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somewhatgreatexpectations · 3 years

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Fire on Fire (Wanda Maximoff/ Reader)

Hello! This one was inspired by Sam Smith’s “Fire on Fire”. Once again, post- Age of Ultron and pre-Civil War. Hope you like it! :)

Warnings: None, just fluff featuring Cap and Clint being protective and supportive.

“Maybe it's 'cause I got a little bit older, maybe it's all that I've been through. I'd like to think it's how you lean on my shoulder and how I see myself with you.”

Wanda took a seat on the mat of the training area and took a sip of water as her mind wandered to you (as it often did). It had been several months since you and Wanda had officially been together and to say it was going well would be an understatement. You two fit together like pieces of a puzzle and the rate at which she fell for you absolutely stunned her. She hadn’t felt this much love in her heart since she lost Pietro. She didn’t think she ever could again… until you.

Never in her life had she felt something this intense – she never thought she was capable of feelings this intense. In her past she knew there was very little opportunity for love, but even if there was, she couldn’t imagine replicating this. Wanda knew you were special. What she found with you was special.

Those three little words had been on the tip of her tongue so many times, yet she could never find the courage to utter them to you. The remnants of the fear of losing those she loved still weighed heavily on her. It was something she was working on. Despite her fear of uttering those three words, there was no doubt in her mind that she was completely and hopelessly in love with you.

The sound of a throat clearing startled her out of her thoughts as she snapped her head up to meet the eyes of Steve who was smiling down at her amicably. “Wanda,” he began, “I was hoping we could have a word.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be running training?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

Steve chuckled and gestured to the empty room which Wanda hadn’t noticed until that moment. “We just finished up a few minutes ago. How’s about that word?”

Wanda spun a single ring she wore on her finger nervously as she nodded. “Sure, Steve.” She had a feeling she knew where this was going. Steve was very protective of you and she was well aware of that, so it was only a matter of time before this talk happened.

Steve offered his hand out to help her up which she easily accepted. “Let’s take a walk.” The walk was wordless until they left the compound which didn’t help Wanda’s nerves in the slightest. “You have nothing to be worried about, Wanda.”

“How did you- “

A boisterous laugh escaped his lips, “You look like I’m about to murder you any second now.”

Wanda merely shrugged and nodded with a small smile, “Fair enough.”

Steve’s expression became serious once again as he regarded Wanda, “I’m just going to cut to the chase. I think you’re a good kid. You’ve been through situations that would have left even the strongest soldiers on their knees and came out stronger than before. I respect that.”

She sensed there was a ‘but’ in his speech and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what it was.

With a flat expression he continued, “I know you’re dating Y/n, and I’m sure you know my history with her. I don’t know if it’s because of how I found her, but I’m very protective of her, Wanda.”

Her gaze fell to the floor at his words as she nodded understandingly. “You don’t think that I’m good for her.” She whispered and refused to allow herself to look up at him and see the pity on his face.

Immediately Steve stopped in his tracks and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her as well, “What? Wanda, no,” he rushed out, a bewildered expression on his face, “that’s not what I’m saying at all. That’s actually the opposite of where I was going with that.”

Wanda furrowed her eyebrows and finally looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. “It is?”

With a nod Steve continued, “It is. In fact, I think that you two are perfect for each other. It’s clear that you bring out the best in one another and have helped each other heal. I just –“ he rubbed the back of his neck, “Be gentle with Y/n. I know you understand what she’s been through more than anyone, but it’s still a lot and I worry about her.”

“I will be, she’s helped me more than you know.” she replied quietly.

A thoughtful look overcame his features, “It’s been nice seeing her so happy. Seeing you both happy. Seeing her happy is something I never thought I’d see when we first met. You’re a big part of that. Just take care of her, okay?”

Wanda nodded seriously, “I promise I’ll take care of her, Steve. I-I… I love her. I want to do everything in my power to keep her happy too.”

“You love her?” Steve questioned happily with an excited smile.

Bashfully, Wanda tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled back at him. “I do. I just haven’t told her yet.”

Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulder and spun her back in the direction they came from. “In that case, let’s get you back to your girl then.” They walked a few paces when Steve spoke again, “She loves you too, you know?”

“You think so?” she questioned insecurely.

With a steady and sure voice, Steve replied, “I know so.”

Back at the compound, you were looking for your girlfriend, a bit confused as to where she could have gone after training. You wandered into the kitchen with no luck as the only person there was Clint who was seemingly reading the newspaper at the kitchen counter. “Clint?” you called out.

He hummed but didn’t look up from his reading.

“Have you seen Wanda? I’ve been looking all over for her.” You took a seat next to him and rested your head on your folded arms petulantly.

Clint chuckled as you watched him fold his newspaper and turn his attention to you, “Don’t pout, kid. I think she just went on a walk with Cap.”

Your head perked up curiously, “Really? Do you know why?”

Again, Clint chuckled. “I think you know why, kiddo.” You swatted his arm when he smirked.

With a groan you buried your head in your arms, “Damn Rogers and his outdated ideas of dating.”

From where you were seated you could hear Clint clear his throat which made you lift your head and eye him wearily. “That reminds me. I was hoping we could have a chat too.”

Skeptically, you nodded, “This feels like a set-up.” You mumbled.

Clint pressed on with an indifferent shrug, “It kind of was. I wanted to talk to you about Wanda.”

You stared at him in silence for a few moments, “… I’m getting the talk, aren’t I?”

“You sure are. Now, shut up so I can get through this.” You mimed zipping your lips which caused him to roll his eyes and try to fight back a smile. “I owe a lot to Wanda. Her brother gave his life for my own. I see her as a daughter of sorts now. I always wished I could do more to ease her sadness, but then you came and did what none of us were able to. You made her smile. I appreciated that so much.”

A small smile to him was your only response as you sensed he wasn’t done quite yet.

He placed a firm hand on your arm, “I have no threats for you in this talk. I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you found happiness with one another. Don’t lose that. Not that you need it, or probably care, but you have my approval.”

With misty eyes you hugged Clint, “Of course I care. Thank you, Clint.”

You felt him hug you back. “Don’t hurt her, okay?”

Pulling back from the hug you firmly nodded. “I would never intentionally hurt her. She means everything to me.”

“Sounds like love to me,” Clint teased playfully.

The room went quiet for a moment before you spoke, “I can’t see my life with anyone else by my side.”

Clint knowingly pat your shoulder, “So, it really is love.”

“It is. I love Wanda.”

“Y/n?”

With wide eyes you turned to the direction the voice came from quickly. “Wanda!” you exclaimed as you noticed her enter the space with Steve who was smiling proudly at you.

With a clap of his hands, Clint stood up and walked over to Steve, “Looks like that’s our cue, Cap. Y/n, Wanda.” He rushed out as he exited the kitchen, followed by Steve who merely winked and saluted you before following Clint out.

When you turned your attention back to Wanda, you found her watching you with a soft expression on her face. “How much of that did you hear?” you asked as you wrung your hands nervously.

Wordlessly she stepped forward and took hold of your hands. Her expression now nervous. “I heard… enough…” She trailed off as she ran her thumb over the back of your hand passively, “I love you, Y/n.” she breathed out.

You stared at her for a moment, just reveling in her words and searching her eyes, finding nothing but love. Without hesitation you surged forward and connected your lips, hoping to pour every ounce of love you felt in your soul for her into the kiss. You only broke apart when the smiles on both of your faces made it too difficult to continue. “I love you, so much. You are my only direction, Wanda.” You whispered.

With your words, every single fear Wanda previously felt vanished and all that remained was the love she felt for you.

She leaned her forehead on yours, a loving smile on her face. “And you are mine, moya lyubov. You are perfection to me. You saved me.” Happiness blossomed in your chest as Wanda connected your lips in another passionate kiss.

Hello again, here’s part 3! For the next part should I take the angst route or would you all prefer some more fluff? Let me know. As always hope you enjoyed!

(For reference part 1 is “Latch”, part 2 is “One Day at a Time”)

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allthepresidentsmen1976 · 2 years

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nessaaa hi hello tell me your favourite things<3 <3

vicky hiiii okay so i did actually start putting together a list like this yesterday so here you go <3 <3 <3

and then we danced (2019) one of my favourite movies of all time, it just holds a very very special place in my heart

the godfather (1972) + the godfather part ii (1974) + the behemoth i know you've already seen these, but i couldn't not put them in given uhh everything i do with my time

all the president's men (1976) once again.... self explanatory but genuinely an insanely insanely good movie i am obsessed with it, i adore it so so much

moonlight (2016) genuinely lifechanging. i watched it for the first time last june (??) and i haven't stopped thinking about it since, i will forever be awed and blown away by this

oh also ! dog day afternoon (1975) and shoplifters (2018)

angels in america by tony kushner !!!!! i can't stress enough how incredibly, incredibly important this play is to me for so so many reasons, it's one of the most beautiful things i have ever read/seen, it's breathtaking in so many ways

the normal heart by larry kramer <3 this devastated me, just completely, there's a recording of it on youtube here (give it up for raul esparza!!) it's so beautiful and so heartbreaking

giovanni's room by james baldwin ! i LOVE baldwin's writing with my whole, whole heart. he's such a beautiful writer, i can't praise him enough. there are some Interesting™ and outdated moments in this, but it is such an excellent book

the castle by franz kafka !! and genuinely anything at all by kafka, i know we all talk about him but he is brilliant and i adored this novel

the velveteen rabbit by margery williams okay so this was probably the very first book to leave me absolutely shattered, i can't remember when i first read it but i guess i must have been very very young, it destroyed me then it destroyed me now, it is so incredibly beautiful

swing time by zadie smith <3 some of the most excellent writing i've ever read i think, it's incredible and so so skilled, it's the only thing i've read of hers so far but i cannot wait to read more

burn by patrick ness !! i will admit he does write very much ya stuff, but idk there's something about the way he writes that is incredibly moving to me and that goes for all of his books

art & lies by jeanette winterson ! i adore her, i adore her so so much (winterson) i LOVE the way she writes and the way she plays with structure, i think it is endlessly interesting

sturdy lanterns and ladders by malka older can be found here and is my favourite short story EVER

night walk by franz wright is a horrifically good poem, and in fact, anything and everything by franz wright makes me want to scream

perhaps the world ends here by joy harjo which is where my favourite tag comes from lmao and you can read it here

the weatherman by gregory alan isakov <333 there is a reason this album was my url for awhile and it is because it's a brilliant, brilliant album i love and adore every song on there, it's so beautiful

capacity by big thief ! again, the album, gorgeous, stunning, "mary" has and will continue to make me cry, no words, just highly recommended

grace by jeff buckley ! again, the album. and also everything and anything by jeff buckley. he is without a doubt one of my absolute favourite musicians of all time. he is just beautiful. i KNOW i've spoken about him before but yeah....

the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars by david bowie !!! the first album of his i listened to all the way through by myself and god, well, you know

soft sounds from another planet by japanese breakfast <3333 theeee album, i love it with my whole chest just so so so much. i cannot begin to describe it

#i told you it was going to be long vicky.............. i could probably have kept going if i thought about it more but i think that yeah.#i think this is the general gist of it all #um #this feels extremely weird actually . huh . okay well there you go !!!#vicky 🍃#a

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raeynbowboi · 5 years

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Dating Disney: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast features my favorite love story and my favorite Disney Princess, so it holds a very special spot in my heart. So, it’s worth looking into the film to decide when the Movie is supposed to be set.

During the opening musical number “Belle”, Belle is telling the Baker about the book she’s been reading. She’s clearly describing Jack and the Beanstalk, the earliest version being the tale of “Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean” in 1734. But she also deliberately mentions an ogre, not a giant. Near as I could find, the only version with an ogre was written by Joseph Jacobs in 1890, making Belle nearly contemporary to modernity. Belle’s excitement over the book is likely a sign that this is a new story.

During the same musical number, we see a sign depicting a tobacco pipe, but unlike with the Calabash pipe from the Little Mermaid movie. I could place it to possibly be a Billiard type, but the exact era of creation escapes me. However, tobacco pipes have been around as long as Tobacco has been introduced to European trade, starting in the 16th century.

The history of colored printing goes as far back as the 16th century, and there are illustrations from the early 1700s with an impressive variety of color that help establish a stronger time period. The book also shows the words Le Prince Charmant or Prince Charming. Prince Charming started being used in 1697 in Charles Perrault’s version of Sleeping Beauty, although there, Prince Charming was not a name. Rather, Perrault stated that the Prince was charmed by her words. The first story to use Prince Charming as a name is the Tale of Pretty Goldilocks. It was written at some point in the 17th Century by Madame d’Aulnoy, but in her version the hero was named Avenant. It wasn’t until 1889 when Andrew Lang retold the story that Avenant was dubbed as Charming. One year later in 1890, Oscar Wilde used the term “Prince Charming” sarcastically in his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, meaning that the term had gotten its more modern meaning by this point in time.

Gaston’s musket is a Blunderbuss, which was invented in the early 1600′s and remained popular through the 18th century before falling out of fashion in the middle of the 19th century. However, considering Belle states that this is a backwards town and Gaston is an old-fashioned, Primeval man, it’s possible he’s using a largely outdated weapon.

While there are no street lamps in the city, we can see in the background lanterns on the sides of buildings, which might allude to the movie taking place before the invention of gas lamps. However, gas lamps were invented in 1809, and if the version of Jack and the Beanstalk is from 1890, then by all accounts the town should have gas lamps. What this amounting evidence is leading me to believe is that the film is directly following the plot of the original fairy tale.

In the story, Beauty’s father is a merchant who loses his fortune due to a storm destroying his cargo. They’re forced to live on a farm until the merchant stumbles upon the Beast’s castle and kick starts the plot. In the opening song, Belle says “every morning’s just the same, since the morning that we came, to this poor, provincial town.” This could mean that she grew up in a much more modern, urban, and progressive town. Possibly even Paris. But that after Maurice suffered severe financial trouble, he was forced to move them to the small, backwards town that was practically living an entire century behind the rest of France, which is why she’s so bored and unimpressed by the little town. It helps explain why she’s so eager to want to get out of this town and see the world. She wants to be part of the modern world again.

Interestingly, I can support this theory with background information. According to some of my research, Belle’s village was based on the little town of Riquewihr, France, which still looks like it did in the 16th century to this day. So the idea that Belle’s little village lacks so many modern elements could be a nod to the architecture of this sleepy French village that has remained largely untouched by the march of time. Hence why it looks more like something out of the 1700s despite the many elements from the 1800s being present.

During the song “Be Our Guest”, Lumiere dances with a match stick. Match sticks were invented in 1805. Assuming the film still takes place in the 1890s, this would be concurrent with the other evidence we’ve seen thus far. Later in the same song, the silverware makes an Eiffel tower, which was constructed in 1889. Since Jack and the Beanstalk was written after that, it still fits within the suspected time frame.

During the climax of the battle, Cogsworth is wearing military garments reflective of Napoleonic styles. Napoleon was coronated in 1804 until 1814, had a brief return to power in 1815, and eventually died in 1821. So this is also congruent to the established time period.

In the Youtube Video “Fashion Expert Fact Checks Belle from Beauty and the Beast’s Costumes” by Glamour, April Calahan, a Fashion Historian from the Fashion Institute of Technology directly noted that Belle’s yellow gown lacks the shape of a proper 18th century dress, and more closely resembles the shape of 19th century dresses, fitting into the evidence that’s been mounting in support of a late 19th century setting.

As a part of his primary costume, Lefou wears a waistcoat and tailcoats, which came into vogue in the 1800s, namely from the 1840s through the 1850s.

But if the film is set in the 1800s, how can the Beast still be a prince after the French Revolution? Well something worth noting is that when he finds out that Belle isn’t coming to dinner, the Beast storms through the halls to her room as Cogsworth calls after him as “Your Eminence” and “Your Grace”. The address of “Your Eminence” is reserved for Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, and is an ecclesiastical style of address. “Your Grace” is noticeably an English style of address, but it’s being used by Cogsworth who is British, so I can chalk that up to just part of his culture. Although it was used for British monarchs, it fell out of use during the reign of King Henry VIII (1509-1547) and after that, the use of “Your Grace” became used to address archbishops and non-royal Dukes and Duchesses. Now clearly the Beast is not a cardinal or a bishop, especially if he is looking for the love of a woman to make him human, since it’s forbidden for Catholic priests to marry. So clearly that is not what is meant here. But the other answer actually does hold a bit of weight. Beast’s father was in fact, a Duke. So how is the Beast a prince? He’s not. Not entirely. See, there’s more than one kind of Prince in French nobility. There’s a Prince du Sang, or a Prince by Blood. Effectively, the Crown Prince, the sons of ruling monarchs. But the title is also given to lords in charge of a Principality, one of the smallest territorial sizes. The Beast’s principality probably only extends to having power over the little unnamed village. And with it being after the revolution, Beast might not even have the proper use of his title anymore. He’s effectively a rich kid in a fancy house with no real authority or power. He’s just old money from a by-gone era of human history. But if Beast’s address of “Your Grace” is accurate, that would mean that he’s a non-royal Duke, meaning he would not likely have been executed during the Revolution, as his family would have essentially been governors or senators than actual monarchs. They just had jurisdiction over a small piece of the Kingdom of France and reported back to and obeyed the orders of their King. Thus, he would not have been important enough to be killed or chased out of power by the townsfolk.

CONCLUSION

The movie is set between the late autumn and early-to-mid winter of 1890. Although the snow is gone when Belle returns to the village, the trees are still bare, signaling that it may just be unseasonably warm, though it could be the very early spring of 1891 between the receding of the snow and the blossoming of new spring foliage. Between the books, clothing, and references made, my conclusion is that Belle is a very modern girl living in a backwards little town stuck in the past, thus why a village in 1890 looks so completely lacking in modern technology despite the era. The Prince is nothing more than a fancy title as the son of a Duke, and he likely has very little if any actual government authority. Essentially, Belle married into wealth, not power, and will never be a proper queen, and I’m not sure if the wife of a lord ruling a principality is a princess or not, but I suspect the answer is no. Making Belle, like Mulan, a Disney Princess who did not marry royalty, was not born royalty, and thus, cannot be called a Disney Princess. She’s definitely a noblewoman, but she’s not royal by any means.

SETTING: Riquewihr, France

KINGDOM: The French Republic (France)

YEAR: Autumn, 1890 - Spring, 1891

PERIOD: The Third Republic (1870-1940)

LANGUAGE: French

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dc41896 · 3 years

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The Whole Time?!

Pairing: Jake JensenxBlack Reader

⚠️: Maybe a tiny bit of technical angst (🤷🏽‍♀️ lol), fluff💕

“P-Pooch?,” you stammer unable to fathom that your supposedly dead brother was standing in front of you and his wife who was about to give birth to their son in any minute.

“Hey peanut,” he smiles stepping further in the hospital room. “I’d hug you, but I’m w-,”

You didn’t even let him finish before immediately wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face in his shoulder. Good thing he was already wet from the rain, your tears would just be a welcomed addition.

“Wait. D-Does that mean-”

“Hey babe,” the all too familiar voice speaks making more silent tears fall as you lift your head. Just as soaked as Pooch, he nervously smiles removing his hat to reveal his spiked frosted tips. He pretty much looked the same as you last saw him. Toned arms and chest shielded by his dripping jacket along with your personal favorite, his black circular frames bringing even more attention to those crystal baby blues.

There were plenty of times you thought about what you’d do if granted this moment. Cry, scream, maybe jump into his arms clinging onto him like a koala on a tree. Possibly all three even. Now, finally being granted your wish after all these months, there was one main thing on your mind.

“Wow,” he smiles as you slowly move closer to each other. “I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow you’ve gotten more beautiful.” Just as the words left his mouth, the back of your hand connecting with his abdomen in the hardest hit you could muster nearly knocks the wind out of him as he keeled forward.

“And apparently stronger too..,” he coughs.

“How could you?!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose! We had to so we could go after the guy who set us up. And why didn’t you hit Pooch?! He was in it too.”

“He’s got one coming after my nephew safely enters the world, right now though it’s your turn,” you glare before smacking him again.

“Told you she had a strong backhand,” Pooch states quickly closing the room door before his sister decided to direct her rage at him.

The rest of the team merely watch in entertainment as your hits move to his shoulders and biceps until Jensen can grab your wrists pinning them by your sides.

“I’m sorry for putting you through all that, but it’s not like I completely left! I could still see you.”

You tilt your head in confusion ready to ask what he was talking about, until seeing Clay nervously scratch the back of his neck as he and Cougar shift their gaze clues you in on what he meant.

“SERIOUSLY JAKE?!”

“Wha-? I-,”

“Did you really think that would make me feel better?!”

“...Honestly at this point I’m afraid to answer.”

Annoyed groan falling from your lips, you tried to escape his grasp, but his larger hands slightly tightening their grip on yours, along with him following your every movement, keep you in place. “When we go home I can explain everything.”

“Will you? Or are you just gonna lie some more?”

“I promise I’ll tell everything,” he whispers, leaving a chaste kiss on your temple before flashing one of his ‘please don’t stay mad at me forever because I love you’ smiles. So far, it’d gotten him out of any argument you had. Including this one.

Darn those good looks of his.

“Fine,” you reply as you cross your arms, leaving him to find a seat in the nearby waiting room.

“Any tips here Colonel?,” Jake sighs.

“I’m probably not the one you’d want relationship advice from.”

Another heavy sigh leaves his lips as he follows your path down the hall to sit next to you. That is if you’d let him.

“Okay, is anybody else stuck on the fact that Jensen actually has a girlfriend?,” Aisha states breaking the momentary silence and making both men chuckle.

———

It’s the happiest he’s ever been to walk into his small, outdated apartment. Things weren’t exactly the same as he left it with your few new decorations and pieces of furniture trying to make the place a bit of your own, but of course he didn’t mind. It actually warmed his heart that although he was “gone” you still chose to stay, sticking by his side when you easily could’ve moved on with your life.

“Jeez, the faucet always drip that loud?,” he lightly chuckles shedding his coat and placing it on the small hanger by the door.

“It started a bit after you left,” you sigh kicking off your shoes. “Think it’s loud now, it’s even louder when you’re just sitting here alone.”

Following you to the bedroom feeling like a dog with its tail between his legs, he sits at the foot of the bed looking down at his hands as you move about the bathroom getting yourself ready for bed. Your words were like the sharpest sting as his mind vividly showed an image of you just sitting in this apartment with nothing but thoughts of loosing your brother and boyfriend along with the hum of the AC. He knew for the sake of their mission, and the team, he couldn’t say anything, but it still didn’t take away his guilt of what you went through mentally and emotionally.

“I tried to write you.”

“What, your computer go down and you couldn’t watch me anymore?,” you counter over your shoulder before rinsing the soap from your face.

“That was only once okay? I was watching my niece’s soccer game and then I thought about what you were doing and kinda sorta hacked your office’s cameras, which yes I know was wrong. Speaking of, they really should update their software, a fifth grader could easily hack into it just guessing the password,” he answers making you roll your eyes with a chuckle.

“And who’s Tom?”

“Tom?”

“Yea. Curly brown haired guy, cubicle across from yours. Big head you can see a mile away.”

“I’m sorry are you somehow trying to turn things on me when you’re the one that’s supposed to be explaining why I’ve thought you were dead this whole time?,” you ask wiping the remaining moisturizer from your hands before crossing them in front of your chest as you step closer to the now nervous looking man.

“N-no, of course not! But I mean since he’s been mentioned...”

“He’s just this guy at work that apparently likes me and asked me out but I said no, because a small part of me kept hoping that you’d miraculously come back. Happy?”

“I-uh...y-yes?”

Sighing, you sit beside him tucking your bare legs under you and taking his hand in yours to trace the lines on his palm. You never knew how or why you started, but it was something you occasionally did while you two were talking or just lying next to him enjoying each other’s company. It brought a smile and giddy feeling to Jensen, just as it did to you.

“Listen, I’m sorry I’m giving you a hard time, I know you didn’t have a choice, and understand. Selfishly though, I just missed you so much and wish I could’ve known. It definitely would’ve saved some sleepless nights and tears.”

With his other hand, his thumb and index finger gently grab your chin guiding you to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through having you think I was dead. The second we threw our tags in that fire you and my family were all I could think about. Like I said I wanted to write and give you some sign that I wasn’t gone, but I could never figure out how to start. Plus Clay threatened to cut off little Jensen if I did send anything back home once he found out, which only made it tougher.”

“Yea we wouldn’t want that,” you softly laugh following a short sniffle you were trying to hold back. You really were done with crying, having done so since you got that devastating call so long ago, and just wished your tear ducts would shrivel up already. “Sorry, I thought I was done with the tears.”

“Shh, don’t be.” Leaning forward, his soft as clouds lips meet the single salty droplet in the middle of you cheek erasing its presence before moving to yours in quite possibly the most delicate, tender kiss you’ve ever experienced. Any other time, you’d probably call it painfully slow, trying to take the lead to move things along. But as you both sat there taking everything in from each other’s scents to the feel of how one’s lips and mouth felt on the other, you couldn’t feel more connected.

Just barely pulling away, his swollen lips rest centimeters above yours ready to take them again as soon as he caught his breath.

“I don’t know if I should be embarrassed at myself or amazed at whatever powers you have,” he starts, a light chuckle escaping him. “But I think you just made me-,”

“Jensen!,” you laugh, playfully smacking his shoulder. “Way to ruin a romantic mood.”

“If it’s romance you want, say no more,” he smiles taking your hand in his and placing it on his chest as he clears his throat. To the best of his ability, he begins singing the opening lines to your couple’s song, as Jake proclaimed it, instantly making you fall back on the bed in laughter.

“You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me baby, why the sudden change. Say my name, say my name!”

“This is definitely not a couple’s song,” you laugh feeling his forearms rest on either side of your head and chest vibrate from his laughing.

“I’ll admit lyrically wise..yes, you’re right. But it’s still ours which makes it special.”

You’d never forget that day in the grocery store trying to find a pint of your favorite ice cream as the song played overhead. Without really looking, you thought you were on the freezing aisle by yourself and began singing along as you gently bobbed your head. Suddenly hearing a voice singing the background vocals made you slightly jump turning to see the taller man in a grey sweatshirt, blue and white basketball shorts, and sneakers holding up his hands.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I-It’s Destiny’s Child, I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s okay, and I mean who can?,” you respond, both softly laughing before shyly looking back at your respective sections to get your frozen desserts.

“Soo...you like ice cream?,” he asks interrupting the momentary silence.

“Yea, um my favorite’s moose tracks,” you answer briefly holding up your pint with a smile.

“You know who has a good moose tracks? Bennie & Bailey’s downtown. They make it from scratch and I don’t know what all they put in it, but it’s amazing.”

“Oh, okay thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“Well you should definitely go one day. I mean if you want,” he nervously chuckles.

“Will do,” you smile. “Only if you’ll take me though?”

At first, being met with his shocked, speechless expression made your newfound confidence falter thinking you might’ve been too bold with the cute stranger, whom you hadn’t even asked if he was single or not. However seeing his eyes shine bright and adorable smile grace his pink lips, your excitement returned as he moved closer handing you his phone.

Years later, the rest is history as you lie in bed with the man you were sure was the love of your life.

“Hey what’s going on in there?,” he asks brushing his fingertips across your forehead noticing you become quiet. Lightly scratching his goatee, you feel your eyes start to water again causing you to blink a few times trying to keep them at bay.

“I just don’t want you to leave again,” you whisper, moving your fingers to card through his chestnut and blonde mixed strands.

“I’m not going anywhere unless you ask me too.”

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ninjago-happens-here · 3 years

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'Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.'

@ninjago-angst-week am I late or what? Sorry but I think spewing out 21k words over teh course of 3 days killed my motivation. It took 3 days just to write 6.1k words.

Summary:

P.I.X.A.L. notices that the store of bandages is running low. She thinks about all the times she had to use them on one of her teammates, and its purposes.

“Hey Pix! We’re running low on bandages. Can you help us order some before we go to Shintaro?” Nya’s voice came from the medical bay of the Destiny’s Bounty. The Ninja and Master Wu were going on a trip to Shintaro. Unfortunately, Pixal never got an invite, but she has long been used to being left behind. It’s not that it was a bad thing, per se. Pixal knew the importance of having a backup, and having someone watch over Ninjago whilst the Ninja were gone. Still, to distract herself after placing a digital order, she thought about anything that could distract her. That thing just happened to be about bandages.

Bandages. Neat, white little things that wrap around any land or sky creature. According to Wikipedia, a bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly to a wound, and a bandage is used to hold the dressing in place. Other bandages are used without dressings, such as elastic bandages that are used to reduce swelling or provide support to a sprained ankle. Tight bandages can be used to slow blood flow to an extremity, such as when a leg or arm is bleeding heavily.

At first, that was all P.I.X.A.L. knew about bandages. Given that she was built with the main purpose of being Cyrus Borg’s assistant, her primary knowledge consisted mostly of the ins and outs of Borg Tower, emergency protocols, customer service skills, and basic first aid, given that her maker was frailer than your average Ninjago citizen.

Of course, the longer she worked under Cyrus Borg, the more she learnt about the medical field. Curious about Mr Borg’s special circumstances, she was permitted to look through the internet for more information. In no time at all, she learnt about surgery, prosthetics, all different kinds of medication, and how to diagnose illnesses. In her given free time, she studied all the information available on the internet about the medical field. Even though the information was useless to her, an android who had no physical weaknesses like the humans do, her system determined that whilst the knowledge was a bit excessive, it only helps to prepare her to care for Mr Borg.

She never really needed to apply all that knowledge about serious and fatal cuts, but when Borg gets even the slightest injury, P.I.X.A.L. was there to offer her assistance.

A year after she had been created, Cyrus Borg had offered her to take a test of the field in medicine. P.I.X.A.L. had immediately felt lighter and better somehow. When asking Borg why she was feeling this way and if robots could get sick, Borg had laughed in surprise and shock.

“That feeling is happiness, P.I.X.A.L.! It’s an emotion that all living creatures feel, you included.”

“But I am not living-“ Mr Borg cut her off.

“Technically, you are right, P.I.X.A.L., but you are intelligence, and intelligence is what defines life. You can adapt, change, and overcome as all living beings do. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Because that would be an insult to my intelligence!” Cyrus Borg said encouragingly. “And robots can technically get sick, from a digital virus. But I created you to be strong, stronger than I ever will be. You should not have to worry about them.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded her head to show her understanding. “Then I will go to the exam.”

P.I.X.A.L. didn’t pass on her first try, but Mr Borg told her that it was alright, given that she still did very well considering that she only had the free internet to look for answers to a test she was unprepared for. It was human for her to have failed.

“So why did you send me there with no preparation?” P.I.X.A.L. asked with a shaking voice.

“To prepare you for failure, my dear!” Cyrus Borg said patronisingly. “Since I’ve built you, you’ve been perfect in many, many ways. And that isn’t a bad thing! But life isn’t that simple. You may fail in one way or another in the future because like humans, the circumstances may not be what you desired and plans can fall apart due to errors. What I want you to know is how failure feels like, and I will help you recover from it.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded. It won’t be long before she faced her first, real big failure.

- Lloyd - The first time she had to really apply those skills that she learnt was when the team had seen Lloyd in the village. After he was pulled out of the ocean because he had to escape from an exploding plane that the Digilord had trapped him on. The locals had wanted to help, but Lloyd wasn’t feeling like having strangers cut him up, so they offered him some basic and outdated medical supplies.

P.I.X.A.L. could see him trying to treat himself and to stay awake, and she could see him hiss as the alcohol drizzled on his wounds.

“LLOYD!” Kai shouted in a tone that conveyed panic. This made the young ultimate spinjitzu master look up from his handiwork and immediately break into a smile. As the team had rushed forward to greet him, P.I.X.A.L. could see that his shoulders were sagging, probably from relief.

“I’m so sorry that I got caught guys,” Lloyd wheezed with an apologetic smile before keeling over, to which Cole caught him with shaking hands.

“Oh god, Zane, quick, do your thing!” Kai panicked even harder, hands jittery as if he was in an internal debate about whether he should do something or not. “I’m trying Kai! I just- my hands keep shaking for some reason!” Zane gritted his teeth in frustration. “I’m gonna run some diagnostics on him” “Okay, Cole, lie him on a flat surface- medic! Medic!” Nya screamed out.

It was at this moment that P.I.X.A.L. knew that was her chance. To repay Zane for his heart. To prove to the team that she was useful. To finally implement her knowledge. Sometimes, she wonders if she’ll ever have what Zane has with the other humans, but for now, she is glad that she can separate her emotions from her work.

“Let me handle it,” P.I.X.A.L. said authoritatively. Running a scan with her own diagnostics, P.I.X.A.L. isolated the most dangerous injuries before telling the group out loud, staring at her apprehensively.

“Master Lloyd has suffered a concussion, lung damage due to smoke inhalation, and fractured bones in his tibia. He also has a sprained ankle and several bones on his upper chest area have several bruises. Luckily, there is no internal bleeding. He also has some first and second-degree burns, but those look like they have been treated by the ocean water. However, he is at risk of hypothermia should he not change out of those clothes. Other cuts and bruises should not be life-threatening as long as we keep the infection away, and-“

“WE GET IT! Can you just PLEASE start treating Lloyd NOW?” Jay shrieked in frustration. P.I.X.A.L. blinked. Oh right, the ninjas are still panicking.

“Apologies, can I have a look at the medical supplies?” Taking a scalpel out of the medical box, P.I.X.A.L. removed Lloyd Garmadon’s shirt and so multiple bruises as well as the look of someone who’s emancipated. It didn’t really make any sense to her, but she supposed that being drained of his elemental powers must have caused some damage.

“To treat his concussion, he needs peace and to rest. I would like if all of you can speak in whispers from now on,” P.I.X.A.L. began. The soup suddenly looked ashamed and guilty, with Jay whispering a soft ‘sorry’.

“To treat his hypothermia, we would need blankets-“

“Why can’t I just warm him up with fire?” Kai cut across. “Well, the extreme heat can damage the skin or, even worse, cause irregular heartbeats so severe that they can cause the heart to stop. However, starting a campfire some meters away could help a little. using this fire, we can make some warm beverages and some food.”

“Just say what we gotta do doc, we’ll listen!” Nya begged swiftly. P.I.X.A.L. thought for a moment, before choosing to sort people out based on their perceived abilities.

“Kai, Jay, Cole, Sensei Wu, and Sensei Garmadon- please look for blankets in the village and start a campfire over there,” Pointing at a spot a satisfactory distance from Lloyd, P.I.X.A.L. continued with giving instructions. “Start making some sort of soup- not too heavy. Zane, Nya- you’re with me.”

Garmadon, who was silent all this time, started to protest. “I cannot leave my son, Pixal.”

“Fine, you may stay and just keep tending to the campfire,” P.I.X.A.L. conceded, not wanting to waste time arguing. There was the matter of fact that the smoke inhaled by Lloyd Garmadon could be fatal, but there was not much that she could do in his location. All she could hope to do was to treat his minor injuries before ensuring that Lloyd is stable enough to go to a hospital in Ninjago. Which would have been impossible, given that the Digilord had control of the city already. What could she do? Maybe there’s an elemental master of the air who could treat Lloyd?

“Pix, do you not have any ideas on how to treat the smoke inhalation?” Zane looked at her with kind and understanding eyes. Pixal nodded, defeated, before preparing a cast. “We need concentrated oxygen and a nose tube or a tube down his throat. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in Ninjago where we can get to such technology.”

Hearing this, Nya immediately perked up. “But we can make them. Zane, do you have any wires that you can spare for a bit?”

“Redirecting power from the right hand,” Zane replied as he opened up his arm to take out a tube. He’s so self-sacrificing. For some strange reason, P.I.X.A.L. felt her heart beating faster. Maybe Zane was nervous? “Nya, if you could please clean this?”

“Of course. HEY KAI!” “Yeah, sis?” Nya was looking at P.I.X.A.L. expectantly. Oh yes. she was supposed to know this, wasn’t she? “Can you get us 10 cups of potable water and 1 cup of vinegar? Also, get some detergent or soap.” “Okay Pix, not gonna question this at all!”

Meanwhile, Nya was using pure H2O to just start blasting the tubing As much as they wanted Lloyd to not die from smoke inhalation, they also didn’t want him to be infected. Speaking of infections…

“Ow!” Lloyd woke up sleepily as Zane used one hand to dab his cuts. Looking sheepish, Zane immediately offered an apology before Nya cuts in and admitting her mistake.

“Go back to Lloyd,” Nya said, petting his hair. Once Kai had returned with the necessary materials, Nya sanitised her hands before delicately cleaning the tube with 10 parts water and 1 part vinegar.

Tightening the wrappings around Lloyd’s ankle, Pixal studied her handiwork. The splint was holding up nicely against Lloyd’s leg, and all the infections on Lloyd’s legs were taken care of. Seeing as Zane is treating Lloyd well enough, P.I.X.A.L. immediately began to start diagnosing Lloyd’s burns before seeing blood flow from Lloyd’s back.

“Oh, dear.” In her hast, P.I.X.A.L. had forgotten to check Lloyd for injuries from behind. Maybe she wasn’t as professional as she thought. There was no other choice. Looking at Zane firmly, they pushed Lloyd onto his side as he gave a pained groan.

P.I.X.A.L.’s mechanical heart sank. Lloyd had a reason for sitting up without any support. There were several pieces of debris stuck to his back, and they were all pushed in due to them lying Lloyd on the desk. Nya looked up from her task in horror.

“I’m so sorry Lloyd, I didn’t know-“ “Nya, please focus on your task,” P.I.X.A.L. cut her off before she could begin crying. She felt bad, but what’s done was done. Blocking Lloyd from’s Nya’s view, P.I.X.A.L. picked up a pair of tweezers before picking up the small pieces. But the large piece of metal stuck in his shoulder blades- Pixal had to cut Lloyd’s skin to get that out. Eyes narrowing, hardening her resolve- P.I.X.A.L. lightly cut Lloyd’s skin using the scalpel before pulling up a long shard of bloodied glass. Picking up some of the unused water, P.I.X.A.L. quickly cleared Lloyd and the flat-surfaced of their blood. Applying pressure to those wounds would be hard from this angle, so after disinfecting the openings, P.I.X.A.L. took several rolls of bandages before tying them around Lloyd’s chest. Not too tightly, that would further bruise his ribs- but tight enough to ensure a sense of security and staunch the oozing bleeding.

“Zane, do you have an oxygen filter?” Nya asked, having been satisfied by the cleanliness of the tubing. Sanitising her metallic hands, P.I.X.AL. heard Zane sigh before declining.

“I do. Mr Borg wanted us to be at least a little environmentally friendly, given that the Nindroids would be using large amounts of energy every day. So I can filter out excess greenhouse gases in the air and store them in their solid form before giving the raw materials back to Borg Industries,” P.I.X.A.L. offered.

“You’re a lifesaver Pix,” Nya said in relief, handing P.I.X.A.L. the tubing. P.I.X.A.L. smiled. She supposed that she actually was. Opening Lloyd Garmadon’s mouth, P.I.X.A.L. inserted the tubing down his throat with NIndroid precision. Connecting the end to her oxygen filter, P.I.X.A.L. adjusted the settings so that she was inputting air composing of at least 60% oxygen into young Garmadon’s lungs.

As Zane finished applying some frost to Lloyd’s burns, the 3 of them stood there and watched as Lloyd breathed in and out.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’ll go find what the guys have been doing,” Nya informed their group. “I too will go into the village, but to ensure that we have permission to stay here for the night,” Zane stated, giving a nod to P.I.X.A.L., before walking away into the dusk, right hand locked and useless.

P.I.X.A.L., knowing that she can’t really move, sat next to Lloyd Garmadon as she watched the campfire grow as shrieks from the ninja team rose. At the end of today, all P.I.X.A.L. wanted to do was to just shut down and recharge. She knows she doesn’t need to know that she had half of Zane’s heart (which just skipped another beat for some unknown reason), but all she wants was a break.

Too bad that being a ninja means that you don’t really get to choose when to stop. P.I.X.A.L. thought to herself.

But at least today, I’ve proved my usefulness. I can repay Zane for his heart.

- Kai - Having been stuck alone, disassembled and scrapped, P.I.X.A.L. found that she really, really missed the Ninja team. She also missed Zane, though he was in a cell next to hers. He’s been offline for such a long time, P.I.X.A.L. had fears that he would never wake up.

But he did. And the ninja had rescued them from Chen. But along the way, they had lost Sensei Garmadon, and the year apart had caused some major issues.

Kai doesn’t know that they’re here. But he shouldn’t be here either after Zane had ordered that everyone go to rest after this long day. Still, the glint of red from his eyes even scared P.I.X.A.L., but she would never tell anyone that. She watched as Kai shredded the bandages he wrapped around his hands by destroying a metal training dummy, before turning around to wrap some more.

“Why is he doing that?” P.I.X.A.L. wondered from inside Zane’s head. Zane started whispering, “He… has some anger issues.”

“I get that Zane, I mean why’s he wrapping his hands in bandages?” P.I.X.A.L. corrected herself. Zane quirked an eyebrow but continued with answering P.I.X.A.L.’s questions. “Well, martial artists wear hand wraps and bandages because they can prevent injuries and improve the power of their punches. Wraps and bandages also protect the martial artist’s skin and soften the impact on hard surfaces.”

“I see,” P.I.X.A.L. stated whilst both of them cringed, as Kai delivered a particularly hard blow to the metallic dummy that Zane was supposed to fight with.

“KAI, PLEASE SHUT UP!” came Jay’s voice from down the corridor, moving closer towards them. Zane and P.I.X.A.L. watched in apprehension as Kai breathed heavily, staring down the metallic dummy before all the tension from his shoulders sagged.

The Nindroids watched as Kai cleaned up the training room and head out to use the bathroom to wash up.

“He’s being too hard on himself for the death of Lloyd’s father,” P.I.X.AL. commented blandly. Zane shifted from his position. “I’m afraid that that’s not the only reason. Do you remember Jay telling us that Kai had almost killed both Lloyd and Skylor using Chen’s staff?” P.I.X.A.L. stayed silent.

Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.

- Jay - It was only a few days after Master Wu had been lost in time. Whilst the Ninja team were recuperating and in shock, Pixal has been remotely using Samurai X to patrol the cities whilst maintaining in the current Ninja’s headquarters- the electronic system of Yang’s temple. P.I.X.AL. had really wanted to go full into Samurai X, but she knew that she could not just desert her teammates at this moment. But there wasn’t much she could do, other than counting reps for Lloyd. (You skipped a number, I know what you’re doing Pix, and I ain’t gonna stop training-) helping Jay prepare breakfast (Jay! The pancakes are burning!) or accompanying Zane as he retrieved bits and pieces from all the fighting. (Someone has to clean up Ninjago city, and I guess that that would be me and Samurai X.)

P.I.X.A.L. knew that she shouldn’t be keeping Samurai X a secret, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a strange sense of duty, and the ability to finally be on the front lines, fighting the same enemies as Zane. And she wanted some secrets to herself.

Still, it surprised her when Jay had demanded her full attention during one of her free times.

“Hey, umm… Pix? Do you- do you think you could maybe check out my left eye?” Jay stammered whilst twiddling his fingers. Pixal was curious, but she’s already moved to Jay’s laptop. “Why do you ask so? Did your eye get hit sometime recently?”

Jay had flinched at the word ‘hit’, but shook his head at the word ‘recently’. Huh. Maybe it was phantom pains? Still, Pixal had run a diagnostic on it.

“I can’t seem to find any physical abnormalities, but if this is a case of phantom pain, over the counter pain relievers should work.”

Jay nodded whilst his eyes were blank seemingly off to another world or lost in his memories.

“Jay? Jay, can you hear me?” Pixal once again ran a diagnostic scan. It seems that Jay was slipping into dissociation. Dimming the lights in his room as well as all the screens the blue ninja had put into his room. Pixal started playing a calm Ninjago lofi mix from the speaker she was in. She gently called Jay’s name and he slipped back into reality.

“Jay, just take 2 doses of ibuprofen. They’re at the lowest shelf at the kitchen counter. If it hurts again, tell me and we’ll bring you to a professional.”

Jay who was nodding at the instructions froze at the thought of being taken to the hospital. Still, he slid off his bed and made his way downstairs. Pixal filtered through the electronic system of the temple, landing new the smart fridge and watched as Jay swallowed 2 pills dry.

It seemed to create some results because Jay stopped shivering and shaking. Pixal wondered if that was just a placebo or an actual effect. Still, watching Jay’s face relax in bliss, free from whatever pain that was bothering him, Pixal knew that she made the right call.

- Nya - S9, fight with SOG

It had been brutal. Pixal was just treating the training injuries Lloyd had when Skylor came into the noodle house, helping Nya to walk as her left arm dangled without any purpose. Immediately, Pixal stood up and took quick strides, scanning Nya for all her injuries.

“We were getting supplies when a bunch of Harumi’s goons jumped on us, we had to be quick so that none of them could call up for back up, when-“ “When- fuck, when this dude pulled out a fucking gun,” Nya said, pained and heaving as Skylor slowly helped her to sit on the training mat.

“So you were shot?” Lloyd’s voice came from behind Pixal as he took the medkit to the mat. Nya eyes looked everywhere but at him. Gesturing to her limp and bleeding arm, she gave up all her dignity. “Yeah, right here.”

“Okay, Nya, here, take these.” Lloyd handed her 2 tablets of ibuprofen and a cup of water. “W-what? No, I can’t take these!” Nya hissed in pain.

“Yes, you can!” “What if we need them later? What if one of us loses an arm or something happens where we have a worse injury?” “That does not matter, Nya. Look, I’ve been shot in Ninjago city before, I know how it feels.”

Pixal immediately flashes back to the nights where she had to help Lloyd through a computer screen, and her metallic fingers curled up. It was horrible, watching him choking down painkillers before trying to pull the bullet out himself. Never again.

“Nya, it would be alright, just take these- we can always go out to get more,” Pixal tried coaxing Nya to just swallow the pills.

“Take them or I’ll force you to take them, Water Ninja.” Skylor admonished. With the combined strength of their motley crew of 3, Nya hesitantly reached for the medicine, almost choking as she had swallowed too much water at one go.

“Okay, good, now we just need to pull the bullet out,” Lloyd reached into the medkit, pulling out a pair of tweezers. Pixal watched as his hands, fatigued from all the trains, couldn’t stop shaking.

“Wait, Lloyd, let me see if the bullet should be removed at all.” Pixal interrupted, taking a more in-depth scan at Nya’s shoulder. In the meantime, Lloyd started to check through Skylor, who said that he was all clear except for a few knuckle bruises. Of course, Pixal would check on her later, but now she had to make sure that Nya would be alright.

“The bullet has missed your major arteries and it actually isn’t in too deep, possibly because of the protection offered by your suit-“ “Just tell me when you’re gonna remove it!” Nya snapped as her brow furrowed in anticipation. “Well, let’s see… first, we need to remove the clothing around the area of the wound, which-“

“AHH!” Nya shrieked as Pixal twisted and pulled out the bullet without any warning. “Sorry Nya, sometimes fear of a thing could be greater than the actual danger that it poses,” Pixal explained as Nya stared at her with a look that could only scream betrayal.

Dropping the bullet to the ground, Pixal took up some disinfectant and sanitised the area around the entry wound. Nya hissed as Pixal gently presses a cotton gauze to stop the bleeding before finally applying some sort of disinfectant cream. She finished off the wound with a bandage around Nya’s arm, with extra padding using gauze at the point where the wound is at.

“Alright, so now you should not move this arm too much for the next few days, and in the next few weeks, you would not be able to raise it over your shoulder. But in a few months, you can use it again and in a year it would be pretty much healed up so that you may do your weight lifting sessions with- with Cole again…” Pixal said, starting brightly but dropping to a small whisper.

The mood suddenly went from cheery to depressive. “Remember to take lots of rest,” Pixal finished lamely. As Lloyd escorted Nya to the sleeping bags they had gathered, Skylor picked up the bullet Pixal had removed.

“Girl, you were quite mean back there,” Skylor began. “And I think that you’re cool. One problem- the pharmacies have not been able to continue business as normal. All the drugs have to be given to the Sons of Garmadon. In the meantime, all supply chains are disrupted. Over the counter medicine won’t be so easy to find. “

Pixal kept quiet. “Well, I’ll have to keep this bullet as a souvenir for Nya. FSM knows that she deserves this.”

Of course, the bullet would be lost later as they were hunted down throughout the city. But every time Nya changed into her swimsuit, Pixal could see the bullet wound. The scarring left wasn’t pretty, but Pixal thought that the courage Nya showed made her the most beautiful woman she’ll ever have the chance to meet.

- Cole- Cole was alive. Cole was alive!

Pixal watched as the Ninja went into a momentary stop before cheering and becoming more alive. She saw Nya pass the Scythe of Earth to Cole, who promptly swung it into the oncoming Oni. Pixal was trying her best to fend off the Oni herself, but her mind, or rather, motherboard, was spinning really, really fast. How did Cole survive? It should have been impossible!

Pixal heard that Cole justify his survival, stating that the Oni clouds must have broken his fall. He didn’t know how he wasn’t attacked at first, but many tendrils then came to attack him.

Still, this was impossible for Pixal to figure out. Was it because Cole had been a ghost? Maybe it was his elemental power protecting him? Or perhaps it was divine intervention? Either way, Pixal was going o scan him later if there was even a later.

“Watch out!” Pixal saw a blast of green hit the Oni in front of her. I can’t afford to get lost in thought now! Come on Samurai X, focus! She chided to herself.

Yet, as the battle once again turned tides, and the elemental masters got together to do the Tornado of Creation, Pixal watched from her position behind the holding doors to see Lloyd Garmadon get thrown out of the tornado, hitting his head with an earth-shattering crack as he collapsed against the walls of the monastery before debris-covered him.

Frantically approaching him, Pixal saw out of the corner of her eye that the rest of the ninja were left dizzy, exhausted, and possibly some having passed out. That was alright. It was time for her to do her duty anyways.

However, whilst lifting slabs of concrete, Pixal felt her heart drop. The calculated survival rate of the impact sent shivers down Pixal’s circuits as the percentage just kept. Dropping. Lower.

Heaving the last piece of concrete off the young bearer of green power, Pixal heard her teammates rushing into the scene. She could have warned them, said something, said anything. But her joints were frozen in place with something much colder than what her sensors had detected when she went into the Oni cloud.

The motley crew, now only 5, took the last piece of debris off from their teammate.

“Lloyd. Buddy, wake up,” Kai pleaded, desperate. “He-He's not moving!” Nya exclaimed, voice shaking as tears start to form. She looked at Pixal, asking for anything, anything at all. “Someone find Wu. Where’s Wu?” Cole ordered.

In no time, Master Wu arrived and lifted Lloyd’s arm, checking his pulse. He would find nothing there.

“You can do something, right? Right?!” Jay panicked. With a defeated look that Pixal knows is mirrored in her eyes, Wu shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to be done.” Nya finally cries out, sobbing. “Oh, Lloyd!”

PIxal wanted to cry as well, but she never could. When rebuilding her body, she had used the same blueprints that Cyrus Borg had with some upgrades. One thing she didn’t consider adding was the ability to cry because there wasn’t any time. She had to save Lloyd from the vermillion. But what she can’t save Lloyd from, was from an early- early- d… fate.

There’s nothing Pixal could do. And she felt hopeless.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Garmadon backed away from their small group, and in a flash, she felt her wires burning. She couldn’t just let him leave. Not after what he’s done.

Yet, just as she was about to boost straight towards the Oni and tackle him off the mountain, Lloyd started to cough. Lloyd. Started to cough.

Whipping around to see a golden petal float away, she watched the team cheer as Lloyd started to breathe. How- this was impossible! Pixal almost short-circuited from shock. There had been no way! No way! She didn’t even go through all 5 stages of grief yet.

And not too soon, Lloyd woke up from a sleep that she was sure that he never would.

Catching him mumbling something about the First Spinjitzu Master, Pixal smiled. Divine intervention had definitely happened at least once today. The first time being….

“Cole, please come with me to the med bay,” Pixal requested with a smile. Divine intervention or not, five-sixths of the Ninja team knows how to hide a serious injury, and she had to be certain. Cole, who looked shopped, resigned himself and walked with Pixal o the medical centre. For now, she trusted that Zane was doing all the scans that he could to make sure that Lloyd was right in the head, and sought out to take care of her own, albeit selfish, worries.

Scanning Cole on both sides, Pixal noticed a particular bad bruise on Cole’s spine. Yet falling from that height and the fact that Cole isn’t paralysed due to spinal injury made Pixal reaffirm her theories that the First Spinjitsu Master was alive, just in another realm.

“You know, Lloyd might have actually seen the First Spinjitsu Master,” Pixal began, which led Cole to choke on the water he was ordered to drink. “No way, he must have just hit his head hard…”

“I’m sorry Cole, but the injuries you have is comparable to sleeping on a rock hard bed for one night, not falling from a height of 500m, even if your fall was broken by the Oni cloud, you should still have been paralysed,” Pixal explained.

“So God is real and Lloyd’s sharing a fourth of his blood? Neat! Next time tell him to not scare us with a fake-out,” Cole brushed it off.

At this time Pixal was about the shutdown and delve deep into theorising. Lloyd technically had a fourth of his grandfather’s blood and possessed the same power, could he possible have powers that control life and death-

Yet, she watched as a steady stream of Ninja enter the medbay, and resolved her thoughts to her inner GPU. She can think later. For now, she had to make sure that everyone is okay, and everyone will be okay. Even if she threatens Loyd to shave his head so she can get a better look at his skull, to which a chase around the monastery ensued. Her family was alright for now, and the concerning mortality of humans was left deep in the recesses of her mind.

- Zane - Too soon, Pixal had to face her own mortality. Being a Nindroid, her lifespan would naturally be much longer than a Ninja’s. But she still could be erased, dismantled, destroyed, sent to another realm-

The days waiting for the group of 6, not 5, to come back were some of the hardest. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to shut down, lie on her bed and stare into the picture they had taken on their first date, Pixal knew that the team was entrusting her to keep Ninjago safe. Even if it means recapturing escaped convicts. Even if it means fighting the… undead-dead Preeminent (Pixal still hasn’t figured out how she worked). And they had to find ways to reach the Never Realm, by going through different infusions of travellers tea.

Yet, all the waiting and longing was worth it. Pixal prefers a Zane stuck in another realm for 40 years as to no Zane. There was no other choice. Yet, as she sees her loved ones trudging out of the frosty realm, some of them had worst frost bites than others. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to smother Zane in a hug, she can see the edges of Lloyd’s skin turning a deep, dark black. From the corner of her eyes, she can see Nya taking care of Cole whilst Jay and Kai attempt to remove the ice from everyone else, including lubricating Zane’s frosted joins. She had not a single moment to lose. This kind of frostbite was not exactly lethal immediately, but losing limbs could mean the end of Lloyd’s ninja career. So calling everyone to attention, she went all in to salvaging Lloyd’s limbs, doing everything she could.

Later that night, Pixal spotted Zane wandering around the outskirts of the monastery whilst the Ninja finish up dinner. She watched as Zane’s hands gripped the staff so tight that the wood would be snapping in 3…2…1.

A harsh crack and splinters flying out later, Pixal could see the shaking in Zane’s hands as he cursed, something that the Zane she knew never would.

For her, it had been a hellish week. But for Zane? It must have been a hellish 40 years.

“…Zane?” Pixal called out from the monastery doors. Zane immediately whipped around before pointing the tip of the staff towards her, to which Pixal reflectively grabbed. Zane, eyes widening in shock and horror, immediately released his grip on the now shorter staff, before turning around, trying to run away. Pixal won’t let that happen.

“Zane,” Pixal said once again, hand now gripping onto the collar of Zane’s Gi. “Please don’t run away from me.”

Zane, froze, hands twitching before dropping them to his side. Pixal released her grip before tapping Zane on the shoulder, asking him to turn around.

“Pixal, I’m- I’m sorry…I just can’t- I can’t trust myself right now,” Zane vented out hands fidgeting with each other. Pixal smiled sadly. She knew that not everything could go back to normal so fast, but still, she had hoped that it would have been easier than this. “If you don’t trust yourself right now, why not spend some time with me?”

“Pixal- I…I could hurt you-“ “Yes you can, but don’t think that I can’t protect myself,” Pixal snapped back whilst carefully reaching to hold Zane’s hands. Once she made contact, Zane flinched back, before slowly reciprocating the action. “C’mon Zane, let’s go back into the monastery-“

“No!” Zane protested, wrenching Pixal back. Pixal clasped her other hand on top of Zane’s. “Not to the dining room. I’m thinking med bay.”

Pixal could see Zane’s processing unit cycle through his thoughts, noticing that it had considerable frost damage. Before long, Zane nodded his head, allowing Pixal to pull him into the light.

Opening the cupboards, Pixal took out a few rolls of bandages before carefully wrapping them around Zane’s hands. The ice ninja watched with curiosity as Pixal carefully finished tying and tightening the strips of cloth.

“Why are you doing this? You and I both know that Nindroids don’t need bandages,” Zane asked. Pixal smiled, looking at Zane’s now steadier hands. “Maybe bandages can’t fix our metal skin, but it still makes us feel better.”

Zane paused, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how you’re right PIx, but they do make me feel more sure that my powers won’t hurt anyone accidentally. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get back to dinner, we have some desserts to bring out.”

Bandages. As much as PIxal uses them and finds them efficient, she can’t help but hope that team doesn’t need to use as many. But this time, t’s just a trip to a legendary city full of peace and prosperity. Maybe this time, Pixal doesn’t need to bandage their wounds away.

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libsterslobsters · 3 years

Text

Whole Lotta Love

Synopsis: For some people, Valentine’s Day is another word for "stress", especially when you don't know what the other person is expecting. Several years into their relationship, Bucky’s pretty sure he has a good understanding of the Reader, until a word from Sam makes him question everything he thinks he knows. The race is on to make their first Valentine’s Day since saying their vows a special one, but as per usual, fate has it's own ideas about what will make the holiday truly memorable

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem! Enhanced! Super-soldier Reader

(Reader can see bits and pieces of the future in visions as well as speak every language)

Warnings: Smut, Fluff

Author's note: This fic contains references to earlier stories. For more information, click the series masterlist link. As always, the reader is unnamed so that this can be read as a self-insert, but at this point, I think of her as an OC.

The song referenced is Hearts Don't Break Around Here by Ed Sheeran

Series Masterlist

A The Song Remains The Same Fic

---------‐-----------------------------------

“So, Valentine’s Day.”

Bucky doesn’t look up from his laptop (or more specifically, the field report he’s typing) at Sam’s words. Despite his concentration, he can tell that his partner is staring at him, boring holes into his back with his gaze.

“Uh-huh.” He’s listening, but so far, he doesn’t care.

“What are you doing for it?” For Valentine’s day? Um…

“Not much.” It’s a Tuesday this year, right? Then probably working, like most other people, he’d imagine.

The room is silent as he types, so Bucky assumes that settles the matter. That is, until Sam mutters a quiet, “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“About what?” How many paragraphs does he have to type before he can pass this off as a full report? When he joined the Avengers, he thought the hardest part of his job would be the bad guy of the week, not doing paperwork!

“You’re really not doing anything for Valentine’s Day? Seriously?” He nods absentmindedly and clicks the save icon. He’ll finish this tomorrow. It’s five o’clock. Time to head home. Home to-

“What’s your wife gonna think about that?” He shrugs and cuts the power to the laptop.

“She thinks that the whole holiday is a rip-off. See you Monday?” He turns around for confirmation, only to catch Sam staring at him, mouth hanging wide open. “What?”

“A rip-off?” Is he just going to be stuck repeating himself?

“Yep.” Told him that the first February 14th they spent together.

“And you actually believed her?”

He nods. “She’s not one to lie.”

Sam nods incredulously. “Uh-huh. And are you planning to ever have sex again?”

He’s not going to dignify that with an answer (because really, isn’t it obvious?).

“Fine.” Sam shrugs. “You do you, man. All I’m saying is, if I had a wife who looked like that-” he indicates the lock screen of Bucky’s phone (a picture of her laughing, telling him to put away the damn camera after wrestling the dog for the tie to her favorite robe). “-I’d have my V-day plans set up a month in advance.”

Normally Bucky would take what Sam says with a grain of salt, but he is after all a man out of time, so maybe it’s worth considering that his partner may be right.

“What would you suggest I do?”

“Outside of the bedroom?” He narrows his eyes at the Falcon. “Okay, bad joke.” Sam scratches at the back of his head, thinking. “I don’t know, man. That’s your girl. You know her best, but flowers are always a good place to start.” Good to know that hasn’t changed since the 1940s. Although, last time he brought her flowers, she spent the afternoon sneezing until he eventually convinced her that it was okay, he wouldn’t be offended, she should throw the damn things out. Then again, that was before she was a super soldier.

“Flowers.” He repeats, earning a nod from Sam.

“You can get creative. Do a little research. But I’m just saying, when a woman waits five years for you to reappear, the least she deserves is a few flowers.” On that, they can agree.

He must bid Sam some sort of goodbye and make his way through the Avengers compound, but he’s unaware of anything until he’s in the parking lot, sitting behind the wheel of his car, googling “What to do for your wife on Valentine’s Day.” There’s a web page that boasts twenty different selections. Might as well give it a look.

___________________________________________________________________________________

She’s nearly home when her phone dings with a text from Barnes. “Just got in. Forgot to get milk. Can you swing by on your way, or should I go to the gas station and pick up a gallon?” A frown forms on her face. It’s pretty rare that Bucky forgets things. Must’ve been a hell of a day at work, then. Either that, or his brain has completely turned to mush thanks to typing out field reports. Either way-

“I got it. See you in twenty.” She thinks about tacking on a “love you”, but the light turns green before she can.

The grocery store is packed thanks to so many people getting off work. There’s only three carts left, all with bad wheels. She chooses the least squeaky option and, grabbing an add on her way, heads into the grocery store. Milk, and if she remembers right from this morning, they’re running dangerously low on coffee and tea. Despite caffeine having absolutely no effect on their enhanced bodies, both of them are nightmares to be around in the mornings without their beverages of choice. Force of habit and all.

She’s halfway to the checkout when she sees it. A sign, decorated in garish shades of red, pink, and purple. “All Valentine’s Day chocolates 10% off.” Shit. Yeah, that is coming up. To tell the truth, she’d completely forgot all about that day halfway through February. For most of her life, it only meant giving homemade cards at school when most kids had store-bought. Then, once she reached adulthood, it was a reminder that she was destined to be alone. Who would want someone who’s on the run, and what’s more, sees the future? Once she and Barnes got together, it didn’t change much. That first Valentine’s Day, he mentioned the holiday, and she shut it down immediately. They were both broke (or at least, he had no legitimate way of making money while she was broke), and celebrating a mostly commercial holiday seemed like a waste. Plus, she didn’t want to put a strain on a new relationship. Over the years, the subject never came up again, and she’s content for it to stay a non-starter, thank you very much. In her opinion, you should show your partner you love them every day of the year, not shoe-horn it into one twenty-four hour period. Call her unromantic if you must.

She’s completely immune to the various displays of cheap chocolate in heart-shaped boxes and overly sentimental cards as she approaches the register and starts to unload her items. Milk. Tea. That one specific brand of coffee that he likes because, “It tastes like what we drank in basic training. Terrible, but I kinda got used to it, so now everything else tastes like it’s trying too hard.” whatever that means. He’s right; she’s tasted it, and it’s fucking awful. Still, every morning, he drinks at least three cups while she drains her pot of tea.

“You got a hot date for Valentine’s Day, hun?” The cashier asks her, never breaking her rhythm as she rings up the items.

She chuckles. “As a matter of fact, yes.” The cashier’s eye go wide, and she holds up her left hand. “And every other day.”

“Ooh, nice. How long have you been together?”

“Nine years.” Wait… “Or four years, depending on which of us you ask. He blipped, I stayed.”

The cashier nods. “So are you older than him now?”

Physically? They’re not completely sure, but if you calculate the times he was off the ice with HYDRA and add that to the age he was before the serum, then they’re not far off. But chronologically- “No, he’s still older.” And yes, it will always be funny that Sam responds with “Okay, boomer” whenever Bucky makes an outdated reference (even if he’s off by a good twenty years).

With a little more light chatter, she pays for her items and leaves. Now, for home.

As soon as she opens the front door, she’s greeted by their dog, Sarge, barking excitedly and hopping around like he’s on a trampoline despite missing a leg. Bucky’s not far behind, placing a quick peck on her forehead before taking the bags from her and unloading them in the kitchen. Tonight’s his night to cook, but unless her nose has suddenly decided to give out, he hasn’t started dinner yet. She doesn’t mind taking over tonight, and when he sheepishly apologizes while she begins her preparations, she brushes it off. Although, for the second time in an hour, she’s seen proof of his unusual absentmindedness. Oh well. She’ll ask him about it later.

Despite being relieved from tonight’s chef duties, Bucky stays in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar scrolling through his phone as she cooks. His expression is neutral, which can mean one of two things; a) he’s just killing time and there aren’t any interesting posts or articles vying for his attention, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, b) he’s deep in thought, possibly angry, sad, or even frightened, but he’s gone into Winter Soldier mode and shut down so that she won’t pick up on his mood. Damn the man and his poker face.

Eventually dinner is served and she sends him off toward the fridge in search of two beers while she serves their plates. Just as she’s spooning a generous helping of salad into her bowl, it happens. A vision, but a limited one. All she’s seeing is a phone. Well, that and the hand holding it. She’s not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed that she immediately recognizes the hand as Bucky’s, but that goes by the wayside as she takes in the article he’s reading. “Should you do something for Valentine’s Day even is she says no?” It’s a thread on some anonymous discussion board. The reply that has his attention is in reference to a now divorced individual who “was dumb enough to believe that, on our first V-Day as a married couple, she didn’t want anything.” Oh boy. Not good. This will be their first Valentine’s Day since exchanging vows, and if the fact that he’s read this reply (if not already read, will read soon) means that it’s at least crossed his radar that she might be feeding him bullshit. That’s not the case, but after his research, she knows from experience that no matter how much she tries to convince him otherwise, a small part of his mind will be stuck on, “But what if this is a big deal?” Which means-

“Doll, are you just gonna stand there with the salad tongs in your hand?” That snaps her out of it.

“No. Just a vision.” He frowns as she passes him his plate.

“Anything important happen?” Should she say?

“No.” She’s not sure if the smile or not, so she takes a bite from her roll to cover it. “Random sneak peek.” It’s not a lie. What she saw really isn’t important. Still, if he’s in that mindset, she should probably go on and do something for him just in case. After all, why should it only be the ladies who reap this holiday’s benefits?

___________________________________________________________________________________

Not flowers. That’s the one thing that, after copious amounts of research Bucky is one hundred percent certain about. They may still be a common romantic gift, but since they were also a go-to back when he was courting girls in the 1940s, it’s safe to say they’ve been overdone. Plus, he doesn’t really want to remind her of that time she had such a severe allergic reaction to the flowers he picked her on a walk through the park in Bucharest that her eyes nearly swelled shut and she sneezed herself sick. That doesn’t exactly seem like prime romance.

Chocolates or other candies have the same issues as flowers. Contrived and predictable. A bottle of wine is nice, but neither of them can so much as get mildly tipsy thanks to the super serum. The fourteenth is his day to cook, so he guesses he could do some reading and try to create something a little more special than spaghetti (he thought about going to a nice restaurant for dinner, but there’s a few issues with that, not the least of which is they’re likely to be recognized without their disguises, and he’d rather not look at his wife through sunglasses on Valentine’s day), but that seems a little underwhelming.

As he loads the dishwasher (she fell asleep half-way through the third episode of whichever nonsensical comedy they’re watching this week, so he sneaked back downstairs to clean up the dinner dishes), he thinks back to the dozen separate articles he read on the subject of Valentine’s Day gifts. Jewelry was a common theme, but that’s out. She’ll say thank you to his face, but worry about the cost behind his back. Plus, he has absolutely no idea what she’d like, and there’s no sense in purchasing something only for her to hate it.

Another common one was lingerie. Bucky almost choked on his tongue when he saw some of the examples given with that option. None of it looked comfortable (in fact, he’s still scratching his head about how you even put on one of the pieces that popped up on the web page) and he doesn’t want to give her the impression that she has to dress up for him. Even putting all that aside, he has no idea what size she’d even wear. He likes to think that he knows his wife pretty well, but somehow, in all their years together, it never occurred to him to ask her for her clothing sizes. That, and have you even seen the bra sizing system? Does it make sense to anyone, because to Bucky, it’s all gibberish. 32 B? 36 DD? What the hell? Somehow, when HYDRA was training him to extract information, they failed to go over the translation of a woman’s bra size. He supposes he could ask, but he’s not sure there’s a non-suspicious way to work, “Hey, sweetheart. What size are your breasts?” into casual conversation.

Sam said to get creative, so he tried to think outside the box. What’s something she really needs? A new vacuum cleaner is the first thing to come to mind, but he’s not stupid enough to think that would make a good gift. He knows she’s had her eye on a set of throwing stars, but that doesn’t seem to correlate well with what this holiday is all about. That’ll keep until her birthday.

He’s still wracking his brain for anything at all that might work when he feels a wet nose poking at his hand. Sarge. “Hey, boy. Has your mom gone to bed?” The response is a quiet “woof” and lick to his palm. He scratches the mutt behind the ears, smiling to himself as Sarge’s back leg thumps at the treatment.

“What do you think we should get our girl? Huh?” There’s no reply (of course not, he’s talking to a dog), but he nods, pretending all the same that Sarge has offered up a suggestion. “A bone. Yeah, somehow I don’t think that’s her thing. Try again.” The dog blinks at him lazily. “No, you’re the one who wants new tennis balls. Not Mom. Although you’re right about her liking peanut butter.” At this rate, he might as well get her a bone and some tennis balls, because he’s sure not coming up with any ideas.

She likes music. The thought pops into his head while he’s brushing his teeth. All sorts of music. Over the years, he’s tried to make sense of the songs he’s heard her listen to, but has yet to find a discernible pattern in her listening habits. She doesn’t seem to stick to just one genre or era. More like she picks songs by how they relate to what she’s feeling at the moment. Wait a second-

“A mixtape.” His reflection mouths the words back at him. Despite technology having moved on from the days of burning CDs, she still has a thick stack of the disks stored in a cabinet and plays them on the regular. He’s even seen a few that she made herself, pasting together the songs she likes to make a “Cleaning mix”, “Workout Mix” and “Pissed off Mix”. Bucky’s sure he could figure out how to burn a CD, but it’s not like she’d be able to listen to that everywhere she went. That leaves a playlist. She uses one of those apps to listen to music on her phone, right? Surely he can put something together for her using that.

Quietly, he climbs into bed next to his sleeping wife and pulls her back against his chest, slinging one arm over her waist as usual. He closes his eyes, but his mind is alight with activity. A playlist. Of course. He’ll put some extra effort into whatever he cooks that night, stop by a bakery and pick up some sweet treats for dessert. Hell, maybe they’ll both dress up and act like they’re on a date. Then, once they’re sitting down to their meal, he’ll pull out his phone and hit play. It’s perfect. At least, he hopes it is.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Putting on a lacy bra and panties set underneath her regular work attire seemed like a brilliant idea this morning. Today’s a short day; she’s only got three classes to teach, and Rhodey called last night to tell Bucky that he’s suspending work hours at three pm “Since most people have holiday preparations to make.” Her plan was to be waiting on the sofa in the living room when he arrives home, professional button-down blouse open just enough for him to get a good look at what’s underneath, pencil skirt pushed up enough to reveal the stockings and garters she’s donned for the occasion. It’s fun, with just enough cheesiness to match this whole holiday. And, well, it’s a guarantee that by the end of the night they’ll be in bed together, both rumpled, sweaty, and satisfied. Perfect, right?

Wrong. On her drive to work, her skimpy underwear began to ride up, giving her a wedgie, and there was no way to adjust without running the risk of wrecking. She was so distracted by her discomfort that she missed her exit, and by the time she arrived at the college, she was running so behind that she didn’t get the chance to run to the bathroom and readjust. Her lecture on sentence diagrams was pure torture before the underwire from her bra decided to join in the fun and poke her directly in the ribs, but with that addition, she was especially impatient with her students’ tendency to joke around a little too much in class.

Luckily, she had just enough time to wrap the exposed metal bit in tissues before her next class, which eliminated the pain in her chest, but did nothing to alleviate the discomfort once her stockings began to slide down, having at some point disconnected themselves from the garters. She taught like that for the next two classes, but as soon as they were over, she pealed the whole ensemble off in the teacher’s restroom and changed into her gym clothes. Alright, screw the whole seduction routine. She needs to blow off some steam and fast, or else she’ll be in a bad mood all night.

That’s why, thirty minutes later, she finds herself in the training room of the Avengers compound, working over a punching bag. “Fuck-” Her fist connects, making the bag swing crazily from it’s hook. “-this- whole- day!” It goes sailing, and she feels a little better.

“Ouch!” The voice comes from behind her and she whirls around, gaze resting on-

“Sam.” The man in question holds up his hands in an “I surrender” gesture.

“Don’t shoot! I come in peace.” Rolling her eyes, she holds up her middle finger, receiving a snicker in acknowledgment.

“Just working off a little frustration before I head home.”

“Good.” Sam chuckles. “’cause otherwise, I’d be worried that when Barnes pulls out his dick tonight, you’ll bite it off.” She thinks about telling him that there’s no chance of that, but she might just cut off his if he crosses her. However, that jogs her memory.

“Has he left yet?” Sam nods.

“About an hour ago. Said he had to pick up groceries.” Shit. There goes her plan to shower, throw the damn lingerie back on and proceed as planned.

Bidding Sam a hasty reply, she makes tracks towards her car and, once inside, heads for home. Fine. New plan. She’ll shower once she arrives and then when the evening is drawing to a close, wait for him in bed. Nodding to herself, she puts the car in park and climbs out. Now, to psych herself up enough in the next few hours to put the damn lingerie back on.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Where did he go wrong? It takes all of Bucky’s self control not to spit out the spoonful of sauce he just tasted. This was supposed to be an easy recipe for Chicken Alfredo (or at least, that’s what the website boasted; he should’ve known better than to get his information from the internet and stuck to a good old-fashioned cookbook from the library). Not… whatever the hell this is. Maybe even if the sauce is nauseating, the chicken is okay?

He pulls open the oven door, and immediately smoke billows out, making his eyes water. Okay, chicken’s a little well-done. Who is he kidding? Black. The chicken is burned black. And the pasta… he lifts the pot lid and stirs, only to come to the realization that the pasta is completely stuck to the bottom of the pot. Wonderful.

It’s inevitable; over the years, he’s had his fair share of cooking disasters, but usually he does okay. Tonight though… who the hell up there did he piss off, because the only explanation for how badly this is going is his karma coming due.

Still holding the offending spoon, he looks over at Sarge, who’s staring at him, long pink tongue sticking out as he pants. “Trust me, boy. You don’t want any of this.” There has to be something else he can pull together on short notice. Normally he’d be worried that she’s running late without so much as a text, but today he’s relieved. At least if she’s running behind he’ll have time to… what? Maybe order takeout? Before she gets-

“I’m home.” Shit.

Sarge yips, shaking with excitement, and starts towards the kitchen door, then turns back, uncertain. “Go on. I know you’re dying to jump on her and lick her face.” Something they really should be training out of him because he’s getting too big for that sort of behaviour but, well… there’s a reason they call them “puppy dog eyes.”

Not needing to be coaxed, the dog takes off, tripping a little in the momentary lapse in his memory that he’s a tripod, but easily catches himself and goes on his merry way, leaving Bucky to clean up his mess. From the sound of things, a game of fetch is going on in the living room, so she should be distracted for a while.

He manages to pour the sauce down the drain and scrape most of the pasta into the trash while Sarge is acting as a decoy, but there’s absolutely no way he can dispose of the chicken without tipping her off (damn enhanced senses, it’s a wonder she hasn’t already smelled it). Finally, he decides to just go for it. She’s going to notice whether he throws it out now or two hours from now. Might as well get a head start on cleaning.

Sure enough, not ten seconds after he empties out the oven, he catches a movement in his peripheral vision, and the familiar sound of her breathing tips him off that he’s no longer alone.

“Hey, Doll.”

“Hey, Bucky. Did something burn in here, or-” He holds up the pan for her inspection before continuing his scraping.

“That’s one way to put it, yeah.” He slams the lid back on the trashcan and turns on the tap, intent on rinsing out the pan. “Another is whoever the god of culinary arts is has it in for me today.”

She chuckles. “You know, that would be funnier if we didn’t actually know a god.”

“Yeah, but he’s in control of thunder.” He meets her eyes, smirking slightly. “Although it did look like I electrocuted the bird.” Her lips quirk up into a smile, and he takes the opportunity to kiss her, cupping the back of her head gently to hold her in place when she tries to move away, muttering something about being sweaty.

He’s not entirely sure how it happened, but by the time they come up for air, her back his pressed against the wall and he’s got her pinned in place. Not that he’s complaining.

“Anyone ever tell you that the tip of your nose turns pink after you’ve been kissed?’ Her cheeks go rosey in response.

“I think so. One guy did. I told him it’s only when I’m kissed properly.”

He really would like to continue the playful banter, but there’s still the small matter of whatever it is they’re going to eat.

“What do you feel like for dinner tonight?”

“Apart from electrocuted chicken?” He responds with a swat to her ass, which earns him a snicker. “Let’s keep it simple. Pizza. Your choice of toppings.” Right, that’s easy enough. Plus, if they have to wait longer than thirty minutes, it’s free.

“Okay. I’ll order while you shower?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He’s just pulled up the menu on his phone when the sound of her clearing her throat attracts his attention. She’s standing in the doorway, combing through her freshly let down hair with her fingers, a playful look in her eyes.

“Or you could join me. Just a mild suggestion.”

Dinner can wait for a while.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The Brooklyn townhouse they live in has many nice features. There’s a functional if small screened in back porch, big enough to hold a table for two and a grill. Two bedrooms, on the off chance someone from work needs to crash for a night or two. A kitchen with a dishwasher. A working fireplace. Good closet space. And an en suite bathroom.

Maybe it’s a little ridiculous to call a bathroom luxurious, especially when, in comparison to what’s featured in many brownstones, it’s more than modest, but she can’t help but think of it as such. There’s a double sink so that in the morning rush to get ready, Bucky’s able to shave and brush his teeth without having to wait for her to finish applying her makeup. Shelving above the toilet makes certain that even if the last person to shower took the towel with them, another one is on hand. Speaking of the shower, it’s not the largest one in the world, but both of them can fit in comfortably at the same time, which is what’s lead to their current situation.

She’s just finished allowing the water to course over her body, easing the sweat from her skin, and is about to begin the process of washing her hair, scrubbing her body, but she hesitates. She might as well ask. It’s only practical after all.

“Do you want to start now or get cleaned up and have dinner beforehand?” It’s obvious what she’s referring to, so she doesn’t bother to spell it out.

His brown knits, and if she didn’t know him as… intimately… as she does, she’d actually believe he’s confused.

“Oh, so you’re just assuming there’s gonna be sex involved at some point tonight?”

She shrugs, wringing out her hair.

“Seemed like a safe enough bet.” She glances pointedly between the two of them. “After all, we’re already undressed. “

His laugh is a quiet huff, barely discernible over the sound of the water. “Then I’d say start now, have dinner, then go for round two. Sound about right to you?”

She nods. “Solid plan.”

“Then get over here.”

Unlike the welcome home kiss they shared not half an hour ago, this one is less tender, more electric. Hands twist in hair, bodies press together. Tongues begging for entrance quickly give way to teeth nipping at bottom lips, an unspoken sparring match for who’ll be in control this time around. Ultimately he wins, grasping her hips and lifting as she wraps her legs securely around his back.

There’s no need for prep; the teasing of their earlier words is foreplay enough. Back pressed against the wall, her body easily welcomes him in as she braces one arm against the glass shower doors for balance. Any concerns about slipping and falling wash away as they move together like so many times before. She’s sure her nails will leave marks on his back, fingertips digging in for purchase and it’s a guarantee her hips will be littered with fingerprints from his grip, but she can’t find it in her to care, and if the desperate, bruising kiss assaulting her lips is anything to judge from, neither can he.

“So damn good, Doll.” It’s panted against her neck. “Always. So damn perfect for me.” All she can manage is a moan in response.

She feels him twitch inside of her and knows he’s close. So is she, but she can’t quite get there without-

As if he’s read her mind, he reaches between them to touch her where she needs it most, and on instinct, she readjusts, locking her arm around his neck to stay in place. “Let go, sweetheart. Can you do that for me?” She couldn’t disobey if she wanted to.

“Fuck.” As her walls contract around him, he pulls out just in time to paint her middle with his release.

“That’s one word for it.” She’s still fighting to catch her breath, but she shoots him a shaky smirk, which he returns.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Barnes.” Snickering, she releases him to stand on unsteady legs and pecks his legs.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mr. Barnes.” Maybe there’s something to this holiday after all.

___________________________________________________________________________________

“You want the last slice?” Bucky considers it for a moment before deciding-

“Nah. You can have it.” It may not be exactly what he planned, but it’s been a good night. Between the two of them, they’ve gone through two large pizzas while watching the new version of Beauty and the Beast (she rolled her eyes when he asked if this was her way of saying he reminds her of a certain hairy, horned character) in their pajamas.

“No, really. You take it. I don’t want it.” She nudges the mostly-empty pizza box towards him. The noise makes Sarge lift his head from where he was snoozing beside her on the sofa. That gives him an idea.

“I don’t want it either, but I can think of someone who does.” He cocks his head towards the now-drooling dog. “How ‘bout it, boy? Wanna help us out?”

Snickering, she picks the pepperonis and pieces of sausage and ham from the pizza, forming a pile. “Here, Sarge. Catch.” She tosses a coveted treat in the air, and Sarge’s jaw snaps, swallowing it whole. “Good boy.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she speaks again.

“You know, I actually did have something planned for you.”

“Oh, yeah?” She nods.

“Absolutely. Had a whole seduction plan laid out. Tiny underwear, lacy bra, and stockings with garters included.” Huh. Guess she wouldn’t have taken the “lingerie” option the wrong way. He’ll file that away for future use… along with a mental note to ask her bra size. “That is, until I tried wearing the damn things for longer than an hour. Turns out, hiding a dirty secret under your clothes is more itchy than sexy.”

He can’t help it. He laughs, producing a pout from her which quickly turns into her own quiet laughter.

“Well, that fits in perfectly with my fancy dinner going up in smoke.”

“We really do have shitty luck with the whole “romance” thing.” She’s joking, but he decides to respond anyway.

“I don’t know about that.” Entwining his fingers with hers, he lifts their hands, twin wedding bands catching the light. “You waited five years for me to reappear after the blip, and I convinced you to elope with me. Seems pretty romantic.” Although, that reminds him…

“Don’t move.” Releasing her hand, he stands and goes in search of his phone.

“Bucky, what-”

“Don’t move, Doll. Stay right where you are.” Ah. On the kitchen counter, just where he left it. Jogging back into the room, he resumes his place on the couch next to her. Ignoring her questioning gaze, he pulls up the app and, selecting the correct playlist, hits play.

Immediate recognition blooms on her face at the opening lyrics. “She is the sweetest thing that I know. Should see the way she holds me when the lights go low.” He’s not one for modern music, but when he was googling “songs for Valentine’s Day” and this one popped up, he couldn’t help but think that the lyrics were fitting.

“I didn’t know you’d heard this one.”

He chuckles. “Even old men have a few tricks up their sleeves. That, and a wifi connection.” She rolls her eyes but leans closer, which he takes advantage of to show her the playlist.

“This is the app you use, right?” Receiving a nod, he continues. “Feel free to scroll through and add whatever you want. I haven’t listened to all of them the whole way through, but they seemed to fit the mood.”

Her hand closes over his, covering the phone. “Thank you, Bucky. It’s perfect.”

As the singer goes on about how hearts don’t break around here, he presses his lips against hers.

“I love you, Doll.”

“Love you.”

Not bad for a disastrous Valentine’s Day. Not bad at all.

#marvel #the avengers #bucky fanfic #bucky x original female character #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #captain america #the winter soldier #bucky barnes smut #smut #fluff

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solarwonux · 3 years

Text

~ 7:28pm ~

warnings: smut, exhibitionism, dirty talk, blow jobs,

note: pls don’t take all of this literal this is a work of fiction, and please do not engage if you’re underage. other than that enjoy and lmk know your thoughts.

masterlist

For nearly an hour since you arrived at the library. Seokmin hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself. At first, you didn’t mind. It was Seokmin the guy who despite just being friends with and occasionally fucking each other from time to time, always had to touch you in some way, shape, or form. Whether it be secretly holding hands underneath the table. Placing a reassuring hand on your lower back whenever he sensed something was wrong. Or simply just having his arm wrapped around your shoulder while the two of you studied, or at least attempted to.

Now though sitting next to him, his head placed on top of your shoulder as you attempted to finally finish reading the book you needed to read for your research paper. His overly affectionate self was getting on your nerves. Especially because his innocent touches against your body had started to become needy and desperate.

“Min, for once can you stay still.” You sighed placing your highlighter in the middle of your book and closing it, setting it aside. He let out a whine and kissed your shoulder before lifting his head up. “I can’t...I need you.” He whispered leaning forward and capturing your lips with his. The kiss full of soft desperation and his arm around you got tighter. You sighed against his lips feeling yourself get reeled in like magic. A skill he possessed and knew how to use to his advantage. “Touch me please.” He mumbled against your lips his tongue swiping across your bottom one asking for access. And you, of course, granted it to him, whimpering lowly as you felt his tongue massage yours, deepening your kiss even further.

In the midst of your heated kiss, Seokmin managed to find one of your hands and placed it against his clothed crotch. His hard-on prominent in his tight jeans and you felt yourself getting turned on. More so because this wasn’t the first time the two of you had acted on impulse in the back of the library. It was, in fact, the reason why the two of you kept meeting up her every Wednesday after class, knowing very well no one ever dared to look back here as there wasn’t really much to look at. Except for the couch, the two of you were occupying and the endless shelves of outdated encyclopedia’s. But the thought of possibly getting caught by one of the library assistants was what kept the two of you coming back.

He moaned into your mouth as you started to palm him slowly. A smirk forming on your face as you felt him grow harder underneath your hand. You always seemed to weaken the tough soccer player and it sent sparks of arousal through your body.

Seokmin pulled away panting. A string of saliva hanging from both of your mouths, as the two of you, eyed each other with a strong sense of hunger and lust. Quickly he closed the laptop that had been laying open on his lap untouched for almost two hours and set it aside. “What do you want?” You bit your bottom lip and unbuttoned his jeans. Your hand snaking its ways inside them and grabbing his hard cock, squeezing it gently.

“Your mouth baby.” He breathed out his thumb grazing over your bottom lip teasingly. You smiled giving his digit a gentle peck before taking him out of his boxers. You sat up on your knees sending him a wink before kissing his cheek softly. Your lips trailing down the side of his face stopping by his ear and biting it, earning a low from him. You giggled leaning down and spitting on his hard length, running your thumb over his head slowly spreading the small beads of precum that had quickly formed over it, along with your spit.

“What are the magic words baby?” You teased, sticking your tongue and lapping over his slit. He threw his head back bucking his hips into your hand. You shook your head letting out a sound of disapproval as you moved your hand at an agonizingly slow pace. A frustrated sigh leaving his mouth as he bucked his hips up, thrusting himself into your hand once again, this time harder than before.

“Don’t care right now angel, just need your mouth.”

“Where are your manners Seokmin.” You tsked, moving your head down and blowing onto his red angry head. Sending Seokmin into shambles as he trusted into your hand once again. “You’re scolding me on manners when you’re about to give me a blow job in the back of the library.” He scoffed placing a hand on the back of your head and pushing you down gently. Your swollen lips ghosting against his cock and he swore he could see stars from how needy he was.

“The longer you take, the longer it takes for you to get what you want.” You stick your tongue out running it over his slit again. Soft whines falling out of his lips as you prolonged his neediness. “Fuck please baby let me feel your mouth on me, please.” He begged, threading his fingers in your hear pushing you down again.

“As you wish, Min.” You wrapped your lips around him, massaging the bottom ridge of his head gently before taking him in as much as you could. He groaned throwing his head back pushing on your head a little more before you tapped him on leg signaling you couldn’t take any more of him. You relaxed your jaw swallowing around him before starting to move your head. Your hand moving along with it as it pleased the rest of him that wasn’t be able to fit in your mouth.

Seokmin let out low moans, the feeling of your hot, wet mouth wrapped around him always made him feel weak in the knees. Especially when he would look down and you were staring at him with this innocence that contrasted your sinful actions. He loved listening to the slurping sounds your mouth would make bouncing of the silent library walls. A reminder to keep himself from screaming out your name in pleasure. It felt like mission impossible, but he loved it. It sent a special rush of adrenaline through him that he could only get when he was on the soccer field or at your mercy.

“C-Can you take more?” He breathed out, his grip on your head getting tighter and you almost felt a headache start to form from how hard he was tugging at your roots. You pulled away, spit on your chin, eyes watering as you moved your hand faster against him. To him, you looked like a renaissance painting and he couldn’t wait to finish the masterpiece he had started to create.

“Yes, give me a second.” You nodded reaching over and giving him a peck on his lips before going back down. You licked the underside of his cock, your tongue toying with the prominent vein that was bulging out. The sight alone was enough to make you come untouched, something only he could manage to get you to do. Your other hand snaked in between your body and finding his balls, massaging them gently as you left open-mouthed kisses up his cock. Finally taking him inside your mouth again.

A desperate guttural moan escaping his lungs and you almost feared that you would get caught. But you were feeling so good watching him come undone because of you that stopping was out of the question. So, you pushed yourself farther down him, gagging when the tip of his cock hit the back of your throat, and you could feel him start to get close as he pulsed against your tongue.

You pushed yourself farther, feeling the tears pool at the corner of your eyes. His hips had started to desperately thrust into your mouth, fucking you making you moan around him. The vibrations sending a wave of pleasure through his body and he felt the coil in the pit of his stomach start to build up. You fondled with his balls and tried relaxing your throat as he held you in place. His thrusts had started to become sloppy as he got closer to his orgasm. You continued to gag around him, digging your nails into his clothed thighs. You looked up at him, watching his face twist in pleasure and you felt the pool of heat that formed between your legs start to trickle down your thighs.

“Gonna cum baby, let me cum in your mouth please.”

You moaned, your saliva running down your chin and your tears falling against your cheek, but your look of innocence remained. And it was enough to send him over the edge, spilling his bittersweet cum down your throat. Your eyes widening as you felt it hit your taste buds, sending a shock of pleasure up your body. He pulled himself of your mouth, placing a hand underneath your chin and raising it up to meet his lust-filled eyes. “Let me see.” He panted, his thumb playing with your bottom lip as you opened your mouth. His sticky white substance resting on your tongue as he leaned down and kissed you, pushing his cum further into your mouth with his tongue. The act alone making you come, your body convulsing against his as the waves of pleasure crashed through you like a tsunami, making Seokmin smirk in satisfaction.

He pulled away holding you close to his body, planting a small kiss against your forehead. You let out a laugh shaking your head in disbelief at how fast Seokmin managed to change in seconds. He smiled widely before stuffing himself back into his pants looking around to see if anyone had waltzed their way to the back of the library. Your hearts settling down when you noticed no one had even bothered to satisfy their curious minds and see what the library kept hidden in the back.

“Can’t believe you just sucked me off in the back of the library?” He grinned pecking your lips repeatedly. “And I made you cum untouched again, honestly my skills are impeccable.” He beamed, the cockiness in his voice was enough to get you on your knees again.

“What are friends for.” You teased moving so you were sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the couch.

“Since when have we ever been friends?” He questioned moving his hand over to your hair smoothing it down. “As far as I’m concerned we’ve been more than friends for a while.” He whispered, his eyes changing into something hopeful.

You smiled feeling your cheeks heat up as you nodded. “I think you’re right, sometimes I want to scream how much I love you to your stupid face.” You confessed, the shyness overcoming your body as you saw Seokmin’s cheeks warm up. It was wild seconds ago you were confidently giving him head underneath the terrible fluorescent lights of the library. But now as you confessed your true feelings to him and as he did the same to you. The two of you turned into little high school students confessing to crush for the first time.

“Sometimes I want to scream how much I love you and tattoo it across my chest.” He challenged, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer to him. You laughed shaking your head, resting your forehead against his chest. “Please for the love of God never do that.”

“What? Scream how much I love you...I mean I wasn’t going to cause we’re in the library and that would most definitely get kicked us out if I screamed in here.”

“No Seokmin,” You whined hitting his chest lightly. You raised your head pouting, his smile getting wider as he saw how endearing you looked. “Tattoo you love me across your chest...never do that please.”

“As you wish my love.”

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dracowars · 3 years

Text

hideaway | anakin skywalker

pairing: anakin x nonjedi!reader

word count: 2,3k

summary: where y/n wants to surprise anakin but is in for a big surprise herself

a/n: anakin owns my whole heart. hope you enjoy it~

warnings: none

universe: star wars

The smell of freshly roasted vegetables and meat fills your nostrils as you turn the stove up a notch, humming to yourself. You are by no means a five star chef, but your cooking skills are still very good. After all, your mother always made sure that you learn from her amazing skills in the kitchen. In the end what matters is how it tastes and until now you have never failed.

You keep checking the time on the clock on the wall, waiting for it to point at a certain time. You can't wait until he finally comes home. You've been counting the days and hours, even minutes until Anakin arrives back from his mission with Obi-Wan on Naboo. Anakin wasn't allowed to tell you anything about the mission of course, so you can only hope that it was a peaceful mission. Not only do you not want him to get injured, but then your planned surprise meal after his return would also be superfluous.

According to your calculation, it should take another half an hour for their spaceship to land on Coruscant, plus the time it takes Anakin to get to his apartment, where you currently are. The mission was scheduled for five days and you spent the entire time in his apartment. He gave you a spare key months ago because he noticed how much you always miss him every time he is not on the planet. In fact, it actually helped. Everything here makes it feel like he is only in the next room and not on a whole different planet and thus makes your fear for him less.

You've thought and talked about moving in together before, but there is one tiny little problem with that: nobody knows about your and Anakin Skywalker's relationship. Since he is a Jedi, a great and powerful one at that, he has to follow the Jedi Code. A Code that governs the behavior of its followers which, in this case, forbids Jedis from forming attachments. While they do not ban romantic feelings in general, Jedi's are not meant to get married or built up a family. Their only task is to bring peace to the galaxy.

And if the Jedi Order finds out about this relationship, it won't end well for neither of you. Until now you've always been able to hide it well, even if there were occasional moments when it almost got blown up. Somehow you always managed to keep it a secret though and you are very happy about that.

You stir the vegetables one more time and then throw yourself onto the large leather couch while you wait. And wait and wait. No matter how long you close your eyes and just breathe in the pleasent smell around you, time still doesn't go by faster.

You just want to hug him again, kiss him again and just be with him. It may have only been five days, but you still feel like you haven't seen him in months when it wasn't even a whole week. You have been a couple for two years now, have known each other for five of them and loved each other for four, and yet you love him like you did on the first day. There is just something special about him that makes your heart flutter every single time.

The way he looks at you, the way his eyes light up when he smiles - god, his whole apperance in general - you can't help but fall in love with him all over again. Anakin Skywalker is the love of your life and you can't imagine him to not be part of your life anymore.

While being indulged in your thoughts you don't even hear the steps approaching the front door at first and the electronic door opening a few seconds later. You jump up from the sofa immediately and are just about to go in the hallway leading directly to the door full of anticipation when you suddenly hear a different voice than Anakin's, which causes you to stiffly pause in your movement.

"I will send report about our successful mission to the Jedi Council instantly", you hear the male voice say, realizing that it is no other than Obi-Wan. Your eyes widen in shock. If Obi-Wan finds you here, in the middle of Anakin's apartment, it's over.

Looking back and forth, you search for a suitable hiding spot. You notice the cupboard at the end of the entrance area that would provide perfect protection, which you can only get to by walking past the hallway while risking to be seen. Since you can't think of anything better in this hurry, you sneak to the hallway as quietly as possible.

You look around the corner carefully just to see both men, still dressed in their full gear, standing in front of the entrance, Obi-Wan holding a holoprojector in his left hand and seemingly struggling with making it work the way he wants. Your gaze wanders to Anakin, who is standing in front of his master and trys to help him with the device. You can't help but stare at him for a few seconds. He looks breathtaking and you can feel your heart skip a beat.

And suddenly it feels like your heart completely stops at the exact moment where Anakins turns around and directly looks at you. The confusion is clearly written on his beautiful face, - which, to your surprise, doesn't have any bad injuries this time - but if you only knew how much he would love to just run to you and take you his his arms tightly, lifting you off the floor. But since Obi-Wan is still in the room, that turns out to be difficult.

With a slight head movement you indicate to the cupboard, Anakin understanding your intention immediately. Just as Obi-Wan looks up, Anakin steps in his way so that there is no possibility for him to spot you. "Let me see the holoprojector, master", Anakin tells him, reaching out for it, distracting him from what you are doing in the background.

You tiptoe across the hallway and climb into the cupboard without making any sound the very moment Anakin got the projector working. The closet is pretty narrow and you even keep your breathing quiet.

"I think I don't tell you this enough but you actually did very good out there. I'm proud of you, Anakin", Obi-Wan tells his Padawan as they walk past you and internally you feel how happy Anakin is about those words. "But was it really necessary to blow up the escaping droids?", Obi-Wan adds with serious tone but lets out a laugh soon after that.

You take in a deep breath which suddenly makes you realize that there still is something you haven't even thought about before: the food. It's still boiling on the stove, spreading a delicious smell through the rooms. How is Anakin supposed to explain that, when he didn't even know about it himself?

"Anakin. You should have listend to me when you- What is this burnt smell?", Obi-Wan interrupts himself while speaking, smelling the same odour as you did moments before. Seconds later you can hear their steps moving away as they run into the kitchen. "What is happening here?! Why is there food cooking?", Obi-Wan shouts but you can't hear more as the sound of steaming water drowns out their conversation. Anakin must have thrown the pan in the sink or otherwise you can't explain where the noise is supposed to be coming from.

"It was probably the.. the cleaning lady! Yes, the cleaning lady must have forgotten it by mistake", Anakin trys to talk his way out of the situation after the noise has quiet down. "Since when do you have a cleaner?", his master asks suspiciously. "Not very long. Since the last.. month?", Anakin explains - or tries to - not really convincingly.

Silence. There is an unbearable silence before Obi-Wan starts laughing out loud all of a sudden. "You should definetely find another one if she almost burns your appartment down. However, I could use one too..", he advises his Padawan and you can hear him coming back, lowering your breath again instantly.

"I better go now and send off the report to the Council. Master Yoda wanted to talk to me later anyway. You still have a bit of cleaning to do and..", Obi-Wan pauses in the middle of his sentence, making your breath hitch. "You should really get that lady out of your closet before she suffocates."

Your whole body stiffens at his words and the door to your hiding place opens. "Hello there", Obi-Wan looks at you expectantly. "Y/N, isn't it?" You nod carefully and look to the ground in shame after climbing out of the closet.

"It's- It's not what it looks like, master", Anakin stutters out and pulls you behind him, protecting you from whatever is coming towards you next. "Well, what does it look like?", Obi-Wan counters and crosses his arms.

You touch Anakin's arm lightly, searching for support, and look past him to Obi-Wan, who is watching you both closely. "I'm waiting", Obi-Wan sighs and puts his arms on his hips. "I don't have all day, you know."

You take all your courage and take a step forward. "It's my fault. I wanted.. I just wanted to surprise Anakin and welcome him back home", you explain with a low voice, not daring to look at Obi-Wan directly. "That still doesn't explain why you are in his appartment in the first place", he says with raised eyebrows and you look back at Anakin.

Anakin looks like he's contemplating about what to do next and then takes your hand in his as he made his decision, standing next to you now. "Master. I'm in love with Y/N and she loves me. We.. secretly dated and got together. I wanted to tell you. I always wanted to tell you, but there just wasn't the right opportunity and-"

"And you thought it would be better to not tell me about this at all? Ever?", Obi-Wan finishs Anakin's sentence. "Where do you think you are going with this? You know the Jedi Code, Anakin. You broke the rules."

"This stupid code is totally outdated and unnecessary anyway! We never meant to fall in love with each other, sometimes it just happens. We knew the day would come when someone finds out about us. We know that it.. has no future. But you can't just turn off your feelings. It is not possible", you rant and feel Anakin's hold on your hand tighten. "Please don't tell the Jedi Council and please don't throw Anakin out. You can punish me, but not him. He dedicated all his life to the Jedi Code and.. I don't want his life to get destroyed because of me."

You feel yourself get pulled to the side harshly. "What are you even saying, Y/N?! Stop that nonsense!", Anakin whisper-yells at you. "I can't live with the thought that I will destroy your future, Ani. I could never be happy agai-"

"Who said I would tell anyone?", Obi-Wan interrupts you two, making both of you look at him in confusion. "Listen, I don't support Anakin's or your actions but what happend, happend, we can't change that and I'm actually kind of happy that Anakin found someone who stays by his side."

Your mouth opens wide in shock and you look at him with pure disbelieve. "You.. what?", Anakin bursts out, seeming equally shocked and confused. "Why shouldn't I be happy for my Padawan, who is like a brother to me, when he finds the right woman, maybe his soulmate?", Obi-Wan tells you and the corners of his mouth rise. "I won't tell anyone about it, but you have to be really careful. If Master Windu oder Master Yoda find out about your relationship, I won't be able to help you. It will be over. You can be glad that it's just me who found out."

Without thinking twice, you happily hug Obi-Wan and Anakin does the same. "Thank you, Obi-Wan", Anakin smiles and lays an arm around your waist as soon as you move away from Obi-Wan. "I'll correct what I said earlier: You both still have a lot to clean up. Enjoy yourselves", Obi-Wan giggles and turns around to go back to the elevator.

Before he leaves though, he turns around one last time. "And for your information: I already felt that she is in here before we even got into the apartment. Good evening", Obi-Wan bows down slightly and leaves.

Silence spreads again, but this time a pleasant one. "What did just happen?", Anakin asks and shakes his head to get a clear thought, brushing through his hair with his mechanical hand. "I have no idea but I think we got away with it", you answer and turn to look at him, both of his hands now on each side of your waist.

"I missed you so much, Anakin", you smile and take in every feature of his beautiful structured face. Your hand comes up to his cheek and you softly stroke over his skin with your thumb. "I missed you more", he whispers and turns his face to lightly kiss the inside of your hand, which makes you giggle. He slowly leans in and finally connects your lips again. His scent flows around you and your hand clings to his brown locks.

When he breaks the sensual kiss, he leans his forehead against yours and smiles at you gently. You can feel his hands sneak around your hip as he suddenly lifts you off the floor and spins you around a few times, making you both laugh. After he puts you onto the ground again, he pecks your lips one more time before retreating completely, only keeping your hands connected.

"So, you wanted to surprise me with food?", he teases with that stupid smile on his face that you love so much. Feeling offended, you hit his arm playfully. In response, he chuckles and just pulls you behind him into the kitchen, where you clean up the mess you made before settling yourself up on the couch, cuddling for the rest of the day.

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peaches-writes · 4 years

Text

how to appease your asian aunties ch. 2 - new year

description: in the immortal words of blood-related aunts and aunts you’re not even related to but forced to call your aunt at reunion parties, “do you have a boyfriend?” member: jisung / han genre: fluff, fake dating au, implied rich kids au, eventual childhood / best friends to lovers au, college au, implied fem reader (but i still used they/them pronouns) word count: 7.8k chapter warning: food, drinking, explicit language note: this isn’t sponsored by mumuso i just miss mumuso + this is the part heavily insp by the meme!!!! lowkey my fave thing on the internet rn + what do u think should happen on the third part lmao

ch. 1 // ch. 3 // series masterlist

Though your mom always tells you that all of her sorority batchmates are her closest friends, you’ve observed over the years that there are particular people in such group who are simply a little extra special in her heart. No one can genuinely call each and every one of their friends as their best friends, after all. For different reasons, some people just weigh a little more than the rest in one’s heart.

It’s like how you would differentiate Jisung and Ryujin as your best friends; the former is your annoying childhood best friend while the latter is your college support best friend.

You’ve come to this conclusion through the ‘auntie activities’ as you would call it that your mom would participate in without fault with certain people. Said activities are usually one on one and with the purpose of either gossiping about one of their friends’ family life like when your mom and Mrs. Hwang would have your families go on a Saturday brunch once a month or discussing how their respective businesses are going like when your mom and Mrs. Kim would meet up either at either of your family’s nearest restaurant or bakery.

For your mom and Mrs. Han, their unique ‘auntie activity’ together is going to the mall together.

Of course, they still go on individual trips on regular shopping days but mall sales are specifically reserved for a joint trip. For some ten years or so now, they’ve never gone to a sale without the other and although that’s a genuine friendship goal in your book, you’re always on the suffering end of these trips, possibly even more than their black cards, because Jisung and his older brother usually bail on you to help carry the shopping bags.

Fortunately this year, however, as you (and you later find out, his dad as well) had made him promise last year, Jisung joins you on your respective moms’ first shopping spree together on the day after the New Year. It’s especially fortunate because it’s right after the first holiday of the year and as usual, your mom and Mrs. Han have an endless list to go through for the entire day.

“I’m telling you, we’re going to go through all the shops in the mall.” You exaggerate to him for the second time as the two of you walk behind your mom and his, your hands unclasped now that they’re not looking in favor of simply walking next to each other with your hands in your respective coat pockets. “The New Year’s Sale is no joke.”

After years of Jisung often running away from shopping duty, you feel like you have ten years worth of exaggerating this whole trip to taunt him.

But Jisung shakes his head, still unconvinced, “Nah, you’re messing with me, my mom doesn’t bring home that much bags after this.”

“But you were in Malaysia for a year,” You counter. “so your opinion’s quite outdated to a degree.”

Walking a little faster now that a crowd has formed in the large distance between you and your moms, Jisung walks closer and links his arms to yours. It’s not a show for other people this time; rather, it’s his natural response to being in crowds and public spaces, so you naturally pull him closer to your side in response which he sends you a genuinely grateful smile for.

“I still don’t think we’re going to have that much of a hard time.” He repeats unfazed, leaning down next to your ear so you can hear him clearly against the loud chatter of the people around you. When he almost trips from not looking ahead, you catch him with a chuckle. “Anyway, yeah, that!”

You only shake your head at him at him, prompting him to walk faster with you now as you see your moms walking in a shop ahead of you. “Tell that to me again when we end up in a furniture shop later.”

If your exaggerations weren’t enough a while ago to convince him, your nonchalant comment quickly made up for it as you see him looking at you in disbelief from the corner of your eye. “Seriously?” He asks after a moment, blinking twice and slowly.

But you only pull him in the same retail store you find your mom and his in, dragging him to the empty seats and making him sit. “We’ll see later.” You smile tauntingly at him this time before joining your moms to do some shopping yourself. Turning around before you disappear into a nearby clothes rack, you manage a wink at Jisung and conclude, “I hope you worked out well while in Malaysia, Sung.”

Your lunch ends up getting pushed back to some time around 3:30 PM fourteen shops later, much to Jisung’s displeasure as he hauls his mom’s shopping bags inside the mall’s branch of your family’s restaurant chain with difficulty. You carry your own mom’s shopping bags which are relatively the same in amount and weight as well but without any complains, showing the clear difference between you and your best friend who’s only done this for a total amount of twenty sporadic times in the span of ten years.

“Sungie, put them under the table not on the chair!” Mrs. Han scolds her son when she notices some of her shopping bags on your table’s extra chair to Jisung’s left. She sits across him and next to your mom on the rectangular table while you sit on Jisung’s right, receiving the menus for the whole table when a waiter approaches.

With a pout, Jisung quietly obliges, pushing his chair back and transferring all the shopping bags under the table (where your mom’s shopping bags have already been placed) and pushing them to the glass pane so they’re out of everyone’s way. Though this makes you chuckle, you pass the menus in your hands to your mom anyway and proceed to help Jisung, briefly seating yourself on the now empty chair and helping him arrange the bags so they don’t mix.

“Are you still good, baby?” You tease Jisung with a nudge as you finish your task, moving back to your original seat after. Your mom then hands you a menu for you and Jisung to share, having slyly returned the fourth menu book while you had your attention elsewhere.

“Please tell me we’re not going to more shops after this.” Jisung pleads, taking the other end of the menu and holding it up to your faces, obstructing your respective moms’ views of the two of you. You’re forced to hold up your end of the menu because of this, beating him to turning the pages in return. “My arms are going to fall off.”

You glance over to his now exposed arms, teasingly much like he did checking you out last Christmas. As long-time best friends do, you briefly relish in the fact that it’s your turn teasing him now. “They look fine.” You half-shrug nonchalantly, chuckling when he doesn’t stop whining in protest. “Anyway, I think my mom’s too tired to go to another shop already. Surprisingly, that might just be all for today.”

“I’m so tired, I don’t think I can even walk back to the parking lot.” Jisung leans back in the soft cushions lining his wooden chair with a sigh, skimming through the menu while you patiently have your hand bookmarked to the next page. “Can I order the entire menu?”

“Only if you pay, of course.” You answer, flipping to the next page when you’ve sensed that he’s finished.

“What should I get?” Jisung hums next to you, scooting his chair closer now and leaning his head on your shoulder when his hand holding the menu starts cramping and he’s forced to set his half of the menu down on the table. “After buying fries with you a while back, I don’t think I’m in the mood for anything savory right now.”

You push him away with a finger to his forehead until your mom looks pointedly at you, making Jisung chuckle on your shoulder after as he puts your hand down. Sighing, you suggest, “Our pastry chef that you like so much, Chef Moon, relocated here from the branch on our subdivision, so—how about blueberry cheesecake?”

“Ah, okay.” Tilting your head to him, you see him nod with a smile before lifting his head up from your shoulder and leaning over the table to tell his mom that he’ll get cheesecake and iced Americano, not passing up an opportunity to eat a slice of your family business’ infamous cheesecake recipe. With your shoulder now free once again, you flip to a few more pages before telling your own order to your mom, settling on ordering Cola and pizza good for two in case Jisung changes his mind.

“You’re not ordering dessert, Y/N?” Your mom asks curiously when the waiter approaches for the second time, pen and paper in hand this time to take your orders.

You shake your head but Jisung contradicts you by saying, “We’ll just share.” which only makes your mom and Mrs. Han giggle.

“Okay!” Your mom grins at Jisung before turning to the waiter and reciting back everyone’s orders. She specifically makes sure to request having Jisung’s cheesecake plate to have two slices instead of one, winking up at the waiter.

Hearing that, Jisung initiates playing footsies under the table and you purposely step on his favorite black boots in response. “You’re getting one less pizza slice because of that.” You scold at him, briefly placing a hand on his knee after to stop his leg from moving.

“Then you get only half of the second cheesecake slice.” He shoots back, nudging your thigh with his knee before stopping completely. “Come on, I’m trying to get on your mom’s good graces here.”

“It’s not like you haven’t been this entire time.” You mumble under your breath as the waiter finishes taking your orders and leaves.

It’s a relatively known fact that best friend or fake boyfriend, Jisung is your mom’s favorite friend of yours. You don’t want to admit it in front of his face but he really has that kind of aura as he’s always claimed—the one moms like for their children.

“I know but we’re ‘dating’ now so I need to earn extra points here and there.” He points out cheekily, grinning wider when he catches his mom trying to eavesdrop on the two of you while pretending to browse through your mom’s phone with her. “You don’t have to do the same for my mom, though, she actually likes you better than me.”

The last comment makes you sigh in relief and relax in your seat.

After a moment, the waiter then briefly returns for the second time and serves glasses of water to your whole table this time, informing your mom after that Chef Moon in the kitchen has approved of her special request regarding Jisung’s cheesecake.

“Your order will be served in 15 to 20 minutes.” The waiter concludes, eyes darting between your mom and Mrs Han. “Would that be okay, Mrs. Y/L/N?”

“Yes, definitely.” Your mom smiles, the waiter bowing respectfully before leaving.

Once the waiter is out of earshot, your mom and Mrs. Han turn to you and Jisung across the table with an all-too familiar look on their faces—the same look they gave Chan and Miyoung the first time they attended the Christmas reunion party together which is definitely not good.

Now that there’s no menu acting as a shield between the four on you on the table, you mentally prepare yourself for the next natural topic that would follow: questions on ‘who confessed?’, ‘what do you like about each other?’, and some invasive and probably even NSFW questions you’re not sure if you can handle hearing firsthand from your mom in front of Jisung right now.

You seriously hope you don’t tackle the last part.

“So, Jisung, Y/N.” Your mom starts, clasping her hands on top of the table intimidatingly. “You two have been seeing each other for a month now, right?”

You cough awkwardly, as if signalling Jisung to follow along, “Almost a month now, I think.”

Next to you, Jisung hurriedly nods in agreement, “We just started going out a week before I came home.”

Mrs. Han hums in thought, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she alternates glancing between you and Jisung. Eventually, she lands her eyes last to her son, asking, “Sungie, dear, you know your mom really gets confused about these kinds of modern things, right? And Mrs. Y/L/N too! Can you tell us again how the you two actually started dating in long-distance? It just baffles us, really!”

Now, it’s Jisung’s turn to cough and shuffle in his seat awkwardly. “Oh, um...” His arm behind your chair naturally falls on your shoulder as he sits up, his hands squeezing your shoulder nervously once that convinces you to refrain from swatting his hand away. “You know, texts and calls. We FaceTimed a lot like what you, me, and dad used to do after my classes.”

“And you confessed first?” Your mom asks next, an endearing smile on her face as she to the table in anticipation.

“N—“ Jisung stammers before you nudge his leg, making him change his answer, “Y-Yeah! It just...it just happened, like that, Mrs. Y/L/N.”

You purse your lips nervously, glancing to Jisung as you do so. Luckily, your worries quickly fade when, instead of asking you for more specifics, your mom only gushes to Mrs. Han, “Time’s really changing a lot, don’t you think, Mrs. Han? In our days, men would court women and everything!”

You relax under Jisung’s touch and he instinctively rubs circles on your shoulder blades, sighing in relief.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Han twists her body to the side so she’s facing your mom more now, “I know right, sis! We used to have pagers and send letters and go to payphones in our time too! The only time you’d see your date would be when you go on actual dates!”

“Right, dates!” Your mom exclaims, turning to you and Jisung. “I’m sure you guys haven’t gone on a physical date yet since we went to Japan for Christmas, right?”

You nod slowly, carefully processing this entire conversation. “Well, yeah, but we’re not—we’re just taking things slow now.” You clarify sheepishly, cringing internally at referring to you and Jisung as a couple. “We did start this—dating, I mean!—while...apart, so—“

“—Oh, but you should go on dates soon!” Your mom interjects, waving her hand frantically in the air now. Mrs. Han nods along. “Call me and Jisung’s mom old-fashioned but quality time is very important, especially with you kids always dependent on talking through your phones and gadgets now! What if you liked going on dates through your phones but you don’t enjoy each other’s company? That’d be really troublesome!”

“And besides, you only have a few weeks of classes before you get another break, that’s a lot of time to actually date!” Mrs. Han adds. “You two can hang out at one of our hotels or here on your restaurants.”

Though the offer is tempting (the Han family’s hotels do have great facilities), Jisung grins bashfully and declines the offer. “It’s fine, mom. Y/N and I are chill, seriously. We see each other at campus, anyway.” He assures.

“He drives me home too,” You add, just to be a little helpful. “you know, pre-Malaysia.”

Jisung nods at this, making sure to discreetly send a grateful smile your way.

“Think about it, anyway.” Mrs. Han insists, just as you see the waiter from a distance approaching with two trays of your meals. “Dating in college is really the sweetest time but if you two ever get bored of snacking at kiosks and going to the smaller cafes, just call me or Mrs. Y/L/N and we can definitely make arrangements anywhere!”

You then see your mom’s eyes widen before you can even speak, turning to Mrs. Han and asking, “Right, Mrs. Han, don’t you have a new hotel in Jeju?” which makes you choke on your spit and Jisung to sit up straighter in his seat, his free hand going up to his neck awkwardly. “That would be a cute Spring break getaway, don’t you think?”

“Right, right!” Mrs. Han agrees enthusiastically, momentarily stopping when the waiter now arrives and arranges your meals on the table. “We just opened last summer and our Sungie hasn’t been there yet.”

“That’s perfect!” Your mom clasps her hands again in satisfaction. “My husband and I haven’t been there yet too but sending Y/N in for us for a Spring break trip sounds good to me!”

“Oh my God, mom.” You place a hand to your forehead in embarrassment, begrudgingly sliding yours and Jisung’s plates towards you with your free hand Next to you, Jisung dramatically whines to his mom about how embarrassing she’s making him feel.

The two of you unconsciously agree that your respective moms are being a little too much.

“Ay, what are you two being so dramatic about?” Mrs. Han dismisses with a laugh. “Your grandparents were the same when your mom and I were dating other people in college, too. We’re just a little excited like them!”

“Yes, plus, Jisung’s the first guy you’ve dated that you’ve introduced to me and your dad!” Your mom points out.

“It’s not like I’ve seriously dated anyone else.” You grumble, making Jisung chuckle. You then smack his arm, now back to his side as he digs in his cheesecake, in response.

“Still, Mrs. Han and I are just more than happy that it’s the two of you dating.” Your mom concludes as she prepares to eat. “You two are just so adorable!”

“Very, very adorable.” Mrs. Han emphasizes before taking a bite of her own meal. “Now, let’s eat before the food gets cold!”

You sigh, carefully dividing the pizza slices for you and Jisung. “Thank you for the food.” Next to you, Jisung cuts you a spoonful of cheesecake, holding it up to your lips and mumbling, “Take this one. Congrats on surviving your first interrogation, I guess.”

You can’t help but chuckle, relaxing your shoulders. This time, you let him feed you cheesecake.

Your half a day spent walking around the mall and shopping mostly for clothes finally catches up to your mom and Mrs. Han towards the end of your meal, enough to keep them seated longer than usual but not enough to stop them from talking. Checking the time on your phone, you see that it’s almost 5 PM but neither your mom nor Mrs. Han make any initiative to part ways and call it a day, endlessly chatting along across from you about the most trivial of things you’re quite sure they’ve talked about at least three times this whole break already.

It doesn’t bother you nor Jisung, of course (him especially since he immediately leaned all of his body weight onto you and took a quick nap after eating), but from what you can remember, your parents have scheduled the yearly New Year’s company party at home for later at 7 PM.

“Mom,” You call for your mom’s attention after a while, your Twitter and Instagram feeds getting boring now after almost twenty minutes of mindless scrolling. Next to you, Jisung has long awakened from his nap and has settled to passing the time on his phone as well, albeit spamming a groupchat that seems to have Seungmin and Hyunjin in it. “Sorry, but, um, it’s almost five. I told the helpers that we’d be home by 6:30 to help prepare for the party later.”

Your mom and Mrs. Han briefly exchange knowing looks to each other before your mom turns to you again and smiles, “Oh, of course, dear, we won’t take long now. I already texted the driver too.”

“Oh,” You muse in relief, leaning back in your seat. “okay, then.”

Jisung, having closed his phone now, then turns to you and suggests, “How about we walk outside?”

You immediately turn to him, “Hm?”

He pouts, frowning. “Let’s take a walk, it’s getting boring sitting around.”

Your mom, upon hearing this, quickly backs Jisung up, “You two can walk around for now, we’ll just be here. You spent most of the day following us, anyway.”

You look back across the table to your mom as you remove your coat from behind you on the chair and gather your pouch from the hooks under the table, “Are you sure?”

She nods reassuringly, shooing you with her free hand, “Yes, go! I’ll text you when the driver gets here.”

Jisung stands up after you, taking his own coat from his chair then joining you in bidding your mom and his own goodbye. With that, the two of you then head to the exit, reemerging into the mall’s main corridors whose crowd has reduced significantly now.

“Okay, so, where do you want to go?” You ask as the two of you put on your coats and randomly agree on turning right. You offer your arm in between the two of you as you walk, out of concern for him just like when you were walking a while back, and he links his arms with yours in response, pulling you closer as you walk.

You look up to him after to see him quickly scanning the shops ahead of you, head turning around in different directions until they land back to you. “I don’t really have any shop in mind.” He shrugs. “You?”

You shrug back, concluding, “Let’s just walk around?” which he nods in agreement to.

With that, the two of you then walk mindlessly with the flow of the crowd, occasionally stopping by a couple of windows to look at displays of products you don’t actually need right now. Jisung stands close to you the entire time as he always naturally does whenever the two of you are together but without much pressure of your moms looking this time and you let him without teasing or complains, leading the two of you and navigating around the mall.

Eventually, you reach a branch of Mumuso on the rightmost end of the main building’s second floor, deciding on entering the shop when you spot a hamster stuff toy inside.

“I don’t look like that!” Jisung puffs his cheeks out as you pull him inside by the wrist, the gesture completely unhelpful to his case when you glance back at him from your shoulder and laugh which only makes him groan. “You’re so mean!”

“But you do!” You insist, carefully weaving in through the aisles, display shelves, and other people until you reach the other side of the glass pane you were observing the stuff toys from a while ago. Picking up a hamster stuff toy and holding it up to his pouting face, you chuckle, “Look, hamster one and hamster two!”

He gently swats the stuffed toy away, whining, “Y/N!”

“What?” You whine back teasingly, hugging the stuff toy to your chest. “It really looks like you! So cute.”

“I thought we agreed before that quokkas are better?” He points out before attempting to return the stuffed toy back on the shelves but to no avail.

“But they don’t sell quokka stuffed toys, not even Tickles sells those.” You pout teasingly this time, twisting your upper body away so the hamster’s out of Jisung’s reach. When he easily gives up trying to steal the hamster from you, you then then to the shelves behind you. “Anyway, what should we get with this little guy?”

Behind you, Jisung’s eyes widen and his mouth falls slightly agape, “You’re seriously buying?”

Glancing back to him again as he follows you scanning the shelves, you reply, “Mom and auntie let us walk around the mall before we go—they never do that, even when you’d tag along before, remember? I’m sure they’re expecting us to buy something.”

“I doubt it.” He dismisses, humoring you by picking up a stuff bear anyway. “Besides, stuff toys are too expensive when you can get quality hugs from me.”

You scoff, gently shoving him away when he takes a step forward to you and holds the stuff bear in front of his face. This only makes the two of you laugh, holding your respective stuff toys in front of your laughing faces.

“But it’s on sale.” You point out when you catch your breath, showing him the tags on the toys you picked up. “Buy 1 take 1.”

Jisung hums in thought, squishing the bear in his hands before sighing in defeat, “Okay, fine—but you buy and I take.”

You scowl up at him but he only holds the bear up to his face in an attempt to look cute. “What?” He continues with a smug smile. “You suggested we buy stuff toys, so stop scowling, ugly.”

You groan, frowning down at your hamster stuff toy that seems to plead you with its beady eyes. “Okay, okay.” You surrender quite easily, hugging the stuff toy again much to Jisung’s amusement, the toys undeniably too cute to pass up.

Jisung grins happily, grabbing hold of your wrist this time and leading you to check out, “Let’s go, then, before you change your mind!”

You roll your eyes but let him pull you along behind him, anyway, taking you to the fairly long line of customers at check-out.

“We’ll be back in your restaurant just in time.” Jisung assures, taking your plush hamster courteously. “Here, let me take that.”

“Thanks.” You smile appreciatively, replacing the plush toy with your phone now as the two of you wait.

A few people behind you, you initially fail to notice Mrs. Park on the adjacent check-out’s lane with her two daughters and one of her nephews, , immediately recognizing you and Jisung. Having missed the opportunity to talk to the two of you during the reunion party, she approaches the two of you, calling your names just as you and Jisung conclude your last conversation, “Jisung! Y/N! Hello!”

You instinctively freeze while Jisung turns around curiously, eyes widening at seeing Mrs. Park. “Mrs. Park! Hi!” He greets with an equally awkward bow to her, turning you to face your mom’s best friend in setting you up on blind dates after when he sees how tense you’ve become. Looking behind her shoulders, he catches Mrs. Park’s three companions and waves politely at them. “Happy New Year!”

Mrs. Park smiles sweetly, “Happy New Year to the two of you too!” She then adjusts her shawl on her shoulders, gesturing over to her daughters and nephew, especially to Jaemin who waves at you with a warm smile. “Soyeon, Soojung, Jaemin, and I were just finished shopping around as well when I saw you so I thought I’d come and say hi. How are you two?”

“We’re, uh, we’re good!” Jisung grins, showing her your plush toys. “We were just shopping too.”

“Was I interrupting a date here?” She asks curiously, dramatically gesturing to you and Jisung. “Are your moms around? Mrs. Han? Mrs. Y/L/N?”

“T-They’re at our restaurant.” You stammer out this time, eyes glancing over to Jaemin just a few feet away. He doesn’t look back at you, having gone back to scrolling through his phone, but your eyes unconsciously drift over to him while Mrs. Park’s not looking, anyway, suddenly feeling awkward. “We’re leaving after this, actually for my parents’ company dinner.”

After bumping into your mom, Mrs. Han, and Mrs. Hwang together at the reunion party, your next natural fear is seeing Mrs. Park and your most recent almost blind date from last year, her nephew Jaemin—though he’s the only nice one among everyone who’s been set up with you, you eventually ended up evading him and his offer of free movie tickets to any movie house in Seoul until his aunt stopped asking you for updates because you just didn’t feel like seeing him romantically.

You didn’t think it’d be this soon, especially since Jisung practically missed this entire mini drama in person last year, only hearing a few mentions of it in your personal chat.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Park’s eyes widen at your previous statement, moving along with you when your line moves forward. “Really? We had lunch there at 11! Pity we didn’t bump into you.” She gestures a lot with her hands and sighs before glancing over her shoulder to her children and Jaemin. “Anyway, you should say hello to Jaemin. He’s been asking about you and he couldn’t believe that you and Jisung are dating!”

“Oh, um,” Your eyes glance back and forth between Mrs. Park and Jisung now, the latter looking back at you with a raised eyebrow in clear confusion. “It’s okay, we’re—”

But, as if your last comment flew past Mrs. Park, she hurriedly gestures for Jaemin to approach you. With her back momentarily turned to you, Jisung shakes your upper arm once and asks, “Hey, didn’t you message me before that—”

“Yeah, Jaemin was Mrs. Park’s last blind date offer.” Simultaneously, you hurriedly explain to him just before Mrs. Park returns her gaze to you once again and Jaemin joins your group, waving hello to you and Jisung. “Hi, J-Jaemin!”

Next to you, realization dawns on Jisung and he slowly mimics your greeting, “Hi...Jaemin, long time no see, bro.”

“Hey, how are you?” Jaemin asks with a small smile, more to you than Jisung whose offer for a high-five he unintentionally misses. “Y/N, you stopped messaging me last summer before we could go on that movie; then the next thing I hear you’re dating Han Jisung!”

You smile back, equally as awkward as Jisung putting his free hand back to his side. “I got really busy last summer working at one of our restaurants so I couldn’t take you up on that movie offer.” You explain, chuckling along when Mrs. Park laughs. “Jisung and I just started dating last month, though, so it’s not because of him.”

“Oh,” Jaemin muses, finally acknowledging Jisung after by turning to him. “Weren’t you in Malaysia the entirety of last year though, Jisung?”

This time, it’s Jisung nodding. “Yeah but we started dating long distance.” He explains almost proudly, slinging an arm over your shoulder now.

You feel Jisung’s grip on your shoulder blades too tightly, making you nudge him with the same shoulder once for him to loosen up a bit but he doesn’t hold his guard down one bit.

In front of you, Jaemin nods, completely oblivious to the way he’s making Jisung react. “Yeah, so I’ve heard! Anyway, congrats to you two, you both look cute together!” He grins in genuine happiness while Mrs. Park nods along, making you sigh in relief and Jisung to finally loosen up next to you. “Jisung, my movie tickets offer to Y/N still stands but you can totally use it together now, it’s cool.”

“Thank you but—” You begin to kindly reject until Jisung butts in.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind!” Your best friend beams back with a contrasting tensed figure next to you before glancing over your shoulders and shifting the conversation, “Oh, Y/N, babe, we’re next in line.”

You follow his line of vision and, indeed, the man at check-out is already motioning for you to approach the counter. “Right...right.” You mumble in agreement before turning to Mrs. Park. “Um, I’m sorry Mrs. Park, Jaemin, we have to go now.”

“Well, we can’t keep this long line waiting now, right?” Mrs. Park concludes while Jaemin nods along sheepishly. “We’ll be on our way now, then! It was nice seeing you.”

“Yeah, it was nice seeing you.” Jaemin repeats to you and Jisung, waving goodbye this time. “See you around, okay?”

“See you!” Jisung replies courteously for the two of you. “Happy New Year again!”

“Happy New Year, too, dears! See you around!” Mrs. Park then concludes your conversation.

With that, your small crowd then parts ways with Jaemin and Mrs. Park going back in their lane while Jisung gently directs you to the check-out counter with his hand on your shoulder, the other handing your plush toys to the check-out once you’ve reached it.

“Cash or card?” The man at check-out asks politely, swiping your purchase across the scanner. The lady next to him then carefully places your plush toys inside decorative paper bags for New Year’s before returning it to Jisung.

“Card, please.” You cough awkwardly before giving your card to the man with slightly shaky hands, Jisung’s arm on your shoulder not leaving your side even when he reaches over the counter to get your plush toys.

Looking up at Jisung, you find him looking back at you with a curious expression after. “What now?” He asks with a pout, as if expecting you to react similarly to last Christmas. “What did I say this time?”

“What?” You shoot the question back at him as your card is returned to you and the two of you now leave the store. “I just looked at you.”

You actually wanted to ask him why he was holding you in front of Jaemin like that a while ago but quickly dismissed the thought, cringing internally.

Walking outside Mumuso now and out of Mrs. Park’s sight, Jisung only pulls you closer to him as you now walk back to your restaurant, swinging your paper bag on his other side. “You’re thinking of something.” He points out, leaning close to your ear once again when you find yourself in the middle of a big crowd. “Did Jaemin do something you didn’t mention to me on chat last year?”

"I’m not? And no, he didn’t do anything” You snicker in amusement, elbowing him gently. “It’s nothing, I swear. You’re delusional, dummy.”

“So why didn’t you go to the movies with him?” He smoothly changes the topic after a moment, glancing at you expectantly as you walk. “Jaemin’s nice, unlike Mrs. Park’s other nephews, and his parents invest in really cool stuff so you can always get movie tickets and backstage passes from him.”

“I really was busy last summer.” You reason out, leading the two of you carefully at noticing how Jisung’s only paying half attention to your path ahead.

“Ya, but not busy enough to stop bothering me on chat while I was touring.” He points out. “You know, with or without Mrs. Park, you can still go out with him as friends, you know, the movie ticket’s still going to be free, anyway.”

“Yeah, but,” You sigh, hesitantly sharing after a moment, “it just...it felt weird since he asked me under the impression of his aunt setting us up—and I’ve always known he liked Lee Jeno.”

Jisung hums in thought before a thought crosses his mind, “So, if he asked you on his own, as a serious date and without thinking about Jeno, would you have said yes?”

You think about this for a moment, just as you arrive back in the restaurant where your mom is now parting ways with Mrs. Han.

“Y/N!” Your mom calls for you as you and Jisung approach and thus initially preventing you from answering Jisung’s question, some of your shared shopping bags in her arms. Only then do you notice the presence of your driver, Mr. Yoon, who carries the others for her. “Say goodbye to Jisung and Mrs. Han now, dear, we’re going home.”

“And, Jisung, we’re stopping by the tailor to get the jeans I left there a while back.” Mrs. Han reminds her son before turning to you and extending her arms out for a hug. “Come here, dear, let me say goodbye to you properly!”

You look at Jisung who only rubs the nape of his neck sheepishly, wordlessly gesturing for you to accept his mom’s hug with a tilt of his head. With that, you then take a step forward, turning your back to him briefly to give Mrs. Han a hug.

“Thank you for today, Mrs. Han.” You hug her briefly, until she pulls away to affectionately smile up at you. “See you again soon!”

“You have fun at your company dinner tonight, okay? And please, just call me auntie!” Mrs. Han pats your hair delightfully before letting you go, turning to Jisung after. “Okay, Sungie, let’s go so we can go home quickly too.”

Over your shoulder, you see Jisung nod at his mom before gesturing over to you. “Yeah, let me just give Y/N something.” He says, holding up the paper bag he holds in one hand and making his mom gush.

“Okay, then!” Mrs. Han says, taking a step back now to help your mom and Mrs. Yoon to collect your things. “How adorable!”

Only then do you turn back around to Jisung, receiving your stuff hamster from him. “Thanks.” You smile at him, squeezing the plush toy once in your hand before looking up at him again. “And about a while ago—”

Jisung’s eyes immediately perk up in curiosity, “Yeah?”

“I doubt Jaemin would ask as a serious date but either way,” You shrug nonchalantly, “I’d probably turn him down, still. We’re not that close, anyway, and I’m dating you so it’d be weird.”

The last statement catches Jisung off-guard, even though you said it with no underlying meaning or whatsoever, too long that by the time he’s already gathered his thoughts, you, your mom, and Mr. Yoon are already on your way out of the restaurant.

“See you on campus, ugly.” You playfully elbow him by his side as you pass by him on your way out, mumbling the nickname so only the two of you can hear.

“Y-Yeah,” Jisung blinks twice in a daze, watching you until you disappear outside. “see you on campus...huh.”

You find yourself at your first party of the year hours later as scheduled, this time in your own house with extended family and key people in your family’s company. Instinctively, you cling onto your cousins Jeongin and Lia as the three of you try your best evading your actual blood relative aunts and uncles while they’re still sober and can still ask invasive questions.

As the time on your phone nears 9 PM, the three of you take refuge in your bedroom with two liters of Cola and snacks you stole from the buffet table and random YouTube videos playing from your laptop that serves more as background noise while you gossip than actual entertainment.

“I can’t believe you just went along with Han Jisung telling your mom and his that you’re dating.” Jeongin shakes his head in disbelief as he sips on his Cola. “That’s crazy, so unlike you, cousin.”

“It was that or Mrs. Park’s nephews, I’m telling you!” You insist for the third time, chewing on gummy worms. “Anyway, at least it’s him and not someone I’m not that close too so I don’t have to adjust much. Don’t you like Jisung?”

In front of you, Lia shrugs hesitantly, “I mean I like him, I guess: he’s your other other best friend and he’s cool with everyone.”

“So why do you two sound like you don’t like him?” You point accusingly, leaning back nervously on your bed frame.

“It’s not him! We’re just processing this whole fake dating thing since it’s not really something you’d most likely be into doing willingly.” Lia answers honestly. “Personally, I didn’t know that the sorority aunties bothered you this bad to agree with such a thing.”

“You’re not going to be so showy and affectionate with it, right?” Jeongin asks. “‘Cause that would be weird and gross.”

You roll your eyes, kicking him by his crossed legs in annoyance, “Of course not, just when necessary; by that, I mean until everyone lays of all the blind dates for a long while or when there’s another event then naturally we have to be seen together.”

Jeongin smacks your foot with a pillow in response. “So when are you breaking up? Are you two going to Chan’s wedding together as dates?”

“I don’t know yet,” You shrug at the first question, taking a sip of your own Cola before continuing, “and either way, we’re going to Chan’s wedding together.”

“Hm,” Lia muses this time, reaching in between the two of you for a packet of chocolate candies. “Then don’t break up before, during, or a little while after the wedding because it’d be weird for everyone, especially us as your mutual friends.”

“Definitely not.” You agree with a nod. “So, how about you, Jeongin? Are you and Seungmin going together?”

Looking up at Jeongin, you see him pouting, “Probably but I haven’t asked him about that yet.”

“Why do you need to ask him? It’s not like you haven’t gone to other events together before.”

“Yeah but Seungmin started seeing someone lately so I don’t know if I can still tag along with him on the wedding.” Jeongin pouts at you as he opens a small candy for himself. “And I don’t want to go with you and Jisung this time since you’re ‘dating.’“

“Then go with Hyunjin and Minho if you don’t want to hang out with me.” You pout. “You know Yeji, Lia, and Ryujin are going to stick together the whole time and, hopefully, Ryujin finally asks out that girl from one of our lab classes so just stick with Hyunjin and Minho—unless, of course, you want to hang out with your brothers or the younger kids at the wedding.”

You see Jeongin silently contemplating on this idea for a moment, chewing on his candy then taking a sip of his Cola once he manages to break it with his teeth. “Hm, I guess that’s okay now—Hyunjin and Minho, I mean: chaotic but better than third wheeling the whole ceremony and reception.” He muses out loud. “I think I’ll pass hanging out with the sort of adults group my older brother and Jisung’s older brother have unofficially formed and I’m definitely not joining the younger kids!”

“Perks of having close-knit families, I guess.” You chuckle between more sips of Cola. “How come your mom allows you and your brothers to skip the sorority reunion parties whenever you want to, by the way? It’s not like you’re studying abroad or something.”

At that, Jeongin grins mischievously at you before taking a longer sip of his Cola. “Unlike auntie, my mom’s a cool mom.” He giggles. “She understands that my brothers and I prioritize finishing video games at home over having to face her college friends and endure really weird questions.”

The last thought makes you sigh, “I’m seriously jealous, I want to stay at home whenever the reunion parties come up, too. It’s not like I have anything much to show off to the sorority aunties, anyway.”

But Lia waves her hand dismissively at you in disagreement this time, “Yeah but you met and grew closer with your best friend over the years because of such parties, right? He might be your ‘annoying best friend’ as you always call him by but I can see you enjoy his company the most.”

You don’t respond immediately this time, getting caught off guard by the thought.

When you don’t speak, Lia chews her sour worms quickly and adds, “Maybe you’ve just been blinded by being annoyed over the toxic questions the aunties would ask that you don’t appreciate much the fact that you met most of your closest friends now—not to mention your ‘boyfriend,’ too—because your mom is so strict with you attending these parties.”

“So you’re saying I should just put up with the invasive aunties because I met good friends through them?” You feign a scowl, though you know that’s not what he means. “That’s not really a healthy mindset.”

And as expected, your cousin quickly shakes her head. “No, I mean it’s better that you focus more on the friends aspect than on the aunties aspect.” She explains more clearer now. “especially now that almost everyone in your group’s graduating this semester and you guys are probably going to be busy with your respective businesses after. Not to mention, Chan’s getting married and will probably take over their family business soon! That’s soon serious adulting stuff!”

“...huh,” You trail of contemplatively after a while, sipping your Cola once. “I never thought of it that way.”

Jeongin grins cheekily, “That’s because you don’t think at all.”

“Ya!” You smack him again playfully with a pillow, making him laugh. “Shut up.”

The three of you laugh lightheartedly over his witty comeback anyway, catching your breath only when you hear your mom’s footsteps nearing the hallway, probably trying to find you.

“Shit.” You mutter under your breath, a hand to your mouth as you stifle in your laughs and carefully watch your mom’s shadow pass over your door. “Do you think she’s looking for us?”

“For what? Another one of the non-family partners trying to meet you and Lia and set you up on a date with one of their children again like my older brother?” Jeongin teases, moving in between you and Lia nervously when your mom’s shadow hovers by the door from your view of its gaps.

You silently smack his arm with your hand this time, exhaling in relief when your mom finally leaves, most likely to pick something up from her room. “What are you talking about? You heard my mom bragging about Jisung a while back.” You retort. “If anything, maybe she’s looking for you and Lia and setting you up.”

Jeongin sits up straighter now, transferring your laptop where he sat a while back then leaning against your bed frame too. “But you know how they can be, always on our tails and getting on the parents’ good graces.” He shrugs. “That’s just business, I guess.”

“Right, because you’re minoring in business.” You roll your eyes with a chuckle, twisting your upper body so you’re facing Jeongin on your left. “But that’s not my problem right now since I’m dating. I’d look out for you, if you ask me.”

“Yes but you’re ‘fake dating’ not actually dating.” He points out teasingly. “You eventually have to ‘break up’ like most relationships, too. What will you do then?”

Deep inside, you answer the question with a ‘no.’ Outwards, you shrug, seemingly unconvinced, “Still, not my problem right now.”

Then, as if on dramatic cue, your mom knocks on the door. “Y/N, Jeongin, Lia are you in there? Some of the new investors and partners want to meet you!” She yells from the other side, her voice coming out muffled from where you sit. “And Grandma and Grandpa just arrived so say hello to them!”

You groan and Jeongin laughs while Lia only sighs, Jeongin downing what remains of his Cola. “That’s our cue.” He says, standing up first before helping Lia up then you. “Told you.”

“I’m going to laugh if you end up getting trapped by any of our moms.” You hiss at him, picking up your trash and taking it with you as the three of you leave the room.

“We’ll see,” Lia shrugs. “I’m sticking straight to Grandma!”

ch. 1 // ch. 3 // series masterlist

tags: @t-toodumbtocare @sandaigdigan-reads @pwarkhans @ruellelix @malai-barfi @mahalau @milkywayfelix @qweens-stuff @tenclouds @crscendoforsung @verobibble

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houndin-around · 4 years

Text

Covenant | Maul

warnings; slight age gap? I guess, can’t remember if there’s cursing oops, boss-employee relationship

a/n; First ofF I’M DROPPING THIS BC IT’S A SPECIAL SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAYYYYY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNA ILY<3 @hxldmxdxwn

- I’ve been avoiding dropping this because I’m super self conscious about my writing but oh well here we goooo! This is a more modern AU even though I use a lot of SW terms/lore but i’ll probably branch out as we go on throught he chapters. Takes place in coruscant and reader is 23! Maul ios around 30-31 haven’t fully decided yet. Uh hope everyone enjoys this!!

Summary; Getting an opportunity at a reputable company, you’re eager to show everyone what you’re made of. The only odd part is...no one knows who the owner is.

not my gif

Curses rolled off your tongue as the silence was disturbed by the raucous alarm emitting from your phone. Hurriedly you tried to silence it, avoiding waking up your partner that is sleeping next to you. The clock read 4:55 am and the sky was still pitch black. Yet the lights of Galactic City never died, it was hard to get rid of the illumination in your room. Even some curtains weren’t enough to block the livelihood, something you still have yet to get used to. Staring up at the ceiling, the dread of leaving the warmth that consumed you whole was winning the battle lulling you back to sleep. Another ear-piercing song flowed out of your phone causing you to jolt upright. Rubbing the back of your neck, a sigh escaped your lips before you tossed your legs over the side of the mattress. From the second alarm, your boyfriend grumbled before turning over, aggressively pulling the sheets over himself.

Today was the day of your brand new job. Anxiety nestled in your gut the more you thought about it so you tried not to. Two years ago you were leaving Naboo and your family after school. It was one of the hardest things that you had to do, and being an adult wasn’t easy or all that it was chalked up to be. Living on Coruscant was a totally new experience. Everyone dressed so differently-- obsessing over the latest fashions, erasing the idea of modesty as well. Luckily for you, that’s when you met Kenth Madon. Upon arriving, your ship was having difficulties, and you needed a mechanic. Out of all the shops around you, you chose his almost as if it were fate. Due to frequenting his shop, Kenth got the courage to ask to see you outside of the permanently grungy, gas smelling establishment. It wasn’t your first relationship, although it has been quite a while. It was nice to have someone give you the type of attention Kenth did.

Since he grew up on Coruscant, your boyfriend claimed to know what real fashion was. Hinting at the fact yours was a little outdated. So, he helped you restyle your wardrobe as you lacked any type of pizazz when it came to fitting in. At least according to him. During your outing, you still were drawn to rather lackluster choices of apparel, but at least it was slightly updated. Slipping on a white puff-sleeve shirt, you quickly tucked it into the black dress pants you were insistent on getting. The reality of putting on this outfit made your palms sweaty, your heart lurch up in your throat. with the realization of starting this new chapter in your life. Grabbing your white one-button jacket, you scanned your room one last time before placing a feathery kiss on Kenth’s stubbled cheek.

—————————

“Next stop: Galactic Square. Please, refrain from getting up early and blocking the exits. Thank you.” the feminine voice echoed throughout the subway train.

You rubbed your hands up and down your thighs, staring out of the viewport of the train. The job itself was competitive and the position wasn’t guaranteed. Nineteen other candidates were presenting their brand new prototypes for QuanCom, as well. The business that created the HoloNet, the Holocomms, comlinks, and much more. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This job could start you down a successful track, but you didn’t care. It was honestly only for the good-paying credits, since it was hard to find a job degree or not.

With a sudden stop shoving you against the seat, you quickly checked the time on your iPhone. 6:00 am. “Kriff!” you hissed to yourself. You were told work began at 8:00 am, so what in the hell were you going to do for an hour and a half? Being early helped ease your anxiety, though being this early only fueled it-- making it a lose-lose battle. Waiting for the other passengers to exit, you soon rose to your feet, swiftly leaping off the train. Examining the underground tunnels, your eyes shifted all over trying to locate the staircase leading upwards. It was crowded in the subway, yet it didn’t compare to the hustle and bustle that hurried by on the streets of Galactic City.

Humans, Rodians, Twi’leks, and species that you could swear you’ve never encountered before shouldered past you, as if you didn’t even exist. One long blink and an exasperated sigh later, you began to move your feet in the direction of QuanCom. The directions on your phone were confusing. The arrow rotating every once in a while was unable to read your location. Regardless, you continued hoping it was the correct way. The sudden smell of caf penetrated your nostrils, causing you to scrunch up your nose.

“If they sell caf, they probably have some deychin tea and maybe some food…” you trailed off hurriedly toward the small shop named “Caf Project ''.

Inside, it was cozy, brick-lined walls with a large sign hanging over the counter. Swallowing thickly, you stood back just far enough to show you were thinking of what you wanted, but really you were trying to stifle the anxiety welling back up as your mind kept going blank. A jingling sound interrupted your inner battles, and so did the voice of who was walking in.

“I don’t care. I told you to get this done yesterday. Not an hour before I arrived at the office. Is it really that hard to follow through? Do you not realize the utmost significance of this report? I swear I’m dealing with a bunch of imbeciles. Sith give me strength…'' Sucking in a breath, he glanced at you, brow raised. “Shut up for a second, Tannis.” He demanded before turning to you. “Are you in line?”

Your face went completely blank, just a second ago it sounded like he was about to murder whoever he was speaking to. But while speaking to you…his voice was smooth like silk, endearing actually. Swiftly shaking your head “no,” he stepped forward and flashed a warm grin at you, incisors slightly visible. Once again he continued yelling at someone, the barista not even batting an eye. His order was briskly made, though he didn’t even give any notion to what he had wanted. You couldn’t help but examine this stranger before you, attired in a charcoal grey suit that was paired with a very light grey dress shirt with two buttons undone. On his feet were freshly polished black Oxfords, his outfit so simple yet so suave. Once he handed the cashier some credits, you noticed a glimmer on his wrist, by the looks of it one kriffing expensive watch.

Adjusting the lanyard around your neck that holds your ID for QuanCom, the stranger with geometric tattoos all over his face turned to face you. You noticed a shiny stud piercing on the upper cartilage of his left ear. Maintaining some eye contact, you couldn’t help but feel a knot in your stomach. He was quite handsome, and his ivory horns…wow, you thought to yourself, cheeks running hot. “Get yourself together...you’re with someone,” You reminded yourself.

Lips parting, he studied you up and down.

“Good luck.” The words were quietly mumbled as he continued listening to what you assumed to be an employee, on the other line.

“Thank you,” you mouthed back, a sheepish smile tugging at your lips as you continue to fidget with the lanyard.

Maybe, he had heard of the big job offer at QuanCom? Advertisements were flaunted everywhere; it was hard to miss them. Shaking your head lightly, you step forward, showing that you’re ready to order.

“I’ll have a small deychin tea please and…uh- um..a croissant?” Everything on the menu food-wise wasn’t too appealing, but you needed something in your stomach to satisfy the beast. “Uh..how much, sir?” you inquired, pulling some credits from your spotless white jacket.

Shaking his head, the cashier's lips opened to a wide grin, “No need, miss, the man before you covered your order. You’re all set!”

There was that wave of nausea again. Why would he do that? Who even was he? Was it just his generosity for the day? Or did he think you couldn’t afford much based on your attire? Sighing, you frantically think about what you’ll be expecting for this job, continuing on your path toward the QuanCom headquarters. Getting closer to your destination, you glance over your phone, once more checking the time. 7:50 am. Finally, what felt like forever was finally here, and you were so eager to start on a positive foot.

Entering the monstrous building, people were hustling all around you-- confused, lost, and eager to get their days going, as well. You had to remind yourself that you were here as competition and not as a friend for anyone. Though right now, you could really use a friend and some directions as this place was large and filled to the brim. Inspecting the environment, you noticed a few flimsies posted. Maker’s sake, it made things easier by telling you where to go. Padding toward the nearest elevator, you crammed yourself in amongst the other bodies seemingly all going to the same exact floor. Not being able to help it, you held your breath midway until the doors opened on floor 18. Exiting, you followed the tall, skinny woman down the hall to meeting room 1804. To your amazement, it was already quite full, so you took a seat nearest to the door, pulling out some flimsy and a stylus so that you’re ready to jot down any information. The room was white-walled with very little decor besides a large glass table in the center. This is where the fun begins, the long drawn out rules and regulations.

“Alright! Now that we’ve gone over the workplace protocol and the prototype expectations, I will pair you up into four groups of five.” Her voice was raspy, though flat enough to make your eyelids heavy. Everyone around you was also struggling to fight the sleep that tried overpowering them. Names being called brought you back to attention every now and then, but you couldn’t stop thinking about him. “I’m sure Kenth sees more attractive women daily anyway…” you try to convince yourself.

“(Y/N), Fox, Steela, Hardcase, and…Finn. You five will make up group three.” The grouping continued slowly, but the names rang in your mind over and over. “Alright, now that groups are established, get to know one another and start some planning. Each member in your group has a very different degree path; this will help you all utilize one another's skills to create the best results for QuanCom. You have three weeks until you pitch your prototypes to Dooku, the COO.. Remember, 5 pm concludes your workday, so get to it.”

Sitting around your new coworkers, you fumbled around with your stylus, afraid to make the first move for introductions. It seems that you weren’t the only one being fidgety; the gentleman named Hardcase was bouncing his leg vigorously. If you were correct, he and Fox were clones. After the bill was granted clones rights and citizenship, they ended up all over the system. So many felt that cloning was unethical, especially for the fact they were treated similarly to droids. Though it was nice to see the two making something of themselves.

“Guess I’ll start! The name’s Hardcase. Yes I’m a clone, and--yes--I’m perfectly capable of thinking for myself. I’m great with my hands and can assemble anything together. For a short while, I was working as a mechanical engineer for the GAR.” The clone oozed with excitement and enthusiasm, which was quite entertaining. Clad in a pink-hued dress shirt and a blue suit, which matched his facial tattoos. On his feet were freshly polished loafers still tapping the ground.

“Well, I’m Fox. My skills are geared toward CAD and any type of 3D rendering. Once I devote myself to something, I see it through. You can trust me on this project; I assure you that,” he barely showed any type of emotions compared to his counterpart. His attire was dark-- suit, shoes, everything. It said a lot about him and which made you anxious.

“Well, I’m Steela! Researching is my speciality. Problem-solving is also a breeze. I’ll be able to find the answers in order to help us advance to a whole other level! I enjoy leading projects like this, since I know I can keep us on track one hundred percent!” The excitement radiating from her was encouraging. She seemed like a strong woman ready to lead this team to success. She wore brown high waisted dress pants with a matching blazer, and white blouse. On her feet were suede, caramel heel booties.

“I’ll go next…” the young Twi’lek’s voice was soft and elegant, soothing to everyone in the group. Just as she was about to speak the double-doors swung open.

“Asajj, we have a problem,” her voice hushed but full of urgency as she glanced around the room. “Tannis was fired. We need to fill her position. Now!”

“Gods, I knew this was going to happen. I told her she wasn’t ready for this position. Now he’s going to take it out on me,” Asajj let out a long sigh, arms folding across her body. The woman that just emerged looked similar to her, though her face was more relaxed.

“(Y/N), can you come over here for a second please?”

Everyone in the room glanced up at you before continuing their tasks.. Rising from your chair, you crossed the room sliding past everyone with ease. Asajj acted like she was presenting the finest delicacy in the galaxy; arms held out at you.

“I think she’ll do. A tad on the quiet side, but I’m sure Mr. Crimson can work with it,” Her response was more of a question, as both women had their eyes upon you.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice. You cannot run this and take on two secretary positions. You’re going to need the help,” The woman’s pale grey eyes burned into you.

“Fine. Take her to Mr. Crimson. You better hope he approves,” Asajj warned, giving you one last glance.

Quickly grabbing your belongings, the conversation you just had replays in your mind.

“Tannis,”

Why did that name sound so familiar? Who’s Mr. Crimson and why did you have to go see him. Your mind whirled around, anxiety eating away as you set foot in the elevator. It felt like a full rotation cycle before reaching floor twenty. Being led out you walked down a hallway that was decorated lavishly. The flooring was a beautiful dark marble. Each step you took echoed off the walls. Nearing the end of the hall, both of you walked through another set of tall glass double doors. Entering the spacious room, you can’t help but notice the viewport walls. Also catching your attention were two long black desks. They were set across from one another stacked with datapads and pieces of flimsy. Towards the middle was a closed black door that had a frosted glass panel. Without a doubt this room was breathtaking and even though it lacked decor compared to the hallway, the view of Galactic City made up for it. Light knuckles hit against the panel three times, waiting for a response.

“What is it now?” The aggressive tone was enough to send a chill down your spine.

Slowly opening the door to peek her head in. A few words were exchanged before she fully opened the door, motioning for you to follow right behind. Inside was a long glass desk, the legs were black; matching some of the furnishings or complimenting them. In front were two rounded leather chairs, the area rug underneath a bright white. Paintings and picture frames hung on the right side of the room, though you were too afraid to really gawk at them as a gruff voice began erupting again. There he sat, his black leather chair facing the viewports behind his desk seeming to be amidst another phone call. Something about his voice was all too familiar but the fear bubbling inside you made it difficult to pinpoint. Soon enough he swung his chair around slamming the phone down, right hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What was so important that you had to interrupt yet another phone call, Leys. If it’s not about numbers, you know, the job I pay you to do? Then leave. I’ll fire you too. I’ve had it with everyone’s complacent behavior. Any fool could be my financial officer, so if you as so step out of line again, you’re done,” The snarl erupting from this man was horrifying, bringing you back to the Caf shop.

It was him! The same eerie tone used then too, and yet he was able to turn it off so quickly when addressing you. Your hands began to clam up, eyes not even daring to meet his.

“Yes sir, I understand I’m very sorry. I just wanted to bring you Tannis’ replacement,” voice quivering, Leys bowed her head and hurriedly left Mr. Crimson’s office leaving you behind, alone and defenseless.

A satisfied chuckle was released from Mr. Crimson as he watched his employee scatter from his office. Brow raised in your direction, his stare intense, a sneer presenting itself. “Well. Take a seat.”

His hand motioned to the smaller round chairs, eyes never leaving you. Pushing his seat back just a smidge, a polished shoe crosses over his left thigh and his hands fold against his stomach. Releasing the breath you were holding in, you padded over to the seat in front of his desk sitting as straight as humanly possible.

“It seems I’m in need of another secretary. But it’s not an easy job-- I need someone reliable, someone organized, and to understand the urgency of when I say to do something, they do it,” Towards the end of the sentence, his voice dropped a little lower, eyes narrowing. “It is a permanent job that is until mistakes are made. Pays reasonably well especially for dealing with...someone like me. Seems Asajj and Leys picked you and they’re typically alright when it comes to the judgment of character.”

Something about the way he spoke to you made your heart skip a beat. Even the way he stared at you had your arms lined with goosebumps. Trying to compile a coherent sentence was no easy feat with his eyes burning into you.

“I-I, um..” fumbling over your words caused your cheeks to run hot. “Well...first off I wanted to thank you for this morning. You really didn’t have to pay for me...but I greatly appreciate it. As for my work, I am quite organized and pay attention to directions given, but I don’t exactly have the experience in being a secretary, which would probably be important…” trailing off, you broke eye contact with him to glance at a red light blinking on his phone.

He barely acknowledged your thanks, just giving a small nod. A deep hearty laugh left his lips, “Any fool could be a secretary, but you don’t seem like a fool. No, just the way you speak and hold yourself exudes intelligence. Normally a secretary is chosen from within the company, as an outsider could be one that would leak vital information about QuanCom to its competitors. Someone that has worked their way up the ranks, whom I could trust. However, due to obvious circumstances here we are. If you so choose to take this job you will have limited access to certain databases as I need you to earn that trust. Understood?” The sneer plastered itself once more upon his face, incisors visible this time.

“Yes sir, I understand. I’ll make sure I do this right Mr. Crimson!” a little bit of enthusiasm worked its way to you, eyes lighting up like Coruscant itself.

“Please, call me Maul.” he pleaded, followed by a half-smirk.

Rising to his feet, he outstretched a hand that you mirrored. His callused hand engulfing yours in a gentle embrace. Just this morning you were going in ready to compete against nineteen other candidates, and here you are sealing a deal with the CEO of QuanCom to be his second secretary. Breaking the handshake, he opens up his desk drawer pulling out a datapad, handing it to you.

“That will be yours. You’ll need it for all the paperwork and emails. You’re free to take it home, just don’t lose it. Asajj will send you some emails tonight that will need to be completed before you come in tomorrow morning at 6 sharp. Once you do that you’ll be set up in our system and able to begin your duties. You’re dismissed for the day, but you will be paid for a full day. Just a small token of gratitude.”

Taking the datapad in your hands, you gave a curt nod, ensuring you understood the importance that was just given to you. Getting yourself together along with your things, you exchanged a few words expressing how grateful you are for this new position. Heading toward the door, you outstretch a hand to grab the handle. Just as you’re about to open the black door, his voice cuts the silence.

“Oh, one last thing, don’t mention our little encounter this morning to anyone. Some may think... I’m beginning to play favorites.” his voice honeyed paired with a smirk and eyes ogling you, trying to take in one last visual before you leave.

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