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honeyedmiller · 9 months

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Forbidden Fruit | Joel Miller

pairing: dbf!joel miller x f!reader

warnings: dbf!Joel, age gap (reader is 26, Joel is in his late 40s), no-outbreak!Joel, smut with literally barely any plot (f oral receiving, fingering, squirting, m oral receiving, grinding, [sorta] unprotected piv), pet names, cursing, no use of y/n. 18+! minors do not interact!

word count: 5.8k

synopsis: you return back home from college after graduating with your Master’s degree, and Joel Miller is surprised to see how much you’ve really grown up.

ik the coming back from college trope is so overdone for dbf but I’m sorry I can’t help it. this was also not revised. sorry for any mistakes.

Joel Miller.

Brooding. Stern. Not much of a talker. Joel Miller was more of an observer. And boy, did Joel Miller notice how much you’ve grown.

Joel was your dad’s best buddy. You know, the one where they’d throw barbecues together, invite each other over to watch their favorite sports teams, go on fishing trips together, the works. They’ve been best friends since your dad first moved into the neighborhood. You were twelve then, and Joel loved that his daughter, Sarah, had someone around her age (you were five years older) to accompany her.

Since both of your mothers weren’t in the picture, you and Sarah bonded over that aspect of your lives. She was a sweet kid, and when Joel asked you to babysit her from time-to-time, you had no problem doing that for him.

That was years ago, though, and you’d gone off to college once again to pursue your Master’s degree. Your dad was so proud of you. Good grades, driven, responsible, good head on your shoulders—except the only irrational, illogical thought that kept crossing your mind:

Wanting Joel Miller.

You yearned for the middle-aged man. But who could blame you? He was tall, broad, strong, and not to mention, insanely handsome. Not in the typical silver fox type way, no. He was ruggedly handsome, with a seemingly permanent frown when he was around you, dark brown eyes that could get you to confess your sins, tan skin that glistened deliciously in the sun, a strong nose that was carved out by the Greek gods, dark and thick curls, greying patches of stubble, and a Southern drawl that could drop you to your knees in an instant.

Your yearning for him had always been on the back burner, but you’d always thought of him to be a handsome man. Someone nice to steal glances at here and there, and snicker to your friends about how crushing on someone forbidden as him was truly exhilarating.

Something changed between you two the last time you came home, though. You’d just graduated with your Bachelor’s degree, coming back home for the summer before applying for your Master’s that same year in the fall. All the burning gazes he’d offer your way went unnoticed at first, until you caught him staring one time and he didn’t even bother to look away. He kept his needy eyes locked on you, running over your body fully before snapping his eyes back up to yours. Then it went from looks, to subtle touches. His large hand on your lower back, yours wrapped around his bulging biceps, his brushing against the outside of your thighs, knees touching, so on and so forth.

Needless to say, you spent that summer with your hand between your legs countless times, whispering his name like a sinful confession when you came.

Your stomach twisted when your dad pulled up to your neighborhood. You gazed at all of the cookie-cutter houses, eyes peeled for a certain Miller brother as your house came into view. He wasn't outside, which caused a twinge of disappointment. You nearly rolled your eyes at yourself, because what the fuck. He's your dad's best friend, for god sake.

“So I was thinkin’,” Your dad starts, pulling his truck into the driveway of your house. “Do you want to have a party for graduating with your Master’s?” Your dad’s smile is sincere as he looks at you, and you offer him a small nod.

“Sure.” You say. You’re not big on parties since you did plenty of that in college, so you kind of wanted to settle down now and chill out. You were twenty six after all, and these days, you were much more into small kickbacks or get-togethers rather than parties. But, to your dad, a ‘party’ just meant a neighborhood barbecue mixed in with a pool day.

It was sweet that he wanted to celebrate you and your hard work, and you knew he loved to do stuff like this for you… so why the hell not?

“Perfect!” He slapped his hands against the steering wheel. “I’ll call Joel up and tell him we’re throwin’ a barbecue.”

Your cheeks flushed pink at the mention of his name, but your dad didn’t notice one bit. You clambered out of the passenger seat, helping him get your bags from the bed of his truck.

“‘Matter a’fact, I think Miller is home right now. Go ‘head and get settled in, I’ll go get Joel.” Your dad said, and you nodded. You couldn’t ignore the way your heart skipped a beat at the thought of finally seeing the man who’s been occupying your mind after two years.

You’ve definitely changed a lot within those two years, mentally and physically. You felt as if you were a bit more mature, your mind sharp and witty. You definitely had more of a ‘grown woman’ presence to you, especially in the way you dressed and carried yourself. Physically, you learned how to perfect your makeup in a sense that could literally lure anyone to you, and you’ve been working out a ton. It was noticeable, especially how plump your backside now was.

After you lugged your bags upstairs, you decided you needed a shower. You’d been on a plane all morning, so you just wanted to wash it all away. It didn’t take long for you to rinse off and wash your hair before you started rummaging through your bag to pick out something to wear. You ended up choosing a cream colored ribbed halter top with Levi jeans that made your ass look fantastic.

You knew the way you were dressing was intentional, so you might as well at least try to impress Joel just a smidge. You slicked your hair back into a neat bun, putting in your small gold chunky earrings once more and slipping on the gold bracelet your mom gave you. That was the one thing she left that you cherished, even if she wasn’t in your life anymore.

You gave yourself a once-over in your full body mirror before slightly nodding once to yourself, making your way out of the bedroom. You heard to deep chuckles coming from downstairs, and you’d recognize both from anywhere. Joel was over.

You made it to the bottom of the staircase before your dad perked up at the sight of you.

“Hey pumpkin! Hope you feel refreshed now.” He smiles, and you huff a laugh at the nickname.

“I do. Thanks dad.”

“Well well well, if it isn’t Miss Master’s Degree.” Joel chimed in, and you shifted your gaze to his. Fuck, he looked good. His hair was slightly longer and styled messily sideways, but it suited him. He wore his usual attire—plain gray shirt with dark blue jeans and his boots. He held a beer in his hand, and the neck was pointed right at you.

“Hey, Mr. Miller.” You toss him a tight-lipped smile, and he waves his hand at you.

“C’mon kid, you know it’s Joel. Being called Mr. Miller makes me feel kinda old.” He jokes, and you quirk your brow.

“Who’s to say you aren’t already?” You tease, crossing your arms over your chest. That allowed your breasts to look more voluminous, and it caught Joel’s attention for a couple of milliseconds. To an outsider, it would’ve looked totally innocent. But you knew better.

“You wound me, darlin’.” He held a hand over his chest, pretending to look hurt. You crack a small smile, wondering when the hell he got so friendly toward you. Usually, he’d have a frown on his face when he talked to you and grunts for words to match.

“So, is the party this weekend okay?” Your dad asks, moving his gaze back to you.

You nod in agreement. “It’s perfect.”

Saturday rolled around quickly, and now you were getting ready for your party. Guests would be here within the hour or so, so you sat at your vanity in your room in your plush robe after have just taken a shower. You styled your hair to a pretty blowout, and now you were working on your makeup. You were just about to apply your lip liner when your dad knocked on your door.

“Kiddo? I’m gonna run to the store to get some last minute stuff. Joel’s here if you need anything.” He says through the door. How convenient.

“Okay!” You shout back, and continue to line your lips. You heard the front door shut loudly, and a minute later, heavy footsteps came up the stairs. They stopped outside of your room, and you quirked your brow expecting Joel to just knock already.

“You can come in, Joel.” You said, shaking your head a bit. Your room door opened slowly to reveal the beautiful man, and you eyed him through your vanity mirror.

“Sorry, didn’t know if I’d be disturbin’ ya.” He shrugs, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. You clenched your legs together at the sight.

“Well, you’re not.” You shrug back, continuing to finish lining your lips.

“Well don’t you look pretty.” He says, shuffling further into your room. He’s by the end of your bed now, hand on his hip with an extended knee propped out.

“Thanks. So do you.” You tease, and his breath catches. You smirk slightly, opening a tube of your favorite nude lipstick before applying that.

“Y’know, you oughta be real proud of yourself, gettin’ your Master’s n’ whatnot.” He starts, and you halt your movements to look at him through the mirror again. You turn your body in your chair to fully face him, and his eyes roam over the loosely tied robe that clings to your body. The fact that you might not have anything underneath drives him fucking wild.

You see him eyeing you, so you stand up and saunter just before him. You stare up at him, head cocked to the side.

“Means I’m twenty thousand dollars smarter.” You say, and his gaze locks on yours. The tension is nearly unbearable, and fuck do you wish he’d just make the first move. Maybe it’s his morals that have him screaming ‘don’t do it’ in his head, and honestly, you have to give it to him. You’re his best friends daughter; someone who should be completely off-limits. Not to be messed with. Forbidden fruit, if you will.

“‘N what does that twenty thousand dollar smarter brain tell you now?” He leans down more so your faces are only inches apart.

“Tells me that you might have an attraction to me. You know, with the way you look at me, imagining me under you while you take care of me. While I say your name like a—”

“Fuck, darlin’, you don’t know what you’re gettin’ yourself into.” He snaps, and truthfully, he doesn’t either. This is dangerous territory, but you’re a grown woman and you could decide for yourself what you wanted and didn’t want.

“You know, Joel,” You purr. “You can say all you want that you don’t want this, but I see the way your eyes burn holes in my body. It’d be crazy to say yes and give in to what we both want, but it’d be even crazier if you lied and said you didn’t want it.”

You’re challenging him, and he didn’t like it. He was so used to being the one in control, and now that you had him wrapped around your finger, he was losing what little he had left.

“How much time do you think we’ll have?” He asks, looking up at the ceiling. He can’t believe he’s about to give into the temptress that you are, but like you said, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want it.

“Dad left ‘bout ten minutes ago. I’d say another thirty or so.” You shrug, and he tips your chin up so your gaze meets his. Your arousal was so strong that you felt the wetness stick to the apex of your inner thighs. It made you want to squirm.

“You sure this is somethin’ you want? Don’t think you can handle it, darlin’. Since you’re so used to those college boys.” He spits the last word, and you hum.

“Show me how a real man’s supposed to fuck me then, Joel.” You cross your arms over your chest.

“Aht aht, not so fast now. Gotta warm you up first. Take off your robe and go lay down.” He instructs, and you couldn’t believe this was happening. You’d been dying to get his hands on you. You tried your hardest to keep your composure, so you simply stepped back from him and slowly untied your robe. You let it drop to the floor and pool around your feet. You looked back up at him as you made your way to your bed, laying your head on your silk pillowcase.

“What a fuckin’ sight you are, baby. You belong in a museum.” He admires your body from above, and usually, you’d feel confident in bed with other boys looking at your body. But this was no boy. This was a real man, and Joel Miller at that. The fucking neighborhood dilf that everyone wanted to sink their claws in, but he never let them.

He knelt down on your bed between your legs, spreading your thighs further apart so your glistening heat was in perfect view of his line of sight.

He smacked his tongue against his teeth three times as his hands trailed up further to the apex of your thighs.

“Already this wet n’ needy n’ I haven’t even touched ya. How ‘bout that, hm?” Joel may’ve lost control in the teasing beforehand, but in bed, he gained it all back. Now you were the one wrapped around his finger, needy for him. You know he wanted to you to beg, but you didn’t give him that satisfaction. Not yet, at least.

He moved his thumbs up to your puffy lips, spreading them apart to get the most intimate view of your pussy. You looked down at him admiring you, and it sent a shiver down your spine. No one’s ever looked at you like that—taken their time to admire what they were about to have. Joel was slow, careful, like he cherished you and your body. Like it was sacred.

He tilted his head to the side as his eyes snapped back up to yours, like he was waiting for you to beg him. Again, you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction of something you both wanted, so you tilted your head right back.

“Not gonna use your manners or anything?” He scoffs, and you huff a laugh.

“I have a vibrator in my nightstand that can do the job just fine, Mr. Miller.” You tease, and oh, he doesn’t like that.

“You’re a fuckin’ brat, y’know that?” He shakes his head and you toss a saccharine smile his way. You’ve got him riled up, and you just needed to tip him over the edge.

“I didn’t, Mr. Miller.” Was all you said before he smacked your pussy lightly once. The action made you moan and clench around nothing.

“No you didn’t my fuckin’ ass.” He spits onto your pussy, before delving himself into your folds. You toss your head back and let out a breathy moan, his tongue already completely coated in your slick. The muscle glides over your folds easily, finds its way to your clit, and traces tight circles around it.

“Fuck, oh my god.” You whine, gripping onto your bed sheets.

“Taste fuckin’ delicious, baby.” Joel moaned against you, continuing his relentless torture with his tongue. He moved his tongue from your clit down to your entrance, licking around once before entering you. His rough hands moved up from your thighs to your breasts, fingers teasing and pulling your sensitive peaks. Your started to squirm against him, and he smacked your breast softly.

“Stay. Still.” He warns, and you moan. This man and his tongue is going to be the absolute death of you. Then, his tongue slips out of you and dares to go down even further—a place no one has been before. You choke on a gasp as his tongue circles your hole, licking over it a few times slowly before gliding all the way back up to your clit. He brings one of his hands down from your breasts to your pussy, and he separates his mouth for a second before coating his ring and middle finger with your slick before sliding them into you.

The stretch of his two fingers was so much more than your own could offer, and it felt fucking good. He looked down at you for a split second, eyes half-lidded and burning with desire. His irises were nearly black, as he watched you with your brows threaded together and jaw slack, enjoying the feeling of his fingers pumping in and out of you languidly.

“That’s it, princess.” He encouraged, before moving his mouth back onto your clit. He sucked on it softly, generous enough to give you just the right amount of pressure that you needed. His expert fingers and tongue moved in such perfect sync that you felt yourself getting close already. Joel didn’t let up, keeping his pace steady for you. He felt you clench around his fingers, and he moaned against you in encouragement.

Within seconds, the heat in your core flooded your body head to toe in release, moaning out Joel’s name ceremoniously. He removed his mouth from you but kept his fingers in you, moving them slowly. He maneuvered himself so he was hovering over you, grabbing your jaw to prop it open.

“Open your mouth.” He said, and you immediately obeyed. He spit directly into your mouth, tasting his own saliva mixed with your arousal. Heat flooded your core again as the faint feeling of his fingers started to move faster.

“Fuck, Joel–” You gasped as he sped his movements up, a dark look taking over his eyes. A sickly sweet smirk made its way onto his lips as you felt a pressure build in you again, but it felt different this time. This time, it was one like you needed to pee.

“Joel, stop, I feel like I need t–” You couldn’t even finish your sentence before that strange sensation built up so rapidly that clear liquid gushed from your core. You moaned loudly, the sensation making your whole body tingle.

Joel chuckled darkly. “Well look at that. The princess can squirt.” Before, you would’ve wanted to wipe the sickly satisfaction that was strewn on his face, but after him making you cum the way you did, you couldn’t say shit.

Your body was still trembling from the aftershocks of the orgasm, ragged breath and all. Joel started to unbuckle his belt, tugging at his pants until they were around his ankles. The confinement of his cock in his underwear was nearly painful, and he couldn’t wait to see your lips wrapped around him.

“Y’gonna watch me please myself or ya gonna help me with this… situation? Unless you don’t wanna ruin your lipstick, princess.” He gestures down to his bulge, and you nearly roll your eyes.

“Lipstick’s re-applicable, Mr. Miller.” You maneuver your weak body down to the floor and on your knees in front of him.

“What’d I tell you about calling me that?” He grabs your chin between his thumb and index finger harshly, jerking your head up to meet his gaze. He looks sexy like this, all riled up while he waits for you to make him feel good.

“Oh c’mon, Joel, you’re still the neighborhood dilf regardless if I call you that or not.” You laugh, moving your hands up to tug at the waistband of his boxers.

“Christ woman, you really test my patience y’know that?” He scoffs with a lopsided grin, shaking his head. His mind was swirling with thoughts of how grown up you were now; how mature you’ve really gotten. He was a nasty man taking what he wanted from you and you were a nasty woman for letting him. The secrecy made it all the better, and truth be told, Joel hasn’t done anything this exhilarating in a very long while.

You both came to a silent mutual agreeance that this was nothing more than a casual fling; something you both could fulfill your needs with. Which, honestly, was perfect for you. You weren’t looking for anything and you’d be damned if that thing was with your father’s best friend. This was to get the mutual pining out of the way, and for Joel to show you how a real man should fuck you.

You tugged his boxers down, freeing his painfully hard erection. Joel wasn’t small by any means—he had girth and an impressive length. He’s by far the biggest you’ve ever had, but that wasn’t stopping you from showing him how you could handle him.

His tip was dark pink and leaking pre cum, waiting to be cleaned up by your tongue. You looked up at him as he cocked an eyebrow at you, silently challenging you to go ahead and take it all.

You close your eyes for a split second before opening them again, taking his heavy cock into your hand and giving the silky flesh a few tugs. A low grown emerges from his chest, eyes closing in pure ecstasy. You decided to play nice and not tease him too much, so you leaned forward and gave his tip a few kitten licks to gather the pre cum on your tongue.

Joel inhaled a sharp breath as you licked down his whole shaft on each side, coming back up to kiss the tip. You used one hand to steady his length before putting him slowly in your mouth, inch by inch before your nose was met with the coarse curly hairs at the base of his cock. His tip hit the back of your throat, but you swallowed around him as best as you could before you had the urge to gag.

“Good god, woman— fuck.” He hissed, jaw going slack and eyes pressing closed in pleasure. You hummed against him as you raised your head back up, going back down again at a slow pace at first. You eventually found a steady rhythm, making sure to pay some mind to his balls too. He was a panting mess above you, trying so hard to keep it together but barely managing. He kept repeating your name over and over, so much so that it almost sounded like a whine. The arousal between your legs pooled up again, fast. Hearing a grown man whine for you and what you were doing for him made your eyes nearly roll to the back of your head. You’d never considered yourself a dom, but things like this really fucking turned you on.

You licked up the side of one particular protruding vein on his cock up to the slit of his tip, and he lost it.

“‘M’not gonna fuckin’ last if y’keep doin’ that.” He sighs, gripping your comforter.

“That’s the whole point.” You said, doing that move a few more times before he stilled, hips bucking up into your mouth as he spilled his cum down your throat. You swallowed every last bit of it, moving your mouth off of him with a ‘pop’. You stood up using his knees to elevate yourself, naked and no longer self conscious of being in such a state in front of him.

“We should probably cut it off here. People will be arriving soon.” You say, stepping back to pick up your robe and tie it around yourself again. You looked at yourself in the mirror, and truthfully, you looked much better than you thought you would. You just needed to fix some slightly runny eye makeup and your lipstick.

“Yeah,” Joel nods as he stands up, tucking himself back into his boxers and pulling his pants back up. He re-buckled his belt, straightening himself out before turning to you. You met his gaze through the mirror, and with dark eyes and a smug smile, he steps up behind you before putting his hands on your hips. He leans down so his mouth is level with your ear, and whispers so softly to you that it sends violent chills down your spine. “I’ll ruin every single man for you once I’m buried in that pretty cunt. That’s a promise.”

He walks away without saying another word, leaving you absolutely dumbfounded.

The party was in full swing, neighbors that you hadn’t seen in years at the function. It was nice to see and catch up with everyone, but you couldn’t ignore the heavy ache in your core. Joel’s words kept replaying in your head, and you’ve had half a mind to just drag him upstairs and have him fuck you then and there. But, life wasn’t always fair.

You spent all afternoon telling the whole neighborhood what you majored in, what kind of jobs you were looking for, moving plans, so on and so forth. You lived in a small community just outside of the city, so everyone was in everyone’s business here.

Joel kept mostly to himself for the whole party, except for the same burning gaze he always gave you when no one was watching, and the occasional touch on your lower back that would make you go rigid. He was especially fixated on your legs, which he couldn’t help but imagine being wrapped around his waist as he fucked you senseless.

Today, you wore shorts that showed off the plump curve of your ass, and a loose white linen short sleeve button down with the first couple of buttons undone. Your hot pink bikini top was peaking out from it which gave the simple outfit a small pop of color. You’d purposefully lean over to talk to people who were sitting, or bend down at the waist to get drinks from the cooler because you knew he was watching.

You kept your cool though, because that’s all you really could do at that point. You had to pretend that the older Miller brother’s face definitely wasn’t buried between your legs hours prior, or that he definitely didn’t make you squirt for the first time, or that you definitely didn’t have your lips wrapped around his cock.

By the time the party dwindled down, it was nearly midnight. You were escorting the last of the guests out with a genuine ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’, before heading back to the backyard where your dad and Joel remained.

Your dad was hammered, which in all honesty, was pretty funny. He’d rarely ever get drunk like this so you know he was going to sleep good tonight.

“Hey dad, why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. Joel and I will clean up what’s left out here.” You suggest, putting a hand on your dad’s back.

He mumbled something incoherent before smiling down at you. “Okay sweetie. You’re right. I’m gonna… gonna… yeah. Do what you said.” He nods and you stifle a laugh as he drags his feet to the glass sliding door.

“Let me help you old man.” Joel chuckles as he helps your drunken father upstairs and safely into his bedroom. You clean up the small amount of trash left, thankful that your neighbors are decent people and throw away their own messes. You find the weather around you to be still and warm—perfect for the jacuzzi. You strip yourself of your shoes, shirt and shorts, leaving you in nothing but your skimpy bikini. The bottoms were nearly swallowed by your ass, so you’re kind of grateful that your dad went upstairs to sleep off his fun day.

You settled yourself in, groaning softly as the warm water settled your bones. You closed your eyes and leaned your head back against the concrete, enjoying the peace and quiet.

That is, until the sliding glass door opened and closed again. You didn’t open your eyes, but the sound of heavy footsteps neared you. The back porch light was turned off, so the backyard was completely submerged in darkness before the jacuzzi lights turned on. A pretty, soft purple glow shone throughout the space, the jet suddenly coming on as well. Bubbles started to form, and that’s when you opened your eyes. You were surprised to see Joel stripping down to his boxers, two beers in hand.

He climbed in next to you, handing you an uncapped beer. He didn’t say a word as he settled, clinking the neck of your beer bottle with his own. You both took a swig, and you set the beer bottle down before you dissociated while looking at the purple bubbles.

“Did you have a good party?” He asked, setting his beer bottle down too.

“I did.” You nod, looking at him. Just like that, the tension was back. You were sure the arousal was a sticky mess on your bikini bottoms had you not climbed into the jacuzzi. Even the soft flesh between your thighs was drenched. The heavy ache was low in your belly, and you really wanted Joel to get rid of it.

“Please tell me you want me right now as much as I want you.” You say, and Joel was taken aback by your bluntness. Might as well just say it straight up, right? No point in beating around the bush now. Hunger flashed through his eyes, and he swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, I do.” His voice was merely a whisper above the loud bubbles.

“Good.” Was all you said before you moved your hand down to his boxers, palming his semi-hard cock through the soaked material.

“I love when a woman knows what she wants. It’s sexy.” Joel admits, and you toss him a smug smile.

“That’s because I want to see how a real man should be fucking me, Joel.” You said, and he pokes his tongue out to lick his lips.

He swiftly grabs you, pulling you on top of him. His cock was now fully hard, and at the right angle, your clit caught onto it through the fabric of your bikini bottom. A low moan escaped you, tossing your head back. Joel’s heavy hands settled on your hips below the water, moving down to your ass to securely rest there. He gave it a squeeze before rutting you forward, grinding your aching core on his cock. You both sighed in pleasure as you continued to do so.

Your eyes snapped open as you looked at him, showing him you wanted him in you sooner rather than later. His eyes flickered from your gaze to your lips, which he’d been wanting to kiss but he didn’t know if that was crossing a boundary. You made the initial move and moved forward, pressing your lips to his.

Joel was surprisingly gentle with the kiss, threading his fingers through your hair. You kept grinding your hips into him, earning a throaty moan from him.

“Joel,” You pulled apart from his lips quickly. “I need you. Fuck, I need your cock so bad.” You beg, finally breaking. He smirked at you and you stood on your knees so he could pull his boxers down, freeing his erection once more. You just pulled your bikini bottom to the side, teasing his tip with your slit before he stopped you,

“Wait,” He said, and you halted your movements. “Are you on the pill?” It was nice that he was checking, because any dumb college boy you’ve hooked up with would’ve just been okay with buying you a plan B in the morning. Luckily you were smarter than they were, and thought about contraceptives way in advance.

“I have an IUD.” You say. He nods and lets you continue your teasing, before he pulled you down for another kiss. This time, you lined him up with your entrance before sliding down on him slowly, both of you swallowing each other’s moans. You were lucky the jets and bubbles were loud, or else anyone could’ve easily heard you both.

You went all the way until he was buried to the hilt, and you gripped this thick locks in pleasure. The stretch was fucking delicious, and you immediately began to move. You took the pain with the pleasure, the mix of both adding to the fuel of the fire that was your arousal.

You rocked your hips back and forth, and Joel was nearly choking on his own breath. “Fuck, baby, you’re so goddamn tight.” He hissed, tossing his head back. You used that as opportunity to kiss his neck, pulling more moans from him. He steadied your hips as he pulled you up and nearly off of him, before slamming you down on his cock again. You had to cover your mouth from nearly screaming out loud at the sensation. He continued this pattern, fucking up into you quickly as he captured your mouth with his. He swallowed your moans, one arm braced around your lower back as the other one held your neck securely.

The friction from the quick movements was enough to make you cum without warning, and your body trembled against his as he kept fucking up into you.

“Feels so fuckin’ good, Joel. Fuck you’re so big.”

“Yeah baby? Gonna ruin this little pussy. It’s mine.”

Fuck, that was dangerous territory, but his dirty talk spurred you both on as another orgasm was building up in your core again. Joel felt you fluttering around him, and he breathlessly chuckled. He nipped the flesh above your bikini top on your breasts, sure to leave a mark there for the following few days.

“Dirty fuckin’ girl, fuckin’ your dad’s best friend like this. Wonder what he’d say if he saw us both right now.” Joel groaned, chasing after his own orgasm.

“He’d–he’d k-kill us b-oth.” You stuttered as Joel’s cock hit a spot inside of you that had you fucking seeing stars.

“That’s it, there you go baby,” Joel felt as you clamped down on him, urging you on. “Cum with me.” Was all he said before your second orgasm ripped through you, his seconds later.

“Good girl.” Was all he said before you lifted yourself off of him a minute later, the loss of his heavy cock in you something devastating. You were heaving messes, the Texas night heat getting to you both.

Your dad really would kill you both if he ever found out about this. Well, more like he’d kill Joel, and you’d be banished from the family forever.

This whole ‘forbidden fruit’ thing was truly the most exhilarating thing you’ve ever done in your life, but surely with Joel it was just a one time thing…

Right?

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blackbird0blog · 1 year

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Avatar(ATLA) Fanfiction

With Friends Like These

Summary: Two years after the war, Fire Lord Zuko has consolidated his hold of the Dragon Throne, having purged the court and earned the tentative support and respect of his people. But the more united the Nation becomes, the more wary the other kingdoms grow, and the fragile peace is threatened by an incendiary rumour that has spread through the colonies; a rumour which could light the spark of another war. Together, Team Avatar must piece together a broken world.

A group of teenagers competently ruling the most powerful nation in the world and striving for world peace while simultaneously being idiots. Team Avatar in a nutshell.

Chapter 1: The Rulers of Fire

The Caldera during a late summer evening was pleasantly cool as the sun gave way to the moon in the darkening sky. The palace was resplendent and grand, the gardens peaceful and sparsely populated as courtiers left the centre of governance for their homes as the day drew to a close. A few lingered behind to chat with their fellow ministers.

“-can't believe our great nation has come to this.” A man partially hidden behind a tree was saying to a fellow governor, one who didn't look enthusiastic to be part of the conversation. “A foreign witch traipses around the homeland, mudslingers root loyal nobles from their homes, and schoolgirls in face paint swagger about the palace halls!” The old, ranting man released a puff of steam from his nostrils. “The Fire Lord fills the positions of most importance with foreign harlots!”

The minister he was talking to looked positively alarmed at his words. “Watch what you’re saying Chen! You sound like Ozai’s supporters,” he hissed warningly.

“Don’t mix me in with them,” Chen sneered. “If they haven’t been rooted out by the Beifong bitch, they’ve gone so deep into hiding they won’t crawl out for years.” Reluctant admiration crept into his voice. “Even if she’s a little girl, the Fire Lord knew what he was doing when he hired her. But the rest of them!”

“Lady Mai is Fire Nation.”

“A sixteen-year-old,” Chen scoffed. “The Fire Nation is being ruled by a group of teenage girls!”

Standing behind the gossiping nobles with his arms crossed, Fire Lord Zuko was scowling.

“I didn’t realise I was a girl, much less a group of them. But you know what they say, you learn something new every day.”

Zuko’s sarcastic interjection made Minister Chen jolt upright like he’d been shot with lightning. Despite the lightness of Zuko’s words, the ambient temperature rose several degrees as the fire in his chest burned at the insult to his friends. The man’s colleague paled, stepped a large step away from Chen and bowed.

“My Lord!” The guilty courtier spun around with fearful eyes and dropped to his knees. “I meant you no offence!”

“No,” Zuko agreed, not asking him to rise. “You meant offence to my honoured guests. Those teenage girls are bending masters, ambassadors, and experienced warriors who fought in the war, who now contribute to the stability of our great nation. They are more than worthy of your respect and admiration. The next time you say such will be the last time you speak before me at all.”

“Yes, my Lord. Thank you for your mercy my Lord!” He kowtowed in the traditional Fire Nation supplication, face pasty white, holding the position until Zuko swept by. The clatter of the courtier’s feet and the patter of the Kiyoshi warriors followed in his wake.

Minister Chen would be useful as bait in case Ozai’s supporters contacted him, and if he didn’t change his ways then he would lose his voice in court forever. Zuko had dismissed minsters from his court for insulting his friends before. If the insult was vile enough, he had outright banished them in the age-old, favourite tradition of the Fire Lords. Being permanently barred from politics had crushed the dreams and aspirations of more than a handful of them before the rest wised up.

They entered Zuko’s study after a short walk through the palace halls, and Zuko sat behind his desk, Suki and one of her warriors taking positions at his back.

“You were saying, Minister Qin?”

The older man cleared his throat. “The last of our factories that were causing negative effects on the environment have been closed. We are temporarily employing their workers to clean the pollution, but that is only a temporary solution. The lost jobs from the factory closures will have to be replaced.”

The former War Minister Qin now served as Zuko’s Technology Minister, no longer stealing from the mechanic of the Northern Air Temple but maintaining and improvising upon what they had for purposes other than war. To say Qin had been against this turn of events was an understatement.

Zuko nodded in acknowledgement then turned to the other minster who was as far from Qin’s image as possible. Not only was the Minister of Justice a woman, she was also as least three decades younger.

“Lady Beifong and the Dai Li have apprehended the late Admiral Zhao’s family and are transporting them to the Caldera pending their trial.”

He knew that already. Zuko raised a brow, wondering where she was going with this.

“Admiral Zhao committed great crimes against the spirits, and there are many who believe a harsher punishment may appease them.” Zuko noted that Minister Ran avoided saying whether she agreed with this sentiment.

“The Fire Lord ended the practice of familial exterminations,” Minister Qin interjected, to Zuko’s great surprise. The man was as recalcitrant as he was unfortunately competent and had never supported Zuko in anything, especially if it went against tradition. Suddenly speaking up now was entirely out of character.

“Yes,” Zuko said a beat late. “So long as the Zhaos are not found guilty of criminal acts, they will be released with compensation for the rough handling.” He turned to Minister Qin. “I want that plan for adapting our existing technologies for agricultural use by next week at the latest.”

“Yes my Lord.” The man bowed, and Zuko was surprised again. Where was the dragging of feet, the excuses for the delays, the recalcitrant attitude and veiled disrespect? After another brief pause he turned back to the Justice Minister.

“Minster Ran, prepare for the Zhaos’ trial. Speak with Lady Mai and make sure they are not mistreated in the meantime. Dismissed.”

His ministers made the flame with their hands and bowed, backing from the room. Zuko let out a dragging sigh, beyond relieved the day’s work was coming to an end.

“I thought I would be happy the day Minister Qin agreed with me,” Zuko grumbled, slipping out the sharp cadences of fire nobility to the common earth kingdom vernacular, slumping in his chair. “But his sudden change of heart doesn’t bode well.”

Suki nodded thoughtfully, her scrutinising gaze lingering on the door. She had learnt to speak the common fire nation tongue in prison but was still working on the dialect the nobility used.

“It is odd,” the Kiyoshi warrior agreed. I feel he’s had a change of heart about you. But at the same time Qin’s too stuck in his ways and I don’t think he’s changed his ideals at all.”

“That’s what worries me. Why does it seem like he’s having a huge misunderstanding about my intentions?” Zuko’s question was directed to Suki but another voice answered him.

“Uh, he kind of is.”

Perched on the windowsill was a familiar figure in yellow and orange robes.

“Aang!”

The Avatar hopped off the balcony railing and landed lightly on his feet, grinning.

“You shouldn’t be sneaking in, it’s bad for security,” Suki scolded, though she didn’t sound too upset.

“It’s good to see you Aang,” Zuko greeted, “but I thought we were going to meet at the Summit?”

“Hehe sorry Suki. And that was the plan,” Aang agreed, “but I have a lot to tell you so we decided to drop by first.”

The door to Zuko’s study slammed open before he could ask what the airbender meant, and in stalked Toph, Mai close on her heels.

“I thought I felt your toes, Twinkletoes,” Toph greeted him with a playful punch before laying down on the couch and rudely putting her feet up on the arm rest.

Aang complained about the nickname while rubbing his shoulder and Suki smiled at her fellow Kiyoshi warrior. “Take the night off, Ying. The Fire Lord will be safe with us here.”

“You got it captain.” The young woman saluted cheerfully, bumping into someone as she was leaving. “Oh, hello Katara, Sokka.”

“Hi Ying,” Katara’s voice sounded as she rounded the corner. “Look who I found stealing fire flakes from your kitchen.”

“I’ve been flying all day and Zuko doesn’t mind,” Sokka protested, entering the study just behind his sister.

“Sokka!” Suki beamed, rushing to greet her boyfriend. “You flew in with Aang?”

The water tribesman smiled dopily back at her, dropping a kiss on her painted lips. “Yep, I was in Gaoling organising trade deals when I bumped into him coming down from Omashu.”

Toph tensed. “Gaoling?”

“Yeah.” Sokka grimaced. “The trades are actually with your family. They didn't mind dealing with our tribe, but they also haven’t changed their stance on… uh, other stuff.”

Toph sneered, crossing her arms. “No surprise there.”

“Yeah.” Sokka coughed awkwardly. “They, um, also ascribe to some of the weirder rumours that’s been going around the Earth Kingdom.”

“More rumours?” Katara asked, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what we came to talk to you about, Zuko,” Aang said awkwardly.

He scoffed. “What now? Are they saying I eat babies for breakfast or something?”

“No, no,” Toph said, her voice full of laughter. “Zuko only eats raw meat because he’s actually a dragon pretending to be human, except he’s really bad at it. That’s why he’s so awkward all the time.”

“Oi!”

“Uh no. Nothing about food preferences this time. They kinda think you’re an evil mastermind who’s planning to take over the world via diplomacy?” the monk’s voice lilted upwards apologetically.

Zuko snorted humorously and Toph outright laughed. “Sparky? A mastermind? Zuko couldn’t mastermind his way out of a paper bag!”

The girls all joined in the laughter, even Mai smiled.

“Hey!” he protested, though it was half-hearted at best. “I could totally be a mastermind!”

They laughed harder, all except for Aang and Sokka.

Katara’s eyes widened. “You’re not joking?”

The airbender winced. “No, they really think Zuko’s trying to take over the Earth Kingdom, only using diplomacy and scheming instead of force.”

“That’s why Ozai’s old supporters that we couldn’t get rid suddenly became helpful!” Suki burst out. “Do they also believe that nonsense?”

It had been seriously getting to them, thinking Zuko’s more treacherous ministers were planning something sinister. If it was them just tricking themselves by listening to nonsense rumours then that would be great, but problems rarely ever resolved themselves so easily for Zuko. And by rarely he meant never.

Zuko shook his head. “No way, I’m never that lucky. They’re definitely planning something.”

“No,” Sokka shook his head, “I think they might actually believe the rumours.”

“But they’ve met me. They know I’m not some evil mastermind!”

Becoming Fire Lord had not improved Zuko’s people skills.

“I'm not sure they do,” Aang said apologetically. “And it’s not just the Fire Nation, the rumour started in the Earth Kingdom. It’s spread pretty far, I’ve heard a lot of people believe it, like General Fong and Colonel Wen, as well as the Pangs and the Yan Su Hongs.”

Zuko eventually broke the silence. “Shit. You’re serious.”

“I know, I couldn’t believe Zuko would ever have to defend himself from being accused of being an evil genius either,” Sokka shook his head disbelievingly, “but those guys don’t know you. They only see your actions through the lens of their own suspicion, and it makes them see what they expect to see.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t help that a lot of your armies are still in the Earth Kingdom,” Aang added.

“I can't just pull them all out!” Zuko exclaimed, revisiting the old argument. “Chaos would descend upon the lands and it would leave all the Fire Nation citizens who live there unguarded!”

“I know!” Aang raised his hands defensively. “But that’s not how they see it.”

The firebender got to his feet angrily. “I pulled out all our forces from Ba Sing Se! I’ve spent the last year withdrawing them from the eastern front. Uncle may be an ‘honoured guest’ and is free to run his tea shop, but we all know the Earth Kingdom considers him a hostage to keep me in line!”

The firebender stalked the length of his study, candles flaring with his emotions. His fists clenched. Zuko hadn’t seen his uncle since the last time he visited the Earth Kingdom capital a year ago. What if someone assassinated him in hopes of restarting the war? Zuko knew his uncle could take care of himself, but what if they poisoned his tea? It only took one person like Jet, and then the nations would be up at arms again.

He furiously wore holes through his carpets until Katara tugged at his robe to stop him.

“How is Uncle doing?” Toph asked, sitting up. “It can't be easy for the Dragon of the West to live in the middle of Ba Sing Se.”

Zuko started pacing again. “You know what Uncle’s like, he’s having fun pretending to be harmless old geezer. He doesn’t say anything when he writes, but yeah, he’s probably been chasing off assassins by the dozen as well.”

“Is that still happening?” Aang frowned, worriedly fiddling with his staff. “I thought they’d stopped by now.”

‘We haven’t had an incident in four months,” Suki said, “not since the last time someone tried to poison Zuko’s food. It’s a good thing Mai pushed for a taste tester. Otherwise, and I hate to say this, but we might have missed it,” she finished unhappily.

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourselves, you guys are warriors, not poison experts,” Katara consoled, though she also shot Zuko a concerned look.

“Most of the nobles are too scared to act right now,” Mai added, “or they just don’t see the point when security is so high. Now that they’ve tried all sorts of methods and none of them have worked, they won’t try again for a while. But I doubt we’ve seen the last of them.”

Sokka shook his head. “Right. As disturbing as Zuko’s regular schedule of attempted assassinations is, that’s not our main worry right now.” His face contorted and he tried to backtrack. “I mean, it’s probably Zuko’s main worry, and it’s not like I’m not worried too, I’m super worried! Not that I don't trust you guys to handle it, I only meant-”

“We get it Sokka.” Suki rolled her eyes.

Aang took over. “People no longer think that you’ll restart the war. Only it’s not because you’re a believer of peace and equality, but because they think you can accomplish a takeover better by selling yourself as a good guy.”

Katara’s voice rose dangerously. “Selling himself as a good guy? Haven’t they considered it’s because Zuko is a good person?”

Zuko was touched by her words and tried to suppress the usual sensation of warm gooiness in his chest that always arose whenever one of his friends stuck up for him. Mai rolled her eyes at him, so he probably wasn’t successful at keeping it off his face.

“You’ve been doing a great thing Zuko,” Aang said. “Even the Earth Kingdom people in the colonies are glad you’re keeping the peace! But outside of the colonies things are deteriorating.” He shook his head sadly. “Ba Sing Se was never meant to grow so large. The Earth Kingdom used to have a hundred kings and city-states, with the kings having a lot of local power and only the over-arching issues being decided by a council under the High King. Without the war, without a foreign aggressor, they’re splintering again and jockeying for political power. Banditry is running rampant in the east, and the northern districts are pushing for complete independence from the crown.”

Zuko saw where this was going. “They’re blaming me for their internal issues,” he said, heart sinking and voice certain.

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Katara exclaimed.

Aang’s face was sad as he nodded. “They think it’s all a grand scheme of yours to destabilase the Earth Kingdom. And to make things worse, there’s a drought.”

Zuko’s eyes furrowed as he thought back to the latest reports from his governors in the colonies. “I haven’t heard this.”

The Avatar’s grey eyes were solemn and he looked far older than his fourteen years. “That’s because it’s only been in the south-eastern region, not in the western colonies. The summer was a hot one and there’s still no sign of rainfall, and the hardest place hit is Shenzhen. They’re the Kingdom’s breadbasket.”

Zuko’s lips thinned. “There’s going to be a famine.”

“A bad one,” Sokka agreed grimly. “People in Ba Sing Se are scared and some are leaving to return to their homes now that the Fire Nation is no longer attacking. Kuei is, well. Not the most inspiring ruler, and they believe it’s safer to live under your rule since the banditry in the east has gotten so bad. The upper-class think you’re poaching their citizens and converting them to Nation. There are even rumours…

“What?” Zuko asked flatly.

“There are even rumours that you’re behind the drought.”

He threw his hands up in utter exasperation. “So now I can control the weather!?” Zuko tried to run a hand through his hair, made a noise of frustration and plucked his crown out and tossed it onto his desk. Then he flopped onto the sofa next to Toph. “People actually believe this?”

“Well, everyone knows that the Fire Nation consider the Fire Lord as Agni’s will on earth. Now the sun is scorching the territories that aren’t under your protection… and people are dumb.” Sokka, ever the sceptic of superstitions, rolled his eyes.

“It doesn’t help that some people think I’m too biased towards the Fire Nation,” Aang said, his tone shaded with tired gloom.

“What? You’re the Avatar!” Katara said angrily while Toph made an indignant noise.

“How could they say that?” Zuko exclaimed the same time Suki scoffed.

Aang had done his best for the people of every nation, always. He’d spent two years flying from place to place, listening to old men argue and shout at each other, mediating with more patience and wisdom than all of them had shown combined. How dare they insinuate he was lacking as the Avatar!

“They think me rebuilding the Western Air Temple with Fire Nation resources is a bribe or a ploy to make me favour your country. They also don’t like how much time I spend here.”

“Those are war reparations, not a bribe!” Zuko said indignantly. “I literally only returned the Air nomad artefacts that we stole in the first place and lent you some architects. It wasn’t nearly enough to make up for our crimes, and even then it didn’t cost a fraction of a percent of what the Earth Kingdom are demanding.”

“It’s not only that,” Sokka spoke up. “It’s also that we’re all here. Suki leads your personal security team, Katara tours the country as a healer and the Water Tribe Representative, I visit often as the Southern Ambassador, and Toph is well known for being your hand of justice.”

Toph looked inordinately pleased at that. The young earthbender had gained a terrifying reputation for being able to sniff out lies, and the shocking speed and effectiveness with which Zuko carried out his purges had shaken the confidence of the Fire Nation nobility. Corrupt officials and commanders were imprisoned, and the worst of Ozai’s supporters were gone.

Hanging in the air but left unspoken was the fact that, at the end of the war, they had all returned home to find nothing fit properly. It took some time, but they realised home hadn’t changed; it was them. What Zuko had experienced upon his first return to the Fire Nation, the others came to understand.

At first, it was wonderful. Sokka and Katara reunited with their family, Toph made up with hers, and Suki had gone back with her girls to their island. Aang, like a true nomad, flew between them all while meeting leaders of the kingdoms.

But then the polar winter set in and Sokka and Katara grew restless while Toph’s parents made noises about betrothing her. Suki’s family were her fellow warriors and a warrior without purpose was a lost one, and Aang was lonely travelling alone.

Suki came first, Zuko contracting her warriors to guard him. The turmoil in the Fire Nation had yet to bubble over at that point, but it had been very concerning. Zuko then sent a messenger discreetly requesting Toph’s lie-detecting services and she leapt at the chance. Katara and Sokka left their home again to negotiate the war reparations and trade deals in person, even though only one of them was truly needed. Aang ended up dropping by more and more, complaining about everything and nothing and always ecstatic to see everyone.

The all migrated back to the Fire Nation, back to Zuko who was the only one bound to a physical location, and together, they had rebuilt the Fire Nation. Zuko didn’t think he would have been able to hold his country together without them and was often awestruck that this incredible group of people were his friends.

“People don’t like that you’re bear-hogging the Heroes of the Hundred Year War.” Sokka made quotations in the air.

“The Earth Kingdom aren’t helping to feed our people through winter. They never offered our tribe help before, even when we were fighting the Fire Nation together,” Katara huffed irately. “They also weren’t fed a hundred years of lies about the Water Tribes! Zuko’s people were told that everyone not Nation are savages and lesser. I’m living, breathing proof that this isn’t true, but I need to be here to prove that.

“And what would they even expect us to do if we went to the Earth kingdom?” It was Katara’s turn to pace. “My healing can help people, yes, but in terms of numbers I barely make an impact. The best help I can give is speaking with them and bringing their concerns straight to Zuko or the local authorities. And that’s only possible because of the Fire Nation’s strict social hierarchy and because I happen to know the man the top. If I tried that in the Earth Kingdom, most places would laugh me away!"

Katara had started her tours of the islands as a favour, going to heal a small village who were devastated by illness. She discovered the cause was a poorly maintained well and told Zuko, who told the local mayor to fix it. Then she did it again, and again.

It ended up with Katara acting as Zuko’s eyes and ears while representing her tribe. His citizens knew they could take their concerns to her and the Fire Lord would investigate fairly. Zuko would have loved to go himself but was stuck in the palace governing and had yet to tour his country since the end of the war. He sent Katara instead, guarded by several Kiyoshi warriors, as representatives of the other nations and what they could accomplish working together.

“I’m doing so much good here!” Katara finished, impassioned. “For both the Fire Nation and our Tribe.”

She also frequently returned to the South Pole along with shipments from the Fire Nation. Immense amounts of resources were being invested into the Tribe as reparations, and in return the South sent their unique goods to Fire Nation markets. Whalebone ornaments, rare fish, southern pearls, and luxurious furs were commodities that couldn’t be obtained anywhere else.

Aang raised his hands defensively. “Hey, I agree with you. But it doesn’t change the fact that the Earth Kingdom are getting snippy about it. Also,” he turned to Zuko, “the Beifongs are still angry at you for keeping their daughter captive-”

Everyone let out a collective snort.

“Yeah,” Aang grinned, “not that anyone who’s actually met Toph believe them. But they have a lot of money and power and are being encouraged by other warmongers.”

“Well they can set foot in the Fire Nation over my dead body.” Zuko gestured rudely in the direction of the earth kingdom.

“What, and start another war?” Toph rolled her eyes.

“For you? Of course.”

Toph punched Zuko so hard he yelped, but they all saw her smile. The conversation died naturally as they all got lost in their own thoughts.

“It’s not so bad,” Katara eventually voiced.

“Not so bad?” Zuko repeated incredulously. “It’s a disaster!” he yelled. “I thought the Fire Nation was actually starting to see that conquering the world was a terrible idea. Now it turns out they’re only supporting me because they think I’m doing just that, but in a sneakier way! How am I supposed to convince people to respect the other nations if they think I’m only doing all this as some sort of cunning ploy?”

“That’s not true Zuko, they do respect you!” Katara exclaimed. “I’ve been out there speaking to them and they know all the good you’re doing.”

“But they still want to conquer the world!” He deflated when he realised he was shouting at her. “Sorry,” Zuko muttered. “I just thought we were making progress.”

“We are,” Katara said emphatically. “The Fire Nation is seeing that violence isn’t the way to do things.”

The earthbender snorted. “Yeah, because they see the value in a cunning takeover via friendship and cooperation instead.”

“Zuko. This is all because you’re too nice,” Suki said seriously.

“Maybe I should burn down a few villages to reassure them of my innate evil,” he returned sarcastically.

“One step forward, two steps back,” Sokka said sagely, then paused. “Wait no. I meant two steps forward, one step back. Oh whatever, you know what I mean. The Fire Nation is adapting to non-violence and even the nobility are coming around. This is just a minor setback.”

“But it will still cause trouble at this year’s summit,” Zuko stated.

“Right. That’s why we came to warn you,” Aang said.

“So just because Zuko’s a good Fire Lord, the Earth Kingdom can blame him for all of their issues?” Katara asked indignantly.

Zuko felt that calling him a good Fire Lord was a stretch. He felt like he was treading water, sometimes overwhelmed with the enormity of the task before him. The only reason he hadn’t exploded due to the stress was because everyone was there to help.

“Zuko you’re a good ruler, no, a great ruler. Everyone can see that.” Sokka said, solemn in a way he only was when things were serious. “But people don’t know how to deal with a benevolent and just Fire Lord. They’re seeing a good man at the helm of the world’s most powerful country, and it scares them.”

Zuko barely refrained from groaning. This year’s Four Nations Summit would be fun.

XXX

That night, they somehow all ended up in Zuko’s room.

Aang turned up on the balcony again for a cup of tea and firebending advice and just never left. Toph tunnelled her way through the wall bringing a plate of snacks, and at midnight, Ty Lee – who was supposed to be guarding his room – let Katara, Sokka, and Suki walk straight in through the door.

They all piled onto Zuko’s enormous, ridiculously decadent bed, fought over the best spots, and kneed and elbowed each other trying to get comfortable. Sokka ate half the cakes himself and sprayed crumbs all over Zuko’s sheets while laughing at his own jokes. Toph and Katara fought viciously over the comfiest pillow while Aang tried to calm them down, only to lose it to Suki who snatched it out from under their noses.

They ended up chatting about everything and nothing until the night turned to early morning and they were all yawning. Just as they were about to drift off, Sokka began snickering to himself. Everyone was too tired, so they all ignored him hoping it would go away.

“Hehehehe.” The dumb sniggering continued.

Toph groaned. “Go to sleep, Snoozles.”

“I was just thinking – if the other nations found out the Fire Lord was sleeping with the Avatar, then they’d really accuse Aang of being biased.”

There was a moment of silence while their tired brains processed that outrageous comment. Then Aang yelped and flushed all the way to his arrow, falling out of bed with a loud thud.

“Sokka!” Katara shrieked, whipping around and snatching the one pillow Zuko had managed to keep for himself out from under his head, then began to beat her brother with it. Suki joined in just for fun. Toph hooted with laughter and nudged Zuko slyly with her pointy elbow.

Zuko buried his face in his hands and hid beneath his covers. The racket could probably be heard all over the palace, and no doubt tomorrow everyone would know that the Avatar, the children of the Southern Chief, the leader of the Kiyoshi Warriors, and the world’s greatest earthbender had all spent the night in the Fire Lord’s bedroom.

...

Again.

Oh no.

Zuko really was going to be accused of seducing them, wasn’t he?

#Team Avatar basically runs the Fire Nation together #Zuko is a great Fire Lord #The Dai Li are now Toph’s minions. Beware!#OTP is Team Avatar #True friendship #politics #avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfiction #fire lord zuko

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rwby-redux · 2 years

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Something that has always bothered me in canon. Travel in the real world is expensive. And I would assume that grimm attacks would make travel in Remnant MORE expensive. Yet Jaune’s family somehow has enough money to make regular camping trips to Shion Village a thing from wherever they lived (don’t get me started on how we have gone have way across the world and only run into one family member. Just where does his family live?) And yet he was still sheltered enough to not know what Aura is? It’s the type of thing that makes one ask questions about his home life despite how much he told us. And while I would love to believe they thought these details out, Occam’s Razor suggests that they just didn’t think about said details enough.

Anyways. I am wondering what your thoughts on this is and if you have any ideas on how to address it?

You’re completely right to think it’s weird! Because it is weird.

Aura isn’t some obscure resource exclusively used by Huntsmen—it’s a basic component of biology in this universe. That’s like not knowing what a kidney is. If Jaune grew up in a large city, then there’s an all-but-guaranteed chance he would have encountered at least one person with an unlocked Aura, just because of urban population density. If he grew up in some remote, isolated community, then there’s even less of an excuse for him not knowing what Aura is, because we’re explicitly told people who live far away from the major kingdoms need to know how to fight in order to not die. A character says as much in the second episode of Volume 2.

Blake: I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can’t fight, you can’t survive.

No amount of hand-waving can justify him not knowing a fundamental concept of this setting. Especially one that’s non-negotiable for surviving.

Harris Brewis (Hbomberguy) talks about that issue here, and to summarize: Jaune is basically an audience surrogate character. He’s deliberately written to be ignorant, so that way, the show has an excuse to let Pyrrha explain the concept to him (and by extension, us).

Not to go on a tangent here, but Jaune’s obliviousness really does underpin the issue with his character. If Jaune was so enamored with his family’s history of being legendary warriors, and aspired to uphold their legacy, then why does he not know the first thing about fighting? Look at Ruby and Yang—they both come from a family of skilled fighters, and wanted to undertake similar career paths. But unlike Jaune, they started preparing when they were young, and by the time they’re ready to enroll at a formal academy, they’ve been suitably trained and educated.

Jaune’s incompetence, in both combat and know-how, makes his decision to attend a Huntsman Academy seem like it was last-second. Like, why does he want to be a Huntsman? Why is living up to his family’s legacy so important? Why didn’t he try to enlist at one of the prep schools before applying to Beacon, so that way he was prepared? What are his motives?

Sorry. Jaune’s character is a sore spot for me, and it’s hard to resist taking potshots.

I know you were rhetorically asking about his family, but you might be interested to hear that I did come up with an explanation for it in the Redux. Along with an answer for why he forged his way into Beacon, and why he was so underprepared. And why Ozpin allowed it.

But to address your main question, regarding travel, infrastructure, and the feasibility of both:

The first thing I need to talk about is how I redesigned the majority of cities within the Redux. In the present day, Remnant has a global population of about 350,000,000 people, roughly distributed between 51 cities and towns. A little less than half of those cities are megacities, with populations that exceed 10 million.

While there’s a large degree of variety between them in terms of architecture and layout, functionally, most of the cities are similar to Ba Sing Se.

A thematic map of Ba Sing Se, an Earth Kingdom city in Avatar: The Last Airbender. | Source: Inkarnate.

The canon toyed with this idea back in V1, when we see Roman Torchwick studying a map of Vale’s capital. Vale is divided into various “districts”—commercial, residential, agricultural, and industrial—but the layout always felt kind of janky to me.

Like, why are the commercial and industrial districts so far away from where people live? How do people get to and from their jobs? Does the city have robust public transport—like trains and buses—in order to reduce traffic and commute times? As far as I can recall, the inner-city roads are predominantly used by cars (V2.E4). Actually, thinking back on it, I’m pretty sure that trains have only been used for intercity travel.

The SDC cargo train that passes through Forever Fall in the Black Trailer.

The subway that connects Vale’s capital and Mountain Glenn (V2.E11 - 12).

The passenger train that Oscar takes to Mistral’s capital (V4.E12).

The Argus Limited, which connects Mistral’s capital to Argus (V6.E1).

To date, the only city that has any sort of inner-city public transport is Argus. (And even then, we have no confirmation of whether or not it has to share the street with other vehicles.)

It’s just so bizarre, that in cities which are so densely populated out of necessity (due to a shortage of space not inhabited by Grimm), cars seem to be the default transport. Ba Sing Se’s layout addresses this problem by having a vast network of monorails that are free to the general public, thus freeing up the streets for people to use. (An issue which this post here does a great job discussing.)

The cities in the Redux are similar in that their layouts are optimized to make public transport efficient and accessible, while conserving space for day-to-day living. Most of the major cities have agricultural districts (just like in the canon), but they also have large parks and ecological zones that are safe for leisure and recreation. Jaune’s family wouldn’t need to travel all the way to Shion just to go camping.

Mind you, while all cities have public transport, not all public transport uses roads. Several cities in Mistral, for example, rely on airships and gondola lifts for getting around. There’s also a city in Eastern Vale called Petrichor, which is spread out across numerous islands within a lagoon. Public transport there consists primarily of waterbuses similar to the vaporetti used in Venice.

Now, as for the roads between cities, things are a little different. For starters, there aren’t a lot of them.

A (tentative) map of intercity roads across Remnant. Dark blue lines are the “main” roads; light blue lines are “minor” roads. Note: This map excludes rail lines, airship routes, and waterways.

With a handful of notable exceptions, virtually all inhabited settlements (both towns and cities) are located along these roads. The dark blue lines represent the major or “great” roads, which are directly connected to each country’s respective capital. Minor roads are depicted here in light blue, and are considered off-shoots that link out-of-the-way places to the great roads. These roads exist to primarily accommodate vehicles, although they can be traversed on foot. Why you’d want to, though, I have no idea, since these roads are technically outside of the safe zones of the settlements.

Roads are maintained by the governments of each country. Usually, the stretch of distance between settlements isn’t huge, so the roads (when broken up into individual segments) aren’t nearly as long as they look.

The main thing protecting these roads are the outposts, which are strategically placed along them. The Huntsmen stationed at outposts are trained to intercept and respond to distress signals, either from individual travelers, or (in the case of an emergency) from settlements at risk of being overwhelmed by Grimm. Without the CCTs (which made communication widespread and immediate), these outposts wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

The outposts were primarily created to give Huntsmen access to resources besides the academies. Plus, access to places where they could regroup and better coordinate themselves as needed. Part of that idea came from common sense, but the idea of them also existing to protect roads was somewhat inspired by the tambos and qullqas of the Inca road system.

On a parting note: Vale used to exclusively employ anyone with a speed Semblance as a courier. They were a lot like the chasquis of the Inca Empire.

#asks #animalia555 blog #i speak #urban environments #cities #infrastructure #huntsman outposts #the kingdoms #kingdom meta #kingdom meta asks #meta content #jaune arc #since i'm thinking about it i might as well add:#jaune and his family are from a city in western mistral called rabenda #it's a coastal megacity whose culture has hints of influence from vale #readmore

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sidneycnorton · 1 year

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Everyone can say they’ve been to the Big Apple, but [ NIRANJANI 'NIRA' BHAMIDIPATI ], a [ THIRTY ] year-old [ FEMALE ] has lived in [ TRIBECA, MANHATTEN ] for [ 9 YEARS ]. This is the city of dreams and [ SHE ] knows it, because they came to NYC to be an [ MAID ]. Well, that and as a [ STAFF ] to [ OLIVER BROWN ]. Living in the city means they meet all kinds of people, but everyone always seems to think they look like [ SOBHITA DHULIPALA ]. They even got away with free cab fare once because of it!

nira moved to the us just over 11 years ago, from india to go finish her last years of her college degree in hospitality, with the intention of getting a job at some of the large hotels in the city. but despite her amazing grades, and very good work references, after about 6 months of trying, and applying to jobs. she had still not gone anywhere.. this is where she found the add for a live in maid for the cfo of a large media company. a job she got, and have had for coming on 10 years now

whenever she has time off, she really loves sewing. her specialty being modern takes on traditional indian women' s fashion. she even has gotten to the point where her pieces being kinda sought after whenever she has some available that she doesn't plan on keeping herself. her abilities where also a very big part of why Oliver hired her, and whenever he needs his clothes, especially his suits fitted, or even new ones made. She's the only one he trusts to do it.

in her years working dating has very much ended up at the bottom of her list of things she'd allowed herself time to do.. or she had tried- for the first time since coming to the US she attempted to date, and a western man as well.. something which didn't end well.. the girl never had the time to spend time with him, and he was quite pushy when it came to everything else that probably normally would be involved in a relationship, but was something she never was comfortable with. So it didn't happen, and after some months, and she hasn't attempted dating ever since.

#bio #enyc.intro

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therugbyscientist · 1 year

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Concussions and Carbon Emissions. The two biggest challenges faced by Rugby Union players and fans today. ORB Innovations are here to fix that with the latest evolution of RFID/GPS tracking.

Rugby Union is a brutal sport. Compared by many to the Gladiatorial nature of sport in the Roman Empire. Freakishly large men and women colliding into each other at frightening speeds for 80 minutes every week. It’s easy to see why there is a high rate of injury and attrition in such a physically demanding sport. Although the game has evolved and is now geared more towards players’ safety and health than ever before, it’s not perfect, concussion rates recently hit their highest since records began. More could be done.

The same could be said about the planet’s current climate situation. So much work has gone into reducing our carbon emissions and making the planet a safer and more sustainable environment for children of tomorrow and animals alike. Despite those efforts, we have went backwards recently. We are working towards net zero, but not quickly enough and we’re still nowhere near achieving it.

So, as fans of rugby union, we’re not in a great place. Financially, clubs and unions are strapped. The recent demise of Worcester and Wasps, two giants of the men’s club game, is not easy viewing. We all want to help support our teams, local and professional, but this is a difficult financial time for the public, wallets are tight. Making responsible choices around carbon emissions might not always be the most cost effective. I know myself as an amateur rugby player, the toll just travelling to training has taken on my bank account has been a bit of a fright and I car share! As is the environmentally friendly option for the long commute to training and games. Without financial support from my club in the way of travel expenses, I don’t think I would be able to travel and be involved in the sport I love much longer. Then you must consider the impact of concussions, the recent high-profile cases of Doddie Weir and Rob Burrows, both diagnosed with MND, has brought to light studies and research which are not favouring for our sport, or encouraging for players who don’t get paid quite as much as the professionals. Being 15 times more likely to develop a disease which slowly wears you away as a person is enough to put many off.

The gumshield or mouthguard, is an essential piece of rugby kit from the lowest level of the amateur and kids game all the way up to professional, it stops you swallowing your own teeth and minimizes dentist bills quite significantly. In the top tier amateur and semi-pro/pro game, GPS tracking is becoming essential. With the evolution of sports science and the application of it in player load management, tracking players movements, heart rates and efforts throughout a training day. Any sport scientist, strength and conditioning coach or physio has utilized GPS trackers. They are essential to modern day sports performance. Any sport scientist also knows the gruelling task of having to wash and dry 35+ GPS vests 3 to 5 times per week, how many spin washes would that be? Even on the trusty 30 degree cold wash it can’t be great for the environment or the sports scientists will to live.

This is where Orb Innovations come in. They have been making headlines recently with their new GPS tracking, head impact monitoring, mouthguard. After successful trials with professional men's and women’s teams in England, they’ve released their product for sale to the general public. The ORB Smartguard utilises RFID GPS tracking to monitor the wearers movements. Accelerometers, gyroscope and magnetometer monitor the forces you’re feeling, through a 12 axis 3D motion. This amazing piece of technology will give teams complete ease and peace of mind to monitor their players concussion rates, removing them from the field of play or training almost instantly. The data is transmitted live to any Bluetooth connected device such as an iPad. Meaning concussion protocols can be implemented as soon as possible, hopefully protecting the players longevity and health. This kind of innovation can only be good for the game. Everyone wears a gumshield anyway, so combining them with our GPS vest trackers is a step towards reducing carbon emissions right off the bat, reducing the amount of plastics uses in production, shipping and transport used in delivery and so on by combining both, never mind stopping the countless GPS vest washing machine cycles our sports scientists are responsible for!

I ordered mine as soon as the Kickstarter went live. It’s a no brainer for me on both the concussion and carbon emission battles we face today as Rugby Union players and fans. I hope to see these take the amateur and professional game by storm. World Rugby would do well by making them mandatory at all levels. To make it even better, I received a positive email the other day from ORB, the impression kit being sent out to fit my GPS tracking mouthguard, is packaged in a reusable and recyclable plastic, what a nice touch!

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blossomhcir · 1 year

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BOTANICAL HEADCANONS; ACCEPTING under the cut is a long list of headcanon questions i was blessed with by @bruiisedpetals!

❧ Salvia: Is your muse possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them? How do they express that possessiveness, or lack thereof?

She wouldn’t consider herself a possessive person, but to a degree she is. Mostly in that when she gets attached to people she worries that at some point those people will lose interest in her or find someone they like better. So it translates into her being a bit jealous when that person shows someone else attention, affection, etc. Though her jealousy rarely if ever translates to extremes, mostly she just makes herself sad or at worst is passive aggressively pouty about it, though if she feels really disrespected it may turn into an argument.

❧ Poppy: What comforts your muse?

In terms of places, the gardens and orchards of Sweetgrove are a huge comfort to her. Being with plants and working with the earth makes her calm and gives her peace to think or just let go of her thoughts and just be. Music is also a huge comfort to her. She can play various string instruments (the lute, mandolin, bandora) and just loves to play in general. She also writes her own music which is a huge creative outlet and comfort to her. She also finds physical touch incredibly comforting, though that’s more of a rarity. Not that her family is unloving, but Douglas himself is not a very physically affectionate man, especially as Adelaide grew older. She also doesn’t want to seek out her younger siblings for affection and comfort, she’s supposed to be the one for them to lean on.

❧ Chamomile: What is your muse likely to take away from a painful experience? Are they one to be haunted by adversity, or to use what they’ve gone through to become stronger?

Every painful experience is something to learn from. Of course, in the moment it hurts, but the promise that she will be better for having felt with it is what gets her through the most painful times in her life.

❧ Ivy: What are your muse’s views on marriage? Do they believe it is something strictly for love, or an institution rooted in business & social benefits? Do they desire or have they desired to be married?

Adelaide wants to marry for love, in a way that’s the thing she’s wanted most in life. Apart from her father’s lack of interest in marrying her off, a large part of the reason she’s not formed a marriage of convenience is because of her insistence that she married for love. Her parents' marriage was essentially arranged and she knew from an early age that her mother especially was never really happy in her marriage. She could see how that affected her mother and she doesn’t want to live that kind of life. She wants more and she craves love. She wants someone to want her because they see something good in her that they cherish, not just for land or producing heirs. That being said, she knows that as much as she would like to marry for love, the rest of the world, especially the nobility, see marriage as a business transaction. She knows there might come a time when she’ll have to marry someone for politics and if it comes to that, she will do her duty because that is the honorable thing to do.

❧ Lavender: How easy is it to gain your muse’s trust? Once their trust is broken, how might one go about mending it?

Adelaide isn’t gullible by any means, gaining her trust takes time, but she also likes to assume the best in people until they prove otherwise. Now if someone has a reputation for being unsavory then it’s much harder for her to trust them because they’ve already proved themselves with their actions in her mind. Once someone has broken her trust it would be very hard to get it back, if it can even be repaired. She values loyalty and trust, if that’s ever broken then she will not quickly forget it. If someone betrays her trust and goodwill they would need to show with their actions that they’re sincere in regretting it and that they won’t do it again. It would be a long road to repair it.

❧ Amaryllis: What is something or someone that your muse takes pride in? How do they express that pride?

Adelaide’s biggest pride is Sweetgrove. Of course she didn’t have a hand in making it what it is today, but she feels a lot of pride in that it’s her land. Her family created something beautiful and she’s proud to be heir of it. She shows her pride by working diligently to maintain Sweetgrove, seeing to its daily administration, making sure their tenants are taken care of, maintaining the land to ensure they continue to have plentiful harvests. They are the land, it provides for them and they take care of it in turn. She loves her home dearly and though she takes pride in doing it, the weight of being responsible for it and all the people living there weighs on her.

❧ Begonia: How cautious is your muse? Are they prone to noticing red flags, or paranoid to the point of untrusting most everyone? Why or why not?

I would say she’s fairly cautious. Adelaide has a fair bit of anxiety, she constantly wonders if she’s made the right choice or if she’s done something wrong, so sometimes I think she sees red flags that she’s invented for herself. She wants to be trusting and believe that people are good or sometimes convinces herself that she’s being silly because she knows she’s anxious so sometimes she talks herself out of the red flags she does see.

❧ Gardenia: Is your muse one to confess romantic feelings early on, or to conceal them for long periods of time?

Adelaide will hold onto her romantic feelings like her life depends on it, depending on the situation. She’s deeply afraid of rejection and not having her feelings returned. Adelaide has always had this underlying sense that she’s not good enough in some way, that she’s not worthy of being loved. Her one past relationship it was clearly established that it was not going to be romantic and she did not love Adelaide, which just ramped up that fear. So she’s very much afraid to be vulnerable and be the first to confess. If she’s given any reason to suspect that her feelings are unrequited she will swallow those feelings down and quietly pine for a long time. If she feels comfortable with the person and if it seems like the feelings might be mutual, she may confess after a while, but she would spend a long time debating if she should.

#bruiisedpetals #*❀ study; headcanon #*❀ ooc; answered #( thank you for sending these <3 )

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exclusivenyc · 1 year

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We just spotted NIRANJANI “NIRA” BHAMIDIPATI ( SOBHITA DHULIPALA ) hopping off a plane in the City that Never Sleeps! Make sure to send in your account within 24 hours and read our NEW MEMBER CHECKLIST before getting settled. Can you make it in the Big Apple?

Not everyone can say they’ve been to the Big Apple, but [ NIRANJANI 'NIRA' BHAMIDIPATI ], a [ THIRTY ] year-old [ FEMALE ] has lived in [ TRIBECA, MANHATTEN ] for [ 9 YEARS ]. This is the city of dreams and [ SHE ] knows it, because they came to NYC to be an [ MAID ]. Well, that and as a [ STAFF ] to [ OLIVER BROWN ]. Living in the city means they meet all kinds of people, but everyone always seems to think they look like [ SOBHITA DHULIPALA ]. They even got away with free cab fare once because of it!

HEADCANONS:

nira moved to the us just over 11 years ago, from india to go finish her last years of her college degree in hospitality, with the intention of getting a job at some of the large hotels in the city. but despite her amazing degrees, and very good work references, after about 6 months of trying, and applying to jobs. she had still not gone anywhere.. this is where she found the add for a live in maid for the cfo of a large media company. a job she got, and have had for coming on 10 years now

whenever she has time off, she really loves sewing. her specialty being indian womens fashion. she even has gotten to the point where her pieces being kinda sought after whenever she has some available that she doesn't plan on keeping herself.

(peony, +25, gmt+1, she/her, none)

#oc rp #city rp #active rp #plotless rp #appless rp #skeleton rp #lsrp #lsrpg #enyc.accepted

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plowcable16 · 2 years

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#testosterone #test booster

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phoenixyfriend · 3 years

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Anakin and the Jedi Babies: Names and Faces

Context: Anakin and the Jedi Babies, chrono

Word Count: 6,477

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It goes like this:

Nobody wants to separate Anakin from the children in his care until they know more about why he’s here. The gamble paid off, to some degree, and he thanks the Force that it did.

He hasn’t felt that cold in years.

He knows the logic of why the Mandalorians he’s fallen in with aren’t doing anything yet. He’s an obvious Jedi, and they don’t know why he’s here or what he’s doing. Hedging on the Mando’a and the cultural obligation to childcare hadn’t been anything close to sure, but it was... enough. He got lucky that these Mandalorians leaned on those obligations, at least to the point of keeping them all in the same room. He can sense that much, even before he opens his eyes, and he has to be grateful.

The looming hypothermia had probably nudged things in his favor.

Anakin opens his eyes to a guest room of a cell, something well-furnished and cozy, but definitely not meant to be something he can escape from. His saber is gone, and there are Force-nullifying cuffs on his wrists, and he’s pretty sure they’ve taken his--yep, vibroblade’s gone.

Fuck.

His body doesn’t want to move, and he’s still shivering a bit, but he’s mostly back to normal. When he sits up, he notices that there is, in fact, only one Force-nullifying cuff. They detached his arm.

He closes his eyes and breathes deep and tells himself it was probably medically necessary. Large pieces of metal aren’t great for maintaining homeostasis. He’ll get it back.

Probably.

“Ah!”

The voice makes him jolt, and his eyes fly open.

Two cribs, one much bigger than the other. Both are occupied. The larger one has bars, and through it...

“Snips,” he breathes, lurching to his feet and then crashing to his knees, about as graceful as a newborn eopie.

“Bah!”

“Just--just one second,” Anakin grits out, grimacing as he tries to pull himself to standing again. The fact that he’s down an arm doesn’t impact him much, but the shakiness of his legs is... a problem.

“Owwww,” Ahsoka coos with an exaggerated grimace, reacting to his pain with the innocent sympathy of a toddler. She looks, what, two? Maybe? He’s not sure if there’s anything particular about how Togruta babies age. She’s too young for words, clearly.

“I’m fine,” Anakin assures her, even as his heart sinks. She’s Ahsoka, clearly, he knows her in the Force and it can’t be anyone else, but her memories...

She recognizes him, but that’s not saying much.

He manages to get over to the chair next to the crib, but doesn’t trust himself to take her out right now. The snow and the mess of a fight before that haven’t been kind to him. Instead, he just sticks his hand through the bars and lets her grab at his fingers.

He can’t help but smile, really. She’s adorable, and she’s so damn happy to see him.

“Skyguy!”

“Oh, so you are talking,” Anakin says, part of him relaxing just a tad. “I was worried.”

“Mine,” she stresses, patting at his wrist.

“Yeah, your Skyguy,” he says. So she remembers... some things, at least. “And you’re my Snips.”

She squeals and yanks on his hand, just enough that the Force-suppressing cuff clanks against the bars of the crib. “Sky, Sky, Sky!”

Oh, she’s precious.

“You having fun?” he asks, filling the air with words faster than his head can fill with doubts. “Has everyone been nice?”

“Mmmmm,” she grumbles, falling to her butt with a huff. “Doc!”

“Oh, a doctor?” he asks, wondering at his own tone. He never expected to be one for baby-talk. “Was the doctor mean?”

“Cold!” she tells him. “Cold here!”

She taps at her chest, right where someone might check her heartbeat or breathing; the metal would be cold, and also necessary. He doesn’t fault anyone for it. Considering how poorly Anakin had fared, he’s just happy they’re all alive and mostly fine.

He doesn’t know what year it is. He knows he’s not in the year he should be. He’s vaguely aware of the name Jaster--one of the Mandos had said it while bringing him in--but he doesn’t know when Mereel’s reign ended and Fett’s began. He does know both are supposed to be dead.

Has Anakin been born yet? Has Ahsoka? Hell, has Obi-Wan?

Can he give out any real names?

A series of small, upset noises start coming up from the other, smaller crib.

He stands, but Ahsoka clings to his hand and refuses to let go. He can’t pry her off, not without his other arm, but he pulls away with quiet reassurances that he just has to check on... on...

Her brother, he says, aware that there’s more than a slight chance someone has the room bugged. He’s a Jedi in Mando custody. They aren’t stupid, and neither is he.

Obi-Wan’s the most likely to have already been born. Having the same name and face will draw attention, will cause questions, but... he can’t just rename his master like a recently-adopted pet. That’s just... wrong.

Anakin’s less shaky than when he first woke up, but he still has no way of safely picking up the kids. He reaches into the small crib, something twisting behind his sternum, and tickles under Obi-Wan’s chin.

The baby--the infant--looks up at him with wide eyes, too blue for the Obi-Wan he knows, but full of wonder and--

Love, the Force whispers through the cracks in the effects of the cuff.

“Love you too,” Anakin whispers, though he wonders if Obi-Wan would really feel like this as an adult again. Babies love easily, he thinks, and he’s the only adult that Obi-Wan knows right now. Maybe it’s just chemicals.

He stands there for longer than is probably a good idea, with the state of his body, but he can’t help it. Obi-Wan keeps grabbing at his finger and kicking with tiny legs, and sticking a tiny, tiny fist in his mouth as he tries watches Anakin.

It’s all Anakin can do to mutter a stream of meaningless nonsense as he struggles not to cry. He’s always had too many emotions, and right now he’s the only person these two can rely on. He’s the adult.

The door whooshes open.

“The medic said you were awake.”

He knows that voice. He closes his eyes and doesn’t turn, because there are a million feelings in his chest and he’s not sure which one is going to come out first.

“Sky?” Ahsoka questions, likely feeling his worry. “Issokay! Good!”

No, she wouldn’t have the mind to recognize why this familiar face she knows as friend is quite the opposite.

Anakin turns away from the crib, and smiles. “Mando.”

“Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker,” the teenager in the door says. He’s not wearing his bucket, but the rest of his armor is in place. Anakin would peg him as younger than Ahsoka was, before. Not by much, but... fourteen, maybe fifteen. The face is painfully familiar, and stays utterly neutral as he answers the question Anakin didn’t ask. “We found your Ident card after you passed out.”

Cool, so, Anakin definitely can’t change his name.

“Are they yours?” the teenager that will one day create an army says.

“They have no one else,” Anakin tells him. It’s true enough. Still, he gets the feeling that’s not what Fett’s asking. “They’re family.”

Jango squints at him. “I was told Jedi can’t have families.”

Anakin’s mind flashes to Padme and the fantasies he’d long harbored of children born free, and tears himself away. He can’t think about that right now. He can’t think of who he’s--

“Jetii!”

Anakin’s head snaps up, and he realizes he’s shaking. Fett’s not neutral anymore, just... concerned.

“I’m fine,” Anakin spits out, and leans on the crib behind him. He can hear the little ones whimpering. He has to pull his thoughts in and bundle them up into something that won’t hurt the incredibly Force-Sensitive babies behind him. “I’m--I’m all they have. They’re all I have. Are the exact words important?”

Fett doesn’t grimace, exactly, but his expression isn’t pleasant. “I guess.”

Anakin waits to see if there’s anything else coming, but no. Just an awkward silence. He holds onto his frustration, but it still gets the better of him.

“What are my chances of getting my arm back?” he asks.

“Hm?”

Anakin waves what’s left of that arm, the tied-off sleeve flapping about. “My arm. If you don’t want to give me mine back, can I at least have some kind of placeholder? I can’t pick up the babies without worrying that I’m going to drop them.”

“I can ask the medics,” Fett says. He stares at Anakin for a little more, and then asks, “Aren’t you going to ask about our plans for you, or...?”

“If you wanted to kill me, you already would have,” Anakin mutters. “Right now, these two are my only priority. I’m more likely to keep them safe and alive here than I am if I try to break out. I can be patient. I would also assume they wouldn’t have been left in a room with me, alone, if any of us were in danger of medical complications.”

Fett flushes and turns. “I’ll tell buir you’re up and active. There’s a nurse droid in the hall, I can have it handle feedings until you get an arm.”

“Thanks,” Anakin drawls, aware that he’s a little bitchy right now, but not in any mood to temper himself.

He settles himself on the floor next to Ahsoka’s crib, lets her play with his hair while the nurse droid feeds Obi-Wan, and then feeds Ahsoka herself. Anakin thinks he could probably pull the droid apart for an escape attempt if it came down to it. He hopes it won’t be necessary. He’s barely existing in the moment as it is. The droid asks Anakin if he needs anything, and he... shrugs.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Perhaps some non-perishables,” the nurse droids suggests. “Ration bars, for if you are hungry before one of the Mando’ade returns.”

Anakin shrugs again. “Alright.”

He ignores the droid after that. He’s only mostly cut off from the Force by the single cuff. He can’t blanket his Master and Padawan in his own Force presence, try to make them feel safe and calm with the fact that he’s here and ready to protect them, but he can monitor them. He can meditate, even if it’s not the way he prefers to do it. He doesn’t have the strength for moving meditation right now, but a regular meditation... he can do that.

He needs to do that, because no other stress relief option is available to him right now.

Anakin lets himself feel the babies fall asleep, the two of them radiating contentment and warmth. He lets himself trust that, for the moment, he doesn’t need to worry. He lets himself sink into an absence of thought, and then the Force guides him deeper still.

“Anakin!”

His eyes fly open.

This is not the real world.

This is not the room-cell in the Haat Mando’ade base he’s managed to stumble across.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says again, a smile hidden in a beard and worn laugh lines about his eyes. The right age, the right size, reaching for him and--

There’s only a moment’s hesitation for Anakin to process, and then he sprints forward and yanks his Master into a hug.

“You’re good,” Obi-Wan mutters to him, rubbing his back as they both sink to their knees. There’s a click of bootheels against the empty white not-space that they’re in, and Ahsoka buries herself into their sides. Anakin pulls her in a little closer too.

They stay that for longer than is maybe necessary, but Anakin’s stress levels are sky high right now, and he needs this. A hug, even one that’s technically only taking place in his head, is important.

“Sorry, Skyguy,” Ahsoka whispers. “Thinking in the real world is... really hard right now.”

He pulls away from the desperate hug he’d started them off with, rearranges things so he’s leaning against Obi-Wan, lets Ahsoka lie down with her head in his lap, on her back and legs stretched out across the white nothingness.

“I don’t know what happened,” Anakin says. “I mean, Sith stuff, probably, but... we’re in the wrong year.”

“I’d wondered,” Obi-Wan admits. “I thought it odd that I couldn’t feel the clones, but I only have so much energy to think right now...”

“Please tell me there’s a way to fix it,” Anakin begs. “I can’t be the adult, Obi-Wan. I haven’t even been born yet, that’s how far back we are. I don’t know what to do, and I can’t just bang around making bad decisions without you there to pull me back and--”

“Breathe,” Obi-Wan tells him.

“We’re in the Force,” Anakin says, just a little hysterically. “We don’t need to breathe!”

“Actually, I think we’re in your head,” Ahsoka says. She’s pointing and stretching her feet like a dancer, but looks up to grin at Anakin like the little shit she is. “You’re the only one whose brain is big enough right now.”

“Hey,” Anakin complains, putting his entire palm over her face as revenge. She giggles and swats him away. “That any way to talk to the guy who taught you how to kill five guys in one move?”

She sticks her tongue out at him. He rolls his eyes and runs a hand over her montrals, smiling when she wriggles and makes a little chirruping noise.

“She’s not wrong,” Obi-Wan says. “Though the phrasing was unfortunate, it does stand to reason that as the only person without the brain of a toddler, you’re hosting. Our minds can’t handle the strain of our own selves, let alone sharing space.”

“Infant.”

“Hm?”

“Ahsoka’s a toddler. You’re an infant. Maybe six months.” Anakin grins, just this side of brittle. He doesn’t want to joke about a problem he can’t fix, but what else is there? “You’re the literal baby of the lineage now.”

Obi-Wan sighs over the riot of Ahsoka’s laugh. “Of course I am.”

“It’s okay, Master,” Ahsoka assures him. “Skyguy’s gonna take care of us until we can fight again.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan says, grimacing slightly. “I am sorry for you being put in such a position, Anakin. It’s certainly not an easy one.”

Anakin wishes he could say that his immediate reaction isn’t a sense of hurt, a you don’t trust me, a you don’t think I can do this, a you’re disappointed someone else wasn’t here to handle things instead.

He wishes he could make that claim and have anyone believe him, but they are in a shared meditation, and in this moment there are very, very few secrets. He does not make the effort to hide his reaction in time, and Obi-Wan catches it.

Anakin turns away as Obi-Wan’s face fills with surprise and horror. “Anakin--”

“Can we just pretend you didn’t feel that?” Anakin asks, and flinches when Ahsoka pops up from where she lies and scurries around to hug him like a vise. “Can we just pretend I’m not--”

“Dear one, there are very few people I would trust as much as you in this,” Obi-Wan says. “Those who match up are largely the people who helped me raise me when I was actually this age.”

“Being completely reliant on your padawan isn’t--”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, cutting him off there. “I can trust you to care for me in ways that don’t just come down to making me a useful general again. I already trust you to risk your life and safety and freedom to see us survive, given what little I remember of that storm.”

“You handed yourself over to Mandalorians you knew nothing about so we’d be safe,” Ahsoka mutters into the fabric somewhere over his ribs. “That could have gone really badly, and you still did it because you were worried about us.”

“We trust you, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, pulling Anakin to his chest and resting his chin on Anakin’s head. “We know you.”

“You don’t even know what happened in the storm,” Anakin mutters. “You were asleep.”

“I caught enough listening to the doctors,” Obi-Wan says. He runs a hand over Anakin’s head and through his hair. “You did well, Anakin.”

Anakin wonders why they don’t do this in real life. Obi-Wan doesn’t usually hug him, let alone cuddle. Maybe it’s because they’re all stuck in too much truth in this shared meditation, and the other two are currently stuck in child bodies that crave physical affection in ways they don’t realize they’re expressing in here as well. Maybe it’s the stress.

“What even can you hear?” Anakin mutters, still in Obi-Wan’s arms. Ahsoka giggles at him, nuzzling into his side in a way he doesn’t think she’d ever let herself, normally.

“We can’t really think in the real world right now,” she muses. “Only when we’re sleeping, and probably when we’re meditating once we’re bigger. If I try to think too hard, my head hurts worse than that time Ventress got me in the head with the back of her saber.”

“Everything takes up more space than it should,” Obi-Wan adds. “It’s... all of my senses are bigger and brighter and take up more of my attention, but they aren’t very clear, really. They’re just more. I can’t focus on anything, either, except... well, the feedings.”

Ahsoka makes an annoyed noise. “The whole diapers and bottles thing is really embarrassing, by the way. Only here, though, I barely notice when I’m awake because...”

“Because you’re a toddler,” Anakin says drily.

She huffs. “How would you feel if you were stuck like that?”

That’s fair.

“I don’t remember much,” Obi-Wan says carefully. “But part of me recognizes familiar things, even if I can’t quite make the connection.”

“Was that Fett, earlier?” Ahsoka asks. “Because I thought I saw a friend, and I pretty much forgot the face as soon as they left, but--”

“It’s Fett,” Anakin confirms. “But I guess that’s good to know? You saw his face and your baby brain just assumed it was one of the clones?”

“Pretty much.”

“And we know we trust you,” Obi-Wan adds, and tightens the hug when Anakin stiffens. “Anakin, I can barely understand the world around me at all right now. It’s like being on the painkillers that don’t knock you out but leave you saying only the most ridiculous things that come to mind. You have a general understanding of what’s going on, but all your emotions are too much and the room spins, you can’t stay on one track mentally, you can’t remember what you’ve done and what you haven’t--”

“You can’t control your bladder,” Ahsoka mutters, just a touch spitefully.

Obi-Wan grimaces and nods. “An unfortunate commonality in the experiences, yes. What I was aiming to address, however, is the fact that I only remember a very few things with any reliability. Most of my adult mind, so to speak, appears to be stored in a stasis form in the Force itself, because the infant mind can only handle the barest edges of who I am. But what that infant mind knows, and what I remember thinking once I have some sense of my full self in sleep, is that there is no one I react to as positively as you, Anakin.”

“What he’s trying to say,” Ahsoka interrupts, “but can’t because he’s trying to be a serene Jedi Councilor who definitely doesn’t break the code, nosiree, is that we don’t remember much about ourselves when we’re awake, but we remember you, and we know that we love you, Skyguy.”

Anakin stares at her, and then twists around to look at Obi-Wan instead.

“Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka croons. “Stop being emotionally constipated. We’re literal babies right not, which sucks, but we’re like 90% emotion. Tell Skyguy.”

“Yes, er, Ahsoka was not incorrect,” Obi-Wan says, stroking his beard and refusing to meet Anakin’s eyes. “I, that is to say, we...”

“Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka says, a touch sharper than she might have dared if not for the reversal of their ages.

“I do love you, Anakin, and it’s one of the only things my child mind knows consistently.”

The Force does, in fact, sing with the truth of this. It circles them like a delighted tornado of emotional reality, pulsing like a coat of positivity.

Anakin buries his face in Obi-Wan’s shoulder and hugs him as tightly as possible.

“Oh! Oh dear, I--Anakin, really, this isn’t news.”

“Master Kenobi, you’re allergic to actually talking about your emotions. Let him hug you.”

“Anakin, I’ve raised you since you were nine, it would be nearly impossible for me to not care, why are you--”

“Master Kenobi, stop questioning him!” Ahsoka whines. “It’s affirmation time.”

“Ahsoka, have you been spending time with the mind healers again?”

“I was a teenager in a warzone and also Barriss bullied me into it for my own good.” Ahsoka shrugs. “I learned some stuff. You two should have gone, too. You were more karked up than I was.”

“Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan scolds.

“What are you going to do, spit up on me? You can’t exactly make me run laps, Master.”

“Both of you shut up,” Anakin mumbles, and tries to push as much of his own affection as possible into a little ball of feelings that he can just drop on the two of them while he’s still in his own brain and not somewhere he can’t touch the Force. “Just--just shut.”

Apparently, Anakin’s feelings are a lot, because Ahsoka bursts into tears and Obi-Wan zones out so hard Anakin starts worrying about him.

They’re in a mindscape, a thing that he didn’t really think happened, but does. He shouldn’t have to worry about his--

“Oh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, pulling him in tighter. “Why did you...”

“Skyguy, I don’t think you planned on putting in the part where you worry about nobody loving you back as much as you loved them,” Ahsoka says, raw and uneven. “Because, uh, we got that? Skyguy, that’s really wrong!”

Oh shit.

“No, you were... you were not supposed to get that,” he says, just a little strangled. “I am so sorry, that wasn’t--”

“Be our dad.”

Anakin stares down at his Padawan. She stares determinedly back.

“What?”

“Fett asked if we were yours, and you edged around the question by saying we were family, but he was asking if you were our dad. I’m guessing you didn’t want to claim that when we couldn’t agree to it, so I’m telling you now: do it. Adopt us the Mandalorian way or whatever. You were already my older brother, basically, this is just a step sideways in how we talk about it.”

He stares at her a bit more. He doesn’t have words, and his emotions are such a cyclone of conflicting thoughts that he’s surprised the Force hasn’t tossed him out.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be born, but if I am, then I need a name so I don’t have the same one as future me,” she says. She takes his hands, holds them tight and leans in close. “You’re going to be raising us anyway. The Force already made it clear there’s no fixing this, we tried asking while you were unconscious, it wants us to grow up the long way. You’re going to be our dad. Just make it official. Make me a Skywalker.”

Anakin sits up straight, looks her up and down, the determination and affection and--

He turns to look at Obi-Wan. “Master?”

“...yes, Anakin?”

“I know she said ‘we’ and ‘us,’ but I’m not letting anyone speak for anyone else. Not for something this important.”

Obi-Wan blinks at him, and then rearranges himself to something a tad more formal. He takes one of Anakin’s hands in his own. “Anakin, we’ve been family since you were nine. This is just redefining the terms. We can adjust as we go forward, but for all intents and purposes, the majority of the time, I will be that youngling in the cot. For all intents and purposes, I will be your child, and... and I would be honored for you to make that official.”

“Even if it breaks the Code?” Anakin presses.

“All is as the Force wills it,” Obi-Wan says, almost but not quite overriding Ahsoka’s, “This doesn’t break the Code.”

They both turn to look at her. She shrugs. “What? You guys are always arguing about it and Skyguy was married. I went and did some digging about what is and isn’t allowed. This adoption would be skirting the edges of some rules, since we should be taken to the creche to be raised in a communal manner, and official adoptions are discouraged for reasons relating to later padawan stuff, but since the Force is also insisting we stay with the Mandalorians, I think it qualifies as an exception and will be treated as such, retroactively, by the Council. You also won’t be able to take either of us as Padawan once that time comes. It does not, however, violate the Code in and of itself.”

“What the hell, Snips?”

“I’m impressed, young one,” Obi-Wan says, with a smile Anakin can feel. “I could have expected to see you in court in a few years, with an argument like that.”

“You knew I was married?” Anakin squeaks.

“Rex isn’t a very good liar,” she says. She then droops. “Or, he wasn’t. Wouldn’t be. He tried, at least, but I caught on. That was against the Code, though. Just so you know.”

Anakin runs a hand over his face, tries very hard not to think about what and whom he’s left behind. He can save that breakdown for later.

He chances a look at Obi-Wan.

He gets a raised eyebrow in response.

“You’re not mad?”

“I knew you and the Senator were close, considering all the kissing you did in the Arena,” Obi-Wan says drily. Anakin isn’t stupid enough to ask how he knows it’s Padme. “I didn’t know you were married, and am a little disappointed you didn’t at least tell me, or consult me before you did it, considering you were still a padawan... but no, I’m not mad. Even if I were--and I am not--we’ve time-traveled, so I’m fairly certain that qualifies as annulment. It’s a non-issue.”

Anakin pushes down the tidal wave of grief for people who haven’t been born yet, and just breathes instead. This is important. This is too important for him to just kriff it up.

“Names,” he says.

“I still want part of it to be ‘Soka,’ if you don’t think it’s too risky.”

Obi-Wan shrugs with a smile. “Almost every time I’ve posed as a Mandalorian, since my first mission with Satine, I’ve gone by Ben. It would be fitting that, now that we’re here and apparently staying, I take the name for real.”

Anakin nods. He closes his eyes, and breathes deep, and thinks that they may be among Mandalorians on a world of snow, but he has the desert in his bones and will never forget it.

“Ahsoka Tano, sister of my heart,” he says, hoping he’s getting the words right, and takes her hands in his. It’ll have more meaning here and now, where they’re both of full mind. He holds her gaze. “You ask to join my family, to be of those who walk the sky. You shed your old name as you shed the chains of your past. You become my daughter, not of blood, but of love, loyalty, and survival. My wells are your wells, and all I own and earn is to set the path of your freedom. I name you Sokanth Skywalker, she who slips through every hunter’s trap, and you are my child.”

She smiles brightly at him, and looks like she might cry. He presses his lips to her forehead. He turns to his Master. He hesitates, because it’s one thing to redefine his little sister, but...

“Obi-Wan Kenobi, father of my heart,” he says, his voice catching where it shouldn’t. He can do this. It’s weird but he can do this. “You ask to join my family, to be of those who walk the sky. You shed your old name as you shed the chains of your past. You become my son, not of blood, but of love, loyalty, and survival. My wells are your wells, and all I own and earn is to set the path of your freedom. I name you Ylliben Skywalker, he who hunts the monsters of the darkest nights, and you are my child.”

The man before him almost laughs, well aware of how absurd it is for Anakin to be the one adopting him, but keeps it limited to just a twinkle in his eye and a quirk to his lips. Anakin presses his lips to his teacher’s forehead.

He pulls both of them in close. Padawan and Master. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan.

Daughter and son. Soka and Ben. His.

“I’m still gonna call you Skyguy,” Soka says wetly. “But Mas--um, Ben. Ben can call you buir, all the Mandos are gonna love it.”

“Fine by me,” Anakin says. “I’m going to be telling you Tatooine bedtime stories, by the way. You’ll remember creche stories as you grow, but these’ll be new.”

“I do believe that would be appropriate,” Ben says, laughing just a touch. “I also think we should perhaps disband this, unless you have something else to address. You’re going to be dealing with two very cranky younglings soon.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna have headaches after this,” Soka laughs, rubbing her face against his shoulder. “But it’s okay, we got what we ne--”

“No, shut up, what you do mean, headaches? You said that was only when you were awake!”

“I mean, we’d be sobbing after like three minutes if we were awake,” Soka says cheerfully. “This way, it’s been like... an hour or whatever between all the talking and the hugging and the crying and the feelings, and we’re just gonna be grumpy.”

“Oh my--wake up!” Anakin growls at both of them. “I’m responsible for you now, wake up.”

He ignores Soka’s laughter and drags himself back to wakefulness. Behind him, he feels slight confusion and pain mixed with love and delight. Ben starts fussing.

Anakin drags a hand over his face and groans. He gets to his feet, nods to the nurse droid, and steps over to the cribs.

“Can we put them in the same one until I get my arm back?” he asks. The droid obliges, moving Ben to Soka’s crib. She immediately crawls over to him and envelops him in a hug. She pouts up at Anakin, eyes going watery, and he drops into the chair next to her and offers his hand through the bars. She grabs it.

“You’re going to be trouble for a long, long time, huh?”

She sticks her tongue out at him, and he smiles at her. Yes, trouble in spades, his Snips.

He starts telling her one of the fables of Tatooine, the really sanitized ones meant for children her age, before they got to the slave stories and haunt-tales. She falls asleep for real, no Force Shenanigans, shortly after. Ben is dead to the world by that point, making small snuffling noises whenever the blanket tickles his nose.

Anakin knows he’s got the galaxy’s dopiest smile on his face. It’s fine.

It’s a few more hours before someone stops by. He’s used the fresher by that point, helped the nurse droid coax Ben through a feeding, and helped Soka play with the little stuffed eopie they’ve given her.

“They got names, aruetti?”

He looks up and over. “Yes.”

The middle-aged man ambles over, arms crossed. “Jango said you claimed to be all they had left.”

He is. “They’re family. I’ve had a few hours to think it over, now that I’m not getting shot at or dying in the snow. To any system that allows it, I’ll be their father.”

“No chance of returning them to their people?”

Anakin shakes his head. “Soka has none who would recognize her, and I already--I already babysat her regularly, and she thought of me as a brother. It’s an easy next step.”

“And the human?”

“I... the master-padawan relationship is often one that is compared to that of parent and child,” Anakin says carefully. “My own master was like a father to me, and Ben is... Ben is all I have left of him.”

There. Not quite the truth, but... technically not lying.

Ben makes a small noise in his sleep, fussing, and Anakin reaches through the bars to brush his thumb across the infant’s chubby cheek. He smiles helplessly as Ben whines and curls in tighter on himself, pressing a tiny fist to his mouth.

“You’re good,” Anakin whispers. “We’re fine, Ylliben.”

“I don’t know what you’re hiding,” the Mando says. “But I do believe you’re doing what you can for those kids.”

“That’s all that matters,” Anakin agrees, finally looking away from his... his son.

Mine, the greedy krayt in his chest whispers.

“When are you planning on going back to Coruscanta?”

“I’m not,” Anakin says, standing and looking the man head-on. Anakin’s taller than him. That’s usually useful. “I don’t know why, but the Force wants me to stay here, or at least with the Mandalorians.”

“You want me to believe that you support my cause?”

“I don’t know your cause,” Anakin admits. “But I don’t like Death Watch, and I know you don’t either. Nobody on Coruscant is going to know to miss me, and the Force is warning me away from trying to go back. Whatever it is that needs doing, I’m supposed to be doing it here.”

The man steps forward. “Anyone tell you who I am?”

“No.”

“I’m Jaster Mereel.”

Good for you, Anakin thinks, and doesn’t say. “I’m pretty sure you already know my name.”

“I do,” Mereel says. “Wanna tell me how a Knight with a seemingly valid ident card claims nobody will know to miss him?”

“No.”

Mereel doesn’t even blink. “Try that again.”

“It means exactly what I said,” Anakin says. “The ident card is real. My training and rank are earned and deserved and bestowed by protocol. All of it was done at the Temple in Coruscant, but if you phone up the Temple with my name and face, nobody will know who I am.”

“And you’re not going to tell me why,” Mereel grouses. “What’s stopping me from calling them up anyway and asking them to come fetch your hypothermic ass?”

“...the fact that I already offered to help you?” Anakin manages. “I... I did say that part, right? That I’d help?”

“What’s stopping you from wanting to go back? And don’t give me any of that ‘will of the force’ banthashit.”

“I broke the Code,” Anakain says. The words sit heavy in his mouth, but one of his violations is lesser than the other, and-- “I married, and we’re not supposed to do that. She’s... not around anymore, but it still stands that I did it.”

The Tuskens weigh on his mind, suddenly and intensely. He hasn’t thought about them in ages, has always pushed those memories down, down, down, but--

“And they won’t take you back?”

“They might,” Anakin admits. They probably would, with his full title and everything, especially if he told them about the future. “But they wouldn’t let me keep the kids.”

Understanding flickers. “Not allowed kids?”

“It’s not... technically against the code,” he hedges. “But they’d find out about my marriage while investigating my past--” maybe, he’s not sure what kind of investigation they’d justify for a complete stranger of a knight, especially to confirm the future, but if they had a psychometric so much as touch his saber or arm, once he gets those back, there’d be a risk, “--and after already breaking the code by marrying, they’d be far less willing to bend the rules about the babies.”

He doesn’t realize how likely the risk is until after he says it, because he’s just been focusing on staying alive and following the Force, but.. they’d want the kids in the creche. He’s broken the code enough that any investigation they set to prove he’s legitimately a Jedi Knight that isn’t recorded and isn’t in the system is going to uncover something through the Force. They might not let him keep his family.

“What are their names?”

“I already--”

“Jango kept his last name,” Mereel cuts him off. “Did yours?”

Anakin looks the man in the eye, and then attempts to cross his arms in response, to mirror the pose and hold his ground. Unfortunately, he’s forgotten that he’s only got the one arm, which is really kriffing irritating.

“I gave them my name,” he says. “They’ll know where they came from, but they are mine.”

Yeah, no shit they’ll know where they came from.

Mereel’s face twitches, but the man is unreadable in the Force. Still, there’s something in the air... “So, those names?”

“Sokanth and Ylliben Skywalker,” Anakin tells him. He spells it out when the droid asks. He assumes it’s just for the medical data their droids are collecting.

“How well can you fight without your laser sword?”

“You mean unarmed?” Anakin asks, and then smiles brightly and tauntingly and waves his empty sleeve around. Mereel does not appreciate the humor. “Pretty well, but I do better when I have the Force, and am not still recovering from hypothermia. And I’m a fair shot with a blaster, but no specialist.”

Mereel eyes him for a moment, and then nods. “One of my snipers is Force-Sensitive. Never was enough to get more than some basic training in mental shields and the control to not hurt herself, but when we mentioned bringing in a Jetii, someone asked her what she thought. Came by the room while you were unconscious and said she thought you felt sad, angry, and desperate... but that she had a good feeling about where you’d be going.”

“Sad, angry, and desperate?” Anakin repeats, a little offended.

“You act like a veteran, kid,” Mereel says. He shrugs. “Damn near everyone that goes through some kind of war has all that going on. S’normal. You got Kamira’s approval, though, and that means a damn sight more. Keep your secrets for now. We’ll get there eventually.”

No we won’t, Anakin thinks. Out loud, he asks, “So, how much of what kind of work would I have to do to borrow a ship to Tatooine and earn enough to free a slave girl?”

#disaster lineage #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #jango fett #jaster mereel #time travel #mandalore #tatooine #de aging #babies #phoenix files #Anakin and the Jedi Babies

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thefanbasewhore · 3 years

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Can you do a soulmate Stucky x reader? I feel like you would write that so well, especially how you portrayed bucky in "are you mad at me" was so soft. The soulmate version would be so cute

Summary || Bucky and Steve meet their soulmate, which they had no idea existed.

Warning/content || fluff, a small explicit scene, fighting. Soulmate AU.

Paring || Bucky Barnes x reader x Steve rogers

I got a little carried away, but enjoy ❤️ not edited or beta read but I'm sleepy 😴

Bucky and Steve have had each other from the moment they have met. Imaging their surprise, being two little boys from Brooklyn seeing colors, something the two agreed to hide, pending the time period.

It was different now, a different time. They were accepted and while both of them loved each other, so very much, especially through the mind control, fighting each other, then for each other. They always knew something was missing.

A color, maybe even two, three. A part of them missing but they both collectively came to the conclusion that it was just that. Some missing colors, it happens sometimes.

It happens when they least expect it.

After Thanos, after Tony finally deciding to leave that kind of life behind, buying a small two bedroom house on the outskirts of the city. A home to grow old in, be together for the first time since before the war started but only one thing prevented that.

The house was a disaster, gutted to the foundations, no running water, green moss outside covered the whole house, the lawn completely out of control. For Bucky it was a hard no, it was a dump but the moment Steve fluttered those ridiculously long lashes, how could he say no?

So here they are, sweating on this 90 degree day, putting up new dry wall with no air-conditioning.

"What color should it be?" Steve asks, glancing to his dark haired lover, taking notice of his now shirtless appearance. Bucky let out a sigh, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Maybe we should get all of the walls up first."

Steve clicks his tongue, "I like the color green, like a nice pastel mint green."

"Whatever you want, honey." Bucky wasn't too picky, besides whatever made Steve happy, made him happy.

"Hello?" A sweet, feminine voice came from the kitchen. The doors left open because of the heat, there was nothing much in here anyways.

Steve pulls away from his task, pulling his shirt over his head to wipe his forehead with it. "Come in, we are in the kitchen."

Bucky wasn't too alarmed, Steve had told him previously that he hired a someone to make up the yard, nothing too fancy but the both of them were completely clueless when it came to plants, or gardens period.

"Quite a project you have going on here, Mr. Rogers." No doubt taking in the half gutted house along the way. While they have never met, they spoke on the phone briefly about his wants.

"You have no idea, Hun."

The woman looks around the kitchen first, noticing the freshly painted cabinet, the smell a dead giveaway, half eaten burgers thrown to the side on a small, make shift table with barely enough room to fit.

At first glance towards the man she notices the sharp jawline, defined but soft feature of the blonde as she greets him with a smile which soon drops in confusion as small dots of color appear. Stormy blue eyes with a full beard, Steve's mouth dropping agape as he notices the splirts of color - the missing colors for 106 years finally appear.

Bucky notices the tension in the room, shifting his attention from the wall to Steve, noticing how intensely he's staring, Bucky follows the line of vision and meets sweet eyes.

She's hit with another line of color, different from Steve's but now there's no more gray hue, bright yellows and blues. The outside is suddenly so bright and Bucky mouth drops.

This cannot be happening.

They sit there and stare for what seems like hours.

"I - ugh.." she starts, "What is happening?"

***

Sometimes life just throws curve balls, like finding out that your soulmate or in this cause soulmates are two, one hundred year old super soldiers who have already been in love with each other for over a decade.

The pull is already strong, nature intended for these souls to be together until death due part and honestly Bucky could feel it. With Steve he was used to the urge of wanting to have him close, kiss him every free minute he has but with the woman in front of him, it's new.

He doesn't even know her name, watches the way she nervously flickers from Steve's gaze to his own. She's beautiful.

Strong but delicate features, the curve of her nose is cute, cupid lips are so full... kissable. He can't stop staring, even with Steve and her in the mist of conversation. The make shift table cleared of all prior mess, Buck and Steve have to share a chair, which is quite comical, seeing two giant supersoldier try to share a small, old, dinning room seat.

Bucky's metal fingers twitch, metal plate click and whirl to life as he tights to urge to map her face out with his fingers. His heart is beating so fast, filled with so much... Love? Joy?

No matter how much Steve and Bucky try to hide it.. deep down they always knew, something was missing and in this case, someone.

"You're beautiful." The words catch both her and Steve off guard, Bucky blushes red something terrible but the sweet smile defuses the fire.

Well until she says something back, "You are too."

His whole face is hot and Steve reaches over to affectionately rub the back of his shoulder. Of course Steve was calm, he always is.

He handles things with lots of thought and understanding, while Buck is more hot headed, acts on the moment.

***

"It doesn't feel right." Bucky comments, watching from the window to insure she safely gets into the car. Steve sighs, by the time they're done talking darkness has filled the house. Steve affectionately squeezes the brunette's bicep, pressing a kiss to his hair.

"I know Bucky. This is a lot for her, for us. She needs to take time and reflect on this. She'll come to us when she's ready."

Bucky knows nothing then her name, and love for plants but chews at his bottom lip nervously. She's too far, the bond pulls at his heart strings. Now bonded forever. "What if she never comes back?"

"She will."

***

A few days pass, the kitchen is finally done, new appliances, new china and kitchen fully stocked. Steve is making something for Dinner - it smells amazing while Bucky starts painting the walls of the lifeless living room.

It's bare, not even something to sit on but no doubt with the stamina of two super soldiers it will be done by next week.

The knock on the front door is unexpected, but Bucky replies quickly. "I got it, Stevie!"

He expects some older, much wrinkly neighbor to be complaining about the noise of the nail gone or something this late at night. His mouth drops, a little shocked at the sight of her.

A very formal sitting dress, long and black, dips into a sweetheart neckline, the valley of her breasts easily visible. Hair is thrown into a neat updo, sexy and sleek.

Bucky clears his throat. "Hi." He squeaks out, feeling like a total idiot as he watches her nervously shift her weight from one heel to the other.

"Hi, I was in the area. A wedding for one my clients, thought I'd come say hello." Bucky wants to shake his head in disbelief that something so beautiful, just like Steve is made for him.

The universe sculpted and made two beautiful, breath taking human beings to be his and it's overwhelming. She's so pretty it's alarming.

It was a good excuse, the truth but not the real reason she stopped by. How could she tell them that they have been on her mind none stop? It physically hurts to be away for so long.

"Who is it, Buck?" Steve mumbles, interrupting the thick tension between the two.

"Come in, doll." Bucky's helps her with the jacket that lays over his shoulders, mentioning his head towards the direction of the kitchen, where his other lover is.

Steve is stunned none the less, he at least expected a few more days. Also, feeling much like Bucky, amazed by the radiating beauty.

He decides to play it cool, dimples forming with a breath taking smile. "Do you like spaghetti?"

Hours pass, time moves so fast with conversation, and adding wine to the mix surely didn't help.

The trio once again in the kitchen, but this time each have a chair, a new, more comfortable dinning set.

"You got this done fast. It's beautiful." She comments, "Colors are beautiful, I guess I have you two to thank for that."

Bucky shifts in his seat, the glass of wine is useless but still finds himself sipping from it. Her eyes are red, watery with a slight buzz.

"Do you feel it?" The question has both Bucky and Steve look at each other, watching her teary eyes as she presses a hand to sooth the ache in her chest. "It hurts, it hurts to be away. All week."

"It's normal." Steve answers just above a whisper, his next words make Bucky's bottom lip quiver. "I felt it every day for the last 5 years, Bucky was gone."

Bucky had never thought about it - there hasn't been enough time to. It's only been a month later since the return and it never occurred to him what Steve has gone through.

"Steve.." He starts, tears kiss his waterline as his fingers run through the blonde's hair. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't know, I -."

"Couldn't prevent it Buck. It happened but you're here now and.." Steve turns his attention towards the girl, tears slip past her eyelids. It's for Steve, for Bucky.. all the pain and suffering they've been through. "Hey, don't cry, it's alright beautiful."

It's feels right, despite barely knowing the man, nothing feel more right then being pulled into his chest as a large metal hand comforts her in a different way, rubbing the loose strands of hair as he murmurs. "We've got you now, you're our other half."

***

Months have past from that day. The house is finally done, everything they could have imagined with the additional of an extra tooth brush in the cup that sits on the bathroom sink, a pile of fuzzy blankets at the bottom of the bed and a five year old chocolate lab. Steve didn't mind much, he's always loved dogs, Bucky on the other hand...

"Alright, alright, Maverick." Bucky huffs, grocery bags in hand as the dog excitedly nuzzles his legs, following him throughout the house like it wasn't only an hour ago he's seen him. Once putting the bags down, hears the whine, big brown eyes staring up at him. Bucky sighs, dropping to a knee before petting the pup's head. "Alright you mutt, don't tell anyone about this."

"Too late, pal." Bucky jumps, hearing the amusement in Steve's voice, followed by the giggle of the woman that peers out from behind him. Wrapping her arms around Steve before testing her head against his shoulder.

"Caught you red handed, you love Mav." Bucky grumbles at her words, feeling two smaller hands wrap around his waist as a head falls into his chest. He presses a soft kiss into her hair before taking in the blonde that barely fits through the doorway he leans against.

Bucky's free hand reaches out, mentioning him closer but as she's soon finds herself in the middle of a super soldier sandwich. "Hi, baby." Bucky presses a kiss to the blonde's lips.

"Hi, pal."

***

"It's only one mission. That's it, we will be in and out." Steve promises, not liking the way his girls face twist into a worried expression.

Heavy eyes, lower lip sticking out to pout. "What if something happens? If you get hurt? Or if they find you, Bucky?"

"I told you, Hydra is gone, honey." Bucky's large hands sooth over her tight shoulders, pressing soft kisses to the back of her upper traps.

"No. You still have nightmares at least three times a week. This can't be good for you. And you." She turns her attention back towards Steve, "Barely sleep four hours a night. You carry the fault on your shoulders, you don't need anymore. I don't want you two to go."

"We don't have a choice. They were my family once, I owe this to them." Steve didn't miss the way her lips moves to form a snarl, not sparing another glance as she makes a b-line for the stairs.

Bucky sighs, leaning against the wall. "She's going to be mad at us." Rubbing his chest with hopes to ease the burn.

The bond pulls at their hearts, a slow, painful punishment for their actions.

They return two weeks later, tired, just wanting to see their girl. The moment they walk into the house they look at each other with will wild eyes, heart pumping as they fear the worse. The dog, the annoying wiggling tail that would bark is one where to be found, something is wrong.

It's alarming. "Where is that freaking mutt?"

Steve calls her name, but there is no answer. Bucky and him are searching the house, ascending the stairs, opening the bedroom door with a deep sigh of relief.

The stupid dog takes up half of the bed, but is cuddled into his owner. Arm draped around the ball of fur, amount as long as her.

The dog lifts his head, a little tail waggle as Steve stretches his ears, lowering to his knees and laying his top half over the bed to press loud, audible kisses to his ears. "Good boy, protecting our girl while we are gone."

When morning comes she notices the dog is still pressed against her, licking small stripes against her cheeks. "Have to go out, buddy?"

She barely makes it five steps before tripping over two rather large bodies, sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor. Bucky groans and Steve's eyes flicker open.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Wanted you to sleep pretty girl. Mav was taking up all the room and you looked like an angel." Bucky hums in agreement despite his eyes being closed.

"Mmm, well it's all free now." It's short, simple but the sarcastic tone has Bucky's eyes flickering to meet his boyfriend's. They both sigh, staring up at the ceiling, knowing it's going to be a long day.

And it is. She's does whatever she can to get away from them, only answers with short replies to the point Bucky can't take it anymore.

"Sweetheart," Bucky tries again but she doesn't acknowledge him, eyes stayed glued to the book. He gets fed up, metal plates click as artificial appendages run over the binding and pull it from her grasp.

"Give it back, James."

He cringes at the name, a displeased frown wears his face. "No, you have to talk to us."

"No."

"You're bring a brat." Bucky starts, watching her expression change from annoyed to anger, wrinkles of frustration pinch between her eyebrows.

"Buck - don't say that to her." Steve comments, it's his fault, he's the one who said yes without confiding in her first.

"She is, it's over with now. She has no right to be this mad."

"No right?" Her chest fills with emotion as a humourless chuckle causes both men to stiffen. "No right? Huh Buck? I sat here for two full weeks, no communication, nothing while the two of you are out there fighting God knows what after you swore, promised you would always be with me. Don't promise me forever if you're just going to throw yourself in danger! You're going to die and leave me, or worse! Both of you will."

No one says a word, only watch as her chest rises and falls with deep, heavy pants despite the tears that rolls past her eyes lashes.

"Honey, I'm sorry -."

"I don't want to hear it James, and you." She turns towards Steve, fire in her soul. "I thought you would understand, more then him, considering it has happened to you."

She leaves the room without another word, Buck turns towards Steve, watching the way he fights the tears that gather. The pain of loosing Bucky is still so fresh, "She's right Buck, we fucked up."

"I know, I know." He mumbles into Steve's shoulder, pulling him close.

***

"You're so good to me, sweet girl." Bucky moans as she shifts her hips against him, the blunt end of his cock hitting the spot inside her that makes her squeal for more.

Large hands squeeze her hips as Steve leans over to find his boyfriend's lips, kissing him through the gasps and whines of their girl's name as she circles her hips around Bucky.

Steve's hands pull at his hair, lips trailing from his lips, down his cheeks before nipping at his jaw.

"How does he feel honey?"

"So good, Stevie." For a second he's in a trance, watching the way her face contours with pleasure and the pain of her third orgasm well on its way.

Steve lays next to Buck, hand wrapping around his own heaviness between his legs as he stokes it, switching between her face of pleasure to Bucky's, who bites his lip to suppress a moan.

It's short lived as hips stutter against her own, coating her walls with his warm cum.

Steve barely gives her time to recover, positioning her on his hands and knees before hovering over her ear and nibbling on it. "My turn, honey."

***

Her hands nervously shake, the kitchen table is all set up, dinner is ready but at the moment she doesn't have an appetite.

Between this morning sickness, the overall change her body is under going, food makes her sick. The opening of the front door makes her sit up straight, sucking in a deep breath.

Two voices conversationing in the hall, "I thought I said for you to lock the door when we leave." Buck is clearly annoyed, it's been a long day but Steve rubs his shoulders, mumbling something incoherent.

Upon entering the kitchen, they both grow worried. Face drained of color, red blotchy eyes with shaky hands.

"Hey, hey." Steve drops to his knees in front of her seat in an instant, hands curling around her wrist as worried steel blue eyes follow his stance, reaching over to stroke her cheek. "What is it? What happened?"

"I'm pregnant." She pauses, "I'm scared, I'm scared. What if someone comes for you? How are we supposed to raise a baby? What if it has the serum, will it ever be safe?"

The questions fill Bucky with dread, how much though put into every sentence, every word is like a new hit of pain to his body but he stays strong. For his girl, he leans forward, wiping the tears away from discolored cheeks. "Everything is going to be fine babydoll, you're going to be fine, our baby is going to be fine."

#bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x you #bucky fluff #fatws bucky #bucky x y/n #bucky fic #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers #steve x bucky #steve x reader #stucky x you #stucky x y/n #stucky x reader #stucky

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absolutepokemontrash · 3 years

Text

MC’s Half Demon and They Look Awfully Familiar Lessons 18-20

Series Masterlist

T-the season finale… *sniffle* it’s been a wild ride y’all… I’ve never actually written and stuck through with something for so long, so this is a real achievement for me! I really hope you guys have enjoyed this completely weird fluffy/angsty/mildly crackhead adventure! Please enjoy the last part!

All is well, the family is back together, everyone’s fine, the school year is almost over-

Wait, the school year is almost over?

Upon realizing that, everyone settled into a state of mild panic.

MC couldn’t just leave, they were part of the family! An integral part! They were the only thing keeping everyone from murdering each other during family game night!

As for Lucifer’s personal feelings on the matter, things were… tough.

When the exchange program was announced, Lucifer expected it to end like most of Diavolo’s ideas: annoying to clean up, it certainly couldn’t have ended worse than when he and the Crown Prince ended up getting cursed to hold hands for 25 hours straight. What Lucifer didn’t expect was for a child he didn’t even know he had to end up as the human exchange student and for his entire life to be thrown out of whack. That child of his was busy finishing up their final paper of the year.

“Hey, father,” MC looked up from their paper with a cheeky smile. “Do you think that the next exchange student will be as fun as me?”

“I sincerely hope not.” Lucifer sighed, continuing to sift through his paperwork on his desk. “Your kind of ‘excitement’ has completely worn me out.”

“Aw,” MC giggled, then went back to work. “So you don’t want me to stay here then?”

Lucifer stiffened and looked up from his paperwork. “Don’t put words in my mouth, MC.”

“So you do want me to stay. Interesting~” MC said as they began to sweep the eraser shavings off their paper. “Well, if you want me to stay so badly, you could have just asked.”

“P-pardon?” Lucifer blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. “You want to stay?”

“Since you’d be so sad without me, I guess I just have to don’t I?” MC stood suddenly and slapped their finished essay on Lucifer’s desk. “The sacrifices I make for this family, I swear!”

We stand with you, MC, sacrifice your sanity for your weird-ass familia.

Anyway, Lucifer was thrilled that MC wanted to stay with him in the Devildom, the problem was… MC’s other parent may not have been too keen to just give up their baby.

You know, the demon child they raised all by themselves, with no help from Lucifer because he didn’t know MC existed…

Someone get MC’s ren on the phone! Stat!

“Alright dear little brothers of mine, listen closely because I’m not repeating this.” Lucifer looked over the living room couches at the other six rulers of hell. Belphie was sprawled out on one of the couches and was drooling all over Beel’s lap, Satan was making a point to look as disinterested as possible and kept sneaking glances at the book he was holding, and Mammon was wrestling Levi dangerously close to where Asmo was filing his nails.

Sighing in defeat, Lucifer continued. If any of his brothers misbehaved he couldn’t say he didn’t warn them. “MC‘s parent will be coming to visit.”

Everyone’s attention snapped to Lucifer. Wonderful.

“They’ll be staying for a few days and will decide if it’s in MC’s best interest to primarily stay in the Devildom from now on.”

Asmodeus slowly raised a hand. “Luciiiiiiferrrr!”

“Asmo, is your question overly personal in nature?”

The Avatar of lust brought a manicured nail to his cheek and daintily tapped it. “Mmm… I don’t think so.”

“Ask.”

“How long were you and MC’s parent dating for? Won’t it be awkward to be around your ex?”

Lucifer dragged a gloved hand down his face. “It was a one night thing.”

“Really?” Asmo knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “It wasn’t a long drawn out forbidden romance? You must have had some Olympic swimmers down there!”

“Okay!” Lucifer clapped his hands. “Add that to the list of things Asmo is not allowed to say.”

“We have to take something off the list then…” Beel said through handfuls of chips. “The list’s full.”

“Fine,” Lucifer grumbled. “He can say [CENSORED] again.”

“Yippee! [CENSORED] [CENSORED] [CENSORED]”

The group collectively groaned as Asmo continued to spout his profane nonsense.

“What did I just walk in on..?” MC stood in the doorway to the living room, still in their PJs.

“Oh, MC, your parent’s coming over to stay for a few days.” Lucifer quickly explained.

MC’s face morphed from confusion to horror. “What does that have to do with [CENSORED]?!”

This house is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE-

Anyway, after the initial confusion/horror, MC got really excited and rushed off to get ready. Meanwhile, the boys solemnly swore that they would be on their best behaviour!

Everyone needed to convince MC’s parent that everything in the Devildom was perfectly safe and that their little hellspawn was in good responsible hands.

Mammon tried to come up with a plan in case MC wasn’t allowed to stay with them, and let’s just say it involved kidnapping. But like- a chill kind of kidnapping where MC would be totally fine.

This idea was immediately shot down in favour of Beel’s plan B.

Beel would just… eat MC’s parent. No biggie, right?

Lucifer shot that one down the moment he heard it.

The only accepted plan for if MC wasn’t allowed to stay was just letting them go. They’d visit the Devildom. A lot. Many visits would be necessary.

So, the hour of MC’s ren’s arrival had come, and the student council assembled to greet them.

Greet the human. The completely non magical human. Greet them and then let them see the Devildom…

Was this exchange program really that good of an idea..?

MC frantically attempted to do some last minute fixes to their hair as they sat themselves down in their seat in the Assembly Hall. Ugh… stupid hair…

“Why are you so nervous?” Satan asked. “Is our visitor a neat freak basket case?”

“No!” MC huffed. “They’re not! I’m just making myself presentable so they don’t think I’ve gone completely feral down here.”

“Well, feral no, crazy, yes. Have you seen yourself lately?” Belphie snickered.

“SHUT UP BELPHIE.”

“Would you all be quiet?” Lucifer snapped. “You’re all acting like children.”

“I am a child.” MC snapped back. “What’s Belphie’s excuse?”

Belphie’s retort was cut off by the portal opening and a figure leisurely floating to the ground. They had an open parasol in their right hand that seemed to be aiding their gentle descent, and a large container full of what smelled like cookies tucked into their left side. The moment their toes touched the floor, the human gracefully closed their parasol and gave the assembled demons a sparkling smile and a polite bow.

“Thank you for allowing me the honour to visit,” the human’s voice was as soft and sweet as Cotton candy. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet the princes of hell themselves.”

:D yay!

After floating down from the sky like Mary Poppins, MC lost all sense of propriety and ran over to tackle their ren into a hug. It was that kind of thing where you really miss someone but you don’t realize exactly how much until you get to see them again.

Lucifer was, of course, the picture of elegance and “this isn’t awkward at all”-ness.

MC’s parent didn’t even seem to be all that concerned with the fact that their baby daddy was, y'know, LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR. THE MOST POMPOUS FUCKWAD IN THE DEVILDOM.

Please don’t tell him I said that, he’s still mad about the Go Fund Me…

MC was absolutely ecstatic to finally show their parent how much they’ve grown in terms of their demonic powers and all the friends they had made, but MC’s ren was more concerned with how much they had grown in terms of their height.

“You’re just so tall now,” MC’s ren giggled as they fixed their child’s hair. “You’ll get things off of shelves for me, won’t you?”

“Yeah yeah,” MC said, rolling their eyes good naturedly. “Like you can’t reach anything in your kitchen.”

“Okay,” Mammon, Satan, Levi, Belphie, and Beel were lagging behind Lucifer, MC, their parent, and Diavolo. “Change of plans, we ain’t eatin’ ‘em, we’re keepin’ ‘em.”

“We were never going to eat them in the first place, idiot.” Satan sneered. “And what’s with the change of tune? You were ready to wage war on the human world fifteen minutes ago.”

“…cookies happened.” Mammon mumbled. He had only gotten one of the human’s totally amazing offerings before Beel proceeded to eat everything. The cookie was perfect… so delicious…

“I say we keep the human.” Beel put a hand on his stomach. “I want more human world cookies.”

“They’re so cute too…” Asmo cooed. “A solid 10/10, and that’s such a rare ranking coming from the only 20/10 in existence!”

“Asmo, your vanity never ceases to make me want to roll over and-” Belphie’s insult was interrupted by him passing out and letting out a cartoonishly loud snore. It was a good thing Beel was able to quickly catch and throw Belphie over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

“Asmo has a point, they’re just so totally moe! Kawaii to the highest degree! That parasol, the homemade cookies, it’s just like something from a slice of life anime!” Levi squee-ed.

“So it’s settled, we treat ‘em nice, then we get ‘em to stay.” Mammon nodded to the rest of his brothers, who for the first time in the Demon King knows how long, his little brothers nodded back in full seriousness. They were actually doing a Mammon plan! Holy shit!

So, the brothers liked MC’s ren, what about Diavolo and Barbatos?

Well, MC’s ren had heard all about Barbatos’ amazing cooking from MC and Barb’s totally outstanding reputation, so the two got along swimmingly.

Dia. Loved. That. Human. They’re cute???? They’re sweet???? They brought COOKIES???! They don’t seem to be afraid of him at all????? Please be the exchange student next year :D

Oh yeah… he made a rule that said they couldn’t summon someone with kids… it would be cruel to rip a parent away from their child…

But apparently not a child away from their parent cough cough

Other than the uncle squad, MC’s ren got to meet the Purgatory Hall gang too!

MC was being just the most adorable tour guide, but that didn’t stop Lucifer from having a miniature heart attack any time a demon even looked at MC’s parent the wrong way. If MC’s ren got attacked or felt threatened in any way shape or form, he could say bye bye to his time with the one person in the HOL that didn’t live to make him pop a forehead vein. The human seemed outwardly unconcerned with any Devildom oddness and was amicably chatting with Diavolo while MC pulled them from place to place.

“And that’s Hell’s Kitchen, they have good sandwiches, and that’s Madame Scream’s, they have really good macarons.” MC helpfully pointed out the places as they passed them.

A much to familiar trio of voices called out from down the street. Father dammit, why were they here..?

“Hello Lucifer, what are you all up too?” Ugh… Simeon…

“From the sight of the rest of your brothers skulking about, it appears like they’re acting as bodyguards.” Solomon…

“MC? Who’s that?”

Oh good grief… that nasally little voice… the chihuahua was near… Now… Lucifer was a respectable demon… respectable demons don’t tease children in front of the parent of their child…

“Hello chihuahua.”

DAMN IT HE COULDN’T HELP HIMSELF!

“I’m not a chihuahua you demon!” Luke yapped.

MC’s parent daintily tilted their head and looked over at MC. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Right, Luke, this is my ren, ren, this is a chihuahua.” MC grinned cheekily as they gestured between the two. Lucifer suppressed a laugh which resulted in a very ugly snort. It was a good thing the sound was drowned out by Luke’s exclamations of betrayal.

The chorus of “how could you?!”s and “I thought you were over that awful nickname!”s was put to an abrupt halt when the visiting human elegantly offered a handshake to the fuming angel.

“MC spoke very highly of you,” they chirped. “It’s very nice to meet you, Luke.”

Luke blinked a few times, then quickly straightened his posture, adjusted his hat, then shook MC’s ren’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“That’s Simeon.” MC jerked a thumb in Simeon’s direction. “And that’s Solomon.”

“Luke got a whole introduction and we get that? Come on MC, I thought we were friends.” Solomon fake pouted at MC after giving a polite nod to MC’s parent.

“We stopped being friends after one of the potions you had me test out turned me into a-” as quick as lighting, Mammon had shoved his hand into MC’s face.

“A-ah, MC’s rememberin’ stuff wrong, nothin’ potion related happened to ‘em. Right, Solomon???!”

Taking the hint from Mammon, Solomon smiled and nodded. “Nope, nothing related to turning MC into a frog for a few hours.”

“Hm, well I’m quite happy that absolutely nothing frog transformation related happened.” MC’s parent said.

“Yeah, must’ve hit their head on somethin- YEEEOW!” MC had bitten down on Mammon’s hand and slapped it away from them.

“I did not hit my head on anything!”

“Yeah,” Beel nodded. “Nothing’s hit them since the Fangol ball.”

“The what ball?” MC’s ren asked.

“The Fangol ball that hit MC a few months back and broke their glasses.” Five of the brothers slapped their hands to their foreheads.

“Oh my…”

“Eh,” MC patted their ren on the arm. “That’s nothing compared to the giant snake at the retreat.”

“Oh! Do you mind letting me tell that story, MC?”

Lucifer was frantically signalling for Diavolo to stop talking but the crown prince was already beginning his retelling of the events. Luke would chime in with an anecdote from an even worse misadventure the two had gone out on every once and a while. This… this wasn’t going well at all…

MC’s ren was… weirdly chill about the whole thing…

“Oh, it’s so nice that you’re having fun, sweetheart. That reminds me of when I was young and your aunt Clytemnestra and I would go out and have adventures.” “Really? You went on weird adventures too?” “…what kind of adventures could possibly compare to being chased by a giant snake in an underground labyrinth..?”

The side characters ended up needing to abscond for various reasons and all that was left was the brothers, MC, and MC’s parent.

They made it to the HOL without issue, which is when Lucifer remembered that he did not put all the cursed objects out of reach… shit.

“Asmo… Asmo!” “What is it?” “Take MC’s ren out of the house in half an hour, keep them occupied in the living room!” “What? Why?” “I need more time to human-proof the house! Distract them, but no funny business!” “Dear brother, for the first time in a very long time funny business is the second thing on my mind! Wait… no, it’s the third… what have I become..?”

Asmo and Satan, super graciously by the way, led MC and their ren to the living room to distract- I mean entertain them for a bit!

Lucifer and the rest of the gang got to work moving certain things around and closing certain doors- shit where was Cerberus?! Did Lucifer forget to walk him that morning?!

So much to dooooooo…

So maybe bringing a human into Majolish and letting them roam around unsupervised wasn’t the best idea Satan and Asmo had, but it sure as heck was an idea. MC looked through shelves of hairpins and bracelets while their ren disappeared around a corner to look at scarves.

“We’re doing such a great job babysitting!” Asmo clapped his hands. “If MC had just been a normal human I bet they’d last the entire year under our care.”

“Hm, you might be right.” Satan smiled and nodded. “Humans are surprisingly entertaining.”

“Yes… speaking of, where exactly is the human?”

The sudden sound of metal slamming against flesh and the delayed sound of something incredibly heavy hitting the floor jolted Asmo and Satan from their conversation.

“Honestly, some people have no fucking manners!”

It was such a different voice than what Satan and Asmo were used to that the only thing that tipped them off to it being MC’s ren was the fact that MC began to giggle. MC’s ren stepped back into view carrying a metal staff that quickly transformed back to their parasol.

Asmo and Satan rushed over to check if their defenceless little human guest was okay, only to find some lesser demon passed out on the floor with an incredibly nasty bump on the side of their head.

“I’ve heard that humans are apparently quite delicious to demons but I didn’t expect someone to actually try and eat me.”

“I-um…” Satan sputtered, looking from Asmo to MC’s parent. “We’re uh…”

“You alright, ren?” MC called from over by the bracelet shelves.

“Yes, I’m alright.” MC’s ren gave the fourth and fifth born a calming smile. “No harm done, well, except to that poor bastard. I do hope I haven’t killed him… that would be such a nasty thing for the poor sales associates to find.”

Okay so maybe the defenceless human wasn’t so defenceless. That was a good thing… right?

“So where exactly did you manage to get your hands on such a weapon..?” “Ah, I come from a family of witches. This was a college graduation present.”

…doit doit seems legit.

The four made it back home just in time, Lucifer and the others had finished human proofing the house.

Yay!

The house tour went by smoothly, everything was all well and good until Beel and Belphie asked MC’s ren to make more cookies.

Oh god dammit the human said they would.

“Oh Beel, you shouldn’t eat the cookie dough raw… the eggs and raw flour will make you sick!” “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Besides, it’s best not to interrupt Beel while he’s eating.” “Yeah it might end like the custard incident.” “Custard… incident?” “MC and Mammon ate my custard and I ended up breaking the wall that connected to MC’s room.” “Hunger tantrums, am I right?”

After that it was Mammon and Levi’s turn to babysit. It went about as well as you’d think.

Levi explained some anime plot in an attempt to make it seem like the Devildom was totally safe and that MC and their ren could stay forever no problem, while Mammon desperately suppressed the urge to swipe the cool parasol.

Finally, it was time for the verdict. Would MC be allowed to stay in the Devildom..? Or would they go back to the human world..?

“Lucifer?”

The demon in question looked up from his paperwork and tried to nod in the most casual way possible. MC’d ren was standing in the doorway, Lucifer must have missed their knock. “Yes? Do you need something?”

MC’s ren smiled and nodded. “It’s about MC’s living situation going forward.”

Lucifer stiffened and got up from his desk. “Y-yes… what about it?”

“MC has expressed that they want to stay here full time with frequent visits to the human world.” The softness that their voice had earlier in the day was completely absent as the human stepped forward into the study and closed the door behind them. “I want to know what you think about that.”

“Well,” Lucifer cleared his throat and tried to shake off the stupid sense of nervousness that had wrapped itself around him. A weak little human’s decision should not make him so anxious! “I would like for MC to stay here as well, I think it would be best for them.”

The human raised an eyebrow and twirled their parasol in their hand. “Really now? In your year with them you truly believe you know what’s best for them?”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. I do.”

MC’s ren went quiet for a few seconds before replying. “I see.”

“And that means..?”

“I knew this day would come, but I didn’t think it’d be so soon.” MC’s ren sighed, and for the first time all day, they actually let their exhaustion show. “I raised MC knowing that one day they’d end up in the Devildom. They’ve told me over and over again how much they like it down here…” the human took a deep breath and slowly shook their head. “If this is what they want… then I give my permission for them to stay with you.”

A wave of relief swept over Lucifer as he finally took a breath. “Thank you.”

“Mm… I’m going to have to use my favour though.”

The relief completely vanished as the Avatar of Pride’s blood ran cold. Memories flooded back from the one night the pair had spent together, the human had offered a cursed record to him that he had spent decades trying to find, in exchange, Lucifer let them have one favour. A favour from a demon was like a single pact order, Lucifer had to do literally anything this human wanted.

“Protect MC, even if it costs you your life.” The human’s words were careful and measured as Lucifer felt the order sink in. “You’ll do that for them, right Lucifer?”

Lucifer nodded as life flooded back into his limbs. “I would have done it without the order.”

So, the brother’s plan to make MC’s ren stay forever failed because they were going back to the human world with MC for summer vacation. Listen, it was needed, MC needed to see the sun lest they shrivel like a sad houseplant.

At least Lucifer technically had primary custody of his little heathen! Victory!

MC said their goodbyes to the friends they had made over the year as they prepared to leave for the next two months, it was filled with so many bone-crushing hugs that MC was surprised that their spine didn’t snap.

MC and Luke had lagged behind the much larger group as they made their way to the assembly hall. MC’s ren was dazzling the miniature crowd with stories of just how adorable MC was as a little kid. The half demon rolled their eyes and silently mourned the loss of any cool points they had gained over the year. Their little companion was oddly quiet, MC lightly nudged him and smiled.

“Aren’t you happy to be going home? You’ve been griping about being stuck down here the entire year. Don’t tell me you’re getting sappy, Luke.”

Luke puffed his cheek out and crossed his arms. “Of course I’m happy to be leaving, the Celestial Realm is the best place ever, the Devildom is completely terrible in every way.”

MC smirked and rolled their eyes again. Just let the little guy go on his rant…

“But… I am going to miss you…” Luke mumbled, MC’s eyebrows shot upwards as they turned their head to look at him. “Th-thanks for being my friend down here… MC. You’re… you’re really nice.”

To their absolute horror, MC felt a lump form in their throat. Oh dear Grandfather… the chihuahua was what broke them?! They quickly looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, then quickly pulled Luke into a hug. The hug was over as fast as it began, but it seemed that Luke didn’t particularly care and was more shocked at the sudden bout of affection.

“If anyone, and I mean anyone asks, I didn’t hug you.” MC murmured, quickly swiping at their eyes.

Luke nodded, a small smile spread across his face. “Got it!”

So the side characters left… *sniffle* everything’s okay… the DDDs work in any of the realms… they could still talk.

Soon, it was time for the final sets of goodbyes…

“Come on, Bean, we’re going to the human world!” MC tried to take the cat from Satan, who didn’t move a muscle.

“If you think you’re taking the cat from here, you’re delusional.” Satan’s smile didn’t leave his face, but the force behind his words was almost enough to make MC back off. Almost…

“My caaaaaat!” MC whined, they ended up getting lightly pushed away by Satan.

“Remember, the summer’s a good time to catch up on anime!” Levi advised. “There’s 24 hours in a day, and an average anime episode is 22 minutes long, you have loads of time!”

“I’ll keep up with my anime only if you promise to listen to the Death Note musical, Levi.” MC giggled and patted Levi on the shoulder.

“Remember MC, take care of your cuticles and your skin.” Asmo took MC’s hand and checked their fingernails. “They were an absolute mess before you got here, so I expect you to keep up your routines this summer!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeeees siiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrr.”

“Bye MC,” Beel handed MC a half opened cup of custard. “I almost ate it, but I didn’t. Make sure you don’t skip any meals this summer.

MC jumped up and gave Beel a quick hug. “Thanks Beel! I’ll be sure to enjoy the custard!”

“Bye, MC. See you next year.” Belphie stood awkwardly stiff, not exactly sure what to do. MC pursed their lips, then quickly wrapped him up in a hug.

“Bye Belphie, I hope all your pillow forts are structurally unsound.”

The avatar of sloth snickered and rested his head on MC’s. “I hope you get really comfortable and are fully ready to go to sleep, then realize you have to pee.”

MC gasped in fake offence and swatted Belphie on the arm.

Mammon put both his hands on MC’s shoulders, his face unusually serious. “Do ya remember what the great Mammon took painstakin’ effort to teach ya?”

“Payday loans are scams, witches are scary, bowline knots are the easiest to undo, don’t wear reflective sunglasses to a poker game aaaaaaaand…” MC grinned mischievously. “Any plan thought up by the Great Mammon should be subject to intense revision.”

“That’s ri- hey!” Mammon laughed and shoved MC towards Lucifer.

MC looked up at Lucifer, the pride demon looked down at them fondly. He reached out and gently ruffled their hair. “I’ll see you next year, MC.”

“Y-yeah…”

Lucifer crouched down slightly to get to their level and gave MC a smile. “I’m very proud of you, you’ve been an immense help this year. Thank you for everything.”

“Thanks for not being a stereotypical supervillain dad, father.” MC smiled softly and fixed their glasses. “Loveyoubye!”

MC turned and rushed to their ren’s side as Lucifer let out a soft chuckle.

“I love you too, MC.”

As Barbatos readied the portal to send the pair to the human world, MC couldn’t wipe the grin off their face. Geez, if this year was a metric mess of fun and insanity… what was the next year going to be like? The half demon’s grin morphed into a bit of a smirk. No way in hell their next year in the Devildom was going to be as insane as their first year.

MC almost giggled as they gave their family one last wave. That wasn’t the time to think about the future, besides, MC knew that it would take two insane chaotic humans to be summoned into the Devildom to even come close to the chaos MC managed to create, both on purpose and by accident.

And what were the odds of that happening?

——————

Authors Note: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ITS DONE SEASON ONE IS DONE!

I wasn’t able to fit the Anti Lucifer League stuff into this one, I’ll put it in a separate fic later!

I NOW NEED TO WORK ON GETTING THROUGH SEASON 2 IN THE ACTUAL GAME. To get mildly serious for a second, thanks to everyone who has stuck around to listen to me spout my fic-y nonsense, you all are nerds (affectionate) and I love you.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me! shall we date?#obey me shall we date #Obey me Headcanons #Obey me fic #Obey me! Headcanons #Obey me MC #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Mammon #obey me beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor #obey me leviathan #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Satan #Obey me Luke

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sobeautifullyobsessed · 3 years

Text

[Sooooooo...as way of consolation after receiving some troubling news in ‘real life’, I went home last night and had a little wine and wrote something that can pass for Stephen Strange x Female Reader--though it my mind, the lady in question is one of my OFCs in a roleplay thing that’s gone sort of...dormant. Take it as you will, hopefully to enjoy!]

Stephen has taken his lady out for a night on the town. The Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, with the chance for some slow dancing following a very posh meal. He's been courting her the old-fashioned way, and thus far they've done some serious necking and engaged in some delicious petting, but their dates have always ended when he saw her to the door of her guest room in the Sanctum. Tonight is different. Maybe it's the setting and that they're dressed up, with no hint of sorcery about them. And maybe the wine has pushed them past the point of just longing for more. Whatever the case, feelings are running deep. And feverish.

Photo by b-editions, who knows well that her edits very often inspire my writing!

...the taste of the chardonnay lingered on her lips, and Stephen found it very hard to release her from his kiss. The music played on--a smooth, instrumental version of Clapton's You Look Wonderful Tonight--oblivious to the heat growing between them, and to the unspoken wishes each found awakened by the elements of romance which had surrounded them all evening.

They were barely swaying in place now, and as Stephen finally drew away, he leaned his forehead against hers. She had slipped her hands beneath the lapels of his jacket; her pretty lips were slightly parted and her soft, sweet breath tickled his own. The band seamlessly segued into Lady in Red , and Stephen chuckled inwardly--he couldn't have picked a finer play list than the one that chance had given him tonight. But a music more seductive than mere love songs had gained power over them now, and neither of them could deny it's siren call, begging them to give in to the need they had been dancing gingerly around for several days.

When Stephen raised his face enough to look at her, she gave a quiet sigh and bit her lip. “What,” he murmured, watching her mouth hungrily, eager for a deeper kiss, “What is it, honey?”

“I just wish...” she started, and then closed her eyes.

“Please tell me, sweetheart,” he urged her, “And maybe I can make it so...”

She blinked her eyes wide open and let them linger on his mouth, before raising them to meet his gaze. “I wish we were alone. Because if we had the place to ourselves, I’d...I’d kiss you like there’s no tomorrow.”

He swallowed hard at just the thought, growing so warm beneath his collar that he had to loosen his tie. “I, uh...I think I can arrange just that, sweetheart,” he confided, enchanted by the glitter of excitement in her eyes. Stephen slipped his right hand into his trouser pocket, an amused smile playing at the corners of his mouth. A moment later the lights began to flicker and the amplifiers suddenly cut out.

“Is this you,” she whispered. He only answered with a shrug. And then the lights went out altogether, while the couples all around them expressed varying degrees of irritation and surprise. Only the glow from the emergency exit signs remained to light the room.

A crystal kind of chiming filled the air around them, even as the lights came back to life. She gave a startled gasp, which quickly turned into a gasp of pure delight, finding that they were enclosed all around in the Mirror Dimension. “Stephen,” she giggled, “You just can’t...”

“Oh, but I can,” he countered, pulling her flush against him and flaring his eyes suggestively. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t at least try to grant my lady fair a wish or two? Especially since that sort of wish is right in my wheelhouse?”

“Your wheelhouse, eh?” She flashed him a pretty smirk, “Is this something typical of previous Sorcerer Supremes?”

“I doubt it...” His voice had gone low, and deeper than usual; his pupils grown large with mounting desire. “...but I’m just a man right now. Counting on you to be a woman of your word.”

She slid one hand up onto the nape of his neck, moving close enough so that their breath mingled, mouths just a whisper apart. “Kiss you like there’s no tomorrow,” she breathed onto his lips, “Kiss you with...with everything I am...”

Stephen nodded, rumbling his need, “Yes, darling. Please. Because I can’t stand to wait a single moment more...”

She teased him for just that moment, brushing her lips to his as she pressed her body tightly against him. He moaned without meaning to, while she first grazed his lower lip, then drew it between her lips to suckle. Savoring it slowly. He shivered with the heat such a quiet deed stirred in his blood, bringing his palms up to cup her face, threading his fingers in her hair. “More,” he managed when she withdrew for just a little, “More, please, because it’s been forever since anyone has made me feel like this...”

“Like what,” she asked, kissing just the corner of his mouth.

“Like the only magic that matters is the witchcraft in your lips, sweetheart. And I don’t think I’ll ever...ever...ever get enough...”

Thus charmed by the truest sorcery--that of the heart--she answered his wish as happily as he had answered hers. Providing him with deep abiding kisses that embedded themselves in his soul, and became a golden memory to warm him whenever he faced darkness and travails across a cold and distant multiverse.

tagging: @b-editions @ben-locked @strangelock221b @thelostsmiles @doctorstephenvincentstrange @ravencatart @doctor-stephenstrange @dxctorstephenstrange @aeterna-auroral-avenger @d0ct0rstrangewife @strangesunicornsparkle @humanbornarchangel @letterstosherlock @splunge4me2art @tsukuyomi011

#my writing #Stephen Strange x Female Reader #Romance #OFC based on character created for roleplay #b-editions manip #Doctor Strange #Doctor Strange x Reader #Stephen Strange #Stephen Strange x Reader #pure wish fulfillment #Strangebatch #My Eternal Muse

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kirayaykimura · 2 years

Text

In Every Lifetime

Things usually got hazy between life and death. One minute she was dying, the next Shirayuki was three years old and finally able to form permanent memories. Everything in between was a wash.

It was also around three years old that she remembered her past lives, which made her a really weird kid to be around.

Right now, though, she wasn’t three. She was still eighty-five, and felt like she’d just passed away in her bed in this lifetime’s home minutes ago.

“You did.”

She sat up with a small, startled intake of breath and spun to face the man who’d just spoken to her. He stood a few feet away, his stare as cold and clinical as the impossibly white room they were currently in.

Shirayuki had a million questions, but the most pressing one to her was, “Did you just read my mind?”

The man waved a dismissive hand. “There are no secrets in heaven.”

Heaven? She felt her eyes go wide. That couldn’t be right. She hadn’t-

“Exactly,” he said. “You haven’t. Despite how many chances?”

Fourteen. This last had been her worst failure yet. Zen had barely just begun to agree to be her friend when he’d died in a car accident. They’d been nineteen. She’d had to live sixty-six years without him. At least she’d had Obi by her side for most of those, her constant companion no matter how unpredictable Zen’s presence in her life was.

“You have been favored by the gods,” the man said. “But even they have limits, and you are testing theirs.”

“How?” Shirayuki asked, confused and vaguely frustrated. It wasn’t her fault Zen kept dying. If anything, that was on the god who were patting themselves on the back for giving her the opportunities to be with him.

A corner of the man’s lips quirked up, a show of humor there and gone so quickly she couldn’t even be sure she’d seen it in the first place.

“Is it wise to place blame on gods in their own kingdom?” he asked mildly.

“I don’t care about kings or gods,” Shirayuki said. “I care about Zen.”

This time, he didn’t try to hide his amusement. One corner of his lips tilted upwards as he said, “We are not meant to interfere with human lives, you know.”

“Why did you, then? With mine?”

“Eternity is long.”

“So you’re bored.”

His lip curled a little higher.

“We are not meant to interfere with human lives,” the man said, “and we are especially not meant to guide them after they’ve failed to listen to what we have been telling them for, what was it, sixteen times now?”

“Fourteen.”

“The gods are getting restless. You have taken our gift, but are refusing to use it properly.”

She frowned, uncomprehending.

“Think of-”

Shirayuki was a toddler. She was a toddler for the fifteenth time. And the last thing she remembered from her past life was a baffling conversation with a god.

Chubby, clumsy hands reached for oversized building blocks. What were gods to a three-year-old anyway? She could sort that conversation out after her brain had developed past addition and proper sentence structure. Right now, she had a castle to build.

Her brain was on Calculus and essays by the time she met Obi again.

The campus coffee shop was absolutely packed after her first class of the day, but she was fine with a line so long as she got something large, iced, and caffeinated. It was already pushing 90 degrees and the air conditioning in Blake Hall was on the fritz; she was definitely going to need something to get her through her next two classes.

She was debating trying something new or going for classic iced coffee when she felt eyes on her. She skimmed past the man with an arm draped casually over the open chair next to him, slouched low in his own seat. Her attention snapped back to him when she registered the fact that she knew those warm eyes that were almost always sharper than his lazy, relaxed body language. Her stomach flipped over in excitement and surprise. She’d always met Zen before she ran into Obi. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to expect the routine of Zen-before-Obi until Obi had changed the game. It was a specialty of his, really. For all that he was a steady, dependable presence in her life, he made sure to change things up every once in a while. It kept life fun, and she always missed his unique brand of zest until he showed up and distracted her from the more mundane parts of her days with his casual chaos.

She gave up her spot in line to make her way through the throng of loitering students over to his table, slid into the chair next to him - her only choice, really, since the other two chairs were occupied by apparent strangers who didn’t so much as glance up from their laptops when she sat down - and said, “Hi. I know you don’t know me right now, but we’re going to be very good friends.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow, the corners of his lips twitching in suppressed amusement, and said, “That has never worked, you know.”

Shirayuki blinked.

“What?” she asked after a moment of attempting to parse his words.

Too casual to be anything but an act, he said, “You always promise we’re going to be friends, and you’re right, but you gotta boil the frog a little first. Buy a girl dinner. You can’t just come in hot like that.”

What? It sounded like- like he remembered. But that wasn’t possible. He never remembered. Neither did Zen, nor any of the others. She was the only keeper of their past.

His smile grew as she worked out what he was telling her, full of amusement and fondness, eyes sparkling as he watched her unravel his secret in real time. It was the kind of expression built on shared history.

“You,” she said, trying and failing not to hope, “remember me?”

“Remember you, Miss?” he asked with feigned surprise, even as his oldest nickname for her gave the game away. Then, softer, he said, “I don’t know how I was ever able to forget.”

He was hers again. Immediately. She didn’t have to spend months - years - regaining his trust this time. The sheer relief that washed over her was almost overwhelming in its intensity. Without conscious thought, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could with their knees awkwardly in the way.

“I’m so happy to see you,” she said into his collarbone. “I’ve missed you.”

After a brief pause, she felt his arms wind around her back. Almost too soft to be heard over the din of the coffee shop, he said, “I’ll always come back to you.”

#guiltyobiyuki22 #day two #at some point in this fic i will never write obi tells shirayuki 'i have loved you in every lifetime'#but i don't have the patience or skill to do what i want to do with this idea (it's free real estate if anyone wants it)#but basically i wanted to explore reincarnation gone wrong #i read this book when i was in high school called 'my name is memory' about two people who keep getting reincarnated #but only the guy remembers and when they find each other he has to convince her they're in love #this is obviously inspired by that but a little to the left because what if their number of unhappy endings were a sign?#what if shirayuki was given the chance to get her happy ending but stubbornly held on to the belief that she and zen were meant to be #so the gods keep killing him in the hopes she'll look around and see who's always by her side #but instead she thinks 'next time i have to try harder and make him love me quicker' because she's loyal to a fault #anyway i hope it's okay if i play #this is such a fun idea for a challenge and i can't wait to read what everyone else has written #updates on 'oath and claw' and 'soul m8' have my attention and excitement #my fic #snow white with the red hair #obiyuki

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not-a-perfect-metaphor · 3 years

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I don’t often - ever, really - talk about my personal life, but I wanted to share a little something that seems particularly relevant in leu of everything that’s been happening between the Js.

First, to provide the necessary background information, I do have a long term partner, which I think I’ve mentioned a few times (he posts here every once in a while 😊).

While we’re definitely not fully in the closet, we’re also definitely not fully (or even largely) out of the closet, especially when it comes to our professional identities.

We live separately, and sometimes we spend long, very difficult periods of time away from each other only communicating (whenever possible) over the phone.

When we ARE away from each other…to say ‘it’s hard’ obviously doesn’t even remotely do it justice, and not only are there frequent, negative emotions to combat but there are also MANY misunderstandings and disagreements, most of which stem from the fact that we simply aren’t communicating as much or as thoroughly as we wish we were…as much as couples who are very openly together as well as living near or with each other tend to communicate.

Now add on the fact that Jared and Jensen are both pretty significantly in the spotlight as successful actors, and in that sense, they both need to be even MORE cautious about how and when they’re communicating…

I can only imagine how stressful that must be.

However, on the positive side of things, all of this is also a huge part of why I’m not worried in the way many others are about the future of Jared and Jensen’s relationship due to whatever it was that went down/is going down concerning the prequel, because…I’ve SEEN how much these two love each other. I’ve witnessed, as have we all, the strength of their connection and the lengths that they’ve gone to for each other time and time again.

Just because this was the first time we’ve seen them clash over something to this degree absolutely doesn’t mean it’s the first time it’s happened.

And honestly what I feel it comes down to is the fact that you don’t have a relationship as profound and genuine as theirs, a relationship that is fifteen years strong, without a solidness to its foundation that simply wouldn’t allow it to collapse due to something like this current misunderstanding.

You just don’t. ❤️

Now, let me add that EVERYONE’S emotions are valid. I am in no way trying to tell you that you shouldn’t feel a certain way about any of this. That’s the last way I want this post to be interpreted.

You feel whatever it is that you’re feeling.

Of course!

I’m only trying to say that it truly never occurred to me for even a single second that Jared and Jensen might not work this out, and for anyone who’s been doubting that, doubting whether or not they will, my advice would be to ask yourself if YOU would give up on a relationship like the one that they have when faced with a similar disagreement.

I also encourage everyone to steer clear of the many toxic posts circulating around Tumblr (and everywhere), many of which contain outright lies not just on the prequel interactions but also on the pasts of Jared and Jensen before any of this happened.

I’m not quite sure why people seem to be fabricating all of these harmful bits of misinformation (attention-seeking, ignorance, who knows), but if something strikes you as being difficult to believe, look into it further, because it’s probably not true.

And I’m still not feeling great (just a stubborn flu-type thing, not COVID, don’t worry), so I’m not as active on here as I’d like to be, but if you want to chat about any of this, or just about anything, please feel free to reach out. Forgive me if it takes me a little while to respond, but I would love to hear from you!

#j2 tinhat #personal update #prequelgate

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ifmywishescametrue · 3 years

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Hi!!! First of all, I am like🥺 such a fan of everything you write! And so I saw that you’re taking prompts and thought I’d try my luck. So, if you’re inspired of course, maybe you would do “I’m not leaving” or “I’m glad you’re here” (or literally any prompt from that list bc they’re all just🥺🥺) for Steve/Tony? Oh, and as a fellow Swiftie, I hope you’re ready for the Fearless re-release tomorrow !!!🤯 bc I’m looking forward to crying my way through this weekend🥲🥰🥺💖💞

hi!!! thank you so much, and I’m so sorry this took so long! but i also managed to put both prompts into it so hopefully that makes up for it lol. also the fearless re-recordings are so insanely good and the vault songs are god tier!!

Tony has a vision in his mind for the day he graduates from college. It’s been there since he was just a kid and the furthest ahead he could imagine for himself was that day. At the time it seemed like a hundred years away, and it carried an allure of freedom that was nearly unfathomable back then.

He always thought Ana and Jarvis would be there, sitting next to his mom. Howard came and went from the vision, because sometimes Tony would dream that it would be the day he was finally proud of him and sometimes he would be out of Tony’s life completely by then. When Steve comes into his life in middle school, new to California from Brooklyn, he gets added to that vision, too.

The reality ends up disappointing.

It’s been a few months since Jarvis passed, a couple of years since his parents died, and even longer since Ana’s death, but it hurts a little more today. All of the empty seats make Tony’s chest ache. Steve’s absence makes it even worse, even if he understands it. It’s not the first time the army made him miss something big, and Tony knows it won’t be the last. At least he’d been apologetic on the phone. A little sad, even, which made Tony feel worse for it.

After the ceremony ends, Rhodey slings his arm around his shoulder and Pepper walks on his other side.

“Just once I wish they’d pick someone actually good to speak at these things,” Rhodey complains. “That was so cheesy.”

“You mean you aren’t excited for the first day of the rest of our lives?” Pepper teases.

Tony laughs, “I thought the real low point was that joke he tried to make in the middle. Not too inspiring to imply that our degrees are essentially useless.”

“No, I love knowing that I’ve wasted the last four years.”

Rhodey hums, “Also wish he was a little more wrong about that.”

Rhodey’s family starts to call his name, waving enthusiastically from where the large group of them is huddled together. Pepper’s parents stand with them, looking so clearly like the odd ones out that it makes Tony grin.

“I see your families are getting along just fine,” Tony says, watching Pepper’s mom bounce one of Rhodey’s cousins in her arms.

“They’ve joined forces to nag us to death about getting married,” Pepper sighs, but there’s a fond smile on her face that betrays her.

“Trying to get you to set a date?”

Rhodey grins, “Trying to get me to propose, actually.”

“You proposed last month,” Tony frowns and looks down at her left hand, which is surprisingly bare. “I didn’t hallucinate that, did I?”

Pepper pulls her necklace out from where it was hidden beneath her collar. The ring sits on a delicate silver chain, diamond glittering in the sunlight for just a moment before she tucks it away again. She puts her index finger to her lips to tell him to keep it quiet, and Tony laughs.

“What did your innocent families do to deserve this?”

“There are no innocents in our families,” Rhodey says seriously. “We’re just buying ourselves some time until nagging me into proposing turns into everybody trying to plan our wedding for us.”

“My mother has terrible taste,” Pepper adds.

Waving from their families has turned into walking their way, and Tony gets sucked into the fold along with the two of them. He means to slip away after a few minutes, but no one lets that happen. Rhodey’s mom hugs him tightly and tells him he needs to eat more, followed immediately by how proud she is, and his cheeks turn pink under her attention. Somehow she wrangles him into joining them for the celebration dinner, but he can’t say that he minds much when he’s sitting with all of them. The laughter and stories take his mind off the melancholy feeling that’s been following him around lately, and it isn’t until he’s back in his quiet apartment much later in the day that he thinks about it again.

His hand twists into the chain around his neck, dog tags clinking together. They’re the first ones Steve got, back when he was newly enlisted after high school, and the letters are worn down beneath Tony’s thumb as he traces the shape of Steve’s name. He remembers that first time Steve put them around his neck and told him to keep them safe while he was gone. It was a promise to come back, and on the worst nights they’re both a comfort and a curse.

Leaning back against the closed door, he looks at the messy room in front of him. Finals week left him with little time for anything other than studying, and that coupled with his existing propensity for disorder, it looks a bit like a smaller tornado crossed through the apartment. Mugs stained with brown rings on the inside litter the coffee table, accompanied by pages of notes, pens, and uncapped highlighters. The blanket has fallen into a crumpled pile on the floor, and Tony is contemplating if he has the will to clean it all up when there’s a knock right behind his head.

He assumes it’s Rhodey and Pepper, here to decompress after finally untangling themselves from their families, and he turns around to open the door with a light-hearted remark already on his lips. Whatever it was leaves his mind immediately at what he finds instead.

“Hey, baby,” Steve smiles. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Tony means to say something in return, but all that he actually manages is a choked out sob. He doesn’t fully realize he’s crying until Steve’s hands are on his cheeks to brush away the tears.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” Steve murmurs, and Tony clutches at every part of him that he can reach. He grips the rough fabric of the fatigues, clings to his arms and shoulders and back, and he can’t possibly get close enough.

“You’re here,” Tony whispers when he eventually finds his breath again. “You’re here, you’re actually here.”

Steve’s hand strokes through his hair, and his other hand is holding on to Tony just as tight as Tony is holding on to him. “I’m here, baby.”

He isn’t sure how long they stand there like that, swaying slightly as they hang on to each other, but it must be quite a long while before he can let go again. Even then, though, he doesn’t let Steve go very far. They fall onto the couch in one tangled mess of limbs. Tony puts his chin on Steve’s chest to look at him, and Steve looks back with a soft smile that almost makes him want to cry again. There’s a small, faded scratch on Steve’s cheek that wasn’t there before, and Tony reaches out to trace it with the tip of his finger.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Tony says quietly, like if he speaks any louder, the lovely little bubble they’re in will break.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here earlier,” Steve says again. “I really tried, but -”

Tony interrupts him with a shake of his head, “It’s okay. You’re here now.”

“I’ll be here for a while, I promise.”

Tony smiles, but there’s a dull, familiar ache in his chest at the thought that it will eventually come to end anyway. “How long do I have you for?”

Instead of answering, Steve shuffles a bit beneath him, hand worming its way into his pocket. He pulls out a folded paper and hands it to Tony, expression unreadable. Tony sits up a little to read it, and by the time he’s finished reading every single line to make sure it’s real, his hand is shaking.

“You - you’re - discharged?” Tony stammers out. “You’re done?”

Steve nods, grin slowly forming as he watches Tony process it. “Was sort of hoping that might make up for missing the ceremony this morning.”

Tony laughs, light and carefree in a way that he hasn’t felt in four years. He kisses Steve with everything he has, paper crinkling between them, and between one kiss and the next, Steve reassures, “I’m not leaving, sweetheart. Never leaving again.”

#stevetony #stony #superhusbands #my writing #prompts #prompt fill #my fic

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