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indulgentdaydream · 3 months

Note

Hello luv, first of all... I LOVE NURSE!READER!!! OH god the last lines were soooooo heartwarming for my social worker heart!! LOVE LOVE IT 🩷🩷

So, may I request a Jason x reader again but with a little something... Jealous Jason because reader and Roy know each other longer than Jay and reader and then he gets all jelly and and—! Oh god I love a jealous petty man.

Missy when she fucks up the queue and queues this post for NEXT YEAR by accident 🫣🙃 NEXT YEAR?? LIKE THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED LAST FRIDAY AND I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE THAT IT DIDN'T GO UP

anyways AHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH your words are already heartwarming ♥️

I loveeee jealous jason imma cook this up so quick just you wait and see (i wrote this when i first made the draft and i found it funny to leave it. It’s literally been a month I’m so sorry)

I also made this into headcanons because I had a VISION and did not think to give it any justice. (koi youre seriously my number 1 supporter i hope you enjoy this garbage I just threw up, really)

Pining!Jealous!Jason Todd x Reader

Warnings: slight jealousy (not too overly consuming), alcohol consumption

Roy had invited Jason to hang out at the bar

Bros being bros

except...

Roy brought you along (because he KNOWS Jason has got a fat crush on you whether or not he’s told him)

(He tried to convince roy it’s not a crush, but always fails because his whole demeanour changes when you walk in the room)

examples:

he's always going to be standing beside you, consciously or not

jason isn't always a tense guy. But he for sure isn't as long as you're talking to him/looking at him/etc. (but if you put your hand on his arm/touch him in any way, it's game over)

your name is brought up, he's listening SO INTENTLY

like a dog when it hears its favourite word

Anyways

The three of you are sitting in a booth

It was originally you and roy before jason showed up, the two of you on either side

Jason shows up and just sits right next to you. No hesitation.

You and roy are laughing away, recounting stories and telling jokes.

Jason is just... really quiet

unusually quiet

He doesn’t look at you guys, rather looking out across the bar, trying to hide the fact he’s feeling this way

That he's feeling unreasonably jealous of his best friend

who literally brought you FOR JASON

He knows it’s stupid. He trusts both of you. You two are the two people he trusts the MOST

He hates that he’s like this, but he can't help it

Roy's better than him. You've known him for longer. He's making you laugh harder than Jason ever has. He's better looking, too. Older. More experienced.

His thoughts are clogging up his head. He's really not listening anymore, just holding his beer, eyes scanning the bar floor, watching the other patrons.

Then Roy is standing in front of him, saying something about using the bathroom.

He is giving a VERY pointed look at Jason.

a "make conversation with your crush or I'm shoving an arrow down your throat" kind of look

Jason felt a little stab of genuine anxiety shoot through him.

He's talked to you alone before. Many times. You two were friends, of course. He doesn't know why this is how he's feeling right now.

Then your hand is resting on his forearm.

Poor boy is still so caught up in his head he just looks down at your hand for definitely a second too long before finally meeting your gaze

Your gaze with those stupidly pretty eyes.

Then comes that horrendously pretty voice, "You alright?"

He nods. Shrugs. Like a stupid teenager who doesn't know how to handle his emotions.

He has to admit he's still a little tense about your attention being focused more on Roy. But not to you. He'd never admit it to you. You'd probably find it unattractive and then he'd really never have a chance.

“Yeah, no, im enjoying the talking. Always forget how well you and roy know each other”

“Oh yeah he just knows how to get me going. You know how he is”

Jason doesn’t know how he does it.

Like some leap of faith.

Some, jealousy super-powered leap.

He tries to be non-chalant about it.

“It’d be nice to do this again sometime. Maybe without Roy around.”

BOY'S HEART IS POUNDING

Sipping on his beer, looking down at it instead to avoid eye contact with you so he doesn't lose his cool.

Or someone show on his face that he is actually shitting bricks

You don't respond for a second and the alarm bells start going off in his head

WHY DID I SAY THAT WHY DID I SAY THAT WHY DID I SAY-

"It would be nice," you say, "Could we make it a date instead?"

He's smiling, turning to nod at you, "Course we can."

But his internal dialogue is just straight screaming at himself

"IDIOT YOU SHOULD'VE MADE IT OBVIOUS YOU WANTED IT TO BE A DATE IN THE FIRST PLACE"

The things jealousy will make you do

Roy comes back and sits down

Jason's into the conversation now

It doesn't really matter that Roy is still making you laugh

because he's not the one holding your hand under the table

AH I HOPE YOU LIKE -missy

I also love a jealous petty man (as long as it doesn't become toxic and he doesn't use it as an excuse to be an asshole)

#jason todd x reader #jason todd #jason todd x gn!reader #red hood #dc #dc x reader #red hood x reader #jason todd x you #jason todd imagine #jason todd fluff #red hood x you #dc x you #dc x y/n #jason todd x y/n #jealous!jason todd x reader #jealous!jason todd #cw jealousy #cw alcohol consumption #missy writes

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filmbyjy · 2 months

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hiii

you may not recognize me and thats because im (kinda) new hehe.. anyway, i've been kinda stalking you- but that's besides the point. i loveee your workss!! keep up the good work <3 idk if asks are open, but if they are, could you write a fluffy fem!reader x bf!niki where the reader comes home from a long day, and niki comforts her?? and if you cant, its totally ok <3

have a nice day!

a/n: this has been in the drafts for a year now💀 so sorry, I am trying to clear the drafts but my schedule is shit and we all know I suck at keeping up with my schedule😍

WELCOME HOME

it was past 8pm when you had treaded through the front door of your apartment. your body sore from leaning over the tables and wiping it. normally, the cafe you work at was peaceful and was decently packed but after a viral video that practically wowed the internet.

there had been more and more people stopping by everyday. the cafe was decently sized but it was short staffed so sometimes you had to man the cashier, do the dishes, clean the tables and make the drinks. for normal days (before the surge of people), there was about 2 people working per shift, not including the 2 bakers in the kitchen as they were the behind the scenes staff that were required to be there.

with not that many staff per shift, it was hard for you and whoever was working that day to manage the cafe. that also meant more demands from the customers who think they are entitled to make a mess of the space as 'customers are always right'. curse, whoever made that quote.

you were mentally and physically drained. you just needed a good long rest for the rest of the week. however, you couldn't do that. not when your off-days were already used up for visiting your family back in your hometown. if only you could just...take a breather.

"welcome home, baby!" ni-ki slides into the hallway just as you walked towards the living room. you gave him a tired smile.

"hi riki, why aren't you at the dorm?" ni-ki gives you a playful pout.

"already kicking me out? baby, you wound me. i came to see you and you're already pushing me away." he says as he throws his (long) arms around you. "you weren't answering my calls so i assumed it was a long day at work and you didn't charge your phone."

you took out your phone and tried to turn it on but it was indeed dead. "sorry, today was a hectic day. couldn't even get a proper lunch break. there was so many people coming over for the past week."

"yeah, i heard about it. jake hyung talked about wanting to come over and buy some desserts. they did look good but since you know us being celebrities...we could get mobbed."

you hummed, "that's fair. it's a good thing you didn't go. seriously, have never seen such a long queue outside of the cafe in my whole years of working there."

"there was a queue?" he says as he pulls back from the hug.

"yeah, i felt like i was working at some fancy restaurant. oh god, speaking of there are so many karens trying to scam me and gaslight me into thinking i did something wrong when i did nothing wrong." you groaned and buried your head against ni-ki's chest.

he pats your head. "were you the shift manager?"

"usually i am whenever i am working that day."

"mmm, then you could've kicked them out and taught them a lesson."

"trust me, i wanted to but i can't i'll lose my job so i just sucked it up and patiently worked with them and even gave them a free bagel."

"not the free bagels, baby. they'll just come back again for more." ni-ki huffs.

"i know but what am i supposed to do." you sniffled as the tears that unknowingly appeared falls. you were just mad and exhausted. ni-ki obviously heard it so he pulls you back and cups your face.

"hey hey, don't cry. everything will be fine. why don't i run you a bath and then order some of your favourite food, okay?" he wipes the tears that were falling down.

"will cuddles be included?"

"of course. cuddles will be included. now, just lay in bed and i'll get the bath running." he pecks your forehead and goes to move to bedroom. however, you grabbed his wrist.

"carry me to my bedroom?" you pout. ni-ki smiles and scoops you up in his arms. he princess carries you over to your bed and places you gently onto the mattress before going over to the bathroom and getting ready the bathtub.

you had shut your eyes for a bit since you were tired but the exhaustion took a toll on you and you fell asleep for a little. ni-ki shakes you a little. "baby? the bath is ready. go enjoy it, i already placed an order so the food should be on the way soon."

you hummed and went over to the bathroom to remove your clothing and step into the bathtub. you laid your back against the edge of the tub and shut your eyes again. the candle light making everything moody and warm. you were enjoying the comfortable warmth and silence, much better than the bustling sounds at the cafe. this felt nice.

you had spent in the bathroom for about 20 minutes or so before deciding to get out of the tub. you didn't want to your fingers or toes to look like dried prunes so you decided to just get out of the water. you had grabbed the towel and dried yourself off. you could hear a knock at the door.

"baby, i have pyjamas with me. i forgot to leave them inside the bathroom." you opened the door to ni-ki. he had one hand out to hold the pyjama set and the other hand covering his eyes. a very gentleman thing of him to always do if you came out of the shower in just your towel.

you had noticed he too was wearing a pyjama set and it was similar to yours. of course, he loved matching things with you. you grabbed the pyjamas. "mmm, i think you forgot to grab my undergarments."

his ears quickly turned red in embarrassment. "ah, i knew i forget something. i-i'll just leave the room so you could change." and so ni-ki bolts out of the room and shuts the door. you shook your head, laughing a little since he was so adorable.

you changed into the pyjamas after putting on your undergarments and then went out to the living room. there ni-ki was, turning on the tv and searching up your favourite anime to watch together and setting up the food onto the coffee table. you had come up behind him and back hugged him.

"i have the best boyfriend in the world." you say. ni-ki smiles.

"well, let's not forget your boyfriend is one of a kind. where can you get another nishimura riki, member of boy band enhypen, in the world." he boasts. you playfully rolled your eyes and released him.

"that's very humble of you, riki." you playfully say.

"oh, i know. i'm just that hot." ni-ki smirks. you laughed.

"yeah, you are. now, will my hunk of a boyfriend please just cuddle and eat with me?"

"of course, i'll eat with my beautiful and amazing girlfriend any time." he steals a small peck to your lips and settles down on the couch. you gave him a playful gaze and settled right next to him.

after some time, you found yourself tangled with ni-ki. your legs and his long ones were somehow crossed in between in each other as you cuddled like cats laying together.

"oh, it's over?" you say.

"no, it can't be." ni-ki gasps.

a flash to the tv showed 'season 2 coming soon'. it made both you and ni-ki groan. "that's lame. we have to wait for the next season? that's going to take 1-2 years." ni-ki whines.

"they're going to pull another 'Spy Family' thing where there isn't going to have episodes in the next season, i can feel it." you complained.

"boooo. let's watch something else." ni-ki grumbles.

"yeah, let's watch-"

"let's watch, you. you're really pretty." ni-ki says as he stares down at you. ah, this playful and teasing ni-ki is appearing now.

"that wasn't that smooth, riki."

"well, to me it was. besides, this is a signal for you to reward me and i don't know give me a kiss or at least a peck? i am an amazing boyfriend, right?"

you snort, "yes, riki. you are but you're not getting that peck."

"what? why." he pouts.

"because..." you got closer to him and watches you with adorable doe eyes. before you unexpectedly peck him and ran away. ni-ki sits there confused, trying to analyse the situation properly. until he finally digested it.

"hey! get back here!" he yells as he tries to chase after you.

you could've not felt any better.

and being with ni-ki helped it.

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sanerontheinside · 2 years

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LET'S DO THIS, so I'm rewatching The Hobbit for reasons (such as the voice of Richard Armitage, GDI RICHARD), and I need someone to write a thing for me. Here, have a sentence and run with it: "An elf just called me /pretty/."

So since tumblr expanded queue from 300 to 1000(?) I went deep into my drafts and scrolled thru a lot to collect as many pretty pictures to queue as possible.

I found… prompts that I started writing, and didn’t finish—because I had no idea where to go next, or whatever. my god,, this is from @maawi1253 ‘s old blog that tumblr ate. I don’t even remember what year this ask was sent 🤦‍♀️

anyway: long-overdue! pls don’t ask me where this was going. I’m amazed, with how my memory is now, that I was ever able to attempt lotr fic

~~~~~~~~~

… this is such a stab in the dark, it’s been at least a decade and I haven’t even seen the Hobbit oh no // oh yes // oh wait I have the book

au where Bilbo also ends up in the cells because someone accidentally hit him over the head. also this is half book canon / half movie canon: in the book, the Company got lost on their way through Greenwood. hungry and with mostly knives for weapons, they came upon the Wood Elves in the midst of their feast, and thought they might approach them and beg for food. they tried to approach three times, and on the third time the Elves were annoyed enough to charm whoever had stepped forward first and take them prisoner. in the book, that unfortunate person was Thorin. this time, Thorin trips over Bilbo.

“An elf just called me pretty,” Thorin muttered in quiet shock.

“Well, you are,” someone muttered back from outside his cell in the dark. Master Baggins. It made him jerk in shock and splutter. “Sorry, sorry. Just felt appropriate.”

He felt a disconcerting mix of irritation and hilarity at that. It was funny, he had to admit, though Master Baggins had clearly spent too long a time with his nephews. How in the world was that an appropriate answer to a King? Not much of a King at the moment, he admitted wryly: exile, wanderer, now locked in one of Thranduil’s cells.

“Any idea how to get us out of here, Master Burglar?” he asked softly.

“I can’t very well walk through walls, now, can I?” the Hobbit hissed back, somewhat irritated. “I may have a thick skull and all that, yes, but next time I’ll thank you not to hit me over the head when I’m trying to help!”

Thorin cringed, feeling more than a bit guilty. He had, in their final attempt to approach the elves to beg for food, accidentally misjudged Bilbo’s position in the dark and taken the hobbit with him. “I’m sorry, Master Baggins,” he said quietly. “I’ll endeavour not to trip over you next time.”

The apology was sincerely meant, though he couldn’t quite help the teasing lilt to his last words. Then he thought better of himself and added, “Please believe me, it was completely unintended.”

A soft huff was the only answer he got for his efforts. He supposed maybe Bilbo had settled in to sleep after all – not that there was much else for them to do. At least they’d been fed.

But after a moment, the hobbit stirred again. “You didn’t tell the King where we were going.”

Thorin hummed noncommittally. “I said nothing that was not the truth.”

“But you believe he would try to stop you?”

Thorin shrugged, then remembered Master Baggins could not see him doing so. “I cannot say. The fewer people know of our quest, the safer we will be.”

“But of course, we’re safe as can be, here in the King’s cells,” Bilbo pointed out.

Thorin snorted. “Certainly, Master Baggins.”

“And what of the others?”

Another shrug. “I suppose they’ll end up here, sooner or later.”

Where else, after all, when they’d been starving and had few weapons among them? Hopefully sooner, as much as he hated the thought: at least in King Thranduil’s cells, they would not starve. What a way to end their quest!

“Thorin,” Bilbo spoke up again a moment later, an odd edge to his voice that immediately had the King eyeing the wall between them with apprehension.

“Yes?”

“Have you considered, well, actually telling them why we passed through Greenwood?” The hobbit barreled on, probably hoping to get as much of a justification out as he could before Thorin might cut him off: “It’s just that, well, Greenwood is a neighbouring kingdom, right? And an ally, potentially, to Erebor? I mean wouldn’t it be more pragmatic, you know, to –”

“Master Baggins,” Thorin interrupted him – gently.

“Hm?”

“Master Baggins, there is a great deal of our people’s history you do not know. There is a longstanding disagreement between the Elves of Greenwood and the Dwarves of Erebor.”

“Yes, well, how longstanding?”

Thorin stopped short. “I don’t – know. That is a question for Balin, if anyone remembers still.”

“Then why hold on to it?”

Thorin smiled thinly. “Because you can be sure King Thranduil remembers, though I’d rather not ask him. When the dragon came to lay waste to Erebor, you can be sure the elves were not there to help us when we asked.”

“Oh.”

If he thought that was the end of it, Thorin was sadly mistaken.

~~~~~~~~~~~

*interestingly, also in book canon, the conflict between Greenwood Elves and Dwarves has absolutely nothing to do with Thorin’s line, either.

#maawi #maawi1253 #where the f@^% was I even going with this tho #lotr #the hobbit #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins

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jojo-reader-hell · 3 years

Note

May I please request headcanons for Mikitaka, Rohan, and Kira’s reactions to their s/o telling them she’s pregnant ?

“Oh! Splendid news! I suppose the injections were working after all.”

You froze right in the middle of putting Mr. Jingles back into his enclosure, the little mouse taking the initiative to hop from your hands into his nest of hay. Realistically you had wanted your surprise to be something sweet, but with your boyfriend it wasn’t easy for him to understand nuance or the reason you hid things from him. He asked you outright why your menstrual period was late this month. Totally blunt and to the point.

But this bullshit?!

“What do you mean ‘injections’?” You ask, horrified at the answer.

Mikitaka brightens up, and when he brightens up it makes you nervous because his shape shifting begins to slip and his eyes start turning that frightening color.

“Well realistically it’s not possible for our species to interbreed being as you are a carbon based life form. I took the liberty of inviting my good friend Indrid Cold for a medical assessment and we agreed the best course of action would be injection. He figured it was best to do it while you slept, you are really quite adorable when we beam you up into the ship but not so nice when you wake up… my love? Why are you shaking?”

Mikitaka seems genuinely perplexed as you weakly grip the shelf, knees knocking together as your face goes completely stark. Suddenly you remember very vividly one of these “injections”. The gray alien muttering in your face… the frightening black eyes as his long spindly fingers ghosted over your abdomen. Mikitaka and the gray conversing in some muttering language as they poured over the genetic code he wanted to pass on. And the probe. God help you… the PROBE…

“I suppose it is going to be rather strange…” Mikitaka admits when he gets up to support you off the floor, “But not to worry! Indrid insists that he will send us help by way of his very kind friends, I believe the ladies would like to schedule a meeting with you tomorrow night while you’re conscious.”

Queue you fainting dead away on the floor at the thought.

You want to tell him the moment you have your suspicions, because his weekend is coming up and you want him with you at the doctor’s office when you go to confirm the pregnancy. After finishing a draft for the night he crawls into bed with you, you mention that you think it would be a good idea to see the doctor together because you think you might be pregnant.

“No…” he murmurs into his pillow. “Go by yourself. I have the weekend off…”

“But Rohan-!”

If you think there’s fanfare when you tell him you suspect you’re expecting, think again. This man is dead tired. He’s snoring in minutes and you balk at him, finally bullying him in the morning to accompany you to the clinic a hop skip and a jump away from your shared home. Now that he’s awake and had some breakfast he’s a bit antsy, glancing at you every so often while you positively beam with excitement.

Sure enough, they take you in the back for a pee test AND ultra sound all at once, and there’s the little Kishibe bean nestled inside you.

“Look babe!” You gush, “Look!”

For once he’s just flummoxed and silent, totally fixated on that little spot in the void of darkness in your womb. The doctor smiles and says nothing, just fiddles with the transducer probe a minute and turns the volume higher. Not only is Kishibe Rohan transfixed by the sight, a crosshatch of white in black that will one day be his baby, but he starts to tear up when the whooshing sounds of your abdomen turn into steady little heart beats, his own speeding up in the process. That’s a little Kishibe baby in there... His...

“Babe?! Oh fuck!”

He accidentally pulled the metal tray by his chair down with him as he faints dead away, and you end up staying at the clinic a few more hours so the nurse practitioner can check him for a concussion.

(Y’ALL KEEP THIS MAN AWAY FROM THOSE LITTLE BABY HANDS JESUS CHRIST)

Yoshikage Kira is actually the one that notices something has changed about you first. First was the carpal tunnel. He loved it at first, before his bedtime stretches he made sure to take care of you by massaging your palms and wrists, gentle kisses along the flesh. It went on like that, a typical turn on for him, until the other symptoms started. Your palms got red and irritated, constant scratching that sounds like you’re raking your fingernails along hedgehog quills. He’s outraged at first, thinking you are foregoing your usual skin care regimen that he has you on, until he notices that you’re gaining a little weight, maybe becoming a little more emotional, and sometimes you’ll just absently cradle your tummy absentmindedly.

“Darling...” you seem to glow one day while you make your husband’s breakfast.

“Yes?”

“Mmm... how do you feel about children?”

This shakes up his routinely peaceful life. You don’t even have to tell him outright, it’s as if he’s been able to sense something just out of place in his normally quiet life. He just watches as you stir his breakfast in the pan, careful not to burn it, the flesh of your finger straining like rising dough around your wedding ring. The plumping of your hands, the symptoms...

For a minute he’s actually afraid of the implications.

#jojo’s bizzare adventure #jojo’s bizarre adventure diamond is unbreakable #jjba diu #jjba diamond is unbreakable #mikitaka hazekura #mikitaka x reader #rohan kishibe x reader #rohan kishibe #yoshikage kira #yoshikage kira x reader #jjba headcanon #jjba headcanons #jjba hc

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anothernerdstudies · 5 years

Text

REALISTIC STUDY AESTHETICS PART 3 🍂📒

Part 1 // Part 2

new semester edition

Going out of your mind over summer because you need the routine of school/uni and miss learning and studying

Getting 3 days into term and narrowly avoiding a breakdown about the overwhelming amount of work due in less than a week and it’s only just begun oh god

Completely forgetting everything you know about your subject and finding the first week really difficult because all this work is really hard and how are you supposed to do this?

Then remembering that the basic stuff isn’t actually that hard and feeling stupid for not getting it (reverse percentage yields,,,,,I'm looking at you)

having a really good post sitting in your drafts/queue for ages, constantly getting bumped for something else you like better in the moment, then finding the same post on your dash and adding it to the drafts/queue (i have 3 of the same post in my queue listen there’s 60 things in there it’s just too hard)

Having to get used to student living again aka people screaming outside your window at 2am just ‘cause

Not having enough time to post because your workload has just increased dramatically and now there’s nothing left in my queue how did that happen? it was huge?

Finally getting ahead on all your work! Well done! Take a day/weekend off! Now you’re behind again. Well done.

Not wanting to live anywhere else because this is your home and you love the independence of having a place be yours

Using summer to decrease your caffeine intake and that lasting all of about 3 seconds into the new semester before you’re hooked again

Okay but really why are there people screaming now it’s a Thursday who goes out on a Thursday

Feel free to add your own! 💛🍂

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moodyvalentinestories · 4 years

Text

A Holly Jolly Christ-Mess. Part 3. | Rachel x Hunt

03: More Wine

“AlI need to see, standing by my Christmas tree is you. Christmas won’t be the same without you.” – Christmas Won’t Be The Same Without You (Martin Nievera)

Summary: Rachel and Hunt have dinner at his place.

Pairing: Thomas Hunt x Rachel Fields

Words: ~ 800 words

Notes: Okay, yeah, kind of a mess because I had to rush it a little. Apologies.

Also, I guess we’re posting these in the middle of the night now because they’re sitting in my drafts/queue for, like, a week and I just want them to see the light of the day be posted already.

❥ Moodyvalentine’s Masterlist

“I suppose wine isn’t the best idea if you plan to work on your essay later,” Thomas said as he carried two plates of pasta into the dining room, where Rachel was already pouring some of the Pinot Grigio he’d put on the table earlier into their glasses. “Rachel!”

She chuckled and set the bottle down on the table again before turning around. “Half a glass won’t kill me. I’m not that much of a lightweight.”

“Mhm. I believe that’s what you said before you came up with that ridiculous idea to include robots in your perfume commercial,” Thomas chuckled as he placed their plates on the table.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have you know that Professor Sanchez absolutely loved the idea.”

“I’m sure,” Thomas said and pulled out her chair for her. “But I’m not Professor Sanchez.”

“Yeah, I know. Your classes are a lot less fun,” she grumbled as she sat down, taking in the delicious scent of the food in front of her. “Then again, he’s never made Carbonara for me.”

Thomas huffed as he took a seat across from her. “The man can’t even cook. He’s brought what I can only assume was supposed to be tapenade to a faculty meeting once. It was absolutely horrendous.”

“You know I’m just joking, right? Your classes are my favourite,” Rachel assured him with a grin. “Though that may have something to do with the fact that I quite enjoy looking at you. Especially that jawline.”

He didn’t mean to smile, but he couldn’t help it. “You’re incorrigible.”

“So I’ve been told. By you, mostly,” she said and lifted her glass to clink it against his. “To us. And a quiet Christmas, for once.”

“I would hope not too quiet.” Thomas chuckled as their glasses met. “Not that you could ever be.”

She felt her cheeks heat up at the comment, and she quickly raised her glass to her lips in an attempt to cover her blush. Of course, it was futile. Thomas definitely noticed.

“Just so you know, that was not a complaint.”

Her blush intensified. “Thomas—”

He let out another laugh, shaking his head slightly. “As much as I love to see you flustered, I believe we shouldn’t let our food get cold.”

“Oh, thank God,” Rachel muttered under her breath before digging in. As per usual, the meal tasted heavenly.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while, but there was one question that had been plaguing Thomas for nearly a week now and though he’d told himself he’d wait until after dinner, he simply couldn’t keep it in anymore. “Are you sure your family won’t mind that you’re not spending the holidays with them?”

Rachel nearly choked on her food. “What?” She coughed a couple times and Thomas moved to get up, but she stopped him with a dismissive hand motion as she composed herself again. “Are you… having second thoughts about the trip?”

“No. God, no,” he said and took a large gulp of his wine. He wanted nothing more than to spend time alone with her, away from everyone. Still… “But you hardly get to see them and—”

“There’s a reason for that,” she replied dryly. “And it’s not the distance between here and home.”

He let out a sigh. He knew a thing or two about being on less-than-ideal terms with family, and he knew how painful that could be. It wasn’t what he wanted for her, though, of course, that wasn’t exactly in his control. “I’m not saying you have to visit them, but if you chose to do so, we could postpone our—”

“Absolutely not,” Rachel interrupted him. She downed the rest of her wine and reached for the bottle, but Thomas was faster. He pulled it away, giving her a disapproving look. She huffed. “Either way, I’m done talking about this.”

“Rachel—”

“I said I’m done, Thomas. Just accept it.”

To his own surprise, he did. At least for now, he wasn’t going to press her on the issue any further. Though he did feel a little sting at her unwillingness to talk to him about her family. Then again, he’d never talked to her about his own – all she knew was that he wasn’t close with most of them. Which, actually, was exactly as much as he knew about hers.

“Okay,” he said eventually. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.” He wasn’t, really. Though he was sorry for upsetting her. It was the last thing he’d wanted to do when he’d asked.

She gave a half-hearted smile. “Thank you. Now, give me that wine.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Your essay?”

“Oh my God, will you shut up about my essay?” she said, a more genuine smile taking over her features. “I swear, you’re going to regret being overly concerned with it later.”

He chuckled, then held out his hand for her glass. “I’ll pour you some.”

“How much is some?” she asked, handing him the glass nonetheless.

He filled just under a quarter of it before giving it back to her.

She rolled her eyes. “Why did I agree to come over again? You’re no fun.”

“You’ll thank me later.”

And he was right, she would. Finishing that essay would be hard enough as it was. She didn’t need the added challenge of being drunk.

Tags: @lilyofchoices @trappedinfandoms @flyawayboo @alleksa16 @silversparrow02 @hopelessromantic1352 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker

#wherefore art thou my professor #wherefore art thou my student #professor hunt #hwu hunt #rachel #thomas hunt #hwu #holly jolly christmess

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twxntrash · 7 years

Text

I’m posting a small snippet of the second chapter of my work-in-progress novel here. Was actually one of my favorite scenes to write so far on the draft I’m currently working on.

Includes humans, werewolves and a scrawny & tiny mage.

Looking around, she blinked at her surroundings and bit the inside of her cheek as she felt a small chill run up her spine. She hadn’t really taken much notice at the time when she was following Phoenix, her entire attention being on him and what he was doing rather than where they were going. But, now she kind of wished she had been watching where they had been walking.

The forest, thick and dark was to her left, as ominous and threatening as it always was late at night when it was too dark to see well in it. To her right were tall apartments that loomed high, barely up to code with crumbling faded bricks and stained, cracked windows. The street was illuminated by streetlamps which were sorely in need for some TLC from maintenance; half of them flickered on and off showing the light was barely alive, and the other half didn’t shine at all, their bulbs long dead.

This was a part of town that Zoe tended to avoid, even during the daylight hours but especially at night. For good reasons too; it always left her feeling nervous and on edge. It just, it wasn’t the safest place to be.

The wind had begun to pick up, rustling the leaves and making branches creak.

Zoe felt another chill run up her spine and started walking.

Now, common sense would tell her to stay with the buildings and street, where there would be lights, regardless of how weak or dim they may be from numerous burnt out bulbs. It would still give her light and offer her some form of safety. But, common sense had gone to bed two hours ago, and she wanted to do the same right now, she wanted to go home. So, she took the more scenic and much shorter route home by cutting through the forest.

A salty wind swept up from the beach on the other side of town, the scent of ocean mixed in with the earthy smell of the forest filling her senses as she breathed. Leaves crackled all around and she could hear crickets chirping and owls hoo-ing.

Zoe couldn’t help the yawn that escaped her and the heaviness forming at her eyelids, as though weights had latched themselves to them. “I really need some sleep once I get home,” Zoe muttered to herself.

She didn’t bother taking her flashlight from her bag. She had walked through the forest so many times that she knew the path by heart. Even in the darkness, with the only light being the moon above, she could still make out the sidewalk she followed and the dirt paths that branched out from it. Even without the path, she trusted herself to be able to navigate her way through the forest and back home.

Occasionally Zoe would spot an animal dart by. An owl flying from branches, a raccoon darting up a tree.

A twig cracked loudly behind her and Zoe flinched. Turning around, she saw nothing but a broken branch on the ground just a few feet away. Shaking her head, Zoe could feel her heart begin to pick up in pace, though she continued to walk down the trail, “Rabbits, it’s just a rabbit,” she told herself.

Leaves rustled loudly to her side and Zoe instinctively held onto her bag tighter as she began picking up her pace, walking faster. Her pulse began to race as the rustling increased. Far too loud and intense for it to be some harmless little forest critter. It couldn’t be a rabbit; she knew that there was no way that it could be a rabbit making all that noise.

Breaking into a run, Zoe started panting as the trees started to shake around her, she doubted it was just the wind causing it. She could hear footsteps, loud and heavy, following her from behind. Her heart pounded in her ears, felt like it was about to rip itself from her chest as she kept running. Panic had settled in deep into her very being, as was the regret for even stepping foot into this stupid forest.

She shouldn’t have cut through the forest; she should have stuck to the streets. Oh, God, this was a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake.

Up ahead, Zoe saw a glimpse of a large, bestial shadow moving.

Slamming her heel into the concrete, she felt pain run up her leg as she whirled around, stumbling for a moment, before regaining her footing and sprinting back in the opposite direction, back the direction she had come from. She hadn’t gotten too deep into the forest yet, she could break free from the trees and into the safety of streetlights and apartment complexes. She prayed to whatever Gods were listening that she would make it. That she could reach the streets, get out of the forest and get somewhere safe.

Maybe, if she was just lucky enough, she could reach a store or something that was still open, or find some other people out at night. No way anything would attack her if she wasn’t alone. Right?

She just, she had to get somewhere safe.

Zoe could hear creaking and cracking, thick branches snapping like scrawny twigs behind her as she ran. Something was scraping against the pavement behind her. It sounded sharp. Zoe wanted to scream as the thought of blood stained claws flashed through her mind, but her lungs were far too busy trying to keep her breathing and all to spare her the air for a scream.

With every passing second, the sounds got louder, grew closer. The clicking of claws against asphalt were ringing in her ears.

She pushed as hard as she could, begging her legs to keep moving, ignoring the burns running up her calves and thighs as her legs were pushed past what they were used to. She could hear heavy panting as she ran harder and faster than she had ever done in her life.

It took her a second to realize that it wasn’t her panting.

Blind panic took over and she tried to go even faster, try to outrun the beast chasing her. Her legs were burning, her lungs on fire and her heart practically bruising her ribs at this point. Her mind was racing with all the thoughts of what the thing chasing her could be, of what her fate was going to be if it caught her.

As she broke free from the forest, her feet found themselves tangling against themselves and sending her skidding across the sidewalk, tumbling and rolling until she came to a stop on her back under one of the flickering streetlights. Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt her head throb and blood run down her leg. Her whole body hurt and she couldn’t find the energy to bring her back to her feet, left in a small daze from the fall.

She could feel all the bruises and scrapes covering her body, marring her with injuries she would loath in the morning. If she made it to morning. But, she had to, she was out of the forest and in the light. The thing chasing her wasn’t going to follow her out here, not when anyone who looked out their window could see it.

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to sooth her lungs as she laid there. It wasn’t like she could even get up if she wanted too; her body felt as heavy as lead, far too exhausted to move.

Lying on her back, she groaned at the pain that throbbed throughout every inch of her body, wondering for a moment if she maybe had broken or twisted anything. Then, she fell silent as she came to hear breathing. Breathing that most certainly was not her own.

It was slow, rhythmic, deep and right in front of her. Every breath led to a hot, moist puff of air across her face. Something wet dripped onto her face, running down her forehead and cheeks and dripping onto her clothes. Clenching her hands into fists, her eyes squeezed shut tighter, too afraid to open her eyes and look and what had found her. Her body held back a tremble, and it dawned on her that it wasn’t her own body that felt heavy, but the thing on her that was keeping Zoe down.

She wanted to whimper, she wanted to cry.

Maybe if she held perfectly still, whatever it was pinning her down would grow bored and leave her alone. Maybe it would think she was dead and leave.

Maybe it was just a lost dog.

Please let it be a lost dog.

As much as she didn’t want to, there was only one way she could know what it was that had her down. Letting out a shaky breath, Zoe slowly opened her eyes.

It could pass for some kind of dog, if the requirements were stretched far enough. It had the basic traits to be considered one, the canine features were clear despite the poor lighting. But, that wasn’t what Zoe noticed first. No, the thing that Zoe first saw when she opened her eyes were two rows of sharp, white teeth. The canines must have been as long as her hands, maybe longer, and sharper than knives. Each tooth was sharpened to a dangerous, deadly point and was paler than the moonlight, glistening and dripping with saliva. The mouth was curled into a sickening smile.

Looking up further, she stared past the muzzle of the biggest wolf that Zoe had ever seen, though it was hard not to focus on the teeth, ready to rip her apart, she managed to take in other details of the beast. It’s fur, though hard to be sure with the lack of lighting, was thick and dark brown, with paler streaks all throughout its pelt like some kind of inverted tiger.

Its eyes were trained on her, glowing amber burning themselves into her memory.

Primal fear struck her right to the core. Every hair on her body stood on end, every cell wanted to run, but she couldn’t move. Not with the wolf practically on top of her. Zoe could feel herself growing close to hyperventilating, she was shaking from head to toe. The massive paw that was on Zoe pressed down harder.

This wasn’t how she was supposed to die; she was too young! For God’s sake, she was only fourteen! She wasn’t done with school, she hadn’t even finished her Netflix queue; she wasn’t even caught up on Game of Thrones yet! Hell, she hadn’t even gotten to experience high school or learn to drive yet!

Oh, God, she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die. Not like this, not her and not now. Certainly not by being eaten by a giant wolf.

The wolf made contact with Zoe and its mouth broke into what could only be classified as a grin. Even as it leaned closer, it didn’t break eye contact. Something in Zoe clicked, a realization that only made her feel worse. This thing enjoyed her fear. It liked watching her squirm in terror. She swore it was laughing, it’s body shaking with glee and those terrible amber eyes showing sadistic joy.

Zoe opened her mouth, she wanted to scream. Scream at the wolf, scream in terror, scream for someone to help her. Just, scream. But, her voice had left her as the wolfs smile grew wider and wider. Baring it’s teeth, the moonlight outlined its terrifying features, Zoe felt her heart stop and cold dread fall over her.

Moth wide open, it snapped its head forward.

A scream ripped through her, leaving her throat raw and voice hoarse, it was earsplitting and louder than she had ever gone before. She threw her arms up in front of her, a desperate attempt to shield herself from the rows of razor sharp teeth, though futile it may be. She kept screaming as the seconds ticked on and anticipation filled her. Anticipation for the ripping, the tearing and the inevitable agony as she was torn apart, piece by piece, and gobbled up as a midnight snack.

But… nothing happened.

A second passed, then another. Zoe’s scream slowly died down as time ticked on with no pain, no… nothing. Hesitantly, Zoe brought her hands down and opened her eyes a crack to see what had happened. She immediately wished she hadn’t.

Just two inches away from her face was a world of teeth, pain and death. The tongue hung out, seemingly frozen in place even though drool still dripped down and landed on the ground just an inch away from her head. She could see its eyes moving; confusion and anger shining in them, but it was clear that its body wasn’t going to budge.

She was still rather terrified, but, her body relaxed just a little as she felt her lifespan extended just a bit longer. Looking at this creature frozen in spot, she felt fear still gnawing at her from inside as she wondered how long it would be until it started moving again. More importantly, why it was frozen to begin with. Scooting back, Zoe managed to crawl her way out from under the wolf and break free from its hold.

Now that she was sitting in front of it as opposed to under, Zoe was given the opportunity to get a good look at the beast and get an idea of just how big the wolf truly was. It had to be at least ten feet long, and standing on its legs, it reached an easy six feet from foot to shoulder. Obviously it wasn’t any normal wolf, nevermind that Edgewood didn’t even have wolves!

Zoe breathed slowly, trying to wrap her mind over what had happened and try to calm down, but she was still in shock over this giant creature, this mammoth of a wolf. Having nearly died, well, she wasn’t in the best place at the moment.

She broke her gaze from the wolf when she heard footsteps behind her. Fear coursed through her once again as she shakily turned around, preparing herself for a freaking zombie or Bigfoot himself to show up.

Instead, she was met with a small boy in an oversized green hoodie.

From the dark and into the dull streetlights, Phoenix stepped into her view. His head was held high and an arm held forward, palm facing towards the wolf as he approached Zoe. His expression was light, innocent and far too friendly for this situation as he tossed Zoe an almost apologetic smile.

“Hey there,” Phoenix greeted her as he came to stand beside Zoe, not breaking his gaze from the wolf, “I know this is a lot to take in and all, but, could you do me a small favor? Just relax and, please, try not to scream?”

Zoe failed that in record time.

#cam writes shit #original work stuff

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writesandramblings · 6 years

Text

The Captain’s Secret - p.31

“Nemo Sum Game”

A/N: In my sleep-deprived state I accidentally splinched a few paragraphs that were supposed to be in the previous chapter from the draft, so if you read it when it was first posted, go back a chapter and Ctrl-F "family" for the missing section.

Title is a triple play on words: nemo sum, Latin for "I am no one"; a zero-sum game is a situation in which each participants gain or loss is exactly balanced by the gain or loss of the other participants; Captain Nemo was the commander of the Nautilus.

Additionally, worth noting that adult content does exist for this chapter and several other recent ones (Serot, more Billingsley, Sollis, and Sollis and Caxus), but I'm currently still in such a rush that I'm skipping writing it to try and get the Buran section of the story wrapped up before this Sunday's episode. I promise I'll indicate when this content is ready and available, and then you'll be able to find out the exact details of how that alarm got tripped, if you're so inclined!

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << 30 - Exit Strategy 32 - Home >>

When he arrived, her head was poking out of the vat and she was blue again, chatting merrily away with Yoon. For a moment, he was very happy, and then almost instantly he was very, very angry. She did not need to ask to know what he was feeling, because never had anything ever been more clearly written on his face.

He crossed over to the vat in three long strides, elbowed Yoon aside, reached his hands in, grabbed Lalana, and pulled her halfway out. Biomimetic gel clung to her like putty. It felt like partially-congealed pudding under his fingers. He shook her.

"What the hell were you thinking!"

She let out a soft trill, the sound usually associated with alarm or surprise.

"Captain!" said Yoon, grabbing hold of his arm.

"Stay out of this," he snapped at Yoon, then resumed shouting at Lalana. "You were free to go anywhere, do anything! An entire universe of stars to run to and you came back to the one place you're not supposed to be! What the hell, Lalana!"

She trilled again. This was not an adequate level of communication.

"What!"

"Samaritan asked for my help."

Lorca looked at Lalana in utter disgust. "You do not get to blame this on Dr. Li. Don't you dare. I see exactly what you're doing. And if you think I'm going to fall for one of your cleverly-crafted 'repurposed truths'—"

She covered her face with her tail and began knocking her hands together.

"I'm not falling for that, either!" he exclaimed, face contorted with fury.

Yoon was aghast. "Captain!"

"Don't give me that look, lieutenant. This is the lului equivalent of crocodile tears." It wasn't, but it might as well have been.

Thankfully the translators were on full idiomatic settings, not the lower, more literal threshold Lalana preferred, and she understood his meaning perfectly. She squirmed in his hands. Her fur actively pushed back against his fingers. "I'm not lying! She said she needed my help to save Starfleet! I thought I could return the favor and save your people like you saved mine!"

"Save us from what?" Yoon ventured, eager to try and extricate Lalana from what she felt was an unjustified interrogation.

Lorca rolled his eyes and let out a low groaning growl. It was impossible to explain without dropping into a tone that bordered on levity. "Dr. Li is convinced Starfleet is being run by an illuminati shadow cabal."

"What?" went Yoon. From her perspective, this conversation just kept getting weirder and weirder.

"Exactly." Lorca returned his attention to Lalana. Bits of gooey gel were dripping down the outside of the vat. "You fell for that load of crap?"

Lalana's hands stopped tapping and her tail slid up. "So it is not true?"

"Of course it's not true! It's a goddamn conspiracy theory! Crazy people make them up!"

"Why?"

"Because they're crazy!"

Yoon immediately tried to jump to Lalana's defense again. "You can't blame her for not knowing that! How could she know that?"

Lorca looked at Yoon with something akin to wryness. "She could have asked. You like asking questions, don't you, Lalana? What does this mean? Why do humans do that?" The level of mocking derision in his voice bordered on comical. Then he dropped back into anger. "And yet, when Li spins you some yarn about a shadow government, you don't think to ask anyone? That just sounded perfectly right as rain to you?" Cornwell had clearly been right about the dangers of letting Lalana loose into the galaxy.

"She said I could not tell you. Any one of you might secretly be section agents."

"Oh my god," said Yoon, realizing how deep this delusion went. The assistant doctor hadn't just been crazy, she needed serious medical intervention.

"But Gabriel," Lalana continued, "I do not think Samaritan was lying."

"Just because Li believes it doesn't make it true." His arms were beginning to hurt. She probably weighed ninety pounds with all the goo on her. He was going to have to put her down or bring her closer towards him fairly soon or the choice would be made for him.

"Then I will find proof," she said.

"You can't prove something that's not true."

"If I do, then you will forgive Samaritan and forgive me, too."

His arms began to tremble faintly from the strain. Lorca closed his eyes. When he opened them, he had made his decision. Despite the fact she was covered in gel, he drew her close against his shoulder and lifted her free from the vat. He did not release her immediately. "When you put yourself in danger on this ship, it's my responsibility. I don't want to lose anyone else."

For over a month now, Lorca had been operating under the self-imposed delusion Walter Chen's death did not affect him, that he was somehow above the grief and melancholy and doubt of it all. He was not. Morita had made the choice that sent Chen on that mission because Chen had asked to go, but Lorca had signed off on it, and he knew Chen's service record. He knew the service records of everyone on the crew. While there was no one single point of blame, he was the ultimate bearer of responsibility for events on his ship.

Lalana vibrated the gel off the end of her tail into the vat and then put her tail onto his head so the filaments stroked through his hair. Feeling like an interloper, Yoon made her way into the bathroom, the only place she could go.

"How did you even get back on the goddamn ship," he whispered.

"A private shuttle charter flight." There had been a few of those; people avoiding the transporter queue in favor of a trip with a view.

He sighed. She was gooey, but for once, because of the heated nature of the vat, she was warm. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Can you take me to the shower? I am dripping on the floor."

With a short, involuntary laugh, he did as asked.

"You do understand," she said once she was in the shower, "that I was merely in a state of suspension and not going to die? It is possible to survive in suspension for many years."

"Maybe if you and Li had actually gotten some goddamn oversight instead of sneaking around like a pair of bandits, that would have been clear to someone beside you!" He turned the water on, full blast, hot, and then assessed the state of his uniform in the mirror, which was not looking good. He made a face as he scraped the biomimetic gel from his neck.

"Allow me, captain," said Yoon, giving him a washcloth and using a second one to assist in removing some of the goo from his tunic.

Lalana stepped out of the shower, dry as a bone. "But we could not include anyone in case the section found out."

"I don't want to hear another word about that shadow cabal," he said. It sounded like a threat.

"Very well, but I will prove that they exist."

Lorca groaned loudly and leaned his hands against the vanity counter. "You are not investigating an imaginary shadow cabal in Starfleet. Do you hear me? That's an order."

"Then do I still have my commission as ensign?"

He'd forgotten about that particular joke. "If it'll get you to do what I say for once, then fine."

"Then, aye, sir."

It was something, at least. "Right. I'm going to change. Ensign, you are not to leave these quarters until I say so. Understood?"

"Aye, sir!" At least she liked this little game and seemed eager to play along at being a member of Starfleet. They'd see how long that enthusiasm lasted when she realized the order was sincere.

Six weeks left until decommission.

Given the fact they had already made one unusual stop, Lorca decided it was too much a risk to make another. Someone might begin to suspect something was up. Certainly if reports of a lului suddenly surfaced at the Triton's unscheduled stop, someone would put two and two together. Lalana would be spending the remaining six weeks of the Triton's service life confined to two small rooms until such a time as they could sneak her off with the cargo at Spacedock.

This did not bother her. "I do miss hydroponics, but it is very nice in here. There are many stars outside the window, and a great quantity of music I have not yet listened to."

He scrupulously avoided going to Morita and Yoon's quarters to arouse any further suspicion and kept his contact with Lalana to the comms in his ready room and quarters. He could almost pretend she was somewhere else, on someone else's ship, and not an ongoing issue he was going to have to deal with.

Absent any other meaningful entertainment, she queried him as to the events of his day, listened to any complaints, and offered her own pithy, fortune-worthy insights, like "even a captain cannot always control the crew that he commands" and "the ground is an ocean you can walk upon."

Unloading his day on her was fun. She stood completely outside Starfleet's command structure, had immense patience, and never once suggested anything he talked about was unimportant in the grand scheme of things, even when sometimes it was. About the worst thing he could accuse her of was occasionally providing too much of an echo chamber. She sometimes provided an alternate perspective in a gently supportive manner, but more often she seemed to want to try to see things from his perspective and support his views on any given topic.

With one exception. She remained determined to investigate Li's insane theory. He did his best to warn her off it. "You can get into real trouble if you start sticking your nose into Starfleet's business. I'm serious, Lalana. They could have you arrested."

"Ah, like Venel and Egarell? For how long?"

He threw a number out. "Eighty years!"

"That is not so bad."

He stood there for several moments, staring into space with his hands in the air in confusion, wondering what precisely it took to get her to take any part of this seriously. "Eight hundred years?" he tried.

"Now that is something more approaching a punitive length of time!" she clicked at him.

She was not taking it seriously at all. "They'll send you back to Luluan."

She went quiet. Then, "That is not funny."

"My point exactly. Take this seriously."

Finally, she said, "I will not look into it because it seems to upset you that I would. Will that suffice?"

"That'll do very nicely. You promise?" There was silence. His voice dropped into a warning tone. "Lalana."

"I cannot promise not to look into it forever, but, for as long as it concerns you, I will not."

That seemed to be as much guarantee as he was going to get. Fair enough. He couldn't stop her wasting her time or getting into trouble her entire life, not given the length of it. At some point, he'd be dead.

On the one hand, her almost constant irreverence surely constituted some form of character flaw, but on the other, more often than not their conversations ended up in laughter.

"You are the worst," he said to her late one night, after she attempted a series of rather juvenile knock-knock jokes she had apparently gotten from the ship's databanks.

"And you are the best, which balances out quite nicely."

He quietly smiled to himself, glad she could not see his face, and retorted, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"But flattery and a starship can take you very far!" He couldn't decide whether to laugh or groan at that, so he did both.

They were ten days out from D-Day, which was what the crew had taken to calling their pending release from the dingy old halls of the Triton, when he walked into his quarters and discovered Lalana sitting in the middle of his bed. He slammed his fist to lock the door behind him. "How did you get in here!"

"Da Hee and Reiko would like some time to themselves now, so I thought I could stay the night with you. Do not worry, no one saw me arrive."

He smeared a hand across his face. "That's not what I mean. This door was locked. Did Morita..."

"Einar helped me."

Ten days left in his commission. The Swede had a funny idea of how best to leave a lasting impression. It was clever, though. What was Lorca going to do, throw him in the brig for ten days for breaking into the captain's quarters? People would ask why. Lorca didn't want people asking questions.

He contemplated calling Morita and Yoon to come pick Lalana up, but that seemed a little cruel, given that they'd been hosting Lalana in their quarters for two months and probably deserved that alone time. It didn't add up, though. Morita would have asked him before pawning Lalana off. "Where does Reiko think you are?"

"With Dr. Ek'Ez."

"And Ek'Ez thinks you're with..."

"Einar."

"Then you can go back to Einar's quarters."

"Nnnnnn," she went. "But I do not want to go to Einar's quarters. I want to stay with you. I will repurpose a truth if it will help. Come, tell me about your day."

He crossed his arms and shook his head. "You're more trouble than you're worth."

"I think you'll find that's not the case, if you'll come join me."

The comms beeped. "Benford to captain."

"Stop, stop!" went Lorca, sitting up and gasping for breath. "Captain here."

"Is... is everything all right, captain? There was a report of screaming from your quarters?"

Quarters were supposed to provide noise isolation for privacy. It was likely they had tripped an internal monitoring alarm. Lorca bit down on his fist and hastily collected himself. "Nope, I'm fine, Jack, everything's fine."

Lalana stuck her tongue out and flattened it against her eye to keep from laughing.

"...Are you sure, sir?"

"I'll try not to make so much noise. Lorca out."

Lorca and Lalana sat shock still. Then they burst into laughter, a fearsome combination of clicks and deep, booming guffaws. "I can't, I just can't. How did you even think to do that?"

"Sollis explained the biology and standard techniques, and then it was a simple matter to figure out how to lelulallen the right cells." He was never going to view lelulallen quite the same.

"Sollis?"

"Yes, we speak every day."

Lorca blinked several times and then flopped back onto the bed. He had not realized Lalana was talking to other people over the comms. "Remind me to send her a fruit basket." He chuckled some more.

"And how did that compare to Billingsley?"

"That wasn't even on the same planet."

"How could it be? We are on a starship."

Lorca batted her lightly with his hand in admonishment. "I need a shower."

When he returned, damp and mostly recovered, he found her poking around the bedroom, opening the storage areas built into the walls. "What do you think you're doing?"

Another human would have jumped or reacted in some way reflecting the fact they had been caught snooping, but Lalana did not have the same understanding of private space and failed to register any wrongdoing. "I am learning all of your items."

"Learning them, or licking them?" he shot back.

She trilled her tongue at him. "I have learned now not to lick things around humans! But yes, I did lick a few. This looked like it had been alive, but tasted wrong." She pointed her tail at a pair of leather shoes. They were synthetic, of course.

There wasn't really anything overly incriminating in his quarters (and certainly she was the last one to pass judgment on anything, being largely ignorant of human social mores), so he let her rummage, answering questions periodically, until she made her way back around to the bed. "And I was wondering about this book." It was his copy of Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. "Why do you keep it next to your bed?"

"Well, this, this isn't just a book. I know you thinks books are flat and not worth your time, but, come here. Maybe this one'll surprise you." She hopped up onto the bed beside him. He picked up the book, the worn texture of its cover a familiar comfort, lay down, and opened it to the first page exactly. "Chapter one, A Floating Reef. In the year 1866 the whole maritime population of Europe and America was excited by an inexplicable phenomenon..." Lalana curled up contentedly besides him and they were soon aboard the Abraham Lincoln with Pierre Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land.

Morita looked over the nightly security logs. Stress alarm triggered in the captain's quarters? She cleared her throat, signaling Lorca to come to the security console, and pointed to the log. "Dare I even ask?"

"No, you may not," said Lorca, reaching past her and deleting the offending record from the system.

Part 32

#Star Trek Discovery #fanfic #fanfiction #Captain Lorca #Gabriel Lorca #Did you really think there was a single female in this story he wouldn't sleep with

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