’t any activity in the house from where he was.

Just to be safe, he crouched, crawling on his stomach until he reached the other side of the small patio. His heart rate sped up the closer he got to her window, so when he recognized her window (undoubtedly hers, because he spotted her lavender curtains), his pulse was quick.

He dug his fingers under the sill, gently pulling to see if it’d budge – and it did.

He wasn’t used to jobs going this smoothly. As young as he was, he wasn’t naive. He was anticipating something bad happening, so he let that anxiety fuel his edge to make sure he didn’t lose sight of his goal.

He tugged the window up, thankful that it didn’t creak. He slipped his boots off, leaving them in the sill in case it fell shut, shuffling across the floor, his sock-clad feet virtually silent.

He noticed her sweatshirt right away, slung haphazardly across the back of her desk chair, clearly her go-to comfort since its place was at her study haven.

He saw her backpack second, neatly hung on the edge of her bed, zippers zipped all on the same side, not even so much as a pop tart wrapper in her drink pocket.

Lastly, he surveyed her desk, which made his face contort in regret, an empathetic grimace underneath his mask.

She’d left a textbook open, her pencil bag unzipped, her highlighters scattered across the desk – she’d been interrupted when she left. She was studying, trying to maintain her Valedictorian status, hopefully to get scholarships for Langston, and he’d ripped it away from her.

All because of her entanglement with him.

He started by packing up her writing tools with care, as well as her textbooks, placing them delicately into her bookbag, partially because he wanted to be quiet, but also because he didn’t want to fuck anything up more than he already had.

He went back to grab her calculator, eyes flitting to the framed picture next to her lamp. It was Raquel and a woman he presumed was her mom. They were grinning from cheek to cheek, faces pressed against each other, her arm wrapped around her mother’s neck.

Her eyes were bright, her smile even brighter. And she looked just like her mom, so much that it hurt him to look at Mrs. Olvera, knowing vaguely of her fate.

He knew it was a bad idea, but he did it anyway. He flicked the knobs on the back of the frame, slipping the photo out, gently placing it between the cover and the first page of her Calculus textbook.

He folded the sweatshirt neatly, tucking it into the backpack, before zipping it closed. He dropped it out of the window and onto the grass, before sticking one foot out, ducking underneath the sill, almost all the way on the other side.

He miscalculated, landing on the outer edge of his foot instead of the ball of his foot, his ankle buckling ever so slightly. His back bumped up against his boots, which were still in the frame of the window, and they both fell, the thud echoing in the still house.

He grabbed them quickly, not thinking anything of it, until he saw a stream of light, presumably from the hall, streak across the carpet.

Mr. Olvera was home.

Logan’s heart was deafening in his ears. He laced his boots in a frenzy, slinging the backpack over his back, inching towards the side of the house closest to him.

He tried maneuvering over the fence the same way he did when he came in, but his hands were so uncharacteristically shaky, that he slipped, banging his knee against the wood, clambering over loudly.

As soon as his feet hit the grass, he was running.

At this point, he knew that someone had called the cops. Probably Mr. Olvera. But he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

He practically glided through the wind, using each desperate step to launch himself forward as he pumped his arms to go as fast as humanly possible.

The bookbag flopped against his back, the textbooks heavy, but he couldn’t focus on anything except sprinting out of the neighborhood.

He turned the corner onto the main road of the suburb, his muscles screaming out for him to slow down, but the ache only fueled him to go faster.

C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! You’re so fucking close, you just have to make it to the storm drain, he thought, chanting his game plan to motivate himself to push through his exhaustion.

He passed the entrance sign to the suburbs, thankful that he was nearing the part of the city he’d planned to use as his escape.

He sprinted towards the brick buildings, panting heavily, the material of his makeshift mask sticking to his skin, sweating profusely through the fabric.

Just as he reached up, ready to rip off the mask for some relief, he heard a siren, the blue and red lights reflecting off the pavement in front of him.

“Oh shit –” he gasped, when he realized that another cop car was approaching, trying to trap him.

----

Raquel tapped her fingers against the wheel, adjusted the rearview mirror, checked her phone, and then switched the song – like clockwork. She was trying to keep herself preoccupied so that she wouldn’t fixate on the time, each passing minute building on the dread that weighed down her stomach. Each minute was like another pound, and she was already feeling so anchored that she could barely stand it.

“Call Xi. Post bail. Hide out till Teppei calms down,” she whispered to herself over and over, the definite plans the only thing anchoring her.

After she repeated that until the words didn’t sound real, she flipped her phone open, and typed Ximena’s number from memory. It was her burner’s number, so it was crucial that Raquel have it memorized.

499–1304. 499–1304. 499–1304.

She wasn’t sure how long she could rhythmically tap out the digits to the beat of the song without going insane.

Minutes later, after she’d started trying to memorize the lyrics to a song she’d never heard before, the flip phone vibrated against the dashboard.

She answered on the first ring. She wanted so desperately to call his name out, to make sure it was him, but he told her that under no circumstances should they give away personal information, especially their names.

“I got it. Meet me in five,” he panted heavily, his voice echoing and sounding distant, like he was in another room.

As soon as he hung up, she gunned it towards the second storm drain he’d tagged for her. When she saw the two lines followed by a heart, relief flooded over her.

----

Ten minutes later, she watched as her school backpack was flung out of the crack and into the middle of the street; Logan’s body followed soon after, his arms straining with effort to pull himself out.

Once he stood up, he made a final sprint towards the car, faintly staggering as he struggled to open up the passenger’s door.

He fell inside, gasping, “Go, go, go!” and she floored it, not speaking until they were a safe distance from the scene of the crime.

She parked underneath an old bridge closeby the garage. She couldn’t stand not speaking to him – she had to know if he was okay.

But as soon as her hand was off of the gearshift, his hands were on her, his gloves abandoned on the floor mat of the passenger’s seat, his clammy palms gripping her jaw as he kissed her deeply.

Any questions she had evaporated, her skin warming underneath his touch. She hummed contentedly, tasting the salt on his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his damp hair.

He smiled against her mouth, pressing a tender kiss to her parted lips before pulling back to look at her. “Sorry, I took so long, baby.”

He kept his left hand on her face, the other reaching back to grab the bookbag. “I grabbed your textbooks, and your pencil case, and your sweatshirt… and something else.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh god, Logan, what did you take –”

“Nothing bad. Don’t worry.” His smile was soft, hinting at sheepish. He pulled out the Calculus textbook, handing it to her. “Open it. It should be at the very front.”

She did as he said, creaking open the old book. Her chin dimpled, her bottom lip shaking. “Lo…” she whispered, raising the photo by its corners.

“I figured, if your sweatshirt reminded you of your dad, you’d need something for Mrs. Olvera, too,” he rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone, catching a stray tear on the tip of it.

She put the photo back into its place at the front of the textbook, and thrust herself across the center console and into his arms, murmuring incoherent thank-yous in between sobs.

Even if it wasn’t enough in the grand scheme of things, it was enough to keep Raquel there with him longer. It bought him precious time with her that he might not have gotten otherwise.

He gripped her tightly, letting her cry, his guilt satiated by the sweet nothings she whispered into his ear. Regardless of his covetous feelings towards parents, Logan felt a level of love and gratitude from Raquel in that moment that made him nearly forget the list of things he’d made a habit of wishing for.

He had what he needed right in front of him. And he’d sacrifice anything – risk it all – to keep it that way.

“Anything for my girl.”

----

#playchoices #choices rod #rod #rod logan #logan x mc #rodaw #jade writes choices fics #cw: police

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obsidiancreates · 4 years

Text

The Crossover Nobody Asked For (VenturianTale and Milo Murphy’s Law)

“Oh, this place is horrid,” Cavendish says, looking out the window as the van rolls into town. “This is barely an upgrade from garbage duty.”

“So there’s a lot of damage. Maybe they’ve just a Murphy in town and no budget,” Dakota says with a shrug.

“... I suppose that’s a possibility. But I don’t believe Milo has mentioned any family living in North Carolina. Especially not a place with a name like... ugh.”

“Come on, say it,” Dakota says, already almost laughing.

“... Butts, Little Butts,” Cavendish sighs.

Dakota laughs, slapping the steering wheel.

“Who even named this place?! And who would live here-”

“WHOA!”

Dakota slams on the breaks as someone runs right out in front of the van.

“It went this way! Come on, Johnny!” a short man in a gray hoodie shouts behind him.

A tall man in a rather fancy outfit jogs into view. “I’m coming, sir! But I-I’ve been stabbed in the leg-”

“IT’S GETTING AWAY- oh, you!”

The short man runs up to the window of Cavendish and Dakota’s van. “Hey! Give us your vehicle!”

Cavendish is slightly taken aback. “Wh- we most certainly shall not!”

“Oh, he’s British! Johnny, come communicate with him in your British tongue!”

“What the devil-”

“Hello, there. I’m Johnny Toast. May we please use you vehicle?”

“More British, Johnny.”

“Oh, right sir, um, tea and crumpets, may we use your vehicle, um, Doctor Who, ah, my grandmother is the Queen of England.”

“... Just drive, Dakota.”

Dakota waves at the two men, and drives away. They hear the short one scream in frustration.

“This town is deplorable,” Cavendish says.

“We’ve only met two people, maybe it’s not so bad,” Dakota points out. “And we haven’t even been to any restaurants yet.”

“Given the state of some of these buildings, I advise against eating anything from here.”

“When has that ever stopped me?”

“Mmm, true.”

They finally arrive at their destination. A shockingly normal looking house, out in the suburbs.

“Well, perhaps this won’t be so bad after all.” Cavendish seems hopeful as the van is parked.

“Yeah, see? We just happened to run across two weirdos. Now let’s find that alien signal Mr. Block sent us here for.”

“I’ll grab the scanner, you introduce us,” Cavendish says, opening the back of the van.

Dakota nod sand heads up to the front door. He rings the doorbell, and waits.

“GERTRUDE! SOMEONE’S AT THE DOOR!”

“I HEARD IT, I’M MAKIN’ DINNER!”

“KIDS!”

Dakota winces. Oh boy, so the people who live here are... loud, to say the least.

“WHERE’RE THE KIDS, GERTRUDE?”

“BILLY IS HIDING FROM MADDIE AND SALLY IS ON A DATE WITH SLENDER! SUE IS SOMEWHERE IN THE MALL!”

Dakota waits a moment, and then rings again.

He hears a heavy sigh. A moment later, the door swings open, and Dakota shouts and stumbles back.

A large man stands in the door, holding a shotgun. With his bald head, beard, and very angry expression, he looks like exactly the type of person you don’t want to bother in the middle of the day.

“Who the heck ‘re you?” he demands in... some kind of... southern? accent.

“Uh...”

“Dakota, have you- oh, hello, are you the resident who lives here?”

Cavendish is either ignoring the shotgun, or hasn’t noticed it yet, somehow.

“Yeah, this is my house, so what’re you doing here?”

“Well, we’ve been sent by an agency-”

“Are you some more of them P.I.E people? I told ya to quit comin’ to my house, you only make the problems worse!”

“P.I.E? No, we’re with an agency called P.I.G-”

“Paranormal Investigators Gourmet?! I don’t remember hirin’ you!”

“... Gourmet- no! No, we’re with the Paranormal Investigation Group-”

“How many ghost huntin’ groups are there?!” the man shouts, presumably in frustration, though a slight bit of laugh slips into his voice.

“... We deal with aliens,” Cavendish says, unsure what else to say.

“Aliens? I KNEW IT! GERTRUDE, I TOLD YA! I TOLD YA THAT THING WAS FROM THEM ALIENS!”

“GOOD JOB, HONEY, YOU DID IT!”

“YEAH! I DID IT, I DID IT!Aw, you can come right on in, provin’ me right. You’re a lot less annoyin’ than the P.I.E people, they’re always talkin’ and sayin’ I’m wrong and not to shoot the ghosts, but they shoot ghosts too so I don’t know what they’re talkin’ about-”

“He’s just talking to himself now,” Dakota whispers to Cav as they follow the man into the house.

Cavendish nods. Maybe this won’t go as well as he’d hoped... He clears his throat. “May we ask for you name, my good man?”

The man stops, and turns around. “My name! Is PAPA ACACHALLA!”

Dakota snorts.

“Why’re you laughin? That’s my name! It’s a great name! Means ‘whole dang universe’!”

“No, no, it’s just I never thought we’d find a more made-up sounding name than his,” Dakota says, pointing his thumb at Cavendish.

“I beg your pardon?!”

“Well, what’s his name?” Acachalla demands, pointing at Cavendish with the shotgun way too casually.

Dakota pushes the barrel of the gun away. “Go ahead, Cav.”

Cav crosses his arms. “Balthazar Cavendish.”

"HA! You British people have the weirdest names! Like that Toast boy! Anyway, the alien thing is out here. Officer Maloney came to look at it, but it isn’t one of his things, and I can’t figure out how to move it! I’ve tried C4, a tractor, Freddie, a nuke-”

“A nuke?!”

“- an’ none of it even dented the thing!”

“Yeah, can we go back to nuke?” Dakota says, eyes wide.

“Too late, we’re here.”

Dakota and Cavendish blink.

Cavendish’s eye twitches “It’s a-”

“It’s a giant metal Kirby,” Dakota finishes.

“Yeah! I don’t want it in my yard! My daughter says it feels like it’s mockin’ her from when she was a Kirby!”

“What in blazes are you- this is no alien technology! This is some kind of... bad sculpture!” Cavendish shouts.

“It dropped right out of the sky!” Acachalla protests. “Maloney said it was alien, and he would know! He’s a bird!”

“A bir- you said he was a police officer!”

“He is! And he’s a bird! Who can be a person!”

Cavendish is fuming. “Dakota, call Mr. Block and tell him we’ve been lead on a wild goose chase!”

Dakota sighs, and heads inside to make the call (for some reason, he can’t get a signal from the yard).

“There’s no wild goose around here! Not after that nuke test, anyway!”

“There’s no possible way you set off a nuke here! This house is still intact, you’re still alive, and there’s no residual radiation in the area!”

“So?”

“SO?! SO THERE WAS NO NUCLEAR EXPLOSION!”

“I don’t think you know how nukes work!”

“YOU-”

“Cav, calm down, he’s holding a gun,” Dakota says in a hissed whisper.

Cavendish takes a deep breath, and collects himself. “Clearly, Mr. Acachalla-”

“Papa Acachalla. My title is Papa.”

“I steadfastly refuse to refer to you as ‘Papa’. Mr. Acachalla, there’s been some sort of mix-up, and this is not alien in-”

The mouth of the Kirby opens, and a being steps out.

“Excuse me, but our craft was broken, and we just got the doors working,” says the being (that looks... weirdly like a... Pokemon?).

“I KNEW IT!” Acachalla shouts. He shoots his gun up into the air, and starts ‘dancing’ (to use the term loosely). “I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, PAPA ACACHALLA, I KNEW IT-”

Cavendish stares, dumbfounded. “You- you’re actually an alien?”

The alien nods. “Yup, I am!”

“... You sound remarkably human.”

“Thanks! So do you!”

“... Thank you?”

“Do you happen to know where we can get some materials to repair our ship?”

“Well, I suppose I might. What do you need?”

“Macaroni.”

“... What-”

“Hey, we’ve got that!” Acachalla says, stopping his little song and dance. “Just don’t tell the cops. It’s Johnny Toast brand, too, really strong stuff.”

“... Why would macaroni need to be hidden from the cops?” Cavendish asks weakly, shoulders slumped. This is ridiculous, and he feels... defeated, in a way.

“Uh, ‘cause it’s illegal?” Acachalla says with a laugh. “Duh?”

Acachalla leads the alien inside, and-

“WHY’RE YOU EATIN’ OUR MACARONI?!”

Dakota looks up from his bowl. “Uh, your wife offered me some-”

“GERTRUDE, WHAT’RE YOU THINKIN’?! THAT’S OUR GOOD MACARONI!”

A woman in a green sweater peeks out from the kitchen. “Well, he said he was hungry, and it was either this or your old boot!”

“That boot is high in protein!”

“That’s why I’m savin’ it for the kids!”

Dakota puts down his fork. “I think your macaroni went bad, actually, I don’t feel so good...”

Acachalla rolls his eyes. “Duh, you don’t! Have you ever even had macaroni before?!”

Dakota looks up. “Somethin’s weird here...” he slurs.

“Wh- what have you done to him?!” Cavendish pushes Acachalla aside and rushes to Dakota.

“It’s macaroni! It makes the world all wiggly and weird!” Acachalla says, like that’s at all true and common knowledge.

Dakota laughs a little, reaching up to grab Cavendish’s hat. “You’re way taller th’n I remember,” he says, still slurring.

“That is it! We are leaving!”

Cavendish picks Dakota up bridal-style. Dakota grins, and leans up, giving Cavendish a peck on the lips. “Wow, I can stretch really far...”

Cavendish blushes intensely. “That macaroni has clearly intoxicated my partner! You’ll be hearing from the higher-ups over this!” he says, trying to ignore what just happened.

“I think ‘m flying,” Dakota declares as Cavendish carries him back out to the van.

“Dakota, you’re delirious. Just rest until we get home.”

“I feel fine,” Dakota insists, head lolling. “You’re the one who turned into a tomato when I kissed you. From a leek to a tomato...”

“A leek? Is that because of my suit?”

“You’re a-a leek with fluffy wings.”

Cavendish buckles Dakota in. “What on Earth-”

“Like a vegetable angel.”

Cavendish blushes again. “This is terrible. you have no idea what you’re saying,” he says, trying to affirm that fact in his mind.

“You’re a tomato again. Whoa, my hand is made of fresh fries...”

“No, they’re just yellow because they’re covered in cheese.”

Dakota grins. “Smarty-pants.”

As Cavendish goes to shut the door, Dakota grabs him again and gives him another kiss. A long one. Cavendish is in shock.

“You don’t taste like a leek,” Dakota says afterwards, apparently incredibly happy about that fact.

Cavendish, blushing more than he thought was possible, gets in the driver’s seat and starts the car. “We’re never returning here,” he mutters to himself.

Dakota waves at the house as they drive away.

#VenturianTale #milo murphy's law #Dakavendish #Vinnie Dakota #balthazar cavendish #papa acachalla #Johnny Ghost #Johnny Toast #drugs tw #drugs mention #intoxication tw #hallucination tw #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic

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n7inky-fanfics · 3 years

Text

One Day at a Time

The destruction of the Reapers did not mean galactic peace. While the treaties Shepard had brokered during the war remain mostly intact, there is no shortage of pirates, criminals, gangs, and terroristic organizations bent on creating chaos and destruction. The Council began directing their Spectres towards overseeing and protecting reconstruction efforts and maintaining peace. Now that scientists are close to unlocking the key to repairing the mass relays, the galaxy has settled into unease. No one knows if crime will get better or worse with the relays back online. All factions are getting agitated, and more fighting is breaking out.

Sometimes, Kaidan pities the poor soul on the wrong end of Shepard's gun. More than once, he has heard all sorts of people shout something along the lines of "Oh shit, it's Shepard!" as they realized they were about to die. Shepard is a skilled soldier who dominates the battlefield with equal parts strength and grace. Fighting alongside her can be almost beautiful in an odd and violent sort of way, especially when she used her biotics. It took her almost a year of practice fighting on her military grade prosthetic leg, but she has now found that grace on the battlefield again. In the end, her skills and her career could not be taken by the Reaper War. The galaxy kept its greatest protector.

Today, they are both back on Mars, of all places, fighting a remnant of Cerberus that is attempting to steal more data from the archives. If intel is correct, their goal is to find weapons they can use "for the betterment of humanity", which is their way of saying anti-alien terrorism. Kaidan does have to admit that some part of him enjoys taking down pieces of Cerberus. After all the horrible things he's seen them do, including all that they have put Shepard through, he's glad to eliminate every last cell in the galaxy. It's a worthy career goal.

As the smoke clears, Shepard begins checking the bodies for data pads, hoping to find anything to indicate how many of them are at the archives and what their exact plans are. After all, if this was just an outdoor lookout team, there's bound to be more already inside. She freezes as she reads one of the data pads. Kaidan can barely see her face through her helmet, but her reaction to the data pad can't be good. "Shepard, what is it?"

She clears her throat and says calmly "It's not pertinent to the mission. Let's move on." She drops the data pad and continues towards the entrance. Kaidan trusts Shepard, but curiosity gets the better of him and he glances down at the data pad as he passes by. It currently displays the owner's profile. He can see an image that he guesses matches the body they found it on and a name. "Andrew Mason".

As they enter the archive, they happily find a distinct lack of civilian and scientist casualties. This time, intel learned of the plan early and decided to evacuate the scientists and ship in more soldiers. Unfortunately, Cerberus still puts up a good fight and many of the Alliance soldiers were injured or killed before the Spectres arrived (travel between systems takes more time now that the relays are gone). Shepard hops on to the nearest terminal and accesses the system logs. "Ah, here it is. Someone opened an archive five minutes ago. We can take the tram there."

"Perfect. Maybe this time we'll make it through without getting shot at." Immediately after making the joke, Kaidan winces at the realization that bringing up their last mission on Mars might not be a good idea. Sure, they've worked everything out, but it still could be a touchy subject. He was pretty cruel to her last time, before he almost died in front of her.

"Doubtful." Shepard laughs lightly as they board the tram.

They ride quietly for a moment before Kaidan asks "So, will I get to know who Andrew Mason is?"

"Maybe later. Now's not the time."

"Fair." Kaidan says. He smiles at her, hoping she can see it through the helmet. His is much more open and visually blocks less of the face. Shepard's preferred gear usually allows less visibility, but it also has fewer structural weak points. He noticed a change in her treatment of her armor not too long after he got back on the Normandy, but he's never said anything. Without asking, he already knows why Shepard chooses armor with the most reinforced environment system, and why she carefully and almost obsessively maintains it. He would, too, in her shoes.

He refocuses himself on the task at hand as they begin approaching their destination. They've almost made it when a Cerberus soldier begins firing at the car. They both take cover behind the wall and the dance begins yet again. As the car docks, Shepard throws up a barrier and runs out, shooting at several men in a row as she charges to cover. Kaidan focuses on the heavy trooper slowly approaching from a distance and Reaves. Together, they feed off each other's energy. The can move in sync, watching each other's sixes and supporting each other throughout the entire battle. Before long, the docking zone falls silent as the battle ends.

They take turns clearing doors until they finally get to the archive. They take cover on either side of the door. He opens it carefully, and Shepard immediately swings around to cover him with her pistol. The immediate entryway is surprisingly empty. Shepard gestures for him to follow, then slowly and quietly moves inside the room until they reach a sharp turn. She takes cover against the wall and peers around the corner, gun at the ready. As soon as she does, she is thrown backwards by a large biotic force. Her gun fires before she even hits the wall. Kaidan swings around and unleashes a singularity that pulls the target into the air. Shepard fires again, making several headshots that eventually pierce the armor and hit their mark.

"Thanks for the cover, Alenko." She says, her smile coming through in the sound of her voice. She pats him on the back and pushes further into the room, where the target had been collecting data onto a drive. She plugs the data into her omnitool and runs it through analysis softwares. Liara would be able to tell them more, but it appears that intel was correct. They had been here for advanced weapons blueprints. Shepard begins forwarding the information back to the Normandy, then turns to head back to the LZ. Kaidan follows her.

Getting back to the Normandy and conferencing with Admiral Hackett is no big deal. After the verbal debriefing, they retire to her cabin to write their mission reports. Kaidan's ship, the SSV London (named for the Battle of London that ended the Reaper War), is still getting it's final touches before he'll be able to take it out on a shakedown run, so he rode along with Shepard for this mission and their last several. As they settle into the couch with their tea and data pads, he can't help but smile. This is a good life, one he hadn't expected to attain. Every day, sometimes several times a day, he still finds himself thankful that they had found Shepard after the Crucible. When the Alliance had formally declared her missing in action, with the caveat that she was most likely dead, Kaidan refused to lay down and wait for them to declare her death. He contacted Hackett with an emergency QEC on the Normandy and told him that until they found a body, Shepard was to be considered alive and in need of assistance. They all owed that to her. Seeing her here and now, living her life with him, is something he is grateful for every day.

As Kaidan is putting the final touches on his report, Shepard sets her data pad on the table and walks to her shower, stripping off articles of clothing as she goes. He fumbles over the keyboard, leaving a line of text that reads "ghdhshgdg" as he watches her go. Knowing that he's watching, she calls "finish your report first, and then you can join me." He deletes the line of typos, hurriedly wraps up the report, and follows her for an enjoyable interlude.

Their activities eventually end with them cuddling in her bed. She lay with her head resting gently on his chest, her hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on through his chest hair. He has one arm around her back and gently brushing strokes down her upper arm. He can feel her back subtly rise and fall with her breath. They lay this way for a while before he feels a slight dampness on his chest, where her head is. "Hazel, are you okay?" he asks, looking down at her. Her face is buried in him. She stifles a sob, and he feels the shift in her breathing as she forces herself to cry silently. He wraps his arms around her tighter. "Sweetheart, whatever it is, I've got you." Slowly, she pulls herself back and looks at him. He reaches up to her and gently wipes the tears from her cheeks. She pulls herself into a sitting position against the headboard, and he follows so that they are sitting side by side.

She leans her head on his shoulder and quietly says "You asked about Andrew Mason?"

"Yeah. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I knew him... from before the Alliance." she ends the sentence at barely a whisper. Her shoulders tense and she looks down at the floor. "He was one of the younger kids in the Reds before I left." He gently reaches for her hand and takes it in his as she continues. "I heard he'd gotten out, that he'd joined the Alliance some time after my death. I had hoped he'd do well and go far, but it didn't work that way. I checked his records when we got back to the ship. His team got ambushed by some pirates about seven months before the Reapers invaded. He was discharged honorably for medical reasons, for PTSD. I guess that's when Cerberus got to him."

"Hazel, I'm so sorry." he says.

"The hell of it is that I can see myself in that kid. In what he came from, in his escape. What if I somehow influenced his decision to leave like that? How many kids joined after hearing fantastical stories about my life, only to be swooped up by Cerberus when the Alliance didn't live up to their expectations or to die in battle before they got the chance to reconsider?"

"Hey, stop that. It's not your fault, Hazel."

"How many people died because of me? Will continue to die because of me? Because I failed?" Her voice cracks and she lets out a shuddering breath.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Backup. Failed at what?"

"I couldn't save them all. I can never save them all."

"Hazel, stop. Look at me." He gently places his hand under her chin and guides her to look at him. "You are not responsible for every person in the galaxy. You've spent far too much of your life fighting galactic wars practically on your own. Enough is enough. We stopped the Reapers. Now, we just do what we can to make things a little better. One day at a time, okay?"

She nods and he pulls her into a tight embrace. "One day at a time." She sniffles.

#fanfic #mass effect #commander shepard #female shepard #kaidan alenko #shepard x kaidan #f!shenko #shenko #shepard #fshenko

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shadowthrone-ammanas · 4 years

Text

‘Life’ as a Ghost Chapter One: Bow

The continuation of ‘Ghost Kid’ is here at last! I don’t know how often I’m gonna update it but it’s a thing now. As stated before, it’s gonna be one shots so don’t expect a longform story like the first one was.

I refer to Hat Kid as 'Spensa' here because obviously that's what Bow is gonna think of her as and call her. My headcanon name for Bow is Beauregard which shortens to Bow as a nickname and thus why she's still Bow.

It took a long time but Bow had finally done it! She’d found Spensa’s ship! It was on a planet that she wasn’t even supposed to have stopped at. Bow had only found it because it was vaguely on the way back home from where Spensa was supposed to have been. A lot of it had to do with just being lucky though because it was on the planet itself, making it harder to detect. But even better than that luck was that according to the readings on Bow’s ship, it was intact, meaning Spensa was alive! That was honestly a miracle; Bow had insisted on being the one do this particular mission thinking it’d end with her learning how Spensa had died. Not a pleasant thing to find but most people wouldn’t have bothered to investigate the cause of the death and Bow had wanted to know for closure. Finding out that Spensa was actually most likely alive was so much better.

Now Bow was supposed to contact Homebase to relay the coordinates before going to investigate but… something was fishy here. If Spensa’s ship was intact, that could only mean she’d landed it there, right? Why would she have done that? And more importantly why hadn’t she returned home since she obviously could? There was something going on here and it might be something Homebase would disapprove of and thus it was best not to contact them until Bow knew the exact situation.

She settled her ship into the planet’s orbit – if need be, she’d edit the log of its coordinates later to make it look like she’d never been here. She then pulled out her phone and with a few quick taps was beaming down to the planet’s surface as close to Spensa’s ship as her own ship could land her.

She landed in a dead forest in a clearing in front of a large hollow tree. It was dark and rather spooky looking, the exact kind of place Spensa would love so it was honestly no surprise that her ship was here. Bow would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it too though; they were both weird like that.

Tapping her bow pointed her towards Spensa’s ship; off and to the left. Too excited to finally see her friend again to bother with walking, she took off at steady jog towards it.

There had to be a reason Spensa hadn’t returned, but what was it? She hadn’t turned traitor, had she? … If so, then by finding her, Bow would have to as well. … That honestly didn’t bother her much, she cared more about having a space ship she could fly than being loyal to the people who gave it to her. Of course, if she and/or Spensa got caught they’d be brought back home and executed. What were the chances of that happening though? … Considering the fact that Bow had found Spensa’s ship it definitely wasn’t zero percent.

Well, if need be Bow could return home, say she’d found Spensa’s ship damaged beyond repair and then mysteriously vanish to come back and hang with Spensa again. If she had turned traitor of course. Bow shouldn’t be planning on what to do next until…

A creepy giggle that sent a shiver down Bow’s spine came from right behind her. She slid to an abrupt halt, turning to see nothing there. That was odd. She wasn’t afraid though… not much anyway. Something was watching her from the shadows, she could feel it. … If only she’d thought to bring a weapon with her.

“Hello?” she said because maybe whatever it was wasn’t…

“Oh my gosh Bow, it is you!”

She snapped around just in time to see a ghost rushing towards her. Before she could react, it was hugging her. … Well at least it was friendly but what was going on? And… Bow’s translator wasn’t even on right now, how was a being from another planet speaking her language?

“When I decided to stay, I thought I’d never see you again!” The ghost said as she pulled back at last to smile at Bow. “But here you are!” … Wait a minute…

“Spensa?” Bow almost couldn’t believe her eyes but… the ghost looked an awful lot like Spensa and her voice was very similar too, only difference really as that it was a tad echoey. The only thing that was off was that she was a ghost.

“Yep, it’s me!” She smiled wide.

“But… you’re a ghost? You died?!” That wasn’t what Bow wanted to find. “This is a joke, right?” It was a bit extreme but it was certainly the kind of joke Spensa would pull if she had the means to make herself look and sound like a ghost.

“Uh…” Spensa grimaced and looked away. “No, it’s not a joke. I’m dead and a ghost. It’s… really not that bad though.” She smiled again as she looked back up at Bow. “Well, at first it was, but the more power I gain, the more not bad it becomes. And like… now that you’re here everything’s good again!”

Well… becoming a ghost was better than not becoming one. Even if ghosts weren’t looked at fondly by most people, Bow had never fully understood why. It was still Spensa, just… as a ghost now. That was better than finding her dead and not around anymore. … It still meant she died though.

“Can I ask how… it happened?” That wasn’t rude, was it? Probably was but Bow wanted to know.

“Someone who I used think was a friend caused my ship to crash while we were both on it. She survived which is still a load of bullshit but whatever I guess, lucky her.” She frowned, crossing her arms before shaking it off. “But I managed to repair the ship and being a ghost really ain’t that bad once you get used to it so I don’t really care anymore.”

“Well… I’m happy to see you again.” Bow hugged her, trying her best not to be bothered by how cold and… odd she felt now. She was still Spensa though and therefore she was still Bow’s friend and that’s all that mattered.

“You’re so warm.” Spensa squeezed her tight. “Why are you here though?” she asked as they withdrew.

“I’m looking for you. I insisted on being the one to search for your ship to either salvage it or to bring you back home. I assume you’re not going back though, are you?” Because if she’d wanted to she would’ve, ghost or not.

“Nope, this is my home now. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” It was certainly very spooky and dark, the exact kind of things she liked. And now that she was a ghost, she fit right in. “But speaking of that, you have to meet my mentor, he’s the best. … He’s also maybe kind of my dad? I don’t really know though because I’ve never had a dad before so I don’t really know what they’re like. So, don’t tell him I told you he’s my dad, it’s like an awkward subject for him… me too honestly. But let’s go meet him!” She grabbed Bow’s arm and started dragging her back the way she’d come.

It wasn’t long before they reached the clearing with the big tree again. Spensa paused to check inside, apparently not finding what she was looking for because she grabbed Bow’s wrist again and started down a different path. Not far down it Spensa pulled her off the path to walk alongside it instead.

“There’s a trap there,” she explained. “It’s one of mine though so tripping it won’t summon…” she said a word in a language Bow didn’t understand, presumably her mentor’s name. “I’ll show you it later though.”

With her free hand, Bow pulled out her magic translator and put it in her ear. The last thing she wanted was to meet Spensa’s mentor and not be able to understand him. He had to be quite something if Spensa looked up to him. … What that something might be was hard to guess though because Spensa wasn’t known for being the most level person around.

Eventually they reached another clearing that seemed to be a village; there were little house made from trees by a little river. Little fellows that looked kind of like stuffed toys with glowing faces milled about the place. There was also a large ghost in the center speaking to a small group of them.

“Snatcher!” Spensa called, speaking a different language now as increased their pace towards him.

The big ghost looked at her and then at Bow. “Uh… kiddo, have you forgotten how soul contracts are supposed to work? You’re supposed to make her sign the piece of paper that gives you her soul.”

“This is Bow,” Spensa replied. “She was my only friend back at the school and now she’s here because she came looking for me. And Bow, this is Snatcher. He’s my mentor. He taught me how to do all kinds of spooky ghost stuff and is helping with my magic as I get more powerful and stuff. He also helped me with all sorts of other things too.”

Unfortunately, the translator didn’t let Bow speak the language, just understand it, so all she could do for now was smile and wave in greeting. Like Spensa she was good with languages though so she should be able to pick it up fairly quickly assuming she stayed long enough.

“Great,” Snatcher said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Just what I need, another feral alien child running around my forest.”

“Don’t worry, she’s not as bad as me. Not that that’s saying a whole lot but she’s cool and nice.”

Bow nodded, giving Snatcher another smile and a thumbs up. Since he was Spensa’s friend and mentor, she’d play nice and would endeavor to get along.

“If he ever says anything mean to you, ignore it, he doesn’t really mean it most of the time.” Spensa said, speaking to Bow now.

Snatcher scoffed. “Don’t spread lies kid, I’ve meant every mean thing I’ve ever said to you.”

“Yeah, uh-huh, totally.” Spensa nodded sarcastically, clearly not believing it. “Can I show her around the forest now? Show her the sights and introduce her to the Subconites and all that?” She linked her ghostly arm through Bow’s, pulling her closer.

“If it’ll get you leave me alone for a while, sure, go have fun.” Snatcher dismissed them with a wave noodle-like arm before vanishing all at once.

“This’ll be fun,” Spensa said, reverting back to their home language as she started guiding Bow elsewhere. “Subcon Forest is like the best place on the planet. Though I’ll have to introduce to my other friends too. Oh, and you’ll love the Metro. I’d tell you why but I want it to be surprise. I’m like… not allowed to go there anymore because there’s a powerful gang there and I kind of angered their leader but it’s whatever, I’m a ghost now so I can do what I want.”

“Sounds like something you’d do.” Bow was almost a little jealous, Spensa had been going on adventures and making friends while Bow had been increasingly worried that she was dead. Well, actually she was dead, but not gone and that’s what mattered most.

#My writing #ahit #A Hat In Time #ghost kid fic #Ghost kid #Dadcher #snatcher & hat kid #Bow & hat Kid

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moonlightsolo · 4 years

Text

Bête Noire

summary: The resistance has unwillingly taken you under their wing. Now that you’re away from Kylo, will your Force connection remain intact? Hopefully Kylo will find a way to rescue you someway, somehow.

pairing: kylo ren x reader

warnings: so many emotions

wc: 4k

a/n: wow i’m back from my hiatus and it feels pretty good to be writing for you guys again. thank you to those who stuck around and still continue to read my fic. i love and appreciate all of u so much. now this is getting way too long and sappy. go read :)

CHAPTER THIRTY

A tremble of the ship startles you as your body launches forward, sharply inhaling through your nose. Your head frantically turns as you look around, realizing that the outside the ship was no longer swirling or black with twinkling stars. It was white as it travels through the puffy turbulence-ridden clouds of an atmosphere on a planet.

In the seat next to you sat Poe, his sleeping face made you calm slightly. You looked at the pilots' seats to see Rey and Finn occupying them. They must have taken a shift to fly and let him rest. You lay back down across the hard seats, your eyes focusing on the metal ceiling above you.

Poe’s close proximity made you realize that you did miss him and his distinct smell of leather. Your eyelids start to get heavier again, but something whirs next to you. A series of soft beep sounds are close to your ear. It’s BB-8.

You gently peek your eyes open to see the orange and white droid, a small smile forming in your lips. “Hi, buddy.” You yawn as the droid says that it missed you, and Poe did too. “I missed you guys too.” You couldn’t help but reply. It was somewhat true, of course, but your heart will always remain with Kylo.

BB-8 bids their goodbye as it rolls away into the back of the ship, leaving you to close your eyes again. “You missed me too, huh?” Poe’s groggy voice spoke, making your eyes reopen as you looked up at him.

You’re surprised, happy, nervous. So many mixed emotions emitting from your brain. You didn’t know what to say. “You look shocked. Are you okay?” He asks as he stretches his body then he reaches toward you. “I really did miss you.” His pearly smile was wide. His hand gently reached out to pull you into a hug.

He engulfed you in his arms, one of his hands going to the back of your head to cradle you. For some reason, emotions washed over you like a tidal wave. You began to silently cry against the shoulder of his uniform, your shoulders quivering, “Shhh. It’s okay, it’s okay.” He attempts to calm you, his hand gently smoothing down your barely tied back hair.

He took a deep breath before pulling away, “Finn told me what happened. I didn’t expect her to take you. I thought you were coming willingly. If I was there, I wouldn’t have let it happen.” He shook his head disappointedly, “Even if it would’ve hurt me to let you stay.” He mumbled, his eyes falling.

“But you were the one carrying me onto the ship?” You questioned, your eyebrows wrinkling in the middle. “They were shooting at us and at you. I had to bring you onto the ship for your own well-being.” He sighs and you just nod. That makes sense.

The ship shakes as it drops below the clouds, the snowy mountainous landscape coming into view. Your mouth fell open, you’ve never seen snow before. “We’ve been taking refuge on Hoth in an old base, it’s cold but we’re surviving.” Poe smiles.

The ship nears the face of an icy mountain. You brace for impact but a large hole opens, snow falling on the ship as it gently glides it into the hidden hangar. There are crew members working, sparks flying from some machinery. A group of people is gathered to the side to watch the ship land, waiting for everyone to exit.

The ship's door drops open, creaking as it nears the floor to create a ramp. The soldiers walk out first, waving as some people cheer in the crowd. You stay seated, not wanting to leave yet.

Rey clicks off some buttons, the sound of the engine fades as it powers down. The injured is next, some people had an arm sling on as they walk out from the back of the ship. You noticed bandages on people’s heads and legs too, some limping. Kaydel comes up behind Poe, her hand rests on his shoulder. His hand goes up to rest on hers.

Rey and Finn leave next, unbuckling from their seats. Finn smiles at you, but Rey completely ignores that you’re there. She speedily exits the ship towards the crowd of people. “She’ll come to...” Finn says with a one-sided smile as he walks off. Your eyes watch as he jogs to see Rose and instantly he kisses her and lifts her up from the ground. Aw, they must be official now.

You look around the ship to see that it’s almost empty; only Poe, Kaydel, BB-8 and you are left. Poe says something to the droid but it fell deaf to your ears as you stare into the crowd. Your eyes swim through the people, your ears ignoring everything that Poe is saying to you. The Force is calling out to you.

He stood up next to you to try and get your attention. His hand goes to your shoulder to attempt to shake you back to reality but you quickly stand to your feet and storm off of the ship.

You focus in on wherever your feet are taking you, your skin burning with anxiety. It’s Leia. You need to let her know what happened with Rey. You have to.

You can hear Poe yelling your name as he jogs after you, he’s scared. You feed off of his fear by picking up your speed as you run towards her. “Stop!” Poe and Kaydel scream at you. They think you’re going to hurt Leia. You can just feel it.

You continue to push through the crowd, some people staring and grumbling as you make them stumble. You finally see her and Rey is already talking to her. You can still faintly hear Poe screaming your name as he loses you in the crowd. You have no idea how you were guided to this specific spot. When she turns around, her face softens at the sight of you. Her hand reaches for you but before you could take a step forward, your legs defy you. As Poe reaches for you, his eyes widen as you fall. Your knees collide with the hard, cold ground. You’re a weeping mess, not caring that people are looking at you.

Leia dismisses everyone sternly, but Finn sticks around and sends Rose on her way to celebrate with everyone else. Poe bends down, his arm going to wrap around your shoulders to comfort you but you pull away. “Get off of me. I could feel how scared you were. I wasn’t going to hurt Leia.” Your eyes blinded by tears, “No just let me explain-“ You cut him off, “Just go.” You let out an almost animalistic growl. Leia’s hand hesitatingly touches your shoulder to try and console you.

“Poe, I have this under control.” Leia bends down slightly to pull you up into an embrace. You lean into her motherly touch, almost instantly you begin to feel yourself calm down. You inhale through your nose to sniffle as you wipe your wet cheeks off, “Just because I was with the First Order, doesn’t mean I’m a horrible person.” You croak out.

“I don’t think that of you. Although I can’t control what other people think but only you can control how you feel.” Her words resonate in your head.

“Let’s go somewhere more private so we can talk.” Leia glances over at Finn to come over. He gently hooks his arm around your waist for support and gives you a welcoming, warm squeeze.

Once you make it to Leia’s dwellings, he sits you down on a plush couch. Your hands gently spread over the fabric as Leia sits in the chair in front of you. As soon as Finn leaves, your thoughts begin to spew from your mouth. “Nobody trusts me. Yes, I was with the First Order. I turned to the dark side but I still have light in me.” You take a deep breath before continuing, “But so does Rey. She’s dark too. She’s selfish and so cruel. She’s a hypocrite.” You sniffle, your face going into your hands.

Leia’s facial features scrunch up in confusion, “Why?” She simply questions you. “Why?” You practically laugh, “Because she took me. She took me from him. I wanted to stay. I decided that our child needs to be with their father. She used the Force on me to make me unconscious!” Your hands go up in the air in frustration, tears brimming your eyes again.

“Goodness.” She shook her head, one of her hands rubbing her forehead. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t come near you for a while. You shouldn’t go near her either. I will talk to her.” She sighed.

“I want you to know that we’re all here for you.” She trails off, “I only told Rey and Finn about your pregnancy. I felt like you should tell Poe on your own terms. I don’t know how he will react, but he can never be mad at you for too long.” She smiles reassuringly, “Just tell him before you become too noticeable, okay?” She gets up and outreaches her hand and you take it. “Let’s get you to where you’ll be staying.”

“So this is your room. This is mine. The bathroom is the door in the middle.” Poe points to the correct doors as you look around curiously. There’s a desk in the living area and a little place for BB-8 to power up. Also, an itchy handwoven rug laying on the concrete. Poe walks to your door to open it, “It’s a little boring. Just a bed, a dresser and a small table next to your bed.” Poe shrugs, “I have the same exact thing, mine is just a little uh... worn in. Oh, and you have a bathroom connected to yours? Lucky.” He chuckles awkwardly.

You turn your head around to see Kaydel and Leia talking out in the living area, it seems kind of heated. “Thank you for letting me be your roommate.” You send a small smile towards him. “Oh yeah, no problem. I just want you to be comfortable.” He shrugs with a grin. “I didn’t want you to be sent into a room full of strangers, ya know?” You just nod in response as you walk into your room. You plop onto the bed, “It’s actually quite comfortable.” You laugh, not expecting it. Poe nods with a laugh, “Yep. The beds are the only things here that aren’t frozen.” His voice has a joking tone to it. You can’t help but giggle.

Kaydel comes and shuts down the mood in the room, “Goodnight.” She simply says to Poe, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips, his hand intertwining with hers. You look away to give them their privacy, but you can’t help but notice how Poes' hand slowly slips out of hers as she walks away. “Goodnight,” Poe says after a moment with a smile before walking out of the doorway. Leia replaces him, “Have a good night. Sleep well.” Her hand grabs the doorknob to close the door. You’re alone once again. You can’t help but grip Kylo’s tunic wrapped around your neck as you fall asleep that night.

A week goes by while you‘ve been with the Resistance. Leia assigned you some jobs around the base to help Finn out with cleaning all the weapons and helping Poe with ship maintenance.

You’ve gotten into a steady routine. When you wake up, you take a shower and get dressed. Then you go to the cafeteria to eat breakfast with Poe, Kaydel and their friends. They aren’t exactly people you’d hang out with, but it is definitely a change from the stormtroopers. After eating, you meet with Finn to help him out with the weaponry stock then you go eat lunch. But if you finish early, you go back to your room and usually, you’ll nap. Once you eat lunch, you go with Poe to help him with the ships and droids. But today is a little different.

After you finish your ‘chores’ with Poe, he tells you to head to get some dinner without him. You shrug it off as you make your way to the cafe to eat. It’s really not as good as the First Orders food. You eat your supper with Finn, Rose, and Chewie today. When you finish early, Finn offers to walk you back to your room but you decline him nicely. “Thank you, but I’m tired anyways.”

As you walk back, it is quite busy in the halls but when you get the living quarters, it’s quiet. When you walk in the door, you don’t expect to see what is right in front of you. Poe and Kaydel in the desk chair, heavily making out. You shield your eyes as you walk past them quickly to your bedroom door. You open it with the Force and close it a bit too harshly with a clench of your fist. You can hear them talking and shuffling around outside, then the front door slams shut.

You wince as you lay on your bed, letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding. There’s a hesitant knock on your door then it opens. “Hey, uh, I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.” He clears his throat, “Mm, It’s okay.” You mumble into your pillow, your eyes closed but you end up opening them to see him standing there awkwardly. It makes you laugh.

“What?” He questions, his face crinkling up. “You just look funny standing there. It’s not like I walked in on you guys naked.” You shrug it off like nothing, “I was just surprised that’s all.” You turn on your back to look at him. You pat the empty spot on your bed, he walks up to sit down on it next to you. “Do it in your room next time.” You whisper playfully, your eyes looking up at the gray ceiling. You can feel him staring at you.

“What?” You mock him as you look at Poe, his face flushes for a moment but he remains eye contact with you. “Nothing. Sometimes I just get a little nostalgic.” He shrugs, “We went through so much back then.” He laughs, “It feels too calm. Just to see you here relaxing, we’re not stressing about being brutally murdered.” His sentence makes you laugh. It’s definitely true. He scoots next to you on the small bed, laying on his side facing you. You turn on your side to face him with a smile on your lips.

For a moment, you feel like you’re swept back in time. You know he feels it too. Tension grows between the empty space of your bodies, a need to be closer to him. Before your faces get too close together you interrupt him.

“I need to talk to you.” You blurt, not wanting to feel this magnetic pull to him anymore. “Oh okay... What is it?” He asks, his voice sounds a bit bummed.

You decide to just be straightforward, “I’m pregnant.” You blurt out, instantly making his eyes widen in shock. “What?” He asks, sitting upon his knees in front of you. “With who’s baby?” He knows who the father is. His face pales when he realizes, “Him?” He asks sadly, his shoulders falling.

You sit up too, moving your back against the headboard. “Yes... I’m sorry...” You sniffle, letting your built-up emotions loose. You put your head in your hands as you feel embarrassed and ashamed.

“There is no reason for you to be sorry. It’s really not your fault.” Poe sighs, his hands resting on your thighs. “I’m sorry for making it seem like you need to apologize.” He sighs again, biting his lip as he pulls your hands away from your face.

“I’m not mad. I’ll help you with anything you need, want... Anything. Just call for me and I’m there.” He says with true meaning to his words then climbs off of the bed carefully. “Get some rest. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.” You nod, bidding him goodnight before you get up to change into your pajamas.

Even in the frigid temperature, sweat builds up on your forehead as you toss underneath the thick bed sheets. Your eyes shoot open suddenly, losing your breath as you sit up in bed. You lean against the cold wall behind you as you tie your hair on top of your head. Something unknown is telling you in your gut that someone is watching you. Slowly, you peek an eye open and see nothing. You look around, completely missing the dark shadow in the corner.

For a second, you think it’s your brain playing tricks on you. When your eyes go back to that corner, you see him. You let out a yelp, pulling the blankets over your head. Kylo’s body evidently twitches when you made that noise. You pull the blankets away from your face to peek out. He is still standing there in the corner with his arms crossed. His index finger going over his lips to shush you. “What is going on?” You whisper yell at him.

Before he could answer, Poe comes running into the room, the light turning on. “Hey, are you okay?” He’s clothed in a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and socks; obviously cold.

You look over at Poe, then at the corner again. From his point of view, it’s empty. “What?” His eyes go to the corner and back to you.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You dismiss him, gulping as his eyes look around. “Okay..?” He doesn’t believe you but he leaves you alone and closes the door.

You let out the breath you were holding, turning your attention to Kylo Ren. “What is he doing here?” He’s mad. “Don’t worry.” You scoff, not realizing Poe had opened the door and was staring at you talking to the wall.

Kylo motions towards the door with a flick of his head, your eyes trailing to Poe who has wide eyes. “What’s going on?” Poe’s voice is shaky. “Nothing.” You slip out of bed, you shiver from the cold floor. “I said I was fine, please go.” You gently coax him out of the doorway and close the door with the Force as you walk towards Kylo. His onyx eyes soften as you near closer to him.

“I can feel you’re not truly happy here. Come back to me.“ You notice that his gloves are off of his hands, you can see his swollen veins underneath his porcelain skin. Your eyes burn with tears threatening to spill over onto your flushed cheeks. His hand's outreach for you to take them, you battle yourself. “I can feel the light in you but you are so much more powerful by my side.” His deep voice rumbles.

As gentle as you would touch the glass, you slip your hands into his. A soft relieved sigh leaves his lips, it’s like he’s there with you. His warmth, the pulse in his wrist pumping against your fingertips. His nimble fingers wrap around your wrists. “I don’t know how to get to you from here.” You mumble, “I hope this isn’t a hallucination or something.” You sigh into the air as he pulls you into an embrace. You let out a relieved sigh as you curl your head under his chin, realizing how badly you miss him.

The pressure of his arms being wrapped around you disappears, making you fall forward since he isn’t supporting you anymore. You gasp as you fall on all fours, there are definitely going to be bruises there in the morning.

You let out a guttural sob, the door to your bedroom swings back open as Poe rushes in, confused by your heart-wrenching cries. His arms cradle around your body, pulling you into his chest to soothe you. His face is furrowed in confusion but he has a feeling it has to do with Kylo. He gently pulls your body from the cold floor and into the bed.

Tears continue to fall from your eyes even after you’ve calmed down, snot and tears all over his and your own shirt. Poe has his arm wrapped around you as he cuddled with you. He was on top of the blankets while you were underneath, he didn’t want to get too close and you don’t blame him.

He asked you questions but you just gave him a shake or nod of your head to answer, not trusting your own voice just yet. Soon, you fell asleep as did Poe. It was comfortable, warm and welcoming.

The next morning, you wake up slightly more refreshed than you thought you would be. You believed that you‘d be groggy and exhausted. Carefully, you unwrapped yourself from Poe’s arms and went to go take a shower.

When you were done, you walk into your room with a towel wrapped around your body and one wrapped in your hair. As you’re about to grab clothes to get dressed in the bathroom, the bed squeaks. His morning voice calls out your name. You look behind you as his eyes open, then they widen when he sees you in a towel. “I see you were up bright and early.” He chuckled as he stretched his limbs, making a weird noise. You just laughed, “I’m gonna get dressed. You should too.” You said while you walked into the bathroom.

Once you were completely ready, you walked out of the bathroom to see Poe sitting on your bed but he was dressed. “Come on slowpoke. I’m hungry. Let’s go get breakfast.” You smile at his words, rolling your eyes playfully as you follow him to the cafeteria.

As you sit down across from Poe with your food, Kaydel sits down next to him. He plants a kiss on her cheek which makes you smile slightly and look down at your food as you eat it.

Rey sat down next to you and starts some small talk with everyone at the table, you joined in on the conversation. Suddenly, everything around you went silent but everyone is still moving and talking. A gradual ringing starts in your ears as your eyes dart around, panic settling in your chest as it gets louder.

Poe notices how your chest is rising and falling, his large smile slowly starts to turn into a concerned look. His mouth was saying your name but you couldn’t hear it. You stand up as quick as possible, running out of the cafeteria with your hands on your ears. You press your back against the wall, sliding down it until your bottom hits the floor. “Stop it!” You whispered to yourself.

Rey and Poe come around the corner, her eyes widening when she saw you cowered into a ball. Her words fall deaf to your ears but you try to read her lips, “Calm down. Meditate. Take deep breaths.” She says. You slowly take deep breaths, focusing on your energy. Your hearing slowly starts to come back and Rey stands up from her spot next to you.

You take a deep breath as the Force buzzes through your body, gently pulling you up from the floor. Rey gently says your name, but her voice seems hesitant— almost scared. You open your eyes, realizing that you’re floating above the floor. You quickly drop, your body falling back into the wall. The last time you did that was when you broadcasted yourself to find Leia on D’Qar.

Rey’s eyes are wide, her lips slightly parted in surprise or maybe it’s fear, “How did you do that?”

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