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zhangsanjian · 1 year

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The First Time

Original Essay

Sitting in front of the computer today, I recalled an experience of studying in Nanchang. At that time, I wanted to further improve my vocal skills and learn Italian songs, so I went to Nanchang, the provincial capital, to learn from a teacher.

In the early days of my studies, I had to take the green train from Xinyu to Nanchang for two hours every weekend, so I also developed the habit of falling asleep immediately as long as I took transportation, but two hours was the limit. Later, in the third year of high school, for the surprise training of vocal music and music theory knowledge, I also had a period of time living alone in Nanchang.

My parents took me to Nanchang and rented a single room for me in the alley opposite Jiangxi Normal University (the old campus). In my impression, this house can only accommodate a piano, a bed, and a toilet, which costs 300 yuan a month (I later learned why it was so cheap, because there is a pigsty behind the house). That was the first time I lived independently from my parents. Living expenses of 600 yuan a month can almost eat all kinds of snacks in the alleys: Shilixiang Wonton, Lanzhou Ramen, Malatang, and various fried foods. Although it feels unhealthy to eat, it is the taste of freedom! Finally, there is no constant nagging from my parents in my ears, and it depends on whether I go to class or not. Sometimes I even skip class and save the class fee to eat a good meal or buy a pair of sneakers. But freedom doesn’t come without a price—leaving school, leaving parents, having no classmates and no friends, looking at the basin with dirty clothes but unwilling to wash it from time to time, and the smelly room, only the piano to accompany me to chat a whole night.

Fortunately, when I was young, because I played well, I could quickly make friends, and my friends on the court were willing to form teams with me. At that time, I often went to the basketball court of Jiangxi Normal University to sweat when I was free. I have met many boys who love basketball in college, and I also like to shuttle back and forth in the alleys with the ball, looking around.

At that time , there was a sneaker store that attracted me. There were all kinds of signature sneakers of various stars, and there were many brand-name running shoes, but the prices were all very cheap. The encounter between me and the owner of this store may be destined, which opened up many firsts in my life - I used my living expenses to buy myself the first pair of New Balance running shoes, the first time I learned Doudizhu, It was the first time I tried drinking beer, and it was also the first time I worked as a shop assistant to help people sell shoes.

At that time, the pair of shoes I bought was less than 200 yuan. Logically, this brand-name running shoes could not be so cheap. I later learned that some sneakers that were considered defective by the brand would be cut in half directly, and then they would Pick and choose the shoes from these defective products, re-nail them and sell them. There is no big problem if the things are indeed original, but there are obvious scars after secondary processing after a "car accident", so the price is very cheap. There are also big-name sneakers signed by other stars and some limited-edition sneakers, which are now called A goods. You can spend a little money to buy a pair of enjoyable ones. I was indeed driven by vanity to have a few foot addictions.

Let me talk about the three owners of this sneaker store on South Normal University Road. These three bosses are all students of Normal University. Xiaolei is from Hubei, while Xiaonan and Xiaoping are from Henan. Usually there are four people on the court, so I also joined this group, and they also gave me a code name called "Xiaoshuai". Xiaolei and Xiaoping are short, but they are more flexible. I am considered medium among them, and Xiaonan is 187 at the highest. Therefore, our combination is good in all aspects, with shots and breakthroughs, internal and external. The only shortcoming is that Xiaonan is too thin and doesn't like inside collisions. Many physical confrontations are left to me, a high school student, such as "dirty work" such as grabbing rebounds and blocking positions.

In fact, I admire the three of them. During college, I opened a sneaker store to reduce the burden on my parents. Later, when I was in college, I would also receive some commercials to subsidize my pocket expenses, which may be influenced by them. A few of them will take turns to look at the store in their spare time. When I am free, I will go to chat with them. We watch football games and exchange sneakers together. That’s when Doudizhu entered my world. Unless I draw an invincible hand, I will be the one who loses, and the bet is usually to run errands, buy a popsicle, and help watch the store for a few hours. The most ruthless one is that if you lose, you have to drink water and are not allowed to go to the toilet…

Although everyone is a poor boy, they can be poor and happy every day. The smartest poker player here is Xiaolei, with a smart head and quick turns. He is worthy of the title of "nine-headed bird in the sky, underground Hubei guy" (no derogatory meaning). He also has a habit that impresses me very much. Every four or five o'clock in the afternoon, when we make an appointment for a ball, if Xiaolei is not there, I will call him and say that we are going to go there. He would usually say something like, "You haven't set off yet, I'm already here" or "I'm already at the back door, I'll be there soon". At the beginning, I believed in it and set off quickly, but every time I rushed to the stadium, I couldn't find it. It turned out later that this was his usual tactic, and usually he was still at home when he said it. "Wolf is coming" shouted too much and I didn't believe it anymore. Every time I was still in the sneaker store, I would call him, "I've already arrived at the stadium, why didn't I see you? Come here quickly! I formed a team with someone else." Then I walked slowly to the court—this was the first time I learned how to fool people.

As for Xiaoping, he is a person who likes hiking very much. Later, I can often see photos and videos of him hiking around. When we stayed at his house, we chatted about the power of walking. Because my room is small and smelly, and it always feels gloomy to sleep alone, so I don't like to stay by myself. So I used to go back and forth between the three of them. It was summer at that time, and a mat in the living room was my bed. It was a bit hard, but fortunately I was not lonely.

Xiao Nan is a handsome guy with 187, his girlfriend is also very beautiful, and we had a lot of contacts back then. When I wrote this article just now, I also gave him a call. Haha I even forgot his name, I just remembered that he was from Luoyang, Henan, so I searched for Luoyang, Henan on WeChat, and found his daughter-in-law’s WeChat. The partners who have not been in touch for many years are still very cordial when chatting, after all, we spend a carefree time together.

He and her girlfriend have also been in love since college to the present, and they have a family and a child. He just told me that Xiaolei Xiaoping, like him, married his girlfriend in college. Now that I think about it, I have witnessed three couples of "long-distance love running", and I am really happy for them.

The first time I drank was also encouraged by these three big brothers. I had a glass of Nanchang beer while eating a barbecue. At that time, I felt that the wine was really bitter. How could anyone like to drink such an unpleasant thing. After one glass of beer, my face was flushed, and after two glasses of beer, I went back to my room and fell asleep. Although I didn't drink everyone's wedding wine, but this memory is warm in my heart after all, I wish them well.

In life, you will meet many people of all kinds. Both the good and the bad will help you grow. I stepped on a hole dug by others, and was pulled out of the hole by a good person; I gave a warm embrace to a friend, and occasionally drank late-night chicken soup. If you will be hit by your opponent with a bruised nose and a swollen face, then lie down and read a few more books, and become a "cultural person" in the future.

That poorly decorated sneaker store is long gone. When we closed the heavy fence door, the memories were also dusty in our hearts. You and I go our separate ways, scattered all over the world like dandelions, but it sows many small seeds, which are endless.

2008 coincided with the Beijing Olympic Games. I took the college entrance examination, and like all students, I was full of expectations for the future. Looking forward to being admitted to the university of your choice and coming to a big city full of traffic. However, the college entrance examination is only the beginning of a wonderful life, and there are still a series of tests waiting for you who are full of spirits. May you and I do our best in the future without complaint or regret! May you and I have the courage to climb one mountain after another!

Come on for the college entrance examination! All as you wish!

#zhang zhehan #zhang sanjian #word of honor #essay #June 7 #2022 #shan he ling #the english translations are machine translated and hence prone to errors #haizhe

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atlurbanist · 2 years

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What first got me interested in urbanism?

Four main experiences made me plunge into an amateur study of urban planning and urbanism advocacy in Atlanta:

Growing up in a fairly undeveloped part of suburban Cobb County and watching the natural areas around us (former farms and patches of forest) get turned into sprawling, land-hogging subdivisions

Being an independent kid who hated getting shuttled around by my parents, wishing I could walk to stores like the kids I saw in movies and TV shows that took place in classic city settings

Visiting historic districts in Charleston & Savannah as a kid and thinking: “hey, you can walk from homes to stores and parks here instead of driving everywhere! we should build everything like this!”

Moving to the city as an adult to escape car-dependent sprawl only to realize it wasn’t as easy for pedestrians as I’d hoped, largely due to hostile drivers, and also due to streets and shopping centers that catered mostly to cars

At first I mainly wanted to know what it was about our urban environment that turned otherwise normal people into homicidal demons behind the wheel of a car, breaking down any sense of responsibility they should have to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. I feel that people are essentially good, and that environmental pressures (like car-centric design) will often be required to prompt them into morally corrupt behaviors. My research showed that, indeed, street design influences driver behavior.

But once I studied urbanism further, I realized there were also many other aspects to the way urban design affects our lives I’d never known about, including issues involving economic equity that I’d been too privileged to experience personally.

It made me want to volunteer my time towards improving the way we all think about Atlanta’s built environment. I’m still learning exactly how to do that in a productive way, and I’m very thankful to the colleagues who’ve helped to shape my knowledge of urbanism, and my goals for action.

(Top photo of Downtown Atlanta by me)

#urbanism

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yes-i-write-fanfiction · 2 years

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Transformers TTRPG

So I’ve been thinking about how it would look like if I were to create my own Transformers tabletop RPG. I know there’s already one coming out but I haven’t checked it out and just wanted to brainstorm some of my own ideas.

Ability Scores

The character sheet is very inspired by D&D. Your ability scores would be Strength, Armor, Speed, Charisma, Intelligence, Dexterity and Firepower.

Strength represents how physically strong the character is and adept in close combat. Strength would play also be used when rolling for Intimidation and Brawl.

Armor determines how tough and durable your are. You also roll your Armor when you need to pass Endurance checks, which you can take when the enemy bombs you.

Speed is pretty obvious. It determines how fast your character is. You roll your Speed when you need to Dodge and Race, which comes in handy when you’re escaping or need to catch someone.

Charisma is how well you are with people. Doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good with words, it can also be your general vibe. You can Inspire them or Deceive them.

Intelligence is how smart you are. If you need to pass a Medic, Hacking or Science check you roll your Intelligence. But just because you’ve got high intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wise!

Dexterity determines how agile and light on your feet you are. Dexterity influences your Stealth and Piloting. More dexterous characters have an easier time sneaking around enemy bases.

Firepower is just how good you are at shooting stuff and how much you know about weapons. If you have high Firepower then you are good of an Aim you have and if you can Reload quickly.

Faction

You can either play as an Autobot, a Decepticon or a neutral. Your faction influences your gameplay a lot but every time you level up (up from level 3) you have the opportunity to change your faction, though this will be a huge decision with lots of direct consequences. For example, if you defect from the Decepticons you will gain a spot on the DJD’s List and depending on how you defected you might be deemed a high priority target. If you defect from the Autobots then there’s a chance you will be targeted by the Wreckers since you might pose a security risk. But if you start out as a neutral and then chose a side the side effects might be more personal, with other neutrals now deciding that you can no longer be trusted.

Character Creation - Physical characteristics, alt mode

When creating your character you get to chose between being three sizes; minibot, normal or large. This choice mainly influences your strength, speed, durability and stealth. Be aware however that large bots receive a disadvantage in Stealth.

Then it’s your alt mode. Now, different alt modes give different advantages and disadvantages.

Fliers can of course fly and there’s actually a skill for that called Flying. But not all fliers are the same and there are some subclasses like;

Seekers are fast fliers that gain +2 bonus points in Speed and Charisma. They also gain the skill Vosian Grace that gives them an advantage in situations where they can utilize their natural charm.

Shuttles are big bots and thus gain +2 bonus points in Strength and Armor. They also have the skill Space Faring which allows them to travel in space with no penalties.

Grounders are of course those with alt modes like cars, trucks and motorcycles. They all have the skill Steady Feet which makes it so that they are given an advantage in difficult terrain. Some subclasses are;

Speeder, which gives you a +2 bonus in Speed and Dexterity. Speeders also get the skill Quick Reflexes which gives them an advantage with Initiative rolls, making it more likely for them to go first in combat.

Heavy-Duty, which gives you a +2 bonus in Strength and Armor, just like Shuttles. But Heavy-Duty bots gain the skill Grounded which makes them harder to knock down in battle and less likely to fall over.

Beast-formers come in many different shapes and sizes but they all share a skill that’s called Instinct which makes it harder to perform a sneak attack on them. Subclasses include;

Quadruped, which are those with alt modes that run on four legs. Gains +2 bonus points in Speed and Strength. Have an ability called Tracker that that allows them to follow tracks left behind by others.

Winged beast-formers have +2 bonus points in Dexterity and Strength. Gain the Flying ability thanks to this.

Aquatic beast-formers have bonus points in Intelligence and Strength. They have an ability called Great Swimmer that gives them an advantage in battle when submerged.

Monoformers are those that have forsaken their alt modes. They can’t transform but instead gain +1 in all their ability scores. Don’t gain a special ability from being monoformers though.

#transformers #ttrpg

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cazimagines · 3 years

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Some fluffy reunion smut with Schmidt? Once he returns completely safe to a completely normal Earth? 👀🤣

I'm loving all the Schmidt requests I am getting, such an underated Daniel character!

You watched on TV as the shuttle fell down, fear in all the possibilities of what could go wrong. It could burst into fire at any moment, it could land in the ground where it wasn't supposed to. Flying into space, was so dangerous and every second it felt like your heart refused to beat due to nerves.

But as you watched, a smile broke out on your place as it landed safely. He was home, finally, he was home.

You barely stayed around to watch him emerge out of the shuttle, already grabbing your car keys to go and collect the man and bring him back to the place he belonged.

Due to being his girlfriend, you were able to get past the main crowd of people gathered, but still, you had to wait hours to see him as he was instantly pulled into many interviews, asking him lots of questions. You paced around the waiting room anxiously, walking up and down just dying to see him.

You were almost ready to barge through the office and demand to see him when he finally appeared in the doorway. He had been able to get dressed into some of his simpler clothes, but the man looked worn, and an emotional wreck, but as soon as his eyes laid upon yours, they sparked up joy to see you.

"Ernst" you whispered and ran, throwing yourself into his arms. He clung to you tightly, spinning you around as he cried out in joy, after years finally being able to hold you in his arms again.

Although hundreds of other people wanted to interview him, the two of you were able to push past them all as you guided him into your car, and eventually, you were able to get on the road and start the journey back.

At first, you talked to him about all he had missed while he had been up there, things that needed to get done, things that changed in your life and he listened intently, never stopping you for a minute but eventually, an hour into the ride he started to cry.

Your heart ached for him, knowing out of all his teammates, only him and one other had managed to survive what awful ordeal had gone up there. Though he was trying to hold himself together for you, the pain of losing those people struck him deeply and he couldn't hold back his tears any longer.

You pulled the car over and unbuckled your belt to pull him into a hug, clutching him tightly, not saying a word but just stroking his back in comfort. He cried into your shoulder for the next half an hour, tears streaking down his face but eventually, they stilled.

As he pulled away, his nose was red and he had dark eye bags but he smiled graciously at you, thanking you for letting him have that moment.

It was dusk when you finally arrived home with him, and he had to take a moment to look at his house, hardly believing he was back home, besides you. As the two of you got out of the car You went to grab your keys and open the door but he grasped your wrist. Pulling you closer to him, he hooked his arm under your legs and suddenly lifted you up, carrying you bridal style to the door.

Though it took a struggle, he was finally able to push the door open and carried you in. He didn't let you go once as he headed straight to the bedroom.

"Someone's eager" you joke as he carries you through the doorway, making him chuckle.

"I've been dreaming about this moment ever since I left. I've been gone from you for too long Schatz. It took all my strength to not jump on you the moment I laid eyes upon you"

He laid you down upon the bed, and you placed your hand upon his face, holding him near.

"Well, you have me now"

He groaned, his erection pressing up against his trousers and he knew he couldn't wait a second longer, he needed you. Now.

He pulled down your trousers and gently helped you tug your shirt off. You felt him remove his cardigan, shirt and jeans until you were both bare before each other. You both admired each other, for it being too long since last you saw each other naked.

Ernst dropped to his knees, grasping your legs to start trailing kisses all upon them. He wanted to cover every inch of your skin with his lips, to show you all his love but he ached too much to be inside of you.

When he reached the top of your legs, he leaned forward and wrapped his lips upon your breasts, instantly starting to suck them as he pushed his long fingers inside to your core, groaning as he felt the way your walls tightened around them.

Quickly he pushed them in and out of you as he buried his face in your chest. He angled his fingers in that perfect spot for you, making you buckle your hips up into him, needing to feel him deeper.

"Please Ernst" you groaned at last. Amused he pulled his lips away from your chest, licking them.

"Please what, my Schatz?"

"I need you inside me"

"You already have my fingers" he teased

"No!"

"Then what else?"

"Your cock!" you managed to gasp out, feeling an embarrassed blush appear on your cheeks. Ernst's heart however melted at the sight of you being all shy before him.

He pulled his face up to yours, pushing you into a kiss as he slotted himself between your legs. Not letting go of your lips, he pushed inside of you slowly.

He enjoyed fast sex, and often when you two were together rough and fast was how it went, but after all this time, he wanted to savour the feeling, he wanted to make it last a long time, and he wanted to go again, and again, and again until the two of you physically couldn't.

His thrusts were measured, angled to hit that sweet spot inside of you, and pushed into you fully each time. His mouth trailed sweet kisses all over you while his hand twisted your clit, sending shock waves of pleasure through you.

He loved hearing you moan and whimper under him, knowing it was all because of the skilful way he played with you, and he tried to draw out as many orgasms as he could out of you before he came.

You felt your entrance throb as you came, and then again and then again until you couldn't count anymore. He groaned loudly as he came inside of you, coating you with lots of cum, but not long after he came he picked up his thrusts again, determined to fill you up again with his seed. All you knew was the feeling of your husband inside of you, his fingers upon you, his kisses on your skin, treating you as the most precious thing in the world.

Cazzy's 900 followers celebration

#ernst schmidt #ernst schmidt smut #ernst schmidt x reader #the cloverfield paradox #daniel bruhel #daniel bruehl #daniel bruhl #daniel brühl

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endlinetheredeath · 3 years

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Arrested

“KEZEKET A LEVEGŐBE!”(Hands in the air!) came a strained raspy voice trough a loudspeaker

I was squinting hard as my eyes adjusted to the harsh light, my right arm still blocking a large portion of it. Nak was looking much worse, his eyes closed, shut tight, both his upper arms blocking as much light as possible, his face contorted in a painful grimace. His eyes likely much more light sensitive than mine trading range for better night vision, evolution in this instance was a bitch to him, the police floodlights must have almost blinded him.

Before i could process what the voice even said i heard a bunch of feet quickly shuffle towards us and in the next moment both of us were tackled to the ground. The team of officers quickly cuffed us, pulled us back to our feet and stuffed us in the patrol cars that were just behind the lights.

**************

Time passed and minutes became hours, on the bridge Kiela was getting more and more nervous, pacing back and forth.

“Where IS he, he should have been back long ago...”

The place where Nak had landed on Earth was behind the planets moon at this point as well as they themselves were laying low in orbit of the next planet in the system that they now knew was called Mars and didn’t want to risk discovery just yet, so for now they were blind to what was happening on Earth.

“Try hailing the captain again!” she ordered one of her subordinates

A couple quick clicks could be heard and then...

“Captain this is the Terkwrat, do you copy...”

“... “The line remained silent, the comms officer tried again...

“Captain Nakqr’ this is the Terkwrat, DO you copy?...”

“... “The result was again, the same.

Another 10 minutes pass, the ships scopes all trained on the spot where the shuttle landed on Earth behind the moon, all waiting for the big rock to move so they could finally see. The minutes dragged ever so slowly as the crew nervously waited, then they started to see flashing blue and red lights and the shuttle illuminated by dozens of large harsh white lights. Around the craft they were able to see a small army of people scrambling everywhere... they knew immediately, things have gone terribly wrong in the past couple hours.

**************

The cops took us to the nearest police station in separate cars and now i was sitting in an interrogation room, alone and nervous. One of the walls had a huge one-way mirror, I’m sure they are watching me, either waiting for the right moment to burst in to intimidate me the most or are currently trying to get Nak to talk or worse.

“Shit...” i said under my breath. I shifted in the chair lookin around, nervously rubbing my chin.

Out of nowhere the door to the room almost exploded, a detective stood in the doorway. He sighed angrily and stepped into the room. I looked up at him my eyes narrowed slightly my face became serious and I could feel my nervousness pulling back deep within my body. I watched as the detective made his way to the table that i was seated at and sat before me.

“Hol van..”(Where is..) I was cut off by him

“NEM te vagy aki itt a kérdéseket felteszi...”(You are NOT the one who is asking the questions here) he pointed a finger at me “TE szépen válaszolni fogsz minden kérdésre amit felteszek és HA kielégítőnek találom a válaszaid akkor TALÁN nem mész a bíróság elé hazaárulásért...”(YOU will answer my every question that i ask and IF i find your answers satisfactory then MAYBE you wont be put in front of a court for treason...)

“M M MI!? Hazaárulás? Mi a faszt csináltam én, hogy hazaárulással vádol!?”(Wha Wha What?! Treason? What the fuck did i do that you are accusing me with treason.)

“Állami titkokat árultál el ismeretlen erőknek amivel aláástad az ország de talán a bolygó biztonságát.”(You have disclosed state secrets whereby you undermined the security of the country or maybe even the planet.)

“MILYEN ÁLLAMI TITKOKAT, semmilyen titkokról sem tudok. Egy kicseszett szerelő és hobbi pilóta vagyok az isten szerelmére.”(WHAT STATE SECRETS, i don’t know of any secrets. For god’s sake I’m an F-ing mechanic and a hobby pilot.) I sighed “Ok nézze, igen beszélgettünk jó pár dologról, DE semmi olyat nem tudok s ezáltal semmi olyan ‘érzékenyet’ nem tudok elfecsegni ami ne lenne könnyedén elérhető az interneten, csak kérdezze mag Nakot.”(Ok look, yes we have talked about quite a few things, BUT i don’t know anything that isn’t easily available on the internet therefor i can’t divulge anything that’s ‘sensitive’, just ask Nak.)

The detective looked me over with a cold gaze as i was on my tirade then just said...

“Tehát Nak a neve...” (So it’s name is Nak...) he leaned back in his chair.

I blinked a couple times and lifted my head a little in confusion before saying

“Várjunk csak egy kicsit ... még nem beszéltek vele?”(Wait hold up... you haven’t talked to him yet?

Just as I finished the sentence the door to the interrogation room opened again but this time the figure that stood in the door was less angry and more worried.

“Nyomozó ennek itt és most vége. Tamást most azonnal engedje el az űrlénnyel együtt.”(Detective this ends right here right now. You will release Thomas and the alien this instant.)

“De kapitány...”(But captain...) The police captain held up his hand sharply silencing the detective.

“Semmi de, új fejlemények történtek és ezáltal ez a letartóztatás sosem történt meg, értette!?”(NO buts, new developments happened and thus this arrest never happened, understand?!)

I was led out of the room and into the lobby of the station where I got back my stuff. I stood there dumbfounded to what just happened. After a few minutes Nak was led into the lobby as well, when i saw him i saw that his left shoulder was bandaged and his left upper arm was held up by sling.

“Well this was a first ...” he said as he walked up to me with an officer in tow.

“Wait you speak English?!” said the woman as they came to a halt in front of me. Nak turned to her and sighed.

“Well yes i do speak English with the help of a translator, but you didn’t bother to find that out in the last ... how many hours?”

“ 13 ...We were brought in roughly 13 hours ago ...” I answered his frustrated question. “What happed to you...”

“Well when they tackled us to the ground i hit some rock and felt my arm go limp, turns out my shoulder got dislocated. Don’t worry i should be back to normal in no time...” he said turning away from the officer and back to me with a smile on his face. I smiled and shook my head a little.

“Do you know why they let us go?” he asked. I opened my mouth to answer him but before i could the doors of the station were thrown open and a big group of the ships crew flooded inside led by Kiela and followed by a bunch of human diplomats as well as the minister of defense.

“There you two are. By the Gods, are you ok captain?!” she said as she marched up.

Turns out once the crew realized what happened they scrambled together a diplomatic team mostly consisting of the department heads on the ship and contacted the Hungarian government. They got us out, but by doing that they basically announced to the whole planet that yes in fact humanity is not alone in the universe, not by a longshot. Now Humanity knew that not just aliens existed but that there is an intergalactic federation.

Yeah...things are going to get interesting ... i hope we don’t F it up.

#alien #space #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #sci fi

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nadisabug · 3 years

Text

Plus One

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x reader

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Warnings: cursing

Word Count: 3.1 k

Summary: You would do anything for Tooru, but is he asking too much when he asks you to be his plus one to his sister’s wedding?

A/N: Thank you to my lovely betas @luvnami and @snoozless !!!!! This is for the HQ Hangout Net’s Spring Formal Event! Everyone check out the other amazing works everyone else did @hqhangout !!!

This was too much.

You felt like imploding.

The pressure in your head was just too much to bear; tears welled at your eyes and a solid lump was forming in your throat. This was just too much.

However, you kept up your facade. You were still smiling, eyes dry, looking up at Tooru.

And he was smiling down at you.

“Well?” He asked again.

There were a lot of things you could do. You were talented, not that you recognized it yourself. But you were strong, you could do anything you set your mind to. You could say ‘no’ and stand up for yourself. You have done it before.

Like when that chump from your class asked you for your homework. Or like when he then asked you out on a date. Or like when he had asked to put his name on a project that he had done now work for.

You could say no.

You should say no.

So why didn’t you?

-------------------------

“Hajime, I am going to die,” you groaned into the phone. Tooru had just dropped you off at your house. You called your best friend as soon as you could, still reeling from the life-changing conversation.

“Well, I mean, what did you say?” His voice was level and calm like always, even though you were in hysterics.

“I don’t have a dress,” you sighed.

“Y/n, that’s basically a yes.”

“I am aware!”

“What did he say?”

You fell silent.

“Y/n, what did he say?”

You mumbled your response, pressing your mouth to the end of the phone.

“Well I for one can’t fix that. You’re screwed,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Don’t say that Hajime! You’re supposed to make me feel better!”

“He wants to go dress shopping with you, on top of being his date to his sister’s wedding, you’re doomed. I'm sorry that’s just how it is.”

“Hajime!”

“What, what am I supposed to say? I want to be optimistic but this is kinda the worst it can get. Especially since you’ve been in love with him sin-”

“I am not in love with him!”

Hajime didn’t respond. You sighed.

“Fine I am, but how does saying it help anything?”

“I’m just trying to get a better sense of your situation.”

“Oh really? It sounds like you’re trying to rub it in.”

“You know I would never,” Hajime sighed.

“Yeah, you’re a good friend,” you paused. “A really good friend, the best friend. How long have we been friends? Quite some time right, I was thinking-”

“I am not coming with you and that is final.”

“Please, Hajime, I’m begging you.”

“Well beg someone else, Y/n, because I am not third wheeling.”

“Hajime, it won’t be third wheeling!”

“Yes it will, it’s a no and that’s final!” He paused for a moment. “Sorry, Y/n, but I just can’t. It’s already too much having to play therapist to you both talking about each other.”

“Oh shove off,” you rolled your eyes. “He does not like me.”

“Whatever,” Hajime sighed.

“He does not. If he did, why wouldn’t he just ask me to be his date like a normal person?”

“Really? This is Shittykawa we’re talking about.”

“Okay true, but still. He had plenty of chances to date me back in high school and he never did.”

“You never made a move either,” Hajime noted.

You didn’t respond to that.

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

You had to think about that for a minute. It had been years since you graduated high school, back when you saw him on a daily basis. You guys still talked all the time, but you really didn’t see him that often.

“The night that he came to my house to tell me goodbye. The night before he left.”

Hajime hummed. He knew all about that night, you had called him as soon as you had gone back inside. It felt like he had something else to say, but instead he changed the subject.

“When are you guys going?”

“About that…”

“Oh no…”

“He’s waiting outside for me right now.”

“Right now? What are you doing talking to me then?”

“I said I had to do a few things then I’d be out. It’s fine.”

“Well you better get going. We’ve been talking for a while.”

“Please come with me?”

“Ahaha, no. Bye.”

“Wait don’t hang-”

You were greeted by the click of the receiver. Great. You tossed your phone beside you and sighed. You were sprawled out on your bed, in the same position as you were when you first threw yourself onto it.

You laid there for a second, cursing your luck. Well, it wasn’t really your luck, you were the one who said yes anyways. You felt tears beginning to form in your eyes, but you shook them away. You got up and changed out of your work uniform and into better clothes for dress shopping.

------------------------------

“I am not wearing that,” you spat angrily.

“Aww, why not,” Tooru purred, sliding up to you while holding the offending dress out in front of him.

“Because I like my privates to be private, thank you very much,” you rolled your eyes and pushed him away.

The piece was a strapless, v-neck dress with a slit up the side. It also had holes in the sides, like those vintage swimsuits you saw in old magazines. It was a pretty color, but you knew you could not wear that in front of Tooru.

“Okay, fine.” Tooru put the dress away. You knew he only plucked it out to tease you; he didn’t actually think you were going to wear it.

“Why do you need a date again?” You asked while perusing the dresses.

“Because,” he sighed. “I begged my sister to allow me a plus one and she finally granted my wish so I can’t show up alone.”

“But she knows me. She won’t believe that we’re dating,” you sighed.

“Well…”

“What?” You whirled on Tooru.

“I already told her that I asked you out… and you said yes.”

Your jaw dropped. What were you supposed to say? Tooru had that look on his face, the one where he knew he had done something wrong but was trying to weasel out of it. It never worked on Hajime, but on you… you could never resist his honeyed eyes.

“What did she say?”

“Finally.”

You laughed, genuinely. As if anyone would think that you two would get together. Tooru was just… out of your reach.

“What? Is it that ridiculous that we could be dating? I’m hurt,” Tooru pouted.

“Yes it is, as if you would ever date me,” you answered honestly, knowing in your heart he could never love you.

“And why is that?” He asked. You missed the look in his eyes as you pulled out another dress.

“Because,” you shrugged. “You only see me as a friend, a little sister if I may be so bold. Now what about this dress?”

“But what if I didn’t,” Tooru smirked and leaned on the dress rack.

You rolled your eyes.

“Then I’d eat this dress. Simple. Now come on, what about this one?”

“Let’s try it on.” He smiled. “Then we’ll see.”

----------------------------

“I’m gonna throw up,” you groaned. Tooru just rolled his eyes at you.

“No you’re not, you’ve seen my family a thousand times, this is no different.”

“Yes it is!” You hissed. “Back then I was a little sister, now I’m a fake girlfriend.”

“Well, they don’t know about the fake part, so can you keep quiet about that?”

“Whatever,” you sighed. You watched as he knocked on the familiar door, an unfamiliar sensation in your gut.

You heard clamoring behind the door and suddenly you were swept up in Mrs. Oikawa’s arms.

“Aw, Y/n, I am so, so, so happy you are here, and especially why!” She pulled back and you saw tears glistening in her eyes. “I always knew you and ‘ru would get together, I am just sad it took this long!”

A sharp pain ripped through you. “Yeah, of course.” You forced a smile.

“And ‘ru, how dare you take so long to confess!” She whirled on Tooru and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“Ah, sorry Mom.” He shrugged it off, scratching the back of his neck with his other hand. “I guess I am just slow to the uptake.”

“Yes.” Mrs. Oikawa nodded solemnly. “It was obvious you both liked each other way back in high school.”

“It was?” You stammered.

“Yes, of course, the way you guys used to look at each other.” She smirked. “And still do.”

“Yeah,” Tooru said softly when you did not say anything.

“Now let's get you two inside, we have a lot to do!”

You were then rushed inside and whirled around as preparations fell into place. The rehearsal dinner flew by quickly. You didn’t have many responsibilities as a guest, so you spent your time talking to members of Tooru’s family. Which was… awkward, to say the least. You already knew all of them (you found out that this was supposed to be a very small family event) so it was awkward reintroducing yourself as Tooru’s girlfriend. It was harder because technically you weren’t supposed to be here.

You found Tooru in a gap in his busy schedule and pulled him to the side.

“Why didn’t you tell me this is a family affair?” You seethed.

Tooru smiled shyly. “That’s why it was such a big deal that Sis allowed me a plus one, that’s why I just had to take you.”

“I hate you,” you spat angrily, but Tooru just smiled. “Do you know how many people asked me if we were engaged?” He leaned down and kissed your forehead.

“Now is that anyway to talk to your fiance?”

Your jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”

“Just kidding, love. Don’t worry, we’re not engaged yet.”

“I hope your family gives you so much shit when we ‘break up.’”

Tooru frowned. “About that I-”

“Tooru? Where the actual fuck are you?” Tooru’s sister nearly screamed.

“You better go,” you sighed.

“Yeah.” Tooru frowned.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it when his sister screamed for him again.

--------------------

The wedding was beautiful. It was a small affair at a local meadow, with blooming wild flowers surrounding the guests. It was ethereal, overflowing with the spirit of spring. You sat alone next to family, as Tooru was a part of the wedding procession. After the ceremony, the reception took place at a nearby banquet hall. You were shuttled off into a separate car from Tooru, but you didn’t mind. You had made friends with one of his cousins and you had been talking with him to pass the time.

“So when did you and Tooru meet?”

“Back in high school,” you responded easily, recalling the memory fondly. “He came up to me randomly in class and demanded that I be the volleyball club’s manager. I had said no, of course, until his friend had asked me a bit nicer.”

“Sounds just like him,” he scoffed. “Only concerned with himself.”

“Yeah,” you agreed absentmindedly.

“So what made you date him? I mean, no offense, he’s my cousin and all, but why do you even like him?”

You paused for this question. What did you like about Tooru?

“I… well… everything. I didn’t like him at first, I actually hated him. He was so arrogant and cocky and rude, but after a while I realized that there was so much more to him. He’s dedicated and strong. Tooru puts on this facade for other people so that he can be strong for them, too. He understands people and helps his teammates, he treats them like family. He’s so receptive and intuitive, you really can’t hide anything from him. He’s just… so perfect, yet so layered. He is so raw and human and I love that about him. I love that side of him, the one no one ever sees. So I guess I just love everything about him.”

“Wow,” he laughed. “Wasn't expecting that.”

“Sorry.” You shrunk in on yourself.

“No it’s fine, I was just gonna say I’ll shoot my shot if it doesn’t work out with him, but it turns out you really like him.”

“Oh,” was the only thing you could say.

“Can I have a pity dance?” He extended his arm towards you.

You smiled. “Sure.”

He led you out onto the dance floor and swept you up into his arms. You followed his lead, not really sure how to dance, but he assured you that you could just follow him.

“You know, you look amazing in that dress.”

“Ah, thank you,” you smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Thank you, I can clean-”

A person behind you cleared their throat. You turned to see Tooru. If you were anyone else, you would have thought he looked pleasant, with the soft smile on his face. But you weren’t just anyone else. So you knew that there was a rage in Tooru’s eyes.

“May I speak to Y/n?”

“Actually, we’re in the middle of a dance so-”

“That wasn’t a question,” Tooru smiled, closing his eyes and tilting his head.

“Tooru,” you hissed. “Just let us finish the-”

Instead Tooru grabbed your arm and tugged you away from his cousin. The cousin scoffed and threw his arms up.

“Calm the fuck down, Tooru. She’s all yours.”

The cousin walked off, and right after you whipped around to face Tooru.

“What the actual fuck is your problem?”

Tooru looked around him and then grabbed your arm again. “Let’s talk somewhere else,” he urged. You looked around to see a commotion beginning, with you guys at the center. You bottled your rage for a moment and allowed him to lead you outside.

Once you were out of earshot of the guests, you let loose.

“Oikawa Tooru, you explain yourself right now, because that just now was not okay.”

“He was hitting on you, I heard him,” Tooru responded, his face set into a scowl.

“So? And if he was? What right have you to step in?”

“I-”

“No,” you cut him off. “You have no right. I’m not even your girlfriend!”

Something flashed in Tooru’s eyes, but you were too angry to analyze it.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Tooru hung his head.

“You should be. You’re just so obsessed with your image that you don’t want a guy to hit on your supposed girl.”

“That’s not it,” Tooru bit out, looking up to meet your gaze.

“Oh? Then what? Do you have such little faith in me that you think I would leave you for your cousin at your sister’s wedding?”

“No.”

“Then what? Then what Tooru? What in the world could drive you to do something so fucking stupid-”

“I was jealous, alright!” When you didn’t respond to him he took a deep breath. “I was jealous,” he said again, except much calmer.

“Why?” You breathed softly. The air was tight between you two, and you felt like if another person yelled it might shatter.

Tooru slumped. “Don’t make me say it.”

“No,” you shook your head. “No you don’t.”

“Yes, I-”

“No, Tooru, you don’t. You are just hurt over your girlfriend and you're reaching out for something, anything, and I will not be it so don’t you dare say it.” You felt tears welling up at your eyes but you willed them down.

“Y/n, I’m not. I actually-”

“Don’t you dare,” you warned again.

Tooru sighed. “Y/n, do you know why she broke up with me?”

You didn’t respond.

“Y/n… she broke up with me because she realized that I was in love with you.”

You blinked once. Twice. You took a deep breath and tried to process what he just said to you.

“How…” It was the only thing you could mutter, you were too taken aback.

“I was just talking about you and she asked me. She asked me if I loved you. I couldn’t lie to her any longer.”

Your heart raced in your chest and you looked into eyes, searching for any dishonesty. The sheer earnestness in his gaze made you swallow thickly around the lump in your throat.

“How long?”

Tooru sighed and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “Dunno. Been a while though.”

It fell silent.

“So what do we do now?” You asked.

“Well, will you give me a chance?”

“Pull that shit with your cousin again and it is a no.”

“Okay, okay, I said I was sorry I just didn’t like the way he was looking at you and you technically weren’t mine yet and I-”

You reached up and kissed him. It was a passionate kiss, years of pent emotion behind it. Once Tooru reciprocated, it just felt like he was smashing his face into yours, desperate to be closer. You pulled away, Tooru chasing you with his lips.

“Calm down, I’m not going anywhere,” you smiled at him, cupping his face.

“I know I just-” Tooru stopped mid sentence, but he really didn’t need to say more. You understood.

“Tooru, where the- oh.”

You tried to look behind you to see who it was, but Tooru was holding you too tightly. The best you could do was crane your neck to catch a glimpse of white. Tooru’s sister.

“About time, bro,” she laughed.

You looked up at Tooru. He had a sheepish smile on his face. The gears in your mind suddenly slotted together.

“She knew it was fake? But… then… why…”

Tooru didn’t answer, instead his face grew red and he averted his eyes.

“He wanted to take you the whole time, sweetheart. He’s just emotionally constipated so he can’t ask like a normal person.”

“I am not!” Tooru cried indignantly.

“Whatever, I need you back in there so you got five minutes with your new girlfriend before I drag you back in there. Got it?”

Tooru nodded. You heard the door close behind her and looked back up at Tooru.

“You’re lucky I like you,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“I really am.” Tooru smiled brilliantly.

Then he leaned down and stole your lips in another kiss.

Taglist: {OPEN}

@tanakas-hugs-and-kisses , @snoozless

#ahh thank you for those that filled out my tag form ily #looking at you meg <3 #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa imagine #oikawa tooru #haikyuu tooru #tw: cursing #oikawa angst #oikawa fluff #hqhangoutnet #Hqhangoutnet's SPRING FORMAL #haikyuucafe

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ramblinganthropologist · 3 years

Text

Headache Relief

Summary: Alistair Shepard’s got one hell of a headache and the medicine ain’t helping. Lucky for him, he’s got another relief option. Problem is he didn’t expect to see Garrus Vakarian involved with that. Fuck, maybe he should’ve taken a double dose after all...

---

There were times Alistair was glad to be human. This wasn’t one of them.

“Fuck…”

The expletive leaked from between his teeth as he stepped off the elevator and into his private quarters. Right then he was running on instinct, heading towards his desk and the drawer that held his only chance of functioning at a lumbering pace. At least he didn’t hit the wall as he slumped down to dig – that was a nice bonus.

The bottle of pills hidden under some paper was half full. He shook two out, swallowing them with a bit of the water he always kept on his desk for that reason. Then it was straight to his bed. The only thing he remembered to do was click off the light as he collapsed face down into his pillow.

Biotic headaches: L2s might have gotten them the worst, but everyone had to face them eventually. Consider it the cost of doing business.

Colors bloomed behind the man’s eyes as he waited and prayed for the medicine to take effect. Part of him knew his chances were slim – his headache had started on the shuttle, so he was clearly out of the full range of help. Still, even if it took the edge off, he could function in an hour or so. At that point it was all Alistair could hope for as he felt the pain pulse.

Yep… he had definitely overdone it with the biotics. Simple mission, his pale and freckled ass.

“You think Miranda would have reinforced that.” His words came out low as he muttered them into his pillow. No doubt the camera she had planted in his room would pick it up, and frankly he didn’t care. It was another point of data that was going to go on his report of things she had messed up bringing him back to life. Was it petty to have a list of complaints with the person who brought him back from the dead?

Probably, but who cared. She’d left him with a functioning uterus, she could deal with the fallout.

At least it gave him something to focus on as he lay there in the dark, begging for some relief from the little pills. Thanks to his medic training, he knew how long it would take for the medicine to absorb into his system. Experience was an even better teacher, however – his biotics would make it go even faster.

It was weird – they were the reason he was taking the medicine, but they were also the reason it worked faster to relieve the pain. Talk about a catch-22.

Alistair laid there for what felt like an eternity, pain still throbbing against his temples. The soft glow of his omni-tool told him enough time had passed that the pills should have worked. Much to his immense displeasure, he still felt the majority of the pain as he rolled over onto his side.

In times like this, there was only one other hope of relief.

Slowly, the biotic rose to a sitting position, head still pounding. He went for the small table beside his bed, digging through the contents. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, buried towards the back. It took a few seconds more, but he pulled it free into the darkness of his quarters.

“Well… at least I don’t have to clean the one in my toolbox for its intended use.” Alistair grumbled to himself as he flicked his vibrator on to make sure it had enough power. He quietly thanked the universe that it buzzed to life as he clumsily unbuckled his belt, then slid out of his pants and upper layer of boxers. At some point, his packer slipped and hit the ground, but he didn’t care. Right then, it was in the way of pulling down his inner layer of underwear.

He lay back on his pillow, naked from the waist down. Usually, he would pull his blanket over so the Illusive Man didn’t get a show, but right then his brain was overriding whatever sense of shame he had left in him. The bastard could get what he paid for as he flicked the power to a medium setting and then applied it. The vibration soon started to flood through his body as he closed his eyes and waited.

This was always the most boring part. Unlike most people, Alistair didn’t watch porn. He didn’t see anything wrong with it, mind you, he just had no interest. The one time he had tried, he had wound up trying to piece together how it had been edited during one of the more heated moments between the actors on screen. By the time he had realized he had been trying to masturbate, his vibrator had long since died and he was long beyond his occasional need to get off.

Such was the fate of one on the asexual spectrum, he supposed.

“Damn it, can’t this go any faster?”

Alistair grumbled as he flicked the setting a little higher than he normally preferred. Then he shifted positions, pressing it a little harder in the hopes that might do something. The sensation was definitely building in his stomach, but it wasn’t nearly to the point he needed.

He sighed, closing his eyes once more. This was probably the point people made something up if they had nothing to watch. He had certainly tried in the past, particularly in his teens. However, those flimsy fantasies never really held up, and more often than not faded to the blackness of the inside of his eyelids within a few seconds. Whether that was because it didn’t work or he was just really bad at constructing sexy scenarios, he didn’t know.

At least it would be able to distract him while he waited for the vibrator to do its thing…

“Come on, think. You’re surrounded by muscular men literally every day, you have to have something in there to work with.”

Of course, those people were under him now. It made it a little hard to picture anyone like them… under him. Such was the downside of being a commanding officer: anyone on ship was off limits.

…

Well, technically he WAS still considered dead by the Alliance…

“I am only considering this because I need something to focus on other than the damn ceiling.”

Alistair sighed as he did his best to try and imagine someone based on the people around him. Like always, a body slowly materialized with plenty of muscle underneath him, fully erect and ready to go. It didn’t have a face – it never did, thank God – and something about the skin seemed rather plastic-like. More importantly… they were kind of a dead fish. Even as he imagined himself lowering onto the dick, there was no reaction.

It was because he was still a virgin, wasn’t it? He knew he should’ve paid more attention to that porn, but could you blame him? He just HAD to know what kind of camera they were using to film the climax scenes, it worked so well in low light…

“Damn it, Alistair, fucking focus on the fucking…”

But it was no good – the plastic body remained lukewarm, vaguely thrusting in time with the vibrator pressed against his oft ignored clit. He was right back to where he had started, and his head still pounded. Sighing, Alistair shut off his vibrator and sat up. As soon as he did, his omni-tool began to beep.

54.

“Great. My head hurts, and I’m hypo.” He didn’t bother with fitting his packer back into his underwear. Instead, the Spectre grabbed his boxers and padded over to his emergency sugar supply. A small pile of pixie stick wrappers soon formed as he tried not to mope too much about his inability to fix his headache. At least the sugar made his lips stop feeling numb, but it wasn’t like he had to use them right then.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair and dislodging the rubber band holding it back in the process. “Guess I’ll just try to sleep it off without the added headache relief.”

That was the great thing about being on the ace side of life – no lingering horniness thanks to his inept abilities.

With another sigh, Alistair made his way back to his bed. This time, he slid under the covers and closed his eyes. His head still pounded, but in the quiet of his quarters he found it a little easier to slip into sleep.

---

“Commander…”

“Vakarian, keep on. That’s an order.”

The body beneath him was hot, almost uncomfortably so. Without skin, the surface was hard and a little rocky where plates joined together. It was a little slick too, and not just because of the lube – carapaces were a fucking slip and slide in the bedroom if you weren’t ready for the angles. It was a little uncomfortable, but with positioning - and a little flexibility - things went where they needed to go.

The turian’s eyes were cloudy with blown pupils. He was breathing hard, grasping at the sheets. His erection had long since shown itself, now buried deep. When he rubbed against it, the collision of their hips made him whimper.

“I can’t hold it much longer…”

He smirked and leaned closed to the strange neck ahead of him, lips barely ghosting against the hard skin. “Are you giving out on me, Vakarian?”

“N-no, sir…” He was panting, trying to rub. But there would be none of that. Alistair shifted his position to make sure he couldn’t find the relief. Beneath him, Garrus whimpered again, and his mandibles fluttered once more.

It was here that he took his time, carefully biting at the sensitive parts of the turian’s neck. The whimpering got so high pitched that the translator couldn’t work with it anymore, and his natural voice broke through. There was something primal about it, and even though he didn’t have full command of the words, it was enough to get him to smirk as he stopped biting and ran a carful finger between two plates.

“What was that?”

Garrus’ voice was breathy when the translator finally kicked in. “N-nothing, sir…”

His grip was iron on the sheets, and his entire body was trembling. There was the point of climax, and then there it was past it. Clearly, he was edging towards the latter. Alistair nodded as he shifted his position, lowering a bit more. Beneath him, Garrus whimpered again.

“You know what you have to say, Vakarian.”

The turian took a shaky breath, eyes so wide they reminded him of a cat. “Yes, Commander…”

Another shaky breath. “Permission to come aboard?”

It was at this point that Alistair shifted again, fully lowering himself against the turian’s sensitive member, nudging his head close to where he heard best. “Permission granted, Vakarian.”

With that, he rubbed the space between plates one last time, working a nail into right where it was the most sensitive. Beneath him, Garrus shuddered as he finally climaxed, his entire body shaking from the force. All the while, he held on, feeling the vibrations and pulse of the turian’s orgasm.

It was at this point he rolled off to protect himself from the withdrawal. The bad thing about turians was that their anatomy was all internal, regardless of gender. That meant Garrus needed to remove the condom before things got stuck and required an embarrassing visit to a doctor for removal.

“Sir… I…”

Alistair carefully removed the condom for the shaking turian, tossing it to the trash. “Can’t have you out of service, Vakarian.”

“Thank you…” Garrus’ voice was still shaky and going in and out of the translator, but his eyes were more focused. “And you, sir?”

This was the point the turian’s careful hand reached toward him, pausing. He knew better. But right then, Alistair allowed it with a nod. Cautious talons soon found his clit, already slick from a combination of the lube and his own heat.

Here it was faster. Garrus was a pro at getting him off with careful strokes that avoided the sharp side of his clipped talons. The heat was beginning to pool in Alistair’s stomach once more, but he fought back a grunt.

After all, it wouldn’t do to show that in front of his men.

---

Alistair’s eyes snapped open as he sat up. His head still ached, but it wasn’t really his focus then. A familiar sensation of heat was growing in his stomach as his consciousness slowly filtered in. Without pause, he peeled off both the blanket and his boxers. Just like he thought, he was already wet and close to the point.

Barely breathing, he reached for his vibrator and flicked it on. Garrus’ strained voice and shaking hands were still in his mind as he leaned back and let it work. Just the thought of the turian so close to orgasm and unable to do anything about it caused him to shiver, and it was at that point that it kicked into high gear.

After a few seconds, he climaxed with a shudder and a quiet squeak of a moan. Sweating a little, he turned off the vibrations and just lay there in bed, staring up at the covered ceiling. Someone – probably his sister – had stuck glow in the dark stickers to the dark fabric stretched across the skylight. It looked like Orion’s Belt to him, not that he had ever seen it in person.

…

Yeah, he was definitely trying to avoid this.

“Man, fuck me…”

He sighed. On the bright side, the orgasm had done its job – combined with the medicine, it was easier to think now, and his pounding headache had reduced itself to a dull throb that he could work with. However, now he had a new headache as he sat up to head to the shower.

Garrus’ face was still in his head as he stripped and let the hot water hit his back. Just imagining it made his hand want to wander down from its spot pressed against the wall towards his clit. But he resisted the urge as he shook his head, water flying thanks to his wet hair.

“I can’t believe I went there with him. What the hell am I thinking?”

Alistair rested his forehead against the wall, groaning. This wasn’t the first time he’d had thoughts like this, though it was the first with someone he knew. As much as he hated to admit it, something about that kind of control excited him.

Which, given he was a fucking commanding officer, was a nightmare. It wasn’t like he got off to ordering people around, though; that was business, and he took no pleasure in it. These thoughts just popped up in his private life, in the rare internet searches he did in incognito and made sure his omni-tool was blocking everything out.

“And with Garrus… fuck.”

That was probably the worst part of all as he watched the water circle the drain. Things were better with the turian since they had met up on Omega, but there was being civil and… that. Honestly, it felt awful to him as he played it over again in his mind, closing his eyes tightly.

Awful… but also awfully hot.

His free hand brushed against his thigh, fingers finding his clit. As the water poured down, he rubbed slowly, playing the memory over in his brain. His mind kept focusing on the look on Garrus’ face, on his breathy voice breaking translation. Just imagining him whimpering on the edge of climax with nowhere to go made the heat pool in his stomach. Did the real turian look and sound like that when he was so close to the edge?

“Damn it, Vakarian…”

It came out under his breath in an octave he normally couldn’t hit unless he strained at the bottom of his range. Yet at the moment, it was almost effortless as he replayed the turian underneath him, writhing and unable to do anything about it.

Well, nothing except beg anyway.

Of course, there was a downside to jacking off in the shower. Given the fact he was just standing there, the motion activated lights stopped activating, and he was suddenly in the dark. The quick loss of light was enough to snap him out of the dream and take too quick a step back.

And then on his ass he went.

“Fuck!”

Alistair’s vision swam as he winced, reaching up to turn the water off as his ass throbbed from the force of 140 pounds falling onto it. Nothing felt broken, but there was definitely going to be a bruise once he dried off. Lucky for him, nobody was looking there anyway.

“Shepard, I detected a fall. Are you experiencing hypoglycemic shock?”

EDI’s electronic voice made the whole thing worse as he finally stood, soaking wet and feeling rather stupid. He grabbed for a towel and dried off, wincing as he reached his backside. That one was going to be spectacular.

“I don’t have my omni-tool on, EDI. I’ll let you know in a second.”

A few moments later, with a happy CGM, Alistair sat gingerly at his desk. Now he had two dull throbs to keep him company, along with the reminder of just what the fuck he had been doing a few moments prior. His cheeks colored as he rubbed the towel over his wet hair, trying to block it out.

“Shepard?”

Right, EDI…

“It’s fine, EDI. I just was in there too long and I slipped.” He paused, looking out from under the towel towards the blur orb. “Er, thank you for checking on me.”

What could he say, apart from jacking off to the submissive version of his crewmate, he was a polite man.

The orb clicked off, leaving him to his brooding. Alistair groaned a little as he felt the bruise throb once more. Maybe it was the universe punishing him. Didn’t matter, still fucking hurt as he finished drying off.

“I’m probably going to have to avoid Garrus for a little bit.” He frowned. “Can’t have that happen again. It’d be too awkward…”

But then his eye went to his schedule. His stomach dropped at the sight. Thanks to his headache, he had totally forgotten that he was supposed to check the turian’s new implants to make sure everything was ok. As a matter of fact, he had an hour at best.

He could go to Chakwas for that, right? Right?

“I’m so fucked.”

The human rested his soggy forehead on the deck, mentally willing wherever his dream had come from back to whatever hell it had generated. Lucky for him, he was good at repressing things. With any luck, he wouldn’t even think about it by the time the turian got there for the implant check.

After, though? Well… he was pretty sure he was fucked. Next time he was just going to take a double dose of pain pills. After all, with that new stomach and liver he was pretty sure his body could take that kind of beating. It would be better than the other kind, to say the least.

#ramblinganthropologist's writing #Alistair Shepard #Garrus Vakarian #I've been sitting on this a while because I'm not confident writing smut #shakarian

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elen-aranel · 3 years

Text

Down from Uptown

The Engineer’s Adventures

1-1 • 1-2 • 2 • 3 • 4

For @autumnleaves1991-blog Writer Wednesday. Pairing: Captain Christopher Pike x F!Reader (no Y/N) Warnings: Canon-typical violence; off-screen deaths of (young) adults WC: 6k Tag list: this isn’t the story I said I’d tag you for but it is Captain Pike X Reader @jusvibbbin ? does this count?? I can untag you! A/N: Me: it’s a one-shot Me: oh wait I can’t leave it there here’s a sequel @autumnleaves1991-blog: here’s another amazing Writer Wednesday prompt Me: I guess it’s a series of one shots now?? Also this is super long for me having written it in one day. Not sure where all these words came from. Other writers write feelings; come to me for a healthy dose of plot. tl;dr: Elen saw the picture and thought, what if Captain Pike, but driving a speeder?

It is all his fault.

You shouldn’t even have been here in the first place: you are an engineer. Not a diplomat. Sure you had read the briefing the comms team had put together, but maybe if you’d been better at reading alien body language, they wouldn’t have got the jump on you?

Now you’re sitting in what feels like a cellar, no windows, one flickering light panel above you, leaning against the wall feeling sorry for yourself.

Still. You will admit – having checked Chris over and determined, to the best of your knowledge from your limited field medic training, that he was probably fine – that you would rather be here with him than on the Enterprise worrying, powerless.

While you wait for him to wake you take an inventory of what you have, and think back to how you had gotten into this predicament.

“Are you sure, Chris?” He likes when you call him that, even if you’re on duty, so long as you’re alone. “It’s a first contact, and not even with a society that needs help from us. There’s got to be someone better than me?”

“Of course I’m sure. The Eloma value couple bonds; it would be strange not to take you. Unless,” —he peers up at you under his eyelashes, mouth quirking slightly,—”you don’t think you’re up to it? I could bring—”

“No, I’m up to it all right.” You bristle at the obvious manipulation attempt. You may not be as confident over away missions as the crew who go on them regularly, and your minor meltdown in Earth’s past still has you nervous about how you may react if things go wrong off the ship, but the only way to overcome worries like that is to confront them. You know you can do this. “Louvier’s going to be mad, that’s all. I promised him I’d oversee the shuttle upgrades.”

“You let me handle Louvier,” he says with a small smile.

“Well if I end up on gamma for the next two weeks and you don’t see me at all, you only have yourself to blame,” you say with a shrug.

“Being the captain does have its perks, you know. I can change the duty rosters if I wish.” He grins back, blue eyes sparkling and dimples on display, knowing he’s won this one.

The first impression you get of Eloma is calm beauty. You beam down to a roof garden high on a sky-scraper, with Captain Pike at your side, and Lieutenant Spock and Ensign James from security.

The garden is gorgeous. You meet your hosts on a paved area, but there are trees and flowerbeds all around, a few little paths winding between them, and you can see three ornate stone fountains behind your hosts, the largest of which shoots a plume of water into the air as you watch. You think you’d like to sit on one of the benches with a book – you would enjoy being able to hear the sounds of traffic wafting up from below (something between hover cars and shuttles by the sound of the engines), the horns beeping, and the occasional distant peal of laughter – it would be nice to feel part of all that but also separate from it.

You don’t have too long to dwell on your surroundings, however, because the captain is stepping forward to greet your hosts.

There are two native humanoid species who collectively make up the Eloma: the Mraden who are tall, grey haired with skin shades varying from sky through to ultramarine blue, faces humanlike apart from ridges beneath each eye; and the smaller, black haired, ice-white skinned Ginera who could almost pass for human if their skin was warmer in colour and their dark eyes didn’t flash silver at certain angles. A pair of Mraden and a pair of Ginera step forward to meet you, all wearing long white robes. You wonder if this is normal dress or whether it’s ceremonial, and you resist the temptation to smooth down your red jacket. The Mraden guards standing at attention behind your hosts are dressed more like you, though; a more practical black style.

“Greetings Captain, honoured partner,”—the Mraden lady looks at you as she says this, and you nod slightly in acknowledgement—”I am Nera, first lady of Eloma. May I welcome you on behalf of the first and second couples.” She gestures to her partner first, then to the Ginera couple, who bow. “We are delighted to open contact with the esteemed united Federation of planets, contact which I trust will lead to our mutual benefit.”

“Thank you, Nera. Myself, my partner and officers are grateful for your kind hospitality.”

You try to pay attention to the formalities between Nera, the Captain, and Lakir the first man, but you aren’t a diplomat, and beyond trying to keep your expression pleasant and listen out for anyone addressing you directly, your mind wanders a little. You wonder about the vehicles you can hear. You’re on top of a tall building, possibly the tallest you’ve been on, and as you look around past the trees and flowers you can see other buildings of similar heights. You think the gravity here may be a tiny bit lower than Earth standard, but this culture really does seem to use its sky space a lot.

You’re also interested in your hosts; although your briefing said that the Mraden and Ginera were equals on the planet, all the guards are Mraden and you’ve barely heard your Genera host’s voices, never mind their names. You wonder whether they communicate telepathically, or whether first and second couples switch between the species periodically. That’s probably it, you reason, and probably the first couple is responsible for security. You turn your attention to the fountains – the middle one is in the shape of a tree, and you’re marvelling at the individually carved leaves, when Chris takes your hand.

“Still with us?” He murmurs into your ear, as you look up to see your hosts are leading everyone through the garden.

“Of course,” you reply quietly, before raising your voice a little. “It’s just so beautiful.” Nera overhears that and smiles over her shoulder, and Chris squeezes your hand, pleased.

You follow the group past the fountains and to a door you hadn’t noticed before. It appears to lead down to a stairway and some guards go through, followed by the second couple, Spock and Ensign James, the first couple, then you and the captain.

But as you approach the doorway you hear a vehicle get louder, and suddenly the guards grab you. Your combat training kicks in as you see Chris struggling – you lean back and stomp on the guard’s foot, eliciting a stream of profanities as you try to elbow him in the solar plexus. But he’s a lot larger than you and had the benefit of surprise, and his grip doesn’t loosen as someone else stuffs a cloth in front of you and you can’t help breathing in the fumes, and you try to hang on but everything goes dark.

It is all his fault.

But blame will have to wait until later.

You assess yourself – other than a mild headache, probably due to dehydration, and a slightly bruised left hip, you feel fine. And the bruising isn’t going to slow you down if you need to make a run for it.

You go through your pockets. Your pants pockets are empty, but you unzip your uniform jacket and the inner one hasn’t been found – the custom one you modified the standard jacket synthesiser program for, because you always need to carry more than the uniform designers planned on, and you didn’t want delicate tools getting damaged when you shoved a communicator or PADD into your pants pocket.

You always have some tools with you because wherever you go, whether you’re on duty or not, someone will say, “You’re an engineer, right? Can you just have a quick look at...” and you make a show of grumbling but actually part of the reason you became an engineer in the first place is that you like to get things working for people. You’re grateful today that that extends to away missions.

You’re surprised to find your communicator on the floor near you, but as you pick it up you realise why it was left: it’s damaged. It had been in your left pocket, and whatever happened to you happened to it first; the casing is all bent and when you try to raise the Enterprise, you get nothing, not even static.

Figures that this would happen again, you think as you examine your communicator, assessing the damage. The real reason you shouldn’t be taken on away missions is because of your terrible luck. This one isn’t totally fried, you discover as you pry it apart and examine the components, but while it will still function as a translator, the transmitter was crushed. The communicator will work again if you can find a compatible part, but there’s no chance of communicating with the ship, and they can’t even lock on to your signal. You pull out the broken transmitter parts and put the case back together, and as you bend the cover back into shape you hear a groan.

“Captain?” You get up and crouch by him. He is leaning against the wall of your windowless cellar, blue eyes squinting. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore, but fine. You?” He straightens, focusing on you, reaching out a hand to touch your cheek gently.

“I’m fine. A little bruised.” You lean into his touch, briefly, before sitting back down next to him.

“What happened? I remember following our hosts, then a fight, and now I’m here..?”

“Wherever here is. That’s all I remember too. I hope Spock and James are okay.” Now Chris is awake your brain is allowing itself to worry. You frown. You can’t panic again like last time.

“What’s going on in there?” Chris is looking at you, concerned.

“Just... making a decision. To be strong. It sounds silly when I say it out loud.”

He leans over and places a soft kiss on your lips, and for just a moment you forget where you are – it’s just you and him, and the special thing that you have between you. “That’s a decision we all have to make,” he says as he pulls away, thoughtful. “It becomes... less conscious. With time.”

You nod, and you take a moment to breathe. You’ve got this.

“Seems like they’ve been through our pockets,” Chris says, getting to his feet. “My communicator is gone.” He walks over to the door, which is locked. That was going to be your next project.

“I still have mine but unfortunately it won’t communicate,” you say, standing too. “The transmitter got broken at some point. The translation functions are still operational though and it has power.”

“Can you fix it?”

“I’m good, but not that good,” you say, pulling the pieces of the component out your pocket to show him.

“Ah. Any ideas? Other than waiting?”

“After I failed with the communicator I was going to try to pick the lock,” you say, heading toward the door.

“With what?”

“With this.” You pull out a tool with a hook on it which you use to lever broken components off boards when they’re too small for your fingers.

“How do you–”

Chris’s question is cut off by the door in question opening. You just have time to put your tool in your pants pocket before two Ginera appear, brandishing energy weapons. You raise your hands and back away.

“Sit down,” the lead one says, waving his weapon, and you both comply. The other, also male, steps round him and puts two bottles of water on the floor, and a plate of what looks to be food.

“I’m Captain Christopher Pike, of the United Federation of Planets. I promise if you let us go unharmed my people won’t seek punishment against you, or retribution. If not, though, they will come after us.”

The boy, and he is a boy, you realise, twenty at most, snickers. “We don’t intend to hurt you, but we’re not going to let the best chance the GLG has had to be taken seriously go just like that. Sorry.”

“The GLG?” Chris asks, voice gentle. Unthreatening.

“Ginera Liberation Group. And no, your ship knows we have you, but they’re not going to find you. We called them on your communicator, Captain, and told them we had you, and not to look. We weren’t stupid enough to call from here, either,” he adds, and a little spark of hope in you flares out. “And there are 60 million people in this city alone, they’re not going to be able to resolve the life signs of... whatever you are, among all of us.”

“And what is it that the... Ginera Liberation Group wants?”

“To wake people up. To tell the Mraden”—he spits out the word like it’s a curse—”that we won’t take being treated as second-class citizens anymore. And to give the Ginera hope – that we can take back what’s ours. We don’t need their skyscraper cities, where they force us to live in the dirt. We don’t need their language or their stupid pair bonds. We had our own society before and we can have it again.”

Chris sighs, and leans back, looking up at the boy. “Take it from someone who is old enough to be your dad: taking hostages is not the way. The Federation won’t pay a ransom for us. The Mraden won’t listen to you while you have us. But if you let me go, we can have Federation diplomats come, and—”

“We’ve had enough of diplomacy, Captain. We’re taking matters into our own hands now. Enjoy your food.” He turns abruptly and stalks out, his companion in tow.

Chris examines the food – there are four pre-packaged energy bars. He passes one to you, opening one himself. “Might as well do what the kid says.” He takes a bite, grimacing slightly.

You are not hungry, but you take a bite of yours anyway – you know you need to keep your strength up. You grimace too – the flavour is a weird combination of sweet citrus and something almost cheesy. In general you like salt and sweet but this is not it.

Still you force yourself to finish it; you both need to keep your strength up. Thankfully the drink is just water.

After you’ve finished eating Chris speaks again.

“So how about getting out of here? How do you still have that tool, anyway?”

“I have a pocket in my jacket. I have done for years. It’s reinforced so you don’t see it from the outside – as an ensign my commanding officer cared more about aesthetics than practicality – and that’s where I keep my more delicate tools.”

“Ever the engineer, huh?” Chris’s expression is fond and you smile back, warm inside despite your situation. “Come on.”

He stands, and puts his hand out for you. You grasp hold of it and pull yourself up, appreciating the contact. You go to the door, hook tool in hand, and listen at it first. When you’re sure you don’t hear anything from the other side you gingerly put the tool into the keyhole. It doesn’t shock you, which is a good start, but it still takes a few minutes to work out the structure. Chris is patient while you work, not breathing down your neck. You smile in satisfaction as the lock softly clicks open.

“Well done. I figure we sneak out of here then try to alert local law enforcement. Hopefully they can put us in touch with Nera’s people, who can get us back to the ship.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you say, stepping back to let him take the lead.

You follow him along a little corridor then up a flight of stairs, pausing when he motions you to stop. You can hear voices coming from your left and he eases the door open then gestures you to follow again. You catch a glimpse of the room your captors are in on the way past, but happily they have their back to you, looking at a display screen. Then you’re past them, to the front door. Chris opens it as carefully as he can but the last bolt is stiff and scrapes as it opens. You sense movement behind you but you’re through, slamming the door shut behind you, racing across the street and into an alleyway on the other side before they get out. You keep going behind the building opposite, and then Chris has you double back to face the street you were on. You peep round the edge of the building – your captors are standing in their doorway, the leader berating his companion, although you can’t hear what he’s saying.

You step back into the alley.

“Well, the—” Chris starts to say, but he’s interrupted by a loud bang. An explosion. People are screaming and you smell smoke, see orange light from flames.

You follow Chris back onto the street but the building you were in, small, apparently, just three stories amongst all the giant skyscrapers, is billowing flame and smoke from all its windows, on all floors. There’s a crowd of people standing, staring in disbelief, as the last window shatters, sprinkling glass over the crowd.

You turn to Chris. “We—we were—”

“I know,” he says, reaching for your hand. You take it, hearing sirens getting louder. You walk toward the building, knowing there was no way the boys could have survived. You stand at the edge of the crowd, looking at the smoke billowing out, as the authorities arrive.

First there are some Ginera on what looks like a fire appliance. They begin to set up hoses, faces grim. Then some Mraden swoop down in a vehicle painted white with a green logo on it. The crowd, who you notice is made up mostly of Ginera, back away slightly. Chris tows you forward, toward the Mraden who are wearing the same uniform as the guards were in the garden, who knows how long ago. They’re not the same people; their skin tones are both quite pale, but to your horror as soon as they see you they raise their weapons and fire.

You’re running again, keeping up with Chris who leads you straight into the smoke and through, round the corner of the block, down the street, into an alley, out onto another street, into yet another alley, until he’s certain you’re not being followed.

You breathe heavily, holding your hip – you were able to run, and could again, but it hurts.

“That was... unexpected,” Chris says, deadpan, and suddenly you find you have your arms around him, holding tight.

“Too close for comfort,” you say, pulling away a little, as he pats your back.

“I really did think this mission was going to be normal,” he shrugs a little as you step away. “Definitely not worse than last time.”

“I mean I know in theory that away missions are dangerous, but I—I didn’t expect someone I thought was going to help us to shoot.”

“Yeah.” He shakes his head. “Seems like we were supposed to die in that fire...” he frowns as you both try to make sense of what just happened.

“What if it’s all a trick?” You muse aloud. “What if the Mraden are the ones who want us to die? Then they can blame the Ginera and crack down on them even further. And all they had to do was manipulate some kids...?”

Chris’s blue eyes are serious. “You’re right. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. We need to contact the ship. But we can’t trust anyone, and we need to get away from here.” He eyes you speculatively. “It’s an old-fashioned term, so I hope you’ve heard it before, but how do you feel about grand theft auto?”

“It’s called a speeder,” you say, frowning at the display. It hadn’t taken you long to find and break into a suitable vehicle. It was small, rust coloured and nondescript – not shiny and new, but not banged up either. You popped the doors up and open with ease; not that lock picking was anything you’d tried before today, not really, but you may have broken into a shuttle or two during your academy days.

Chris had got in on the drivers side, leaving you to puzzle out the on-board computer with the help of your communicator.

“I’ve hacked into the admin menu and changed the transceiver code; we need to use it to change lanes and stuff – to move up and down.” You scroll though the options in front of you, displaying in English now, rather than the the native Eloma language. Maybe the native Mraden language, you think wryly, as you find a setting which taps into the city’s store directory.

“There’s a hardware store in a block a couple of miles east of here. I know we can’t trust anyone but I think we may have to try. As far as I can tell it’s quite low down – only on the second level. I think it’s more likely to be Ginera than Mraden.”

Chris pauses from where he’s examining the controls. “We may be better off with the Ginera. I’m willing to bet our captors were a fringe group. I’m sure a lot of the Ginera agree with their goals, but probably not their means. They may be less inclined to report us to the authorities.” He nods. “All right. Strap in. Let’s get this show on the road,” he says, as he presses the ignition.

You look out the windshield at the street around you as Chris gets the speeder moving; with all your running away earlier you hadn’t paid attention to your surroundings beyond wondering whether you could be seen. It’s grey, down here. Drab, even with all the colourful advertising signs. There’s a layer of grime, something dirty in the atmosphere.

You stare out the window as you drive, keeping an eye out for law enforcement, but you don’t see any. As you get further east the traffic gets a little lighter. You eye Chris sidelong; he seems relaxed as he navigates the unfamiliar city.

“Time to go up,” he says, pressing a control and pulling a lever. You see a flashing indicator to see you have permission to change level, and then you’re ascending.

You’ve spent lots of time in shuttles, piloted yourself in an out of orbit more than a few times, but it feels different in a speeder. More immediate, somehow.

Up here the traffic is moving faster, and you see many different speeders, in all colours and all designs. Some of the buildings have balconies with people, mainly Ginera, sitting reading, hanging out washing – a slice of daily life.

You pass a major junction, impressed with how Chris is handling the traffic signals, and the buildings change – the road is a bit wider, and the shops have speeder parks outside.

You wish your briefing notes had mentioned the local currency, not that knowing about it would do you any good.

“I think we’re here,” Chris says, as he slows the speeder down and sets it down in front of a shop. You look at the sign – you can’t read it but it has the same logo as in the store directory. “Will you be okay to go in alone? I think I should stay here...”

“In case we need to make a fast exit? Aye Captain.” You catch his eye and grin, unplugging the communicator and climbing out of the speeder.

Louvier would love this place, you think as you look around the dark interior. The aisles are narrow and full of parts, a few of which you recognise, and most of which you don’t. There are bins with various components like resistors and capacitors, and power supplies, regulator circuitry, almost anything you could want. Except, as far as you can see, the thing you need – a transmitter.

At the back of the store, sitting behind a counter, is an older Ginera female, hair greying a little, screwdriver tucked behind her ear as she focuses on soldering a circuit. You wait for her to put the iron down.

“Excuse me? I’m wondering if you can help.” She looks up and her eyes widen – she can’t see aliens too often, you think.

“You—” she frowns, shakes her head. “You’re from that starship. But the news net said you were dead. Murdered by those GLG kids.”

“You, um... can’t believe everything you see on the net?”

“They said that the legislature was going to be recalled. That your people are going to come and punish us.”

“That’s—that’s not who we are, at all. Even if some kids had killed us the Federation would never retaliate like that. They would try to find us, if they thought we were alive, and it might complicate negotiations between our peoples but there would be no punishment. But... how many did they say died?”

“The two of you who were abducted from the first couple’s garden.”

Spock and James were safe. The fist bit of good news you’d had today.

“I really need to call my ship, let them know that we’re alive. But my communicator is broken. Do you have a micro transmitter? Something like this?”

You lean down over the low counter to show her your broken component.

“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “Nothing I’ve got here would be able to take the power you’d need for orbital communications. We don’t need things like that down here.”

Your shoulders slump. “Thanks anyway,” you say, straightening up.

“Wait. My cousin works in a shop at the shipyards by the spaceport. He’ll have what you need.” She rummages under the counter and produces a business card. “That will show you the way. His name is Jima. Tell him Asba sent you, he’ll give it to you for free.”

“Thank you, so much,” you say, taking the card and putting it in your pocket. “You don’t know how grateful I am, truly.”

“You’re welcome, love.” She turns her soldering iron on again, and smiles at you before getting back to work. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“So am I,” you say, as you turn to leave the shop.

“I have good news and bad news,” you say, as you plug the communicator back into the speeder and put the card into a slot that’s clearly designed for such things: a route shows up on the screen.

“Bad news first,” Chris says with a wry smile, easing the speeder back into traffic. “Although I can guess what it is considering we’re not calling for a beam out right now.”

“ I should have said great, good, bad and worse. You’re right about the bad news – she didn’t have the part. The worse news is that she thinks we’re dead and the Federation is going to come and get revenge on the planet.”

“The Federation will what?” Chris almost swerves into another speeder as he takes the turn late, narrowly missing and causing the other speeder to honk its horn angrily. “Sorry about that,” he adds, a little sheepish.

“My fault for not warning you before dropping bombs. But the good news is Asba in the shop gave us the route you’re following to the shop where her cousin works near the spaceport. And the great news is that we were the only ones captured – Spock and James should be fine.”

“Oh thank god,” he says, fervent.

You access the speeder’s admin menu again as he drives and change the transceiver code again, mainly for something to do, but partly in case the driver of the speeder you nearly hit decides to call the authorities. Then you review your route. The shop you’re going to is several levels higher than you are now; you hope your speeder won’t stick out too much up there.

There are plenty of new things to see out the window, though. As you get higher the buildings are cleaner, windows larger. The shops you see have more elaborate displays with fancier goods, there are more Mraden around, and, as the light begins to turn golden, you pass your first park, full of Mraden children playing.

“The GLG had a point,” you say, almost to yourself.

“In what way?”

“The higher you get, the nicer it is, and the more Madren I’m seeing. Obviously their methods are wrong but... I kind of get it.”

“When we get out of here, I’m going to tell the Federation negotiators that we shouldn’t agree to anything without conditions of the Ginera being discussed. It feels a little like letting the bad guys get what they want in a way, but you can’t make an entire culture suffer because a couple of kids make a stupid choice.”

“And they were probably manipulated, too. That doesn’t excuse them, but—” you lock eyes with a Mraden enforcer as you pass a junction. She recognises you, even through the glass, and mutters into a communicator of some kind.

”But?”

“We’ve been spotted. Turn left! Now!”

Chris makes the turn, speeding up as he also changes up a level. He weaves in and out of traffic, trying to shake your tail, while you hold on for dear life, glad that you strapped in.

“Relax,” he says, as he takes another alarming turn, flying away from another chorus of horns. “My first assignment in Starfleet was as a test pilot.”

“That’s... um... good to know,” you say, weakly, as he brings you up another level and slows sharply. He takes the next turn at a much more sedate pace, before spotting an empty lane in front of you and speeding up again.

“Are we nearly there yet?” You ask, getting a laugh.

“Actually we are.” As you look around you realise you’re on the edge of the industrial district. Ahead you can just see some star ships, a large freighter and shuttles flying around it. “And hopefully we lost them.”

You reset the transceiver code for the third time, back to its factory default, as Chris makes a right between two tall buildings. You switch the transceiver off completely before he makes two more turns; hopefully it’s owner will be able to pick up the signal when it came on again and find it.

“I’ll come too this time.” Chris says, opening his door.

“Thank you for not crashing,” you say as you exit the speeder.

“Any time,” he says, and you both laugh as you enter the shop.

Where the last shop was cramped, this one is spacious. You recognise a lot more components here; they’re not Federation but they’re ship components and you understand what they do.

You and Chris find the small bin with the piece you need pretty quickly, but it’s locked, and you look around for help. You feel eyes on your back and you turn to see a Ginera male looking at you curiously.

“Excuse me,” you say, tone polite and not too eager, “do you know Jima? We’re looking for him.”

“I’m Jima,” he says, stepping closer. Chris puts his hand on your back; for your sake or his you can’t say.

“Asba sent us. She said you could help me get a component to fix my communicator?”

“Is this what you need?” He indicates the bin you were looking at. He pitches his voice quiet and you match it.

“Yes. This is the one I need.”

He unlocks the bin, takes a couple of transmitters out, and beckons you to follow, keeping an eye on the only other customer, a Mraden male. You pass between the aisles to the edge of the store, quietly following his lead, and go through a doorway.

“Asba called me, said you’d be coming. She also said to keep you out of sight. You should be safe here, to fix your tech. Call me if you need anything.” He steps back through the doorway as you hear some other customers enter the shop.

You put that out of mind though, as you hand Chris the communicator while you get your tools out. You can feel tension radiating off him as you take it back but you ignore that too. This is fixing things. It’s what you do. You open the cover and slot the component in, bending a couple of pins to fit and adjusting the power output to compensate for the non standard part.

“They were seen in this area. The speeder they stole is just out here.” Even though you’re concentrating, you can’t shut off your ears entirely. The people you thought were customers when they entered? Law enforcement.

You shut the cover again and hand it back to Chris.

“Didn’t I see them with you, Jima? They must be in the overflow storage.”

You hear loud footsteps as Chris says, “Pike to Enterprise! Get us out of here now!”

He reaches for your hand catching hold as the Mraden enforcement officers come through the door, and the gold light takes you, leaving them staring.

You thought you were glad to get back to Enterprise after you were on Earth. But that was nothing to how you feel now. You keep it together, however, in front of Number One, Spock, and the transporter technician.

“They said you were dead,”Number One says in greeting. “They showed us the burning building. They showed us your burnt communicator with the power cell removed. They said that was the only thing that survived.”

“What’s the quote? ‘The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated’?” Pike shrugs, giving her a half smile.

“ ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration.’ I’m glad you’re okay, Chris, but don’t do that to me again. At least not for another month.”

You shower in your own quarters, having got your bruise treated in sickbay, trying to calm down. Away missions are still a lot. Chris told you to take twenty four before reporting for duty again, and you will, but you get a report written first – you need to make sure that Jima and Asba are safe, and that the ship sends some compensation to the person whose speeder you stole. That done, you check with the computer, change into civvies and join Chris in his quarters.

“Hey,” he says as you walk in, standing from where he was sitting by the window and drawing you into a hug, then a soft kiss. You bring a hand up to his face, running you fingers over the stubble that’s there after a very long day, and kiss him back, heated, your lips moving across his, his tongue licking into your mouth. You pull apart, staring up into his blue eyes.

“You were right,” he says, drawing you across the room to sit next to him on the couch. “There was a Mraden plot. Nera and Lakir have resigned, although they claim they didn’t know what was going on, and Tura and Sama, the Ginera second couple, have taken power until they can hold new elections. It’s going to be a tough road for Eloma, if they’re going to properly confront their problems, but the Federation will help.”

“I’m glad,” you say, leaning into him, enjoying how safe you feel with his arm around you. “I—I hope those boys’ sacrifice turns out to be worth it.”

“Yeah,” he says, kissing your head, and you sit in silence for few minutes.

“Dinner?” He asks eventually.

“Yes if we can have your chilli again. I think we’ve earned it.”

“Oh you definitely did,” he replies, standing to go over to the synthesiser.

“Lieutenant?” It’s two days later and you’re on your way to Engineering from the mess hall. You turn in the corridor, to see Number One standing there, an amused expression on her face.

“Commander?”

“Next time he asks you to go on an away mission, just say no.”

#christopher pike #christopher pike x reader #christopher pike x you #Captain Pike #writings of the girl from outer space #fanfic #fanfiction #star trek discovery #star trek strange new worlds #writer wednesday #The Engineer's Adventures

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