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#feel free to add your own thoughts and antics within this
definitely-not-watson · 11 months
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What I really love about Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is that this game does not hold your hand through nearly, if not, everything that you encounter. Cases, evidence, deciding which conclusion to go with, since each chapter allows you to make your own decision, hinging on consequences that you may have to bear with for the entirety of the game.
So not only do you truly have to feel like a fool sometimes when you don't have a direction (which would probably be the case for me if I were a detective, because I'm just that terrible) but you're also dealing with Mr. Drama King in the back of your head.
Yes I'm talking about Jon. I've (to the best of my ability) grabbed snippets from his journal of his personal thoughts about you when you so much as do something this little potato doesn't approve of.
Though let's be real, a few of the reactions he gives are mostly just him complaining about his impatience with you. I'm going to leave all this under the cut so that it's not some HUGE text that blocks everything on your dash:
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First of all, I'm not that smart when it comes to finding certain articles, at least not in every case (I will say I think the main story paper digging feels a lot more generous than the DLC ones, my word I felt stupid sometimes). You take two seconds to flip to another police document or news article and Jon pretty much moans behind you like "Hurry up I feel like I'm aging" and it's like "I don't see you helping honey, PLEASE."
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Yes I'm struggling in archives because I accidentally looked up the wrong thing. Now he's just being a little brat. He acts as though you dragged him to the grocery store like he was your youngest kid and makes him walk on the side of the cart always. And no he can't get a toy from the toy section and he's going to pout about it. The best thing is leaving the screen to retrace your steps or figure out what you missed and all you see is this 👎and it's like would you calm down, I'm doing my best!
He's also super sarcastic. Since Jon is a portion of Sherlock's own personality that seeps through, mostly the playful and self-loving sort of aspects, his humor is also as dry as his, which is probably why they're able to run each other into annoying circles without actually pissing each other off. You never win and you never lose when you argue with yourself do you?
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I dunno which I prefer more: Jon's incredibly witty and improvised liners out in the free world where you can roam and he occasionally makes his presence, or his down-right back handed comments in his personal notes.
Though don't get me wrong, I understand when things don't mesh well with someone that you know better than anyone else could ever know someone and things don't add up or something happens.
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My weakest points when it comes to figuring out the cases was definitely the recreation process. I feel like this is where the two kind of combine heads. This is where they're seemingly more in tune with one another. I really enjoyed having Jon be the one to piece together what happened, as though they were walking through it together without saying a word. Finishing each other's sentences with each point that was connected.
Making mistakes you couldn't pin-point precisely, and then when you finally get it you either feel accomplished or a little defeated because it's like "Okay well you knew that you just had a few steps to get there" and Jon's in the corner being like "We're supposed to be a team y'know" and it's like I know, I just suck at being a detective.
Jon's reactions to what you do in the cases almost each and every step of the way is what sold his personality for me. He's rounded enough to have himself as a separate entity to Sherlock, with his own opinions and thoughts and sense of morality. He's a fantasy nerd for goodness sake, drinks and smokes a lot more than Sherlock probably ever implies, and is never afraid to speak on the sensual things (I'm talking about Sherlock's unmentionables comment as well as the painting in the caravanserai)
Which means he's very capable of calling Sherlock out when he does something wrong. A healthy relationship with anyone you assign yourself to isn't immune to having arguments or disagreements. Much less, you're allowed to tell someone you utterly made a mistake.
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Both of them have a sense of mortality and a sense of justice. When someone is wrongfully accused or being blackmailed, or even shot down, that's a red flag in their books. The only reason I'm calling him dramatic in this sense with these images is because I had been nearly a full clear on two separate bandit lair occasions, and scuffed the very last one at the last possible second and left the dude a corpse on the floor. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.
Though however, the consequences of your actions that give you Jon's comments do in fact alter the image of his visage when you open his notes. If you've done this type of accident enough, it makes sense. Sherlock does not act this way, this is not Sherlock, what the hell is going on? Jon would have no ability to step in and take away the automatic to defend people. It's immoral, and the two of them don't need to stoop to a lower ground to gain justice for something else.
You're a detective, you do not get a say in who stays above ground and who goes, that's not your prerogative. And that's why I love reading these notes. A lot of them are not mentioned here because 1) they're mostly positive because more often than not I had some sense of understanding of what I needed to do, and 2) they're repeated in certain situations. Though I'm very tempted to have a playthrough of where I get more negativity in Jon's responses to see if there are any other quotes that I've not seen before.
There were already at least 30 pages worth of comments - but I really love his little doodles. This game lets you mess up, it's not going to reach forward and say "this is what you need to do" there's no hint whatsoever. You're bound to make these mistakes, and it's the comments given that makes you feel like you're truly a part of the action and story you're walking through.
You're not alone when you travel here, and what you do is painting a certain image of yourself to someone that cares about you. This is your story, and you're free to make these mistakes, you're free to take the information you learn, dissect it and learn what happened - but in the end, it's you that makes the ending decision. There is no one correct answer, but there are many consequences.
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xfangheartx · 7 months
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Fang's WIP Collection
I was tagged by @thehylianidiot, so let's do this!
rules: share the first line (or two or more!) of every current wip you have (that you feel comfortable sharing) and tag some writer friends! feel free to add the titles of your documents if you see fit
Feelings Old and New (Fairy Tail)
  After a decent amount of time had passed, Team Natsu had found a nice clearing in the forest to set up camp in order to keep a vigil for the monster that had been attacking the village. Once again, everyone had their own jobs: Gray and Erza had finished up the tents while Wendy and Carla went to gather water. Lucy, Haru, Lisanna, and Blue Fang went off to find any edible vegetables while Natsu and Happy got firewood.
One Piece: The Fire Within- Chapter 70 (I am honestly considering canceling this due to recent manga events)
  “So… even now, they persist?” asked Kovar as he had his back turned to Shade, who sat behind him after he had given his master his report.
  “It seems that the Straw Hats are more determined than ever,” Shade said. “I must say, this is quite unprecedented, Master Kovar.”
  “Indeed,” Kovar replied as he narrowed his eyes. “I must admit… these mortals are quite persistent. They witness their own demise, and yet they continue to press forward in order to save the one who brings them suffering.”
  In front of the black wyvern, there was Luffy… who was giving shuddering breaths as his body trembled. His eyes were wide and his hair was even more frazzled than normal, and still, his wrists were bound in chains. He looked like he had just gotten through seeing his worst nightmare, except ten times worse than that. Despite that, the Straw Hat Captain growled as he glared up at the dragon in defiance.
One Piece: New Dawn- Chapter 5
  “So this is the Nero Draco, huh?” asked Franky as he and the rest of the Straw Hats all took a look around the vessel. “Fine ship you got here!”
  “Hahaha!” Enzo laughed. “Isn’t she a beauty? Finest brigandine ship this side of the New World!”
  “Well, I can see you certainly take good care of her,” said Franky as he surveyed the area. “As a SUPER shipwright, I sure know my ships!”
One Piece Wano Arc Retelling- Chapter 8
  A shocked hush fell over the crowd as they watched Urashima’s severed topknot slowly flutter to the ground, finally stopping as Kiku sheathed her blade. The onlookers chattered amongst each other, stunned by such an outcome… but the most stunned of all was Urashima, himself. He stood there, his face blank and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull as his pink hair came undone, and the crowd suddenly fell quiet again, wondering why he was so still.
Genshin Impact: The Crimson Oni and the Little Fox- Chapter 5
  3 months had gone by, and Satsuki was becoming more and more accustomed to living with Itto and Granny Oni. She was also getting used to the Arataki Gang’s shenanigans. She found their antics rather funny, to be honest, and it kept her in high spirits.
  There were still times she thought about her parents, but at least now, it wasn’t as bad as before.
And that's all I have for now!
I tag @genavere and...whatever. XD
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yoonia · 3 years
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once upon an us ● teaser
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Summary | You have spent years building a life of your own until you find yourself living a life that every little girl could have ever dreamed of. With a promising career and an expensive apartment in the big city, the only thing left is the fairytale wedding that you had wished for since you were a little girl. When the one you believe to be your prince charming finally comes into your life, you start to believe that dreams do come true. But you also know that things aren’t always as simple as it seems, when there is still a piece of your past that is still tethering you back from reaching for it.
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❥ Title | Once Upon an Us
❥ Pairings | Kim Namjoon x female reader
⤑ Genre | Past Lovers!au, Exes to Lovers!au, Established relationship, Angst, Rom-com, Fluff, Smut
⤑ Ratings | +18 / M for Mature
⤑ Potential warnings | Language, a lot of arguments, explicit sex (more warnings will be added as I continue writing this)
⤑ Estimated word count | 10/20k words
⤑ Teaser word count | 1k words
⤑ Author’s Note | This story is written as a part of the ‘Christmas in July’ project, for the ‘Winter Wedding Season’ category. This fic is loosely inspired by the movie Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
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“Baby? Is everything okay?” you hear Matthew’s voice from the phone still pressed to your ear, snapping you from your wandering thoughts, and only then do you realise that he has been saying stuff on the phone which you have obviously missed.
“Yes,” you quickly answer him while chastising yourself for it. “I’m sorry, I got distracted. You were saying?”
Matthew lets out a soft chuckle through the phone, as if he already knows your antics, and that he had grown used to noticing you spacing out so randomly when you are not focusing completely the way you would when you are working. “I was saying how sorry I am that I can’t be there. You know, it would’ve been better if I had joined you to meet your family if you’re going to let them know about our engagement, don’t you think? I should’ve been there with you to do it. I have to meet them at some point, right?”
“Right,” you answer him with a small voice while you feel your breath getting caught in your throat.
You are thankful for the fact that he is unable to see you this way, but you still try your best to recover and answer him lightly, “But you know, you also have that family thing this Christmas and the gala. I feel like I have to do this on my own—”
Because your Dad’s heart might not be able to survive it if you had brought a man into your parents’ home and your Mom would blow a torch once she drops her gaze on Matthew.
And then there’s the gossip.
Oh, what would people say if you had come home with Matthew instead of coming here alone? Once again, the weight of the engagement ring that you have kept inside your purse feels heavy. This time, it feels heavier than the tightness in your chest that you have to press your free hand harder against the side of your purse as if the tiny little thing is pulsing from within and everyone in town might be able to sense its presence from a mile away.
“—because you know, my parents might be a bit old-fashioned about this, yet I feel like I need to send the news to them lightly.”
“Yeah, I get it. I mean, I don’t think I can escape this charity gala even if I’d wanted to,” he says, and you feel even more guilty for lying when you can hear the smile in his voice.
Not lying, omitting the truth, as you have told yourself time and time again.
“But—” he adds, “At least you’re going to be back here for New Year’s Eve, right? My parents have been going on and on about the family dinner and the gathering. Don’t worry, I kept my promise not to tell them about the engagement until then, but they still ask about you a lot, wondering if you’re going to be here.”
“I’ll be there,” you quickly answer him, just when you hear the sound of a door opening. “Listen, Matthew honey. I have to go. Can I call you back later tonight?”
“Of course,” he says. “You take care over there, alright? I love you.”
“Me too.”
Ending the call, you toss the phone into your purse and push yourself away from the car. You begin to walk carefully over the gravel covered pathway heading to the old building in front of you—the old place that you had once remembered as the old wooden barn turned into the town’s farmers’ tavern which, at some point, had come near of being torn down.
Your heels sink between the gravels as you continue to walk closer towards the bar. The sounds of men talking is heard as you grow closer, followed with a series of laughter coming with the voice that you have known for a long time. Even before you can see him, the sight of the men concealed by the truck that is parked right in front of the bar, your heartbeat has already started picking up, pounding rapidly the closer you are to get to him. And with each pound of your heartbeat, you can feel the ominous throb coming from the presence of the ring inside your purse, further intensifying all the tension you currently have running through your body.
And then, finally, you are there. After walking around the truck to be able to see the front door of the bar, only to stumble right the moment you find him standing up the porch.
Kim Namjoon, the man and the devil himself, whose wide smile that he shared with his friend falls for a brief moment at the sight of you coming over to him before his lips curl up to a sly grin.
Namjoon waves at his friend who knows not to stay and hops away to his parked car in the lot before turning to you. “Well, look at what the cat dragged in,” he says, leaning back against the column on the front porch with his arms crossed as he takes you in. His eyes are glowing with mirth, though you can sense him holding something back, using his haughtiness against you to hold it back in.  
You stop on your tracks, staying just a few steps away from the porch’s stairs as you cross your own arms. “I thought you were allergic to cats.”
Namjoon shrugs. “Still am,” he says, dragging his words while he drags his gaze, looking at you from the top of your head and down to your fancy heels. His intense gaze makes you feel self conscious, while your skin begins to flush not only for the way he is looking at you, but also at the sight of him.
With the years that had done by, you have never expected to see him changing this much. He has always been so tall, but the last time you had seen him, he was still his lanky old self, completely careless to the way he looked or how he presented himself.
Today, he is standing there with his flannel shirt, the short sleeves folded up all the way to his shoulders, exposing his strong arms, muscles grown from the years that he had no doubt been spending working out and out on runs, all flexed tightly for your eyes to see as he keeps his arms crossed over his chest. And then there is his chest, looking all buff and strong, unlike the way he used to be back then, when he had looked way smaller compared to your massive built uncle, when he appeared frail that it made you worry when he had to deal with his carpentry.
All of a sudden, you feel the urge to clench your hands, only because a flash of memory comes into your head. You still remember how it felt to run your hands down his skin, how he would shudder under your touch when you pressed your palms on his chest. And then your mind wanders yet again, only to imagine what it would feel like if you would run your palms down to his chest today, to trace his tight muscles, to feel the heat of his skin, and—
“So what are you doing here, stranger? Did you get lost? Forgot your way back to the big city?” he begins questioning you, snapping you right out of your trance. You look up to see his eyes, noticing the way they are glinting with amusement, as if he had caught on to you ogling at him.
“No, actually. I’m here looking for you,” you respond to him while averting your gaze, shaking your head to shake off the blunder that has suddenly gotten into you and get your mind out of the gutter.  
“Oh, really?” he asks, sounding intrigued. “Mind if I ask why?”
Again, your heartbeat picks up, and you swallow deeply to stop yourself from throwing up out of nerves. Pressing your lips together, you reach into your purse to pull out a brown envelope which contains the papers that you had prepared prior to coming here. Taking it in your hand, you take a few steps closer to him and hand it out for him to grab.
“I’m here for this,” you tell him, keeping your voice calm and steady as you continue, “I want you to sign the divorce papers. And I’m going to need you to do it now.”
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COMING SOON - READ HERE ON JULY 21st
⤑ Taglist | send me an ask or reply to this post with your url if you want to be added into the taglist
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— © 2021 Yoonia, all rights reserved. reposting/modifying of any kind is not allowed. translations are not allowed.
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tetsvhoe · 3 years
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AFRAID | HAIKYUU FILO SMAU
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MASTERLIST | PREV | NEXT
#15 sus
– wotdofok this is my first time writing in english with filipino dialogue feels icky i hope it's not too bad
– yn is too in over her head to notice iwa avoiding her all day she genuinely thought he was tired and/or busy
– peep kuroo's cameo in this chap
– iwa made like two more trips back and forth to drop off everyone else
iwaizumi has been mulling over his friends’ comments since last night and he’s determined to prove them wrong. he argues within himself that he does things with you and for you simply because he canand he wants to‒he goes out to lunch with you and no one else, he picks you up when you’re running late and drops you off after practice and after you’ve indulged yourselves in questionable street foods, he let you meet his mom and grandmother one night before a big presentation and is delighted at how easily you make them laugh, he stays up on the phone with you until morning, lets you fall asleep on call and takes ungodly amount of screenshots of your peacefully sleeping face, he lets you bribe him out of minor subject classes to sleep in the library, your fingers tangled in his hair, he listens to your rants and gossips he swears he doesn’t care about but he keeps tabs nonetheless, he spoils you with your silly requests just to stop you from nagging him even if it gets him in trouble‒likewise he can stop doing everything altogether if he wants to. because he has no reason to do so otherwise.
you ask him to stop by your house on the way to the university since you’re running late yet again, offering him a bowl of pancit canton in good spirits for his troubles but he tells you he already left. you stop by his and ushijima’s class to wish them both good luck with the tournament later in the afternoon, two cold bottles of water in hand. ushijima takes them both away from you instead. he has homework to do, is what he reasons. you text him throughout the day, telling him where you are especially during his long vacant hours which you know he hates spending alone.
sa unlihan kami nag lunch, sunod ka? bili kita rootbeer 4 good luck.
kumain ka na ba tukmol?
wala prof namin tax parking muna kami.
vacant mo? sto mo mag sindi sa parking? inaantok ako sa klase ko eh.
he stares at the intervaled messages on his phone and feels his heart strings tug. his phone locks with a click before his hands move on their own to conjure up a quick reply to you, that he is on his way like any usual day. you brush the unanswered messages off as him not having any data to respond.
late afternoon rolls around quickly. he is warming up with the rest of the team when you and your friends saunter into the gym. you give him a wave and a big grin which he subtly ignores once again. the rest of the boys return your greetings enthusiastically, so you don’t even pick up on it.
you, alisa, kiyoko and tendou cheer for them energetically like you have in all their previous games. you shout especially louder when he scores a point, even more so when a girl across the gym shouts his jersey number a little too boisterous for your liking. he spares neither of you a glance, and you don’t mind at all. you can tell how annoyed he was with the other girl anyway.
“nag-away kayo ni iwa?” alisa half-shouts as she leans over your ear.
“hindi, busy lang ata siya ngayon, wala sa mood,” you shrug nonchalantly. the three of them nod in understanding.
it’s not long before you and alisa are letting out traitorous squeals over the opposing team’s tall and brooding middle blocker with messy black hair and sharp amber eyes. your friends from the volleyball team are laughing at your antics but he still ignores you along with the annoyance brewing in his chest.
you pile into the usual drinking spot one by one, all engaged in your own conversations. the boys free up a seat for him next to you out of habit but he occupies one next to ushijima instead, way across from you. no one seems to question or mind it. no one except him.
your eyelids fall heavy and your speech slurs to a slower pace as the night progresses. he watches you intently from across the table as you barely bring the shot glass up to your lips. he looks around for your friends, waiting for them to scold you and tell you to stop drinking but they are just as far gone as you if not more. they probably also think that you have iwaizumi to take care of you, like they have others to each take care of them.
iwaizumi has had enough. to hell with proving a point and having no reason. he stands up from his chair and vacates a seat for himself next to you. you greet him with a big smile and lidded eyes barely staying open.
“hajiii,” you slur. “congrats on your win today!” you stretch your arms and loop them over his neck, dragging him down to a messy hug. he props you back up on your seat. “bakit ang busy mo buong araw?” you pout, poking a finger onto his chest.
“thanks. uuwi na tayo niyan uminom ka na ng tubig,” he commands completely evading the last question. he fills up a cup with cold water and pushes it up your lips until you forfeit and drink from it.
“gusto ko pa uminom,” you protest between hiccups, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. he clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “hatid ako ni kou,” you add, blindly pointing to where you think you last saw bokuto sitting.
iwaizumi follows the direction of your finger and finds bokuto at the end of it, hunched over the table and leaning next to hinata. he shakes his head. “lasing na si bokuto, halika na hahatid na kita para mahatid ko na rin ‘yung iba,” he loops your arm around his neck and hoists you from your seat.
he finds the closest remotely sober person in the table to inform them where you were going which happened to be suna. at least he learned from last time.
you stumble your way to the parking lot in a haze. the next thing you know, iwaizumi is strapping you into the passenger seat of his car. you mindlessly giggle.
“haji why are you doing this?”
you could not have picked a worse question than that at the moment. he freezes in his tracks for a moment before wordlessly circling around his car and sliding into the driver’s seat.
after a moment of complete silence, save for your soft snores and the quiet hum of the engine, he finally answers. more for himself than for you.
“because i think i like you.”
iwaizumi hates to admit defeat, but he finds that he in fact has a reason. and it is that he might like you more than he allows himself to believe.
taglist | anitwt
@lady-tokugawa-of-mikawa @bakugouswh0r3 @aizameow @mirakeul @erinoikawa @haji-bby @seijohoe @szeonn @banananaa4 @stffychn @vvvselfindulgence @devilgirlcrybabiey @knmsapplepi
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agustdef · 4 years
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Tiptoeing: Around You | m.
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✰ Pairing: Christian Yu/Reader 
› Genres: Smut, Fluff, Mildest of Angst
✰ Rating: 18+ 
› Warnings: Language
✰ Status: Oneshot 
› In Collaboration: With @shadowsremedy​ who altered my plans a little, but I don’t mind it. Here is his fic, they’re both in the same universe: Tiptoeing: Around Love.
✰ Beta Read: @suhdays​ and @ppersonna​
›  Banner: @shadowsremedy​
✰ Summary: YN has pined after Christian for a while, but after one more kick in the butt by her best friend and an evening in the same room she finally acts on those feelings.
›  A/N: This fic was written for the sweet and mildly chaotic @dee-ehn​ for her birthday. You deserve the world, but since I cannot give you that we’re going to have to settle for some fictional content starring the ever handsome and rude Christian Yu. I hope you enjoy it love and I hope your day was great!
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“Pft, you’re no better than me,” YN whispered into her phone.
There was a loud chuckle on the other side and then it stopped abruptly.
“Yeah, but at least I have a girlfriend. You’re out here acting like a lovesick puppy for a guy who is clearly into you. I don’t know how much sadder this can get at this point. It’s been months, YN,” Yoongi said.
Naturally, she rolled his eyes at his words. The fact that all of that was true mattered not. Or at least most of it was true, she wasn’t quite sure if Christian was into her. Everyone said he was and there were some signs, like flirting and being touchy but he was like that with a few of his close friends. That alone couldn’t be the indicator for his feelings. If they were feelings at all. For all she knew she and everyone else were seeing the signs of lust and not romantic feelings that led to a monogamous relationship.
At least that’s what the voice in her head told her when she got up the courage to think he actually liked her and planned to act on it. The pesky ass voice couldn’t let her have nice things.
Despite her clear acknowledgement of the factualness of what he said she couldn’t let him have the last word. It just wasn’t a true testament to their friendship if she didn’t try to gain the upper hand.
“Well, at least I’m not using fuckboy antics to get out of telling the person I’m dating I love them. You can’t use that psycho bitch, who tried to kill me might I add, as an excuse for why you don’t say it forever, Yoon. Especially since you know Jamie isn’t like that. But you gotta take the plunge and talk to her before too much time has passed and she won’t want to listen anymore.”
There was a brief silence before a dramatic sigh left his lips. YN could imagine the look on his face as he did it too. A mix of sadness, resignation, and annoyance at the fact that she was right. They wouldn’t be such close friends if they both didn’t hate being proven wrong while also understanding the other enough to know when it was the right moment to push it.
“Okay,” he whispered.
“What was that?”
“Okay! You’re right. But you need to stop tiptoeing around the subject and just tell him already. He likes you, let him know you feel the same way,” he said.
That got YN to sigh with about as much feeling as Yoongi had. Her body felt tired as she thought of having to speak those words, but she realized she really needed to get it over with. Even if she threw up in the process, it had to happen.
“Okay,” she mumbled.
“Hm? What was that?” he mocked her.
“Okay, damn. I’ll do it. So annoying.”
Again, he laughed and it made her happy to hear him not so down like he’d been for days. Of course, the laughter could only help so much, but it was better than nothing.
Biting her lower lip her head turned so she looked at the studio door where the man who she was losing it over was. He waited for her to bring in snacks and she’d stopped part way to call Yoongi about something unrelated to the conversation they had. One that she was so lost in that she didn’t realize twenty minutes more than needed had gone by.
“Shit, I have to go. I should have been back already. I’ll call you later. Love you. Bye.” she said.
Yoongi laughed. “Love you too.”
With that she hung up the call and took a deep breath before walking towards the studio door. Her hand grasped the knob for a few seconds as she took a deep breath and thought over Yoongi’s words. Maybe the all-nighter they planned was the right place or maybe it was the worst possible place for her to do that since she’d still have work to do if he reacted negatively.
When she finally opened the door and stepped in she’d decided to just see what happened. There would be no forcing herself to say anything about it or actively stopping herself. For once she’d go with the flow, with a bit of hope that she’d randomly get the urge to blurt it out like she sometimes did.
Upon her entry Christian’s head whipped up to look at her. He stared her down as she kicked off her shoes and made her way to her seat. The expression on his face didn’t give way to his thoughts, but she assumed he was confused as to why it took her so long to get back.
“You get lost?” he asked, taking the bag from her.
“Nope. Just had a phone call.”
Christian paused for a second, his brow raised in question.
“Yoongi?”
YN didn’t stop what she was doing for many people, especially when it came to work related things needing to be done. But Yoongi was her oldest friend and she’d hop on a plane without a moment's notice if he needed her. That meant that usually people could guess who she’d been talking to easily.
“Yeah. He wanted to whine some,” she said.
Her attention moved to the computer in front of her, which still held the work she’d left off on. Christian had messed with something a little, but for the most part had seemed to be focused on what went on upon his own screen. Something about what he was doing reminded her of a thing she’d forgotten with the clip was editing and despite the hunger that plagued her she went straight into work. Of course, she felt Christian’s eyes on her the whole time and heard him chewing away at the snacks in the bag but her mind hyper focused so none of that matter.
About fifteen minutes passed before her hands stopped moving and Christian used that to pull her chair for the desk. Her immediate reaction was to tell him off, but he shoved half of a sandwich towards her mouth and she found herself biting it without a thought. That brought a smug expression to his face, but she merely rolled her eyes and snatched the sandwich.
There was some small protest from him, but it stopped as she took another bite of the sandwich. YN was so hungry that she hadn’t really chewed anything or tasted it for that matter. She’d had little to eat throughout the day because they’d needed some last-minute shots and that left her running here and there. Anything consumed was burned off within an hour or two. Which is why Christian had offered they go get dinner first, but she knew a heavy meal would make her focus on editing harder. Food made her sleepy most of the time.
“Slow down,” Christian said, his Australian accent thickening with the worry in his tone.
But his warning was too late because she’d shoved the last piece into her mouth and swallowed it. Her hand reached for the other in his hand, but he gently pushed it away and handed her an opened water instead. She glared at him but drank down the water; though with the way he stared at her she stopped herself from downing half of it in a few seconds. Sips were slow and small until she felt her throat less dry.
“Now can I have the other half?” she asked, her voice sickly sweet and a pout on her lips.
For a moment Christian just stared his eyes focused on something on her face. At first, she wondered if she’d gotten anything on it while eating, but then she watched him bite his lower lip and his eyes flicker up to her’s and then down again. She thought that he had to be looking at her lips and her heart did a thing, though her mind wasn’t sure if it was him wanting to kiss her or something being on them. In a moment of uncertainty, she wiped at the lip and came up with nothing, but that seemed to be enough to snap Christian out of whatever trance he’d been in.
Without a word he passed her the other half of the sandwich and then got busy unwrapping his own. Silence followed with a few words spoken here and there when one of them stared at either screen long enough to have a question rise up. It was a good little break from YN’s thoughts about what happened minutes before and also got her mind ready for what she was going to do for the next several hours. Dread filled her, but knew it wasn’t impossible by any means.
“Ready?” Christian asked after finishing off his tea.
YN nodded and just like that they got to work.
Christian was to focus on piecing together a visual that would encompass the entire comeback the Dabin planned, while YN was focused on getting through the main music video. There were some others she had to do, but they were all shorter and didn’t need some of the magic that the main one did. Part of her cursed the team for being so damn ambitious, but it kept her on her toes so she couldn’t complain. Well, wouldn’t complain until she felt the urge to pull out her hair because something wasn’t working.
But for once she went through her edits without any real roadblocks. She navigated the things that they’d talked about adding and her own ideas for things to flow seamlessly. There were a few snags here and there, but they were nothing that she couldn’t fix in a few minutes or that Christian couldn’t help her with.
They’d long learned to work together fluidly so all of it came easily.
A few hours in YN pulled her headphones off and pushed her chair away from the desk. Carefully, she stood up and stretched her body since it got a little stiff from sitting in one position for so long. Once she’d properly given them the movement they needed a yawn ripped free from her lips and she felt a wave of tiredness hit her. Of course, she wasn’t done by any means.
“I’m going to get something hot and something with caffeine from the kitchen, you want anything?” she asked.
Christian didn’t respond so she poked him hard and repeated herself, he shook his head no without ever glancing her way. She knew he’d complain later, but she didn’t have it in her to pester him, so she slipped on a pair of slides near the door and ventured out.
The kitchen in the building DPR was set up in wasn’t too far from Christian’s studio, in fact she walked back fifteen feet to get to it. Something she was thankful about because despite being in motion she felt her body grow more tired as each second passed. It’s why she was quick to grab an energy drink from the fridge and down that thing. It was followed by the consumption of red ginseng because it always helped her in some way. Or at least she placebo effected herself into that thought. After she moved to make herself some hot chocolate. Thankfully, they had a Keurig, so she didn’t have to worry about heating water herself. By the time it was done she’d gotten a few large marshmallows from her hidden stash and happily deposited on top of the hot, chocolatey liquid.
With her energy drinks consumed and her hot beverage ready she made her way back to the room. She took care not to spill any of the drink and sat it down on the small table that Christian kept over on her side. It was where she sat all her drinks or food out of fear that she would knock it over if it were on the desk with all the equipment.
The moment her butt hit the chair there was a frustrated grunt and Christian all but threw his headphones down. His right hand moved to card through his hair and his eyes closed as he let out a harsh breath.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she moved closer.
There was no response, but she waited for him to get his bearings. Sometimes editing made you so annoyed that words failed to come together right away. There had been many instances where someone asked her questions and all they got in return was grunts or her starting a word only to scream halfway through.
A minute or two went by before he opened his eyes and spoke up.
“I just can’t get it to transition like I want. I’ve been trying different methods for the last hour and assumed I wanted to try out all the options, but they just fuckin’ suck. I don’t want it to suck. It needs to not suck.”
“I doubt it sucks, let me see,” she said as she moved even closer.
However, Christian was having none of it and knocked his chair into hers so she’d go back onto her side. He was stubborn as hell when in a mindset of defeat, so she had to be persistent. She knocked chairs with him a few more times before getting up. Before he could steady himself she pushed it back and it rolled almost to the door. Standing she leaned over and looked at what he had. Nothing sucked per se, but she could see what his issue was.
She got several clicks in before he protested again.
“I’ll just choose one and come back to it tomorrow or something. It’s fine, you have your own stuff to work on.”
“Shh.”
“Did you just shh me?” he asked incredulously.
Rolling her eyes she turned around to glare at him but froze up when she realized he was standing and doing it awfully close to her. His head was tilted down as he stared at her and with the way she’d held her head up high their faces where maybe an inch apart.
In an instant the atmosphere changed and YN did not know what to do. Part of her screamed to back away quickly and the other part of her wanted her to close the gap. The voices in her head were at war and then she noticed his eyes on her lips again and threw out all fear.
As she leaned closer Christian did too and soon enough their lips were pressed against each other. The initial kiss was chastise, something to test the waters, but once they got comfortable with it the intensity grew. Their heads tilted and their bodies pressed closer together. Soon enough YN’s fingers were threaded in his hair and his hands caressed her hips and ass.
With her lips on his all thoughts kind of left her, besides how soft they were and how she wished she’d kissed him sooner. And how she didn’t want to stop doing it.
Christian squeezed her ass a little too hard though and in retaliation she slowed the kiss and bit his lower lip. When he stilled she worried about if he didn’t like that, but then he released a sound akin to a growl. His lips were on hers again in seconds and she got so wrapped up in the kiss that she didn’t realize that he’d started lowering onto his chair and bringing her with him. She didn’t start to pay attention until he had her straddle one of his thighs.
He wasted no time with subtlety bouncing that thigh causing a bit of friction between her legs. It was bearable for a while but then he pressed a little hard and her lips parted as a gasp escaped them. Christian took that as a chance to slip his tongue into her mouth, swirling around hers. Though compliant with all his actions YN did try to gain control of the kiss, but all it took was another firm grazing of her crotch to have her moaning out. One bounce in particular had her pulling away from his lips.
But just because she stopped didn’t mean that Christian did, his lips went to kiss along her collarbone which was readily exposed in the off the shoulder top she wore. The feeling of them on her skin sent a shiver up her spine and inadvertently had her grinding down on his thigh, which only got her even more excited.
Her pleasure must have been apparent because once again Christian’s hands were on her hips. Unlike before though he used that leverage to move her along his thigh. With his lips still kissing across her shoulder and neck he moved her back and forth, ensuring he was pressing down enough that she could feel the friction despite her shorts.
The pace was slow at first, but it was enough to ensure that YN was growing wetter by the second. Her body felt on fire and it didn’t help when Christian began to suckle hickies onto her. She felt very stimulated and that’s what caused her to cry out in pleasure when he began to speed up the pace.
“Fuck,” she said.
“Oh, we’ll definitely get to that, but why don’t you take over and ride my thigh, baby? Get yourself worked up for me,” he whispered in her ear, slowly pulling away but not before biting gently on the lobe.
YN did not need to be told twice. Her hands moved to his shoulders and she sat firmly on his thigh before dragging herself back and forth. At first, she was frustrated because she couldn’t find the right amount of pressure to feel anything worthwhile, but before she could give up Christian started guiding her.
“Just like that. Yeah, you’re doing so good for me. Keep going and you can pick up the pace. Make yourself feel good,” he said.
There was no verbal response from YN besides the moans she released when the friction truly started up. Goosebumps covered her skin the more she got into, her body tingled and she wanted more. Craved more.
But the look in Christian’s eyes as he watched her get herself off was too good a sight. His eyes had darkened a bit and she could see the lust in them. It didn’t help that he was biting his lower lip as his eyes remained firmly on the thigh she was on. He was enjoying the show and she wanted to give him more, so she kept going and her pace quickened again.
Though her pace change was also out of desperation. She’d gotten worked up quickly and despite how good his thigh felt her orgasm felt out of reach. Getting closer to it was all she wanted, so she moved with a vigor that could get her there.
That didn’t fly with Christian though, his hands held her still.
“No, no. You are not cumming on my thigh. You’re doing that with me inside of you,” he said.
YN groaned. “Then get inside of me.”
That elicited a laugh from him and made YN finally look directly into his eyes. He appeared very amused by how she’d responded.
“I should have known you’d be just as bossy like this.”
Naturally, that ended with her lightly slapping his shoulder which brought on more laughter from him. She was ready to get off his lap after that but yet again he held her in place.
The thing was that unlike before the expression on his face was softer and less like that of a man who said she would only cum on his dick.
“I know this is ruining the moment, but before I bend you over this desk and fuck you until you can’t walk I want to be very clear with you. I want to be with you. This is not me just fucking you because I find you attractive as hell. Got it?” he said.
Though she wanted to roll her eyes at his delivery she couldn’t help but smile as happiness filled her. Hearing him say it made her night and she would stay like she was or cuddled up to him for the rest of the evening, but there was a persistent problem still between her legs.
She leaned forward and leaned towards his ear to whisper, “And I want to be with you, but we can discuss that later. For now you have a problem to fix and a lot to prove if you think you’re going to put me on bedrest tomorrow.”
It didn’t take long for him to get her off his lap. He barked orders about getting off her shorts and panties while he ran out of the room for a moment. By the time he returned she was undressed on her lower half and bent over on the desk. Her legs were spread slightly and it gave him the view of her glistening pussy, just like she wanted.
“Shit,” he mumbled.
YN tried to keep the laughter from escaping her at his reaction knowing he’d probably tease her if she did. There was no time for all that, she needed him inside her as soon as possible.
Once she heard the sound of pants unzipping and dropping she felt herself perk up. Her ass rose up a little more and that seemed to pull another groan from Christian who sounded like he was fumbling with something behind her. She was going to ask if he needed help but then she felt the head of his dick press against her slit and she moaned.
Slowly he moved it between the lips of her pussy causing her to push back wanting more. The feeling was so good, but she still needed him to go further. Thankfully, he didn’t keep her waiting for long. Before she could fully process it he’d pushed inside of her completely. There was some discomfort from the sudden intrusion–one that was the first of its kind in a year–but he didn’t move and she adjusted fast. The stretch still felt a bit odd, but not something she hated. In fact, she loved the feeling of being full of him.
“You can move,” she said.
He didn’t need to be told twice because in the next second he was moving at a moderate pace. His hips moved back and forth, while one hand on her back kept him balanced.
YN’s eyes fluttered closed as she focused on the feeling of him. She’d been worked up enough that she was more than prepared for him, but also enough that she was sensitive. It wasn’t the same level as if she’d orgasmed, but it was enough to have her feeling extra with every stroke.
After several thrusts at that speed Christian suddenly sped up out of nowhere. It was enough that her hips moved away from the desk and hit against it every time he slammed back into her. It was a little painful, but the feeling of his dick pushing into her and hitting just the right spot made up for it. Her moans had been soft before, but with each thrust she grew louder.
At some point she was almost screaming out because of the brutal pace, but that didn’t mean that he slowed down. In all honesty it felt like he went harder and she loved every second of it. Wanted him to never stop.
And because she was so focused on how he felt she didn’t notice the tightening in her stomach and the way she was close to the edge until she was over it. Her eyes opened wide as her orgasm crashed through her.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she said.
Despite the clear indication that she’d come Christian didn’t stop. His pace slowed down some, but he kept pistoning into her. As she finished the last moment of her high the sensitivity set in, but she found herself building up again. Her pussy wanted a break, but she wanted him to keep going.
While she was ready to stay bent over for him until he came, Christian had other plans. Using his right arm he wrapped it around her torso and pulled her up so her back was against his chest. That hand moved down to rub her clit, something that had hips bucking because it felt like too much. She squirmed a lot, but then his left hand came around to wrap around her throat and she stilled.
“You’re going to give me another one, right?” he asked, though she knew it wasn’t up for discussion.
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
Without another word spoken by either of them he kept her how she was and continued to thrust into her, but his intense pace from before returned. His hand continued to rub and pinch her clit, which caused her to vibrate in pleasure. Plus, his hand remained around her throat squeezing every so often and she loved it more than she cared to admit. So much that her next orgasm came a little quicker than the last.
There was a weird feeling in her stomach though, but she had no time to assess it before she came. Her pussy spasmed and then she felt an intense pressure before she felt her thigh grow wet.
She’d squirted all over his dick and herself.
“Fuck, definitely going to have to do that again some other time,” he murmured.
YN didn’t even have it in her to respond to him, she just relaxed against her body as he continued fucking her. It took a minute or two before his precision slipped and she heard him moan out. He didn’t stop until he finished cumming and then he just stood there, his chest rising and falling heavily against her.
Three minutes passed with them like that before YN said something.
“We can’t stand here all night. Also, I’m so tired from this and working, we gotta rap this up.”
Christian laughed, but pulled out. From there YN leaned against the desk trying to orient herself. In that time Christian had discarded the condom and pulled his pants back up. He helped her do the same, though he didn’t bother fixing her pants completely. H
Carefully he turned her around to face him and smiled at her clearly exhausted, but happy face.
“How about we take showers, get changed, and call it a night? If you want you can stay at mine and we can start first thing in the morning,” he said.
Not one second was wasted debating it, YN just nodded in agreement.
“If I can shower and sleep I’ll be happy.”
That made Christian smile wider and then he leaned down to press a quick kiss to her lips. He moved away to lead the way out, but YN took one step before reaching out to grip his arm. Worry colored his expression and then when he noticed the way her legs seemed to shake a little a smirk made its way onto his face.
“What was that about me having to prove something?” he asked.
“Fuck you.”
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stars-trash-18 · 3 years
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This is a hot garbage pile that I love and will edit later when I get fresher eyes. For now this is my new Paz series. I tried to keep reader G/N so if  you see any gendered terms please let me know so I can correct them. As for Attila you can choose whether you adopted him, had a surrogate, or birthed him yourself (I myself headcanon him as adopted, but it’s up to you). Also as a reminder that the spacing is the way it is, is because I have trouble reading large paragraphs close together.
Side note: my southern vocab really came for my throat 
The day you saw the ship full of runaway Mandalorians land on the outskirts of your property, was the day you knew nothing would be the same. You had moved to the planet that was in the middle of nowhere to protect your son from his father. At the time of your marriage you had no idea what his father did, it wasn’t until the divorce that you found that he was one of the biggest crime bosses in the inner rim. So when you did finally divorce him you took what was yours and your son’s and ran to the largest planet you would find in the outer rim.
 The planet was one of the more ideal, it had large open plains much like Lothal. The only real issue with said planet was the spring storms and the distance to the nearest city. But you made do with what you could grow or build yourself or find in the nearest village. It was heaven for you and Attila enjoyed every moment.
Your son loved running through the fields of long grasses, riding his Tusk Cat to check on the herd or taking the Greysor hunting, or simply tending the chickens while you gardened. He was at peace being on the farm, and though he enjoyed running around on market days with his friends or going to school, he loved spending time with you. You were going to enjoy every moment of his clinginess because he was already 10, in a few years he might not need you.
So when he came sprinting into the smokehouse as you were prepping meat yelling about a ship being close, you were on high alert. You shut the door and whistled for your Varactyl as you quickly instructed him to lock himself in the house with his Tusk Cat and to keep the radio close. If you weren’t back by nightfall to call the village for help and remain inside. 
You checked that the small blaster you kept on your hip was ready and tied one of the rifles onto the saddle before setting off for where the ship landed. You knew the pride of Tusk Cats would protect the herd just fine, you weren’t scared of rustlers, what you were scared of was that Attila’s father had found you. Your Varactyl, Shira, might have sensed your fear because she gave a slight growl before running faster in the direction of the ship. You knew there was an old bunker there, it was run down and you had no use for it, but if it was bounty hunters they could use that to dig in.
But what you found instead of Bounty Hunters was a group of Mandalorians who seemed weary. Your first thought was they were bounty hunters, but on further inspection and the sight of children and elderly was when you made up your mind that they were just a clan looking for shelter. You clicked your tongue and moved Shira to move closer but a loud thud behind you drew your attention, causing your dark blue mount to whirl around and display her feathers in a defensive stance. In front of you was the largest man you’ve ever laid eyes on, his armor a dark shade of blue only making him seem bigger than he already was. He was holding a large blaster at you and with a quick glance you saw a smaller,silver Mandalorian aiming for Shira and you could see his wrist gauntlet spark up ready to drown you in a blast of fire.
“What do you think you’re doing here,” The smaller Mandalorian growled out, shifting closer to you keeping his aim on your mount. You huffed and slowly moved to dismount, stopping only when they jumped further until the bigger one nodded for you to get down.
When you finally touched the ground you placed one hand on your hip and the other on Shira’s head to calm her down.
“Strange, I was gonna ask you fellas the same thing seeing as you’re on my property without my permission,” you huffed, stroked the feathers delicately as you threw a look at them in annoyance.
“Have any proof of that? Because we were told this place had no owner,” the big blue huffed out walking closer to you, pausing a step when Shira growled lowly. You sighed and took out the deed and map from the saddle bag, making sure they could see everything you were doing to avoid getting shot. Giving big blue the paperwork to look over.
“The bunker here is abandoned, but it’s on the outskirts of my land so people often mistake it for free land, but I can assure you that this is mine and unless you’re paying rent or wanting to buy I'm going to ask you to get off my land,” you gritted out, taking the papers back from big blue. The two Mando's looked like they were going to argue before a woman in gold armor stepped from around you and interrupted.
“We apologize for the misunderstanding, if you’ll allow us time to rest and resupply we can be out within the week,” her tone not giving you any reason to doubt that it was truth. You leaned against your mount and raked a hand through your hair in thought.
“It looks to me you’re running from something, for the safety of me and mine I* need to know before I allow anything,” you supplied. You weren’t heartless, you’ve helped many a runaway, but they were only a few teenagers and escaped slaves you knew would do no harm. You weren’t a fool either, you knew they were Mandalorians, some of the greatest warriors known in the galaxy. Their history was sad seeing how scattered they became, but even one mandalorian could cause you and Attila problems.
The Gold mando seemed to contemplate before sighing tiredly and slumping her shoulders forward.
“We’re running from the remnants of the empire, them and the bounty hunter’s guild on Nevarro ran us off after we protected on of our own and we’ve been running since trying to find a new home,” She explained, her head remained held high as her covered eyes seemed to bore into you. You could feel the heat of her gaze as you straightened up, and with a heavy sigh you thought for a moment before conceding.
“Alright, if you’re willing to we can work out something for the land, I'm not going to throw a bunch of injured and children out and I can tell you don’t have any reason to hurt others without a reason,” You started watching the warriors behind her perk up, the blue one seeming to puff his chest out.
“I’m not picky on payment, it can be in credits or labor, you might see my herds wander close by but they shouldn’t be but a two miles from the bunker and I'll make sure the Tusk Cats know your friendly, The bunker is need of repairs and maybe some digging out but it should be big enough for ya’ll, the ground is good for farming and I'll donate a few of my crops to get you started, and there is a lake nearby that connects to the river that we’ll have to share, but otherwise this land’ll be yours and no one should bother until hunting season,” you continued, going over logistics and making sure they knew your boundaries. It sounded stupid at first, but a quick glance at how tired the children and other members were made your heart bleed. There were many people who helped you get away, it was only fair you paid it forwards, and besides maybe having a group of Mandalorians as neighbors and in your debt could add an extra layer of security for Attila.
The gold woman seemed satisfied with your offer and held her arm out, you shook it as she replied with some emotion in her voice, “We thank you very much, we’ll repay you in full when we’re able, you have given us more than we were expecting, for now we’ll get ourselves set up and one day you should come by so we can outline the property and you can give us an estimate”. With that you remounted Shira and gave a tilt of your head to the legendary warriors and took off back home.
You picked up your radio once you were out of earshot and opened the line, “Attila all is good here, i’m on my way home make sure Tusker doesn't maul me.”
The line crackled before it clicked, “sorry momma eagle, don’t know who Attila is, over” he giggled, you smiled at his antics and rolled your eyes as you clicked the button.
“Momma eagle returning to nest, baby raven  is clear to fly again over,” and with that you switched the line closed.
----ominous music----
As soon as you had opened the radio line the three mandalorians had tuned in without your knowledge, they smiled as they listened to you and who they could only assume as your son talk back and forth.
“We’ll have to keep an eye on them, but I have a feeling they aren’t a threat, just in case I want all of their communications monitored and movements tracked as soon as we’re done getting set up,’ The Alor ordered, causing the two much larger warriors to bow their heads in submission and acknowledgment of her orders.
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swtorpadawan · 3 years
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Backup
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Author’s Notes: The following story takes place a few weeks after the Rise of the Emperor expansion.
Jonas Balkar’s eyes scanned the south balcony of the Star Cluster Casino on Nar Shaddaa.
From the nearby Strategic Information Service observation post, the senior agent had multiple angles to choose from on his monitor displays, both inside and outside the venue. Years before, Jonas and the Republic SIS – with the assistance of Havoc Squad – had remotely sliced the establishment’s nigh-impregnable security system ever since, giving them a backdoor to the casino’s entire network. Say what you will about the Hutts, but they weren’t stingy on surveillance. They wanted every credit and every gaming chip accounted for, and they were committed to keeping (unsanctioned) violence away from their lucrative hotels and casinos. There were literally hundreds of security holo-recorders and sensors throughout the Star Cluster, and Jonas had access to all of it. What’s more, he could adjust what the Hutts and their goons saw at their end, meaning they wouldn’t get wise to what Jonas was up to.
This had all made the Star Cluster the ideal location for a discreet handoff between their contact – a rather gullible Rodian information broker named Rox, who had a nervous demeanor – and a Nikto working for a Black Sun arms dealer who was (allegedly) supplying off-the-books weaponry for the new Sith Intelligence and their covert operations on the Smuggler’s Moon and other Hutt-controlled worlds. (Why waste time smuggling in ordinance that can be traced back to your government when you can just as easily buy large quantities of untraceable weapons after you arrive, and all at a reasonable price?) The plan was for the Rodian to pass a large bribe to the Nikto for a data-disk on these (alleged) shipments to Imperial safehouses. In one swoop, the SIS would pick up the drop-off points of the network.
But the plan got even better. If things went well, then two days from now, Jonas – through a proxy –would approach the Nikto – the fellow was named Fhentar – with all the information the man had illicitly provided to the Rodian, along with a recording of the hand-off. Using that evidence as leverage, he would turn Fhentar into an SIS informant by threatening to share what the Nikto had done with his boss. The Nikto would then realize that his future lifespan could be measured in minutes if that happened. With Fhentar in Jonas’ pocket, the arms shipments could be disrupted at the Republic’s leisure, forcing the Imps to resort to smuggling their own weapons to the planet. That would further antagonize the Hutt Cartel, causing the Empire even more problems.
Within a few weeks, the Empire’s entire Nar Shaddaa network – so carefully reconstructed by Lana Beniko, the new Minister of Sith Intelligence – would be compromised.
A beautiful plan. All it relied on was this handoff going well over the next few minutes. Just in case, Jonas had an SIS security team – disguised of course – standing by just a few minutes away.
The balcony hadn’t been the obvious choice for the hand-off, but Jonas was convinced it would work. When the action was going hot inside, most of the people tended to ignore the balconies; everyone liked a party, after all. He’d spent weeks surveying the surrounding buildings. A sniper from a nearby high point – should the Exchange or Black Sun or even Sith Intelligence choose to intervene – would find no clear shot of the south balcony. Surveillance – aside from that of the SIS, of course – would be problematic with these acoustics. Rox was wired, but any other audio monitoring would be suppressed.
It worked.
To ensure relative quiet on the balcony, a simple ruse had been arranged to distract any potential witnesses. At the appointed moment, a million-credit jackpot would miraculously (and conveniently) hit on one of the Star Cluster’s Kingpin machines to get the crowd’s attention. An undercover SIS operative would then create a diversion on the floor of casino, feigning drunkenness and staging a fight with the gambler who’d won the jackpot. The altercation would draw the remaining bystanders, all but clearing the balcony of potential witnesses and making it an ideal exchange spot. In Jonas’s experience, nothing drew eyes like a fight on the floor of a casino.  
Still, the SIS agent found himself nervous about this operation for some reason he couldn’t quite place. That’s why he’d called in backup to help him observe everything from his post.  
“You know, of the two of us, I’m supposed to be the one with the anxious reputation.” said the voice from behind him.
Jonas turned, giving Theron Shan a rather haughty smile. One of the top agents in the SIS and (technically) still a division head, Theron handed Jonas a steaming cup of caff, which he accepted with genuine gratitude.
“Well, maybe you’ve been rubbing off on me.” Jonas quipped. “I’ve seen you fret on these things more than a few times. Besides, you were the one who needed to get off Coruscant, remember?”
“I know, I know.” Theron held up a free hand. “Everyone’s still upset with me over that mess I made on Ziost.” He sipped his own cup of caff with a shake of his head as he let out a sigh. For a moment, his normally care-free demeanor slipped away, and Jonas could see the guilt weighing heavily on him.  
“I tell you, Jonas, I honestly don’t blame anyone for being angry with me. I should have called in the cavalry the moment I heard from my contact that the Emperor was back. Instead, I got most of my team killed, and that was before Saresh even called in the invasion out from under me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What a mess.”
Jonas felt an upswell of sympathy for Theron and his troubles. He knew the SIS agent had only ever done what he thought was right, even if that was exactly what got him into trouble most of the time.
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up too much.” Jonas patted Theron on the shoulder of his trademark red jacket, giving him a smirk. “At least I still like you.”
Theron wrinkled his nose affectionately at his fellow agent, then rolled his eyes.
“Flatterer.”
“It’s true.” Jonas shrugged, still grinning. “And anyway. I did owe you one from that one incident at the Dealer’s Den back on Coruscant.” Jonas attempted to imitate Theron’s reproachful tone. “‘Jonas’ you said to me, ‘Casino jobs are always tricky. You need to plan to the last detail.’ And hey – you were right.”
“Well, at least this time you actually told me what the operation was. That should make it a little easier.” Theron gave him a scrutinizing look. “So you had a funny feeling about this exchange, and decided to call me in for backup?”
“You are here to add ambiance to an otherwise dreary observation post. Even if it is in an unofficial capacity.” Jonas found himself smirking again. “And hopefully, to start the process of rehabilitating your image with the top brass, even if you aren’t actually here officially.”
Theron nodded in gratitude.
“I appreciate that. I know you didn’t have to do this for me.”
“Don’t mention it. Just help me make sure tonight goes down alright.” Seeing that Rox was in position, Jonas turned back to the bank of monitors, noting the chrono indicator.
It was almost time.
Theron silently gave Jonas a thumb’s up signal as the slice command went through the system. From inside the casino came a blast of celebratory music as the jackpot hit, followed by a series of cheers from the crowd. Most of the handful people still on the balcony started making their way inside. The casino was known to offer a round of complimentary drinks for such rare events. Mere seconds later, shouting could be heard, indicating the scuffle had begun. On one of the peripheral screens, Jonas could see Dionne – a junior agent who showed promise and could play the ‘drunken bruiser’ well – shoving the beleaguered and confused Mon Calamari who’d won the rigged jackpot. The Zabrak’s antics drew even more interest from the casino’s guests than the jackpot had, both inside and out on the balcony. Four or five stragglers made their way inside, eager to watch. Jonas smirked at their reaction as he checked the chrono once again. Perfect timing. Within seconds, Rox, their contact, was one of only three people left still standing on the balcony.
Jonas’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the remaining two individuals; a young human couple who were standing in the far corner, holding each other in an intimate embrace. Jonas watched the man and woman carefully; you couldn’t be too cautious in this business. Both were wearing the revealing attire that had become so popular among socialites on Corellia since the battle there had ended three years before; the ‘Euphoric Corellian’, this look was called. Their arms and shoulders were laid bare, though their hands were gloved. The cut of the tunic was provocative, leaving their flanks bared and showing plenty of skin. This duo wore the outfits well, the woman’s was a deep green while the man wore a royal blue.  
He focused on the woman first; a beautiful brunette with shoulder-length hair, fair skin and green eyes that seemed to match her dress. Jonas would place her in her twenties. The Corellian outfit hugged her impressive feminine curves, but Jonas noted the equally impressive lean, athletic muscle of her arms as well. She wore no jewelry; her only accessory was a green purse she wore over her shoulder, and like her outfit, it matched her eyes perfectly. She was beaming adoringly up at her lover, with a dazzling smile that could have made even a Trandoshan’s heart flutter.    
Damn. Lucky boy. Jonas marveled, turning his attention to her companion.
The man was tall and broad-chested; from what he could see, Jonas would normally assume that he worked out extensively. The scarring, however, across his arms suggested otherwise, telling the tale of injuries suffered over the years; this man – like his companion, only in his twenties by Jonas’s eye – was no doubt a veteran soldier. Probably he’d seen action on Corellia during the war. Based on his attire, maybe he hadn’t been regular Republic military but part of the planetary militia or maybe CorSec. His hair was as raven black as Jonas’s, though the SIS agent suspected the man’s might have been dyed. Regardless, he was a good looking fellow, Jonas couldn’t help but notice. He could easily imagine him on a recruitment poster for the military or for some holo-ad campaign, and his hazel eyes were completely enraptured with the beautiful woman in his arms.  
Huh. Lucky girl. Jonas reflected, chuckling to himself.
His initial anxiety about the couple quickly faded; these two were clearly in love and hardly looked like they could be carrying any concealed weapons. They both clearly enjoyed an active lifestyle. He couldn’t pick up any audio from here – the device Rox was wearing was designed for conversations near him – but they were obviously whispering ‘sweet nothings’ in each other’s ears, holding each other and occasionally leaning in for a teasing kiss. They certainly weren’t paying attention to anyone or anything else but to each other and probably hadn’t even heard the jackpot or the fight from inside. They were plainly just enjoying each other’s company until it was time to withdraw back to their room in the hotel for the evening.
Jonas sighed inwardly, trying to remember how long it had been since he had withdrawn to his room with someone special. Almost on reflex, he glanced over at Theron, who seemed distracted scrutinizing another monitor.
No. Jonas thought to himself. Theron Shan had been fun enough on that late night years ago after a mission when they’d each had far too much to drink, but they’d both agreed afterward that it was better that they remain friends. And honestly, Theron was a good friend, one of the best he had in the galaxy. He shook his head to clear it and then turned back to his own screens.  
Regardless of anything else, that young couple shouldn’t be a problem during a simple handoff.
Confirming once more that Rox was otherwise alone, and naturally that he was looking nervous, Jonas turned to the entry door to the balcony. The time was one minute past the agreed time for the exchange; not enough to call it off just yet. This was always a concern for intelligence agents, but it was the price of working with criminals.
There he is.
The Nikto finally walked in, eyes glancing around the balcony, briefly noting the intimate couple in the corner before dismissing them just as quickly, finally focusing on Rox and approaching the Rodian. A quick holo-scan confirmed that he was unarmed; Jonas was confident the Casino’s security was up to that task of keeping lowlifes like Fhentar from carrying weapons, as they’d had far too many incidents of violence here over the past few years. Fhentar himself was a strange story; supposedly he’d been part of a cult on Taris that had worshipped a fallen Jedi years ago. The SIS file on that situation was still sealed tightly, even from someone of Jonas’s rank. How Fhentar had wound up working for Black Sun after his ‘religion’ had collapsed was anyone’s guess.  
Rox folded his arms, trying to give the Nikto a hard look, but to Balkar, it merely came off as petulant.
“You’re late.” The Rodian said in Huttese.
“And you’re impatient.” Fhentar retorted. “Give me a break. Didn’t you hear the commotion? The casino is going crazy right now.”
Jonas couldn’t deny the validity of the excuse, even if he didn’t trust it. It came with the territory of being a spy.
“Whatever.” Rox shrugged dismissively. “You have the disk?”
“Depends. You got my credits?” the larger Nikto wasn’t giving up any ground. It was the normal underworld posturing, practically clichéd at this point.
“Of course.” The Rodian pulled out the high-denomination credit stick from his belt. Jonas hoped the credits would prove to be money well-spent. The SIS budget was not unlimited.  
The Nikto knew the game, producing a data disk from his jacket.
“So who’re you selling this to, anyway?”
As Rox’s ‘tough’ demeanor – such as it was – started to falter, Jonas could almost smell the Rodian’s nervousness from here.
“Come on. I’m an information broker. You know I can’t talk about that. Not when my clients are paying for discretion, anyway.”
Jonas suddenly noticed some distortion on his monitors. He checked the sensors, but they all seemed to be coming up blank… wait.
There. A series of vibrations against the side of the Star Cluster that weren’t accounted for anywhere else; four distinct series in fact. Rapidly heading down towards the balcony.
Theron Shan noticed it, too. Jonas watched as he urgently plugged into the sensor grid through his cybernetic implants. Jonas hit the ‘standby’ button for his backup team.  
Meanwhile, the conversation was still ongoing.
“Ah, well.” Fhentar shrugged, with a degree of smugness. He tapped the button on his chrono-wristband. “If you’d actually told me now, it would have saved us all some time.”
Jonas was hitting the alert button before the Nikto even finished speaking.
“Team two! Move in! Move in!”
He watched helplessly as the four series of vibrations converged on the balcony. A moment later, he saw the tell-tale shimmer of stealth field generators shutting down as four armed figures in sneak-suits had suddenly surrounded Rox and Fhentar, each one attached at their belt to a rope running up the wall. The SIS agent realized immediately that they had rappelled down the side of the building. The Star Cluster’s sensors should have normally picked up the anomaly well before this. Something had gone wrong.
Many somethings were obviously going wrong.  
“My bosses want to know who’s got their eyes on their business, Rox.” Fhentar chuckled. “So my friends here are gonna take you up to the shuttle pad on the roof. I hope you aren’t afraid of heights.”
Jonas’s communicator beeped as the Rodian started to look around, panicking.
“Chief!” Wynnefred’s voice came through. “The kriffing catering trucks have blocked us off! We have to go around!”  
“Dammit!” Jonas’s hand slammed against the table, checking the layout and realizing he’d been outplayed. “My backup team is more than a minute away!”  
Theron just looked up at the array of screens and smirked.
“Mine’s not.” He reached up and tapped the relay on his earpiece.
Even afterwards, even with the benefit of re-watching the recordings at reduced speed, Jonas could still barely comprehend what took place over the next two seconds.
One second, the Nikto and the Rodian were surrounded by four armed assailants, ready to restrain Rox and take him away the same way they had come, all while the young couple in the corner of the balcony continued to bask in each other’s company, completely oblivious to the abduction taking place behind them.
The next second, there was a veritable explosion of movement. The young couple were gone and Fhentar and all four of his accomplices had been knocked to the ground. As for Rox, the panicked Rodian had fallen to his knees and found himself flanked by a pair of bodyguards… each of them brandishing lightsabers.
Jedi. Jonas marveled to himself.
Other things registered to Jonas. The long dark wig had fallen from the brunette’s head - he now observed her short red hair - and was lying on the floor of the balcony, an obvious consequence of coming out of a Force leap. Her purse had likewise been discarded, and he realized that was likely where they had been hiding their weapons. He noted that the woman’s lightsaber was of the fluorescent green double-bladed variety, while the man brandished a pair of radiant blue sabers.
But these were all secondary observations to Jonas, as he watched all four assailants – apparently oblivious to the fact that they were completely outmatched – attempt to rise to their feet and to press the attack, only to be cut down in a flurry of brutally efficient lightsaber strikes.  
Apparently wiser than his fellows, Fhentar remained prone on the ground. Jonas could hear his lamentations through Rox’s audio device.  
“No! Not Jedi again!” he groaned, raising his hands in the air and plainly giving himself up.
Jonas was right about to turn to Theron in for an explanation when recognition dawned on him.
Wait.
Jonas’s eyes refocused on the man. The shade of his hair and eyes were off, and he was missing that distinctive scar going down his left cheek, but his physical build, the twin blue lightsabers and his red-headed companion…
Jonas’s jaw dropped in realization and he gaped.
“That’s the Hero of Tython!” he whirled on Theron.
Theron Shan was doing absolutely nothing to suppress his amusement.
“Yup. Colored contact lenses, some hair dye, and cosmetics. Plus a wig on Kira – his partner – obviously. No one in their right mind would ever expect to see a Jedi dressed like that.” Theron smiled. “I put a scan-blocker in Kira’s bag. Hutt security trains to look for blasters, knives and explosives, not for lightsabers.”
Jonas finally let out an exhale, realizing only then that he’d been holding his breath.
“I’d heard you’d been working with him.” He offered, turning back to his screens as the gears of his mind started to turn. “Not a perfect night, but its salvageable. Rox is still breathing and we took Fhentar alive. It shouldn’t be too hard to flip him, even without the recordings. Not ideal, but he should at least be able to give up some Imperial drop points.”
He nodded, turning back to Theron with a grateful smile.
“Well. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Theron chuckled. “Like you said, something about this exchange felt off. I might have waited too long to ‘call in the cavalry’ on Ziost, but I wasn’t going to make the same mistake here.”
“After all, everyone needs backup sometimes.”
“That we do. Please make sure to pass on my appreciation.” Jonas smiled back, then turned back to the monitoring station.
“So you had Halcyon and Carsen pose as a couple?”
Theron smirked boyishly, obviously pleased with himself at the deception.
“Clever, huh? I was worried they wouldn’t be able to pull it off, being Jedi and everything. But they were great out there. Hell, they could have fooled me.”
Jonas turned away from his fellow SIS agent, regarding the screens as Wynnefred and his team finally arrived to take Fhentar into custody and to deal with the bodies of the four fallen assailants. Despite the Nikto’s importance going forward, Jonas’s focus again zeroed in on the pair of young Jedi.
Halcyon was cautiously turning Fhentar over to the security team. Clearly, the Jedi Battlemaster wasn’t taking chances. Carsen was standing beside him, positioned protectively over Rox. But their postures were aligned towards each other; Halcyon turned just so his wide stance was open to Carsen, who likewise was turned towards him, her eyes gazing up at him affectionately as he conferred with Jonas’s backup team leader.
Theron Shan was one of the cleverest intelligence operatives Jonas knew, and he was nearly as good an analyst. But sometimes, he couldn’t see the forest from the trees.
For once though, Jonas decided to keep his observations to himself.
Well. At least somebody’s going to bed happy tonight. He suspected, with an envious look back at the couple.
 Author’s Notes: I just take it as a given that Theron and Jonas once had a brief thing.
Fhentar shows up on Taris during the Imperial Agent story, serving the memorable Ki Sazen. Obviously, in my legacy, he survived his encounter with Cipher Nine. Unfortunately for him, his new employers don’t appear to be much better than the old ones. Rox and Balkar’s subordinates are my own creation.
The mention of Havoc Squad’s trip to the Star Cluster Casino for the SIS is obviously a reference to the Trooper’s class mission to Nar Shaddaa.
The Euphoric Corellian armor set is a real thing. It’s probably illegal on some planets.
Rodians get shafted in this game and in the greater Star Wars universe in general. So I feel bad for piling on.
Tagging people who expressed interests - @swtorshipping​ , @swtor-writers-guild​ , @raven-of-domain-kwaad​ , @ask-an-andalite​ , @a-muirehen​ , @taraum​ , @theravenassassin95​ , @sleepswithvillains​ , @blueburds​ , @sunnysayshello​
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ticklikeabomb · 3 years
Text
Grouch - Part 8 (Finale)
Pairing : Steve Rogers x Plus Size Reader ; Avengers x Plus Size Reader
Warning : Language ; Angst ; Death of Characters ; Fluff
Word Count : 1.9k
Disclaimer : I do not own the characters, nor the universe where they were created and interact in. This series/fiction is only for entertainment purposes.
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He cleared his throat before declaring, “I talked to Wanda. She’s in.” “Bucky?”, you ask and he nods.
The room stays silent for what feels like an eternity, the only sound being your breathing. Not taking it anymore, Steve reduces the distance between you and crashes his lips with yours in a painful kiss, the warmth of your mouths consuming each other. “Fuck I missed you so much”, he breaths in your face, his hands squeezing your waist against yours. “I missed you too”, you breath out before claiming his lips in a feverish kiss. Your hands cup his face, your eyes on each other, “I hate this secret”, you whisper. “We’ll be free soon sweetheart. Just one more mission”, he says. You nod and declare, “Kill the Avengers!” He nods, lifts you up and lays you on the bed, his lips and hands claiming your body and soul the way only he knows how to do.
--
“We have a code red”, F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice and alarm echoed in the compound. The Avengers stood immediately up from the couch where you were previously relaxing in front of a movie, to join their respective rooms and change. You stood up, a little lost, not knowing what to do. “Follow me”, exclaimed Tony. You did as such and before you could argue if it was a good idea of you joining them, Tony handed you a revised version of your suit. “Suit up”, he declared and addressed a wink your way. “Thanks”, the whisper leaving your lips. You were in the middle of zipping your jacket and marching towards the main room, Iron Man at your side, when he covered your body with his body before the the windows blew, the explosion propulse both of you back.
“Hydra managed to break in, Sir”, you faintly heard F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice echo in the room. “Yeah we noticed”, sarcastically replied Tony, adjusting his hand propulsors. “You okay”, he quickly turned towards you and immediately flew out the pulverized windows after you nodded. Activating the earpiece, you hear Steve inquire if everyone was alright. “Yup”, you replied, running towards the Hydra men coming your way and engaging the fight. After taking them down, you made your way to the main hall were the Avengers were fighting the equivalent of a hundred men. “How the hell did they enter?”, shouted Natasha with greeted teeth. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Barnes simultaneously being manhandled by four Hydra agents. You ran and kick one of them so hard against the wall that he immediately lost consciousness, creating an enough surprise for Bucky to retake control of the situation.
The fight continued until her voice was heard shouting, “ENOUGH.” The Hydra agents stopped their movements like the obedient little dogs they were. Madame Hydra made her entrance like she just descended from Olympus itself. “I got to admit you’ve got some balls just bursting in the Avengers’s compound like it was no biggie”, Stark said before landing in the middle, the rest of team dispersed at every corner of the room. “It wasn’t difficult”, Madame Hydra replied with venom and confidence. She advanced at Stark’s level who took his helmet down, looking him up and down. “No need for more fuss. I just passed by getting to get back my pets”, she said her eyes switching from you to Barnes. “Not gonna happen”, replied Natasha. Madame Hydra’s laugh coldly echoed around the room, “Are you sure about that?”, she challenged the Black Widow.
Stepping back to where she previously was, she said “Well, I’m sorry my visit must be cut short. We have a world to blow up.” Turning around at the Avengers, she firmly declared, “Kill them!” As soon as her words fell from her mouth, you pointed your gun towards Natasha, while Bucky pointed his towards Sam. Tony was about to activate his armor in defense, when Wanda advised him otherwise, her hands glowing towards Vision and Hulk. Shocked he faced back to Madame Hydra when he was met with Steve pointing a gun at him. “What the hell Rogers?”, he whisper-yelled angrily. “Sorry Tony. Looks like you’re not such a genius after all if you didn’t see it coming. We needed to infiltrate the team, make you think we were with you, gain your trust and man how easy was that.”
“Why are you doing this?”, spat Natasha towards you. “You used to be a double agent, you know how it works. Plus, I don’t like the way you look at my man”, you responded. Her eyes flicked to Bucky but you chuckled, “Not him.” Her eyes widened, finally realizing you were talking about Steve. Sam’s rage was painted on his eyes, “I hate you”, he mumbled at Bucky who smirked amused. “Wanda, love, you don’t want to do this”, Vision’s voice filled the room, everyone’s antics making Madame Hydra roll her eyes. “You have no idea what I want”, Wanda commented her eyes glowing more and more.
She concentrated her strength, managed to use Vision’s stone power and project it at Hulk. The combination of hers and the soul stone’s power were what got to be the Hulk’s end. When the strongest of the Avengers was down, Wanda used her powers to destroy Vision’s stone and him along. You and Bucky pressed your triggers, ending two more Avengers. “I thought we were friends Steve”, Tony’s voice trembling. “Hail Hydra”, chanted Steve before pressing the trigger, killing the most famous man on the planet.
The silence in the room was broken by Madame Hydra’s applause and laugh, while all four of you harbored stern expressions. “Wow, you really did it. I’m so proud of you”, she nodded yours and Steve’s way. “And look at you Soldat, back home”, she smiled at him. Her gaze then landed to Wanda. “You. You are the surprise. I didn’t think you would join.” Wanda simply shrugged, “Stark killed my family, so I killed his.”
“Good, good”, the boss exclaimed content. “Let’s go back to work.” “There’s one left”, you declared. She looked at you perplexed and that’s when Steve took the opportunity and shot her. The other Hydra agents reached out to their guns but Wanda stopped them. “I’m your new leader now”, declared Steve firmly. You and Bucky took place next to him. “Either you follow Captain Hydra’s command or you can join Viper”, exclaimed Bucky while pointing at their former leader. No one opposing to the change of leadership, the four of you left without looking back at the carnage inside, your mission fulfilled.
--
At Steve’s command, Hydra was prospering, the organization’s plans taking form. You and Steve could finally be together without hiding yourselves. Proving your loyalty, the high placed trusted Steve and your team with the placement of all Hydra bases, requiring the four of you to personally train the new recruits, since you knew all the opponent’s tactics.
Everything was going perfectly fine until one day all Hydra bases were targeted at the same time across the globe. Steve, Bucky, Wanda and you were in the middle of a meeting with the organization’s high bosses when the building’s alarm echoed. You managed to take them safely outside, leading them to a secret panic room but were stopped by them.
Standing in front of you were the Avengers in all their glory. “Well well well, look who we found”, exclaimed Tony with a large smile. Passing the initial shook, one of Hydra’s leaders looked at Steve and cursed him, “You lying bastard. You played us. And you! You –“, “I what? Come on spill it”, you encouraged him menacingly, the vibranium plates whirring. “I think they should know, don’t you”, interrupted Tony.
“Your little leader and Assets here have been double, triple crossing? I lost count but the important information here is that they made you think that they were Hydra, pretty good I might add. Almost too good”, said Tony. Natasha took the rest of the explanation in hand, “Anyway, they tricked you into believing that they were Hydra and infiltrated the Avengers in order to kill us but of course they’ve always been on our side. They fake killed us, infiltrated you and gathered all the intel they needed to locate ALL the bases and destroy them from within.”  
“The real question here is when in the hell did you two become a couple”, Stark turned towards you and Steve. You both declared at the same time with a smile at the corner of your lips, “2014″. “How?”, counterattacked Sam. “Fury”, you both mumbled. “After Shield fell and I lost Bucky’s track, I knew that the only way I could be a step ahead was to infiltrate Hydra. That’s when Fury introduced me to Y/N who was already infiltrated. She told me the do’s and don’ts and yeah”, explained Steve.
“Returning to out little revelation. How are we alive? Easy, thanks to my super genius brain and Stark hologram system who molded us and who were the ‘real victims’. Tadaaa”, finished Stark. “You’re fools if you think that you extinguish Hydra that easily. Cut one head and two more wi-“, “Yeah yeah we know the song”, you cut him off. “What’s the status?”, Bucky nodded at the Avengers. “All the bases have been hit”, replied Sam. “Good”, you exclaimed before shooting the remaining Hydra leaders.
There was a tension in the air, the silence finally being cut by Natasha’s comment, “You really shot me in the tit? Not cool.” You chuckled and made your way, engulfing her in a hug. “Sorry.” Everyone greeted each other after spending weeks apart, ones pretending being dead and the others being part of a not so secret evil organization. You went all home to the compound, enjoying being back with the team again. After a well-deserved shower, everyone joined in the living room, a drink in hand. “So, there’s a question that keeps coming back in my mind. I finally want to know what the hell was going on between you and Bucky?”, asked Sam confused.
You chuckled and looked at Bucky who encouraged you to explain. “Well, we never hated each other, just pretended it to keep mine and Steve’s a secret. Even though I have to admit that sometimes you pushed it bro”, you said and looked at Bucky. “Excuse me, you literally put a gun in my hand and obliged me to shoot you.” “Yeah yeah, you still crying about that”, you joked. “No but we’re actually pretty good friends. Bucky saved me when I was a child. I could never thank him enough for it and for keeping Steve and my cover intact”, you continued. “You have nothing to thank me for, I did what I had to do. Also sorry for you know, all the horrible things that were said, I absolutely didn’t mean it.” 
The rest of the night continued of you explaining your infiltration more in detail. At some point, Steve stood up to grab himself another glass of mead. Tony plastered himself next to him. “So, what now?”, he asked the blond. He turned towards the scene, looking at you. “I guess now that I’ve found the right partner, I’m finally ready to settle down. Haven’t decided where yet. A farm, cottage or in a small island, maybe.” “You’re retiring on me old man?” Steve chuckled and nodded, “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Stark nodded, “Alright, we’ll handle the paperwork tomorrow. Enjoy your final night with us then.”
Steve sat down next to you, your eyes looking up at him. He leaned and whispered “I love you” in your ear. “Love you too”, you whispered back and felt his lips leave a peck on your forehead. You pressed against his warmth, glad to have this whole Hydra episode behind you and finally be able to love him fully and openly.
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*credit of gifs and picture to owners*
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masterhandss · 4 years
Text
‘My Next Life as A Villainess’ Anime is over...
SO WHAT NOW???
A lot of us are disappointed that Katarina’s adventures are finally over, and a lot of us are gonna miss watching the wacky hi-jinks of our dense villainess. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they will stop posting or paying attention to hamefura after the anime ends, and while I might be the same to some extent, I just want to say that there are still a lot of hamefura things to look forward to after the anime ends!
These are actually some very obvious things to look forward to, but you know I’d still like to share them so you can use them to fill the hole in your heart that the anime left behind.
-------
Edit: (9/30/20) I added stuff, as well as a cut for all yall who says my posts are too long qwq
The Manga
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Hamefura still has an on-going manga that is currently in Chapter 3 of the Light Novels! A lot of you already read it, and understand that it can get frustrating when there’s a lack of updates on the english side of things, but if you’re really curious, you can go over and check out the JP releases every month so you can have an idea of whats to come for the manga :DD (The fan translation of ENG Chapter 26 came out a few days ago so you know it’s not dead!!)
I’d recommend reading the english translation on Mangadex, since most translation groups officially upload their translation on there. 
The Spin-off (Hametsuo/Bakarina Alter)
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It deserves it’s own category for just how unique it is in terms of its reception in the western crowd. I know a lot of people probably read it, but I guess people barely talk about because it’s not really that far into it’s premise yet. 
I just can’t stop recommending this manga to people (despite not going where I thought it’d be) because of how good the art-style is and how much promise it has. It updates monthly, which I know is a long wait, but it does pay off when you see the quality of everything. Plus it’s just fun to imagine how hamefura would go if it followed the typical “villainess otome isekai” format.
I actually love talking about hametsuo, so maybe my posts are woth the look ;; w ;;
The Light Novels
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credits to @sparckle-art​ for the scans!
I’m happy to read that a lot of people are gonna go switch and buy the light novels after the anime ends! By the time the anime ends, the Vol. 6 of the LN would release a week later, acting kind of like a replacement of what is supposed to be a new episode for that week.
The fan-translated version of the web novel is available online, up until half of Vol. 4, but I still recommend buying the books on bookwalker (i don’t know if the sale is still there, but I’d recommend picking up the book regardless!). If reading the fan translation piqued your interest, then playing for the books would definitely worth your money if you ask me! 
An increase of sales might show them that there’s interest for this light novel, and might make them translate the JP novels even faster! (or maybe i’m just too impatient to wait 2-3 months for Volume 7 dshfjsfgs who knows?)
My only warning is that the tone really does shift post-arc 1 (Fortune Lover I) so if you’re looking for harem hijinks, from spoilers I’ve seen I think there would less of that and more of world building. (ps. please stop asking me where to read it ;;-;;)
Edit: Volume 8 is coming out in a few months, with Volume 9 probably being released at either Jan or Feb next year, then after that it’ll be a yearly update
StoryMe Otome Game
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credit to the hamefura reddit discord for the screenshots!
I’m surprised a lot of people doesn’t know about the StoryMe game, despite it updating every week alongside the anime. Just kidding I didn’t either lol, I actually found about this thanks to the hamefura reddit discord server! StoryMe is a choose-your-own-adventure otome game, kind of like those “Episodes” or “Chapters” game that gets recommended on Youtube a lot. 
It’s still in japanese, which is probably why not a lot of people knows of it yet, but it seems like you can play as Katarina and romance anyone from the entire harem (yes, the girls too), so keep you eyes peeled for if ever it gets an english translation!
It’s basically the bluray Fortune Lover game with the DVDs, but instead of Maria, you actually get to play as Katarina!
(I’ll make a separate post for this later, maybe)
Edit: The game just came out in English in September 16, and just spat out a 11-episode update at September 30
tldr: go play it, it has 19 episodes out right now
Katarina’s Farm
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It’s a newly announced mobile game with a web trial version that centers around playing as Katarina, trying to earn money and points for expanding your farm land, planting more expensive plants and getting the other members of the harem to join you! It’s a 2D pixel game that seems like it wouldnt take too much time to play (you can get the first 4 characters within 30 minutes of gameplay, but that might be adjusted in the mobile version) so I understand if it might not interest some people, but that’s still something to look forward to!
I made another post about it so check out the link to the web version here!
The Bluray Otome Game
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While I can’t say this for certain, but maybe if there was ever an official english bluray release, it might include the Fortune Lover Male Capture Target Routes that are included in the game. Maybe someone will play it and translate it even! It would interesting to see how different the boys are, and give us further appreciation for Katarina’s influence and changes!
There’s a preview for a CG in Keith’s Route, which comes with the second bluray (no pv for Geordo ;; w ;;)
Edit: All the boy’s routes are out in Japanese
We don’t know if they’ll ever be released in English though, so hopefully someone translates them at least ;;w;;
The Manga and Yuri Anthology
Missing the hilarious and heartwarming antics of Katarina and her harem? Then you should check out the Manga Anthology (that has just been been translated in its entirety). It’s 14 chapters of absolute hilarity!
There’s also a Yuri Anthology, featuring the 4 girls of the harem! If you’re looking for more of that then, it’s an absolute recommendation!
Spin-off Visual Novel
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Edit: They recently just announced a spinoff visual novel! It takes place after the Fortune Lover 1 Arc and features sexy pirates hgsjhgsdf
It’s just recently announced so there’s not a lot of info besides the company making it (it’s Otomate) and the fact that it’s gonna be an all new Bakarina adventure uwu
Bakarina Radio
I heard there’s a Bakarina Radio too, featurning the VAs of the anime cast. 
I don’t know if its a regular thing or a one time thing, but its still worth checkin out!
https//twitter.com/hamehura/status/1309831738525278209
The Second Season of the Anime
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I seriously wasn’t expecting another season, considering how different the next arc is, but I’m happy nonetheless for more Bakarina! I hope this motivates the fans to continue supporting the series, as a bigger reaction will definitely lead to more content for us to enjoy! I have a theory about S2, which I think is worth the read :3c
Other Otome Isekais
There’s a lot of other Villainess Otome Isekai’s that are worth the read, and a lot of them as just as interesting as hamefura, despite the lack of a harem (from deep rooted revenge to hilarious and crazy villainess, there’s a lot!) The quickest recommendation I can give is just looking up “Akuyaku” and “Villainess” on Mangadex (do both btw they dont have the same results), but theres a lot that doesn’t get recommended so do your research! I swear it’s worth your time!
Anyways, I hope any of these fill the hole that the hamefura anime will leave in our hearts as we wait for season 2! (sorry for repeating the same line again hdsfgdjhsfg) Feel free to add anything like fanfic recommendations and artists, as I can’t cover everything on my own, as those really help provide hamefura fans with content :DD
398 notes · View notes
voidcat · 4 years
Text
– Stardust
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Characters: Oikawa Tooru/You
Genre: fluff/comfort, heart to heart on reader’s part (questioning your place in the universe and all)
Summary: Sleep does not come some nights when it gets loud inside your head. Pebbles thrown at your window feels something out of movies. Oikawa Tooru being the one to do feels unreal. So you do what everyone does in dreams, is this a dream?, and follow his lead.
Word Count: 4.3k (i poured my heart out pls respond)
A/N: I didn’t write it with a song in mind but Kimochi Warui (When?  When? When? When? When? When? When?) sounded fitting while proofreading. Take it as a suggestion if you want.  – ao3 - PART 2
It’s late. 
Too late to still be up. Too late to be thinking like this. 
Too late to be up, awake, vibrating with all these overwhelming thoughts filling your head, wanting to break free, scratching the inside of your skull like feral animals, dying to get out.
It’s late and you keep lying down just like that. Hands clasped over your stomach, eyes locked onto the ceiling, trying not to think, keeping your mind blank like a newly bought sketchbook.
You lie like that for seconds feeling like hours and hours feeling like seconds.
You lie awake, the dim moon light entering your room lazily. All too familiar thoughts plaguing your mind, telling things you’ve known since childhood over and over and over until you grow numb to the noise.
Tck.
You consider checking the time but you’re afraid it’ll still be too early for the new day to start.
Tck.
Was that an actual sound or the newest trick of your mind?
Tck.
They say third time is the charm. Third time also means it’s too much of a specific occurrence to be a coincidence. The noise seems to be coming from outside, something small hitting your window.
Irritation and curiosity taking over you at last, not to mention boredom, you make way to the window and open it.
You see Oikawa Tooru of all people waving with his phone at you, a little aggressively.
Walking back to your nightstand and picking up your phone, you receive a message.
>[Does your folks wake up early?]
>[Or check up on you first thing in the morning?]
[No. why?] Hitting the send button you wait, walking back there and looking at him again. Face lightened by the glow of his phone, you can make up his eyes and nose.
>[Wear something warm.]
>[And make that spicy tea thingy you like so much if you want.]
>[I’m waiting by the door.]
Weird is seeing Oikawa Tooru under your window at an hour no one else is awake. Him telling you to get dressed and come outside? That’s creepy and worrying.
[Why]
>[I’m doing you a favor out of the goodness of my heart for once.] You want to roll your eyes at that. Since when does he know what being good means? Towards you especially.
>[No shady business, I promise.]
>[Trust me.]
As if knowing what went in your mind, these texts show up on your screen. You come to a halt.
Your relationship with Oikawa was never good. You would ignore one another on the good days and be utterly destructive and spiteful on the bad days. He never gave you a reason or made a gesture to earn your trust, you don’t even recall hearing those words from him much. They are reserved for Iwaizumi and the team only.
So why do you find yourself in a dilemma, as if there’s something to choose, a decision to make? Because the logical thing for you to do, the in-character thing for you to do, is to say no, go back to bed and hope to fall asleep at some point. The usual set of action for you is to refuse whatever he has to offer and go back to your own thing.
But you’re done with the logical and the in-character. So you send a quick [I’ll be down in 5.], make way to prepare something warm first and change your clothes as you wait for it to heat up. A sweatshirt should be enough.
Being too lazy and out-of-it to function once in a while pays, because instead of having to brew the tea and wait for a long while, you just heat up the already brewed and stashed one and pour it to your thermos.
Silently opening the door and getting out, you see Oikawa leaning against the wall.
He walks away when he sees you, you follow without a word. Soon enough you’re met with a car. Since when he has a car?
Wait, no. Don’t ask, don’t wait for an answer. Don’t look at the stupid car, don’t examine it. It is a dream after all, right? What’s the point in observing things when you’ll forget about them first thing in the morning?
Following his lead, you get inside the passenger seat, hear him start the engine, watch his hand reach for the stereo. A low hum arise.
It sounds like he picked a channel on random, the music isn’t bad per se, the volume is down. So it doesn’t exactly bother you either. Getting comfortable in your seat and resting your head against the window, you watch the blur of images go by.
There is no moon tonight, the only source of light is the street lamps coming into view and leaving as fast. Houses, buildings, trees, everything belonging to the day pass by in a fog and smear of colors. Almost like a quick brush of oil paint. It’s calming in a quiet before the thunderstorm kind of way.
As the road goes under the wheels, less and less houses come in to your view.
“Where to?”
Oikawa gives you a quick glance. He almost looks surprised to see you speak. Did he just assume you’d stay quiet all night?
“You’ll see.” His tone doesn’t match his face.
“What’s the meaning of it?”
“Consider it a favor.” This marks the end of your short lived conversation.
You don’t need to recognize the road he takes to understand he’s driving out of town, out of Miyagi. The why of it keeps floating in your head, you can’t apply the ‘it’s a dream’ tactic any more either, you are too awake for that, in both senses.
Turning your attention back on the sidelines, you let your mind wander off to meaningless assumptions.
A light behind the trees, you imagine a lonely night creature, lurking around to find his lost love.
You spot an animal you can’t identify and make up a story about an once-successful maiden, falling fool to a wicked spell.
You look at the trees and imagine nature coming to life in humanoid form, mutating and taking its revenge on human race.
Hearing a ribbit nearby and you recall the time your mother read you the Princess and the Frog years ago.
You turn left to look at Oikawa. Finding your phone inside your pocket and raising it in a show-and-tell manner, you wait for him to take notice and turn off the stereo. You press play.
Satie’s Once Upon A Time In Paris fills the air.
You note the relaxation in his shoulders. You let the melody take over your body as well.
Closing your eyes and holding your hands in the air, you can see the keys in front of you.
Hitting the keys one by one, reaching for the pedal, you can feel it flow through you. Head moving on its own, dancing with the melody, Gymnopedie no.1 as calm and serene as ever. Simple like a short quote on love from a poet.
It ends silently, Gnossienne no.3 enters with much more emotion.
It’s almost comical how many times you’ve played this exact piece but almost never listened to others playing. It sounds like you in some ways, some tints and emphasis different than how you’d play but that’s all you got right now.
You don’t need to break out of the music’s hold or open your eyes to catch Oikawa’s gaze on you once in a while. You went through all this before on so many occasions. Be it on public transportation and a piece you connect with comes on, you can’t stop your fingers from trying to play it on air, making keys out of nitrogen and oxygen in the air. Your body starting to move on its own after a while. Strangers giving you funny looks all the while.
The notes gain meaning and heaviness, hanging in the air and making way for the following ones as fast.
When the B bemols come, you can feel a stinging feeling in your eyes.
Since when does Gnossienne no.3 make you want to cry? Why now of all times?
You don’t care, you don’t want the answers, you don’t want to understand or reach a new level of understanding within yourself. Just shutting yourself out completely and taking in all the music with a deep breathe, you lean back as far as you can into the seat.
Gnossienne no.4 starts and your hands no longer itch to play.
When Oikawa pulls up at last, the music has long ended.
Getting off with your thermos in one hand, you look around.
Not a single building, a sign of life in sight. Where the hell did he bring you?
You can see his figure searching for something in the back seat, some shuffling reaches your ear. You look at the few and far between trees in the distance. It is a dead night. Not even wind, not even some comical tumbleweeds are in sight to add some motion. Time has stopped completely.
You don’t realize Oikawa’s signals for the second time that night, just as you didn’t hear him throwing pebbles at your window.
Noticing the loud thud, as him patting the hood of his car a little too late, only when he starts to get loud, you look back up. He’s sitting there, patting the space next to him, the gesture all too familiar.
Your mind wanders back to the moments you’d do the same, asking your cat to come sit with you, listen to you ramble, maybe purr for you, hear your sobs or meow at your antics. Tilting your hand with her head, bumping your legs with her tail. Those moments painted golden, filtered with a gray film, already gone, leaving nothing but a sharp pain in your chest.
You climb and sit, careful not to have any physical contact with him.
“Why are we here?” you try one last time.
“I didn’t want to be alone.” He says. Nodding your head at that, you’re not exactly surprised. The way he always surrounds himself with people, no matter the proximity and bond he shares with them.
He answered a question, maybe he can answer few more before I drive him to the limit, you think. “Why me?” This nags at your brain more than any other current question you have for him.
“It seemed fitting.”
“Why not Hajime or Makki, or even Mattsun?”
“Iwa-chan has come on little trips such as this with me before. I didn’t want to drag him tonight. Asking anyone else I’m close with didn’t sound like a good idea. And frankly? You seemed like you could use a break like this today.”
Observant prick.
“So, what exactly? We share one cozy moment tonight and return to our daily selves of hating one another in the morning?” His silence is a yes enough. “Sure, sounds good then.”
After the little conversation, you are back examining the surroundings, the comforting stillness in the air, the silence, the emptiness and the blackness of it all.
It gets boring after a while. Not wanting to disturb Oikawa further and at a loss of what else to do in the middle of nowhere, you look up at last.
Oh.
You forget to breathe for a few seconds. And that doesn’t even seem to be a problem in your eyes.
Has he done this before? How long has he been going out at ungodly hours for this?
You knew Oikawa Tooru was obsessed with space and aliens, thanks to Iwaizumi, but you never expected it to be on a more serious, in-depth level. Not like this.
Never like this.
Billions of stars hanging in the night sky, most millions of years old, blinking from a long gone past, probably dead in their current time.
A calm breeze washing over your wholly, reminding you just how small you are, your life is and how it is all okay because in the big picture you’re all nothing but dust. Destined to be forgotten by history in few centuries, if not decades.
Seeing all these stars, colorful lights what you hope are planets, an arm of the Milky Way, flowing like a waterfall and you feel a sense of security you haven’t felt in a while.
There is something comforting about the night sky, the way it can show you your unimportance in the big picture, your place in all this. You feel whole with the universe. You belong.
So you look up, and up and up. Stare at the sky, blink at the stars, smile at the constellations you spot and remember their stories, the gods and the myths, the heroes and the queens…
You look back at Oikawa then. As if remembering only now that he is there by your side.
Facing the sky in a manner just like yours, you can see the stars on his face. Shining on his hair, cheeks and in his eyes. Almost like stardust.
He looks ethereal, unreachable, enchanting. And a little vulnerable. All that tension, layers of masks he puts on each day, all the fake smiles and empty look in his eyes are gone.
Raw and pure.
This is the truest of Oikawa you’ve ever seen.
The admiration can be read from his eyes. His face holding an emotion you’ve seen on him once or twice. Not intense like this, never like this. You’ve seen the same look on him for Iwaizumi but only for a second, when he’s sure no one is watching.
With the same eyes, he watches the starry night sky.
He looks like he belongs up there. Not in a “be an astronaut and go to space” but in a “should be there, amongst the stars, his memory up there, to be remembered by everyone gazing upon the starry night. Like a constellation, become a constellation, a legend and a story, and so much more, just like Orion and Andromeda.”
This is the closest to Oikawa Tooru you’ve ever been. The thought gives you a shiver.
Seeming to notice that, he gives you a puzzled look and raises his right arm. You realize the blanket around his form then. He’s making an offer.
“Don’t worry, three people can fit in easily, it’s wide enough for the both of us.” When his face turned to you, it’s dark, no source of light to reflect on his skin.
You scoot over to him, under the blanket. The two of you refocus back on the scene above you.
Remembering the little mug inside your front pocket, you open the lid of your thermos and start pouring some tea, the steam leaving a little trail behind. You hold out the mug to Oikawa, he just looks at you, the confusion clear on his face.
Why are you offering me the tea you brought for yourself?
What makes you think I’d trust you enough to taste something you made?
“We said tonight was our little secret, right? I can use the cap as a mug, don’t worry.”
Your words and clarification seems to convince him somewhat, holding the mug with both hands, he smells it before taking a sip.
Silence falls over again and it’s much nicer this time.
Not even the coldness can get to you or pull you out of the warm embrace you’re in. The warmth around your shoulders, more provided by the idea of the blanket than the blanket itself. Like a thin veil, separating the real world from your little bubble of escape.
It’s new moon, no reflecting lunar light to block your view of stars. Sitting under the tent of black, blue, white and red; it feels divine. Divine to live in the moment, to truly breathe, to witness something so enthralling and forever.
To stand by yourself, stripped bare of everything; your layers, titles, names and ticks, clothes and paints, to be a newborn again, to reborn again, all alone, in an endless room, empty and cold, filled with stars and gods, stories to tell and dreams to see.
To feel whole again, alone again, hopeless again but reach a self-realization again, to taste nectar and discover the secrets of the universe, converse with the long gone philosophers and waltz with supernovas.
You’re not alone. Not completely.
Maybe left alone with your thoughts in this dead land and you know how one can never have company in their own mind, forever trapped alone. Yet in that moment, you’re not alone. Moving your head to steal a glance at the boy next to you again, you understand it well. It all happens so fast.
“Isn’t it ironic? How as humans we use a word like ‘star’ for untouchable celebrities, important people and such while in reality stars are nothing but these giant balls of plasma-“ gesturing a ball with your hands now, thermos sitting between your legs, “-with their ongoing chemical reactions, sputtering molecules of hydrogen and helium and all, until they come to an end with their current phase of life. If you can call that life.” You say all these with your eyes locked onto the stars, Oikawa’s locked on you. You keep going.
“Speaking of life, what is even life? Aren’t we just a bunch of organic components somehow managing to come together, build a system and gain conscious somehow? Just trying to survive until an outer force comes or our cells come off? Isn’t it technically our cells living, in a way?”
“Aren’t we just piles of protein just walking around and doing things that make no sense but to us?  Until we come to an end with our current phase of life? Doing what we see fit or fun or appropriate until it all ends.” It’s not a question any more. He doesn’t give you an answer.
“Aren’t we all children of the stars in a different point of view? All our molecules and elements coming from them. I mean, look at them. We see them blinking and smirking and smiling at us but for all we know they could’ve ended long ago. They could’ve become part of a new life for all we know. They break down and give birth to us, pieces of us; and in return we go back to them when we are gone. Despite being made of stardust, we live pretty shit lives huh?” You give him a lopsided smile, facing him as you say your last words.
“Is that what you’ve been thinking this whole time?” he replies.
“For far too long to pinpoint an exact date actually.” You almost say in a singsong voice. He frowns at that slightly.
“But I am right! Right? I mean, you’re a space nerd! You must know what I’m talking about.”
“Understanding and putting it into words in such a depressing way are two different things.”
Pouting at that, you look the opposite direction sharply. “Whatever, I know I am right.”
His gaze is still on you. “Is that what you’re like most of the time? I don’t get how Iwa-chan deals with you.” He must be shaking his head now.
“Iwa-chan can’t read minds last time I checked.” You deadpan.
His laugh fills the air at that. Light and lively, carefree; you doubt you’ve heard him laugh before. It sounds wonderful.
You wonder how things would’ve been between you and Oikawa, if the circumstances were different. If you never met Iwaizumi that day, would your paths still cross? Would you finish your Aoba Johsai years never meeting him?
Would you meet Oikawa on your own? Could you ever be friends, instead of dancing around one another and spitting out insults whenever you can? Would you like him in another world? Value his friendship, the person he is? Would the two of you have met before or become something more?
All these unanswered questions hanging in the air and you find yourself looking at him again.
His smile looks different now, he looks different, changed. Almost breathtaking. Is that what Iwaizumi means by his ‘fake smiles’?
A honest smile looks good on him.
You find yourself smiling back.
“Hey.” He nudges your shoulder with his. “If you still want to complain about the meaningless of life and all that, be my guest. I promise I won’t listen.”
Taken aback by his wording, you give him a confused look.
“Tonight doesn’t exist, remember?”
“…Right.” You decide to lean back and lie under the stars.
Feeling a tug at the blanket after a while, you see him placing the mug down next to the tire. You hand him your thermos as he regains his composure, he complies silently and leans back when he’s done.
All there is in the air is your faint breathing now. Never matching one another, sometimes loud, sometimes ghostly. There is no rhythm, no adjusting subconsciously. Completely independent.
You take a deep breath and start.
“It feels grey most of the time. Not in a ‘there’s never two sides, everything is grey, blah blah.’ But more like a numbness of grey.”
He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t do anything, nothing to show or to indicate that he is listening. You continue talking.
“Like lacking all color and feeling in life, blocking all there is to see and enjoy and I am left with nothing but… grey.
Grey to the point of everything is filtered, there are no boundaries, it all feels the same, plays the same and I am afraid. I am afraid of hurting. Hurting myself, being hurt myself and hurting the ones around me. Not the ones I love, I don’t even know love. What is love?” You turn to look at him.
“I tried thinking about it, reading about it, understanding it on a chemical and hormonal way. Consulted mathematics and never got an answer. It feels made up, a fairy tale to feel better, to attach ourselves to one another.
I fear I came across love and didn’t notice it, I fear I brushed it off for something else and now it’s too late.”
With each pause, it gets easier to speak, harder to talk. Finding the right words, using your vocal chords, moving your tongue, writing your sentences in your mind. You don’t feel the tears gathering around your eyes or going down your cheeks. You wait for the robot title, to be called heartless and how you have a rock in your chest. They never come.
“Do you really fear of hurting him?” There’s no doubt he is talking about Iwaizumi.
“I don’t know.”
“But you care for him.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think before you answer.” He says then, voice stern.
“I think I care for him but I fear I will ruin him.”
The unspoken ‘how so?’ is in the air.
“I feel grey to the point of dust and decay. I fear everything I touch either drives away from me or decays. I don’t want to lose him. I think I care for him. But I don’t want to watch him stay by my side and crumble one by one.
I don’t want to go from grey to blue.”
“Doesn’t he make you happy? I’ve seen genuine smiles on you when you’re with him. You almost light up when he enter a room or sits beside you.”
“What’s the point of happiness if it’s dependent on one person? It is not fair to either parties.”
He starts tsking. “Too many don’ts for that age. You’ll end up with wrinkles before your thirties.”
He stops prying after that.
The air begins to grow colder, a little breeze picks up.
The stars are as cold as ever, blinking diamonds in the sky.
You swear you see the arm of Milky Way coming into motion, flowing like a stream.
For what feels like an hour, it is quiescent. You decide to break it one last time.
“Speaking of stars, you and Iwaizumi are like neutron stars. Can be found alone or orbiting one another, chasing after each other, forever together and merged at last. Both stars on your own but as captivating when together.”
The hour taking its toll on you, your senses grow duller. You can’t hear his breathing without focusing, even the stars are getting blurry.
“Then you’re like a black dwarf.” Oikawa speaks up. “Because you feel unreal most of the time.”
You both fall back into silence. You don’t ask him if he meant it as a compliment and he doesn’t answer.
You don’t need to know which way he meant, in a way, you already know the response to that.
Tonight isn’t real. It’ll cease to exist in a few hours and you let these rare moments sink in. Probably the closest you’ll ever be to Oikawa Tooru, closest see him like this. It almost feels familiar, like you’ve done this before, went on stargazing with him and opened your heart out to him. It feels like a dream, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You chuckle at your attempt of a joke lightly.
It is serene around the two of you and in your mind. A placidity you haven’t had without the help of  a distraction in a long while.
“Thanks Tooru.”
His name falls out of your lips like you use it on the daily. Like the comforting shuffle of a worn out sweater as you put it on, the chirping of this family of birds living by your house for decades, the warm meow of your cat when you’re headed to bed. It sounds natural.
Scooting closer to him until your head rests on his chest. He just wraps his arm around you, pulling you further. Not a single word on your way of addressing him. And not a word from you on his way of holding you.
The moment will cease to exist in the morning, along with your confessions and the blinking lights of the stars. In a few hours it’ll no longer be real. So you decide to give it a shot at being close to him in all senses, share something the two of you will never have. Wrapping your arm around his torso, listening closely to his heart. Your head under his chin, his hand atop yours, you fall asleep until the sun comes.
157 notes · View notes
summerstardust · 4 years
Note
please continue second best if you didn’t plan on doing so already!! id love to see an ending to it!! it was so nice and i wasn’t really expecting that twist! much love!!
A/N: Thank you, to this lovely anon! I’m so happy that you enjoyed Second Best. I hope that you enjoy this story! Much love!!!
Number One Priority
Ganger!Doctor x Reader
Summary:  After the events that occurred on St. John’s Base, the reader falls into a deep depression. The Doctor comes to terms with how much he ignored your needs, in the time before these events, and tries to form one last ditch effort to do right by you. Sequel to Second Best.
Warnings: mentions of character death and depression
Word Count: 2051
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The Doctor fiddled with his new sonic screwdriver, the TARDIS having made him a new one after his previous sonic was destroyed with St. John’s Base and the Gangers within. There were a few new changes made to it, which he couldn’t quite figure out, but he assumed that it was because of the psychic link made to it by his Ganger. The thought of him was more upsetting to The Doctor than he imagined. The link between the two of them was strong, considering that The Doctor willingly created his Ganger, offering him all of his memories. He was fully prepared for his Ganger to be different than him in thought processes. He had seen many clones in his long life, none of them were ever completely identical to the person who was cloned. He did not expect his Ganger to  get close to you, however. He should have guessed, but he admitted that he was stuck in his ways. The Doctor assumed that because Amy was the first face his current regeneration saw, his Ganger would feel the same way about her, but naturally his Ganger would have their own personal favorite person. You were his Ganger’s first face. 
The Doctor could sense how sad you were at the Ganger!Doctor’s death, even before the signs were evident. He knew that he hadn’t been the kindest to you. He offered you the universe, a room, a home away from your life on Earth, but possessing practically anything at the snap of your fingers doesn’t make a person happy. People needed people. That’s why The Doctor sought out companions, that’s why Rory always fought for Amy, and that’s why you and The Ganger!Doctor were drawn to each other. The Doctor knew you needed someone, and he hated a part of himself for not caring for your emotional needs earlier, but he knew that he had the opportunity to correct some of his emotional neglect and bring back the person who cared for you as much as you cared for him.
Many adventures past and you still hadn’t left your room, or if you had, you asked the TARDIS to keep you away from The Doctor and whatever companions might be on board at the current moment. You didn’t see a point in interacting with them and you were fearful that if you left your room for longer than a food run, The Doctor would ask you to leave his ship. You wanted to remain in the TARDIS, you didn’t have anything to go back to on Earth, but you could not even obtain enough energy to take a shower most days. You knew that there was no way you could keep up with The Doctor’s boyish antics, but you did not want to give up your opportunity to see the universe.
After your shower one day, you sat in your towel in front of your closet. You were not thinking about what to wear. You were thinking about whether or not you should leave the TARDIS of your own free will before The Doctor could kick you out.
A knock at your door drew you from your thoughts. You knew that it was the Timelord, so you took a deep breath before allowing The Doctor to enter your room. He bashfully looked away from your body, and you apologised for your lack of clothing. He said that you were fine and asked if he could sit on your bed. You nodded in response. The Doctor stared at your wall before speaking softly, but unable to look at you.
“Y/N, I just wanted to apologise for my poor treatment of you.” You interrupted him, saying that everything was fine, but he wouldn’t allow you to speak that way. “It’s not okay, Y/N. I played favorites with my companions and I shouldn’t. I offered you and Amy and Rory and River the opportunity to see everything, anything you could want in the universe. I said that I would show you that. Well. I’ve shown you many things, but not the most important.” You asked what he was referring to, but he wouldn’t elaborate.
“I really enjoyed and am thankful for the opportunity to see the universe, Doctor.”
“I know, that’s why I need to introduce you to one last adventure.” You became so fearful when he said this, turning toward him and reaching out to him.
“I don’t have a home outside the TARDIS, Doctor. I have nothing to go back to.” The Doctor faced you, confronted by the fear in his eyes. He knew that he could brighten your life by what he had planned, but it broke his hearts to see you so scared. 
“One last adventure, Y/N. There are more adventures available if you ever want to take up the offer, but, for the moment, this adventure takes precedence.” The Doctor hates endings, you could not wrap your head around how he was so cheerful at the thought of you leaving, causing you to wonder if he ever liked you at all.
“Doctor, I don’t want an adventure, if it means that I have to leave.”
“Oh, Y/N, I am positive that you will prize this adventure above any you had ever been on with me.” He stood up and brushed off his pants, “Now, get dressed! Today is an important day!” 
You dressed slowly after he left, unprepared and anxious about what The Doctor was preparing, but you pushed forward and silently walked to the console room. The Doctor was bubbly and bouncing around the console. He was even humming a blissful tune. The TARDIS landed, and instead of bounding outside as usual, he made a quick call on the phone attached to the console. 
“Is everything ready?” He spoke quietly, as if he was hiding something. You couldn’t hear that response, but by The Doctor’s excited reaction, the response was positive.
“Excellent, we will be out momentarily!” The Doctor hung up the phone and turned to you, gesturing toward the door. You were solemn, but you moved to the door. You breathed in deeply before opening the TARDIS door.
When you exited the TARDIS you saw a grassy meadow, the breeze moving the blazes waves of green. There was a blue house, large enough for a decent sized family, cozily nestled next to a dense forest. You turned to The Doctor to ask what all of this was about, but he only pointed at the door of the house you heard creaked open. You looked to where the Timelord was pointing, you face dropping when you saw who stood in the doorway. You couldn’t help but turn back hopefully to The Doctor, who nodded reassuringly that this was not a dream. You ran to the Ganger!Doctor, who met you halfway, before wrapping his arms tightly around your torso in a breathtaking hug.
“How-how did you survive?” You ghosted your hands over his face in disbelief. You eventually settled on placing your hands on his shoulders, comforted by the fact that he truly was real and this wasn’t a dream.
“Well, technically I didn’t, but I did, but I also didn’t. You understand, right?” You questioned if his rambling explanation revolved around the molecular memory of Gangers. “Yes! That’s it! New body, same mind! I knew I liked you for a reason, always so observant!” The two of you laughed in unison at his boyish excitement. You stared at him for a moment, scared that he might disappear if you were to look away. You reached up to straighten his bowtie, unaware of the Ganger!Doctor’s loving smile he gave because of your act of intimacy. You quickly jumped back to look at his face.
“Wait! What should I call you?” The Ganger!Doctor smiled curiously.
“What do you mean? I’m the Doct-” 
“I know, but it's a bit,” You turned away from the Ganger, looking toward The Doctor leaning against his TARDIS. “Awkward calling both of you by the same name.”
“What about John Smith?” The Doctor quickly piped up behind you.
“Smith, John Smith …  John Smith …  John Smith! I like it!” The Ganger!Doctor, or rather John Smith, said the name in a different tone each time he said it.
“Yeah, I thought you might!” The Doctor mumbled behind you, turning to his side, to play with the TARDIS door handle, to give the two of you a bit more privacy.
You quieted your tone, in case The Doctor heard you, “I’m so happy to see you again, but why are you here and what is this place?”
“If you want it, Y/N. It will be our home.” He looked so hopefully toward you.
“Our home? Why would you want to be with me, there are so many better people.” You brushed off the possibility of being happy with him, you didn’t think that you were good enough to be with someone as kind as him.
“Stop that, Y/N. I told you before that you are my number one priority.” He raised a pointed finger toward you to show the seriousness of his point.
“Really?” You couldn't really believe what you were hearing, just as you didn’t believe him when he first said it.
“Cross my hearts.” Again to add credence to his point, The Ganger!Doctor used his hands to physically cross his hearts. You felt like you were going to cry out of happiness and finally feeling accepted by someone, so you hugged The Ganger!Doctor, hiding your face into his shoulder. The Doctor hesitantly stepped toward the two of you before speaking.
“I’ll leave the two of you to fix things up and plan and be back in a mo.”
“Wait! You're not kicking me out!” You turned to face your friend, but continued to hug The Ganger.
“Of course not! Both of you are perfectly welcome to travel with me and see the universe, if you so wish, but everyone needs a home base.” You looked into the eyes of the Ganger!Doctor who looked so happy and hopeful to have a life with you and you would be lying if you didn’t feel the same way. You said that you would really like to live that life, causing The Ganger!Doctor’s smile to grow. Even the Doctor smiled at the happy moment.
“Now go explore your new home and life, Y/N. I will be back soon to see if the pair of you want to travel.” You ran to hug The Doctor before he could enter his TARDIS, and you thanked him for doing this for you.
“Of course, Y/N. You deserve love and happiness, just like everyone else. It is an honor to have helped you on your journey to your very own fairytale ending.” You hugged him again before he shoved you off toward the home and The Ganger!Doctor, whose hand you clasped happily as he led you into your new home.
The Doctor looked onto his TARDIS monitor, calibrated to show him what was going on outside. Just before he was about to zip off on an adventure to buy your budding romance time, The Doctor saw, through an open window, his Gangerbrush his thumb against your cheek before he leant in and placed a delicate but strong kiss to your lips. You bashfully looked away after the kiss ended, smiling brighter than The Doctor had ever seen you smile before. He saw your pure joy that was emitted whenever you caught the Ganger!Doctor’s stares, how red your face became when you blushed after kissing him back, how tight the two of you held each other when you would hug, as if the both of you were afraid of losing the other. He knew that the two of you were meant to be. It saddened him that he could not be perfect for you and that he wasn’t there for you when he should have been, but he knew that you were in good hands and that you, inturn, would teach his Ganger much. And of course, you were just a phone call away. But what mattered now was your happiness and future with the person you loved and loved you passionately in return.
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aerynwrites · 4 years
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The Hidden (8)
Chapter 8: What The Future Holds
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Author’s Note: okay y’all so Tumblr’s being a little bitch and making formatting a living hell for me lol. first it wouldn’t recognize the paragraph breaks from my word document so u had to fix that and NOW it won’t let me add a read more cut-off so i’m frustrated lol. BUT, I am happy with how this chapter turned out and I hope you guys are too! As always feedback is greatly appreciated, and i hope you guys enjoy! <3 (Apologies for any grammar errors, I’m at work and didn’t have time to fully proofread!)
Word count: 3.1k
Warnings: fluff
Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight (here)
/////////
It had been almost two months since the whole commotion with the bounty hunters and your injury, and everyone seemed to be settled back in nicely. You were almost completely healed, but still felt some pain if you moved to violently, but with Dyn being by your side the whole time, it made things a lot easier. He had seemed more relaxed since that night, since you both kissed, and the following night when you did a bit more. You flushed at the memory of Dyn slipping the blindfold over your eyes. You were brought from your thoughts when the high pitched squeal of a child pierced the air. You quickly looked down from the pot of stew you were preparing over the fire and saw the child reaching his little hands towards you.
“What?” you asked, a smile adorning your features.
The child just smile up at you and babbles while vaguely grasping at the spoon in your hand, “Ah, you want to taste the food?” you chuckle and spoon out a small amount of soup from the pot and blow on it before leaning down and feeding him some, “here you go -hey!” you were not prepared for the child to take the spoon in his mouth and latch on like it was his life line.
He starts to toddle away as fast as his little legs will carry him. you have to stifle the giggle as you reach out your hand using the force to stop the child mid-step. You hear him let out a muffled noise of surprise as you hold him a few feet from the ground and walk towards him. you grab hold of him, releasing your invisible grip on him and tug the spoon from his mouth.
“It’s not going to disappear little one,” you assure as you sit him down once again to return to the stew, “It will be ready soon.”
You are about to return to stirring the meal when you feel something keeping you from moving the spoon any further. You furrow your brows together and go to move your hand again but it won’t budge. You look behind you to see the kid with his hand extended and eyes closed in concentration. You laugh at his antics and it seems to snap him out of his focus. He releases his grip on you and lets out a loud giggle as he falls back to the ground. You quickly scoop him up and let him watch as you continue to cook.
“He’s getting better,” a familiar voice speaks from behind you.
You turn around, a soft smile adorning your face as you see Dyn coming to crouch by you. you stop stirring and run your fingers over the child’s ears gently, “Yeah, he is. Since I’ve been trying to teach him he seems to have more endurance when it comes to using the Force.” You comment.
Since you had started to heal, and your secret was out to the other villagers since the attack you had been using your powers more flippantly, not feeling that you had to hide anymore. You had also been attempting to teach the child, which proved difficult when he couldn’t speak, but you were making progress. As you looked down at the large eyed child in your arms you were suddenly hyper aware of the fact he doesn’t have a name.
“We should give him a name,” you say looking over at Dyn.
You hear him heave a sigh, “I know, but I’ve never…done anything like this before.”
You chuckle and look back down at the green creature who is now tugging at you hair, “I was thinking the name Faylen, fits him well.” You say wincing slightly as he gives a particularly hard tug.
Dyn nods slowly, “Faylen,” he test out the name, “I like it,” he brushes a gloved finger along the child’s head which earns him a happy gurgle, “so now I guess I have to stop calling him womp rat?”
You let out a loud laugh head falling back slightly, “Yes, I think that would be best.”
You obviously can’t see him through the helmet, but Dyn’s features soften as you laugh, still entranced by each and every thing you do. Your laugh, your smile, the way you scrunch your nose when your frustrated, everything about you makes Dyn fall more in love each day. It also makes him dread the reason he came over here to speak with you. as if you read his thoughts you spoke up.
“Oh, did you need something love?” you turned to face him once again.
Dyn let out a soft sigh, “I think we need to leave,” he said finally, a hint of sadness behind his words.
Your eyebrows knit together and your heart clenches, “But why? It’s safe here, we’ve been fine here for the last few months and nothing has happened,” you tried to reason.
He shook his head and grasped your free hand in his own leather clad one, “I know but-“ he paused knowing that you liked it here, hell you had been living here for many years, “they know we’re here now and I’m just afraid that they won’t stop coming and they will come more prepared next time. I don’t want to put your people in danger any longer. And if-“ he has to force the lump in his throat away, “if you want to stay I understand, but I won’t put anyone else in danger because of my selfishness.”
You don’t say anything for a long time, you just look down at the child, and for a moment Dyn is worried that you won’t go with him, and all his plans for the future would turn to ashes. You finally look up at him a smile once again adorning your features and you squeeze his hand, “I’ve never truly felt at home here Dyn, I mean I have Ariah but she’s truly the only one who ever treated me as fully accepted here,” You glance around the small village as people mill about their days, you look back to the man you love and press a quick kiss to the metal of his helmet, “of course I’ll go with you Dyn.”
Dyn releases a huge breath as a giant smile crossed his face under his helmet, he pulls you into a tight hug causing you to let out a laugh once more, “I’m glad,” he says finally pulling away from you.
You squeeze his hand again before returning to stirring the stew, “When were you thinking we’d leave?”
“Within the week, at least give you time to say goodbye and pack.”
You nodded, a smile still stuck in your face, “Dinner will be ready soon, why don’t you go wash up? I don’t want stinky farm hands in my house.” You tease lightly.
A chuckle escapes Dyn’s lips and he stands sending you a mock salute, “Yes ma’am,” he says before retreating to the home.
You roll your eyes and look down at the child again, before grabbing the pot from above the fire and following Dyn to the house, “What am I going to do with him?” the child just lets out a curious sound, “Yeah I don’t know either.”
///
At first, after you and Dyn had finally confirmed your relationship, it was odd to eat in separate rooms or facing different directions. However now it was normal, as you and Dyn sat with your backs touching and facing opposite directions. You knew it took a lot of trust on his part to do this, to be in the same room with another person without his helmet and trusting that they won’t try to look. You both ate in silence only the occasional sound of clinking silverware and sounds from the child interrupting the silence, so you were surprised when you heard Dyn moving around behind you.
“Are you done eating already?” you had just dished out the stew so he must have been hungry.
The only response you received was two arms snaking around your waist. You gasped and quickly snapped your eyes shut as one of the hands took your bowl and set it aside, “Dyn, what are you doing?”
He doesn’t say anything as he lifts you up as if you weighed nothing and positioned you so you straddled his lap, “I just care about you so much,” he finally offers, voice cracking slightly.
With your eyes still shut you wrap your arms tightly around his midsection and lay your head in the crook of his neck, finally able to open your eyes. he speaks up again.
“I never thought that would have this,” he admits, pulling you tighter against him, “I never thought that I could wake up every day happy and excited to spend it with someone.”
You felt tears burn behind your eyes and you buried your face in his neck, “Oh Dyn,” you whispered leaving a chaste kiss to his neck, “I love you too.”
Dyn had yet to return the words, but he told you in other ways. In the words he said, or the things he did for you, or the quick kisses he would give you before you woke in the morning. You knew he loved you even if he didn’t say it directly. You continued to stay tangled together for several moments, relishing in the rare intimate moments you got to share before Faylen’s cooing brought you back to reality. You closed your eyes as he pulled away from you and donned his helmet once more. You frowned slightly as you opened your eyes and were met with the same beskar you had come to know. While you we’re not upset with him in anyway and you understood that it was The Way, you still longed to actually see the man you love. But you don’t push the subject. You look over to Faylen to see him holding his empty bowl out to you, you smiled and spooned a second helping into the small bowl and giggled as the child cooed happily.
“You know, for a tiny little thing he eats more than you do,” you comment.
Dyn lets out a chuckle and nods, “Yes he does, and I don’t even want to know what his appetite will look like when he gets older.”
You feign a shiver, “we’ll go broke trying to feed our kid,” you joked but stopped short when you say Dyn go rigid. You look to him questioningly.
“Our kid?”
Your eyes widen at the realization of what you said but then relaxed and you shrugged, “Well yeah. We’re together and we both take care of him, we’ve basically adopted him so…” you trailed off now self-conscious of your slip up.
But Dyn just hums lowly before picking up Faylen careful not to spill his food, “our kid…I could get used to the sound of that.”
You blush and duck to start cleaning up the dishes, silently admitting that you liked the sound of it as well.
///
The end of the week had come sooner than you had anticipated and you watched with a slightly heavy yet hopeful heart as Jaleer and some of the other villagers helped Dyn load up the razor crest with your belongings. You had donned your cloak, staff slung over your shoulder.
“I’m going to miss you so much!” Ariah nearly knocks you over as she throws her arms around you, squeezing the life out of you. you hug her back just as fiercely, “There’s nothing that says we won’t visit, or that you can’t visit us.” You assure.
You friend pulls away tears in her eyes, “I know…but now who’s going to help me put Jaleer in his place?” she whines.
You laugh and see Jaleer approach from the ship and sling an arm your shoulders, he had seemed to warm up to both you and Dyn after the whole Chroig ordeal.
“Well I for one am thankful for one less pest hanging around,” he jests rubbing your head playfully. You groan and shove his arms off of you, “Whatever you say Jaleer, I know you’re secretly going to cry when I leave.”
Jaleer rolled his eyes but brought you into a hug anyway, “You know you will always have a home here. If you ever need it.”
You nodded as you pulled away from Jaleer, not missing the newfound respect in his eyes, “I know.”
Dyn walks over and places a hand your waist, “Everything’s ready to go,” he looks over to Jaleer, “thank you again for letting me stay here, and I’m sorry for any ill I may have caused.”
Jaleer shook his head and shook the Mandalorians hand firmly, “Like I said, you both are welcome back anytime. Don’t be strangers.”
Dyn just nods before he looks to you, “You ready?”
You nod a smile creeping onto your face as you hug Ariah one last time before walking with Dyn onto the ship. You wave to the other villagers as they call out various well wishes before the ramp to the ship hisses closed, a certain finality behind it. You let out a small sigh and turn to see Dyn climbing up a ladder and you follow suit, you had never been on his ship until now surprisingly. You watched as he took a seat in the piolets chair and started up the ship. You looked around spotting Faylen sitting in one of the chairs and smiled before picking him up and placing him on your lap as you took his seat.
“So where are we headed? How long will it take us to get there?” you ask.
“It’s actually fairly close, but it’s a surprise.”
“Oh a surprise?” you wiggled your eyebrows, “What has come over you Dyn?”
The Mandalorian just shrugged his shoulders not giving you a definite answer before the ships lifts from the ground. You look out the window as the trees and landscape shrinks further and further away until you are among the stars. Even though you had been in space several times it never ceased to amaze you. You watched as the stars turned into blue-sliver streaks as the ship launched into hyperdrive and it felt like mere seconds before you were dropping out of it. When in reality it had been close to an hour, you were just too deep in though to realize. The planet you were approaching was not as green as you previous planet but it still had some green, with some brown and orange mixed in. And if you thought it couldn’t get any better your breath was sucked from your lungs as Dyn landed the ship near a small cottage nestled among rolling hills and plains. You held onto the child as Dyn grasped your hand and led you from the ship and towards the small, what looked to be a farm. As you approached the small cottage you felt tears well in your eyes, you had never seen a planet so beautiful and calm before. Apparently Faylen agreed because he seemed to let out and awe filled gasp.
“How did you – where did you-“you stumbled over your words, still In shock as you looked at the man beside you.
He shuffled nervously under your gaze, “I still have some connections with a friend that’s still with the Mandalorian’s and she was able to do this for me, for us.” You saw him raise his hands and grasp the rim of the helmet to remove it.
You once again close your eyes, confused as to why he was doing this now. You held Faylen tightly as you grasped for Dyn blindly, unable to find him.
“Dyn what are you doing?” You hear shuffling for a brief moment before a short stint of silence.
“Open your eyes.” his unmodulated voice meets your ears and confusion flow through you.
“But your helmet Dyn, I can’t-“
“Just open them,” he insists, “Please.”
You feel your heart racing, blood rushing in your ears. You were about to see Dyn, actually see him, and for a moment you were scared. This would ruin The Way. He wouldn’t be able to put the helmet back on again. But he’s asking you -no – begging you to look.
So you do.
You slowly peel your eyes open and your hand immediately shoots to your mouth to stifle the gasp that slips out. You quickly scan his face and immediately feel your heart flutter at the handsome man kneeling in front of you. His brown locks tousled from removing his helmet, and dark stubble adorning his face and warm brown eyes looking up at you, a nervous fear in his eyes – wait – Kneeling!
Your brain finally registers what is happening as you see the simple silver rings held delicately between two ungloved fingers. You look from the ring back to Dyn, your brain still trying to catch up with what is happening. But Dyn speaks before you can.
“(Y/N), I had a whole speech planned out, but as soon as you looked at me it flew out the window,” he chuckled nervously before clearing his throat, “You are the love of my life, you have brought me so much happiness and life since the day you saved me in those woods, and I know that we haven’t known each other that –“
“Oh shut up, you idiot, “ you blubber past your tears, “Of course I will!” you throw your free arm around him careful not to squish Faylen, as you nearly knock the man over.
Tears are streaming down your face as Dyn gently pulls away from you, his thumbs wiping away the wet tracks on your face. A watery smile crosses his face as he takes your hand in his own, slipping the ring over your finger.  You let out a breathy chuckle before looking at you future husband and crash your lips to his for what felt like the first time. Dyn smiles into the kiss as your lips move in sync, and it feels like fire is running through his veins. He pulls away from you somewhat reluctantly and rest his forehead on your own, and you rest your newly decorated hand on his cheek, a wide smile on your face once more.
“I love you Dyn Jarren.”
And for the first time Dyn says it back.
///// Tags: @readsalot73 @theforceofdarkandlight @stylelovechild @amazingiam00 @so-chee @candipuff​ @stillreadingfantasy​ @taman-a​ @kaelyn-lobrutto24​ @maryan028​ @cateyesinlove​ @dizzydazed​ @the-silentium​ @sinon36​ @somehow-lovable-trash​ @lirinchi​ @katialvi @junkersandroadies-son​ @osric-the-l3m0n-l0v3-demon​ @arwallace​ @tiredjedi @duckqueenzoe​ @mxrvel-fxnxtic​ @livasaurasrex​ (For some reason it won’t let me tag some people, I’m sorry!)
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blackevermore · 3 years
Text
x Secrets of The Lake: The Company of Misery and Pain
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{ Chapter 10 }
Summary: Vladimir Masters’ family tree has always been tainted by secrets swept under the rug. From generation to generation there have been countless reasons the Masters’ family had seemed to keep private from the public. Even to this day, Vladimir was no exception. But what was one to do when a restless spirit from the settlement years finally breaks free from restraints and demands you answer for your ancestor’s crimes? Vladimir doesn’t know. However, Clockworks does.
Notes: We just having fun, rewriting some of the canon, new adventure new characters. I will apologize now for any grammar, spelling, weird sentence structuring in advance. My brain writes faster than my fingers and even when I go back through to reread it I still miss things. Sorry about that!
Word Count: 5086
P.s: I feel like this chapter is shit :/ but we honestly have to keep going!!
Danny could feel it, Sam could feel it because Danny could feel it, and Tucker could only feel it because Sam told him via passing a note. Something was wrong or something was going to be wrong. Danny had kept it to himself all morning up until lunch. The annoying feeling like he should probably skip class and fly around to make sure everything was okay itched away at the back of his head.
“Okay so lemme get this straight, Vlad is currently keeping a ghost at his house that Clockwork told him was coming to haunt him from the past. He has to deal with it or something bad will happen in the future?” Sam recapped and Danny only nodded as he bit into his sandwich.
“Not gonna lie Vlad did give off that energy his family owned slaves,” Tucker muttered and Sam kicked him under the table. “What?! Come on I mean....come on.”
“I said the same thing Tuck,” Danny chuckled and rested his face in his palm. “But he insisted they didn’t and this ghost was purely a paid-ish servant. But whatever, she’s here and lemme tell ya she’s got this crazy power that changes your emotions. Yesterday after finally getting her down I almost punched Vlad for breathing.”
“You should have done it anyway and played it off.” Sam smirked and poked at her salad. “I still don’t like the guy.” She sighed and pushed her food away, not really feeling hungry.
“I don’t blame you, but I assure you he’s not the same person anymore. Same antics but now in an Addams family uncle way. Plus Dani and him playhouse and I think that actually made him become better. We haven’t fought in almost two years so I say that adds up to something.” Danny smiled and Sam only nodded along and shrugged. Danny knew it would take Sam a few more years to wrap her head around Vlad actually laying off and doing something else with his life. Hell, it took Danny by surprise when everything suddenly took a turn and both of them were outed out as halfas. 
Danny actually felt like he had a friend to help take the blow with when it came to explaining to his parents about everything. Vlad had stood as his rock and that was enough for Danny to consider Vlad really was changing. Guess he finally grew up. Danny chuckled at his own joke then turned to Tucker. Tucker was a lot more laid back about the whole thing, of course, he was also ready to throw down if Vlad tried his shit, but if Danny felt safe, so did he. But it’s always been like that and that's why they got in trouble the most and Sam was the brains of the group.
“I just have a bad feeling.” Danny turned away from his friends and looked around them. Danny tried to single out if the feeling was coming from any of his peers. High school was filled to the brim with overly emotional teenage hormones that rubbed off on each other. Maybe Danny picked up some cheerleaders' manic panic feelings when he walked past them this morning. Or maybe it was the game club’s mourning from their loss last week, Danny understood that especially when he and his friends lost their games. “But it's not a ‘Vlad’s planning something dangerous’ bad, just an ‘oh no’ bad.” Danny sighed and ruffled his own hair to distract himself. He was tired and stressed out about school and life in general, he didn’t need anything else, mudding up the last of his managing teenage mind. Sam was quick to change the topic to something more fun and Tucker quickly took the chance to show off a new feature he tweaked on his phone. 
Danny only half listened as he continued to watch people and drown out from the rest of the world. That was quickly cut short when a fire truck raced quickly past the school and busted left down an avenue and headed off into the distance.
“Who sets stuff on fire at 11:30 in the morning?” Sam snickered.
“It’s almost 12, they waited long enough,” Tucker added which made the girl laugh and Danny nodded with a smile. Danny was about to make the following joke but his phone dinged with a message. He pulled it out and his face nearly turned white as he saw it was Dani.
Phantom 2: Fire Truck just shot past me and their heading towards dad’s
Phantom 1: Shouldn’t you be in class...
Phantom 2: Wrong response…...FIRETRUCK HEADING TO MASTERS HOUSE!
Danny slammed his phone down and grabbed the sides of his head. His friend's small conversation was brought to a halt and they looked at him. Danny groaned and stood up and one command so did Sam and Tucker to do what they did best and cover Danny so he could transform and take off. They were seniors and yet the ol’ ‘cover me guys’ was still strong in their blood. 
“Be back before last period or Lancer will be on your ass.” Tucker winked and Danny rolled his eyes before turning invisible and taking off. His friends couldn’t see him but they could take a guess which way he was going. Tucker turned to Sam and hummed before putting his hands on his hips.
“Should we follow him?” The geek asked the goth.
“You just don’t wanna present in Econ next period.” Sam rolled her eyes and sat back down at the table, now feeling the urge to finish her salad.
“You do most of the talking anyway, I’m just there to flip the slides.” Tucker shot Sam finger guns and the girl only smirked and shook her head.
 It took Danny no time to make it to Vlad’s home and see two windows had been blown out on the top floor and pink and purple smoke mixed together piling high into the air. Neighbours on either side of Vlad were out of their house and watching in worry. Danny could hear the firetruck getting close. Danny began to cough as the smoke got into his lung, he lowered himself and quickly shot inside the house to see what was going on. When he landed in the bedroom hallway and quickly started to check the rooms. When he got to the end of the hallway he saw the anti ghost bars were turned off and Tayonna was gone. There was a fire in her room and busted windows.
“Oh shit,” Danny whispered then felt the floor rumble from below. He sank through the floor and was almost hit with a pink blast. Danny barely missed it as it flew past his head and quickly dove down to the floor. He turned visible and made cover as another blast flew over his head. Danny looked up from the floor and saw Plasmius dodging another attack and Tayonna still in her human form standing firm on the ground. Tayonna held purple flames in the palm of her hands and a giant ring of flames surrounding her.
“Tayonna stand down!” Plasmius yelled and fired a fireball towards Tayonna who reflected it with one of her own.
“You no longer tell me what to do Vladan!” Tayonna rose her hands towards the air and conquered three ectoblast that was set ablaze
“For the last time, my name isn’t Vladan!” Plasmius yelled and blasted one of the fireballs Tayonna held steady. Danny could tell Vlad was slowly reaching his limit of tolerance. It was likely Tayonna tried her mind junk on the man and it backfired terribly. Tayonna threw down her hands to send off the last two she had. Plamsius shot down the second one then took hold of the last one and threw it back. Tayonna wasn’t prepared for the returning attack and it hit her in the chest, sending her falling to the floor. The girl groaned and tried to push herself to the side to get back up but Plasmius shot at her again. 
Tayonna must have sensed it and threw her arm back to create a line of fire around her to stop the blow. She slowly stood up and stepped back before doing a digging motion that created lines of electricity to shoot across the floor and upward to where Plasmius stood. Being as fast as the older ghost was, he simply teleported away before any of the bolts could hit him. He teleported right in front of the girl ready to shoot her back but Tayonna was faster and like a glitch she was inches away from him, placing both of her hands on his chest and with full strength shot him back with purple static. 
The cry of plain Plasmius let out told Danny that the attack was more than he was ready for. Plasmius was slammed against the door and Dany was happy he didn’t go through it. Tayonna began to float into the air doing the blurry ghostly movements Danny saw at the pond. Danny thought quickly and reached for the thermos, he was so happy he always kept that bad boy strapped, and unclasped it and sucked Tayonna in. The girl turned at the feeling of being pulled and let out a horrendous scream as she was dragged into the dark void. Within seconds she was sucked in and Danny was making sure the lid was on as tight as it could go. Danny quickly hurried over to Plasmius as the older halfa pulled himself from the door and rolled to his knees. The same creepy red mist fell out of Vlad’s mouth and the man let out an ugly fit of coughs.
“What the hell happened?!” Danny didn’t mean to raise his voice but in a fit of panic it did and Plasmius only groaned and pushed himself up by a knee. Once standing Plasmius turned back into Vlad and the older man couldn’t help but clench his chest. “How did she get out? Who let her out? Vlad, you didn’t let her out, did you? Why would you-”
“Shut up!” Vlad yelled and pushed the boy away in annoyance. “Get out of here before they break down my door and see you.” Vlad turned away from Danny and tried to look less in pain than he already was. Danny frowned and grumbled about Vlad being a dick and shoved the thermos towards Vlad. At first, the man was confused but took it anyway before turning another cold shoulder to Danny.
“You have to answer me later!” Danny yelled before shooting through the roof and up into the sky. The firefighters had just broken down the door and neighbours were gasping as they saw Vlad being pulled out of the house. Danny stayed a while to make sure nothing else crazy happened before he heard the sound of his phone ding. It was Sam telling him to hurry up, last period was in 20 minutes. Danny shoved his phone in his pocket and rocketed back towards his school. He knew he would have to come up with some other ghost fighting excuse for why he missed two periods when he got home. Danny told himself he needed a break. He needed a break so he could make it to graduation and to sweet sweet summer break. 
 Danny was already checking his phone for a news update for the incident at Vlad’s house. But there was nothing. Surely the people of Amity would know if their former mayor’s house went up in flames. It surely knew when Vlad’s ass was all over the news. Danny told Sam and Tucker he wouldn’t be walking home with them but to make sure Dani got home safe. When he got out of school he still had to serve a hour long detention from Lancer for something he already forgot about. Danny made his way through the air to Vlad’s to check up and see what happened after he left.
Danny stood right outside the house invisible, everything was quiet, the smoke from the upstairs windows was gone. When Danny made it up to the front door he noticed it was no longer busted off the lock. It was fixed as if the events of today didn’t even happen. Danny ghosted inside and gasped, the whole foyer was cleaned and just as fancy as it was when Vlad first moved to town. Danny could see his reflection in the marble floor which he couldn’t the day before. Danny flew upstairs and even the stairs had been clean.
“Vlad?” Danny called out hoping that maybe the older halfa would be lurking around. Danny poked his head through a few doors and saw no sign that Vlad could even be home. He got to the bedrooms and checked those and still no Vlad to be found. Danny did notice however the guest room Tayonna was in was cleaned and the windows were brand new. Danny poked his head into the room but didn’t sense anything, not even Tayonna’s ungodly emotional pulls. 
Danny looked around once more just to double check himself but no one seemed to be home. He was about to give up and fly home until he heard the sound of stuff slamming coming from below. Danny moved with caution as he went to Vlad's basement. Down below Vlad sat at a worn down chair tapping away at a computer with the thermos next to him. Ghost scattered around the place rebuilding screens and some of the portal that was broken by Tayonna. Danny landed on his feet and quickly ducked as a ghost flew over him with a monitor in hand.
“Good to see you back, little badger,” Vlad called over his shoulder as he continued to type away. 
“How did you-”
“Simple,” Vlad spun around and leaned back in his chair. Danny’s face turned to confusion before he narrowed his eyes and shook his head. As long as it wasn’t actually hurting anyone Danny could turn a blind eye to it. “After I got everyone to leave and nearly all the news anchors to pretend they never had a story. I had to get the place fixed up and I really didn’t feel like calling anyone. Besides, we have wonderful handymen in the Ghost Zone.” Vlad didn’t seem to be in the ugly mood he was in earlier, Danny could see in his eyes there were still traces of annoyance and maybe the typical Vladness, but not anger. It almost seemed like Vlad was in a better mood and Danny wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or if he could quickly punch the man to double check.
“Has she been in there the whole time?” Danny pointed over to his thermos and Vlad sighed and nodded.
“I wasn’t letting her out again.” The man grumbled and spun back around towards the computer.
“Again? So you did let her out.” Danny walked closer and picked up the thermos making sure Vlad hadn’t started poking at it. Vlad ran a hand over his hair and nodded looking almost ashamed he had to admit he caused the problem.
“I was curious of how far her mimicking powers could go and as soon as I asked-”
“Seems more like you to command than ask.” Danny corrected.
“As I asked her to do it again she refused, then the red mist showed up and jumped down my throat and before I knew it I was reaching out towards her and grabbed her arm. Then of course you showed up and saw where that led us.” Vlad rubbed his throat a bit then cleared it. A bit more of the mist flew from his mouth and Vlad waved it away angrily. “Blasted thing.”
“Is this mist also a ghost?” Danny tried to sense if the mist was around or not. It seemed like it was gone at the moment and Danny sighed. Danny knew whatever it was that now clung to Vlad like Tayonna had an important role in this mess as well.
“I don’t believe it’s a ghost. It’s more so like dead ghost memories that follow her. It could be what makes her restless and has manifested into a physical form.” Vlad rubbed his chin and held out his hand for the thermos. Danny was slow on handing it over but finally caved. Vlad was about to untwist the top but Danny quickly shot out his hands and stopped him.
“Whoa, what are you doing?! She almost set your place on fire and now you're gonna let her out, again?” Vlad quickly snatched the gadget away from the boy and pointed behind him. Danny turned his head and saw a ghost trap on the floor already set up and ready to go. Danny hadn’t realized that he almost stepped in it. Would have been great if Vlad had just said to move out the way or something.
“She’s not going to cause any more trouble once I get this on her.” Vlad reached over and pulled the drawer open and pulled out a collar.
“So you’re gonna do the collar thing again, that’s totally gonna get her on your side.” Danny crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help the faint sting and itch around his neck as memories of being in the collar himself flashed through his head. Danny should have known Vlad would keep the damn thing even after Danny broke it.
“I defused the shocking system, all it will do is make her as powerless as possible. That means even her emotional mind games. She will be as human as she’s pretending to be.” Vlad handed Danny the collar to hold as he fiddled with the thermos to get it open. Danny eyed the thing and repeated Vlad’s words in his head. And with three easy seconds, he had a monkey brain moment and snapped the thing around his neck. Danny felt his powers get pulled back inside his body and his core shut down as he collapsed to the ground and turned human. Vlad snapped towards the boy and palmed his face in disbelief. Vlad quickly gave the command for the collar to release and Danny shot back up holding his breath. The teen tried to play it off like he wasn’t caught red handed playing around.
“I’m good...we gucci.” Danny shrugged and blushed from embarrassment. Vlad rolled his eyes and picked up the collar once more and handed it to Danny with a silent ‘stop playing’ and turned back to the anti ghost circle. Vlad popped off the lip and flipped the switch to release and pressed down on the button. A bright blue glow sprung to life from within the container and Tayonna was shot out to the ground. She was discombobulated as she held her head, slowly blinking and looking around. When she turned and saw Vlad and Danny she got to her feet and flicked her wrist to activate her powers. 
When she didn’t see the glow of purple she looked down at her hands and back up to Vlad with anger. Vlad tried not to meet her in the eyes but there was something alluring about them and he couldn’t pull away. He strongly regretted it when he saw how angry she was and how angry he became suddenly. His anger rose as he thought about the years he spent in the hospital alone. The anger he still held against Jack and the fact he himself didn’t have the honour of marrying Maddie. 
Vlad almost lost himself in the anger until he felt Danny nudge him. He snapped his neck towards Danny and the poor boy jumped back as Vlad’s eyes faded from blue to a red void and back again. Vlad blinked a few times then covered his face to get away from Tayonna’s sight. When he felt himself calm down with the help of counting down from ten he turned back towards the boy and pointed towards the collar. 
“Yeah well, how are we supposed to get it on?” Danny whispered and Vlad groaned as he hadn’t thought about that.
“Fudge muffins.” Vlad closed his eyes and sat back down in his chair. He knew he couldn’t simply ask her to wear it without having to wrestle her down to the floor. Which threatens the chance of them rolling out of the circle and her being able to use her ghost powers. Vlad didn’t have time for his lab to be ruined all over again as it was nearly finished. Vlad had to think of something that could possibly trick the ghost into wearing it. 
“Tayonna,” Vlad called out to her calmly and that seemed to confuse not only her but Danny. “Let’s make a deal.” Vlad didn’t wait for a yes or a no as he stood up and crossed his arms behind his back and walked to stand right in front of the girl. He left himself open as he locked eyes with her again. Either he would end up yanking the collar from Danny and getting it around her neck while dealing with false emotions. Or in the low chance he managed to get her to back off and be compliant he would simply snap the thing around her. It seemed that the former would be the winner until she started to breathe heavily, her brows turned upward in sadness and she finally backed away from him. She lowered her head and turned away. Vlad fought the smirk that laced itself across his lips and kept them pressed tight. 
“What do you want?” Tayonna asked, not above a broken whisper. Vlad held out his hand to Danny and the boy handed him the collar.
“You will wear this collar and we can actually speak like civilized people. Or you will stay down here in the basement in this small circle until you can be civilized.” Vlad held up the collar with an open hand and waited for the ghost to turn towards him. It wasn’t much of a deal and he knew it but whatever had to be done would be done. He could see the way her hand slowly inched up her dress and he tsked a few times. “If you try that again I will not hesitate to rip you apart molecule by molecule. I don’t take playing with my core lightly.” Vlad’s voice dropped to a growl and that worked to get the ghost to move her hand away from her chest. She turned towards him qualmy, eyeing the collar then up to his eyes, she scrunched her nose at the idea of having to wear it.
“You’ve never put me in a collar.” She said.
“And I wish I didn’t have to,” Vlad didn’t know why he said that nor where it came from. When he saw the way her face dropped again he felt it in his heart and it made him take a deep breath before letting it out. “If you wear it, it won't hurt you, I promise you this.” It will never hurt again. Vlad was sure these were just her false emotions projecting but deep down he could actually feel that he meant it. Somewhere inside him he truly didn’t want to collar her or hurt her, and that bothered him. Tayonna looked lost in thought as she looked between the two males in front of her. Danny looked confused by Vlad’s sudden calm demeanor and ready to stop the whole thing. The boy held his wrist and just stood there. Tayonna looked back towards Vlad and her eyes went wide. Vlad could see it in her eyes she looked at him as if he was someone she was looking for and it pained her. Then her brows fell in knots and she shook her head before walking closer to the edge of the circle.
“I promise,” Vlad whispered to her once more than brought the collar up to snap around her neck. Tayonna flinched a bit at how tight it was then brought her hands up to touch it. Vlad held out his hand and she hesitantly took it as he led her out of the circle. Vlad almost felt happy to have the girl calm and willing. He watched her face closely as she looked around her. She was beautiful. What? Vlad winced at the small voice in his head but continued to stare at her. She’s always been so beautiful. Vlad’s eyes went soft like the way they did when he looked at Maddie, but in his mind, there was no Maddie, just Tayonna. Tayonna quickly took her hand back and held onto herself when she noticed Vlad’s hard stare. She wavered on if this was a good idea or if she had just handed herself over to the wrong person. Vlad snapped out of whatever fix he was in and cleared his voice before turning towards a very baffled Danny.
Vlad held up a hand, he didn’t have the answers himself, “It seems we might be getting somewhere, Daniel.” Vlad walked past the boy and lifted up his jaw. Vlad walked towards his portal just as the last monitor was fixed in place. He forgot all about the work being done during that whole thing. Vlad thought it was best now that he got the girl out of the circle to put space between them. He didn’t need any more little voices in his ear telling him things he didn’t believe.
“All done, boss!” The ghost workers all called off and Vlad thanked them before turning on the portal to allow them to leave. Vlad sighed in pure happiness as the soft green glow of the Ghost Zone illuminated his face. It was comforting since Vlad spent a lot of time there when he wasn’t taking care of his companies. It felt like he needed to take a quick flight through the zone to refresh himself before stepping foot in his house ever again. But that will have to wait as Vlad now has to get Tayonna to talk. Vlad turned back to the others and the default smile he normally wore. Danny only gave him a slightly worried expression while Tayonna turned completely away from the portal.
“Well, Daniel I think it’s best if you made it home.” Vlad stepped to the side and held out a hand ushering Danny. The boy bit his lip and looked back towards Tayonna who hadn’t moved an inch since getting out of the circle.
“Is this a good idea?” Danny walked over and going ghost.
“I can assure you it will,” Vlad gave him his best smile and nodded.
“You’re not gonna do anything...dangerous to her are you?” Danny leaned in towards Vlad with narrowed eyes and a finger pointed towards his face. 
“Daniel, have I done anything to warrant your concern, as of recently?” Vlad’s smile dropped and he cocked a brow towards the teen. Seriously if Vlad wanted to cause trouble he honestly wouldn’t wait for the opportunity, he would go out and do it. Danny seemed to back down from that and rubbed his neck.
“No but old habits die hard. Keep me updated, fruitloop.” Danny shot through the portal and off into the Ghost Zone. Vlad sighed and rolled his eyes and closed the portal before turning on his heels and walking back towards Tayonna. When he got close she flinched away from him and shot him a glare. 
‘The constant mood swings are rather annoying’ Vlad thought but kept his face neutral. “Miss Tayonna, it would be better if we went upstairs. Unless you wish to stay down here.” Vlad held out his hand but she refused to take it, with a shrug he dropped it.
“I don’t.” She responded and Vlad nodded then started towards the basement stairs to head back towards the first floor. Tayonna silently followed behind him. 
 Vlad kept an eye on Tayonna as he ventured around his house. She continued to follow him without complaint. At first Vlad found it endearing, she seemed so lost and followed him everywhere, but when he forgot she was there from how quiet she was and tried to go to the bathroom he quickly had to set rules of sorts. 
“You don’t have to follow me, you could go sit somewhere until I come for you.” Vlad turned around and faced her and she seemed embarrassed for a moment. She turned her head from him and huffed.
“I have no idea where I am.” She mumbled.
“You’ve been in my house for almost a week and you don’t know your way around?” He tried to not sound condescending but it was a bit hard when the ghost that’s been haunting you acted like a puppy.
“I stayed by your side the whole time.” Tayonna looked back up to him and Vlad felt his heart skip a beat and his mouth run dry. He thought it was oddly flattering until he remembered she did it in ill will. Then there was something that caught his eye that really made him choke up. On the right side of her neck in the small dip before her shoulder were bite marks. That’s when he noticed the way she tended to only stand towards him on her left. Tayonna noticed his eyes staring towards her right and she turned away. Vlad didn’t have to say anything to confirm that that one particular dream she had actually infiltrated. ‘Dream manipulation, emotional manipulation, and mimicking...interesting’ Vlad blushed a bit and cleared his throat. Even with the stab in the back, he couldn’t help but still enjoy it for what it was. But he wouldn’t rub that in her face, yet.
Vlad turned away and motioned for her to follow him towards his downstairs office. He opened the door and allowed her to walk in first, he offered her a seat and Tayonna took it. Vlad walked over to his desk just as the phone began to ring. Ahh yes, what a wonderful time to receive a personal call. Vlad frowned and let out a heavy sigh before answering.
“Masters speaking.” Vlad gave his professional voice and the voice on the other side sighed and for once Vlad felt at ease by the rude welcoming.
“Hello Sir, you have got to be shitting me.”
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soybeantree · 4 years
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pairing: baseball!johnny x reader  genre/rating: fluff. word count: 1.6k    description: you can’t blame a guy for trying. or for paying the game so, so well. 
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Baseball has dominated your family’s life ever since your brother first picked up a glove when he was four. Each summer your family would travel around for tournaments. While your classmates shared tales of their vacations, you shared your brother’s average pitch count. During the school year, Jaehyun had his lessons and camps. You spent many nights doing your homework to the melody of shoes shuffling during sprints and the hard crack of leather on leather.
However, your family’s obsession came with certain benefits. The chief one during your early years being your brother’s teammates. A steady stream of young, attractive, and fit guys parade through your life. Your soul crushing insecurities kept you from taking full advantage of this benefit, but they were nice to look at.
During your later years, you appreciated the benefit of having your parents so far up Jaehyun’s ass that they left you in peace. While your friends had their parents dictating their lives and forcing them into every after-school program imaginable, you had the freedom to go and do as you please. As long as you kept your activities under the radar everything was in the realm of possibility. Even when the time came to choose your college, your choice was made without parental pressure.
College offers a reprieve from the constant onslaught of baseball, especially as your university failed to appear on the list of approved universities your parents compiled for Jaehyun. You easily adjust to a life without baseball at the center until you get a phone call from your mother.
“Jaehyun will be playing a series at your university.” Your mother informs you during your monthly call. She beams with the news. The series is scheduled for the end of next month, and she has already booked a hotel room for her and your father. While never explicitly said, the implication remains that she expects your presence. When you politely inform her that your life no longer revolves around your brother’s baseball schedule. She brushes off the remark and bulldozes ahead. While your life does no longer revolve around your brother’s baseball schedule, you are free the weekend of his series, and it has been a while since you have seen your family.
However, baking beneath the midday sun while the metal bleachers burn your thighs makes you wonder how important family time really is. Your mother screams beside you when the commentator announces your brother’s name. You sigh. Somethings never change, but before you drone her out, your attention catches on the next player.
“Johnny’s on Jaehyun’s team?” You ask your mom as she finally settles back into her seat.
“Yes, dear didn’t I tell you?” She beams at you. Of all the things your mother has deemed necessary to tell you about your brother’s college career, the one thing that you would have deemed necessary is the one thing she left out. “I was so happy when I found out. The Dynamic Duo back together again.” She goes on, but now you do drone her out, as your attention shifts completely to Johnny.
Jaehyun first picked up a glove when he was four, but when he was five, he joined his first little league team and met Johnny. From then on, they had been inseparable. They refused to play on a team without the other, and their chemistry as a pitcher and catcher had bloomed until everyone called them the Dynamic Duo. Their future shone before them until Johnny moved right before high school. The memory is a sour one for everyone in your family for different reasons.
For you, Johnny been a constant fixture in your house growing up. Many mornings, you would walk into the kitchen to find him sitting at the breakfast table. He would greet you with a smile and ask about school and how you were getting along.
Talking with him was easier than talking with Jaehyun. It helped that he was in the same year as you while Jaehyun was a year younger. You ended up confiding in Johnny about things you would never share with your family. You swore him to secrecy, and as far as you know, he never shared your secrets. However, on one occasion, you found him waiting for your outside your school. He insisted on walking you home. After that day, the bullies who had bothered all year long stopped. Johnny had been your fist crush, and watching him now those feelings rise along with others.
Your brother’s team wins the game. How could they not when they have the Dynamic Duo, your mom comments several times. You nod along as you follow her and your father to the opposing team’s dugout to wait for your brother. Your parents plan to have a family dinner, and your heart races as you wonder if that includes Johnny.
Jaehyun walks out of the dugout and grins at you. “How’d I do?”
“You played like shit. I’m kind of embarrassed to call you my brother.” You grimace. “I going to go back to my dorm and pretend I don’t know you.”
“Really?” Jaehyun raises a brow as mischief glitters in his eyes. You dart back but are too slow. Jaehyun’s arm warps around your neck pulling you into a head-lock hug. “Why would you say such a hurtful thing?”
Coughing from his stench, you smack at his arm. “Let me go. You smell like shit.”
“Y/N, is that you really you cussing?”
Jaehyun turns you to face Johnny, and your arms go limp at your side. If Jaehyun squeezed a little tighter, you could pass out, but your brother releases you. Staggering back, you clear your throat and attempt nonchalance. “I am a grown ass adult. I can cuss if I want to.”
“Y/N!” Your mother’s scolding heats your cheeks. For half a second, you had forgotten she was here. “Hello, Johnny.” She pulls him into a hug as you attempt to disappear into the crack on the sidewalk. Once greetings have been completed, you head out to dinner with Johnny in tow.
The restaurant you had suggested is within walking distance of campus. Jaehyun walks ahead with your parents talking with them about his classes and his training. Johnny stays back matching his pace to yours. “How have you been?”
“Good.” You pause at a loss for anything to add. “And you?” You offer.
“Good.”
“I remember you as chattier than this.” You quip back as you twist the hem of your shirt.
“Me?” He scoffs through a smile. “You talked non-stop.”
“Wow,” you shake your head. “And here I thought you were a sympathetic ear. The truth comes out now.”
“I was always happy to listen.” He pauses before asking, “How was high school?”
After your struggles in middle school, Johnny had mentioned that he was planning to go to the same high school as you. Then he moved. “It was alright.” You release the hem and smooth the shirt down your waist. “I made friends who made it good. What about you?” You glance up at him.
“We moved around a lot. I ended up going to three different high schools. I’m grateful for my select team; otherwise, I don’t think I would have been scouted.”
“Your parent’s moved you around that much in high school?”
“My dad’s job required it.” He shrugs.
A snort slips out as you shake your head. “My mom would have waved my dad goodbye and told him to live on his own rather than move Jaehyun during high school.”
Johnny chuckles, the sound as familiar as a childhood toy and just as comforting. “I believe that.”
You grow quiet as you approach the restaurant. When Johnny first told you that he was moving, you had retreated into yourself. Any effort he made to pull you out of your shell had resulted in scathing words or bitter silence. So he stopped. If you could go back in time and slap your younger self, you would.
Dinner is loud and full of raucous laughter. Johnny recounts ridiculous stories from his high school years and even brings up secret antics from his and Jaehyun’s past. Had your parents known about them at the time, you would have become an only child. But now, they roll their eyes and shake their heads. The meal comes to an end too quickly.
Your parents insist on walking Jaehyun and Johnny back to their hotel, and you accompany them. As they say goodbye to Jaehyun, you stand awkwardly beside Johnny.
“I’m glad you and Jaehyun ended up on the same team again. It’s good to know the Dynamic Duo is back together again.”
Johnny laughs a full bellied thing which crinkles his eyes. “I forgot about that. Please don’t say that too loud. I don’t want our teammates finding out about it. We’ll never head the end of it.”
“Good to know.” You muse, tapping your finger against your lips. “Might need to keep that card in my back pocket.” He shakes his head. “Well, it looks like my mom is finishing up on her list of instructions for Jaehyun, so it’s my turn to say goodbye.” You give an awkward bob before heading over to your brother, but Johnny’s hand on your wrist brings you stuttering to a halt.
His hand releases you and goes to the back of his head where it ruffles his hair. “I was wondering if I could get your new number, so we could continue to catch up.”
“Yes,” you squeak. Clearing your throat, you repeat “yes” and hold out your hand. He places his phone in yours, and you quickly add your number and hand it back. “Text me whenever.” You hope the words sound flippant but doubt they do. Your heart is racing, and the heat flushing across your body has nothing to do with the approaching summer.
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fridlyckans0 · 3 years
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Training Your Dog Humanely: Part One
Welcome the Dog to the Human World
Have you ever watched The Dog Whisperer and thought, 'Wow, that guy is amazing! What a great way to train a dog!" I know I have many times. Cesar Milan teaches one basic principle about dogs - a dog is a pack animal by instinct. According to Cesar, your job is to become the pack leader, a dominant Alpha male/female with 'balance'. I guess by 'balance' he means you should treat the animal fairly, as they would expect to be treated in a wild pack. He gets very good and fast results with this method. I won't say it's a bad method, but it's not the way I choose to train my dogs and here's why.
There's one thing very wrong with the 'you're the pack leader' concept - it assumes the dog inhabits a dog's world, and for you to control it, you must behave as a dog would, the Alpha male or female of the pack. For the majority of dogs who are family pets this means the owner will treat the animal as though it had only instinctual processes going on in its head, no rational thought processes. To refute that thinking go and watch these two short videos of Lucy's behavior: Lucy Remembers Her Ball and Lucy and The Vacuum Cleaner (links appear at bottom). A dog does not inhabit a dog's world unless it's in a pack of dogs, roaming the wilderness like a wolf, bringing down prey and sharing its kill. This is not your dog. Your dog wouldn't chase its supper if it went hungry for a week! It would no more kill a raccoon and rip its flesh apart than would your six year old child! If you do have such an animal it's a sure bet that it's a dangerous dog, one that causes people in your neighborhood to cross the street to avoid.
If you become the pack leader, you've descended into the dog's world. Having done so, the dog will integrate well with other dogs, live in a pack happily, know its place in the human pack, and generally behave well, but it won't reach its full potential. When you adopted the dog into your family, you didn't decide to become a primeval growler, (which can work if you have the cahones to back up the threats), you decided to introduce an animal into the human world. As the two videos show, Lucy is an animal with human-like tendencies developed to the full potential of her smaller dog brain. She, like 99 percent of dogs today, belongs to a family, has been introduced to human concepts, and lives in a human world. It's better that you train your dog to live well in your world, rather than you in its, for the sake of the dog and yourself. You will have a much better companion, and so will the dog. The dog will learn to love humans above dogs.
Lucy is a thinking dog. Lucy will position herself at the ready depending on where a person places their foot behind a ball. She correctly anticipates which way the ball will be propelled by the positioning of the foot. She also cheats quite badly, arriving at the destination of a tossed toy before it gets there. Her brain has computed where you're likely to throw or kick an object. Lucy knows which way you will kick a ball simply by shifting your weight from one hip to the other, without even moving your feet! Better than a goalie in football (soccer).
Lucy knows several hundred concepts and commands, from Jump In The Boat, to Don't Go In The Street. She rarely plays now but when she was younger I would throw her ball into the street (a rural highway) and when she realized the ball had gone out of reach, rolling into forbidden territory, she would put on the brakes and stop before crossing an imaginary line. That line used to be a piece of yellow rope lying across the driveway about 20 feet from the street. After she learned the concept the rope was taken away, she was allowed to go out to pee on her own; I could trust her not to go past the imaginary line. That concept, Don't Go In The Street, is central to a dog being able to live happily in the human world. It's the difference between a deer or a raccoon crossing the road and your pet's thinking. It has learned that highways (a human construct not appearing in the dog pack vocabulary) are very bad.
Dogs have rational thought processes. Dogs have emotions. Dogs also have a conscience. Dogs learn to love. Dogs have language skills and can understand about five hundred human concepts with words. None of these things are in a puppy when you get them, they are learned behaviors.
A dog cannot do differential calculus, that's obvious, but it can reason out how to manipulate an owner into giving it food. Lucy was given a treat every time she asked me to go pee outside. If she gets slightly hungry, she has learned to ask to go outside, wait for thirty seconds and then come back in the house to get her reward. She will do this every hour or so until I've clued in and watch her. If she doesn't pee, the rewards stop, and so does the manipulative behavior since it's now a waste of time. But that shows you a dog can manipulate people. It isn't surprising really; a dog manipulates its owner many times during the day. If you rattle its leash, it will waken from a dead sleep and circle, pant and bark at the thought of going for a walk. That is doggy manipulation. The dog is saying how happy they would be if they went for a walk, and you're feeling guilty already if that wasn't your plan.
So higher reasoning aside, what can a dog do? It can learn. A dog can learn so many things you'd be surprised. If you simply teach it what it needs to know to function well in a human world, it would knock your socks off. Every day that Lucy and I wake up, we tell each other with hugs and kisses how happy we are that we have each other. Lucy loves humans, so much so that she almost ignores dogs. Can they make her food for her? Can they throw her ball? Her stick? Her little teddy bears?
There's a Border Collie in Germany that can remember any one of two hundred and fifty toys. Alan Alda of Mash fame visited this dog for Nova on PBS. The dog has all her toys in a big pile in one room. In another room she is shown a miniature sample of the desired toy (about one fifth scale). The dog leaves, enters the room with the massive pile of assorted frogs, teddy bears, squirrels, puppets, dolls, devils, Muppets, rummaging around and returning quickly, and surprisingly, with the correct toy. She does this flawlessly, even when it's a new toy that she's never seen before.
But once you've taught that dog human concepts, it's no longer a canine - it's a Canine Sapiens, a hybrid between dog and Homo Sapiens (which is Latin for Thinking Man). It cannot happily go back to the pack. Without wishing to conduct such an experiment, I went to England for two weeks and Lucy went to the kennel. The kennel belongs to a reputable breeder and Lucy had her own 'penalty box' (cage) placed inside a three by six foot kennel. There were other dogs there so you'd think she'd be fine, but these were 'Pack Dogs', dogs that the breeder keeps solely for breeding. One barks, they all bark. One runs around the yard, they all run around the yard. Lucy was having none of it, and their primitive antics had her stressed out. When I returned to pick her up she went wild with joy! She ran around the truck about ten times barking, crying, tail wagging, face licking, and all manner of expressions of love. I began to speak with the breeder about England but Lucy jumped into the truck through an open door and barked her head off so loud that she could not be ignored. "I guess I'm being summoned," I told the breeder. Man, was she happy to get out of there!
This is why several universities in the U.S. have stopped teaching gorillas and other primates American Sign Language in doctoral theses. Once the studies are over the animals are returned to cages in the zoo. No more riding around in cars for you! No more ice cream cones for you! The animals, now capable of reasoning to a degree, are back in cages languishing for the good old days with their human friends, unable to relate to the other primates around them. The universities have decided that it's unethical behavior to abandon them once they've formed attachments to their trainers. You need a PHD in behavioral psychology to figure that out?
It can be frustrating to try teaching a dog an advanced concept. If you find yourself yelling or getting frustrated with the dog simply back off. Stop. The problem is too complex for her present state of understanding and she doesn't know what you want. The solution is to break the problem into smaller steps. You didn't learn algebra before you learned to count, add, subtract, divide and multiply. You didn't learn to multiply until you learned to add the same number three times to itself. Dogs have similar minds to humans, except that they're somewhat limited in potential. But if you give the dog credit for being able to think with the ability of a three year old child, you'll be surprised at what they will learn.
Your dog has a conscience. How do I know this? Your dog dreams, which is a sure indication of a bifurcated mind with a conscious and a subconscious. The dog dreams after having a good day, or a bad day. When they've had a good day, they fall asleep and within five minutes enter the REM phase of their sleep pattern. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and it happens almost right away in dogs. In humans it takes about an hour and thirty minutes. During REM sleep the dog can be whining, barking, chasing, wagging its tail, eating, chewing, swimming. You'll recognize a dog who is dreaming when you see it, trust me, but what that dream indicates is that it has a subconscious mind that's free to relive the experiences of the day. If it has a subconscious mind then it must have a conscious mind, because you can't have one without the other, unless it's in a coma.
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hadestownmodern · 4 years
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Whole Foods and Grilled Cheese
You got Eurydice and Persephone at Costco. Here is the prelude to that: Orpheus and Hades at Whole Foods. This was such a wild thing to write and I hope it brings someone a bit of a smile in these hard times. -A
The bustling of the grocery store was not a welcome sight to Orpheus who had not expected the action filled morning when he called his uncle the previous night. 
“She’s been staying a lot..”
“Orpheus, I don’t want to know about your late night antics with that girl-”
“No no thats not- I’m not trying to talk about that!” Orpheus stuttered though he knew his blush was not evidence through the telephone. “She doesn’t eat well and she works so much- I wanted to try to make her some things.”
“Make her some things?”
“I want to learn to cook. Can you help me?”
“....” Silence, so Hades could hide the slight pride in his voice. “I’ll be there in the morning.”
The 8 a.m. knock on his apartment door, with his uncle demanding to get going for a ‘long day ahead’ had not been what he was anticipating when he rolled out of bed scrambling for pajama pants. 
The morning was nothing short of exhausting. Hades dragging Orpheus through the busy streets to a high end department store and making a beeline for the kitchen department. A long lecture on different pots, pans, and cooking utensils ended with Hades buying ‘one of everything’ and having it promptly delivered to Orpheus apartment so they could continue on their day. 
By afternoon, after Hades spent a small fortune to equip Orpheus with “the best of the best” for cooking, he would not relax on the ride to the local Whole Foods. 
“Amma says you should buy from Farmer’s markets…” Orpheus had commented, between drinks of a free sample smoothie that was a rather unsettling shade of green. 
Hades tried to hold back the sharp retort, biting his tongue and gesturing Orpheus forward in the store. “You can go to the farmers market once you have pantry staples, Orpheus. But you need a solid base. Spices, rice, pastas, flour.. Spices especially. Eventually you can make most of it yourself. You can make broth and pasta but for now, we’re starting easy. You need a solid start. A pasta dish, a chicken dish, some sort of eggs.. We’ll get to soup later. We’ll cover steak next week.”
“Next week?” Orpheus squeaks, eyes wide at the assortment of fruits and vegetables around him. His fingers lingered on star fruit a few extra moments before Hades deep voice pulled him out of his reverie.
“Yes, Next Week, do you want to impress the girl or not?” Hades is perusing a meat case, conversing with the butcher in words Orpheus cannot comprehend, taking brown paper wrapped packages and placing them in the cart. “We’ll start easy today. Scrambled eggs. Maybe a nice red sauce. Simple things…. What can you make now?”
“I can...heat up frozen chicken nuggets. And make grilled cheese! With tomato Soup!”
“Is the tomato soup from a can, Orpheus?” He isn’t even looking at him as he examines a dozen of eggs and places them in the shopping cart as well, before grabbing a few cheeses. 
“...yes…”
“Then thats not cooking. What kind of cheese do you put on the grilled cheese?”  
“The little slices that come wrapped one by one-”
“Thats not even real cheese. Okay. No red sauce today. Eggs. We do eggs.” He loops back to grab an extra dozen.
Hades directs Orpheus through each aisle, taking time to pause and teach Orpheus about all the possibilities. Different types of pasta for different sauces (Light sauce with spaghetti, bolognese with rigatoni), types of beans to use for different fillings, how different flours affected baked goods. 
They were in the spice aisle, a deep discussion on the values of garlic salt versus garlic powder when Orpheus asked a new question. 
“So you need garlic and onion powder, but can add your own salt. I really suggest you use real garlic and onion but on grilled cheese or eggs this is easier. I also think freshly cracked black pepper makes a difference-”
“When did you know you wanted to marry Persephone?” He asks, looking up from his notebook full of spice notes. 
“...not after six days, Boy, back to the spice. Now bay leaves are quintessential to a good soup base..”
“I bought a ring!”
“And you should use real homemade broth, Persephone used those bouillon cubes as a nausea quick cure but- I’m sorry you did what?”
“I bought a ring! Yesterday. I love her so much, I just..I know she’s it for me. Amma always says you know and I know!” He has an innocence in his eyes that Hades doesn’t want to crush, but innocence too closely accompanies naivety. 
“Orpheus. You met six days ago. You don’t marry a girl because she took your virginity!”
Orpheus’ face turned the color of the canned tomatoes in his hand, the poet losing his words. “No! I love her! I know I do! She makes the world have color and reason and I look at her and see the whole world. I just imagine waking up next to her and holding our babies and-”
“Six days. Six days ago. You met her six days ago, stop talking about babies and marriage and focus on, I don’t know, getting to no her as a person with clothes on?” He grabs a handful of jarred spices and pushed on through the store. “Two years, Orpheus. We were together two years before I even thought about it. Now come on, we need to start cooking.” He ended the conversation, gesturing Orpheus towards the checkout. 
They stopped at his apartment to drop off and properly store the frozen ingredients, a lesson all in its own of proper pantry filling and food storage, before taking the car to Hades townhome, where Orpheus was already spending so much of his time. 
“We’ll do Eggs and grilled cheese. Scrambled eggs, you can’t do an omlette yet.” Hades decided as he keys into the front door, grabbing the mail on his way in. 
“Is seph home? Is she gonna try it-”
“Of course. You don’t have to impress her though. Even if it tasted like garbage, that woman would never hurt your feelings. It’s Junie you need to impress-”
“..Junie?”
Just then Hades pushes the door open, and within seconds tiny yet quick footsteps were audible, getting closer by the second. 
Junie, in her little purple tutu, ringlet curls bouncing as she ran, flew into her father’s legs with her arms in the air. “Daddy! I miss-ed-ed you!” 
He chuckles lowly, scooping her onto his hip and kissing her cheek as the toddler wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hey, Princess. Where’s your mother?” 
“If she’s the princess, does that make me the queen?” Persephone appears, long curls falling loose around her face. She somehow looks put together even in a sweatshirt far too big for her and flannel pajama shorts left over from last years christmas. “How was your shopping trip?”
He kisses his wife, tugging her closer by the fabric of her shirt. “You were the queen long before she was the princess. And it was eventful. He uses prepackaged cheese.”
“Well, I ate cups of ramen noodles and you loved me anyway.” Persephone winks, holding a hand out to Orpheus. “I hope he didn’t scare you, it’s sweet, that you’re learning to do this.”
“Well I want to be with her forev-”
He is interrupted by Hades voice, as he bounces Junie once “Hey Junie, why don’t we go set up to cook. Come, Orpheus.”
“Yeah, come on Ophie!” Junie gestures for him to follow, as her father carries her to the kitchen. He sits her on the chair at the island, before Persephone sits beside her and pulls her into her lap. 
“Why’s Ophie cookin’ daddy?” She asks, kicking her little legs before pressing her back into her mother’s chest, snuggling into her. 
“Because he’s trying to impress a girl, Junie.” Hades says off handedly, placing a loaf of bread on the table top. “Remember, Junie, if a man can’t cook, he isn’t good enough for you.”
“Noone’s good ‘nuff for me, Daddy.”
“Thats right, baby. Thats right.”
“Are you tryna impress Princess Rydice, Ophie?” The little girl asks, craning her head to look at him, standing in the doorway looking suddenly horrified. 
“Oh, Yes I am Junie, I love her so much and I want to make her happy!” He has a dreamy look in his eyes, looking off in admiration. 
“Are you gonna marry her?” Junie inquires, cocking her head.
“I want to, so badly!”
“Now Orpheus, we talked about this-” Hades grumbled before his wife cuts him off. 
“What are you making us tonight, my little culinary masters.” Persephone teases, resting her chin on Junie’s head. “I’m in the mood for glazed salmon with-”
“Eggs. We are making eggs. And grilled Cheese.” Hades shoots her a look, signifying that even this may result in ordering takeout late in the evening. He grabs butter and an assortment of cheeses, a carton of eggs, and some other small ingredients. 
“Thats not a real meal, daddy. Wheres the veggie?” Junie questions, resting her little face on her hand. 
“Orpheus has to learn not to burn his house down before we can teach him to blanch veggies, baby.” Hades shakes his head, but hands Junie a handful of grated cheese to munch on in the cooking process. 
Orpheus looks stunned as an egg is placed in his hand, and a small glass bowl is given to him. “Do i just..”
“Crack the egg Orpheus.”
Orpheus slams the egg into the bowl, shell going everywhere in both the yolk and on the counter top. “Oh..”
“Try again.” 
They do this half a dozen times before Orpheus can confidently crack an egg, and learns whisking skills with a fork. He learns to add milk and butter, salt and pepper. He burns the first try, and under cooks the second. The third try is plated, and slid across the island to Junie and her mother. 
Persephone gives Junie a bite before taking one herself. Persephone, either being overly kind or with overly low standards, gives orpheus a thumbs up. 
Junie, however, stares at the pale eggs and shakes her head. “Ophie you aren’t impressin’ any-body with this. You need salt.”
“Juniper! Be nice!” Persephone lectured, but hid her face in her corkscrew curls to laugh to herself. 
“I just telling the truth! It’s bland!” Junie defends, looking to her dad. 
“She’s not wrong..Just use a little more salt and you’ll be golden Orpheus. Eat your eggs then we’ll try the grilled cheese.” 
The grilled cheese does not go any better. 
“For the love of god Orpheus, you put the buttered side on the pan, and the cheese on the inside!” 
“He’s hopeless, Daddy.” Junie pokes in, eating the still uncooked cheese set out on the island. “ Rydice will marry you anyway Ophie, it’s okay if you can’t cook! Mama can’t cook either!”
“I made you, thats close enough to cooking.”  Persephone teased, poking Junie’s stomach and making her erupt into brilliant giggles. 
Orpheus is distracted by the sound, suddenly drawn to a future where it is a dark haired little girl laughing in the arms of Eurydice as he cooks a meal for his own family.  He is so distracted by the thought of Eurydice’s dark eyes on a child that he doesn’t hear Hades in the background. 
“Orpheus...Orpheus...ORPHEUS you are BURNING the toast.” He takes the spatula out of Orpheus’ hand and tosses the offending blackened sandwich away. 
“I’m sorry i’m usually not this bad...I don’t burn my own grilled cheese.”
“Because you use fake cheese. Now remember. Butter bread. Butter side down. Gruyere. Cheddar. Mozzarella. Bread Butter side up.” 
Orpheus follows the instructions, and this time, successfully develops a golden crust on the bread, with cheese oozing out just right. 
He cuts the sandwich in half and presents it to his niece/pseudo sister with pride. “Here you go Junie B.”
Junie eyes him carefully, examining all of the sandwich. “Pretty color..smells good…” She takes an apprehensive bite, then another. “It’s good, Ophie...but..”
“Whats wrong, Junie?” Hades muses, leaning down to her eye level. 
“If you were on chopped, you’d be chopped. But thats okay. My Daddy’s just better than you.” 
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