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chicagofanfictionfan · 2 years

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Sea, sex and yatch

Originally posted by navalcriminalimagines

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!” The entire team turned around to look at Nick, as they were walking all together back to the squad room. The federal agent looked at Tim McGee before pointing at the stairs, where you going up, towards Director Vance’s office.

“Oh, this should be good!” Tim chuckled.

“What’s going on? Who’s this?” Jessica asked, as they all got to their desks. Alden stayed silent but waited for the answer too.

“This woman going to Vance’s office worked with us for about a month a few years back,” Tim told, turning on his computer. “She was a probie and this guy,” he said, pointing at Nick, “kept flirting with her.”

“Uh-huh,” Jess chuckled. “Did she flirt back?”

“Jess, come on.” Nick shrugged his shoulders, like the answer was obvious.

“She did but she clearly wasn’t interested in anything more,” Tim corrected.

“How do you know we didn’t—?” Nick asked, a bit offended.

“Did you?” Tim raised his eyebrow and Nick stayed silent. Everyone chuckled.

“So I guess you don’t know why she’s here?” Alden asked, fully aware of why you were there.

A couple of days earlier, Vance asked Parker to come meet him in his office and told him he was assigning someone to the team. Vance told him about you, your path, and why you were joining their team. Alden was still adjusting to the agency and his new position, but he was glad that Vance valued him enough to give him a heads up.

Alden just didn’t when you were starting with them, until you came back downstairs alongside Vance and that he made the official introductions. “Some of you already worked with Agent L/N, and I have no doubt that this will go as good as it did the first time.”

You totally remembered Tim and Nick, and obviously, you’ve heard of everything that had happened to the team lately. When you requested your transfer back to the DC office, you wanted to work for Gibbs’s team, like you did years ago. However, it wasn’t Gibbs’s team anymore. “I’d request you make some change here. Put the desk back like when Agent Quinn was here,” Vance said, gave a nod to everyone and left. Tim grinned at Nick. It meant that you’d be facing Nick Torres every single day.

“Let’s do this now.” Alden stood up. “What desk and where is it supposed to go?”

Nick was ready to show off his strength and muscles. He started to move his desk at the right angle to welcome yours and while he did, he winked at you. “You haven’t changed.” You chuckled.

“Neither have you.” He smiled.

Tim indicated which desk should be yours now, and him and Alden moved it to its new spot. You offered to help but your new leader refused with a soft smile. So you stayed next to Jessica, watching the men at work. “This is a nice thing to see.” She said. “Welcome to the team!”

“Thank you! Glad to be back home.”

“Where were you before?”

“Agent afloat. So, pretty much everywhere.”

“I was always worried to be assign Agent afloat before joining the react team.” She confessed.

“Oh, you were on the react team? What made you join this crazy team then?”

Jessica went still and you immediately regretted asking. You were about to apologize for putting your foot in your mouth, but the guys were done and Nick pulled out the chair, inviting you to sit.

“What’s Agent afloat, exactly?” Alden asked, as everyone sat back to their desks. “Sorry, I’m still in learning process.” He smiled.

“It’s what you’re doing but on our ships. Constantly at sea.” You explained, knowing the shortest explanation was the most explicit.

“Imagine having Internal Affairs on your ass, 24/7.” Nick added, “Internal Affairs being Angel here, and you being the hundreds of Marines on those ships.”

Alden was impressed, this job must be exhausting and tough. “How did you survive?” He joked.

“I’m cute.”

Yes, you are. Alden thought.

You never minded the flirting with Nick, it always been nice and innocent. But it was never more than this, you never wanted to take this further. Nick wasn’t the kind of man you were interested in, wasn’t someone you could see yourself with. He was too…young and close to his looks.

But when he started flirting again, you gladly responded. To be honest, you didn’t have anyone, and having been a agent afloat for years, this was the closest you’ve come to…something.

You missed it.

You missed having someone, the physical contact, the tenderness and the sex, of course.

But, if you were totally honest, Nick wasn’t the one that had you running. No, it was the silver fox that happened to be your boss. And you felt bad about it, because it was very inappropriate.

Right?

“Seriously, Parker, if you keep bringing those pastries, I’m gonna have to redo my wardrobe!” You smiled, biting into the pastries of the day.

Alden was about to say something, but Nick beat him to it, “Whatever you wear, you look great.”

“You’re saying this because you’ve never seen me in my PJs.” You felt some of the pastries’s cream on the corner of your mouth, caught it with your finger, and licked it. Somehow, while doing this, you had turned to look at Alden who was clearly staring. When he realized you caught him, he refocused on his paperwork.

“Yeah well, whose fault is that?” Nick teased you and you chuckled.

You were a messy eater. Always been and always will be. So, obviously, more cream got out but this time it fell on your shirt. You cursed and a second later, Alden was standing next to you, handing you a paper towel. He wanted to take it off himself, but there was too many people around. “Take off most of it and then you should put use some soap and cold water.” He told you.

“That’s just peachy, I took my gym bag home last night to clean my stuff.” Meaning: you didn’t have any clothes with you.

You started to wipe with the paper towel but it was making a bigger mess. You cursed again, decided to listen to Alden and went to the bathroom. Soap and cold water worked just a little and you couldn’t spend the day with a stain on your shirt. When you got out of the bathroom, Alden was leaning against the wall, holding something in his hand.

“I figured it wouldn’t totally work.” He smiled and gave you what looked like a sweater. “From my go-bag, it’s clean.”

“You sure?” You asked. For all you knew, you could have messed up the sweater too before the day ended.

“Well, do you want to spend the entire day with this?” He asked, and you felt the tip on his finger brushing where the stain was. Barely above your breasts.

“You—“ you cleared your throat, feeling like the air was getting thick. “You’re right.” You managed to say.

Alden’s body was extremely close to yours, you felt towered by him even though he wasn’t much taller than you. You felt intoxicated by his scent, and you were disappointed that his sweater was clean. You’d loved to have his scent on you all day long.

You gently grabbed the sweater from his hand, and your fingers lingering on his. Neither of you pulled away for a moment. “Thank you—Alden.” You smiled.

It was the first you called him by his first name and it was all he ever wanted for the rest of his life. Alden watched you going back to the bathroom, and leaned against the wall again. He considered what all of this meant, and if he should force himself to keep his distance with you. No matter what just happened, if you weren’t interest in Nick Torres, why would you be interested in him?

It quickly went down the drain when he saw you emerging again, with his sweater on you. His mind was total blank. One of his clothes was on your skin. He’d never washed this sweater again.

“I’ll wash it and get it back to you in a day or two.” You let him know as you were walking back to the squad room, side by side.

“No rush.” He smiled. “Looks better on you than it does on me anyway.”

You blushed. Purposefully. Alden noticed. And you knew he noticed.

The sweater may have been clean but it still smelled…very Alden. It was like he was on you the entire day, and you found yourselves inhaling into the fabric a few times. And you kept it longer than two days. Not that Alden asked for it anyway.

But after the hallway moment, you started to pay extra attention to him and everything that happened between you, even the smallest. Like the way he would put his hand on your shoulder whenever you showed something on your computer. Once, he even put his arms around you to type on your keyboard; his face was basically pressed against yours. You could hear him breathing while you forgot what was oxygen.

“Hey, Angel. You’ve been with us for weeks now, but we have yet to celebrate! Dinner tonight?”

You looked up from your computer screen to Nick, and stared for a moment. You weren’t sure what his invitation was.

“I’m not asking you on a date,” he probably saw the confusion on your face. “Yet.” He added with a smirk and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“If it’s not a date, can the invite be extended to us?” Alden asked.

“Are you inviting yourself to our dinner, Parker?”

“I could eat,” he smiled.

“Me too.” Jessica added.

“I’d love to, but some people here have a family.” Tim said.

“Fine, fine,” Nick sighed. “But I clearly not paying for everyone. I just invited Angel in the first place.”

“So not a gentleman,” Alden teased him.

“Does that mean that you’re paying for me, Parker?” Jessica grinned at him and Alden chuckled.

“You know what?” Alden raised his hands in surrender, “Tonight’s on me. Doesn’t matter how many of us it’ll be.”

Jessica happily stood up for her desk and rushed to the elevator, saying that she was going to invite Kasie and Jimmy. “You sure you can’t come with Delilah, Tim?” You asked.

“Already texted her. The issue will be to find a babysitter.”

“Well if you find one, is Parker going to pay for that too?” You looked at Nick and saw some irritation on his face. Then you looked at Alden who was just smiling, like he always was.

“Babysitter’s on me too.” He said and you all laughed. “Yeah I heard it. But you know what I meant!”

Luckily, there was no burning case and Alden allowed everyone to ditch paperwork for the night. You, Jess and Kasie agreed to meet before eight so you’d get ready together. You realised that you’ve been alone for such a long time. It felt amazing to have friends, a family, and maybe…more.

“So, you and Nick— you never crossed the line?” Jessica asked as she was doing your makeup.

“No and we won’t. The flirting is cute but that’s pretty much it. I’m not interested. Plus, I’ve heard about him and Ellie.”

“Yeah, he hasn’t recovered yet.” Kasie said. “If you’re not interested in Nick, are you in—someone else?”

Yes, yes, yes. Alden. Alden. Alden.

But you couldn’t tell them. You still felt like it was inappropriate and that he probably wasn’t interested in you. Yeah there were so moments where you thought that he might, but it felt impossible. Alden was surely into women his age, with experience, that know what they want. You were quite younger than him and you never had a serious relationship, as you’ve at sea for years and before that, you just wanted to have fun. You were convinced that it wasn’t what Alden wanted for a partner.

“No. I mean I just got back to the city, I haven’t really had time to meet anyone. What about you two?” Always asking questions.

“Well, Miss Hines here is having struggles to ask Piper out. She’s not following my advices!”

“Okay, first, Piper is the girl from cyber unit, with the red hair?”

“Yes,” Kasie lovingly answered.

“I thought you guys were already dating! You’re not?”

“Nope.”

“Well, is she busy tonight?”

“No that I know of.”

You and Jessica looked at each other, before looking at Kasie. You stayed silent until she understood where you were going. “You sure? I mean—Parker is the one paying!” You immediately grabbed your phone to send him a text.

YOU: Is it okay if we add another chair?

“Which, by the way, is he loaded or what?”

“Nah, he’s just trying to impress Angel.” You shot your eyes back from your phone to Jessica. “Girl, like you haven’t noticed.” You shook your head no. “You know what? Tonight, I’ll count how many time he ‘accidentally’ touches you.”

You didn’t answer as you got a reply from Alden.

ALDEN: For whom?

YOU: Hopefully, Kasie’s girlfriend by the end of the night.

ALDEN: She’s more than welcome!

YOU: You’re seriously going to pay for dinner for nine people?

ALDEN: And the babysitting!

YOU: You won the lottery?

ALDEN: Sort of 😉

“You’re the lottery. In case it wasn’t clear for you,” Jessica let you know and Kasie approved.

You and the girls already had a few drinks by the time you arrived to the restaurant. You were cheerful and a bit tipsy, but food would help with that. Alden, Nick and Jimmy were already there, at a round table. The married couple was the only one missing - with twins at home, it wasn’t surprising. You found yourself between Alden and Nick - of course.

You hadn’t ordered your drinks yet and Alden’s hand was already on your knee. You didn’t know if he was aware of how touchy he was with you. If he was, he acted really great at hiding it. But it appeared like he was doing it almost mechanically.

Tim and Delilah arrived twenty minutes late and the evening was on.

Alden was glued to you. Whether it was his arms behind you, his hand on your knee and the way he cleaned your lips or chin when you had food on them. At some point, you started to return his gestures.

When you put your hand on his thigh, Alden looked at you, smiled and his eyes went from your eyes to your lips.

There were moments where you completely forgot the whole team was around you. Until Nick flirted with you again, and again. As he did, you could feel Alden tensing up on your right. Nick seemed obviously when Alden’s hand was brushing your shoulder before staying on the back of your neck where he played with your hair. His tenderness was making you all giddy and eventually turned on. So much, that you excused yourself to the bathroom.

When you got out, after staying a moment inside to regain control of your throbbing center, your boss was leaning against the wall, like he did days ago when he gave you his sweater. “That’s you thing?” You smiled.

He didn’t say anything, just extended his hand. You took it and he squeezed before pulling towards him. Still leaning against the wall, Alden had your body pressed against his, his hands on your hips. “You’re not interested in Nick, are you?”

“No,” you admitted.

“Good, because no offense to him, but he wouldn’t know how to treat you right.” His fingers softly moved and squeezed your flesh.

“Would you?” You teased, restraining yourself from moaning and kissing him, here and there.

His hands then moved to your back and he pressed your body even tighter, blocking you. He leaned his face a little, brushing his lips past yours. “Better than anyone had treated you until now.” He whispered. “Let me show you those boys in their thirties aren’t worth it.” He needed your approval, your consent. He needed to hear that you wanted him, just as much as he wanted you.

You felt his beard scratching your skin as he lowered his head a little more until his lips was in your neck. You held onto his shoulders and moaned lightly in his ear. “Dinner tomorrow, but just you and me this time, Silver.” Your breathing was sharp, and you finally did something you’ve dreaming of doing for weeks; you ran your hand through his hair.

Alden threw his head back, following the movement, eyes closed. “All the dates you had before will be considered like trash compared to what our date will be.” He stated, pretty sure of himself.

“I can’t wait for you to rock my world.” You said and then reluctantly pulled away from him.

He didn’t follow right away, not wanting to have the team asking questions. But you heard him say, “Silver?” You chuckled, looked at him over your shoulder and added extra sway to your hips, aware that he was staring.

Neither you and Alden slowed down the touches for the rest of dinner. When you left the restaurant, he had his hand in his small of your back until you reached the cars. Whether the team noticed something, no one said anything.

After you got out of the shower that night, you looked at your phone and saw a text.

ALDEN: I’ll pick you up at 4, we’ll have to drive a bit.

YOU: Where are we going? What should I wear?

ALDEN: Couple of weeks ago, you wore a burgundy dress to going out with the girls. Wear that one.

ALDEN: Please?

YOU: I take it you liked that dress?

ALDEN: Fell asleep thinking about it and dreamed of it.

YOU: Another request, Silver?

ALDEN: So many. But one thing at the time, doll. You?

YOU: So many. But one thing at the time.

ALDEN: haha. Good night then, sweet dreams! 😘

YOU: Good night, A. ❤️

Saying that Alden was nervous was an understatement. Obviously, it wasn’t his first time taking a woman on a date, but you were different. Very different.

Maybe it was the age difference, or maybe that you worked together, or that he was afraid guys like Nick Torres were more for you than he’d ever be.

He wanted to give you the best first date you ever had, even though he didn’t know your past history with men or what kind of dates you already had. But he was convinced that no one did what he had prepared.

Alden picked you up at 4, like he said. You had the burgundy dress on, and it took all of his self control not to take you inside immediately. He didn’t even kiss you on the lips. As a true gentleman, he softly kissed your cheek, offered you the flowers he bought on his way and told you how stunning you were as you put them in water.

Downstairs, Alden helped you getting inside the dark SUV. “Didn’t know you drove a SUV,” you said as you buckled your seat bell.

“It’s a rental.” He told you.

“So, can I know where we’re going now?” You asked after Alden started to drive.

“Nope, it’s a surprise.” He gently put his hand on your neck and you covered it with your own, intertwining your fingers together.

It took about an hour to get to the destination. You were away from DC, away from the noises and pollution and you already loved it. But before you arrived, Alden had asked you to cover your eyes. You tried to get out of it for a moment but eventually caved in.

He helped you out of the SUV and held your hand to guide you. It took you a moment for your eyes to adjust when he took the cover off and when you realised where you were, you looked at Alden, confused. “It’s—closed?”

“Not for us.” He smiled and took your hand.

“Please, tell me you didn’t get the aquarium privatised for us?” You asked when someone opened the side door to let you in. Alden shook the man’s hand, he told you to enjoy and disappeared.

“I didn’t get the aquarium privatised for us.” He repeated with a grin. “You’re a sea person, so I figured—“

“Alden,” you whispered and brought your hand to cover your Mouth. This was unbelievable. It was something that only happens in books, right?

With the sweetest smile on his face, Alden extended his hand to you and asked: “Will you be my guide?”

You spent two hours in the very empty aquarium. There was no one except for some employee - who didn’t bother you at all - and the sea creatures. The fact that he took you to the aquarium was already big, but getting it privatised was beyond everything. Despite spending two hours in there, telling him everything you knew, being his personal guide, it felt surreal. Like it wasn’t really happening. Even if you felt his hand in yours the entire time, his body pressing against yours here and there, his lips against your temple from time to time.

Alden Parker was a dream.

“I have to ask, Alden. How did you manage— this?”

“It’s my hidden talent.” He smirked.

God you wanted to kiss that smirk.

After this incredible moment, you wanted back to the SUV, hand in hand. You both dying to kiss the other but Alden wanted to be a gentleman til the end while you wanted him to make the move.

He helped you inside again, softly kissed your forehead and got behind the wheel. As soon as he had the car running, he instantly put his hand on your thigh, like it was meant to be there, always. And you covered it with yours again. “That was absolutely amazing, Alden. I can’t believe it happened.” You said.

“It’s not over, you know?” He brought both hands to his lips and kissed your knuckles before putting them back down.

“Where to, then?”

He grinned but didn’t answer.

This time you didn’t have to cover your eyes, because you understood only when you were in front of it.

“You’re kidding?” You exclaimed, looked at the thing in front of you.

“No. Ready?”

“But Alden, you get sea sick.”

“It’s not exactly sea sick. I’m good going on this. Are you?”

“Y—yes. Of course. But that’s not yours, is it?”

“No. I negotiated with a friend.”

“So you have friends who owns a yatch?”

He nodded with a smile and you finally started to walk towards the yatch. The crew welcomed you and Alden, and it felt so fancy for you. It wasn’t the kind of things you were used to. You were a sea person - which was mostly why you were working for the Navy - but the boats you were used to were ships and sailboats from when you were younger. You had never been on a yatch before.

“Before I gave the captain the go, I need to know if—you want to spend the night at sea or just for dinner?”

“Are you saying the yatch is ours until tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow night exactly. Your choice, even if you change your mind along the way. It’s just that we may go further away if you want to spend the night.”

“The night, if you promise me you’re good with it? I don’t want you to make yourself do things that—“

Alden couldn’t resist anymore. The concern you were showing for him, even though they were sparkles in your eyes since you saw the yatch, made him lose it and he kissed you. He grabbed your face his hands and crashed his lips on yours. You eagerly responded to his kiss and almost made out on the spot.

The Captain cleared his throat to make his presence known. “Excuse me, Mr Parker, but are we good to go? Which itinerary?”

He smiled at you and answered, “All night.”

Drinks on the deck, dinner inside but with an amazing view over the sea, a bedroom that was the size of your apartment and a bed that could welcome the entire team.

But most importantly, you were with the most charming and loving man you’ve ever met. It would be so easy to fall in love with Alden Parker, you were scared it had already started.

“So tell me,” he said, taking a sip of his champagne. “What was your worst date ever?”

You laughed as you remembered it. “Okay, I was twenty one and he was my professor,” you saw the look of his face, “I know it shouldn’t happened and I wished it didn’t.” You took a sip of your drink. “I had a secret crush on him for a while, and then I noticed that he started with me. Blah-blah-blah, he asked me out. Outside the city, of course. It started nicely, we went to a restaurant, he was a gentleman and I was charmed.” You took a deep breath before continuing, “but his phone kept buzzing. Work, he said. He got outside a few times to answer. And it was annoying. Before dessert, I followed him and that’s when I understood it wasn’t work, but his kids. And his wife.”

“Ouch.”

“The kids didn’t want to go to sleep, so his wife called you so he could helped and stuff.”

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” You exclaimed. “He never wore his wedding ring, he didn’t have any pictures in his office. There was no hints, anything, but that’s not the worst.”

“Lay on me.”

“We didn’t eat dessert, obviously. I asked him to take me home and—the car broke down forty minutes away from home.” Alden pulled a face. “Triple A couldn’t be there for two hours, his wife kept calling. His phone died, so he—had to use mine.” You rubbed your temple, “Long story short, his wife picked us up.”

And Alden laughed. A lot and you did too because the end of that story was priceless. “Tell me she ditched that asshole,” he said, calming down.

“Don’t know, don’t care. I learned later that I wasn’t the first.”

“Wow, what a dick.”

You nodded and grabbed a piece of the fruits that were still on the table. You ate it, grabbed another one to feed Alden. “What was yours?”

“It’s pretty short, actually.” He took a piece of some other fruits, bite half of it and fed you the rest. “So you now know that my family isn’t a standard family, and they have—expectations.” You had your legs thrown over Alden’s lap and grabbed it and your waist to bring you closer to him.

“About who you date?”

“Dated. I’m too old for them to take anymore.”

“Hum, keep going.”

“In my twenties, my mother forced me to go on a date with the daughter of one of her friends.”

“Rich friend?”

“Yes,” he grunted. “She was so annoying about it that I agreed, just to get it over with. I got to date, not overthinking it, not caring about it much. When I arrived to the date, the woman was very beautiful, and it started pretty nicely, like yours.”

“And then?”

“Not even thirty minutes into dinner, she admitted that she thought I would be my brother.”

“Aww, she was set of the wrong brother, it’s not that bad.”

“No, but the sentence ‘No offense but you seem like the kind of nerds that’d still be living in their parents basement when he turns forty.’ wasn’t great to hear.”

“Well, she said ‘no offense’,” you smiled and softly kissed his jawline. “What happened then?”

“I left, without paying the check. Later, she met the right brother.”

“How did it go?”

“They have been married for thirty years, have two kids and three grandkids, so good I guess.” He finished his drink while you shifted to face him.

“That girl is your sister-in-law.”

“Yup.” He accentuated the ‘p’. “She apologized a few times over the years, even though—“

You saw something different on Alden’s face. Something that looked like sadness and you hated it. You needed this look to go away immediately. “Even though?”

“I may not be living in my parents’ basement but I’m in my fifties, divorced and no kids. It’s not that great.”

“That’s not what I see.” You took the glass from his hand and straddled his lap. His hands rested on your hips while you grabbed his jaw to make him look at you. “I see an amazing federal agent,” you kissed him, “a great leader,” another kiss. “A loyal friend,” again. “A smart man,” again. “And the hottest man ever,” again but this time he chuckled.

“Don’t push it,” he let his fingers run up and down your thigh, “Although, I have you right here with me, I must have—a thing.”

“Many things that would make me chose you over a hundred of Nicks.”

Alden closed his eyes and growled. You could feel a bulge between your legs. “I’m trying to be a true gentleman, doll, but it’s getting hard to—“

“It is getting hard,” you teased, palming him through his jeans.

He chuckled and completely gave up on his self control.

He closed the gap between his lips and yours and you kissed like you’ve wanted to kiss each other for weeks. It was finally happening.

Still kissing you, Alden’s hands traveled under your dress while yours worked on his shirt’s buttons. Then he palmed your tits with his paws before taking them out of the dress - you never wore bras with this dress and it was one of the things Alden loved about it. You arched your back and he took the opportunity to find your sensitive spot in your neck like he did the night before at the restaurant. You moaned and he smiled.

He then lowered his head to focus on your beautiful tits. “So pretty,” he growled, and took one in his mouth. Licking, sucking, nipping one and then the other, while you were scratching his scalp and shoulder with your nails.

Alden wasn’t sure how much of foreplay he could handle, so he took your dress off, sending it flying across the boat and it was shortly followed by his shirt. You stayed there from a moment, just holding one another, feeling each other’s skin.

Then Alden carried to the bedroom, where he gently dropped you on the bed, covering you with his body. The kissing started again, becoming more intense by the second. “Jeans,” you whined, and Alden stood up, getting rid of his jeans extremely fast. He kissed you briefly before settling himself between your legs after taking your panties off.

He inhaled deeply before having his first lick. Your body immediately reacted to his tongue and Alden smirked to himself. Then he ate you like a starving man, while pumping in and out of you with two fingers. He smiled at every noises you made, every curse and his cock twitched every time his name fell off your lips. His arm held you onto the mattress as your body started to shake. Your orgasm hit you like a powerful wave, you couldn’t hold back your cries.

“Best dessert ever,” he smirked as he watched you catching your breath. Then he placed a trail of kisses from your pelvic to your forehead.

“God, just let me know every time you’re hungry.” You said, still out of breath. “That mouth, that tongue and those fingers—fucking combo.”

“Parker special,” he chuckled and kissed your shoulder. “Do you want some water?”

“I want my dessert too.”

You softly pushed him to make him roll onto his back. You kissed and nipped his neck, ear and jawline while your hand went down to his hard cock. He moaned from the back of his throat when there was no more fabric between your hand and his length.

You got off the bed, settling yourself between his legs. You licked his head, tasting how salty his precum was. You hummed in appreciation and Alden plopped himself on his elbows to have a better view as you suck his dick. “Doll, damnnit!” His eyes rolled in the back of his head, and then he took the hair off your face. He wanted to see you, and your eyes, as his cock hit the back of your throat multiple times. “Jesus, you need to stop.” He grunted and you did.

“Is it not—“ Alden saw the concern on your face.

“Oh god baby, no! I was about to come!” He grabbed your chin and kissed you.

“So?”

“I need to be inside you, like right now.”

Who were you to deny the man? Plus, you needed him to be inside you more than anything.

“Condom?” You asked and Alden nodded.

He reached for his overnight bag and something hit you. “Hey! Why didn’t you tell me to pack an overnight bag?”

“Well, I didn’t want to scare you or pressure you,” Condom in hand, he got on top of you and kissed your nose and your lips. “Plus, you have a overnight bag.”

You followed to where his eyes were looking and saw a bag you’ve never seen before on an arm chair. “You’ll have to explain that to me after.”

Still painfully hard, Alden struggled to put the condom on, as you kept kissing his chest and squeezing his ass. “Angel,” he chuckled. “You’re not helping.”

You held your hands in surrender and dramatically threw yourself back onto the bed. Alden managed to put the condom on and lined himself with your entrance. “You’re sure, doll?” He asked.

“More than anything.”

He covered your body with his again, his elbows on his side on your head. “Once I’m inside you,” he brushed your lips with his. “We’ll both be ruined for others.”

“This ship had sailed.”

It was all he needed. Alden pushed his cock inside your pussy and indeed, he was ruined for other women. You held onto him like a koala bear as he thrusted deep and hard inside of you. Neither of you spoke. All that could be heard was his skin slapping against yours, and the uncontrollable noises you were both making.

With his cock still inside you, Alden rolled his back, taking you with him. You rode him for a moment, this position bringing you close to orgasm, especially when he rubbed your clit with his fingers.

As you were both close to explode, Alden brought you against him, holding your body as tight as he could. He bent his knees and furiously thrusted. His hold didn’t loosen as he filled the condom and your body shook uncontrollably.

You stayed on top on him for a moment. Your face in his neck, his hands softly stroking your back, his softened cock still inside you, it felt like the time went still.

“How was it for a first date?” He asked after a long moment. He reached for his cock, took the condom off, and put it on the bed.

“So—wow, I don’t even have words,” you kissed him, “but I need you to understand something.”

Alden felt like the other shoe was about to drop. “Screw your money, Alden.” you said, looking deep inside his eyes. “I don’t need big and expensive things like this—“

“I know. I just wanna spoil you, is that bad?”

“No, of course not.” You smiled. “But I’m not that kind of person, that’s all.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” He put a strand of hair behind your ear. “I have been around that kind of people too often to recognize them from miles away.”

You nodded to that and got off the bed. “So, the bag?”

Alden looked at you from the bed and smiled. Then he told you how he spent the morning shopping for you. “I hope I didn’t forget any essentials,”

“It looks—good.” You said, looking at everything inside the bag. “Clothes? How do you know my size?”

“I described you to the saleswoman? I think that for a moment, she was afraid I wanted to kidnapped you.”

“You’re crazy,”

But it was the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for you.

Yes Alden, you ruined other men for me.

#ncis x reader #alden parker x reader

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thecrenellations · 4 years

Photo

Thick as Thieves Undead-Blog, Part Two | when your liveblog wakes up to drink some broth then goes back to sleep smiling because it trusts you | my notes from reading the book for the first time, Spring 2017

Format: Page number. My ridiculous thoughts (Context???)

Part One

Chapters 6-13:

Ch. 6 - Very intense chapter in which Kamet and Costis are captured by the slavers and escape

163. Costis <3 Muscles Good looking! (wow what a way to start this post)

one hot piece of attolian manflesh ... confirmed (people would call him this on LJ! I forgot about it for several years until reading this passage)

164. omg earring swallowed!

166. amanuensis? (perennial thanks to mwt for all the vocab words)

168. shit. severed hand.

172. wtf Costis don’t kill him

173. how do you silently kill someone like that?

174. wow fuck

men dead not even breathing hard. (compare to KoA assassination)

Everyone is a monster!

176. Thieves.

Ch. 7 - Lots of good conversation, potentially symbolic animals, and a surprise Eugenides

183. Grt scene (apologies)

184. now who’s asking rude questions? (about killing people)

186. lying to him <3

ok! unreliable narrator!

wait i thought they didn’t have slaves in Attolia?!

187. “I was unappreciated” ... I’m always lonely

so cute

188. me when mwt writes: what is this blatant unabashed fanservice?

WHO IS THIS BOY?!

189. Onarkus =/= Sandy?

190. okaaay #confirmed Gen!

191. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Boots

195. he caught a snake (associated with a certain king and assumed bootboy “you viper” “you are a poisonous little snake” ... another ominous dead animal)

Is Costis’s earring for Eugenides (I was thinking of the god!)

196. a goat and a snake .... how poetic

Costis stalks goat ...

197. hmmm.... goat and hand and last trace of Nahuseresh (OMINOUS)

does Irene know her husband was a bootboy?

203. no this what? (“trouble with a maid” story exchange)

Marin?

204. he was prepared to run away??

how old was he?

well this is a lot to chew on

205. K using past tense for N

C asking about slaves killed after emperor’s death... does he know?

Ch. 8 - This road trip was going great until SOMEONE fell in a well

208. Are Taymets taller than Eddisian mountains?

210. time passing, broad and focused

212. MY Attolian

classic minor mwt characters

215. singing Costis???

216. swearing gimme a break

please don’t let the Namreen kill them later...

217. Kamet says very little of what HE did/his interactions w them!

218. wot nice cut! (“Eleven days later...”)

gods?

219. “water finds a way” a saying from Eddis? how does C know that? also brings to mind QoA weather passages

Why doesn’t Kamet ask/wonder WHY Gen wants him?

223. They’re gonna do it? They’re gonna make it? So close!

224. does Eddis have comparable irrigation engineering?

227. NO!

228. u idiot you meant to leave him before!!!

at least look in the freaking well!!!

229. Kamet’s Face! wow he’s really in shock (at weapons shop)

230. SUCH FAMILIAR PHRASING! birds :( (I was caught up in the birds and completely missed the spilled wine!)

Ch. 9 - Retrieving Costis from the well, Ennikar appears again

231. “You’re certain he’s dead?” nice CUT

this time i heard him say?

was he talking?

232. thoughtfully tensing his lower lip?

who tf is this guy - another god?

mm grr I’m Kamet I have no friends

ok so he’s what’s his face Enkidu?

heroes walk the streets

234. AAH why

say his fricking name?!

god you’re so bad @ this

236. THIEF

237. FRIEND OMG

238. omg so good flour!

SO CUTE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS

239. OMG Costis. Nice. (Costis tries the Gen method of deflecting concern)

241. “as if we were close friends traveling together???”

242. Costis ... knows a hero when he sees one?

But ... delighted? not horrified?

Ch. 10 - Hanging out with Godekker

247. SO MANY HELPFUL STRONG MEN (Enter Godekker)

249. PAY THE FASTENER

253. god so snarky

254. Kamet’s chops

fuck how is this book going to end???

256. You’ll never feel safe ... Gen + Relius’s fears?

258. Fuh!

259. Ok do i have hope?

he doesn’t have Tethys lesions does he?

263. aahhhh

Costis trusts him!!!! <3

aaahhh

264. Noli? where did he get that from?

smarrrt

265. yeah u did tell Godekker your name!

wtf is this god advice!

268. The So, so, so count in this book is OUT OF CONTROL!!! It may be a record.

Ch. 11 - Kamet’s stressful voyage

270. Lol Sophos is better @ assuming Attolian ships are there...

272. yesssss earring GOOD

274. yeah sure Kamet you still haven’t left!

I did not want to leave the Attolian!

276. watching Costis

277. my heart’s gonna break don’t leave, Kamet!

278. “as if the gods had cursed my wandering feet” nice. also iambic pentameter

also laying it on a bit thick there

280. Sea in the Middle of the World!

he’s so scared though. :(

the fuckin nerve!

Costis + Gen and their s3cr3t sign

281. nooooo it’s ok to lie, it’s endearing in this world!

also Costis seriously why do you think he would be ok w/ this!

I’m coming home! (to Attolia. In cursive, see image at top of post.)

282. war?

Ch. 12 - Dramatic times in Attolia

284. “I thought we were I + E” :o

shit where is his honor now (”I would have let you go”)

285. hey there Teleus...

my heart

285. yeah but C probs knows all those guards ... he thought punching Gen was the most embarrassed he’d been... (in retrospect, I don’t think he was embarrassed AT ALL during this scene. Costis fight mode was activated.)

yeah I mean she has given us the Magus all this time! (reflecting on the fact that Costis’s name has yet to appear)

286. Yesss angry Costis poking Teleus!

This is Something to imagine

287. THIS IS REALLY BAD (”the queen”)

OK...

holy shit

when is this???

she’s not THAT old!

288. THE room? (“filled with all the horrors I had fled in Ianna-Ir”)

289. 298 pages until this! (“Costis”)

289. Please stay alive Irene!

On some level I do feel that my childhood is ruined w the confirmation they banged. :( Gen is like 20! (Listen. I love them. I'm very happy for them. This is not exactly breaking news. 20-year-olds, and this one in particular, can obviously do anything they want. This note brought to you by me being Too Ace For This and having been both younger and older than him since first reading the books a very long time ago...)

292. Gggennn

293. Is this court respect a recent development? WHAT DID I MISS? (they watched him fight the entire guard, is what, c’mon me. Costis hit him on the head with an amphora.)

yeah we get it people underestimate Eugenides

OH MY COSTIS

294. is this Annux by any chance?

Boys ur making a scene!

King of Attolia vs of Attolians?

295. very ... dramatic

this is ... a private convo?

297. yup he’s Eddis’s best stalker!

Ch. 13 - Everything else that happens in this book!

298. “Do they know?” yeah wtf Gen

it’s like the new “and every1 was naked” (in KoA)

“and every1 was watching”

300. Gen: Yo Helen can u bring me that one coin?

Helen: sure. no prob

301. “Poor Costis”

yeah Melheret always sneaks up

302. “You’ve come from the prisons, not how an honored guest is usually received” UM ACTUALLY...

305. Kamet.... (crying in his room)

306. “the kind of Attolia sitting on the footboard” oh my god yeah classic

307. Irene comes thru with the stats

Was Kamet at the battle at Ephrata?

310. talk with the kitchen staff good god i would like to know. So bizarre.

lol toting around an ambassador all nite? What would Teleus say?

while Irene’s sick ...

WTF will Costis do now?

312. names ... Kamet ... Ormentiedes?

Creeeeeeeeepy Relius (probably about “there are some questions you might answer for us” but possibly about the cutting up and feeding to wolves comment)

314. business arrangement uh sure

Yeah ok write it all down

316. talking to Costis?

(a note: the version I read was an advance reader copy, and the only major difference was that it did NOT include the scene with “the young Erondites”)

318. Attolia smiled at him!

anything worth doing is worth overdoing lol

319. alternate readings of poem?

322. orange trees!

cabbages!

324. sent Onarkus away RECENTLY???

Is Brinna Sandy!

Seriously.

Cooks r weird (thinking about the entry for cooks in the Tough Guide to Fantasyland)

326. the magus!

an ACHING void

oh I know I’ll just GO!

poor Gen can’t have any friends...

331. they have duffles in Attolia

and with Attolian duffles, the story ends! Thanks for reading, feedback is welcome. I promise I have more developed thoughts about this book. For another weird journey, listen to my Thick as Thieves playlist, maybe.

#this half is truly a mess.#queen's thief #thick as thieves #mwt #something i

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tsarisfanfiction · 4 years

Text

Hand (Tales From The Heart)

Fandom: One Piece Rating: Teen Warnings: injury Characters: Law, Shachi

While he was no stranger to hand to hand combat (with Lao G as a childhood teacher he'd hardly had a choice), Law vastly preferred using a sword in battle. A cursed blade like Kikoku was strong enough to deal with even the most stubborn of armament haki, especially when he combined it with the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities and his own haki, and while she was large and at times unwieldy to use (at least, until he'd grown tall enough that she didn't drag on the ground behind him) there was something comforting about her bladed edge that fists just couldn't compete with.

Wincing as he looked down at his poor hands, Law was reminded once again why hand to hand was a last resort. He'd been caught short, attempting an undercover supply run without bringing the marines down on the heads of himself and his crew. Kikoku was unmistakeable, so like his beloved hat she'd been left safely on the ship, Law confident that if a situation did arise, he'd be able to get out of it with his martial arts. His devil fruit abilities too, if it came to it, although that would ruin his attempt at anonymity.

While the subterfuge had worked enough to keep him unrecognised (it was amazing how many people overlooked him when he did something as simple as take off the hat and pass Kikoku to Bepo), it hadn't kept him out of a fight. Ruefully, he considered that maybe the drunk pirates would have left him alone if they'd known who they were messing with.

He had won, naturally. A group of no-name drunk pirates never stood a chance against him, even with his self-imposed handicaps. However, it hadn't been as simple as it should have been. He tried to flex his fingers and hissed in pain.

It looked bad, in the way anything looked bad the moment blood got involved. The pirates hadn't been impressive, but some of them had been physically large, and strong. For all his capabilities, Law still couldn't hide from the fact that his slender figure worked against him in a brawl, and he was relatively easily out-muscled by the majority of pirates. Another reason he preferred using weapons. Kikoku didn't care how muscular her victim was, they all bled red, and to a cursed blade that was all she needed.

The other problem was that if Law's hands were out of commission, the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities became that much harder to control. A lot of it was mental power, but the deft flicks of his fingers were the focus required to channel it without even more strain. Having his knuckles bruised and battered to the point that he could barely move his fingers boded ill for his ability to use his powers until his hands healed. Sadly, he couldn't accelerate their healing, because his hands were out of commission. A catch twenty two, and not one Law was fond of.

Next time, he groused as he lugged the fruits of his supply run back to the Tang awkwardly, I'm bringing a knife.

"What the hell happened?"

He looked up at the deck, distracted from working out how he was supposed to board with injured hands full of supplies and no access to his powers, at Shachi's indignant demand. The ginger gave him no chance to respond before jumping down onto the dock, hollering for the Heart Pirates closest to him to follow and extend the gangplank.

Most of them gathered up the supplies, slipping them from Law's protesting fingers with ease, while Shachi and Clione pulled Law's arms over their shoulders to help him up the tightrope-esque gangplank. Why they thought his injured hands meant he could no longer walk unaided, Law wasn't sure, but suspended above the water with only a misstep between him and an unwelcome dunking he let them do as they wished.

"What happened?" the ginger repeated once they were back on the safety of the Polar Tang's aft deck, tugging him none too gently through the door. Law followed because it wasn't worth the hassle to break free, not when he knew Shachi was leading him to the infirmary. Dragged or not, the destination would have been the same.

"Drunk pirates," he supplied, seeing no need to delve into the full story. His bloodied knuckles told the rest, and Shachi sighed as he directed Law to take a seat while hunting down the necessary antiseptics and bandages.

"Let me guess," he sighed, dabbing gently at Law's left hand to clear the blood and see the actual injuries. "You decided it wasn't worth blowing your cover by using a Room, so you went hand to hand. But one of the guys was tough enough to break your hands, and because you hadn't already activated a Room that left you a sitting duck."

Law saw no reason to dignify it with a response, especially as it was largely correct, as Shachi already knew full well. He watched Shachi work in silence, remembering the days, now long past, when he could barely tie a bandage properly. Now he and Penguin were the two best medics on board, excluding Law himself. Law's critical eye saw nothing wrong with the treatment his hands received, and he waited patiently for Shachi to finish.

"No Rooms for a few days," Shachi informed him as he clipped the last bandage in place. "It'll be enough of a challenge eating for now; there's no point straining yourself." Law nodded, knowing he could hardly scold Shachi for telling him what to do when the medical training he'd imposed upon the older had included telling patients what to do, even if said patient was a doctor himself.

He stood and made his way towards the control room, only for Shachi to intercept him and direct him to the recreation room instead.

"I'll take things from here," he said, and while Law wasn't entirely sure what he was planning, Penguin and Shachi were his seconds for a reason. Relaxing sounded like a welcoming idea, anyway, so he changed course silently, watching Shachi stride off towards the control room purposefully out of the corner of his eye.

His crew didn't bombard him with questions when he settled in his favourite seat – in the corner, by the window but with a perfect view of the room as a whole so he could watch his crew relax – only double checking that there was no-one they needed to educate.

Such offers were quickly stifled by the Polar Tang's sirens, indicating that the exterior doors were entering lockdown. Beneath them, the engines roared into life and the submarine glided away from the dock before entering a gentle dive.

Apparently Shachi's idea of 'taking things from here' was reading Law's mind and rounding up the crew so they could leave the island. Despite his bandaged hands, residual pain reminding him of his vulnerability for the next few days, Law managed a smile as he watched the waves lap against the window.

It was nice to have a crew he could rely on.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #heart pirates #tales from the heart #tsari writes fanfiction #trafalgar law #shachi

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

Text

Humans are Weird “In Memoria”

it is getting 100% frustrating trying to fit these stories into so few pages. Sometimes quality and quantity go together if you want good description. Anyway, here is the next installment of this mini series. Some questions have ben asked about the names to these creatures, and that credit goes to @cephalon-jaunde for coming up with the starborn as the creature's name for themselves. You just need to comment or suggest some ideas and I may incorporate them in, no harm in trying.

here is the first part in case you missed it.

https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/183938010415/humans-are-weird-space-angels

Captain Vir lay on his back staring up at the dimly-lit infirmary ceiling. Despite the padding on the medical restraints, his wrists and ankles ached and throbbed. He had fought the restraints for hours, yanking and pulling against them as he tried to talk Krill down. The little alien was having none of it. He was convinced the captain was going to get himself killed, and he was convinced he was the only one sane enough to see it.

‘They are using you’ he had said, ‘if they can get into your mind who says they can’t change it. You are far too trusting and that will make you easily duped.’

Vir had argued that it was his job to do these sort of things. Yeah, he was a little bit stupid, and the things he did were a little bit stupid, but someone had to do it so the rest of the galaxy didn’t have to. Krill wasn’t convinced and kept him locked down. Captain Vir tried anything he could to force the little surgeon to let him go. He talked about his orders, his intuitions, he gave orders, and eventually he devolved into name calling out of desperation. What Krill was doing was selfish, he was only trying to keep Vir safe for himself, and it wasn’t his decision to make.

But no matter the argument, it hadn’t worked.

He had long since fought himself into exhaustion, and telepathy induced seizures had taken away the rest of what he had left. They were still trying to communicate with him. Sure the thing had been creepy, but he hadn’t had enough time to really tell what it wanted. It seemed interested in communicating with him, so who was to say what its real intentions were. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that they wouldn’t be likely to try and kill him. They had had plenty of chance to go ahead and do that when he was floating alone in space, and wounded. They could have just let him suffocate, or bleed out, or cartwheel into the vastness of space without any help, but they didn’t.

That’s what Krill didn’t understand… intuition. It didn’t make sense.

He tried his best to communicate with the creatures, tried his best to reach out to them with his mind, but he was quickly learning that, while the human brain HAD the ability to communicate telepathically, it definitely wasn’t meant to. The harder he tried, the more his brain responded with spastic electrical signals. After a series of tree seizures in the course of ten minutes, he had gone right ahead and quit trying. It hadn’t been so bad when he was in contact with the creature, talking with it skin to skin and face to face, somehow that had made it easier on him. It was only when they were far away or when they tried to speak to him all at once that he couldn’t handle it.

If he could just get more time, get a little closer.

Then again, that wasn’t seeming likely to happen. He pulled against the restraints halfheartedly. Designed by humans to restrain humans, there was no way he was getting out and Krill knew it, unless he could break one of his own hands and slip out, which did not seem likely either.

Out in the hallway, he could hear voices moving towards the infirmary. He recognized the sound of Krill, Sunny, and his lieutenant, in charge of the ship when he wasn’t.

“It wouldn’t be wise to un-restrain him.” Krill was saying, “Whatever these creatures are they seem to have induced some sort of psychotic episode.”

“Can you be sure about that?” Sunny wondered hesitantly, “The captain hasn’t led us wrong so far.”

“Not to bring up old wounds or anything, Sunny, but you were supposed to be a spy. If you had done your job a little bit better, the Captain would be dead and so would the rest of the crew.” There was a long silence before Krill continued, “Besides, if they can get into his head, than there is no saying they can’t change things around in there. They could be manipulating him for all we know.”

The group stopped just inside the door. Sunny lowered her voice, though it wasn’t enough to keep him from hearing, “I don’t know Krill, it seems wrong to lock him up like that. He’s the captain…. He’s the acting chief of my tribe. You can’t just lock him up.”

“The hell I can’t.” Krill answered, “Ill lock anyone here up if it means keeping them alive. That includes you, and that damn sure includes the Captain.”

The group of them went quiet again, and Captain Vir heard them moving down the infirmary. The curtain around his bed was pushed back, throwing light across his face. He turned his head away squinting as the group came to stand next to where he lay. Krill, as studious as ever, leaned over him examining his eyes with a small light. The captain shook his head against the bright, “Knock it off, Krill.”

The little surgeon ignored him conducting a quick neurological examination on him as he did, “how are you feeling Captain?”

“Honestly, a little pissed off if you must know. Un-cuff me and that’s an order.” He demanded

Over him, Sunny and the Lieutenant glanced at each other and then at Krill.

He could see their doubt and seized on it with all his desperation, “Come on guys, its ME I’m lucid. They aren’t controlling my mind. It’s my job to figure out who they are and what they want and to establish communication. You all called me crazy when I let Sunny on the ship, and it worked out. So just give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Krill glowered at the others as well, “Do I need to mention the time that he turned off the gravity and let an unknown entity aboard the ship against regulation, and without speaking with the supporting crewmembers?” He motioned towards the wounds on the captain’s arms, “And was injured in the process, and now he wants to go back out.”

The glancing grew in intensity, and Vir could see he had lost the argument. He wilted back against the bedframe with a sigh shrugging his shoulders against his cuffs. The lieutenant rested an apologetic hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry captain, but Krill has a point. No one else can hear what you can, and you did put the entire ship in jeopardy with what you did.” He quickly backpedaled against Vir’s protests, “I know you didn’t mean to hurt us, or put us in danger, but there may be something influencing you that you don’t know about.”

He sighed in frustration, “Can you at least-“ He raised his hands as far as he could and shook the cuffs for emphasis glancing at them with an expectant expression. Sunny seemed ready to oblige him, but krill shook his head.

“No, Captain, you’re not an idiot, and I’m not an idiot. You have survived too long for me to think you aren’t smart enough to escape or dupe your way out.”

“Ok fine then, but you are either going to have to cath me or let me go so I can pee. I’ve been holding it for hours and unless you do something I will have no choice but to just let it go, and then you will HAVE to move me for my health. So, which shall it be?” Krill paused just then thinking hard upon the situation, the captain had a point, and he had no doubt that the man would make his point in the most aggressively and disgustingly human way possible. He could see it in his steely green eye.

“If you are really worried about it, send some of the marines with me, they can kick my ass up and down this ship without batting an eye. I was trained in the air force remember, so I’m not as tough as the marines.” Krill wasn’t totally sure he believed him, but he did know the marines. They were big guys, some of them with at least thirty pounds of muscle on the captain, and the Captain wasn’t small. He estimated him at around 195 to 205 pounds.

“Fine.” He said

***

The marines brought him back without issue. The group of them were laughing and joking as they normally would right up until they watched the man be strapped back into his place.

“What is this all about, Captain?” one of the men asked glancing over at krill with confusion.

He shrugged, “Krill thinks that I’ve gone insane.” The protest lasted for a couple of long minutes as the marines bombarded Krill with questions. He gave them the same explanation as he had given the others. The marines may have been jarheads, but everyone on the ship knew Krill’s reputation for logic. The captain could see that the marines were wary now. Glancing at him with unsure expressions.

Damn.

He sighed and rested his head back against the bed closing his eyes as Krill gave the marines their mission. Bathroom escort duty, how fun for them. This lasted for a good day or two. He would get up with them cause no trouble and then go back to where he was. Eventually the marines were just sending two people, and then one with him. It’s not like it was that far away, just in the other room, he should be fine.

***

“Think you can handle him?”

“Yeah, no problem, go get something to eat.” The big marine said, the big marine the sergeant and the most experienced among them. Krill didn’t even bother to look at the group of marines as they walked through the door leaving only their superior behind to unlock the cuffs and help Vir to his feet rubbing his wrists where they had gone numb. The two of them walked back to the bathroom, and the marine stood by with his eyes respectfully averted.

How long was this annoyance going to last.

Vir finished and turned back. The marine moved forward just as the captain staggered forward clutching his head. In shock, the marine ran forward to help grasping the captain by the shoulder worried he was going into another seizure. The man grabbed him by the shoulder for support bent double in agony.

And then, suddenly, one hand as gripping his arm, and the other the back of his neck. A knee was driven fast and sharp into his abdomen effectively cutting off a cry for help. The man moved behind him gripping him by the shirt and whipping it over his head. The marine was gagged and cuffed in under two seconds leaning against the bathroom stall flat on his ass. The Captain Knelt in front of him single green eye wide in sympathy. He patted the marine’s shoulder a grimace on his face, “I’m sorry marine I….. I owe you a raise when this is all over. It really isn’t personal, but I need to do my job.

***

He made it past the infirmary without error and without Krill noticing. His senses weren’t as keen as a human’s and his intuition even less so. By the time the alarms started going off, he was already wearing one of the suits, and was beginning to don a helmet. He engaged the compressed oxygen, and then checked the systems. His suit pressurized, and he engaged the airlock. Underneath him, the starcycle revved, a sound that was cut out as all of the oxygen fled from the room, and the doors opened into the starlit blue haze of the cobalt nebulae. He engaged the engine and drifted into space even as the door closed behind him.

“Where are you,” He muttered softly as he moved forward, “I’m here to talk, no interruptions this time.” His voice was odd and distorted inside the suit. As he followed what he remembered of his old path back into the dust making sure to keep track of his position as he moved. It was eerie inside the dust cloud, with no notion of up or down, and no way to tell if he was truly going in the right direction, just his estimate. He was beginning to wonder if he really knew where he was going, and then, the dust cloud lightened and broke. He cut into a massive circular clearing with nothing but the blue nebulae on either side and the spiraling trails of white dust.

They had been waiting.

A massive body shifted in space ahead of him. The immense head and stirring black eyes lifted to look down upon him. He reversed the engine, and used just enough backward momentum to cancel out his earlier movement. The bike halted in midair, and floated there while he engaged the gaspack and slowly floated upwards from the boke. All around him the strange alien creatures rose to follow him, their glittering ribbons flaring out behind them in the blue light. Their angelic side was more apparent in the light of the cluster, where he couldn’t hear them, and their skin glowed with the light of celestial heavens. He felt his heart begin to quicken.

“I’m here to talk, like you wanted.” He thought forcing his intentions outwards and towards the massive white form flanked on all sides by a legion of its angelic children.

“You are the first… we knew you would come.” Came the voice inside his head echoing with the sound of a thousand voices speaking at once an entire crowd, “The first one to visit us in our plane, and the first one to speak to us with our own language. The first to visit with us, the starborn”

“But, you speak English.”

“We speak the language of your memories. Your communication is our communication. We know what is in your head, and your heart, and your past. We see everything. We speak the language of the soul, and yours is the only species that may speak with us despite your weak minds.”

Ok that was kind of odd, “Well uh, cool, but you know it isn’t exactly polite to go poking around in someone’s memories, and just like stealing form them. Some things are meant to be private.” All around him, the group shifted, they moved back from him, their ribbons flaring outwards like a dog raising its hackles.

He raised his hands in apology, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just, we don’t speak with our minds where I’m from.”

“We have seen where you are from, we have seen what your people do, what they keep form each other. What you keep from your friends.” The massive creature unfolded itself stretching far below and far above with its glowing body as it took a step forward. It didn’t need to step, it could have just floated, but the movement made its point it towered over Captain Vir now, its large black eyes staring down at him “You hide yourselves behind lies…. A concept hitherto unknown to us until now. A great evil. A great evil that should and must be purged.”

Captain Vir allowed a little bit of the gas to push him back as he was easy on the controls, “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you. I can’t speak with my mind like you do, so it’s not really an option for everyone to know everything about us. Besides if my way of communicating offended you so much, than why would you bring me out here to talk?” his hand rested lightly on the gaspack controls ready to flee if that was an option.

“Your mind is very hard to read, human. It is tangled and warped by your lies. We are here to seek the truth. The closer you are, the better for us. Truth is always to outlive lies.”

The captain couldn’t help the unease that was creeping up his back. He wasn’t so sure about this. “What do you mean by that?

And before he knew it that massive creature was towering over him, and it was filling his head. It swelled inside his mind like water flooding an empty room. He gasped in surprise and pain as the creature took hold of his thoughts, his memories. Horribly, and suddenly his inner voice was silenced. There was no dialogue, there was nothing but the flashing of the side of his own mind. He couldn’t name anything, he couldn’t identify anything, he couldn’t comprehend what was around him. He wasn’t him…. He was…. Nothing. He had no identity, no conscience, nothing. He floated in a horrible blackness untouched by emotion or identity, unable to comprehend the terror of infinity of not existing.

Inside his head there was complete silence as the creature rifled through him like a filing cabinet tossing things about like a robber ransacking a home for valuables. His most precious memories were thrown to the floor, tossed into a jumble. His painful memories were sifted through with great care, private thoughts were brought back up examined and discarded, and he could do nothing. With no control over the mechanism of his thoughts he could not run, he could not move, and he could not thing. He was simply a husk floating in the blackness of space.

IT didn’t take the creature long to finish ravaging his mind, and one it was done, it drew back. The captain’s inner voice struggled to stand, to think clawing its way from the horrible blackness the terrible awful blackness of not existing, not feeling. He gasped racked with abject terror as he fled back from the black. His body trembled his mind remained fogged. The tears that broke unbidden to his eyes collected there unable to roll or move without gravity.

“A terrible sin. You are nothing but lies you humans. Nothing can be greater than this abomination.” He could feel the thing still inside his head, could feel its abject horror, hear its thought process slowly churning forward. The creature did not know what it was to have secrets, to have a place to itself. Honesty, truth was not an option, and now here was a creature that kept its mind to itself. So alien, so different, the creature rebelled against the idea. Not even the sin of murder could have been worse, it could not let its people be exposed to such horror.

In his groggy and barely comprehensible state, Vr tried to remember the controls to the gaspack, but found his memories rearranged, gone, he couldn’t find them, couldn’t remember what to do. “You poor creature unable to understand your sin, unable to truly communicate….. I can help you with that. Just a few spots in your head, in your human brain destroyed, and I can give you true freedom of thought. It will help you block out the world, touch, sensation muted, and hearing gone you will better be able to hear the thoughts of your soul, at least before you die.

He desperately searched inside his own head for the memories, for the thoughts bringing others unbidden to his mind, his first flight, bullies at school, the christening of his ship, his father teaching him to ride a bike, his locker combination at the academy, listening to music with Sunny, teaching krill to play chess. He wasn’t sure when he realized the meaning of this situation, but he felt the horror, the worry, the shame. It rushed over him in a flood of pain.

He was going to die, mindless, and memoryless in the blackness of space.

#humans are weird #humans are space orcs #humans are spaceoddities #humans are space australians #earth is space australia #aliens

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rami-hoe · 5 years

Text

The Soldier and the Nurse

Part two

Pairing: snafu x oc

Word Count: 2.1K

TW: war, injury

Nurse Fort worked twelve hour shifts, and made her rounds once an hour. So twelve times a day, she would come to my bed, check my vitals and my bandages, and we would have a chat. And twelve times a day, I would bust out my best lines, and she would laugh and humour me. Maybe it was all in my head, but I thought she spent longer with me than she did with her other patients. But that might have just been because I was one of the few who could actually speak. I’d say seeing her was the highlight of my day, but honestly, it was the only good thing about my day. Those fifteen minutes I got to spend with her were the only distraction from the constant pain that covered my at least fifty percent of my body on my best days. I spent the rest of the day lying in that bed, listening to my comrades groan and cry out, wondering if I would ever be able to get out of bed without pain erupting in my side. They gave me some meds for the pain, but they didn’t do all that much to help. They numbed me up for about half an hour, then I was right back where I started and I couldn’t get another dose for four more hours. So I’d have to lie there and grit my teeth to stop myself from screaming until Nurse Fort came back with my next dosage.

It would have been easier to just let it all out, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I hated the screamers. And I hated myself for hating them. I knew they were screaming because they were injured fighting for their country, fighting just like I had, but that didn’t make any difference when it was two in the morning and they wouldn’t shut the fuck up. The relief I felt when the guy with the bandaged face, CPL. Jersh, a married man with two kids as I later found out, finally stopped screaming long enough to die made me sick. But the peace didn’t last long. He was replaced with another, then another after that one and the cycle kept on going. I’d been in this place over a month, and we were on our fifth screamer. Nurse Fort said he wasn’t expected to last more than a couple days, but I just wished he would hurry up and die. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t just help him get on with it. You put down your pets when all that’s left for them is suffering; why couldn’t we do the same for these men? Put them, and everybody around them, out of their misery. It seemed like the kinder option. Although that might just be what I told myself to make myself feel better about the whole situation, the thoughts running through my mind.

I didn’t know why I could sleep with bombs falling but not with some guy screaming, but I didn’t want to get into the psychological aspect of it all. It was four in the morning, and the latest screamer was still going strong. Seemed like it was going to take him longer than expected to “pass away.” I dragged myself out of bed, my muscles screaming almost as loud as the Private. As much as I despised using it, I grabbed my cane. My leg just couldn’t take the weight without it. I slowly but surely limped my way across the room. My intended destination was the hallway- I just meant to get a little quiet for a couple minutes, but the light in the nurse’s station made me pause. Nurse Fort sat there, head buried in a book until I tapped on the window. She gave me a tired, but warm, smile and waved my into the station. I closed the door behind me. It muffled the screaming a little at least.

“What’re you doin’ out here? You work the day shift,” I said. She pushed out the chair next to me and I lowered myself into it.

“Nurse Kyle came down with something.” She slipped a bookmark between the pages and shut the book. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Don’t know how anyone can,” I said. It was hard not to sound bitter.

“Those earplugs I gave you not work?” I shook my head and rested my aching back against the chair. The cane sat between my legs and I bounced from knee to knee absentmindedly. “I’m sorry. I’ll see what I can do.”

“There’s nothin’ you can do,” I said. “Unless you can stop that guy from screamin’ all night.”

She sighed. “We’ve given him all the meds we can,” she said. “There’s nothing more we can do for him. It’s just a matter of time.” “You got any idea how much time?” I knew it was an insensitive thing to ask, but I couldn’t help myself.

Madeline didn’t miss a beat. “I didn’t think he’d last this long,” she said. An abrupt shot of pain up my leg made me hiss and Madeline jumped up. “What is it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, although it was more of a string of grunts than an actual sentence. “I’m alright.”

“Merriell-” She was one of the only people in my life who still called me by my given name. It was nice to hear it, even if it was in that lecturing tone. “-I’m a nurse. It’s my job to help you. Let me do that.”

If it didn’t hurt so bad, I would have brushed her off again. “It’s my leg,” I forced out. Under normal circumstances, a woman kneeling in front of me and pulling down my pants would have been something to get excited about. As much as I would have loved Madeline taking the route I was a little more used to, I needed what she was about to do even more. Her hands found my bare thigh and started to massage it. She had a way of doing this where she reached the muscle without aggravating the still sore wound. When I asked the usual night nurse to do it, she always put her thumbs right on where the shrapnel had gone it. She insisted the wound had healed and the pressure shouldn’t hurt anymore. It hurt like hell whether it was supposed to or not. But Madeline’s hands were magic. They could ease my pain like nothing else.

“That hurt at all?” She asked.

I shook my head. “No, that’s perfect.” I looked down and watched her work. She was so concentrated on what she was doing, even though all she was doing was rubbing my thigh. “Ain’t this the kinda grunt work you’re s’pose to pawn off on the people under you?” I asked.

“Maybe,” she said. I could see her smile even though she didn’t look up at me. “But I don’t mind doing it.” Her fingers moved from my knee up to the top of my thigh, rubbing the muscle all the way along. “Not for the right person, at least.”

I chuckled. “So you don’t just go around massagin’ every guy’s thighs,” I said.

“Oh no, of course not,” she said. “What kinda girl do you think I am?”

“I feel so special,” I said.

“You should, Mr,” she said with a wink. Once my thigh was nice and relaxed, she braced herself on the arms of the chair and stood. “That leg of yours should be feeling strong enough to walk on in a few weeks. Another month or so and you’ll be outta here.”

“Outta here and back out there,” I muttered. I gazed out the window out the men lying in their beds. Half of them were too injured to be shipped back out. They would either die here or be sent back home to live the rest of their lives crippled and in pain. Death, war, or unbelievable pain. Out of the three, death seemed like the best option.

“Yes, you should be fit for duty.” She settled into her seat and I yanked my pants back up.

“Any way you can talk to the manager about getting me a late check out?” I did my best to make it sound like a joke, but I knew she didn’t buy it. But she was nice enough to laugh along and pretend like she did instead of calling me a coward like most people would. It was cowardly. I didn’t want to go back out there just to die. And there was no doubt in my mind that I would die. Alone, face down in the dirt, left in the dust because anybody who came back for me would end up lying right beside me. My Mama would get a letter my CO wrote in five minutes and spend the next week lying in my old bed and sobbing. My dad would spend every waking minute working and pretending he was fine with it all. He would stand stoic as his friends patted him on the shoulder and told him how lucky he was to have a hero for a son. My comrades would raise a toast to me, if they were lucky enough to have any booze on them. My friends back home would reminisce when they heard the news, share their favourite stories of me. And before long, all I would be to them was a story. A friend they had who died in the war. Then, each in their own time, they would all move on. They would stop thinking about me, stop crying over me. Maybe after the war was won, they’d bring my body back home. I’d be buried next to my grandparents and my folks could visit my grave on my birthday to leave flowers.

Madeline’s hand covered my own and squeezed, drawing me out of the morbid fantasy. I blinked away tears and laughed, as if that would make her forget what she had seen in my eyes. But she didn’t humour me this time. “There’s nothing wrong with being scared to go back.”

“Who’s scared?” I asked, pulling my hand out of her grip. “I ain’t a fuckin’ coward.”

“I’m not saying you are,” she said. “But anyone who’s been out there would be scared of going back.” The tears were getting too big to blink away, but I was still determined not to let them fall in front of her. I turned my head to the side and tried to focus on breathing. I would have gotten up and walked away if I wasn’t sure the sight of me struggling to stand and limp out of here would be even more pitiful than sitting here and crying. “Merriell?” It was the softness of her voice as she said my name that pushed me over the edge. I covered my face with my hand to preserve at least some of my dignity as I sobbed like a child. Madeline scootched her chair closer to mine and ran her hand up my arm while the other one rested on my knee. If it were anyone else I would have pushed her away, but her touch was nothing but reassuring.

When I started laughing this time, it was real. “I’m a Marine,” I said between bursts of laughter. “We’re s’pose to be tough.”

“You’ve survived this long,” she said. “I’d say you’d have to be pretty tough to do that.”

I dropped my hand and met her eyes. “I think your idea of toughness might be a little off,” I said.

Madeline shook her head. “No, I know a tough guy when I see one,” she said. “And I know it takes one hell of a man to cry in front of a woman.”

“So-” I sniffed and wiped my cheek with the back of my hand. “What you’re sayin’ is: I still have a shot with you.”

The look on her face when she laughed was heavenly. My eyes blinked like a camera shutter, capturing the expression. I wanted to remember it for a long time. She pressed her palm to my left cheek and leaned in to kiss my right. “Why don’t you sleep in here?” She nodded to a cot in the back of the room. “It’ll be quieter for you.”

“Won’tcha get in trouble for that?”

She shrugged. “You’re worth a little trouble,” she said. She stood up and helped me do the same. I held onto her arm as she walked me over to the cot. “Or I can just wake ya up before the shift change.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said as I lied down on the cot. Madeline drew the blanket up over my chest. “You gon’ tuck me in too?”

She chuckled. “Nah, I figured a tough guy like you can handle that on your own,” she said. “Goodnight, Merriell. Sleep well.”

#Merriell Shelton #Snafu Shelton #the pacific #rami malek #snafu x oc

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georgecrecy · 5 years

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Charlie 7

James and Charlie emerged into the bright light provided by the dozen flood lamps on the cave roof above as the roar of thousands of spectators thundered around them. Charlie and his human friend were guided to opposite starting positions on the stained dirt of the arena, and James watched as Lord Takrex reappeared from another set of stairs next to the announcer’s podium, the multi-armed announcer leaning in to converse with the Straxhi overlord. Takrex finished speaking and headed to his own customary position in his personal viewing box above the podium as the announcer’s voice boomed through the various projecto-bots floating high above. “Ladies and gentlemen from across the vast reaches of space! We at the Hub have a special event lined up for your viewing pleasure! Our reigning champion, the vicious Rang’var, will be facing off against a perilous human from among the crew of Captain Choep in a fight of life or death! Can he tame the beast, or will he be ripped to shreds?”

The jeers and shouts from the uproarious crowd indicated they would prefer the latter, betting girls raking in the credits as they were called from all sides. James looked askance at the crowd around him and at Lord Takrex, who he saw had just sat down with his many attendants around him, and another human seated beside him in a grey suit. His eyes squinted momentarily trying to better see who it was before he realized the owner of the slicked-back hair was none other than Crassus Jaul! He cursed to himself and hoped that Jaul wouldn’t realize it was him. As Takrex and Jaul laughed and spoke like old underhanded friends, James could see that Jaul looked puzzled and annoyed as if he had forgotten something but couldn’t remember what, though the miner knew all too well what it was. The little charade he could have done with Charlie wasn’t going to work.

The announcer’s fatal words rang out once more around the boisterous arena atmosphere, “It is time for a fight! All bets are now final, and let the best fighter win!”

The guards hurriedly cleared from around Charlie after unlocking the collar remotely, rushing to the nearest exits, while the guards near James also hurried to get away. The hush of the expected audience was interrupted by the sound of distant thumps and booms from outside the station. The audience muttered and looked around as Takrex and Jaul both put fingers up to earpieces, Takrex looking confused but unperturbed once he had gotten a report, and he motioned to the announcer to continue.

With a start, the announcer looked back to the arena, his voice echoing as he said, “Nothing to worry about, as I said, ahem, let the bout commence!” However, James and Charlie were far ahead of him.

Moving forward at a trot, Charlie had already picked up speed until he was galloping toward the comparatively tiny figure of James, who was similarly rushing headlong towards the charging freighter’s worth of weight in muscled mass. The audience cheered or held their breath in anticipation as the two met, expecting a very flattened human pancake to result from this. At the same time, Jaul in his comfy leather chair on the podium suddenly had a spark of memory that made him haul up from his seat in a flurry, pointing at the impending clash below. “Kill that man! He is in league with the Dragon!”

Instead of a pancake, Charlie abruptly stopped, sending a cloud of dirt up into the air around them. James instead directed Charlie’s via his muzzle, back out of the dust cloud and toward Charlie’s starting position and the collar that was on the ground. Searching hurriedly across the ground, he cast about for the small device as the first bolts of murderous laser light plodded into the ground around them from combi-blasters. Blasts from outside the station were growing closer, even rocking the station itself and sending twirls of rocky dust descending from above as all could now hear the whir of energy coursing through the station as the massive defense grid powered up. Jaul continued to point and shout to the arena below as Takrex shooed him off, too busy listening to the feed in his ear and heading towards the nearby set of stairs.

Finally, James found the glint of steel from the device, and more importantly found the button on it. Pressing it, he immediately felt the station vibrate as explosions were set off at several important points in the power grid. The spotlights above flickered and almost died before backup systems kept some power running, but the power necessary to keep the station’s defense grid running was now gone. Charlie roared as several bolts found their mark finally in his tough hide, the guards having better luck now that they had cleared past the jostling crowd who were running for the exits. In his ear, James heard a welcome voice say, “Thunder.” The human shouted over the cries of the crowd, “Airlock!” Charlie closed his eyes and held his breath while James reached to the very end of his arm’s reach on either side to close over Charlie’s ear holes, doing his best to use his arms to cover his own ears and squeezing his own eyes shut.

The rock in the ceiling exploded, sending rock flying throughout the room. From the several holes then opened were black cans that fell several hundred feet. Within a few seconds the cans exploded with loud BANGS and flashes of bright white light, blinding everyone in the room. Chaos exploded as soldiers of various species descended into the arena, further explosions rocking the arena as well, sending more chunks of the ceiling to fall from above. James looked up in time to see a good-sized piece detach from the ceiling above and head straight for him, attempting to duck out of the way but was not fast enough, the chunk barely glancing off his head was still enough to knock him out. His consciousness faded to nothing as he crumpled to the floor, his vision fading to black as he saw Charlie stand over him protectively, a clarion howl escaping the large Tilluxian lungs.

Sitting on the grass in the bright sunlight, James scratched absentmindedly at the sore spot on the back of his head, which had been pronounced ‘fully healed’ by the Vlexeene doctors just a few days ago. Again, James thought, while many considered the humans almost exaggeratedly extraordinary in their capacity to heal, they might have been too optimistic. But he was happy, especially since he was leaning up against the heaving side of his leathery, humongous friend.

A ways down the hillock from where they sat resting, the two watched contentedly as the lithe form of Princess Saevi maneuvered skillfully in and among the tree-like legs of the female Tilluxian that had been rescued from the Hub, which Saevi had decided would be named Gresi after a breed of flowers that bloomed only in the darkest winters on Vlexia. Gresi looked a lot better than when James had found her, though there was little that the vets on any planet could do to patch the many scars or the missing eye. But Gresi had taken to Saevi surprisingly quickly, and much to the palace guards’ dismay was loathe to let her leave her large side whenever the Princess had to go inside. Saevi climbed along the neck of the Tilluxian, swinging confidently underneath despite the one arm. Seeing James and Charlie looking their way, Saevi let go with her hand and hung by just her legs, waving at the two up the hill while upside down. Gresi twisted her neck and licked the hanging Vlexeene princess, causing her to giggle and let go, plopping very unceremoniously on the ground, still laughing away.

Up to their side, Colonel Eahn sidled up from the glittering palace behind them, looking at the scene below with a smile. Patting Charlie’s side, he looked down at James below him. “I’m glad you are finally well enough to be out with us in the sunshine.”

James nodded in assent, wincing slightly as his head throbbed a bit. “Yep, it is certainly nice, I must say. Now I’ve been missin’ out on the news of what happened after I got conked out. You wanna fill me in?”

Eahn threw up a hand in disgust. “We needn’t speak in detail on such a nice day, but needless to say the Hub will no longer be operational if the five systems have any say about it. Once we were able to get them to stop squabbling, they finally acceded to working together against a common enemy, especially once they knew who they were fighting for. The Yallarians and humans from Arta 6 were the first to agree, and then the Vasha once we had explained more of the situation. We were able to smash the fleet easily enough once their defenses powered down, and good job on that, by the way. Once those hell-born human marines of yours got into the fray, what we didn’t wrangle up or kill in the confusion, flew off to the three winds like Narx Rats from a flame.”

James nodded, glad that the scum had been sent packing. He broke his gaze from the antics of Saevi and Gresi to look worriedly at Eahn. “And what about the worst of the bunch? Did you guys bag those monsters Takrex and Jaul?”

Eahn pursed his lips, a hand going up to reflexively twirl one of his whiskers. “We did get Takrex, though it is currently a fight with all the systems claiming jurisdiction to put him on trial. All the worse for him. As for Jaul, I’m afraid that blaggard managed to escape, but not before we saw him and his personal ship. He is now a wanted man, while Southtech has disavowed all knowledge or involvement in his ‘activities.’ They have bigger worries on their hands considering the investigations now slated their way, I would suppose. I understand the Yallarians and Vashans are rather displeased with how their accounts were handled. Apparently they found documents to support their claims to fraud.”

James looked up with a smile. “I suppose that means your boys were able to figure out that mess I gave ya?”

Eahn smiled back slyly. “Officially, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

James merely nodded and smiled, and looked back at the endearing scene below. Saevi and Gresi were framed by the city in the background, a shining white mass of buildings, streets, and causeways. Above the city were jumpcars and freighters that moved across the various skylanes as they followed their courses through life. James reflected on the course his own life had taken him, from the first meeting of the gargantuan Charlie some years ago, to all the adventures they had gone through together, and all the people they had the good fortune to meet, and he couldn’t help but smile contentedly. The light throbbing in his head seemed to disappear entirely as he felt the breath of his humongous friend bellow in and out. He hoped it would never end.

FIN Read the other parts of the series!

Part 1: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183762132696/charlie-1

Part 2: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183787102041/charlie-2

Part 3: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183794906326/charlie-3

Part 4: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183805565796/charlie-4

Part 5: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183818824461/charlie-5

Part 6: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183819131196/charlie-6

#hfy #haw #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #earth is space australia

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cookieswriting · 5 years

Text

Can’t Be Happening Pt. 2 (SEAL Team)

So yeah...this is gonna be a few more chapters than just the 2 I originally anticipated. Kinda got away from me *shrugs* ooooh darn. Bit of language and violence in this chapter.

“Why the hell are we not going after these sons of bitches right fucking now?! Did we not all just watch the same fucking video?! Clay doesn’t have time for us to twiddle our thumbs and wait for the cake-eaters to weigh the costs of going after one of our own!” Sonny paced restlessly, images of his brother being manhandled by Doza’s men replaying across his mind.

Jason stopped him with a strong hand on his shoulder and steady stare. “We can’t just go in guns blazing and expect him to still be alive when we make it to him, Son...we need to figure out exactly where he is and what we are going to do before we can get him back. Let’s focus on that in the meantime, deal with the red tape if it’s still there when we have a plan, yeah?” Sonny held his gaze for a long moment before relenting. Jason nodded and turned back to the computer screen with a steadying breath. “We need to watch it again. Captain, I need your men to identify anything that can help us determine where they are.” He turned to Davis and Mandy. “You don’t need to stay in here for this…”

Despite the tears in their eyes, both women stood firm. “Not going anywhere, Bravo One,” Davis murmured. Sonny found himself wanting to reach out to take her hand, both to give and take comfort as the hostage video featuring their youngest teammate began to play from the beginning. Even before they pulled the hood off, the Texan could read the tension in Clay’s posture, could hear the hitch in his breathing. Not to mention the blood staining his white Mexico shirt meant to cast him as a tourist. Even before the bastards started filming, they’d done a number on the kid.

And yet, once the hood was removed and he was forced to his knees, he refused to give any sign of faltering. Even when they punched him multiple times and yanked his head back by his sweat-matted curls, Clay refused to cower or beg for help. When the video first came to their attention, the Mexican Marine captain had translated for them, relating Doza’s demands for money, release of cartel leaders, and their immediate departure from the country. Watching it again, seeing the abuse his brother was suffering for him, spiked Sonny’s rage once again, and he turned and punched the nearest wall. Trent pulled his arm back before he could strike again, and restrained him against his own chest.

“Easy, brother, this isn’t going to help Clay. We’ll get the chance to make these assholes pay for this, we’ll bring our boy home, but if you break your hand you’re not going to be able to do much good for him. Hold off on letting out that anger til we’re face to face with Doza and his men.” After a few steadying breaths, Sonny backed down and forced himself to sit down. Brock squeezed his shoulder, and they all turned to the local force as the video ended.

“This is a building in the center of Doza’s territory. It will be very difficult to get to your man without him being alerted to your presence, and then your man will be killed anyway.”

“That’s not gonna cut it,” Jason replied, anger simmering just under the surface. “How do we get to this son of a bitch and get my man out?”

“He has eyes everywhere, Master Chief. I’m sorry, I do not believe that it will be possible.”

“The brass Stateside isn’t going to green-light the rescue if we don’t have some kind of plan, Captain. We don’t need much of a chance...we just need something. Please,” Mandy implored as the men grew more agitated and restless. She took a slow breath, knowing her next words would not go over well with them. “He deserves for his brothers to bring him home, whether this is going to be a rescue or a recovery.” At that, Davis ducked out of the command center. No one could deny her statement, though...they’d all seen the blood on Clay’s face, the tension and awkwardness in his posture that only they would recognize as signs of agony. If they didn’t get to him fast, Clay Spenser would not survive his captivity, no matter how stubborn he was mentally.

The young SEAL in question was dragged from unconsciousness by the persistent stabbing pain of his abused muscles being strained, chained overhead until his now-bare feet barely touched the ground. They’d used him for a ransom video for the American government, which he knew would have the guys up in arms. As he hung...wherever they were, Doza’s men shouted demands at him in Spanish; questions about Naval intelligence, border protection weaknesses...the ususal.

“Please,” he whimpered, emphasising his pain and exaggerating his desperation. “I don’t know what you’re saying...I don’t know what you want. I...I’m just a tourist…”

One of the men was suddenly in his face, and reached around to grab his hair roughly when the blonde flinched away. “You were awfully calm during our little message for just a tourist.”

“I-I couldn’t understand a word you were saying, and it hurt to even breathe, man...I didn’t want to make it worse! I’m sorry, I don’t know what you want from me...please just let me go!” Fresh pain erupted across his cheek as his captor punched him again, and it took everything in Clay not to bite out a sarcastic comment.

“I don’t believe you. My friends here don’t believe you.” The man stepped back and drew a long serrated-edged knife. “If you don’t give us answers, you are going to die a very painful death. Do you understand me?”

Clay summoned as much fear as he could, and tears burned his eyes. Well shit, this is gonna hurt…“Please! Please, no, I don’t know what I could possibly tell you!”

“You were with US military agents working with the Marinas. Tell me where there are weaknesses at your borders!”

“I wasn’t, I swear! I’m just on vacation from grad school! Nonono please-” The blade didn’t hurt so much as it sank into his right flank just under his ribcage. No...it was the catching of the serrated edge as it was drawn back out that had Clay crying out and ready to sink into oblivion again.

“Oh no, my friend, you do not get to escape just yet. Tell me where your team is and I will end your suffering quickly.” Clay sobbed through the pain, grateful for his ‘innocence’ cover giving him the excuse not to play tough. Hopefully my team is getting your sorry sonofabitch boss Doza and this isn’t for nothing…

Jason looked up when Blackburn slammed the phone down, anger and frustration evident on his face before the Lieutenant Commander dragged his hand over it. “There is no way in hell they denied us going after Clay,” Hayes growled. All eyes turned to the officer, who sighed heavily.

“They are saying the usual...we do not negotiate with terrorists and our team is too close to get him out without letting things get personal.”

“Any team they send would make it personal,” Brock muttered, petting Cerberus to calm himself down. “Friggin’ cake-eaters don’t understand the concept of brotherhood.” He looked up around the room. “So how are we going to do this?” Sonny and Trent nodded, and Ray leaned against the desk with forced calm.

“Blackburn, if you need to leave for plausible deniability-”

“Like hell I’m going anywhere,” Eric snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “By the time they would send another team down, if they even plan to, Spenser would probably be dead. We are going after him now, and we will deal with repercussions later. Captain.” He turned, surprising his Mexican counterpart. “What do we have?”

“You are going to disobey your superiors?” Garcia questioned.

“As I said, there is not time to wait for a new team to arrive, and my men are considered the best for a reason. We do not leave any teammate behind under any circumstance.” The Mexican Captain looked to each of the Americans for a long moment before nodding with a grim smile.

“You know the guys would never leave you behind. They’ll come for you soon, baby...you’ve just got to hold on a little bit longer, okay? Stay with me. I’m right here.” The comforting, familiar scent of Stella’s shampoo filled Clay’s nostrils, and he wanted nothing more than to nuzzle into her hand, warm and comforting on his cheek.

The second he shifted his head, though, agony seized his entire body, and the young SEAL was jarred back to reality. Stella...Stella wasn’t with him. Thank God for that, Clay thought to himself. Even though it hurt to remember that Stella had broken things off with him before they’d shipped out to Mexico, the thought of her being with him in this hell-hole made him nauseous.

Or maybe that was the hole in his gut, the probable concussion, the fact that his arms were screaming at him as his feet began to cramp trying to hold his weight on his toes. He knew without a doubt that his brothers would come for him, but found himself beginning to doubt that they’d make it in time for a rescue. The blood soaking his side was enough for him to worry about, and explained how lightheaded he was. If he was hallucinating, though...must be closer to the end than I thought.

“Oh, our blue-eyed friend is back in the world of the living!” Clay tried to lift his head, suddenly feeling like it weight two hundred pounds, and clenched his jaw to fight back the bile rising in his throat as the room spun. “Well, mas o menos...hey! We’re not done with you yet, man! You can tell me all you want that you’re just a tourist, but I am calling bullshit, so wake your ass up!”

No matter how hard he tried to comply, Clay couldn’t gather the strength to move more than his eyes. The cartel thug in front of him became increasingly annoyed and started ranting in Spanish, but the blonde’s mind was too sluggish to translate. A sudden crack accompanied an explosion of agony in his left leg, which no longer bore his weight. His already-strained shoulder gave out with the lurch of added weight, and Clay lost his battle against throwing up.

Time stopped making sense after that. Any moment of awareness was overshadowed with black dots dancing across his vision, and anything that they might’ve been saying to him was completely lost. Every inch of his body was pain...his wrists, chafing from the shackles. His left shoulder, at least dislocated. His face, beat to hell. His abdomen, still leaking. His left leg, probably broken, right cramping from bearing his weight. It was a miracle that he was still conscious, let alone breathing.

The distorted sound of gunfire erupted around Clay, and lights flashed in his eyes. Shouts were abruptly cut off, and Mexican Marina camo filled the room. Sonny’s face filled his field of vision, and Clay was sure he’d started to hallucinate again. “We’ve got you, brother...just hold on a little bit longer...gonna get you home...take you down first...gonna hurt…” His brother’s voice kept cutting in and out, probably along with Clay’s consciousness. Did that mean they were really there?

“So...Sonny...please...don’t let Stella...blame herself,” Clay breathed, breath catching as they moved him. Not a hallucination then...his brothers had really come for him. He knew they were bracing him to bring him down from the chains, but couldn’t work up the strength to warn them about his potentially broken leg, so when they did ease him down and his foot touched the ground, the stab of pain sent him back into oblivion.

#SEAL team fanfic #clay spenser whump #CBH pt 2 #clay spenser #sonny quinn #bravo team

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

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461: The Beginning of the War! Ace and Whitebeard's Past!

Yeah, I can see why Ace crumbled and joined him.

Really enjoyed the reveal of Ace’s past and how he achieved his infamy. And it turns out Ace was an infamous, powerful pirate in his own right before he joined Whitebeard. That, I was not expecting.

Loved that part at the start of 461 when Luffy was chatting to Ivankov and pulled a Hagrid. Ivankov was wondering if Dragon would show up to the execution because he was certain, absolutely certain that Dragon would not allow the WG to kill his own son.

Luffy, the oblivious rubber child, said within earshot of the entire breakout crew: “Wut? No, Dragon is MY dad. Ace’s dad is Gol D. Roger. He got the cool one, eh? Wait... I shouldn’t have said that. I really should not have said that.”

Oh, Luffy.

Whitebeard

Then, finally, after I don’t know how many episodes of waiting, the main event arrived.

@mrkashkiet asked if I had any predictions on Whitebeard’s powers. I said my first predictions were for a fruit power. Then, when I learned about Shanks and his lack of fruit, I figured maybe Whitebeard would be one of those guys who is so strong he doesn’t need a fruit. If Whitebeard did have a fruit, since he is a big, physically powerful guy, I guessed he would have earth or earthquake powers to compliment the muscles.

Argh, I was so close!

Whitebeard’s entrance was understated but even that showed his supreme confidence in his power. The other two ships popped up beside his, revealing he had brought all fourteen of his commanders with him. Then, in deathly silence, came the chink, chink, chink of someone slowly, deliberately ascending a flight of stairs (there’s those stairs again. Might start shipping Oda x Stairs).

Of course it was Whitebeard. I cheered.

I loved the casual threats he sent Sengoku’s way. “It’s been a while. You’d better be telling me that my adorable, fiery son is alright?” Sengoku was sweat dropping like he was out at Nandos with the lads and regretted slathering on all the Vusa sauce to show off.

Then Whitebeard turned to Ace and was like, “Yeah, just gimme a sec, son.”

I thought, such bravado from the whitest of beards. But it was not mere bravado.

Whitebeard built up power and (this was so badass I’m still not over it) punched the air so hard it cracked. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first. I figured it was lightning (but then that had already been done with Enel) but Sengoku kindly explained the technique. Whitebeard has eaten the Tremor Tremor Fruit (not sure I got that right). It causes sea quakes! Not earthquakes. Argh, I was so close.

Then the action cut to flashback.

I have never welcomed a flashback as much. Come to think of it, I always enjoy One Piece flashbacks. Up until now, they’ve always served a plot purpose or as a reminder to a viewer (like remember when Luffy beat this guy two hundred episodes ago?) This is in contrast to something like Naruto. If you’ve seen it, how many times did you see Naruto having that sad day on the swings? Exactly.

The flashbacks revealed that Ace has ticked off some awesome boxes, just like Luffy.

Ace’s Past

The flashback opened with a young, fresh-faced Ace, waving goodbye to little Luffy. Almost immediately, Ace was causing chaos. He founded the Spades Pirates (I see what you did there, Oda) and tore the place up to the point he got himself into the OP News.

Garp was mad. He wanted Ace to become an accountant.

Whitebeard also read the OP News. Sage old man that he is, he shook his head. These young whippersnappers are too hasty. Whitebeard revealed that Ace even refused a request to join the Shichibukai (now that’s really something. I wonder if Sengoku had his suspicions about who Ace was. Maybe Garp was behind the request, subtly prompting the Marines to enlist Ace because it would keep him safe?)

But that wasn’t all. Foolhardy young Ace went to visit Shanks.

He dragged his crew with him up Caradhras a snowy mountain. Spade Crew expressed doubts because this was The Shanks they were crashing in on, uninvited. But Ace was like, “It’ll be fine, stop bitching!”

Ace rocks up with his crew and Shanks was not in Saving Tiny Children Mode, but in Badass Mode. He wasn’t too keen on Ace impinging on his chill time until Ace said, “Nah, I’m not here to fight. I want to say thanks for saving my little bro.” It’s amazing what mentioning Luffy’s name does to Shanks. He thawed immediately and it was party time.

The reveal that Ace wanted to become Pirate King when he was younger was unexpected. I totally assumed that he had grown up hating Roger and everything he stood for, so that when Whitebeard came along as a substitute father, he latched on.

The reality was different. It took a long time for Ace to come around. Now that I think about it, I like that much better. Ace gave up his dream to be the Pirate King but it took a long time, a lot of convincing and it was his own decision, taken after a great deal of thought and only when trust, mutual respect and a real relationship was established. Good.

I love that Ace fought Jimbei for five days. No idea why Jimbei felt obligated to screen Whitebeard’s appointments like his secretary, but it was cool to get a feel for how tough Jimbei is as an opponent.

I felt sorry for Ace when after he collapsed, done with Jimbei, Whitebeard sailed up out of the mist and was like, “So I heard one of you was looking for a fight?”

Exhaused, Ace said, “Yes, that would be me. Run, crew!” But Whitebeard was just too strong. Luckily, Whitebeard had taken a liking to Ace (maybe he saw Roger in Ace and suspected?). He extended a massive hand and said, “I like you. You are cheeky. You are valuable. Become my fiery son.”

It was a hard pass from Ace, but he woke up on the Moby Dick. He was not happy. Ace tried (hilariously) to assassinate Whitebeard over a hundred times and got reckt.

He met Thatch, the 4th Division Commander who came a cropper courtesy of Blackbeard (rip, Thatch). Thatch was nice. He gave Ace some good advice: “You can either get off this ship and start again, or stay and wear Whitebeard’s mark.”

Ace stayed. He made such a name for himself that the Whitebeards started talking about making him 2nd Division Commander. Ace was like, “Who, me? But there are people there who’ve been around longer.”

One of those people was Blackbeard!

That was another interesting thing to learn, that Teach was one of the original Whitebeard crew members. It makes his betrayal all the more disturbing. Ace was sitting casually, with him, worrying if BB would be offended if he went for 2nd Division commander. Blackbeard said: “Don’t worry...

Technically true, but also a such a huge, bare-faced omission of truth it’s equivalent to a lie. Sneaky, evil Teach.

The moment Whitebeard finally won over Ace fully was when Ace knocked at his door one night and told him about his heritage. Instead of being angry that his old rival’s son had infiltrated his crew, Whitebeard was cool about it. “That doesn’t matter. We’re all family.” Whitebeard didn’t care that Ace was Roger’s son. He cared that Ace was his son. Excuse me while I dab my eyes with a nearby handkerchief.

Then Thatch found the Yami Yami no Mi and it all went to shit, complete with black and white “is that a dagger I see before me” flashback with Teach looking demonic and pleased.

Ace was distraught when he found out. He took Teach’s betrayal personally. As Teach’s commander, Teach was his responsibility. Worst of all, Teach had disgraced Whitebeard, Ace’s father’s, name. Whitebeard tried to stop him, said, “This is an exception. I have a bad feeling about this,” probably knowing what fruit Teach had stolen. But Ace was too wrapped up in grief and anger to listen.

Ace knows that now. He admitted to causing the omnishambles that is about to kick off. He should have listened. Why did they come?

But Whitebeard said he told Ace to go? Wtf? I don’t get that yet, but I hope he will explain himself in 462.

Good episode, though. 10/10 would watch again.

During a late night father-son chat, Whitebeard reveals the secret of how he sculpts his facial hair.

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lunafrey · 7 years

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WHAT FFXV GOT RIGHT - A CELEBRATORY ANNIVERSARY POST!

Final Fantasy XV has been out for a full year now, and it has brought me so much happiness that I feel like I owe it to the game to write about what it did right. We can talk about what this game got wrong all day – and people have done so. If you’re trying to decide if this is the game for you, or if you love Final Fantasy XV like I do, then buckle in and keep on reading!

As a disclaimer, I would like to make it clear that I have nothing against any of the ships that exist in this fandom. Although I don’t seriously ship any of the characters with one another, I do respect that other people do. I’m making this disclaimer because I sincerely think that the one thing that Square did one hundred percent correctly was how they wrote the boys and the platonic relationships they have with one another. Regardless of what we like to imagine and write about, Square intended for the dynamic between the four main characters to be completely platonic – and that isn’t such a bad thing, really.

Video games have, for as long as I can remember, mostly subscribed to one definition of masculinity. This is probably to appeal to male consumers of video games, who are attracted to your classic male power fantasy. Square, despite their sometimes convoluted plotlines, has often presented us with emotional, well-developed male characters. Tidus from Final Fantasy X immediately comes to mind. This trend did not begin with Final Fantasy XV, but it definitely reached its peak during the course of the game. I know more than a few of us – myself included – were wary when Square announced that Final Fantasy XV would have a male-only main party. But, in my opinion, it was one of the best things they could have done.

A few weeks ago, I was discussing Final Fantasy XV with a friend who had recently completed it. She isn’t a big fan of Prompto (for shame!) but she did tell me that she felt that Prompto cares a bit too much about Noctis – possibly bordering on genuinely being in love with him. Which is actually really, really great, especially considering that Square wrote the relationship between them as platonic. Prompto is a very anxious, nervous character, who overcompensates with his cheerful personality because he doesn’t feel like he is able to contribute anything else to the party. And in addition to all of this, he is incredibly emotional. There is absolutely no doubt that he loves his friends – and he never holds back. Prompto doesn’t need to directly tell his friends how much he loves them, because the way in which he chooses to share his feelings with them establishes it. And it’s wonderful that he loves with his whole entire heart – even more wonderful is that he doesn’t feel the need to conceal it. It’s easy to see that Prompto fears that he comes on too strong, especially as he blinks back tears and tells the others, ‘You guys are like the only friends I’ve ever known.’ Overcome with emotion and visibly terrified of what the others are thinking, he is unable to express how much that means to him. But he continues to speak, and shares his hopes with them. Prompto tries to be a lot of things – useful, good for morale – but he never feels the need to come off as strong or brave or unaffected by emotions. He lets things just spill out – fear, love, appreciation, anger. He doesn’t hesitate to touch his friends either – whether it’s a playful swat at Noctis, or his gentle handling of Ignis, Prompto is always ready to reach out to his friends both emotionally and physically. None of these things are exclusive to non-platonic relationships and, as a matter of fact, they shouldn’t be. It’s lovely that Prompto so clearly loves his friends. Lovely, and incredibly refreshing.

Noctis, unfortunately, will always be seen as whiny or overemotional by some people. Which is just tragic, because he deserves credit for not falling into the trap of masculinity that male characters do. Noctis, despite always making an effort to be cool, is just as emotional as Prompto is. That is why they connect with one another, and why they love each other. In real life, boys are constantly told to man up and to be strong. Society constantly makes attempts to stifle emotional outbursts from boys and men. They’re expected to respond to that – and I am sure that some of them do. But what’s interesting about Noctis is that he doesn’t. Gladio (who I will discuss in a bit), tends to try to deal with Noctis in this way. He tells him to man up, and to stop being a coward. Noctis doesn’t respond to any of this – in fact, it clearly makes him feel worse. Noctis’ emotions cannot be pushed away just so that he can be a better man and king – they are a very important part of who he is. He allows himself to grieve when he has to, regardless of what Gladio says or thinks. He never tries to put on a brave face, because he trusts his friends enough to show them how he’s really feeling. And, at the end of the day, when Noctis really does need a push, he only responds to Ignis. This isn’t because he prefers Ignis to Gladio, but because Ignis chooses to speak to him gently and with care. And speaking of Ignis…

Ignis really comes into his own in the swampy depths of Fodina Caestino, and it’s because of the way he chooses to speak to Noctis. Noctis, at this point in the game, genuinely needs a push. It cannot come from Gladio, for obvious reasons, and it doesn’t come from Prompto, because Prompto prefers to stand by his friends and let them navigate their issues in their own time. Ignis, who I see as the unofficial leader of the party, is able to reach Noctis with his words because he makes it known that it’s okay to feel. It’s okay for Noctis to be stuck, and it’s okay for him to grieve and to be hesitant about taking his rightful place. Ignis very firmly tells Gladio that Noctis will take his rightful place – but only when he is ready to. The implication is that Ignis recognizes that Noctis needs time to marinate in his own emotions, to cry and yell if he needs to – as long as he is able to pick up at some point and fulfill his duty. Aside from the events of Cartanica, it is easy to see why Ignis is such a successful character. Like the incredibly emotional Prompto, and the struggling Noctis, Ignis does not fit into the cookie cutter world of male video game characters. He is incredibly graceful and tidy, but his most dominant trait is his silent way of taking care of the others. Ignis cooks, and it is implied that he mends clothing and basically does everything that needs doing. He is what society considers to be maternal – caring, and supportive. Amazingly, none of the others ever joke about how Ignis chooses to care for them. It is simply accepted, and Ignis doesn’t have any shame in his role as primary caretaker. Although he is stoic, the way in which he behaves around the others implies a very strong emotional attachment. Even in the field, he is programmed to rush over to a low HP Noctis – not to heal him, necessarily, but simply to shield him and to be there.

Gladio, perhaps, is Square’s only failure when it comes to writing emotional male characters. He is very clearly written to appeal to male gamers – even his design suggests that Square took inspiration from Western games, where muscles are a necessity to character design. Gladio has a temper, and genuinely believes that manning up is the best solution to an emotional situation. He sees things in black and white – this is very apparent when he ignores Ignis’ contribution to the Malboro fight, and is only able to focus on how Ignis might hold them back. But there is a possibility that Gladio was written in this way because it amplifies the emotional nature of the other boys. His DLC suggests that he is afraid of failure, and I think any gamer can sense that he is nervous about being shield to a king who isn’t worth protecting. But Square fails to delve deeper into this, making Gladio the party’s weak link.

Separately, the boys are written well. Together, they shine. There is a reason that people are so attached to these characters in particular – it’s because they make a successful and cohesive party. You genuinely feel the love and respect they have for one another, and they never shy away from supporting each other through tough times. They laugh, they cry, they yell, and Square never attempts to make them appear weak because of it. Platonic male relationships are very often written the same way – casual, with all the emotions and physicality left to relationships between girls. But Square ignores gender roles in Final Fantasy XV, and lets the boys interact with one another however they need to. There is no fear that they might seem too emotional or too affectionate, because it is absolutely okay for boys to be that way with one another. It’s more than okay. Giving us an all-male party who are so emotionally dependent and loving with one another is the best thing about Final Fantasy XV. Despite its murky storyline, it still remains a game worth playing because of what Square chose to very casually do. They let themselves write platonic relationships based on love, trust, emotions, and support – and then took that a step further and wrote those relationships as being between boys. And that is what makes Final Fantasy XV successful, and a worthy addition to the franchise.

#final fantasy xv #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #lmao @ this nonsense dissertation

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genogenocrazycatman · 6 years

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Rush - Trafalgar Law x OC

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. All copyrights and trademarks go to their respective owners.

This story contains graphic depictions of violence.

Note: This is the sixth rewrite of this, and while I'm still not happy with it, this one has turned out far better than the others.

Medical things. I am not a doctor. I have no clue what I'm talking about. Everything I mention is about 50% google, 10% it's anime, 15% plot convenience (at least I'm willing to admit it) and 25% fuck it. So if I get something wrong oh well, cause I'm not knowledgeable enough and I don't give enough of a fuck to go and fix it.

I took my drag of my cigarette, and stared out at the ocean. The moon light reflected on the water’s surface. The spring island, where I had boarded the ship I was currently on, was no longer visible. The sounds of the village, the people in the taverns, the shops closing up had given way to the gentle lapping of waves on the hull.

There was something about the vastness of the sea that was just special. I couldn’t say that it was a positive quality, nor was it entirely negative. You could sail for weeks without encountering another soul. The solitude was liberating in a way. There was no one to answer to, no social constructs to uphold. You could do whatever you wanted, and no one could tell you otherwise.

On the other hand, that solitude could easily give way to loneliness. There was no one to answer to, but that also meant that there was no one to talk to, no one to laugh with, no one to pick you up, no shoulder to cry on, no one to share your joy with.

By the time I set sail, I was already well acquainted with loneliness, among many other things. Violence and pain standing out among them. I found solace in those two concepts. It was more than solace. It was bliss.

It wasn’t until I had met a pirate crew and their enigmatic captain that I was able to find that joy and that comfort elsewhere, in friendship, in love.

I was lucky in that respect. I had found a place in this world. Surrounded by my crewmates, the vastness of the sea wasn’t so daunting. It wasn’t so lonely. I would do whatever it took to preserve that, which was why I was on this ship, taking one last drag of my cigarette, before flicking it overboard.

I turned around and surveyed the deck, the carnage around me. My kills had been quick and fairly quiet. Cervical fractures, carotid artery compression, exsanguination due to CTIs.

It was a waste. I was relying on the element of surprise. I couldn’t allow them to yell out and give me away, no matter how much I wanted to.

With the exception of the helmsman, who I had taken care of first and the captain, who was below deck, all of the men on the boat had been posted on the small ship’s deck with their weapons in hand and cannons readied. Guard duty. It was a good idea.

They had abducted a supernova. In theory there were the marines to worry about, bounty hunters, the captive’s crew, possible rivals. In actuality, there was just me, who had no problem taking out a dozen mediocre pirates. If not for the intelligence of their captain, no doubt these buffoons would have perished long ago.

I headed below deck for the bilge for the hold. I stopped at the top of the hatch, hearing a deep voice coming from down below.

“How’s it feel, Trafalgar, to know that I’m going to put you through the same hell that you’ve inflicted on so many others?”

I lifted the hatch just enough to peer down into the hold. Law was sitting on the floor, his arms chained up over his head. He was beat up. His lip was busted, and a bruise was forming around his left eye. He was shirtless, revealing the beep bruising on his abdomen.

Hovering over him was a large brutish man. At first glance, I would’ve just assumed that he was all brawn no brain, but he had managed not only to track down Law, but to abduct him as well. It was an impressive feat.

He’d played it smart and waited until Law and his crew were comfortable in a tavern. Law had only had a few, before leaving, while the rest of the lot continued to enjoy the booze, food and women. The brute had snuck up on the Surgeon of Death and knocked him out, before dragging him to the docks, where his ship was located. The crew had quickly left the docks and headed out to see, unaware that I had snuck aboard. The brute wasn’t the only smart one.

He seemed pretty tough. He would make a nice reward for my efforts tonight. Once I freed Law, I was going to have some real fun.

I didn’t remember the brute, but he obviously knew us or at least Law. The melodramatic monologue that I was listening in on, was filled with promises of vengeance and retribution, not something that you’d hit a stranger with.

He had a knife in his hand, undoubtedly to cut Law’s heart out. I was undecided on whether it was poetic or ironic. It depended on how emotionally invested you were in the situation. It was a fairly short blade, long enough to puncture the heart, but not so deep that I had to worry about him

Law said nothing in response, staring down at his lap the entire time.

“Look at me, when I’m talking to you!” the Brute snapped, grabbing Law’s chin and forcing him to look up.

Law’s usual smirk was absent, a far more sarcastic and sinister one in its place.

I couldn’t help, the grin that tugged at the corner of my lips. He knew I was there.

His smirk set the guy off. He brought the knife down, driving it into Law’s chest between the third and fourth rib. In addition to piercing the heart, the brute had to have damaged the costal cartilages, based on the angle of entry and the width of the blade.

I should have intervened earlier. I should have prevented the injury from occurring, but I was momentarily frozen. The part of my brain that said, keep Law safe was drowned out by the part that reveled in his suffering.

It wasn’t a sexual thing. I didn’t get off on the pain of others. It would be easier to explain that way. Sexual sadism seemed to be easier for people to comprehend than sadistic personality disorder. It was euphoric in its own sense, stimulating my brain like a drug. The feeling I got from seeing people hurt, watching them suffer and ultimately break was indescribable. Words didn’t do it justice.

The man used a serrated knife, which ripped through the flesh as opposed to slicing through it. The same went for the cardiac tissue beneath. The serrated edge sawed into the cartilage.

Law’s pained cry rang out through the ship with only me and the brute to hear it.

I couldn’t help, but stare at the scene in front of me. Law’s muscles tensed and involuntarily, causing him to writhe in place, wrists pulling against the sea stone cuffs. A sheen of sweat quickly developed over his skin, and crimson ran from the newly created wound in his chest.

Law was strong, resilient, calculating and composed. Very rarely did anyone ever get the jump on him. Sea kings sure. The weather definitely, but not people. I had never seen his composure shattered like this.

It was a beautiful sight.

The brute retracted his knife, causing Law to yell out again.

He looked down at Law, with a victorious gleam in his eye. “You took my brother’s heart. Now I’m taking yours, you sadistic bastard.”

If it had been anyone else, I would’ve just sat there and enjoyed the show, watching as the knife tore through the flesh, sawing through the costal cartilage, listening to the crunch of bones breaking as the brute broke ribs to get to the heart. But it wasn’t anyone else.

It was Law. Law, who I owed a great debt to. Law, who gave me a place in this world. Law, who made me feel as if I belonged. Law, I had already failed with my moment of weakness, my hesitation.

I had eaten the pocket pocket fruit, which gave me access to a pocket dimension. With a poof of blood red smoke, I could send items to and summon items from that space, including supplies, treasure, weapons and even people. I often used that ability to teleport so to speak, poofing into my dimension from one spot and poofing myself out in another.

I poofed myself into my pocket space, grabbing a bullhook and poofing back out, behind the brute. I swung the hook around, the hook piercing his cheek and yanking it back. It ripped through the flesh and hooked itself on his ramus. I caught him off guard. He couldn’t properly balance himself, when I yanked back on the hook hard. I knocked him through a bunch of crates that were serving as a makeshift table in the center of the room.

“Let’s get something clear here,” I started, standing over the brute.

I unhooked the bullhook from his jaw and cranked back, before driving it into his bicep. He cried out in pain, a sound that delighted me to no end.

“I’m the only one, who has my captain’s heart.” I put my left hand out, poofing the organ into it. I tossed it back towards Law, so that it landed in his lap.

I hit the brute with the handle of my bullhook, knocking him out for the time being. I patted down the brute finding the key for the cuffs on Law’s wrists. I pulled it out of one of his pockets and walked over to my captain, carefully unlocking them and releasing him.

I poofed the necessary supplies out of my pocket space and knelt down in front of him, quickly examining him. The bruises were simply that bruises. There were no underlying injuries, at least that I could tell. It appeared that the brute had made sure that Law suffered no serious injuries, save for the chest wound.

Law raised his hand uttering, “Room.”

“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked, sounding understandably irritated.

I poofed a scalpel into my hand, handing it over to Law. “I was,” I admitted.

“Was?”

“I snapped out of it.”

Law popped the heart in his chest out. I took a look at it. It had been punctured, but not deeply. It was enough to be fatal, if not attended to immediately, but that was none of my concern. I turned and lobbed it at the brute, hitting him square in his half-shredded face with it.

“You did,” he conceded. “Though we still have work to do on your discipline.”

I was relieved. He was okay. If he was already using this experience as a measurement of my self-control, something that we had been working on since we met, then he was fine.

“He didn’t hit any major blood vessels, nor the lung, but he did hit the costal cartilage connecting your third and fourth ribs to your sternum. The muscle has obviously been lacerated, as has the skin. I lifted his heart up off of his lap and carefully slotted it into the hole in his chest.

At this point there weren’t many of Law’s organs actually in his body, the important ones at least. They all resided in specialized cases with in my pocket dimension.

“You did well,” he said. “I can take it from here.” Using the supplies that I summoned and his fruit, he repaired the injury fairly quickly, the only sign, being a short line of stitches underneath a bandage.

Remind me, when we’re back at the island, and we’ll take inventory of your stock.”

I nodded. He stood up, groaning a bit at the soreness, while I packed everything up and returned it to my space.

Law walked over to the brute. He had to be hurting. There was nothing we could do about the cartilage. It had to heal on its own. Each breath had to be painful.

He waved something under the brute’s nose. Only when the large man woke up, did I realize what they were, smelling salts.

I peered at Law curiously, not sure what it was he was planning, but sure that whatever it was wasn’t going to end well for the brute.

He pushed himself back, trying to get away from Law, but ran into a wall.

“You think I’m sadistic,” Law said to the brute. “You have no idea what sadism really looks like.”

“Do whatever you want,” Law told me.

I smirked. I looked at the side of the brute’s face that I had torn through. My expression switched to one of petulance. “I rushed that side.” I stalked towards him. “But this one I’m going to do properly.”

I swapped out my bullhook for a club, swinging it around and striking the brute in the chest. The wall behind him cracked. He coughed, trying to breathe, having the wind knocked out of him. I switched out my club for another scalpel, using the sharp blade to nick the corner of the brute’s mouth.

“Ratchet-ya, what have I told you about using medical instruments to play your games,” Law scolded.

I looked over my shoulder and gave Law a wide grin showing how not-sorry I was. “Thank you, Ratchet for saving my ass,” I teased, knowing that despite this situation we were on the same ground as usual.

I swapped the club out for a heavy metal pillar. I lifted it, dropping it onto the brute’s shin. With a satisfying crack, his tibia and fibula both snapped.

That crack was nothing in comparison to the anguished cry that left his mouth. The nick I had made at the corner of his mouth, was pulled apart further.

My heart rate quickened, and a pleasant tingle traveled up my spine. It was a struggle to keep my composure. The game ended if they passed out. It was about maintaining a delicate balance. Inflict enough pain for it to be fun, but not so much that they passed out or died. It was a delicate balance but one that I had mastered. I had only intended to go until both sides of the brute’s mouth matched, but I had gone overboard, caught in the cadence of his screams, the fear and pain in his eyes, his feeble attempts to speak, pleading for me to stop.

Two hours later and the smell of blood was thick in the air. The substance coated the brute, pooled on the floor beneath him. He was still. All the fight had drained out of him. The defiance was gone. There was nothing left but fear and pain. I kneeled down, so that I was eye level with the big man. “You know what the best part of this is?” I asked. “That you’re not going to die.” I laughed. “We’re going to take this ship back to port. My captain and I are going to head back to our inn. I’m going to shower, and think about every last one of those delectable noises you made for me. Tomorrow, we’re going to leave, and on our way out, someone’s going to alert the local authorities to your condition. By the time they stitch you back together and set your bones, we’ll be gone, and you’ll have to spend every day living with the reminders of what happened here.

“But it’s okay, because it gives you a chance to do some good. See I’m sure you think this is the part, where I warn you never to tell a soul about who did this, but that’s not the case. I want you to tell everyone that Ratchet the Hatchet did this, and that I’ll do it all over again to anyone, who even thinks about harming my captain.

“You understand?”

He made no effort to move.

I grabbed his face. “Do you understand?” I repeated slowly.

The brute nodded.

“Good.”

I stood up and poofed into my pocket dimension, taking a few moments to clean myself up and change into a new set of clothes, before poofing to the bridge, where Law was manning the helm. He was still shirtless, but otherwise clean. I handed him one of his shirts I had stored.

“You done?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered, a dopey grin on my face. I was still riding my high. “Too bad about the rest of them. If their big bad captain squealed like that, I can only imagine what they would’ve done.”

“Ratchet-ya, you would’ve killed them and then been disappointed.”

“True,” I agreed. “You okay?” I asked.

“I would be better, if you hadn’t waited until after he stabbed me in the chest, before taking care of him.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was weak. I couldn’t help it. It was like you told me I could only have vegetables for dinner and then someone set a big juicy T-bone right in front of me. I was tempted.”

“And you gave into that,” Law shot.

“I took one bite, and I enjoyed it,” I admitted shamelessly. “One of the steaks I’ve ever had in my life. But then I went and tossed it out.”

“Considering, where we began with your blood lust, you’ve come a long way,” he sighed. “And I know that it must be difficult, considering that I don’t remove the temptation all together. We’ll have to work more on it.”

I nodded.

He shook his head at me, the corners of his mouth pulling upwards. “What am I going to do with you.”

I knew that I was in the clear this time.

“You know you still haven’t thanked me,” I joked. I knew I wasn’t actually going to get a “thank you” out of him, considering that I let him get stabbed.

“I let you have your fun.”

I scoffed. “That wasn’t just for me. You know as well as I do, that you let me do that, because you wanted revenge on him, because he embarrassed you.”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Really? Not at all? Big bad Trafalgar Law got captured by some second-rate pirate out for petty revenge? Doesn’t make you want to get back at him? To cut a smile into his face? To shatter his bones and rip out his finger nails? To cut off his fingers, and blow out his ear drums? To-”

I was cut off by Law’s lips on mine. There were few things that surpassed the thrill I got inflicting pain upon others, and kissing Law was one of them. Torturing someone was a rush. It was a quick and intense bout of euphoria. It overtook your senses and once it was over, all you wanted was to seek that feeling, that high out again, but Law was different.

Being with Law was a rush at first, but soon after it was like everything slowed down, and we were in our own world, floating away from everyone and everything else. He was a slow and steady warmth that spread throughout my body. When we were apart, I didn’t just want that feeling again. I needed it, whether it be from a look, a hug, a kiss, whatever. I didn’t care.

“Thank you, Ratchet,” he said, once we parted, resting his forehead on mine.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, grinning at him.

Like it? If so check out my other stories here. I write for a number of fandoms.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #trafalgar law #trafalgar d. waterlaw #law x oc #trafalgar law x oc #anime #anime fanfiction #trafalgar law fanfiction #teroin writes #nonsexual sadism #tw: violence #tw: torture

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books-n-wine · 7 years

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~**~ Chapter Reveal for Tortured by Nicole Williams ~**~

Coming April 9th

Pre-order exclusively via iBooks HERE

When he left for a twelve-month deployment, she knew it would feel like forever before they saw each other again. She didn’t realize how right she was. When Lance Corporal Brecken Connolly gets taken as a POW, Camryn hopes for the best but steels herself for the worst. In the end, steel was what she needed to survive when he didn’t. She moves on the only way she knows how—gilding herself in more steel. Years go by.She builds a new life.She leaves the old one behind. Until one day, she sees the face of a ghost on the news. Brecken seems to have risen from the dead, but she knows she can’t perform the same miracle for herself. While Brecken was held in a torture camp for the past five years, she’s been trapped in her own kind of prison. One she can’t be freed from. The man she mourned comes back to join the living, but the girl he wanted to spend his life with isn’t the same woman he comes back for. Brecken isn’t the same person either. The past five years have changed them both. While he’s determined to put the pieces back together, she’s resolved to let hers rot where they shattered.

Broken or not, Brecken wants her back. He’ll do anything to achieve that. Even if it means going against the warden of Camryn’s personal prison—her husband.

PROLOGUE Whenever he had to leave, it was torture. You’d think I’d get used to it, but I didn’t—each time got harder. This one might have felt especially brutal because of how long he’d be gone. A year. We’d done weeks, we’d done months, but we’d never done the full year.Being with someone in the military, I knew I’d have to get used to it. The separation. The worry. The loneliness. The feeling that I was trying to catch my breath for however long he was gone.It was a way of life. And he was my life. So I’d just have to figure it out.“I’m never going to look at dog tags the same way again.” Brecken’s mouth turned up as his eyes roamed over me splayed across the backseat as he tucked in his T-shirt. He twisted his wrist, his gaze moving to his watch. A crease folded into his forehead. “But I’m going to need those back before I climb onto that bus. Something about military regulations. Not wandering around enemy territory without them. Those marines are sticklers for the rules.”He was trying to make me feel better—trying to get me to smile—but little could lift my spirits other than finding out he didn’t have to leave for the Middle East for twelve long months.“You don’t need them. Not really.”“Why’s that?”“Because you only need them if you’re planning on dying, and so help me god, I’m not taking these off my neck if you have plans for some kind of a hero’s death.” My hand curled almost defensively around the metal tags hanging against my bare skin as I focused on the way the cool metal warmed in my hand. The way it seemed to come to life in my hold.“I’m not planning on dying over there. I’m not going to die,” he corrected the moment my eyebrow started to lift. “But I do have plans of scoring some gnarly war wound so I have a story to tell our grandkids one day and can hang one of those Purple Hearts off my chest.”I flattened my face as best as I could, even though it was kind of impossible with the way he was grinning at me as he wrestled his jeans back into place. “Not funny.”“Come on. It’ll make me look tough.”“You already look tough. Too tough,” I added as I scanned him for the millionth time since he’d arrived back in Medford for a week-long vacation before shipping out. Whenever I looked at him, I didn’t just see the good-looking guy others did—I saw every good memory from my past. I saw every good memory that would be formed in the future. Brecken had been a part of my life since I was eight, and he was as much a part of me as I was.“Nah, I need one of those big, angry-looking scars running across my chest. Or one of those bullet hole scars on my thigh. Something real tough like that.”“And why do you need your dog tags for that?” My fingers tightened around the thin metal ovals, refusing to let them go as if I hoped in doing so, he couldn’t go either.“Blood transfusion. Medics are going to need to know my blood type when they’re trying to patch up my unconscious body.”“Unconscious body?”He nodded all solemn-like. “I can’t be one of those guys who earns his Purple Heart by getting a scratch on some barbed wire. I need to lose a quart or two of blood, maybe even code on the operating table. Something worthy of that medal.”The thought of Brecken marching through a hostile country with a rifle in his hands, with god only knew what aimed his way, made me feel weak with worry. The thought of him fighting for his life in some marine medical tent about took whatever was left of my sanity.I must not have been doing a good job hiding my emotions, because his face broke when he saw my eyes, his arms opening toward me. “It’s going to be okay, Camryn. I’m going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. The year will fly by, and before we know it, we’ll be getting married and buying a little house as close to the beach as we can afford. Okay?”His arms wound around me, swallowing my body, and I let him tuck me close to him. I’d never known the feeling of being safe until Brecken Connolly’s arms had shown me the meaning.My hand planted in the middle of his chest, feeling his heartbeat vibrate against my palm. “Why can’t we just get married now? Why can’t I join the marines and go with you, wherever that is, so we can be together?”His laugh was muffled from his mouth being pressed against my temple. “Well, you can’t join the marines and my unit because the military’s under this impression that us marines of the male species become distracted and one-track minded when the women we love are marching beside us. They’re convinced the only things on our minds are protecting you, flirting with you, or screwing you.”Quietly, I counted off on my fingers, “Protecting, flirting, screwing . . .” Then I nodded. “Damn, they sure have you pegged.”Brecken’s fingers brushed up and down the bend of my waist. “And we can’t get married right now because you’ve got two more months of high school to finish before you earn that nifty diploma thing.” He kept going, undeterred by my grumble. “And I need to save some money to give you a proper ring and wedding. I’m not doing the courthouse thing with cheap silver bands. Not for you. You deserve the best.”My head tucked beneath his chin as I let him hold me in the backseat of his aunt’s old Corsica. The only good thing I could say about the car—which was a coin toss if it would start any given day—was that it had a decent-sized backseat that Brecken and I had made more than ample use of. Growing up in a strict household with my dad as Brecken grew up in the packed household a few houses down, privacy had been in short supply for both of us. Thankfully, his aunt was willing to lend Brecken her car whenever she could, like today, when I’d just made love to the only boy I’d ever loved for the last time for the next year.My fingers curled into his chest as I willed time to freeze. “I have the best.”Brecken grunted like he doubted that, his head lifting to check out the windshield. We were parked way back in the bus depot lot. His bus would be leaving for the long drive back to Camp Pendleton in a few short minutes.“Besides, you already got me a ring.” I raised my left hand in front of him, rolling my fingers so he could see the adjustable birthstone ring on my finger.He shook his head. “I won that for you at an arcade when we were ten.”“It cost you twelve hundred tickets too. You saved up all summer to get that many tickets.”His fingers touched the ring, twisting it around with a small smile on his face. “And it probably has the street value of a nickel. Not exactly the kind of wedding ring I want my wife to have.”I found myself staring at the ring with him. The gold paint had started chipping off the thin band years ago, but the small pink birthstone still sparkled when the light hit it just right. “Well, it’s priceless to me. I don’t care what the street value is. Or how many tickets it cost.”“Even so, I’m getting you a nice ring. With all of the hazard pay I’ll earn this year, you’d better start working that left ring finger out so it can bear the weight of the diamond I’ll be dropping on it.”I was glad he couldn’t see my face, because he hated knowing how worried I was about him. He said hazard pay like a sales rep mentioned a bonus, but I heard it for what it really was—the government giving you a little more money for the likelihood of losing your life increasing.“One more year. That’s it. Then we’ll be able to be together like we’ve always planned. Away from here.” Brecken’s arms loosened around me. We didn’t have much longer. “Away from these people.”An uneven exhale came from him, the muscles in his arms twitching. I knew who he was talking about without him going into detail. Neither of our lives had been charmed or particularly easy, but mine had been worse. Being raised by a single dad who was so strict he made a monk’s life seem carefree, I’d had an unusual upbringing. Brecken only knew what I let him know about it, which was barely half of the reality.“I don’t like leaving you alone with him,” he said, his voice a note lower. “If things get hard again, just leave. Move in with my insane family or a hotel or anywhere. Don’t let him hurt you. Words or fists. He does it again”—Brecken’s hands curled into balls as his back stiffened—“I’ll kill him. I swear I will.”“He won’t,” I said instantly, in my most convincing voice. “He’s working on all that. Not drinking as much.” I made sure to hold his stare to sell as much conviction as I was capable.My dad wasn’t just a strict man. He was a sad one, a lonely one. After my mom left, he’d turned into someone else, almost like she’d taken everything that had been good about him and stuffed it in that small suitcase too. Since I was the only one around and bore a striking resemblance to my mom, I’d taken the brunt of my dad’s grief. In the form of cutting words and, occasionally, outstretched palms.Brecken had been walking down the sidewalk one day when he saw my dad strike me across the cheek for attempting to leave the house in a skirt he described as “fitting for a whore.” Brecken had only been thirteen, but he’d taken my dad down, managing to land a few punches before I could pull him off.My dad stopped hitting me after that. At least where anyone passing by could see.Not that I needed to tell Brecken that now. Though I guessed it would get him to stay a while longer . . . if only to be charged with murder and thrown into prison for the next twenty to thirty years.Suddenly, that year didn’t seem so bad.“He won’t,” I reiterated, when Brecken continued to give me that penetrating stare, like he was capable of finding a lie if I was hiding one.Both of his brows lifted. “He better not.”“If anything happens, I’ll crash at your family’s place, I swear.”Sitting up, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “With fourteen people sharing twelve hundred square feet of space, good luck finding a quiet spot to do your homework.” He pulled every bill out of his wallet. Even the last crumbled dollar. “Take this, hide it from your dad, and use it if you need to. That’s enough to get you a week or so at a hotel that isn’t a dump, and as soon as I get my next paycheck, I’ll send more.”My head was shaking as I tried to stuff the money back into his wallet. He’d already closed it and was sliding it back into his pocket though. “I’ll be fine.”Brecken’s gaze dropped to the money in my hand. “Yeah, I know.”“Brecken.”“Camryn,” he mimicked.“I’m not taking the last dollar in your wallet.”“Why not?” he asked, making a face. “I’d give you the shirt off my back, the air in my lungs, the last drop of blood in my veins. The last dollar’s a cakewalk compared to, you know, dying of suffocation or bleeding out.” He winked as he folded my fingers around the wad of money in my hand, then he leaned down to pull on his boots. He was moving quickly, glancing in the direction of the buses like he was making sure his wasn’t pulling away from the curb yet.“Do you want to walk with me to the bus?” His focus stayed on cinching up his last boot as he waited for my answer.He already knew it though. Good-byes weren’t my forte. Especially not the kind where I had to wave good-bye to the man I loved as he prepared to head into the middle of a war zone for the next year. Good-bye came with a whole different context when you said it to a marine.“I know, Blue Bird. I know.” He sighed, his eyes narrowing at the weathered floorboards before he reached for the dog tags still hanging around my neck.I didn’t make any move to lift my head or slide my hair aside to make it easier for him. As long as those tags were on my neck instead of his, he was safe. He was alive.“I’m not going to die over there,” he whispered, pulling the tags over his head. They clinked together as they fell against his chest. “I’m coming back to you.”My throat was burning from trying to keep myself from crying. “You can’t promise that.”He reached for the blanket that had fallen on the floor and gently tucked it around my still-naked body. It was strange how I’d forgotten I was naked until he’d taken his tags off of me. Now though, I felt bare. Exposed. Vulnerable. My dress was somewhere around, even though I didn’t see it. We’d barely managed to make it to the parking lot before falling into the backseat together.“Yes I can,” he said, his thumb tracing my collarbone before tucking the other corner around my shoulder. “Have I ever broken a promise to you?” He angled himself so he was in front of me, so I was forced to look him in the eyes.“This is different. You can’t know for sure.”“I’m going to enjoy watching you eat those words when I’m standing in front of that pretty face in twelve months, Blue Bird.”I pulled the blanket tighter around me. “You know I don’t like it when you call me that when I’m mad at you.”“You’re mad? At me?” He blinked. “Why?”“You know why.” My eyes automatically moved toward the line of buses.“To set the record straight, it’s the marine corps sending me to Iraq. Not me by personal choice.”“No, but you made the personal choice to join the marine corps.”“Yeah, because I didn’t want to spend the next twenty years pumping gas at the Qwik Mart.” His hand curled around the back of the front seat. “We’ve talked about this, Camryn. I’m not cut out for college, and I sure as shit am not going to spend my life working a minimum-wage part-time job and stuck in Medford. The marines is a chance at a real life. A career where I can be promoted and provide for a family and get a chance to kick a little ass every once in a while.” He leaned forward to kiss my forehead. Then my lips. “This is the ticket to that life we’ve been talking about for years. But it comes with a price.” His mouth covered mine again, this time a bit longer. “I’ll be okay. I’ll make it back.”My eyes closed so I could focus on the taste of him left behind on my mouth. “You’re always the first to charge into anything. You don’t hang back. You don’t like the shadows. You like being the one who cast those shadows.”When my eyes finally opened, I found his dark blue ones inches away from mine. His light hair, buzzed short so he was all ready for deployment, the few freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose, the way his jaw tightened when he stared at me, those were the things I’d remember when I’d lay awake at night, wondering where he was. If he was safe. If he was thinking about me. As long as I held on to a part of him, he could never really leave me.“I’m coming home to you,” he said like a solemn vow. “It might be in more than one piece, but I’m coming home to you.”I tucked his tags inside his shirt. They’d become cold again. “A thousand pieces, I don’t care. Just come home.”His smile was almost as forced as mine as he leaned in, pulling me into his arms one last time. He held me for a minute, one hand secured around my neck, the other around my back, rocking me against him. Then he kissed me one last time. “Gotta go, Blue Bird. The Middle East isn’t going to settle itself down.”As he threw open the back door to go around to the trunk to grab his bag, I leaned across the seat. He was leaving. For what felt like forever. “Yeah, don’t think you’re single-handedly responsible for tackling that agenda either.”Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he crouched beside me. This smile wasn’t contrived. It was real. Perfect. “I’ll see you soon.”“Soon?”His hand formed around my cheek as his thumb traced the seam of my lips. “Sounds better than see you in a year, right?” Tucking his thumb into his mouth, tasting my lips on it, he gave me a wicked smirk before shoving to a stand and starting toward the buses. “I’m coming back for you, Camryn Blue Gardner, so you’d better be waiting for me, or I’ll just have to come find you and remind you why you fell crazy in love with me.”Tucking the blanket around myself, I slid out of the car, leaning over the open door. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be waiting.”He’d started to jog backward. “Waiting as in a few days until some other guy makes his play?”My eyes rolled as I gave him a look. Brecken and I’d been together since I was fifteen and he was seventeen. Even before that, we’d been inseparable, no one able to come between us.I cupped my hand around my mouth. “Waiting as in forever.”“I won’t keep you waiting that long. Just long enough.” He was shouting now, the rumbling buses muffling his voice.“Long enough for what?” I yelled back.Even with this much distance between us, I didn’t miss it. The look in his eyes. The tip of his smile. “For you to agree to marry me the moment I get back.”The breeze played with my hair, sending it away from him, like forces out of our control were already pulling us apart. “I will!”He paused just below the bus steps, his eyes consuming me from a hundred yards away. “It’s, I do, Blue Bird. I do.” He grinned and handed his bag off to the person stuffing them into one of the outside compartments. Then his hands cupped around his mouth, and he dropped his head back. “I do, too!”His voice echoed across the parking lot, earning the attention of more than just me.That was it. He climbed the stairs, turned the corner, and disappeared inside the bus. I wouldn’t see him for a year. I might not see him ever . . .My jaw tensed as I put a stop to that train of thought. Wedding vows and rings were the last things on my mind as his bus lurched away from the curb.“Just come back to me,” I whispered to no one. “Just come back.”

Nicole Williams is the New York Times and USATODAY bestselling author of contemporary and young adult romance, including the Crash and Lost & Found series. Her books have been published by HarperTeen and Simon & Schuster in both domestic and foreign markets, while she continues to self-publish additional titles. She is working on a new YA series with Crown Books (a division of Random House) as well. She loves romance, from the sweet to the steamy, and writes stories about characters in search of their happily even after. She grew up surrounded by books and plans on writing until the day she dies, even if it’s just for her own personal enjoyment. She still buys paperbacks because she’s all nostalgic like that, but her kindle never goes neglected for too long. When not writing, she spends her time with her husband and daughter, and whatever time’s left over she’s forced to fit too many hobbies into too little time.

Nicole is represented by Jane Dystel, of Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency.

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genogenocrazycatman · 5 years

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Rush - Trafalgar Law x OC

Rush [Archive of Our Own]

Characters: Original Female Character, Trafalgar Law, Original Male Character

This is the sixth rewrite of this, and while I'm still not happy with it, this one has turned out far better than the others.